Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of long pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of onychomycosis.Methods Thirty-five patients with onychomycosis were treated by long pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm,power of 30-40 J/cm2,pulse width of 35 milliseconds,diameter of light spot of 4 mm.One treatment session included 4 times of irradiation at an interval of 2 minutes.Patients were treated once a week for 4 weeks followed by once a month for 6 months.Clinical and mycological efficacy was evaluated 9 months after the beginning of treatment.Side effects were recorded and analyzed.Nails were divided into various groups according to causative fungal species,clinical phenotypes,and distribution of affected nails.Data were processed by using SPSS 17.0 software.Chi-square test was performed to compare the response and recurrence rate between these groups.Results A total of 79 nails were treated by long pulsed Nd:YAG laser in this study.At 9 months after the first treatment,clinical response was observed in 67.1％ of these nails,mycological response in 73.4％,and recurrence in 19.0％.The Trichophyton rubrum group showed a better clinical (x2 =10.913,P ＜ 0.05) and mycological response (x2=13.532,P ＜ 0.05),but a lower recurrence/reinfection rate (x2 =10.980,P ＜ 0.05) compared with the other-species group.No significant difference was observed between the Trichophyton rubrum group and Candida albicans group in the clinical and mycological response rate or recurrence/reinfection rate.The clinical response in the distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO) group was significantly poorer than that in the white superficial onychomycosis (WSO) group (x2 =11.935,P ＜ 0.05),but better than that in the proximal subungual onychomycosis (PSO)/total dystrophic onychomycosis (TDO) group (x2 =17.515,P ＜ 0.05).Increased clinical response rate was observed in the second-fifth finger nail group compared with the thumb nail/second-fifth toe nail group (x2 =13.437,P ＜ 0.05)and hallux nail group (x2 =10.595,P＜ 0.05),while no statistical difference was observed in clinical response rate between the hallux nail group and thumb nail/second-fifth toe nail group (x2 =3.030,P＞ 0.05),or in mycological response rate or recurrence/reinfection rate among the second-fifth finger nail group,thumb nail/second-fifth toe nail group and hallux nail group.There was no obvious adverse reaction but pain during the treatment.Conclusions Long pulsed Nd:YAG laser appears to be an effective and safe approach to the treatment of onychomycosis,and the treatment outcome is affected by clinical types,location,and causative fungal species of onychomycosis.

20?g/L) after surgery in one month.The survival rate for 1,3,5yr were 100%(n=17),91.5%(n=16) and 84.7% (n=14) respectively in the therapy group,and in the control group 95.45% (n=21),72.7% (n=16),40.91%(n=9) respectively.Sur- vival rate between two groups showed significant difference (P

Object To understand if abnormal prostaglandin production is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic renal failure induced by the cane of Aristolochia manshuriensis Kom. Methods Rats in experimental group were given 10 g/kg of the cane of A. manshuriensis everyday for eight weeks. The control group was given the same amount of tap water. At the 8th week, kidney pathology, renal function, serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urinary protein excretion were recorded. The content of 6 keto PGF 1? and TXB 2 in the urine, plasma and renal cortex tissues were determined. Results The urinary protein excretion, SCr and BUN had been significantly increased in rat experimental group. Microscopic examination of the kidney revealed focal degeneration and necrosis of tubular epithelial cells and slight intersititial fibrosis. The ratio of 6 keto PGF 1? /TXB 2 was markedly decreased in the urine, plasma as well as renal cortex tissues. Conclusion Abnormal prostaglandin production is an important pathogenic factor in the pathogenesis of chronic renal failure induced by the cane of A. manshuriensis

Objective To compare the efficacy of and adverse reactions to a fractional micro-plasma radio-frequency technology versus fractional ultrapulsed CO2 laser in the treatment of atrophic acne scars.Methods Twenty-one patients with atrophic acne scars were enrolled in this study.Half of each subject's face was treated with micro-plasma,and the other half with fractional ultrapulsed CO2 laser,for one session.Treatments were randomly administered in a split-face manner.The efficacy and adverse effects were evaluated 6 months after the treatment by using the following outcome parameters:ECCA grading scale (échelle d' évaluation clinique des cicatrices d'acné),degrees of post-treatment pain and edema,time taken for crusting and durations of inflammatory erythema,patients' subjective rating of improvement in scar by using a quartile grading scale.A non-parametric rank test was conducted to compare the efficacy and adverse effects between the two treatments.A scar model was established on both ears of a New Zealand big ear rabbit,and treated with the CO2 laser and micro-plasma respectively,immediately followed by the resection of scar tissue for the observation of histological changes.Results A decrease of ECCAscore was observed in 90.5％ (19/21) of the patients after micro-plasma treatment,and in 86.7％ (18/21) after CO2 laser treatment; no significant difference was observed in the response rate (P ＞ 0.05).In detail,ECCA score decreased by 31.5％ (from 50.71 to 34.76 ) after micro-plasma treatment,compared to 29.9％ (from 53.57 to 38.10) after CO2 laser treatmet.Mild edema was observed after micro-plasma treatment,with the duration of erythema and crusting being 13.95 days and 6.95 days,respectively,compared to 45.81 days and 10.10 days respectively,after CO2 laser treatment.Pigmentation occurred in none of the patients after micro-plasma treatment,but in 19％ after CO2 laser treatment.Animal experiment showed that microscopic ablation zones were broad and shallow after micro-plasma treatment,but narrow and deep after CO2 laser treatment.Conclusions Fractional micro-plasma and CO2 laser are both effective for the treatment of atrophic acne scars,but the former seems to have less side effects with a lower incidence of pigmentation.

Cytokinesis ; Micronucleus Tests

Objective To establish the bedside screening scale for cognition examination in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.Methods The modified mini-mental status examination(MMMSE)(revised by the Neurology Department of Hua Shan Hospital)was applied to examine the recognition function of SLE pa- tients.The results were compared with those of the traditional mini-mental status examination(MMSE).Results MMSE examination results showed that NPSLE score was lower than that of normal control group(P＜0.01),no significant difference was found between NPSLE patients and SLE control group(P＞0,05),and the completion time was longer than SLE control group and normal control group(P＜0.01);but no significant difference was found between SLE control group and normal control group.The result of MMMSE examination showed that the score of NPSLE group was lower than that of SLE control group and normal control group(P＜0.01),and the completion time was longer than SLE control group and normal control group(P＜0.01);but the score of SLE control group was lower than the normal control group,and its completion time was longer than normal control group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.01).Conclusion MMSE is the most widely used dementia scale,but it is not sensitive in demonstrating the impairment of recognition function.The several items we added to the MMMSE can detect recognition impairment more sensitively,and ean be very easily applied,costs less time(within 10 minutes).Therefore,it can be used for SLE bedside screening.

Objective To determine,the clinical significance of serum myocardial enzymes (Mb,cTNI, CK,CK-Mb,AST,LDH) in the classification of the disease severity of non-cardiogenic critically-ill patients. Compared with APACHEⅡscore concerned as the standard diagnosis of the critical ills,these biomarkers were investigated for the evaluation possibility of the degree and the prognosis of the critical ills.Method Patients admitted to our EICU were consecutively collected for the research from April to December in 2005 and the myocardial enzymes,and routine serum biochemical test and APACHEⅡscore were detected simultaneously.All the patients were classified to three groups according to the APACHEⅡscore (mild group,APACHEⅡ25) and two groups (survive group and death group) according to the prognosis.All the patients were followed up till recovery/discharge or death. Covariance,Wilcoxon and x~2 were used for the statistical analysis.Results The myocardial enzymes rose when the disease deteriorated and the APACHEⅡscore went up.AST,LDH,CK,CK-Mb,Mb were significantly different in the three groups according to the APACHEⅡscore (P

Objective To explore the association of sedentary behavior and time with risk of metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods A total of 10 149 subjects were recruited from local residents aged ≥40 years old in Jiashan County by cluster-random sampling method.The data including physical activity,job,sedentary time,and sleep,etc.were collected.Height and body weight,waist circumference,blood pressure,blood glucose,blood lipid,etc.were determined.Logistic regression was used for correlation analysis.Results The prevalence of MS was 28.64％ in local residents over 40 years old in Jiashan.The rate of sedentary behavior in all subjects was 67.57％,with 3 h sedentary time on average.Compared with non-MS group,the rates of sedentary behavior and sedentary time were significantly higher in MS group (P＜0.01).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sedentary behavior was independently associated with an increased risk of MS after adjustment for age,sex,body mass index (BMI),smoking,drinking,and sedentary time(OR=1.16,95％ CI 1.03-1.30,P=0.017).Increased sedentary time was associated with higher risks of hypertension,type 2 diabetes mellitus,and dyslipidemia (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Sedentary time ≥ 5 h/d independently increased the risk of MS (OR =1.15,95％ CI 1.01-1.31,P =0.034).Conclusions There is a high prevalence of MS in adults over 40 years old living in the eastern coastal rural area.MS and its related diseases are closely associated with sedentary behavior and its duration.

Anti-Infective Agents ; pharmacology ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy ; Research Design

OBJECTIVETo investigate the potential effects of herbicide quinclorac (3,7-dichloro-8-quinoline-carboxylic) on the culturable microorganisms in flooded paddy soil.

METHODSTotal soil aerobic bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi were counted by a 10-fold serial dilution plate technique. Numbers of anaerobic fermentative bacteria (AFB), denitrifying bacteria (DNB) and hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria (HPAB) were numerated by three-tube anaerobic most-probable-number (MPN) methods with anaerobic liquid enrichment media. The number of methanogenic bacteria (MB) and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) was determined by the rolling tube method in triplicate. Soil respiration was monitored by a 102G-type gas chromatography with a stainless steel column filled with GDX-104 and a thermal conductivity detector.

RESULTSQuinclorac concentration was an important factor affecting the populations of various culturable microorganisms. There were some significant differences in the aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. AFB and DNB between soils were supplemented with quinclorac and non-quinclorac at the early stage of incubation, but none of them was persistent. The number of fungi and DNB was increased in soil samples treated by lower than 1.33 micro x g(-1) dried soil, while the CFU of fungi and HPAB was inhibited in soil samples treated by higher than 1.33 microg x g(-1) dried soil. The population of actinomycete declined in negative proportion to the concentrations of quinclorac applied after 4 days. However, application of quinclorac greatly stimulated the growth of AFB and NFB. MB was more sensitive to quinclorac than the others, and the three soil samples with concentrations higher than 1 microg x g(-1) dried soil declined significantly to less than 40% of that in the control, but the number of samples with lower concentrations of quinclorac was nearly equal to that in the control at the end of experiments.

CONCLUSIONQuinclorac is safe to the soil microorganisms when applied at normal concentrations (0.67 microg x g(-1)).