The present paper is to evaluate the scientific research level and development trends of biomedical engineering in China using metrology analysis on Chinese biomedical engineering scientific literatures. Pubmed is used to search the biomedical engineering publications in recent 5 years which are indexed by Science Citation Index, and the number and cited times of these publications and the impact factor of the journals are analyzed. The results show that comparing with the world, although the number of the publication in China has increased in recent 5 years, there is still much room for improvement. Among Chinese mainland, Hongkong and Taiwan, Chinese mainland maintains the obvious advantage in this subject, but Hongkong has the highest average cited number. Shanghai and Beijing have better research ability than other areas in Chinese mainland.
Bibliometrics ; Biomedical Engineering ; China ; Hong Kong ; Journal Impact Factor ; Periodicals as Topic ; PubMed ; Taiwan

OBJECTIVE:To determine the equilibrium solubility and the apparent partition coefficient of sulfamethazine(SM2) in a series of phosphate buffer solutions of different pH so as to provide a basic study for the exploitation of SM2 preparation.METHODS:A series of buffer solutions of different pH were prepared.The apparent solubility was determined by saturation method;Ko/w was calculated with concentration ratio of SM2 in n-octanol and water phase after partition equilibrium.RESULTS:The maximum equilibrium solubility was 1.916 g?L-1 at pH 2 and 1.375 g?L-1 at pH 9,and the maximum of apparent partition coefficient was 3.9070 at pH 8.CONCLUSION:The equilibrium solubility and apparent partition coefficient of SM2 are correlated to pH of the medium.SM2 dissolved preferably when pH6.8,but SM2 was more distributed in the lipid phase and easier to be absorbed by body when pH=3～8.

Objective To investigate changes in CD_4~+ CD_(28)~(null)T cell numbers of peripheral blood and the expression of perforin in patients with coronary heart disease.Methods Sixty-eight patients with acute coronary syndromes,56 with stable angina and 65 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study.CD_4~+ CD_(28)~(null)T lymphocytes were measured by flow cytometric analysis.Results The numbers of CD_4~+ CD_(28)~(null)T lymphocytes in patients with acute coronary syndromes were higher than those in patients with stable angina and in the control subjects(11.6 % vs 2.84% and 0.59%,P

OBJECTIVE: To determine the allelic frequency distribution and genetic parameters of nine non-CODIS DNA index systems of the short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D2S1772, D6S1043, D7S3048, D8S1132, D11S2368, D12S391, D13S325, D18S1364, and GATA198B05). METHODS: A total of 353 blood samples were collected, extracted, amplified, and analyzed from unrelated healthy individuals of Han nationality in Hunan Province, China. RESULTS: One hundred and fourteen alleles were observed in the population with corresponding allelic frequencies ranged from 0.001 0 to 0.323 0. For all the nine non-CODIS STR loci, the observed genotypic data showed no significant deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The Ho, He, PIC, DP, and PE of the studied non-CODIS STR loci ranged from 0.1080 to 0.1950, 0.8050 to 0.8920, 0.7700 to 0.8600, 0.9250 to 0.9660 and 0.6070 to 0.7800, respectively. CONCLUSION Nine non-CODIS STR loci have high degrees of polymorphisms, which may be useful in individual forensic identification and parentage testing in forensic practice.
Alleles ; Asian People/genetics* ; China ; Ethnicity/genetics* ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo develop a HPLC for the determination of plasma concentration of glycyrrhetic acid (GA) and study the pharmacokinetics of GA in rats.

METHODTo sample blood from rat which were injected GA by 1.0 mg x kg(-1) at 0.08, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 h and use HPLC to determine the concentration of GA in it, the pharmaeokinetie parameters were accessed by DAS 1.0.

RESULTThe calibration curve was linear (r = 0.999 7) within the range of 50-2 000 ng x mL(-1) for GA in plasma. The average recovery was (105.2 +/- 2.23)%, (102.5 +/- 2.95)%, (98.4 +/- 2.32)%. The within-day and between-day derivation (RSD) were less than 4%. GA was fitted to a two compartment open pharmaeokinetie model in rats. The mainly pharmaeokinetie parameters were: t1/2alpha = (0.153 +/- 0.023) h, t1/2beta = (2.365 +/- 0.866) h, C(max) = (2.074 +/- 0.100) mg x L(-1), CL = (0.715 +/- 0.082) L x h(-1) x kg(-1), V(d) = (2.427 +/- 0.872) L x kg(-1), AUC(0-6 h) = (1.302 +/- 0.151) mg x h(-1) x L(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe method can be used to determine the concentration and to investigate the pharmacokinetics of GA in rat. GA was disposed extensively and rapidly in rats.

Ultrasonic microbubbles were used to open blood-brain barriers (BBB) with a reversed and limited behavior feature in the study, which could improve the brain-targeted delivery of anti-tumor drugs. The glioma rat model was prepared. Low-frequency ultrasound was combined with microbubbles to affect the permeability of BBB compared with the permeability of independently administered Evans blue (EB) crossing BBB. Time point and length of ultrasound were investigated whether they affect the permeability of BBB and the damage of brain tissue. The effect of the growth time of glioma on BBB permeability was explored. Only glioma had a very little impact on BBB permeability. However, ultrasonic microbubbles opened the BBB with the features of temporary, limited and reversed behavior and improved EB and magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent penetrating BBB. A length of 30 s ultrasound is appropriate for opening BBB and no damage of brain tissue. Drugs should be injected before ultrasound so that they enter into brain as BBB opening. Ultrasonic microbubbles can open BBB effectively and safely, which improve drugs penetrating BBB under proper time point and length.
Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Contrast Media ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Glioma ; drug therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Microbubbles ; Permeability ; Rats ; Ultrasonics

Tanshinones, the main bioactive compounds of Salvia miltiorrhiza, are the diterpenoid pigments, multiple genes were proved to be involved in their biosynthesis in plants. CYP76AH1 is the initial P450 gene in the tanshinones biosynthetic pathway, its function has been validated by yeast expression and in vitroenzymatic reaction. In order to clarify the function of CYP76AH1 in vivo, in this study, we constructedthe RNA interference of CYP7AH1 in S. miltiorrhiza hairy root. The RNA interference vector with a hairpin structure was constructed using the Gateway technology, and then the interference fragment was integrated into the genome of S. miltiorrhiza mediated by Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Several highly CYP76AH1 interference S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots were obtained for further analysis.
Agrobacterium ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; genetics ; metabolism ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; biosynthesis ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA Interference ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; genetics ; metabolism ; microbiology

Astragalus adsurgens seed is one of the most common adulterants of Astragali Complanati Semen in the market, whose morphological characteristics are very similar with A. complanatus seeds (Astragali Complanati Semen). Many identification methods have been reported, such as morphological identification, fluorescence method, ultraviolet spectrophotometry, TLC, HPLC, protein electrophoresis and so on, but there's no much about microscopic identification. In the present study, the morphological characteristics and microscopic characteristics of these two seeds were investigated, which could provide scientific evidence for the identification and classification of Astragali Complanati Semen. Our results showed that these two seeds were slightly different in the color and the appearance, but significantly different in the microstructure of the seed coat and the hilum, and the distribution of fat droplets in the cotyledon cells. So these microscopic characteristics can be applied for the identification of Astragali Complanati Semen.
Astragalus Plant ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Color ; Discriminant Analysis ; Microscopy ; methods ; Quality Control ; Seeds ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry

Objective To determine contact allergens and their clinical significance in patients with dermatitis or eczema in Wuxi city.MethodsPatch test was conducted in 1065 patients with a clinical diagnosis of dermatitis or eczema.A statistical analysis was carried out.Results Positive patch test reactions were observed in 83.19％ of the patients,with no statistical differences in the frequency of positive patch test reactions between female and male patients or between patients of different age groups.The most frequent 6 allergens were potassium dichromate,cobalt chloride,nickle sulfate,formaldehyde,carba mix and fragrance mix in these patients.Female patients showed a higher frequency of positive patch test reaction to nickle sulfate and formaldehyde,but a lower frequency to potassium dichromate and carba mix compared with male patients (all P＜ 0.01 ); young,middle-aged,and old patients exhibited an increased frequency of positive reaction to cobaly chloride compared with child patients,while young and middle-aged patients showed a decreased frequency to nickel sulfate compared with child patients (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Potassium dichromate,cobalt chloride,nickle sulfate,formaldehyde,carba mix and fragrance mix are the main allergens causing dermatitis and eczema in Wuxi city.

Objective To study the antigenicity of human thyrotropin receptor(hTSHR)amino terminus (amino acid 29～280)and its association with Graves' disease.Methods Total thyroid RNA was prepared from human normal thyroid tissue.RNA was then reversely transcripted and cDNA was subjected to PCR amplification.PCR product was cloned into pcDNA3.1 and the recombinant plasmid was named pcDNA3.1/hTSHR188～940bp. Balb/c mice were immunized with peDNA3.1/hTSHR188～940bp. The levels of serum thyroxin,anti-TSHR antibody(TRAb)and thyroid stimulating antibody(TSAb)were measured,and the pathological changes of thyroid tissue were also observed.Results A 753 bp fragment encoding hTSHR ectodomain amino end was obtained after PCR amplification.Confirmed by Hind Ⅲ restriction enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing,pcDNA3.1/hTSHR188～940bphad been constructed successfully,with the correct sequence and direction of hTSHR188～940bp.In the Balb/c mice treated with pcDNA3.1/hTSHR188～940bp,elevated TRAb in week 6(0.148±0.018)were observed compared with those at week o(0.106±0.006,P＜0.01),and kept a higher level till week 10(0.134±0.011,P＜0.01).T4 and TSAb index values were significantly increased in week 10.Serum T4 concentration increased from(41.02±7.97)μg/L in week 0 to(62.20±12.77)μg/L in week 10(P＜0.01);TSAb index values rose from 0.864±0.076 at week 0 to 1.392±0.615(P＜0.01).Thyroid pathological examination showed that proliferated thyroid follicular epithelial cells and foll icular eapacity increased.Inflammatory cells were occasionally found.Conclusions There are antigen epitopes in hTSHR ectodomain amino acid 29～280,which can stimulate the production of TSAb.And the latter induces hyperthyroidism and Graves' disease like manifestations.It suggests that hTSHR ectodomain amino acid 29～280 is closely associated with Graves' disease,and maybe one of important etiological factors leading to the disease.