PURPOSE: High-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are a critical etiologic factor behind cervical cancer. Adolescents are a vulnerable group for HPV infection. However, the literature on adolescent women for HPV infection and cervical cancer is limited. This study was to investigate HPV-related knowledge and perceived risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer among Taiwanese adolescent women in order to assess intervention strategies for prevention of cervical cancer and maintenance of reproductive health. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was implemented. There were 610 adolescent women from three colleges in Southern Taiwan who participated in this study. Data were collected using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The results showed that the percentage of appropriate answers to HPV-related knowledge questions was only 36.8%, and smoking as the leading cause of cervical cancer received the lowest mean score for appropriate answers among the HPV-related knowledge items. The perceived risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer were moderate, with relatively lower susceptibility to infection with HPV than to cervical cancer (P < .001). Only 11.5% of the participants reported that they had received information about HPV vaccination from healthcare professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Participants lacked a comprehensive understanding of cervical cancer prevention and were not aware of their susceptibility to HPV infection. Adolescent women rarely obtained HPV-related information from healthcare professionals. Appropriate education strategies should be developed and conducted by healthcare professionals to reduce the risk of cervical cancer threat from adolescence.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior/*psychology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Papillomavirus Infections/*epidemiology/*psychology ; Risk Factors ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral/*psychology ; Students/*psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Taiwan ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/*epidemiology/*psychology

Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Anxiety ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Depression ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nurses ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Physicians ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Prevalence ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Young Adult

A 2-month-old boy developed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) mediastinitis after bidirectional Glenn anastomosis for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. After reexploration, only the skin was closed but the sternum left open, and continuous mediastinal irrigation using saline containing isodine was commenced at an infusion rate of 20-40ml/h. The sternum was closed on day 7 and irrigation was stopped on day 21. The patient was weaned from the ventilator 4 days later, and is currently in a good condition awaiting a Fontan operation.

[Objective] To establish an effective and stable method to induce hematopoietic cells from embryonic stem(ES) cells,the phenotype and function of ES-derived hematopoietic cells induced by stromal cell conditioned medium (SCCM) of yolk sac (YS),fetal liver (FL) or bone marrow (BM) were analyzed and compared.[Methods] 10% of YS-SCCM,FL-SCCM or BM-SCCM was added to culture system for differentiation of ES cells.Flow cytometric analysis was used to identify expression of Flk1,Integrin α4,Sca-1,and CD34.Colony analysis was used to identify the quantity of high proliferative potential colony-forming cells (HPP-CFC) in differentiated ES cells.The yield of CFU-S (colony-forming unit-spleen) was also analyzed by transplanting ES cell derivatives into lethally irradiated mice.[Results] Expression of Flk1,Integrin α4,Sca-1,and CD34 could be tested on induced EB cells.The percentage of Flk-1+,Integrin α4+ and Sca-1+ cells induced by were 3.03%,2.9%,and 13.74%,respectively,which are greater than other groups.The percentage of CD34+ cells induced by BMSC-CM was 1.07% which was greater than other groups.The yields of HPP-CFC from hematopoietic cells induced by FLSC-CM or BMSC-CM were 7.4 /105 cells (P ＜ 0.01) and 5.8 /105 cells (P ＜ 0.05) which were greater than the yields of control group.The yields of CFU-S from hematopoietic cells induced by FLSC-CM or BMSC-CM were 8.5/5 × 105 cells and 6.75/5 × 105 cells which were also greater than the yields of control group (P ＜ 0.001).[Conclusion] Both YS-SCCM,FL-SCCM,and BM-SCCM could promote hematopoietic differentiation of ESE14.1 cells.Hematopoietic differentiation induced by FL-SCCM or BM-SCCM is more effective,which generates hematopoietic progenitor cells with normal function.Application of FL-SCCM generates more primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells than that of BM-SCCM.

Colostrum provides essential nutrients and immunologically active factors that are beneficial to newborns. Our previous work demonstrated that milk contains large amounts of miRNA that is largely stored in milk-derived microvesicles (MVs). In the present study, we found that the MVs from colostrum contain significantly higher levels of several immune-related miRNAs. We hypothesized that the colostrum MVs may transfer the immune-related miRNAs into cells, which contribute to its immune modulatory feature. We isolated colostrum MVs by ultracentrifugation and demonstrated several immune modulation features associated with miRNAs. We also provide evidence that the physical structure of milk-derived MVs is essential for transfer miRNAs and following immune modulation effect. Moreover, we found that colostrum powder-derived MVs also contains higher levels of immune-related miRNAs that display similar immune modulation effects. Taken together, these results show that MV-containing immunerelated miRNAs may be a novel mechanism by which colostrum modulates body immune response.
Animals ; Cattle ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Colostrum ; metabolism ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Female ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Macrophages ; immunology ; metabolism ; Mice ; MicroRNAs ; immunology ; metabolism ; Milk ; immunology ; metabolism ; Phagocytosis ; Pregnancy ; Ultracentrifugation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), functional dyspepsia (FD), and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) impact the daily lives of affected individuals. The aim of this study was to compare the risk factors and impacts on life quality of overlapping FD or PUD in patients with GERD. METHODS: Data from patients diagnosed with GERD were collected between January and November 2009. FD was defined using the Rome III diagnostic criteria. The overlapping GERD-FD or GERD-PUD groups were classified as concomitant GERD and FD or peptic ulcers. The characteristics of these individuals were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 63, 48, and 60 patients in the GERD only, overlapping GERD-FD, and overlapping GERD-PUD groups, respectively. Significantly younger age, female gender, lower body weight and body mass index, and higher rates of tea consumption were noted in the GERD-FD group. Patients in the GERD-FD group exhibited the lowest quality of life scores, both with respect to physical and mental health, on the Short Form 36 domains. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with concomitant GERD and FD were more likely to be younger and female. Overlapping GERD and FD had the worst impact on the quality of life of the affected individuals.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Dyspepsia/*complications ; Female ; Gastroesophageal Reflux/*complications ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptic Ulcer/*complications ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between obesity and erosive esophagitis (EE) or Barrett's esophagus (BE) in a Chinese population. METHODS: Data from subjects were retrospectively collected from 2006 to 2009. Individuals with BE were identified and age- and sex-matched at a 1:2 ratio with normal esophagocardial junction and EE patients. The subjects were stratified into two groups: the normal weight group and overweight/obesity group (body mass index ≥25 mg/m²) or the normal waist group and abdominal obesity group (waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women). RESULTS: Overall, 45%, 72%, and 52% were overweight/obese and 23%, 65%, and 18% had abdominal obesity in the normal, EE, and BE groups, respectively. Positive associations were identified between EE and overweight/obesity (odds ratio [OR], 3.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.75 to 5.66) and abdominal obesity (OR, 6.22; 95% CI, 3.34 to 11.57); however, the associations were nonsignificant between BE and overweight/obesity (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.67 to 2.61) or abdominal obesity (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.31 to 1.73). Female BE patients had a significantly increased rate of being overweight/obese. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity is a contributing factor in EE. The association of BE and obesity was not significant, with the exception of female BE cases.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Barrett Esophagus* ; Esophagitis* ; Female ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity* ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo comparing two kinds habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica with different models.

METHODThe habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea according essential oil accumulation with two kinds pattern, model pattern and template pattern were carrid and compared.

RESULTTwo habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea maps according essential oil accumulation were gotten.

CONCLUSIONBoth model pattern and template pattern were efficient on habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica, but they shoud bu used with different processesd and based different background [corrected]

A new class of RNA regulatory genes known as microRNAs (miRNAs) has been found to introduce a whole new layer of gene regulation in eukaryotes. The intensive studies of the past several years have demonstrated that miRNAs are not only found intracellularly, but are also detectable outside cells, including in various body fluids (e.g. serum, plasma, saliva, urine and milk). This phenomenon raises questions about the biological function of such extracellular miRNAs. Substantial amounts of extracellular miRNAs are enclosed in small membranous vesicles (e.g. exosomes, shedding vesicles and apoptotic bodies) or packaged with RNA-binding proteins (e.g. high-density lipoprotein, Argonaute 2 and nucleophosmin 1). These miRNAs may function as secreted signaling molecules to influence the recipient cell phenotypes. Furthermore, secreted extracellular miRNAs may reflect molecular changes in the cells from which they are derived and can therefore potentially serve as diagnostic indicators of disease. Several studies also point to the potential application of siRNA/miRNA delivery as a new therapeutic strategy for treating diseases. In this review, we summarize what is known about the mechanism of miRNA secretion. In addition, we describe the pathophysiological roles of secreted miRNAs and their clinical potential as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic drugs. We believe that miRNA transfer between cells will have a significant impact on biological research in the coming years.
Animals ; Diagnosis ; Extracellular Space ; genetics ; Gene Transfer, Horizontal ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Therapeutics

The mechanism underlying T cell-mediated fulminant hepatitis is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated whether myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) could prevent the concanavalin A (ConA)-induced hepatitis through suppressing T cell proliferation. We observed an increase in the frequencies of MDSCs in mouse spleen and liver at early stage of ConA treatment, implicating that the MDSCs might be involved in the initial resistance of mice against ConA-mediated inflammation. Subpopulation analysis showed that the MDSCs in liver of ConA-induced mice were mainly granulocytic MDSCs. Adoptive transfer of the bone marrow-derived MDSCs into ConA-treated mice showed that the MDSCs migrated into the liver and spleen where they suppressed T cell proliferation through ROS pathway. In addition, the frequencies of MDSCs in mice were also significantly increased by the treatment with immune suppressor glucocorticoids. Transfer of MDSCs into the regulatory T cell (Treg)-depleted mice showed that the protective effect of MDSCs on ConA-induced hepatitis is Treg-independent. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that MDSCs possess a direct protective role in T cell-mediated hepatitis, and increasing the frequency of MDSCs by either adoptive transfer or glucocorticoid treatment represents a potential cell-based therapeutic strategy for the acute inflammatory disease.
Adoptive Transfer ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Bone Marrow Cells ; immunology ; CD11b Antigen ; immunology ; metabolism ; Cell Movement ; immunology ; Cell Proliferation ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; etiology ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Concanavalin A ; toxicity ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; Glucocorticoids ; pharmacology ; Liver ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mitogens ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Myeloid Cells ; immunology ; metabolism ; transplantation ; Receptors, Chemokine ; immunology ; metabolism ; Spleen ; immunology ; pathology ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; immunology