AIM: To investigate the infection of huma n embryo fibroblasts (HF) with CMV as well as the effect of CMV on ?-actin and mi crofilaments. METHODS: RT-PCR assay was used to detect the mRNA expression of CMV immediate early (IE) gene, ?-actin and GAPDH genes in HF cells infected wit h CMV. The morphological changes and microfilaments in infected cells were obser ved with transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: The morphology of HF cells infected with CMV changed si gnificantly from fusiform shape to round shape. The mRNA expression of CMV immed iate early gene was detected. The increase in mRNA level of IE gene was parallel with the infected titer of CMV. However, t he expression level of ?-actin mRNA in HF cells infected with CMV was decreased compared with the uninfected cells, while the expression of GAPDH mRNA did not change. CMV particles were observed in the cells by electron microscope. Microfi laments were found ruptured and shortened after the infection of CMV. CONCLUSIONS: CMV was able to infect human embryo fibroblasts and replicated in the cells. Also the CMV infection affected the expressi on of ?-actin mRNA and the microfilaments.

Ultrasonic scalpels,including incision type and aspiration type,are introduced from aspects of the principles,key technologies and clinical application.Uitrasonic scalpel has the advantages of less bleeding,exact incision,,safety,shortened time of operation and less damage to surrounding tissue.Some technology problems of ultrasonic scalpel are also summarized.It is pointed out that ultrasonic scalpel is the tendency and direction of clinical surgery development,which has extensive application prospects.

Objective To observe the effect of early goal directed therapy (EGDT) on tissue perfusion,microcirculation and oxygen metabolism in patients with septic shock.Methods A prospective observational study was carried out in 69 patients with early septic shock within 24 hours.The eligible patients were treated with the standard procedure of EGDT.The partial pressure of transcutaneous oxygen (PtcO2) and transcutaneous carbon dioxide (PtcCO2) was monitored and the changes of hemodynamic data,tissue oxygen,microcirculation before and after reaching the criteria of EGDT were recorded.Results Compared with that before treatment,PtcO2,tissue oxygenation index (PtcO2/FiO2) after EGDT was increased [(78.1 ± 30.8) mmHg (1 mmHg =0.133 kPa) vs.(62.8 ± 24.1) mmHg and (141.7 ± 78.3) mmHg vs.(110.8 ± 60.5) mmHg],PtcCO2 and percutaneous arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure difference was decreased[(29.0 ±4.1) mmHg vs.(39.1 ±6.4) mmHg and (1.4 ±0.5) mmHg vs.(1.7 ±0.8) mmHg],there was significant difference(P＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in PtcO2,PtcO2/FiO2,PtcCO2,central venous blood oxygen saturation,lactic acid,oxygen and oxygen consumption (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion EGDT can improve local tissue perfusion and microcirculation in patients with septic shock,body tissue perfusion index before and after EGDT may not be able to reflect the local tissue perfusion.

For energy security, air pollution concerns, coupled with the desire to sustain the agricultural sector and revitalize the rural economy, many countries have applied ethanol as oxygenate or fuel to supplement or replace gasoline in transportation sector. Because of abundant feedstock resources and effective reduction of green-house-gas emissions, the cellulosic ethanol has attracted great attention. With a couple of pioneers beginning to produce this biofuel from biomass in commercial quantities around the world, it is necessary to solve engineering problems and complete the economic assessment in 2015-2016, gradually enter the commercialization stage. To avoid "competing for food with humans and competing for land with food", the 1st generation fuel ethanol will gradually transit to the 2nd generation cellulosic ethanol. Based on the overview of cellulosic ethanol industrialization from domestic and abroad in recent years, the main engineering application problems encountered in pretreatment, enzymes and enzymatic hydrolysis, pentose/hexose co-fermentation strains and processes, equipment were discussed from chemical engineering and biotechnology perspective. The development direction of cellulosic ethanol technology in China was addressed.
Biofuels ; Biomass ; Biotechnology ; Cellulose ; chemistry ; Chemical Engineering ; China ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Fermentation ; Hydrolysis

Objective To investigate clinicopathological features of scalp angiosarcoma, and to analyze the relationship of tumor stage and treatment with prognosis. Methods Clinical and follow-up data were collected from 16 patients with non-metastatic primary scalp angiosarcoma treated in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University from September 2002 to June 2013. According to the seventh edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)TNM staging system for soft tissue sarcomas (2010), staging of scalp angiosarcoma was performed for the 16 patients. Statistical analysis was carried out by the Kaplan-Meier method for survival rates and by the Log-rank test for survival curve. The Cox regression model was used for multivariate regression analysis. Results Of the 16 patients, 4 had stageⅠangiosarcoma, 4 stage Ⅱangiosarcoma, and 8 stage Ⅲ angiosarcoma. The tumor usually began as ecchymosis-like lesions on the head or face in early stage, and progressed into dark red infiltrative plaques, nodules and ulcers which easily ruptured and bled in later stage. Histopathological examination showed generalized vascular proliferation and infiltration with high histological morphological diversity. Cytologic atypia was commonly seen. The median time to recurrence was 15 months, and local recurrence occurred in 7 patients. The median time to metastasis was 20.5 months, and distant metastasis was observed in 8 cases, including 4 cases of pulmonary metastasis, 2 lymph node metastasis, 1 liver metastasis and 1 bone metastasis. The survival time was 33.0 ± 4.4 months (median, 32 months)in 4 patients with stage Ⅰangiosarcoma, 24.0 ± 7.9 months(median, 15 months)in 4 patients with stage Ⅱangiosarcoma, and 23.9 ± 3.9 months (median, 24 months)in 8 patients with stage Ⅲ angiosarcoma. Additionally, the survival time was 23.4 ± 5.2 months(median, 21 months), 24.4 ± 5.7 months(median, 24 months)and 35.8 ± 9.7 months(median, 26 months) in 5 patients receiving surgical treatment alone, 7 patients receiving surgical treatment and radiotherapy, and 4 patients receiving surgical treatment, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, respectively. Conclusions Surgical treatment combined with radiotherapy and immunotherapy may serve as the first-choice treatment for scalp angiosarcoma. Tumor size and treatment regimens are main factors influencing prognosis of scalp angiosarcoma.

Objective To explore a new pathogenic gene mutationin in COL4A3 and COL4A4 genes of a family with thin-basement-membrane nephropathy (TBMN), and explain its mechanism.Methods Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples.Mutation screening for all the exons in COL4A3 and COL4A4 of the proband was carried out by direct PCR sequencing.The sequences of the proband were compared with standard sequences in GenBank.After identifying the mutation in COL4A4, screening for the mutation site in 200 healthy controls and the rest of family members were conducted.RNA sequence of the proband was analyzed by reverse transcription PCR and TA cloning.The positive clones were sequenced for RNA screening.Results There was a G to A mutation in the 1459 site of COL4A4 (c.1459+G ＞ A) in the proband, her mother, and the elder sister, whereas the mutation was not found in other family members and healthy people.RNA screening showed that the COL4A4 (c.1459+G ＞ A) mutation was a heterozygous substitution in position + 1 of exon 21, in the splicing region.This mutation leaded to eliminating of exon 21 from the COL4A4 mRNA, causing the exon 21 deletion and frameshift mutation following the exon 20 in its amino acids sequence.Conclusions It is described that COL4A4 (c.1459+G ＞ A) is a new pathogenic mutation in TBMN, which further help understanding the pathogenesis and clinical diagnosis of TBMN.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with cognitive training in treating cognitive impairment after traumatic brain injury (TBI). MethodsSixty patients were recruited into the study and randomly divided into the control group and the treatment group according to the MINIMIZE software. Patients in the control group were treated with cognitive training and regular treatment. Besides the traditional treatment, patients in the treatment group were additionally treated with acupuncture and moxibution. The treatment lasted four weeks. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) were applied to evaluate the patients’ cognitive function before and after the treatment.Results In the end, there were 27 patients in the control group and 28 patients in the treatment group, because 5 patients withdrew from the study. After treatment, scores of MMSE, LOTCA and their sub-items in the control group and the treatment group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the scores in the treatment group were higher than the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion Combination of acupuncture, moxibution, and cognitive training could help patients after TBI to increase the scores of MMSE and LOTCA, and improve the cognitive impairment caused by TBI. Its therapeutic effect is superior than the pure cognitive training.

Objective To evaluate the effect of ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin A injection into the salivary glands in treating patients with sialorrhea attributable to brain damage.Methods Nine subjects with sialorrhea attributable to traumatic brain injury (n =5),cerebral infarction (n =3) and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (n =1) were recruited into the study.With the guidance of ultrasound,15 units (U) of botulinum toxin type A was injected into the highest and lowest points of the two parotid glands,and 20 U was injected into two points of both submandibular glands.The saliva flow rate and the severity and frequency of sialorrhea were recorded before the treatment and 1 week,4 weeks and 12 weeks later using the Drooling Scoring System (DSS).Results The saliva flow rate before treatment (0.49 ± 0.12 g/min) decreased significantly to 0.24 ± 0.08 g/min after 1 week,but then increased again to 0.28 ±0.12 g/min after 4 weeks and 0.34 ±0.11 g/min after 12 weeks.The average DSS severity score showed the same pattern:4.35 ± 0.48 initially 1.92 ± 0.37 after 1 week,1.92 ± 0.37 after 2 weeks and 2.32 ± 0.64 after 12 weeks.The DSS frequency score,however,remained significantly lower:3.56 ± 0.49 initially,2.01 ± 0.42 after 1 and 4 weeks and 2.28 ± 0.63 after 12 weeks.Conclusion Botulinum toxin type A can effectively improve the salivary secretion and sialorrhea attributable to brain damage.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy of Hepatocyte growth-promoting factors(PHGF) combined with Wuji baifeng pills for liver cirrhosis. METHODS:A total of 97 patients with liver cirrhosis were randomly assigned to either control group(n=32,conventional therapy) or treatment group(n=65,PHGF plus Wuji baifeng pills in addition to routine treatment).The course of treatment was 3 months for both groups. Clinical data including cardinal symptoms and signs,hepatic function,blood clotting function,hepatic fibrosis parameters,the inner-diameter of the portal vein and splenic vein(PVD,SVD),spleen thickness(SPT) measured by the color Doppler ultrasonography were monitored before and after treatment. RESULTS:After treatment,the symptoms and signs of the treatment group had better improvement than in the control group,with a markedly higher total effective rate than in the control group(84.62% vs.59.38%,P

Objective It is purposed to evaluate clinical efficacy of adefovir dipivoxil combined with anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs in treatment for chronic hepatitis B (HB) complicated with pulmonary TB. Methods Ninety-four eases of pulmonary TB complicated with chronic HB receiving anti-TB drug treatment at Liaocheng Hospital for Infectious Disease during September 2006 to September 2008 were divided into treatment and control groups matched on their pulmonary TB lesion, damage in liver function and HB virus (HBV) DNA load. Forty-seven cases in the treatment group were administered with anti-TB drugs, i.e., isoniazid (INH) 0. 3 g daily, rifapentine (RFT) 0.45 g twice a week, pyrazinamide (PZA) 1.5 g daily, streptomycin (SM) 0. 75 g daily or ethambutol (EMB) 0. 75 g daily, and regular liver-protection drags, as well as oral adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg daily for eight months, and another 47 cases in the control group were administered with the same anti-TB drugs and regular liver-protection drugs as the treatment group. Two to eight weeks after treatment, clinical symptoms, liver function, HBV DNA load, negative conversion of acid-fast staining bacteria in sputum smear, and absorption of pulmonary TB lesion were evaluated for all the patients in both groups. Data were analyzed with U-test and χ2-test, respectively. Results After treatment, damage in liver function worsened in three cases (6.4%), as compared to that in 47.3 percent of the control group (P<0.05). Clinical symptoms, including tiredness, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, uncomfortable in upper abdomen, and so on, appeared in three cases of the treatment group (6.4%) during anti-TB treatment, as compared to those in 18 cases of the control group (47.3%) (P<0.05). HBV DNA conversed to negative (less than 1.0×103 lg copies/ml) in 24 cases of the treatment group (51.1%), HBV load went down to 1.0×103-1.0×104 lg copies/ml in 23 cases (48. 9%), sputum smear bacteria conversed to negative in 41 cases (87. 2%) and pulmonary lesion absorbed in 45 cases (95.7%), all with statistically significance as compared to those in the control group (47. 3% , 0. 0% , 2. 6% , 39. 5% and 50. 0% , respectively, P <0. 05). Renal function was all in normal in both groups and no patient with drug resistant variant HBV was found during and after treatment, and no obviously adverse reaction was found in patients with adefovir dipivoxil. Conclusion Adefovir dipivoxil has a good safety and can reduce laver damage in anfi-TB drug treatment for patients of chronic hepatitis B complicated with pulmonary TB.