Electric Stimulation ; Humans ; Hypoglossal Nerve ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; therapy

Objective To introduce the amino acid substitution for HP V16E749-57(HLA-A2-restricted CTL epitope) and to identify the novel epitopes.Me thods Quantitative method was used to evaluate the affinity of the substituted peptides.To determine the peptide candidates to be synthesized and identified,the molecular models of the HLA-A2-peptide complex and CTL epitope candidates b ound to the HLA-A2 molecule were established by computer molecular modeling.Pep tides were synthesized and purified with standard Fmoc assay,lactate dehydrogen ase (LDH) release assay was used to determine their abilities of inducing the ge neration of specific CTLs.Results Modified peptides met the requirements of H LA-A2-restricted CTL epitopes.Peptide RLHYNIVTF had the abilitiy of inducing th e generation of specific CTLs.Conclusions Compared with HPV17E749-57 the mod ified peptide RLHYNIVTF has a higher antigenicity and affinity to HLA-A2.So,pe ptide RLHYNIVTF may be used as one of the HLA-A2-restricted candidate epitopes,instead of HPV17E749-57,for peptide vaccine in the treatment of HPV infection.

Exposure to thermal environment is one of the main concerns for manned space exploration. By focusing on the works performed on thermoregulation at microgravity or simulated microgravity, we endeavored to review the investigation on space thermal environmental physiology. First of all, the application of medical requirements for the crew module design from normal thermal comfort to accidental thermal emergencies in a space craft will be addressed. Then, alterations in the autonomic and behavioral temperature regulation caused by the effect of weightlessness both in space flight and its simulation on the ground are also discussed. Furthermore, countermeasures like exercise training, simulated natural ventilation, encouraged drink, etc., in the protection of thermoregulation during space flight is presented. Finally, the challenge of space thermal environment physiology faced in the future is figured out.
Aerospace Medicine ; Body Temperature Regulation ; Environment ; Exercise ; Humans ; Space Flight ; Weightlessness ; Weightlessness Simulation

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Alopecia ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate left ventricular global longitudinal strain in endocardium,middle myocardium and epi cardium of patients with breast carcinoma treated with anthracyclines by two-dimensional layered strain technology.Methods Totally 20 breast cancer patients after surgery without chemotherapy (control group) and 32 breast cancer patients who were treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy were enrolled.The patients treated with chemotherapy were performed transthoracic echocardiography 3 months and 5 months after chemotherapy.Global longitudinal strain (GLS) and each segment (apex,basis and media section) strain in 3 myocardial layers (endocardium,middle myocardium and epicardium) were measured by EchoPAC software.Results Compared with control group,with the extension of chemotherapy cycle,GLS of 3 myocardial layers reduced in breast carcinoma patients treated with anthracyclines (all P＜0.05),but left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) had no statistical difference (P＞0.05).Compared with control group,each layer of each segment of longitudinal strain decreased in breast carcinoma patients treated with anthracyclines (all P＜0.05),except the apex section.Conclusion Longitudinal layer-specific strain technology can accurate assess whole and local systolic function of 3 myocardial layers of left ventricular,which can provide a new method for judging myocardial damage.

The up-regulation mechanism of membrane type I matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) in macrophages stimulated by silica in vitro and the contribution of early growth response 1 (Egr-1) transcription factor in the gene expression pathway were investigated. Macrophages stimulated by silica were treated with Egr-1 antibody or Egr-1 decoy oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN). The levels of MT1-MMP proteins were determined by Western blot and the expression of MT1-MMP mRNAs was detected by RT-PCR. The results showed as compared with control macrophages, silica-stimulated group showed up-regulated gene expression of MT1-MMP via Egr-1 (P<0.01). Compared with silica-stimulated macrophages untreated with antibody, the cells treated with 5 microg/mL Egr-1 antibody were associated with reduced expression of MT1-MMP protein (P<0.01) and mRNA (P<0.01). Compared with silica-stimulated untransfected group, the Egr-1 "decoy" ODN group was associated with reduction in the expression of MT1-MMP protein and mRNA (P<0.01). It was concluded gene expression of MT1-MMP which may play a critical role in silicosis was up-regulated by silica in macrophages. Egr-1 participated in the expression of MT1-MMP and positively regulated the expression. Both Egr-1 antibody and Egr-1 decoy ODN suppressed the expression of MT1-MMP through the Egr-1 pathway and may become a potential therapeutic tool in the management of silicosis in the future.

Dibenzothiophene (DBT) was used as a model compound. A bacteria strain, which can degrade dibenzo-thiophene efficiently, was obtained. This strain was identified as Pseudomonas stutzeris UP-1 according to its morphological, physiological and biochemical characters, and 16S rDNA sequence. The strain exhibits strong degradation capacity of DBT, and the end product of degradation is a kind of soluble compound. After the analysis of product of DBT degradation, it was deduced that the degradation of DBT by Pseudomonas stutzeri UP-1 is in accordance with the Kodama mechanism.

A series of novel 4-substituted-3-nitrobenzamide derivatives were designed and synthesized. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed with 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and element analysis. Anti-tumor activities against HCT-116, MDA-MB435 and HL-60 cell lines in vitro were evaluated by SRB assay. The results indicated most of the target compounds exhibited potent anti-tumor activity. Compound 4a showed the most potent inhibitory activities against three cancer cell lines with the GI50 values of 1.904-2.111 micromol x L(-1). Compounds 4g, 41-4n exhibited more potent inhibitory activities against MDA-MB435 and HL-60 cell lines with the GI50 values of 1.008-3.586 micromol x L(-1) and 1.993-3.778 micromol x L(-1), respectively. The structure-activity relationship of these compounds is discussed preliminarily.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Benzamides ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Drug Design ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Structure-Activity Relationship

Objective To develop a short Chinese version of the center for epidemiological studies depression scale(CES-D).Method A stratified random nationwide sample with 30801 normal people and a mentally ill sample with 415 patients were tested.Items in the short version were chosen according to both the result of independent t-test in current study and the result of reliance and validity.Cut-off scores were offered to check up depressions.Result The internal consistency reliability of the 9-item Chinese version CES-D ranged from 0.85 to 0.88.The test-retest reliability was 0.49(P＜0.001).All item-total correlations were higher than 0.5.The correlation between sumscores of the original scale and sunscores of the Chinese short version ranged from 0.94 to 0.96 (P＜ 0.001) in all the samples.The sum scores of initial diagnosis depression sample were significantly higher than that of treated depression sample and common sample.A two-dimension structure was testified.The cut-off scores of the short version were 10 and 17.Conclusion The 9-item Chinese version of CES-D can be used in various samples with reliable and valid effect.

Background Our previous study demonstrated that epigallocateehin-gallate(EGCG),an active ingredient of green tea,has protective effect on optical nerve after optic nerve crush.Astrocyte was proved to play key role in the repair of nerve tissue,but the influence of EGCG on astrocyte is unclear.Glial flbrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a special marker for astrocyte. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of EGCG on the expression of GFAP in optic nerve tissue after optic nerve crush. Methods Seventy-two clean Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group,sham+EGCG group,optic nerve crush+normal saline group(vehicle group),optic nerve crush+EGCG group.Optic nerve crush models were established by clamping optical nerve for 60 seconds by minitype optic nerve clipper with the force of 40 gram.Only ocular tissue was cut in the rats in sham group.Normal saline solution or EGCG(25 mg/kg)was intraperitoneally injected daily for 5 days consecutively and orally administered(2 mg/kg)daily afterwards.The expression of GFAP in optic nerve was detected by immunohistochemistry and quantified by Western blotting analysis on day 7,14 and 28 after modeling. Results lmmunochemistry showed that GFAP were weakly expressed in the rats of both normal group and sham+EGCG group with the sliSht brown staining in optic nerve tissue.The deeply brown staining for GFAP was seen in vehicle group,and the staining intensity weakened in optic nerve crush+EGCG group compared to vehicle group on days 7,14 and 28 after modeling.Western blotting analysis revealed that the expression level of GFAP in rat optic nerve tissue of vehicle group was significantly enhanced in comparison with normal control group(P＜0.01).On day 7 and 14 after optic nerve modeling,the expression levels of GFAP were evidently decreased in optic nerve crush+EGCG group in comparison with vehicle group(P＜0.05).However,on day 28 after modeling,no significant difference wag found in the expression levels of GFAP between vehicle group and optic nerve erush+EGCG group(P＞0.05). Conclusion EGCG down-regulates optic nerve crush-induced of GFAP in the optic nerve and therefore attenuates the activity of astrocytes,suggesting that EGCG might reduce the formation of glial scar.