The Relationship Between Air Pollution and Lung Cancer in Nonsmokers in Taiwan

Introduction

For never-smokers (smoked <100 lifetime cigarettes), lung cancer (LC) has emerged as an important issue. We aimed to investigate the effects of prevalence changes in tobacco smoking and particulate matter (PM) 2.5 (PM_2.5) levels on LC in Taiwan, in relation to contrasting PM_2.5 levels, between Northern Taiwan (NT) and Southern Taiwan (ST).

异落新妇甙的结构研究

从百合科菝葵属植物土茯苓(Smilaxg labra Roxb.)根茎的乙醇提取物中分得一个新的天然化合物(I),命名为异落新妇甙(isoastilbin)。根据元素分析,UV,IR,¹H-NMR,¹³C-NMR,2DNMR及FAB-MS,确定化合物I的结构为5,7,3',5'-四羟基二氢黄酮醇-3-O-α-L-鼠李糖甙。     

LHRH-A对孕中期大鼠抗妊娠作用的研究

本文观察了[D-Ala⁶,Pro⁹-Ethylamide¹⁰]-LHRH(LHRH-A)对孕中期大鼠的抗妊娠作用。结果显示:在孕9～11d sc 200μg/d LHRH-A,血浆孕酮水平自第二次给药后明显下降(P<0.05),给药大鼠均流产终止妊娠;LHRH-A的抗妊娠作用可被醋酸甲地孕酮所拮抗;LHRH-A对体外培养的假孕大鼠和孕d 9大鼠黄体细胞分泌孕酮有明显的直接抑制作用。     

白蛋白微球作为肝靶向给药载体的研究

用均匀设计方法和计算机技术筛选了乳化化学交联法制备白蛋白微球的六个因素,十二个水平。优化出最佳制备工艺,制备了平均粒径0.41～0.47μm的白蛋白微球。将此工艺制备的¹²⁵I-白蛋白微球做动物体内研究,结果表明微球iv后主要浓集在肝脏,可达注入总剂量的68%,此微球在靶组织肝脏的变化规律可用二室模型契合。     

Differential etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder with conduct disorder and major depression in male veterans.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies reveal that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with both conduct disorder and major depression in men. The genetic and environmental etiology of this comorbidity has not been examined. METHODS: Data were analyzed from 6744 middle-aged male-male monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Conduct disorder, major depression, and PTSD were assessed via telephone interview using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the DSM-III-R in 1992. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate additive genetic, shared environmental, and individual-specific environmental effects common and specific to conduct disorder, major depression, and PTSD. RESULTS: The association between conduct disorder and PTSD was explained primarily by common shared environmental influences; these explained 10% (95% confidence interval: 6%-17%) of the variance in PTSD. The association between major depression and PTSD was largely explained by common genetic influences; these explained 19% (95% confidence interval: 11%-26%) of the variance in PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that different etiologic mechanisms explain the association of conduct disorder and major depression with PTSD in male veterans. If replicated in other populations, results suggest research aimed at identifying specific genetic and environmental factors that influence PTSD may benefit from starting with those that have been more consistently and strongly associated with major depression and conduct disorder.     

Isokinetic eccentric exercise can induce skeletal muscle injury within the physiologic excursion of muscle-tendon unit: a rabbit model

Background and Purpose  

Intensive eccentric exercise can cause muscle damage. We simulated an animal model of isokinetic eccentric exercise by repetitively stretching stimulated triceps surae muscle-tendon units to determine if such exercise affects the mechanical properties of the unit within its physiologic excursion.     

A randomized controlled trial of electromagnetic therapy in the primary care management of venous leg ulceration

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to establish the potential efficacy, tolerabilityand side-effect profile of electromagnetic therapy as an adjunctto conventional dressings in the treatment of venous leg ulcers. METHOD: A prospective, randomized, double blind controlled clinicaltrial was carried out in a dedicated leg ulcer clinic basedin one urban general practice. Nineteen patients with leg ulcersof confirmed venous aetiology were assessed. The main outcomemeasures were rate and scale of venous leg ulcer healing, changesin patient-reported pain levels, quality of life, degree ofmobility, side effect profile and acceptability to patientsand staff. RESULTS: Sixty-eight per cent of patients attending this dedicated clinicachieved improvements in the size of their ulcer (4, 21%, healedfully) and in reduced pain levels (P < 0.05) during the trial,despite the chronicity of ulcer histories. Patients treatedwith electromagnetic therapy at 800 Hz were found at day 50to have significantly greater healing (P < 0.05) and paincontrol (P < 0.05) than placebo therapy or treatment with600 Hz. All patients reported improved mobility at the end ofthe study. The electromagnetic therapy was well tolerated bypatients, with no differences between groups in reporting adverseevents, and proved acceptable to staff. CONCLUSION: Despite the small numbers in this pilot study, electromagnetictherapy provided significant gains in the healing of venousleg ulcers and reduction in pain. Keywords. Electromagnetic therapy, RCT, leg ulcers, primary care.     

Is there disproportionate impairment in semantic or phonemic fluency in schizophrenia?

Phonemic and semantic fluency involve the capacity to generate words beginning with particular letters or belonging to particular categories, respectively. The former has been associated with frontal lobe function and the latter with temporoparietal function, but neuroimaging studies indicate overlap of underlying neural networks. Schizophrenia patients may experience disproportionate semantic fluency impairment owing to abnormal semantic organization; however, executive dysfunction in schizophrenia suggests possible disproportionate phonemic fluency impairment. Moreover, little is known about the diagnostic specificity of either verbal fluency deficit to schizophrenia or their stability over time. We examined 83 schizophrenia patients, 15 bipolar disorder patients, and 83 normal controls. Both fluency types were impaired in schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia patients as a whole manifested disproportionate semantic fluency impairment relative to bipolar disorder patients, but only a subset of schizophrenia patients manifested disproportionate semantic fluency impairment relative to controls. Few characteristics, except to some extent paranoid-nonparanoid subtype, meaningfully differentiated schizophrenia patients with and without this disproportionate impairment. Verbal fluency measures were moderately stable over a 4-year period in schizophrenia patients and controls (.48 < rs < .79). These results mirror a literature that overall suggests a small degree of disproportionate semantic fluency impairment in schizophrenia, but also some heterogeneity in fluency deficits.