BACKGROUND: Animal experiments showed that recruitment maneuver (RM) and protective ventilation strategy of the lung could improve oxygenation and reduce extravascular lung water. This study was to investigate the effects of RM on respiratory mechanics and extravascular lung water index ( EVLWI) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: Thirty patients with ARDS were randomized into a RM group and a non-RM group. In the RM group, after basic mechanical ventilation stabilized for 30 minutes, RM was performed and repeated once every 12 hours for 3 days. In the non-RM group, lung protective strategy was conducted without RM. Oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2), peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), Plateau pressure (Pplat), static pulmonary compliance (Cst) and EVLWI of patients before treatment and at 12, 24, 48, 72 hours after the treatment were measured and compared between the groups. Hemodynamic changes were observed before and after RM. One-way ANOVA, Student's t test and Fisher's exact test were used to process the data. RESULTS: The levels of PaO2/FiO2 and Cst increased after treatment in the two groups, but they were higher in the RM group than in the non-RM group (P<0.05). The PIP and Pplat decreased after treatment in the two groups, but they were lower in the RM group than in the non-RM group (P<0.05). The EVLWI in the two groups showed downward trend after treatment (P<0.05), and the differences were signifcant at all time points (P<0.01); the EVLWI in the RM group was lower than that in the non-RM group at 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with pre-RM, hemodynamics changes during RM were significantly different (P<0.01); compared with pre-RM, the changes were not significantly different at 120 seconds after the end of RM (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: RM could reduce EVLWI, increase oxygenation and lung compliance. The effect of RM on hemodynamics was transient.

An efficient protocol for plant regeneration from protoplasts of the methionine resistant variant of Astragalus melilotoides was established. The friable calli induced from internode segments of variant plants were used for protoplast preparation. The protoplasts were isolated through enzyme digestion. Calli were formed after sustained divisions of protoplasts. High frequency of shoot differentiation was obtained from the protocalli on differentiated medium. The effects of different media, culturing methods and plating densities on protoplast divisions and plant regeneration were studied. The results show that agarose-beads culture method, KM8p medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 2,4-D, 0.5mg/L 6BA, 0.3 mol/L mannitol, 2% (W/V) sucrose and 500 mg/L casein hydrolysate at a plating density of 3 x 10(5)/mL are the appropriate conditions for protoplast division of the methionine resistant cell line. The division frequency is over 38%. The protoplast-regenerated plants still preserve resistance to methionine and ethionine.This research builds up the foundation for the resistant cell line as a parent of somatic hybridization.
Astragalus Plant ; growth & development ; physiology ; Culture Media ; Culture Techniques ; methods ; Drug Resistance ; Methionine ; pharmacology ; Protoplasts ; cytology ; Regeneration

Pseudomonas sp. ZD8 isolated from contaminated soil was immobilized with platane wood chips to produce packing materials for a novel biofilter system utilized to control restaurant emissions. The effects of operational parameters including retention time, temperature, and inlet gas concentration on the removal efficiency and elimination capacity were evaluated. Criteria necessary for a scale-up design of the biofilter was established. High and satisfactory level of rapeseed oil smoke removal efficiency was maintained during operation and the optimal retention time was found to be 18 s corresponding to smoke removal efficiency greater than 97%. The optimal inlet rapeseed oil smoke loading was 120 mg/(m(3) x h) at the upper end of the linear correlation between inlet loading and elimination capacity.
Air Pollutants ; isolation & purification ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Cells, Immobilized ; Filtration ; instrumentation ; methods ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Oils ; metabolism ; Pseudomonas ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Restaurants ; Smoke ; Temperature ; Time Factors ; Waste Management ; instrumentation ; methods

Adult ; Blast Injuries ; therapy ; Explosions ; Humans ; Male ; Multiple Trauma ; therapy

Objective To explore the relationship between detective time for serum cardiac troponin I(cTnI) and their positive rate in diagnosis of viral myocarditis(VM).Methods Twenty-one cases of VM were designed as the test group.The serum cTnI were dynamically detected and compared with the normal control group.Results The serum cTnI were all negative in the normal control group,of 6 cases(28.6%) in the test group were positive when admission,of 7 cases(33.3%),8 cases(38.1%),9 cases(42.9%),13 cases(61.9%) and 4 cases(19%) were positive 6,12,18,24,48,72 h and 10 to 14 days laters respectively.There were statistic significances,compared the accumulative total positive rate of 48 h and 72 h after hospitalization with of emission and of 10 to 14 days after hospitalization,respectively.Conclusion Monitoring serum cTnI dynamically may increase the positive rate of cTnI for the suspected patients.

Objective To study the change of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in myocardial tissue and serum of myocardial ischemia in rats.Methods Twenty SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group and test group. Test group was ligated coronary artery,and the control group was pulled on line but not ligated,then observed the change of VEGF.The histological and immunohistochemical method were used for observing the change of VEGF serum in myocardial ischemia in rats' heart.VEGF levels were measured by image analysis.Results Compared with control group,the expression of VEGF in the myocardial ischemia group was increased obviously(P

Objective To measure and define the distribution of left gastric lymph nodes.Meth- ods From Jan.2004 to Apr.2005,silver clips were set around the root of the left gastric artery in 124 pa- tients with esophageal and gastric cardia carcinoma,X-ray films at 0?and 90?simulator gantry in the radio- therapeutic position were taken.Then,the data of the superior,lower,left,right,anterior and posterior bor- der in each patient was recorded.With SAS 8.02 software,data of minimum area which covered the left gas- tric lymph node in different incidences were obtained.Results According to the analysis of Shapiro- Wilk,Kolmogorov-Smimov,Cramer-von Mises and Anderson-Darling tests,each border was of normal distri- bution,with equal frequency in the male and female,despite the actual results in different genders.Pearson Correlation Coefficients analysis did not suggest a significant relationship between the border and height, weight and size of vertebrae,which formed the minimum area covering the left gastric area at frequency of 100%,95%,90% and 85%,which were drawn out through the calculation.Conclusions Aiming at completely identifying the normal distribution of the left gastric lymph node,more patients are required to be in the pool.For the time being,location in the left gastric area can be obtained from details of the results in the present study.

Objective To evaluate the effects of the chronic Keshan disease's self-management in Liangshan Prefecture of Sichuan Province. Methods According to "The Serf Management Program of Chronic Keshan Disease in Liangshen Prefecture of Sichuan Province", 56 chronic Keshan disease patients were selected in the personalized self-manngemant evaluation under the instructions by endemic disease specialists and the rural doctors. Evaluation was based on changes of indexes such as the clinical symptoms, general health conditions, the electrocardiogram, X-ray, the heart function, etc, before treatment and 3 and 6 months following the treatment. Results Clinical signs and symptoms of the patients were significantly improved 3 and 6 months after the treatment, and the improvement was more obvious 6 months than 3 months following the treatment(P<0.05 or< 0.01). After treatment for 3 months, the patients'electrocardingram and heart function did not show obvious change (X2=0.05,039, P0.05); hut obvious improvements Eexcept X ray results(X2=0.61 ,P0.05)] were seen 6 months after treatment (X2=4.36,16.84, P<0.05 or<0.01). Altogether, among the 56 patients evaluated after treatment for 6 months, none achieved the clinical cure standard, 26 cases(46.3%) showed significant improvement, 17 cases (30.4%) were stable, 5 cases (8.9%) were aggravated,one case (1.8%) lost contact, and 6 cases (10.6%) died. Conclusion The project of the chronic Keshan disease's self-management is suitable for the present situati,on of the endemic regions and can he introduced to many places in our country.

This study was undertaken to establish a murine model for unrelated allogeneic umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). The characteristics and percentage of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells between near-term fetal and neonatal murine peripheral blood (FNPB) and bone marrow (BM) were evaluated by flow cytometry and semisolid methylcellulose culture. BABL/c (H-2(d)) recipient mice conditioned with high dose CTX were transplanted with FNPB form C57BL/6 (H-2(b)) mice and the survival rate, hematopoietic and immunological reconstruction, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and engraftment level were observed. The results showed that the numbers of day 14 CFU-GM and CFU-GEMM in FNPB (176.40 +/- 78.39)% and (141.40 +/- 56.57)%, respectively were much higher than those in BM (75.20 +/- 26.41)% and (68.80 +/- 23.95)%, respectively. Moreover the percentage of Sca-1(+) CD34(+) cell subsets in FNPB (3.63 +/- 1.13)% was also higher than that in BM (1.41 +/- 0.8 7)%. FNPB transplantation improved survival rate and reconstituted hematopoietic and immune function in recipients. There was no evidence of GVHD. Chimeric analysis showed that the proportion of donor cells in BM of recipients was 27.94% at 21 days after transplantation. It was concluded that FNPB contains more hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with high expansion ability and weak allogeneic immunity, which was similar to human UCB. The murine model for allogeneic UCBT (C57BL/6-->BALB/c) was established successfully.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Flow Cytometry ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Immunity ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Models, Animal ; Transplantation, Homologous

An alkaline catalase has been purified and characterized from a slightly halophilic and alkaliphilic bacterium Bacillus sp. F26. The purification was performed with a four step procedure consisting of ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange, gel filtration and hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and finally achieved a 58.5-fold-purifying over the crude extract. The purified catalase was composed of two identical subunits with a native molecular mass of 140 kD. The native enzyme showed the typical Soret band appearing at 408 nm. The pyridine hemochrome spectrum indicated the presence of protoheme IX as the prosthetic group. The apparent Km value for enzyme activity on H2O2 was calculated to be 32.5 mmol/L. The activity of this catalase was not reduced by dithionite but was strongly inhibited by cyanide, azide, and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (the specific inhibitor of monofunctional catalase). No peroxidase activity of this enzyme was detected when using o-dianisidine, diaminobenzidine (DAB) and p-phenylenediamine as electron donor. Moreover, the N-terminal sequence of this catalase exhibited substantial similarity to the monofunctional catalase subgroup rather than catalase-peroxidase or Mn-catalase one. Therefore, we characterize the purified catalase as a monofunctional catalase. Besides, this monofunctional catalase was thermosensitive and its activity exhibited pH-independent over pH 5-9 but showed a sharp maximum at pH 11. An activity half-life of approximately 49 h was measured when the enzyme was incubated at 20 degrees C and pH 11. To our knowledge, pH 11 is the most alkaline condition for optimum catalysis and enzyme stability among the catalases reported up to now. Furthermore, this monofunctional catalase also showed excellent halo-alkali-stability with a half-life of approximately 90 h at 0.5 mol/L NaCl and pH 10.5. On the other hand, so far as we know, the characterized catalase is the first dimeric monofunctional catalase from alkaliphiles and is also the first monofunctional catalase derived from a natural soda lake, which could partially reflect the oxidative stress response in the corresponding environment.
Bacillus ; enzymology ; Bacterial Proteins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Catalase ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Enzyme Stability ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Temperature