BACKGROUND:The incorporating of zeolites or porous fillers into polymer membranes can improve the pervaporation separation properties of membranes.But the effect mechanism of zeolites or porous fillers on membrane properties needs to be further studied.OBJECTIVE:The study was designed to prepare ZSM-5 zeolite incorporated chitosan membrane by solution blending method to investigate the effecIs of zeolite on membrane pervaporation properties.DESIGN:A controlled observation.SETTING:Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.MATERIALS:This study was performed at the Laboratory of New Type Membrane Separation Technology,Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences in May 2006.Chitosan,with deacetylation degree of 75%-85%,was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company,USA;Dimethyl carbonate(DMC),with purity of 99%,was purchased from Fluka Chemical Company,USA:ZSM-5 zeolite was kindly supplied by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,China;Methanol,with purity＞99.5%,were purchased from Shenyang Lianbang Chemical Company,China.METHODS:ZSM-5 zeolite incorporated chitosan membranes were prepared by solution blending method.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:①Swelling and sorption of ZSM-5 zeolite-incorporated chitosan membranes in the DMC/methanol mixture.②Effects of zeolite content in the membrane and operating temperature on pervaporation properties.RESULTS:Scanning electron mieroscope demonstrated that zeolite was uniformly distributed in the membrane matrix and the membranes were free from possible defects.The separation selectivity of dimethyl carbonate(DMC)/methanol mixtures was dominated by solubility selectivity rathcr than diffusivity selectivity.Swelling degree increased and the permeation flux of the membranes increased significantly with the zeolite content increasing.From the temperature-dependent permcation values,the Arrhenius activation parameten were estimated.CONCLUSION:The pervaporation results indicated that the membranes incorporated with the ZSM-5 zeolite exhibited better separation properties for DMC/methanol mixtures comparing with homogeneous chitosan membranes.

Objective To investigate the effect of soybean isoflavone on histology and uhrastructure of benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats.Methods Male SD rats were injected subcutaneously testosterone propionate for 28 d to induce prostatic hyperplasia,and the rats were divided into 5 groups:control group,model group,and 3 test groups with SI in a dose of 60 mg/(kg·d),120 mg/(kg·d) and 240 mg/(kg·d),respectively.The wet prostate weight,prostatic index,morphological,uhrastmetural and morphometrie changes of the prostatic shndular and interstitial tissues were observed.Results The prostate wet weight,prostatic index and prostatic volumes in all dose groups were significantly lower than those in the models.In comparison with the model group,height of prostatic epithelial cells,glandular average diameters,volumes and surface areas in unit volume,as well as glandular circumferences,glandular relative total volumes and interstitial relative total volumes were all significantly decreased.Glandular counts,density,ratio of glandular surface area to volume,and glandular average curvature were all increased.Conclusions Soybean isoflavone can inhibit prostatic hyperplasia in rats.

ObjectiveTo explore the expression and clinical significance of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac-1) protein and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) in breast cancer and their relationship with tumor stage, node metastasis status and hormone receptor status. MethodsImmunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of Rac-1 and HIF-1α protein in 139 specimens of breast cancer,combined with their clinical pathological characteristics and hormone receptor status for statistical analysis.Results The expression of Rac-1 and HIF-1α in breast cancer tissue were 64.75 ％ and 65.47 ％,respectively.The levels were related with the stage of TNM and histological grade (P ＜ 0.05,P ＜ 0.01).There was no significant correlation between these two proteins'expression and the age of patient,primary pathological location, histologic type and menstruation status of breast cancer patients(P ＞ 0.05). The expression of Rac-1 and HIF-1α had no statistical significance between triple negative breast cancer(TNBC)and non-triple negative breast cancer (NTNBC) patients (x2 =1.1229,x2 =0.1786,P ＞ 0.05); The expression level of Rac-1 was positively correlated with HIF-1α in these breast cancer specimens (rs =0.414,P ＜ 0.01).ConclusionThe expression of Rac-1 is positively correlated with HIF-1α level in breast cancer.The relationship between Rac-1 and HIF-1α might be as a new important marker to estimate the invasion,metastasis extent and prognosis in breast cancer.Blocking the regulation between Rac-1 and HIF-1α might be a new treatment target in breast cancer.

Objective:To describe a method based on analysis of the histogram of intensity values pro-duced from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)for quantifying the degree of fatty infiltration. Methods:The study included 25 patients with dystrophinopathy.All the subjects underwent muscle MRI test at thigh level.The histogram Mvalues of 250 muscles adjusted for subcutaneous fat,representing the degree of fatty infiltration,were compared with the expert visual reading using the modified Mercuri scale.Results:There was a significant positive correlation between the histogram Mvalues and the scores of visual reading (r =0.854,P <0.001).The distinct pattern of muscle involvement detected in the pa-tients with dystrophinopathy in our study of histogram M values was similar to that of visual reading and results in literature.The histogram M values had stronger correlations with the clinical data than the scores of visual reading as follows:the correlations with age (r =0.730,P <0.001 )and (r =0.753, P <0.001);with strength of knee extensor (r =-0.468,P =0.024)and (r =-0.460,P =0.027) respectively.Meanwhile,the histogram Mvalues analysis had better repeatability than visual reading with the interclass correlation coefficient was 0.998 (95% CI:0.997 -0.998,P <0.001)and 0.958 (95%CI:0.946 -0.967,P <0.001)respectively.Conclusion:Histogram Mvalues analysis of MRI with the advantages of repeatability and objectivity can be used to evaluate the degree of muscle fatty infiltration.

Objective:To report thigh muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)tests of four Chinese patients with dystrophinopathy with edema changes in adductor longus muscles that mimics adductor en-thesopathy.Methods:Four boys,who were from four unrelated families and aged from 5 to 11 years, were investigated because of the clinical manifestations including myalgia or muscle weakness or the inci-dental findings of elevated serum creatine kinase levels,and were diagnosed with dystrophinopathy by gene test of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).Their creatine kinase levels were increased from 4 087 IU /L to 32 700 IU /L (Normal range:75 -175 IU /L).The muscle biopsy of three patients all demonstrated a dystrophic pattern including necrosis,regeneration,hypertrophy,atrophy and connective tissue proliferation,with different proportions of dystrophin-negative muscle fibers.The gene test of DMD showed an out-frame deletion of exons in three of the four patients,involving either exons 45 or exons 49 -52 deletion or exon 62 duplication,and c.2665 C >T with nonsense mutation in the other one. Muscle MRI tests of the bilateral thighs were performed with T1 weighed sequence and slow tau inversion recovery sequence.The degree of fatty infiltration changes was scored.Results:MRI of the thigh mus-cles showed mild to severe fatty infiltration changes in T1 weighed sequence with the total scores from 2 to 13.The most severe fatty infiltration changes were in the long head of biceps femoris and adductor mag-nus.Obvious hyperintensities appeared mainly in the adductor longus muscles on slow tau inversion re-covery (STIR)images in all the patients without any abnormal signals in the attachment of the ligament, indicating edema changes of the adductor longus muscles which mimiced adductor enthesopathy.Two of the four patients presented with edema changes in the bilateral adductor longus muscles,while the other two were with only unilateral changes.Furthermore,other thigh muscles,including adductor magnus, semitendinosus,sartorius and rectus femoris muscles,could also have mild edema changes in two of the four patients.Conclusion:Dystrophinopathy can manifest as edema changes in the adductor longus mus-cles in thigh muscle MRI tests,which is a typical lesion in adductor enthesopathy.The adductor longus muscles in the dystrophinopathy patients may be easy to be impaired due to traction injury during sports.

Objective·To compare the efficacy of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and conventional lung volume reduction surgery for the treatment of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with a meta-analysis.Methods·Randomized controlled trials (RCT) and non-randomized control studies of VATS (the VATS group) and conventional lung volume reduction surgery (the thoracotomy group) for treating patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were collected from databases,including Web of Science,EMbase,PubMed,the Cochrane Library,CNKI,CBM disc,WanFang Data,and VIP.The latest literature was published in November 2016.The assessment included the quality of literature and RevMan5.3 software was used to perform the meta-analysis.Results·Of 779 retrieved articles,12 studies involving 966 patients were included according to the inclusion criteria.The results of meta-analysis showed that the operation time of bilateral LVRS was longer in the VATS group than in the thoracotomy group,but the difference in the operation time of single LVRS between the two groups was not statistically significant.The difference in the duration of chest tube drainage for bilateral LVRS between the two groups was not statistically significant,while the duration of chest tube drainage for single LVRS was significantly shorter in the VATS group than in the thoracotomy group.The amount of intraoperative blood loss postoperative drainage was significantly smaller in the VATS group than in the thoraeotomy group.Postoperative pulmonary function and blood gas analysis showed that the 6 min walking distance was longer in the VATS group than in the thoracotomy group.The differences in FEV1 and PaO2 between the two groups were not statistically significant,as well as the difference in postoperative complications between the two groups.Conclusion·Comparing to conventional lung volume reduction surgery,Video-Assisted thoracic lung volume reduction surgery is a better choice.However,randomized control trials with higher quality and larger scale are required for verification this conclusion due to limitations of the quality and samples of these studies.

Objective To detect the levels of retinol binding protein(RBP)and adiponectin during the second trimester in the serum of women in normal pregnancy and women who subsequently develop gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM )and to evaluate their role in predicting GDM .Methods A case‐control study was performed to detect and compare the levels of RBP and adiponec‐tin between women who subsequently develop GDM (n= 88)and normal control from 16 to 20 pregnancy weeks (n= 88) . Results Maternal serum RBP levels and the RBP/adiponectin ratio were significantly higher in GDM women than that in normal controls(P<0 .01) .The levels of maternal serum adiponectin were significantly lower in GDM women than that in normal controls (P<0 .01) .The levels of RBP≥30 .45 mg/L ,adiponectin≤9 .93 mg/L and the ratio of RBP/adiponetin≥3 .18 as early markers for predicating development of GDM ,their sensitivities were 63 .6% ,80 .7% and 81 .8% ,and specificities were 75 .0% ,65 .1% and 79 .7% ,respectively .Conclusion The combination of RBP and adiponetin as early marker for predicating development of GDM from 16 to 20 pregnancy weeks was more valuable than single use of them .

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of microvasoepididymostomy for the treatment of obstructive azoospermia. Methods Ninety-eight patients were confirmed as obstructive azoospermia by infertility investigations.The mean (range) age was 31 (20-43) years.The mean duration of obstruetion was 4 years.All patients were seen by the surgeon for a complete history and physical examination.Semen analyses proved azoopermia,serum levels of sexual hormone were normal and testicular function for production of sperms were normal certified by biopsy.All patients with suspected epididymal or vasal obstruction were offered scrotal exploration.The decision for microvasoepididymostomy was made during surgery,based on the pateney of the vas towards the abdomen documented by saline and sperm fragments containing in the epididymal fluid on intraoperative light-microscopic examination.Microvasoepididymostomy was performed in 58 patients documented epididymal obstruction The initial semen analysis was then done after usually 3 months postoperatively.Patency was arbitrarily defined as＞10 000 sperm/mL in ejaculate in at least one semen analysis after surgery.Postoperative patency rate and postoperative impregnation rate were followed. Results Fifty patients were followed up for 3-29 months,8 cases lost.Sperm was found by semen analysis in 36 patients.Sperm density was 4×104-2×108 sperms/ml and motility was 2%-70%.Semen analysis reveals azoospermia in 6 patients and the patients were counseled to undergo further testing to determine the ultimate outcome of the procedure.Natural conception occurred in 14 patients followed for more than 12 months.The overall pateney rate was 72%(36/50).Among patients with a follow-up of＞6 months,the natural paternity rate was 28%(14/50).The median time to achieve a natural pregnancy was 6.6 (4.0-10.0)months. Conclusion A more favourable patency can be achieved using microsurgical intussusception vasoepididymostomy and a part of patients with obstructive azoospermia can be cured by this means.

Objective To compare the circumferential approach and suprapubic approach for correcting the concealed penis. Methods Thirty-four patients received circumferential approach (group A,18 cases)or suprapubic approach(group B,15 cases)randomly for the concealed penis.The length of penis without erection before and after surgery treatment,patients'satisfaction and surgical complications were evaluated.All the patients were followed at least 6 months after operation.Results The penile length before and after surgery in group A were(1.78±0.41)cm vs(3.97±0.47)cm,the length of the postoperative penis was significantly longer than that of the preoperative penis(P<0.01).83%of those in group A(15 cases)were satisfied with the cosmic results.The length of preoperative and postoperative penis in group B were(2.07±0.53)cm vs(4.05±0.81)cm respectively,the length of the postoperative penis was significantly longer(P<0.01).Satisfaction was 87%(13 cases).The postoperative penile length between the 2 groups was not different(P> 0.05).Prepuce edema was reported to Occur in 56%and 13%in group A and group B and spontaneously disappeared within 3 months.Fat synchysis occurred in 2 of group B. Conclusions The cosmic effect of the 2 surgical approaches is similar,but circumferential approach is simpler.There is no serious complication in those receiving circumferential approach.

Objective To review the clinical manifestation,pathological characteristics,treat ment and prognosis of malignant mesothelioma of the tuniea vaginalis testis.Methods A case of ma lignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis was reported and relative literature was reviewed.A34 year old man was admitted to hospital with a history of aggravated hydroeele for 5 years.A hardtumor was palpated above the right testis,which was smooth and slight tenderness.The level of β-hCG and AFP was normal.Ultrasonography revealed a 2.05 cm× 1.97 cm,well demarcated,mixedecho tumor.Results An operation was performed to incise the tumor and tunica vaginalis undersubarachnoid space block anesthesia.The tumor was histologically diagnosed as low potential malig nant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis.Microscopic examination showed that the tumor wasmalignant with a biphasic pattern composed of epithelial and stromal components.The former compo nent was dominant.The epithelial cells proliferated obviously with atypia and mitosis.Immunohisto chemical staining showed cytokeratin and vimentin were strongly positive.The capillary,lymph ves sel,spermatic cord and testis were not infiltrated.Right radical orchiectomy and right scrotectomywas performed one month after the first operation.There was no evidence of relapse during 38 monthfollow up after operation.Conclusions The major symptom of patients with malignant mesotheliomais hydrocele,malignant mesothelioma is diagnosed by histopathology.Due to the invasive potential ofthis disease and the risk of tumor recurrence,radical orchiectomy and close follow up are strongly rec ommended.