Non-invasive Assessment of Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve: A New Method Using Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography

Coronary flow reserve (CFR) has been used toassess coronary microcirculation and epicardial coro-nary stenoses[1— 3 ] . CFR is defined as the ratio ofcoronary flow under maximal coronary vasodilatationto coronary flow under resting conditions[4 ] .Whenthe cross- sectional area of epicardial coronary arteriesis constant,coronary flow velocity (CFV) ratios areequal to volume flow ratios.The most common method used clinically formeasuring CFVR is intracoronary Doppler flow(ICD) analysis re…     

Diterpenoids from the Roots of Agastache rugosa

从土藿香根中得到两个二萜化合物，藿香酚（２）及异藿香酚（３）。经光谱解析（ＩＲ，ＵＶ，ＨＲＭＳ及ＮＭＲ谱），确定它们的结构分别为１１，１４ｄｉｈｙｄｒｏｘｙ１２ｍｅｔｈｏｘｙ１９（４→３）ａｂｅｏａｂｉｅｔａ４，（１８），８，１１，１３ｔｅｔｒａｅｎ７ｏｎｅ（２）和１１，１４ｄｉｈｙｄｒｏｘｙ１２ｍｅｔｈｏｘｙ１９（４→３）ａｂｅｏａｂｉｅｔａ３，８，１１，１３ｔｅｔｒａｅｎ７ｏｎｅ（３）藿香酚（２）为一新的化合物，而异藿香酚（３）系首次从天然界分离得到，二者为一对异构体。     

Hypoxia effects on vascular endothelial growth factor derived epithelial cells of nasal polyps]

OBJECTIVE: To understand the role of nasal mucous epithelial cells to hypoxia in early stage of nasal polyps(NP) formation. METHODS: Epithelial cells of NP and inferior turbinate (IT) were cultured without serum under normal oxygen and hypoxia, and stimulus of inflammatory cytokines. Erythropoietin (EPO) was regarded as hypoxia mark, and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) mRNA and protein derived from epithelial cells were detected respectively by in situ hybridization and ELISA. RESULTS: 1. Under hypoxia, EPO mRNA was expressed intensely in epithelial cells from NP and IT, and there was no significant difference between both of them. This result suggested that EPO might be regarded as a hypoxic mark. 2. The ability of producing VEGF mRNA increased with cytokines stimulation, especially under hypoxia. Protein level of VEGF from epithelial cells of NP and IT increased with cytokines stimulation, especially in hypoxia and was time-dependent. CONCLUSION: Epithelial cells actively produce vast VEGF under hypoxia. The VEGF induced by hypoxia of the mucosa in middle meatus is of importance in the formation of nasal polyps(NP) in early stage, which may be the major cause of NP formation in middle meatus.     

胸腰段脊柱脊髓损伤减压与固定相关问题探讨（附166例报告）

目的 对胸腰段脊柱脊髓，马尾神经损伤患者的外科治疗及几种内固定方法的疗效进行探讨。方法 对166例患者的治疗进行回顾分析。该组患者中椎体爆裂性骨折37例，椎体压缩骨折超二分之一109例，椎体骨折脱位14例，多节段或跳跃骨折6例，脊髓损伤按Frankel分级，A级59例，B级46例，C级42例，D级19例，治疗采用后路减压复位122例，前路减压复位，髂骨植骨融合44例。结果 术后123例获3-18个月随访，随访患者中随4例RF钉断裂，5例Harrington上钩脱落，6例棍断裂，其余患者内固定稳固，脊髓，马尾神经恢复，除35例仍为A级外，余脊髓神经功能恢复1-3个级别。结论 各种不同内固定可保持或增强脊柱的稳定，胸腰段脊柱脊髓损伤的外科治疗应根据骨折类型，脊髓及马尾神经损伤程度选择手术入路及内固定材料。     

The concept of culture: A core issue in health disparities

Contemporary discourse contains numerous examples of use of the concept of culture by social and behavioral scientists. Simple reification, where the speaker makes culture into a thing capable of action exemplifies one usage in public discourse. Some quantitative social scientists attempt to characterize people’s cultural identities by means of a single categorical variable, which often “lumps” people into categories such as “Hispanic” or “Black” that in fact have numerous culturally bounded subcategories. Approaches that emphasize cultural process are preferable to those who attempt to categorize; more complex measures of acculturation help investigators to make convincing analyses of circumstances in which health disparities occur. Examples in which investigators make appropriate use of cultural characterizations demonstrate their utility in investigating health disparities in Haitian American women, injecting and noninjecting drug users, Hispanic youth, and adult Hispanics at risk of HIV infection. Focus on culture in the study of health disparities can identify entanglements between structural factors such as poverty and lack of education and cultural factors such as beliefs about health. Qualitative methods coupled with quantitative methods have great potential to improve investigators’ grasp of cultural nuance while capturing the distribution of qualitatively derived behaviors.     

Discussing options between patients and health care professionals in genetic diagnosis: ethical and legal criteria

The specific characteristics of genetic data lead to ethical-legal conflicts in the framework of genetic diagnosis. Several international organisations, including UNESCO and the Council of Europe, have enacted rules referring to the use of genetic information. This paper discusses possible legal and ethical criteria that could be used in genetic testing.