Objective To investigate the chromosome damage in peripheral lymphocytes of underground gold miners.Methods Conventional method and cytokinesis-block micronuclens assay were used to analyze frequency of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus in peripheral lymphocytes in 58 gold miners,respectively.Results Frequencies of chromosome-type aberrations,ehromatid-type aberrations and total aberrations were higher in the miners than those in the control group(0.72%,0.41%,1.16% vs 0.14%,0.18%,0.33,X2=44.322,9.501,50.476,P＜0.01).Both micronucleated cell rate and micronucleus rate were higher in the miners group than those in the control group(10.8‰ and 11.6‰ vs 8.7‰ and 9.0‰,X2=8.672,12.546,P＜0.01).Frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and micronucleus proportionally increased with underground working years.Compared with those miners who had worked underground 6 years or shorter,both frequencies were statistically higher among the miners who had worked underground for more than 21 years(P＜0.05).No difference was found among other groups of working years(P＞0.05).Compared with the control group,both frequencies increased in the miner group,and the differences were statistically significant(X2=2.395,P＜0.05 for chromosomal aberrations and X2=2.319,P＜0.05,respecfvely).The common types of chromosome aberrations were acentrie fragments,while chromatid break and dicenrics were subordinate.Conclusions Chromosomal damages were observed in the gold workers who exposed high radon in the underground mining.

Background: The turnover rate of nurse aides in Taiwan is high. However, the predictors of turnover behavior in the newly employed are still unclear. Objective: To examine the predictors of turnover behavior in newly employed licensed nurse aides. Methods: A longitudinal study design was used and subjects were newly employed certified nurse aides from a nurse aid training association in Taiwan. A total of five questionnaire surveys were conducted. The questionnaire was mainly used to collect information on turnover behavior, personal socioeconomic background, workplace psychosocial hazards, worker health hazards, and musculoskeletal disorders. Results: A total of 300 participants were recruited in the study. Cox regression analysis results showed that short working experience (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.21, p < 0.01), work as non-home nurse aides (HR = 0.58, p = 0.01), low monthly salary (HR = 0.68, p < 0.01), high work mental load (HR = 1.01, p = 0.01), low workplace justice (HR = 0.97, p < 0.01), high workplace violence (HR = 1.60, p < 0.01), high burnout (HR = 1.01, p = 0.04), poor mental health (HR = 1.06, p = 0.04), and high total number of musculoskeletal disorder sites (HR = 1.08, p = 0.01) contribute to a higher risk of turnover. Conclusion The results indicated that employment period, work as a home nurse aide, monthly salary, work mental load, workplace justice, workplace violence, work-related burnout, mental health, and total number of musculoskeletal disorder sites are predictors of turnover behavior in newly employed certified nurse aides.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Compound Qingqin Liquid (CQL) on the expression level of angiotensin II (Ang II) and COX-2 mRNA transcription and protein expression in the renal tissue of rats with uric acid nephropathy.

METHODSSD rats were randomly divided into the blank control group, the model group, the positive drug group, the high, moderate, and low dose CQL group according to number randomization principle. The model was established by gastrogavage of adenine, accompanied with yeast feeding. Distilled water was given by gastrogavage to rats in the blank control group and the model group. Allopurinol at the daily dose of 9.33 mg/kg was given by gastrogavage to rats of the positive control group. CQL at the daily dose of 3.77 g/kg, 1.89 g/kg, and 0.09 g/kg was respectively given by gastrogavage to rats in the high, moderate, and low dose CQL groups. All treatment lasted for 6 weeks. Rats were randomly divided at week 4 (3 in the blank control group, and 6 in the rest groups), and the rest rats were killed at week 6. The renal tissue was extracted. The expression level of Ang II and COX-2 mRNA transcription were detected by RT-PCR. The expression level of Ang II was detected by ELISA. The expression level of COX-2 protein was detected by Western blot and immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTSCompared with the blank control group, except the mRNA expression of Ang II at week 4, the mRNA and protein expression of Ang II and COX-2 obviously increased at week 4 and 6 in the model group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The COX-2 protein expression at week 4 was obviously lower in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the model group and the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05); the average integral of optical density value was obviously lower in the positive control group than in the model group. Except the mRNA expression of Ang II in the high dose CQL group at week 6, the mRNA and protein expression of Ang II obviously decreased in the positive control group and each dose CQL group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Of them, the effects were better in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the positive control group and the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Besides, the mRNA expression of COX-2, the average integral of optical density value were obviously lower in the positive control group and each dose CQL group than in the model group (P < 0.05). The protein expression of COX-2 was obviously lower in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the model group (P < 0.05). Of them, the mRNA expression of COX-2 was better in the moderate dose CQL group than in the positive control group (P < 0.05); the protein expression of COX-2 was better in the high dose CQL group than in the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCQL was capable of lowering the expression level of Ang II, COX-2 mRNA transcription and protein expression, thus suppressing the inflammatory pathological injury of the renal tissue.

Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Kidney ; metabolism ; Kidney Diseases ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Uric Acid

Objective: To analyze the effect of acupuncture versus hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). Methods: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang), Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP), China Biology Medicine Disc (CBM), Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) were searched up to January 31st, 2019 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of acupuncture for POI. The primary outcome was the level of basal serum follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH). Secondary outcomes included serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Two authors extracted data independently and assessed the risk of bias and the methodological quality using the Cochrane's tool. Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan version 5.3. Results: Eight eligible RCTs with a total of 496 POI patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that there was a significant reduction in the basal serum FSH level (MD=-5.82, 95％CI:-9.76 to -1.87, I2=82％, P=0.004) and a remarkable elevation in the basal E2 level (SMD=0.93, 95％CI: 0.34 to 1.52, I2=88％, P=0.002) in the acupuncture group when compared with the control. Subgroup analysis showed that compared with HRT, a significant decrease in the FSH level was observed in both acupuncture alone (MD=-4.53, 95％CI:-8.96 to -0.10, I2=73％, P=0.04) and acupuncture plus HRT (MD=-9.60, 95％CI:-17.60 to -1.61, I2=50％, P=0.02), while a remarkable elevation of E2 was only found in acupuncture plus HRT (SMD=1.43, 95％CI: 1.03 to 1.82, I2=0％, P<0.00001). There was no significant difference in the LH level between acupuncture and HRT (MD=-3.16, 95％CI:-9.41 to 3.10, I2=0％, P=0.32), only one trial reported AMH, and no significant difference was found between acupuncture and HRT. Conclusion: The present study indicated that acupuncture had an advantage over HRT in reducing serum FSH level and increasing serum E2 level in women with POI. However, evidence supporting the finding is limited due to the small sample size, potential methodological flaws and significant heterogeneity. Hence, this conclusion still needs to be verified by high-quality RCTs.

Gastrodin is a signature component of Gastrodiae Rhizoma. This article reviewed the research on the content differences of gastrodin in different kinds of Gastrodiae Rhizoma from factors such as growth environment and producing areas, cultivated varieties, growth and development stages, commodity specification grades and processing methods, and believed that the above factors had a certain influence on the gastrodin content in Gastrodiae Rhizoma. However, the lack of systematic research at present could not fully reveal its regularity, especially the mechanism of the influence of various factors on the gastrodin content, which needs to be clarified.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells have the potential of differentiation into alveolar epithelial cells in vitro, but so far no study has indicated that adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) can be differentiated into alveolar epithelial cells through long-term Transwell co-culture. OBJECTIVE: To observe whether rat lung epithelial-T-antigen negative cell lines (RLE-6TN) can induce rat ADSCs to differentiate into type II alveolar epithelial cells by long-term Transwell co-culture. METHODS: Three SPF health female Sprague-Dawley rats were used as donors to separate, extract, culture and identity ADSCs. The experimental group was subjected to the Transwell co-culture of ADSCs and RLE-6TN, while the control group was subjected to the culture of ADSCs alone. The morphological changes of ADSCs were observed by the inverted phase contrast microscope at 21 days after co-culture. Immunofluorescence staining using surfactant protein C (SP-C) was performed on the co-cultured ADSCs. The fluorescence staining was observed using the inverted fluorescence microscope. Integral optical density (IOD) analysis was conducted by Image pro plus 6.0 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: RLE-6TN cells were identified by fluorescence staining with stable expression of SP-C protein (red fluorescence) in the experimental group, and there was no red fluorescence in the control group. After 21-day co-culture, the cell shape in the experimental group was transformed from the long spindle shape into oval or polygon shape gradually, while the cell shape in the control group remained fibroblast-like. These results show that RLE-6TN can induce ADSCs to differentiate into type II alveolar epithelial cells after a long-term (21 days) co-culture.

OBJECTIVETo study the therapeutic effect of splenic autotransplantation combined with lower esophagus transaction anastomosis in the treatment of liver cirrhosis induced portal hypertension.

METHODSThirty-six patients admitted from January 2003 to December 2006 were randomly divided into splenic autotransplantation group undergoing splenic autotransplantation after splenectomy combined with lower esophagus transaction anastomosis, and splenectomy group only undergoing splenectomy combined with lower esophagus transaction anastomosis. The general conduction, splenic scanning, liver function, and the level of serum Tuftsin and IgM of each patient were observed before and after operation.

RESULTSThe levels of Tuftsin and IgM in splenic autotransplantation group were significant higher than that of splenectomy group 2 months after the operation, and the liver function showed no significant difference between these two groups. Splenic tissue was detected in the retroperitoneal space by 99mTc-DRBC 2 months after operation.

CONCLUSIONSSplenic autotransplantation combined with lower esophagus transaction anastomosis is a safe and effective treatment strategy for patients with liver cirrhosis induced portal hypertension, and the spleen tissue transplanted into the retroperitoneal space can partially preserve the immune function.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; Esophagus ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; etiology ; surgery ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spleen ; transplantation ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression profile of microRNAs during the course of embryonic stem cells differentiation towards hepatocytes induced by sodium butyrate.

METHODSTotal RNA was extracted from embryonic stem cells on day 0, 6, and 9 during cell differentiation, and microRNA was isolated from the total RNA. Microarray analysis of microRNA expression was performed to detect the different expression levels of microRNA among the indicated time points (day 0, 6, and 9).

RESULTSCompared with the microRNA expression level on day 0 of cell differentiation, 17 different microRNAs exhibited higher expressions both on day 6 and day 9. Twenty-two and 27 microRNA demonstrated lower expressions on day 6 and day 9, respectively. Further analysis revealed that 15 microRNA among the above microRNAs with significant differential expression may keep close interation with histone deacetylase.

CONCLUSIONDuring the course of embryonic stem cells differentiation towards hepatocytes induced by sodium butyrate, histone deacetylase and its relevant microRNAs may play important roles in cell differentiation.

Animals ; Butyrates ; pharmacology ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Hepatocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Mice ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo summarize the pathological classification, clinical symptom and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of primary tumor of small intestine.

METHODSData of 58 patients with primary tumor of small intestine pathologically confirmed from Oct. 1996 to Oct. 2006 were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSThirteen patient (22.4%) had primary benign tumors of small intestine and 45 patient (77.6%) had primary malignant tumors of small intestine. The major clinical signs of primary tumor of small intestine included hemorrhage(85%), abdomen pain(19%), abdomen mass and intestine obstruction(16%). Forty- eight patients (82.8%) were diagnosed by laparotomy of abdominal cavity and misdiagnosed preoperatively as other diseases.

CONCLUSIONSPrimary tumors of small intestine are difficult to be diagnosed preoperatively. CT scan, digital subtraction angiography and radionuclide imaging are helpful for the diagnosis. Laparotomy of abdominal cavity is the main choice for those patients with suspicious tumor of small intestine.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Intestinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Intestine, Small ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To study the value of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) in assessing the severity of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) in children. METHODS: A prospective analysis was performed on 59 children who were diagnosed with BO from June 2009 to October 2014. ELISA was used to measure the concentrations of myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA and proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA in serum. According to the results of ELISA, the children were divided into three groups: double-negative ANCA (n=22), single-positive ANCA (n=17), and double-positive ANCA (n=20). The three groups were compared in terms of the scores of BO risk factors, clinical symptoms, chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), and lung pathology on admission, as well as the changes in the expression level of ANCA and the scores of clinical symptoms and chest HRCT over time. RESULTS: Compared with the double-negative ANCA group, the double-positive ANCA group had a significantly higher score of BO risk factors (P<0.05), and the single-positive ANCA group and the double-positive ANCA group had significantly higher scores of clinical symptoms, chest HRCT, and lung pathology (P<0.05). The children were followed up for 6 months after discharge, and there were significant reductions in MPO-ANCA and PR3-ANCA titers from admission and discharge to the end of follow-up (P<0.05), as well as a significant reduction in the score of clinical symptoms from admission to the end of follow-up (P<0.05), while there was no significant change in the score of chest HRCT from admission to the end of follow-up (P>0.05). The single-positive ANCA and double-positive ANCA groups still had a significantly higher score of clinical symptoms than the double-negative ANCA group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The expression level of ANCA is correlated with the severity of BO in children and thus has certain clinical significance in disease evaluation.
Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; Bronchiolitis Obliterans ; Child ; Humans ; Myeloblastin ; Peroxidase ; Prospective Studies