[Application of electronic data acquisition system REDCap in large natural population-based cohort studies].

Cohort study is one of the basic methods used in epidemiological research. With the development of the etiological analysis of complex diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, large natural population-based cohort study has become a popular topic in medical research. In the process of cohort development, one of the important issues is to ensure the efficiency and safety on data collection. As a database management system, with open source, free clinical research data collection and high quality, REDCap can widely be applied in large population-based cohort studies. This article summarizes the baseline survey and follow-up procedures on cohort studies and introduces a REDCap-system-based solution for data collection and management. Contents on the establishment of data working groups, data collection, cohort follow-up methods and field application are also discussed in this paper, in order to improve the efficiency of data collection and management in cohort study to help the development of cohort study in China.

[Analysis on three-year follow-up results of excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy in treatment for myopia and myopic astigmatism].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy(PRK) on myopia and myopia astigmatism. METHODS: PRK was performed with VISXC20/20 on 377 eyes of 209 patients. Treated eyes were divided into two groups, according to their conditions before operation: Group I included 238 eyes (-1.50 to -6.00 D); Group II, 139 eyes (-6.25 to -16.00 D). All patients were followed-up for more than three years. RESULTS: Percentages of uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) > or = 10/20 and 20/20 were 99.6% and 85.3% in Group I, and 79.9% and 48.2% in Group II respectively. Percentage of diopter < +/- 1.00 in Group I was 94.5%, and 61.9% in Group II. The rate of corneal haze of grade 0 was 100% in Group I, and 98.6% in Group II, but corneal haze of grade 2 was found in 1.2% of eyes in Group II. The postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) of all operated eyes was normal. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that excimer laser PRK is an effective method for treating myopia and myopic astigmatism, especially for low and moderate myopia.

Antimutagenicity of secondary metabolites from higher plants.

Higher plants contain both mutagens and antimutagens and are susceptible to mutagenesis but screening programs for detection of antimutagenesis rarely employ higher plant systems. Short-term bacterial and mammalian tissue culture systems are the norm. Using modified screening tests for detecting antimutagenic agents, higher plants have been shown to contain a variety of structurally novel antimutagenic agents. Systematic bioassay-directed methodology resulted in the isolation in pure form and biological and chemical characterization of the responsible individual active components from various plants. The methodology in use is illustrated by the isolation of cinnamic acid, cinnamyl cinnamate and cinnamyl ricinoleate as the active constituents of the classic medicinal plant product, Styrax asiatica. The methods which may be used to reveal structure-activity relationships and to explore putative molecular modes of action are illustrated with excerpts from the same study.