Objective To study the efficacy and safety of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.Methods In this study,25 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer received high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment.Liver and kidney function,CA19-9 levels,tumor size changes,pain relief,survival rate before and after treatment were evaluated.Results The blood routine test,liver and kidney function,blood amylase did not alter significantly after HIFU treatment in all patients.The CA19-9 level of 12 patients decreased.The appetite of 15 patients improved,5 patients with body weight gain after HIFU treatment.Pain was relieved after HIFU treatment in 18 cases,pain relief rate was 72％ (18/25).In 15 cases tumor ablation volume ＞ 90％ after HIFU treatment,5 patients with tumor ablation volume ＞ 50％,tumor ablation effective rate was 80％ (20/25).There were no major complications such as acute pancreatitis,gastrointestinal injury after HIFU treatment.After HIFU treatment,the median survival period was 8 months,1 year survival rate was 30％.Conclusions High-intensity focused ultrasound is a safe and effective method of palliative treatment for advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer.

Objective To explore the effect of calreticulin (CRT) on cell proliferation and invasion of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 and HepG2.Methods SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA).The transfection rate was detected by immunoflurescence and western blot.The cell proliferation,invasion and apoptosis of SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells were determined by using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays,transwell assays and flow cytometry,respectively.The p-Akt and Akt levels were detected by western blot.Results The growth inhibition rate in the siRNA experimental group of SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells for 24,36 and 48 h were (41.0 ±2.2) ％,(46.5 ±1.6)％,(59.7 ±2.2)％ and (36.8 ±2.7)％,(47.3 ± 1.8)％,(61.5 ±3.2)％,respectively.The apoptosis rate after down-regulating the expression of CRT in SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells for 36h were (45.2 ± 9.1) ％ and (48.9 ± 8.0) ％,respectively.Compared with the blank group and the negative control group,the growth inhibition rate in the siRNA experimental group was lower (P ＜0.05),but the apoptosis rate was significantly higher (P ＜ 0.05).Transwell experiments confirmed that the numbers of invaded SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells in the blank group and the negative control group and siRNA experimental group were (96.8±7.3),(95.6±5.4),(34.0±4.2) and (124.0 ±9.9),(121.6 ±7.0),(70.4±9.5),respectively,indicating that cell invasion in the siRNA experimental group was significantly suppressed (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of p-Akt was decreased (P ＜ 0.05) after down-regulating the expression of CRT for 36h.Conclusion CRT gene silencing by siRNA can inhibit the SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cell proliferation and invasion,but increase the cell apoptosis by regulating PI3K/Akt signal pathway.

To compare the differences on current ethical issues in the areas of epidemiological practice between China and America,to identify the major ethical problems existing in the epidemiological studies in China.Through searching and reviewing papers published on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology and American Journal of Epidemiology from Jan.2006 to Dec.2010,we made a comparison on ethical issues involved in the original studies that focusing on human beings.In total,749 Chinese articles and 1221 American articles were recruited,with the following findings: (1)The proportion with announcements of “Informed consent by the subjects” was 29.24％ in Chinese literature and 38.08％ in the Americans (x2=16.02,P＜0.001 ).The proportion with “having had approvals from the ethic committees” was 29.24％ in Chinese,while 38.08％ in American ( x2=604.40,P＜ 0.0001 ).(2) Both in China and America,there had been an increase of ethical issues in the last 5 years.(3)Articles derived from trial studies had better involvement on ethics than those from observational studies.(4) The level on ethical issues in the American Research Institutes exceeded those in China (5)American studies also had showed better ideas on Ethic issues on biological specimens collection and privacy protection,than those in Chinese studies.Among the studies on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology,the proportion of ‘informed consent' was higher than in ethical review,but both ethical review and awareness on ‘informed consent' had left far behind than the American Journal of Epidemiology.This could be seen at the institution level of the writers,during specimen collection and privacy protection,as well as at the overall level.The results reminded us that the Departments of Technology Management should spend more efforts on the improvement of public education regarding ethics for researchers and to update the process of edition for Journals as well as to reinforce the rules of ethics in epidemiological research.

The dominant gene Xa21 with broad-spectrum and high resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was transferred into C418, an important restorer line of japonica hybrid rice in China using double right-border (DRB) T-DNA binary vector through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. 17 transgenic lines were Xa21-positive with high resistance to the race P6 of Xoo through PCR analysis and resistance identification, among the total 27 independent primary transformants (T0) obtained. The subsequent analysis of the T1 progenies of these 17 T0 lines through PCR-assisted selection and resistance investigation showed that four Xa21 transgenic T0 lines could produce selectable marker-free (SMF) progenies. The frequency of primary transformants producing SMF progenies was 15%. In addition, PCR analysis also revealed these SMF progenies did not contain vector backbone sequence, and they were named as SMF and vector backbone sequence-free (SMF-VBSF) Xa21 transgenic plants. The further molecular and phenotypic analysis of the T2 and T3 progenies testified the homozygous SMF-VBSF Xa21 transgenic plants were obtained with high resistance to Xoo.
DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Oryza ; genetics ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; Rhizobium ; genetics ; Transformation, Genetic ; Xanthomonas

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of extensive Whipple's resection to the adenocarcinoma of head of pancreas on the survival, complications, and surgical mortality.

METHODNinety three patients who received Whipple's surgery between January 1995 and March 2003 were divided into classical group (n = 51) and extensive group (n = 42). Their short-term outcome and survival rate were compared retrospectively.

RESULTSThe postoperative complication rate and mortality in classical group and extensive group were 19.61%/3.92% and 16.67%/2.38%, respectively. And 1- and 2- year survival rates in classical group and extensive group were 58.82%/20.59% and 63.33%/23.33%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSPostoperative complications and mortality will not increase in extensive Whipple's resection for adenocarcinoma of head of pancreas. However, whether extensive Whipple's resection will improve long-term survival still requires further investigation.

Adenocarcinoma ; mortality ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; methods ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Objective To compare the antibody response induced by primary immunization with 5 μ g and 10 μ g hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant DNA techniques among the newborns.Methods Healthy infants who had completed primary immunization with 5 μg hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant dexyribonucleic acid techniques in Saccharomyces (Hep-SC) or 10 μg hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant dexyribonucleic acid techniques in Hansenula polymorpha (HepB-HP) were included in the study.Kids under study were 7-12 months of age and had been on 0-1-6 schedule.Standardized questionnaire was used and blood samples were collected.The titer of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) was detected by Chemiluminescence Microparticle Imunoassay (CMIA).If anti-HBs happened to be under 10 mIU/ml,HBV DNA was further detected by nested-PCR to distinguish occult hepatitis B virus infection.Sero-conversion rate and titer of anti-HBs were compared between the two kinds of hepatitis B vaccines.Multivariate analysis was used to find the relationship between the kind of hepatitis B vaccine as well as the antibody response after debugging the other influencing factors including month-age,gender,birth-weight,premature birth and mother' s HBsAg status.Results 8947 infants vaccinated with 5 μg HepB-SC and 4576 infants vaccinated with 10 μg HepB-HP were investigated.In the 5 μg group,the rates of non-,low-,normal- and high-response were 1.88％,15.18％,61.42％ and 21.52％ respectively.In the 10 μg group,the corresponding rates were 0.15％,2.16％,29.42％ and 68.26％ respectively.The non-,low-,normal-response rates were all higher in 5 μg group than in 10 μg group (P＜0.01),while the high-response rate was much higher in 10 μg group than in 5 μ g group (P＜0.01).The geometric mean concentration (GMC) of anti-HBs were 354.81 mIU/ml (95％ CI:338.84-363.08 mIU/ml) and 1778.28 mIU/ml (95％CI:1698.24-1819.70 mIU/ml) in the 5 μg group and 10 μg group respectively.The GMC was statistically higher in the 10 μg group than in the 5 μg group (P＜0.001).The seroconversion rate and GMC were significantly different between the two groups even after debugging the other influencing factors.Conclusion Better anti-HBs response could be achieved by primary immunization with 10 μg HepB-HP than with 5 μg HepB-SC among newborns.

Objective To compare the antibody response between preterm and full-term infants after primary immunization of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB).Methods Infants who were aged 7-12 months and had completed primary immunization with 5 μg HepB made by recombinant dexyribonucleic acid techniques in saccharomyces cerevisiae (HepB-SC) or 10 μg HepB made by recombinant dexyribonucleic acid techniques in Hansenula polymorpha (HepB-HP) on 0-1-6 schedule were investigated in four provinces (municipality) including Beijing,Shandong,Jiangsu and Guangxi of China.Among them,all preterm infants were selected to form the preterm group and the 1:1 matching full-term infants with the same month-age,gender and residence were randomly selected to form the full-term group.Their HepB history was determined by immunization certificate and all of their parents were interviewed with standard questionnaire to get their birth information.Blood samples were obtained from all anticipants and were tested for Anti-HBs by chemiluminescence microparticle immuno-assay (CMIA).Results Total anticipants were 648 pairs of infants.The rates of non-response,low-response,normal-response and high-response after the primary immunization were 1.39％,8.64％,45.83％ and 44.14％ in the preterm group,respectively.The corresponding rates were 1.08％,9.26％,44.91％ and 44.75％ in the full-term group.The above four rates did not show significant differences between the two groups (P＞0.05).The geometric mean concentrations (GMC) of anti-HBs in the pre-term and full-term group were 755.14 and 799.47 mIU/ml respectively.There was no significantly difference in the GMCs between the two groups (P＞0.05).Results from multivariable conditional logistic analysis showed that preterm was not an influencing factor to the antibody response after HepB primary immunization among newborns even after debugging the other influencing factors.Conclusion The autibody response after HepB primary immunization were similar among the preterm and full-term infants.The preterm newborns could be immunized under the same HepB immunization strategy.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of polymorphisms of CDT1 and GMNN gene, two important genes participating in DNA replication, with the risk of sporadic breast cancer.

METHODSUsing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR - RFLP) and the primer-introduced restriction analysis (PIRA)-PCR assay to genotype the CDT1 838G/A and GMNN 387C/A polymorphisms in a case-control study of 427 breast cancer cases and 477 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population.

RESULTSNo significant association of the CDT1 838G/A and GMNN 387C/A polymorphisms with the risk of breast cancer was found (adjusted OR:1.16, 95% CI:0.88-1.54 for CDT1 GA+AA genotypes and adjusted OR:0.90, 95% CI:0.67-1.21 for GMNN CA+AA genotypes). However, in the stratified analyses, a significant association of CDT1 GA+AA genotypes with breast cancer risk among subjects with family history of cancer was found (adjusted OR:2.21, 95% CI:1.20-4.09).

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that the CDT1 838G/A and GMNN 387C/A polymorphisms may not play a major role in the etiology of breast cancer, but CDT1 variant may have a potential role only in genetically susceptible women.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Breast Neoplasms ; ethnology ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; genetics ; China ; Female ; Geminin ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

To study the in vivo intestinal absorption kinetics of phloridzin in rats. The absorption of phloridzin in the small intestines and colon of rats was investigated using an in vivo single-pass perfusion method and the drug concentration was measured by HPLC. The effects on intestinal absorption of different drug concentration and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor were conducted. The results showed that the phloridzin could be absorbed in whole intestine, but more fully in the jejunum and colon segment,poorly absorbed in the duodenum and ileum. The absorption rate constant (Ka) and the apparent absorption coefficient（Papp）of phloridzin decreased following the sequence of jejunum> colon > duodenum > ileum. Absorption parameters of phloridzin had no significant difference at different concentration (5.14, 10.28, 20.56 mg•L⁻¹) . The saturate phenomena was not observed under the test range of drug concentration, and the absorption mechanism may be the passive diffusion transport.There had a significant difference in Ka and Papp values between P-gp inhibitor and no P-gp inhibitor groups. Phloridzin may be the substrate of P-gp.

Objective: To analyze the clinical features for heart failure (HF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients presented as restrictive cardiomyopathy. Methods: We retrospectively studied 32 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combining HF patients with NYHA grade III-IV presented as restrictive cardiomyopathy and summarized their clinical features with the outcomes of in-hospital management. Results: Echocardiography found restrictive cardiomyopathy changes in all 32 severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combining HF patients as both atriums were enlarged and the size of left ventricle was normal; 84.4％ patients with normal LVEF (>50％) and 15.6％ with LVEF<50％; 37.5％ patients with enlarged right ventricle. HF history was from 10 days to 35 years at the mean of 8.3 years. 75％ patients appeared whole heart failure, the main symptoms were dyspnea, edema, some patients had syncope and angina. There were 8 patients with respiratory failure, 2 with cardiac shock, 13 with medium to large amount of pleural effusion and ascites; 90％ patients combining paroxysmal or persistentatrial fibrillation (AF), 8 patients received pacemaker implantation due to slow tachycardia. The in-hospital ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation occurred in 3 patients, 2 of them were successfully rescued by electrical cardio-version and received implantable cardioverter defibrillator(ICD), 1 died for failed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation; 6 patients had heart transplantation.Conclusion: Severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combining HF patients presented as restrictive cardiomyopathy were usually at the late stage in critical condition with various complications even they could have normal size of left ventricle and LVEF, some patients may need heart transplantation.