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Coal and gas outburst is a potentially fatal risk during the mining of gassy coal seams, which seriously threatens the safe mining of collieries. To understand the outburst mechanism and evolution rules, a new apparatus (LSTT) was developed to conduct simulated experiment. In the context of an outburst accident in Dingji coal mine, the authors launched an authentic outburst experiment to replay the outburst accident. Experimental apparatus, similar criterion, coal‐like materials and gas sources, and experimental design were discussed systematically in this paper. Experimentally, the study analyzed the geo‐stress has significant influence on the outburst evolution. At the driving face, the stress concentration possibly caused gas outburst, under the influence of mining‐induced stress. After the outburst occurred, the stress balance of the coal changed, resulting in the instability of the coal. Furthermore, the elastic energy, gas enthalpy, and gravitational potential energy were released rapidly. The experimental result stated that outburst coal has the sorting characteristics, in line with the field outburst law. The intensity prediction model has been built based on the energy model. Moreover, the factors that impact outburst intensity were analyzed. In the process of coal and gas outburst, the gas enthalpy of gas and the elastic potential of coal are the main energy sources. This study provides guidance for the development of the outburst mechanism and outburst mine management.

With the development of power system, the level of short circuit current is also increasing rapidly. As an effective method to limit short circuit current, fault current limiter (FCL) is more and more widely used. There are many kinds of fault current limiters according to their working principles. Compared with other types of fault current limiters, the fault current limiter based on high coupled split reactor (HCSR) has many advantages. Under normal operation condition, this type of fault current limiter shows very small leakage inductance. When short circuit fault occurs, it will change into current limiting reactor. The capacity of fault current limiter to withstand short-time withstand current and peak withstand current is an important evaluation index, and the reasonable equivalent test method is very important. In this paper, combined with the research of 500 kV and above voltage level AC fault current limiter, the test methods of short-time withstand current and peak withstand current of fault current limiter based on HCSR are comprehensively analyzed, so as to meet the requirements of short-time withstand current and peak withstand current test of fault current limiter based on HCSR.

Objective To study effectiveness of quality improvement interventions in reducing hypothermia in preterm infants on admission to neonatal intensive care unit. Design Quality improvement methodologies including multidisciplinary planning and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Data during and post-implementation were collected. Setting and participants In total, 84 preterm infants with birth weights ≤ 1500 g delivered during implementation period (October 2008-April 2009) were compared with 168 historical controls and 947 infants in the subsequent 4 years. Intervention(s) In addition to routine interventions, delivery room temperatures were increased, and use of full-body polyethylene wraps and woollen caps were implemented during initial stabilization. Education and training were provided to reinforce the new interventions. Main Outcome Measure(s) Primary outcome was incidence of hypothermia and mean admission temperature. Secondary outcomes were rates of intraventricular haemorrhage and mortality. Results Incidence of admission hypothermia decreased from 79.4 to 40.5% (P < 0.001), constituting a 49% improvement (OR = 0.177, 95% CI: 0.099-0.316). Mean admission temperature increased from 35.8 ± 0.8°C to 36.5 ± 0.7°C (P < 0.001). Hyperthermia incidence was higher at 6% compared to baseline of 1.3% (P = 0.049). The incidence of admission hypothermia remained stable at 47.4% in the 4 years post-implementation. Rates of intraventricular haemorrhage and mortality remained unchanged. Small for gestation, low 5-min Apgar score and singleton delivery were factors found to be associated with admission hypothermia. Conclusion The implementation of evidence-based best practices resulted in significant reduction in admission hypothermia in preterm infants, which persisted for 4 years post-implementation. The practices have since become standard of care in our institution.

Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that, in Fig. 7 on p. 2757, sections of the data panels in Fig. 7A and B, showing the results of the non‑transfected HeLa cell (Pnon group) and pGenesil‑1‑transfected HeLa cell (P0 group) experiments respectively, were strikingly similar. Both the Pnon and the P0 groups were control groups; upon re‑examining their original data, the authors have realized that, when uploading the images, the data shown in Fig. 7B for the pGenesil‑1‑transfected HeLa cells (P0 group) were selected incorrectly. The authors were able to locate the data that were intended to have been shown in Fig. 7B; moreover, the text describing the number of migrated cells in the Results section also requires a correction. In the 'Downregulation of BDNF expression suppresses the migratory and invasive capabilities of HeLa cells' subsection, the text on lines 9‑11 of this paragraph should be changed to the following (changed text is highlighted in bold): 'Migrated cells/field in the PBDNF1 group (37±17) were significantly less than those in the Pnon (105±31) and P0 (86±27) groups'. Likewise, the same correction to the text has been made to the Figure legend, as shown opposite. The revised version of Fig. 7, showing the correct data for Fig. 7B, is shown opposite. The authors are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for allowing them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum, and all of the authors agree to the publication of this Corrigendum. The authors sincerely apologize for this mistake, and regret any inconvenience this mistake has caused. [the original article was published on Oncology Reports 37: 2751-2760, 2017; DOI: 10.3892/or.2017.5569].

Background Traumatic avulsion injuries to the anus, although uncommon, can result in serious complications and even death. Management of anal avulsion injuries remains controversial and challenging. This study aimed to investigate the clinical effects of treating large skin and subcutaneous tissue avulsion injuries in the perianal, sacral, and perineal regions with island flaps or skin graft combined with vacuum assisted closure. Methods Island flaps or skin graft combined with vacuum assisted closure, diverting ileostomy, the rectum packed with double-lumen tubes around Vaseline gauze, negative pressure drainage with continuous distal washing, wounds with skin grafting as well as specialized treatment were performed. Results The injuries healed in all patients. Six cases had incomplete perianal avulsion without wound infection. Wound infection was seen in four cases with annular perianal avulsion and was controlled, and the separated prowl lacuna was closed. The survival rate in 10 patients who underwent skin grafting was higher than 90%. No anal stenosis was observed after surgery, and ileostomy closure was performed at 3 months (six cases) and 6 months (four cases) after surgery, respectively. Conclusions Covering a wound with an island flap or skin graft combined with vacuum assisted closure is successful in solving technical problems, protects the function of the anus and rapidly seals the wound at the same time.

Laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (LSPDP) can be accomplished with either the preservation or the resection of splenic vessels; the latter is also known as Warshaw technique. Our study is designed to investigate the operation selection strategy when proceeding LSPDP and to evaluate the long-term outcomes of patients undergoing Warshaw surgery. The medical records and follow-up data of patients who underwent LSPDP in Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, were reviewed retrospectively. A total of thirty-five patients were involved in this study, including 17 cases of patients who were treated with Warshaw procedure (WT) while the other 18 cases had splenic vessels preserved (SVP). Compared with the SVP group, the operative time and intraoperative blood loss in WT group were improved significantly. The incidence of early postoperative splenic infarction was higher in WT group. However, there was no report of splenic abscess or second operation. Follow-up data confirmed that there was no significant difference in spleen phagocytosis and immune function compared with normal healthy population. Our study confirms that LSPDP-Warshaw procedure is a safe and efficient treatment for the benign or low grade malignant tumors in distal pancreas in selected patients. The long-term spleen function is normal after Warshaw procedure. Preoperative assessment and intraoperative exploration are recommended for the selection of operation approaches.

The dynamic stress simulation and experiment of the 21kV equivalent prototype of the 500kV current limiter high coupled split reactor are researched in this paper. A calculation model of dynamic stress of 21kV equivalent prototype of 500kV current limiter high coupled split reactor is established by using finite element simulation software, and the dynamic stress distribution is analysed with the calculation results. Then the dynamic stability experiments of the single arm of the prototype and analysis of the experiment and simulation results are introduced. The results of simulation and experiment prove that both of the dynamic stability of the 21kV equivalent prototype and the 500kV current limiter high coupled split reactor meet the design requirement.

Based on a multi-class support vector machine, an urban real estate early warning model is constructed for the Beijing real estate market. The initial indicator system is established based on the historical development of Beijing's real estate market and the selection of real estate early warning indicators. Early warning index data for Beijing from 2000 to 2018 are selected, and the leading index is selected by a time difference correlation analysis as the warning index to be used for further implementation. The model is found to have a good early warning judgment performance, and demonstrates generalization ability. The model analyzes the real estate market from the aspects of land supply, credit scale, housing supply structure, restriction of speculation, and strengthening of transparency of real estate information. It predicts that the real estate market in Beijing will run smoothly in 2019. Based on the model's findings, the paper proposes policy recommendations to promote the healthy operation of China's real estate market.

Purpose In China, dabigatran and rivaroxaban are the only approved non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). The goal of this article was to assess the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran versus rivaroxaban for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in Chinese patients with AF from the perspective of the Chinese health care system. Methods A Markov model was constructed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran versus rivaroxaban. Clinical events were modeled for a lifetime horizon, based on clinical efficacy data from indirect treatment comparisons. The weighted average of the most recent prices of these 2 drugs was used as the drug acquisition cost. Other costs, including follow-up costs and event costs, were collected by using a survey from a panel of local experts. Utility inputs (health state utilities, clinical event disutilities, and event history utility) were obtained from published literature. Sensitivity analyses that included scenario analyses and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis were conducted to examine the robustness of the economic model. Findings Over a lifetime, patients treated with dabigatran experienced fewer ischemic strokes (2.14 dabigatran vs 2.61 rivaroxaban) and fewer intracranial hemorrhage (0.48 vs 0.94) per 100 patient-years. In the base case analysis, dabigatran had an incremental cost of ¥28,128 but with higher life years (10.38 vs 10.14) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) (7.95 vs 7.70). The resulting incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ¥112,910 per QALY gained and net monetary benefit of ¥12,214 versus rivaroxaban showed that dabigatran was a cost-effective alternative to rivaroxaban. Extensive sensitivity analyses indicated that the results were robust over a wide range of inputs. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that dabigatran was cost-effective in 84.2% of the 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations compared with rivaroxaban. Implications Dabigatran reduced the occurrence of clinical events and increased QALYs compared with rivaroxaban. The use of dabigatran for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism is a cost-effective option compared with rivaroxaban among patients with AF in China.

Purpose Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are becoming the standard treatments for Chinese patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring an EGFR mutation. However, the economic impact is unclear yet in China. Materials and methods A decision-analytic model was developed to simulate 1-month patient transitions in a 10-year time horizon from Chinese heath care system perspective. The health and economic outcomes of four first-line strategies (pemetrexed plus cisplatin [PC], gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib) among NSCLC patients harboring EGFR mutations were estimated and assessed via indirect comparisons. Costs in the Chinese setting were estimated by using local hospital data and literatures. A 5% annual discount rate was applied to both costs and outcomes. The primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Sensitivity analyses were performed. Results Afatinib achieved additional 0.382, 0.216 and 0.174 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) with marginal $7930, $3680 and $2818 costs in comparison with PC, gefitinib and erlotinib, which resulted in the ICERs of $20,758, $17,693 and $16,197 per QALY gained, respectively. The hazard ratios (HR) of overall survival (OS) of afatinib against gefitinib, erlotinib and PC strategy had substantial influential parameters. Conclusions First-line afatinib is cost-effective compared with gefitinib, erlotinib and PC treatment for Chinese patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC.

MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) is reportedly implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury; however, its role in cerebral I/R injury is unclear and requires further investigation. In this study, cerebral I/R injury was established in mice via middle cerebral artery occlusion, and the expression of miR-146a was detected in the brain tissue via quantitative real-time PCR. We found that the expression of miR-146a was upregulated. Furthermore, the endogenous miR-146a was antagonized by its specific inhibitor. The results indicated that the inhibition of miR-146a deteriorated I/R-induced neurobehavioral impairment, exaggerated the infarct size, and exacerbated blood–brain barrier leakage. Cerebral I/R injury-induced generation of inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, was further promoted by miR-146a inhibitor. The expression of interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK1), a target of miR-146a, was upregulated upon miR-146a inhibition. In addition, the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway was over-activated when miR-146a was antagonized as manifested by the increased levels of phospho-NF-κB inhibitor α and nuclear p65. In summary, our findings demonstrate that the elevation of miR-146a may be one of the compensatory responses after the cerebral I/R injury and suggest miR-146a as a potential therapeutic target for cerebral I/R injury.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a B-cell neoplasm with a high incidence of relapse. Bortezomib has been extensively studied for the maintenance treatment of MM. Here, we carried out a meta-analysis to determine the efficacy and safety of maintenance therapy with bortezomib. We searched for clinical trials in PubMed (Medline), Embase (OVID), and the Cochrane Library. Two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling a total of 1338 patients were included. Bortezomib maintenance statistically significantly improved both progression-free survival (PFS) (hazard ratio (HR) 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.51 to 0.87, P=0.003) and overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.75 therapy, 95% CI = 0.63 to 0.89, P=0.001) more than did non-bortezomib maintenance therapy. Our analysis revealed higher incidence of neutropenia (risks ratios (RR) = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.08 to 1.79), peripheral neuropathy (PN) (RR = 2.23; 95% CI = 1.38 to 3.61, P=0.001), and cardiologic events (RR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.12 to 3.28, P=0.02) in patients with bortezomib maintenance therapy. Our meta-analysis demonstrates OS and PFS benefits of bortezomib maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed MM. However, the therapy is associated with increased risk of adverse events. Additionally, more RCTs are needed for better understanding and determination of optimal bortezomib maintenance therapy in MM.

This paper describes the principles and technical methods of the ants body technology used in Gaotaizi Oilfield. By analyzing the actual results can be seen, the ants body technology is a more efficient way of identifying fault interpretation, and can improve the interpretation accuracy, and also has certain instructional significance to the distribution of oil and gas reservoirs.

According to the actual operation situation of aircraft hydraulic system, the paper puts forward a state recognition methods of aircraft hydraulic system based on Grey Theory. This method can do prediction and recognition to the current operation status of aircraft hydraulic system and a moment of running state, and gets the prediction results of aircraft hydraulic system health, and provides reference for safe operation of the aircraft for the actual aircraft flight. The paper uses the hydraulic pump of the aircraft hydraulic system as the key components concrete object of study. And the paper uses prediction method for the hydraulic pump running state prediction. The paper gets the prediction results. And the paper gives the error comparison through paralleling the actual results with prediction results, and the result show that the method can get good prediction effect.

By providing a systematic analysis and comparing environment-friendly concepts, thorough researches about meanings of green design,eco-design and sustainable design were offered,and pointed out that eco-design and green design have mainly brought into focus on product technology elements, while those methods of product technology level always have obviously insufficient to change users behavior. So this paper attempted to outline some operable sustainable design strategies from the perspectives of product form elements and product function elements. In the aspect of product form elements, the core of strategy is that let nature visual through bionic design and edification design,which will be helpful to deeply enhance users’ environmental consciousness, bring users instinct emotions back to nature, and reconstruct the harmon vivid relationship between nature and human. In the aspect of product function elements, the strategy is that creat the constrainted and guiding operation function through constraint principle and unconscious design,which will be helpful to deeply change users careless behaviors towards more sustainable practices.

Aircraft industry is very important to the economy and security of a country, and aircraft industry clusters have already existed in the world. Based on Input-Output data and Czamanski’s method, the aircraft industry clusters in China and USA were identified quantitatively in this paper. Furthermore, this article carried out comparison analyses of the identification results. The research finds out: 1) a mature aircraft industry cluster would be generally composed of 7 industrial subgroups, including aircraft industry, metal making and products manufacturing industry, machinery and equipment industry, electronics industry, automobile industry, material industry and others, and electronics industrial subgroup will play a more and more important role in the cluster; 2) in the range of industry-covering, the level of industry-linkage, and the economic performance, there is a tremendously large gap between the aircraft industry cluster of China and that of USA; 3) the spatial evolution of these clusters or centers is highly consistent with the diffusion of a country’s industrialization. Finally, based on those findings, the paper gives some advice on how to improve Czamanski’s method and what China should do to develop its own competitive aircraft industry: 1) China should employ institutional innovation, and turn to be market-oriented; 2) China should abandon the traditional pattern of closed-development, and strengthen the interaction and collaboration between aircraft industry and related industries, especially the electronics industry; 3) China should rectify and perfect its spatial development planning of aircraft industry.

To study the variation and significance of plasma coagulation factor VII (FVII) in different kinds of ischemia heart disease (IHD) and examine its relation with plasma lipid and gene polymorphism. FVIIa was determined with one stage clotting assay by using a recombinant soluble tissue factor (rsTF). FVIIc was measured with one stage clotting assay. FVIIag was quantified with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Polymorphism was analyzed with PCR-urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Our results showed that FVIIa in stable angina (SA), unstable angina (UA), obsolete and acute myocardial infraction (OMI, AMI) patients was higher than those of normal group with the differences being significant within any two groups. FVIIag in UA, OMI and AMI was higher than those in SA and normal groups. There were positive correlations between FVIIa and serum triglycerides, FVIIa and FVIIc, FVIIc and FVIIag. FVII-323 0/10 bp polymorphism analysis was performed in 60 patients and 0/10 bp polymorphism was found in 5 cases. FVIIc and FVIIag were much lower in cases of 0/10 bp groups than those in cases of 0/0 bp groups. It is concluded that there was activation of extrinsic coagulation pathway in every kind of IHD to different extent. FVIIa was the risk factor in the development of IHD, and more sensitive in reflecting the severity of cardiovascular disease than FVIIc or FVIIag. FVIIa was higher in OMI, which may be one of the risk factors of re-infraction. Serum triglyceride may indirectly lead to the development of IHD by increasing the level of FVIIa. FVII-323 0/10 bp polymorphism was present in Chinese patients with IHD and it was correlated with the level of FVIIc, FVIIag in plasma. 10 bp allelomorphic gene was a protective factor against thrombogenesis.

It was found that bypass graft alone could achieve great effects in treating aortic dissection. In order to investigate the mechanical mechanism and the haemodynamic validity of the bypassing treatment for DeBakey III aortic dissection, patient-specific models of DeBakey III aortic dissection treated with different bypassing strategies were constructed. One of the bypassing strategies is bypassing between ascending aorta and abdominal aorta, and the other is bypassing between left subclavian artery and abdominal aorta. Numerical simulations under physiological flow conditions based on fluid-structure interaction were performed using finite element method. The results show that blood flow velocity, pressure and vessel wall displacement of false lumen are all reduced after bypassing. This phenomenon indicates that bypassing is an effective surgery for the treatment of DeBakey III aortic dissection. The effectiveness to cure through lumen is better when bypassing between left subclavian artery and abdominal aorta, while the effectiveness to cure blind lumen is better when bypassing between ascending aorta and abdominal aorta.

This study examined the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in multiple myeloma (MM) and its role in bone marrow angiogenesis. The peripheral blood plasma was harvested from 71 MM patients and 63 patients without hematological malignancy. The BDNF level in the blood plasma was determined by ELISA. Human bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMECs) were cultured. The mRNA and protein expression levels of the BDNF receptor TrkB in HBMECs were detected by using RT-PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. The viability of HBMECs treated with recombinant human (rh) BDNF or not was measured by using MTT assay. The migration of HBMECs in the presence of rhBDNF or not was determined by modified Boyden chamber assay. In vitro tube formation assay was used to assess the effect of rhBDNF on HBMECs differentiation. The results of ELISA revealed that the BDNF level was significantly higher in peripheral blood plasma of MM patients than in that of control patients (4.39±0.67 vs. 1.96±0.39 ng/mL, P

AIM: To compare ghrelin levels in plasma and gastric mucosa before and after Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) treatment in children with H. pylori-associated functional dyspepsia. METHODS: Children with H. pylori-associated functional dyspepsia were enrolled in this study. H. pylori infection was confirmed by positive bacterial culture results. All of the children received triple H. pylori eradication therapy (a 2 wk course of omeprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin). The children were divided into two groups based on the success of the H. pylori treatment: group 1 (eradicated) - patients who had a negative 13C-urea breath test 2 mo after the end of therapy; and group 2 (non-eradicated) - patients who had a positive 13C-urea breath test. Plasma ghrelin, gastric ghrelin mRNA, and the body mass index were evaluated in both groups before and after the H. pylori treatment. The plasma ghrelin levels were measured by a radioimmunoassay. The expression of gastric ghrelin mRNA was determined by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: A total of 50 children with H. pylori-associated functional dyspepsia were treated with triple H. pylori eradication therapy. The mean age of the children was 5.52 ± 0.83 years, and there were 28 males and 22 females. Among the 50 H. pylori-positive children, 30 successfully achieved eradication, and 20 did not. The mean plasma ghrelin levels of group 1 were 22.17 ± 1.73 ng/L and 26.59 ± 2.05 ng/L before and after the treatment, respectively, which was a significant increase (P = 0.001). However, the mean plasma ghrelin level of group 2 before and after the H. pylori treatment was 21.34 ± 2.40 ng/L and 22.24 ± 2.10 ng/L (P = 0.785). The plasma ghrelin levels increased substantially after treatment in group 1 but showed only minor changes in group 2. Similarly, the gastric ghrelin mRNA expression in group 1 before treatment was 2.84 ± 0.08. After treatment, the level was 3.11 ± 0.65, which was significantly different (P = 0.023). The gastric ghrelin mRNA expression in group 2 did not change significantly during the treatment (2.82 ± 0.44 vs 2.79 ± 0.31, P = 0.875). The plasma ghrelin and gastric ghrelin mRNA levels in group 1 increased substantially after the treatment but did not do so in group 2. In addition, the body mass index the two groups did not differ significantly 2 mo before and after the H. pylori treatment. CONCLUSION: H. pylori eradication increases the plasma and tissue ghrelin levels in children with H. pylori-associated functional dyspepsia.

Bipod flexures are used in many high-precision space mirror mount applications. The flexures are used to provide moment isolation for the mirror to minimize surface figure distortion resulting from mount assembly error or distortion of the mount temperature-change-induced. In this paper, we developed a bipod flexure for the Zerodur primary mirror with diameter 520 mm and thickness 70 mm. The characteristic of the bipod flexure is the two-strip flexure on the top and bottom of each leg. By those, the bending stress in mirror resulting from the mount assembly is remarkably reduced. Thanking to a semi-open structure with small mouth and big stomach in the back and a six parts symmetrical honeycomb structure for the primary mirror, using the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) method we analyze that how the axial and circumferential locations of the three bipod flexures impact mirror surface figure and gain the better result after optimization. In the design of the detail bipod flexures, thickness of the blade is analyzed and compared; also we achieve an optimization design. The two results demonstrate that the bipod flexures could keep the precision of the mirror surface figure under the load of external force and thermal constraints and meanwhile they could keep stability of structure.

Biochip plays more and more important role in medical analysis and test. There is a need to enhance the effectiveness of biochip inspection. To detect automatically the print defects of the PET board of glycemia detection biochip, the fast Hough Transform algorithm was used for sub-image segmentation based on circle detection, and a modified method with limited-value-based image subtraction was applied to recognize the print patterns. The corresponding software was developed to realize the automatic inspection function. The results indicated that the presented approach is applicable and can fulfill real-time detection accurately and effectively.

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Hypereosinophilic syndromes (HES) constitute a rare and heterogeneous group of disorders, defined as persistent and marked blood eosinophilia associated with evidence of eosinophil-induced organ damage. Cardiac dysfunction is the most frequent result of end-organ damage and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with HES. Despite patients with FIP1-like-1-platelet-derived growth factor alpha (FIP1L1-PDGFRA) associated HES (myeloid neoplasms associated with PDGFRA rearrangement) have been shown to respond to low-dose imatinib with a complete and durable hematological and cytogenetic remission, influences of imatinib on clinical manifestations related to hypereosinophilia heart involvement are variable. Here we describe the case of a young male patient with severe heart involvement who had a prompt, clinical and hematological complete remission following administration of imatinib. However, as endomyocardial fibrosis and related loss of function are deteriorated after initiation of imatinib therapy, valvular replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty had to perform to restore his heart function. Our finding concurs with recent reports that severe heart involvement was irreversible with imatinib treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most severe mental health problems commonly found in the aged population. The dementia disorders will continue to constitute a major burden upon social and medical care systems due to the mean age of the population as it continues to rise. Hence, a cure or prevention for the disease would be most desirable. Current efforts to develop an effective drug treatment for AD are in large part based upon the consistent finding that patients with this disease suffer from marked reduction of cholinergic neuronal function resulting in a deficiency in acetylcholine (ACh) concentration in the central nervous system (Whitehouse et al., 1982; Davies and Maloney, 1976; Coyle et al., 1983), and that these reductions have been associated with changes in memory (Giacobini, 1991). Of all the attempts at symptomatic therapy for AD based on the cholinergic hypotheses, studies using cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) has been the most encouraging up to now (Pomponi et al., 1990). Several ChEIs such as physostigmine (Phys) (Thal, 1991) and tacrine (THA) (Summers et al., 1986) have recently been the focus of extensive clinical investigation in patients who had AD (Becker and Giacobini, 1988). However, the liver toxicity with a higher dose of THA and short duration of action as well as a narrow dosing range with Phys were viewed as serious limitations to the development of these compounds as therapeutics. At present there is no therapeutic ChEI that has been shown to be both effective and safe in the treatment of AD. Thus the search for a potent, long-acting ChEI which exerts minimal side effects in the clinic for the treatment of AD is still most active.