Effects of physiological infusion of epinephrine in normal humans: relationship between the metabolic response and beta-adrenergic binding

In normal humans, infusion of epinephrine for 4 h increased plasma epinephrine to 411 +/- 38 pg/ml but had no significant effect on palsma insulin or glucagon levels. Epinephrine produced a prompt 45% rise in glucose output (P less than 0.01) and a 120% rise in FFA (P less than 0.001), both of which declined to basal levels by 60-90 min. Glucose clearance decreased by 25% (P less than 0.005) and remained suppressed for 4 h. The binding of [125I]hydroxybenzylpindolol to lymphocytes was unchanged after epinephrine infusion. We conclude that in normal humans 1) physiological increments in epinephrine have a persistent effect in decreasing glucose clearance but only transiently increase hepatic glucose output and FFA levels and 2) this refractoriness of liver and adipose tissue to epinephrine occurs without a concomitant decrease in beta-adrenergic binding to lymphocytes.     

Liver proteomics in progressive alcoholic steatosis

Fatty liver is an early stage of alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease (ALD and NALD) that progresses to steatohepatitis and other irreversible conditions. In this study, we identified proteins that were differentially expressed in the livers of rats fed 5% ethanol in a Lieber–DeCarli diet daily for 1 and 3 months by discovery proteomics (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry) and non-parametric modeling (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines). Hepatic fatty infiltration was significantly higher in ethanol-fed animals as compared to controls, and more pronounced at 3 months of ethanol feeding. Discovery proteomics identified changes in the expression of proteins involved in alcohol, lipid, and amino acid metabolism after ethanol feeding. At 1 and 3 months, 12 and 15 different proteins were differentially expressed. Of the identified proteins, down regulation of alcohol dehydrogenase (? 1.6) at 1 month and up regulation of aldehyde dehydrogenase (2.1) at 3 months could be a protective/adaptive mechanism against ethanol toxicity. In addition, betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase 2 a protein responsible for methionine metabolism and previously implicated in fatty liver development was significantly up regulated (1.4) at ethanol-induced fatty liver stage (1 month) while peroxiredoxin-1 was down regulated (? 1.5) at late fatty liver stage (3 months). Nonparametric analysis of the protein spots yielded fewer proteins and narrowed the list of possible markers and identified d-dopachrome tautomerase (? 1.7, at 3 months) as a possible marker for ethanol-induced early steatohepatitis. The observed differential regulation of proteins have potential to serve as biomarker signature for the detection of steatosis and its progression to steatohepatitis once validated in plasma/serum.     

中国结核病控制-日本援助项目安徽省实施性研究

目的　了解我省项目工作的现状及项目工作对我省结防工作的影响。方法　根据 2 0 0 2～ 2 0 0 3年《中国结核病控制工作季报表》和《结核病人登记调查表》 ,分析项目病人的发现、治疗等情况。结果　 2 0 0 3年项目地区肺结核、涂阳肺结核登记率分别为 5 3 .4/10万、2 0 .0 /10万 ,分别高于非项目地区 44 .7%、10 0 % ;2 0 0 2年项目地区涂阳肺结核病人治愈率 78.5 % ,明显高于非项目地区。结论　项目工作取得了显著成果 ,为我省其它地区实施项目工作提供了经验 ,为我省结核病控制工作的可持续发展打下了基础。     

Spatial tuning of negative and positive Poisson's ratio in a multi-layer scaffold

While elastic modulus is tunable in tissue engineering scaffolds, it is substantially more challenging to tune the Poisson's ratio of scaffolds. In certain biological applications, scaffolds with a tunable Poisson's ratio may be more suitable for emulating the behavior of native tissue mechanics. Here, we design and fabricate a scaffold, which exhibits simultaneous negative and positive Poisson's ratio behavior. Custom-made digital micro-mirror device stereolithography was used to fabricate single- and multiple-layer scaffolds using polyethylene glycol-based biomaterial. These scaffolds are composed of pore structures having special geometries, and deformation mechanisms, which can be tuned to exhibit both negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) and positive Poisson's ratio (PPR) behavior in a side-to-side or top-to-bottom configuration. Strain measurement results demonstrate that analytical deformation models and simulations accurately predict the Poisson's ratios of both the NPR and PPR regions. This hybrid Poisson's ratio property can be imparted to any photocurable material, and potentially be applicable in a variety of biomedical applications.     

涂阳肺结核患者诊断延误及影响因素分析

目的对2009年10~12月武汉市结核病防治所住院的痰标本直接涂片抗酸杆菌镜检阳性(涂阳)肺结核患者诊断延误及其影响因素进行研究。方法采用自行设计的问卷,对224例涂阳肺结核患者进行面访式调查。采用Wilcoxon符号秩和检验对首诊延误、卫生系统延误及诊断延误分别进行单因素分析,用逐步logistic回归法对3种延误分别进行多因素分析。结果首诊延误、卫生系统延误及诊断延误中位数分别为8、12及35 d;首诊延误的危险因素为:男性(OR=2.134,95%可信区间1.115~4.083),初中及以下文化(OR=1.879,95%可信区间1.048~3.368),无咯血(OR=2.194,95%可信区间1.056~4.559)及结核知识得分低(OR=4.060,95%可信区间2.232~7.385);卫生系统延误危险因素为:首诊为区以下医疗单位(OR=2.938,95%可信区间1.339~6.446),保护因素为:就诊次数≤1次(OR=0.056,95%可信区间0.025~0.126);诊断延误危险因素为结核知识得分低(OR=3.036,95%可信区间1.654~5.572),自卑及自我羞耻感水平高(OR=2.012,95%可信区间1.103~3.676),保护因素为:就诊次数≤1次(OR=0.216,95%可信区间0.117~0.396)。结论武汉市住院涂阳肺结核患者存在一定的诊断延误,但延误水平不高。应加强对人群特别是文化程度低的人群的结核相关知识宣教;加强基层医务人员对结核病的警觉性并提高诊断能力;应避免患者反复多次就诊于同一水平医疗机构,从而缩短诊断延误时间。