OBJECTIVE:To study the advantage of microwave technology in the preparation of plastic beads. METHODS:Three kinds of representative processing methods were applied to prepare Equus asinus,Colla Cornus Cervi and Colla Carapax et Plastri Testudinis. The processing methods and the quality of plastic beads were compared. RESULTS:Study results showed mic-rowave technology was superior to other processing methods in the preparation of plastic beads and quality. CONCLUSION:The microwave technology has its specific advantages in the preparation of plastic beads.

This is a case study of a 22-year-old National Serviceman presenting with the main complaint of insomnia. This case demonstrates possible gaps in the integration of care between public and National Service healthcare. We illustrate a pathway which primary physicians may use to improve communication with National Service healthcare.

OBJECTIVETo search for the best therapy for slow transmission constipation (STC) or mixed constipation (MC) by intensive acupoints thread embedding (IATE).

METHODSA total of 310 patients with constipation were assigned to 5 groups using a stratification control method. The 62 patients of STC in the observation group I were treated by IATE at Dachangshu (BL 25), Tianshu (ST 25), Zhongji (CV 3) and Zusanli (ST 36) acupoints; the 62 of MC in the observation group II by IATE at the same acupoints and local anal operation; both the 62 of STC in the control group I and the 62 of MC in the control group 1I were treated by oral administration of Simo Decoction, while the 62 of MC in the control group III were treated by local anal operation alone. Conditions of defecation were recorded every day in the 6-month follow-up period. Gastrointestinal transit test (GITT) was carried out before and after treatment. One follow-up was conducted at the 1st, 3rd and 6th month.

RESULTSIn the 124 patients of the two observation groups, 52 (41.9%) were cured after treatment, they could normally discharge stool, 5 (4.0%) showed markedly effective with their constipation alleviated, but having occasional bowel slackened sensation. In the control group I and II, none was cured or effectively treated, while in the control group III, the efficacy in 8 patients were judged as marked effective, but none was cured.

CONCLUSIONIATE is a convenient and effective composite therapy. It shows favorable clinical efficacy for STC, and also for MC in case of combined with local anal operation.

Acupuncture Points ; Aged ; Anal Canal ; surgery ; Catgut ; Constipation ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prosthesis Implantation ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Se-riched soybean peptide (SSP) on antioxidant function in rats of fatty liver caused by high-fat diet.

METHODSForty Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups randomly and fed with standard diet and water (NC), high-fat diet and water (HC), high-fat diet and SSP (0.1 g/d) (SeH), standard diet and SSP (0.1 g/d) (SeN) respectively. After 10 weeks, the rats were killed to investigate the pimelosis level in liver tissues by Sudan III staining and the expression of hepatic GRP78 by immunohistochemical analysis. We also analyzed the changes of liver function, blood lipid, the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in livers and serum.

RESULTSThe pimelosis level, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), MDA contents and the expression of GRP78 in HC group were significantly higher than those in NC, SeN, SeH groups. The activities of GSH-Px and SOD in liver and serum were markedly up-regulated in SeH (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between NC and SeN groups.

CONCLUSIONSSP can improve liver cell injury and the antioxidant functions in rats with fatty liver effectively and decrease the expression of GRP78 in liver.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Diet, High-Fat ; adverse effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fatty Liver ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Selenium ; pharmacology ; Soybean Proteins ; pharmacology ; Soybeans ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore the application value of morphology assessment of sperm from fresh semen in routine in vitro fertilization (IVF).

METHODSWe analyzed the morphology of the sperm from fresh or optimized semen samples and, based on the sperm morphology of the raw semen, allocated 908 IVF cycles due to the pure tubal factor to different groups: morphologically normal sperm (MNS) ≤ 4%, > 4% - ≤ 15%, and > 15% in Trial 1 and MNS ≤ 1%, > 1% - ≤ 2%, > 2% - ≤ 3%, and > 3%-- ≤ 4% in Trial 2. We compared the rates of fertilization, cleavage, high-quality embryo, -blastocyst formation, and pregnancy among different groups.

RESULTSThe total fertilization rate was significantly lower in the MNS ≤ 4% than in the MNS > 4% - ≤ 15% and >15% groups (74.40% vs 78.61% and 80.03%, P < 0.01). Compared with the MNS ≤ 1%, > 1% - ≤ 2%, and > 2% - ≤ 3% groups, the MNS > 3% - ≤ 4% group showed remarkably increased rates of 2PN normal fertilization (77.23%, 78.97% and 78.99% vs 85.47%, P < 0.01), cleavage (95.71%, 96.01% and 97.27% vs 98.73%, P < 0.05), and blastocyst formation (53.85%, 49.01% and 49.55% vs 63.41%, P < 0.01). No statistically significant differences were observed in the rates of clinical pregnancy, implantation, early abortion, live birth, or malformation at birth among different groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONMNS ≤ 4% affected the total rate of fertilization while MNS ≤ 3% reduced the rate of normal fertilization in IVF. However, even MNS ≤ 1% did not result in fertilization disorder or failure. Therefore, teratozoospermia alone was not an indicator of ICSI and sperm mor- phology assessment had no obvious value for predicting the rates of embryo quality, clinical pregnancy, and live birth in IVF.

Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Spermatozoa ; cytology

Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) vectors have been shown to mediate long-term transgene expression in mice and nonhuman primates. We have adapted viral vector system based on two rAAV vectors, namely rAAV1 and rAAV2. We have generated rAAV vectors expressing the envelope glycoprotein (E1 and E2) derived from Chinese HCV patient (genotype 1b) and used these to immunize BALB/c mice. We detected the total antibody titer by IFA and neutralizing antibody (nAb) using in vitro HCV neutralizing assays based on HCV pseudotyped particles. Furthermore, IFN-gamma ELISpot assay was used to assess the T cellular response against HCV at 12 weeks after rAAV1-E1E2 immunization. We also analyzed HCV envelope glycoprotein expression in muscle of rAAV1-E1E2 immunized mice. Our data showed: (i) rAAV1 directed long-term expression of HCV genes in mice; (ii) immunized intramuscularly with a single dose of rAAV elicited durable and effective immune responses in mice; and (iii) Moreover, rAAV1-E1E2 induced higher total antibody and nAb titers than rAAV2-E1E2 did. These data suggest that rAAV1 vectors could stimulate robust, durable, and effective immune responses against HCV.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Dependovirus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis C ; immunology ; virology ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Vaccines, DNA ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Viral Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between two exonic polymorphisms of DNA repair gene XPC and the susceptibility to lung cancer.

METHODSGenotypes were determined by the primer introduced restriction analysis-PCR(PIRA-PCR) and the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP) approaches, respectively, in 320 histologically-confirmed lung cancer cases and 322 age and sex frequency-matched cancer-free controls.

RESULTSMultivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that individuals carrying at least one 499Val variant allele (Ala/Val + Val/Val genotypes) had a significantly increased risk for lung cancer (adjusted OR=1.54; 95%CI: 1.11-2.14), compared with the wild-type genotype (499Ala/Ala). Furthermore, individuals with both putative risk genotypes had a significantly higher risk (adjusted OR=2.55; 95%CI: 1.45-4.52), compared with those with both wild-genotypes. In addition, a potential super multiplicative gene-environment interaction between Ala499Val genotypes and smoking on lung cancer risk was unveiled. The odds ratios of lung cancer for individuals with both putative risk genotypes were 2.63 (95%CI=1.23-5.62) in nonsmokers and 7.36 (95%CI=3.19-17.0) in smokers, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThese findings support the hypothesis that these two XPC variants may contribute to the risk of developing lung cancer.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; ethnology ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Risk Factors

It was recently discovered that a subset of osteoblasts functions as a key component of the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) niche in vivo, controlling HSC self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation. Disruption of Smad4 gene specifically in osteoblasts leads to a remarkable decrease of osteoblast number and endosteal surface area. In order to elucidate if the osteoblast loss has any effect on hematopoietic activity, the bone marrow (BM) and extramedullary hematopoiesis in the osteoblast-specific Smad4 knockout mice were systematically analyzed, the proportions of mature hematocytes in BM, liver and spleen were detected by flow cytometry, the hematopoietic progenitor number in different stages was measured by colong-forming assay, CFU-S and analysis of LSK cells. The results indicated that the conditional mutant mice demonstrated normal BM hematopoiesis without sign of extramedullary hematopoiesis. Furthermore, the proportion of hematopoietic progenitor cells was normal, while cell number/body weight of the conditional knockout mice increased. It is concluded that hematopoiesis is normally maintained in osteoblast-specific Smad4 knockout mice, and osteoblast loss does not of necessity result in the decrease in BM hematopoiesis.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Hematopoiesis ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; physiology ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Osteoblasts ; cytology ; physiology ; Smad4 Protein ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo optimize the methods of isolating human eccrine sweat gland cells in vitro so as to get efficiently primary human sweat glands.

METHODSThe fresh and normal skin tissue was cut into pieces of microskin about 1mm3 and the following 3 group digestion buffer was applied to isolated gland cells. The digestion buffer of group A was the equivoluminal mixture of Trypsin-Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA) and collagenase-II (2 mg/ml). The digestion buffer of group B was collagenase-II (2 mg/ml) traditionally and group C was Trypsin-EDTA. These three groups were placed into an incubator simultaneously and the emerging time of dissociated sweat glands was calculated. Sweat glands were sorted out and then placed in culture dish. The adherence and the growth of cells were observed. The proliferation index was detected by flow cytometry. The identification of cultured cells was performed by immunocytochemical staining.

RESULTSAfter digesting 30 min in group A and C, a very few of dissociated sweat glands were emerging. But after digesting for 2 h, there were lots of dissociated sweat glands emerging in group A rather than in group C. The emergence of dissociated sweat glands in group B would require at least 6 hours. After seeded in culture dishes, the sweat glands in group C couldn't adhere to the wall of dish, but the sweat glands in group A and B adhered very well and even grew like paving stones after 9 days. In addition, the proliferation index were (18 ± 4) % and (17 ± 6) % respectively, there was no statistical difference. The results of immunocytochemical staining showed that the cells expressed carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 7(CK7) in group A and B.

CONCLUSIONTrypsin-EDTA combined with collagenase-II can shorten the time of isolating sweat gland cells and have no effect on cell activity and proliferation.

Cell Separation ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Eccrine Glands ; cytology ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques