Objectives To compare the difference of ERG11 partial promoter sequence(-440 ～ -1)between yeast-form and hypha-form of Candida albicans, and the relation between the mutation of ERG11 promoter and the susceptibility of C. albicans to fluconazole. Methods Yeast-form and hypha-form of C. albicans genome DNA were extracted from 4 substrains C. albicans, which were isolated from a single HIV-sero-positive patient. Partial ERG11 promoters of yeast-form and hypha-form of these 4 substrains were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR products were sequenced. Results There was no sequence difference between the yeast-form and the hypha-form of C. albicans in this region. Heterogeneities at position -365, -353, -328, -310, -308, -299, -295, -293, -292, 290, -289 and a single base deletion (-284 delT) were found on one allele of ERG11 promoter region of fluconazole-susceptible substrains. No heterogeneities were observed in dose-dependent fluconazole-susceptible and fluconazole-resistant substrains. Conclusions There is no difference of ERG11 partial promoter sequence between the yeast-form and the hypha-form C. albicans. The mutation of ERG11 promoter may be associated with the resistance of C. albicans to fluconazole.

The quantity of adipocytes has a direct impact on the levels of obesity,and the apoptotic factors of preadipocytes are also related to adipositas.The apoptosis of preadipocytes is influenced by many genes and other factors.Findings in the studies on the apoptosis of preadipocytes and its influencing factors have contributed a lot to the researches on obesity and many other diseases.

Objective To investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine on the outcome in rats with sepsis. Methods Male SD rats, aged 10-14 weeks, weighing 260-390 g, were used in this study. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Ninety rats of successful sepsis model were randomly divided into 3 groups ( n = 30 each) : control group (group C), midasolam group (group M) and dexmedetomidine group (group D). In group C, M and D, normal saline at a rate of 1 ml/h, midazolam at a rate of 0.6 mg·kg-1·h-1 and dexmedetomidine at a rate of 5 μg·kg-1·h-1 were infused iv for 8 h after operation respectively. Ten rats of each group were selected for observation of the survival condition during 24 h after operation. Another 10 rats of each group were selected and blood samples were taken from carotid artery before operation and at 2, 4 and 5 h after operation for measurement of plasma concentrations of TNF-α and IL-6 by ELISA. The remaining 10 rats of each group were selected at 8 h after operation for determination of the renal function. The rats still alive after the determination of cytokines and renal function were killed and spleen tissues were taken for determination of the expression of caspase-3 and ubiquitin by Western blot. Results Compared with group C, the plasma concentration of TNF-α and fractional excretion of sodium (FENa+) were significantly decreased, caspase-3 expression in spleen tissues was down-regulated and abiquitin expression in spleen tissues was up-regulated in group M and D ( P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences in plasma concentration of IL-6 and creatinine clearance rate (Ccr) at 8 h after operation between group M and C and between group D and C ( P > 0.05). The plasma concentration of TNF-α was significantly lower in group D than in group M ( P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences in plasma concentration of IL-6, FE Na+ , Ccr and expression of caspase-3 and ubiquitin in splen tissues between group D and M ( P>0.05). The survival rates during 24 h after operation were 10%, 80% and 90% in group C, M and D respectively. The survival rates during 24 h after operation were signifrcantly higher in group M and D than in group C ( P > 0.05). Conclusion Dexmedetomidine can raise the survival rate during sepsis.

In recent years,thyroid cancer incidence increased year by year,after the effective prevention of iodine deficiency disorders in many countries,which caused widespread attention in academia.Whether is this increasing trend related to the implementation of policy of iodized salt in many countries? Currently,the association between iodine intake and thyroid cancer is unclear.This review article describes the metabolic and nutritional status of iodine,and the epidemiology of thyroid cancer,and further elaborates the relationship and the pathogenesis of iodine and thyroid cancer.

Aiming at the issue of motor imagery electroencephalography (EEG) pattern recognition in the research of brain-computer interface (BCI), a power feature method based on discrete wavelet packet decomposition is proposed for the channels C3 and C4. Firstly, a six-border Butterworth filter is used to denoise the two-channel EEG signals. Secondly, two-channel EEG signals are decomposed to five levels using Daubechies wavelet and the fourth level and the fifth level are chosen to reconstruct the signals and compute its power feature. Finally, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is utilized to classify the feature and the Kappa value is utilized to measure the accuracy of the classifier. This method is applied to the standard dataset BCICIV_2b-gdf of BCI Competition 2008, and experimental results show that this method reflect the feature of event-related synchronization and event-related desynchronization obviously and it is an effective way to classify the EEG patterns in the research of BCI.
Brain-Computer Interfaces ; Electroencephalography ; instrumentation ; methods

Objective To compare 2 approaches with different culture media which induce hyphal form of Candida albicans.Methods Induction of hyphal form was conducted for 16 C.albicans strains with either RPMI 1640 medium or DMEM medium,at 37 ℃ for 24 h,respectively.The hyphal and yeast forms were counted separately and the ratio of hyphal form to total cells was calculated.Results The ratio of hyphal form to total cells was higher in RPMI 1640 medium than that in DMEM medium at the same incubation time for the majority of strains.The ratio was above 99% for all strains after 7-day incubation with 12 times of passages in RPMI 1640 medium at 37 ℃.Moreover the ratio of hyphal form was significantly higher for fluconazole-susceptible strains than that for fluconazole dose-dependent susceptible and resistant strains in incubation with DMEM medium at 37 ℃.Conclusion Incubation with RPMI 1640 medium at 37 ℃ for 7 days seems a favorable condition to induce hyphal form of C.albicans.

Objectives:To investigate the expression of regulators survivin and Ki 67 in rhabdomyosarcoma(RMS), and to evaluate their relationship with clinicopathological features. Methods: Immunohistochemical technique(S P) and image analysis were used to detect the expression of regulators survivin and Ki 67 in 43 cases of RMS and 10 normal skeletal muscles. Results: Expression of survivin was detected in 86% of the RMS, with higher levels in RMS than in normal skeletal muscles ( P

Objective To investigate whether enteric nervous system(ENS)involve in mediating the effect of short pulse gastric electrical stimulation on c-fos expression in nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS)and hypothalamus.Methods Fifteen Wistar rats were divided into control group,gastric electrical stimulation(GES)group and ENS free group with 5 rats each.A pair of electrodes was implanted on the gastric serosa.In ENS free group,0.5%benzalkonii chloridum was applied on the serosa during the surgery.A set of short pulse GES with frequency of 20 cpm,pulse width of 300 μs and amplitude of 2 mA was applied via the electrodes for 30 rain in the stimulation group and ENS free group.The c-fos expression in NTS/hypothalamus was detected 1 h after the stimulation.Results The number of neuron with c-fos expression was(71.6±7.4)/HP in NTS group and(63.4±10.8)/HP in ENS free group,both were significantly higher than those in control group(36.4±8.6/HP,P＜0.05).The number of neuron with c-fos expression in hypothalamus was higher in GES[(224.2±47.3)/HP]and ENS free groups[(249.1±44.0)/HP]compared with control group[(90.2±47.3)/HP,P＜0.05].There was no significant difference in c-fos expression in NTS/hypothalamus between GES group and ENS free group(P＞0.05).Conclusions Short pulse gastric electrical stimulation significantly increases c-fos expression in NTS/hypothalamus,which suggests that NTS/hypothalamus may participate in mediating the effect of GES on gastric function.This effect may be not mediated by ENS.