Vertebral artery stenosis (VAS) is often caused by atherosclerosis.The clinical diagnosis is more difficult because the symptoms are not typical,and the non-invasive examination is not easy to be detected.The annual stroke incidence is higher in patients with VAS,particularly the symptomatic severe vertebral artery stenosis.About 20％ of posterior circulation strokes are caused by VAS.This article reviews the epidemiology,natural history,diagnosis and clinical treatment of VAS.

OBJECTIVETo compare the difference in the clinical efficacy on cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type (CSA) treated with thermosensitive moxibustion at different dosages.

METHODSSixty cases of CSA were randomized into a saturated moxa dosage group and a regular moxa dosage group, 30 cases in each one. The thermosensitive moxibustion was adopted in the two groups. The mild suspended moxibustion was applied at two acupoints with the strongest thermosensitization. In the saturated moxa dosage group, the moxibustion time was determined by the disappearance of thermosensitization. In the regular moxa dosage group, 15 min was required on each acupoint. The treatment was given twice a day for first 4 days in the two groups. Since the 5th day, the treatment was given once a day, continuously for 10 times, and totally 14 days were required. The score of symptoms and function and clinical efficacy were compared between the two groups before and after treatment as well as 6-month follow-up after treatment.

RESULTSThe curative and effective rate was 56.7% (17/30) after treatment and 60.0% (18/30) in 6-month follow-up after treatment in the saturated moxa dosage group, which were superior to 26.7% (8/30) and 30.0% (9/30) in the regular moxa dosage group respectively (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The scores of clinical symptoms and function after treatment and in follow-up were improved apparently as compared with those before treatment in both groups (all P < 0.01). The scores of clinical symptoms and function after treatment and in follow-up in the saturated moxa dosage group were increased much more apparently than those in the regular moxa dosage group (after treatment: 22.32 +/- 4.64 vs 17.43 +/- 3.21; in follow-up: 23.01 +/- 4.76 vs 18.32 +/- 2.13, both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe thermosensitization moxibustion of saturated dosage achieves the superior short-term and long-term efficacies in the treatment of CSA as compared with the regular moxibustion dosage.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; instrumentation ; Spondylosis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Vertebral Artery ; physiopathology

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Female ; Hexanes ; analysis ; poisoning ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; statistics & numerical data ; Shoes

OBJECTIVETo analyze the fungal composition in Massa Medicata Fermentata based on culture dependent method and independent PCR-SSCP technique.

METHODFungi were directly isolated from Massa Medicata Fermentata samples. The obtained strains were identified according to morphology and DNA sequence. Meanwhile the total fungal DNA was extracted from Massa Medicata Fermentata samples, the cultural independent PCR-SSCP technique based on β-tubulin gene were used to identify the mycobiota.

RESULTAccording to cultural method, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae were present in Massa Medicata Fermentata samples, while A. flavus and A. niger were present in fried Massa Medicata Fermentata samples. In contrast, 5 species were obtained by PCR-SSCP technique, A. flavus was overlapped with fungal taxa derived from culture dependent method; A. ambiguu and A. s ivoriensis were dominant with relative abundance of 57% and 35% respectively, while the relative abundance of A. flavus was as low as 4%. None species was obtained from fried Massa Medicata Fermentata samples.

CONCLUSIONPCR-SSCP based on β-tubulin gene could distinguish fungi into species, culture dependent method combined with culture independent method could better understand the fungal composition associated with Massa Medicata Fermentata fermentation.

Fermentation ; Fungi ; isolation & purification ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Tubulin ; genetics

Adult ; Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Health Education ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Health

Adenoma, Acidophil ; metabolism ; Adult ; Angiomyolipoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; metabolism ; Codon ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Exons ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gene Deletion ; Genes, p53 ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Melanoma-Specific Antigens ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; genetics ; metabolism

To prepare PLGA fiber scaffolds by electrospinning process and investigate the influence of preparation parameters on the structure of the scaffolds. With the compound of THF and DMF as the solvent, the PLGA fiber scaffolds with different surface morphology were fabricated via altering PLGA solution concentration, flowing rate and applied electric field strength. The morphology and diameter of the fibers were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The biocompatibility of cell-scaffold complex was also evaluated by seeding human dermal fibroblasts onto the PLGA fiber scaffolds, including cell adhesion and proliferation. The results show that the diameter of fibers and the bound of distributing increase with the increase in the concentration of PLGA solution. As the flowing rate increases, the diameter of fibers increases. However, with the increase in the applied electric field strength, no significant difference in the diameter of the fiber can be observed. Furthermore, both the increase in the concentration of PLGA solution and applied electric field strength in the volume range of current investigation can lead to the reduction in the beads formation within the scaffold. The results of in vitro cell culture on the PLGA scaffolds also confirm that the PLGA fiber can support the adhesion and proliferation of huaman dermal fibroblasts.

0.05).Conclusions The serum concentrations of cortisol,GH,IGF-Ⅰ and IGFBP3 in children suffered from asthma have no obvious change before and after 24 months long-term inhaled corticosteroids.The height changes before and after therapy have no significant difference between observation group and control group with same age and gender.

Objective:To investigate the inhibitory effects of melanoma differentiation associated gene-7(mda-7/IL- 24)on lymphoma cell line Namalwa in vitro and in vivo.Methods:Using RT-PCR,the expression of mda-7/IL-24 was examined in 10 malignant hematopoietic cell lines,including Namalwa,Raji,K562,NB4,U937,Ramous,CEM,KG1a, HL60,J6-1,etc.The coding region of mda-7/IL-24 was cloned from LPS-treated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC)by RT-PCR,and the eukaryotic expression vector pTarget-IL-24 was constructed.The recombinant vector, after sequenced,was transfected into Namalwa cell line via lipofectamine reagent.The stable expression transfectants were selected by G418.The expression of mda-7/IL-24 mRNA and protein was verified by RT-PCR and Western blotting.MTT assay,colony forming assay,apoptosis detection,and tumorigenesis in nude mice were used to assess the effects of mda- 7/IL-24 on tumor proliferation,growth characteristics,colony forming,apoptosis,and tumorigenesis.Results:Expression of mda-7/IL-24 mRNA was not found in any of the 10 malignant hematopoietic cell lines and the expression of mda-7/IL- 24 mRNA and protein was found in Namalwa cells transfected with recombinant plasmid pTarget-IL-24.Significant de- crease in tumor cell viability was observed in Namalwa cells stably transfected with mda-7/IL-24,compared with control cells transfected with empty plasmid pTarget(P

Objective To investigate the mechanical prosperity and degradation rate of the scaffolds with compounding collagen and the nano sol-gel derived bioactive glass were studied,and provide the theoretical basis for the further application of collagen based scaffolds.Method The scaffold with compounding collagen and the nano sol-gel derived bioactive glass(58S)were prepared using the freeze-drying techniques with the bioactive glass as phase addition.By affecting the aggregation state of the collagen fibers with adjusting the supplementation of bioactive glass to change the microstructures of the compound scaffolds and finatly the compound scaffolds with different mechanical properties were prepared.Results (1)As the aggregation state of the collagen fibers changes,the scaffolds with the coarser collagen fibers is prepared with the diameters 400-600 nm approximately.The coarser collagen fibers will play an important role in improving the mechanical property and slowing down the degradation rate of the collagen based scaffolds.(2)The interactions between bioactive glass and collagen are studied by FTIR and Raman technologies.When the quality of content of collagen in the compound scaffolds is lower than 20%,the secondary structure of collagen is damaged severely.Conclusion The composite scaffolds with the mass ratio of collagen to bioactive glass 40:60 has the best performance in mechanical property and degradation,which will be helpful for further applications.