Preliminary study of quantification of regurgitant volume in mitral regurgitation by color Doppler echocardiography

A method for quantification of regurgitant volume in mitral regurgitation (MR) was studied. 31 cases of MR were investigated with color Doppler. The reliability of measuring velocity by Doppler and the influence of pressure gradient on MR were assessed and confirmed by experimental device. The results suggested that the best method in quantification of the regurgitant volume was "calibrating method" (r = 0.99; P less than 0.01), the next to the best was "volume method" (r = 0.74; P less than 0.01), whereas the regurgitant volume evaluated by multiplication of area, velocity and time was far from the actual regurgitant volume (r = 0.47; P greater than 0.05). The velocity of blood flow measured by Doppler is closely correlated to results obtained from experiments (r = 0.69; P less than 0.05). We believe that the ratio of back flow area and average area of left atrium calculated by Helmcke's method reflects the severity of the disease to a certain degree, bu there are many problems unsolved, e.g. the determination of the velocity of blood flow by color Doppler is dependent on the degree of brightness of coloration; the brighter the color, the quicker the speed it represents, whereas the darker coloration speaks for slower speed.

[Studies and comparisons on chemical components of essential oils from Clematis hexapetala Pall. and Inula nervosa Wall]

Chemical components of the essential oils from clematis hexapetala and Inula nervosa were analyzed by using GC-MS-DS. The result shows that the major components of the essential oil from Inula nervosa are thymol and thymol isobutyrate, while the major components of the essential oil from Clematis hexapetala are palmitic acid and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyl benzaldehyde.

The effect of amino acid substitutions at position 342 on the secretion of human alpha 1-antitrypsin from Xenopus oocytes

A glutamic acid to lysine change in the Z variant of human alpha 1-antitrypsin is associated with a failure to secrete the protein from synthesising cells. The block in export of the protein may be caused either by the loss of an acidic residue or the introduction of a basic one at this point in the polypeptide chain. Site-directed mutagenesis has been used to construct novel alpha 1-antitrypsin mutants which show that the side chain interactions from Glu-342 are not obligatory for protein export and it is rather the introduction of a basic residue at this point which produces the intracellular accumulation of the protein.

[Clinical study on xintongkang capsule in treating angina pectoris of coronary heart disease]

Two hundred and sixty seven cases of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease (male 152, female 115, age 41--79) were studied. Among these, 195 cases were patients with effort angina, 72 cases with non-effort angina. Double blind stratified randomized grouping, differentiation- syndromes treatment of TCM and self-control observation methods were applied. The results showed that total effective rate was 93.3% for angina pectoris in the treatment group. While control group which were treated by persantin and aspirin was 54.7% (P less than 0.001). For resting ECG evaluation total effective rates were 52.78% and 13.51% respectively. The ECG exercise testing (protocol Bruce) and dynamic ECG also showed the results similar to that of resting ECG. According to differentiation-syndromes treatment of TCM. The effect of Xintongkang capsule on simple stagnation of Qi and stasis of blood, or combined with deficiency of Qi, or combined with deficiency of Yin was better than other symptoms. The effect of Xintongkang capsule initiated in the second week after oral medicine, peak response occurring in the fourth week, and it trend to the stability in the eighth week. There was no harmful effect to heart, liver, kidney and blood. No allergic reactions were found in this observation.

[Study of the diagnostic specificity by Schneider's first rank symptoms]

This study rediscussed the prevalence of Schneider's first rank symptoms (FRS) in 132 patients with mental diseases and the specificity and the sensitivity of FRS for schizophrenia. Results showed: In the absence of organic or toxic etiology, the specificity of FRS for schizophrenia as opposed to manicdepressive psychosis, was 93%. The sensitivity of FRS for Schizophrenia was 72.9%.

[Characteristics of Con A induced cells and their inhibitory activities in patients with lymphoma]

Using five different cell lines as reactive cells, the proliferative inhibitory effect of Con A induced suppressive cells (CISC) was observed. The percentage of inhibition of MLA144 was 93.1%, K562 77.5%, Raji 62.5%, Molt-4 46.4%, and P388 25.9%. It is possible that K562 and MLA144 can be used as reactive cells instead of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Supernatants of CISC were also shown to be inhibitory, although less so than CISC. The inhibitory activity of CISC did not seem to be related to prostaglandin. However, its activity could be diminished by anti-T11 monoclonal antibody and complement. These results indicate that CISC is a T11-positive lymphocyte population. The inhibitory activity of CISC from 48 normal donors was determined by this modified method and compared with that of 22 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The CISC activity of the patients was significantly lower than that of the normal subjects. Addition of exogeneous IL-2 to the culture enhanced the inhibitory activity in both groups.

[An investigation on the association between incidence of coronary heart disease and stroke and meteorological factors]

Analysis of association between acute onset of coronary heart disease, stroke and meteorological factors, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity etc, was done by simple correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis, for a period of 2 years, 1984 to 1985. This study covered a population approximately of 700,000, scattered in defined areas of Beijing. The result showed that there was a negative correlation between incidence of stroke and acute myocardial infarction and some meteorological factors, such as temperature and clouds. A negative correlation between coronary sudden death and temperature had been observed by simple correlation analysis.

[Experimental studies of flexor tendon repair in "no man's land"]

The FDP of the middle toes of 51 chickens were divided and repaired. All of the chickens were divided into three groups, each had a procedure of protected passive mobilization beginning at 1, 5, 21 postoperative days respectively. Through studies by micrography, light-microscopy, transmission and scanning electronmicroscopy, we found that passive motion beginning at 1 day and 5 days after operation has similar effects on the healing tendons by preventing adhesions, stimulating proliferation of epitenon and remoulding tendon callus. On the basis of the above results, another 32 chickens were used for the following experiments: The effects of early stage passive motion on the results of double tendon repair and free tendon graft in the "No Man's Land". It was disclosed that passive motion can significantly prevent the adhesions between FDS and FDP, but this was less effective on adhesions between FDS nd sheath. For tendon graft, the results of the mobilized side were extraordinarily good, and the free tendon itself had taken part in the healing process.

Method of oriented circular dichroism

We present a new method for determining the orientation of alpha-helical sections of proteins or peptides in membrane. To apply this method, membranes containing proteins must be prepared in a multilayer array. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the multilayer sample are then measured at the normal as well as oblique incident angles with respect to the bilayer planes; we call such spectra oriented circular dichroism (OCD). The procedure of OCD measurement, particularly the ways to avoid the spectral artifacts due to the effects of dielectric interfaces, linear dichroism and birefringence, and the method of data analysis are described in detail. To illustrate the method, we analyze the OCD of alamethicin in diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine multilayers. We conclude unambiguously that the helical section of alamethicin is parallel to the membrane normal when the sample is in the full-hydration state, but the helical section rotates to the plane of membrane when the sample is in a low-hydration state. We also obtained the parallel and perpendicular CD spectra of alpha-helix, and found them to be in agreement with previous theoretical calculations based on the exciton theory. These spectra are useful for analyzing protein orientations in future experiments.

[Visco-elasticity of whole blood in healthy young men and women]

The measurement of visco-elastic properties of blood of the Chinese is very important for theoretical research and clinical practice. This paper reports the study of the visco-elastic properties, rheological parameters and several biochemical components of the whole blood in 146 healthy young students. No significant difference in the concentrations of globulin, cholesterol, fibrinogen and blood sugar between the male group and female group could be found. The level of albumin, hemoglobin and triglyceride in the male group was significantly higher than that in the female group. The rheological measurement demonstrated that plasma viscosities in both the male and female groups had no significant differences and that the values of HCT, apparent viscosities at high (51.2 s-1) and low (0.512 s-1) shear rates and AI in the male group had higher values of ESR and OD than the female group. The visco-elastic parameters of whole blood, including eta', eta", G' and lambda, were higher in the male group than the female group. The physiological meaning of these differences between the groups is also discussed in the paper.

Application of two-dimensional echocardiography in location of balloon of the Swan-Ganz catheter

Two-dimensional echocardiography was used to guide and locate the balloon of Swan-Ganz catheter during catheterization in 43 patients. The echoes of balloon appeared as a series of strong light spots, with a rate of detection of 100%. Under monitoring of two-dimensional echocardiography, the site of balloon and its moving route could be determined. The coincidence of echographic findings and X-ray findings showed that it can be used instead of X-ray monitoring to lessen irradiation during catheterization. The depth of catheter inserted was measured. The differential points between the echoes of balloon and tubing, the terminology of the balloon site in echocardiography and fluoroscopy, its clinical value and limitation are discussed.

X-ray Diffraction to 302 Gigapascals: High-Pressure Crystal Structure of Cesium Iodide

X-ray diffraction measurements have been carried out on cesium iodide (CsI) to 302 gigapascals with a platinum pressure standard. The results indicate that above 200 gigapascals CsI at 300 K has a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure with the ideal c/a ratio of 1.63 +/- 0.01. The crystal structure and pressure-volume relations converge at high pressure with those of solid xenon, which is isoelectronic with CsI. The results indicate a significant loss of ionic bonding in the hexagonal close-packed metallic phase of CsI at ultrahigh pressure.

Color Doppler echocardiography, two-dimensional echocardiography and signs in diagnosis of aortic regurgitation

To assess the diagnostic significance of color Doppler and two-dimensional echocardiography and signs in aortic regurgitation (AR), we studied 48 patients with AR confirmed by color Doppler. On color Doppler, an abnormal diastolic flow originating from the aortic valve was visualized in the left ventricular outflow tract in the 48 cases. The maximal regurgitant jet area was 0.8-23.3 cm2. On two-dimensional echocardiography, the appearance of cardiac chamber and valves did not offer a clue to the existence of AR in 12 patients (25%). On physical examination, diastolic murmur was inaudible in 18 of 45 patients. Peripheral signs of AR were not found in 20 of 45 patients. In slight AR, signs were usually not detected. From the above we are led to conclude that of the patients with AR confirmed by color Doppler echocardiography, only 75% could be detected by two-dimensional echocardiography and about 55% diagnosed by physical examination.

Noise and frequency chirping in external-cavity semiconductor lasers

The noise spectra and frequency chirping of semiconductor lasers in the presence of arbitrary amounts of optical feedback are analyzed. Short external cavities with strong optical feedback are found to reduce the noise dramatically in semiconductor lasers, especially in the high-frequency regime. Frequency chirping is shown to be closely related to the nonlinear gain effect.