OBJECTIVE: To compare the distribution characteristics of pressing sensitive acupoints on the body surface between bronchial asthma (BA) patients and healthy subjects, and to analyze the distribution rules of pressing sensitive acupoints in BA patients. METHODS: Seventy BA patients and 70 healthy subjects were selected in this study. The pressing sensitive acupoints were checked with finger pulp and marked on human nerve segment graph. The numbers of pressing sensitive acupoints were counted and the positional relationship between distribution of pressing sensitive acupoints and the position of meridians and nerve segment was observed. RESULTS: (1) The incidence rates of pressing sensitive acupoints in BA patients group and healthy subjects group were 91.4% (64/70) and 15.7% (11/70) respectively, and the BA patients group was higher than the healthy subjects group (<0.01). (2) The top 3 meridians with pressing sensitive acupoints occuring in BA patients were bladder meridian of foot-, lung meridian of hand- and large intestine meridian of hand-, and the most frequent pressing sensitive acupoints were Feishu（BL 13）, Xinshu（BL 15）, Chize（LU 5） and Jueyinshu (BL 14). (3) The pressing sensitive acupoints in BA patients were distributed mainly on C, C and T-T nerve segment. CONCLUSION Pressing sensitive acupoints have a close correlation with physical condition, and there is a close relation between pressing sensitive acupoints distribution and corresponding meridians and nerve segments in BA patients.

BACKGROUNDAmbient aerosol fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with male reproductive toxicity in experiments and may have adverse effects in the female. However, studies evaluating the protective effects and precise mechanisms of aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, or ozone against toxic effects of PM2.5are sparse. This study was conducted to investigate the possible protective effects and mechanisms of aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, or ozone on fertility in female mice treated with PM2.5.

METHODSEighty-four ICR mice were divided into six groups: control group, PM2.5group, PM2.5 + aspirin group, PM2.5 + Vitamin C group, PM2.5 + Vitamin E group, and PM2.5 + ozone group. PM2.5was given by intratracheal instillation every 2 days for 3 weeks. Aspirin, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E were given once a day by oral gavage for 3 weeks, and ozone was administered by intraperitoneal injection once a day for 3 weeks. The levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blotting analysis was used to analyze the expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 in ovaries. Changes in histological structure were examined by light microscope and electron microscopy was used to detect ultramicrostructure.

RESULTSThe results demonstrated that PM2.5 decreased AMH levels (P < 0.001); however, aspirin (P < 0.001), Vitamin C (P < 0.001), Vitamin E (P = 0.001), and ozone (P = 0.002) alleviated the decrease. Changes of IL-6, TNF-α, 8-OHdG, Bax/Bcl-2, and caspase-3 in PM2.5group were increased compared to control group (P < 0.001), while in PM2.5 + aspirin, PM2.5 + Vitamin C, PM2.5 + Vitamin E, and PM2.5 + ozone groups, they were statistically decreased compared to PM2.5group (P < 0.001 or P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPM2.5cause the damage of ovaries, and aspirin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and ozone antagonizes the damage. The protective mechanism is probably due to its ability to blunt the inflammatory and oxidative stress caused by PM2.5, which subsequently suppressing the expression of apoptotic regulatory protein and reducing the incidence of ovary apoptosis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy and clinical safety of posaconazoleon primary antifungal prophylaxis against invasive fungal disease (IFD) in patients with stem cell transplantation.

METHODSAt the start from preconditioning regimen, 45 patients without IFD were administered with posaconazoleon until neutrophils greater than 0.5×10/L, 35 patients treated with micafungin were enrolled in control group. The incidence, risk factors of IFD and side effects of medicines were evaluated.

RESULTSOf the total 80 patients, 13(16%) had IFD within 100 days after allo-HSCT. The overall survival was significantly different between patients with or without IFD by Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis (P<0.05). Out of the 45 cases in posaconazoleon group, IFD occurred in 4 cases (9%). In contrast, the incidence of IFD in control group was 26%(9 out of 35) (P<0.05). The risk factors of IFD and side effects were not significantly different between 2 groups(P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe primary prevention efficancy of IFD by posaconazoleon after allo-HSCT is much better than that of micafungin with well tolerability and satisfactory efficacy.

Objective To detect the SNR and geometric accuracy of MRI based on American College of Radiology (ACR)standards.Methods The SNR and geometric accuracy of Siemens Skyra 3.0T,Siemens Trio 3.0T and GE Excite HD 1.5T MRI were measured with ACR phantom,and the detection results were calculated according to the standards.Results The SNR values of Siemens Skyra 3.0T,Siemens Trio 3.0T and GE Excite HD 1.5T MRI were 589.98,438.50 and 277.12 respectively.Siemens Skyra 3.0T MRI had the values of geometric accuracy being-1.93％ at X direction,-3.20％ at Y direction and 0.68％ at Z direction,Siemens Trio 3.0T MRI had the value of geometric accuracy being-0.87％ at X direction,-2.33％ at Y direction and 1.49％ at Z direction,GE Excite HD 1.5T MRI had the values of geometric accuracy being 0.20％ at X direction,-1.53％ at Y direction and 1.69％ at Z direction.Conclusion The detection of the SNR and geometric accuracy of MRI can effectively guarantee the image quality.

Objective To investigate the application value of the Perclose Proglide vascular devices in the thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) of aortic dissection.Methods Retrospective analysis of 106 patients who underwent TEVAR for Standford B type aortic dissection were performed.The femoral lumen was measured by CTA be fore,1 month and 1 year after TEVAR.Results A total of 223 Perclose Proglide vascular closure devices were used in the 106 patients,including 97 patients with 2 devices,7 patients with 3 devices,2 patients with 4 devices.The puncture femoral artery diameters had no significant differences between before and 1 month,1 year after TEVAR (all P ＞0.05).Conclusion Per close Proglide vascular closure devices can be effectively and safely used in the TEVAR,which has little influence on the femoral artery diameter,and is worth to be applied in the clinics extensively.

Stroke research and rehabilitation have traditionally focused on the physical and functional impact of a stroke. Less attention has been given to the psychosocial factors associated with this chronic condition. By the few studies that have specifically focused on psychosocial factors in the context of stroke, poststroke depression is demonstrated to significantly influence stroke outcomes. Associations of stroke with psychological symptoms other than depression have rarely been evaluated. This study was aimed to investigate the changes of psychological stress, social support and medication adherence in patients with ischemic stroke in the mainland of China. In this study, 90 patients with hemiplegia one year after first-ever middle cerebral artery infarction (stroke group) in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from June 2008 to June 2011 were recruited for interview. Ninety age- and sex-matched normal volunteers (control group) were also examined at the same period. The psychological distress was assessed by the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), the social support by the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and medication adherence by Morisky's self-reported inventory, respectively. Group differences were analyzed using unpaired-t test and chi-squared test. The results showed that total mean scores of the SCL-90 in the stroke group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). Except two dimensions, paranoid ideation and psychoticism, mean scores of the rest dimensions (including somatization, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, and phobic anxiety) of SCL-90 were significantly higher in the stroke group than those in the control group (P<0.05, or P<0.01). The objective support, subjective support, support availability and total social support scores in the stroke group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05, or P<0.01). Those in the "SCL-90 total scores >150 group" were significantly higher than in the "SCL-90 total scores <100 group" and the "SCL-90 total scores between 100 to 150 group" (P<0.05, or P<0.01). Those in the "SCL-90 total scores between 100 to 150 group" were significantly higher than in the "SCL-90 total scores <100 group" (P<0.05). In 90 patients with ischemic stroke, 26 (28.89%) patients obtained high medication adherence, 47 (52.22%) patients medium medication adherence, and 17 (18.89%) patients low medication adherence, respectively. Among these stroke patients, there were 17 (50.00%) patients with high medication adherence in the "SCL-90 total scores >150 group", 28 (75.67%) patients with medium medication adherence in the "SCL-90 total scores between 100 to 150 group", and 12 (61.16%) patients with low medication adherence in the "SCL-90 total scores <100 group", respectively. There was significant difference in the medication adherence rate among the different SCL-90 scores groups in these stroke patients (P<0.05 or P<0.01). It was led to conclude that ischemic stroke patients one year after hemiplegia have psychological distress, low level of social support and poor medication adherence in the mainland of China. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize the government, medical institutions and various social support groups to offer psychological interventions to relieve the stress of patients with ischemic stroke, and improve their medication adherence.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; psychology ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Male ; Medication Adherence ; statistics & numerical data ; Middle Aged ; Social Support ; Stress, Psychological ; etiology ; psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUNDIn order to improve the clinical treatment level of urinary system injury, it is necessary to build up an animal model of urinary system wound, which is not only analogous to real clinical practice, but also simple and practical.

METHODSWe have developed the third generation of firearm fragment wound generator based on the first and the second producer. The best explosive charge of the blank cartridge was selected by gradient powder loading experiments. The firearm fragment injuries were made to the bulbous urethra of 10 New Zealand male rabbits. One week preoperatively and 2, 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively, all the animals underwent urethroscopy and urethrography. At 2, 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively, two animals were randomly selected and killed, and the urethra was cut off for pathological examination.

RESULTSThe shooting distance of the third generation of firearm fragment wound generator is 2 cm. The best explosive charge of the blank cartridge is 1 g of nitrocotton. All rabbits survived the procedures and stayed alive until they were killed. Injuries were limited to bulbous urethra and distal urethra. Round damaged areas, 1-1.5 cm in length, on the ventral wall were observed. Ureteroscopy results showed that canal diameter gradually shrank by over 50% in 9 rabbits. The rate of success was 90%. Urethrography result noted that a 1-1.3 cm stricture was formed at the bulbous urethra. Histology results of injured stricture urethra showed that fibrous connective tissue hyperplasia and hyaline degeneration caused further stricture in the canal.

CONCLUSIONSThe third generation of firearm fragment wound generator imitates the bullet firing process and is more accurate and repeatable. The corresponding rabbit model of traumatic complex urethral stricture simulates the real complex clinical conditions. This animal model provides a standardized platform for clinical researches on treating traumatic injuries to the urinary system.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Male ; Penis ; surgery ; Rabbits ; Urethra ; surgery ; Urethral Stricture ; surgery

Objective The localization of pulmonary nodules in surgery remains a clinical challenge .In this study we dis-cussed the diagnostic and treatment value of CT-guided coil localization followed by real-time digital subtraction angiography ( DSA)-guided accurate resection of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) with video-assisted thracoscopic surgery (VATS). Methods This study involved 82 cases of SPN treated in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of Jinling Hospital from September 2011 to May 2014 .The SPNs were preoperatively positioned by placing a metal coil close to the lesion under CT guidance on the same day of surger -y.Then VATS wedge resection of the SPNs was performed under the guidance of real -time DSA and further procedures followed in ac-cordance with the results of intraoperative pathology . Results The success rate of coil localization was 100%, the mean time of po-sitioning was (15.3 ±3.2) min, and the mean time of VATS wedge resection was (24.2 ±12.1) min.Pathological results revealed 45 cases of malignancy and 37 cases of benign lesions . Conclusion Preoperative CT-guided coil localization of SPNs showed a high accuracy and no serious complications , and by real-time DSA-guided VATS that immediately followed , the nodules could be precisely removed with the cutting edge 2 cm above the lesion , which achieved both the purposes of diagnosis and treatment of SPNs .

Purpose To assess the feasibility of applying dual-energy dual-source CT virtual non-contrast (VNC) imaging in the diagnosis of colorectal diseases. Materials and Methods Eighty-ifve patients with clinically suspected colorectal lesions underwent abdominal CT scan as well as arterial and venous phase dual-energy enhanced scan, VCN images of arterial and venous phase were obtained using the dual-energy software, the differences of image quality, radiation dose and diagnostic coincidence rate between the true non-contrast scan and VNC images were compared. Results The radiation dose of two-phase dual-energy scan was 34.8%lower when compared with the conventional three-phase scans. The CT values of the intestinal lesions, metastasis lymph nodes and intestinal fat in VNC were lower than the true unenhanced scan (P<0.05 or P<0.01), whereas were higher than the real scan in liver and liver metastases (P<0.01), there was no signiifcant difference of VNC between the arterial and venous phase. Differences of intestinal wall thickness, metastasis lymph node size, peripheral invasion and liver metastases observed from real non-contrast scan and VNC were not statistically significant (P>0.05), and neither was the diagnostic coincidence rate for intestinal diseases (P>0.05). The noise level of images obtained from VNC was lower than that of the real non-contrast scan (P<0.05), with higher SNR and CNR, there was no signiifcant difference of image scoring among the three groups (P>0.05). Conclusion For colorectal lesions, the virtual non-contrast images from the dual-energy dual-source CT scan can be used to reduce the radiation dose without effecting image quality and diagnosis accuracy.

Various stem cells, including neural stem cells (NSCs), have been extensively studied in stroke models, but how to increase neuronal differentiation rate of NSCs remains unresolved, particularly in a damaged environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) on the neurogenesis of NSCs with or without oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). The NSCs acquired from primary culture were immunostained to prove cell purity. Survival and proliferation of NSCs were determined after the co-culture with CMECs for 7 days. After removing the CMECs, NSCs were randomly divided into two groups as follows: OGD and non-OGD groups. Both groups were maintained in differentiation culture for 4 days to evaluate the differentiation rate. Mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF) cells co-cultured with NSCs served as control group. NSCs co-cultured with CMECs had an increase in size (on the 7th day: 89.80±26.12 μm vs. 73.08±15.01 μm, P<0.001) (n=12) and number [on the 7th day: 6.33±5.61/high power objective (HP) vs. 2.23±1.61/HP, P<0.001] (n=12) as compared with those co-cultured with MEF cells. After further differentiation culture for 4 days, NSCs co-cultured with CMECs had an increase in neuronal differentiation rate in OGD and non-OGD groups, but not in the control group (15.16% and 16.07% vs. 8.81%; both P<0.001) (n=6). This study provided evidence that OGD could not alter the effects of CMECs in promoting the neuronal differentiation potential of NSCs. These findings may have important implications for the development of new cell therapies for cerebral vascular diseases.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Brain ; blood supply ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Coculture Techniques ; methods ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Microvessels ; cytology ; metabolism ; Neural Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Oxygen ; metabolism