A novel biosensor for aflatoxin B1 detecting has been reported. The biosensor electrode for AFB1 detecting was assembled by immobilized aflatoxin-oxidoreductase using open-ended multi-walled carbon nanotubes as matrix. Its linear range was between 0.16?M and 3.2?M. And if the specific anti-aflatoxin B1 antibody and aflatoxin oxidoreductase were both immobilized on the electrode with Multi-Walled carbon nanotubes, the detection limit of the modified electrode could be 16 nM with a 10 times improved sensitivity. The aflatoxin enzyme biosensor assembled this way strode one step forward its practical application.

Cardiovascular Diseases ; prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; United States

Cost of Illness ; Humans ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years

The study aims to evaluate the bioequivalence of valsartan hydrochlorothiazide tablets, and to investigate the potential cause of bioinequivalence. This was a single-center study with an open, randomized double-way crossover design. Test and reference preparations containing 160 mg of valsartan and 25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide were given to 36 healthy male volunteers. Plasma concentrations of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide were determined simultaneously by LC-MS/MS. The pharmacokinetic parameters and relative bioavailability were calculated, while the bioequivalence between test and reference preparations were evaluated. The dissolution profiles of test and reference preparations in four different mediums were determined via dissolution test and HPLC. The similarity was investigated according to the similarity factors (f2). The F(o-t) and F(0-infinity) were (139.4 +/- 65.2)% and (137.5 +/- 61.2)% for valsartan of test preparations. It led to get the conclusion that test and reference preparations were not bioequivalent for valsartan. A significant difference was observed between test and reference tablets in the valsartan dissolution test of pH 1.2 hydrochloric acid solution. The key factor of the bioinequivalence might be that dissolution of valsartan in acid medium has marked difference between two preparations.
Administration, Oral ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Antihypertensive Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Area Under Curve ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Cross-Over Studies ; Drug Liberation ; Humans ; Hydrochlorothiazide ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Tablets ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Therapeutic Equivalency ; Valsartan ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Young Adult

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are important signaling transduction components well conserved in eukaryotes and play essential roles in various physiological, developmental and hormonal responses in plant. In the present study, a MAPK gene, designated as DoMPK4 (GenBank accession No. JX297597), is identified from a rare endangered medicinal orchid species D. officinale using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) methods. The full length cDNA of DoMPK4 is 1 518 bp in length and encoded a 369 aa protein with a molecular weight of 42.42 kD and an isoelectric point of 5.55. DoMPK4 protein contained a serine/threonine protein kinase active site (158-170), a MAP kinase site (71-174), and eight conserved motifs. DoMPK4 had a transmembrane (214-232) but no signal peptide. Multiple sequence alignment showed that DoMPK4 shared high identities (74.9%-80.6%) with MAPK proteins from various plants. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that DoMPK4 belonged to group A of the MAPK evolutionary tree, and is closely related to monocots. Real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis revealed that DoMPK4 is differentially expressed among the five organs including leaf, stem, root, seed, and protocorm-like body (PLB). The transcription level of DoMPK4 is the highest in the PLBs with 17.65 fold, followed by seeds, roots, and stems with 5.84, 2.28, and 1.64 fold, respectively. The progressive enhancement of DoMPK4 transcripts in the developing PLBs compared to that in the germinating seeds, suggests a role of DoMPK4 during the development of embryogenic PLBs formation in D. officinale.
Amino Acid Sequence ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Dendrobium ; enzymology ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phylogeny ; Plant Leaves ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; metabolism ; Plant Stems ; metabolism ; Seeds ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment

The zinc-regulated transporters (ZRT), iron-regulated transporter (IRT)-like protein (ZIP) plays an important role in the growth and development of plant. In this study, a full length cDNA of ZIP encoding gene, designed as DoZIP1 (GenBank accession KJ946203), was identified from Dendrobium officinale using RT-PCR and RACE. Bioinformatics analysis showed that DoZIP1 consisted of a 1,056 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoded a 351-aa protein with a molecular weight of 37.57 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 6.09. The deduced DoZIP1 protein contained the conserved ZIP domain, and its secondary structure was composed of 50.71% alpha helix, 11.11% extended strand, 36.18% random coil, and beta turn 1.99%. DoZIP1 protein exhibited a signal peptide and eight transmembrane domains, presumably locating in cell membrane. The amino acid sequence had high homology with ZIP proteins from Arabidopsis, alfalfa and rice. A phylogenetic tree analysis demonstrated that DoZIP1 was closely related to AtZIP10 and OsZIP3, and they were clustered into one clade. Real time quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that the transcription level of DoZIP1 in D. officinale roots was the highest (4.19 fold higher than that of stems), followed by that of leaves (1.12 fold). Molecular characters of DoZIP1 will be useful for further functional determination of the gene involving in the growth and development of D. officinale.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Dendrobium ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Iron ; metabolism ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; Sequence Alignment ; Zinc ; metabolism

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between ankle brachial index (ABI) and the extent of coronary stenosis and evaluate the usefulness of ABI to predict the extent of coronary stenosis in old patients.Methods118 patients with coronary angiography were examined by ABI and hemostatic factors evaluation in addition to history collection.ResultsABI was inversely and significantly associated with Gensini score. ABI reduced significantly (P<0.001) in the patients with 3-vessel or left main coronary artery disease (CAD). But there were no significant differences in ABI among the patients with no CAD, 1-vessel or 2-vessel CAD. The corresponding area under the ROC curve was 0.75±0.045, with 95% CI=0.67～0.84 (P<0.001) in ABI in 3-vessel or left main CAD. When ABI≤0.9, it had a relatively high specificity (89.1%) and sensitivity (55.6%) for predicting the presence of 3-vessel disease or left main CAD.ConclusionIn the old patients, ABI is inversely and significantly associated with the extent of coronary stenosis, and ABI≤0.9 has a relatively high specificity and sensitivity for predicting the presence of 3-vessel or left main CAD.

Objective To discuss the surgical outcome and operative technique of the modified trans-petrosal presigmoid approach in treating cases with facial nerve palsy after petral bone fracture trea- ted with facial nerve canal decompression method.Methods A total of 15 cases with facial nerve pal- sy were treated with traumatic facial nerve canal decompression technique with the trans-petrosal presig- mold approach combined with high-dose hormone therapy,whereas 12 cases were treated with traditional Chinese medicine.The clinical data were analysed and compared retrospectively according to House- Brackmann facial nerve grading scale.Results At acute stage,eight(53.3%)out of 15 cases recov- ered to levelⅠ(P＜0.05),with no significant postoperative complications such as CSF leakage. Conclusions This approach is simple and safe and can expose extensively the facial nerve bone canal and effectively alleviate the edemous facial nerve aided by high-dose hormone therapy.Therefore,it is suitable for surgical treatment of acute facial nerve palsy after petral bone fractures.

Objective To search for a good solution for aesthetic beard reconstruction and to explore the effect of the single-hair grafting in beard reconstruction. Methods Under the local anesthesia, a scalp strip (length range from 5～7 cm, width range from 1.0～1.5 cm) was harvested from the back of the head and then was divided into a series of single-hair micrografts. After the slits were made, the grafts were implanted into the holes, parallel to the original beard directions. The donor sites were directly closed. With this method, 18 sparse beard patients and 3 patients with upper lip scars were treated. Results The grafted hairs grew nearly in the direction of normal beard, which achieved 90 %～95 % survival in recipient areas. The patients were satisfied with the results, in which 19 cases received only 1 operation and 2 cases received another repeated operation. Conclusion Beard reconstruction by single-hair grafting technique is a good, safe and effective method.

To study the biological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and their supportive capacity for hematopoiesis in vitro, MSCs from bone marrow samples of MDS patients were isolated, cultured and expanded. Morphology, immunophenotype, osteoblasts differentiative and proliferative property of MSC and colony forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) were measured and analyzed. Mononuclear cells (MNC) of cord blood were plated onto a feeder layer formed by MSC of MDS patient, cells count and CFU-GM production were observed. The results showed that the culture-expanded cells from MDS patients presented a typical fibroblast-like morphology. Cells were positive for SH2 (CD105), SH3 (CD73), Thy-1 (CD90), but negative for CD34 and CD45. After induction, these cells could differentiate into osteoblasts. Their proliferative capacity and CFU-F number were similar to those of MSC from healthy donors. The total cell count and CFU-GM yield in supernatants after culture for 2 weeks were significantly lower than those of control in hematopoiesis supportive experiments in vitro (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the biological characteristics of MSC from bone marrow of MDS patients are not different from those of MSC isolated from bone marrow of normal donors, however, their capacity of hematopoiesis support in vitro are significantly weaker.
5'-Nucleotidase ; analysis ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD ; analysis ; Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Cell Differentiation ; Endoglin ; Female ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; blood ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; analysis