Objective To study the serum levels of melatonin,tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and the correlation with disability.Methods Forty patients with multiple sclerosis were collected as MS group and 30 healthy participants were collected as control group.Serum levels of melatonin and cytokines,including IFN-γ and TNF-,were detected in all participants by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method;disability status of patients with MS was evaluated by EDSS scale.The relevant analysis between serum melatonin,TNF-α,IFN-γ levels and EDSS score in patients with MS was conducted.Results The concentration of serum melatonin in MS group was significantly lower than control group (P＜0.01).TNF-α levels were higher than control group (P＜0.05) and the difference was statistically significant between MS patients and control group.Among MS group and control group,no significant correlation with the serum levels of IFN-γ was seen.The serum melatonin level was inversely correlated with EDSS score in MS patients (r =-0.76,P＜0.01),and positively correlated with TNF-α (r =0.83,P＜0.01) and as compared to IFN-γ,no significant correlation was found (r =0.17,P＞0.05).Conclusion The decrease of melatonin and increase of TNF-α can be a factor in the inflammatory reaction in patients with MS,and is closely related with dysfunction occurring in multiple sclerosis.Serum melatonin and TNF-α can be used as laboratory indicators to monitor clinical curative effect and evaluate prognosis of MS.

Neuroglobin is a newly discovered member of globulin family.It has neuronprotec- tive effect under the hypoxic and ischemic conditions.In order to make the acting mechanism of globulin clear,many theories have been raised,and corresponding experiments have been done. This article reviews the latest advances systematically in this field,and puts forward possible research directions in the future.

The compound that distributes in the herbs with one common effect was named as "co-effect compound" (CEC). The CECs of three traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) effects, purgative, relieving pain and clearing heat, had been found and studied. A strong corresponding relationship was found between the pharmacological activities of CECs and the TCM effect they belong to. The study shows that it may be a feasible method to connect traditional effect of TCM with modem pharmacological activity.
Anthraquinones ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; pharmacology ; Cathartics ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Many applications in virtual reality and telerobot call for the implementation of displaying the human softness haptics on the object being touched. Although there are lots of literatures on discrimination threshold for displacement, force magnitude, shape and viscosity, there is still a lack of research on remembrance of softness haptic perception in human fingertips. Such research is needed in designing haptic rendering and display system. In this paper, a novel softness haptic display device based on deformable length of elastic element control was adopted as a test device to study the human fingertip's ability of remembrance of softness haptic perception. According to the recall experiment and recognition experiment, the softness haptic memory span and reaction time were discussed. From the experimental results, some important conclusions have been obtained: (1) human softness haptic memory span is 3 to 4 items, which is smaller than visual memory span and auditory memory span; (2) it is more difficult for people to remember hard objects than soft objects.
Adult ; Female ; Form Perception ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Recall ; Touch ; physiology ; Visual Perception

Background It has been clarified that topical administration of cholinomimetic drug or prostaglandin analogus can effectively low intraoeular pressure (IOP) in primary angle-closure glaueoma and angleopen glaucoma,respectively.The two eyedrops are often combined clinically to treat glaueomatous eye.But their effect mechanism on ciliary muscle is different.It is neeessarv to prove the clinical efficacy of combination of these two drugs.Objective This study attempted to compare hypotensive effect of individual and combinative use of 2％piloearpine and 0.004％ travoprost in normal rabbit eyes.Methods Thirty normal albino rabbits were randomly divided into three parallel groups.Lateral eye of each rabbit was appointed as the experimental eye and the fellow eye was used as control eye.2％ Pilocarpine eyedrop was instilled three times daily and 0.004％ travoprost eyedrops was used once per night in the pilocarpine and travoprost group.These two drugs were combined in the combination group.The normal saline solution was used in the control eyes IOP was measured bilaterally with Perkins application tonometer at 8:00 am on the day before and 1,2,4,8,14,24 days after the administration of eyedrops.The use of the animals complied with the Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals by State Science and Technology Commission.Results The IOP was significantly lower on 1 day after use of eyedrops than baseline IOP in the experimental eyes in the pilocarpine group,travoprost group and combination group,but no obvious change in IOP before and after use of eyedrops in the control eyes.There was no significant difference in the baseline IOP in both experimental eyes and control eyes,however,signifieant differences were seen in various time points after administration of eyedrops between experimental eyes and control eyes(P＜0.05).Compared with baseline IOP,IOP declined by 17.5％-22.0％ in pilocarpine group,23.8％-26.4％ travoprost group,27.6％-32.0％ in the combination group.For normal eye,piloearpine+travoprost showed a more power lowing IOP effect.Conclusions Hypotensive effect of combinative use of 2％ pilcoarpine and 0.004％ travoprost is strongest in comparison with individual use of pilocarpine or travoprost,but less than the statistical sum of individual use of these two drugs in a 24-day duration in normal eye of albino rabbit.

Objective To detect the expression of urinary nuclear matrix protein 22(NMP22) and cytokeratin 20(CK20) mRNA in the monitoring of bladder tumor recurrence ,and to explore the clinical value of combined detection of urinary NMP22 and CK20 mRNA in the monitoring of bladder tumor recurrence .Methods Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(Nested RT‐PCR) were used to detect the expression of NMP22 and CK20 mRNA in the u‐rine of 46 patients with recurrent bladder cancer tumor (recurrent group) ,66 patients without recurrent tumor (no‐recurrent group) and 40 healthy volunteers(control group) respectively .Results The expression of NMP22 and CK20 mRNA in the urine of control group were negative .There was statistically significant difference between the positive expression rate of NMP 22 and CK20 mRNA in the urines of the recurrent group[78 .3% (36/46) ,80 .4% (37/46))] and that of the no‐recurrent group[6 .1% (4/62) , 6 .1% (4/62)] and the control group respectively (P<0 .01) .There was no statistically significant difference between the no‐recur‐rent group and the control group(P>0 .05) .The expression level of NMP22 in recurrent tumor increased obviously along with the progression of the pathological grade and clinical classification of tumor (P<0 .05) .The positive rate of CK20 mRNA expression in the recurrent group increased obviously along with the increase of the tumor number (P<0 .05) .The sensitivity and specificity of NMP22 for monitoring bladder cancer recurrence were 78 .3% and 93 .9% ,of CK20 mRNA were 80 .4% and 93 .9% .Combined de‐tection of both sensitivity and specificity were 95 .7% and 92 .4% .Statistical significance was observed between combined sensitivi‐ty and that of single detection(P<0 .05) .No significant difference was observed between combined specificity and that of single de‐tection(P>0 .05) .Conclusion The positive expression of CK20 mRNA may also indicate tumor multiplicity .Combined detection of NM P22 and CK20 mRNA significantly increases the sensitivity and specificity in clinical detection .

China ; epidemiology ; Dust ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Silicon Dioxide ; chemistry ; Silicosis ; epidemiology ; prevention & control

Antigens, CD34 ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hamartoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Hemangioma, Capillary ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Splenectomy ; Splenic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult ; von Willebrand Factor ; metabolism

Objective To study on the effectiveness of endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS)in detec- ting insulinoma preoperatively.Methods Fifteen patients with clinical and biochemical signs of insulinoma were examined by EUS using a radial-scanning ultrasound endoscope and abdominal ultrasonography,CT, DSA prior to surgery.The outcome was evaluated on the basis of surgery and examination of the resected specimens.Results Fifteen patients with 16 lesions of insulinoma were identified by surgery and pathology. The aceuraey of diagnosis with EUS was 13/15(86.7%),and that with B-US,CT,DSA was 3/15(20%), 5/15(33.3%),9/14(64.3%)respectively.In the 14 lesions identified by EUS,10 lesions were depicted to be hypoechogenic,1 lesion was isoechogenic and 3 lesions were hyperechogenie.All 14 lesions were well demarcated and surrounded by normal pancreatic tissue.The minimum size of the lesion visualized by EUS was 0.5cm.Ten lesions were correctly detected by EUS with size of 0.5～2.0cm.EUS missed diagnosis in 2 lesions not for their small size.EUS falsely indicated a 10mm lesion from two lesions inside the head of pancreas.One lesion outside the pancreatic tail and one lesion in the pancreatic head were missed by EUS in another case.Conclusion EUS is superior in assessing the location of pancreatic insulinoma than other ima- ging methods such as B-US,CT,DSA.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics of nosocomial infection in children with acute leukemia and the strategy of prevention and treatment.Methods One hundred and thirty-three cases of nosocomial infection in children with acute leukemia were analyzed by retrospective study.The relationship between nosocomial infection and stage of leukemia,hospitalization duration,and the rate of infection were investigated.Results Nosocomial infection rate was 53.4%(71/133 cases),significant difference of infection rate between acute lymphoblastic leukemia and nonlymphoblastic leukemia group was found(P0.05).The main pathogens of septicaemia were gram negative bacilli,and they were generally sensitive to Amicacin and Pi-peracillin/tazobactam.Conclusions Children with acute leukemia have high nosocomial infection rate.The occurrence of nosocomial infection was related to the type and stage of leukemia and hospitalization duration but not to the prognosis.The main pathogens of septicaemia were gram negative bacilli.