Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Electrophysiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Neurons ; physiology ; Potassium Channels ; physiology ; Spiral Ganglion ; physiology

In response to problems from the development of multi-drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria,it is urgent to find new antimicrobials.Antimicrobial peptides(AMPs) are a kind of ideal new antimicrobials with the advantages including their potential for broad-spectrum activity,rapid bactericidal activity and low propensity for resistance development,and have a bright future.Alpha-helical antimicrobial peptides are a main kind of AMPs.The following features was reviewed and elucidated including the structure and activity relationship(SAR) from different aspects including the degree of helicity,hydrophobic moment,hydrophobicity,net positive charges and so on,and the application of SAR on the molecular design and improvement of AMPs.

According to the transcriptome dataset of Panax notoginseng, the key geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase gene (GGPPS) in terpenoid backbone biosynthesis was selected to be cloned. Using specific primer pairs combining with RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) technique, the full-length cDNA sequence with 1 203 bp, which containing a 1 035 bp open reading frame, was cloned and named as PnGGPPS. The corresponding full-length DNA sequence contained 2 370 bp, consisted of 1 intron and 2 exons. The deduced protein PnGGPPS contained 344 amino acids and shared more than 73% identity with GGPPS from Ricinus communis and Salvia miltiorrhiza. PnGGPPS also had specific Aspartic acid enrichment regions and other conserved domains, which belonged to the Isoprenoid-Biosyn-C1 superfamily. The quantitative real-time PCR showed that PnGGPPS expressed in different tissues of 1, 2, 3 years old root, stem, leaf and 3 years old flower, and the expression level in 3 years old leaf was significant higher than that in other organs, which suggested that it might not only be involved in the regulation of the growth and development, but also be associated with the biosynthesis of chlorophyll and carotenoids, the development of chloroplast, the shade habit and the quality formation of P. notoginseng.
Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Geranylgeranyl-Diphosphate Geranylgeranyltransferase ; genetics ; Panax notoginseng ; genetics ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo investigate clinical characteristics of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injuries.

METHODSTo review all 326 patients with PCL injuries from January 2006 to June 2013 retrospectively, which were grouped according to injury patterns. The survey included the gender, age, sides, duration from injury to surgery, cause of injury and combined injuries. Compare the patient-specific factors between two groups.

RESULTSMale patients were the majority of PCL injuries (73%), and 30 to 50 years old patients accounted for 59%. 62.6% of all patients went for a doctor within one month after trauma. Traffic accidents were the main cause of PCL injuries (59%), especially motorcycle accidents (74.3%). Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries were the most common combined injuries (46.9%),followed by medial collateral ligament (MCL) (29.8%) and posterolateral corner (PLC) (26.1%). The meniscal tears accounted for 30.4% of total cases. The in-substance PCL injuries (71.5%) were far more than avulsion fractures (28.5%), and the former had more combined injuries than the later (P < 0.05). The causes of injuries were statistically different between two groups (P < 0.05). The prevalence of isolated avulsions was higher than isolated in-substance injuries (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONIn the general population, in-substance PCL tears were dominant on PCL injuries. The prevalence of combined injuries was quite high, among which ACL injuries were the most common. Insertion avulsion fractures emerged mainly at the tibial side, which had less combined injuries than those suffered in-substance PCL injuries. The incidence of isolated insertion avulsion fractures was higher than isolated in-substance injuries.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Knee Injuries ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; injuries ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy for treatment of complicated ureteral calculi. Methods Clinical data of 56 cases with complicated ureteral calculi who were treated with ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy was reviewed. Among them 15 cases were proximal ureteral calculi,41 cases were middle and distal ureteral calculi. Treatment by extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) failed in 25 cases,8 cases complicated with fever. Results In 41 cases with middle and distal ureteral calculi, successful lithotripsy was achieved after the first treatment session,the success rate was 100.0% (41/41). In 15 cases with proximal ureteral calculi ,successful lithotripsy was achieved in 10 cases after the first treatment session,the success rate was 66.7%(l0/15). Calculi migrated to kidney in 3 cases who treated by ESWL for 1-2 times. The failure was due to ureteral kink in 1 case and due to ureteral perforation that required surgical repair in another case. Forty-nine cases were calculi-free after 4 weeks,the calculi-free rate was 87.5%(49/56). Emergency operation was performed in 8 cases complicated with fever. Successful lithotripsy was achieved after the first treatment session in 7 cases. In one patient,calculi migration occurred. Within all 8 cases obstruction was released and fever was allayed after operation.The complication rate was 1.8% (1/56). Conclusion Ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy for treatment of complicated ureteral calculi is a safe and effective method.

The present study retrospectively analyzed 13 patients with fibrous dysplasia of the adult proximal femur who received treatment at the Department of Orthopedics,Shenzhen Hospital,Peking University between March 2000 and June 2006.These patients comprised 6 males and 7 females,with an age of 21-35 years.Among 11 patients suffering from mild hip pain,6 presented with mild limping due to worsened pains,and 2 exhibited obvious manifestations of bone fracture.All patients underwent X-ray,CT examinations,and 3 were subjected to MRI examinations,prior to bone grafting and internal fixation.Monostotic lesion was observed in 10 patients and polystotic lesion in 3 patients,but endocrine disturbance was not observed in any patient.Nine patients suffered from lesions in the femoral neck and 4 from lesions in the femoral rotator.Curettage,autogenous and allogeneic bone grafting,and internal fixation with dynamic hip screws and proximal femoral nails were successfully performed in each patient.Internal fixation time averaged 165 minutes (range 120-210 minutes).During the early stage after surgery,weight-bearing activities were not permitted.Bone fracture healed after an average of 3 months.Eighteen to forty-eight months of follow-up demonstrated that clinical symptoms were relieved,with good hip joint function and basically normal gait.X-ray plains showed thickened cortical bone,as well as compacted ossification shadow in bone grafting region.In addition,partial bone absorption,but not recurrent clinically,was observed in 4 patients.These findings imply that thorough curettage,autogenous and allogeneic bone grafting,and internal fixation with dynamic hip screws and proximal femoral nails is a reliable method to treat fibrous dysplasia of the adult proximal femur and it can acquire satisfactory curative effects.

BACKGROUND: The shape and amount of bone regenerated depend on the existence and maintenance of hypolemmal space. Collapse and reduction of hypolemmal space will greatly inhibit bone regeneration. Therefore, the key to success of induced bone regeneration is to select membrane material.OBJECTIVE: This study is designed to investigate the feasibility of poly (hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) membrane for guiding bone regeneration.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: This study, a self-control animal experiment, was performed at the Laboratory Animal Center, Third Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University between May 2005 and October 2006.MATERIALS: PHBV membrane, (10×10×0.3)mm, was provided by Research of Biomaterials, College of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology. Eight healthy hybrid dogs, aged 1 year old, weighing 10-12kg, were included for model of tibial defects.METHODS: Four bone defects were made on bilateral tibias in each dog. Bilateral proximal bone defects of all dogs were included as control group and only subjected to periosteal flap reduction. Bilateral distal bone defects of all dogs were included as experimental group and covered by PHBV membrane. Samples were harvested at weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12 post-surgery.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In vivo degradation performance and ossific capability of PHBV copolymer as well as energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and elemental quantitative assay in bone defect regions.RESULTS: In the experimental group, at week 8 post-surgery, PHBV copolymer membrane had been gradually degraded, different sizes of hollows formed on its surface, bone defect surface was smooth and flat, and X-ray results showed increased bone density in the bone defect regions; at week 12 post-surgery, the PHBV copolymer was still not degraded completely, but bone defect regions had been completely fused with normal bone. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and elemental quantitative assay results demonstrated in the experimental group, peaks of Ca and P atom number of newly formed bone were predominant, and peaks of impurity were few. With time going, element Ca and P levels in the newly formed bone were increased, the ratio for Ca and P atoms approximated to that in the normal bone. There was significant difference between the. experimental group and the control group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: PHBV copolymer membrane is a promising ideal natural membrane material for guiding bone regeneration.

Digital polymerase chain reaction ( PCR) has been experiencing a rapid development during the past few years. Comparing with the traditional real-time quantitative PCR ( RT-qPCR) , using the same primer and probe, the accuracy for the absolute quantification of target gene is significantly improved. The development of digital PCR is directly related to the development of microfluidics. The integrated fluid circuit is an early combination of the microfluidics and digital PCR, which has a complicated fabrication process with high cost. Recently, researchers are trying to apply the droplet microfluidics in digital PCR, and the droplet microfluidic chip is able to generate millions of droplets within a short time. Each of these droplets containing no more than one target gene is a reaction chamber during the amplification process. After amplification, each droplet is tested to achieve the absolute quantification of the target gene. This paper reviews the recent progresses of droplet digital PCR, and the applications of droplet digital PCR in biological, medical and environmental fields.

AIM:To observe the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and neuroglobin (NGB) in piglet cortex during deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.METHODS:Wuzhishan piglets were randomly assigned to car-diopulmonary bypass group ( CPB group) , 40 min of circulatory arrest ( CA) at 18 ℃ without cerebral perfusion ( DHCA group) or with selective antegrade cerebral perfusion ( SACP group) .After 180 min of reperfusion, cortical tissue was har-vested for determining HIF-1αand NGB expression by HE staining, Western blot and real-time PCR.RESULTS:Severer cerebral injury was observed in DHCA group than that in SACP group.After 180 min of reperfusion, HIF-1αprotein and mRNA levels were significantly higher in DHCA group than those in CPB group (P<0.05).Accordingly, SACP animal had higher levels of HIF-1αprotein and mRNA than those in DHCA group (P<0.05).Simultaneously, higher NGB pro-tein and mRNA levels were found in DHCA group than those in CPB group after 180 min of reperfusion ( P<0.05) .The SACP animal had higher levels of NGB protein and mRNA than those in DHCA group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Up-regulation of HIF-1 and NGB are involved in the mechanism against cerebral injury resulting from DHCA in the cortex and possibly a part of cerebral protective effect of SACP.

wearable microfluidics have wide applications in medical, sports and military field. with the help of wearable microfluidics, through the direct physical contact between the chip and skin, the pH, glucose, lactate, sodium/potassium, calcium and heavy metal in the body fluid can be detected from sweat, tear and saliva without puncture for blood. And these information are of great importance for the monitoring of vital signs and disease diagnosis. This paper introduced the most recent development and applications of the wearable microfluidics in the body fluid testing and drug delivery. The up-to-date research development for the drug delivery using wearable microfluidics was also briefly introduced in this article. The forecast of the emerging trend for wearable microfluidics and discussion of potential technique barriers was also provided at the end of this article.