Adult ; Coronary Aneurysm ; complications ; pathology ; Coronary Thrombosis ; complications ; Humans ; Male

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to validate the Actiwatch with behaviorally determined sleepe-wake state in preterm infants and to explore the influence of postmenstrual age on the accuracy of Actiwatch. METHODS: A prospective and comparative research design was used. Twenty-four preterm infants with postmenstrual age ranging from 28-38 weeks were studied. The infants were studied for 2 hours between two feedings. Infant's sleep and wake state was measured every 30 seconds using Actiwatch and the Anderson Behavioral State Scale simultaneously. RESULTS: Actiwatch demonstrated high agreement, sensitivity, and predictivity of sleep state, when validated with the Anderson Behavioral State Scale at the setting of high and automatic activity thresholds, and was not influenced by the infant's postmenstrual age. However, lower specificity and predictivity were found in the wake state, and influenced by postmenstrual age. CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that high activity thresholds are the most accurate for determining sleep state in preterm infants, and health care professionals must take the limitations into consideration while using the Actiwatch to assess wake states.
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Prospective Studies ; Research Design ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death. Safflower attracts great attention owing to its anti-ischemia/reperfusion injury effect. Ninety-three patients with CAD were included and randomized into safflower treatment group, PCI group and control group. Low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) was performed to measure end-systolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic volume (EDV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and wall motion score index (WMSI) to determine the recovery of hibernating myocardium and cardiac function in all patients before treatment and after 3-month follow-up. The study was to investigate the effects of safflower on hibernating myocardial revascularization and cardiac function. It was found that LVEF was significantly improved, while the ESV and WMSI were significantly reduced after 2-week treatment in safflower and PCI treatment groups. No significant differences were found between safflower and PCI treatment groups in ESV, EDV, WMSI and LVEF after treatment Safflower injection effectively improved hibernating myocardial function.
Aged ; Carthamus tinctorius ; chemistry ; Coronary Artery Disease ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Heart ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Revascularization ; Myocardial Stunning ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Recovery of Function

OBJECTIVETo study the differences between epidemic strains of influenza virus subtype A3 circulated in China and Occident in past 18 years, in genetic level, and vaccine strains recommended by WHO in corresponding time.

METHODSAmino acid sequences of HA1 regions of the epidemic strains, which circulated in China and Occident from 1988 to 2005, and the vaccine strains of influenza virus subtype A3 were compared by BioEdit and analyzed on the differences of HA1 and it's antigen determinants

RESULTSDifferences between epidemic strains and vaccine strains recommended in corresponding year, both in HA1 and it' s antigen determinant regions, were obviously greater than that between epidemic strains and vaccine strains recommended in next round (P< 0.01). However, differences between epidemic strains in Occident and vaccine strains recommended in corresponding year were slightly greater than that between epidemic strains and vaccine strains recommended in next round and it was not marked (P >0.05). In addition, differences between epidemic strains and vaccine strains which being used for several years, whether in China or in Occident, constantly increased accompanying the used time prolonged.

CONCLUSIONThere was an obvious lag between vaccine strains recommended by WHO, analyzed in genetic level, and epidemic strains of influenza virus subtype A3 circulated in China.

Antigens, Viral ; analysis ; China ; epidemiology ; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus ; analysis ; Humans ; Influenza A virus ; classification ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human ; classification ; epidemiology ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo extend the use of vector-derived siRNA by generating multiple shRNAs in the same plasmid.

METHODSConstruct a vector that expresses shRNAs targeting on Ku70 and Ku80 in tandem. The gene silencing efficiency of each shRNA was verified previously. After identification by restriction digestion and DNA sequencing, the reconstructed plasmid, named psiRNAKus, was transfected into the human hepatoma cell line HepG2. The tandem-shRNA-induced silencing of targeted genes was determined by RT-PCR at RNA level and Western blot at protein level.

RESULTSThe shRNAs encoded by psiRNAKus down-regulated both the expression of Ku70 and Ku80.

CONCLUSIONThe vector-derived siRNA delivery system that allows multiple shRNA species to be expressed from the same vector may be of value in experimental and therapeutic applications.

Antigens, Nuclear ; genetics ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Ku Autoantigen ; Plasmids ; RNA ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism by which HBV X gene(HBx) inhibits apoptosis of human hepatoma cell line HepG2 in terms of miRNA.

METHODSThree cell lines were prepared: HepG2 cells stably transfected with HBx (HepG2/HBx), HepG2 cells stably transfected with pcDNA3.1 (HepG2/pcDNA3.1) and HepG2 cells. Flow cytometry was adopted to measure the apoptosis of these three cells and Taqman fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to examine miR-192 expression. After HepG2 cells was transfected with miR-192, the apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and the expressions of p53 and PUMA at mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by SYBR Green quantitative PCR and Western blot, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with HepG2/pcDNA3.1 cells (11.46% ± 0.69%) and HepG2 cells (12.5% ± 0.66%), the apoptosis rate of HepG2/HBx cells (2.37% ± 0.35%) was significantly reduced (F = 171.722, P < 0.01). The level of miR-192 was 49.1% ± 5.9% in HepG2 cells, which was dramatically down-regulated (F = 14.319, P = 0.019) as compared to the other two groups (HepG2/pcDNA3.1: 98.0% ± 8.9%; HepG2: 100%). Compared with HepG2 cells transfected with miR-NC (10.74% ± 1.15%), transfection of miR-192 into HepG2 cells led to increased apoptosis (15.74% ± 1.17%) (F = 18.415, P = 0.013) and higher p53 and PUMA expressions at mRNA (p53: 1.68 ± 0.12 vs 0.90 ± 0.09, F = 43.115, P = 0.003, PUMA: 1.66 ± 0.10 vs 0.98 ± 0.06, F = 22.541, P = 0.009) and protein (p53: 3.07 vs 1, PUMA: 2.13 vs 1) levels.

CONCLUSIONHBx could inhibit apoptosis of HepG2 cells through down-regulation of miR-192 which induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Down-Regulation ; Genes, Viral ; Hep G2 Cells ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; MicroRNAs ; metabolism ; Trans-Activators ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEIn order to accumulate experiences for improving the efficiency in serological tests, the present study on mixed testing of serum samples was performed by taking the serological test of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis as the examples, and had proved the effects on cost-effectiveness of seroepidemiological survey of parasitic disease with method of mixed-samples test.

METHODSAccording to the binomial distribution principle, to develop an approach to the feasibility of mixed testing of serum samples, and to work on a cost-effectiveness analysis of one-by-one testing and mixed testing using hygienic economic analysis method was performed. For serological test of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis, 3 kinds of mixed testing methods, namely 3 serum sample mixture, 5 serum sample mixture and 10 serum sample mixture, were performed.

RESULTSThe results showed that all the 3 kinds of mixed tests of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis showing positive result if only 1 weak positive serum sample were mixed with. When the serum samples being mixed were all negative ones, then among the 24 groups tested with each kind of negative serum sample mixture of trichinellosis (3 serum samples, 5 serum samples and 10 serum samples), they all showed negative. However, among the 12 groups tested with 2 kinds of negative serum mixture of toxoplasmosis (3 serum samples and 5 serum samples), all showed negative while among the 18 groups tested with the 10 serum sample mixture, 16 groups showed negative and 2 were positive. The mixed testing of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis showed that the efficiency of mixed testing was related to the serological positive rate of the parasitic diseases to be examined. When serological positive rate was 10%, the efficiency of mixed testing was higher in 4 serum sample group. When serological positive rate was 1%, the efficiency of mixed testing was higher in 10 serum sample group and when serological positive rate was 0.1%, the in crease of the size of mixed serum samples could decrease the number of testing, but the prerequisite was that there must be one positive sample, so that the positivity for all the mixed tests could be detected. If mixed testing were performed on all negative samples, no positivity could be detected.

CONCLUSIONThe result of cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated that for seroepidemiological survey of parasitic diseases, the cost for mixed testing was low, especially when the serological positive rate was expected low (< or = 1%, thus the mixed testing could save a large amount of the cost.

Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Data Collection ; Humans ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Specimen Handling ; Toxoplasmosis ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Trichinellosis ; diagnosis ; epidemiology

Objective To analyze the genetic characteristics of the complete sequence of coxsackievirus A24 variant(CA24v) isolated from acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) outbreaks in Zhejiang province during 2002 to 2010.Methods Complete sequences of CA24v epidemic strains isolated in different years were amplified under the RT-PCR assay,while the sequences of whole genome,VP1,and 3C region of Zhejiang strains were compared with epidemic strains isolated in other areas of China and abroad.Results The whole genome of Zhejiang CA24v strains isolated in 2002 and 2010 was 7456-7458 bp in length,encoding a polyglutamine protein which containing 2214 amino acid residues.There was a insertion with T on site 97 and 119 within 5' non-coding region between epidemic strain Zhejiang/08/10 and strains isolated in 2002.The rates of amino acid homology among Zhejiang/08/10 and other strains isolated since 2002 were between 94.7％ and 100.0％.Compared with the representative strains circulated within the recent 60 years,the largest average amino acid variations had been occurred on region 2A and 3A,with the ratios as 8.4％ and 7.3％ respectively.The smallest variation happened in region 3D,with the ratio only as 1.9％.The rates of stable amino acid variation on the whole genome between strains isolated since 1987 and 2002 were 38 and 20.P-distance within groups appeared that region 3C was more stable than VP1 of strains isolated in 2002-2010,and the 3D of early strain Jamaica/10628/87 might have had a nature of recombination but not observed on those epidemic strains in recent years.Conclusion Within the evolution of CA24v strains,the time course was more significant than the geographical differences.There had been sporadic epidemics of AHC caused by CA24v in Zhejiang province since 2002.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) in treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA).Method Sixty KOA patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group by using random number table, 30 cases each. The control group was intervened by oral administration of Celecoxib capsules, while the treatment group was given EA, 14 d as a treatment course. The changes of relevant cytokines [apelin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, TNF soluble receptor (TNFsR)-Ⅰ, TNFsR-Ⅱ, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6] in serum of the two groups were observed.Result The intra-group comparisons of the total score, and the scores of pain, stiffness and dysfunction of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index showed significant differences in both groups (P<0.05); there were significant between-group differences in comparing the total score, and the scores of pain, stiffness and dysfunction of the WOMAC index after the treatment (P<0.05). The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores were changed significantly after the intervention in both groups (P<0.05); there was nosignificant difference in comparing the VAS score between the two groups after the treatment (P>0.05). The levels of IL-6, TNF-α and TNFsR-Ⅰ were significantly changed after the treatment in both groups (P<0.05); the level of IL-1β was markedly changed after the intervention in the control group (P<0.05); there was a significant change in the level of apelin after the intervention in the treatment group (P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in comparing the level of apelin between the two groups after the treatment (P<0.05).Conclusion EA can produce a satisfactory efficacy in treating KOA; it can significantly improve the symptoms and signs, and mitigate pain and symptoms through regulating the expressions of cytokines.

Objective Clinical data of 19 Chinese patients with 21 hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) were analyzed to improve the diagnosis and treatment level. Methods Clinical features and laboratory data were collected from 19 patients with 21OHD before and after treatment. Results In male patients, the average age of early appearance of secondary sexual character was (9.3?2.8)yrs, and excess androgen resulted in phallic enlargement. Primary amenorrhea was the most common complaint in female(87.5%), and the signs included a varying degree of labioscrotal fusion and clitoral enlargement. The average level of 17-hydroxy progesterone(17OHP) was (63.42?35.07) ?g/L, and adrenocorticotrophic hormone(ACTH), dehydroepiandrosterone(sodium) sulfate(DHEAS) and testosterone(T) were obviously elevated. CT scan showed bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. The level of 17OHP was significantly decreased after treatment[(63.42?35.07) ?g/L vs (3.15?2.71) ?g/L](P