Objective:To observe the effects of high-frequency current on rabbits dental pulp and to provide experimental evidences for clinic research.Methods:60 healthy 3 months old rabbits were divided into 4 experimental groups and 2 control groups.Dental pulps of experimental groups were treated with high-frequency currents with output power of 5 W,10 W,15 W and 20 W respectively.Then the devitalization degree of injury of dental capsule of experimental groups were compared with treated by complex toad composition,a type of traditional pulp devitalized medicine.Results:The effects between the devitalized effect of high-frequency current under 15 W and that of the traditional medicine were similarly.The concomitant injury of root canal tubal wall and periapical were not detected.Dental pulp of deactivation was easy to be extirpated and bled little while being extirpated.Conclusion:The reliability and safety of 15 W high-frequency output current could be the important parameter for clinic application research.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the capability of semi-quantitative and quantitative parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to predict the response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy( CCRT) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODSA total of 24 patients with stage III or IIIB NSCLC, who underwent 3.0T DCE-MRI before CCRT, were enrolled in this study. Semi-quantitative and quantitative parameters were calculated by Funtool and Omnikinetics software. The relationship between these obtained parameters and tumor response was evaluated by Spearmen' s correlation analysis. The patients were classified into two groups according to the tumor regression rate after treatment, as response group (group A) and non-response group ( group B). Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the parameters of responders and non-responders. The value of the parameters on predicting response was calculated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

RESULTSThe tumor regression rate after treatment was negatively correlated with time to peak (TTP) and the extravascular-extracellular volume fraction (Ve), and was positively correlated with signal enhancement ratio (SERmax) and volume transfer constant (Ktrans) (P < 0.05 for all). Statistical significant differences were found between group A and group B both in semi-quantitative and quantitative parameters (P < 0.05). Group A had a lower TTP value [(34.66 ± 16.37) s vs. (44.09 ± 17.41) s] and Ve value [(0.19 ± 0.03) vs. (0.25 ± 0.05)] than group B, whereas group A had a higher SERmax [(166.50 ± 44.95)% vs. (113.57 ± 46.62)%] and Ktrans [(0.41 ± 0.17) min(-1) vs. (0.28 ± 0.12) min(-1)] than group B (P < 0.05 for all). The ROC analysis indicated that when setting the threshold of Ve on ≤ 0.21 for predicting response, the specificity, sensitivity and accuracy were 85.7%, 80.0% and 83.3%, respectively, with an area under curve of 0.875 (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSBoth the semi-quantitative and quantitative DCE-MRI parameters are helpful for predicting the response after CCRT of NSCLC. Quantitative parameters seem to be more meaningful than semi-quantitative parameters.

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; therapy ; Chemoradiotherapy ; methods ; Contrast Media ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; ROC Curve ; Remission Induction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND: The expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular grafts hold promise for enhanced healing,extended suture retention, kink reduction and compression resistance. But thrombus formation still limits its use for revascularization of small-caliber vessels. It is the surface of ePTFE vascular graft that contacts with the blood. The current study focused on surface modification of ePTFE materials to improve its blood compatibility.OBJECTIVE: To characterize the heparin/alginate (H/A) gel modified ePTFE vascular graft and investigate the hemocompatibility and histocompatibility of the graft.DESIGN: Observation experiment.SETTING: Laboratory for Nanomedicine and Biosensor, Biomedicine Engineering Center, Harbin Institute of Technology.MATERIALS: The GORE-TEX ePTFE vascular grafts were 4 mm in internal diameter. Sodium alginate and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) were purchased from Sigma. Heparin sodium salt was obtained from Calbiochem. Nation and chitosan were purchased from Aldrich company. Human α-thrombin and AT Ⅲ were purchased from Haematologic Technologies, Inc. S-2238 was purchased from Chromogenix.METHODS: This study was performed at the Laboratory for Nanomedicine and Biosensor, Biomedicine Engineering Center, Harbin Institute of Technology between May 2006 and June 2007. The graft was first modified with Nation and then Chitosan/Nafion/Chitosan multilayer. Following the impregnation of heparin and alginate, covalent crosslinking was performed using ethylenediamine and EDC. Some characterization methods were employed: stastic water contact angle for the hydrophilicity; SEM for the surface morphology; ATR-FTIR for the surface chemical characteristics; APTT and PT,percent hemolysis and Chromogenic assay for the hemocompatibility of the ePTFE vascular graft after modification.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Static water contact angles. ②Charactedzation of the surface morphology and platelet adhesion by SEM. ③ATR-FTIR ④APTT and PT. ⑤Percent hemolysis ⑥Chromogenic assay for heparin activity.RESULTS: ①ATR-FTIR revealed the presence of -CO-NH- at 1626 cm-1. ②The water contact angle was greatly decreased from (125±1)° to (84±2)° .③The prolonged APTT and PT, low percent hemolysis(0.065%) and low amount of platelet adhesion assay showed the H/A gel impregnated graft had good blood compatibility. ④Chromogenic assay showed the modified graft was less thrombogenic than the bare one, and the H/A coating had good stability in. PBS buffer.CONCLUSION: The H/A modified ePTFE vascular graft has great potential in applications utilizing small-diameter vascular grafts.

Objective To find out the bacterial species in the vagina of postpartum women and the possible influencing factors on colonization. Methods From Jun. 2007 to Oct. 2007, 560 postparmm women from 7 hospitals in China were enrolled. Questionnaire survey, gynecological examination and Nngent score of vaginal smear and microbial spectrum study of the vaginal flora were completed. Results (1 ) According to the Nngent score, 48 out of the 560 women were normal (8.6%), 337 at the borderline (60. 2% ) and 175 (31.2%) were complicated with bacterial vaginosis (BV). Among the 560 women, Bacterium lacticum were identified in 74 cases (13. 2% ), but not in the rest 486 cases (86. 8% ). Gardnerella and bacteroids were detected in 322 women (57. 5% ) and small flectobacillus in 214 women (38. 2% ) out of the 560 subjects. (2) Influencing factors on vaginal microflora: among the 266 women who had normal vaginal delivery, 23 (9. 4% ) showed normal vaginal microflora, 148 (55.6% ) at borderline and BV was diagnosed in 93 women (35.0%). The corresponding figures among the 294 women who underwent cesarean section were 23 (7. 8% ), 189 (64. 3% ) and 82(27.9% ), respectively. However, the incidence of BV had no statistical difference between these two groups (P = 0. 204). In the 233 women who received episiotomy, 22 (9. 4% ) showed normal vaginal microflora, 135 (57.9%) at borderline and 76 presented with BV (32. 6% ), the corresponding figures among the 327 women without episiotomy were 26 (8. 0% ), 202 (61.8%) and 99 (30. 2% ), respectively. The incidence of BV did not show any statistical difference between the above two groups (P = 0. 790 ). (3 ) Prenatal vaginitis were reported in 46 women, among which 5 (10.9%) with normal vaginal flora, 26 (56.5%) at borderline and 15 (32.6%) with BV, and again in the 514 women without prenatal vaginits, the above figures changed to 43 (8.4%) , 311 (60. 5% ) and 160 (31.1%). No significant difference was found in the incidence of BV between the two groups (P =0. 962). The rate of BV in women without sex, with sex occasionally and with sex frequently during pregnancy was 27.5% (78/284), 35.6% (96/270) and 1/6, respectively (P = O. 185), and the numbers in women who had breast-feeding, bottle feeding and mixed feeding were 31.0% (67/216), 39.3% (35/89) and 28.6% (73/255), respectively (P=0.573). Conclusions The amount of Lactobacillus in vagina of postpartum women is greatly reduced leading to dysbacteria. The incidence of BV is not affected by vaginal delivery, episiotomy, vaginitis, prenatal intercourse and the way of feeding, but is higher in postpartum women.

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of protoporphyrin Ⅸ (PpIX) fluorescence diagnosis after topical application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) in human papillomavirus (HPV) related diseases.Methods Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) was conducted in 36 patients clinically diagnosed as genital condylomata acuminata. PpIX fluorescence was observed 2 hours following the application of 5-aminole-vulinic acid 20% cream on the lesions and subclinical lesions of these patients. Biopsy samples were resected from the lesions, subclinical lesions, and normal skin area (0.5 cm and 2 cm around the lesions) of the patients,and subjected to histopathological examination and microarray analysis for HPV DNA. Acetowhitening test was also performed at the four skin areas. Results Of the 36 patients, 30 were diagnosed as condylomata acuminata, 5 as bowenoid papulosis, and 1 as keratosis seborrheica by histopathological examination.Brick-red fluorescence of PpIX was observed in both lesions and subclinical lesions of all patients with condylomata acuminata and those with bowenoid papulosis, in subclinical lesions of 28 patients, at the area 0.5 cm around the lesions of 17 patients, and at the area 2 cm around the lesions of 5 patients. Acetowhitening and HPV DNA were also positive in lesions and subclinical lesions of patients with condylomata acuminata and those with bowenoid papulosis. Mucosa, inflammatory infiltration area and erosion tissue were prone to develop nonspecific PpIX fluorescence. Conclusions ALA-PpIX-mediated PDD can be used for the diag-nosis of clinical and subclinical HPV infection, as well as 'the location of latent HPV infection, however, it'snot recommended to be used in mucosa, inflammatory infiltration area or erosion tissue.

Purpurin is a common component ofRubia cordifolia L. The study on its molecular target was useful for elucidating the therapeutic material basis and action mechanism ofR. cordifolia. HT-29 cells were used in the cell culture. The highly expressed G Protein-coupled Receptor-35 (GPR35) agonist was used as target. The label-free optical biosensor cellular assay was used to investigate the agonist activity ofpurpurin at an endogenous receptor. The results showed thatpurpurin can cause DMR response in HT-29 cells. And the DMR response curve type was consistent with zaprinast. Its EC50 was 6.142± 0.189μmol·L-1. In addition,purpurinhad desensitization effect on GPR35 agonist zaprinast in HT-29 cells. GPR35 agonist ML145 blocked the DMR ofpurpurin. It was concluded thatpurpurinwas the GPR35 agonist.

Objective:To identify pathogenicity of the potential splicing variants in two Chinese Han patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.Methods:Genomic DNA was extracted using the conventional phenol-chloroform method; whole exome sequencing (WES) was used to analysis the disease-related variants in the two probands; Minigene assay was used to identify pathogenicity of the variants found in the patients' genome that possibly affect RNA splicing.Results:Two potential splicing variants, c.858+1_858+5delGTAAG in intron 12 of COL1A1 and c.1405-7C>T in intron 24 of COL1A2, were found in proband 1 and proband 2, respectively. In addition, a missense mutation, c.2972G>T (p.G991V) in exon 45 of COL1A2, was detected in proband 2. Minigene assay revealed that the variant in proband 1 caused the skipping of exon 12, while the variant in proband 2 did not lead to aberrant splicing. G199 of the COL1A2 in proband 2 was a highly conserved amino acid site, and the results suggested that c.2972G>T (p.G991V) may be the real pathogenic variant by the means of bioinformatics analysis.Conclusion:The variant c.858+1_858+5delGTAAG in COL1A1 was a causative variant that led to OI in proband 1, while the missense variant c.2972G>T (p.G991V) in COL1A2 was the cause of OI in proband 2, instead of the variant c.1405-7C>T. Minigene assay for potential splicing variants detected by WES could not only validate the pathogenicity of the candidate variants and enrich the mutation spectrum of OI, but also lay the foundation for patients' prenatal diagnosis and subsequent mechanism research.

Objective To assess the value of confocal laser endomieroscopy (CLE) in diagnosis of early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions. Methods CLE examination was performed in 41 patients who needed further examination because of lesions in esophagus during July 2008 to April 2009. The diagnosis was made based on the features of esophageal squamous cells which was defined as low grade intraepithelial neoplasia(LGIN), high grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN) and early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (EC). Biopsy specimens were taken precisely matched to the CLE imaging sites. The result was compared with that of histopathology. Results There were 7281 eonfocal images obtained from 60 target lesions in 41 patients. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CLE were 75.0%, 88.6% and 85.0% in diagnosis of LGIN, respectively, 85.7% ,92.3% and 90.0% in diagnosis of HGIN, respectively,and 88.9% ,96.1% and 95.0%, in diagnosis of EC,respectively. Conclusions It is an effective method for diagnosis of esophageal neoplastic lesions using CLE, which has high accuracy in diagnosis of HGIN and early esophageal cancer.

Objective To investigate the value of fluorescin-aided confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) for diagnosis of helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection. Methods From June 2009 to November 2009, patients undergone gastric endoscope examination with upper gastrointestinal symptoms (upper abdominal discomfort, abdominal distension, satiation, acid reflux and eructation) or screened for gastric cancer were enrolled. The gastric mucosa CLE image data of twenty diagnosed Hp positive patients and 10 Hp negative patients was analyzed retrospectively. By comparing with histological image of targeted biopsy tissue, the CLE diagnostic criteria for Hp infection were established. In the prospective study, CLE diagnose result was compared with Hp tested result. The consistency of CLE diagnostic criteria in different observers was also analyzed. The CLE image data with histopathology result were compared accordingly. Results Total 72 patients were enrolled in the prospective study,of 34 Hp positive patients, 31 patients were correctly diagnosed by CLE. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of CLE diagnosis were 88.9%, 91.2 and 86.8% respectively. CLE image displaying fluorescin leakage and cell shedding was the highest specificity for Hp infection diagnosis, (97.4 %);fluorescin leakage plus gastric pits distortion and cell edema was the highest sensitivity (88. 2%). The consistency of CLE diagnostic criteria in different observers was high (Kappa value 0. 72, 0.87). The CLE image of Hp infection was highly correlated with inflammation activity (P＜0. 001). Conclusion CLE can accurately distinguish normal mucosa from Hp infected mucosa at the cellular level. The diagnostic value for Hp infection was reliable.

Objective To investigate the value of DWI using 3.0 T MRI to predict response to radiotherapy(RT) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods From January 2014 to May 2015, 40 patients with stageⅢ(Ⅲa orⅢb) NSCLC underwent DWI using 3.0 T MRI before RT/CCRT were enrolled. The imaging quality of diffusion-weighted images were evaluated on 3-level grades as good, moderate and non-diagnostic.The patients with good or moderate image quality were underwent DWI at 2 weeks after starting therapy(total dose of 20 Gy), and at the end of therapy (total dose of 60 Gy). Apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) of lung cancer with good and moderate image quality were calculated by Funtool. The following quantitative parameters were recorded and calculated: the mean pretreatment ADC value(ADCpre), the mean mid-treatment ADC value (ADCmid), the mean post-treatment ADC value(ADCpost), the rate of changes inmean ADC value at 2 weeks post therapy (ΔADCmid) and the rate of changes inmean ADC value at the end of therapy(ΔADCpost). The patients were classified into response group and non-response group according to the tumor response, which was assessed with revised response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST1.1) after CCRT. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare parameters between the two groups.The relationship between these obtained parameters and tumor response was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. The value of parameters on predicting tumor response was calculated by receiver operating characteristic curve.Results 96.4%(80/83) DW images were graded as good or moderate image quality. The responders had lower median ADCpre[1.32 (0.77—1.96) × 10- 3 mm2/s] than non-responders[1.60(1.12—2.33) × 10- 3 mm2/s], which had statistically significant difference (Z=-2.934,P=0.003).Tumor regression rate after treatment had negative correlation with ADCpre(r=-0.386, P=0.018).The responders had increased ADC [ΔADCmid: 38.9%(12.8%—139.0%),ΔADCpost: 48.3% (25.6%—148.1%)] than non-responders [ΔADCmid: -2.5% (-15%—29.4%), ΔADCpost:14.2% (- 28.1% —71.3% )], which had statistically significant difference (Z=- 2.847, - 2.221, respectively;P<0.05). Tumor regression rate after treatment had positive correlation with ΔADCmid(r=0.637, P=0.001) and ΔADCpost(r=0.631, P=0.005).From ROC analysis,when setting threshold on pretreatment ADCpre=1.38 × 10-3 mm2/s, ΔADCmid=21.6%, ΔADCpost=38.8%, the area under curve was 0.782, 0.838 and 0.813.Conclusion The mean ADC value before RT/CCRT and its changes during treatment is likely to be a valuabletool for predicting the response after RT/CCRT in advanced NSCLC, which may be helpful to clinical decision on individualized therapy.