Objective To investigate voicing changes of adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) before and after H-uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (H-UPPP). Methods 56 adult OSAHS pa-tients and 40 healthy people were included in the study. Acoustic parameters and formant frequencies were measured for each patient before and after H- UPPP, and also for the control group. Results Acoustic parameters: each group demonstrated no differences in all the parameters except for normalized noised energy (NNE). NNE increased after H-UPPP. Formant frequency: F1, B1, F2, B2, F3 of OSAHS patients were significantly lower than normal control. There was no significant difference in the formant frequency before operation and one week after; however, F1 and F2 were lower than the normal control one week after surgery. One month after surgery, F1 and F2 were ob-viously higher than that obtained in one week. All the other parameters compared with normal controls showed no significant discrepancies. Conclusion Acoustic characteristics of adult OSAHS patients were different from healthy person. After H-UPPP, the vocal tracts of patients changed, thus causing improvement to the acoustic parameters and voicing qualities, especially at the formant frequency. After the surgery, the formant frequencies of the patients increased gradually to the range of healthy people.

OBJECTIVETo purify the extract of fructus gardeniae for injection by macroreticular resins in purification process of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Injections.

METHODUsing fructus gardeniae as sample, on base of obtaining the extract by employing macroreticular resin, quality evaluation and rationality of purification methods had been studied by the quantitative analysis of active ingredients and the characteristics of micromeritics, safety and stability of the extract.

RESULTThe experiment showed the extract of fructus gardeniae for injection had been produced successfully by macroreticular resin.

CONCLUSIONUsing macroreticular resins is a promising purification way of TCM injections, whereas a more consummate method of quality evaluation must be established to ensure safety, efficiency and stability of the preparation in the process.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; toxicity ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Gardenia ; chemistry ; Injections ; Iridoids ; isolation & purification ; Mice ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Pyrans ; isolation & purification ; Quality Control ; Resins, Synthetic ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

An 11-month-old male infant was admitted to our hospital with fever, fussiness, poor feeding, vomiting, and tachypnea for two days prior. Physical examination revealed sporadic papules and vesicles occurring on his hands, feet, face, and perianal mucosa. Enterovirus 71 was identified from both throat swab and vesicle fluid using virus isolation techniques. The patient's heart rate fluctuated in a very narrow range from 180~210/beats/min regardless of his physiologic state. An electrocardiogram showed P-waves buried within or occurring just after regular, narrow, QRS complexes. The patient was diagnosed as having hand, foot, and mouth disease in combination with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). The child recovered well with symptomatic treatment, including intravenous administration of acyclovir, glucocorticoids, immunoglobulin, adenosine, and sotalol. PSVT was terminated within 36 hours of hospitalization. The skin lesions became crusted on the third day, and then proceeded to heal spontaneously. Here we report on this unusual case and review the associated literature.
Acyclovir ; Adenosine ; Administration, Intravenous ; Animals ; Child ; Electrocardiography ; Enterovirus ; Fever ; Foot ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease ; Glucocorticoids ; Hand ; Heart Rate ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant ; Male ; Mouth ; Mouth Diseases ; Mucous Membrane ; Pharynx ; Physical Examination ; Skin ; Sotalol ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular ; Tachypnea ; Viruses ; Vomiting

OBJECTIVEBio-active constituents were expected to abstain from Homalomena occuta.

METHODSExtracts from the plant with 95% alcohol were distributed by several solvents and isolated via column chromatography on silica and Saphadex 20-LH gel.

RESULTSThirteen compounds were isolated from this plant. Among them seven natural products were identified via spectral methods as beta-stigmastol(H1) beta-D-Glucopyranoside(3)- stigmast-5-en-3-yl(H2); oplodiol(1); oplopanone(2); homalomenol(3); bullatantriol(4); 1 beta, 4 beta, 7 alpha-trihydroxyeudesmane(5).

CONCLUSIONAll these compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Araceae ; chemistry ; Naphthols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Sitosterols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Stigmasterol ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Objective To study the clinical application anatomy of interventricular foramen and offer a base for operation.Methods Interventricular foramens were observed in 15 adult cadaveric brainThirty- two patients of obstructive hydrocephalus were operated to observe the structure of interventricular foramen un- der neuroendoscope.Results Interventricular foramen was a poriform structure which consists of fornixan- terior pole of thalamencephalon and choroid plexus and was a oval shape in most of themThe plane of the fo- ramen was a included angle with the median sagittal planeThe septal veinthalamostriate veinthalamen- cephal and even the floor of third ventricle could be observed clearly in endoscope.At the same timewe found the foramen had a significant change in obstructive hydrocephalus.Conclusion The interventricular foramen has a simple relatively structure but a variation on size and shape especially in obstructive hydroceph- alusA clearly comprehension of it's structure and adjacent is a base to microsurgery and endoscopic surgery on the foramen.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy and safety of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells transplantation(UC-MSCT)for patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods Twelve patients with refractory SLE were enrolled in this study.UC-MSCs(≥106/kg cell number)were infused intravenously for each patient. The clinical manifestations and laboratory parameters were compared before and after MSCT. Results The twelve patients were followed up for one to twenty-six months after MSCT.The systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index(SLEDAI)score decreased from 18±4 to 10±4 one month after MSCT(n=12,P＜0.01)and then decreased to 7±4 at three month follow-up.Nine patients showed improvement of 24 h proteinuria[(2103±749)mg vs(3359±1248)mg,P＜0.01]one month after MSCT.Further improvement of 24 h proteinuria was observed in eight patients[(1427±616)mg vs(3342±1333)mg,P＜0.01]at three months post MSCT.Serum creatinine of five patients decreased significantly and ten patients showed an increase of serum albumin. Serum complement C3 increased in three patients and four patients showed obvious amelioration of hematological abnormalities. There was no transplantation related complications for all the patients. Conclusion UC-MSCT is effective and safe for refractory SLE,but further observation is required to evaluate its long term efficacy.

This paper introduced an experimental study of the preparation of polylacticacid (PLA) nanoparticles of cucurbitacin (CuC) using a precipitation method. The residual acetone, ratio of CuC PLA precipitates, and the relationships between the ratios of two precipitates and drug incorporation rates were measured. It appeared that the nanoparticles with 60% of PLA incorporated with 5.5% of CuC were formed when acetone was injected into the aqueous phase. As the acetone gradually evaporated, drug incorporation/encapsulation continued, with most of CuC (about 70%) formed new crystalline cores and suspended in the form of microcrystals in the medium, resulting a suspension containing both nanoparticles and microcrystals. We also concluded that this system may not necessarily be suitable for all lipophilic drugs to be prepared to PLA nanoparticles with good incorporation rate. The drug incorporation depended on the interactions among drug, PLA, and organic solvents, in addition to the solubility of the drug.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; administration & dosage ; Chemical Precipitation ; Cucurbitaceae ; chemistry ; Cucurbitacins ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Lactic Acid ; Microspheres ; Nanotechnology ; Particle Size ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polyesters ; Polymers ; Triterpenes ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) and multimodal navigation in surgical resection of glioblastoma.

METHODSBetween February 2009 and July 2010, 76 glioblastoma patients underwent surgical resection guided by iMRI and multimodal navigation. The cohort consisted of 43 male and 33 female patients, with a mean age of 49 years (range: 14-79 years). Rates of gross total resection (GTR) and extent of resection (EoR) were calculated at first and final iMRI scans.Pearson χ(2) test was used to compare the rates of GTR.

RESULTSiMRI and multimodal navigation were successfully implemented in all cases. Rates of GTR were misestimated by neurosurgeons in 24 cases (31.6%), which were confirmed by first iMRI. Total tumor resection were achieved in 20 cases (26.3%) as a result of iMRI scan, increasing the rates of gross total resection from 52.6% to 78.9% (χ(2) = 11.692, P = 0.001). Extent of resection in 28 patients who underwent further tumor resection were increased from 81.5% to 98.1%, leading to the overall extent of resection improved from 92.3% to 98.4%. At 3-month follow-up, 3 cases (3.9%) developed permanent neurologic deficits. The mean clinical follow-up was 15.6 months (range 3.0-45.0 months). The 2-year overall survival rate was 19.7%. The median progression-free survival of gross total resection group was 12 months (95% CI: 10.1-13.9 months), compared with 9 months (95%CI: 7.9-10.1 months) of the subtotal resection group (χ(2) = 4.756, P = 0.029). The overall survival of gross total resection group was 16 months (95% CI: 13.7-18.3 months), compared with 12 months (95% CI: 9.7-14.3 months) of the subtotal resection group (χ(2) = 7.885, P = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONCombined with multimodal navigation, iMRI helps maximize surgical resection of glioblastoma, preserving neurological function while increasing progression-free survival and overall survival.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Brain Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Glioblastoma ; surgery ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Intraoperative ; methods ; Neuronavigation ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the self-assessment characteristics of Voice Handicap Index (VHI) for voice disorders and its influencing factors.

METHODSOne thousand seven hundred and sixty six dysphonic patients and 120 control subjects were included in this study. Two hundred twenty seven patients were treated with phonosurgery or Botulinumtoxin injection. VHI was used for self-assessment.

RESULTSDysphonic patients had worse VHI scores than control (z from 8.039 to 17.043, P = 0.000). There was a significant difference among the VHI scores of different diseases. VHI scores were descending in order among spasmodic dysphonia, vocal fold paralysis, functional dysphonia, sulcus vocalis, benign and malignant tumor of vocal fold, vocal fold cyst, Reinke's edema, vocal fold polyp, vocal fold keratosis and chronic laryngitis, vocal nodule. The emotional scores were the highest in spasmodic dysphonia, and followed by functional dysphonia. In another group, the physical scores were higher than functional scores and emotional scores. Treatment resulted in statistical improvement in VHI scores (P < 0.05). The total scores were different significantly between different educational background and age groups (F from 8.701 to 27.371, P = 0.000). The higher the educational degree, the higher the VHI scores. As to age groups, the juvenile group's scores were the lowest, while the youth's group the highest, then the scores declined when ages increased.

CONCLUSIONAs a useful supplementary instrument to measure the voice disorder severity and the treatment's effect, VHI can comprehensively assess the voice handicap's affect to the life quality and the difference after the treatment, especially in physical, functional and emotional aspects, but it is somehow subject to the educational degree and age.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Disability Evaluation ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Self-Assessment ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome ; Voice Disorders ; therapy ; Voice Quality ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDImmunotherapy is emerging as a promising cure for cancer. However, a severe problem in this area is the immune tolerance to tumor cells and tumor-associated antigens, as evidenced by the ability of cancer to escape immune surveillance. To overcome this problem this work examined the potential of improving the antigenicity of myeloma by metabolic engineering of its cell surface carbohydrate antigens (i.e., glycoengineering) and presentation of the modified tumor antigens by dendritic cells (DCs) to generate cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs).

METHODSCD138+ myeloma cells were isolated from 11 multipe myeloma (MM) patients by the immunomagnetic bead method. The MM cells were treated with N-propionyl-D-mannosamine (ManNPr), a synthetic analog of N-acetyl-D-mannosamine (ManNAc), the natural biosynthetic precursor of N-acetyl sialic acid (NeuNAc), to express unnatural N-propionylated sialoglycans. The glycoengineered cells were then induced to apoptosis, and the apoptotic products were added to cultured functional DCs that could present the unnatural carbohydrate antigens to autologous T-lymphocytes.

RESULTSIt was found that the resultant DCs could activate CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes, resulting in increased expression of T cell surface markers, including CD8CD28 and CD4CD29. Moreover, upon stimulation by glycoengineered MM cells, these DC-activated T-lymphocytes could release significantly higher levels of IFN-gamma (P < 0.05). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays further showed that the stimulated T-lymphocytes were cytotoxic to glycoengineered MM cells.

CONCLUSIONSThis work demonstrated that glycoengineered myeloma cells were highly antigenic and the CTLs induced by the DCs loaded with the unnatural myeloma antigens were specifically cytotoxic to the glycoengineered myeloma. This may provide a new strategy for overcoming the problem of immune tolerance for the development of effective immunotherapies for MM.

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate ; immunology ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Immunotherapy ; Interferon-gamma ; biosynthesis ; Multiple Myeloma ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology