History of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery: The First Decade.

The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS) is the largest professional organization in the world dedicated to pediatric and congenital heart surgery. The purpose of this article is to document the first decade of the history of WSPCHS from its formation in 2006, to summarize the current status of WSPCHS, and to consider the future of WSPCHS. The WSPCHS was incorporated in Canada on April 7, 2011, with a head office in Montreal, Canada.

Recommendations for the Prophylactic Management of Skin Reactions Induced by Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors in Patients With Solid Tumors.

Unlabelled: : Inhibition of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an established treatment that extends patient survival across a variety of tumor types. EGFR inhibitors fall into two main categories: anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab and panitumumab, and first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as afatinib, gefitinib, and erlotinib. Skin reactions are the most common EGFR inhibitor-attributable adverse event, resulting in papulopustular (acneiform) eruptions that can be painful and debilitating, and which may potentially have a negative impact on patients' quality of life and social functioning, as well as a negative impact on treatment duration.

Oridonin, a novel lysine acetyltransferases inhibitor, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in gastric cancer cells through p53- and caspase-3-mediated mechanisms.

Lysine acetylation has been reported to involve in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases including cancer. In our screening study to identify natural compounds with lysine acetyltransferase inhibitor (KATi) activity, oridonin was found to possess acetyltransferase-inhibitory effects on multiple acetyltransferases including P300, GCN5, Tip60, and pCAF. In gastric cancer cells, oridonin treatment inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner and down-regulated the expression of p53 downstream genes, whereas p53 inhibition by PFT-α reversed the antiproliferative effects of oridonin.

Identification of differentially-expressed genes in intestinal gastric cancer by microarray analysis.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most frequent malignant tumors. In order to systematically characterize the cellular and molecular mechanisms of intestinal GC development, in this study, we used 22K oligonucleotide microarrays and bioinformatics analysis to evaluate the gene expression profiles of GC in 45 tissue samples, including 20 intestinal GC tissue samples, 20 normal appearing tissues (NATs) adjacent to tumors and 5 noncancerous gastric mucosa tissue samples. These profiles allowed us to explore the transcriptional characteristics of GC and determine the change patterns in gene expression that may be of clinical significance.

Effects of atorvastatin on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolism in elderly males with osteopenia and mild dyslipidemia: a 1-year randomized trial.

We explored the effects of atorvastatin on BMD and biochemical markers of bone metabolism in a 1-year, prospective, randomized controlled study. 64 male patients with osteopenia and mild dyslipidemia (mean age 80.1±6.

Laser therapy for prevention and treatment of pathologic excessive scars.

Background: The management of hypertrophic scars and keloids remains a therapeutic challenge. Treatment regimens are currently based on clinical experience rather than substantiated evidence. Laser therapy is an emerging minimally invasive treatment that has recently gained attention.

[The relationship of vitamin D endocrine system and estrogen receptor expression with bone mineral density in initial systemic lupus erythematosus].

Objective: To study the incidence of osteopenia in patients with initial systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Investigate the levels of the vitamin D (VitD) endocrine system in peripheral blood of SLE patients and its relation to bone mineral density (BMD). Analyse the relationship between the estrogen receptor (ER) and BMD and evaluate the role of ER in the pathogenesis osteopenia.

Hepatitis C virus targets over-expression of arginase I in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is often associated with chronic liver disease, which is a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To study the HCV host-cell relationship on the molecular level, HepG2 and Huh7 cells were stably transfected with an infectious cDNA clone of HCV or with empty vector. Evidence for HCV replication was obtained in both culture systems.

Activity identification of chimeric anti-caspase-3 mRNA hammerhead ribozyme in vitro and in vivo.

To study the expression activity of various vectors containing anti-caspase-3 ribozyme cassettes in vivo, and to further study the role of caspas-3 in the apoptotic pathway, we constructed anti-caspase-3 hammerhead ribozyme embedded into the human snRNA U6, and detected the activity of the ribozyme in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile we compared it with the self-cleaving hammerhead ribozymes that we previously studied, and with the general ribozyme, cloned into RNA polymerase II expression systems. The results showed that the three ribozymes, p1.

Application of radiation hybrid in gene mapping.

Radiation hybrid (RH) mapping technique was exploited to determine chromosome locations of 26 human novel full length cDNAs recently cloned. All these cDNA clones were isolated from human cord blood CD (+) (34) cells and may be related to regulation of hematopoiesis. 23 genes were successfully mapped to chromosomal positions, while RH analyses were not possible in the remaining 3 cases.

Nitric oxide and milrinone: combined effect on pulmonary circulation after Fontan-type procedure: a prospective, randomized study.

Background: Early morbidity and mortality after Fontan operations are related to the elevation of postoperative pulmonary vascular resistance. Inhalation of nitric oxide (iNO) and intravenous milrinone are two options capable of reducing pulmonary vascular resistance. We hypothesized that their combined use could maximally stabilize the pulmonary circulation after Fontan operation.

Reconstruction of advanced-stage electrical hand injury in a one stage procedure using a prefabricated medial lateral crural composite flap.

To explore the possibility of a one stage restoration of protective sensation and finger flexion after electrical burn of the hand, 5 patients with electrical injuries at the wrist were treated by a new free composite flap, originating from the medial lateral crural skin flap. This flap can repair skin, blood vessels, tendons, and nerves in a one-stage procedure. The harvest of the medial lateral crural flap is described.

Clinical outcome of children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in a single center in Shanghai, China.

Aim of the study is to determine the clinical outcome of 158 cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with a risk-directed protocol in Shanghai, China. One hundred fifty eight consecutive newly diagnosed patients were enrolled in the ALL-XH-99 protocol. The Kaplan - Meier method was used to estimate survival rates and comparisons were made by using the 2-sided log-rank test.

Quality of life in elderly continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.

Objective: In the present study, we determined the characteristic of quality of life (QOL) in elderly peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients by using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) to compare QOL between two age groups of continuous ambulatory PD patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients were allocated to one of two groups according to age: patients in group A were >or=65 years of age, and patients in group B were <65 years of age. We compared SF-36 scores, serum albumin, prealbumin, hemoglobin, lipid profile, normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR), dialysis adequacy (Kt/V), creatinine clearance (CCr), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between the two groups.

Surgical experience of coarctation of the aorta in infants and young children.

We evaluated the effectiveness of surgical treatment for coarctation of the aorta in infants and young children, based on our experience over 7 years. From March 1999 to December 2005, 168 cases of coarctation of the aorta in patients aged 21 days to 3 years were treated by end-to-end, extended end-to-end, or extended end-to-side ascending aorta and aortic arch anastomosis. The mortality rate was 0.

Leukemia, an effective model for chemical biology and target therapy.

The rapid rise of chemical biology aimed at studying signaling networks for basic cellular activities using specific, active small molecules as probes has greatly accelerated research on pathological mechanisms and target therapy of diseases. This research is especially important for malignant tumors such as leukemia, a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic malignancies that occurs worldwide. With the use of a chemical approach combined with genetic manipulation, great progress has been achieved over the past few decades on the biological, molecular and cytogenetic aspects of leukemia, and in its diagnosis and therapy.

Physical and functional interaction of Runt-related protein 1 with hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha.

Angiogenesis and hematopoiesis are closely linked and interactive with each other, but few studies were given to identify possible links between angiogenesis-promoting proteins and hematopoiesis-related transcription factors. Here we investigated the potential relationship of oxygen-sensitive alpha-subunit of angiogenesis-related hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) with Runt-related protein 1 (Runx1, also known as acute myeloid leukemia-1, AML-1), an important hematopoietic transcription factor. The results demonstrated that Runx1 and HIF-1alpha proteins directly interacted with each other to a degree, in which Runt homology domain of Runx1 was mainly involved.

[Molecular mechanisms of protein C deficiency caused by C64W and F139V mutations].

Objective: To study the molecular mechanisms of protein C (PC) deficiency caused by PC gene mutations of C64W, F139V and K150 deletion (K150d).

Methods: Wild-type and mutant PC cDNA expression plasmids (PCwt, PC C64W, PC F139V, PC K150d) were constructed and transfected into COS-7 cells or CHO cells respectively for in vitro expression study and immunofluorescent assay. Fluorescent real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of PC mRNA, protein degradation inhibition and endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H (Endo H) digestion experiments to explain the mutant protein degradation pathway and its localizations inside the cells.

[Analysis of phenotype and genotype in two Chinese pedigrees with hereditary protein C deficiency].

Objective: To identify the phenotype and gene mutation in two Chinese pedigrees with hereditary protein C deficiency.

Methods: The plasma level of protein C activity (PC: A) , protein C antigen (PC: Ag), protein S activity (PS: A), and antithrombin activity (AT: A) of the probands and their family members were detected using chromogenic assay and ELISA, respectively. All of the nine exons and intron-exon boundaries of protein C gene were amplified by PCR and analyzed by direct sequencing of the probands.

Rituximab in combination with CHOP chemotherapy for the treatment of diffuse large B cell lymphoma in Chinese patients.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The study comprised a retrospective analysis of patients treated at a single center. Patients received four to six infusions of rituximab (375 mg/m(2) per dose) on day 1 of each cycle of CHOP chemotherapy.