Objective To check up the consistency of theoretic frame and practical data of "main care-givers,empewerment measurement" as well as its feasibility. Methods Through wide paper re-searching, the original theory "self- dependence" of China which based on the "empowerment" theory from the west was built up. Then a theoretic measurement sheet was made of which the theoretic reliability and contest reliability were both checked through multiple procedures. Finally the result was screened and puri-fied into 64 items. In this study, 120 main care- givers of in- patients over 65 years old were taken as the objects, and a pre-test with the 64-itemsheet. Results Empowerment measurement reliability was 0.89, 9 factors were all confirmed at factor analysis, cumulative contribution rate was 56.3%. Conclusions "Mea-surement of main care- givers' empewerment" is available, highly reliable and capable of application.

Biliary Tract Diseases ; etiology ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Cholestasis ; etiology ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects

β2-Microglobulin is a small molecule protein, consisting of a polypeptide chain.Previous studies have confirmed that serum β2-microglobulin is a biomarker that reflects early renal function injury, and renal function injury is closely correlated with ischemic stroke.Studies in recent years have shown that the level of serum β2-microglobulin increases significantly in patients with ischemic stroke.Thus, it can be used as a biomarker for the risk of ischemic stroke.

Objcetive: To investigate the effect of resveratrol (RES)combined with cisplatin (DDP)on the cholangiocarcinoma cell line FRH-0201 in vitro. Methods: FRH-0201 cells were exposed to different concentrations of RES or (and)DDP. Cell morphological changes were observed by light and fluorescence microscopy. Inhibition of cell proliferation was measured by MTT and colony-forming assay. And the flow cytometry were performed to detect the cell apoptosis rate and cell cycle. Results: Resveratrol inhibited the proliferation of FRH-0201 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner in the concentration of 5～320 ?mol/L and the IC50 values after the exposure of 24, 48, and 72 h were 55.35, 32.84, and 28.01 ?mol/L respectively. RES and DDP had synergetic effect in the inhibition of FRH-0201 cells. Conclusion: RES can inhibit the growth of FRH-0201 cells and has the synergetic effect with DDP.

β-arrestins, a kind of important adaptor protein and signal transduction protein found in the purification process ofβ-adrenergic receptor kinase (β-ARK) ,were first identified as pro-teins that have the ability to desensitize G protein-coupled recep-tors ( GPCR) . Fibrosis is defined by the overgrowth, hardening, and scarring of various tissues and is attributed to excess deposi-tion of extracellular matrix ( ECM ) components including colla-gen . A large number of studies have shown thatβ-arrestins play an important role in the process of fibrotic diseases, involved in inflammatory response and excess deposition of ECM. This re-view discusses the research status and development prospects ofβ-arrestins-mediated fibrotic diseases.

Objective To investigate changes of the elastic modulus of astrocytes induced by injury. Methods The astrocytes were isolated and extracted from the 2-day old SD rats, and identified by immunofluorescence staining with glial fiber acidic protein (GFAP) antibody. Cells were divided into control group and injured group. The injured group was astrocytes 6 h after being injured by the cell damage instrument. The control group was astrocytes without any injury. The elastic modulus in liquid phase was tested by atomic force microscope in two groups. Results were compared and analyzed between two groups. Results The purification rate of rat astrocytes was more than 95%. Six hours after the injury, the astrocytes were in disorder, and some of cell bodies were swelling. The mechanical topographic maps and force indentation curves were obtained. The elastic modulus of astrocytes was significantly increased in injured group compared with that of control group[(1 689±693) Pa vs. (724±283) Pa, P<0.01]. Conclusion The injury stimulus increases the elastic modulus of astrocytes, which provides theoretical basis for understanding intracranial physical microenvironment after traumatic brain injury in animal experiments.

BACKGROUND:As a neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factors extensively distribute in the central nervoussystem,andplay an important physiological roleby combinationwith their relative receptors.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of basic fibroblast growth factors on the learning ability and proliferation of nestin-positive hippocampal neural stem cels in rats with vascular dementia.
METHODS:Totaly 30 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into vascular dementia, sham operation and treatment groups. The vascular dementia and treatment groups were for preparing vascular dementia model, and the treatment group was given subcutaneous injection of basic fibroblast growth factors. Subsequently, at 4 weeks, the learning ability of rats and the number of nestin-positive hippocampal neural stem cels was detected by the Morris water maze test and immunohistochemical staining, respectively.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with thevascular dementia groupthe latency period was significantlyshorterin thesham operation and treatment groups, and the number oftimes crossing the target quadrant was significantlyhigher in thesham operation and treatment groups (P< 0.05). But there was no significant difference between the sham operation and treatment groups(P> 0.05). Under fluorescence microscope, yelow-green fluorescence stained neuronspositive forbasic fibroblast growth factorcould be found in the CA1, CA2 and CA3 of the treatment group. Additionaly, the number of nestin-positive neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus was the most inthetreatment group, folowed by the sham operation group, andthe leastin the vascular dementia group. These results suggest that the subcutaneous injection of basic fibroblast growth factors can migrate to the hippocampus,, andimprove the learning ability of rats by inducing proliferation of nestin-positive hippocampal neural stem cels.

Objective To investigate the effect of spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury on hindlimb dysfunction in rabbits.Methods Twenty-eight health adult rabbits were distributed into normal control group (n =4) and model group (n =24) according to the random number table.The modelof spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury was established by selective occlusion of lumbar arteries.The model group were submitted to ischemia for 30 min (Group Ⅰ),60 min (Group Ⅱ) and 90 min (Group Ⅲ) before the reperfusion with 8 rabbits each.Jacobs score,Reuters score and Rivlin inclined plane test were used to evaluate the hindlimb function in each Group at days 1,3 and 7 after reperfusion.Changes in nerve conduction function in each group were observed using the cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP).Results At days 1,3 and 7,the paraplegia rates in group Ⅰ were 50％,38％ and 38％ respectively,in Group Ⅱ were 75％,88％ and 100％,and in Group Ⅲ were all 100％.Paraplegia rate differed significantly among the three groups at 1 d and 3 d (P ＜ 0.01).Paraplegia rate differed significantly in Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ when compared to that in Group Ⅰ at 7 d (P ＜ 0.01),but there was no significant difference between Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ (P ＞ 0.05).With the prolongation of reperfusion,the Reuters score in Group Ⅰ dropped but not differed from that in control group (P ＞ 0.05);the Reuters score in Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ increased and differed from that the control group (P ＜0.01),but the difference between Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ was insignificant (P ＞ 0.05).Critical angle and obstacle rate of the inclined plane in control group were (68.4 ± 3.0)° and 0％.One day after reperfusion,critical angles of the inclined plane in Groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ were (58.8 ± 4.1) °,(38.5 ± 2.8) ° and (29.8 ± 1.8) °,and the obstacle rates were (14.5 ± 0.9) ％,(43.6 ± 2.4) ％ and (56.0 ± 2.9) ％.There were significant differences compared to control group (P ＜ 0.01).Slight decrease in critical angle of the inclined plane but a minor increase in the obstacle rate was detected in Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ at 3 d and 7 d after reperfusion,and the differences were significant compared to control group (P ＜ 0.01).Three days after reperfusion,critical angle of the inclined plane raised and obstacle rate of the inclined plate fell in group Ⅰ,not significantly different from these in control group (P ＞ 0.05).Latencies of CSEP N1 and P1 waves in Group Ⅱ [(33.1 ± 1.8) ms and (58.6 ± 4.0) ms] were longer than these in control group [(23.7±0.5)msand (48.1±4.1)ms]andgroup Ⅰ [(26.2±0.7)ms and (50.2±4.2)ms] (P＜ 0.01) 7 days after reperfusion,but the differences between control group and Group Ⅰ were insignificant (P ＞ 0.05).While the CSEP wave disappeared in Group Ⅲ.Conclusions Severity of spinal cord inschemia/reperfusion injury is related to the duration of ischemia.Hindlimb dysfunction caused by ischemia/reperfusion injury is characterized mainly by spastic paraplegia.

BACKGROUND: Many methods involved in measuring energy expenditure of physical action, however, study regarding measurements of upper limber movement energy expenditure are few.OBJECTIVIE: To measure the energy expenditure of limber movement using indirect calorimetry, and to analyze the characteristics of upper limber movement energy expenditure and influencing factors such as age and gender.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The comparison observation was performed at the Jiangsu Institute of Sports Science from January to March 2009.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 108 health adults, including 47 males and 61 females, participated in the study, 65 of them aged 20-39 years, and the remained 43 aged 40-59 years.METHODS: Energy expenditure of 4 upper limb movements were performed, including sitting posture arm swing (60 times/min),elbow flexion (40 times/min), shoulder flexion-extension (60 times/min), and lateral arm raise (30 times/min). At each interval,have a 3-minute rest.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Oxygen expenditure of 4 kinds upper limb movements were measured by MetaMax 3B tester. RESULTS: Rest oxygen expenditure of males were greater than that of females (P < 0.05), greater in 20-39 years old than 40-59 years old (P < 0.05). The greatest oxygen consumption occurred in males with arm swing [(550.9±90.6) mL/min], which was (425.8±75.7) mL/min in females. The lowest oxygen expenditure was elbow bend [male: (440.4±82.7) mL/min, female: (367.0±60.1) mL/min]. Net oxygen expenditure of all 4 kinds of upper limb movements was lower than 250mL/min (1 metabolic equivalent).CONCLUSION: ① The energy expenditure of usual upper limber movements below 1 metabolic equivalent. ② Age and body mass has more effect on resting energy expenditure than the gender. ③ The efficiency of young adults upper limb movements is higher than old adults.

Cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) is a bacterial second messenger of growing recognition involved in the regulation of a number of complex physiological processes. In combinations to the related progress of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, the causing agent of bacterial blight of rice in our lab, this review describes (1) the biosynthesis and hydrolysis of c-di-GMP and several mechanisms of regulation of c-di-GMP metabo-lism, (2) the contribution of c-di-GMP to regulating virulence, motility and biofilm formation, processes that affect pathogenesis of many bacteria, and (3) ways in which c-di-GMP may mediate these regulatory effects.