Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel in vitro nucleic acid amplification method conducted under isothermal conditions with the advantages of high specificity, sensitivity, rapidity and easy detection. Since it was established in 2000, it has been widely applied in various fields of analytical science including the diagnosis of a variety of pathogens, identification of embryo sex, detection of genetically modified organisms and cancer gene identification. Additionally, significant progress has been made in the optimization of the LAMP method, such as accelerated reactions, simplified sample processing, the realization of multiplex amplification, and the enhanced specificity of reaction and detection methods. LAMP technology also shows much potential to be adopted as part of point-of-care testing platforms by the micromation, automation and integration with other technologies such as Lab-on-a-Chip and digital nucleic acid amplification. This review summarizes the latest advances in the LAMP technique and its applications in developing point-of-care testing platforms.
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures ; trends ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Point-of-Care Systems ; trends ; Virus Diseases ; diagnosis ; virology ; Viruses ; genetics ; isolation & purification

Two-factor factorial design refers to the research involving two experimental factors and the number of the experimental groups equals to the product of the levels of the two experimental factors. In other words, it is the complete combination of the levels of the two experimental factors. The research subjects are randomly divided into the experimental groups. The two experimental factors are performed on the subjects at the same time, meaning that there is no order. The two experimental factors are equal during statistical analysis, that is to say, there is no primary or secondary distinction, nor nested relation. This article introduces estimation of sample size and testing power of quantitative data with two-factor factorial design.

Objective To evaluate a serf-designed diagnostic protoeol which can early detect a femoral neck fracture for patients with a femoral shaft fracture. Methods From September 2005 to June 2007, a self-developed protocol was used to detect an ipsilateral femoral neck fracture for all the patients with femoral shaft fracture who had sought treatment in our department. This protocol consisted of anteroposterior plain radiography of internal rotator, intraoperative fluoroscopy of the hip, a fine (2 mm) cut computed to-mographic scan through the femoral neck, postoperative anteroposterior and lateral plain radiography of the hip in the operating room prior to awakening the patient, at the time of follow-up anteroposterior and lateral plain radiography of the hip in the presence of hip pain. The diagnostic effects of the protocol were compared with those of conventional diagnosis used for all the patients with femoral shaft fracture who had sought treatment in our department from September 2003 to August 2005. A chi-square analysis comparing the protocol group (September 2005 to June 2007) and the non-protocol group (September 2003 to August 2005) was used to assess the early and delayed diagnosis rates for an associated ipsilateral femoral neck fracture. Results The earlydiagnosis rate of an associated femoral neck fracture by the protocol was 93.8%, markedly higher than that by conventional method (46.2%), with statistically significant difference (χ2 = 4.069, P =0.044). Conclu-sion In presence of a femoral shaft fracture. this protocol consisting of plain radiography of intemal rotator, intraoperative fluoroscopy of the hip, fine cut computed tomographic scan of the femoral neck, postoperative plain radiography of the hip, and follow-up plain radiography of the hip in the presence of hip pain, may sig-nificantly improve the diagnostic rate of an associated femoral neck fracture.

Bacteria ; drug effects ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial

Objective To study the characteristics and differences of phonetic pronunciation between hearing-impaired and normal children in 4.5~5.5 years old groups. Methods Phonetic articulation of consonants and vowels were tested by three-grade assessors for 20 hearing- impaired children and 20 normal children in 4.5~5.5 years old group using Question Bank for Hearing-impaired Children's Rehabilitation Evaluation of Hearing and Speech. Results and Conclusion For hearing-impaired children, the consonants of /b. m. d. l. j/ were the most articulative, followed with /h. f. r. p. t. n. g. x/, and then /zh. z. k. c. sh. q. s. ch/; for normal children, the consonants of /b. p. f. g. m. d. h/ were the most articulative, followed with /k. j. x. t. r. l/, and then /q. zh. ch. sh. n. z. s. c/. For both groups, the single final was the most articulative, followed with the compound final, and then the nasal. The articulation of these 3 types of vowels were poorer in hearing-impaired children than in normal children (P<0.01)

The glycosaminoglycan (GAG), isolated from Bay scallop Argopectenirradians, contains neutral monosaccharides besides hexosamines and hexosuronic acids. The monosaccharides obtained by alcoholysis with HCI-methylalcohol from the sample of GAG was trimethylsilanized with hexamethyldisilan and chlortrimethylsilan (HMDS ' TMCS = 2 : 1). And the trimethylsilyl derivatives of monosaccharides was determined by gas chro-matography. Compared the gas chromatography of the sample with that of standard monosaccharides, it was found that the GAG of the Bay scallop contains five neutral monosaccharides, viz glucose, galactose, xylose, fucose and rhamnose.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence on left ventricular(LV) twist,and the relationship between LV twist and function in the rabbits with ventricular aneurysm formed after myocardial infarction by two-dimensional ultrasound speckle tracking imaging.MethodsTwenty-six healthy rabbits were divided into two groups,six as control group,twenty as experimental group.The model of myocardial infarction and ventricular aneurysm were established by ligaturing left anterior descending coronary artery and left circumflex artery.After four weeks,according to the pathological examination of whether ventricular aneurysm formed or not,the experimental group was divided into myocardial infarct group and ventricular aneurysm group.Echocardiography was performed to measure rotations (at the levels of mitral annulus and apex in LV short-axis view),LV twist,left ventricular cavity size and function.ResultsCompared with the myocardial infarct group,LV end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD) and LV end-diastolic volume(LVEDV) were larger in the ventricular aneurysm group,but LV ejection fraction (LVEF),LV fractional shortening (LVFS),apical rotation and LV twist were lower in the ventricular aneurysm group than the myocardial infarct group.Both apical rotation and LV twist had shown a great correlation with LVEF.The conclusion was also shown in the ROC curve that sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis cardiac dysfunction were 76.9％ and 80.0％ respectively when the apical rotation was 1.21°.Conclusions There was a closely relationship between the change of apical rotation and the LV systolic function.When the apical rotation dropped to 1.21°,an apparent decline of LV systolic function was implied.

HK-2 cells cultured in vitro were divided into three groups: normal glucose group ( NG ), high glucose group( HG), and mannitol group(MG). The expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme( ACE ) and ACE2 mRNA in HK-2 cells was detected. The concentration of angiotensin Ⅱ ( Ang Ⅱ ) in the culture medium was detected. The mRNA and protein expression of ACE and ACE2 existed in normal cultured HK-2 ( NG group ). In comparison with NG group, the mRNA and protein expressions of ACE in HG group increased significantly ( P＜0. 01 ), and the expression of ACE2 mRNA decreased significantly( P＜0. 01 ). The level of Ang Ⅱ in HG group was significantly higher than in NG group( P＜0. 05 ). The result show that high glucose may induce ACE expression and inhibit ACE2 expression, then promote synthesis of Ang Ⅱ in proximal tubular cells.

Research factors are a very important element in any research design. Research factors include experimental and non-experimental factors. The former is the general term used to describe the similar experimental conditions that researchers are interested in, while the latter are other factors that researchers have little interest in but may influence the result. This article mainly focuses on the following issues: the definition of research factors, the selection and arrangement of experimental factors and non-experimental factors, the interaction between research factors, the standardization of research factors and the common mistakes frequently made by researchers.