Risk factors for inadvertent arterial puncture during subclavian vein catheterization.

OBJECTIVE: Central vein catheterizations facilitate the establishment of reliable venous pathways in emergent medical situations. The subclavian is an important vein for central venous catheterizations. But, inadvertent arterial punctures during subclavian vein catheterizations are more dangerous than those during jugular or femoral vein catheterizations, because of the lack of a reliable compression site. We aimed to identify risk factors for the occurrence of inadvertent arterial puncture during subclavian vein catheterizations in crowded emergency rooms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated 190 patients undergoing bedside subclavian vein catheterizations in our emergency room, from which 62 patients experienced inadvertent arterial punctures. We evaluated possible risk factors from basic physical or laboratory tests that can easily be obtained in the ER, and performed Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, non-conditional logistic regression analysis, and receiver-operating characteristic curves to determine the cut-off values of the identified risk factors. RESULTS: We identified age, BMI, and serum pre-albumin level as significant risk factors for inadvertent arterial puncture during subclavian vein catheterization (p<0.05) through regression analyses (odds ratios of 1.043, 0.719 and 0.989; and receiver-operating characteristic curves with AUCs of 0.741, 0.818, and 0.717, respectively). The cut-off values for age, BMI and serum pre-albumin level were 66.5 years old, 21.12 and 109.5 mg/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We found that patients with poor nutritional status (BMI <21.12 and serum pre-albumin <109.5 mg/L) or older than 69.5 years tended to experience more accidental arterial punctures during subclavian vein catheterizations, probably due to atrophy or diminished peri-vascular support tissues in patients with poor nutritional statuses that make it difficult to obtain adequate chest extensions.

MicroRNA-149 inhibits the progression of lung adenocarcinoma through targeting RAP1B and inactivating Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LAD). Moreover, microRNA-149 (miR-149) exhibits different roles in human cancers. Hence, this study mainly focused on the function of miR-149 in LAD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Western blot analysis and Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to quantify expression levels. The regulatory mechanism of miR-149/RAP1B was explored by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), transwell, and Dual-Luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: Downregulation of miR-149 was detected in LAD and predicted worse prognosis in patients with LAD. Functionally, overexpression of miR-149 inhibited cell viability and metastasis in LAD. In addition, miR-149 directly targets RAP1B and restrained its expression in LAD. Furthermore, upregulation of RAP1B attenuated the inhibitory effect of miR-149 on LAD. Besides that, miR-149 blocked epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and Wnt/ß-catenin pathway in LAD. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-149 inhibited the progression of LAD by restraining RAP1B/EMT and inactivating Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Effects of vacuum sealing drainage on the treatment of cranial bone-exposed wounds in rabbits.

This study was designed to assess the efficacy of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) on skull exposure wounds in rabbits and to investigate the underlying mechanism of the process. Full-thickness excisional circular wounds 2×2 cm with or without periosteum involvement were created in 88 New Zealand white rabbits (mean body weight: 3.0±0.65 kg). Animals were randomly divided into 4 groups: periosteum-intact wounds treated with traditional dressing (p+control), periosteum-intact wounds treated with VSD (p+VSD), periosteum-lacking wounds treated with traditional dressing (p-control) and periosteum-lacking wounds treated with VSD (p-VSD). The wounds treated with traditional dressing were covered with Vaseline gauze, while VSD treatment was accompanied with continuous -120 mmHg pressure. Finally, wound tissues were harvested for analysis of hydroxyproline content and histologic detection. VSD hastened the wound healing process significantly (P<0.05) compared to the corresponding control groups. VSD alleviated the inflammation reaction, accelerated re-epithelialization and facilitated the organization of collagen fibers into neat rows. During the wound healing process, the hydroxyproline content increased overtime [i.e., postoperative days (POD) 7, POD 10 and POD 15] in all four groups, and it peaked in the p+VSD group. VSD also promoted angiogenesis via increasing number and quality of collagen. We concluded that VSD can promote healing in bone-exposed wounds via increasing hydroxyproline content and vessel density, reducing inflammatory responses and generating ordered collagen arrangement.

Experimental results of a dual-beam ion source for 200 keV ion implanter.

A dual beam ion source for 200 keV ion implanter aimed to produce 200 keV H2 (+) and He(+) beams simultaneously has been developed. Not suitable to use the analyzing magnet, the purity of beam extracted from the source becomes important to the performance of implanter. The performance of ion source was measured. The results of experiments show that the materials of inlet tube of ion source, the time of arc ionization in ion source, and the amount of gas flow have significant influence on the purity of beam. The measures by using copper as inlet tube material, long time of arc ionization, and increasing the inlet of gas flow could effectively reduce the impurity of beam. And the method using the gas mass flow controller to adjust the proportion of H2 (+) and He(+) is feasible.

Uptake and accumulation of copper by roots and shoots of maize (Zea mays L.).

The effects of different concentrations of copper sulfate on root and shoot growth of maize(Zea mays L.) and the uptake and accumulation of Cu2+ by its roots and shoots were investigated in the present study. The concentrations of copper sulfate (CuSO4 x 5H2O) used were in the range of 10(-5)-10(-3) mol/L. Root growth decreased progressively with increasing concentration of Cu2+ in solution. The seedlings exposed to 10(-3) mol/L Cu2+ exhibited substantial growth reduction, yielding only 68% of the root length of the control. The shoot growth of the seedlings grown at 10(-5)-10(-4) mol/L Cu2+ were more or less the same as the control seedlings. The leaves treated with 10(-3) mol/L Cu2+ were obviously inhibited in shoot growth. The fresh and dry weights both in roots and shots decreased progressively with increasing Cu2+ concentration. This fits well with the above mentioned effects of copper sulfate on root growth. Zea mays has considerable ability to remove Cu from solutions and accumulate it. The Cu content in roots of Z. mays increased with increasing solution concentration of Cu2+. The amount of Cu in roots of plants treated with 10(-3), 10(-4) and 10(-5) mol/L Cu2+ were 10, 8 and 1.5 fold, respectively, greater than that of roots of control plant. However, the plants transported and concentrated only a small amount of Cu in their shoots.

Nitric oxide as a regulator in preimplantation embryo development and apoptosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO) in the development and apoptosis of preimplantation mouse embryos. DESIGN: Prospective, controlled study. SETTING: Medical college laboratory. SUBJECT(S): Two-cell embryos from outbred ICR mice. INTERVENTION(S): Hyperstimulation protocol, two-cell embryos were collected, then treated with or without an NO synthase inhibitor (L-NAME) or an NO donor (SNP) and combined with a cGMP analogue (8-Br-cGMP) or a selective inhibitor of NO-sensitive soluble guanylyl cyclase (ODQ). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The development of ICR mouse embryo from two cells to blastocyst stages in vitro. RESULT(S): The development of blastocyst was inhibited by L-NAME in a concentration-dependent manner (0.1-10 microM) and 0.1 microM SNP reversed this effect (80.5% of control). Annexin-V/propidium iodide and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling techniques demonstrated that excessive NO (> or =10 microM) might induce apoptosis in the mouse embryos. 8-Br-cGMP reversed the inhibitory effect of L-NAME and rescued the embryo growth. ODQ inhibited the embryo development in a dose-responsive fashion (0.1--100 microM) but had no effect in the NO-induced embryo apoptosis. P53 and Bax were found to be up-regulated during the embryo fragmentation. CONCLUSION(S): These results indicate that the cGMP pathway might be involved in the NO-regulated embryonic development, but not in NO-induced apoptosis, for which P53/Bax pathway might be involved.

[The antagonistic effect of naloxone on the epidermal conductivity of amphibian embryos].

The immunocytological work revealed that in amphibia beta-endorphin is distributed in embryonic epidermis during development with prominent expression at late tail bud stage which coincides with the stage of epidermal conductivity of full strength. To see whether any relationship exists between the presence of beta-endorphin and the epidermal conductivity of amphibian embryos, naloxone of 1 and 2 mumol/L was used. It has been demonstrated that after 45-60 minutes in the naloxone solution the embryonic epidermal conductivity disappeared and 90-120 minutes after the beginning of naloxone treatment the epidermal conductivity was again recovered. It was suggested that the opiate peptides, such as beta-endorphin, play some role in the epidermal conductivity of amphibian embryos.

[Experimental and clinical study of shuanghuanglian aerosol in treating acute respiratory tract infection].

Two hundrde and two cases of acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) were treated with Shuanghuanglian (SHL) aerosol. In these cases, the majority of cases were virus infection and 64% of them was caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The virostatic and bacteriostatic test were done in vitro by the cell culture method and it was shown that SHL could inhibit the RSV, para-influenza I-IV and 23 kinds of pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus etc. The bacteriostatic effect was positively correlated to the SHL concentration. Experimental study showed that SHL could enhance the NK cell activity, promote the production of alpha-interferon and raise the rate of lymphocyte transformation. The controlled observation on SHL preparation with various dosage-forms revealed that the SHL aerosol in treating early ARI showed better results than that of injections and oral liquor symptomatologically (P < 0.01). The effective rate was 96%.