Adaptation of the polarimetric multi-spectral Aerosol Limb Imager for high altitude aircraft and satellite observations.

An elegant breadboard prototype of the Aerosol Limb Imager (ALI) has been developed to meet key performance parameters that will meet requirements for the retrieval of aerosol from the upper troposphere and stratosphere from limb scattered sunlight radiance measurements. Similar in concept to previous high altitude balloon-based generations, this instrument pairs a liquid crystal polarization rotator with an acousto-optic tunable filter to capture polarimetric multi-spectral images of the atmospheric limb. This design improves the vertical resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and athermalization, all of which will facilitate observation from a moving high altitude aircraft platform, which provides a platform analogous to the spatially varying measurements that would be made from a satellite. Finally, a preliminary design is presented for a satellite-based generation of ALI.

[Tetracycline and metronidazole based quadruple regimen as first line treatment for penicillin allergic patients with Helicobacter pylori infection].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tetracycline and metronidazole based quadruple regimen as first line treatment for penicillin allergic patients with Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection. Methods: The clinical data of 120 patients who had infected with H. pylori and were allergic to penicillin in out-patient clinic of Peking University First Hospital was retrospectively collected from January 2014 to June 2016. The regimen included: lansoprazole 30 mg twice a day+ Bismuth 150 mg three times a day+ tetracycline 500 mg three times a day+ metronidazole 400 mg three times a day, for 14 days. All patients were followed up 7 days, 14 days, at least 4 weeks after the treatment. Symptoms and side effects were recorded. The H.pylori status was evaluated by (13)C urease breath test at least 4 weeks after the end of the treatment. Results: All patients included 86 female and 34 male, and the average age is 59 years. There are 104 of the 120 cases who got success in eradication treatment. Mild to moderate adverse effects occurred in 56 cases (46.7%). 10 female patients dropped out because of headache, rash, vomiting and fatigue. The eradication rates were 86.7% (104/120, ITT) and 94.5% (104/110, PP). Conclusions: Tetracycline and metronidazole based 14-day quadruple regimen is effective as first line treatment for penicillin allergic patients with H. pylori infection because of its relatively high eradication rate. Patients should be watched closely during the treatment since the adverse effects of this regimen happen frequently,especially for female patients.

Vegetative growth after flowering through gibberellin biosynthesis regulates pod setting rate in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.).

Pod setting rate in soybean is an important trait that determines pod number, which is highly correlated with seed yield. Using two soybean cultivars with different pod setting rates, we examined the relationship between plant growth regulation by gibberellin (GA) and pod setting rate. Plant growth rate (PGR) after flowering was significantly higher in 'Fukuyutaka' (low pod setting rate) than in 'Kariyutaka' (high pod setting rate); this difference was caused by increasing of GA biosynthesis-related genes expression. Additionally, pod setting rate in 'Fukuyutaka' was lower than that in 'Kariyutaka'. Furthermore, when 'Kariyutaka' was treated with GA after flowering, the PGR increased and pod setting rate decreased. These results suggest that pod setting rate in soybean is regulated by vegetative growth after flowering through GA biosynthesis.

Targeting colon cancer stem cells with novel blood cholesterol drug pitavastatin.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of stem cells in human cancer, including colon cancer. Pitavastatin is approved for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and has also been shown to inhibit stem cell proliferation in preliminary in vitro studies. This study was done to investigate the effects of pitavastatin on human colon carcinoma stem cells (coCSCs) in vitro and in mouse tumor xenografts in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines, SW480 and SW620, were cultured to the spheroid formation. The effects of pitavastatin on colon cancer stem cells were studied using the colorimetric MTT cell proliferation assay; quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the expression of cell cycle genes, OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG; Western blots were performed to measure MDR1. Mice were injected subcutaneously with SW480 cells; the growth of these tumor xenografts was studied using volumetric analysis following pitavastatin treatment. RESULTS: Specific cell culture medium provided conditions that resulted in the expression of colon cancer stem cell markers when compared with normal cultured cells. Colon cancer stem cells were inhibited by pitavastatin treatment. Pitavastatin reduced the expression of stem cell markers of colon cancer stem cells and induced the cell apoptosis. Pitavastatin inhibited the growth of mouse tumor xenografts. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this preliminary study have demonstrated a potential role for pitavastatin in the inhibition of stem cell proliferation in colon carcinoma. Further studies are recommended to determine the mechanism of these effects on colon carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.

[The relationship between preoperative renal failure and severe postoperative hypoxemia of patients received surgical procedures for Stanford A aortic dissection].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between renal failure and severe postoperative hypoxemia of patients received surgical procedure for Stanford A aortic dissection. METHODS: Clinical data of 411 consecutive patients from January 2014 to April 2015, who received surgical procedure for Stanford A aortic dissection in Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, were collected retrospectively. The appearance of severe postoperative hypoxemia was recorded in all the cases. All the data about potential prognostic factors was put into the database and analyzed by univariate and multivariate Logistic regression respectively. RESULTS: Severe postoperative hypoxemia (PO2/FiO2<100 mmHg, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) happened on 69 cases within 48 hours after procedures, with the incidence rate of 17.1%. Both univariate and multivariate Logistic regression indicated the influence that preoperative creatinine clearance rate had on severe postoperative hypoxemia showed no statistical significance. However, the influence of preoperative serum creatinine showed statistical significance (OR=1.009, 95%CI: 1.000 to 1.018, P=0.048). CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative creatinine clearance rate of patients has no direct relationship with severe postoperative hypoxemia. But the preoperative serum creatinine could be regarded as an independent predictor of severe postoperative hypoxemia.

[A prediction model for severe postoperative hypoxemia after surgery for Standford type A aortic dissection].

OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors of severe postoperative hypoxemia after surgery for Standford type A aortic dissection and establish a prediction model. METHODS: Data of 411 consecutive patients from January 2014 to April 2015, who underwent surgery for Standford type A aortic dissection in the department of cardiovascular surgery of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. All the cases were divided into two groups according to the appearance of severe postoperative hypoxemia. All the data about potential risk factors was put into the database and analyzed by logistic regression. The prediction model was then established upon acquired independent risk factors. Discrimination and calibration of the prediction model were assessed with ROC curve and Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit test. RESULTS: The perioperative in-hospital mortality was 6.57%(27/411). Severe postoperative hypoxemia (PaO2/FiO2≤100 mmHg) happened in 69 cases within 48 hours after procedures, with an incidence rate of 17.1%. The logistic regression demonstrated that body mass index (BMI), age, preoperative serum myoglobin, preoperative serum creatinine, preoperative serumalanine aminotransferase, the time of cardiopulmonary bypass, re-exploration within 48 hours after procedures were the independent risk factors for severe postoperative hypoxemia. The prediction model was then established based on these independent risk factors. The area under ROC curve of the model was 0.785, and the P value in Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit test was 0.625. CONCLUSION: The logsitic model built in this study succeeded to predict the incidence of severe postoperative hypoxemia after surgery for Standford type A aortic dissection, and it could meet the doctors' requirement with its excellent discrimination and calibration.

Genetic profile of tuberculosis among the migrant population in Fujian Province, China.

SETTING: The Fujian District in China has a high migrant worker population. Although tuberculosis (TB) among migrants is a serious threat to public health in Fujian, little is known about the molecular characteristics of TB isolates in this population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic profile of TB among the migrant population in Fujian. RESULTS: Our study enrolled 243 pulmonary TB patients registered in Fujian. Our data demonstrated that the Beijing genotype was the most common genotype in Fujian, and that the proportion of migrants with the Beijing genotype was significantly higher than that of permanent residents. Furthermore, the population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in Fujian was diverse, with no difference in the distribution of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) subgroups between the migrant and permanent populations. In addition, the discriminatory power of MIRU-VNTR in this study was higher than that found in other regions of China, possibly due to the high percentage of migrants in Fujian. CONCLUSION: The Beijing genotype was the predominant genotype in Fujian. TB strains isolated from this migrant population revealed a genetic profile similar to that of the permanent population. Improvement in public medical and insurance programmes for migrants might be crucial in the effective control of TB in Fujian.

Endothelial dysfunction in normotensive salt-sensitive subjects.

Salt-sensitivity is associated with a more severe target organ injury and higher mortality, even in normotensive subjects. As endothelial dysfunction is predictive for future cardiovascular events, we evaluated whether normotensive salt-sensitive (NSS) subjects have more pronounced endothelial dysfunction compared with normotensive salt-resistant (NSR) subjects. Normotensive subjects (n=99, aged 25-50 years) were selected from a rural community in northern China. Salt sensitivity was assigned if mean BP increased by ≥10% from a 1-week high salt (18 g/day, NaCl) to low-salt diet (3 g/day, NaCl). Endothelial function was assessed by testing the flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery using high-resolution ultrasound, as well as nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels, in plasma and urine at baseline. Blood pressure at baseline was similar between NSS and NSR subjects, but diverged during salt intervention. Furthermore, FMD was significantly lower in 17 NSS subjects (10.2±2.5 vs 14.5±1.6%, P=0.037) compared with NSR subjects. In addition, average plasma NOx levels were lower in NSS subjects than NSR subjects (61.2±3.23 µM vs 82.5±1.61 µM, P=0.034). Moreover, Both FMD and plasma NOx levels were negatively correlated with the degree of salt sensitivity (r=-0.435 and r=-0.459, respectively, P<0.01). However, there was no difference in urine NOx between the two groups. Our study indicates that endothelial dysfunction could contribute to the long-term higher levels of target organ injury and higher mortality observed in NSS subjects.

Interdependent effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase gene polymorphisms on the progression of immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

In order to investigate the interdependent action of the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene and polymorphism in exon 11 (C1136-->T; Ala379Val) of the platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) gene, which encodes a functional antagonist of PAF, on the progression of immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, we analysed both polymorphisms in patients with primary IgA nephropathy, who were followed-up for longer than 3 years. During the follow-up (87.3 +/- 50.0 months), the disease progressed in 38 of the 191 patients (19.9%). The D allele of the ACE gene in the absence of the T allele of the PAF-AH gene did not affect the prognosis [odds ratio (OR), 3.6; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.8-16.4] and neither did the T allele in the absence of the D allele (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 0.4-24.2). However, the presence of both was a significant prognostic factor (OR, 6.6; 95% CI, 1.4-31.3). After adjusting for other risk factors, the presence of both proved to be an independent risk factor (OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 1.6-12.7). These results suggest that the interdependent effects of ACE and PAF-AH polymorphisms on the progression of IgA nephropathy might be more important than the effect of the individual polymorphisms.

[Study on the relationship between lung cancer at preclinic stage and psycho-social factor. A case-control study].

A case-control study of primary lung cancer patients including 309 case (male 193, female 116) and 1,231 controls (male 768, female 463) was carried out in the monitored population for SINO-MONICA Project (WHO) during 1990-1993. This was a population based case-control study involved 0.75 million population in order to detect the relationship between lung cancer at preclinic stage and 6 psychosocial factors. There were 3 factors positively associated with lung cancer. They were 1) burst of "emotion and could not be controlled" (OR 1.82 P < 0.01), 2) "poor working circumstances" including poor relationship with colleagues (OR 1.37 P < 0.05) and superiors (OR 1.55 P < 0.01) and 3) the "depressive feeling for a long time" (OR 4.14 P < 0.01), when we considered "long standing depressive feeling" as a risk factor for lung cancer and calculated by an exposure rate of 8.8%, the population attributable risk percent (PAR%) would be 21.6% (male 18.7%, female 26.4%). Our findings suggested that the relationship between lung cancer at preclinic stage and psycho-social factor did exist.

Design and fabrication of a diffractive phase element for wavelength demultiplexing and spatial focusing simultaneously.

The design of a diffractive phase element (DPE) that simultaneously implements wavelength demultiplexing and focusing is carried out on the basis of the general theory of amplitude-phase retrieval. The designed DPE is fabricated with optical contact lithography. Three masks are needed to produce the surface-relief structure of the DPE with eight quantized levels in depths. Experiments demonstrate that the designed DPE can successfully implement both the functions of demultiplexing three different-wavelength beams and focusing each component at a predesignated position simultaneously. Experimental measurements are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

Endothelin in the ovine uterus during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy.

Endothelin, which has potent vasoconstrictor and mitogenic actions, was measured by radioimmunoassay in tissue extracts of sheep endometrium and myometrium and was found to be present in similar amounts in both tissues during the oestrous cycle and in increasing amounts during the first 20 days of pregnancy (250-630 pg g-1 wet weight). Immunoreactive endothelin extracted from endometrium eluted at the same position as standard endothelin-1 on reverse-phase HPLC. Immunohistochemical techniques demonstrated that during the oestrous cycle endothelin immunoreactivity was very low in caruncular and intercaruncular stroma, luminal epithelium, outer and inner glandular epithelium, myometrium and blood vessels until after day 12 (oestrus: day 0). Staining increased in all but the inner glands to day 16 and the most intense staining was found in intercaruncular luminal epithelium and outer glands and in myometrium, although endothelin in tissue extracts did not change over this period. During early pregnancy (days 4-20), staining in intercaruncular areas and in myometrium increased slightly from day 4 to day 12 to a maximum which was maintained from day 15 to day 20. Intensity of staining in caruncles increased only from day 15, particularly in the epithelium. Immunoreactive endothelin was also present in the trophoblast cells of the embryo on day 20 of pregnancy. Strong endothelin immunostaining was observed in uteri from ovariectomized ewes, particularly in epithelial cells and in blood vessels. The intensity of immunostaining in epithelium and epithelial cells and in blood vessels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The presence of Z-helical conformation in DNA of the calf lens.

The purpose of this study was to reveal the presence of Z-helical conformation in normal crystalline lens DNA. Z-DNA antigen was prepared against poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC), which had been converted to the Z-helix conformation in high salt and then stabilized by bromination. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra confirmed the presence of left-handed Z-helix DNA. Antibodies to Z-DNA were raised in three rabbits immunized with brominated (Br-) poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC). These antibodies do not cross-react with polynucleotides in the B-helical form, but are specific to the left-handed Z-DNA conformation. DNA was isolated from three different regions of the calf lens. Anti-Z-DNA antisera, affinity purified IgG polyclonal anti-Z-DNA antibodies and monoclonal anti-Z-DNA antibodies were used as immunoprobes to detect the presence of S-DNA sequences. DNA from the cortex region of the lens reacted strongly with the anti-Z-DNA antibodies, but no binding could be observed in the DNA from the nucleus region. Digestion of lens DNA with DNase 1 dramatically decreased Z-DNA antibody binding, while RNase A and T1 treatment had no effect on Z-DNA immunoreactivity. This study has demonstrated that: (a) Z-DNA antibodies developed for our study can bind in high salt solutions (4M NaCl) to purified lens DNA sequences isolated from a variety of different calf lens cell types. By this criterion, lens DNA contains sequence determinants which may assume or are in the Z-helix conformation.

Effective hybrid processor to compute image moments for pattern recognition.

A hybrid optical-digital processor is presented for computing the invariant moments of images in real time, which consists of a holographic mask, two lenses, a charge-coupled-device detector, and a microcomputer. The processor is tested by inputting some roman letters, and the produced results show that the invariant moments of a letter are approximately independent of shift and rotation and that the moments are distinct with different letters.

Large format density coding system with photoresist plates.

By combining a large holographic optical lens or a Fresnel lens with a photoresist plate, a density color coding system for a large format picture is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Based on partial coherence theory, a rigorous theoretical analysis is given and confirmed by the experimental results.

Pharmacokinetic study of levonorgestrel used as a postcoital agent.

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of levonorgestrel (LNG) were studied in six women given 0.75 mg LNG orally for seven days during the periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle. Steady-state concentrations of LNG were reached within three days and serum LNG concentrations at various times on day 7 were generally lower than on day 1, presumably due to a reduced serum level of SHBG. On day 7 the volume of distribution was significantly increased and Co significantly decreased and both the clearance and elimination half-life were higher on day 7 than on day 1. Half-lives varied from 5.6 to 25.1 hours. The day-to-day intra-subject variations in serum LNG concentrations ranged from 23% to 80%. Serum concentrations of pituitary and ovarian hormones suggested that ovulation was not inhibited in four of the six subjects and was delayed in the remaining two. No significant changes in serum prolactin levels were observed.

Optical Walsh-Hadamard transform for orders 32 and 64.

A coherent optical system composed of a holographic mask and two Fourier lenses is described for performing an arbitrary linear transform. A set of equations for determining the amplitude-phase distribution of the mask is given. As a specific transform, the Walsh-Hadamard transform for orders 32 and 64 is optically made in 1-D space.

[Application of the assays for progesterone and estradiol in saliva in family planning research].

PIP: A clinical study has been conducted on the radioimmuno assays of progesterone and estradiol in saliva to analyze the effect of norethindrone visiting pills and levonorgestrel post coital contraceptives on ovarian function and to monitor the resumption of ovarian function after the termination of early pregnancy using sulprostone. Two cases were recruited for the study of norethindrone, 5 cases for the study of levonorgestrel, and 4 cases for sulprostone. The studies showed that the levels of the 2 steroids in saliva were correlated with those observed in serum. The determination of the hormone level in saliva after termination of pregnancy using sulprostone provided information on the length of time between abortion and resumption of ovarian function. Analysis of hormones in saliva is a useful and convenient procedure in family planning research. Since the concentration of hormone in saliva is much lower than in serum, highly sensitive assays are needed, and more samples have to be collected due to the large variance of hormone levels in saliva.^ieng