Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human ; prevention & control

Objective Rheological properties and gelation properties of agar were investigated. Methods The gelling point,melting point and the gel strength of agar were detected with MCR101 rheometer and TA texture testing instrument. Results and Conclusion Rheological properties of agar were affected by its concentration ,temperature and the addition of salt (such as NaCl ,CaCl2) and sucrose. Apparent viscosity exhibited shear thinning behavior following the power law model. Apparent viscosity increased with the increase of concentration,and decreased with the rise of temperature. The decrease in viscosity followed an Arrhenius temperature dependence. Agar solutions exhibited typical "weak gel" properties by small strain oscillatory measurements. The results indicated that the agar solution was characterized as a gel properties ,and which could form a kind of heat reversible gel. The gelling point of agar was lower than its melting point. The gel strength of agar could be affected by its gel time,and the addition of salt (such as NaCl,CaCl2) and sucrose.

Objective To screen cardiac-specific short-acting peptides on live myocardial slices using phage display technology,so as to improve the targeted delivery efficiency of drugs in myocardium and provide effective candidates for the targeted therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and other cardiomyopathies.Methods Myocardial tissue slices were prepared and cultured in vitro.The protein activities of the tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry.The in vitro cultured myocardial tissue slices were co-incubated with phage library (1×1012 pfu),and the phages that bound to the myocardium were recovered and amplified.The cardiac-specific targeting phages were identified by five rounds of in vitro phage biopanning.The candidate phage-related insertion sequence was sequenced,and the in vivo tissue distribution of the highly enriched phages was verified.Results A platform for in vitro culturing of live myocardial slices was established.Myocardial slices with good biological activity were obtained.After 48 hours of culturing,the normal expression and localization of Dystrophin protein were detected.Using phage library,candidate phages were screened after five rounds of phage biopanning.The results of the sequencing analyses and in vivo tissue distribution verification indicated that the selected candidate phages showed significant enrichment in myocardium and skeletal muscle,and showed low levels in liver and kidney tissues.Conclusions The candidate phages showed higher binding efficiency in both myocardium and skeletal muscle,indicating that the candidate peptides had myocardial targeting property,and that can provide a new method for myocardial targeting therapy of DMD.

The purpose of the present experiment was to observe the morphological characteristics and invasiveness of a transplantable cancer NO 27 (U 27) after serial passages about 20 years. The results were as follows: The morphological characteristics of this tumor strain was low-differentiated carcinoma which were demonstrated by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In the cytoplasm the single irregular distribution of the tensile fibrils and some semi-desmosome between adjacent cells were discovered by transmission electron microscopy. Two types of cancer cells were observed on the surface of the cancer nest by scanning electron microcopy:Ⅰ), There were many microvilli on the surface of the first type cancer cells; 2). The surface of the cancer cells of the second type were more flat sometimes with single small blebs. Many cancer cells had been released from cancer cell clump after 3 days of intramuscular implantation. Later they actively invaded into the spaces between muscle fibers in the form of amebae. Some cancer cells stretched out their filopodia directly in contact with target cells. The degenerative and atrophic changes of muscle tissue appeared in the invasive area of cancer cells. Finally these changes were leading to the disappearance of the entire structure of the muscle with the replacement by cancer tissues.

We applied Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) combined with brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM) to study the change of alertness under sleep deprivation in our research. Ten subjects were involved in 36 hours sleep deprivation (SD), during which spontaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments and auditory evoked EEG experiments-Oddball were recorded once every 6 hours. Spontaneous and evoked EEG data were calculated and BEAMs were structured. Results showed that during the 36 hours of SD, alertness could be divided into three stages, i. e. the first 12 hours as the high stage, the middle 12 hours as the rapid decline stage and the last 12 hours as the low stage. During the period SD, LZC of Spontaneous EEG decreased over the whole brain to some extent, but remained consistent with the subjective scales. By BEAMs of event related potential, LZC on frontal cortex decreased, but kept consistent with the behavioral responses. Therefore, LZC can be effective to reflect the change of brain alertness. At the same time LZC could be used as a practical index to monitor real-time alertness because of its simple computation and fast calculation.
Attention ; physiology ; Brain Mapping ; Electroencephalography ; Evoked Potentials ; Humans ; Nonlinear Dynamics ; Sleep Deprivation

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Shugan Liangxue Compound (SLC) for relieving hot flashes in breast cancer patients medicated with tamoxifen.

METHODSA randomized, double blind clinical trial for observing the therapeutic effects of SLC was carried out on 73 breast cancer patients hospitalized from October 2004 to November 2006, who were treated with tamoxifen, and revealed hot flashes. They were randomly assigned to two groups, the 37 in the treated group treated by SLC, and the 36 in the control group treated with placebo. Taking the improvement of hot flashes as an end point index and that of sleep as a secondary index, the effects of treatment were compared by Kupperman scoring with the average times of hot flashes per day and condition of sleep within 1 week before treatment as baseline.

RESULTSThe effects on 66 patients (33 in the treated group and 33 in the control group) were evaluable. In the treated group hot flashes disappeared in 5 patients (15.2%), relieved in 14 (42.4%) and unchanged in 14 (42.4%); while in the control group, it disappeared in none, relieved in 10 (30.3%) and unchanged in 23 (69.7%), comparison between groups showed significant difference (P = 0.012). As for the condition of sleep, it was improved in 21 (63.6%) and unchanged in 12 (36.4%) in the treated group; while the condition of sleep in the control group was improved in 13 (39.4%) and unchanged in 20 (60.6%), also with significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONSLC is effective in alleviating tamoxifen-induced hot flashes and improving the condition of sleep.

Adult ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Double-Blind Method ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hot Flashes ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Sleep ; Tamoxifen ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use

Objective To compare the efficacy of different target concentrations of sufentanil target-controlled infusion used to supplement topical anesthesia for fiber-optic bronchoscopy (FOB)-assisted awake nasotracheal intubation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).Methods Forty-five ASA physical status Ⅱ or Ⅲ patients with OSAS,aged 28-60 yr,with body mass index of 30-40 kg/m2,scheduled for elective surgery,were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n =15 each):control group (group C) and sufentanil with the target plasma concentration of 0.4 ng/ml (group S1) and 0.6 ng/ml groups (group S2).Naso-pharyngeal and laryngeal mucous membrane was sprayed with 2％ lidocaine mixed with 1％ ephedrine for topical anesthesia in both groups.In addition 1％ tetracaine 3 ml was injected into trachea through cricothyroid membrane.FOB-assisted awake nasotracheal intubation was performed after the target concentration was achieved.The degree of airway obstruction was scored during intubation.The highest values of MAP and HR,rate-pressure product ＞ 12 000,decreased respiratory rate and hyoxemia were recorded during the period between induction of anesthesia and 3 min after intubation was completed.The changes in MAP and HR as percent of baseline values were calculated.Before topical anesthesia (T0),when target concentrations were reached (T1),and at 1 and 3 min after intubation (T2,3),blood samples were taken to determine the plasma concentrations of epinephrine (E),norepinephrine (NE) and cortisol.Results Compared with group C,the airway obstruction score was significantly decreased in group S1,the incidence of changes in MAP and HR ＞ 30％ of baseline values and rate-pressure product ＞ 12 000 was decreased,the plasma concentrations of E,NE and cortisol were decreased in S1 and S2 groups,and the incidence of the respiratory rate was decreased and hypoxemia was increased in group S2 (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group S1,the airway obstruction score were significantly decreased,and the incidence of respiratory rate was decreased and hypoxemia was increased in group S2 (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the baseline value at T0,the plasma concentrations of E,NE and cortisol were significantly increased at T2,3 in group C,while decreased at T1 in S1 and S2 groups (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Compared with pure topical anesthesia,sufentanil with the target plasma concentration of 0.4 ng/ml does not induce respiratory depression,maintains hemodynamics stable,attenuates the stress responses and provides better intubation conditions when used to supplement topical anesthesia for FOB-assisted awake nasotracheal intubation in patients with OSAS.

Vigilance is defined as the ability to maintain attention for prolonged periods of time. In order to explore the variation of brain vigilance in work process, we designed addition and subtraction experiment with numbers of three digits to induce the vigilance to change, combined it with psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) to measure this process of electroencephalogram (EEG), extracted and analyzed permutation entropy (PE) of 11 cases of subjects' EEG and made a brief comparison with nonlinear parameter sample entropy (SE). The experimental results showed that: PE could well reflect the dynamic changes of EEG when vigilance decreases, and has advantages of fast arithmetic speed, high noise immunity, and low requirements for EEG length. This can be used as a measure of the brain vigilance indicators.
Attention ; Brain ; physiology ; Electroencephalography ; Entropy ; Humans ; Mathematics

Objective To explore the methods and clinical value of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in detecting rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) with head scanning probe.Methods A total of 12 patients had the ultrasonic examination through the rectum with the head scanning probe.Preoperative ultrasonic findings were compared with the pathological results.Results Of the 12 patients,the patients were divided into three groups,including 3 cases with low-degree severity,6 cases with moderate-degree severity and 6 cases with high-degree severity.The lymph node metastasis was not found near intestines.Rectal GIST appeared as a hypoechoic mass with clear limit、regular form and expanded growth under TRUS.The CDFI showed abundant flow in the tumor and TRUS had an overall accuracy rate of 75.0%(9/12)in the diagnosis of rectal GIST.The accuracy of TRUS in the staging diagnosis of rectal GIST was 83.3%(10/12).Conclusion The TRUS with the head scanning probe is of great value for pre-operative diagnosis and staging of rectal GIST.Rectal water window and felicitous check-up technique can enhance the accuracy of TRUS.

Calcium hydroxide (CH) is applied to improve disinfection of root canals in most root canal retreatment. This study aimed to analyze the CH removal efficacy using 7 different root preparing files (K file, pre-curved K file, EndoActivator, Ultrasonic file, pre-curved ultrasonic file, F file and needle irrigation alone) with apical transportation. Standardized models of curved canal with such apical transportation or not were set up before applying CH to root canal for 7 days. Seven techniques described above were used for its removal. Then the roots were disassembled and digital photos were taken. The ratio of residual CH in the overall canal surface was calculated using the image analyzer image pro plus 6.0. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey test. Results revealed that CH was effectively removed (P<0.05) by using all 6 mechanical methods except irrigation alone. In curved root canals with apical transportation, EndoActivator, pre-curved ultrasonic file and F file were found to be more effective in removing CH than the other four file (P<0.001), while there was no significant difference among EndoActivator, pre-curved ultrasonic file and F file groups (P>0.05). The percentage of residual CH in the canal with apical transportation was higher than that in the canal without apical transportation (P<0.05). In conclusion, CH can be hardly removed completely. Canal with apical transportation will result in insufficient CH removal. EndoActivator, pre-curved ultrasonic file and F file are more effective in the curved root canal with apical transportation.