The gait rehabilitation robots for stroke are responding to the development of the understanding of stroke rehabilitation, but still some challenges for application may be faced to, as found in AutoAmbulator. Some advices were dicussed from the view of the practice.

To investigate chemical constituents contained in cytotoxic petroleum ether extractive fractions from ethanol extracts of Cirsium setosum. The constituents were separated and purified by a combination of various chromatographic methods including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC. Structures of the isolates were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including 1D, 2D NMR and MS methods. The compound structures were also determined by reference to literature. Twelve compounds were separated from the petroleum ether fraction of ethanolic extract and elucidated as lupenyl acetate (1), lupeol (2), lupenone (3), beta-amyrin (4), psi-taraxasterol (5), psi-taraxasteryl acetate (6), taraxasteryl acetate (7), marsformoxide B (8), alpha-amyrenone (9), beta-amyrenone (10), taraxasterone (11) and psi-taraxasterone (12). Of them, compounds 3, 5, 7-12 were separated from this genus for the first time.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cirsium ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Oleanolic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Pentacyclic Triterpenes ; chemistry ; Sterols ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; chemistry

Objective:To investigate the effect of enhancing the strength of the hamstring on the stability of the knee joint.Methods:Thirty patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears were randomly divided into a training group ( n=15) and a control group ( n=15). After the injury′s edema stage, all of the subjects received the standard 6-stage rehabilitation training for ACL injury, including isokinetic exercise, isometric tension and contraction exercise, single or bipedal jumping, proprioception exercises and cardiovascular exercise. On the basis of that standard training, additional hamstring strengthening training was given to the training group. It involved three sessions of weight-bearing flexion of the knee joint six to eight times, at least five times a week for three months. All of the subjects underwent the passive relaxation test (PRT), knee function scoring (Lysholm scores) and weight-bearing MRI before and within 1 month after the training. Anterior shift of the tibia (TAS) was measured using weight-bearing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results:Before the training there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of average PRT or Lysholm scores. After the training, the average PRT score in neither group had improved significantly. The average Lysholm scores of the training and control groups were not significantly different either, though both groups′ averages had improved significantly compared with before the training. The average tibial shifts were also significantly smaller than before the training, with the training group′s average significantly smaller than that of the control group.Conclusion:Increasing hamstring muscle strength can reduce tibial anteversion in the weight-bearing upright position and improve the stability of the knee joint after ACL injury.

OBJECTIVETo search for the dystrophin gene mutations of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients without gross deletions, in order to offer accurate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for those families.

METHODSAll 79 exons of the dystrophin gene as well as its 5'-UTR and 3'-UTR of 14 Chinese DMD/Becker muscular dystrphy (BMD) patients without detectable gross deletions were screened by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and heteroduplex fragments were identified by subsequent sequencing.

RESULTSSeven causative point mutations, including two novel ones, were detected in 7 patients. Fourteen known polymorphisms and 7 unknown intronic variations were also detected. Five mothers of the patients were obligate carriers.

CONCLUSIONDHPLC is an efficient way of identifying point mutations and the female carriers in DMD families.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Dystrophin ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Counseling ; Genetic Testing ; methods ; Humans ; Introns ; genetics ; Male ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Point Mutation ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Sequence Deletion ; genetics

A 27-year-old male was admitted to the Xijing Hospital in August 2018 due to unprovoked severe thoracodynia with palpitations, shortness of breath and chest tightness. Computed tomography angiography showed a type A aortic dissection. Genetic testing based on next-generation sequencing for 15 genes associated with hereditary aortic diseases and Sanger sequencing validation revealed a heterozygous missense mutation c.998G>T (p.Gly333Val) in the COL3A1 gene. Sanger sequencing verification of family members confirmed that the mutation c.998G>T co-segregated with the patient′s phenotype in this family. That mutation was classified as "likely pathogenic" according to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics standards and guidelines for genetic variant classification. Carriers of this mutation can be definitively diagnosed with "vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome". After the diagnosis was clarified, symptomatic treatment was given to the patient, but the disease progressed rapidly. The patient discontinued treatment and died shortly after being discharged. In this study, we found a new variant in the COL3A1 gene, expanding the mutation spectrum of this gene.

Genome editing is a genetic engineering technique that uses site-directed cleavage activity of specific artificial nucleases and endogenous DNA damage repair activity to generate insertions, deletions or substitutions in the targeted genomic loci. As the accuracy and efficiency of genome editing is improving and the operation is simple, the application of genome editing is expanding. This article provides an overview of the three major genome editing technologies and genome editing types, and the regulatory frameworks for genome-edited products were summarized in the United States, the European Union, and other countries. At the same time, based on the Chinese safety management principles and systems for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the authors proposed a regulatory framework for genome-edited products. Genome-edited products should first be classified according to whether containing exogenous genetic components such as Cas9 editing enzymes or not. They should be regulated as traditional genetically modified organisms if they do. Otherwise, the regulation of genome-edited products depends on targeted modifications.
CRISPR-Cas Systems ; Endonucleases ; Gene Editing ; Genome ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed

The main constituents of a typical medicinal herb,Polygonum muMflorum (Heshouwu in Chinese),that induces idiosyncratic liver injury remain unclear.Our previous work has shown that cotreatment with a nontoxic dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and therapeutic dose of Heshouwu can induce liver injury in rats,whereas the solo treatment cannot induce observable injury.In the present work,using the constituent "knock-out" and "knock-in" strategy,we found that the ethyl acetate (EA) extract of Heshouwu displayed comparable idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity to the whole extract in LPS-treated rats.Results indicated a significant elevation of plasma alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,and liver histologic changes,whereas other separated fractions failed to induce liver injury.The mixture of EA extract with other separated fractions induced comparable idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity to the whole extract in LPS-treated rats.Chemical analysis further revealed that 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxy trans-stilbene-2-O-β-glucoside (trans-SG) and its cis-isomer were the two major compounds in EA extract.Furthermore,the isolated cis-,and not its trans-isomer,displayed comparable idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity to EA extract in LPS-treated rats.Higher contents of cis-SG were detected in Heshouwu liquor or preparations from actual liver intoxication patients associated with Heshouwu compared with general collected samples.In addition,plasma metabolomics analysis showed that cis-SG-disturbing enriched pathways remarkably differed from trans-SG ones in LPS-treated rats.All these results suggested that cis-SG was closely associated with the idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity of Heshouwu.Considering that the cis-trans isomerization of transSG was mediated by ultraviolet light or sunlight,our findings serve as reference for controlling photoisomerization in drug discovery and for the clinical use of Heshouwu and stilbene-related medications.