Objective To study epidemiological trends of leprosy for 50 years in Gansu Province. Methods Epidemiological indicators and their trends were analyzed. Results By the end of 1998, a total of 4 773 leprosy cases had been detected in Gansu Province, of which 77.76％ distributed in 24 counties in Longnan, Gannan and Linxia prefectures, and 3 507 cases were cured and other dropped out or died. Type ratio of MB to PB was more than 60％ during the period. Since the mass surveys and comprehensive control were implemented in the 1960s, prevalence and detection rates had decreased continuously and the number of endemic counties reduced from 84.88％ in 1986 to 24.14％ in 1998. There were 42 active cases at the end of 1998 with a prevalence rate of 0.0017 per 1000. Conclusion Through the efforts for 50 year running, leprosy has been successfully controlled in Gansu Province.

The technology of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy(MRS) is a newly-developed mean for analyzing some specific nucleus and their compounds making use of the principles of magnetic resonance and the effects of chemical shift. Currently, among MRS applications, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS) is the most widely applied one developed from single voxel to three-dimensional multi-voxel scanning technique. It provides a lot of important information for clinical studies. This article mainly reviews the methods for absolute quantification measurement of brain metabolites using multi-voxel MRS.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between muscle fibrosis and the displacement of the hyoid bone while swallowing among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiation therapy.Methods Twenty-six NPC patients with dysphagia were recruited.Shear wave elastography was performed to assess the fibrosis of the mylohyoid muscle.The horizontal and vertical displacement of the hyoid bone were measured based on the videofluoroscopic swallowing study,and the severity of dysphagia was determined using the penetration-aspiration scale (PAS).The correlation between the modulus value of the mylohyoid muscle and the horizontal and vertical displacement of the hyoid bone were analyzed,respectively.Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve were constructed to assess the diagnostic ability of modulus value for the severity of dysphagia above grade 5 of PAS.Results For patients whose PAS was higher than grade 5,the modulus value of mylohyoid muscle was negatively correlated with the displacement of hyoid bone,while such correlation was absent for patients whose PAS grading were less than or equal to 5.Sensitivity and specificity by modulus value to detect dysphagia were 80％ and 81.8％,respectively,with the best cut-off value of 14.37 kPa.Conclusion The reduction of hyoid bone displacement can be partially attributed to muscle fibrosis for post-radiation NPC patients with severe dysphagia.The modulus value measured by Shear wave elastography could be used as a supplementary way to monitor the development of dysphagia.

Objective To evaluate the effect of conversion from mycophenolic acid (MPA) to mizoribine (MZR) in renal transplant recipients with gastrointestinal tract (GI) symptoms.Methods A total of 355 renal transplant recipients with GI symptoms caused by MPA administration were enrolled from April 2015 to March 2017 in 25 different renal transplant centers in China.The symptomatic improvement of GI before (baseline) and after conversion to MZR (1,2,4 weeks) was assessed by each item of GI symptoms indication.In addition,the efficacy and safety of the conversion therapy during 12 months were determined.Results Patients showed improvement in GI symptoms including diarrhea,abdominal pain,abdominal distention and stomachache after conversion to MZR 1,2,4 weeks (P＜0.05).In patients with different severity of diarrhea,conversion to MZR therapy significantly improved diarrhea (P＜0.05).During 12 months,no patient experienced clinical immune rejection.We did not observe any infections,leucopenia and other serious side effects.Conclusion MZR could markedly improve GI symptoms caused by MPA administration in renal transplant recipients.