To confirm the inactivating effect of chito-oligosaccharides on Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) par ticles in vitro, the difference of TMV pathogenicity was evaluated according to the decrease of local lesion numbers after inoculating with TMV mixed with chito-oligosaccharides (DP3-10) in Nicotiana glutinosa, and the virion structural change was studied by transmission electron microscopy after mixed with chito-oligosaccharides. In the range of tested concentrations of chito-oligosaccharides (100-1000 microg /mL), the numbers of local lesions were strongly reduced with over 30% decrement, and the 88.4% reduction gained at the concentration of 600g /mL. It revealed that treatment with chito-oligosaccharide solution of 300-500 microg /mL directly broke TMV particles into tiny pieces of 50-150nm long, and that treatment with solutions of 600-1000 microg/mL caused virus particle agglomerated. The data presented here suggested that chito-oligosaccharides exerted strong inactivating effect on plant virus in vitro.
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Oligosaccharides ; pharmacology ; Tobacco Mosaic Virus ; drug effects ; ultrastructure ; Virion ; drug effects ; ultrastructure

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect and safety of L-carnitine in the treatment of idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia based on current clinical evidence.

METHODSWe searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CNKI, VIP, CBM and Wanfang Database from the establishment to April 2014 for the published literature on the treatment of idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia with L-carnitine. We conducted literature screening, data extraction, and assessment of the methodological quality of the included trials according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, followed by statistical analysis with the RevMan 5. 2 software.

RESULTSSeven randomized controlled trials involving 751 patients with idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia met the inclusion criteria, and 678 of them were included in the meta-analysis. L-carnitine treatment achieved a significantly increased rate of spontaneous pregnancy as compared with the control group (RR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.74 to 5.87, P = 0.0002). After 12-16 and 24-26 weeks of medication, total sperm motility (WMD = 5.21, 95% CI 2.78 to 7.64, P < 0.0001 and WMD = 9.29, 95% CI 1.28 to 17.29, P = 0.02) and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (WMD = 12.44, 95% CI 4.58 to 20.31, P = 0.002 and WMD = 9.76, 95% CI 3.56 to 15.97, P = 0.002) were remarkably higher than those in the control group, but no statistically significant differences were observed in sperm concentration between the two groups (WMD = 4.91, 95% CI -2.63 to 12.45, P = 0.2 and WMD = 0.93, 95% CI -3.48 to 5.34, P = 0.68). After 12-16 weeks of treatment, the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm was markedly decreased in the L-carnitine group as compared with the control (WMD = -2.48, 95% CI -4.35 to -0.61, P = 0.009), but showed no significant difference from the latter group after 24-26 weeks (WMD = -4.38, 95% CI -9.66 to 0.89, P = 0.1). No statistically significant difference was found in the semen volume between the two groups after 12-16 or 24-26 weeks of medication (WMD = -0.13, 95% CI -0.43 to 0.18, P = 0.42 and WMD = 0.28, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.58, P = 0.07). No serious L-carnitine-related adverse events were reported in 4 of the randomniized controlled trials.

CONCLUSIONThe current evidence indicates that L-carnitine can improve spontaneous pregnancy and semen parameters in the treatment of idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia, with no serious adverse reactions.

Asthenozoospermia ; drug therapy ; Carnitine ; adverse effects ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effects of closed reduction and percutaneous double K-wires internal fixation in treating multisegmental fracture of humeral shaft.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to April 2015, 27 patients with multisegmental fracture of humeral shaft were treated with closed reduction and percutaneous double K-wires internal fixation, including 10 males and 17 females, ranging in age from 26 to 81 years with an average of 52 years;the disease course ranged from 2 hours to 6 days with an average of 1.5 days. Operative time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, fracture healed time, complications were observed and recovery of shoulder joint function was evaluated by Constant-Murley shoulder score.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up from 12 to 24 weeks with an average of 16 weeks. Operative time was 20 to 40 min with an average of 28 min; intraoperative blood loss was 5 to 25 ml with an average of 10 ml;hospital stay was 3 to 5 days with an average of 3.5 days. All fractures got bone healing and healed time was 12 to 22 weeks with average of 14 weeks. Postoperatively 1 case complicated with wire tail bulging and local irritation symptoms, and the symptoms disappeared when the wire was removed out after the fracture healing; 1 case complicated with local infection after wire tail disengaging, and recovered through anti-septic treatment. According to the Constant-Murley standard of shoulder joint function, 10 cases got excellent results, 15 good, 2 fair, with scores of 89.1±2.7.

CONCLUSIONSClosed reduction and percutaneous double K-wires fixation for the treatment of multisegmental fractures of humeral shaft have advantages of simpler manipulating, less bleeding, less invasive, less complications, and shoulder and elbow joint can obtain good recovery. But closed reduction and percutaneous double K-wires internal fixation cannot be effective against rotation and provide axial stability, the immoblization with a sling or other auxiliary methods should be applied.

The motivation of the brain-computer interface (BCI) research and its potential applications are introduced in this paper. Some of the problems in BCI-based medical device developments are also discussed.
Artificial Intelligence ; Brain ; physiology ; Communication Aids for Disabled ; trends ; Electroencephalography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Evoked Potentials ; physiology ; Humans ; Neuromuscular Diseases ; rehabilitation ; Rehabilitation ; instrumentation ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; User-Computer Interface

OBJECTIVETo investigate the status of male reproductive health among middle-aged and older men in the urban area of Nanjing.

METHODSWe collected the laboratory results of 884 middle-aged and older men aged 55 - 89 years from the Xuanwu District of Nanjing present for routine physical examinations, including those of blood routine tests, liver and kidney function, blood glucose, blood lipid, and total prostate specific antigen (TPSA), as well as such reproductive hormone indexes as total serum testosterone (TT), free serum testosterone (fT), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). We also obtained the above reproductive hormone indexes from 119 young and middle-aged men aged 20 - 39 years as controls.

RESULTSAging-related changes were found in the 50 percentiles of all the reproductive hormones and relevant parameters but those of TT and E2, with gradual increases in LH, FSH and SHBG and decreases in fT, TSI and fTI. Comparison of reproductive hormones and relevant parameters by Mann-Whitney U test did not show any statistically significant differences in the TT level between any two of the five age groups (20 - 39, 55 - 59, 60 - 69, 70 - 79, and > or = 80 yr) (P > 0.05) except between the control and > or = 80 yr groups and the 60 - 69 and > or = 80 yr groups (P < 0.05), nor in the E2 level between any two groups, nor in the levels of LH and FSH except between the 55 - 59 and 60 - 69 yr groups and the 70 - 79 and > or = 80 yr groups, and nor in the levels of fT and TSI except between the 55 - 59 and 60 - 69 yr groups. However, there were significant differences in the levels of SHBG and fTI between any two age groups. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that fT, TSI, and fTI were correlated negatively with aging and LH (P < 0.05, I r I > 0.5) but weakly positively with cholesterol, blood glucose and hemoglobin (P < 0.05, /r/ < 0.5), SHBG and LH positively with aging, SHBG weakly negatively with blood glucose and hemoglobin, LH weakly negatively with hemoglobin, and TT weakly negatively with aging but positively with hemoglobin.

CONCLUSIONThe levels of serum testosterone, particularly that of fT, declined with aging in middle-aged and older men in the urban area of Nanjing, which may contribute to abnormal lipid metabolism, low hemoglobin and high blood glucose.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; blood ; Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Humans ; Luteinizing Hormone ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin ; analysis ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Testosterone ; blood

OBJECTIVETo study the influence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation on the testicular histology and reproductive endocrine function in male rats and investigate the possible mechanism of inflammation affecting male fertility.

METHODSThirty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group (A) and three LPS intervention groups (B, C, and D) to receive saline and LPS (5 mg/kg i. p, once), respectively. The animals in groups B, C, and D were killed by anesthesia at 12, 24, and 72 hours after treatment. Histopathological changes in the left testis of the rats were observed by HE staining and the levels of the reproductive hormones T, FSH, and LH in the serum were determined by ELISA.

RESULTSCompared with group B, group A showed clear structure of seminiferous tubules, orderly arrangement of spermatogenic cells, a slightly decreased number of sperm in some seminiferous tubular lumens, and shed spermatogenic cells in the rat testis tissue; group C exhibited thinner seminiferous epithelia, disordered structure of seminiferous tubules, irregular arrangement of spermatogenic cells, decreased number of mature sperm and obvious shedding of spermatogenic cells in seminiferous tubular lumens; group D manifested similar findings to those of group C, with even more shed spermatogenic cells that blocked the tubular lumens. The levels of serum T, LH, and FSH were (0.490 +/- 0.028) ng/ml, (6.290 +/- 0.515) ng/L, and (1.837 +/- 0.127) IU/L in group A, (0.460 +/- 0.024) ng/ml, (5.881 +/- 0.124) ng/L, and (1.707 +/- 0.098) IU/L in group B, (0.417 +/- 0.021) ng/ml, (5.123 +/- 0.271) ng/L, and (1.620 +/- 0.115) IU/L in group C, and (0.378 +/- 0.021) ng/ml, (4.504 +/- 0.279) ng/L and (1.562 +/- 0.216) IU/L in group D, all decreased in group B as compared with A (P > 0.05). The decreases of T and LH were extremely significant (P < 0.01) and that of FSH was significant in groups C and D (P < 0.05) in comparison with A.

CONCLUSIONLPS-induced inflammation affects the testicular tissue and reproductive endocrine function of male rats, resulting in decreased levels of serum T, LH, and FSH.

Animals ; Endocrine System ; drug effects ; physiology ; Fertility ; drug effects ; physiology ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; toxicity ; Luteinizing Hormone ; blood ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Reproduction ; Seminiferous Tubules ; drug effects ; pathology ; Spermatocytes ; drug effects ; Testis ; drug effects ; pathology ; Testosterone ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of mailuoning (MLN) on nerve cells after cerebral infarction induced by photochemistry.

METHODSEighty SD rats were divided into three groups, the control group (n = 20), the model group (n = 30) and the MLN group (n = 30). Focal cerebro-ischemia induced by photothrombosis in adult rat was used as a model. Changes of C-Fos protein expression before and after MLN treatment were observed using immunohistochemistry, computerized imaging technique and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

RESULTSC-Fos positive cells located in the transitional zone between the necrotic core and normal cortex. C-Fos protein expression began to show 3 hrs after cerebral infarction, peaked at 6 hrs. As compared with the model group, C-Fos expression was significantly reduced in the MLN group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONMLN could markedly reduce the injury of nerve cell in the transitional zone, the protection may be related with its inhibition on C-Fos protein expression.

Animals ; Cerebral Infarction ; etiology ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Photochemistry ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the use of titanium mesh reconstruction after sternal tumor resection.

METHODSFrom January 2007 to January 2011, 14 patients with sternal tumors were admitted into Peking Union Medical Hospital. The clinical characteristics, surgical resection, and technique of reconstruction were reviewed.

RESULTSOf the 14 patients, 3 had a metastatic sternal tumor, the primary sites of which were as follows: hepatic carcinoma in one case (metastasis 19 years after operation), breast carcinoma in another case (metastasis 5 years after operation), and renal carcinoma in the other case (found simultaneously). Two patients showed local involvement of the sternum: 1 had thymic carcinoma, and the other had myofibrosarcoma. The remaining 9 patients had primary tumors: 4 were osteochondroma, 3 chondrosarcoma, 1 eosinophilic granuloma, 1 non-Hodgekin's lymphoma. En bloc resection of the sternal tumor was performed in all the 14 patients. The defect was repaired with the titanium mesh adjusted to the shape of the defect and fixed with the stainless steel wire. Eleven patients were followed up for a period from 2 months to 4 years, during which no translocation or broken of the titanium mesh was observed.

CONCLUSIONSRadical en bloc excision remains the treatment of choice for sternal tumors. Sternum defect reconstruction using titanium mesh as a rigid replacement proves appropriate and effective.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Sternum ; surgery ; Surgical Mesh ; Titanium

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) clusters in Lishui, so as to provide basis for the prevention and control of COVID-19 clusters. Methods: The data of COVID-19 clusters in Lishui from January 23 to March 29, 2020 were collected through China Disease Control and Prevention Information System-Public Health Emergency Information System, and analyzed time, space, scale, source of infection, exposure and transmission route by descriptive epidemiological method. Results: There were 31 cases in 8 clusters ( about 4 cases per cluster ), with no death. The report time was bimodal, peaked first from January 20 to February 10 with 4 clusters imported from domestic and peaked second from March 1 to 29 with 4 clusters imported from overseas. Qingtian County reported 4 clusters, Liandu District, Yunhe County, Qingyuan County and Jingning County each reported 1 cluster. Thirteen cases were restaurant employees, accounting for 41.94%. The cases were mainly occurred in the condition that exposed in the same family ( 6 clusters ), in the same dinner and car ( 1 clusters ), and in the same party ( 1 clusters ). The exposure modes that caused more cases infected were through the same family (9 cases) and through the same dinner and car ( 6 cases ). There were 3 clusters with first-generation cases, 3 clusters with second-generation cases and 2 clusters with third-generation cases. The recurrence rate of the 8 clusters ranged from 1.49% to 7.69%, with a median of 3.47%. Conclusions The COVID-19 clusters in Lishui imported from domestic in the early stage and later from overseas. Most cases were reported from Qingtian County, were engaged in catering business, and exposed by living with families.

Objective To evaluate the application of digital surgical technology in reconstruction of orbital frame and assess the treatment outcomes. Methods Seven patients with post-traumatic orbital defect were included in this study. Images of the orbit were obtained for each individual through computed tomography(CT). Preoperative design was finished according to rapid prototyping, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing(CAD-CAM) and other digital surgical techniques. Surgical fracture reductions with internal fixation and implant of Medpor were used in operation to reconstruct orbit as well as correct enophthalmos and diplopia. Results Accurate realignment of the displaced orbital rim was obtained in all the 7 patients,and enophthalmos and diplopia were corrected in 4 and 2 patients, respectively. Conclusions Digital techniques provide a precise means for preoperative design and operation implementation during orbital reconstruction. As a result, complications can be reduced, and the patient′s facial appearance can be maximally improved.