Objective To learn the status quo of core competency of registered nurses in tertiary level first-class hospitals in Liaoning Province and compare the level and characteristics of core competency of registered nurses in different working years in order to supply evidence to establish contrapuntal training protocol.Methods "The Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse scale"(CIRN,by LIU Ming)was distributed to investigate the core competency of registered nurses,the data underwent analysis.Results The overall score of core competency level was (174.11±31.89),the score of the nurses with 16～20 years of working experience was the highest,while the score of nurses working for 1～5 years was the lowest.The core competency varied with working years,evident difference existed in different dimensions and total scores.Conclusions The overall core competency is at the upper middle level for registered nurses from five tertiary level first-class hospitals in Liaoning Province.They are competent enough to provide health care.With the increasing length of working time,nurses' core competency level will strengthen gradually.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the therapeutic effect and toxicities of gemcitabine combined with cisplatin in the treatment of advanced or metastatic transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of urinary tract. Methods Eighteen patients with advanced or metastatic TCC of urinary tract (15 cases of bladder TCC,2 of renal pelvic TCC,and 1 of ureteral TCC),who were pathologically confirmed,were treated with GC regimen (gemcitabine 1000 mg/m 2,iv infusion on day 1 and day 8;cisplatin 30 mg/m 2,iv infusion on day 2,day 8 and day 9).Before treatment, Karnofsy score for each patient was evaluated with a result of ≥60;liver and renal functions and blood routine test were normal.GC regimen was repeated for 2-3 cycles every 3-4 weeks and the response rate was evaluated.ResultsThree patients (16.7%) had complete response; 7(38.9%), partial response;5(27.8%),no response;and 3(16.7%) had progression.The overall response rate was 55.6%. The main toxic effects included decrease in white cell count (10 cases),anemia (7),nausea and vomiting (10) and constipation (8),which were mild or moderate and disappeared after stopping treatment.No chemotherapy-associated death occurred.ConclusionsGemcitabine combined with cisplatin in the treatment of advanced or metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of urinary tract is effective,and the toxicity is mild and tolerated. It is suggested that GC regimen can be used as the first line chemotherapy.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a newly designed modular flexible ureteroscope with holmium laser lithotripsy for the treatment of renal calculi based. Methods 40 patients were treated with modular flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (German Polydiagnost) with holmium laser. 40 patients were treated by traditional flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy. Their therapeutic effects were compared. Results For modular flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy group, 37 patients underwent successful operation, with lithotripsy with operation time of (86.0 ± 34.4) min and postoperative hospital stay of (5.3 ± 1.6) days. No severe complication including ureteral perforation, high fever or severe bleeding occurred. One month after the operation, KUB and B-ultrasonography showed complete stone free in 35 patients. Residual calculi (0. 4 cm in diameter) in the calyces were found in 2 patients. Medication and postural drainage therapy were applied. Two weeks later , KUB and B-ultrasonography showed that the residual stones have been removed completely. There was no significant differences in stone size , operation time, rate of calculus clearance, the incidence of postoperative complications, operating time and duration of postoperative hospitalization between the traditional flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy group and modular ureteroscopic lithotripsy group. Conclusions The modular flexible ureteroscope is effective and safe in treating reanl calculi. It has similar surgical efficacy as traditional flexible ureteroscope , but is more costly effective in terms of maintenance costs.

AIM: Accommodation is one of the most important functions of human eye, while its mechanism is still under discussion. This paper aimed to study accommodation mechanism with numerical simulation.METHODS: A simulation model was constructed to study the mechanism of accommodation based on the experimental data derived from published resources. The displacement and pressure are applied on the model to study the deformation of lens during accommodating.RESULTS: The simulation showed that, as the eye was accommodating, the thickness of the lens increased linearly,and the lens diameter decreased linearly. The optical power of the lens increased as the accommodation increased. This result was accord with the public facts in accommodation.Furthermore, the pressure was found to have a great influence on the shape of the lens and the optical power. The lens became thinner and flatter as the pressure increased and the pressure caused a remarkable increase of lens' optical power.CONCLUSION: The outcome of this paper is consistent with the Helmholtz's hypothesis on accommodation to some extent. The analytical model presented in this paper can be used in the theoretical study of the accommodation mechanism of the human lens.

reproducible, and may cover the major circulating strains in China.

For thousands of years, the natural resource for Chinese materiamedica has been the foundation of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, which provides abundant medicine for human. In recent years, increasing demands and irrational exploitation led to a lot of problems such as rapid decrease of traditional Chinese herbs reserves, low quality of medicine and dismishing traditional cultures. These restricted the development of the traditional Chinese medicine. To solve these problems, scientists have done much work on investigating traditional Chinese medicine resources, exploring the metabolic pathway of bioactive ingredients, cultivating new varieties, and carrying out synthetic biology. These studies provided a theoretical basis for sustainable utilizationand future developmentof traditional Chinese medicine resources.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Materia Medica ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; trends

Curcumin has a wide spectrum of pharmaceutical properties such as antitumor, antioxidant, antiamyloid, and anti-inflammatory activity. However, poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability of curcumin are major challenge in its development as a useful drug. To overcome many of these problems, curcumin-loaded long-circulating liposomes (Cur-LCL) were prepared by the ethanol injection method. Morphology of Cur-LCL was observed by transmission electron microscope, mean particle size and Zeta potential were detected by laser particle size analyzer, entrapment efficiency and drug loading were evaluated by ultracentrifugation. The drug release behavior in vitro and pharmacokinetic behavior in rats of Cur-LCL were investigated with curcumin (Cur) and curcumin liposomes (Cur-Lips) as control. The results showed that the mean diameter of Cur-LCL was 110 nm, the Zeta potential was -5.8 mV. The entrapment efficiency and drug loading of Cur-LCL was 80.25%, 2.06%, respectively. The release behavior in vitro studied by dialysis in PBS buffer showed significant sustained release profile that 48.95% Cur were released from Cur-LCL in 7 h, 88.92% in 24 h. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that compared with Cur and Cur-Lips, the t(1/2beta) of Cur-LCL was extended to 13 and 1.8-fold, respectively. Besides, the AUC values was significantly increased (P < 0.01), and the clearance was evidently decreased (P < 0.01). These results from in vitro and in vivo indicated that Cur-LCL were able to realize controlled drug release and increase circulation time.
Animals ; Curcumin ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; Female ; Humans ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Male ; Particle Size ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Solubility

The purpose of this study was to investigate the absorption kinetics of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine in rats after oral administration of Sini Tang powder. With cannulate portal and jugular veins cannulated (double-cannulate), conscious moving rats were orally administered Sini Tang. Then samples of portal and systemic blood were collected at the designated periods of time and analyzed for aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine by HPLC. Apparent absorption coefficient of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine was caculated respectively. The results indicated that the apparent absorption coefficient of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine come from Sini Tang were 0. 336, 0. 090, 0. 176, respectively, which had some differences among them. It was also suggested that double-cannulated rat was useful for estimating the absorption kinetics of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine after orally administered Sini Tang by determining the AUC values for drugs in portal and systemic blood samples. The three alkaloids could all be detected in blood, but the absorption differences were existed among the three alkaloids.
Absorption ; Administration, Oral ; Alkaloids ; administration & dosage ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Animals ; Area Under Curve ; Diterpenes ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Female ; Kinetics ; Male ; Powders ; pharmacokinetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo explore the potential of iodized linoleic acid (ILA) and its 5-fluoro-deoxyuridine ester (IFU) to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in vitro and tumors in vivo.

METHODSILA and its constituent component IFU were chemically synthesized, purified, and confirmed by 1H-NMR. The HCC cell lines, QGY-7703 (5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment sensitive) and SMMC-7721 (5-FU resistant), were treated with ILA, IFU, 5-FU, or traditional lipiodol for 72 hours. Survival rates of the treated cells were assessed by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium method, and used to calculate the IC50 and IC90. In addition, thirty nude mice were subcutaneously inoculated with SMMC-7721 cells and randomly divided two weeks later into four treatment groups (n = 6 each) for intra-tumoral injection of ILA, IFU, 5-FU, lipiodol or DMSO (controls). The rate of tumor inhibition (RTI) was calculated for each group at week 4 after treatment.

RESULTSFor the cultured SMMC-7721 cells, the inhibitory concentrations for ILA, IFU, and 5-FU were: IC50: 134.38 mumol/L, 17.55 mumol/L, and 7.38 mumol/L; IC90: 192.88 mumol/L, 97.63 mumol/L, and more than 200 mumol/L. For the cultured QGY-7703 cells, the inhibitory concentrations for ILA, IFU, and 5-FU were: IC50: 109.55 mumol/L, 44.79 mumol/L, and 98.06 mumol/L; IC90: all, more than 200 mumol/L. In both cell types, the IC50 of lipiodol was more than 400 mumol/L. Compared with the RTI of the control mice (100%), the RTI of ILA-treated mice was 31.9% (t = 2.37, P less than 0.05), of IFU-treated mice was 56.9% (t = 4.91, P less than 0.01), and of 5-FU-treated mice was 31.0% (t = 2.59, P less than 0.05). The RTI of IFU was significantly stronger than that of either ILA or 5-FU (P less than 0.05). The lipiodol treatment showed no inhibition effect on tumors (P more than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONILA and IFU can effectively inhibit the growth of HCC cells in vitro and tumors in vivo. Furthermore, IFU outperforms ILA in inhibiting HCC growth.

Animals ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Fluorouracil ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Linoleic Acid ; pharmacology ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVETo investigate the possible roles of adenosine and the cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-10 in the pathogenesis of acute bacterial prostatitis (ABP) in rats.

METHODSForty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into groups A (ABP), B (ABP + theophylline intervention), C (sham) and D (blank control). ABP models were established by injecting Escherichia coli 0157 into the prostate, and those in group B were treated by intraperitoneal injection of theophylline immediately after modeling. At 4 and 14 days, the prostate tissues of the rats were collected for detection of the expressions of TNF-alpha and IL-10 by immunohistochemistry and the concentration of adenosine by high-performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTSAt 4 and 14 days, the concentrations of adenosine were significantly higher in group A ([48.38 +/- 17.27] and [26.54 +/- 11.22] microg/g) than in C ([0.45 +/- 0.25] and [0.46 +/- 0.29] microg/g) and D ([0.41 +/- 0.23] and [0.43 +/- 0.27] microg/g) (P < 0.05), and so were the expressions of TNF-alpha in A (0.23 +/- 0.08 and 0.21 +/- 0.03) than in C (0.07 +/- 0.03 and 0.07 +/- 0.01) and D (0.07 +/- 0.06 and 0.07 +/- 0.06) (P < 0.05), and those of IL-10 in A (0.13 +/- 0.03 and 0.25 +/- 0.01) than in C (0.07 +/- 0.03 and 0.07 +/- 0.03) and D (0.07 +/- 0.01 and 0.07 +/- 0.02) (P < 0.05). Compared with group A, the rats in group B showed significant increases at 4 and 14 days in the severity of inflammation, concentration of adenosine ([86.64 +/- 32.87] and [51.17 +/- 22.96] microg/g, P < 0.05) and expression of TNF-alpha (0.37 +/- 0.08 and 0.32 +/- 0.06, P < 0.05), but exhibited no remarkable difference in the expression of IL-10 (0.12 +/- 0.06 and 0.15 +/- 0.06, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAdenosine may affect the progression of inflammation by regulating the expressions of the cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-10 in ABP rats through the adenosine receptor signaling pathway.

Adenosine ; physiology ; Animals ; Escherichia coli O157 ; Interleukin-10 ; metabolism ; Male ; Prostate ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Prostatitis ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Theophylline ; pharmacology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism