Objective To evaluate the image deformation and measurement error of rotational DSA by model experiment. Methods Five steel balls (diameter: 20 mm) were placed in a horizontal space of 30 mm, the middle of which was as the isocenter for rotational DSA acquisition. Another 5 steel balls (diameter: 10 mm) were placed in a vertical space of 30 mm with the same alignment for rotational DSA acquisition. The screen was divided into five regions and the morphological changes of the ball image were observed at each rotation angle. The experimental images of the left anterior oblique ball images at 20°, 40°and 60° among each two groups were selected and measured by automatic isocenter calibration and sphere calibration respectively, and compared with the actual diameters of balls to calculate the image magnification. Results Except the center one, other balls were of deformation at different rotation angles due to the distance to the detector leading to enlargement and reduction. With automatic isocenter calibration, only the diameter of the center ball corresponded with the actual one, the distance away from the center or the rotation angle was inversely proportional to measurement error (maximum magnification 12.42%).With sphere calibration, the measurement results in various regions at different rotation angle were basically the same, with smaller measurement error (maximum magnification 3.41%). Conclusion Placing the organ of interest in the center area can reduce image distortion in rotational DSA imaging. Selecting reasonable measuring technology according to the lesion location is helpful to control measurement errors.

Objective To evaluate the current situation of two-way referral system by qualitative study.Methods The qualitative study was carried out in Department of General Internal Medicine of Peking Union Hospital and 4 clinics under Beijing Gaobeidian Community Health Center from June to December 2009.In-depth interview was conducted on 6 patients,who were referring from community health center to tertiary hospital and 16 general practitioners in the community.The method of thematic framework was used for data analysis.Results Only 1 of the 6 patients,who made the appointment,completed the two-way referral.From the view of the patients,the interrupt of the two-way referral was due to long-time waiting,inconvenient transportation to the hospital,availability of specialists,unsmooth process of referral and unsatisfied doctors.However,the community health service staff thought that difficulties of the two-way referral originated from the system,doctors,patients,and doctor-patient relationship.Sometimes patients distrusted doctors both in hospital and in community; communications between doctors or between doctors and patients were less efficient; patients had multiple choice for their primary care and they may go to any hospital freely bypass community-based referral system; patients had excessive expectation for medicine and doctors; some patients paid less attention to their own health,and so on.For improvement of the two-way referral system,the community health service staff proposed concrete measures in terms of relevant policy,the hospital,community health service,the doctors and patients; they emphasized the importance of upgrading their own communication ability and professional skills for primary care.Conclusions Many factors may influence successful implement of two-way referral,so it is necessary to improve the relevant policy and procedures and to upgrade medical staff in community.

OBJECTIVE: To seek a precise method for estimating postmortem interval (PMI) in forensic medicine practice. METHODS: This study detected the concentration of 21 elements in the vitreous humor of rabbit within 96 hours after death and explored the relationship between their concentration and PMI using the method of ICP-MS. RESULT: It was shown that the concentration of 9 elements in vitreous humor of rabbit within different intervals after death were correlated to PMI available as a reference indicator to estimate PMI. CONCLUSION The changes in the concentration of certain elements in vitreous humor of vitreous humor are correlated with PMI and determination of such changes can be used to estimate the time of death.
Animals ; Calcium/analysis* ; Forensic Medicine ; Iron/analysis* ; Magnesium/analysis* ; Postmortem Changes ; Potassium/analysis* ; Rabbits ; Time Factors ; Vitreous Body/chemistry*

Adolescent ; Adult ; China ; HIV Infections ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Male ; Rural Population ; Sexual Behavior ; Single Person ; Young Adult

The objective of the study is to explore the effect of Fas, FasL and Bcl-2 on the process of apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs through detecting the expression of Fas, FasL and Bcl-2 on murine lymphoma cell line RMA. Dexamethasone(DEX), etoposide (VP-16), arsenic trioxide As(2)O(3) and all trans-retinoic-acid (ATRA) were added to the RMA cells as well as to the cells preincubated with interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), respectively. The effect on apoptosis was observed and the expression of Fas and FasL mRNA as well as the expression of Fas and Bcl-2 antigen were measured. DEX and VP-16 could promote apoptosis of RMA cells while upregulating the expression of Fas and FasL without affecting the expression of Bcl-2. ATRA downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 without any change of Fas and FasL, and no apoptosis of RMA cells induced by ATRA was observed. Although As(2)O(3) induced apoptosis of RMA cells, it did not affect the expression of Fas, FasL and Bcl-2, which suggested that different drugs induce apoptosis of the same kind of cells by different signal transduction system and apoptosis induced by Fas system needed the coexistence of Fas and FasL. Although IL-2, IL-6 and GM-CSF upregulated the expression of Fas protein when adding to RMA cells separately, none of them induced apoptosis. Apoptosis could be induced by combination of IL-2 and IL-6 along with the upregulation of Fas and FasL. The cytokines facilitated the apoptotic action of chemotherapeutic drugs, the drug concentration for inducing apoptosis decreased and the time period of starting apoptosis shortened. Apoptosis could be observed without the expression of FasL when anti-Fas-antibody was added to RMA cells. The results demonstrated that there was synergistic effect of chemotherapeutic drugs and some cytokines for induction of apoptosis. Fas-FasL system participated in the apoptosis induced by DEX and VP-16; different drugs induce apoptosis by different pathway of signal transduction.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Arsenicals ; pharmacology ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Etoposide ; pharmacology ; Fas Ligand Protein ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; biosynthesis ; Mice ; Oxides ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; biosynthesis ; Tretinoin ; pharmacology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; fas Receptor ; biosynthesis

BACKGROUNDCandida albicans is the most frequently seen opportunistic human fungal pathogen. Terbinafine is an allylamine antifungal agent that has been proven to have high clinical efficacy in the therapy of fungal infections, the mechanism of action of terbinafine involves the specific inhibition of fungal squalene epoxidase, resulting in ergosterol deficiency and accumulation of intracellular squalene. We used cDNA microarray analysis technology to monitor global expression profile changes of Candida albicans genes in response to terbinafine treatment, and we anticipated a panoramic view of the responses of Candida albicans cells to the representatives of allylamine antifungal agents at the molecular level in an effort to identify drug class-specific and mechanism-independent changes in gene expression.

METHODSCandida albicans strain ATCC 90028 was exposed to either medium alone or terbinafine at a concentration equivalent to the 1/2 minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs, 4 mg/L) for 90 minutes. RNA was isolated and gene expression profiles were compared to identify the changes in the gene expression profile using a cDNA microarray analysis. Differential expression of 10 select genes detected by cDNA microarray analysis was confirmed by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSA total of 222 genes were found to be responsive to terbinafine, including 121 up-regulated genes and 101 down-regulated genes. These included genes encoding membrane transport proteins belonging to the members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) or major facilitator superfamily (MFS; CDR1, AGP2, GAP6, PHO84, HOL3, FCY23, VCX1), genes involved in stress response and detoxification (CDR1, AGP2, HOL3), and gene involved in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway (ERG12). The results of semi-quantitative RT-PCR were consistent with that of the cDNA microarray analysis.

CONCLUSIONSThe up-regulation of the gene encoding the multidrug resistance efflux pump CDR1 may contribute to the terbinafine resistance in Candida albicans. However, the precise roles of other affected genes remain unclear, further studies of these genes and their respective products that play roles in the context of antifungal resistance are warranted.

Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; genetics ; Ergosterol ; biosynthesis ; Fungal Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Genome, Fungal ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; genetics ; Naphthalenes ; pharmacology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

BACKGROUNDTo construct human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18 E6E7) adeno-associated virus (AAV) for studying the role of HPV E6E7 in the development of human cancer.

METHODSHPV18 E6E7 genes were inserted into adeno-associated virus expression vector and then infected 293 cell line. The expression of HPV18 E6E7 genes were confirmed by using RT-PCR/Southern blot assay.

RESULTSThere was HPV18 E6E7 genes in the malignantly transformed cell line. The 293TL cells compared with the parent cells transformed cells grew more rapidly, lost their contact inhibition and formed more and large colonies in soft agar.

CONCLUSIONSHPV18 E6E7 AAV was successfully constructed and could induce malignant transformation. HPV18 E6E7 AAV can be use for studying the immortalization and malignant transformation of human normal epithelial cells.

Cell Line ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Cell Transformation, Viral ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; Dependovirus ; genetics ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; virology ; Fetus ; Humans ; Kidney ; cytology ; Oncogene Proteins, Viral ; genetics ; Papillomaviridae ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of core strength training on knee joint function and postural stability after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

METHODSA total of 80 ACLR patients were randomly allocated into conventional rehabilitation training group and core strength training group from May 2013 to May 2015 with 40 patients in each group. The patients in conventional rehabilitation training group underwent conventional ACLR rehabilitation training, in which 28 males and 12 females. The mean age was(30.5±5.2) years old(ranged, 22 to 42 years old). The mean BMI was(23.8±2.4) kg/m²(ranged, 18.2 to 25.9 kg/m²). Thirty patients had injuries on the dominant side and 10 patients had injuries on the non-dominant side. The core strength training group received conventional ACLR rehabilitation training and core strength training, in which 31 males and 9 females. The mean age was(31.1±4.8) years old(ranged, 21 to 45 years old). The mean BMI was(24.1±2.7) kg/m²(ranged, 18.5 to 26.1 kg/m²) . Twenty-seven patients had injuries on the dominant side and 13 patients had injuries on the non-dominant side. The Lysholm score, tibial anterior transition measured by KT-1000 before and after treatment, and the Star Excursion Balance Test results after treatment were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSSix months after rehabilitation training, the tibial anterior transition of the conventional rehabilitation training group and the core strength training group were(3.4±1.0) mm and(3.3±1.2) mm respectively, which were less than(12.1±1.8) mm and(12.5±2.0) mm before treatment. But there was no significant difference in anterior tibial translation between two groups(>0.05). The Lysholm score of the conventional rehabilitation training group and the core strength training group were 91.8±4.3 and 92.1±3.9 individually, which were higher than 69.2±5.8 and 70.2±5.1 before treatment. But there was no significant difference in Lysholm score between two groups(>0.05). Six months after rehabilitation training, the results of Star Excursion Balance Test showed the reach distance with the support in the injured side and healthy side in the core strength training group were greater than that of the conventional rehabilitation training group in the eight directions(<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe core strength training could improve the dynamic balance of ACLR patients.

OBJECTIVE: To seek a exact method of estimating postmortem interval (PMI). METHODS: This study detected the concentration of zincum(Zn) and nickel(Ni) in vitreous humor of rabbit at hour 96 after death and explored the relationship between their concentration and PMI using a method ICP-MS. RESULTS: The concentration of Zn and Ni in vitreous humor of rabbit at hour 24 after death were related to PMI significantly; The formulae of the relationship between PMI and Zn concentrations is y = 0.1404x2 - 1.3351x + 3.8298 (within 24 h; R2 = 0.9202). The formula of the relationship between PMI and Ni concentrations is y = 0.0043x2 - 0.0596x + 0.2665(within 24 h; R2 = 0.9103). CONCLUSION The concentration of Zn and Ni in vitreous humor of rabbit may be a reference indicator to estimate early PMI.
Animals ; Female ; Forensic Medicine ; Male ; Nickel/analysis* ; Postmortem Changes ; Rabbits ; Time Factors ; Vitreous Body/chemistry* ; Zinc/analysis*

OBJECTIVETo compare the prognostic value of clinical risk score and thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade alone or combined on outcome of acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODSA total of 206 eligible patients [135 males, mean age (67.57 +/- 9.88) years] were enrolled. The primary endpoints included cardiac death and non-cardiac death. The secondary endpoints included non-fatal stroke, reinfarction, heart failure and recurrent angina. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) established by using different endpoints and clinical risk score, TIMI flow grade or combined risk scores. The prognostic value for different endpoint expressed as the area under the curve (AUC).

RESULTSEleven patients lost during the (11.41 +/- 5.33) months follow up and data were available for 195 patients, 8 patients reached the primary endpoints, and 17 patients reached the secondary end-points at the end of follow up. The AUC was 0.67 (95% CI = 0.557 approximately 0.786), P = 0.006; 0.68 (95% CI = 0.557 approximately 0.786), P = 0.004 and 0.730 (95% CI = 0.691 approximately 0.815), P < 0.001, respectively for clinical risk score, TIMI flow grade and the combined risk score respectively. There were no significant differences among clinical risk score, TIMI flow grade and combined risk score (all P > 0.05) for AUC and for primary end point and the secondary end point.

CONCLUSIONThe result from this study suggests that the efficacy of predicting the total events based on clinical risk score, TIMI flow grade and combined risk score was similar.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; diagnosis ; Aged ; Angina Pectoris ; drug therapy ; Angina, Unstable ; drug therapy ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; Risk Assessment ; Thrombolytic Therapy