Continuous primary nursing care increases satisfaction with nursing care and reduces postpartum problems for hospitalized pregnant women.

Objective: To compare the differences in practicing continuous primary nursing care (CPNC) versus task-centered nursing care (TCNC) with regard to patient satisfaction with nursing care and early postpartum health problems for hospitalized pregnant women.

Design: All participants filled out the satisfaction with nursing care questionnaire, breastfeeding knowledge questionnaire, and early postpartum problem questionnaire.

Setting: Participants in the CPNC group received continuous individualized primary nursing care and participants in the TCNC group received task-centered nursing care during their perinatal period.

Cancer stem-like cells enriched in Panc-1 spheres possess increased migration ability and resistance to gemcitabine.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies with poor prognosis. Previously, we found that a subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cell line could propagate to form spheres. Here we characterized the malignant phenotypes of the pancreatic cancer stem CD44+/CD24+ cells, which were enriched under sphere forming conditions as analyzed by flow cytometry.

Dynamic alteration of adiponectin/adiponectin receptor expression and its impact on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in type 1 diabetic mice.

The present study determined the dynamic change of adiponectin (APN, a cardioprotective adipokine), its receptor expression, and their impact upon myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury during type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) progression, and involved underlying mechanisms. Diabetic state was induced in mice via multiple intraperitoneal injections of low-dose streptozotocin. The dynamic change of plasma APN concentration and cardiac APN receptor-1 and -2 (AdipoR1/2) expression were assessed immediately after diabetes onset (0 wk) and 1, 3, 5, and 7 wk thereafter.

Downregulation of adiponectin induced by tumor necrosis factor α is involved in the aggravation of posttraumatic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Objective: Recent clinical observations have indicated that nonlethal mechanical trauma significantly increases myocardial infarction risk even in the presence of completely normal coronary arteries. We investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for exacerbation of ischemic myocardial injury after nonlethal mechanical trauma with a special focus on the role of tumor necrosis factor α and its potential downstream effector adiponectin, a novel adipokine with anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties.

Design: Laboratory study.

Moderate dose insulin promotes function of endothelial progenitor cells.

EPCs (endothelial progenitor cells) regenerate the vascular endothelial cells and keep the integrity of the vascular endothelium and thus may retard the onset of atherosclerosis. Steady state levels of EPCs in the circulation were found to be correlated with cardiovascular event risks. Given the close relationship between insulin and the cardiovascular system, we tested the long-term effects of moderate-dose insulin treatment on bone marrow-derived EPCs.

Heparin changes the conformation of high-mobility group protein 1 and decreases its affinity toward receptor for advanced glycation endproducts in vitro.

High-mobility group protein 1 (HMGB1) has been identified as a late-acting mediator of inflammation. The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is the main receptor and mediates the cytokine activity of HMGB1. Since HMGB1 also exhibits heparin-binding activity, we investigated whether heparin interferes with HMGB1/RAGE interaction and prevents the cytokine activity.

Effective treatment of advanced cholangiocarcinoma by hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy combination with sorafenib: one case report from China.

Background/aims: Cholangiocarcinoma, especially intrahepatic type, is difficult to be found early and diagnosed at early stages. Although it was reported as rare to happen, it is a well-known devastating malignancy with little treatment effects. As a result, most of the patients suffer from poor prognosis.

[The expression of integrin beta 1 in normal hepatic tissues, hepatic cirrhosis tissues and hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the expression of integrin beta 1 in hepatic cirrhosis (HC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The expression of integrin beta 1 in HCC, HC and normal liver tissues was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The association between the integrin beta 1 expression and clinical pathological features were analyzed.

Nitrative inactivation of thioredoxin-1 increases vulnerability of diabetic hearts to ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Hyperglycemia (HG) significantly increases mortality after myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with and without established diabetes. The specific underlying mechanism remains unknown. The present study attempted to determine whether nitrative inactivation of thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) may contribute to the exaggerated myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury observed in the hyperglycemic condition.

[Image reconstruction of conductivity on magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction].

The electric characteristics such as impedance and conductivity of the organization will change in the case where pathological changes occurred in the biological tissue. The change in electric characteristics usually took place before the change in the density of tissues, and also, the difference in electric characteristics such as conductivity between normal tissue and pathological tissue is obvious. The method of magneto-acoustic tomography with magnetic induction is based on the theory of magnetic eddy current induction, the principle of vibration generation and acoustic transmission to get the boundary of the pathological tissue.

Upregulation of PTEN by peroxynitrite contributes to cytokine-induced apoptosis in pancreatic beta-cells.

Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a tumor suppressor gene, by negatively regulating the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, participates in multiple biological processes such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and migration. Recent studies show that selective deletion of PTEN in pancreatic beta-cells leads to resistance to streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes, but the mechanism is unclear. One major mechanism underlying STZ toxicity is cytokine-mediated beta-cell destruction in which oxidative stress plays a key role.

Aligned ZnO/CdTe core-shell nanocable arrays on indium tin oxide: synthesis and photoelectrochemical properties.

Vertically aligned ZnO/CdTe core-shell nanocable arrays-on-indium tin oxide (ITO) are fabricated by electrochemical deposition of CdTe on ZnO nanorod arrays in an electrolyte close to neutral pH. By adjusting the total charge quantity applied during deposition, the CdTe shell thickness can be tuned from several tens to hundreds of nanometers. The CdTe shell, which has a zinc-blende structure, is very dense and uniform both radially and along the axial direction of the nanocables, and forms an intact interface with the wurtzite ZnO nanorod core.

Simulation of induced electric field distribution based on five-sphere model used in rTMS.

Repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new technique, which is non-invasive and painless used to stimulate the central and peripheral neural tissues. The principle is generating time-varying magnetic fields to stimulate the cerebral cortex neuron and inducing eddy current inside the tissues. Many researches study on the distributing of magnetic field and electric field induced inside the human brain, whereas the static electric field was neglected roughly in many studies.

Validation of the Chinese version of the Subjective Global Assessment scale of nutritional status in a sample of patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Background And Aims: To verify the validity of the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) on the nutritional assessment and prognosis prediction in Chinese patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Methods: Five hundred and five patients with newly diagnosed gastrointestinal cancer who underwent surgeries were enrolled between August 2004 and August 2006. The sample consisted of 307 males (60.

Effects of a concomitant single oral dose of rifampicin on the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin in a two-phase, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study in healthy Chinese male subjects.

Background: Pravastatin is a potent cholesterol-lowering agent; ~34% of an oral dose of pravastatin is eliminated unchanged through biliary and urinary excretion. Rifampicin is an inducer of drug metabolism enzymes, and it affects the activities of transporters involved in pravastatin disposition. Drug-drug interaction between rifampicin and pravastatin is possible because of the effects of rifampicin on the activities of drug transporters.

Clinical application of subjective global assessment in Chinese patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Aim: To investigate the role of subjective global assessment (SGA) in nutritional assessment and outcome prediction of Chinese patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Methods: A total of 751 patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer between August 2004 and August 2006 were enrolled in this study. Within 72 h after admission, SGA, anthropometric parameters, and laboratory tests were used to assess the nutritional status of each patient.

[Fruit-specific expression of sweet protein Brazzein in transgenic tomato plants].

The AGPL1 (ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase large subunit 1) promoter from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris S.) has proved to exhibit fruit-specific expression patterns in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.).

[Functional analysis of specific promoter using vecotors harboring GFP/RFP double fluorescent marker genes].

Most studies related to determining the expression profile of genes and specific promoters used histochemical localization of the reporter gene, gusA. While the histochemical method for visualizing gusA expression suffers from several limitations in the determination of gene expression and location, especially in the tissues with high background acitivty. To solve this problem, a transient expession vector pBI221-RFP/GFP, was constructed using GFP and RFP as double fluorescent marker genes.

High glucose sensitizes adult cardiomyocytes to ischaemia/reperfusion injury through nitrative thioredoxin inactivation.

Aims: Ischaemic cardiac injury is significantly increased in diabetic patients, but its underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. The current study attempted to identify new molecular mechanisms potentially contributive to hyperglycaemic-exaggeration of myocardial ischaemic injury.

Methods And Results: Adult mouse cardiomyocytes were cultured in normal-glucose (NG, 5.

[Analysis of adverse drug reaction of gatifloxacin in Hunan province from Aug. 2003 to Jul. 2007].

Objective: To summarize the occurrences of adverse drug reactions (ADR) of gatifloxacin, and to guide the rational usage of antibacterial agents in clinical practice in the future.

Methods: A total of 1 077 ADR patient who received gatifloxacin were retrospectively studied in Hunan province from August 2003 to July 2007.

Results: Gatifloxacin could cause multi-system and multi-organ ADRs with wide variety of clinical manifestations.

[Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway is critical for survival and proliferation of pancreatic cancer stem-like side population cells].

Objective: To isolate and identify the side population (SP) cells in pancreatic cancer and investigate the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) pathway in the survival and proliferation of them.

Methods: Pancreatic cancer cell of the lines PANC-1, BXPC-3, ASPC-1, PC-3, and SW-1990 were cultured. Hoechst 33432 staining and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) were used to sort the SP cells.

Two negative cis-regulatory regions involved in fruit-specific promoter activity from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris S.).

A 1.8 kb 5'-flanking region of the large subunit of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, isolated from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris S.), has fruit-specific promoter activity in transgenic tomato plants.

Can insulin resistance be reversed by insulin therapy?

Insulin resistance (IR) is a state of decreased tissue sensitivity to insulin, which commonly exists in patients with metabolic syndrome and diabetes, and leads to compensatory hyperinsulinemia to maintain normoglycemia. It is characterized by pathway-specific inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling, which concerns the positive actions of insulin including glucose and lipid metabolism, while other pathways including the Ras/MAPK pathway, which accounts for the negative actions of insulin such as stimulation of smooth muscle proliferation and secretion of endothelin-1, stay unaffected. Thus it was concerned that insulin therapy may exacerbate the negative effects of insulin in IR states.

Delayed ethyl pyruvate therapy attenuates experimental severe acute pancreatitis via reduced serum high mobility group box 1 levels in rats.

Aim: To investigate the effect of delayed ethyl pyruvate (EP) delivery on distant organ injury, survival time and serum high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) levels in rats with experimental severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).

Methods: A SAP model was induced by retrograde injection of artificial bile into the pancreatic ducts of rats. Animals were divided randomly into three groups (n = 32 in each group): sham group, SAP group and delayed EP treatment group.

Angiotensin II promotes NO production, inhibits apoptosis and enhances adhesion potential of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) participate in the processes of postnatal neovascularization and re-endothelialization in response to tissue ischemia and endothelial injury. The level of EPCs present has been found to be directly associated with the outcome of cardiovascular diseases, and could be regulated by stimulatory or inhibitory factors. Given the close relationship between angiotensin II (AngII) and the cardiovascular system, we investigated the effect of AngII on the activities of bone marrow (BM)-derived EPCs.