Objective To investigate nutrition status and dyspnea in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) between GOLD Ⅱ and GoLD Ⅲ, and test the evaluative validity of disease status by GOLD classification of COPD. Methods Thirty patients with clinically stable COPD were recruited, including 15 patients of GOLD Ⅱ of COPD and 15 patients of GOLD Ⅲ of COPD. Body mass index (BMI), triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF), serum albumin (Alb), and partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) were measured in each patient. Dyspnea was assessed by the Borg Scale (BS). Exercise stress test was taken by incremental exercise test. Results BMI was significantly lower in the patients of GOLD Ⅲ than that in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ[(19±5 ) kg/m2 vs (23±3) kg/m2,p < 0.05]. TSF was significantly reduced in the patients of GOLD Ⅲ than that in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ[ (8±3) mm vs(13±5) mm, P < 0.01]. Alia in the patients of GOLD Ⅲ was significantly decreased than that in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ [(32±7) g/L vs (36±6) g/L, P <0.05]. The difference of PaO2 between the patients of GOLD Ⅲ and the patients of GOLD Ⅱ was significant [(72±9) nun Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa ) vs (78±8) nun Hg, P < 0.01], and the significant difference of BS was found between the patients of GOLD Ⅲ and the patients of GOLD Ⅱ( 5.0±2.0) grades vs (3.0±1.0) grades, P <0.05 ]. In addition, 12 patients in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ took the exercise stress test and 8 patients were found anaerobic threshold (AT), 5 patients in the patients of GOLD Ⅲ took the exercise stress teat and no AT was found. Conclusions The parameters of BMI, TSF, Alb and PaO2 are significantly reduced in the patients of GOLD Ⅲ than those in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ. In the patients of GOLD Ⅲ, BS is higher than that in the patients of GOLD Ⅱ and AT is difficult to obtain, suggesting more severe in degree of impairment. GOLD classification of COPD reflects the disease stares and prognosis in the patients with COPD, as a valuable parameter in clinical practice.

Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins ; Breast ; metabolism ; pathology ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; metabolism ; Checkpoint Kinase 2 ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Grading ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Tumor Burden ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; metabolism

Objective To observe the difference in treament of thoracolumbar vertebral bodies fractures be- tween AF nail and Dick nail.Methods From March 1998 to March 2007,85 cases of thoracolumbar vertebral bod- ies fractures were followed up.20 cases were fixed with Dick nail,and 65 cases with AF nail.Results The mean,fol- low-up period was 12 months.By comparison of the operating rime,bleeding amount,the recovery rate of vertebral height,the reduction of Cobb angle and capacity of vertebral canal,AF nail was much better than Dick nail.But there was no marked difference in the recover of nerve function.Conclusion AF nail has more power to reduce vertebral height and is easier to set than Dick nail.It will be worthy of more and wider application in basic level hospitals.

Objective:To compare the effectiveness of fire needle versus Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods:Randomized controlled trials comparing fire needle with Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster were identified using 8 databases. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results:Eight trials involving 569 patients were included in this meta-analysis, and the results showed that fire needle was superior to Western medicine comparing the effective rate [risk ratio (RR)=1.13, 95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.20;P=0.0002], the visual analog scale (VAS) score [mean difference(MD)=–7.95, 95％ CI: –10.71 to –5.20;P<0.00001], time of pain disappearance (MD=–7.61, 95％CI: –9.38 to –5.84;P<0.00001), time of blister-stop (MD=–1.34, 95％CI: –1.51 to –1.18;P<0.00001), time of crusted scab (MD=–2.92, 95％CI: –3.62 to –2.23;P<0.00001), and time of scab off (MD=–4.64, 95％CI: –5.83 to –3.46;P<0.00001). In addition, a significantly lower incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was found in the fire needle group in 30 d (RR=0.23, 95％CI: 0.11 to 0.51;P=0.0002) and 60 d (RR=0.33, 95％CI: 0.12 to 0.91; P=0.03) after treatment. Conclusion:Fire needle has a favorable effect in increasing the effective rate, relieving pain, recovering skin lesions and decreasing incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the treatment of herpes zoster. However, considering the limitations in this study, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Melittin exhibits high antibacterial potency against drug-resistant bacteria. However, the clinical utility of melittin is limited by its serious hemolytic activity. Thus, the need for developing novel melittin analogues with high antimicrobial activity and low hemolytic activity has grown. We designed, synthesized, and evaluated 20 novel melittin analogues with varying hydrophobic, polar or positively charged amino acids. The results showed that 8 compounds had antimicrobial activity (MIC: 1-4 μg·mL^-1) against gram-positive pathogens equal to or better than that of melittin, and 16 compounds had low hemolytic activity (HC₅₀ ≥ 11.9 μg·mL^-1). Compounds 13 (MIC: 2-4 μg·mL^-1) and 15 (MIC: 1-2 μg·mL^-1) showed equal or better antimicrobial activity against both susceptible and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium compared to melittin (MIC: 4 μg·mL^-1). Compound 13 (HC₅₀: 24.0 ± 4.3 μg·mL^-1) displayed noticeably decreased hemolytic activity compared to melittin (HC₅₀: 5.3 ± 0.4 μg·mL^-1). This work established a base for further study on the structure-activity relationships and structure-toxicity relationships of melittin.

AIM: Accommodation is one of the most important functions of human eye, while its mechanism is still under discussion. This paper aimed to study accommodation mechanism with numerical simulation.METHODS: A simulation model was constructed to study the mechanism of accommodation based on the experimental data derived from published resources. The displacement and pressure are applied on the model to study the deformation of lens during accommodating.RESULTS: The simulation showed that, as the eye was accommodating, the thickness of the lens increased linearly,and the lens diameter decreased linearly. The optical power of the lens increased as the accommodation increased. This result was accord with the public facts in accommodation.Furthermore, the pressure was found to have a great influence on the shape of the lens and the optical power. The lens became thinner and flatter as the pressure increased and the pressure caused a remarkable increase of lens' optical power.CONCLUSION: The outcome of this paper is consistent with the Helmholtz's hypothesis on accommodation to some extent. The analytical model presented in this paper can be used in the theoretical study of the accommodation mechanism of the human lens.

OBJECTIVETo provide the acute toxicity data of hygromycin B phosphotransferase (HPT) using recombinant protein purified from E. coli.

METHODSRecombinant HPT protein was expressed and purified from E. coli. To exclude the potential adverse effect of bacteria protein in recombinant HPT protein, bacterial control plasmid was constructed, and bacteria control protein was extracted and prepared as recombinant HPT protein. One hundred mice, randomly assigned to 5 groups, were administrated 10 g/kg, 5 g/kg, or 1 g/kg body weight of HPT or 5 g/kg body weight of bacterial control protein or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) respectively by oral gavage.

RESULTSAll animals survived with no significant change in body weight gain throughout the study. Macroscopic necropsy examination on day 15 revealed no gross pathological lesions in any of the animals. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of HPT was 10 g/kg body weight in mice and could be regarded as nontoxic.

CONCLUSIONHPT protein does not have any safety problems to human health.

Animals ; Bacterial Proteins ; isolation & purification ; toxicity ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) ; isolation & purification ; toxicity ; Recombinant Proteins ; isolation & purification ; toxicity ; Toxicity Tests, Acute

Objective To build a supervision mechanism for independent clinical labs (ICL),surveyed the current situation of such novel institutions in China.Methods By way of the nationwide network of clinical labs,ICL in China were surveyed by written questionnaires and spot inspection.Results In the surveyed 38 ICLs,the maximum registered capital was 44 900 thousands,the minimum was 2 000 thousands.The maximum number of employee was 1 105,the minimum was 19.6 labs passed ISO15189 ratification,4 labs passed CAP ratification.17 labs participated in local external quality control,29 labs par-ticipated in national external quality control.Conclusion Although ICL in our country have developed well in the past dec-ade,such vulnerabilities as unbalanced staff ratio,full-range quality control bugs,cutthroat competition,asymmetrical infor-mation disclosure and bio-safety have loomed in the meantime.It is time to formulate a stricter industry access system and appropriate regulatory modes.

Objective:To explore the clinical pathological characteristics and improve the recognition in the diagnosis and treatment of incidental (stage T1a -T1b)prostate cancer.Methods:Seven hundred and seventy-one patients who underwent TURP from May 2004 to September 2013 were analyzed retro-spectively.In our institution,TURP specimens should be totally submitted in an extensive sampling method.The tumor area was outlined by estimation of an experienced genitourinary pathologist and calcu-lated by the image analysis system software (Image J 1.47 h).The tumor area was then multiplied by the thickness of tissue.The total sum of all tumor volume was the estimated tumor volume.The clinical and pathological factors,follow-up results were obtained and we aimed to collect information about the period of watchful waiting (WW),PSA progression status,intervention status during the follow-up,the reason for intervention on WW and the type of intervention.Results:The average age of 771 patients was (71.3 ±5.9)years old,and the average BMI was (23.9 ±3.1)kg/m2 ,preoperative average tPSA was (4.4 ±2.8)μg/L.Eighty-six (11.2%)cases of incidental prostate cancer were detected.The patients in T1a group (77 cases,89.5%)had tumor volumes of (12.3 ±12.6)mm3 ,and the patients in T1b group had tumor volumes of (105.1 ±41.8)mm3 .The range of tumor volume was 0.4 -180.2 mm3 . The volume of all the 86 cases was less than 500 mm3 as the threshold of insignificant cancer.All the pa-tients were managed by WW.The mean follow-up time was 88.9 (27.9 -150.1)months.The Gleason score was <7 in 79 patients,and ≥7 in 7 patients.There was no significant difference in age,preopera-tive tPSA,preoperative PSAD,postoperative tPSA,prostate volume and TURP resection between T1a group and T1b group (P >0.05).Among 84 patients without follow-up losts,PSA progression occurred in 5 patients.One T1a patient underwent radical prostatectomy (RP)as an intervention,and 3 patients underwent hormone therapy.One patient in T1b group underwent radiotherapy for PSA progression and one was treated because of patient preference without evidence of disease progression.There were no pa-tients who died due to prostate cancer.Conclusion:Eighty-six (11.2%)cases of incidental prostate cancer were detected.The tumor volume of all the cases was insignificant cancer.The clinical outcomes of IPCa were satisfactory with the initial treatment of WW in the Chinese population.

Objective To clarify the function of LIM and SH3 domain protein-1 (LASP1) and ferritin in rhBMP2-induced osteogenic differentiation of beagle bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs).Methods After BMSCs from 3-18-month-old C57BL/6J mice were cultured adherently for 24 hours,they were subjected to osteogenic differentiation for 7,14 and 21 days in 3 groups.BMP2 (100 μg/L) and osteogenic differentiation medium was added in the experimental group,only osteogenic differentiation medium was added in the control group,and nothing was added in the blank group.Osteoblast differentiation was determined by examining marker genes (Runx2,OSX,OCN and OPN) using qRT-PCR.The protein expression of both LASP1 and ferritin was investigated using western blotting.After LASP1 and ferritin were silenced in the cells in the experimental group after transfection of shRNA to target LASP1(m),rhBMP2-induced osteogenesis was repeated to verify the roles of LASP1 and ferritin in osteoblast differentiation.Results The qRT-PCR showed successful osteoblast differentiation in the experimental group.Western blotting verified significant down-regulation of LASP1 and up-regulation of ferritin in the experimental group.After the LASP1 gene was silenced,the expression levels of osteoblast differentiation marker genes in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group.Conclusions rhBMP2 can induce mouse BMSCs to differentiate into osteoblasts in a significant manner.Combined with our preliminary research,the present study may confirm that LASP1 and ferritin,which play an important role in regulating cytoskeleton activity and iron metabolism,are critical in the osteogenic differentiation of mouse BMSCs induced by rhBMP2.