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Objective To explore the advantages and disadvantages of helicopter emergency medical services of South China in the long-distance transport for critical patients.Methods A total of 30 patients who received helicopter emergency medical services by Guangdong Generral Hospital from August 2004 to December 2014 were selected as the observation group,and the other 30 patients with similar conditions who received ground emergency medical services were selected as the control group.To analyses the difference between the two groups in the disease,transport distance,transportation time,costs and compliction by χ2-test,t-test and nonparametric test according types of data.Results There were significantly difference between two groups in transport distances (km) [578.0 (313.0,707.5)vs.214.5 (101.5,313.5),P 0.05).Conclusions Helicopter emergency medical services could shorten the transportation time of critical patients on long distance transportation,and improve the efficiency of first-aid.However,there were many disadvantages that need to be improved in the helicopter emergency medical service of China.
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Objective To explore whether hypertonic saline would partake in regulating Notch signaling in microglia in experimentally induced cerebral ischemic rats.Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into sham group, cerebral ischemia group, normal saline group ( NS group ) , 10%hypertonic saline group (10%HS group) , the model of cerebral ischemia were established in all rats except the sham group by using middle cerebral artery occlusion ( MCAO) .After 2 hours of MCAO, the rats were through reperfusion for 24 h.In addition, rats in the normal saline group and 10% HS group were respectively treated with a continuous intravenous injection of normal saline (0.3 mL/h) and 10%HS (0.3 mL/h) by tail vein for 24 h.Immunofluorescence methods, RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of Notch1 and intracellular Notch receptor domain ( NICD) .All data was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance ( ANOVA) , The intergroup comparisons were analyzed by the least-significant-difference (LSD) tests.Differences were considered statistically significant if P<0.05.Results Immunofluorescence showed that the expression of Notch1 and NICD were significantly increased in the microglia around peri-ischemia area in cerebral ischemia group and normal saline group compared to sham group;the expression of Notch1 and NICD in the microglia around peri-ischemia area were significantly reduced in 10% HS group compared to ischemia group and NS group.RT-PCR showed that the mRNA expression of Notch1 was significantly increased in ischemia group and NS group compared to sham group ( sham group: 1.000 ± 0.076; ischemia group: 2.203 ±0.283; NS group: 1.616 ±0.185; P <0.01 ); however, it was significantly reduced in 10% HS group compared to ischemia group and NS group ( ischemia group:2.203 ±0.283; NS group: 1.616 ±0.185; 10%HS group: 1.202 ±0.177; P <0.05 ) .Western blot showed that the protein expression of Notch1 was significantly increased in ischemia group and NS group compared to sham group ( sham group: 0.290 ±0.079; ischemia group: 0.750 ±0.029; NS group:0.765 ±0.182;P<0.01);but was significantly reduced in 10%HS group compared to ischemia group and NS group ( ischemia group:0.750 ±0.029; NS group:0.765 ±0.182;10%HS group:0.390 ±0.195;P<0.05 ) .The protein expression of NICD was significantly increased in ischemia group and NS group compared to sham group ( sham group: 0.401 ±0.196; ischemia group: 0.906 ±0.359; NS group:0.847 ±0.153;P<0.01);but was significantly reduced in 10%HS group compared to ischemia group and NS group ( ischemia group:0.906 ±0.359; NS group:0.847 ±0.153;10%HS group:0.561 ±0.165;P<0.05 ) .Conclusion Our results suggest that HS markedly suppresses Notch signaling in microglia around the ischemia tissue area in experimental induced cerebral ischemic rats.
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Objective To investigate the clinical value of the ratio of plasma vascular endothelial growth factor level to platelet count (VEGF/PLT) in predicting 28-day prognosis in patients with sepsis.Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted.From September 2009 to March 2013,164 sepsis patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Guangdong General Hospital were included for study.Patients with age younger than 18 years old,the illness already reaching final stage of chronic diseases,suffering from two or more organs dysfunction within 3 days,acute pancreatitis without infection,or less than 28 days of expected survival time were excluded.Finally,135 patients were included in the further analysis.Peripheral blood samples were collected at admission.Routine blood tests were done,and then VEGF levels in plasma were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) scores were recorded every day for 7 days.Patients' prognosis was assessed during the following 28 days.The patients were divided into 28-day survival group and non-survival group.Comparison between two groups was done by single factor analysis.Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between VEGF levels and PLT.Mutivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent risk factor for 28-day prognosis.Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted,and the effect of related indexes on predicting 28-day survival was evaluated by area under ROC curve (AUC).Results There were no significant differences in VEGF (ng/L:471.73 ± 198.34 vs.383.49 ± 266.54,t=-1.918,P=0.057),PLT (× 109/L:220.40±127.60 vs.246.42± 100.72,t=1.275,P=0.204),leucocyte counts (× 109/L:12.48 ±4.62 vs.13.70 ±5.97,t=1.063,P=0.292),mean arterial pressure [mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa):86.50 ± 12.04 vs.91.03 t 13.10,t=1.557,P=0.123] and blood lactic acid (mmol/L:1.79 ± 1.30 vs.1.50 ± 0.60,t=-1.768,P=0.079) at admission between the non-survival group (n=42) and survival group (n=93).VEGF/PLT (2.59 ± 1.44 vs.1.73 ± 1.13,t=-3.756,P=0.000) as well as APACHE Ⅱ scores (15.50 ± 4.50 vs.13.28 ± 4.61,t =-2.022,P=0.045) of the non-survival group were significantly higher than those of survival group,and oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) of the non-survival group was significantly lower than that of survival group (kPa:32.38 ± 11.12 vs.37.04 ± 10.97,t=2.278,P=0.024).Correlation analysis showed that the concentration of VEGF was positively correlated with PLT (r=0.271,P=0.001).It was shown by multivariate logistic regression analysis that only VEGF/PLT was the independent risk factor in predicting 28-day prognosis in patients with sepsis [odds ratio (OR) was 1.591,95％ confidence interval (95％CI) 1.164-2.175,P=0.004].AUC of VEGF/PLT was 0.704 ± 0.047 (P=0.000,95％CI:0.611-0.797) for predicting 28-day survival.The optimal cut-off point was 1.32,and the sensitivity and specificity were 81.0％ and 48.4％,respectively.Conclusion VEGF/PLT can be used as one of the indicators to predict 28-day survival in patients with sepsis.