Clinical study of warm needling moxibustion combined with entecavir in the treatment of compensated cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis B / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and possible mechanism of action of warm needling moxibustion combined with entecavir in the treatment of compensated cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Methods: Ninety patients were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, with 45 patients in each group. The control group was given oral entecavir, and the observation group was given additional warm needling moxibustion. The serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), albumin (ALB) levels, portal vein internal diameter, splenic vein internal diameter, spleen thickness, and liver hardness were compared before and after treatment. The serum hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), procollagen type Ⅲ (PCⅢ), type Ⅳ collagen (Ⅳ-C), interleukin (IL)-21, and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) levels were also measured. Results: After treatment, the serum ALT and AST levels decreased (P<0.05), and the serum ALB levels increased (P<0.05) in both groups. The serum ALT and AST levels were lower in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05), and the ALB level was higher in the observation group (P<0.05). The portal vein internal diameter, splenic vein internal diameter, spleen thickness, and liver hardness values were reduced in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and were lower in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). The serum HA, LN, PCⅢ, and Ⅳ-C levels were reduced in both groups (P<0.05), and were lower in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). In the control group, the serum IL-21 level decreased (P<0.05), but the serum PDGF level did not change significantly (P>0.05); in the observation group, the serum IL-21 and PDGF levels decreased significantly (P<0.05) and were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Warm needling moxibustion combined with entecavir treatment can improve liver function, reduce the inner diameters of the portal vein and splenic vein, spleen thickness, and liver hardness, and improve liver fibrosis indicators in patients with CHB cirrhosis, which may be related to the reduction of serum IL-21 and PDGF levels.

Study on Proficiency Testing of Determination Potassium in Serum / 中国医疗器械杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the capacity of laboratories participated in the proficiency testing (PT) of determination potassium in serum and improve the quality of testing, and put forward technical suggestions for unsatisfied laboratories.@*METHODS@#According to the requirements of CNAS related documents, the homogeneity and stability of the real PT sample were evaluated by one-way ANOVA and t test, respectively. The values of real PT samples were assigned by reference method which was used in PT results assay. It is required that the deviation of value of real PT samples (code:2, 3, 5) between the measured value and the assigned value shall be within ±15.0%. The precision of values for all samples should not be greater than 3.0%.@*RESULTS@#All the laboratories submitted valid data according to the requirements. Only one laboratory did not meet the requirements, and the satisfaction rate was 90.9%.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The ability of most of laboratories are accurate and reliable.

The performance of the microbial barrier of needleless positive pressure closed connectors / 中国医疗器械杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Analyzing the performance of microbial barrier of needleless positive pressure closed connectors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three kinds of brand needleless positive pressure closed connectors were chosen to do the access of microorganisms test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Positive results were detected in the three experimental groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>So far, lots of the connectors are not qualified strictly on the market, some improvement is required in the structure design and process.</p>