Objective To investigate the feasibility and safety of minimally invasive pereutaneous nephro-lithotomy(MPCNL) in treating impacted upper ureteral calculi. Methods 50 cases with impacted upper ureteral cal-culi treted with MPCNL were analyzed retrospectively. Results All cases were rendered stone free at one session, clearance rate was 100%, 1 case required transfusion,no other major complications was observed. Conclusion MPC-NL was safe and effective in treating impacted upper ureteral calculi with a high clearance rate.

Objective: To study the mechanism of electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback. Methods: The EMG and electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were recorded dynamically during the course of EMG biofeedback. Changes of EMG amplitude and frequency during EMG biofeedback were assessed with linear analysis. We also applied the nonlinear analysis, approximate entropy (ApEn) of EMG signals and Cross Approximate entropy (Cross-ApEn) between EMG and EEG signals, to assess regularities in EMG and correlation between EMG and EEG. Results: With the processing of EMG biofeedback, the maximum, minimum and mean amplitude of EMG signals decreased significantly (F=3.85~25.59,P

Objective To clarify the cellular localization of triptolide and to explore its in-cell action sites.Methods 4-(Bro-momethyl)-7-methoxycoumarin was employed to label triptolide,then labelled triptolide was incubated with human hepatoma carci-noma cells.Subsequently,incubated cells were subjected to stain with fluorescent dye DiI or PI,which were specific to cytoplasmic membrane system and nucleus,respectively.Results Compared with the non-triptolide control,coumarin labelled triptolide shown a light blue fluorescence under UV excitation;Co-localization with DiI showed that triptolide exist in cytoplasm and(or)on cell mem-brane;Co-localization with PI showed that triptolide located in cell nucleus.Moreover,microscopic observation indicated that the fluorescence intensity in nucleus was denser than that in cytoplasm.Conclusion The presnt study demonstrate that triptolide main-ly act in nucleus,followed by acting in cytoplasm and(or)on cell membrane.

Pulse waves contain rich physiological and pathological information of the human vascular system. The pulse wave diagnosis systems are very helpful for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Accurate pulse waveform is necessary to evaluate the performances of the pulse wave equipment. However, it is difficult to obtain accurate pulse waveform due to several kinds of physiological and pathological conditions for testing and maintaining the pulse wave acquisition devices. A pulse wave generator was designed and implemented in the present study for this application. The blood flow in the vessel was simulated by modeling the cardiovascular system with windkessel model. Pulse waves can be generated based on the vascular systems with four kinds of resistance. Some functional models such as setting up noise types and signal noise ratio (SNR) values were also added in the designed generator. With the need of portability, high speed dynamic response, scalability and low power consumption for the system, field programmable gate array (FPGA) was chosen as hardware platform, and almost all the works, such as developing an algorithm for pulse waveform and interfacing with memory and liquid crystal display (LCD), were implemented under the flow of system on a programmable chip (SOPC) development. When users input in the key parameters through LCD and touch screen, the corresponding pulse wave will be displayed on the LCD and the desired pulse waveform can be accessed from the analog output channel as well. The structure of the designed pulse wave generator is simple and it can provide accurate solutions for studying and teaching pulse waves and the detection of the equipments for acquisition and diagnosis of pulse wave.
Algorithms ; Equipment Design ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Liquid Crystals ; Models, Cardiovascular ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; instrumentation ; Regional Blood Flow

Objective To investigate specific cellular immune response induced by dendritic cells(DCs) activated by human papilloma virus (HPV) 16 E7 peptide. Methods DCs separated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were induced with granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4), the DCs were then activated by HPV 16 E7 peptide. After that the surface antigens on the DCs were detected by flow cytometer. Homogenic mixed lymphocyte reaction (HMLR) with DCs was performed. LDH release assay was also used to detect the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTL)to Caski tumor cells, which was induced by DCs. Results The surface antigens on the activated DCs were highly expressed, such as CD1a(58.4 ? 6.7)%, CD80(70.6 ? 3.4)% and HLA-DR(74.8 ? 4.2)%. HMLR showed that the activated DCs stimulated T cell proliferation significantly. Antigen-specific CTL induced by the activated DCs specifically killed Caski tumer cells, but had no effect on SiHa and AN3CA cells. Conclusions DCs loaded with HPV 16 E7 peptide can induce highly effective and specific cellular immune response.

Objective To investigate the effect of ERK1/2 phosphorylation on the proliferation of human aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (HAVSMCs) stimulated by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) Methods CCK8 was used to test the effect of AGEs with different concentration on the proliferation of HAVSMCs, and the effect of PD98059, a specific inhibitor of ERK1/2, on HAVSMCs proliferation stimulated by AGEs was also detected. Flow Cytometer (FCM) was used to detect the cell cycle transformation induced by AGEs. Western Blot was used to detect the expression of relative proteins. Results 10 mg/L AGEs observably facilitated the proliferation and the DNA synthesis of HAVSMCs and PD98059 (40 umol/L) markedly inhibited the proliferation and cell cycle evolution of HAVSMCs induced by AGEs. Furthermore, ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and PCNA were regulated by AGEs and thus it showed time and dose dependent. Conclusion AGEs participates in the proliferation of HAVSMCs by activating ERK1/2 signal path.

AIM:To examine the effects of thromboxane A 2 receptor ( TXA2 R) , the downstream product of cy-clooxygenase-2 (COX-2), on the proliferative ability and COX-2 expression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial cells. METHODS:The effects of TXA2 R antagonist SQ29548 and agonist U46619 on the proliferation of RA synovial cell line MH7A were detected by MTS cell proliferation assay , and their effects on COX-2 mRNA expression in MH7A cells were al-so examined by real-time PCR.In addition, the possible effect of U46619 on the proliferation of MH7A cells, when COX-2 was knocked down by siRNA , was determined by BrdU cell proliferation assay .RESULTS:SQ29548 inhibited the cell proliferation and the mRNA level of COX-2 while U46619 enhanced them.Moreover, U46619 reconstitute the proliferative ability of MH7A cells to some extent that inhibited by COX-2 siRNA.CONCLUSION: In RA synovial cells, TXA2R is able to control COX-2 expression, while it also mediates the effects of COX-2, suggesting that TXA2R might be an ideal candidate for RA treatment .

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of alanyl glutamine (Ala-Gln) combined with octreotide in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and its effects on the serum interleukin-6 (IL-6),C reactive protein (CRP) levels and related biochemical parameters.Methods:100 cases of patients with SAP in our hospital from January 2013 to December 2016 were selected and randomly divided into two groups.The control group was treated by octreotide,while the observation group was treated by Ala-Gln combined with octreotide.The clinical effect,changes of serum IL-6,CRP,amylase (AMY),lactate dehydrogenase (LDH),prealbumin (PA) and albumin (ALB) levels before and after therapy were compared between two groups.Results:On the 10th day after treatment,the overall effective rate of observation group was 88.0％ which was significantly higher than that of the control group (64.0％,P＜0.05).The serum IL-6,CRP,AMY and LDH levels of both groups on the 10th day after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (P＜0.01).Compared with the control group,the improvement of serum IL-6,CRP,AMY,LDH levels of observation group were more significant(P＜0.01).Compared with those before treatment,the serum PA and ALB levels of both groups were significantly increased on the 10th day after treatment(P＜0.05),and the improvement of serum PA and ALB levels of observation group on the 10th day after treatment were significantly better than those of the control group(P＜0.01).Conclusion:Alanyl glutamine combined with octreotide could effectively eliminate or alleviate the symptoms and signs of patients with severe acute pancreatitis,control the inflammatory reaction,improve the level of metabolism,improve the prognosis.

Objective To research the change rule of peripheral serum Th1/Th2/Th17 balance and relevant cytokines in atopic dermatitis(AD) and to further study its immunologic mechanism .Methods The levels of peripheral serum IFN‐γ,IL‐4 ,IL‐17 ,IL‐21 and IL‐23 in the patients with AD were detected by the flow immunofluorescence technology and the detection results were performed the statistical analysis ,thus the change rule of Th1/Th2/Th17 balance in AD was analyzed .Results The IL‐4 level in peripheral serum of the patients with AD was increased compared with the healthy control group (P<0 .05);the IFN‐γ/IL‐4 and IFN‐γ/IL‐17 in the AD group were significantly decreased compared with the control group (P<0 .01);IL‐17 was positively corre‐lation with SCORAD scores of AD severity (P<0 .05) .Conclusion Th1/Th2 and Th1/Th17 are decreased in the AD course .Th1/Th2/Th17 balance drift may be the important mechanism of AD pathogenesis .

Objective To prepare a completely biological hybrid scaffold for small-diameter vascular tissue engineering using porcine fibrin and decellularized canine carotid artery.MethodsPorcine fibrin was sprayed coating on the external surface of decellularized canine carotid artery to construct completely biological hybrid scaffold for small-diameter vascular tissue engineering. The completely biological hybrid scaffold was evaluated with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining, scanning electron microscopy and biomechanics test.ResultsHistology examination revealed that the porcine fibrin was sprayed coating uniformly on the external surface of decellularized canine carotid artery. Scanning electron microscopy examination confirmed that the external surface of completely biological hybrid scaffold was smooth and uniformly. Compared with fresh canine carotid artery and decellularized artery, the biological hybrid scaffold had similar burst and breaking strength. Furthermore, compared with decellularized artery, the biological hybrid scaffold had higher compliance.ConclusionThe porcine fibrin was sprayed coating uniformly on the external surface of decellularized canine carotid artery to prepare a completely biological hybrid scaffold for small-diameter vascular tissue engineering. The biological hybrid scaffold had appropriate biomechanical properties and had potential to serve as scaffolds for small-diameter vascular tissue engineering.