Exocyst complex is known to function in the exocytosis network, however, the molecular mechanism is unclear yet. Using UV/trimethylpsoralen mutagenesis, the sec-10 (one component of the exocyst complex) knockout mutant of C. elegans was obtained for the first time. The drug sensitive assays revealed clearly that the sec-10 gene affected the neural signal transmission, however, the electrophysiological assay showed the function of the ionotropic receptors in the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) were unaltered compared with the wild type (WT). Thus it was assumed that the sec-10 gene might not influence the known ionotropic receptors in the NMJs, but some other pathways instead.

By analyzing the clinical data of 216 cases of acute cerebral infarction (ACI) from 2012 January to 2013 June retrospectively,we found that the serum levels of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients were significantly higher than those in 186 controls (P ＜0.01).The degree of neural function defect in ACI patients was assessed by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score.The hs-CRP level of the patients with NIHSS score ＞ 8 were higher than that in those with NIHSS score ≤8 (P ＜ 0.05).The hs-CRP level of patients of large artery atherosclerosis were (6.32 ± 4.12) mg/L and the positive rate of hs-CRP was 85.7％ (84/98).All were respectively higher than those in patients of penetrating artery disease [(1.97 ±0.86) mg/L,7/71],cardiogenic stroke [(3.70 ± 2.76) mg/L,14/24],undetermined etiology [(3.43 ± 3.52) mg/L,5/11] and other etiologies [(3.41 ± 3.25) mg/L,5/12] (all P ＜ 0.05).Logistic regression analysis was performed for the risk factors of ACI.The correlative factors of ACI included hypertension,diabetes mellitus,atrial fibrillation,smoking,total cholesterol,homocysteine and high sensitive C-reactive protein (OR =1.56,1.19,1.23,1.17,3.08,1.34,1.25,all P ＜ 0.01).The serum levels of hs-CRP increased significantly in ACI patients and were correlated with the degree of neural function defect.

BACKGROUND:Total hip arthroplasty is known to be a successful surgical procedure to al eviate hip pain and to regain gait ability, but there are many debates on whether patients’ gait could reach a normal level several years later. OBJECTIVE:To investigate spatiotemporal parameter characters of lower extremities in patients during walking in sequela period fol owing unilateral total hip arthroplasty, and to probe into patients’ walking abilities.
METHODS:In accordance with the method of Case Database Data Analysis detected by Motion Reconstruction Laboratory, 14 patients at 5-10 years after total hip arthroplasty served as the experimental group, and 14 matched healthy persons served as the control group. Gait parameters of lower extremities during walking were col ected by Vicon Nexus. Spatiotemporal parameter characters of lower extremities during gait cycle were analyzed by using Polygon.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group, walking speed, cadence, stride length and step length decreased, but double support and opposite foot off increased on both affected and unaffected sides in the experimental group (P<0.05). Both stride time and step time of the operated lower extremities increased (P<0.05). Foot off of non-operated lower extremities increased (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in al spatiotemporal parameters between operated and non-operated lower extremities (P>0.05). The results suggested that gaits of patients showed good gait symmetry at 5-10 years after surgery. However, they do not reach the level that observed in healthy subjects, and walking ability was poorer than normal persons. Systematic rehabilitation training is needed to improve walking ability.

Objective To investigate the effect of ski gene in migration process of astrocytes in rats. Methods Astrocytes were obtained from rats' cerebral cortex and cultured in vitro. siRNA targeting ski gene and negative control sequences were prepared. The ski-siRNA group, siRNA negative control group and untreated group were set in this experiment. The specific siRNA targeting ski gene was transfected into astrocytes with Lipofectamine?RNAiMAX Reagent. Then the ski protein levels were determined with Western blotting. After transfec-tion, the changes in migration of astrocytes were measured with wound scratch assay and Transwell migration assay. Results Western blot-ting showed that the expression of ski protein was significantly lower in the ski-siRNA group than in the siRNA negative control group and untreated group (F=132.957, P<0.001). Transwell migration assay showed that the number of astrocytes crossing through chambers was less in the ski-siRNA group than in the siRNA negative control group and untreated group (F>47.197, P<0.05). Wound scratch assay showed that the wound healing rate was lower in the ski-siRNA group than in the control group one, two, three, four and five days after transfection (F>69.187, P<0.001). Conclusion Ski knocked down by siRNA could inhibit the migration ability of astrocytes. It is a reminding that ski may take part in the migration process of astrocytes, and moreover, ski may play an important role in the formation of glial scar.

Objective To evaluate the effect of gastric compound on patients with middle-late gastric cancer of spleen deficiency and stasis toxin. Methods Ninety patients with middle-late gastric cancer of spleen deficiency and stasis toxin were randomly divided into combined group, chemotherapy group, and gastric compound group, 30 cases in each group. Patients in the combined group were treated with gastric compound and chemotherapy;patients in the chemotherapy group were treated with placebo;patients in the gastric compound group were treated with gastric compound. The changes of QLQ-C30 scale integral, fatigue scale intergral, TCM symptom intergral, Karnofsky integral, and toxic and side effects of digestive tract and myelosuppression were observed to evaluate the effect of gastric compound on quality of life in patients. Results The changes of QLQ-C30 scale integral, fatigue scale intergral, TCM symptom intergral, Karnofsky intergal in combined group were better than those in chemotherapy group and gastric compound group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). The changes of fatigue scale intergral and TCM symptom intergral in gastric compound group were better than those in chemotherapy group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). The myelosuppression and toxic and side effects of digestive tract of combined group was lighter than those of chemotherapy group, with statistical significance (P<0.01). Conclusion Gastric compound combined with chemotherapy can improve quality of life in patients with middle-late gastric cancer of spleen deficiency and stasis toxin, and reduce myelosuppression and toxic and side effects of digestive tract.

AIM:To explore the time-dependent change of Ski protein expression in normal and activated astrocytes in rats.METHODS:The astrocytes were obtained from rat cerebral cortex and cultured in vitro.The astrocytes were treated with LPS and scratch injury for activation.Western blot analysis was used to determine glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Ski protein levels in activated astrocytes at a series of time points.The indirect immunofluorescence staining method was performed to detect the location of Ski protein in the astrocytes.RESULTS:The protein of GFAP was naturally expressed in the astrocytes, beginning to increase after treated with LPS and scratch injury.Little protein expression of Ski in the normal astrocytes was observed.The Ski protein expression began to increase after treated with 1 mg/L LPS, peaked at 4 d (P<0.05) and then deceased, but was stills higher than that in the normal cells.The protein expression level of Ski after scratch injury was highly consistent with above mentioned.Ski was mainly observed in the nucleus of the normal cells and the cells treated with LPS for 6 d, while it was observed in the cytoplasm 2 and 4 d after treated with LPS.CONCLUSION:The protein of Ski is expressed in the astrocytes, and the expression level is increased in activated astrocytes,mainly located in the nucelus.Ski may plays an essential roles in the processes of activation and proliferation of astrocytes.

Objective To explore the expression and the changes of ski with time in the injured spinal cord in rats. Methods Sixty adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=30) and injury group (n=30), each group were further divided into 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks subgroups, with 6 rats in each subgroup. Spinal cord injury at T10 was established with modi-fied Allen's technique (10 g × 25 mm) in the injury group. The hindlimbs behavior of rats was rated with Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scores 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks after spinal cord injury. Three rats in each subgroup were stained with HE staining to observe the pathological changes of the spinal cord and the formation of cavity. The other 3 rats were analyzed with im-munofluorescence staining of ski and semi quantitative analysis. Results The BBB scores of each time point were less in the injury group than in the sham group (P<0.05). Necrosis was the major pathological change in the injury groups 1 and 2 weeks after injury;cystic cavity completely formed 4 weeks after injury, with dense scar tissue around it;there was no significant change in the cavity and scar 8 and 12 weeks after injury, however, the adjacent spinal cord was obviously thinner. Ski expressed little in the normal spinal cord, and expressed more and more after injury, peaked at 8 weeks and decreased then. Ski was mainly observed in white matter in the sham group and 12 weeks injury subgroup, which was in gray matter 2, 4 and 8 weeks after injury. Ski was highly expressed around the cavity in injury center and formed high expression band. Conclusion Ski expresses after spinal cord injury in rats, that may be associated with the activation and prolif-eration of astrocytes and the formation of glial scar.

Objective To evaluate the effect of hypotension factor on endotracheal tube cuff-in-duced damage to tracheal mucous membrane of rabbits. Methods Eighty healthy rabbits of both sexes, aged 3.0-3.5 months, weighing 2.5-3.5 kg, were divided into 16 groups(n=5 each)according to the cuff pressure and mean arterial pressure(MAP): different cuff pressures when MAP did not decrease groups(C1M1group, C2M1group, C3M1group, C4M1group), different cuff pressures when MAP de-creased by 20% of the baseline value groups(C1M2group, C2M2group, C3M2group, C4M2group), dif-ferent cuff pressures when MAP decreased by 30% of the baseline value groups(C1M3group, C2M3group, C3M3group, C4M3group), and different cuff pressures when MAP decreased by 40% of the baseline value groups(C1M4group, C2M4group, C3M4group, C4M4group). Different cuff pressures were 0, 10, 20 and 30 cmH2O.At 2 h of tracheal intubation, the tracheas in the cuff-compressed area were harvested and sliced for examination of the pathological changes of tracheal mucous membrane after haematoxylin and eosin staining(with a light microscope), and the damage to tracheal mucous membrane was scored. Results When at the same low pressure(MAP decreased by 20%, 30% and 40% of the baseline value), the score of damage to tracheal mucous membrane increased with the increasing cuff pressures(P<0.05). When at the same cuff pressure(10, 20 and 30 cmH2O), the score of damage to tracheal mucous membrane in-creased with the increasing MAP(P<0.05). There was interaction between cuff pressure and MAP, F=2.034(P<0.05). Conclusion There is interaction between the effects of hypotension factor and endotra-cheal tube cuff factor on damage to tracheal mucous membrane; hypotension factor can aggravate endotra-cheal tube cuff-induced damage to tracheal mucous membrane of rabbits.

The ultrasonic estimation of fetal weight at delivery is of important prognostic significance in obstetrical practice. The convertional regression formulas used for estimating fetal weight have the disadvantage of less reliability. In this study, we used the back propagation neural network (BP) to estimate Fetal Weight. Some input variables were adopted in constructing the BP model: biparietal diameter (BPD), cerebellum transverse diameter (TCD), abdominal circumference (AC), liver length (LL), femur length (FL), fetal thigh soft tissue thickness (FSTT), and gestational age (GA). The fetal weights of 109 singleton fetuses were estimated. In the training group and validation group, coincidence rates were 89.77% and 76.19% respectively. The results show that the estimation based on neural network is more accurate than that by regression method. GA, its unit is not week but day in our formulas, is very valuable in combination with other ultrasonic parameters on estimation.
Anthropometry ; methods ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Fetal Weight ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Pregnancy ; Regression Analysis ; Term Birth

Cell culture is one of the usual methods for studying living cell and tissue, the method presented in this paper is based on image processing and analyzing technology for activity estimation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The existing activity estimation methods are costly, complex and invasive. In this method, thresholding is used to preprocess image and to separate out the growth hallow. Then the area is calculated by counting the pixels of the growth hallow. The changes of the activity estimated by this method are similar to those by corresponding cellular experiments. Compared with the existing methods in biology, medicine or medical cellular science, this method is easier, faster, cost-effective and non-invasive. The proposed method has been proved to be efficient by primary experiments of MSCs.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Femur ; cytology ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley