Objective To explore the impact of pH value of the reaction system on the properties of bovine hemoglobin modified with aldehydeated polyethylene glycol(PEG-bHb).Methods PEG-bHb conjugates were synthesized under varying pH conditions(6.0,6.5,7.4 and 8.0)of the reaction system while consistent molar ratios,temperature,and reaction time were maintained.The structural and functional attributes of PEG-bHb were characterized.Results The proportion of methemoglobin decreased with an increase in pH.In a weakly acidic reaction environment,the PEG-bHb was found to be relatively highly modified.At pH 6.5,the average number of PEG chains attached to the bHb surface was 6.86±0.38.Selective PEG modification of the N-terminal α-NH2 groups was more pronounced under weakly acidic conditions.Specifically,at pH 6.5,the modification efficiency of the N-terminal α-NH2 groups of bHb by aldehyde-activated PEG reached 95.4％for the α-chains and 99.3％for the β-chains.The PEG modification influenced the heme region microenvi-ronment of bHb,with minimal structural impact observed at pH 6.5.After modification,the oxygen affinity of PEG-bHb was enhanced,the Hill coefficient was reduced,and there were significant increases in colloid osmotic pressure,viscosity,and particle size,all of which differed markedly from the unmodified bHb group(P＜0.001).Conclusion The synthesis of PEG-bHb under weakly acidic conditions can result in a high degree of selective modification of the N-terminal α-NH2 groups and an overall high degree of modification.

Objective:To observe the role of Huaiqihuang Granules (HQ) in the long-term management of bronchial asthma in young children, and the effective effect on concomitant rhinitis.Methods:A prospective real-world multicenter study was conducted in children aged 2-5 years with asthma diagnosed in the outpatient department (from April 2016 to March 2019)who received either inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA)(control group); inhaled ICS/LTRA plus HQ(combination group), or HQ alone(HQ group). All patients were followed up at week 4, 8, 12 after treatment. The number of days with asthma symptoms, the frequency of severe asthma attacks, the level of asthma control, and the days with rhinitis symptoms in the last 4 weeks were recorded. Differences before and after treatment, and those among groups after treatment were compared using Kruskal- Wallis H test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results:A total of 2 234 eligible patients were recruited, and 2 147 cases completed followed-up visits, including 477, 1 374 and 296 cases in the control group, combination group, and HQ group, respectively. After the treatment, all 3 groups showed significant declines in the days with asthma symptoms, frequency of severe asthma attack and the days with rhinitis symptoms (all P<0.01), and the rate of well-controlled asthma increased significantly ( P<0.01). It lasted until the end of follow-up. Among groups, patients in the combination group showed significantly less days of asthma symptoms than those of the other 2 group at week 8 and 12[0(0, 0.9) d vs.0(0, 0.3) d, P<0.05; 0(0, 0.1) d vs. 0(0, 1.0) d, P<0.01]. Patients in the combination group and HQ group showed a significantly lower rate of severe asthma attacks than that of the control group at week 12 [0(0, 1), 0(0, 1), 0(0, 2), all P<0.05]. The well-controlled rate of asthma in the combination group was significantly higher than that of the control group and HQ group at week 8 and 12 (89.6% vs. 85.9% vs.82.1%, H=15.28; 90.9% vs. 84.1% vs. 81.8%, χ2=29.32, all P<0.01). Conclusions:HQ can significantly alleviate symptoms of asthma and rhinitis, severe attack of asthma, and increase the control rate of asthma when used as an additional treatment or used alone.

Objective:To investigate the outcome of asthma in young children after 3 years and the factors associated with the outcome.Methods:A total of 494 children aged 2 to 5 years with asthma diagnosed in 5 hospitals in Beijing from 2016 to 2017 were followed up by telephone using questionnaire survey.Information on the asthma attack, the disease control level, and the comorbidities of allergic diseases in the past 3 years was collected and analyzed.Results:Questionnaires were conducted in 387 children, including 261 males(67.4%)and 126 females(32.6%). Two hundred and forty-six patients(63.6%)had no any asthma symptom(remission) within 3 years, while 141 patients(36.4%)were found with asthma symptom(without remission). The main symptoms were as follows: wheezing in 116 cases(82.3%), recurrent cough in 59 cases(41.8%), shortness of breath in 45 cases(31.9%), chest tightness or waking up at night due to wheezing in 22 cases(15.6%). The causes of asthma attack were respiratory tract infection in 80 cases(56.7%), allergen exposure in 46 cases(32.6%), climate change or cold air stimulation in 59 cases(41.8%), strenuous exercise in 36 cases(25.5%), and irritating odor in 3 cases(2.1%). One-way anova analysis showed that significant difference( P<0.05)was respectively observed in age at follow-up, postnatal tobacco smoke exposure history, repeated respiratory tract infection before asthma onset, personal allergy history, snoring, allergic rhinitis, allergic rhinitis within 1 year, allergic conjunctivitis within 1 year between the remission group and without remission group.Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that tobacco exposure after birth, allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis within 1 year were independent risk factors for the continuation of asthma symptoms to school age( P<0.05). Conclusion:Till the school age, more than 1/3 children still had asthma symptom and the risk factors for the unalleviated symptom were postnatal tobacco exposure, allergic rhinitis within 1 year and allergic conjunctivitis within 1 year.

Objective:To study the best extraction technology of Qishan sugar-free granule. Methods:The effects of boiling dura-tion, boiling times and water addition ratio on the extraction process were investigated by using L9 (34 ) orthogonal design, and the con-tents of total flavonoids, baicalin and berberine were taken as the indices. Results:The optimum conditions were as follows:10-fold a-mount of water for 2 cycles, and every extracting time was 1 hour. Conclusion: The best extraction technology of Qishan sugar-free granule is obtained, and the process is stable and feasible, and the contents of active components are high.

Objective To analyze the relationship between thyroid function and grades of diabetic nephropa-thy (DN).Methods One hundred and twenty patients with definite DN were classified into the four groups,and forty patients with non-DN diabetic was NDN group.Their serum albumin,blood hemoglobin,serum potassium,functional parameters of thyroid and dependability to DN were analyzed.Results The plasma albumin ofⅢ,Ⅳ and Ⅴ group were (41.3 ±3.6)g/L,(30.5 ±4.8)g/L and (28.3 ±5.9)g/L,which were lower than those of NDN group (F=11.36,P<0.05).24h urine protein ofⅢ,Ⅳ and Ⅴ were (0.48 ±0.29)g,(1.86 ±0.54)g and (1.69 ±0.67)g, which were higher than those of group NDN (F=7.12,P<0.05).Triiodothyronine(T3)ofⅢ,ⅣandⅤgroup were (0.98 ±0.38)nmol/L,(0.75 ±0.41)nmol/L and (0.60 ±0.28)nmol/L,which were lower than those of NDN group (F=7.64,P<0.05).Tetraiodothyronine(T4)of III,IV and V group were (6.06 ±1.76)nmol/L,(5.31 ±1.98)nmol/L and (4.65 ±1.87)nmol/L,which were lower than those of NDN group (F=6.83,P<0.05 ).Free Triiodothyronine (FT3)ofⅢ,Ⅳ and Ⅴ group were (4.37 ±2.12)pmol/L,(3.33 ±2.30)pmol/L and (2.91 ±1.82)pmol/L, which were lower than those of NDN group (F=7.14,P<0.05 ).Correlation analysis indicated that FT3 was an independent predictor for the severity of diabetic nephropathy.Conclusion In the patients with DN Ⅳ and Ⅴ,DN has attained a very severe status and the treatment of DN should be intensive.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of measles in patients of different age groups in Northeast China in 2014.Methods The clinical data of patients with measles in ten hospitals of infectious diseases in Northeast China from January 2014 to June 2014 were collected.Patients were divided into <16 age group and ≥16 age group, and the epidemiology , clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of all patients were retrospectively reviewed .SPSS 17.0 was used for data analysis.Results There were 1 401 patients with measles, in which 402 were <16-year old, and 999 were ≥16-year old.Clinical manifestations were mainly maculopapule (100.0%), fever (84.58%), cough (85.80%), Koplik’ s spot (73.23%), pharyngeal hyperemia (71.23%), diarrhea (43.97%), expectoration (40.97%), tears (39.40%) and runny nose (30.55%).The incidences of Koplik’s spot, sputum, pharyngeal hyperemia and diarrhea in <16 age group were lower than those in ≥16 age group (χ2 =8.364, 29.768, 10.953 and 6.701, P<0.05 or <0.01); while the incidence of runny nose was higher than that in ≥16 age group (χ2 =6.703, P<0.05).Abnormalities were found in blood routine examination, C-reactive protein (CRP), liver and kidney function, serum electrolyte levels, myocardial enzymes, and so on.Increasing in WBC, PLT and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CKMB), and decreasing in WBC were observed in 38(9.45%), 122(30.35%), 279(69.40%) and 105(26.12%), patients in <16 age group, which were higher than those in ≥16 age group [45(4.5%), 14(1.40%), 347(34.73%) and 202(20.22%)], and the differences were of statistical significance (χ2 =12.593, 274.033, 139.385 and 5.830, P<0.05 or P<0.01).Increasing in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), CRP, total bilirubin level (TBil), creatine kinase (CK), and decreasing in albumin (Alb), K+, Na+, Cl-were observed in 70(17.41%), 7(1.74%), 38(9.45%), 7(1.74%), and 214(53.23%), 59(14.68%), 45(11.19%), 94(23.38%) patients in <16 age group, which were lower than those in ≥16 age group [668(66.87%), 89(8.91%), 277(27.73%), 714(71.47), and 268(26.83%), 339(33.93%), 642(64.26%), 450 (45.05%)], and the differences were of statistical significance (χ2 =281.230, 23.073, 50.687, 159.740, and 14.674,114.286, 44.268, 271.546, P<0.01).Laryngitis and pneumonia were the most common complications.The incidence of laryngitis in <16 age group was 12.69% (51/402), which was higher than that in ≥16 years group (93/999, 9.31%,χ2 =3.545, P<0.05);while the incidence of spot shadows demonstrated by X-ray in <16 years group ( 72.89%, 121/166 ) was higher than that in ≥16 years group (265/445, 59.55%,χ2 =9.249, P<0.01).Conclusions There are differences in clinical features of measles in patients between <16 age group and ≥16 age group.Basic immunization in children and revaccination in adults should be enhanced to control the epidemics of measles .

Objective:To compare the effect of pressure‐controlled ventilation‐volume guarantee(PCV‐VG) with that of vol‐ume‐controlled ventilation(VCV) in patients undergoing spinal surgery in prone position .Methods:A total of 60 patients under‐going selective spinal surgery in prone position ,who were classified as GradeⅠto GradeⅡby American Society of Anesthesiolo‐gists(ASA) criteria and weighed 43‐80 kg ,were randomly divided into VCV group and PCV‐VG group with 30 cases in each . In VCV group ,the ventilation mode was VCV with tidal volume of 8 mL/kg and Inspiration/Expiration ratio of 1∶2 ,respira‐tory rate of 12 breaths/min and pressure limit of 30 cmH2 O .In PCV‐VG group ,the ventilation mode was set as PCV‐VG and the other settings were same as those in VCV group .Heart rate ,mean artery pressure ,tidal volume ,minute volume ,mean air‐way pressure ,airway peak pressure ,end‐tidal pressure of carbon dioxide were recorded immediately after tracheal intubation (T1) ,immediately before the patients were turned to prone position(T2) ,30 min after the patients were turned to prone posi‐tion(T3) ,immediately after the end of surgery(T4) and immediately after the patients were turned to supine position(T5) ,and dynamic lung compliance was calculated .Results:Compared with those in VCV group ,mean airway pressure and airway peak pressure in PCV‐VG group significantly decreased at T2 ,T3 and T4 ,while dynamic lung compliance increased(P< 0 .05) . Conclusions:Compared with VCV ,PCV‐VG can guarantee the effect of mechanical ventilation ,reduce the risk of airway pres‐sure injury ,and impact less on respiratory function ,in patients undergoing spinal surgery in prone position .

BackgroundThe relationship between lipids and coronary artery disease has been well established. However, this is not the case between lipids and heart failure. Ironically, high lipid levels are associated with better outcomes in heart failure, but the mechan-isms underlying the phenomenon are not fully understood. This study was performed to test the hypothesis that reduced intestinal lipid absorption due to venous congestion may lead to low lipid levels.MethodsWe collected data of clinical characteristics, echocardio-graph, and lipid profile in 442 unselected patients with congestive heart failure. Correlations between lipid levels[including total cho-lesterol(TCL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), and triglycerides(TG)]and right ventricle end diastolic diameter (RVEDD), left ventricle end diastolic diameter (LVEDD), right atrium diameter (RA), left atrium diameter (LA), or left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) were analyzed using Pearson correlation and partial correlation. RVEDD, LVEDD, RA, and LA were indexed to the body surface area.ResultsThere was a significantly inverse correlation between TCL le-vels and RVEDD (r=-0.34,P<0.001) and RA (r=-0.36,P<0.001). Other lipids such as LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG had asimilar inverse correlation with RVEDD and RA. All these correlations remained unchanged after adjusting for age, gender, smoking status, physical activity levels, comorbidities, and medication use.ConclusionsLipid levels were inversely correlated to RVEDD in patients with congestive heart failure; however, because this was an observational study, further investigation is needed to verify our results as wellas identify a causal relationship, if any.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most common and severe complications of diabetic microangiopa-thy which gradually become the major cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in recent years, even though its patho-genesis remains to be elucidated. Proteinuria is one of important malignant factors leading to the deterioration of DN as well as its mainly clinical feature. Lately experimental evidences show that podocyte phenotypic transformation could be a causative role in the genesis of the early DN proteinuria. In this context, it ’s necessary to review the relative bio-logical characteristics of podocyte phenotypic transformation, its associated signaling pathways, its relationship between proteinuria and the possible mechanism of its medical intervention including valsartan and triptolide.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the improved percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) in elderly patients with mitral stenosis. Methods Elderly patients with severe mitral stenosis received an improved PBMV which included a modified way of atrial septal puncture and technique across the mitral valve. The left atrial pressrue (LAP), mean pulmonary pressure (MPA), mean gradient across the mitral value (MPG) and mitral valve area (MVA) were recorded and compared before and after the operation. Long term follow up were made. Results After operation, the LAP decreased [(25.3±6.7) mm Hg vs.(16.4±5.8) mm Hg,1 mm Hg=0.133 Kpa], MPG decreased [(17.6±6.7) mm Hg vs.(6.8±2.9) mm Hg], MPA decreased [(38.6±12.1) mm Hg vs. (29.2±9.8) mm Hg], MVA increased [(1.05±0.22)cm2 vs.(1.61±0.38)cm2] and the New York heart association heart function classification improved. The follow-up result showed that the effect of PBMV was constant. Conclusions Improved PBMV may be an effective and safe measure for patients with mitral stenosis.