Predictors of community women's osteoporosis prevention intention--a pilot study

The main purpose of this pilot study was to identify the predictors of community women's osteoporosis prevention intention. The osteoporosis assessment scales were self-developed and contained 5 scales: a demographics scale, a health status scale, an osteoporosis health belief scale (OHBS), a knowledge scale, and a prevention intention scale. The content validity of the five scales ranged from.90 to 1.00. Test-retest was used to examine the reliability of the demographic characteristics scale and the health status scale, which ranged from.9 to 1.0. Meanwhile, the reliability coefficients of the OHBS comprising perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, perceived benefit, and perceived barrier were .75, .90, .80, and .72. In this pilot study, the coefficient of KR-20 for osteoporosis knowledge was .88. The value of Cronbach 's Coefficient Alpha for prevention intention was .85. The results of this research were : (1) The averaged scores of the OHBS comprising perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, perceived benefit, and perceived barrier were 2.8 (SD = 0.5), 2.2 (SD = 0.7), 1.9 (SD = 0.4), and 2.9 (SD = 0.7). Meanwhile, the averaged score for women's knowledge on osteoporosis was 10.0 (SD = 2.8). The averaged score for women's intentions for the prevention of osteoporosis was 2.5 (SD = 0.6). (2) There were some significant correlations between OHBS and demographics, health status, knowledge, and prevention intention. (3) Knowledge was positively correlated with perceived barriers, prevention intention, age, self-rated score for health, breast feeding time, and amount of calcium intake. (4) Prevention intention was positively correlated with knowledge, number of children, age of fracture, and hormone replacement therapy. (5) The major factors influencing intention for community women were, in order, knowledge, educational level (high school graduate), number of children (n = 2), self-rated health score, experience of bone density examination (yes), hormone replacement therapy (yes), and kyphosis (yes). These seven items accounted for 45.8% of the variation in intention. The results of this pilot study can help community health professionals evaluate, implement and improve community women's health beliefs regarding prevention of osteoporosis.     

A complementary method for detecting qi vacuity

Background  

Qi vacuity (QV) is defined by traditional Chinese medicine as a loss of energy in the human body. An objective method for detecting QV was not available until recently, however. The automatic reflective diagnosis system (ARDK) is a device that detects human bioenergy through measuring skin conductance at 24 special acupoints on the wrists and ankles.     

Clinical characteristics of post-neurosurgical Klebsiella pneumoniae meningitis in adults and a clinical comparison to the spontaneous form in a Taiwanese population

A total of 46 patients (nine post-neurosurgical, 37 spontaneous) with adult bacterial meningitis (ABM) caused by Klebsiellapneumoniae infection were included in this study. The nine patients in the post-neurosurgical K. pneumoniae ABM group (seven male, two female) had a mean age of 48.9 years. Two patients in this group also had diabetes mellitus (DM) and one had liver disease. The most common presentation of patients in post-neurosurgical K. pneumoniae ABM group was fever (nine patients), followed by altered consciousness (seven patients) and hydrocephalus (six patients). With medical and/or surgical treatment, a mortality of 22.2% (2/9) occurred. Compared to patients who had spontaneous K. pneumoniae ABM, those with the post-neurosurgical form had a lower incidence of community-acquired infection, seizure and DM, but had a higher incidence of leukocytosis, hydrocephalus, cerebrospinal fluid leak and bacterial strains with extended-spectrum β-lactamase. Univariate analysis found these clinical differences to be statistically significant, however they were not significant on multivariate analysis. This study reveals that there are clinical differences between the post-neurosurgical and spontaneous presentations of K. pneumoniae ABM.     

痰热清注射液联合支气管动脉化疗灌注治疗肺癌临床研究

目的：通过观察痰热清注射液对肺癌支气管动脉化疗灌注术后中医证候、不良反应等指标的前后对比,探讨痰热清注射液对肺癌支气管动脉化疗灌注术后的辅助作用。方法：本课题采用随机、对照的研究方法,将符合标准的40例肺癌患者随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组20例,治疗组：介入治疗＋中药痰热清注射液,痰热清注射液每日1次30mL静脉滴注,1周为1个疗程,术后给予西医常规对症处理。对照组：单纯介入治疗,术后给予西医常规对症处理,两组患者均行支气管动脉化疗灌注术：化疗药物为卡铂0.2g（或顺铂80mg）、CTX0.6g和THP40mg。采用改良式Seldiner技术,行选择性和超选择性支气管动脉插管,经导管缓慢注入化疗药物。记录两组患者术前、术Ridit检验方法,用SPSS13.0统计软件进行分析。结果：术后治疗组中医证候、疗效总有效率、不良反应发生率等观察指标,较对照组均有较明显的提高。结论：中药痰热清注射液作为肺癌介入化疗的辅助用药,能有效改善术后发热等中医证候,减轻化疗的毒副作用,提高患者的生存质量,具有独特的优势,值得进一步研究并在临床推广应用。     

Experimental studies on comparison of the potential vector competence of four species of Culex mosquitoes in China to transmit West Nile virus

To assess the risk that indigenous mosquitoes in China are capable of transmitting and sustaining West Nile virus (WNV), four important Culex mosquito species, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Culex modestus, Culex pipiens pallens, and Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus, were allowed to feed on the artificial infectious blood meal with WNV dose of 10(6.8) plaque-forming unit/ml and tested approximately 2 wk later to determine infection and transmission rates. The results indicated that four Culex mosquitoes were competent laboratory vectors of WNV. The infection rates and transmission rates were statistical differences among different species of mosquito (chi2 = 20.620, P = 0.000; chi2 = 15.020, P = 0.005, respectively). The highest infection rate and transmission rate were obtained with Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (87.5 and 74.2%, respectively).     

实验感染蚊虫及来亨鸡体内西尼罗病毒的RT-PCR检测

根据已发表的西尼罗病毒Chin-01株基因序列,参照文献资料选择合成一对引物,建立西尼罗病毒的RT-PCR检测方法,对反应条件进行了系列优化后,应用于感染蚊虫样本及来亨鸡血液样本中的病毒核酸检测。该方法的检测敏感性达到1·0PFU,感染蚊虫样本和来亨鸡血液样本均能够扩增出与预期值大小一致的特异性区带,经序列测定证明,与实验感染所用病毒株序列完全相同。可见RT-PCR是检测实验感染蚊虫和来亨鸡体内西尼罗病毒行之有效的方法。     

Studies of the pharmacokinetics of paeoniflorin in two Jing-Zhi-Guan-Xin formulations after oral administration to beagle dogs

Paeoniflorin is the principal bioactive component of Paeoniae Radix. The traditional chinese medicine compound recipe (TCMCR) tablets of Jing-Zhi-Guan-Xin (JZGX), which is composed of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, Radix Paeoniae Rubrae, Rhizoma Chuan-xiong, Flos Carthami and Lignum Dalbergiae Odorafera, have been widely used in China and Japan. The plasma concentrations of paeoniflorin in beagle dogs after oral administration of two Jing-Zhi-Guan-Xin formulations (the dose used in the two formulations were both 200 mg paeoniflorin) were measured using a simple and rapid HPLC method. The mean terminal half-lives (t1/2) of JZGX tablet and JZGX elementary osmotic pump tablet (EOPT) formulations of paeoniflorin were 147.52 +/- 28.98 and 276.60 +/- 24.24 min, the maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) of paeoniflorin were 210.49 +/- 23.89 and 94.36 +/- 14.01 ng/ml, times to reach maximum concentrations (tmax) were 130.00 +/- 30.98 and 280.00 +/- 48.99 min, the area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUC0-infinity) were 43066.50 +/- 10119.51 and 42266.87 +/- 2654.90 ng min/ml, the mean residence times (MRT) were 212.87 +/- 41.82 and 399.14 +/- 34.98 min, respectively, and the relative bioavailability (Fr) of JZGX EOPT compared with JZGX tablet was 101.8 +/- 18.8%. These results, compared with the pharmacokinetic parameters of paeoniflorin after oral administration of Paeoniae Radix extract alone, indicated that the absorption of paeoniflorin after oral administration of the two JZGX formulations was significantly greater than that after oral administration of Paeoniae Radix extract alone.     

Effect of single-agent rituximab given at the standard schedule or as prolonged treatment in patients with mantle cell lymphoma: a study of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK).

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of single-agent rituximab given at the standard or a prolonged schedule in patients with newly diagnosed, or refractory or relapsed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: After induction treatment with the standard schedule (375 mg/m2 weekly x 4), patients who were responding or who had stable disease at week 12 from the start of treatment were randomly assigned to no further treatment (arm A) or prolonged rituximab administration (375 mg/m2) every 8 weeks for four times (arm B). RESULTS: The trial enrolled 104 patients. After induction, clinical response was 27% with 2% complete responses. Among patients with detectable t(11;14)-positive cells in blood and bone marrow at baseline, four of 20, and one of 14, respectively, became polymerase chain-reaction-negative after induction. Anemia was the only adverse predictor of response in the multivariate analysis. After a median follow-up of 29 months, response rate and duration of response were not significantly different between the two schedules in 61 randomly assigned patients. Median event-free survival (EFS) was 6 months in arm A versus 12 months in arm B; the difference was not significant (P = .1). Prolonged treatment seemed to improve EFS in the subgroup of pretreated patients (5 months in arm A v 11 months in arm B; P = .04). Thirteen percent of patients in arm A and 9% in arm B presented with grade 3 to 4 hematologic toxicity. CONCLUSION: Single-agent rituximab is active in MCL, but the addition of four single doses at 8-week intervals does not seem to significantly improve response rate, duration of response, or EFS after treatment with the standard schedule.