BackgroundThe purpose of the study was to investigate parents’ perceptions of antibiotic use for their children, interactions between parents and physicians regarding treatment with antibiotics, and factors associated with parents self-medicating children with antibiotics.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in vaccination clinics in two rural Chinese counties. Primary caregivers (the child’s parents in 97% of cases) visiting these clinics for the vaccination of their young children were given a 55-item structured questionnaire to collect information on the parents’ knowledge and attitudes regarding when, why, and how to use antibiotics and on their practices of purchasing antibiotics and medicating children.ResultsOf the 854 participating primary caregivers, 79% thought antibiotics could cure viral infections, and half believed that antibiotics could shorten the duration of upper respiratory tract infection. Parents reported a median of two hospital visits for their children during the previous 6 months, equal to the median number of antibiotic prescriptions received from physicians. Sixty-two percent of the parents had self-medicated their children with antibiotics. Living in rural villages (Adj OR = 1.643, 95% CI: 1.108–2.436), raising more than one child (Adj OR = 2.174, 95% CI: 1.485–3.183), increasing age of child (Adj OR = 1.146, 95% CI: 1.037–1.266), purchasing antibiotics without a prescription (Adj OR = 6.264, 95% CI: 4.144–9.469), storing antibiotics at home (Adj OR = 2.792, 95% CI: 1.961–3.975) and good adherence to physicians’ advice (Adj OR = 0.639, 95% CI: 0.451–0.906) were independently associated with self-medicating behavior.ConclusionsLow levels of knowledge on the use of antibiotics and a high prevalence of self-medicating children with antibiotics were observed among parents in rural China. Interventions for the rational use of antibiotics in children should focus on strengthening mass health education, improving effective communication between physicians and patients, and enforcing supervision of the sale of antibiotics in retail pharmacies.

Background Xerostomia (dry mouth) after head/neck radiation is a common problem among cancer patients and available treatments are of little benefit. The objective of this trial was to determine if acupuncture can prevent xerostomia among head/neck patients undergoing radiotherapy. Methods A randomized, controlled trial among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma was conducted comparing acupuncture to standard care. Participants were treated at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China. Forty patients were randomized to acupuncture treatment and 46 to standard care. Patients were treated 3 times/week on the same days they received radiotherapy. Subjective measures included the Xerostomia Questionnaire (XQ) and MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for Head/Neck (MDASI-HN). Objective measures were unstimulated and stimulated whole salivary flow rates (UWSFR; SSFR). Patients were followed for 6 months after the end of radiotherapy. Results XQ scores for acupuncture were statistically significantly lower than controls starting in week 3 through the 6-months(P=0.003 at week3, all other P’s < 0.0001), with clinically significant differences as follows: week 11- RR 0.63 [95% CI, 0.45, 0.87]; 6 months - RR 0.38 [95% CI, 0.19, 0.76]. Similar findings were seen for MDASI-HN scores. Group differences emerged as early as 3 weeks into treatment for saliva (UWSFR, P = 0.0004), with greater saliva flow in the acupuncture group at week 7 (UWSFR, P < 0.0001; SSFR, P = 0.002) and 11 (UWSFR, P < 0.02; SSFR, P < 0.03) and at 6 months (SSFR, P < 0.003). Conclusions Acupuncture given concurrently with radiotherapy significantly reduced xerostomia and improved QOL.

Perylene bisimides (PBIs) are one class of the most explored organic fluorescent materials due to their high fluorescence quantum efficiency, electron transport behaviour, and ready to form well-tailored supramolecular structures. However, they suffer from heavy aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect which has greatly limited their potential applications. We successfully tackle this problem by chemical modification of the PBI core with two tetraphenylethene (TPE) moieties at the bay positions. This modification resulted in a pronounced fluorescence red-shift (over 120 nm) and rendered the derivatives (1,6-/1,7-DTPEPBI) with evident aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behaviour. Both 1,6-DTPEPBI and 1,7-DTPEPBI emit bright red fluorescence in the solid state. The fluorescence quantum efficiency of the aggregates of 1,7-DTPEPBI (F F, solid ¼ 29.7%, formed in a hexane/ dichloromethane mixture, f h ¼ 90%) is about 424 times higher than that in dichloromethane solution (F F, solut ¼ 0.07%). Electrochemical investigation results indicated that 1,7-DTPEPBI sustained the intrinsic n-type semiconductivity of PBI moiety. In addition, morphological inspection demonstrated that 1,7-DTPEPBI molecules easily form well-organized microstructures despite the linkage of the PBI core with bulky TPE moieties.

Organic fluorescent probes are widely used in bioimaging and bioassays, but the notorious photobleaching hampers their applications. Encapsulation of organic dyes into nanoparticles (NPs) is an effective strategy to minimize photobleaching, but classical organic dye molecules tend to have their fluorescence quenched in aggregate states, which is termed aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ). Here we demonstrate our attempt to tackle this problem through the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) strategy. 3,4:9,10-Tetracarboxylic perylene bisimide (PBI) is a well-known organic dye with a serious ACQ problem. By attaching two tetraphenylethene (TPE) moieties to the 1,7-positions, the ACQcharacteristic PBI-derivative was converted to an AIE-characteristic molecule. The obtained PBI derivative (BTPEPBI) exhibits several advantages over classical PBI derivatives, including pronounced fluorescence enhancement in aggregate state, red to near infrared emission, and facile fabrication into uniform NPs. Studies on the staining of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and in vivo imaging of a tumorbearing mouse model with BTPEPBI-containing NPs reveal that they are effective fluorescent probes for cancer cell and in vivo tumor diagnosis with high specificity, high photostability and good fluorescence contrast.

Background Xerostomia (dry mouth) after head/neck radiation is a common problem among cancer patients. Quality of life (QOL) is impaired, and available treatments are of little benefit. This trial determined the feasibility of conducting a sham-controlled trial of acupuncture and whether acupuncture could prevent xerostomia among head/neck patients undergoing radiotherapy. Methods A sham controlled, feasibility trial was conducted at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing radiotherapy. To determine feasibility of a sham procedure, 23 patients were randomized to real acupuncture (N = 11) or to sham acupuncture (N = 12). Patients were treated 3 times/week during their course of radiotherapy. Subjective measures were the Xerostomia Questionnaire (XQ) and MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for Head and Neck Cancer (MDASI-HN). Objective measures were unstimulated whole salivary flow rates (UWSFR) and stimulated salivary flow rates (SSFR). Patients were followed for 1 month after radiotherapy. Results XQ scores for acupuncture were significantly lower than sham controls starting in week 3 and lasted through the 1-month follow-up (all P’s < 0.001 except for week 3, which was 0.006), with clinically significant differences as follows: week 6 – RR 0.28 [95% CI, 0.10, 0.79]; week 11- RR 0.17 [95% CI, 0.03, 1.07]. Similar findings were seen for MDASI-HN scores and MDASI-Intrusion scores. Group differences for UWSFR and SSFR were not found. Conclusions In this small pilot study, true acupuncture given concurrently with radiotherapy significantly reduced xerostomia symptoms and improved QOL when compared with sham acupuncture. Large-scale, multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled trials are now needed.