Objective In recent years,amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG)has been widely used in cerebral function monitor in NICU.It is a simplified form of electroencephalogram.Many study on term infants have shown that aEEG can help identify brain injury and predict nurodevelopment outcome.However,the aEEG in preterm infants relates to gestational age and can be influenced by many factors.Its prognostic value of neurodevelopmental impairment in preterm infants is still unclear and need to be determined.

Objective To investigate the effects of caffeine on cerebral cortical activity in preterm infants. Methods The preterm infants with 28-34 week gestational age and without asphyxia at birth were recruited as the subjects from January to September 2016. The infants who received conventional caffeine citrate were assigned to the caffeine group, while the infants with the same postmenstrual age did not receive any drugs that excite respiratory center were assigned to the control group. In the caffeine group, after the use of caffeine citrate stopped, the amplitude integration electroencephalogram (aEEG) recording were performed at 33, 34, 35 weeks of postmenstrual age. All the aEEG recordings were continuously monitored for at least 4 hours. The aEEG images were assessed by Burdjalov scoring system, and the interburst intervals were calculated. The effects of caffeine on preterm infants' cerebral cortical activity in early life were analyzed. Results In a total of 49 preterm infants recruited, 21 were in caffeine group and 28 in control group, and the ratio of male and female was 1.45:1. At the same postmenstrual age, the total score and individual scores of aEEG assessed by Burdjalov scoring system were not significantly different between caffeine group and control group. However, the length of interburst interval was significantly shorter in caffeine group than that in control group (P<0.05). All the recruited preterm infants had no seizure-like activity when the aEEG was monitored. Conclusion The use of caffeine citrate has effects on EEG activity in early life of preterm infants, which may accelerate the brain maturation of preterm infants

Anordrin, which has been widely used as an oral contraceptive tablet in China, administered intra-vaginally at different levels of dose possessed marked antifertiiity effects in Sprague Dawley rats. The anti-implantation efficiency of the compound given intra-vaginally was superior to that of oral dosing in some respects. This kind of medication was feasible, convenient to use and with no serious side effects. Our investigation provides the experimental date for clinical study of using this drug vaginally.

ObjectiveTo explore the protective methods to the patients with insensitive feet caused by leprosy.Methods295 patients affected by leprosy (PAL) with insensitive feet did self-care and wore protective shoes which were bought in general market and met the requireing of with soft and elastic insole,hard sole higher instep, et al.All the patients had been followed up for 3 years.ResultsAll cases persisted on wearing those shoes, only 1 case occured fresh ulcer and no ulcers relapsed.Cracks and ulcers on foot declined by 96.15% and 32.81% respectively, and bone loss had no change.ConclusionsThe protective foot-wears can prevent the fresh ulcers happening and the healed ulcers reappearing for PALs with numb feet. It is important to educate the PALs how to choose the kind of foot-wears and how to do self-care.

BACKGROUND:The results of in vivo and in vitro studies showed that catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa can significantly reduce the level of inflammatory indexes in the synovial tissue of rats with knee osteoarthritis,and meanwhile,it can delay the progression of knee osteoarthritis.But whether catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa affects chondrocyte senescence and then delay the progression of knee osteoarthritis has not yet been clarified. OBJECTIVE:To investigate investigate whether catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa could regulate ATDC5 chondrocyte senescence and the possible mechanisms. METHODS:ATDC5 chondrocytes were divided into blank group(0.1%bovine serum albumin),model group(0.1%bovine serum albumin+1 μmol/L adriamycin),low-dose catalpol group(0.1%bovine serum albumin+1 μmol/L adriamycin+20 μmol/L catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa)and high-dose catalpol group(0.1%bovine serum albumin+1 μmol/L adriamycin+80 μmol/L catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa).Adriamycin-induced ATDC5 chondrocyte senescence model was constructed,and the corresponding treatments were given according to the above groups.Cell counting kit-8 assay was used to detect the effects of catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa on ATDC5 chondrocyte viability,and to screen the optimal concentration of catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa.The senescence of ATDC5 chondrocytes in each group was detected by β-galactosidase staining after the corresponding treatments.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of P21,P53,type II collagen,matrix metalloproteinase 13,and interleukin-6.Immunofluorescence method was used to detect the expression of P21,P53 and type II collagen.Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis in each group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:ATDC5 chondrocytes were identified to be successfully induced and senescence model was induced.Catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa at the concentrations of 0,20,40,and 80 μmol/L showed no significant effects on the cell viability,suggesting that catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa is non-cytotoxic and can be used safely(P>0.05);when the concentration was≥100 μmol/L,the cell viability was reduced,suggesting that there may be cytotoxic.Therefore,80 μmol/L was chosen as the high dose for subsequent experiments in this study.The percentage of positive cells in the model group was(86.93±2.18)%,which was significantly higher than that in the blank group[(17.32±0.72)%;P<0.05].Compared with the model group,the percentage of positive cells was significantly lower in the low-and high-dose catalpol groups[(57.28±1.73)%and(27.18±0.97)%,respectively;both P<0.05].Compared with the model group,the relative expression of P21,P53,matrix metalloproteinase 13,and interleukin-6 at mRNA and protein levels was significantly downregulated in the low-and high-dose catalpol groups,while the relative expression of type II collagen at mRNA and protein levels was significantly upregulated in both groups(P<0.05),especially in the high-dose catalpol group(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the fluorescence intensities of P21 and P53 were significantly weakened in the low-and high-dose catalpol groups,while the fluorescence intensity of type II collagen was significantly enhanced in the low-and high-dose catalpol groups(P<0.05),especially in the high-dose catalpol group(P<0.05).The cell apoptosis detected by Annexin V/PI method showed that there was no significant difference between the model group and the blank group(P>0.05);compared with the model group,the apoptotic index was significantly elevated in the low-and high-dose catalpol groups,especially in the high-dose catalpol group(P<0.05).To conclude,catalpol from Rehmannia glutinosa can slow the progression of osteoarthritis by promoting apoptosis of senescent ATDC5 chondrocytes,further removing senescent ATDC5 chondrocytes,and decreasing the senescence-associated phenotypes.