[Exploring the complements of traditional Chinese medicine].
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Diagnosis, Differential↗
Biomedical subjects
Z Shen
Publications and source records attributed to Z Shen.
[Oxygen utilization coefficient in predicting the severity of critical illness].
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of oxygen utilization coefficient (O(2)UC ) in predicting the severity of various diseases. METHODS: Gas analysis of arterial blood and central venous blood and calculation of O(2)UC [O(2)UC = (SaO(2) - SvO(2))/SaO(2)] were carried out in different groups (group 1, 16 cases of trauma, all survived; group 2, 18 emergency cases undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR); group 3, 13 cases undergoing CPR in intensive care unit, all died; group 4, 13 critically ill patients. RESULTS: O(2)UC was 0.30 +/- 0.08, 0.67 +/- 0.27 and 0.60 +/- 0.15 in the groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The difference between group 1 and 2 was significant (P < 0.001). O(2)UC persisted to increase, and maintained high for a long time (more than 8 approximately 12 hours), the prognosis of the patients was bad. The critical limitation of O(2)UC was 0.40. In group 4 O(2)UC was closely correlated with the severity of clinical condition. CONCLUSION: O(2)UC is a convenient, reliable and sensible predictor in the treatment of critically ill patients.
Adolescent↗
[Measurement and research of posterior chamber intraocular lens tilt and decentration in vivo].
OBJECTIVE: To observe the situation of implanted lenses in vivid eyes and postoperative visual acuity affected by the lens tilt and decentration. METHODS: 64 eyes underwent extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation. Postoperatively, the lens tilt was measured by means of the 3(rd) and 4(th) Purkinje images, and the decentration of lenses was measured on the anterior segment photographs taken with a fundus camera. RESULTS: The mean tilt was (6.95 +/- 2.46) degree, and the mean decentration, (0.66 +/- 0.28) mm. There were a significant differences in the tilt and decentration between the symmetrical bag/bag and asymmetrical bag/sulcus group (P < 0.001). Bag/bag group without tear had less average decentration 0.32 mm. When tilt was more than 9.65 degrees and decentration was more than 1.02 mm, the symptom such as glare or monocular diplopia was obvious. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that in the bag without tear, the lenses have a perfect stability and consistent centration, and the tilt and decentration of the implanted lens affect postoperative visual quality in varying degrees.
Adult↗
[Modificated epiglottic laryngoplasty].
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the surgical method and effect of laryngeal rehabilitation of patients with glottic carcinoma (T3 category) after extended partial laryngectomy. METHOD: 36 cases were operated with modificated epiglottic laryngoplasty. The materials for laryngoplasty included the epiglottic and one lateral partial thyroid cartilage and muscle-cartilage membrane flap and one arytenoid cartilage. The modificated technique was designed. RESULT: 33 cases were postoperatively in pulling-out-tube. The voice of 30 cases was clear, loud and comprehensible, but low and hoarse voice in other 3 cases. The 3 and 5 year survival rates were 89.3% and 77.3% respectively. The 3 and 5 year stable rates of laryngeal function were 95.6% and 94.1% respectively. CONCLUSION: The modificated epiglottic laryngoplasty was effective surgical method for the patients with glottic carcinoma (T3 category).
Aged↗
[Glossus flap for hypopharyngeal reparation].
OBJECTIVE: To research the surgical type for hypopharyngeal reparation. METHOD: The glossus flap with glossus deep arterial was made to repairing hypopharyngeal breach after total laryngotomy and partial hypopharyngotomy in 12 cases of repeated laryngeal carcinoma and hypopharyngeal carcinoma. RESULT: 11 cases recovered in the swallowing function after 15 days and the pharyngeal fistula took place in one case, but healed in 35 days postoperatively. The survival rates in 1 year, 3 years and 5 years were 81.8%, 66.7% and 50% respectively. CONCLUSION: The glossus flap is good material for hypopharyngeal reparation with rich blood supply, few complication and high survival rates.
Adult↗
[Progress in research of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin and Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene].
Vitreoscilla is a Gram-negative obligate aerobic bacterium, whose most important property is the ability to produce the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb). VHb is encoded by a single gene called Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb) containing the natural promoter, and the expression of vgb gene is regulated by dissolved oxygen at the level of transcription. The oxygen binding VHb participate in the metobolism process of cells and make them grow well in the hypoxic habitats. It also facilitates the bacteria growing and the potein producing obviously. The potential application prospect for the oxygen regulated promoter of vgb and the physiological function of VHb in the fermentation industry is reviewed.
Bacterial Proteins↗
Photoemission evidence for a remnant fermi surface and a d-wave-like dispersion in insulating Ca2CuO2Cl2
An angle-resolved photoemission study is reported on Ca2CuO2Cl2, a parent compound of high-Tc superconductors. Analysis of the electron occupation probability, n(k), from the spectra shows a steep drop in spectral intensity across a contour that is close to the Fermi surface predicted by the band calculation. This analysis reveals a Fermi surface remnant, even though Ca2CuO2Cl2 is a Mott insulator. The lowest energy peak exhibits a dispersion with approximately the &cjs3539;coskxa - coskya&cjs3539; form along this remnant Fermi surface. Together with the data from Dy-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta, these results suggest that this d-wave-like dispersion of the insulator is the underlying reason for the pseudo gap in the underdoped regime.
Journal Article↗
[Loss of heterozygosity and microsatellite instability in the region including BRCA1 of breast cancer in Chinese].
OBJECTIVE: To shed light on the relationship between BRCA1 gene and breast cancer in Chinese Han women. METHODS: Four microsatellites DNA (D17S855, D17S579, D17S1327 and THRA1) within the BRCA1 gene were used as polymorphic markers. A study of loss of heterozygosity(LOH) and microsatellite instability(MSI) at the above- mentioned 4 microsatellites of 50 breast cancer patients was conducted by using PCR -PAUGE-DNA silver staining (polymerase chain reaction-polyacrylamide urea gel electrophoresis) method. RESULTS: Twenty-nine or 58% of the informative cases showed LOH; 35.71%, 15. 38%, 18.18%, and 26.19% of the informative cases showed positive LOH at the D17S855, D17S579, D17S1327 and THRA1 loci respectively. The rate of MSI was 46%, and the rates of MSI at the four loci were 16%, 18%, 18% and 12% respectively. Further study on the associations between the phenomena of LOH and MSI and different clinical stages revealed that MSI was an early event in mammary tumorigenesis while LOH occurred at a later stage. CONCLUSION: All of these suggest that breast cancer in Chinese be somehow linked to BRCA1.
Breast Neoplasms↗
Randomised placebo-controlled trial of use of topical recombinant bovine basic fibroblast growth factor for second-degree burns.
BACKGROUND: Wound healing is a dynamic process that could be accelerated by growth factors. We investigated the effect of recombinant bovine basic fibroblast growth factor (rbFGF) on burn healing in a randomised placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: We recruited 600 patients with superficial or deep second-degree burns. Patients received 150 AU/cm2 daily topical rbFGF (n=300) or placebo (n=300) plus vehicle. We assessed healing by photography, punch-biopsy, and clinical examination. FINDINGS: All patients treated with rbFGF had faster granulation tissue formation and epidermal regeneration than those in the placebo group. Superficial and deep second-degree burns treated with rbFGF healed in a mean of 9.9 (SD 2.5) days and 17.0 (4.6) days, respectively, compared with 12.4 (2.7) and 21.2 (4.9) days (p=0.0008 and p=0.0003, respectively). No adverse effects were seen locally or systemically with rbFGF. INTERPRETATION: rbFGF effectively decreased healing time and improved healing quality. Clinical benefits would be shorter hospital stays and the patient's skin quickly becoming available for harvesting and grafting.
Administration, Cutaneous↗
Use of intrinsic modes in biology: examples of indicial response of pulmonary blood pressure to +/- step hypoxia.
Recently, a new method to analyze biological nonstationary stochastic variables has been presented. The method is especially suitable to analyze the variation of one biological variable with respect to changes of another variable. Here, it is illustrated by the change of the pulmonary blood pressure in response to a step change of oxygen concentration in the gas that an animal breathes. The pressure signal is resolved into the sum of a set of oscillatory intrinsic mode functions, which have zero "local mean," and a final nonoscillatory mode. With this device, we obtain a set of "mean trends," each of which represents a "mean" in a definitive sense, and together they represent the mean trend systematically with different degrees of oscillatory content. Correspondingly, the oscillatory content of the signal about any mean trend can be represented by a set of partial sums of intrinsic mode functions. When the concept of "indicial response function" is used to describe the change of one variable in response to a step change of another variable, we now have a set of indicial response functions of the mean trends and another set of indicial response functions to describe the energy or intensity of oscillations about each mean trend. Each of these can be represented by an analytic function whose coefficients can be determined by a least-squares curve-fitting procedure. In this way, experimental results are stated sharply by analytic functions.
Animals↗
Expression of beta1,4-galactosyltransferase in the development of mouse brain.
Beta1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalTase, EC 2.4.1.38) transfers galactose to the terminal N-acetylglucosamine of complex-type N-glycans, which have great importance for cell-cell interactions during fertilization and early embryogenesis. In this study, the activity of beta1,4-galactosyltransferase in mouse brain during development was measured with the method of reverse HPLC using a fluorescence-labeled biantenary sugar chain, GlcNAcbeta1-2Manalpha1-6(GlcNAcbeta1-2Manalpha1- 3) Manbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-4GlcNAc-PA. The level of messenger RNA of this enzyme during the development of mouse brain was also investigated with Northern blot analysis. The results showed that: (1)beta1,4-galactosyltransferase showed similar branch specificity and kinetics for the biantenary substrate during development; (2) GalTase activity in fetal mouse brain was four times higher than that in adult mouse brain and decreased gradually in the course of development; (3) messenger RNA level was highest in fetal mouse and decreased dramatically after birth. However, the contents of mRNA were not parallel to the enzyme activity.
Animals↗
Lysophosphatidic acid as a potential biomarker for ovarian and other gynecologic cancers.
CONTEXT: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has been shown to stimulate proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and is present in the ascitic fluid of patients with ovarian cancer. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether elevated levels of LPA are present in plasma from patients with ovarian cancer and other gynecologic malignancies compared with healthy controls and to evaluate whether an elevated LPA plasma level may be a biomarker for these diseases. DESIGN: A research assay was used to measure total LPA levels in plasma from healthy women and women with different diseases. All LPA assays and comparison of LPA levels and CA125 (an ovarian cancer biomarker) levels were performed by observers blinded to patient status or group. SETTING: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 48 healthy control women, 48 women with ovarian cancer, 36 women with other gynecologic cancers, 17 women with benign gynecologic diseases, 11 women with breast cancer, and 5 women with leukemias. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Total LPA levels in plasma samples from patients and controls. RESULTS: Patients in the ovarian cancer group had significantly higher plasma LPA levels (mean, 8.6 micromol/L; range, 1.0-43.1 micromol/L) compared with the healthy control group (mean, 0.6 micromol/L; range, <0.1-6.3 micromol/L) (P<.001). Elevated plasma LPA levels were detected in 9 of 10 patients with stage I ovarian cancer, 24 of 24 patients with stage II, III, and IV ovarian cancer, and 14 of 14 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Of 36 patients with other gynecologic cancers, 33 also showed higher LPA levels(mean, 14.9 micromol/L; range, <0.1-63.2 pmol/L), compared with healthy controls (P<.001). Elevated plasma LPA levels were detected in 5 of 48 controls and 4 of 17 patients with benign gynecologic diseases and in no women with breast cancer or leukemia. In comparison, among a subset of patients with ovarian cancer, 28 of 47 had elevated CA125 levels, including 2 of 9 patients with stage I disease. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma LPA levels may represent a potential biomarker for ovarian cancer and other gynecologic cancers. However, these findings are preliminary and require confirmation in larger studies.
Adult↗
A type I peritrophic matrix protein from the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae binds to chitin. Cloning, expression, and characterization.
Upon feeding, mosquito midguts secrete the peritrophic matrix (PM), an extracellular chitin-containing envelope that completely surrounds the blood meal. Because the malaria parasite must cross the PM to complete its life cycle in the mosquito, the PM is a potential barrier for malaria transmission. By antibody screening of an expression library we have identified and partially characterized a cDNA encoding a putative PM protein, termed Anopheles gambiae adult peritrophin 1 (Ag-Aper1). Ag-Aper1 is the first cloned PM gene from a disease vector. Northern analysis detected an abundant Ag-Aper1 transcript only in the adult gut, and not in any other tissues or at any other stages of development. The predicted amino acid sequence indicates that it has two tandem chitin-binding domains that share high sequence similarity with each other and also with the chitin-binding domain of an adult gut-specific chitinase from the same organism. The presumed ability of Ag-Aper1 to bind chitin was verified by a functional assay with the baculovirus-expressed recombinant protein. Ag-Aper1 did bind to chitin but not to cellulose, indicating that Ag-Aper1 binds chitin specifically. The double chitin-binding domain organization of Ag-Aper1 suggests that each protein molecule is able to link two chitin polymer chains. Hence, this protein is likely to act as a molecular linker that connects PM chitin fibrils into a three-dimensional network.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Osteoadherin, a cell-binding keratan sulfate proteoglycan in bone, belongs to the family of leucine-rich repeat proteins of the extracellular matrix.
Osteoadherin is a recently described bone proteoglycan containing keratan sulfate. It promotes integrin (alphav beta3)-mediated cell binding (Wendel, M., Sommarin, Y., and Heinegârd, D. (1998) J. Cell Biol. 141, 839-847). The primary structure of bovine osteoadherin has now been determined by nucleotide sequencing of a cDNA clone from a primary bovine osteoblast expression library. The entire translated primary sequence corresponds to a 49,116-Da protein with a calculated isoelectric point for the mature protein of 5.2. The dominating feature is a central region consisting of 11 B-type, leucine-rich repeats ranging in length from 20 to 30 residues. The full, primary sequence contains four putative sites for tyrosine sulfation, three of which are at the N-terminal end of the molecule. There are six potential sites for N-linked glycosylation present. Osteoadherin shows highest sequence identity, 42%, to bovine keratocan and 37-38% identity to bovine fibromodulin, lumican, and human PRELP. Unique to osteoadherin is the presence of a large and very acidic C-terminal domain. The distribution of cysteine residues resembles that of other leucine-rich repeat proteins except for two centrally located cysteines. Northern blot analysis of RNA samples from various bovine tissues showed a 4.5-kilobase pair message for osteoadherin to be expressed in bone only. Osteoadherin mRNA was detected by in situ hybridization in mature osteoblasts located superficially on trabecular bone.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Acute fatty liver of pregnancy: an experience in diagnosis and management of eight cases.
Objective: To investigate the early recognition and management of acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) to improve the maternal and fetal survival.Study Design: Eight cases presenting with AFLP managed in our hospital during the past 212 years were studied retrospectively with emphasis on presenting symptoms, laboratory findings, and the time for liver biopsy. Also, to report the maternal and fetus outcomes in such cases.Result: The mean gestational age at onset was 34 +/- 2 weeks (range 30-37 weeks). All cases were primigravida. In the early stages, all presented with malaise, nausea, vomiting, and epigastric distress followed by jaundice in the third trimester of pregnancy. Three of eight presented with polyuria and polydipsia. Laboratory findings: all had raised transaminases and serum bilirubin (2.9-29.9 mg/dL), hypoalbuminemia (22.4-30 g/L), hypofibriogenemia (< 180 mg/dL), prolonged prothrombin time, and prolonged partial thromboplastin time. Maternal complication was frequent, including hepatic encephalopathy (6), ascites (6), hypoglycemia (5), hematemesis (2), postpartum hemorrhage (5), and preeclampsia (4). Cesarean was performed in 3 cases. One mother died of fulminant hepatic failure, the other cases were survival. There were no fetal deaths. Liver biopsy was done in 8 cases. It is suggested that percutaneous liver biopsy should not be done until the coagulation tests become normal, the amounts of ascites decrease and platelet counts increase after delivery.Conclusion: With increasing awareness, especially in the early recognition of AFLP cases and prompt progressive management, including early termination of pregnancy, and using large-dose infusion of fresh frozen plasma or albumine alternatively, the prognosis of AFLP is obviously improved.
Journal Article↗
Engineering analysis of biological variables: an example of blood pressure over 1 day.
Almost all variables in biology are nonstationarily stochastic. For these variables, the conventional tools leave us a feeling that some valuable information is thrown away and that a complex phenomenon is presented imprecisely. Here, we apply recent advances initially made in the study of ocean waves to study the blood pressure waves in the lung. We note first that, in a long wave train, the handling of the local mean is of predominant importance. It is shown that a signal can be described by a sum of a series of intrinsic mode functions, each of which has zero local mean at all times. The process of deriving this series is called the "empirical mode decomposition method." Conventionally, Fourier analysis represents the data by sine and cosine functions, but no instantaneous frequency can be defined. In the new way, the data are represented by intrinsic mode functions, to which Hilbert transform can be used. Titchmarsh [Titchmarsh, E. C. (1948) Introduction to the Theory of Fourier Integrals (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford)] has shown that a signal and i times its Hilbert transform together define a complex variable. From that complex variable, the instantaneous frequency, instantaneous amplitude, Hilbert spectrum, and marginal Hilbert spectrum have been defined. In addition, the Gumbel extreme-value statistics are applied. We present all of these features of the blood pressure records here for the reader to see how they look. In the future, we have to learn how these features change with disease or interventions.
Animals↗
Temperature-induced momentum-dependent spectral weight transfer in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta
Angle-resolved photoemission data from the cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta above and below the superconducting transition temperature Tc reveal momentum-dependent changes that extend up to an energy of about 0.3 electron volt, or 40kTc (where k is the Boltzmann constant). The data suggest an anomalous transfer of spectral weight from one momentum to another, involving a sizable momentum transfer Q approximately (0.45pi, 0). The observed Q is intriguingly near the charge-order periodicity required if fluctuating charge stripes are present.
Journal Article↗
Isolation and characterization of RAD51C, a new human member of the RAD51 family of related genes.
The yeast and human RAD51 genes encode strand-transfer proteins that are thought to be involved in both recombinational repair of DNA damage and meiotic recombination. In yeast, the Rad51 family of related proteins also includes Rad55, Rad57 and Dmc1. In mammalian cells, five genes in this family have been identified (HsRAD51, XRCC2, XRCC3, RAD51B/hREC2 and HsDMC1), and here we report the isolation of the sixth member, RAD51C. RAD51C was originally identified by a computer screen of the EST database. A full-length approximately 1.3 kb cDNA clone has been isolated that encodes a protein of 376 aa, having a 18-26% aa identity with other human Rad51 family members. RAD51C includes a previously mapped sequenced-tagged site location near the end of chromosome 17q. The RAD51C transcript is expressed in various human tissues, with highest level of expression in testis, followed by heart muscle, spleen and prostate. Yeast two-hybrid experiments indicate that the Rad51C protein binds to two other members of the Rad51 protein family (Xrcc3 and Rad51B) but not to itself. These findings suggest that Rad51C may function similarly to the yeast Rad55 or Rad57 proteins, rather than as a Rad51 functional homolog.
Amino Acid Sequence↗