Levofloxacin is a synthetic fluoroquinolone that is usually used to treat chronic bacterial prostatitis. We investigated the safety and efficacy of levofloxacin compared with ciprofloxacin for the ...treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in Chinese patients. This was a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. Four hundred and seventy-one patients with clinical symptoms/ signs were enrolled into the study, and 408 patients were microbiologically confirmed chronic bacterial prostatitis, who were randomized to either oral levofloxacin （500 mg q,d.） or ciprofloxacin （500 mg b.i~d.） for 4 weeks. Bacterial clearance rate, clinical symptoms/signs, adverse reactions and disease recurrence were assessed. The clinical symptoms and signs （including dysuria, perineal discomfort or pain） and bacteria cultures in 209 patients treated with levofloxacin and 199 patients treated with ciprofloxacin were similar. The most common bacteria were Escherichia cofiand Staphylococcus aureus. One to four weeks after the end of 4 weeks treatment, the bacterial clearance rate （86.06% vs. 60.03%; P〈O.05） and the clinical efficacy （including clinical cure and clinical improvement（93.30% vs. 71.86%; P〈0.05）） were significantly higher in the levofloxacin-treated group than in the ciprofloxacin-treated group. The microbiological recurrence rate was significantly lower in the levofloxacin-treated group than in the ciprofloxacin-treated group （4.00% vs. 19.25%; P〈0.05）. Rates of adverse events and treatment-related adverse events were slightly lower in the levofloxacin-treated group than in ciprofloxacin-treated group. Levofloxacin showed some advantages over ciprofloxacin in terms of clinical efficacy and disease recurrence, with a low rate of adverse events, for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in Chinese patients.
AIM： To compare the clinical characteristics of infectious keratopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus（T2DM） and nondiabetes mellitus（NDM） and to investigate risk factors for infectious keratopathy in ...T2DM patients. METHODS： Totally 230 patients with T2DM and 168 with NDM diagnosed as infectious keratopathy were hospitalized at Qingdao Eye Hospital from 2001 to 2015. Data including sex, age, occupation, season, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, duration between onset and treatments, duration of hospitalization were collected. Initially identified indicators were analyzed with a multivariate logistic regression. Glycosylated hemoglobin A1 c（Hb A1 c） in patients with T2DM was analyzed. The infectious keratopathies in the two groups were categorized and compared.RESULTS： The diabetic group consisted of 146（63.5%） males and 84（36.5%） females. The NDM group consisted of 111（66.1%） males and 57（33.9%） females. There was no signigicantly difference in sex distribution between the two groups（P〉0.05）. There were significant differences in age, occupation of patients, season of the onset of diseases, duration between onset and treatment, and durations of hospitalization between the two groups（P〈0.05）. In most of the patients in the diabetic group, the duration between onsetand treatment was ≤3 mo, and most was ≥3 mo in the NDM group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age and season were related to the development of corneal infection in the T2DM group（OR=1.709, 1.706）. In the T2DM group, Hb A1 c was 9.09%±2.12%. There were statistically significant differences in the incidences of bacterial keratitis and herpes simplex keratitis in the two groups（P〈0.05）, but no significant statistical difference was found between fungal keratitis and amoebic keratitis（P〉0.05）. CONCLUSION： Advanced age and the summer and winter seasons are identified as risk factors for infectious keratopathy in T2DM patients, and T2DM patients are more prone to bacterial keratitis.
The -2proPSA （p2PSA） and its derivatives, the p2PSA-to-free PSA ratio （%p2PSA）, and the Prostate Health Index （PHI） have greatly improved discrimination between men with and without prostate cancer ...（PCa） in prostate biopsies. However, little is known about their performance in cases where a digital rectal examination （DRE） and transrectal ultrasonography （TRUS） are negative. A prospective cohort of 261 consecutive patients in China with negative DRE and TRUS were recruited and underwent prostate biopsies. A serum sample had collected before the biopsy was used to measure various PSA derivatives, including total prostate-specific antigen （tPSA）, free PSA, and p2PSA. For each patient, the free-to-total PSA ratio （%fPSA）, PSA density （PSAD）, p2PSA-to-free PSA ratio （%p2PSA）, and PHI were calculated. Discriminative performance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve （AUC） and the biopsy rate at 91% sensitivity. The AUC scores within the entire cohort with respect to age, tPSA, %fPSA, PSAD, p2PSA, %p2PSA, and PHI were 0.598, 0.751, 0.646, 0.789, 0.814, 0.808, and 0.853, respectively. PHI was the best predictor of prostate biopsy results, especially in patients with a tPSA of 10.1-20 ng ml-1. Compared with other markers, at a sensitivity of 91%, PHI was the most useful for determining which men did not need to undergo biopsy, thereby avoiding unnecessary procedures. The use of PHI could improve the accuracy of PCa detection by predicting prostate biopsy outcomes among men with a negative DRE and TRUS in China.
A bacterial strain, Arthrobacter oxydans （B4）, capable of degrading benzoapyrene （BaP） in water body, was isolated from a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-contaminated site. Effects of different ...factors, such as reaction time, pH value, temperature and organic nutrients, on BaP biodegradation by the strain B4 were studied. After 5 d treatment, the concentration of BaP in mineral salts medium was reduced to 0.318 mg L-1, compared to the initial concentration of 1.000 mg L-1. There was a process of acid formation during the degradation with pH falling from initial 7.01 to 4.61 at 5 d, so keeping the water body under slightly alkaline condition was propitious to BaP degradation. Strain B4 efficiently degraded BaP at 20 to 37 ~C with addition of organic nutrients. The biodegradation and transformation of BaP mainly occurred on cell surfaces, and extracellular secretions played an important role in these processes. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer analyses of metabolites showed that ring cleavage occurred in the BaP degradation process and the resulting metabolically utilizable substrates were generated as sole carbon sources for B4 growth. Furthermore, mineralization extent of metabolites was verified by determining the total organic carbon and inorganic carbon in the degradation system.
The corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys can be improved using functional surface modification such as hydrophobic treatment.In this study,a hierarchical hydroxide zinc carbonate（HZC） film was ...fabricated on AZ31 magnesium alloy via a simple chemical-bath deposition process using urea aqueous solution.The morphologies,compositions and corrosion resistance of the hydrophobic film were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer,and electrochemical measurements as well.The results revealed that the HZC film displayed flower-like protrusions and had a thickness of approximately 100 um.The fluoroalkylsilane（FAS）-modified HZC film exhibited a hydrophobic property with a water contact angle of 131.3°.The FAS/HZC film significantly improved the corrosion resistance of the AZ31 alloy due to hierarchical structures and hydrophobic modification.
AIM： To detect whether patients with a T tube after cholecystectomy and choledochotomy have duodenal-biliary reflux by measuring the radioactivity of Tc99m-labeled diethylene triamine penta-acetic ...acid （DTPA） in the bile and whether the patients with duodenal-biliary reflux have sphincter of Oddi hypomotility, by measuring the level of plasma and serum gastrin of the patients. Finally to if there is close relationship among sphincter of Oddi hypomotility, duodenal-biliary reflux and gastrointestinal peptides.
METHODS： Forty-five patients with a T tube after cholecystectomy and choledochotomy were divided into reflux group and control group. The level of plasma and serum gastrin of the patients and of 12 healthy volunteers were measured by radioimmunoassay. Thirty-four were selected randomly to undergo choledochoscope manometry. Sphincter of Oddi basal pressure （SOBP）, amplitude （SOCA）, frequency of contractions （SOF）, duration of contractions （SOD）, duodenal pressure （DP） and common bile duct pressure （CBDP） were scored and analyzed.
RESULTS. Sixteen （35.6%） patients were detected to have duodenal-biliary reflux. SOBP, SOCA and CBDP in the reflux group were much lower than the control group （t = 5.254, 3.438 and 3.527, P 〈 0.001）. SOD of the reflux group was shorter than the control group （t = 2.049, P 〈 0.05）. The level of serum gastrin and plasma motilin of the reflux group was much lower than the control group （t = -2.230 and -2.235, P 〈 0.05）. There was positive correlation between the level of plasma motilin and SOBP and between the level of serum gastrin and SOBP and CBDP.
CONCLUSION： About 35.9% of the patients with a T tube after cholecystectomy and choledochotomy have duodenal-biliary reflux. Most of them have sphincter of Oddi hypomotility and the decreased level of plasma motilin and serum gastrin. The disorder of gastroin-testinal hormone secretion may result in sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. There is a close relationship between sphincter of Oddi hypomotility and duodenal-biliary reflux.
We studied the efficacy of culture-specific antibiotic therapy for chronic bacterial prostatitis （CBP） patients with or without prostatic calculi. This study included 101 patients （21-62 years old） ...who met the consensus criteria for CBP （National Institutes of Health category II）. According to the results of transrectal ultrasonography （TRUS）, all patients were divided into two groups： Group 1, CBP with prostatic calculi, n=39; Group 2, CBP without prostatic calculi, n=62. All patients received optimal antimicrobial therapy for 4 weeks and followed up for a minimum of 3 months （range： 3-8 months）. In addition to expressed prostatic secretions （EPS） and urine culture, all patients were asked to complete the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index （NIH-CPSI） and the subjective global assessment （SGA）. The microbiological eradication rate at the end of treatment were 32/39 （82.1%） and 54/62 （87.1%）, while the rates for continued eradication at the end of study were 17/39 （43.6%） and 45/62 （72.6%） in Group I and Group 2 （P〈0.01）, respectively. We observed a decrease in the total NIH-CPSI score median values from 24 to 19 in Group I and from 24 to 11 in Group 2. The pain subscore （P〈0.01）, urinary sunscore （P〈0.05） and quality of life （QoL; P〈0.05） as well as the total NIH-CPSI score （P〈0.01） were significantly improved after antimicrobial treatment in Group 2 compared to Group 1. Response, defined as a decrease of the NI H-CPSI total score by at least 50%, was seen in Group I versusGroup 2 in 38.5% and 58.1% （P〈0.01）, respectively. Our results showed that prostatic calculi influence the antimicrobial efficacy in men with CBP, There was a noticeable decrease in the cure rate of CBP patients with prostatic calculi due to relapse after antimicrobial therapy.
Background Standard superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery （STA-MCA） bypass surgery is an effective treatment for moyamoya disease, but recent evidence suggests that postoperative ...cerebral hyperperfusion can occur. In this study, the trendline of changes in regional cerebral blood flow （rCBF） after surgery were continually monitored near the site of anastomosis in order to investigate both the efficacy of the procedure for improving rCBF and the possible risk of hyperperfusion . Methods Standard STA-MCA bypass surgery was performed on 13 patients, rCBF was measured continually using laser Doppler flowmetry （LDF） until the 5th day after the operation with the LDF probe implanted adjacent to the area of the anastomosis. The trendline of rCBF changes postoperatively was recorded for the analysis performed using SPSS 13.0. Results The baseline LDF value of cortical rCBF was （84.68±14.39） perfusion unit （PU）, which was linear relative to absolute perfusion volume before anastomosis and （88.90±11.26） PU immediately after anastomosis （P 〉0.05）. The value changed significantly from before to after anastomosis （P 〈0.05）; it was （417.72±21.35） PU on the 1st day after surgery, and （358.99±18.01） PU, （323.46±17.38） PU, （261.60±16.38） PU and （375.72±18.45） PU on the following 4 days, respectively. The rCBF decreased gradually from the 2nd day until the 4th postoperative day, but still was at a high level （P 〈0.05）. However, on the 5th postoperative day the rCBF increased again to the second highest level, which was significantly different compared with the baseline value （P 〈0.05）, but not significantly different compared with the values on the other 4 days （P〉0.05）. Conclusions STA-MCA anastomosis improves the cerebral blood supply significantly in the early stage after surgery, however, the risk of symptomatic hyperperfusion may exist, which may possibly occur on the 1st day and 5th day after surgery. A LDF is useful for postoperative monitoring for both the efficacy of bypass and possible risk of neurologic deterioration or bleeding from hyperperfusion.
AIM： To detect the expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide receptor i （VPCAPrR） and VPCAP2-R mRNA in gallbladder tissues of patients with gallstone or gallbladder polyps.
...METHODS： The expression of VPCAP1-R and VPCAP2-R mRNA in gallbladder tissues was detected in 25 patients with gallstone, 8 patients with gallbladder polyps and 7 donors of liver transplantation by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）.
RESULTS： The VPCAP2-R mRNA expression level in the control group （1.09±0.58） was lower than that in the gallbladder polyp group （1.64±0.56） and the gallstone group （1.55±0.45） （P〈0.05） while the VPCAP1-R mRNA expression level in the control group （1.15 ±0.23） was not apparently different from that in the gallbladder polyp group （1.28±0.56） and the gallstone group （1.27± 0.38）. CONCLUSION： The abnormal expression of VPCAP2-R mRNA in gallbladder tissue may play a role in the formation of gallbladder stone and gallbladder polyps.
We proposed and demonstrated a wavelet transform modulus maxima （WTMM） de-noising method to decrease the temperature error. In this scheme, the composition scale was determined simply by the WTMM ...amplitude variation with the growth of the decomposition scale at 30 ℃, and the signal WTMM was obtained by the wavelet decomposition modulus on every decomposition scale based on the modulus propagating difference between the signal and noise. Then, we reconstructed the signal using the signal WTMM. Experimental results show that the proposed method is effective for de-noising, allowing for a temperature error decrease of about 1 ℃ at 40 ℃ and 50℃ comparing to the original data.
PDF
![Biodegradation of Benzo[a]p...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/1002-0160/small "Biodegradation of Benzo[a]pyrene by Arthrobacter oxydans B4")
