Yu-Lian Wu

Strategy for the surgical management of insulinomas: analysis of 52 cases.

Aim: The goal of this retrospective study was to analyze the strategy for the surgical management of insulinomas. Methods: From May 2000 to October 2006, the medical records of 52 patients with insulinomas were retrospectively studied. Results: All tumors were localized precisely by imaging techniques combined with intraoperative palpation. Forty-eight patients with benign lesions underwent surgical treatment: 41 patients open and 7 patients laparoscopic procedures. Four patients with malignant insulinomas underwent tumor resection; 3 of them underwent metastatic lesion and/or lymph node dissection. There were no discrepancies regarding operation time, blood loss, and complication rate between open enucleation and laparoscopic surgery. The mean hospital stay was 11.8 ± 3.4 days after laparoscopic surgery, shorter than the 17.0 ± 6.0 days after the open approach. Twenty-two complications occurred in 17 patients (32%) following resection. On follow-up, 86% of the patients were free from symptoms, and surgical cure was achieved in 95% of the patients with benign insulinomas. Conclusions: The choice of the surgical strategy for the treatment of pancreatic insulinomas depends on size and location of the tumor and the risk of malignancy. The optimal surgical procedure is key to prevent postoperative complications. The laparoscopic approach is safe and feasible for patients with benign tumors located in body or tail of the pancreas.

In vitro direct organogenesis and regeneration of Medicago sativa.

A rapid and efficient plant regeneration protocol for a wide range of alfalfa genotypes was developed via direct organogenesis. Through a successive excision of the newly developed apical and axillary shoots, a lot of adventitious buds were directly induced from the cotyledonary nodes when hypocotyl of explants were vertically inserted into modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.025 mg dm−3 thidiazuron (TDZ) and 3 mg dm−3 AgNO3. When the lower part of shoots excised from explants were immersed into the liquid medium with 1.0 mg dm−3 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) for 2 min, and then transferred to hormone free half-strength MS medium, over 83.3 % of the shoots developed roots, and all plantlets could acclimatize and establish in soil. The protocol has been successfully applied to eight genotypes, with regeneration frequencies ranging from 63.8 to 82.5 %.

Addition of Wheat Bran and/or Rice Straw on Chemical Composition and in vitro Rumen Fermentation Characteristics of Ensiled Water Hyacinth

Abstract Li, J.D., Liu, J.X., Wu, Y.M. and Ye, J.A. 2007. Addition of wheat bran and/or rice straw on chemical composition and in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics of ensiled water hyacinth. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 31: 137–142. This work was conducted to investigate the quality of water hyacinth (WH) silage prepared with or without wheat bran (WB) and/or rice straw (RS). The WH silages were prepared in experimental glass containers to create four treatments: 1. 100% (fresh basis) WH (control); 2. 90% (WH) + 10% WB (WB10); 3. 90% WH + 10% RS (RS10), and 4. 90% WH + 5% WB + 5% RS (WB5RS5). The WH silage alone was of poor quality with undesirable odour and colour. Addition of 10% WB increased the content of dry matter, crude protein and lactate, improved fermentation characteristics and lowered pH value, percentage of ammonia-N in total N and butyrate concentration of silage (P<0.05). Addition of 10% RS increased dry matter content, reduced proportion of ammonia-N of total N and pH value as well as crude protein concentration (P<0.05), but had little effect on lactate concentration as well as fermentation characteristics (P>0.05). Addition of 5% rice straw and 5% wheat bran resulted in intermediate quality silage. It may be concluded that ensiling of water hyacinth with 10% WB was an efficient way to improve the silage quality.