The paper sorts out and analyzes papers on medical English teaching and research published in core periodicals of China. The results show that there are various problems: slow research progress, insufficient empirical studies, a shortage of research on teachers and students, a lack of young faculty members and insufficient international perspective. With the increasing requirement for medical students' higher language proficiency imposed by the development of higher medical education in China, this paper puts forward some suggestions based on the analysis of the past ten-year data on medical English teaching and research: to build stronger medical English teaching faculty and to enhance their research competence by means of improving, enlarging and cooperating; to intensify the research into the two subjects in the teaching process: medical English teachers and medical students; and to avoid depending too heavily on questionnaire survey and employ multiple research methods and collect effective data in order to fundamentally improve medical English teaching and research.

The intakes of Al, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe or P in the diet of college students were determined with chemical methods and the effects of Al on several elements were observed. The results showed that the mean intake of Al was 4.59 mg/d for students and the mean daily intakes of Ca, Zn, Fe were 40.1%, 81.8%, 191.1% of RDA, respectively. Higher intake of Al (33.88mg/ person/d) did not apparently influence the serum Al, Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe levels in short time. The multiple stepwise regression analysis found that there was a positive correlation between the serum Al content and P intake and a negative correlation between the serum Al content and Mg intake. Further studies were needed for the effects of Al on Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe and P metabolism.

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between salivary proteome and dental caries and to promote the biomarker studies of dental caries susceptibility by comparing the salivary proteome of caries-active children and caries-free children with electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).

METHODSTen caries-active children and ten caries-free children were sampled. The salivary proteome of the two groups was studied, and the differential protein between the two groups was analyzed by ESI-MS/MS after sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, filter-aided sample preparation, and liquid chromatography.

RESULTSThe concentration of salivary protein was higher in the caries-active group than in the caries-free group. The polypeptide counts of thecaries-active and caries-free groups were 602 and 481, which belonged to 286 and 227 proteins, respectively. The differential polypeptide count of the two groups was 361, and the differential protein count was 118. The detected proteins included matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), mucin-7 (MUC7), lactotransferrin (LTF), carbonic anhydrase 6 (CA6), azurocidin (AZU), and cold agglutinin.

CONCLUSIONThe total salivary protein was higher in the caries-active group than in the caries-free group. The preliminary detection of differential proteins (MMP9, MUC7, LTF, CA6, AZU, and cold agglutinin) may lay some foundation for biomarker research of dental caries susceptibility.

Carbonic Anhydrases ; Child ; Dental Caries ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; Proteome ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objective To investigate the effects of folic acid on apoptosis of neural cells after focal cerebral ischemia injury in rats and the mechanisms.Method Thirty two adult male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into sham operation group(SO),middle cerebral artery occlusion group(MCAO),MCAO+ low dose folic acid group(MCAO+FA-L) and MCAO+ high dose folic acid group(MCAO+FA-H).The model of middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) was set up by using intraluminal filament method.The rats were sacrificed at D7 day after cerebral ischemia.The apoptotic rate of neural cells was examined by TUNEL test,and the expression of pERK1/2 protein was detected by Western blotting method,The MDA content and serum SOD and GSH-Px activities in rats were measured before and 28d after folic acid treatment and 7th day after ischemia.Results Compared with ischemia group,the apoptotic rate of neural cells and MDA content in both folic acid supplemented groups were decreased significantly(P

Objective: To investigate the effects of folic acid (FA), vitamin B6 (VB6) and B12 (VB12) on plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and antioxidative activities in focal cerebral ischemia rats. Method: Rats were randomly divided into four groups including sham operation (Sham), middle cerebral artery occlusion model (MCAO), MCAO+FA and MCAO+FA +VB6+VB12(MCAO+CV). MCAO model was induced by operation. Plasma Hcy, serum and brain SOD and GSH-Px activities and MDA content in rats were measured before and 28 d after supplementation and 24 h after ischemia or only after ischemia. Results: Plasma Hcy in MCAO+FA and MCAO+CV group were significantly lower than those in Sham and MCAO groups after supplementation and ischemia, and the MCAO+CV group lower than MCAO+FA group. Serum and brain SOD and GSH-Px activities were significantly higher, and MDA contents lower in MCAO+FA and MCAO+CV groups than those in MCAO group. Conclusion: Supplementing FA, VB6 and VB12 can reduce plasma Hcy, improve antioxidative abilities and decrease the injury by oxidative stress following cerebral ischemia.

Objective To analyze the factors that influence joint function after plate fixation of unstable pelvic fractures.Methods A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the 109 patients with unstable pelvic fracture who had been treated with plate fixation from January 2007 to September 2014.They were 69 men and 40 women,23 to 72 years of age (average,46.3 years).By the Tile classification,15 cases were type B1,37 type B2,14 type B3,19 type C1,16 type C2,and 8 type C3.Their postoperative joint function was evaluated according to the Majeed criteria for functional evaluation.There were 86 cases in the good-to-excellent group (78.9％) and 23 in the fair-to-poor group (21.1％).Their data were analyzed in terms of gender,age,preoperative injury severity scale (ISS),body mass index (BMI),operation time,fracture type,reduction quality,postoperative complications,bone density,and postoperative weight bearing time.The influential factors were determined using Logistic regression analysis.Results All the 109 patients obtained a mean follow-up of 18.7 months (from 12 to 53 months).Preoperative ISS (P =0.000),fracture type (P =0.008),reduction quality (P =0.009) and postoperative complications (P =0.000) were identified as the factors influencing joint function after plate fixation of unstable pelvic fractures.Conclusion Preoperative assessment by ISS,a clear understanding of the pelvic fracture type,anatomical reduction of the fracture and efforts to reduce postoperative complications can effectively improve functional recovery of the joint after plate fixation of unstable pelvic fractures.

Objective To explore the effects of homocysteine (Hcy) on neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation and the mRNA expression level of Notch1 and Hes1 related Notch signaling pathway from neonatal rats in vitro. Methods NSCs from neonatal rats were cultured by serum-free culture method in vitro. Cells were divided into four groups: control group (Hcy-C), low dose Hcy (Hcy-L) group, middle dose Hcy (Hcy-M) group and high dose Hcy (Hcy-H) group. NSCs were iden- tified by immunofluorescent staining using the antibodies against Nestin, β-tubulin Ⅲ and GFAP. The proliferation ability of NSCs was detected by MTT. The mRNA expressions of Notch1 and Hes1 were detected by Real-time PCR. Results In the serum free suspension medium, neurospheres that consisted of a great number of nestin-positive cells were found. β-tu- bulin Ⅲ positive neurons and GFAP positive astrocytes were detected by immunofluorescence staining on the 6 th day of cell induction. MTT assay showed that the cell viability was significantly lower in three Hcy treatment groups than those of con- trol group (P ＜ 0.05). And the effect of concentration-dependent was observed. The results of RT-PCR showed that mRNA expression of Hes1 was significantly lower in three Hcy treatment groups than that in control group (P ＜ 0.05). The mRNA ex- pression of Notch1 was significantly lower in Hcy-H group than that of other three groups (P ＜ 0.05). The mRNA expression of Notch1 was significantly lower in Hcy-M group than that of Hcy-L group and control group (P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion Hcy could inhibit the proliferation of NSCs by down-regulating mRNA expression levels of Notch1 and Hes1 genes related to Notch signal pathway.

Ticks transmit various diseases to livestock and human beings. The researches on ticks are of great importance in medical and veterinary sciences. To express a glutathione peroxidase gene (HlGPx) from Hemaphysalis longicornis in Escherichia coli (E. coli) so as to provide basis for further studies, the gene was amplified from cDNAs of H. longicornis adult ticks by PCR prompted by information from EST library. The TGA codon encoding selenocysteine in the gene was mutated into the universal genetic code for cysteine,TGC, by site-directed mutagenesis. E. coli was transformed with the recombinant expression vector pGEX-4T-1/HlGPx'(the mutated HlGPx) and induced to express recombinant HlGPx', which was then analyzed by sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting. The result showed that the complete coding sequence of HlGPx was obtained successfully, the deduced polypeptide was 223 aa, with a calculated molecular mass of 25.0 kDa; the recombinant fusion protein was approximately 51 kDa, correspondent to the calculated. The antibody against glutathione S-transferase (GST) recognized the recombinant protein fused with GST in a Western blotting assay, which confirmed the result above-mentioned. In conclusion, the mutated HlGPx was expressed in E. coli successfully and it could be used for further preparation of immune serum and functional analysis.

Objective To observe the BMD threshold of hip fracture in the elderly, analyze the pre-imposing factors leading to femoral neck fracture or intertrochanteric fracture, and provide some evidences for fracture prevention. Methods The BMD examination were performed on 496 fractured patients over 60 years old which were grouped after admission according to their age, gender and fracture types, and then the results were statistically analyzed. Results The BMD of fracture cases in the elderly over 60 years old was 2.5 s less than peak bone volume. There is no obvious difference in BMD between femoral neck fracture and intertrochanteric fracture among various age groups. According to our study, most hip fractures happened at the age of 60-79 years, accounting for 73%of all hip fractures. Conclusions Decreased bone mass or osteoporosis is an important factor leading to hip fracture in the elderly. The fracture types (femoral neck fracture or intertrochanteric fracture) depend mainly on the impaction force to the hip, not only on the BMD change.