Analysis of the Role of Informatization, Based on Data Analyses, in Hospitals to Improve Hospital Management.

Context: The informatization of the medical system is increasingly closely linked with people's daily life. As people pay more and more attention to the quality of life, it's very necessary to closely integrate the management information and clinical information systems to promote the steady improvement of a hospital's service level. In the process of modernization Chinese hospitals, comprehensive promotion of hospital informatization is very important. Objective: The study intended to examine the role in China of informatization for hospital management, analyze its shortcomings in that role, and explore its role based on an analysis of hospital data, and propose effective measures to continuously improve the level of informatization, promote the steady improvement of hospital management and services, and fully demonstrate the application advantages of information construction. Design: The research team discussed: (1) China's informatization, including hospitals' roles, current informatization, the information community, and medical and information-technology (IT) staff; (2) methods of analysis, including system composition, theoretical basis, definition of the problem as well as data evaluation, collection, processing, mining and model evaluation and knowledge presentation; (3) the procedures the team followed to perform a case study, including types of hospital data and the process framework, and (4) the study's results from informatization based on data analysis, including satisfaction surveys for outpatients, inpatients, and medical staff. Setting: The study took place at Nantong First People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province in Nantong, China. Conclusions: In the process of hospital management, it's imperative to strengthen hospital informatization, which can continuously strengthen a hospital's service capacity, ensure good-quality medical service, further improve the discipline of the database construction, enhance the satisfaction of employees and patients, and achieve a high-quality and benign development for the hospital.

The anti-tumor effects of the combination of microwave hyperthermia and lobaplatin against breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the main lethal disease among females. The combination of lobaplatin and microwave hyperthermia plays a crucial role in several kinds of cancer in the clinic, but its possible mechanism in breast cancer has remained indistinct. METHODS: Mouse models were used to detect breast cancer progression. Cell growth was explored with MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulphonyl)-2H-tetrazolium) and colony formation assays. Cell migration and invasion were investigated with a transwell assay. Cell apoptosis was probed with flow cytometry. The expression of apoptosis-associated proteins was examined with Western blots. RESULT: Combination treatment decreased breast cancer cell viability, colony formation, cell invasion and metastasis. In addition, the treatment-induced breast cancer cell apoptosis and autophagy, activated the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway, suppressed the protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, and down-regulated IAP and Bcl-2 family protein expression. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that lobaplatin is an effective breast cancer anti-tumor agent. Microwave hyperthermia was a useful adjunctive treatment. Combination treatment was more efficient than any single therapy. The possible mechanism for this effect was mainly associated with activation of the JNK signaling pathway, inactivation of the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and down-regulation of the Bcl-2 and IAP families.

Attitude of Students in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Toward Donation After Cardiac Death.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the attitude of students at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine toward organ transplantation and donation after cardiac death (DCD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire including 16 single-choice questions about organ transplantation and donation was designed, and a survey was conducted using this questionnaire on 300 randomly selected respondents at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. RESULTS: The ratio of male to female was 1:2.4. Of the participants, 98.1% had heard of organ transplantation, and 68.2% had received the information through network news. Only 10.6% expressed a positive attitude toward organ transplantation in China. Further, 39.8% of the participants were willing to donate their organs after death, while 51.9% of the participants hesitated because of perceived opacity in how donated organs were used. Even among those who did not share this concern, only 46.2% considered it. However, 80.7% were in favor of organ donation between relatives. Separately, 67.4% and 60.2% of the participants were interested in participating in activities and publicity related to organ donation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of the participants had an understanding of organ transplantation and had obtained this information through media. Most showed a positive attitude toward donation between relatives, but only some of them indicated willingness to donate their organs. Generally, acceptance and awareness of organ transplantation need to be improved. Media outreach and education might have a profound influence.

Differential microRNA expression in aristolochic acid-induced upper urothelial tract cancers ex vivo.

Aristolochic acid (AA) is a carcinogenic, mutagenic and nephrotoxic compound commonly isolated from members of the plant family of Aristolochiaceae (such as Aristolochia and Asarum) and used in Chinese herbal medicine. Use of AA and AA­containing plants causes chronic kidney disease (CKD) and upper urinary tract carcinoma (UUC); however, the underlying mechanism remains to be defined. miRNAs regulate a number of biological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation and metabolism. This study explored differentially expressed miRNAs between AA­induced upper urothelial tract cancer (AAN­UUC) and non­AAN­UUC tissues. Patients with AAN­UUC and non­AAN­UUC (n=20/group) were recruited in the present study. Five tissue samples from each group were used for miRNA microarray profiling and the rest of the tissue samples were subjected to reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis including seven selected miRNAs for confirmation. A total of 29 miRNAs were differentially expressed between AAN­UUC and non­AAN­UUC tissues (P<0.05). TargenScan and Gene ontology analyses predicted the functions and targeted genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs, i.e. Akt3, FGFR3, PSEN1, VEGFa and AR. Subsequently, expression of the selected differentially expressed miRNAs (Hsa­miR­4795­5p, Hsa­miR­488, Hsa­miR­4784, Hsa­miR­330, Hsa­miR­3916, Hsa­miR­4274 and Hsa­miR­181c) was validated in another set of tissue samples. A total of 29 miRNAs were identified to be differentially expressed between AAN­UUC and non­AAN­UUC tissues and these miRNA target genes in FGFR3 and Akt pathways, which regulate cell growth and tumor progression, respectively.

In vivo protective effect of Porphyra yezoensis polysaccharide against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

To study the protective effect and possible mechanism of Porphyra yezoensis polysaccharide (PYP) in hepatotoxicity mice, acute liver injury was successfully induced by injecting 0.2% carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) intraperitoneally. Levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in serum and liver homogenate, content of malondialdehyde (MDA), activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) in liver were measured by biochemical methods. Liver index was calculated and pathological changes of the liver tissue were observed microscopically. PYP was found to significantly decrease the activities of ALT and AST (P<0.05), to remarkably lower the liver indexes and MDA level in hepatical tissues in mice (P<0.05), and to upregulated the lower T-SOD level in liver homogenate (P<0.01). Furthermore, histologic examination showed that PYP could attenuate and the extent of necrosis, reduce the immigration of inflammatory cells. PYP plays a protective action against hepatotoxicity induced by CCl(4) in mice, and its mechanisms may be related to free radical scavenging, increasing SOD activities and anti-lipid peroxide.