Objective To use a simple bedside technique to verify the pathophysiological mechanism of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in different races. Method The Valsalva maneuver (VM) was performed in patients referred to a specialty PH clinic. The blood pressure response of patients to VM was in different fashions. The blood pressure (BP) was measured by using cuff and stethoscope. When the cuff was inflated to 15 mmHg above the systolic pressure, sound could be heard by auscultation during VM and when the cuff was deflated the sound disappeared over 3 heart beats which was considered as abnormal BP response, and less than 3 heart beats defined as normal BP response. The right heart catheterization in patients with PH as a part of the standard evaluation. Results This study included 84 patients with a mean age of (63 ± 16) years. Those with abnormal BP response to VM had higher pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) [(22.5±6.6) vs. (11.9±4.3) mmHg, P ＜0.0001] and lower pulmonary vascular resistance [(5.8 ± 4.0) vs. (8.1 ± 4.6 ) WU, P = 0.01]. Blood pressure response to VM did not correlate with mean pulmonary artery (PA) pressure [(46.2 ± 9.9) vs. (43.4 ±10.4) mmHg, P =0.20] or cardiac index (both 2.4 ± 0.6 L/min/m2). The abnormal BP response to VM had high sensitivity (89.4%), specificity (86.1%) and accuracy (86.9%) for determining PAWP＞ 15 mmHg.Conclusions BP response to Valsalva maneuver provides important information about left heart filling pressures in patients with PH.

To propose a formula method of medicated diet based on medicinal property combination patterns in this paper under the context of lack of innovation in medicated diets. By analyzing the property combination patterns of traditional Chinese medicine and commonly used foods recorded in the pharmacopoeia, medicated diet formulae were optimized by using the greedy algorithm, with the property combination patterns of classical formulae based on the syndrome differentiation and treatment. In this paper, the Baihu Rensheng decoction, which is a classical formula for treating lung and stomach heat-derived diabetes, was taken for example in the formula design. As a result, totally 18 medicated diet formulae were developed and proved to be rational in the analysis on traditional Chinese medicines and nutriology. This method expands the way of thinking for personalized diet therapies and provides theoretical basis the industrial development and clinical application of medicated diets.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus ; diet therapy ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Diet ; Diet Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy

Objective To investigate the prevalence of clonorchiasis among residents of Huachuan Country,Heilongjiang Province and to provide a basis for development of control strategies.Methods From 2011 to 2012,cluster random sampling was performed to survey the incidence of clonorchiasis in Huachuan Country.Fecal specimens were collected and examined the clonorchis sinensis eggs by Kato-Katz method.A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect related information such as age,gender,occupation and eating habits.The infection characteristic was analyzed.Results Totally 884 patients with clonorchiasis were found among 2248 residents,and the infection rate was 39.32％.The infection rate in male[47.15％(611/1296)] was significantly higher than females [28.68％(273/952),x2 =34.55,P ＜ 0.01].The infection rate increased with age,which was higher in the 20-69 years old people,with the highest infection rate in the 50-59 years old groups[45.34％ (219/483)].Of the occupational distribution,farmers had the highest infection rate [47.24％ (420/889)],followed by cadres and staffs[38.38％(190/495)].Of residents with fresh fish eating history,the prevalence of clonorchiasis was 53.38％(150/281).Conclusions The prevalence of clonorchiasis is still high in Huachuan County.To reduce the prevalence of clonorchiasis,comprehensive prevention measures,health education and group chemotherapy should be carried out.

Bioimprinting is a new developed technique to improve the characteristics of enzymes.Bioimprinting by lauric acid was conducted to improve the esterification activity of lipase PS in sol-gel immobilization process with methyltrimethoxysila(MTMS) and tetramethoxysila(TMOS) as the precursors.Results generated by checking the esterification activity and scanning electron microscope showed that bioimprinting can enhance the specific activity and thermal stability of lipase PS.The bioimprinting system was optimized by orthogonal experiment,and the optimal condition for lipase bioimprinting is water/silane molar ration(R) 12,polyethylene glycol(PEG) 120?l,and lauric acid 0.15 mmol.Compared with the free enzyme and the non-imprinted enzymes,the specific activity of imprinted enzymes has been improved 44.3 fold and 2.4 fold,respectively.Imprinted lipase show better thermal stability,and the relative activity is 58% after incubated in 80 ℃ for 0.5 h,while no activity was detected for the free enzyme.

This retrospective analysis compared standard regimen of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) with the dose-dense ABVD regimen (ABVD-21) in terms of efficacy and toxicity. Patients who had early-stage unfavorable or advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) according to German Hodgkin Study Group criteria from March 1999 to February 2011 were analyzed for treatment response, long-term survival and hematological toxicity. There were 85 patients in the ABVD-21 group and 118 patients in the ABVD group respectively. The complete remission rates after completion of treatment were 92.9% and 90.7% for ABVD-21 and ABVD, respectively. During a median follow-up period of 62 months, no significant difference was found in projected 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates (84.7% and 94.1% respectively for ABVD-21; 81.4% and 91.5% for ABVD). Subgroup analyses showed that ABVD-21 was significantly better than ABVD for patients with IPS≥3 in terms of PFS and OS rates. Grade 3 to 4 leukopenia (51.8% vs. 28.8%, P=0.001) and neutropenia (57.6% vs. 39.0%, P=0.009) were more common with ABVD-21. We were led to conclude that dose-dense ABVD did not result in better tumor control and overall survival than did ABVD for early-stage unfavorable HL. However, patients at high risk, for example, with IPS≥3, may benefit from dose-dense ABVD.

Objective To investigate whether simple visual assessment of FVERVOT(the right ventricular outflow tract Doppler flow velocity envelop) graphs aids in hemodynamic differentiation. Method The hemodynamics, echocardiography, and clinical data of 88 patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) were reviewed. The FVERVOTgraphs were categorized into normal pattern (no notch; NN), late systolic notch pattern (LSN) or mid-systolic notch pattern (MSN). Results The pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was highest in the MSN pattern (9.2±3.5 WU; P＜0. 001), in comparison with LSN (5,7 ±3. 1 WU) and NN (3.3±2.4 WU) patterns. The ratio of stroke volume to pulse pressure (compliance) also varied with different patterns of FVERVOr graph (MSN = 1.2 ± 0. 5; LSN = 1.7 ± 0.8; NN = 2.6 ± 1. 7, P = 0.001 and 0.04 respectively compared with NN). The specificity and sensitivity of MSN were 96% and 71%, respectively in case of a PVR ＞ 5 WU (PPV 98%). In the patients with PH, any notching pattern of FVERVOT graph was highly associated with PVR ＞ 3 WU (OR = 22.3, 95 % CI: 5.2 ～ 96.4), whereas the NN pattern predicted a PVR ≤3 WU and pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) ＞ 15 mmHg (OR =30.2, 95%CI: 6.3 ～ 144.9). Conclusions Visual inspection of the shape of the FVERVOT graphs provides insight into the hemodynamic status of patients with PH.

Tilianin was separated and authenticated from the seeds of Dracocephalum moldavia, a Uygur medicine, by chromatographic technique and spectroscopic method. The purity of tilianin is more than 98% determined by HPLC area normalization method. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) method was used to separate tilianin from D. moldavia by mixture of chloroform-methanol (5: 1) as a developing solvent on high performance silicagel precoated plate (SGF254) and using aluminium trichloride as a chromogenic agent for qualitative identification of D. moldavia. To establish a HPLC method for quantitative analysis of D. moldavia, tilianin was used as a Quantitative marker and separated on a C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm) column with acetonitrile-01% formic acid (25: 75) as the mobile phase and detected at 330 nm. The calibration curve of tilianin displayed ideal linearity over the range of 0.617 2-123.44 μg x mL(-1) with a regression equation of Y = 33.773X - 0.824 8 (r = 1). The average recovery of tilianin was 101.0% with RSD of 3.7%. The RSD values of intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 2%. The content of tilianin in 4 batches of the authenticated semen of D. Moldavia was between 0.016 and 0.187 mg x g(-1). The qualitative and quantitative method established is suitable for the quality evaluation and assessment of semen of D. Moldavia.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Glycosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Lamiaceae ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Quality Control

OBJECTIVETo assess the expression of HER-2 and leptin in gastric cancer and evaluate their relationship with VEGF expression and clinicopathological features, and their prognostic value for gastric cancer patients.

METHODSOne hundred and ten gastric cancer specimens and the corresponding metastatic lymph nodes were detected for HER-2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC). All primary cancer tissues were detected for leptin, OB-Rb and VEGF. Ninty-six specimens of normal gastric mucosa served as the control.

RESULTSThe expression level of HER-2, leptin and OB-Rb in gastric cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in normal tissues (19.1% vs. 8.0%, 49.1% vs. 34.0%, and 60.9% vs. 46.0%, P < 0.05). HER-2 overexpression was moderately homogenous in primary gastric cancer and matastatic lymph nodes (P = 0.607, Kappa = 0.581). There was a correlation between the expression of HER-2 and leptin, both of which were significantly correlated with tumor invasion depth, metastatic lymph nodes ratio (NR), distal metastasis, TNM stage and VEGF expression. However, there was no significant correlation between OB-Rb expression and the clinicopathological features evaluated. Cox regression multivariate analysis showed that tumor size, histological grade, NR, stage, chemotherapy and HER-2 expression were independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONSHER-2 is stably expressed in primary gastric cancer and metastatic lymph nodes. HER-2 and leptin play an important role in the progression and angiogenesis of gastric cancer. High expression of HER-2 is a prognostic factor for poor outcome.

Adenocarcinoma ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Leptin ; metabolism ; Lymph Nodes ; metabolism ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Leptin ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study is to investigate the influence of zirconia content which is 0-30.0% weight percentage of matrix on translucency of zirconia-toughened alumina glass-infiltrated ceramics.

METHODSSeven groups were divided according to different weight percentage of zirconia (0, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, 10.0%, 20.0% and 30.0%). After sintering, infiltrating and polishing, spectral transmittance was determined with spectrophotometer under D65 standard source. Contrast ratio was also tested by whiteness colorimeter.

RESULTSWith mass fraction of zirconia increasing from 0 to 30.0%, spectral transmittance reduced from 0.406% to 0.058%, while contrast ratio value increased from 0.849 +/- 0.005 to 1.015 +/- 0.006. When zirconia content was 10.0%, contrast ratio was 0.990 +/- 0.008. When it was more than 10.0%, transmission rate of the downward trend and contrast ratio of the rising trend became flat.

CONCLUSIONZirconia content has a direct impact on translucency of zirconia-toughened alumina glass-infiltrated ceramic, which is essentially opaque when zirconia content is 10.0%. When mass fraction of zirconia is more than 10.0%, the influence of zirconia content is reduced.

Aluminum Oxide ; Ceramics ; Dental Materials ; Dental Porcelain ; Glass ; Zirconium

OBJECTIVETo analyze the effects of long-term microwave exposure on hippocampal structure and function in the rat.

METHODSExperiments were performed on 184 male Wistar rats (three exposure groups and a sham group). Microwaves were applied daily for 6 min over 1 month at average power densities of 2.5, 5, and 10 mW/cm2. Learning and memory abilities were assessed by Morris water maze. High performance liquid chromatography was used to detect neurotransmitter concentrations in the hippocampus. Hippocampal structures were observed by histopathological analysis.

RESULTSFollowing long-term microwave exposure there was a significant decrease in learning and memory activity in the 7 d, 14 d, and 1 m in all three microwave exposure groups. Neurotransmitter concentrations of four amino acids (glutamate, aspartic acid, glycine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid) in hippocampus were increased in the 2.5 and 5 mW/cm2 groups and decreased in the 10 mW/cm2 group. There was evidence of neuronal degeneration and enlarged perivascular spaces in the hippocampus in the microwave exposure groups. Further, mitochondria became swollen and cristae were disordered. The rough endoplasmic reticulum exhibited sacculated distension and there was a decrease in the quantity of synaptic vesicles.

CONCLUSIONThese data suggest that the hippocampus can be injured by long-term microwave exposure, which might result in impairment of cognitive function due to neurotransmitter disruption.

Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cognition ; Hippocampus ; pathology ; physiopathology ; radiation effects ; Learning ; Male ; Memory ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Microwaves ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar