[Rudimentary horn pregnancy: clinical analysis of 12 cases and literature review].

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatments and fertility recovery of rudimentary horn pregnancy (RHP). Methods: The clinical data of 12 cases with RHP diagnosed and treated in Peking University Third Hospital from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical informations, diagnosis and treatments of RHP and the pregnancy status after surgery were analyzed. Results: The median age of 12 RHP patients was 29 years (range: 24-37 years). Eight cases of pregnancy in residual horn of uterus occurred in type Ⅰ residual horn of uterus, 4 cases occurred in type Ⅱ residual horn of uterus; among which 5 cases were misdiagnosed by ultrasound before surgery. All patients underwent excision of residual horn of uterus and affected salpingectomy. After surgery, 9 patients expected future pregnancy, and 3 cases of natural pregnancy, 2 cases of successful pregnancy through assisted reproductive technology. Four pregnancies resulted in live birth with cesarean section, and 1 case resulted in spontaneous abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. No uterine rupture or ectopic pregnancy occurred in subsequent pregnancies. Conclusions: Ultrasonography could aid early diagnosis of RHP while misdiagnosis occurred in certain cases. Thus, a comprehensive judgment and decision ought to be made based on medical history, physical examination and assisted examination. Surgical exploration is necessary for diagnosis and treatment of RHP. For infertile patients, assisted reproductive technology should be applied when necessary. Caution to prevent the occurrence of pregnancy complications such as uterine rupture, and application of cesarean section to terminate pregnancy are recommended.

[A bibliometric analysis of research on occupational asthma during 1998 to 2017].

Objective: To understand the research status of occupational asthma and provide information for related research on occupational asthma in the future. Methods: Papers on occupational asthma published from January 1998 to December 2017 had been retrieved in Web of Science core collection database on 9 October 2018. The data retrieval strategies were set as follows: #1 TS=(occupational AND asthma), #2 TS=(occupational AND asthmas), #3 TS=(occupational asthma OR occupational asthmas), #1 OR #2 OR #3. Three thousand two hundred and twelve publications were analyzed by bibliometric and visualizer. Results: Yearly output of articles in this field had been at a stable high level and annual total citations had been increasing. A significant positive correlation was found between the year and annual total citations (r=0.97, P<0.05). The most productive countries were European countries except the United States and Canada. Our country had few literatures accounting for 1.21 percent of the total and the research on occupational asthma in our country started relatively late which were published mainly from 2013 to 2017. The most studied category and journal were public environmental occupational health and Am J Ind Med respectively. "occupational exposure", "allergy" and "rhinitis" were key words with high frequency. Conclusion: Yearly output of publications of occupational asthma has been at a stable high level. Our country should do more research to provide a scientific basis for further prevention and management of occupational asthma.

Factors Associated With the Willingness of Clinical Health Care Professionals for Living Organ Donation.

Understanding the attitudes and willingness in regard to living organ donation of health care professionals is important for clinical practice and needs to be addressed. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine willingness and its influencing factors in regard to living organ donation in clinical health care professionals. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design. A total of 375 health care professionals from a regional teaching hospital in northern Taiwan were included in this study. RESULTS: Nearly 65% of the participants indicated a willingness to donate their living organ. Of these participants, 97.1% were willing to donate to family members, 80.8% were willing to donate to friends, and 78.9% were willing to donate to strangers. The predictors of willingness to engage in living organ donation were the desire to help others (odds ratio [OR] = 2.96; P < .01), positive attitude toward living organ donation (OR = 1.12; P < .01), financial support from the government (OR = 4.99; P < .01), and fewer physical concerns (OR = 0.97; P = .04). The willingness to donate a living organ was not associated with age, sex, religious belief, education level, participation in voluntary work, years of clinical work, type of profession, or knowledge about living organ donation. CONCLUSION: In general, health care professionals had a positive attitude toward and willingness to engage in living organ donation. It is hoped that the results of this study will serve as a referent framework for policymaking in regard to living organ donation and transplantation.

The effects of E mu, 3'alpha (hs 1,2) and 3'kappa enhancers on mutation of an Ig-VDJ-Cgamma2a Ig heavy gene in cultured B cells.

The Ig kappa intronic and 3'kappa light chain enhancers have been shown to be necessary for V region hypermutation in kappa light chain transgenes. To investigate the role of the E mu intronic enhancer in V region hypermutation of heavy chain genes, E mu and its associated matrix attachment regions (MAR) were replaced with the SV40 or the cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer in a gamma2a construct that hypermutates its rearranged VDJ region in the NSO plasmacytoma and 18.81 pre-B cell lines. In this model in vitro system, mutation rates of stable transfectants were determined by reversion analysis using a V region stop codon that, when mutated, allowed the detection of cellular revertants by ELISA spot assay. The gamma2a constructs with the E mu, SV40 and CMV enhancers mutated at comparably high rates in the B cell lines, but not in L cells, indicating that the E mu enhancer and its associated MAR were not specifically required for IgH hypermutation in this system. In parallel experiments, the addition of the 3'alpha heavy chain enhancer (hs 1,2) or the 3'kappa light chain enhancer did not increase the mutation rate of a related mu reporter construct in which the associated VDJ mutates at a moderately low rate in NSO cells or in cell hybrids made between 18.81 and NSO. These results imply that cis-acting IgH elements that promote hypermutation may not be restricted to Ig-specific transcriptional enhancers.

Somatic hypermutation of antibody genes: a hot spot warms up.

In the course of an immune response, antibodies undergo affinity maturation in order to increase their efficiency in neutralizing foreign invaders. Affinity maturation occurs by the introduction of multiple point mutations in the variable region gene that encodes the antigen binding site. This somatic hypermutation is restricted to immunoglobulin genes and occurs at very high rates. The precise molecular basis of this process remains obscure. However, recent studies using a variety of in vivo and in vitro systems have revealed important regulatory regions, base motifs that are preferred targets of mutation and evidence that transcription may play an active role in hypermutation.

Immunoglobulin hypermutation in cultured cells.

Studies of endogenous and engineered Ig genes in mice have begun to reveal some of the cis-acting regions that are involved in the somatic hypermutation of variable regions in vivo. These studies suggest that the initiation of transcription plays a role in this process. However, it will be difficult to identify and manipulate the individual genetic elements and the trans-acting proteins that regulate and target the mutational events using solely in vivo assays. These studies would be greatly facilitated if constructs containing the genetic elements that are essential for V-region mutation could be transfected into cultured cells and undergo high rates of V-region mutation in vitro, and if permissive and non-permissive cell lines could be identified. Such in vitro systems would also allow a detailed molecular and biochemical analysis of this process. Here, we discuss some of the in vitro systems that have been developed and use data from our own studies in cultured cells to illustrate the potential benefits of studying V-region hypermutation in model in vitro systems.

Sequence dependent hypermutation of the immunoglobulin heavy chain in cultured B cells.

The variable (V) regions of immunoglobulin heavy and light chains undergo high rates of somatic mutation during the immune response. Although point mutations accumulate throughout the V regions and their immediate flanking sequences, analysis of large numbers of mutations that have arisen in vivo reveal that the triplet AGC appears to be most susceptible to mutation. We have stably transfected B cell lines with gamma2a heavy chain constructs containing TAG nonsense codons in their V regions that are part of either a putative (T)AGC hot spot or a (T)AGA non-hot spot motif. Using an ELISA spot assay to detect revertants and fluctuation analysis to determine rates of mutation, the rate of reversion of the TAG nonsense codon has been determined for different motifs in different parts of the V region. In the NSO plasma cell line, the (T)AGC hot spot motif mutates at rates of approximately 6 x 10(-4)/bp per generation and approximately 3 x 10(-5)/bp per generation at residues 38 and 94 in the V region. At each of these locations, the (T)AGC hot spot motif is 20-30 times more likely to undergo mutation than the (T)AGA non-hot spot motif. Moreover, the AGA non-hot spot motif mutates at as high a rate as the hot spot motif when it is located adjacent to hot spot motifs, suggesting that more extended sequences influence susceptibility to mutation.

Nicotine dependence and depression among methadone maintenance patients.

There recently has been increasing interest at substance abuse treatment centers in smoking cessation treatment. Because a history of depression has been shown in other populations to complicate cessation efforts, the relationship between depression and nicotine dependence was tested in 726 methadone patients. Elevated odds of nicotine dependence given depression were found with three of four depression measures. Additional research is recommended to determine whether smoking cessation treatment will be more successful for methadone patients with a history of depression if it also addresses depression.

N-aryl-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanamides: KATP potassium channel openers. Modifications on the western region.

A subset of antiandrogen compounds, the N-aryl-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanamides 1, were found to activate ATP sensitive potassium channels (KATP) and represent a new class of potassium channel openers (PCOs). A structure-activity relationship was carried out on the western region of this series with the goal of obtaining an activator of the ATP sensitive potassium channel suitable for use in the treatment of urge urinary incontinence. In particular three large 4-(N-aryl) substituents, the (N-phenyl-N-methylamino)sulfonyl, benzoyl, and 4-pyridylsulfonyl moieties, yielded non-antiandrogen, KATP potassium channel openers (39, 41, and 64, respectively) that are bladder selective in an in vivo rat model that simultaneously measures bladder contractions, heart rate, and blood pressure. Substitutions of the aryl rings of 41 and 64 gave several derivatives that also display selectivity in the in vivo rat model; however, none appear to offer a substantial advantage over 41 and 64. The PCO activity of 41 and 64 resides in the (S)-(-) enantiomers. ZD6169, 41(S), has been selected into development for the treatment of urge urinary incontinence.

Post-traumatic stress disorder among inner city methadone maintenance patients.

There has been little attention to the problem of violent stressors leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among opioid-dependent patients. In a sample of methadone maintenance patients, the prevalence of lifetime PTSD was determined to be 20% for women and 11% for men. The most common stressors reported were rape for women and seeing someone hurt or killed for men. Further research with methadone patients focused on PTSD should also ascertain current rates of PTSD and determine whether special treatments for PTSD and related problems of depression and suicidal ideation are necessary.

Neisseria in early stage of dental plaque.

Neisseria in the early stage of dental plaque was studied. Two hundred seventeen strains of Neisseria were isolated from the 12-hour plaque of 9 subjects by using lactose-agar. The isolated strains were divided into 6 major groups with biological characteristics. One hundred twenty-one strains (56%) produced glycogen-like polysaccharide from sucrose. They were divided into 3 groups. Groups 1 and 2 were identified as N. mucosa and N. sicca, respectively. There were 106 strains of N. sica, being the most predominant of the species. The number of strains not producing polysaccharide was 96 (44%). Groups 4 and 5 were Branhamella and N. subflava. The absorption spectra of the ethanol extracts of the pigment in each group were similar and this result supported propriety of the classification by biological characteristics. The adhesiveness of Neisseria to the glass plate was examined. Approximately one-half of N. sica showed an adhesion capacity.