OBJECTIVETo sum up the experience in diagnosis and treatment of Fournier's gangrene and find an optimal evaluation tool for its prognosis by comparing currently used prognostic scoring systems.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed 16 cases of Fournier's gangrene diagnosed and surgically treated in our hospital between 2004 and 2012. Using Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI), Uludag Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (UFGSI), Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI), and Surgical Apgar Score (sAPGAR) , we obtained the prognostic scores of the patients and made comparisons among different scoring systems.

RESULTSFGSI, UFGSI, ACCI, and sAPGAR were all clinically used scoring systems. Statistically significant differences were found in the scores of ACCI and UFGSI but not in those of FGSI and sAPGAR between the death and survival groups, with the maximum area under the ROC curve and minimum standard error for the ACCI score.

CONCLUSIONBoth ACCI and UFGSI are useful for evaluating the prognosis of Fournier's gangrene. However, ACCI is even better for its higher sensitivity and specificity and easier clinical collection.

Age Factors ; Aged ; Fournier Gangrene ; diagnosis ; mortality ; surgery ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Severity of Illness Index

Objective To explore the factor structure of the anxiety imagery characteristics questionnaire.Methods Through the literature review and expert group discussion,the initial anxiety imagery features questionnaire was created.The first questionnaire contained 49 items of anxiety imagery,which was answered by 106 imagery dialogue psychotherapists.After analysis of the items and exploratory factors,the formal questionnaire that contained 20 items of anxiety imagery characteristics was formed.The formal questionnaire was measured by 115 imagery dialogue psychotherapists,then,exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were made.Results The exploratory factor analysis showed that four factors whose Eigen value were more than 1 were extracted from l0 items,including emotional panic,uneasy,tense muscles,and motor restlessness.Those four factors explained 54.39％ of the total variance.Confirmatory analysis showed that x2/df was 2.142 ; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.059 ; and comparative fit index (CFI),goodness-of-fit index (GFI),non-normed fit index (NNFI) and RSMEA was 0.912,0.935,0.896,and 0.057,respectively.Conclusions The four-factor structure was constructed by 10 items of anxiety imagery characteristics questionnaire.

Objective To establish a method for rapidly detecting the G-protein ?3 subunit (GNB3) 825 site single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and to analyse the relationship between GNB3 825 site gene SNP and obesity. Methods The real-time fluorescent PCR was employed to analyse the GNB3 825 site gene SNP of 420 samples from 21 provinces and the the frequencies of genotypes were compared with those detected by gene sequencing. GNB3 825 site genotype, body weight, body mass index (BMI) and fat content were examined from 207 subjects and the correlation between GNB3 825 site gene SNP and obesity was analysed. Results The result by real-time fluorescent PCR showed that the frequencies of 825T and 825C haploid were 46.90% and 53.10%, respectively, and the frequencies of 825TT, 825TC and 825CC genotype were 22.38%, 51.42% and 28.10%, respectively, with no other genotype detected, which was consistent with the result by gene sequencing. BMI and fat content were significantly higher in subjects with GNB3 825TT than in subjects with other genotypes. Body weight was much higher in subjects with GNB3 825TT genotype than in subjects with 825CC genotype, but not significantly different with 825CT genotype. Conclusion A new rapid method for the detection of GNB3 825 site SNP has been successfully established. There existed significant correlation between GNB3 825TT genotype and obesity.

Animals ; Calcitriol ; pharmacology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; Liver ; drug effects ; Liver Diseases ; complications ; drug therapy ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To explore the relationship between age and refractive predictability of excimer laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK)for the correction of myopia.Design Retrospective case series.Participants 362 patients(703 eyes)who had performed LASIK.Methods According to the age,patients were divided into four groups(≤30y,31～34y,35～39y and≥40y).Their preoperative and postoperative refractive powers examined with automatic refactor as well as manifest optometry were analysed and followed up from 6 months to 2 years.According to pre-operative refractive power,patietns were divided into low and moderate myopia group(≤-6.00D), high myopia group(-6.25～-12.00D)and super-high myopia group(≥-12.25D).The eyes with refractive power at post-operative 2 years≥-1.00D were regressive eyes.Main Outcome Measures Refractive error before surgery,intended residual refractive power and 3,6, 12, 24 months post-operative refractive powers.Results There were no significant differences between intended residual refractive powers and refractive powers at post-operative 6 month in 3 groups(

Objective To evaluate serum soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) before and after lung transplantation for diagnosing acute rejection. Methods Biotin-streptavidin time resolved fluoroimmunoassay (BSA-TRFIA) was used to detect the concentration of serum sICAM-1 before and after lung transplantation in 26 patients. All patients were divided into stable lung transplantation group (n =16), acute rejection group (n =4) and infected group (n =6). The serum level of sICAM-1 in those groups was compared with that of the control group ( n = 30 ) by the non-parametric rank sum test ( KruskalWallis H test). Results No significant difference was found for serum sICAM-1 among the three groups and the control group before operation: (357.07 ± 220.01 ), ( 396. 18 ± 136.25 ), (468.95 ± 85.48 ) μg/L vs(348.63 ±69. 12) μg/L, H=6. 0436, P ＞0.05. However, when rejection and infection happened after operation, the serum sICAM-1 increased in the acute rejection group (455.53 ± 126.51 μg/L) and decreased in the infection group (146.43 ± 327.11 μg/L), and the level in the stable transplantation group was (274.23 ± 157.53 ) μg/L (H = 21. 8994, P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusion Serum sICAM-1 level might be a potential marker to differentiate acute rejection from infection after lung transplantation.

Objective To examine the effects and mechanisms of siRNA targeting aquaporin 4 (AQP 4) in combination with hyperbaric oxygen therapy(HBO) on cerebral edema and apoptosis in the brain tissue of rats after hemorrhage.Methods Rats were randomly divided into four groups,the control group,the hyperbaric oxygen group,the AQP-4 siRNA group and the combination therapy group (24 rats).Thrombin Ⅶ was injected into the caudate nucleus to establish the hemorrhage model.Construction of siRNA targeting aquaporin 4 was conducted.The mRNA expression of AQP-4 was detected by RT-PCR at day 3.Changes in brain moisture and blood-brain barrier perme ability were measured by a wet/dry weight method and Evans blue fluorometry.The nerve cell apoptosis rate was analyzed by Annexin V andTdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL).The expression of proteins including AQP-4,MMP-2,MMP-9,Bcl-2 and caspase-3 was detected by Western Blotting.All the animals were given a score for their nerve function at day 3.Results AQP-4 siRNA treatment obtained better effects than HBO in decreasing the brain edema leveland silencing AQP-4 mRNA(P＜0.05)while,the combination therapy group achieved the best results(P＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group,the percentage of apoptotic cells decreased in all the three treatment groups,with the most marked decrease observed in the combination treatment group(4.24± 0.04)％(F=13.76,P=0.001).The expression of AQP-4,MMP-2,MMP-9 and caspase-3 was lower (P＜0.05) and the expression of Bcl-2 was higher(P＜0.01)in the combination treatment group than in the other three groups.Compared with the control group,all the other three groups received better scores on nerve function defect evaluation at day 3 after hemorrhage(P＜0.05),with the combination treatment group again achieving the most favorable score (4.7 ± 1.1) (F=7.21,P =0.013).Conclusions Targeted siRNA interference combined with hyperbaric oxygen can effectively reduce cerebral edema after cerebral hemorrhage,inhibit neuronal apoptosis and promote neuron function recovery.The underlying mechanisms may be related to down-regulation of AQP-4,MMP 2,MMP-9 and caspase-3 expression and up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression.

Laboratory animals and animal experiments are foundations and important support conditions for life sciences, especially for medical research. The animal experiments have drawn extensive attention from the society because of the ethical issue. This paper takes Wenzhou Medical University as an example to give a brief introduction to the ethical review about laboratory animals in the university so as to further draw attention and concerns from the public about the ethical issue of laboratory animals. We successively introduce its scientific projects, nurturing environment and ethical review of laboratory animals.
Animal Experimentation ; ethics ; Animals ; Animals, Laboratory ; Universities

A set of central composite design experiments were designed by using four factors which were ethanol amount, ethanol concentration, refrigeration temperature and refrigeration time. The relation between these factors with the target variables of the retention rate of schizandrol A, the soluble solids content, the removal rate of fructose and the removal rate of glucose were analyzed with Bayesian networks, and ethanol amount and ethanol concentration were found as the critical process parameters. Then a network model was built with 2 inputs and 4 outputs using back propagation artificial neural networks which was optimized by genetic algorithms. The R2 and MSE from the training set were 0.983 8 and 0.001 1. The R2 and MSE from the test set were 0.975 9 and 0.001 8. The results showed that network analysis method could be used for modeling of Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus ethanol precipitation process and identify critical operating parameters.
Bayes Theorem ; Chemical Precipitation ; Cold Temperature ; Cyclooctanes ; chemistry ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Fructose ; analysis ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Glucose ; analysis ; Lignans ; chemistry ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Polycyclic Compounds ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Schisandra ; chemistry ; Time Factors

Objective To investigate the changes in high voltage-activated (HVA) calcium current in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons isolated from rats with neuropathic pain. Methods Pathogen-free male SD rats aged 4-6 weeks weighing 180-220 g were used in this study. The animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal pentobarbital sodium 50 mg/kg. Neuropathic pain was induced by ligation of L5 spinal nerve between DRG and sciatic nerve. The nerve was transected distal to the ligature. The animals which showed positive signs of neuropathic pain were decapitated on the 14th postoperative day. L5 and L4 DRGs were isolated and the neurons in the ganglia were enzymatically dissociated (group L5 and L4). The control group received no surgery (group C). The HVA Ca2+ current was recorded using whole-cell patch clamp technique. Results Peak calcium current density was significantly lower in group L5 and L4 than in group C, and was significantly lower in group L5 than in group L4 . Halfactivation value (Va 1/2) was also significantly lower in group L5 than in group C and L4 (P ＜ 0.05). The relative contribution of N-type to the total HVA Ca2+ current was significantly greater in group L5 than in group C and L4(P ＜ 0.05). There was no significant difference in the steady-state inactivation curves among the 3 groups. Conclusion In rats with neuropathic pain, the HVA Ca2+ current in the injured DRG neurons may play a key role in the induction of neuropathic pain.