米非司酮作用于兔输卵管收缩活动与Ca^2＋关系的研究

通过“结合化学分离与原子吸收分光光度法”对Ca^2 含量测定和离体输卵管肌条收缩记录方法，研究米非司酮（Ru486)对增加假孕（4d)兔输卵管平滑肌收缩频率，而不改变其收缩张力和振幅时与Ca^2 之间的关系，结果提示：（1）Ru486对输卵管分泌液和组织内Ca^2 的含量分布无明显影响；（2）Ru486具有降低细胞外液高Ca^2 浓度促Ca^2 内流，而使收缩增强的效应，且能协同Ca^2 通道阻断剂（Verapamil)抑制细胞外Ca^2 内流，而致收缩减弱的效应。     

Cyclic hormonal replacement therapy after the menopause: Transdermal versus oral treatment

Summary In an open, randomized, comparative, between-patient trial, 45 postmenopausal women were treated for 4 months with cyclical transdermal oestradiol 0.05 mg per day or oral conjugated equine oestrogens 0.625 mg per day, in both cases, plus, medroxyprogesterone acetate 10 mg per day on the last 8 days of each cycle. Similar relief from postmenopausal symptoms was obtained with both treatments. Post-treatment histological evaluation of the endometrium did not reveal neoplastic or hyperplastic change in any patient.Early follicular-phase plasma oestradiol levels were observed only after transdermal oestradiol. There was a significant reduction in serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in both treatment groups, with no difference between treatments, whereas serum triglyceride levels were decreased only by transdermal oestradiol. Plasma calcium and phosphorus fell significantly and serum intact parathyroid hormone rose significantly, with no difference between the therapies. No significant changes were observed in clotting factors.Transdermal oestradiol appears to be an effective and safe hormonal replacement therapy, and this route of administration may be responsible for the more useful action of the drug on serum lipids and plasma oestradiol levels.     

The bactericidal activity of pulsed Nd-YAG laser radiation in vitro

Pulsed Nd-YAG laser irradiation of bacteria has been suggested as a possible means of treating contaminated intra-oral sites although relatively few studies have been conducted. In this investigation, the antimicrobial activity of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser was assessed in vitro for a range of oral bacteria using several pulse energies and exposure durations. Pure cultures of each organism were lased in saline suspensions followed by standard colony counting techniques for test and control samples. Microbial inhibition was found to be organism-dependent and varied with energy dose and pulse energy. For all nine test species 120-mJ laser pulses proved more efficient than 80-mJ pulses, with 99.9% kills compared with around 90% kills after exposure to 1800 pulses. These killing activity levels compare favourably with those achieved with other lasers in vitro.     

Light microscopic morphometric analysis of castration effects in the different lobes of the rat prostate

The morphologic effects of androgen deprivation in the different lobes of the rat prostate were examined by light microscopic morphometry. The prostates of Wistar male rats (260-340 g) were fixed in situ by glutaraldehyde perfusion in castrated animals 1 week after gonadectomy and in intact animals. The ventral (VP), dorsal (DP), and lateral (LP) lobes as well as the coagulating gland (CG) were dissected out, weighed, and processed for light microscopy. Using stereologic methods the following parameters were estimated for each lobe: volume fraction of connective tissue, epithelium and glandular lumina, average epithelial height, average epithelial cell volume, and total number of epithelial cells. Castration leads to a 58-76% reduction of the wet weight of all prostatic lobes. The decrease of glandular tissue is greater in VP than in LP, DP, and CG. In VP and LP, there is a 39-45% reduction of the epithelial height, and this effect is less pronounced in DP and CG. For all lobes, the shrinkage of average epithelial cell volume is in the same range (25-30%). Moreover, in VP and LP, there is a 70% reduction of the total number of cells, whereas the reduction is less in DP and CG. It thus seems that the reduction of prostatic epithelial tissue mass upon castration is due to a reduction of the number of cells as well as a reduction of the volume of individual cells. VP and LP appear to be more androgen-dependent than DP and CG.     

局部PUVA治疗儿童白癜风疗效及安全性观察

目的:观察局部光化学疗法(Psoralen plus UVA,PUVA)治疗儿童白癜风的临床疗效及安全性.方法:采用小型UVA灯(电压220V,电流0.34A,功率25.4w,主波峰长36 5nm,辐照度为1 070uw/cm2)治疗56例白癜风患儿,30次为一个疗程,共观察3个疗程.结果:第一疗程、第二疗程及第三疗程结束后临床显效率分别达39.29%、48.21%和5 5.36%,未发现明显不良反应,其中病程短、局限性及面颈部白癜风患儿疗效佳.结论:局部PUVA治疗儿童白癜风安全、有效、不良反应小,小型UVA灯具有疗效好、治疗方便的优点.     

Perceived occupational stress,affective, and physical well-being among telecommunication employees in Greece

The present study examined four potential roles of work-related negative affectivity on the associations between self-reported occupational stress and physical well-being among telecommunication employees in Greece. Participants (764, predominantly male) completed a battery of self-report measures on perceived occupational stress, negative affectivity, and illness symptoms. In line with previous research, negative affectivity exerted a nuisance effect, by inflating the association between reported stressors and illness symptoms, and significantly predicted illness symptoms, over and above the effects of stressors. In addition, negative affectivity influenced reported illness symptom indirectly, through the effects of stressors, and moderated the relationship between interpersonal conflict at work and illness symptoms. The findings suggest that negative affectivity can largely explain and influence in different ways the associations between self-reported stress and physical strain. It is recommended that future studies of occupational stress should control for the effects of negative affectivity, and that health professionals should be cautious of its effects when interpreting relationships between self-reported occupational stress and physical well-being.     

Late side-effects with cosmetic relevance following soft X-ray therapy of cutaneous neoplasias

Background Cosmetic changes are to be expected after radiotherapy for skin tumours. Objectives This study aimed to answer the questions: How frequent are cosmetic changes after soft X‐ray therapy? Do treatment parameters, tumour thickness, localization and size of the irradiated field have a major influence? Were patients irritated by the visual appearance of the irradiated field? Methods In total, 2474 examinations of 1149 irradiated fields were performed. Results Hypopigmentation was found in 64.7% of examinations more than 90 days after therapy, teleangiectases in 43.1%, erythema in 24.8%, and hyperpigmentation in 16.8%. The frequency of hypopigmentation, teleangiectases and hyperpigmentation increased with time from X‐ray exposure; more than 4 years after therapy hypopigmentation was diagnosed in 91.8% and teleangiectases in 82.2% of examinations. Total dose, the time–dose–fractionation factor (TDF), field size and dose per fraction were significantly related to the frequency of cosmetic changes. Incidence rates of cosmetic changes differed by less than 15% if different treatment conditions were compared: thicker vs. thinner tumours, larger vs. smaller fields, higher vs. lower total doses, doses per fraction, and TDF. Frequencies of hypopigmentation, teleangiectases, erythema and hyperpigmentation differed by more than 15% between some localizations on the head. Women reported irritation by the visual appearance of the irradiated field in 12.6% of 1116 interviews, and men in 4.4% of 1284 interviews. Conclusions Cosmetic changes after soft X‐ray therapy are relatively frequent. Treatment parameters, tumour thickness and field size have only a minor influence. Few patients, but more women than men, were irritated by the visual appearance of the irradiated field.     

Does exposure to infectious diseases in infancy affect old-age mortality? Evidence from a pre-industrial population

Many studies have shown that health conditions experienced in childhood play an important role on an individual's adult mortality. Recent research suggests that past reductions in early life exposure to infectious diseases have been a major contributor to the historical decline in old-age mortality. Drawing on French-Canadian data from cohorts born in the 17th and 18th centuries, we test whether a progressive deterioration in early life conditions (as revealed by an increasing infant mortality rate) translates into a decrease in survival prospects in late life. We use traditional demographic measures such as the age-specific probability of death, and a series of proportional hazard models to control for familial and environmental conditions. Results point toward little evidence of any early life effects. The trend of increasing infant mortality does not correlate with a general increase of mortality in older ages within the same cohorts. Period changes affecting survival at older ages (war, epidemics) as well as demographic and biological characteristics shared within families have a much larger role in old-age mortality than early life characteristics shared within the same cohorts.     

Performance in population models for count data,part II: A new SAEM algorithm

Analysis of count data from clinical trials using mixed effect analysis has recently become widely used. However, algorithms available for the parameter estimation, including LAPLACE and Gaussian quadrature (GQ), are associated with certain limitations, including bias in parameter estimates and the long analysis runtime. The stochastic approximation expectation maximization (SAEM) algorithm has proven to be a very efficient and powerful tool in the analysis of continuous data. The aim of this study was to implement and investigate the performance of a new SAEM algorithm for application to count data. A new SAEM algorithm was implemented in MATLAB for estimation of both, parameters and the Fisher information matrix. Stochastic Monte Carlo simulations followed by re-estimation were performed according to scenarios used in previous studies (part I) to investigate properties of alternative algorithms (Plan et al., 2008, Abstr 1372 []). A single scenario was used to explore six probability distribution models. For parameter estimation, the relative bias was less than 0.92% and 4.13% for fixed and random effects, for all models studied including ones accounting for over- or under-dispersion. Empirical and estimated relative standard errors were similar, with distance between them being <1.7% for all explored scenarios. The longest CPU time was 95 s for parameter estimation and 56 s for SE estimation. The SAEM algorithm was extended for analysis of count data. It provides accurate estimates of both, parameters and standard errors. The estimation is significantly faster compared to LAPLACE and GQ. The algorithm is implemented in Monolix 3.1, (beta-version available in July 2009).     

Evaluating therapeutic outcome in epileptic patients using the changes of interval and duration

BACKGROUND: Seizure frequency is in abnormal distribution, and it is not enough to express the trend of concentration using means, and its median loses a lot of information, thus it lacks of a standard for evaluating the therapeutic effects based on seizure frequency. OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for evaluating the therapeutic effects on anti-epileptic drugs using changes of interval and duration of seizure. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING: Zhumadian Psychiatric Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Outpatients and inpatients suffering from epilepsy attending firstly visited Zhumadian Psychiatric Hospital from June 2001 to June 2002 were enrolled. They were diagnosed as epileptic according to the International Classification of Epileptic Seizure by International League Against Epilepsy (1981) based on the clinical history, physical examination, and investigations. The interval time was no more than 6 months. Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects, and the study was approved by the hospital ethical committee. METHODS: ① For the first visit and each follow-up, the following data were recorded, including general demographic information, seizure type, the date and time of ictus, the duration of ictus, and inducement or situation related, according to which the following indexes could be calculated, including seizure styles, interval, duration, cluster frequency and cluster duration. The information from the first review was noted as annals A. The second interview was taken at the end of the evaluating period; the information from the second review was noted as annals B. The third interview was taken within two weeks after the second one; the information from the third review was noted as annals C. The annals B or the annals C were respectively compared with the annals A in the light of the same types or the same styles of the same patient. Summation of the scores of interval change and duration change of the same type or the same style and 5 of basic score was the score of a corresponding seizure type or a corresponding style of one patient. In order to test its reliability and validity, the score of change of frequency or duration plus 5 scores respectively was the score of frequency or duration. ② Reliability and validity were tested by calculating corresponding correlation coefficient with SPSS 11.0. ROC curve was used for developing diagnostic criterion of predicting therapeutic effects with SPSS 11.0. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Reliability and validity; ② Diagnostic criterion for predicting therapeutic effects one year later. RESULTS: Totally 28 patients were involved in the final analysis of results. ① Reliability and validity were high: rinter-rater=0.98, rtest-retest=0.99, rconstruct validity=0.83. ② A total score > 6 was the optimal diagnostic criteria for predicting therapeutic effects one year later, in other words, a patient who scored more than 6 at the evaluating period may be seizure-free one year later. CONCLUSION: It is a potential tool for evaluating epileptic therapeutic outcome, and it can be diffusely used in interrelated fields after being further validated.