Asthma is a common disease with recurrent onset which severely affects patients' quality of life.Acupuncture can improve pulmonary functions in asthma patients and thus treat this disorder.To summarize the status of acupuncture treatment for asthma,we have collected clinical literatures published in the recent 10 years and analyzed the influence of acupuncture on pulmonary functions in asthma patients from the aspects of frequently used points,needling techniques,manipulation and mechanisms to provide references for treating asthma with acupuncture.

Objective To explore the value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) for the assessment of chronic renal injury. Methods Thirty-nine patients with clinical diagnosis of chronic renal injury (RI group) who underwent routine renal MRI and SWI examination were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into mild injured group (15 cases) and moderate to severe injured group (24 cases) by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). At the same time, 17 volunteers without chronic renal injury who had normal serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen were recruited as control group. All subjects underwent routine renal MRI and SWI examination. The ratios of cortex to medulla were measured and calculated in both kidneys' magnitude image and susceptibility weighted image, which were indicated as C/MMAG and C/MSWI. Independent sample t test was used to compare the differences of C/MMAG and C/MSWI between control group and RI group, and paired sample t test was used to compare the differences betweenC/MMAG and C/MSWI in each group. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the difference of C/MMAG and C/MSWI between the control group and the different RI groups. ROC was employed to assess the diagnostic efficacy of C/MMAG and C/MSWI in renal injury. Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between C/MMAG, C/MSWI and eGFR, Scr in patients with renal injury. Results The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the RI group were 1.101±0.039 and 1.071±0.046, respectively. C/MSWI was obviously lower than C/MMAG, and the difference was statistically significant (t=5.056, P<0.01). There was no significant difference between C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the control group (P>0.05). The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the RI group were obviously lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.564, 6.122;P<0.01).The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the mild injured group and the moderate to severe injured group were significantly lower than those in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). While the differences of those between mild injured group and moderate to severe injured group showed no statistical significance (P>0.05). The area under ROC of C/MMAG and C/MSWI in diagnosis of renal injury were 0.853 and 0.952, respectively. C/MMAG was positively correlated with eGFR (r=0.460,P<0.01). Conclusions Susceptibility-weighted imaging can be used to assess chronic renal injury. Although it cannot reflect the degree of renal function damage, it has some value in the early diagnosis of mild renal injury.

Background The integration of segregated pathways from the two eyes first appears in V1 neurons,where it not only plays a critical role in the generation of a three-dimensional visual representation.Abnormal visual experiences in critical period usually lead to amblyopia and binocular integration defects.Objective Present study was to investigate how neurons of kitten coordinate their activity patterns in response to synchronous dichoptic stimulus inputs in striate cortex.Methods Spike rate and local field potential(LFP) gamma band(20-90Hz) power of three kitten(1-1.2Kg,8-10 weeks old) to monocular and synchronous dichoptic presented gratings were assessed for 28 binocular neurons in V1 of kitten by in vivo extracellular record method under anaesthesia and paralysis.Ocular dominance index(ODI) and binocular integration index(BII) were assessed and the correlation between these two indexes were analyzed.Results In 28 cells with binocular characteristic,the absolute value of spike-ODI was significant larger than that of LFP-ODI(t=2.606,P=0.021).A positive linear correlation between the ocular preferences of spike and LFP was found(R2=0.513,F=27.423,P=0.003).In dichotic trails,binocular facilitation with BII for spike was 2.348±0.996,showing a significant reduce in comparison with BII for LFP(3.678±1.974)(t=2.671,P=0.019).Binocular integration index for two signals were greater when monocular responses of both eyes were similar(P=0.035 and P=0.124,respectively).Conclusion Both spike rate and gamma band power of LFP exhibited binocular facilitation to synchronous presented dichotic stimuli with significant facilitation induced by balanced monocular responses.Spiking activity and LFP reflect neural activities of different spatial scales and source components.

Objective To explore the association between ambient average temperature and hospital emergency room visits for cardiovascular diseases(International Classification of Diseases,Tenth Vision ICD-10:I00-I99) in Beijing,China.Methods Data was collected on daily hospital emergency room visits for cardiovascular diseases from Peking University Third Hospital,including meteorological data(daily average temperature,relative humidity,wind speed,and atmospheric pressure) from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System,and on air pollution from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.Time-stratified case-crossover design was used to analyze data on 4 seasolls.Results After adjusting data on air pollution,1 degree(℃) increase of ambient average temperature would associate with the emergency room visits of odds ratio(Ors)as 1.282(95%CI:1.250-1.315).1.027(95%CI:1.001-1.055),0.661(95%CI:0.637-0.687),and 0.960 (95%CI:0.937-0.984) in spring,summer,autumn,and winter respectively.After controlling the influence of relative humidity,wind speed,and atmospheric pressure,1℃ increase in the ambient average temperature would be associated with the emergency room visits on Ors value as 1.423 (95%CI:1.377-1.471).1.082(95%CI:1.041-1.124),0.633(95%CI:0.607-0.660)and 0.971(95%CI:0.944-1.000) in spring,summer,auttmm,and winter respectively.Conclusion These data on outcomes suggested that the elevated level of ambient temperature would increase the hospital emergeney room visits for cardiovascular diseases in spring and summer while the elevated level of ambient temperature would decrease the hospital emergency room visits for the cardiovascular diseases in autumn and winter,suggesting that patients with cardiovascular diseases should pay attention to the climate change.

OBJECTIVETo explore action mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Fenglong" (ST 40) for treatment of hyperlipidemia.

METHODSForty SPF-grade SD rats were randomly divided into a normal group (group A), a model group (group B), a model diet-control group (group C), a model + EA group (group D) and model diet-control + EA group (group E), 8 cases in each one. The rats in group A were fed with normal diet continuously while those in the rest 4 groups were fed with high-fat diet to establish hyperlipidemia model. Afterwards, the rats in group C and group E were fed with normal diet, while EA at "Fenglong" (ST 40) was applied in group D and group E, 30 min per time, once a day. After 28 days of treatment, macrophage was collected in each group. Oil red O-staining was applied to detect the formation of foam cells, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISE) was adopted to measure the contents of total cholesterol (TC) in macrophage and analyze the rate of cholesterol efflux.

RESULTSThe counts of positive cells of oil red O-staining and the contents of TC in the group B, group C and group D were significantly increased compared with those in the group A (all P < 0.01). The counts of positive cells and contents of TC in the group C, group D and group E were significantly clecreased compared with those in the group B (all P < 0.01), and the decline in group D was more obvious than that in the group C (all P < 0.01). Compared with group C and group D, the counts of positive cells and contents of TC in the group E was obviously decreased (all P < 0.01), which was not statistically different from group A (P > 0.05). In the meantime, compared with group C, the rate of cholesterol efflux in group D and group E was significantly increased (both P < 0.01), and the rise in group E was more obvious than that in the group D.

CONCLUSIONThe electroacupuncture at "Fenglong" (ST 40) could significantly prohibit the transformation of macrophage into foam cell and increase rate of cholesterol efflux in macrophage, which could prevent and reverse the formation of foam cell and play an essential role in treating hyperlipidemia and stopping it from developing into a further level.

Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Biological Transport ; Cells, Cultured ; Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Electroacupuncture ; Foam Cells ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; metabolism ; therapy ; Macrophages ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Using MS as basic medium, supplemented with 1.0 mg · L(-1) IBA, the adventitious roots of Tripterygium wilfordii were induced, and the good adventitious root culture system was established by leaves or callus induced by leaves as explants. The adventitious roots were also induced with 2.0-4.0 mg · L(-1) NAA and the good adventitious root culture system established by using suspension cells from callus as materials to induce adventitious root. The content of triptolide of three adventitious roots culture system were exceeded in the natural root bark. The content of triptolide of AR3 adventitious roots was the highest about 5.3 times as that in the natural root bark. By using 5 L stirred fermentor during pilot enlarge cultivation, compared with 250 mL flask cultivation, the adventitious roots increment and secondary metabolites content per liter medium showed no significant difference. The accomplishment of this analysis laid a foundation by tissue culture production of the secondary metabolites of T. wilfordii.
Culture Media ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Plant Growth Regulators ; analysis ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Tissue Culture Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Tripterygium ; growth & development ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE We designed the overall layout,formulated the functional demand,and optimized the key design and operating parameters of a new-style asepsis clean ward.The new-style ward intends to provide a higher quality environment for patient infection control and all-around protection during treatment.METHODS We applied computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation to optimize the design scheme according to Chinese and international hospital design specifications.RESULTS The new-style asepsis ward reflected a new idea,new technology,high standards and created a comfortable and safe,high-quality environment for the treatment of patient.The Satisfaction of patients was more than 95% and workload of nurses was alleviated obviously.CONCLUSIONS The new-style asepsis ward can significantly control the endogenous infection of patients.

OBJECTIVE To compare the computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulated results and field test data of the new-style asepsis ward.METHODS We used various equipments to test the asepsis ward and CFD software to simulate airflow of asepsis ward.RESULTS After calculating and comparing,we found the CFD simulation results agreed well with the tested data.Key design and operating parameters were up to the standard.The new-style of asepsis ward could improve the air quality and provide a comfortable environment for patient treatment and it was of great help to decrease the infection rate of patient.CONCLUSIONS The new-style asepsis ward can significantly control the endogenous infection of patients.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recently discovered major regulators of gene expression, which play a pivotal role in a wide spectrum of biological processes including antiviral defence. There is growing evidence that some viruses either encode their own viral miRNAs or subvert cellular miRNAs. The host-and virus-encoded miRNAs and their targets together thus form a novel regulatory layer of interactions between the host and the virus. A better understanding of host-virus interaction mediated by miRNAs would not only enable us to unravel the molecular basis of viral pathogenesis, but also enable us to develop better therapeutic strategies.

Objective To observe the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9 mRNA and the change of cerebral edema after diffuse brain injury in rats and discuss their correlation.Methods Marmaruu's diffuse brain injury model of rat was made.Real-time quantitative RT-PCR,dry-wet meth- od,histological techniques and electron microscope were used to determine the expressions of MMP-9 containing water in brain tissue and inflammatory reaction and uhrastructural changes of blood capillary at different time phases after truama.Results The expressions of MMP-9 mRNA started to increase at 1 hour,peaked at 12 hours(P