Pulse signal contains a wealth of biological and pathological information. However, it is susceptible to the influence of various factors which results in poor signal quality, and causes the device to generate false alarms. First the pulse signals are processing into discrete symbols, and then compare the test signal with the pulse template by using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to get the threshold for which can be used to find the interference segment of the test signal. By analyzing the DTW distance of the pulse signal, we can get the interference degree of the signal, then the quality level of the plus signal can be defined by the relationship between the interference degree and quality of the signal. The 1 055 group pulse signals provided by MIMIC II physiological database are used to train and test the signal quality assessment algorithms, and compared with other existing algorithms. The results show that the algorithms can accurately detect interference segments in pulse signal and reflect the quality of it.
Algorithms ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Pulse ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted

Objective To optimize technology of three can group dynamic countercurrent extraction process of ferulic acid from Angelicae Sinensis Radix.Methods The content of ferulic acid was determined by HPLC. With content of ferulic acid as index, comprehensive test was used to investigate effect of extraction solvent and extraction time on extraction efficiency.Results The optimum process parameters were as follows:extraction solvent with 10 times of water;20 minutes for each extraction time.Conclusion The process which uses method of three can group of dynamic countercurrent extraction of ferulic acid from Angelicae Sinensis Radix is reliable, highly efficient and energy saving.

Objective To investigate the effect of endoscopic management of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC),and evaluate the indication and clinical value of postoperative prophylactic pelviureteric instillation chemotherapy.Methods Patients who met the inclusion criteria included elderly patients,patients who could not tolerate radical surgery,patients with renal insufficiency or needed dialysis after removal of the kidney,patients with bilateral UTUC,patients with tumor≥3 cm in diameter but could be completely resectted under ureteroscopy who required to preserve renal function.Surgical procedure was successful.The ureteral stents were placed,and prophylactic ureteral infusion chemotherapy via the retrograde transvesical ureteric catheterisation was conducted 1-2 times one week at 2 days after surgery.40 milligram of pirarubicin hydrochloride or epirubicin hydrochloride was dissolved in 40 milliliter sterile water for the prophylactic infusion chemotherapy.These instillations were completed within 40 minutes.Results Totally,9 patients (3 males and 6 females) aged 60-86 years,mean age of (69.7±6.4) years,were enrolled in this study.The carcinoma of the renal pelvis was found in 2 cases and ureteral tumors in 7 cases.In pathological results,ureteral polyps was found in 1 case,papillary ureteral neoplasm with low malignant potential in 2 cases,urinary tract epithelial carcinoma in 4 cases (1 case with poorlydifferentiation,1 case with well-differentiation,2 cases with urinary tract epithelial cancer),and 2 cases were lack of pathological reports because of too few pathologic specimens.4 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy by instillation successfully,and lumbago,fever or other complications were not found.Patients were followed up for a mean period of 15 moths (4-31 months).Only 1 patient had recurrence of bilateral ureteral tumor 15 months after surgery,and no tumor recurrence was found in other patients.Conclusions Endoscopic management is a safe and effective in treating UTUC,which can preserve renal function by avoiding nephrorectomy in some patients.The instillation chemotherapy after endoscopic management is safe,which has a satisfactory effect,but further validation in a large clinical sample is needed.Patients with tumor resection under ureteroscopy who cannot obtain the pathology results need to be closely followed up.

Objective To examine the association between the polymorphisms of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)gene with heroin dependence.Methods Genomic DNA was isolated from the venous blood leukocytes of 308 unrelated patients with heroin dependence and 31 7 healthy individuals.Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)were genotyped using MassARRAY system.Data were analyzed using HaploView 4.0 and SPSS 20.0 software.Results There was a significant difference in the genotype frequency of rs6265 between heroin dependence group and healthy control group (χ2 =1 5.1 5 1,P =0.001).The rs6265 G allele was significantly higher than in controls (χ2 =9.864,P =0.002,OR =1.429,95% CI =1.143 -1.786).Furthermore,there was also a significant difference in the genotype frequency of rs13306221 between heroin dependence group and control group (χ2 =7.699,P =0.006).The rs13306221 G allele was significantly higher than in controls (χ2 =7.137,P =0.008,OR =0.539,95% CI =0.340-0.853).Strong linkage disequilibrium (LD)was observed in one block (D’> 0.9;r 2 >0.8),and significantly less G-G haplotype frequency of block 1 (χ2 =4.546;P =0.033)was found in heroin dependence group. Conclusion Our findings support the role of BDNF rs6265 and rs13306221 polymorphisms in heroin dependence and may guide future studies to identify other genetic risk factors for heroin dependence.

Objective To establish a method for determination of polysaccharides in Weixuening Granule, which can be used for quality control of the preparation. Methods Polysaccharides was determined by improved differential phenol-sulfuric method with glucose as reference, and the color conditions were optimized at the wavelength of 487 nm, with the concentration of phenol and sulfuric acid, and reaction time as investigated factors. Results The best color conditions of polysaccharides were 0.04 g/mL phenol 1 mL, 87.5% sulfuric acid 5 mL, and reaction time of 15 min. Glucose had a good linear relationship with absorbanceΔA at the range of 15.3-306.0μg, r=0.999 7. The average recovery was 103.5%, and RSD was 2.9%. The average content of polysaccharides in Weixuening Granule was 27.04%and RSD was 1.1%. Conclusion The method is simple, accurate, stable and reliable, and can be used to determine the content of polysaccharides in Weixuening Granule.

Objective Large-conductance culcium-activated potassium (BKCa) channel modulates vascular smooth muscle tone. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that salt, one of the factors which significantly influence bleed pressure (BP), can regulate BKCa activity and then elevate blood pressure. Methods Male Spragne-Dawley rats aged 6 weeks were randomized into high salt diet group (HS) and control group, fed with high salt diet (containing 5% NaCi) and standard rat chow (containing 0.4% NaCl) respectively for 16 weeks. Tail systolic blood pressure (SBP), body weight (BW) and 24-hour urinary output were tested every 4 weeks. Content of urinary Na+ was detected using flame spectrophotometrical method. At the end of 16 weeks, all the rats were killed, the mesenteric arteries were obtained, and single mesenteric smooth muscle cells were isolated at once. The resting membrane potential (Em), the total potassium currents and the currents after perfusion with TEA solution of the cells were all recorded by whole cell patch clamp. The transcriptions of BKCa channel α and β1 sobunits in mesenteric arterial vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) of each group were calculated by real-time RT-PCR. Results There was no difference in SBP and BW at each stage between control group and HS group; the urinary Na+ level in HS animals was elevated significantly after 4 weeks.The negative values of Em in HS group VSMCs were reduced compared with these in the control group. Transcriptions of β1 subanit of BKCa channels were decreased in HS group, but α subunit transcriptions did not differ between the two groups. Whole cell potassium currents did not differ hetween HS and control groups, but BKCa currents of HS group VSMCs were lower than these of control group ones. Conclusion Even without elevating SBP, salt-loading can still modulate the expression and activity of BKCa channel in the mesenteric arterial VSMC and elevate vascular tone.

Objective To observe the histological features of muscular layers in different parts of esophagus of patients with achalasia (AC) and to explore the distribution and function of eosinophils in esophageal muscular layer in patients with AC.Methods From June 2015 to February 2016,21 patients diagnosed with AC by endoscopy,barium meal and esophageal high resolution manometry,accepted peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) were enrolled.At the same period,nine patients with esophageal carcinoma who received esophagectomy were selected as controls.Muscular tissues of lower esophageal sphincter (LES),distal esophagus (5 cm above LES) and middle esophagus (10 cm above LES) of patients with AC and controls were taken for regular haematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining to analyze degree of eosinophils infiltration.Nonparametric analysis and Chi-square analysis were used for statistical analysis.Spearman correlation analysis was used for analyzing correlations.Results The results of H-E staining indicated that different degree of eosinophil infiltration was found in 18(85.7％) patients with AC,and eosinophil counts in muscular layer were over 15 per high power field in five patients with AC (23.8％,5/21).However,no eosinophils infiltration was found in esophageal carcinoma patients.Median numbers of eosinophil in muscular layer of LES,distal esophagus and middle esophagus were all higher than those of esophageal carcinoma group (4.0,2.0 to 10.0 vs 1.0,0 to 1.5;4.0,1.0 to 17.0 vs 1.0,0.5 to 1.5；6.0,0.5 to 15.0 vs 0,0 to 1.0),and the differences were statistically significant (Z=2.997,2.476 and 2.504,all P＜0.05).The distribution of eosinophils in muscular layer of LES,distalesophagus and middle esophagus between the two groups were statistically significant (x2=2.710,2.543and 2.313,all P＜0.05).The differences in eosinophils distribution in muscular layer of LES,distal esophagus and middle esophagus in patients with AC were not ststistically significant (x2 =0.110,P＞0.05).Additionally,number of eosinophils in muscular layer of different parts of esophagus was not correlated with age and disease course (r=0.434 and 0.639；P =0.282 and 0.088).Conclusion The wide distribution of eosinophils in muscular layer of esophagus in patients with AC may involve in the genesis and development of AC.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of the lateralization of unilateral medial temporal lobe epilepsy(mTLE)by using arterial-spin-labeling(ASL)based perfusion MR imaging and investigate the changes of perfusion in the regions related to mTLE network and the relationship between the perfusion and the clinical status.Methods Twenty-five patients with left-sided and 23 with right-sided mTLE were enroiled,and 30 healthy volunteers were recruited.The cerebral blood flow(CBF)of related region was measured based on pulsed-ASL sequence on Siemens 3 T scanner.The CBF of the mTLE group were compared with that in the controls by using ANOVA analysis.The asymmetric indices of CBF in the medial temporal lobe were calculated as the lesion side compared with the normal side in matched region in mTLE group.Results Compared with the volunteers,the patients with mTLE showed the decrease of CBF in the bilateral medial and lateral temporal,the frontal and parietal regions relating to the default-mode network and more serious in lesion side.The CBF values of the medial temporal lobe were negatively correlated with the epilepsy duration(r =-0.51,P ＜0.01).The asymmetric index of CBF as-0.01 has a 76.0％(19/25)sensitivity and a 78.3％(18/23)specificity to distinguish the lesion side.Conclusions The decrease of CBF in the temporal and extra-temporal region by ASL-based MRI suggests the functional abnormalities in the network involved by mTLE.The ASL technique is a useful tool for lateralizing the unilateral mTLE.

Humans ; Sphenoid Bone ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the treatment for scarred vocal folds by transplanting human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs)and injecting collagenase as well as hyaluronic acid (HA) for the intervention of the extracellular matrix(EMC), to observe the growth, distribution of hAECs and to assess the abilities of them for scarred vocal fold regeneration.

METHODSThe lamina propria was injured by localized resection in thirty-eight vocal folds of twenty rabbits. hAECs were isolated from human amnion and marked by Lenti-GFP. After the formation of vocal fold scarring, hAECs were transplanted into ten vocal folds, collagenase and HA were injected into ten vocal folds, all three were injected into ten vocal folds, none were injected into eight vocal folds, and two normal vocal folds were used as control. At 1 month and 2 months after the transplanting, the survival, the distribution and the cytoactive of hAECs were examined by immunofluorescence method. Meanwhile, at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 6 months after the operation, HE staining was performed for histopathological research, Masson trichrome staining and immunohistochemical staining were used for collagen and fibronectin respectively.

RESULTSAfter implanted into the scarred vocal folds, hAECs could survive in vocal fold lamina propria for two months. The immunofluorescence analysis showed the cytoactive of hAECs.Six months postoperatively, compared with that in the normal vocal folds, collagen in the untreated scarred vocal folds more increased and disorderly distributed; the changes in other three groups were between the two groups above, but the group injected with all of hAECs, collagenase and HA was better than other two groups. Besides, the mean density of fibronectin in the scarred untreated control group was more significantly increased than that in the normal vocal folds; the changes in other three groups were between the two groups above, but the group injected with all of hAECs, collagenase and HA was better than other two groups.

CONCLUSIONThe transplanting of hAECs and the interventions of EMC by injecting collagenase as well as HA have better abilities in rabbit scarred vocal fold reparation and regeneration by promoting ECM secretion, rational distribution and part ordering arrangement.

Amnion ; cytology ; Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Cicatrix ; pathology ; surgery ; Collagenases ; administration & dosage ; Disease Models, Animal ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; transplantation ; Extracellular Matrix ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Rabbits ; Regeneration ; Vocal Cords ; pathology ; surgery