OBJECTIVETo evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of the novel simplified no-flip surgical approach to Shang Ring male circumcision in adults.

METHODSA total of 528 adult males, aged 18 - 58 (mean 35) years, 63 with phimosis and 465 with redundant prepuce, underwent no-flip Shang Ring circumcision with or without removal of the outer ring. The operation time and intraoperative blood loss were recorded and observations were made on such complications as postoperative bleeding, infection, edema, and wound dehiscence.

RESULTSThe operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and 2-hour postoperative pain score were (3.8 +/- 0.3) min, (0.6 +/- 0.1) ml, and 7.3 +/-0.3, respectively. Spontaneous ring detachment occurred at 21.6 +/- 2.1 days postoperatively in 12.7% of the patients (67/528) who had chosen not to remove the rings. Of those who preferred removal of the outer ring (87.3% [461/528]), none experienced any pain at the ring removal 7 days after the operation. Postoperative complications included infection in 3 cases (0.56%) and mild edema in 9 (1.70%), but no bleeding and wound dehiscence. Totally, 518 (98.1%) of the patients felt satisfied with the postoperative penile appearance.

CONCLUSIONNo-flip Shang Ring circumcision, with no need for removal of the inner ring, is a safe and simple approach for adult males, which is superior to conventional Shang Ring circumcision for requirement of fewer surgical instruments, shorter operation time, lower incidence of complications, and better satisfaction with the penile appearance. However, these advantages are to be further demonstrated by more randomized controlled trials.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Circumcision, Male ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phimosis ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Young Adult

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; administration & dosage ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone ; administration & dosage ; Nanotechnology ; Research

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the application of prognosis evaluation of ulnar nerve injury by 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). METHODS: The metabolites of first dorsal interossei (FDI) of two hands from 12 healthy volunteers and 1 volunteer with complete ulnar nerve injury were detected by 1H-MRS and the data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: For the FDI of healthy adults, the female peaks area of extra-myocellular lipids (EMCL) was higher than the male (P < 0.05); There was no significant difference in Cho, Cr and intra-myocellular lipids (IMCL) between male and female (P > 0.05); There was no significant difference in all the peaks area between the left and right hand (P > 0.05). The EMCL peak of the injury side was higher than that of the healthy side, and the area of FDI was reduced in the volunteer with ulnar nerve injury. CONCLUSION Noninvasive and quantitative detection of 1H-MRS may be valuable for prognosis evaluation of peripheral nerve injury.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy/methods* ; Sex Distribution ; Ulnar Nerve/metabolism*

OBJECTIVETo compare the effect of transurethral resection of the prostate combined with endocrine therapy (TURP + ET) with that of αlA-blockers combined with ET ((αlA-b + ET) in the treatment of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in patients with advanced prostate cancer (PCa), and to investigate the safety of the TURP + ET for the treatment of PCa with BOO.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed 63 cases of PCa with BOO, 28 treated by αlA-b + ET and the other 35 by TURP + ET. We obtained the residual urine volume (RV), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and quality of life score (QoL) before and after treatment along with the overall survival rate of the patients, followed by comparison of the parameters between the two methods.

RESULTSAt 3 months after treatment, RV, IPSS, and QoL in the TURP + ET group were significantly decreased from (137.8 ± 27.6) ml, (22.3 ± 3.6), and (4.2 ± 0.8) to (29 ± 13.6) ml, (7.8 ± 2.1), and (1.6 ± 0.5) respectively (P < 0.05), while Qmax increased from (5.6 ± 2.1) ml/s to (17.6 ± 2.7) ml/s (P < 0.05); the former three parameters in the αlA-b + ET group decreased from (133.6 ± 24.9) ml, (21.5 ± 3.2), and (4.7 ± 1.1) to (42 ± 18.3) ml, (12.8 ± 2.6), and (2.5 ± 0.7) respectively (P < 0.05), while the latter one increased from (6.3 ± 2.4) ml/s to (11.7 ± 2.3) ml/s (P < 0.05), all with statistically significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). The overall survival rate of the TURP + ET group was not significantly different from that of the αlA-b + ET group (51.4% vs 46.4% , P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTURP + ET is preferable to αlA-b + ET for its advantage of relieving BOO symptoms in advanced PCa without affecting the overall survival rate of the patients.

Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction ; drug therapy ; etiology ; surgery

Acute Disease ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Paramyxoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Phylogeny ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Respirovirus ; genetics

Facing current situation of integrative medicine (IM), authors put forward that clinical and diagnosis program of IM could be carried out from clinical path, pathogenesis, treatment theory and philosophy, and so on, but with different integration degrees. Meanwhile, formulation of concrete program should be disease-targetedly set up, and adjusted from person to person, from place to place, from time to time. As for settled IM program , authors could evaluate it from whether Chinese medicine and Western medicine have formed complementary, synergistic, excitatory actions, and toxicity attenuation; whether more problems could be solved in efficacy, safety, practicability, and economy than previous single mode.
Critical Pathways ; Integrative Medicine ; trends ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; trends

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Arsenicals ; administration & dosage ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; Doxorubicin ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxides ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo study the possible role of human β-defensins 1 (Hbd-1) and immunoglobulins A, G and M (IgA, IgG and IgM) in the development of recurrent pneumonia by measuring serum concentrations of the above indexes in infants with recurrent pneumonia and healthy infants.

METHODSSerum samples were obtained from 35 healthy children and 35 children aged from 2 to 24 months with recurrent pneumonia. Serum Hbd-1 concentration was measured using ELISA. Serum IgA, IgG and IgM concentrations were measured by immunonephelometry. The correlation of hBD-1 with IgA, IgG and IgM was evaluated.

RESULTSThe serum concentration of hBD-1 in infants with recurrent pneumonia (14±11 μg/mL) was significantly lower than in controls (18±11 μg/mL) (P<0.05), as was the serum concentration of IgA in infants with recurrent pneumonia (1.3±0.6 g/L vs 1.5±0.8 g/L; P<0.05). The serum concentration of IgG in infants with recurrent pneumonia was also significantly lower than in controls (9±3 g/L vs 13±5 g/L; P<0.05). There were no linear relationships between serum Hbd-1 and IgA, IgG and IgM (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe serum levels of hBD-1, IgA and IgG decrease in infants with recurrent pneumonia, suggesting disorders in the immune defensive function of the respiratory tract, and this may be one of the immunity related reasons for recurrent pneumonia in infants. It is of great clinical value to measure serum levels of Hbd-1, IgA, IgG and IgM in infants with recurrent pneumonia.

Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; blood ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; Immunoglobulins ; blood ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumonia ; immunology ; Recurrence ; beta-Defensins ; blood

Arginine Deiminase(ADI) was purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation,Q-Sepharose Fast Flow anion exchange chromatography and SephadexG-75 gel filtration chromatography. This purification protocol resulted in a 34.5-fold purification of ADI with 31.4% final yield. A molecular weight of about 190 kD determined by native gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme has only one kind of 46 kD subunit determined by SDS-PAGE. Combining the results from the two kinds of electrophoresis,the authors deduce that the enzyme may be a tetramer. The optimum pH and temperature for lipolytic activity of ADI was pH 6.5 and 50℃,respectively. It was extremely stable at 45℃ and retained 97.9% of its original activity for 30 min. The stability declined rapidly as soon as the temperature rose over 50℃. ADI was highly stable in the pH range from pH 5-8. ADI acted on L-arginine but not on D-arginine. ADI catabolism was dependent on metal ions. At their adequate concentration,Mn2+,Mg2+ and Co2+ were the effective promoter,while superfluous Zn2+and Co2+ inhibited ADI activity. L-citrulline did not act on ADI,but L-ornithine inhibited ADI activity. The degradation of L-arginine with ADI catalysis was according to simple Michaelis-Menten equation. The Michaelis constant was 3.2686 mmol/L and the maxi-mum velocity was 2.44 ?mol/min.

Background Previous experimental and clinical studies have proved that elevated serum uric acid increased risk for developing hypertension.Whereas,there are a paucity of information on the relationship between serum uric acid and prehypertension.Objective The purpose of this research is to evaluate the association between the serum uric acid and prehypertension.Method A cohort of seven thousand eight hundred thirty-nine subjects without hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases were recruited from a cross sectional study in urban and rural place in 9 provinces during 2005-2006.Based on serum uric acid(324 ?mol/L for overall population,366 ?mol/L for male,285 ?mol/L for female),people were categorized into quartiles.The odds ratio for prehypertension was calculat ed with the lowest quartile as the reference.Results The prevalence of prehypertension increased with increasing uric acid in total population(P324 ?mol/L)to lowest quartile 1(