Innovative approaches to laboratory management for medical undergraduates under "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Programs for Undergraduates" / 中华医学教育探索杂志

The Laboratory of Pulmonary Diseases at West China Hospital in Sichuan University starts with strengthening the laboratory safety education and research integrity, develops a special individualized experimental skill training, improves communication between project team and laboratory, and promotes the cooperation between the laboratory and university academic community. Combined with the new model of project hierarchical management, the "Innovation and Enterpreneurship Training Programs for Undergraduates" are dynamically evaluated and effectively supervised. With the implementation of the new management mode, the number of projects successfully obtained has increased by 16.7%, the number of published academic papers has increased by 6.5 times, and the quality of published papers has been also significantly improved.

Establishing Standardized Biomedical Laboratory Technician Education for the Development of Biotechnology Research in China / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

Chinese scientists have been actively engaged in biotechnology research since the mid-20th century. However, biotechnology education, especially biomedical laboratory technology education, is relatively scarce in China. More and more cutting-edge equipment and techniques have been introduced into biomedical laboratories in China, but there is a lack of high-quality technicians to apply these advancements to scientific research. In addition, the traditional education and apprenticeship systems have been demonstrated little progress. To address this gap, West China Hospital of Sichuan University established a 2-year educational program for laboratory technology in 2006 based on the residency training program. The project integrates scientific methods into the research laboratory technician training in relevant disciplines, and has developed a systematic, scientific, and effective standardized training system to cultivate high-level and stable experimental technician team for the need of advanced laboratories, which has been demonstrated greatly improve the efficiency of biomedical researchers and laboratory facilities. In this article, we introduce the practical experience in establishment and development of a standardized training system for biomedical laboratory technicians to ensure the sustainable development of medical researches.

Effect of "Buqi Yixue" needling on neurological function and nerve conduction velocity in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy / 针刺研究

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of "Buqi Yixue "needling on clinical symptoms, neurological function and nerve conduction velocity in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. METHODS: Eighty-six patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy numbness and pain were equally randomized into control group and treatment group. The patients of the control group received basic treatment and oral administration of Cilostazol (50 mg/time, 2 times/d) and Epalrestat (50 mg/time, 3 times/d). The patients of the treatment group received acupuncture stimulation of Danzhong (CV17), Qihai (CV6), Pishu (BL20), Quchi (LI11), etc., for 30 min, once every day, on the basic treatment. The treatment was conducted for 8 successive weeks. The scores of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) symptoms, Toronto clinical scoring system (TCSS) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were detected before and after the treatment. RESULTS: After the treatment, the scores of TCM symptoms and TCSS were considerably decreased (P<0.05), and the NCV was significantly increased (P<0.05) in both groups compared with those of their own pre-treatment. The the-rapeutic effect of the treatment group was significantly superior to that of the control group in lowering the scores of TCM symptoms and TCSS, and in up-regulating the NCV (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: "Buqi Yixue" needling is effective in improving clinical symptoms and increasing NCV in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Efficacy of lateral femoral approach to continuous sciatic nerve block for patient-controlled analgesia after foot and ankle surgery / 中华麻醉学杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of lateral femoral approach to continuous sciatic nerve block for patient-controlled analgesia after foot and ankle surgery.Methods One hundred American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ-Ⅲ patients of both sexes,aged 18-60 yr,weighing 50-100 kg,with body height of 145-190 cm,scheduled for elective foot and ankle surgery,were divided into 2 groups (u =50 each) using a random number table:patient-controlled nerve block analgesia (PCNA) group and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) group.In group PCNA,the lateral femoral approach to sciatic nerve block was performed under the guidance of ultrasound and a neurostimulator,0.2％ ropivacaine 20 ml was injected after successful location,the catheter was inserted,and 0.2％ ropivacaine 10 ml was injected again.In group PCIA,0.2％ ropivacaine 30 ml was injected after successful location of the sciatic nerve.General anesthesia was performed using laryngeal mask airway in both groups.In group PCNA,PCNA was performed with 0.2％ ropivacaine (diluted to 200 ml in normal saline) at the end of surgery,and the PCNA pump was set up with a 0.5 ml bolus dose,a 15-min lockout interval and background infusion at a rate of 5 ml/h.In group PCIA,PCIA was performed with sufentanil 100 μg,tramadol 500 mg and tropisetron 10 mg (diluted to 200 ml in normal saline) at the end of surgery,and the PCIA pump was set up with a 0.5 ml bolus dose,a 15-min lockout interval and background infusion at a rate of 2 ml/h.The visual analog scale score was maintained≤ 3,and postoperative analgesia lasted until postopera-tive 72 h.When visual analog scale scores ≥ 4,tramadol 100 mg was intramuscularly injected as rescue analgesic.The requirement for rescue analgesia and development of adverse effects such as nausea and vomiting,insomnia,puncture site infection and bleeding were recorded within 72 h after surgery.Results The requirement for rescue analgesia and incidence of nausea and vomiting were significantly lower in group PCNA than in group PCIA (P＜ 0.05).Conclusion The lateral femoral approach to continuous sciatic nerve block can be safely and effectively used for patient-controlled analgesia after foot and ankle surgery.

c.359T>C mutation of the MYH14 gene in two autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing impairment families with common ancestor / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the gene mutation for two Chinese families with autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing impairment(NSHI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two NSHI pedigrees with common ancestor were identified by clinical examination and family investigation. Linkage analysis was performed for all known NSHI loci, and all exons and exon-intron boundaries of the non-muscle myosin heavy chain 14 (MYH14) gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The disease-causing gene of these 2 pedigrees was fine mapped to the DFNA4 locus on 19q13.33. A heterozygous transition of c. 359T>C (p.S120L) in MYH14 gene was identified. The mutation was detected in all patients but not in normal members in the two families.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It is the first report that mutation in MYH14 gene can cause dominant non-syndromic hearing impairment in Asian population, suggesting that MYH14 gene can be a disease-causing gene of Chinese patients with hearing impairment.</p>

Expression of AIF and caspase-3 in colorectal carcinoma, adenoma, and normal mucosa and its correlation / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression differences of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and caspase-3 among colorectal carcinoma, adenoma and normal mucosa, and to identify the relationship between AIF and caspase-3 expression in colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded colorectal tissues from 174 cases, including 84 adenomas, 72 carcinomas, and 18 normal mucosa, were examined for expression of AIF and caspase-3 by streptavidin-peroxidase (SP) immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rates of AIF and caspase-3 in colorectal adenoma were higher than those in normal mucosa (P <0.05). The positive rate of AIF in adenoma showed no significant difference compared to colorectal carcinoma (P >0.05). However, caspase-3 expression in adenomas was significantly higher than that in carcinoma (P <0.05). The positive rate of AIF in tubular adenoma was significantly higher than that in villous adenoma (P <0.05), while the positive expression rate of caspase-3 in the two types of adenoma showed no significant difference (P >0.05). AIF expression had no prominent correlation with the caspase-3 expression (P >0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The dysregulation of caspase-independent pathway of apoptosis may be an early event in the development of colorectal carcinogenesis, while the dysregulation of the caspase-dependent pathway of apoptosis may be one of contributing factors of colorectal carcinogenesis. The caspase-independent pathway of apoptosis and the caspase-dependent pathway of apoptosis are two relatively independent pathways in colorectal carcinogenesis.</p>

Clinicopathological significance of microRNA-21 and miR-125 expression in colorectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of microRNA(miR)-21 and miR-125 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its relationship with clinicopathological features.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Quantitative real-time PCR was applied to examine the expression of miR-21 and miR-125 in 100 primary CRC specimens which were diagnosed and operated in West China Hospital between 2006 and 2007, in comparison with the corresponding normal mucosa specimens. The relationship between the expression of miRNAs and clinicopathological features was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of miR-21 in CRC was up-regulated by 2.3 times compared to normal mucosa (P =0.025), while the expression of miR-125 was down-regulated by 3.3 times in comparison with normal mucosa (P =0.005). Furthermore, the expression of miR-21 was related to TNM stage (P =0.028) and local invasion (P =0.023). On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between the expression of miR-125 and clinicopathological features (P >0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The over-expression of miR-21 may play a role in the development and progression of CRC, while miR-125 may not be related to the pathogenesis of CRC.</p>

Estimation of postmortem intervals by using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the relationship between DNA degradeation and postmortem interval.@*METHODS@#dUTP was transferred to 3'terminal of DNA by using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT), then the reminders of dUTP after experimental reaction, as indicator of quantity of DNA degradation, were detected.@*RESULTS@#The reminders of dUTP were decreasing along with the postmortem interval.@*CONCLUSION@#Postmortem DNA degradation may be used in postmortem interval judgment.