ObjectiveTo observe the effect of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) and physical therapy on shoulder pain after stroke. Methods60 patients of shoulder pain after stroke were randomly divided into treatment group (30 cases) and control group(30 cases). The patients in the treatment group were treated with TENS and physical therapy. The cases in the control group were treated with TENS only. All patients were evaluated with visual analogous score of pain (VAS) and Fugl-Meyer measure (FM) before and after treatment. ResultsThe scores of VAS and FM improved more significantly in treatment group than in control group(P<0.01).ConclusionTranscutaneous electric nerve stimulation combined with physical therapy showed more effective on shoulder pain after stroke.

Objective To study the gait of children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) using plantar pressure measurement (PPM).Methods Twenty SCP children and 84 healthy children were recruited,and PPM was used to compare their gait cycle time,cadence,and standardized gait cycle parameters.Results Compared with the control group,gait cycle times in the SCP group were obviously prolonged,and their cadence was significantly slower.The side support phase and swing time in the SCP group were shorter,while the double support phase was longer than that of children in the control group.Conclusion PPM can be used to assess the gait of SCP children efficiently.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in low-dose chest CT (80 kV) examination in children.Methods Forty-four children who had post-operation scoliosis and received low dose chest CT scans were included.The fix tube voltage was 80 kV,fix current was 50 mA.Images were reconstructed with MBIR (observation group).The pre-operation scan were used 120 kV and 50 mA for acquisition,and images were reconstructed with filtered back-projection (FBP) mehed (control group).The subjective quality of the images was independently evaluated by two radiologists.Objective noises in the muscle and lung field were measured,the SNR,CNR were calculated,and the CTDIvol was record.Results The subjective noise score in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P＜0.05).Objective noise reduced about 40.36％,SNR increased 72.37％,CNR increased 78.69％,CTDIvol decreased by 66.52％,all of which had statistical difference between both groups (all P＜0.001).Conclusion Low-dose chest CT (80 kV) examination in children can meet the requirements of diagnosis for children.

Osteoarthritis (Osteoarthritis, OA) is a common clinical degenerative joint disease with increased incidence rate in recent years. Animal experiment is one of the important ways to explore pathogenesis and treatment of OA, while induced animal model is the most important part in animal experiment. Intra-articular injection of drugs is a classical method for establishing animal model of OA. Choose of animal should follows the principle of correlation, appropriateness and practicability, injections should perform in accordance with experimental purposes and subject, detections means and evaluation methods also should corresponding to experimental reality. The gold standard of OA animal model and intra-articular injections has not build, need further study.
Animals ; Cytokines ; analysis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Mice ; Osteoarthritis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; immunology ; Rabbits ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Tongluo Xingnao effervescent tablets on learning and memory capacity and expression of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in hippocampus of rats with chronic cerebral ischemia-induced learning and memory dysfunction model.

METHODThe 2-VO method was used to establish sd rat model learning and memory dysfunction induced by chronic cerebral ischemia. The 50 rats in the successfully established model were randomly divided into the model control group, the Dihydroergotoxine Mesylate tablets group (0.7 mg x kg(-1), Tongluo Xingnao effervescent tablets high dose (7.56 g x kg(-1)), middle dose (3.78 g x kg(-1)) and low dose (1.59 g x kg(-1)) groups and the sham operation group (n = 10) as the control group. The groups were orally given 10 ml x kg(-1) x d(-1) drugs for consecutively 90 days. On the 86th day, Morris water maze was adopted for them. On the 90th day, a leaning and memory capacity test was held. The brain tissues were fixed with 10% formaldehyde and observed for pathomorphism after routine slide preparation and staining. The expression of hippocampal Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase was detected with immunohistochemistry and image quantitative analysis.

RESULTCompared with the model group, all of Tongluo Xingnao effervescent tablets groups showed significant decrease in the escape latency at the 5th day in the Morris water maze, and notable increase in the frequency of the first quadrant dwell, the frequency passing the escape platform and the frequency entering effective area (p < 0.05). According to the pathomorphological detection, the control group showed a significantly higher pathological score than the sham operation group (p < 0.01), the middle dose group showed a significantly lower pathological score than the model group (p < 0.05). According to the immunohistochemistical detection, the model control group showed a remarkably lower mean OD value of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase than the sham operation group (p < 0.05), high and middle dose groups showed a significantly higher mean od value than the model control group (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONTongluo Xingnao effervescent tablets can improve the learning and memory capacity, reduce pathological changes of hippocampal tissues of rats with chronic cerebral ischemia-induced learning and memory dysfunction model, and promote the expression of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in hippocampus.

Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; genetics ; psychology ; Chronic Disease ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Humans ; Learning ; drug effects ; Male ; Memory ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tablets ; administration & dosage

Ganglioneuroblastoma ; complications ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration ; etiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Brain Abscess ; etiology ; Child ; Humans ; Hypopigmentation ; complications ; diagnosis ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

The aim of this study was to purify and characterize a keratinase produced by a new isolated Bacillus subtilis KD-N2 strain. The keratinase produced by the isolate was purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G-75 and DEAE (diethylaminoethyl)-Sepharose chromatographic techniques. The purified enzyme was shown to have a molecular mass of 30.5 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis. The optimum pH at 50 degrees C was 8.5 and the optimum temperature at pH 8.5 was 55 degrees C. The keratinase was partially inactivated by some metal ions, organic solvents and serine protease inhibitor phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) had positive effect on the keratinase activity. Reducing agents including dithiothreitol (DTT), mercaptoethanol, L-cysteine, sodium sulphite, as well as chemicals of SDS, ammonium sulfamate and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) stimulated the enzyme activity upon a feather meal substrate. Besides feather keratin, the enzyme is active upon the soluble proteins ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), casein and insoluble ones as sheep wool and human hair. Calf hair, silk and collagen could not be hydrolyzed by the keratinase.
Bacillus subtilis ; classification ; enzymology ; Enzyme Activation ; Enzyme Stability ; Peptide Hydrolases ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Species Specificity ; Substrate Specificity

AIMTo investigate the relationship between the hypoxia-inducible factor 1(HIF-1) and apoptosis correlative proteins in the cardiomyocyte during hypoxia.

METHODSRat cardiomyocytes cultured in vitro were divided into normoxia, hypoxia and hypoxic preconditioning groups. The cardiomyocytes in hypoxic preconditioning group were cultured in 1% O2, 5% CO2, 94% N2 for 5 days, 12 h daily before exposed to 0% O2 hypoxia with the hypoxic group. The protein expression of HIF-1alpha, Bcl-2, P53 and Bax in the cardiomyocytes were analysis with Western blot after 48 h 0% O2 hypoxia.

RESULTSWith the increment of HIF-1 expression, the Bcl-2 expression was inhibited, the Bax and P53 expression were increased as well during hypoxia. Hypoxic preconditioning could suppress the HIF-1 expression, meanwhile the Bcl-2 expression was elevated, and the Bax expression was decreased.

CONCLUSIONHIF-1 may contribute to the regulation of the cardiomyocyte apoptosis with the Bcl-2 family during hypoxia.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Apoptosis ; Cells, Cultured ; Hypoxia ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the distribution features of tender points in knee of patients with knee osteoarthritis in order to provide evidences for the treatment and diagnosis.

METHODSFrom November 2011 to December 2012,86 patients with knee osteoarthritis were recruited, including 21 males and 65 females, ranging in age from 45 to 85 years old, with an average of (59.98 +/- 8.23) years old. The course of disease ranged from 3 months to 15 years. The tender points and its distributions were determined by finger press carefully on their knees. Data of studying was analyzed by frequency statistics and Hierachical cluster analysis.

RESULTSThe distribution of tender points in the knee osteoarthritis was mainly in the interior region and anterior area such as in apex of patella, adductor tubercle and et al. According to the results of hierachical cluster analysis, the tender points could be divided into two categories the first cluster was in the interior region of knee, the second cluster was in the lateral region.

CONCLUSIONThe findings demonstrated that cluster analysis statistical method can be used for classification of the distribution of tender points. The distribution features of tender points in knee osteoarthritis are related to the anatomic site in knee.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cluster Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; complications ; Pain ; complications