Objective To evaluate the effect for the treatment of severe asthma. Methods The data of 47 patients with severe asthma who were admitted to emergency department were retrospectively anayzed. Results Of total 47 patients ,45 were rescued, with the survival rate of 95.7%. Arterial blood gas was improved after treatment (P < 0.01). Conclusion Appropriate commencement, mode, strategy, and early weaning of mechanical ventilation, combined with the administration of bronchodilators and eorticosteroids are the important way to rescue patients with severe asthma.

Objective To evaluate the value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in antibiotics used for the treatment of acute exacerbation of asthma. Method From February 2007 to July 2009, a total of 158 patients with asthma were randomly (random number) assigned to PCT group ( n = 77) or to control group ( n = 81 ). The PCT levels of all patients were measured. On the bases of routine treatment, the employment of antibiotics in control group was determined by the guidebook, and patients in the PCT group were treated with antibiotics guided by the levels of serum PCT. The antibiotics treatment was employed as PCT level ＞0.25 ng/mL, and was not employed as PCT level ＜ 0.25 ng/mL. The rates of antibioties employment were observed. Results The rate of antibiotics employment in PCT group (45.4%) was lower than that of the control group (77.8%) (x2 = 17.15,P =0.000). Conclusions PCT could be used safely as guidance of antibiotics employment for the treatment of patients with acute exacerbation of asthma, leading to appropriate use of antibiotcs.

Toutianliang manipulation is the most representative compound needling technique of traditional reinforcing and reducing and has the remarkable efficacy on heat syndrome with muscle and bone involved for example. Professor ZHANG Jin is one of the famous acupuncture master in China and has contributed his lifelong to the research of acupuncture manipulation techniques. He has summarized 24 single-type manipulations and has given the comprehensive explanation of the manipulations for meridian conduction, reinforcing or reducing techniques for the excess or deficiency. In the paper, Toutianliang manipulation was introduced briefly and the key operation steps had been discussed.
Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; methods ; China ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans

Objective To explore the antitumor mechanism of xianhe yanling recipe( XHYLR ). Methods The mechanism of action of 241 compounds contained in the Chinese medicine, XHYLR was studied by using computational pharmacological. Methods including molecular docking,biotechnology network,chemical space technology and the prediction of absorption,distribution,metabolism,excretion and toxicity( ADME/T). Results Most of the compounds in XHYLR had good drug-like properties. Distribution of 241 compounds in chemical space also revealed that these compounds showed similar anti-tumor activity. It suggested that the prescription of XHYLR was reasonable. The phenomena that one molecular interacted with multiple target proteins and several molecules interact with one target protein were observed in XHYLR. For example,the COX-2 interacted with 40 micromolecules,and catechin interacted with five targets including COX-2. Conclusion These results are helpful for understanding the complicated mechanism of anti-tumor activity of XHYLR.

Objective To explore the relationships among posttraumatic growth (PTG),social support,and coping style in women with infertility.Methods 182 women with infertility were recruited in one public hospital department of assisted reproduction technology.Measures included Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI),Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS),and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCQ).Results ① The PTG score of women with infertility was 42.55 ± 16.83,lower than the average level.② Compared with the lower PTG group,the higher PTG group scored significantly higher in social support,positive coping,and negative coping (t =3.867,P＜ 0.01 ; t =8.452,P＜ 0.01 ; t =2.817,P＜ 0.01).③ There were significantly positive correlations among PTG,social support and positive coping (r =0.295-0.515,P ＜ 0.01).④ Positive coping served as a total mediator in the relationship between social support and PTG.Conclusion There are closely correlations among PTG,social support,and positive coping style.Positive coping style significantly mediate the relationship between social support and PTG.

Objective To evaluate the predicting value of serum procaleitonin (PCT) in treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in elderly patients. Methods A total of 267 elderly patients requiring hospitalization for AECOPD were randomly assigned into 2 groups: standard therapy group (standard group, n= 135) and PCT-guided group(PCT group, n= 132). Standard group received antibiotics according to the guideline of attending physicians and PCT group were treated with antibiotics according to serum PCT levels.Length of hospitalization, clinical efficacy, costs of hospitalization and antibiotics, rate of antibiotics use, hospital mortality, rate of exacerbation and rehospitalization, frequency of exacerbation within 1 year were observed. Results Length of hospitalization, clinical efficacy, hospital mortality, rate of exacerbation and rehospitalization, frequency of exacerbation within 1 year were similar in 2 groups(all P＞0.05);costs of hospitalization and antibiotics, rate of antibiotics use of PCT group[10 882 (3808-16 651)yuan, 6934 (2390-10 660)yuan, 76.5%] were lower than those of standard group[13 637(4650-19 730)yuan, 8589(3144-12 117)yuan, 87.4%] (all P＜0.05). Conclusions PCT guidance offers an advantage over standard therapy in reducing antibiotic use and in lowering the costs of hospitalization in treatment of AECOPD in elderly patients.

Objective To analyze the sensitivity of auxiliary examinations in different periods of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD).Methods The clinical data of 53 sCJD patients were retrospectively analyzed including the different stages of skull diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI),24-hour ambulatory electroencephalogram (EEG),18F-FDG PET/CT (PET-CT)and cerebrospinal fluid 14-3-3 protein.When calculating the sensitivity of an auxiliary examination,the diagnostic criteria were defined by combining the specific clinical manifestations with two or more positive results of other auxiliary examinations.Results There were 24,53 and 22 sCJD patients,respectively,met the criterion of early (E),middle (M) and later (L) stage of disease (some patients fit 2 or 3 stages).The sensitivity ofDWl (E:58.3％ M:85.4％,L:94.7％),EEG (E:45.8％,M:62.7％,L:77.8％),14-3-3 protein in cerebrospinal fluid (E:11.1％,M:52.9％) and PET-CT (E:80％,M:100％) increased gradually with disease progression,The sensitivity of PET-CT was higher than the other auxiliary examinations for E and M stages;no PET-CT was conducted in L stage.High signal regions mainly distributed in the cortex in E and M stages,but in L stage,no significant difference was found on the distribution of high signal regions between cortex and basal ganglia.Conclusions The sensitivities of the auxiliary examinations were different for sCJD patients in different stages.Reexaminations in different periods may improve the sensitivity for sCJD diagnosis.The sensitivity of PET-CT was high,and the combination of PET-CT and other auxiliary examinations may play a key role in the diagnosis of sCJD.

Effects of main environmental factors, such as temperature, pH , metal ions and anions, on expression and activity of bacterial extracellular car bonic anhydrase(CA) were studied, exemplified by a bacterium named GLRT102Ca, wh ich was separated from karst ecosystems of Southwest China. The results showed that the tested strain could express different activity of extracellular carboni c anhydrase within the scope of experimental temperature (10℃~50℃) and pH (5. 5~9.0). The activity of extracellular carbonic anhydrase was higher at tempera ture of 20℃~30℃ and at neutral and alkaline trending condition. Moreover, the expression of activity of extracellular carbonic anhydrase could be generally p romoted at the experimental range of concentration of 4 kinds of metal ions such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ and Co2+, along with 8 kinds of ani ons such as SO2-_4, H_2PO-_4, NO-_3, NO-_2, Cl-,Br-, I- and HCO-_3. This research provides a cert ain theoretical basis for further study on the role of microbial CA in karst pro cesses.

Objective To investigate the effect of different Chinese herbs on cell proliferation and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein(COMP)expression in chondrocyte culture.Methods Chondrocytes isolated from rabbit knee cartilage were cultured for 3 generations with the density of 2?10~4/cm~2 and were verified by collagenⅡimmunohistochemical staining.Rabbit sera containing herbs were obtained after animals orally ad- ministrated herbs at the dosage equivalent to human.At 5% and 10% serum density,cells were cultured in the medium that contained liver-softening herbal compound sera.Subgroups setting at 1,3 and 5 hours after herb intervention were observed.Rabbit and bovine sera were control groups.Seven days after intervention,chon- drocytes proliferation was observed using the MTT assay kit.For the study of COMP expression,chondrocytes were isolated from human knee cartilage supematant.Superuatant COMP level was tested by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays(ELISA)after directly adding compound and extract from liver-softening herbs to the culture at the final concentration of 10 mg/ml for 3 days.Results Liver-softening herbal compound group had significant effect on cell proliferation compared to control,of which,3-hour subgroup was more significant than 1-and 5-hour subgroups(P

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of monosegmental pedicle instrumentation in management of thoracolumbar burst fractures. Methods A total of 67 patients with traumatic thora-columbar burst fractures (type A3.1 and A3.2) were treated with monosegmental pedicle instrumentation in our department from October 2003 to February 2008. Imageologic effect was observed by measuring sagittal index and wedge index via X-ray and clinical outcomes evaluated by using low back outcome score. Results All operations were performed successfully, with average operation duration of 93 mi-nutes and average intraoperative blood loss of 157 ml. Of all, 65 patients were followed up for 4-27 months (average 19.8 months), which showed that all the patients achieved bony fusion, with no implant failure except for one with screw loosening. The sagittal index and wedge index were 13.06°and 42.9% preoperatively and 4.47° and 21.78% postoperatively, with statistical difference (P <0.01). The final follow-up showed no significant correction loss except for two patients (P < 0.05). The low back outcome scores of all patients at follow-up were improved significantly (P < 0.05). Conclusions Monoseg-mental pedicle instrumentation has advantages of minimal invasion, short operative duration, less blood loss and less vertebral motion segment loss and hence is an effective and reliable operative technique for thoracolumbar burst fractures.