This article introduced the biological characteristics of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and reviewed the relationship be-tween NMDA receptor and neurological disease, including cerebral trauma, cerebral ischemia, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, depression and Al-zheimer disease.

Rapid prototyping (RP) technology can be used to translate the CAD model of the product into the physical one, thus the rationalization of the design project and product structure is identified. This paper introduces the basic principle of RP technology and typical prototyping system. The application of RP technology to the development of first-aid kit is also mentioned. RP technology proves effective to reduce the cost and time of the development of medical equipment.

BACKGROUND:Calcium sulfate bone substitute material has a good safety and biocompatibility, and possesses good strength after implantation to restore thoracolumbar mechanical strength and reduce vertebral height loss, and moreover, it may gradual y be degraded and absorbed. OBJECTIVE:To explore the influence of posterior pedicle screw fixation combined with calcium sulfate bone substitute material on the recovery of vertebral height after thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures. METHODS:Forty-two patients with thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures (T12-L3) were enrol ed to receive posterior pedicle screw fixation combined with calcium sulfate bone substitute, including 27 males and 15 females, aged 21-57 years. Al patients were fol owed-up for 12 months, and then anterior vertebral height, kyphosis Cobb angle, Oswestry disability index score and visual analog scale score before and after treatment were determined and compared. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At the end of fol ow-up, no local complications, no coagulation, no immune response and no screw breakage occurred;the anterior vertebral height, kyphosis Cobb angle, Oswestry disability index score and visual analog scale score were significantly improved (P<0.05). These findings indicate that the posterior pedicle screw fixation combined with calcium sulfate bone substitute can restore the vertebral height and promote functional recovery of patients with thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures.

BACKGROUND:Diabetes as a systemic metabolic disease induces the disorders of carbohydrates, fat, and protein metabolism, simultaneously easily causes the lesion of surrounding capilaries, and impacts nutrient metabolism of multiple organs including intervertebral discs. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the research progress of diabetes effects on disc degeneration al over the world. METHODS: The first author used the computer to retrieve the information from PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. The key words were “intervertebral disc, degeneration, diabetes melitus” in English and Chinese. 8 414 relevant articles were found, which were published from January 1981 to January 2014. Repetitive studies were excluded and 34 articles were in accordance with the inclusion criteria. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Pathogenesis of diabetes complications was very complicated. Apoptosis is a hot focus in recent years. Hyperglycemia has been a inducer for apoptosis in intervertebral discs. Diabetes easily leads to systemic smal vessel disease, especialy vascular bud contraction in the terminal plate of vertebral body, and results in regional blood flow decrease or interruption. Thus, the nutrient substance carrying along the end plate was reduced, which resulted in disc dystrophy and degeneration. The reduction in extracelular matrix in the intervertebral discs is a major reason for disc degeneration. The mechanisms underlying diabetes effects on disc degeneration remain unclear and deserve further investigations.

Quality consciousness is the guidelines of the graduate cultivation.The perfection of organization and management as well as the strength of innovation and reform also immediately influence the training quality of graduates.Today the graduate scale expands,so we should use scientific development concept to guide the graduate cultivation and to develop postgraduate education quickly and soundly.

Based on the adjacent matrix, a new principal quantum number topological index mX was set up：0X=Σ(δi)0.5， 1X=Σ(δi*δ\-j)0.5. The 0X, 1X values of 94 molecules for 13 series of compounds are calculated. It is found that 0X, 1X are correlated well with the retention indices RI of gas chromatography for these compounds .The results show that all the correlation coefficients are larger than 0.97. It has been demonstrated that the method possesses the advantage of easy computation and clear physical significance.

Objective To investigate the expression of H1 protein in the prefrontal cortex of comatose rats which have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) after electrical stimulation of the median nerve (MNS).Methods Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats (weighing 250 to 300 g) were randomly divided into a stimulated group (MNS+ TBI),an antagonist group (MNS+TBI+OXR1 antagonist),a model group (TBI) and a control group,with 18 rats in each group.Traumatic brain injury was modeled in all of the rats except those of the control group.After the modeling,the stimulated group was given MNS,the antagonist group was provided with MNS and an OXR1 injection,and the model group was given MNS with a current intensity of 0.One hour after the experiment,the consciousness of each rat was evaluated using a double-blind method.Animals were sacrificed at 6,12 and 24 hours after the intervention and brain tissue was removed.H1 protein expression was examined using immunohistochemistry.Results One hour after the experiment,significant differences were observed in the consciousness of the 4 groups,with the 18 rats of the control group on consciousness level one.Thirteen rats in the stimulated group exhibited a righting reflex,compared with 9 in the antagonist group and 5 in the model group.Immunohistochemistry showed that H1 expression was strongest in the stimulated group,followed by the antagonist,control and model groups.The H1 expression was highest at 24 hours after the experiment,followed by that at 6 h and 12 h,but those differences were not statistically significant.Conclusion Median nerve electrical stimulation might modulate wakefulness after traumatic brain injury by promoting H1 expression via orexin-A in the prefrontal contex.

Objective:To investigate the expression of 5-HT 2A receptor in the prefrontal cortex of traumatic brain injuryinduced coma rats after median nerve electrical stimulation.Method:A total of 72 SD rats (weighing 250-300g) were randomly divided into 4 groups:a stimulationgroup,an antagonist group,a sham-stimulation group and a control group.This traumatic brain injury model was established by a weight-drop head injury,and we evaluated the change of behavior through the six classical levels of consciousness.The animals were sacrificed and their brain tissues were removed at 6,12,and 24 hours after injury.5-HT 2A protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry.Result:Thirteen rats exhibited righting reflex in the stimulation group.In the antagonist group,9 rats exhibited righting reflex.5 rats in the sham-stimulation group had the same response.The mean rank of consciousness degree were degree 9.50 in the control group,degree 52.75 in the sham-stimulation group,degree 37.61 in the stimulation group,degree 46.14 in the antagonist group.Comparison among groups presented an increasing consciousness degree:control group＜stimulation group＜antagonist group＜sham-stimulation group(P＜0.01).Resuits from immunohistochemistry showed that significant differences in the 5-HT 2A expression among the four groups (sham-stimulation＜control＜antagonist＜stimulation))(P＜0.05),and a within-group comparison showed that the 5-HT 2A expression level was as follows:6 hours＜24 hours ＜12 hours(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Median nerve electrical stimulation might modulate wakefulness by promoting the 5-HT 2A expression via orexin-A in the prefrontal cortex of rats with traumatic brain injury-induced coma.

Mitochondria ATP synthase is a key enzyme in cellular energy interconversion. It is generally believed that ATP synthase is strictly confined to mitochondria. However, it has been demonstrated that ATP synthase also occurs on the extracellular surface of vascular endothelial cells, tumor cells and adipocytes, instead of normal cells. Based on this characteristic, many functional researches have been conducted on the angiogenesis, tumor inhibition and lipid metabolism, and the mechanism on which this enzyme works has been preliminarily elucidated. The research advances in cell-surface ATP synthase are reviewed in this paper.

Purpose To study the expression of livin and caspase-3 protein in pancreatic carcinoma and their correlation with clinicopathologic features and survivial time.Methods High-throughput tissue microarray technique and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of livin and caspase-3 protein in 88 pancreatic carcinoma specimens without a history of chemo-radiation therapy and 11 non tumorous pancreatic tissues,and the relationship of these subjects was analyzed with Spearman rank correlation. Among these 88 cases, 54 cases were followed-up for 2 months to 6 years, whom were used for the prognosis analysis.Results In the 88 cases, the positive rate of livin was 76.1% (67/88); however, the positive expression of caspase-3 was 90.9%(10/11) in non-tumorous pancreatic tissue, which was much higher than that in the cancer (40.9%,36/88), with statistically significant differences(P＜0.01). There were significant relationships of livin protein expression with sex, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (P＜0.05); the expression of caspase-3 protein expression was significantly related to sex, histological grade, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (P＜0.01). Spearman rank correlation showed a significant correlation between livin and caspase-3 protein (P＜0.01). In 54 cases with followed-up data, univariant analysis revealed that both of livin protein expression and lymph node metastasis were related to the survival rate (P＜0.05), but caspase-3 protein expression, sex, age, tumor location, size, histological grade and TNM stage were unrelated to prognosis (P＞0.05). Furthermore,COX stepwise proportional hazards analysis showed that only livin status retained independent significance in prospecting prognosis of pancreatic carcinoma.Conclusions The expression of livin is associated with clinicopathologic features and prognosis in pancreatic carcinoma. High expression of livin protein indicates poor prognosis, which could become an independent index for the evaluation of prognosis.caspase-3 protein may be involved in the regulation of apoptosis and the progression of pancreatic carcinoma.