Short tandem repeats (STRs) have been widely used in forensic sciences such as stain analysis and paternity testing. Although most of STR typing could give the reliable and clear results, some unusual typing have been observed in forensic practice. The anomalous typing could result from a lot of causes, including DNA genetic variation, poor quality or quantity of DNA template, different typing system or method, nonspecific reaction in PCR or anomalous electrophoresis migration. The unusual results may disturb the right interpretation of STR typing.
DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Tandem Repeat Sequences/genetics*

The extreme microorganisms Ferroplasma spp., play an important role in bioleaching of sulphide ores at low pH value and temperatures around 50 degrees C. Without cell wall, Ferroplasma spp. is sensitive to pulp density, shearing force and heavy metal ions. Thus it is difficult to obtain their high cell density cultures, which limits the large-scale industrial application. In this paper, the optimum culture conditions of Ferroplasma thermophilum were studied by shaking culture. The results showed that the optimum culture conditions are as follows: 50 degrees C, initial pH 0.5, 50 mL working volume in 250 mL shaking-flask, inorganic nitrogen source (NH4)2SO4. The optimum combination of FeSO4.7H2O, yeast extract and peptone was determined by orthogonal experiments, including FeSO4.7H2O 40 g/L, yeast extract 0.3 g/L, peptone 0.2 g/L. Under the optimum culture conditions, the cell density was up to 6.3 x 10(7) cell/mL, and the oxidation of 40 g/L ferrous sulfate heptahydrate was finished in less than 72 hours. The results might provide information for scale-up of archaeon culture as well as its industrial application.
Archaea ; cytology ; growth & development ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Culture Media ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Metallurgy ; Temperature

OBJECTIVESTo study the antibacterial effect of Niaoluqing Oral Liquid (NOL) on clinical drug-resistant strains and 14 serotype strains Ureaplasma Urealyticum (UU).

METHODSSixty-three clinical strains of UU were detected to determine their serology and antibiotic susceptibilities by the metabolic inhibition test (MIT). Mininum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was used to evaluate the sensitivity of NOL to different serotypes of UU. The sensitivity of NOL, erythromycin and tetracycline to 63 clinical strains of UU was also studied.

RESULTSIn 63 clinical strains of UU, the range of MIC to NOL was from 0.48 mg/ml to 15.63 mg/ml, MIC50 < or = 1.95 mg/ml, MIC90 < or = 3.91 mg/ml. Among them, 31 strains were resistant to tetracycline and 31 were resistant to erythromycin. No obvious correlation between the sensitivity of NOL to UU clinical strains and that of erythromycin and tetracycline to UU clinical strains (P > 0.05). Clinical strains of UU in this experiment contains all of its serotypes, also having a higher sensitivity to NOL (MIC < or = 3.91 mg/ml) except serology 1, 2, 3 and 11 (MIC > or = 7.81 mg/ml).

CONCLUSIONSNOL exerts a strong in vitro antibacterial effect on erythromycin-resistant and tetracycline-resistant clinical strains of UU. All kinds of serotype strains had a higher sensitivity to NOL, too. Chinese medicinal herbs are of momentous significance in the treatment of UU infection.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; drug effects ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of electrocardiograms (ECG) and myocardial ultrastructure in heroin dependence in rats, in order to reveal the mechanisms of the myocardial injury by heroin. METHODS: Establish heroin addict model in SD mice, investigate the changes in electrocardiograms, HE staining and myocardial ultrastructure. RESULTS: The electrocardiograms of the addict group had prominently changes, main expressions: heart rate decreased, P wave and T wave amplitude reduced and duration increased, S-T reduced and duration increased, QT interval prolongation, these changes indicated that myocardium had been injured, myocardial ischemia, ventricle function declined. These difference was significant (P<0.05) between before inject heroin and after inject heroin. Transformations in the ultrastructure: nuclear concentrate, reduce, nuclear membrane shrink, chromatin agglutinate, mitochondria cristal had disorder formation, disappeared or hollowed, these indicated that heroin could cause pathological changes in myocardial ultrastructure. CONCLUSION Above-mentioned changes indicated that heroin can injure myocardium, and the changes of myocardial ultrastructure suggested that myocardial apoptosis may be one of the mechanisms of the myocardial injury by heroin.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Rate ; Heroin Dependence/physiopathology* ; Myocardial Ischemia/physiopathology* ; Myocardium/ultrastructure* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The heroin abuses can seriously damage human body system, among them the damage of cardiovascular system is various. In this paper those damages involved heart rate, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, heart function, blood circulation, the changes of some material inside, and complications of cardiovascular system are reviewed.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/etiology* ; Blood Circulation ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases/physiopathology* ; Death, Sudden/etiology* ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Rate ; Heroin Dependence/physiopathology* ; Humans ; Myocardial Ischemia/etiology*

Purpose::The purpose of this study was to review the microsurgical anatomy and clipping of ruptured anterior communicating artery (AComA) aneurysms and to plan and avoid complications before operation.Methods::A total of 523 cases of cerebral aneurysms admitted to the neurosurgery department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from September 2010 to October 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Among them, 85 patients had ruptured AComA aneurysms. This study was limited to 85 of these cases, whose satisfactory preoperative angiographic diagnostic films can be retrieved from the hospital database system because of the need for detailed review.Results::We performed supraorbital eyebrow keyhole approach (SOEK) craniotomy in 85 patients to clip 85 AComA aneurysms, in the setting of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Patients’ mean age was (52.69 ± 9.94) years (range, 28-78 years). The proportions of small, medium and large aneurysms were 83.5%, 15.3%, and 1.2%, respectively. The average size of the aneurysms was (5.07 ± 2.36) mm. There were 77.8% of patients with inferior aneurysms and 81.3% of patients with superior aneurysms achieved good results. There was a significant correlation between A1 dominance and operation method ( p < 0.001). There was no significant relationship between surgical approach and aneurysm projection or A2 plane ( p = 0.157 & p = 0.318). Conclusion::Regardless of whether the A2 plane is open or closed, the A1 dominant side is still a better choice for accessing AComA aneurysms to avoid dangerous premature bleeding.

Objective:To analyze the current mental health status of employees in large public hospitals and its correlation with factors such as social support.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2023. Using cluster sampling, employees from Beijing Hospital, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were surveyed. An electronic questionnaire was used to collect indicators related to mental health. Mental health status was assessed using a self-evaluation questionnaire, with scores ≤6 indicating good mental health and scores ≥7 indicating the need for attention. A total of 3 828 questionnaires were distributed, and 3 803 valid responses were included in the final analysis. The study analyzed the current mental health status and its correlation with factors such as social support among the included employees. Social support indicators included living alone, frequency of contact with relatives or friends, and participation in group activities. Other factors included job type (physicians, nurses, medical technicians and researchers, and administrative and logistical employees), gender, professional title, education level, and satisfaction with workplace benefits.Results:The study included 3 803 respondents, comprising 874(23.0%) males and 2 929 (77.0%) females; 743 (19.5%) aged ≤30 years, 2 177 (57.2%) aged 31-45 years, and 883 (23.2%) aged >45 years. Among them, 1 238 (32.6%) employees needed attention for their mental health. The female, nurse, unmarried, post-graduate degree or less, and employees with low satisfaction with unit welfare need to pay attention to their mental health (all P<0.05), their total social support score ( t=138.59, P<0.001) and grade ( χ2=255.25, P<0.001) are lower. In terms of social support factors, non-living alone, frequent communication with relatives and friends and participation in group activities were independent protective factors for mental health (all P<0.05). The protective association between education and mental health of female workers was stronger than that of male workers (female OR=0.348, 95% CI: 0.198-0.614 vs male OR=0.653, 95% CI: 0.430-0.994). Non-living alone was the only protective factor for nurses′ mental health ( OR=0.515, 95% CI: 0.367-0.723); However, high professional title ( OR=0.362, 95% CI: 0.182-0.720) and educational background ( OR=0.365, 95% CI: 0.175-0.758) were only protective factors for physicians′ mental health (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The mental health of employees in large public hospitals is differentiated among different subgroups, such as gender, position and educational background, which needs attention in general. In terms of social support factors, non-living alone, frequent communication with relatives and friends, and participation in group activities were associated with good mental health. Hospital trade unions and other departments should carry out more targeted help and support to create a better mental health environment for employees.

OBJECTIVE It's known that post-retrieval extinction but not extinction alone could erase fear memory.However,whether the coding pattern of original fear engrams is remod-eled or inhibited remains largely unclear.Here we try to investigate whether the coding pattern of memory engrams is altered during post-retrieval extinction induced memory updating.METHODS To answer the question,by using activity-depen-dent neuronal-tagging technology,neuronal trac-ing technique combined with optogenetic manipu-lation and in vivo calcium imaging,we identified the fear and extinction cells in PrL and BLA and investigated the dynamic encoding of memory engram ensembles in the PrL and BLA during CS versus US initiated memory updating.RESULTS We found increased reactivation of engram cells in the prelimbic cortex and basolat-eral amygdala during memory updating.More-over,conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulu sinitiated memory updating depend on the engram cells reactivation in the prelimbic cor-tex or basolateral amygdala respectively.Finally,we found memory updating causes increased overlapping between fear and extinction cells and the original fear engrams encoding was altered during memory updating.CONCLUSION Our data provide the first evidence to show the overlapping ensembles between fear and extinc-tion cells and functional reorganization of original engrams underlying conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus initiated memory updating.