Cardiac enlargement is an important symptom of vascular and heart disease. The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is an important index used to measure the size of heart. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between aging and cardiothoracic ratio. This paper also presents an improved C-V level set method to segment lung tissue based on X-ray image, which used to automatically compute CTR. In the investigation carried out in our school, we got more than 3 120 chest radiographs from medical examination of the working population in Beijing, and we systematically studied the effects of age and gender on the CTR to obtain reference values for each group. The reference values established in this study can be useful for recording and quantifying the cardiac enlargement, so that it may be useful for calling attention to the cardiovascular diseases and the heart diseases.
Aging ; Algorithms ; Cardiomegaly ; pathology ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Heart Diseases ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Radiography, Thoracic ; methods ; Reference Values

Objective To investigate the present status of Chinese patent medicine with realgar (As2S2) and to research arsenic dissolution in different pH values. Methods Data on the amount of Chinese patent medicine with realgar, the content of realgar, the method of taking medicine and so on were collected from the Chinese traditional medicine protection and criterions issued by the Chinese Ministry of Health in 2005, and evaluated the using status of Chinese patent medicine with realgar. The realgar powder was dissolved in solutions at different pH values (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) in 37℃ water for 4 h, respectively, then arsenic was determined with cold trap hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry to calculate the amount of dissolved arsenic. Results One hundred and twenty-one (3.13%) realgar medicaments were recorded in a total of 3 860 various Chinese patent medicaments, including 74 medicaments with both realgar and cinnabar (HgS) . Of all medicaments with realgar, 97 medicaments (80.17%) were for oral application, 10 medicaments (8.26%) were for external application, and 14 medicaments (11.57%) were for both oral and external application. 45 medicaments with realgar (1.17%) could be used in children; 108 medicaments with realgar (89.26%) contained arsenic 15%; The relative amount of arsenic in medicaments with realgar was from 0.46% to 27.52%. Daily intake of arsenic was 500 mg for 11 medicaments (9.09%). Only inorganic arsenic (iAs) was detected when 1 mg realgar was dissolved in solution with pH values of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. The levels of dissolved iAs seemed increased with the pH values, which were 1.58 ?g, 1.24 ?g, 1.57 ?g, 1.62 ?g, 2.28 ?g and 4.76 ?g, respectively. Conclusion Considering the common use of realgar in Chinese patent medicine and the high level of arsenic in realgar, the potential danger can not be ignored. It is possible that arsenic in realgar may be much easier to be absorbed in intestine than in stomach.

Objective To study the degradation of Rhizoma Typhonii polysaccharide with sulfuric acid under the normal and ultrasonic condition. Methods The orthogonal test table L9(34) was used to optimize 4 factors including acid concentration, reaction time, reaction temperature and ultrasonic power, with the yield of the low-molecular-weight polysaccharide as the index. Results The optimal conditions of discomposing Rhizoma Typhonii polysaccharide with sulfuric acid were 10% sulfuric acid, 100 ℃ for 2 h under the normal condition,and the yield of low-molecular-weight polysaccharide was 36.17%. Under the ultrasonic condition, the optimal conditions were 150 W of the ultrasonic power, 5% sulfuric acid, 40 ℃ for 1 h, and the yield was 44.63%. Conclusion The degrading yield of the low-molecular-weight polysaccharide can be increased under ultrasonic condition with sulfuric acid.

Objective To propose a modified graph cut algorithm under the elliptical shape constraint to segment the ultrasonogram of cervical lymph nodes. Methods Since cervical lymph nodes were usually oval-shaped, the prior of the elliptical shape information, which was expressed as a distance function, was used to constrain the cut cost of the graph cut algorithm. The initially segmented contour was fitted with an ellipse to get the constraint. Then a certain segmentation was obtained by minimizing the cut cost function constrained with the elliptical prior. This procedure was iterated until it to be convergent. Results Under the same user input, this algorithm successfully segmented nodes on the low contrast ultrasonograms, while the traditional graph cut approach failed. For 20 ultrasonograms, with the average minimum Euclidean distance (AMINDIST) measure and the Hausdorff distance measure, these two distances between contours manually delineated by the radiologist and those segmented by this algorithm were far less than the distances resulted from the traditional graph cut algorithm. Conclusion It is indicated that utilizing the elliptical shape constraint prior can obviously improve the graph cut algorithm for segmenting cervical nodes on ultrasonograms.

Objective To investigate the value of Cytochrome P450 (CYP3A5) * 3 gene polymorphism in providing individualized administration for the use of tacrolimus (Tac) in renal transplantation recipients.Method Pyrophosphate sequencing method was used to determine the CYP3A5 * 3 genotype of renal transplant patients in the first day after surgery.Sixty recipients were divided into experiment group and control group.Both groups of patients were routinely given the initial dose of Tac-4.0 mg/day in the first day after surgery.The experiment group of patients were given different doses of Tac based on the different CYP3A5 * 3 genotypes at the third day after surgery [for AA:0.12 mg/(kg· day),and for GG:0.06 mg/(kg· day)],and the control group of patients were given different dosages of Tac according to drug concentration.Different parameters were compared between two groups of patients:percentage of patients reaching the target concentration (3-8 μg/L) at the fifth day after surgery,days required to reach the target concentration level,times needed to adjust the dosage of Tac within two weeks.Result The percentage of patients reaching the target concentration in experiment group and control group was 90％ and 46.67％,respectively (P＜ 0.05).Days required to reach the target concentration were (3.67 ± 1.32) and (7.57 ± 3.42) on average,respectively (P ＜ 0.05).Times of adjusting the Tac dose in experiment group was significantly less than those in the control group (P＜0.05).In the experiment group,the target concentration was obtained even without dosage adjustment (70％).Conclusion Individualized adjustment of Tac doses for patients according to recipients' different CYP3A5 * 3 genotypes is beneficial for reaching target concentration as soon as possible,which is superior to traditional dosage regimen.

To observe the protective effect of Huangban Granule, a compound of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on rats with retinal damage induced by light.

BACKGROUND:Polyvinyl alcohol is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer. It is widely used in clinical areas because of its water-soluble, film forming, emulsification, adhesiveness, tasteless, and nontoxic.
OBJECTIVE:To review the applications of polyvinyl alcohol and its composite materials in bone, cartilage, skin, vessels and other tissue engineering scaffolds.
METHODS:A computer-based online search of CNKI database from January 2000 to December 2011, PubMed database and Elsevier (ScienceDirect) database from January 1980 to December 2012, was performed by the first author with key words of“poly(vinyl alcohol), composite material, tissue engineering scaffold”both in Chinese and English. Literatures concerning polyvinyl alcohol and its composite materials in bone, cartilage, skin, vessels and other tissue engineering scaffolds were included, and repetitive research was excluded.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Although there are not enough strength, complications and other shortcomings in vivo, due to its good biocompatibility and biodegradable properties, polyvinyl alcohol and its composite
materials have made great progress in tissue engineering applications from the laboratory to the pre-clinical
research. But its long-term effects need further research. It wil be a main research aim of scaffold materials in the future to improve the interaction of cel s with the scaffold materials by surface modification, to prepare biomimetic materials by cel microenvironment simulation, to improve the hydrophilicity, the adhesion of cel s, and cel
differentiation and proliferation, to bionic the structure and function of the natural extracel ular matrix by building three-dimensional porous structure and control ing the release of cel growth factors, to meet the need of tissue regeneration by congruity or harmony of degradation and mechanical strength.

A total of 526 team members from 28 community health service (CHS) centers in 5 pilot cities were surveyed by a questionnaire.All CHS centers developed team service.And 275 service teams were established and the coverage rate of area resident committee was 100％.The teaming modes were mainly divided into four kinds:medical-nursing-prevention classic combination,big team professional expansion,small team medical combination and non-health technology extensive participation.The team services showed multiple advantages of professionism,energy and time complementing.We should strengthen team construction,improve perfect team service mode and policy support and create a good environment for CHS development.

Objective To investigate the level of serum angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) in normal subjects and patients with obesity and newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM),and to explore the relationship of serum ANGPTL4 with parameters of body fat,glucose-lipid metabolism,and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR).Methods A total of 160 subjects with normal glucose regulation(NGR) and newly-diagnosed T2DM,were divided into 4 groups:NGR with normal weight group (NGR-NW),NGR with overweight/obese group (NGROW/OB),T2DM with normal weight group (T2DM-NW),and T2DM with overweight/obesity group (T2DM-OW/ OB) according to their body mass index(BMI).ELISA was used to determine the level of serum ANGPTL4.The weight,height,waist circumference,hip circumference,waist hip ratio(WHR),and BMI,fasting insulin(FINS),lipid metabolism parameters,and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) were measured.Results Compare with the NGR group,the level of ANGPTL4 was significantly decreased in the T2DM group [(25.75 ±2.85 vs 31.08 ±3.35)ng/ml,P＜0.01],the level of ANGPTL4 in OW/OB group was significantly lower than that in the NW group [(27.27± 3.05 vs 29.04 ± 4.64) ng/ml,P＜0.01].Partial correlation analysis showed that serum ANGPTL4 was negatively correlated with BMI,WHR,FPG,2hPG,HbA1C,FINS,HOMA-IR,AST,ALT,and TG levels(P＜0.01),but positively correlated with the HDL-C(P＜0.01).Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that HbA1C,FINS,and HDL-C were independent risk factors of serum ANGPTL4 (β =-0.825,-0.119,3.301,P＜0.01).Conclusion Serum ANGPTL4 level in T2DM and OW/OB group was lower than that in NGR and NW group.Serum ANGPTL4 is associated with FINS and lipid metabolism,suggesting that it may play an important role in the pathophysiology of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Objective To investigate the routine ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features of hepatic nodules in Budd-Chiari syndrome(BCS) after portacaval anastomosis.Methods Routine ultrasonography and CEUS were performed in 18 BCS patients with hepatic nodules after portacaval anastomosis.Results Appearance after portosystemic anastomosis,multiplicity,small size,presence of peripheral rim and hypervascularization were important ultrasound imaging features of hepatic regenerative nodules in patients with BCS.Nodules showedquick wash-in and slow wash-out pattern in CEUS.Sixteen cases showed center-to-periphery enhancement pattern in arterial phase and hyper-enhancement in portal phase and late phase.Two cases showed periphery-to-center enhancement pattern in arterial phase and periphery enhancement in portal phase and late phase.Conclusions Hepatic regenerative have different features on routine ultrasound and CEUS in patients with BCS after portacaval anastomosis,which are useful for differential diagnosis.