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In this study, we investigated oxidative stress and tumor marker levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 136 coke oven workers and in 60 control subjects, and evaluated the correlation between oxidative stress and tumor marker levels. Questionnaires on basic demographic information were also administered. Significant differences in employment time and percentages of alcohol drinkers were observed between the control and exposed groups. PAH exposure was assessed using urinary 1-hydroxy-pyrene (1-OHP) levels and was found to be significantly higher in workers than in the controls. Significant differences (P<0.001) of MDA, GST, LDH, NSE, Cyfra21-1, and of SCC and TNF-a (P<0.0001 and P<0.05, P<0.001, respectively) levels were observed among controls and coke-oven workers, except for bottom coke oven workers. Associations between age and risk of increased TNF-a, smoking and increased GST activities, and drinking with increased MDA concentrations, were marginal (P=0.055, P=0.048, P=0.057, respectively). The association between smoking with MDA (P=0.004), NSE (P=0.005), SCC (P=0.004) and TNF-a (P<0.001), and drinking with TNF-a levels was significant (P=0.012). In addition, a significant positive correlation between oxidative stress and tumor markers was found in the present study. These results suggest that a synergistic increase of oxidative stress and tumor markers induced by PAHs may play a role in toxic responses for PAHs in coke oven workers.

Objective: To evaluate the curative effect and safety of Bushen Qiangji Decoction (BQD) and Qingre Qiangji Decoction (QQD) in treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients, and to verify the clinical utility of AS syndrome differentiation and treatment scheme [Shen-deficiency induced stasis obstruction syndrome (SDISOS) and dampness-heat obstruction syndrome (DHOS) being two basic syndrome types, Shen invigorating blood activating method (SIBAM) and heat clearing dampness resolving method (HCDRM) being two basic treatment methods]., Methods: Totally 354 AS patients of SDISOS and DHOS were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group using a multi-center randomized, positive drug parallel-controlled clinical trail. Patients in treatment group were treated by BQD or QQD according to syndrome typing, while those in the control group took Sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablet (SECT), 24 weeks as one therapeutic course. After treatment, the clinical efficacy was evaluated by using ASAS20 standard (set by Asessment in Ankylosing Spondylitis working group), Chinese medical efficacy evaluation standards, and BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI, night-pain index, spinal pain index, PGA, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)., Results: After 24 weeks of treatment by BQD or QQD, ASAS20 standard rate was 86.75% in the treatment group, and the total effective rate of Chinese medical syndrome was 85.47%. They could significantly reduce patients' integrals of Chinese medical syndrome, BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI, night-pain index, spinal pain index, and PGA (all P < 0.01)., Conclusions: QQD and BQD got confirmable clinical effects in treating AS, providing strong evidence of evidence-based medicine for syndrome differentiation and treatment of AS.

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method and principal component analysis (PCA) method were used to analyze the structures of microorganism population in injection wells and production wells of a post-polymer-flooding oil reservoir in Daqing oil field. The results showed that the dominant species in injection wellhead were aerobic bacteria Pseudomonas and Acinenobacter. Facultative anaerobic bacteria Enterbacter was the dominant bacteria in near area of injection wells. Bacteria detected in production wells included Thauera, Clostridia, Pseudomonas, Petrobacter and some uncultured bacteria. Methanosaeta turned out to be the only archaea detected in injection wells, which was an aceticlastic methane-producing archaeon. Archaea detected in production wells consisted of Methanomicrobium, Methanospirillum and Methanobacterium. In general, aerobic bacteria, facultative anaerobe, and strictly anaerobic bacteria distributed successively from injection wells to production wells in this block. The dominant populations of archaea were different between injection wells and production wells, while were influenced by different environments and microbial metabolism products.

In this paper, we evaluated the acute toxicity of five naphthoquinone compounds, expressed as median lethal concentration at 96 h (LC(50)) using zebrafish as a model. The five compounds were classified as harmful or very toxic. The Gaussian method was used to calculate the quantitative-chemical parameters of each compound. Based on the structure-activity relationship analysis, the interaction between the naphthoquinones and the target is likely mediated by 1-carbonyl and the hydrophobic fraction substituted in alpha -position of naphthoquinone via hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Our results provide a foundation for evaluating the aquatic ecological risk and the mode of action of naphthoquinones in the environment.

Spectra with different resolution (1, 2, 4 and 8 cm(-1)) of samples with combined CO/CO2/NO were used to build models for quantitative analysis of each component. Using these models, the influence of spectral resolution on gas quantitative analysis was studied. Research data show that for each component there is a best competent resolution for its quantitative analysis. And the quantitative analysis of all involved components has good calibration accuracy with higher resolution (1/2 cm(-1)) and lower resolution (8 cm(-1)), giving the relatively high mean of correlation coefficient of each component (r) more than 0.999 5, and the mean of root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of each component below 18.36 and 15.43 respectively, but the calibration accuracy of the model with moderate resolution of 4 cm(-1) dropped sharply, giving the mean of correlation coefficient of each component (r) of 0.989 66,and the mean of root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of each component of 90.37 and 64.33 respectively. These results demonstrate that the spectral resolution has an important effect on the calibration accuracy of gas quantitative analysis model and the successful application of FTIR As can be seen, the accuracy of gas quantitative analysis is highly dependent on the proper selection of spectral resolution. In order to improve the accuracy of gas quantitative analysis, it is very important to select suitable spectral resolution depending on different components and various application situations.

The acute toxicity and changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the zebrafish Danio rerio were measured when the fish was exposed to paclobutrazol (PBZ) under laboratory conditions. The median lethal concentration value at 96 h post-exposure (LC(50) (96 h)) was determined to be 20.55 mg/L. In addition, the SOD activities in D. rerio were significantly higher at 96 h post-exposure among the various concentrations of the pollutant tested. The change of CAT activity could be considered as a sensitive biomarker of the oxidative stress induced by PBZ. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis identified the potential active points for the pollutant and that the cavum may be the site of interaction with the receptor.

Objective: To study the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and Ca(2+) in acute intoxicated encephalopathy induced by 1, 2-dichloroethane (1, 2-DCE) in vitro., Methods: Neurocytes of new born rats were cultured in vitro, which were administered with different doses of 1, 2-DCE, and NMDAR and Ca(2+) antagonists including Ketamine and Nimodiping respectively. The cell morphologic structures were observed under light microscope, and its proliferation was detected by Cell Counting Kit-VIII., Results: 1, 2-DCE could damage the normal morphological structure of neurocytes: the cell body swelled and broke down, the karyon slurred or disappeared, the axone became shorten and thick, connection of neurocytes was reduced, the cell membrane was half-baked, injury of neurocytes became severer with the increase of the dose of 1, 2-DCE. There was no statistical difference in the proliferation of neurocytes between every 1, 2-DCE groups (P > 0.05), but there was significantly statistical difference between 1, 2-DCE groups, the control group, and the retarder groups (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: 1, 2-DCE can damage the normal morphological structure of neurocytes, and the damage will become severer with the increase of the dose of 1, 2-DCE. However, the cell morphologic structures and proliferation of antagonist groups are much better than those in the 1, 2-DCE groups.

Sorption of chlorotoluron in ammonium sulfate, urea and atrazine multi-solutes system was investigated by batch experiments. The results showed application of nitrogen fertilizers to the soil could affect the behavior of chlorotoluron. At the same concentration of N, sorption of chlorotoluron decreased as the concentration of atrazine increased on the day 0 and 6 in soil, respectively. The sorption of chlorotoluron increased from 0 to 6 d when soils were preincubated with deionized water, ammonium sulfate and urea solution for 6 d. That indicated incubation time was one of the most important factors for the sorption of chlorotoluron in nitrogen fertilizers treatments. The individual sorption isotherms of chlorotoluron in rubbery polymer and silica were strictly linear in single solute system, but there were competition sorption between pesticides or between pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers. That indicated the sorption taken place by concurrent solid-phase dissolution mechanism and sorption on the interface of water-organic matter or water-mineral matter.

The decay psi(2S)-->K(0)(S)K(0)(L) is observed using psi(2S) data collected with the Beijing Spectrometer at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider; the branching fraction is determined to be B(psi(2S)-->K(0)(S)K(0)(L))=(5.24+/-0.47+/-0.48)x10(-5). Compared with J/psi-->K(0)(S)K(0)(L), the psi(2S) branching fraction is enhanced relative to the prediction of the perturbative QCD "12%" rule. The result, together with the branching fractions of psi(2S) decays to other pseudoscalar meson pairs (pi(+)pi(-) and K+K-), is used to investigate the relative phase between the three-gluon and the one-photon annihilation amplitudes of psi(2S) decays.

We observe a narrow enhancement near 2m(p) in the invariant mass spectrum of pp pairs from radiative J/psi-->gammapp decays. No similar structure is seen in J/psi-->pi(0)pp decays. The results are based on an analysis of a 58 x 10(6) event sample of J/psi decays accumulated with the BESII detector at the Beijing electron-positron collider. The enhancement can be fit with either an S- or P-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function. In the case of the S-wave fit, the peak mass is below 2m(p) at M=1859(+3)(-10) (stat)+5-25(syst) MeV/c(2) and the total width is Gamma<30 MeV/c(2) at the 90% confidence level. These mass and width values are not consistent with the properties of any known particle.

Oral submucous fibrosis is a high risk precancerous condition and is suggested to be caused by areca nut chewing. Areca nut chewing is popular in Hunan Province of China, and is more concentrated in Xiangtan City. Two and nine cases of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) were first noticed in 1984 and 1985 respectively, and an epidemiologic survey was subsequently performed in 1986. The epidermiologic method of cluster sampling was used. The Yuhu District, one of the five urban districts of the Xiangtan City with a population of 100,000 was selected as a whole body in the survey, 57 independent units of various professions were randomly selected as group samples and more than 70% of subjects in each unit were examined. Definite fibrous band on palpation was used as a main diagnostic criterion for OSF. A total of 11046 individuals were examined; among them were 3907 areca nut chewers (35.37%) and 7139 non-chewers (64.63%). 335 cases of OSF were found, comprising a prevalence rate of 3.03%. The disease involved mainly the middle third of the oral cavity. All of the OSF cases were areca nut chewers. No case had been found in non-chewers. Four cases of oral carcinoma were found on the basis of OSF, the malignant transformation rate was 1.19%. The high prevalence of OSF may be due to areca nut chewing plus extensive and heavy use of hot pepper in Xiangtan people. The result supports the role of the areca nut as an etiologic factor in the development of OSF. The low malignant transformation rate of 1.19% compared with the 7.6% in an Indian report may be because Xiangtan people chew areca nut without tobacco.

Malignant tumours (540 cases), including tumours of the lung, oesophagus, cardia, stomach, rectum, bladder, other urinary genital organs, face and mouth, eyes, ear, nose and throat (ENT), head and neck, breast and skin, were treated using photodynamic therapy (PDT) between 1982 and 1985 in Beijing. All of the cases were identified pathologically and the patients received haematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) (5 mg kg-1) intravenously 48-72 h prior to PDT. An argon-pumped dye laser emitting at 630 nm was used for the treatment. The results were as follows: complete response (CR) was obtained in 227 cases (42.1%), partial response (PR) was obtained in 114 cases (21.1%), mild response (MR) was obtained in 120 cases (22.2%) and 79 cases (14.6%) showed no response (NR). The effectiveness of PDT in the different organs was compared. HPD fluorescence was examined in 409 cases of malignant tumours: 344 lesions (84.1%) revealed red fluorescence (positive reaction), 32 gave an equivocal response and 33 gave a negative reaction. Positive fluorescence was seen in all types of malignant tumour in our study. Indications and limitations of PDT for the different organs are discussed and compared.

38 rabbits were anesthetized with chloralose and urethane. As soon as the animal recovered its consciousness it was immobilized with flaxedil and artificial respiration. The electrical activities of the nociceptive neurons were recorded by glass microelectrodes (tip 1-3 microns) in the ranges P7-11 R2-3 HO+1-6, with the aid of a stereotaxic apparatus. 116 of the nociceptive units responded to noxious stimuli which applied to the peroneal nerve with a short train of pulses. Among them, 64 units (55%) responded by an increase in frequency of the discharge to noxious stimuli (pain-excitation neuron, PEN). In contrast, there were 52 units (45%), which responded to noxious stimuli quite differently, by having a decrease in the frequency of the discharge (pain-inhibition neuron, PIN). Similar results were obtained by the stimulation of the head of caudate nucleus with the same train of pulses: an excitatory effect was observed in PEN, and an inhibitory effect in PIN. However, after electroacupuncture by penetrating acupoint "Hegu" or dolantin given intravenously, under the same conditions used above. We again stimulated both the head of caudate nucleus, eliciting an inhibitory effect on PEN. And a reduction of inhibition or release from it on PIN. From the results presented, it indicated that head of caudate nucleus was connected with the modulation of the nociceptive neuronal activity in M.R.F. and was related to the effect of acupuncture. The effect of atropine on the head of caudate nucleus stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)