Objective To explore the underlying mechanisms of scalp electroacupuncture (SEA) in treating cerebral ischemia. Methods A total of 70 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into a sham operated group, a model group and a scalp electroacupuncture (SEA) group. Cerebral ischemia was induced in rats by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Rats in SEA group were treated with scalp electroacupuncture immediately after the establishment of the cerebral ischemia model by inserting the needles along anterior oblique line of vertex-temporal and posterior oblique line of vertex-temporal, connecting to the Han's Electro-Acupuncture Apparatus. The rats in sham operated group underwent the same operation as that in SEA group but without occlusion. Neurological severity score (NSS) was obtained to evaluate the neurofunctional defect, hemetoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the inflammatory infiltration in cerebral tissue, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) to measure the contents of IL-1 beta and IL-10 at various time points. Results SEA group demonstrated significant decline in NSS at 72 h after the operation when compared with that of model group (P < 0. 01 ). An apparent attenuation in in-flammatory infiltration was seen in SEA group comparing with that of model group, especially at 48 h and 72 h after operation (P <0.01 ). Apparent decrease in IL-lbeta in SEA group was observed when comparing with the model group at 72 h (P <0.01 ). Statistically significant increase in IL-10 content was seen in SEA group at 48 h and 72 h after operation comparing with that of model group. Conclusions Scalp electroacupuncture might exert brain pro-tection by suppressing leukocytes infiltration via up-regulation of IL-10 and down-regulation of IL-1 beta expression.

Objective To explore the relationship between plasma homocysteine levels and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPNP). Methods A crossectional analysis was conducted on 227 patients with type 2 diabetes. Peripheral neuropathy was confirmed using electromyography (EMG). The risk factors possibly associated with diabetic neuropathy or plasma homocysteine levels were analyzed in relation to likelihood of occurrence of DPNP. Results Eighty patients with neuropathy and 147 patients without neuropathy were included. Plasma homocysteine levels were significantly higher in patients with diabetic neuropathy [( 12. 6 ± 3.6 ) μmol/ L] than without diabetic neuropathy [( 8. 2 ± 0. 9 ) μmol/L] ( P ＜0. 001 ), and the relationship remained significant after adjusting for duration of diabetes, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), age, renal status, serum folate acid and vitamin B12, and metformin [OR 1.15( 1.02-1.28 ) ,P ＜ 0. 05]. In addition, per increase of 4. 0 μmol/L plasma homocysteine was closely related to the occurrence of neuropathy after controlling for per unit increase of other confounding factors [OR 1.17(0. 94-1.33), P ＜ 0. 05]. Conclusions Hyperhomocysteinemia was an independent risk factor for the occourence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

OBJECTIVETo determine a network solution to meet the network requirements of the heavy data flow, load balance, and potential network storms from expansion of picture archiving and communication system (PACS) application.

METHODSIntel Netstructure 480T Giga Switch was used as the main switch and connected to each building by fiber channel at 1 Giga speed to archive 100 MB/s to each port. At the same time, the in-dependence of the original network construction was physically kept. The layer 3 and 4 switchers were used as load balance to reduce the heavy load of the network, and all the cabling for PACS used the super CAT5 along with the Intel NetStructure 1520 to prepare for potential network storms.

RESULTSAn advanced intranet was set up to fully meet the high standard requirement of the PACS. The foundation for upgrading the whole network system to 1 Giga application was built to achieve sharing and transmission of images, information, and patient data within the hospital. The base was established for the standardized management of the hospital.

CONCLUSIONGood planning is the first step in setting up PACS, and the equipment forms the necessary platform to run PACS and all kinds of hospital information system (HIS). The networking construction is the foundation of e-hospital.

Computer Communication Networks ; instrumentation ; utilization ; Equipment Design ; Hospital Information Systems ; Radiology Information Systems ; utilization