Effect of bed width on the quality of compressions in simulated resuscitation: a randomized crossover manikin study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of bed width on the quality of chest compressions during simulated in-hospital resuscitation. METHODS: Each candidate performed two 2-minute cycles of compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an adult manikin placed on either an emergency stretcher (narrow bed) or a standard hospital bed (wide bed) in random order at 1 day intervals. We conducted subjective assessments of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality and rescuer fatigue at the end of each session, using surveys. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between narrow and wide bed sessions in either mean depth or the percentage of compressions with adequate depth (P=.56 and .58, respectively). The mean rate of compressions and the percentage of compressions with adequate rate were also similar between sessions (P=.24 and .27, respectively). However, the percentage of correct hand position and complete chest recoil was significantly higher in the narrow bed session than in the wide bed session (P=.02 and .02, respectively). In addition, survey results showed that rescuers felt more comfortable and less exhausted in the narrow bed session compared with the wide bed session (P<.001 and < .001). CONCLUSIONS: When rescuers performed chest compressions on an emergency stretcher, chest compression quality increased, and the fatigue of rescuers decreased compared with a standard hospital bed. Therefore, we propose a narrow bed for critically ill inpatients with high risk of cardiac arrest.

[Selenium (Se)uptake and transformation mechanisms and physiological function in plant: A review]. / æ¤ç‰©ç¡’å¸æ”¶è½¬åŒ–æœºåˆ¶åŠç”Ÿç†ä½œç”¨ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

Selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient for many organisms, including microbe, animal and human, but the Se uptake and transformation mechanisms and physiological roles in plant still are controversial until now. Se could improve the growth and tolerance of plant at an appropriate le-vel, but could be toxic at higher levels. Research concerning Se uptake and metabolism in plant were promoted by Se biofortification and Se phytoremediation induced by the issues of Se deficiency in food and Se pollution in special areas. Recently, the results of Se uptake and transformation in plant have indicated that there are significant differences of Se accumulation and physiological roles in various plants and significant influence of soil conditions on Se uptake of plant. In addition, the process of Se metabolism in Se hyperaccumulators and its regulation were revealed gradually with the studies on improvement of Se uptake in plant. According to the results of Se biofortification in crop and Se phytoremediation so far, we summarized the advances in the studies with the reference to Se distribution in environment, the detail process of Se uptake, key regulators of transformation and its physiological roles in plant. We hope this can provide a novel insight to further research upon Se in plant.

Up-down hand position switch may delay the fatigue of non-dominant hand position rescuers and improve chest compression quality during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a randomized crossover manikin study.

Previous studies have shown improved external chest compression (ECC) quality and delayed rescuer fatigue when the dominant hand (DH) was in contact with the sternum. However, many rescuers prefer placing the non-dominant hand (NH) in contact with the sternum during ECC. We aimed to investigate the effects of up-down hand position switch on the quality of ECC and the fatigue of rescuers during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). After completion of a review of the standard adult basic life support (BLS) course, every candidate performed 10 cycles of single adult CPR twice on an adult manikin with either a constant hand position (CH) or a switched hand position (SH) in random order at 7-day intervals. The rescuers' general characteristics, hand positions, physiological signs, fatigue appearance and ECC qualities were recorded. Our results showed no significant differences in chest compression quality for the DH position rescuers between the CH and SH sessions (p>0.05, resp.). And also no significant differences were found for Borg score (p = 0.437) or cycle number (p = 0.127) of fatigue appearance after chest compressions between the two sessions. However, for NH position rescuers, the appearance of fatigue was delayed (p = 0.046), with a lower Borg score in the SH session (12.67 ± 2.03) compared to the CH session (13.33 ± 1.95) (p = 0.011). Moreover, the compression depth was significantly greater in the SH session (39.3 ± 7.2 mm) compared to the CH session (36.3 ± 8.1 mm) (p = 0.015). Our data suggest that the up-down hand position switch during CPR may delay the fatigue of non-dominant hand position rescuers and improve the quality of chest compressions.

Kaempferol pretreatment modulates systemic inflammation and oxidative stress following hemorrhagic shock in mice.

BACKGROUND: Kaempferol has been reported as beneficial for both acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aims to investigate whether kaempferol affects systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in the heart, lung, and liver after hemorrhagic shock in mice. METHODS: Male C57/BL6 mice underwent hemorrhagic shock (mean arterial pressure of 35 mmHg for 90 min) and were arbitrarily divided into Sham, hemorrhagic shock (HS), and Kae groups (n = 10 in each group). Mice in the Kae groups received a kaempferol (10-mg/kg body weight) injection 12 h prior to (Group Kae PT) or 90 min after (Group Kae T) the initiation of hemorrhagic shock. Plasma proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6), organ myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, and organ malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or western blot assay. RESULTS: Compared with the HS group and the Kae T group, pretreatment with kaempferol significantly decreased proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α (P = 0.012 and 0.015, respectively) and IL-6 (P = 0.023 and 0.014, respectively) following hemorrhagic shock. Kae pretreatment reverted MPO, SOD, and MDA to basal levels in the heart, lung, and liver (Ps < 0.05), while the Kae T group showed no significant differences in these biomarkers compared with the HS group (Ps > 0.05). HO-1 expression was significantly increased in the Kae PT group compared with the other groups (P = 0.011 vs. HS group and P = 0.02 vs. Kae T group). CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment of hemorrhagic shock mice with kaempferol significantly decreased plasma levels of TNF-α and IL-6; reverted MPO, SOD, and MDA in the heart, lung, and liver; and increased expression of HO-1 in the same organs.

Dual-phase 99mTc-MIBI imaging findings in sporadic primary hyperplasia of parathyroid glands.

Primary hyperplasia of parathyroid is uncommon and rarely documented in literatures. We report an 18-year-old female patient with hyperparathyroidism due to unifocal primary hyperplasia of parathyroid glands. Dual-phase Tc-MIBI imaging was performed for this patient. We found remarkably increased MIBI uptake in the hyperplastic lesion in early imaging and no extinction of the uptake in delayed imaging. These results suggest that the dual-phase Tc-MIBI imaging is useful in localizing the hyperfunctioning lesions of primary hyperplasia of parathyroid glands.

Protective effects of lipoxin A4 in testis injury following testicular torsion and detorsion in rats.

PURPOSE: To investigate the protective effects of lipoxin A4 (LXA4) in rat testis injury following testicular torsion/detorsion. METHODS: A rat testicular torsion model has been established as described. Rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: sham group, torsion group, torsion/detorsion (T/D) group, and T/D plus LXA4-pretreated groups (3 subgroups). Rats in LXA4-pretreated groups received LXA4 injection (0.1, 1.0, and 10 µg/kg body weight in LXA4-pretreated subgroups 1-3, resp.) at a single dose 1 h before detorsion. Biochemical analysis, apoptosis assessment, and morphologic evaluation were carried out after orchiectomies. RESULTS: GPx and SOD levels significantly increased and MDA levels significantly reduced in LXA4-pretreated groups compared to T/D group. LXA4 also reverted IL-2 and TNF- α to basal levels and improved the expression of IL-4 and IL-10 in LXA4-pretreated groups. Moreover, the expression of NF- κ B was downregulated in LXA4-pretreated groups. LXA4 treatment also showed an improved testicular morphology and decreased apoptosis in testes. CONCLUSION: Lipoxin A4 protects rats against testes injury after torsion/detorsion via modulation of cytokines, oxidative stress, and NF- κ B activity.

The MTHFR C677T polymorphism and prostate cancer risk: new findings from a meta-analysis of 7306 cases and 8062 controls.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an essential enzyme involved in folate metabolism; a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) C677T has been reported to be linked with altered incidences of several diseases. We here conducted a meta-analysis of 15 published epidemiological studies with a total of 7306 cases and 8062 controls to evaluate its association with prostate cancer risk with overall and subgroup analyses. No statistical relationship was found overall with any genetic model (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.80, 95%CI = [0.62, 1.04], P = 0.094; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.97, 95%CI = [0.84; 1.12], P = 0.667; Dominant: OR = 0.94, 95%CI = [0.82; 1.07], P = 0.343; Recessive: OR = 0.81, 95%CI = [0.64; 1.04], P = 0.104), but after the exclusion of several studies, we could observe the homozygote TT to confer less susceptibility to prostate cancer in carriers; moreover, different effects of the polymorphism on prostate cancer risk was detected from subgroup analysis stratified by participants' residential region: significant reduced prostate cancer risk was found to be associated with the polymorphism from Asian studies (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.47, 95%CI = [0.33; 0.67], P< 0.001; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.73, 95%CI = [0.60; 0.90], P = 0.002; Dominant: OR = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.56; 0.82], P< 0.001; Recessive: OR = 0.55, 95%CI = [0.40; 0.76], P< 0.001) while studies from Europe indicated a slight increased risk under dominant model with marginal significance (OR = 1.14, 95%CI = [0.99; 1.30], P = 0.064). Moreover, the protective effect of the polymorphism against prostate cancer was also shown by studies performed in yellow Asians (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.48, 95%CI = [0.31; 0.75], P = 0.001; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.68, 95%CI = [0.51; 0.90], P = 0.006; Dominant: OR = 0.63, 95%CI = [0.48; 0.82], P < 0.001; Recessive: OR = 0.57, 95%CI = [0.39; 0.84], P = 0.004). We propose that these phenomena should be viewed with the consideration of folate metabolism profile and different gene background as well as living habits of different populations, and more relevant studies should be conducted to confirm our hypothesis and provide a comprehensive and clear picture concerning this topic.

Expression patterns of ER, HER2, and NM23-H1 in breast cancer patients with different menopausal status: correlations with metastasis.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to analyze expression patterns of estrogen receptor (ER), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2/ERBB2), and nonmetastatic protein 23 (NM23-H1/NME1) proteins in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma and different menopausal status to identify their relationships with axillary lymph node metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 213 pre-menopausal and 177 post-menopausal women diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma were evaluated for ER, HER2, and NM23-H1 protein expression by immunohistochemistry. When HER2 immunoreactivity was equivocal (category 2+), specimens were confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. RESULTS: ER expression showed no correlation with menopausal status or lymph node metastasis (each p > 0.05). However, expression of ER was associated with negative expression of HER2 (r = -0.214, p < 0.05) and positive expression of NM23-H1 (r = 0.137, p < 0.05) in the pre-menopausal group. Over-expression of HER2 was correlated with menopausal status (r = -0.107, p < 0.05) and lymph node metastasis in the ER-negative post-menopausal group (r = 0.222, p < 0.05). NM23-H1 was associated with less lymph node metastasis in the ER-positive pre-menopausal group (r = -0.237, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that expression patterns of ER, NM23-H1, and HER2 in primary breast cancer lesions warn that cells might have metastatic potential, which could assist clinicians to provide a more accurate prognosis and tailor therapeutic management for individual patients.

Cloning and expression pattern of a spermatogenesis-related gene, BEX1, mapped to chromosome Xq22.

Through screening a human fetal brain cDNA library, a cDNA similar to the mouse Bex1 was isolated. This new gene was named brain expressed X-linked protein 1 (BEX1). Northern blot analysis revealed a 1.0 kb transcript highly expressed in brain, pancreas, testis, and ovary, with lower levels present in heart, placenta, liver, kidney, spleen, thymus, prostate, small intestine, colon (no mucus), thyroid, spinal cord, and adrenal gland. No hybridization signal was seen in lung, skeletal muscle, peripheral blood leukocyte, stomach, lymph node, trachea, and bone marrow. The BEX1 gene was localized to chromosome band Xq22 between markers between DXS990 and DXS1059 by screening Stanford radiation hybrid G3 panels. In situ hybridization of mouse testis using BEX1 as a probe detected the signal in the pachytene spermatocytes and spermatids but not in spermatogonia. Furthermore, it was not detected at 6, 9, and 12 days postpartum, was present in low amount on Days 15 and 18 and its expression increased sharply after the initiation of puberty (about 21 days) in mouse testis.