Citrinin dimers from the halotolerant fungus Penicillium citrinum B-57

In order to search for structurally novel and bioactive natural compounds from microorganisms, a halotolerant fungal strain, Penicillium citrinum B-57, which mainly produces citrinin derivatives, was isolated from sediments collected from the Jilantai salt field. From the ethyl acetate extract of P. citrinum B-57, two new citrinin dimers, pennicitrinone C ( 1) and penicitrinol B ( 2), and 11 known related compounds were isolated and identified by spectroscopic and chemical methods. These compounds showed antioxidative activity against DPPH radicals with IC 50 values ranging from 0.8 to 59 microM.     

Ginkgo biloba extract improves coronary artery circulation in patients with coronary artery disease: contribution of plasma nitric oxide and endothelin-1

In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), coronary blood flow is usually impaired due to imbalanced vasoactive substances such as nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1). The study was designed to test the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on the distal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) blood flow and plasma NO and ET-1 levels. Eighty CAD patients were randomly assigned to GBE (n = 42) and control (n = 38) groups. The LAD blood flow was assessed non-invasively using Doppler echocardiography at baseline and after 2 weeks. GBE treatment demonstrated a significant improvement in maximal diastolic peak velocity (MDPV), maximal systolic peak velocity (MSPV) and diastolic time velocity integral (DTVI) compared with controls (14.61 +/- 4.51% vs 0.67 +/- 2.66%, 9.03 +/- 4.81% vs 0.34 +/- 2.67% and 14.69 +/- 5.08% vs 0.68 +/- 3.00%, respectively, p < 0.01). NO was increased by 12.42% (p < 0.01), whereas ET-1 was decreased by 5.82% (p < 0.01). The NO/ET-1 ratio was increased by 19.47% (p < 0.01). A linear correlation was confirmed between the percentage change in LAD blood flow and in NO, ET-1 or NO/ET-1 ratio following GBE treatment. The results suggest that GBE treatment in CAD patients led to an increase of LAD blood flow, which might at least be related partly to the restoration of the delicate equilibrium between NO and ET-1.     

二叶式主动脉瓣中miRNA-195调控瓣膜钙化的机制研究

目的：探究二叶式主动脉瓣中miRNA-195调控瓣膜钙化的可能机制。方法：收集35例接受主动脉瓣置换术患者狭窄的二叶式或三叶式主动脉瓣,通过PCR及Western blot分别检测miRNA-195的表达量、果蝇母源抗皮肤生长因子（drosophila mothers against decapentaplegic 7,SMAD7）的mRNA及蛋白表达量。双荧光素酶法预测miRNA-195的靶基因。在猪瓣膜间质细胞中分别沉默和过表达miRNA-195,检测SMAD7的mRNA表达水平并探究两者的相互关系。在人类瓣膜组织上通过免疫组化染色检测基质金属蛋白酶（matrix metalloproteinase,MMP）-2、MMP-9蛋白水平,通过天狼星红染色检测胶原蛋白水平,通过Von Kossa染色比较钙化程度差异,进而研究钙化相关的功能改变。结果：与狭窄的三叶式主动脉瓣相比,狭窄的二叶式主动脉瓣中miRNA-195表达降低,SMAD7的mRNA和蛋白水平升高。双荧光素酶实验提示SMAD7是miRNA-195的直接靶标。在猪瓣膜间质细胞中沉默miRNA-195引起SMAD7 mRNA水平升高,过表达miRNA-195引起SMAD7 mRNA水平降低。狭窄钙化的二叶式主动脉瓣组织中MMP-2、MMP-9及胶原的表达较狭窄钙化的三叶式主动脉瓣升高。结论：在二叶式主动脉瓣中,下调的miRNA-195促进了SMAD7表达,进而促进细胞外基质的纤维化并最终促进其钙化。     

Facial-Skin Hyperpigmentation： Histological and Computer Geometric Assessment

Hyper-pigmentation is a common, acquired dermatological skin-disorder manifesting and identifiable as irregular brown or greyish-brown facial discolouration, and sometimes referred to as melanosis, melasma or hypermelanosis. Purpose and Objective： To identify the site of melanin deposition in skin-layers regarding facial hyper-pigmentation, based on a histological study of full-thickness skin-facial biopsies in aged Caucasian-cadavers. Hypothesis： Recalcitrant hyper-pigmentation, is chiefly characterised by hyper-melanosis restricted to the dermal-layer of the integument. Method： The histological features of facial hyper-pigmentation and solar-lentigenes were evaluated in a pilot-study of 5-randomly selected Caucasian-cadavers with pigmentation （15 facial biopsies）, ranging in age between 75 and 102 years （mean 77-years）. Selection-criteria included, both genders, age 〉 75, focal and confluent hyper-pigmented lesions, involving sun-exposed areas of skin （centrifacial, scalp, malar, mandibular and cervical）. Study groups included （Grp-1： Control skin-histology in otherwise normal aged, human-cadavers; Grp-2： Histology of pigmented facial skin-lesions in man; Grp-3： Comparative histological skin-controls in non-human primates）. No obvious hepatic disease was evident in the cohort studied. Twenty-five histological controls were obtained from non-pigmented areas. Histological evaluation of full-thickness skin-biopsies （including the lesion, edge and peri-]esion skin）, was under a Leitz~-light-microscope, and staining included H＆E, Masson-trichrome, Masson-fontana, Alcian-blue and Verhoef technology. Histological-scoring used was on histological deposition of melanin in skin-layers： epidermal, dermal, mixed, and indeterminate melanin-deposition （score 1-4）. Controls included cadaveric skin-biopsies of human races of colour and non-human primate, Cercopethicus Aethiops （latter is known to have predominantly dermal-melanin deposition）. Pigmented and non-pigmented areas were compared in both species. Results： The majority of clinically visible individual and confluent areas of hyper-pigmentation studied were maeroscopically present on the forehead, frontal scalp in hair-receded cadavers, molar and temporal zones. Histologically, documented features of age-related changes without pigment were present in almost all the embalmed cadaver-skins, with a melanin-score of 1. Computer enhanced skin geometry and biometrics confirmed the presence of an aged-skin, pigmentation and features of solar damage. The human embalmed-tissue was well preserved and minimal autolytic changes were present. Special stains of full-thickness biopsies （Masson-Fontana）, showed that melanin in the subhuman-primate is lodged in the deep dermis （reticular dermis）, within the extra-cellular matrix （ECM） and superficial to the hypodermal adipose-tissue （melanin-score 3）. Fifteen pigmented lesions studied in five （5） aged-cadavers （forehead, molar and mandibular areas） all showed predominantly epidermal-deposition of melanin in the basal, suprabasal and stratum corneum with tiny focal areas of dermal melanosis in single-cell macrophages in the papillary-dermis but not reticular-dermis （melanin-score 2）. A melanin-deposition localization ratio of epidermis to dermis was approximately 98 to 2% in cadavers with hyper-pigmentation. Conclusion： The skin-strata localization of the melanin with regards hyper-pigmentation of the face and forehead in this aged, human adult Caucasian, cadaveric-study, was predominantly in the epidermis and sparse in the papillary dermis.     

自我放松训练对心功能的影响

自我放松训练是建立在催眠暗示基础上的一种心理疗法。我们用XG—Ⅱ型血液循环功能测试仪对22例自我放松训练者放松前后测试,结果表明在放松训练中,心脏每搏输出量明显增加,而心脏指数无明显改变,提示它可以改善心功能。     

浅谈多胎妊娠减胎的疾病与手术编码

多胎妊娠的母婴并发症明显高于单胎妊娠,而多胎妊娠减胎术是避免母婴并发症发生的一种重要的补救方法.本文从以下5个方面讲解了多胎妊娠减胎的疾病编码,分别是：O31.1与O31.2的区别、O31.1与O31.0的区别、为行减胎术而入院的疾病编码、减胎术后复入院的疾病编码、多胎妊娠减胎后分娩结局的编码.关于多胎妊娠减胎手术,列举了当前常用的手术方法,并对手术编码的选择与查找展开讨论.多胎妊娠减胎的编码比较复杂,编码员要熟练掌握相关的编码原则和方法,才能做到编码的准确.     

Veganism does not reduce the risk of the metabolic syndrome in a Taiwanese cohort

The purpose of the present study was to assess the risk of the metabolic syndrome (MS) with vegan, pescovegetarian, lactovegetarian and nonvegetarian diets in Taiwan. The design was a retrospective cohort study using secondary data analysis from a Taiwan longitudinal health check-up database provided by MJ Health Screening Center during 1996-2006. A total of 93209 participants were classified as vegans (n=1116), pescovegetarians (n=2461), lactovegetarians (n=4313) and nonvegetarians (n=85319) by food frequency list of self-administered questionnaire at baseline. The association between MS or MS components and different dietary groups was evaluated using Cox proportional-hazards regression models with adjustment for confounders. During the mean 3.75 years of follow up, a total 8006 MS incident cases occurred and the incidence of MS was 229 (95% CI, 224, 234) per 10000 person year. Compared with vegans, hazard ratios of MS for nonvegetarians, pescovegetarians, lactovegetarians were 0.75 (95% CI, 0.64, 0.88), 0.68 (95% CI, 0.55, 0.83) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.67, 0.97) after adjusting for sex, age, education status, smoking status, drinking status, physical activity at work and leisure, respectively. As for MS components, nonvegetarians and pescovegetarians had 0.72 (95% CI, 0.62, 0.84), 0.70 (95% CI, 0.57, 0.84) times risk of developing low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), while nonvegetarians had 1.16 (95% CI, 1.02, 1.32) times risk of developing high fasting plasma glucose. Our data suggest that the vegan diets did not decrease the risk of metabolic syndrome compared with pescovegetarian, lactovegetarian and nonvegetarian diets in a Taiwanese cohort.     

淄博市2006年疑似风疹病人的实验室诊断结果分析

目的:探讨淄博市2006年风疹疫情爆发的流行特点与发病趋势,对风疹疫情预防控制工作提供科学依据.方法:2006年全市各区县送检疑似风疹病人的血清968份,采用酶联免疫定性试验检测风疹IgM抗体.结果:检测标本968份,风疹抗体阳性340人,阳性率为35.12%,阴性628人.风疹发病年龄有后移现象,接近育龄期妇女.结论:加强风疹疫苗的常规免疫工作,提高风疹疫苗的接种率.同时加强大中专院校学生聚集场所风疹疫苗强化免疫工作.     

Attitudes Toward the Global Allocation of Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines: Cross-sectional Online Survey of Adults Living in China

BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccines are in short supply worldwide. China was among the first countries to pledge supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine as a global public product, and to date, the country has provided more than 600 million vaccines to more than 200 countries and regions with low COVID-19 vaccination rates. Understanding the public’s attitude in China toward the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines could inform global and national decisions, policies, and debates.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of adults living in China regarding the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines developed in China and how these attitudes vary across provinces and by sociodemographic characteristics.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey among adults registered with the survey company KuRunData. The survey asked participants 31 questions about their attitudes regarding the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines developed in China. We disaggregated responses by province and sociodemographic characteristics. All analyses used survey sampling weights.ResultsA total of 10,000 participants completed the questionnaire. Participants generally favored providing COVID-19 vaccines to foreign countries before fulfilling domestic needs (75.6%, 95% CI 74.6%-76.5%). Women (3778/4921, 76.8%; odds ratio 1.18, 95% CI 1.07-1.32; P=.002) and those living in rural areas (3123/4065, 76.8%; odds ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.27; P=.03) were especially likely to hold this opinion. Most respondents preferred providing financial support through international platforms rather than directly offering support to individual countries (72.1%, 95% CI 71%-73.1%), while for vaccine products they preferred direct provision to relevant countries instead of via a delivery platform such as COVAX (77.3%, 95% CI 76.3%-78.2%).ConclusionsAmong our survey sample, we found that adults are generally supportive of the international distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, which may encourage policy makers to support and implement the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines developed in China worldwide. Conducting similar surveys in other countries could help align policy makers’ actions on COVID-19 vaccine distribution with the preferences of their constituencies.