Acute Disease ; Adult ; Cerebral Infarction ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Fabry Disease ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male

Objective: To explore the correlation among carotid atherosclerosis, ankle-brachial index (ABI) and urinary microalbumin (UMA) level in patients with essential hypertension (EH). Methods: A total of 215 EH patients treated in our hospital from Apr 2014 to Aug 2015 were selected. According to 24h UMA level, patients were divided into normal UMA group (n=116) and microalbuminuria (MAU) group (n=99). General data, UMA level, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), carotid artery lumen diameter, incidence rate of plaque and ABI were measured and compared between two groups. Correlation among CIMT, ankle-brachial index (ABI) and urinary microalbumin (UMA) level was analyzed in EH + MAU patients. Results: There were no significant difference in age, gender, levels of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, blood lipids and serum creatinine between two groups, P＞0. 05 all. Compared with normal UMA group, there were significant rise in UMA level [21. 25 (15. 75, 25. 75) mg/d vs. 86. 50 (56. 50, 104. 50) mg/d], CIMT [(1. 20± 1. 09) mm vs. (1. 76±0. 81) mm]and incidence rate of plaque (55. 17％ vs. 75. 76％), and significant reduction in ABI [(1. 12±0. 11) vs. (0. 97±0. 11)] in MAU group, P＜0. 01 all. Linear correlation analysis indicated that UMA level was significant positively correlated with CIMT (r=0. 551, P=0. 001), and significant inversely correlated with ABI (r=-0. 266, P=0. 008) in EH + MAU patients. Conclusion: In EH+ MAU patients, MAU is significant positively correlated with CIMT, and significant inversely correlated with ABI, suggesting MAU is not only related to hypertensive renal disease, but also an early sign of subclinical atherosclerosis.

With the rapid development of multimedia teaching, this article is to declear the necessity of traditional blackboard in the teaching of medical genetics. Multimedia is not a versatile teaching model, and the weakness of the traditional teaching method are increasingly prominent. This article mainly discusses that how blackboard teaching effectively makes up for the deficiencies of multimedia teaching, from the four parts including the integrity of knowledge system, deductive teaching, teaching flexibility and the interaction between teacher and student. Therefore, the traditional blackboard teaching advantages and is very important in the teaching of medical genetics. The reasonable combination of the two teaching methods will sufficiently improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching.

Objective To investigate the antimicrobial resistance profile of the clinical isolates collected from selected hospitals across China. Methods Twenty-nine general hospitals and five children's hospitals were involved in this program. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out according to a unified protocol using Kirby-Bauer method or automated systems. Results were interpreted according to CLSI 2017 breakpoints. Results A total of 190 610 clinical isolates were collected from January to December 2017, of which gram negative organisms accounted for 70.8％ (134 951/190 610) and gram positive cocci 29.2％ (55 649/190 610). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains was 35.3％ in S. aureus (MRSA) and 80.3％ in coagulase negative Staphylococcus (MRCNS) on average. MR strains showed much higher resistance rates to most of the other antimicrobial agents than MS strains. However, 91.6％ of MRSA strains were still susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, while 86.2％ of MRCNS strains were susceptible to rifampin. No staphylococcal strains were found resistant to vancomycin. E. faecalis strains showed much lower resistance rates to most of the drugs tested (except chloramphenicol) than E. faecium. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) was identified in both E. faecalis and E. faecium. The identified VRE strains were mainly vanA, vanB or vanM type based on phenotype or genotype. The proportion of PSSP or PRSP strains in the non-meningitis S.pneumoniae strains isolated from children decreased but the proportion of PISP strains increased when compared to the data of 2016. Enterobacteriaceae strains were still highly susceptible to carbapenems. Overall, less than 10％ of these strains (excluding Klebsiella spp.) were resistant to carbapenems. The prevalence of imipenem-resistant K. pneumoniae increased from 3.0％ in 2005 to 20.9％ in 2017, and meropenem-resistant K. pneumoniae increased from 2.9％ in 2005 to 24.0％ in 2017, more than 8-fold increase. About 66.7％ and 69.3％ of Acinetobacter (A. baumannii accounts for 91.5％) strains were resistant to imipenem and meropenem, respectively. Compared with the data of year 2016, P. aeruginosa strains showed decreasing resistance rate to carbapenems. Conclusions Bacterial resistance is still on the rise. It is necessary to strengthen hospital infection control and stewardship of antimicrobial agents. The communication between laboratorians and clinicians should be further improved in addition to surveillance of bacterial resistance.

Aged ; Animals ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype ; pathogenicity ; Influenza, Human ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective To investigate the distribution and changing resistance proifle ofSalmonella isolates in hospitals across China during the period from January 2005 to December 2014.Methods Seventeen general hospitals and two children’s hospitals were involved in this program. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out by means of a unified protocol using Kirby-Bauer method or MIC determination. The results were analyzed according to CLSI 2014 breakpoints.Results The proportion ofSalmonella isolates increased with time from 0.2% in 2005 to 0.7% in 2014. A total of 3 478Salmonella strains were collected from 19 hospitals. The proportion ofSalmonella typhimurium andSalmonella enteritidis was 27.4% and 24.4%, respectively. During the 10-year period, theSalmonella strains showed highest resistance rate to ampicillin (33.3%-64.8%), but low resistance to cefoperazone-sulbactam (0-5.3%) and ciprofloxacin (2.4%-14.3%).S. typhimurium showed higher resistance rate thanS. typhi,S. paratyphi andS. enteritidis. About 76.8% and 50.5% ofS. typhimurium were resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The average prevalence of multi-drug resistantSalmonellawas 3.9% in the ten-year period, the highest (7.5%) was in 2005, the lowest (1.5%) in 2013.Conclusions During the period from 2004 to 2015, majority of theSalmonella isolates in hospitals across China wasS. typhimurium andS. enteritidis. Ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole are no longer appropriate for empirical treatment ofS. typhimurium infection due to high resistance rate.Salmonella isolates are relatively more susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins and quinolones. Ongoing monitoring is necessary to identify multi-drug resistant strains ofSalmonella.

Notch-1 signaling pathway is responsible for cell differentiation, development, proliferation and apoptosis. Recent studies show that Notch-1 signaling pathway is also involved in cancer progression, including cell invasion, motility and cancer metastasis. Activation of Notch-1 signaling pathway can directly or indirectly induce cell proliferation and migration. In tumor cells, activation of Notch-1 facilitates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), keeps its mesenchyme characteristics and induces cell adhesion. Notch-1 signaling pathway also cross-talks with other pathways to regulate cell fate, such as PI3K/Akt, NF-κB pathways. The evidence shows that aberrant Notch-1 activation has been found in different solid tumors, which participates in regulating tumor metastasis. In this review, the Notch structure and function, Notch-1 signal and tumorigenesis, tumor metastasis via Notch-1 signaling, and Notch-1 signaling targeted-therapy were comprehensively summarized. To clarify the roles of Notch-1 signal pathway in tumor metastasis and its regulatory mechanisms as well as the current treatment strategies for Notch-1 signal pathway will provide references for studies on pathomechanism and clinical treatment of cancers.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the inhibitory effects of OMT on TGF-β1-induced CFBs proliferation, and then explore the mechanism.

METHODThe experiment was randomly divided into 6 groups as following: control group (serum free DMEM), model group (20 μg x L(-1) TGF-β1), OMT low dose group (1.89 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) + 20 μg x L(-1) TGF-β1), OMT medium dose group (3.78 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) + 20 μg x L(-1) TGF-β1), OMT high dose group (7.56 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) + 20 μg x L(-1) TGF-β1), SB203580 group (p38MAPK blocking agent, 1 x 10(-5) mol x L(-1) + 20 μg x L(-1) TGF-β1). Vimentin of CFBs was identified by immunocytochemical methods, α-SMA of myFBs as well. Inhibitory effects of OMT on CFBs proliferation was detected by the MTT assay. Picric acid Sirius red staining was analyzed collagen type I and collagen type III deposition. Western blot was determined the expression of p38MAPK, p-p38MAPK, collagen type I and collagen type III.

RESULTMTT results showed that OMT significantly inhibited CFBs proliferation induced by TGF-β1 (P < 0.01) α-SMA immunocytochemical experiments suggested that OMT could protect against the CFBs proliferation. OMT could significantly decrease the deposition of collagen type I and collagen type III by Western bloting and picric acid Sirius red staining. Western blot results showed that TGF-β1 enhanced p38MAPK phosphorylation, however OMT attenuated the phosphorylation of p38MAPK induced by TGF-β1 (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONOMT can inhibit the CFBs proliferation induced by TGF-β1, and its mechanism may be involved in inhibiting p38MAPK phosphorylation.

Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Collagen ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; drug effects ; Heart ; drug effects ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Phosphorylation ; Quinolizines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Acupuncturists have always paid high attention to deqi (needling sensation) in clinical. However, relationship between deqi and curative effect has not been elucidated yet. In order to have a further understanding on effect of deqi on clinical effect, through study on literature associated with deqi since the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, it is held that various factors can influence therapeutic effect of acupuncture treatment, including whether needling sensation appears or not, the speed of deqi, the intensity of deqi, different types of sensations as well as propagated sensation along meridians (PSM). Joint launched multidisciplinary researches should be carried out to reveal the influence principle of deqi on acupuncture effect, and to lay foundations for the further studies on mechanism of deqi.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Meridians ; Qi ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the ability of the pericardium meridian (PM) to mitigate or enhance the cardiotoxic effects of aconitine injected at specific acupoint and non-acupoint sites in rabbits.

METHODSThis study consisted of 3 experiments that were designed to test the effects of injection of 30 μg/kg of aconitine at acupoints on the PM (Test 1), at non-acupoint sites on the PM (Test 2), and at acupoints on other meridians and non-meridian sites (Test 3). In Test 1, 24 rabbits were randomly assigned to receive injections at Quze (PC3), Tianquan (PC2), or intramuscularly. In Test 2, 24 rabbits were randomly assigned to receive injections of aconitine at non-acupoint I, non-acupoint II, or intramuscularly. In Test 3, 48 rabbits were randomly assigned to receive injections at Neiguan (PC6), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Yangjiao (GB35), a non-meridian and non-acupoint site (NMNA), intravenously, and intramuscularly. Electrocardiographs of the rabbits were performed before, during and after injection to determine the incidence of arrhythmia, latency of ventricular rhythm, and recovery rate after aconitine injection. The recovery time index and extent of arrhythmia scores were calculated.

RESULTSIn all groups the incidence of arrhythmia was 100%, and the latency of ventricular rhythm was less than 30 min. In Tests 1 and 2, the recovery rates of the Quze and non-acupoint II groups were significantly higher than those of the muscular group (P < 0.05). In Test 3, the recovery time index and extent of arrhythmia scores of the Neiguan group were low. There were no significant differences between the other acupoint groups, or the NMNA group, when compared with the group receiving aconitine intramuscularly.

CONCLUSIONSAcupoints or non-acupoints along the PM could reduce the severity of the arrhythmia induced by aconitine in healthy rabbits. Meridians play an important role in protecting body functions.

Aconitine ; adverse effects ; pharmacology ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Analysis of Variance ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electrocardiography ; Male ; Meridians ; Pericardium ; drug effects ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation