Child with a tail

An interesting case of a child with a tail is reported. The child had a tail like structure in the back since birth, increasing with age. It was 20 cm. long, the longest tail so far described in the English literature. There was no functional complain. The result was excellent after excision as the problem was only cosmetic.     

hTERC基因表达在宫颈病变诊治中的应用

目的：探讨宫颈脱落细胞中hTERC的基因表达在宫颈上皮内瘤样病变（CIN）诊断与治疗中的应用。方法：抽取行子宫颈癌筛查的724例妇女为研究对象,对其同步进行宫颈脱落细胞的液基细胞学检查、第二代杂交捕获技术（HC-Ⅱ）检测高危型HPV（HR-HPV）和荧光原位杂交（FISH）技术检测hTERC基因。对于细胞学为未明确诊断意义的不典型鳞状上皮细胞（ASCUS）及以上病变,和（或）HR-HPV阳性者均行阴道镜下宫颈四象限多点活检进行病理诊断。结果：724例中经病理确定为CINⅠ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ及子宫颈癌者分别为251例（34.67%）、17例（2.35%）、48例（6.63%）和10例（1.38%）,宫颈脱落细胞hTERC的扩增率为11.05%。①724例HPV阳性率为39.64%;hTERC扩增在HPV阳性与阴性组分别为19.86%与5.26%（χ2=37.556,P ＜0.01）。②hTERC扩增在细胞学无宫颈上皮内瘤变（NILM）组为5.19%、ASCUS为10.23%、低度鳞状上皮内瘤样病变为（LSIL）11.84%、非典型鳞状上皮细胞－不除外高度鳞状上皮内瘤变（ASC-H）为21.43%、高度鳞状上皮内瘤样病变（HSIL）为73.17%、鳞状细胞癌（SCCA）为100.00%、非典型腺上皮细胞（AGC）为50.00%;hTERC在HSIL及以上病变中的扩增率明显高于LSIL及以下病变（χ2=186.755,P ＜0.01）。③在不同组织学结果中hTERC的扩增率分别为,NILM 3.70%、CINⅠ4.38%、CINⅡ47.06%、CINⅢ58.33%、浸润癌90.00%,hTERC在CINⅡ及以上级别病变中的扩增率明显高于CINⅠ和NILM者 （χ2=144.597,P ＜0.01）。结论：hTERC的扩增与宫颈细胞学和组织学异常密切相关,hTERC扩增与否有可能作为判断有无高度病变及估计预后的指标之一。     

人类白细胞抗原G与子痫前期的相关性

人类白细胞抗原G(HLA-G)为非经典的HLA-Ⅰ类分子,特异性高表达于母胎界面的绒毛外滋养细胞,通过诱导免疫耐受对妊娠和胚胎起到保护作用。子痫前期是产科领域危害母婴健康的主要疾病之一,子痫前期患者血清及胎盘组织HLA-G表达下降,但具体作用机制仍不清楚。随着基础研究的深入,明确了HLA-G基因、蛋白质的结构及遗传方式,在基因多态性方面做了大量研究工作,力求从基因水平阐明其与子痫前期的关系。发现部分子痫前期患者可能存在HLA-G基因缺陷,且HLA-G多态性在子痫前期及正常妊娠者中分布也不同。     

22234例子宫颈高危型HPV感染及亚型分布研究

目的:分析17种型别的高危型人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)在22234例子宫颈癌筛查中的感染率及亚型分布特点。方法:回顾性分析2018年1月1日至2019年1月1日22234例于华中科技大学同济医学院附属协和医院行子宫颈癌筛查患者高危型HPV感染率及感染亚型。结果:22234例接受子宫颈癌筛查患者中,一种或以上高危型HPV阳性者3574例(16.1%),其中HPV16或(和)HPV18阳性者703例(3.2%)。在3574例高危型HPV阳性女性中,最常见的高危HPV感染是HPV52(24.4%),其次为HPV58(16.5%)、HPV16(14.0%)、HPV53(12.6%)和HPV39(8.6%)。与HPV16阴性患者相比,在HPV16阳性的患者中,除HPV31、HPV35、HPV45、HPV26和HPV82以外的12种高危型HPV的感染风险均显著降低约2～5倍((印)OR(正) 0.169～0.530,(印)P(正)<0.05);与HPV18阴性患者相比,HPV18阳性的患者中HPV16、HPV33、HPV39、HPV51、HPV52、HPV58和HPV53的感染风险均显著下降((...     

The Irish Journey: Removing the shackles of abortion restrictions in Ireland

In May 2018, the Irish electorate voted to remove from the Constitution one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the world. This referendum followed 35 years of legal cases, human rights advocacy, feminist activism and governmental and parliamentary processes. The reframing of abortion as an issue of women's health rather than foetal rights was crucial to the success of law reform efforts. The new law, enacted in 2018, provides for access to abortion on a woman's request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and in situations of risk to the life or of serious harm to the health of the pregnant woman and fatal foetal anomaly thereafter. Abortion is now broadly accessible in Ireland; however, continued advocacy is needed to ensure that the state meets international human rights standards and that access to abortion care and abortion rights is fully secured within the law.     

树突状细胞疫苗治疗人类免疫缺陷病毒感染的研究进展

树突状细胞（DC）可通过处理抗原并将其呈递至其它免疫细胞引发免疫应答。已有很多临床前研究利用DC来设计人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）疫苗。这些研究通过不同的HIV抗原和DC类型、病毒载体及免疫佐剂来设计疫苗并引发抗HIV免疫应答。这表明DCHIV疫苗在HIV的免疫治疗中具有应用前景,对于其临床应用的安全性和有效性还需进一步研究。     

外周血人β-防御素2在下呼吸道感染患者的急、慢性气道炎症中的临床研究

目的 评价外周血中人β-防御素2(hBD-2)在下呼吸道感染患者急、慢性气道炎症的临床价值.方法 选取2007年3月至2008年10月下呼吸道感染患者92例,其中下呼吸道感染患者分别包括社区获得性肺炎40例,慢性阻塞性肺疾病急性加重36例,支气管扩张合并感染(急性期)16例,门诊体检者20例作为对照组,所有下呼吸道感染患者和对照组均留取血浆标本,采用酶联免疫吸附试验法检测下呼吸道感染各疾病组和对照组外周血中hBD-2、白介素1β(IL-1β)和IL-8的浓度.结果 下呼吸道感染患者外周血中hBD-2、1L-1β均明显高于对照组(P值分别为0.047、0.020);社区获得性肺炎组外周血中hBD-2浓度高于对照组(P=0.026),支气管扩张合并感染(急性期)和慢性阻塞性肺疾病急性加重组外周血中hBD-2与对照组比较差异无统计学意义(P值分别为0.334、0.227);外周血中hBD-2与炎性因子IL-1β呈正相关(r=0.280,P=0.01).结论 外周血中hBD-2可以较好反映下呼吸道感染疾病中的急性气道炎症状态.可能是气道局部炎性状态的标记物.     

Prolonged QTc Interval in Cancer Therapeutic Drug Development: Defining Arrhythmic Risk in Malignancy

Anticancer therapy drug development is an arduous task, taking 10 to 15 years to complete, requiring approximately 1 billion dollars, and rarely leads to Food and Drug Administration approval. Methods to predict unacceptable drug-induced toxicity, such as a prolonged QTc interval/risk of torsade de pointes, should be highly informative to quickly and accurately determine if further resources should be allocated in the continued development of an agent. Expert consensus has established guidelines to ascertain the ability of a new drug to prolong the QTc interval. Although QTc measurement is the best way to assess arrhythmic risk, it is imprecise for a variety of reasons. In addition, oncology patients have multiple risk factors for QTc prolongation at baseline. Competing interests involved in assessing arrhythmic risk of a new oncology agent include inability to precisely follow published guidelines for QTc assessment, patients' concomitant medical problems interfering with drug assessment and therefore clinical trial enrollment, patient safety concerns, general public safety concerns regarding toxicity assessment, need for discovery of more curative drug therapies, and individual patient perception of therapeutic risk vs benefit. Oncology patients are concerned about access to experimental agents, as well as early abandonment of a potentially beneficial agent because of a low estimated risk of toxicity, even if the event is catastrophic. We review the issues involved in evaluating the QTc interval-prolonging risk in new anticancer agents.     

Two genotypes of H1N2 swine influenza viruses appeared among pigs in China

BackgroundH1N2 is one of the main subtypes of influenza, which circulates in swine all over the world.ObjectivesTo investigate the prevalence and genetic of H1N2 in swine of China.Study designTwo H1N2 swine influenza viruses were isolated from Tianjin and Guangdong province of China in 2004 and 2006, respectively. The molecular evolution of eight gene segments was analyzed.ResultA/Swine/Tianjin/1/2004 has low identity with A/Swine/Guangdong/2006; in the phylogenetic tree of PA gene, A/Swine/Guangdong/1/2006 and A/Swine/Guangxi/1/2006 along with the H1N2 swine isolates of North America formed a cluster; and A/Swine/Tianjin/2004 and A/Swine/Zhejiang/2004, along with the classical H1N1 swine isolates formed another cluster; except that NA gene of A/Swine/Tianjin/1/2004 fell into the cluster of the H3N2 human influenza virus, indicating the reassortment between H3N2 human and H1N1 swine influenza viruses.ConclusionTwo different genotypes of H1N2 appeared among pigs in China. A/swine/Guangdong/1/06 was probably from H1N2 swine influenza viruses of North America; while A/swine/Tianjin/1/04 maybe come from reassortments of classical H1N1 swine and H3N2 human viruses prevalent in North America.     

Epidemiology and risk factors for human papillomavirus infection in a diverse sample of low-income young women

BackgroundTwo HPV vaccines prevent infection with HPV-16 and HPV-18, high-risk (cancer-associated) HPV types which together cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers; one vaccine also prevents HPV-6 and HPV-11, which together cause approximately 90% of anogenital warts. Defining type-specific HPV epidemiology in sexually experienced women will help estimate the potential clinical benefits of vaccinating this population.ObjectivesTo examine HPV epidemiology in a diverse sample of sexually experienced women, and to determine factors associated with high-risk HPV and vaccine-type HPV (HPV-6, HPV-11, HPV-16 and HPV-18).Study designCross-sectional study of 13–26-year-old women (N = 409) who completed a questionnaire and provided a cervicovaginal swab. Swabs were genotyped for HPV using PCR amplification. Logistic regression models were used to determine whether participant characteristics, knowledge, and behaviors were associated with high-risk and vaccine-type HPV.ResultsMost women (68.4%) were positive for ≥1 HPV type, 59.5% were positive for ≥1 high-risk type, 33.1% were positive for ≥1 vaccine-type HPV, and 3.5% were positive for both HPV-16 and HPV-18: none was positive for all four vaccine types. In adjusted logistic regression models, Black race (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.21–3.41) and lifetime number of male sexual partners (OR 4.79, 95% CI 2.04–11.23 for ≥10 partner vs. ≤1 partner) were independently associated with high-risk HPV infection.ConclusionsHPV prevalence was very high in this sample of sexually active young women, but <5% were positive for both HPV-16 and HPV-18, suggesting that vaccination could be beneficial for many individual women who are sexually experienced.