Objective To investigate the correlations of body mass index (BMI) with plasma apelin, waist-hip ratio (WHR), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc), biochemical indicator, blood fat and ultrasonic cardiogram (UCG) figures in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).Methods A total of 41 elderly CHF patients (20 males and 21 females, aged 66.0±12.3 years) were divided into 3 groups according to BMI: normal group (n= 16), overweight group (n=13) and obese group (n= 12).And they were also divided into 2 subgroups: grade Ⅲ heart function group (n=22) and grade Ⅳ heart function group (n= 19).Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the levels of plasma apelin, and BMI, WHR, C-reactive protein (CRP), FPG, creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB, blood fat, electrolyte and UCG of all patients were detected .Results There were significant differences in waist circumference, hip circumference and WHR among the 3 groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01).But there were no significant differences in high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), FPG, HbAlc, CK, CK-MB, potassium, sodium, CRP, left ventricular internal diameter at end-diastole (LVIDd), left ventricular internal diameter at end-diastole (LVIDs), interventricular septal thickness at end diastole (IVSd) and left ventrieular ejection fraction (LVEF) among the 3 groups (all P> 0.05).The apelin level was higher in obese group than in normal group and in overweight group ((0.48±0.15) mg/L vs.(0.18±0.15) mg/L and (0.27±0.06) mg/L, both P<0.01].And the plasma apelin level was higher in grade Ⅳ heart function group than in grade Ⅲ heart function group [(0.35±0.16) mg/L vs.(0.26±0.13)mg/L, P<0.05].The level of plasma apelin was positively correlated with BMI, white blood cell, CK, hemoglobin and TG, and was negatively correlated with cardiac function and LVEF.The influencing factors for the plasma apelin were BMI (β=0.672, P<0.01), age (β=0.244, P<0.05) and HDL (β=-1.000, P<0.01).Conclusions The plasma apelin level is closely correlated with the development of heart failure.Cardiac dysfunction is more severer when the level of plasma apelin is higher.The high level of plasma apelin may be one of factors for the higher survival rate of the obese CHF patients.Plasma apelin level may be used as an indicator of state of illness.

AIM:To study the effect of captopril on calcineurin and NF-?B p65 in the signal transduction pathway of the cardiovascular remodeling in hypertensive rats.METHODS:Using a animal model of hypertension induced by abdominal aortic banding,the rats were treated with captopril for 10 weeks.The blood pressure was observed with a tail cuff method.The heart weight and heart weight/body weight were measured.The expression of calcineurin and NF-?B p65 were studied by using immunohistochemistry.RESULTS:After treated with captopril,the blood pressure of the model rats was decreased(P

OBJECTIVE To improve the knowledge on the early diagnosis and treatment of the isolated fungus ball sphenoid sinusitis.METHODS A retrospe ctive study was made on10cases of isolated fungus ball sphenoid sinusitis to discuss the clinical manifestation,radiographic features and treatment with endoscopic sinus surgery.RESULTS The common symptoms in10cases were headache and/or bloody nasal discharge.Radiographic features of the disease were a soft tissue image occupying the sphenoid sinus with bones wall thickening.A soft tissue image with calcification in the sphenoid sinus was the feature of CT image.All the patients were treated by nasal endoscopic sinus surgery and cured after followed up for3to18.CONCLUSION Isolated fungus ball sphenoid sinusitis was difficult to diagnose in early stage because of its non-specif ic symptoms.The nasal endoscopy and CT scan make the early diagnosis possible.The diagnosis can be def initely confi rmed by pathological studies.Treatment with endoscopic sinus surgery is an effective method for fungus ball sphenoid sinusitis.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristic and the predicting value of plasma Apelin in elderly patients with sepsis.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted in 26 sepsis patients aged (72.9±9.7) years in average and 30 healthy controls.Serum Apelin level was measured by ELISA.Body mass index (BMI) and C-reaction protein (CRP) were detected.Patients were divided into survival group (n=18) and death group (n 8).According to acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) Ⅱ,patients were divided into subgroup A (n=14,APACHE Ⅱ score≤20) and subgroup B (n=12,APACHE Ⅱ score＞20).Results The Apelin concentration was higher in sepsis patients than in healthy controls [(0.38±0.15)ng/L vs.(0.19±0.12)ng/L,t=2.011,P＜0.05].The Apelin concentration was lower in survival group than in death group[(0.21 ± 0.29)ng/L vs.(0.49 ± 0.32) ng/L,t =2.094,P＜0.05].The Apelin level was increased with APACHE Ⅱ scores increment in sepsis patients (P＜0.05).Multivariable logistic analysis showed that when taking survival/death as the dependent variable and Apelin as the independent variable,the ()R value was 4.162 with 95％ CI:1.115-15.535(P＜0.05).Conclusions Increased serum Apelin level reflects the severity of illness in patients with sepsis,which is a risk factor for death in prognosis of sepsis.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of monochromatic excimer light (MEL) 308 nm in the treatment of vitiligo. Methods Seventy-seven patients were enrolled in the prospective and open clinical study. Two-hundred and one lesions were subjected to local phototherapy of MEL 308-nm once a week for 3 to 6 months. Results Of these lesions, 86.6% obtained repigmentation at different degrees. The repigmentation was more obvious in lesions on the head, face, neck and trunk than in those on the limbs or extremities. Moreover, patients with generalized and segmental vitiligo got a better improvement than patients with other types of vitiligo. Conclusion MEL 308-nm is effective in the treatment of vitiligo without obvious adverse effects.

Objective To conduct a pilot study on genome-wide in vivo protein-RNA interactions in E.coli.Methods Bacterial lysate was treated with RNase before the RNA fragments protected by proteins were extracted from treated lysate and used to construct cDNA library that was applied to high-throughput sequencing .Finally, the transcripts bound by proteins were obtained by bioinformatics analysis .Results A total of 3193 transcripts were obtained , including 2234 mRNAs, 47 sRNAs, 39 tRNAs, 11 rRNAs, and 862 intergenic regions .Conclusion Some information of transcripts interacting with proteins in E.coli is acquired , which will facilitate further studies of protein-RNA interactions .

Objective To study whether citrate lock is superior to heparin lock in the prevention of catheter related infections,bleeding complications and catheter malfunctions among hemodialysis patients with tunneled catheters.Methods By searching in Pubmed,the Cochrane Library,EMBASE,Ovid,WanFang,VIP,CNKI and CBM databases as well as related journals,qualified randomized controlled trials were included in a Meta-analysis using Revman 5.0 and STATA 10.0 software.The endpoints included catheter related infection,bleeding complication,thrombolytic treatment,catheter removal for malfunction,catheter thrombosis and all-cause death.Results Fifteen randomized controlled trials were included with 1621 patients involved.Eight studies compared citrate alone with heparin lock,while 7 trials focused on citrate in combination with other antimicrobials.Pooled analysis demonstrated that incidence of catheter related infections in patients receiving citrate lock decreased by 47％ compared with those on heparin (RR=0.53,95％CI 0.36-0.77,P ＜ 0.01).Subgroup analysis by types of citrate lock indicated that all combined lock solutions of citrate and other antimicrobials (citrate + gentamicin,citrate + taurolidine,citrate + methylene blue +methylparaben + propylparaben) were superior to heparin lock in preventing catheter-related infections (P =0.01,0.04,0.01,respectively); citrate alone seemed to reduce catheter-related infection risk (RR =0.68),but no statistically significant difference was observed (95％CI 0.38-1.21,P=0.19).There were fewer patients with bleeding complications in citrate group (RR =0.53,95％ CI 0.34-0.S4,P ＜ 0.01),while citrate showed no advantage over heparin lock in terms of thrombolytic treatment (P =0.93),catheter removal for malfunction (P =0.35),catheter thrombosis (P =0.64) and all-cause death (P =0.35).Conclusions For hemodialysis patients with tunneled catheters,combined lock solutions of citrate and other antimicrobials,rather than citrate alone,are superior to heparin in preventing catheter related infections.Citrate locks are associated with less bleeding complications,and are comparable to heparin in the maintenance of catheter patency.

Objective To investigate the value of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) in predicting the progression-free survival (PFS)and overall survival (OS) of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after threedimensional (3D) radiotherapy.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 98 ESCC patients,who underwent FDG PET-CT before 3D radiotherapy from 2004 to 2010,to investigate their 1-,3-,and 5-year PFS and OS rates.The relationship of maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax),mean SUV (SUVmean),metabolic target volume (MTV),length of primary tumor on PET-CT before radiotherapy,and number of tumors on PET with PFS and OS were analyzed.The SUVs and clinical data were analysed by independent samples t-test or Hotelling T2 test; the Kaplan-Meier method was used for calculating PFS and OS rates,and the Logrank test was used for survival difference analysis;the prognostic factors were analysed using the Cox proportional hazard model.Results The follow-up rate was 100％ ;56 patients were followed up for at least 3 years,and 27 for at 5 years.The SUVmax SUVmean and MTV of primary tumor,length of primary tumor on PET-CT before radiotherapy,and number of tumors on PET were correlated with PFS and OS (x2 =8.99-41.82,all P ＜ 0.01).The Cox regression analysis showed that PFS could be well predicted based on SUVmean (x2 =4.41,P =0.036,RR =1.398) and number of tumors on PET (x2 =6.79,P =0.009,RR =3.650) and that OS could be well predicted based on number of tumors on PET (x2 =5.03,P =0.025,RR =3.740).Conclusions When estimating the long-term response to precise radiotherapy in patients with ESCC,SUV mean and number of tumors on PET may be used to predict PFS,and number of tumors on PET may be used to predict OS.

The individual intervention control of risk factors in high-risk population is one of key preventive measures of chronic disease.A total of 312 volunteers consulted physicians in one selected community.And 23 high-risk individuals of chronic disease were screened.The physicians customized the limit or requirement of diet,activity,tobacco and alcohol for each individual and made interventions of life behaviors according to the plans.The results showed that physical state of 20 (87％) of them converted from high-risk to health after interventions.Therefore customized control plan of individual risk factors is an effective control method of chronic disease.

Objective To study the efficacy and safety of tacalcitol combined with monochromatic excimer light (MEL) 308 nm vs MEL 308 nm monotherapy in treating vitiligo.Methods Thirty-eight pa- tients with vitiligo were enrolled in the single-blind clinical trial,using plabebo-treated lesions in the same patient as controls.Contralateral or nearby lesions were randomly selected to be treated by either tacalcitol or placebo.All lesions were treated weekly with MEL 308 nm,for a total of 12 sessions.Patients were ex- amined at monthly intervals.The mean number of sessions and the cumulative dosage for initial and excel- lent repigrnentation were calculated.Results Thirty-five patients were evaluated.The mean?SEM cumu- lative dose and number of MEL exposures for initial repigmentation,respectively,were 4.27?3.59 J/cm~2 and 4.89?3.16 on tacalcitol-treated site,5.36?4.12 J/cm~2 and 5.69?3.29 on placebo-treated site,re- spectively (both P＜0.05).For excellent repigrnentation,the cumulative dose and number of exposures were 7.72?5.64 J/cm~2 and 7.79?4.70 respectively on tacalcitol-treated site,and 8.18?4.87 J/cm~2 and 8.4?3.92 respectively on placebo-treated site (both P＞0.05).Treatment with tacalcitol resulted in a sig- nificantly higher percentage (71.4% vs 54.3%) of repigmentation than that with placebo.Conclusions Our results show that MEL 308 nm is safe and effective for the treatment of vitiligo.Additionally,concur- rent topical tacalcitol potentiates the efficacy of MEL 308 nm in the treatment of vitiligo;this combination achieves more rapid pigmentation with a lower total MEL dosage.