Objective To induce directional differentiation from spinal cord-derived neural stem cells(SNSCs)into neurocytes in the simulated microenvironment of development of embryonic spinal cord of rat after isolation and culture of SNSCs and to investigate the proliferation and differentiation of SNSCs in vitro.Methods SNSCs were isolated mechanically from rat embryonic(E10 to 11d)spinal cord under microscope.SNSCs were cultured and maintained in serum-free medium.Directional differentiation from SNSCs to neurocytes was induced by adding N4 supplement.The morphologic features of the differentiated cells were noted.Cultured and differentiated cells were identified by immunochemistry stain and t he mean differentiating percentages of the positive cells were calculated.Resul ts SNSCs isolated by the mechanical method under microscope were vigorous and pr oliferative,and could differentiate into neurons,astrocytes and oligodendrocyt es.Conclusion The mechanical method under microscope of isolating SNSCs is simp le and efficient to obtain a high percentage of neurons.N4 supplement can induc e SNSCs to differentiate into neurocytes.

Objective To explore the applicability of the Loewenstein occupational therapy cognitive assessment (LOTCA) in evaluating cognitive function and observing the curative effect of stroke treatment.Methods Thirty stroke patients with cognitive impairment (the cognitive impairment group) and thirty stroke patients without marked cognitive impairment (the stroke control group) were screened using the mini-mental status examination (MMSE),and thirty healthy subjects served as a normal control group.The gender distributions,ages and levels of education of the three groups were matched.All cases were examined with the LOTCA.After two months of treatment,the three groups were assessed again.Results The average total scores and the scores on the LOTCA subitems were significantly lower in the cognitive impairment group than in the stroke control group and were even lower than those in the normal control group.Particularly conspicuous were their lower scores on the thinking operations and orientation and visuo-motor organization LOTCA sub-items,In the stroke control group the average scores on the thinking operations,visuo-motor organization,attention,orientation and spatial perception sub-items were all significantly lower than those in the normal control group,especially on the thinking operations and visuo-motor organization sub-items.After treatment,the LOTCA scores in all three groups had improved significantly compared with before treatment.Conclusion The LOTCA can assess the severity and characteristics of cognitive impairment in stroke patients.It offers an effective method for identifying cognitive impairment and tracking any improvements.The scores reflect patients' cognitive levels,and so have clinical value.

Objective To compare the assessment results of Loewenstein occupational therapy cognitive assessment (LOTCA) and mini-mental state examination(MMSE) in stroke patients,and to analyze the correlation between the two assessments and to explore the applicable values of LOTCA in assessing vascular cognitive function impairment (VCI).Methods According to the diagnostic standard of cognitive impairment with MMSE,thirty stroke patients with cognitive impairment were selected as cognitive impairment group,thirty stroke patients without markedly cognitive impairment as stroke control group,and thirty normal subjects served as normal control group.All the subjects' age,gender and level of education were matched in the three groups. All the subjects were assessed with LOTCA and MMSE.ResultsThe total scores of LOTCA had high positive correlation with the total scores of MMSE in cognitive impairment group ( r =0.934,P ＜ 0.01 ),the correlations were also found between every sub-items of LOTCA and those of MMSE (P ＜ 0.01 ).The total scores and the scores of sub-items of LOTCA in cognitive impairment group were significantly lower than those in stroke control group and were those in normal control group(P ＜ 0.01 ),particularly lower scores in LOTCA sub-items of thinking operations,orientation,visuomotor organization.The scores of sub-items of LOTCA,including thinking operations,visuo-motor organization,attention,orientation,spatial perception were all significantly lower in stroke control group than those in normal control group(P ＜0.01 ),especially in thinking operations and visuo-motor organization sub-items.Conclusions Correlations were found between LOTCA and MMSE.Compared to MMSE,LOTCA could detect vascular cognitive function impairment earlier and is much more comprehensive,so it is suitable to assess vascular cognitive impairment patients with no dementia.

Microcapsule technology recently has been applicated and developed in pharmaceutical,chemical,food and so on.The achievments have been obtained on the novel technics of microcapsulation,analytical methods of microcapsule characteristics,and methods of characterization for the appearance and porous structures of microcapsules.The novel developments on the structure and property of microcapsules were reviewed.

Objective To assess the value of the myocardial segment number of color change in the bull's eyes of three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE)in the detection of multi-vessel coronary stenosis at the resting state.Methods A total of 125 consecutive patients were enrolled and divided into the following three groups according to the coronary angiography(CAG):multi-vessel coronary stenosis group (n=48),single-vessel stenosis group(n =34)and control group (n =43).All patients underwent two-dimensional (2D)and three-dimensional echocardiography (3D)and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE).The bull's eyes of left ventricular 17 myocardial segments including longitudinal strain(LS),circumferential strain (CS),area strain(AS)and radial strain(RS)were acquired by 3D-STE.The homogeneous colors were regarded as normal wall motion myocardial segment (LS,CS,AS is a uniform red,RS for uniform blue ),the colors were uneven or shallower,or changes were regarded as abnormal wall motion myocardial segment.The myocardial segment number of color change in the bull's eyes can be calculated.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC ) curves were computed to determine optimal strain cutoff values to predict multi-vessel coronary stenosis.Results The myocardial segments of abnormal wall motion in the bull's eyes (LS,CS,AS,and RS)were significantly increased compared with the control group(P <0.001).In particular,the multi-vessel coronary stenosis group were dramatically increased than the single-vessel coronary stenosis group.Meanwhile,these parameters were higher in patients with multi-vessel coronary stenosis than in those with single-vessel coronary stenosis (P <0.05).ROC analysis demonstrated areas under the curve of 0.84 for 3D GLS,0.89 for 3D GCS,0.95 for 3D GAS,and 0.89 for 3D GRS.An optimal cutoff value of magnitude,sensitivity and specificity were LS,12,89.6%,76.7%;CS,11,89.6%,74.4%;AS,12,91.7%,88.4%;RS,13,81.2%,86.0%,respectively. Conclusions The myocardial segment number of color change in the bull's eyes by 3D-STE is useful to detect multi-vessel coronary stenosis,where in GAS are more valuable indicators with higher sensitivity and specificity.

Objective To investigate the association between chronotropic incompetence (CI)and motor ability in type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) patients complicated with metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods One hundred and twenty patients with T2DM were enrolled in the study,including 66 cases with MS (MS group) and 54 without MS (non-MS group).The electrocardiographic exercise test was performed,the CI indexes including ratio of heart rate (rHR),heart rate reserve (HRR)were measured and the max metabolic equivalents(maxMETs) were calculated.Result The rHR(0.77 ±0.04 vs.0.81 ±0.06,t =3.41,P ＜ 0.05),HRR (0.62 ± 0.05 vs.0.70 ± 0.07,t =5.96,P ＜ 0.05) and maxMETs (8.8 ± 1.1 vs.9.7 ± 1.2,t =0.16,P ＜ 0.05) in patients of MS group all lower than those in non-MS group.The maxMETs were positively correlated with rHR (r =0.81,P ＜ 0.05) and HRR (r =0.78,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The results indicate that CI as well as maxMETs and rating of perceived exertion can be used as monitoring index in type 2 diabetic patients complicated with metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) into neurons requires two processes: orientation and differentiation. Orientation and differentiation are results from different gene expression in cells with the same gene bank. Gene expression requires a certain condition. Changes in extracellular matrix can induce changes in cell morphology and gene expression manner. OBJECTIVE: To explore the possibility of BMSC differentiation into neuron-like cells under tissue extract from rat damaged brain. METHODS: The fifth passage of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transfected BMSCs was induced to differentiate in brain tissue extract from ischemia/reperfusion rats or normal rats. A blank control was set. Cell morphology change was observed under the phase contrast microscope, and then evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Primarily cultured BMSCs were purified and amplified, and then showed even spindle shape. The third passage of BMSCs was positive for CD44 and CD106, but negative for CD34. Under the fluorescence microscope, BMSCs showed fluorescence expression, but the strength was weak 24 hours following GFP transfection. Numerous cells presented significant green fluorescence 48 hours later. Following adding brain tissue extract from ischemia/reperfusion rats. Induced cells presented neuron-like feature, but neuron specific enolase specific antibody presented positive expression. Compared with the blank control group, the differentiation rate of BMSCs was significantly increased in the ischemia/reperfusion group and normal group (P < 0.05). The increased range was significantly greater in the ischemia/reperfusion group than the normal group (P < 0.05). These results indicated that brain tissue extract from ischemia/reperfusion rats can successfully induce the differentiation of BMSCs into neuron-like cells.

Objective:To study a new positioning method of elbow external fixation rotation axis,and to evaluate its feasibility.Methods:Four normal adult volunteers and six Sawbone elbow models were brought into this experiment.The kinematic data of five elbow flexion were collected respectively by opti-cal positioning system.The rotation axes of the elbow joints were fitted by the least square method.The kinematic data and fitting results were visually displayed.According to the fitting results,the average moving planes and rotation axes were calculated.Thus,the rotation axes of new kinematic methods were obtained .By using standard clinical methods,the entrance and exit points of rotation axes of six Sawbone elbow models were located under X-ray.And The kirschner wires were placed as the representatives of rotation axes using traditional positioning methods.Then,the entrance point deviation,the exit point de-viation and the angle deviation of two kinds of located rotation axes were compared.Results:As to the four volunteers,the indicators represented circular degree and coplanarity of elbow flexion movement tra-jectory of each volunteer were both about 1 mm.All the distance deviations of the moving axes to the ave-rage moving rotation axes of the five volunteers were less than 3 mm.All the angle deviations of the mo-ving axes to the average moving rotation axes of the five volunteers were less than 5 °.As to the six Saw-bone models,the average entrance point deviations,the average exit point deviations and the average angle deviations of two different rotation axes determined by two kinds of located methods were respective-ly 1.697 2 mm,1.838 3 mm and 1.321 7°.All the deviations were very small.They were all in an ac-cep-table range of clinical practice.Conclusion:The values that represent circular degree and coplanari-ty of volunteer's elbow single curvature movement trajectory are very small.The result shows that the elbow single curvature movement can be regarded as the approximate fixed axis movement.The new method can replace the traditional method in accuracy.It can make up the deficiency of the traditional fixed axis method.

Objective To evaluate effectiveness of peripheral Mohs micrographic surgery for the treatment of extramammary Paget′s disease (EMPD). Methods A total of 28 patients with EMPD were treated with peripheral Mohs micrographic surgery. The depth and extent of tumor infiltration were evaluated before the surgery. One day before the surgery, 20% aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride was topically applied to determine and label surgical margins under a Wood′s lamp. After fluorescence-based localization, peritumoral skin tissues were resected and underwent frozen-section examination according to the protocol for Mohs micrographic surgery. Meanwhile, the tumor was resected. After surgery, patients were followed up every 3 - 6 months to detect local recurrence and metastasis. Results Of the 28 patients, 25 were male and 3 were female. Six patients each underwent 3 sessions of frozen-section examination, and 12 patients each received 2 sessions, with an average of 1.86 sessions for each patient. During the follow-up for 5 - 72 months, local recurrence occurred in 3 cases, and 1 patient died of tumor metastasis and uremia after 2 years of follow-up. Conclusion Peripheral Mohs micrographic surgery is a time-saving and effective treatment for EMPD.

Animals ; Esophagus ; metabolism ; Glucagon-Like Peptide 2 ; pharmacology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Intestine, Small ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Stomach ; metabolism