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OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the clinical treatment outcomes and the changes of the outcomes over time in extremely preterm twins in Guangdong Province, China.@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed for 269 pairs of extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks who were admitted to the department of neonatology in 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province from January 2008 to December 2017. According to the admission time, they were divided into two groups: 2008-2012 and 2013-2017. Besides, each pair of twins was divided into the heavier infant and the lighter infant subgroups according to birth weight. The perinatal data of mothers and hospitalization data of neonates were collected. The survival rate of twins and the incidence rate of complications were compared between the 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 groups.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of severe asphyxia and smaller head circumference at birth (P<0.05). The mortality rates of both of the twins, the heavier infant of the twins, and the lighter infant of the twins were lower in the 2013-2017 group compared with the 2008-2012 group (P<0.05). Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of pulmonary hemorrhage, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage (P-IVH), and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and a higher incidence rate of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#There is a significant increase in the survival rate over time in extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks in the 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province. The incidences of severe asphyxia, pulmonary hemorrhage, PDA, P-IVH, and NRDS decrease in both the heavier and lighter infants of the twins, but the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia increases. With the improvement of diagnosis and treatment, the multidisciplinary collaboration between different fields of fetal medicine including prenatal diagnosis, obstetrics, and neonatology is needed in the future to jointly develop management strategies for twin pregnancy.
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Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Pregnancy , Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/epidemiology , Gestational Age , Infant, Extremely Premature , Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Objective:To develop the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of Quality of Life Instruments for Cancer Patients-Leukemia (QLICP-LE) (V2.0).Methods:The quality of life of 101 patients with leukemia in First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University and First People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province from October 2011 to May 2012 were measured. The QLICP-LE (V2.0) was used for data collection, and the MCID for the overall score and scores of various domains of QLICP-LE (V2.0) were established by using the distribution-based approach including indexes of effect size, standard error of measurement (SEM), reliable change index, standardized response mean and responsiveness statistic, and the recommended values of MCID were determined through the consensus method.Results:The MCID formulated by the above five indexes were as follows: the total scale 1.4-9.3, physical functional domain 1.6-15.6, psychological functional domain 2.9-15.6, social functional domain 2.2-18.0, common symptoms and side-effects domain 1.7-17.1, common module 1.8-10.0, and the specific module 1.1-12.1. Through the expert consensus method, it was recommended to use the MCID results calculated by 1.96SEM: the total scale was 4, physical domain was 8, psychological domain was 8, social domain was 9, common symptoms and side-effects domain was 9, common module was 4, and the specific module was 6.Conclusion:Each index of distribution-based approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, which can be selected based on actual conditions. There is clinical significance when the score change of QLICP-LE (V2.0) of leukemia patients after treatment exceeds its MCID.
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Objective:To understand the reliability and validity of quality of life instruments for cancer patients-brain neoplasm [QLICP-BN (V1.0)], a self-developed quality of life scale for cancer patients.Methods:The quality of life of 112 patients with brain neoplasms in Yunnan Cancer Hospital from March 2012 to November 2013 was measured. The general data questionnaire and QLICP-BN (V1.0) were used for data collection. The reliability, validity and responsiveness of the scale were tested, and then the metric characteristics of the scale were evaluated.Results:The split-half reliability of the total score of the scale was 0.95, the Cronbach αcoefficient was 0.92, and the test-retest correlation coefficient rwas 0.78. After extracting common factors by the principal component method and rotating with the maximum variance, the specific module obtained three principal components, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 64.18%. The score of specific module was 75.30±17.44 before treatment and 78.91±12.20 after treatment ( t=-2.481, P=0.015). The total score of scale before treatment was 65.26±12.29, and that after treatment was 69.62±10.41, with a statistically significant difference ( t=-4.492, P<0.001). The total responsiveness of the scale was 0.456, showing moderate responsiveness. Conclusion:QLICP-BN (V1.0) has good reliability, validity and a certain degree of responsiveness. It can be used as a measurement tool for the quality of life of patients with brain neoplasms in China.
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Objective:Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been used in the diagnosis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) successfully, but there have been no multicenter prospective studies to verify its reliability or determine how to grade RDS with LUS findings.This study aimed to discuss the necessity and feasibility of using LUS findings to determine RDS grades through a multicenter prospective study.Methods:Every researcher participated in the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Course and receiving 3-6 months of lung ultrasound system training at the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Center.Patients between June 2018 and May 2020 who met the RDS ultrasound diagnostic criteria and had full available clinical data were included in this study.The LUS examination was completed immediately after the patients were admitted to the hospital.Some of them also underwent chest X-ray examination.Arterial blood gas analysis was completed immediately before or after the LUS ultrasound examination.RDS grading was performed according to the LUS findings and whether the patient had serious complications.Results:A total of 275 qualifying cases were included in this study, which included 220 premature infants and 55 full-term infants, and the primary RDS occurred in 117 cases (42.5%), and secondary RDS occurred in 158 cases (57.5%). LUS manifestations of RDS patients can be divided into three categories: (1)A ground-glass opacity sign: which could be found among 50 infants when they were admitted to the hospital (that was, at their first LUS examination). Twenty-eight of these infants were considered to have wet lungs and were not sent for special management on admission, but LUS showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation within 0.5 to 4 hours.Twenty-two of them were given mechanical ventilation with exogenous pulmonary surfactant; Eighteen cases were controlled within 6-12 hours, but the lung lesions became more severe in the other 4 infants (due to severe intrauterine infection). (2)Snowflake-like lung consolidations: the first LUS on admission showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation involving areas ranging from 1-2 intercostal spaces to 12 lung divisions in 204 cases.Thirty-eight infants among them the lung consolidation only had involvement of 1-2 intercostal spaces at the time of admission; Fifteen of them received invasive respiratory support and recovered within 4-12 hours.Twelve patients received noninvasive respiratory support; Seven of them recovered, while five cases developed severe lung illness.The remaining 11 patients who were not given any form of ventilator support developed severe conditions within 1-4 hours.Thirty of them showed snowflake signs involving 12 lung regions at admission.The remaining 136 patients had lung consolidation degree between the two degree above condition.(3)Snowflake-like sign with complications: Twenty-one patients had severe complications such as pneumothorax, pulmonary hemorrhage or/and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn or large area atelectasis, etc, although snowflake lung consolidation did not involve all lung regions.Conclusion:(1) LUS is reliable and accurate for diagnosing RDS.RDS has the same characteristics on ultrasound for both preterm and full-term infants, both primary and secondary RDS.(2) To facilitate the management of RDS, it is necessary to classify RDS according to the ultrasound findings and the presence of severe complications.(3) Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that RDS can be divided into mild, moderate and severe degrees.The exact standards for grading are as follows: Mild RDS: the early stage of RDS, in which lung consolidation shows as a ground-glass opacity sign on ultrasound; Moderate RDS: lung consolidation shows a snowflake sign on ultrasound, not all of the lung fields are involved; Severe RDS meets one or more of the following criteria: lung consolidation shows as a snowflake sign on ultrasound and all lung regions are involved, or regardless of its degree and extent, lung consolidation has caused serious complications, such as pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumothorax, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, or/and a large area of pulmonary atelectasis.
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Objective:To present briefly introductions and evaluations on the constructs, psychometric properties (reliability, validity, reactivity etc.) and applications of the system of Quality of Life Instruments for Cancer Patients QLICP(V1.0) including 12 kinds of scales for patients with head and neck cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, leukemia and lymphoma.Methods:Based on our measuring data from relevant patients at hospitals, the constructs, characteristics and psychometrics of the system above were analyzed and presented. Internal consistency reliability for each domain and the overall scale was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and test-retest reliability through calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient between the first and second assessments. The criterion-related validity was evaluated by correlating corresponding domains of two instruments. Responsiveness was assessed through comparing the mean difference between the pre-treatment and post-treatments with standardized response mean (SRM). The use agreements and literature reviews of this system were used to understand the applications of 12 kinds measurement scales.Results:The quality of life scales for 12 kinds of cancer patients of the system QLICP(V1.0) have good construct( 5 domains, 11-15 facets), reliability, validity and a certain degree of responsiveness. The internal consistency reliability Cronbach's α coefficients for the overall scale of QLICP in different cancers was from 0.67 to 0.92, and the test-retest reliability (correlation coefficient) was from 0.61 to 0.99. The criterion-related validity (correlation coefficient) was for the overall scale of QLICP in different cancers was from 0.28 to 0.89, and the responsiveness SRM was from 0.25 to 1.28. And also they were widely used in clinical practice and relevant studies for the corresponding cancers.Conclusion:The system QLICP(V1.0) is of outstanding characteristics with all psychometrics meeting requirements and better construct (clear hierarchical structure with items→ facets→ domains→ overall ), and can be used widely in clinical practice further.
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Objective@#To compare the differences and similarities among the system of quality of life instruments for cancer patients (QLICP) V1.0, the quality of life questionnaire (QLQ) from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) from Center on Outcomes, Research and Education (CORE) of America.@*Methods@#Based on literatures and our measuring data from patients at hospitals, the constructs, characteristics and psychometrics of the systems above were analyzed and compared. Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach α coefficient for each domain, and test-retest reliability through calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient r between the first and second assessments as well as intra-class correlation (ICC). Construct validity was evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient r (item-domains correlations) and factor analysis. The criterion-related validity was evaluated by correlating corresponding domains of two instruments. Responsiveness was assessed through comparing the mean difference between the pre-treatment and post-treatment with standardized response mean (SRM).@*Results@#The instruments of three systems were of different outstanding characteristics with all psychometrics meeting requirements. Measurements for 12 types of cancers showed that the internal consistency reliability Cronbach α coefficient for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.67-0.92, and for FACT was 0.79-0.98. The test-retest reliability (r or ICC) for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.61-0.99, and for FACT was 0.60-0.98. The SRM for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.25-1.28, and for FACT was 0.11-0.83. However, the QLICP was of better construct (clear hierarchical structure with items→facets→domains→overall) and Chinese culture.@*Conclusion@#The instruments of three systems can be used as the instruments to assess quality of life for patients with cancer with selections basing on different settings.
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Objective To compare the differences and similarities among the system of quality of life instruments for cancer patients (QLICP) V1.0,the quality of life questionnaire (QLQ) from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) from Center on Outcomes,Research and Education (CORE) of America.Methods Based on literatures and our measuring data from patients at hospitals,the constructs,characteristics and psychometrics of the systems above were analyzed and compared.Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach α coefficient for each domain,and test-retest reliability through calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient r between the first and second assessments as well as intra-class correlation (ICC).Construct validity was evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient r (item-domains correlations) and factor analysis.The criterion-related validity was evaluated by correlating corresponding domains of two instruments.Responsiveness was assessed through comparing the mean difference between the pre-treatment and post-treatment with standardized response mean (SRM).Results The instruments of three systems were of different outstanding characteristics with all psychometrics meeting requirements.Measurements for 12 types of cancers showed that the internal consistency reliability Cronbach α coefficient for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.67-0.92,and for FACT was 0.79-0.98.The test-retest reliability (r or ICC) for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.61-0.99,and for FACT was 0.60-0.98.The SRM for the overall scale of QLICP (V1.0) was 0.25-1.28,and for FACT was 0.11-0.83.However,the QLICP was of better construct (clear hierarchical structure with items→facets→domains→overall) and Chinese culture.Conclusion The instruments of three systems can be used as the instruments to assess quality of life for patients with cancer with selections basing on different settings.
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Objective: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) may be resistant to one or multiple anti-TB drugs. We used generalized estimation equations to analysis the risk factors of drug-resistant TB and provide information for the establishment of a warning model for these non-independent data. Methods: The drug susceptibility test and questionnaire survey were performed in sputum positive TB patients from 30 anti TB drug-resistance surveillance sites in Zhejiang province. The generalized estimation model was established by the GENMOD module of SAS, with resistance to 13 kinds of anti-TB drugs as dependent variables and possible influencing factors, such as age, having insurance, HBV infection status, and history of anti-TB drug intake, as independent variables. Results: In this study, the probability of drug resistance at baseline level was 20.26%. Age, insurance, whether being co-infected with HBV, and treatment history or treatment withdrawal were statistically significantly correlated with anti-TB drug resistance. The prediction equation was established according to the influence degree of the factors mentioned above on drug resistance. Conclusion: The generalized estimation equations can effectively and robustly analyze the correlated binary outcomes, and thus provide more comprehensive information for drug resistance risk factor evaluation and warning model establishment.
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Humans , Antitubercular Agents/therapeutic use , Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial , Models, Statistical , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/drug effects , Risk Factors , Sputum/microbiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Tuberculosis/epidemiology , Tuberculosis, Multidrug-ResistantABSTRACT
Objective To study the effects of morphine on serum concentrations of cortisol (COR), adrenaline (ADR), noradrenaline (NAD) and dopamine (DOP) in premature infants requiring mechanical ventilation (MV).Method From January to November, 2017, premature infants (gestational age: 28~36 weeks and body weight :1 000~2 499 g) admitted to neonatal department of our hospital and received mechanical ventilation were prospectively studied.The participants were randomly assigned into morphine group and control group.Modified neonatal pain assessment scale ( NIPS ) and Ramsay scores were calculated at the beginning of MV (before the administration of morphine ) and at different time points after MV (2 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after the administration of morphine ).Serum concentrations of COR , ADR, NAD and DOP were also measured at the beginning of MV and 24 h after MV/morphine.The scores and concentrations were compared between the two groups.Result A total of 60 infants were included, with 30 infants in each group.The modified NIPS and Ramsay scores and serum concentrations at the beginning of MV were similar between the two groups ( P>0.05).The modified NIPS and Ramsay scores at 2 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after the initiation of MV were significantly lower in the morphine group comparing with the control group[2 h: (0.8 ±0.5) vs.(2.9 ±0.7), (0.9 ±0.6) vs.(2.3 ±0.6); 12 h: (1.1 ±0.6) vs.(2.8 ±0.8), (1.3 ±0.7) vs.(2.3 ±0.8); 24 h: (1.4 ±0.8) vs.(3.0 ±0.7), (1.6 ±0.6) vs. (2.4 ±0.8); 48 h: (1.3 ±0.7) vs.(2.7 ±0.9), (1.7 ±0.7) vs.(2.5 ±0.8)].Furthermore, serum concentrations of COR, ADR, NAD and DOP at 24 h after MV were also significantly lower in the morphine group [COR: (165.4 ±25.0) nmol/L vs.( 319.8 ±71.2) nmol/L, ADR: ( 30.3 ±4.5) ng/L vs. (45.4 ±4.3) ng/L,NAD: (138.0 ±16.5) ng/L vs.(230.5 ±26.1) ng/L, DOP: (43.6 ±7.2) ng/L vs.(86.3 ±10.0) ng/L, P<0.05].Conclusion Morphine is associated with lower serum concentration of catecholamine and lower NIPS scores during MV in premature infants.
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Objective Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) may be resistant to one or multiple anti-TB drugs.We used generalized estimation equations to analysis the risk factors of drug-resistant TB and provide information for the establishment of a warning model for these non-independent data.Methods The drug susceptibility test and questionnaire survey were performed in sputum positive TB patients from 30 anti TB drug-resistance surveillance sites in Zhejiang province.The generalized estimation model was established by the GENMOD module of SAS,with resistance to 13 kinds of anti-TB drugs as dependent variables and possible influencing factors,such as age,having insurance,HBV infection status,and history of anti-TB drug intake,as independent variables.Results In this study,the probability of drug resistance at baseline level was 20.26%.Age,insurance,whether being co-infected with HBV,and treatment history or treatment withdrawal were statistically significantly correlated with anti-TB drug resistance.The prediction equation was established according to the influence degree of the factors mentioned above on drug resistance.Conclusion The generalized estimation equations can effectively and robustly analyze the correlated binary outcomes,and thus provide more comprehensive information for drug resistance risk factor evaluation and warning model establishment.
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Objective To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its influencing factors in pa tients with cervical cancer.Methods 120 inpatients with cervical cancer at Yunnan Tumor Hospital were investigated by functional assessment of cancer therapy-cervix (FACT-Cx),t-test,analysis of variance and multiple linear regression were used to analyze factors influencing the HRQOL.Results The total HRQOL score of patients was (104.88 ± 19.51),and the domain scores of physical well-being (PWB),social/family well-being (SWB),emotional well-being (EWB),functional well-being (FWB),cervical cancer subscale (CxS) were (20.41 ± 5.46),(17.17 ± 6.10),(15.73 ± 5.06),(13.34 ±5.83),(38.23 ±6.26),respectively.Based on multiple linear regression,the influencing factors of PWB were marital status and clinical stages,the influencing factor of SWB was marital status,the influencing factors of EWB were education levels and clinical stages,the influencing factors of FWB,CxS and total score were all marital status,clinical stages and education levels.Conclusions The HRQOL scores were influenced by a number of factors and it is significant to improve HRQOL in patients with cervical cancer by relieving symptoms and reducing treatment side effects according to patients' specialty,also psychological support and encouragement was essential.
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In order to study the biological function of pig BST-2 gene,the BST-2 gene was amplified with specific primers from porcine kidney tissue,and molecular characterization of BST-2 nuclectide and amino acid sequence were analyzed with bioinformatics tools and online server.Then the prokaryotic expression and tissue expression profile analysis was carried out.The results showed that the full length of pig BST-2 gene was 851 bp and contained 23 bp of 5'-UTR,294 bp of 3'-UTR and 534 bp of CDS and the gene encoded 177 aa.Amino acid sequence analysis of pig BST-2 protein showed 46.1% identity with gorilla gorilla,41.7% with cricetulus griseus,39.5% with mus musculus,35.4% with equus asinus,42.0% with felis catus,40.5% with bos mutus,44.4% with macaca mulatta,38.7% with ovis aries and 46.8% with homo sapiens.BST-2 protein contained 2 transmembrane structure (27-49 aa and 154-176 aa),2 glycosylation sites and 14 potential phosphorylation sites including ATM,CK Ⅱ,PKA,PKC binding sites.The pig BST-2 protein was expressed in Vero cells after translated the recombinant plasmid FLAG-BST-2.Semiquantitative PCR results showed that BST-2 gene was expressed in all the tissues,especially in lymph nodes,thymus,tonsils,spleen,large intestine and small intestine.This study provide a foundation for further understanding the antiviral mechanism of pig BST-2 protein.
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Objective To analyze the influence factors on quality of life(QOL) in patients with ovarian cancer in order to provide the basis for improving QOL of patients with ovarian cancer .Methods The quality of life of 73 patients with ovarian cancer was investigated by QLICP‐OV questionnaire .Descriptive statistics ,one‐way analysis of variance ,t‐test and multiple linear regres‐sion analysis were used to explore impact factors of quality of life .Results The total QOL score of 73 patients with ovarian cancer was 64 .85 ± 9 .37 .Single factor analysis indicated that nation ,marital status ,education ,occupation and medical treatments were sig‐nificantly related to some domains scores of the QLICP‐OV(P<0 .05) .The multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that the influence factor on quality of life in patients with ovarian cancer for the domain of physical function was education with regression coefficient being -9 .786;Influence factor for the domain of psychological function was education with regression coefficient being 6 .559;the influencing factors for the specific module were marital status ,medical treatment ,and age with regression coefficients be‐ing -9 .174 ,-7 .142 and 0 .245 ,respectively .Conclusion The quality of life in patients with ovarian cancer was low and it was af‐fected by a lot of factors .
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Objective To analyze the equity of health human resource allocation in public hospitals of Zhaotong city during 2008-2012,and to provide theoretical basis for the reasonable allocation of health resources.Methods The statistical description was used to analyze the number of the medical health resource,and Gini coefficient and Theli index were used to analyze the equity of health resource allocation in public hospitals of Zhaotong city.Results The amount of medical health resource showed an increasing tendency with low speed,and gaps among different areas were still existed.From 2008 to 2012,Gini coefficients of three medical health resources including the doctors,nurses and health technicians were all under 0.3.And the fluctuant tendency of the Theli Indexes and Gini coefficients were accordant with no significant increase or decrease as a whole.The combination of differences within region and difference between regions leaded to the inequity of health human resource allocation in Zhao tong city,and within region in the contribution rate of the total Theil index was greater than the difference between regions.Conclusions The quantity of health human resource is not enough in Zhaotong.The equity fluctuation of three health resources has no significatnt change.The differences within region mainly cause the inequity of health resource allocation in public hospitals of Zhao tong city.
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Objective To observe the effect of Shoutaiwan on the expression ofα-enolase in the decidua tissue of recurrent abortion mice. Methods The abortion-prone CBA/J × DBA/2 matings were established as the model of recurrent abortion and the nonabortion-prone CBA/J×BALB/C matings were used as the model of normal pregnancy. The model of recurrent abortion CBA/J × DBA/2 of pregnant mice were randomly divided into model group and Shoutaiwan high-, medium-, low-dose groups, pregnant mice of every group were orally administrated in different doses. On the 14th day of pregnancy, the mice were killed. The expression ofα-enolase was detected by using immunohistochemical method and Western Blot. Results α-enolase expression in the model group was significantly higher than the normal pregnancy group (P0.05). Conclusion Shoutaiwan could down-regulate the expression ofα-enolase in the decidua tissues of recurrent abortion mice, which may be one of its mechanisms of preventing miscarriage.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a database and to understand the molecular epidemiological features of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolates from different animal reservoirs and patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed according to the PulseNet protocol with minor modifications. A dendrogram was constructed using the BioNumerics.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Under the PulseNet protocol, 62 PFGE patterns were obtained from 76 non-O157 STEC isolates and then divided into A to M groups. Isolates from different sources were widely distributed in different groups, but were predominant seen in certain groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The non-O157 STEC isolates in China were highly polymorphic. PulseNet protocol seemed to be suitable for the typing of Chinese non-O157 STEC isolates.</p>
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Animals , Humans , China , Epidemiology , DNA, Bacterial , Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field , Escherichia coli Infections , Epidemiology , Microbiology , Escherichia coli O157 , Genetics , Feces , Microbiology , Genotype , Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coliABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the reliability of QLICP-GA (quality of life instruments for cancer patients-gastric cancer) scale by using generalizability theory, and to provide the references in order to revise and improve this scale. Methods: The mean squares of person (p), item (i) and the person-by-item interaction effect (pi) were calculated by using the module of UNIANOVA under the menu of General Linear Model in SPSS software. Furthermore, the generalizability coefficients and indexes of dependability were calculated in order to assess the reliability of QLICP-GA scale. Results: The largest source of variation in every domain was due to person-by-item interaction. The variances accounted for by person were large, while the variation accounted for by item was minimal. Generalizability coefficients of five domains were 0.774 (physical domain), 0.854 (psychological domain), 0.670 (social domain), 0.717 (common symptom and side effect domain), and 0.696 (specific domain), respectively. Conclusion: Physical domain, psychological domain and common symptom and side effect domain in QLICP-GA have good reliability. However, social domain and specific domain have acceptable reliability. Social domain should be emphasized when this scale will be revised and improved in future. The number of items of social domain should be added from 6 to 8 or 10. Secondly, the number of items of specific domain may be slightly added from 7 to 9. Copyright © 2013 by TUMOR.
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Objective To investigate the tellurite resistance level,the presence of tellurite resistance (ter) gene cluster and their relationships in non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli(STEC) isolates.Methods Tellurite resistance level was evaluated by plate dilution method and the ter gene cluster was tested by PCR.Results Only 5 of 39 non-O157 STEC isolates tested in this study were identified to have ter gene cluster,which showed relatively high levels of tellurite resistance ranging from 128 μg/ml to 512 μg/ml.In contrast,the other 34 isolates without ter gene cluster were sensitive to potassium tellurite and showed very low levels of tellurite resistance,the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was <1 μg/ml for 29 isolates,8 μg/ml for 2 isolates and 2 μg/ml for 3 isolates.Conclusion Most non-O157 STEC isolates were sensitive to potassium tellurite.It could be concluded that much attention should be paid when screening the non-O157 STEC isolates using the selective medium supplemented with potassium tellurite.
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Objective: To analyze the structure, reliability, validity and responsiveness of the six scales in the system of instruments measuring quality of life for patients with cancer (QLICP), which were developed to assess the quality of life for the patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer. Methods: By using a stylized method, six QLICP-scales for lung cancer, breast cancer, head & neck cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer were developed. The quality of life of 692 patients with different tumors including lung cancer (n=85), breast cancer (n=186), head & neck cancer (n=133), stomach cancer (n=86), colorectal cancer (n=110) and cervical cancer (n=92) were measured. The reliability, validity and the responsiveness of the six scales were evaluated by calculating the Cronbach's α coefficient for the overall and each domain of the scale, calculating the test-retest reliability coefficient, and using exploratory factor analysis and the paired t-test. Results: All of the six scales in the system of QLICP have good structure and satisfactory psychometrics characteristics, which means that they have good reliability, validity and the tolerable responsiveness. Conclusion: The six special modules in the system of QLICP, including lung cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer modules, can be used in combination with general module of QLICP as the instrument to assess the quality of life for patients with different cancers. Copyright© 2011 by the Editorial Board of Tumor.
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With continued enhancements in cancer diagnosis and treatment, clinical assessments are deeper. More composite indicators are applied and evaluations are more "patient-centered", focusing on disease status and response to treatment, as well as the quality-of-life of patients as primary components, including the patients themselves, clinical staff, caregivers, and medical examinations, and other aspects of the evaluation. We reviewed the current research on the application and development of clinical assessment indicators for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and modern medicine, and explored its significance and the advancements in effective evaluations.