[Re-understanding of the biological behavior of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma].

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most malignant tumors. However, in recent years, the prognosis of the disease has also changed quietly, and there have been reports of successful clinical treatment and significantly prolonged survival time. Based on the successful treatment of a 79-year-old patient and more than three years of follow-up, as well as the clinical analysis of 45 ATC patients, the author deeply believes that it is necessary to re-examine the understanding of ATC and urgently adjust the clinical strategies. If ATC can be diagnosed early and treated by comprehensive treatment based on radical surgery, the prognosis of a considerable number of patients can be greatly improved, the overall survival time will be greatly prolonged, and a considerable number of patients may achieve clinical cure. In addition, genetic testing and targeted therapy bring a new hope for the survival of some patients.

[The effect of continuous veno venous hemofiltration on neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin plasma levels in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of continuous veno venous hemofiltration (CVVH) on neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods: Critically ill patients with AKI who needed CVVH and admitted to Department of Critical Care Medicine of Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled prospectively from January 2015 to June 2015. AN69 membrane filters were used for CVVH. Prefilter, postfilter,and plasma NGAL measurements were taken at 10 mins, 4 hours and 8 hours (T 10 min, T 4 h, T 8 h) after CVVH. The influence of membrane filter and volume management on NGAL level was analyzed. Results: Forty patients were recruited.The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score was 22.9±7.0. The sequential organ failure score (SOFA) was 12.1±2.9, and ICU mortality was 27.5%. During CVVH, there were no significant differences in NGAL levels between prefilter [T 10 min:39.3 (24.8, 62.4) µg/min; T 4 h: (45.1±23.2)µg/min; and T 8 h: (45.5±22.4)µg/min] and postfilter [T 10 min: 33.5 (25.1, 60.7) µg/min; T 4 h: (44.2±24.3)µg/min, and T 8 h: (45.9±22.4)µg/min] (P> 0.05 for all). Compared with the survival group[310.0(162.0, 588.0) µg/L], plasma NGAL level in T 10 min [684.0(270.0, 944.0) µg/L] was significantly higher in death group (P= 0.033). After fluid balance correction, T 4 h [603.4(484.8, 620.2) µg/L] and T 8 h [590.2 (475.9, 749.4) µg/L] plasma NGAL levels in death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group [T4 h: 419.5 (227.5, 552.4) µg/L;T 8 h: 400.7(196.1, 517.4) µg/L] with statistical significance (P<0.01 for both). Conclusions: During CVVH, AN69 membrane filter does not have significant effect on plasma NGAL level in critically ill patients with AKI. After volume balance correction, plasma NGAL level could be used as an effective indicator in these patients.

Mechanism of reversal of multidrug resistance by curcumin in human colorectal cancer cell line HCT-8/5-FU.

Since there are no studies on the reversal of multidrug resistance by curcumin in the human colorectal cancer cell line HCT-8/5-FU, our aim was to search for highly efficient reversal agents and investigate the underlying mechanisms of this reversal. The cytotoxic effects of curcumin and 5-FU on HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU cells and the reversal effects of 5-FU in combination with curcumin on HCT-8/5-FU cells were measured using cell counting kit-8. Apoptosis and the cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. Protein and mRNA expression levels of BCL-2, survivin, P-gp, and HSP-27 were detected by western blotting and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Curcumin inhibited the growth of HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU cells. It significantly reduced the IC50 of 5-FU for HCT-8/5-FU cells (P < 0.01) and the expression of BCL-2, survivin, P-gp, and HSP-27 in the cells. Curcumin can effectively reverse multidrug resistance in human colorectal cancer drug-resistant HCT-8/5-FU cells. The mechanism through which this occurs may be associated with decreased expression of BCL-2, survivin, P-gp, and HSP-27. Curcumin may therefore have clinical implications as a new agent for colorectal cancer.

Morphological and molecular characterization of Ortleppascaris sinensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea) from the Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis.

A new nematode species, Ortleppascaris sinensis sp. nov. (Ascaridoidea), is described from specimens found in the stomach and intestine of the Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis Fauvel, 1879 (Crocodilian: Alligatoridae) in the National Nature Reserve of Chinese Alligator (Chinese Crocodile Lake) in Anhui Province, China. This is the first description of O. sinensis sp. nov. in both China and this crocodile host, increasing its distribution in South Asia as well as expanding the number of helminths known to infect this crocodile. The detailed description of O. sinensis sp. nov., based on light and scanning electron microscopic examination, provides new taxonomic data for this species, and we also report sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), small subunit DNA segments (18S) and the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene.

Cloning and sequence analysis of the coding sequence of ß-actin cDNA from the Chinese alligator and suitable internal reference primers from the ß-actin gene.

ß-Actin is an essential component of the cytoskeleton and is stably expressed in various tissues of animals, thus, it is commonly used as an internal reference for gene expression studies. In this study, a 1731-bp fragment of ß-actin cDNA from Alligator sinensis was obtained using the homology cloning technique. Sequence analysis showed that this fragment contained the complete coding sequence of the ß-actin gene (1128 bp), encoding 375 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of ß-actin is highly conserved and its nucleotide sequence is slightly variable. Multiple alignment analyses showed that the nucleotide sequence of the ß-actin gene from A. sinensis is very similar to sequences from birds, with 94-95% identity. Ten pairs of primers with different product sizes and different annealing temperatures were screened by PCR amplification, agarose gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequencing, and could be used as internal reference primers in gene expression studies. This study expands our knowledge of ß-actin gene phylogenetic evolution and provides a basis for quantitative gene expression studies in A. sinensis.

Serine Metabolism Controls Dental Pulp Stem Cell Aging by Regulating the DNA Methylation of p16.

To investigate the characteristics and molecular events of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) for tissue regeneration with aging, we isolated and analyzed the stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) and permanent teeth of young (Y-DPSCs) and old (A-DPSCs) adults. Results showed that the stemness and osteogenic differentiation capacity of DPSCs decreased with aging. The RNA sequencing results showed that glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism was one of the most enriched gene clusters among SHED, Y-DPSCs, and A-DPSCs, according to analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The expression of serine metabolism-related enzymes phosphoserine aminotransferase 1 (PSAT1) and phosphoglycerate (PHGDH) decreased in A-DPSCs and provided less methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) for DNA methylation, leading to the hypomethylation of the senescence marker p16 (CDNK2A). Furthermore, the proliferation and differentiation capacity of Y-DPSCs and SHED decreased after PHGDH siRNA treatment, which reduced the level of SAM. Convincingly, the ratios of PSAT1-, PHGDH-, or proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells in the dental pulp of old permanent teeth were less than those in the dental pulp of deciduous teeth and young permanent teeth. In summary, the stemness and differentiation capacity of DPSCs decreased with aging. The decreased serine metabolism in A-DPSCs upregulated the expression of p16 via attenuating its DNA methylation, resulting in DPSC aging. Our finding indicated that serine metabolism and 1 carbon unit participated in stem cell aging, which provided new direction for stem cell aging study and intervention.

[A multicenter prospective randomized controlled clinical study of 5-fluorouracil in different mass concentrations combined with triamcinolone in the treatment of keloids].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effects of 5-fluorouracil in different mass concentrations combined with triamcinolone in the treatment of keloids. Methods: From March 2018 to March 2019, 29 patients with 31 keloids receipted in the Department of Plastic Surgery of Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 11 patients with 20 keloids receipted in the Department of Dermatology of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area Hospital, and 9 patients with 9 keloids receipted in the Fuzhou Heisey-Dea Aesthetic Clinic were included in this prospectively randomized control study, with 27 males and 22 females, aged (30±9) years. According to the random number table, the keloids were divided into low mass concentration group (19 keloids, 17 patients), medium mass concentration group (21 keloids, 19 patients), and high mass concentration group (20 keloids, 17 patients). Then 5-fluorouracil at mass concentrations of 0.5, 5.0, and 12.5 mg/mL combined with triamcinolone acetonide were injected respectively, once every 4 weeks, for a total of 3 times. Before the first treatment and in 3 months after the last treatment, the appearance of keloids was evaluated by Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and pain and pruritus of keloids were evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Then the score differences before and after the treatment were calculated. In 6 months after the last treatment, the patients' efficacy satisfaction was evaluated by efficacy satisfaction rating scale. Adverse reactions during the treatment were recorded. In the follow-up of one year after the last treatment, the recurrence rates of keloids were counted. Data were statistically analyzed with chi-square test, one-way analysis of variance, paired sample t test, least significant difference t test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, or Fisher's exact probability test. Results: Before the first treatment, the appearance VSS scores of appearance of keloids in the three groups were similar (F=0.039, P>0.05). In 3 months after the last treatment, the appearance VSS scores of keloids in low mass concentration group were significantly higher than those in medium mass concentration group and high mass concentration group (t=2.267, 4.086, P<0.05 or P<0.01). In 3 months after the last treatment, the appearance VSS scores of keloids in low mass concentration group, medium mass concentration group, and high mass concentration group were significantly decreased compared with those before the first treatment (t=18.222, 44.272, 22.523, P<0.01). The differences of appearance VSS scores of keloids in low mass concentration group before and after treatment were significantly lower than those in medium mass concentration group and high mass concentration group (t=-4.096, -6.357, P<0.01), and the differences of appearance VSS scores of keloids in medium mass concentration group before and after treatment were significantly lower than those in high mass concentration group (t=-2.368, P<0.05). Before the first treatment, the pain and pruritus VAS scores of keloids in the three groups were similar (χ2=0.149, P>0.05). In 3 months after the last treatment, the pain and pruritus VAS scores of keloids in low mass concentration group were significantly higher than those in medium mass concentration group and high mass concentration group (Z=2.191, 4.386, P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the pain and pruritus VAS scores of keloids in medium mass concentration group were significantly higher than those in high mass concentration group (Z=2.276, P<0.05). In 3 months after the last treatment, the pain and pruritus VAS scores of keloids in medium mass concentration group and high mass concentration group were significantly decreased compared with those before the first treatment (Z=-3.904, -3.844, P<0.01). The differences of pain and pruritus VAS scores of keloids in low mass concentration group before and after treatment were significantly lower than those in medium mass concentration group and high mass concentration group (Z=-4.265, -6.104, P<0.01). In 6 months after the last treatment, the efficacy satisfaction scores of the corresponding patients of keloids were (88±8) points in high mass concentration group, which were significantly higher than (76±8) points in medium mass concentration group and (60±8) points in low mass concentration group (t=-3.820, -6.675, P<0.01), and the efficacy satisfaction scores of the corresponding patients of keloids in medium mass concentration group were significantly higher than those in high mass concentration group (t=-2.984, P<0.05). There was only statistically significant difference in pain within the 3 groups (P<0.01). In the follow-up of one year after the last treatment, the recurrence rate of keloids in high mass concentration group was significantly lower than that in low mass concentration group (χ2=8.313, P<0.01), and the recurrence rate of keloids in medium mass concentration group was similar to the recurrence rates in low mass concentration group and high mass concentration group (P>0.05). Conclusions: After treating keloids with high mass concentration of 5-fluorouracil combined with triamcinolone acetonide, the symptoms were significantly improved, the efficacy satisfaction of patients was increased, with no obvious adverse reactions but long lasting efficacy. Their overall effects are better than treatment using medium and low mass concentrations of 5-fluorouracil, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

[The efficacy of hemostatic powder for chronic rhinosinusitis in endoscopic sinus surgery: a prospective, randomised, controlled and single blinded clinical trial].

Objective: To study the efficacy and patient comfort of absorbable hemostatic powder after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Methods: A total of 21 (17 males, 4 females) patients with an average age of 42(ranging from 18 to 65) underwent bilateral ESS for chronic rhinosinusitis(CRS) in Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University between October 2015 and July 2019 were enrolled to compare the effect of absorbable hemostasis powder with Nasopore using an intrapatient control design. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the left and right nasal cavities of the same patient. If hemostatic powder was applied in the experiment nasal cavity, the Nasopore was applied in the control nasal cavity. The mean preoperative sinus computed tomography (CT) score was 6.25. All patients competed for symptom diaries using a visual analog scale (VAS, score out of 10) at baseline, through 1, 7, 14 and 30 days. Outcomes including bleeding, facial pain, nasal obstruction, nasal discharges using VAS were recorded separately for both sides. Postoperative endoscopic scores were also investigated. SPSS 22 and Graphpad prism 8.0 statistical softwares were used for the analysis. Paired t-test or nonparametric test was used between the test side and the control side. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Results: The bleeding score and total nasal symptom VAS scores at postoperative days (POD) 1, 7, 14 and 30 were not significantly different(t=1.341, 0.552, 0.631, 0.158, all P>0.05;t=0.944, 1.471, 1.612, 2.251, all P>0.05). There was no significant difference between absorbable hemostasis powder and Nasopore side on POD 1, 7, 14 and 30 in terms of each nasal symptom VAS scores(all P>0.05). On POD 1, 7 and 14, the packing material degeneration scores of the absorbable hemostasis powder side were significantly lower than those of the Nasopore side [(1.33±0.21)vs(2.00±0.00),(0.38±0.18) vs (1.95±0.22), 0 vs (1.80±0.13), all P<0.01]. There were significant differences between absorbable hemostasis powder and Nasopore side on POD 1, 7, 14 and 30 in terms of endoscopic scores (edema, crusting, discharges, scar, polyps and material degeneration, t=3.07, 7.00, 6.41, 2.69, all P<0.05). Conclusions: The absorbable hemostasis powder and Nasopore has similar postoperative hemostasis effect. The absorbable hemostasis powder is rapidly cleared and without negative effects on mucosal wound healing 14 days postoperatively.

First Report of Corynespora Leaf Spot on Patchouli Caused by Corynespora cassiicola in China.

Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.) is mainly cultivated in Southeast Asia as a medicinal shrub and a source of patchouli oil used in perfumery. In 2008, a leaf spot disease was observed on patchouli plants grown on most farms (some farms had 99% incidence) in Wanning, the predominant cultivation location in the Hainan Province of China. The disease usually began at the tip of leaves, the main veins, or small veinlets. Severely irregular-shaped dark brown leaf spots expanded over 5 to 10 days, eventually causing infected leaves to abscise. The time from initial leaf lesions to abscission usually took 1 month. The disease was usually most severe in April and May, causing significant economic losses along with quality losses to patchouli oil extracted from leaves. To isolate the causal pathogen, diseased leaves were collected in August 2008 from a farm of the Hainan Branch Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Wanning, surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 1 min, transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 28°C for 14 days. Single-spore cultures of three isolates were obtained and identified as Corynespora cassiicola (Berk. & Curt.) Wei. on the basis of morphological and physiological features (1). Genomic DNA was extracted from all the cultures. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA was amplified using primers ITS1 (5'-TCCGATGGTGAACCTGCGG-3') and ITS4 (5'-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3'). Amplicons were 546 bp (GenBank Accession No. HM145960) and had 99% nucleotide identity with the corresponding sequence (GenBank Accession No. GU138988) of C. cassiicola isolated from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). To satisfy Koch's postulates, 50-day-old potted plants in a tent were sprayed until runoff with a spore suspension (1 × 106 spores/ml) prepared from 10-day-old cultures. Using this spray method, one isolate was inoculated separately onto nine leaves of three potted plants. The potted plants were covered with plastic bags to maintain high humidity for 48 h and then placed outside under natural environmental conditions (temperature 20 to 28°C). Another nine leaves of three potted plants, sprayed only with sterile water, served as noninoculated control plants. Leaf spot symptoms similar to those on diseased field plants appeared after 7 days on all inoculated plants. C. cassiicola was reisolated from all inoculated test plants. No symptoms were observed on the control plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. cassiicola causing a leaf spot disease on patchouli in China. Other previous reports of this disease were from Cuba (2). This pathogen has also been reported previously to be economically important on a number of other hosts. On patchouli plants, more attention should be given to prevention and control measures to help manage this disease. References: (1) M. B. Ellis. Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes. Commonwealth Mycological Institute: Kew, Surrey, England, 1971. (2) I. Sandoval et al. Cienc. Tec. Agric., Prot. Plant. 10:21, 1987.

Formation of aligned CrN nanoclusters in Cr-delta-doped GaN.

Cr-delta-doped GaN layers were grown by radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on GaN template substrates. Cr flux was supplied without nitrogen flow during Cr-delta-doping. Cr incorporation into a narrow thin layer region was confirmed with the depth profile measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Structural properties and Cr atom alignments were studied with transmission electron microscopy. It was found that Cr-delta-doped GaN layers were coherently grown with Cr or CrGa nanoclusters in the delta-doped region for low temperature growth (350, 500 °C). It was also found that aligned CrN nanoclusters (approximately 5 nm vertical thickness) with NaCl-type structure were formed in the delta-doped region for the growth at 700 °C.

Evaluation of the postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients with general anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE: The present study is aimed to study the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100b proteins in the evaluation of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients with general anesthesia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 142 aged patients, who were treated with transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) surgery under general anesthesia with propofol from June 2014 to December 2015, were randomly divided into two groups. The experiment group was given scopolamine butylbromide by intramuscular injection before the operation, while the control group had no preoperative intramuscular injection. The propofol was used for maintenance during the operation. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scales were adopted for testing the patients on preoperative day 1, postoperative day 2 and postoperative day 9. After the surgery, there were 4 cases of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) patients in experiment group, while 21 cases of POCD patients in control group. While the 142 healthy adult volunteers, who were admitted to physical examination center of our hospital in the corresponding period, were selected as healthy controls. The expression levels of S100b and NSE of patients, as well as healthy controls, were detected by ELISA. RESULTS: In POCD patients, serum S100b and NSE levels were evidently higher than those of patients without POCD and healthy control group (p < 0.05). S100b and NSE levels of POCD patients in experiment group were significantly lower than those of control group (p < 0.05). Serum S100b and NSE levels are higher, the longer duration of POCD is, as the correlation coefficient rs = -0.1342, -1.6644, p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: The expression levels of S100b protein and plasma NSE in the serum of POCD patients increased, which indicated the severity of the disease. The preoperative intramuscular injection of scopolamine butylbromide has important clinical significance for the prevention of POCD.

Changes of serial cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin parameters in neurological disorders.

Serial cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin parameters were determined with the method of single radial immunodiffusion in 419 cases of 20 kinds of neurological diseases. The results were compared with the normal values of 36 subjects of corresponding ages and statistically analyzed. The authors believe that the elevated CSF Ig can occur in the following five pathological processes: (1) Ig endogenous synthesis within the central nervous system. It is the characteristic change of the parameters in MS patients; (2) inflammatory diffusion, it can be seen in cases of general inflammation with normal blood-brain-barrier (BBB); (3) impaired BBB diffusion, acute hemorrhagic and ischemic cerebrovascular diseases belong to this pattern; (4) inflammatory diffusion with BBB impairment, such as various meningitis and other acute inflammatory diseases of the CNS; (5) Ig endogenous synthesis in the CNS with impaired BBB diffusion, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome and sporadic encephalitis. The levels of IgG, IgA, IgM and C3 change correspondingly in the various neurological disorders. The patients with positive CSF IgM found by the SRID technique are regarded to have serious impairment of BBB.

Determination of vitamin B12 by chemiluminescence analysis.

Chemiluminescence analysis, with flow injection, is used for the determination of vitamin B12 by means of the luminol hydrogen peroxide system. The linear range is 3 orders of magnitude and the detection limits is 10 ppb. All samples were analyzed by both this method and colorimetry and some comparison between these two methods was made as well. Because of its sensitivity, it can be used as a convenient, and rapid method for clinical drug analysis.

[A controlled study of chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay for the measurement of estrogen receptor in tissue of gynecological neoplasms].

UNLABELLED: In this study, chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) has been developed for the measurement of estrogen receptor (ER) in 34 gynecological oncological tissues from 15 cases of endometrial carcinoma, 15 cases of ovarian tumors and 4 cases of other gynecological tumors. The accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of CLEIA for ER were compared with that of dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA). RESULTS: (1) the standard curve of ER-CLEIA showed a significant linear correlation between the luminosity and ER concentration (r = 0.9786, P < 0.001); (2) The results of CLEIA and that of the other two methods were compared; the correlation coefficients were > 0.8 and their corresponding rates were > 90%; (3) the positive rate of ER determined by these three methods showed no significant differences, however, the mean value of ER-CLEIA was the highest among them. It is concluded that the CLEIA has a higher sensitivity than that of the other two methods for the measurement of ER.

Photoluminescence from exciton-polarons in GaGdN/AlGaN multiquantum wells.

Exciton-polaron formation in GaGdN/AlGaN multiquantum wells was inferred from the lower energy of the photoluminescence peak observed for the GaGdN quantum wells (QWs) compared with GaN QWs. The rather low value of the excitonic transition energy is attributed to exciton-polarons bound to the Gd ions. Exciton-polarons are most likely to occur due to the lattice distortion around the substituted Gd ions in addition to the exchange interaction between Gd(3+) magnetic ions and the strongly confined charge carrier spins in GaGdN QWs. The mechanism of exciton-polaron formation is discussed. The magnetic behavior is briefly presented.

Benchmark dose approach for low-level lead induced haematogenesis inhibition and associations of childhood intelligences with ALAD activity and ALA levels.

Lead (Pb) levels, delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activities, zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) levels in blood, and urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and coproporphyrin (CP) concentrations were measured for 318 environmental Pb exposed children recruited from an area of southeast China. The mean of blood lead (PbB) levels was 75.0µg/L among all subjects. Benchmark dose (BMD) method was conducted to present a lower PbB BMD (lower bound of BMD) of 32.4µg/L (22.7) based on ALAD activity than those based on the other three haematological indices, corresponding to a benchmark response of 1%. Childhood intelligence degrees were not associated significantly with ALAD activities or ALA levels. It was concluded that blood ALAD activity is a sensitive indicator of early haematological damage due to low-level Pb exposures for children.

Adverse health effects of lead exposure on children and exploration to internal lead indicator.

Our research on adverse effects of lead exposures on physical and neurobehavioral health of children aged 6-12years in 4 villages, labeled as K, M, L, and X, in rural China, was reported in this article. Lead in blood (PbB), urine (PbU), hairs (PbH), and nails (PbN) were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Abbreviated Symptom Questionnaire of Conner's instruments and Revised Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices were applied to evaluate childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and intelligences. Geometric means (SD) of PbB, PbU, PbH and PbN concentrations were 71.2 microg/L (1.56), 11.7 microg/g (1.75), 12.5 microg/g (2.82), and 25.3 microg/g (2.79), respectively. 54 (17.0%) children had PbB levels of > or =100 microg/L. Boys, 6-10 years old, and living in village K were 2.11, 2.48, and 9.16 times, respectively, more likely to be poisoned by lead than girls, aged 11-12 years, and residing in X. 18 (5.7%) and 37 (11.7%) subjects had ADHD and mental retardations, respectively. Inverse relationships between intelligences and natural log transformed PbU and PbH levels were observed with respective odds ratios (95%CI) of 1.79 (1.00-3.22) and 1.46 (1.06-2.03) or 1.28 (1.04-1.58) and 1.73 (1.18-2.52) by binary or ordinal logistic regression modeling. ADHD prevalence was different by gender and age of subjects. PbU, PbH, and PbN related to PbB positively with respective correlation coefficients of 0.530, 0.477, and 0.181. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the three measurements revealed areas under curves (AUCs) being 0.829, 0.758, and 0.687, respectively. In conclusion, children had moderate levels of lead exposures in this rural area. Intelligence declines were associated with internal lead levels among children. ROC analysis suggests PbU an internal lead indicator close to PbB.

[Changes in cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin serial parameters in neurologic disorders].

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) immunoglobulin serial parameters were determined with the method of single radial immunodiffusion (SRID) in 458 neurological cases with 30 kinds of diseases. The results were compared with the normal values from 36 subjects of comparable age. The authors considered that the elevated CSF-Ig could occur in the following 5 pathological processes: (1) Ig endogenous synthesis in the central nervous system (CNS). (2) inflammatory diffusion, which would be seen in general inflammation but the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) would be normal; (3) diffusion due to damaged BBB, including acute hemorrhagic and ischemic cerebrovascular diseases (4) inflammatory diffusion in combination with BBB impairment. (5) Ig endogenous synthesis in the CNS in combination with diffusion, due to damaged BBB as seen in Guillain-Barre syndrome and sporadic encephalitis. It was considered that in the CSF, IgG, IgA, IgM and C3 would show simultaneous corresponding increase or decrease in quite a number of neurological disorders.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of benzoyl hydrazine in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-hydroxypiperidine-1-oxyl.

2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-4-hydroxypiperidine-1-oxyl (TMHPO) shows catalytic electroactivity in homogeneous oxidation of benzoyl hydrazine (BH) on a glassy carbon electrode. The catalytic current is affected by the concentration of TMHPO and the pH of the solution. A possible catalytic reaction mechanism is proposed and a non-toxic, convenient method for the determination of BH in the concentration range 1x10(-5)-2x10(-3) M has been developed.