For diagnosis of vertebral metastases, MRI was found to be the best modality and also better than other techniques on both per-patient and per-lesion basis.

In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of artemisinin (Art) on lupus nephritis mice and its mechanisms by comparing the differences between lupus nephritis (LN) mice given Art and control mice in molecular biology, immunohistochemistry, and histopathology. The results showed that Art could remarkably relieve the symptoms, decrease the level of urine protein/24 h, and alleviate pathological renal lesions. The differences among the four groups in the expression of the NF-kBp65 protein, nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) activity, and the expression of transforming growth factor-b1 (TGF-b1) mRNA in renal tissue suggested that Art can lower the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and inhibit the expression of the NF-kBp65 protein and NF-kB and TGF-b1 mRNA in the renal tissues of LN mice. These results proved that it is reliable and effective to use Art to treat LN mice, and its therapeutic mechanisms should closely be related to the fact that Art can obviously decrease the serum levels of TNF-a and IL-6 and down-regulate the expression of the NF-kBp65 protein and NF-kB and TGF-b1 mRNA in renal tissues.

The first experimental results obtained on plasma confined in a toroidal heliac are reported. A simple method of generating highly ionized, weakly collisional plasma is described. It is found that the geometry of the plasma in general and the measured pressure profiles in particular conform closely with the calculated helical axis magnetic surfaces. Preliminary indications of plasma confinement are favourable.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and types of arrhythmia and their relationship with the severity and prognosis of chronic heart failure (CHF) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and to investigate the therapeutic effect of torasemide versus furosemide on CHF and incidence of arrhythmia. DCM patients with NYHA cardiac function II-IV were continuously monitored using a 24-h dynamic electrocardiogram (Holter), and arrhythmia incidence was analyzed by computer automatic analysis combined with manual assessment. In total, 125 participants were evenly divided into two groups: torasemide group which received 10 mg oral torasemide once daily) and regular anti-heart failure treatment (N = 65), and furosemide group which received torasemide (20 mg once daily orally) and regular antiheart failure treatment (N = 60). Another 60 normal healthy persons served as the normal control group. Incidence and severity of arrhythmia increased when degree of CHF was elevated. Size of left atrium was related to atrial fibrillation and size of left ventricle was related to malignant arrhythmia. At 3 months after treatment, cardiac function in both groups improved and incidence and severity of arrhythmia in both groups were reduced. However, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was higher in the torasemide group than in the furosemide group, while incidence of arrhythmia was lower in the torasemide group. Arrhythmias frequently occurred in patients with DCM and HF. Type of cardiac arrhythmia is closely related to ventricular enlargement and cardiac function grade. Torasemide is better for improving cardiac function to reduce arrhythmia and CHF compared to furosemide.

Low frequency, coherent density fluctuations have been studied for three typical magnetic configurations in the helical axis stellarator SHEILA using Langmuir probe techniques. The parametric dependence, the threshold magnetic field, the frequency spectrum and the spatial structure of the fluctuations are measured experimentally. Mode ana!yses are made in a magnetic coordinate system. Both the mode numbers thus obtained and the smallness of the directly measured values of k,, ( k i l k , -100) indicate