Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Scalp ; Young Adult

In order to explore the dormancy physiological and biochemical mechanism of Paris seeds, the seed embryo growth courses, and the dynamic change of 5 enzymes, include SOD, POD, CAT, MDH, G-6-PDH were measured during variable temperature stratification. The results indicated that Paris seeds embryo grew quickly after 40 d in warm-stratification (18 ± 1) °C, at the meantime the metabolic activity was significantly strengthened. These facts showed that Paris seeds turned into physiological after-ripening process. After 60-80 d, the morphological embryo after-ripping process basically completed, and the following cold-stratification (4 ± 1) °C furthered Paris seed to finish physiological after-ripening. After 40 d, the activity of MDH decreased while G-6-PDH increased significantly. This showed that the main respiratory pathway of seed changed from TCA to PPP, which benifited breaking seed dormancy. In the whole period of stratification process, the activity variation of SOD and CAT was insignificantly and the activity of POD was enhanced significantly after shifting the seed in cold stratification process. This showed that SOD, CAT had no direct effects on breaking Paris seed dormancy but keeping the seed vigor, while the POD might involve in the process of Paris seed dormancy breaking.
Germination ; Liliaceae ; chemistry ; embryology ; enzymology ; Plant Proteins ; metabolism ; Seeds ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; Temperature

Standardized Manipulation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Part 8: Intradermal Needle was compiled with the following principles. The compiling standard, technical features and clinic manipulations of intradermal needle were taken as the basic principle for compiling. Literature research, expert survey and clinic practice verification were applied as the drafting methods. The key issues were focused on the relationship between standardization and individualization, normalization and effectiveness, qualification and quantification. And the postural selection, reinforcing and reducing manipulations, fixing materials and embedding duration involved in intradermal needling were emphasized particularly. At the same time, details and the future way of thinking of intradermal needle were expounded in this article as well.
Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; standards ; China ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; standards ; Needles ; standards ; Reference Standards

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of C5-siRNA on pathological changes after myocardial ischemia in rats.

METHODSThirty healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group, ischemia group and C5-siRNA group. The cardiac ischemia models were established in ischemia group and C5-siRNA group by ligating the proximal end of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. The rats were infused with 100 microl/kg of C5-siRNA into myocardial tissue in C5-siRNA group and equal amount of normal saline in ischemia group and sham-operated group after ligating the LAD coronary artery for 30 min and then performed of ischemia for 4 hours. The cardiac index and left ventricular mass index were determined, morphological changes of myocardial tissue observed under optical microscope and the expression of C5 was detected by immunohistochemical staining and image analysis system.

RESULTSThere were no statistically significant difference between the three groups in the left ventricular mass index and cardiac index in the rats after ischemia for 4 hours. Light microscopy indicated edema and degeneration of the myocardial tissue were milder in C5-siRNA group than in ischemia group, a small amount of red blood cells existed in the myocardial stroma of the former. The expression of C5 was increased more significantly in ischemia group and C5-siRNA group than in sham-operated group (P<0.001), but was decreased in C5-siRNA group more than in ischemia group with no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.132).

CONCLUSIONC5-siRNA could attenuate myocardial ischemia injury in rats by reducing inflammatory cell infiltration and expression of C5.

Animals ; Complement C5 ; genetics ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; genetics ; pathology ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptor, Anaphylatoxin C5a ; genetics

The aim of study was to investigate the injury of bone marrow microenvironment after γ ray irradiation conditioning in mouse allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The mononuclear cells collected from mice bone marrow for culture in vitro, were identified by flow cytometry with double staining when cultured for 5 - 7 days. Mice were separated randomly into 4 groups, namely, the control group, irradiation group, endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) transplantation group and irradiation combined EPC transplantation group. Peripheral blood was collected to assay the circulating white blood cells. The histological, electron microscopic and immunofluorescence analyses of bone marrow were performed in the same time, furthermore the distribution of labeled EPC was determined. The results showed that EPC were identified as CD45(low/-)CD133(+)CD31(+), double positive of Dil-Ac-LDL and FITC-UEA-1. The bone marrow microenvironment injury of recipient mice was shown in the irradiation group in which the number of WBC began to decrease after conditioning, and the mice were all died at 8 days (p < 0.05). The intramedullary hemorrhage could be detected by light microscopy at 3 days after irradiation, when the destruction of connection between endothelial cell and the basement membrane was observed by TEM. There were CFSE labeled cells in bone marrow in irradiation combined EPC transplantation group at 18 hours after transplanted cultured EPC in vitro, the number of CFSE(+) cells was 58-folds of EPC transplantation group (p < 0.05). It is concluded that the irradiation can cause the severe endothelium injury that drives extrinsic EPC homing to the injured bone marrow microenvironment.
Animals ; Bone Marrow ; pathology ; radiation effects ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; radiation effects ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; radiation effects ; Gamma Rays ; adverse effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; radiation effects ; Transplantation Conditioning ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the association between vasectomy and prostate cancer.

METHODSWe searched comprehensively the databases, CBMDisc, CMCC, CMAC, CNKI (from 1978 to January 6, 2009), and PubMed (from 1965 to January 6, 2009) using the key words "vasectomy" and "prostate cancer", screened the retrieved literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, performed a Meta-analysis with the software RevMan 4.2 after identification of the relevant data, and calculated the overall pooled OR (95% CI) as well as that of the association of prostate cancer with <20 and > or =20 yr vasectomy.

RESULTSA total of 20 088 cases and 232 506 controls in 27 reports (7 cohort and 20 case-control studies) were included in this investigation. The overall pooled OR (95% CI) was 1.10 (0.97-1.24), and those of <20 and > or =20 yr vasectomy were 0.94 (0.83-1.06) and 1.05 (0.90-1.23), respectively.

CONCLUSIONNo existing literature show any positive association between vasectomy and prostate cancer.

Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Risk Factors ; Vasectomy ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Tadalafil combined with behavior therapy in helping obtain semen from infertile men in whom masturbation has failed.

METHODSSixty male infertile patients from whom masturbation had failed to obtain semen were equally assigned to receive Tadalafil combined with behavior therapy (combination group) or Tadalafil only (control group). All the patients took Tadalafil 20 mg orally the night before the day of semen collection by masturbation. Before this procedure, the patients of the combination group practiced masturbation 16 - 24 times at home.

RESULTSThe average ages of the patients were (37.0 +/- 5.1) yr and (37.5 +/- 5.2) yr and their IIEF-5 scores were 16.50 +/- 1.25 and 16.90 +/- 1.09 in the combination and the control group, respectively, neither with statistically significant difference between the two groups. Semen was successfully obtained from 9 patients (30.0%) of the combination group and 1 patient (3.33%) of the control group, with statistically significant difference between the two groups (chi2 = 7.680, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONBy training the patients and establishing a conditioned response to masturbation, Tadalafil combined with behavior therapy can significantly increase the success rate of semen collection from the male infertile patients in whom masturbation fails.

Adult ; Behavior Therapy ; Carbolines ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Masturbation ; therapy ; Middle Aged ; Semen ; Tadalafil ; Treatment Failure ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo primarily study the influence of recombination abnormality in human spermatocyte meiosis on the pathology of the patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA).

METHODSWe obtained testis tissues from 6 NOA patients by testicular biopsy and divided the tissue of each patient into 2 portions, one for pathological examination and the other for immunofluorescent staining. We observed the synaptonemal complex and the numbers of the recombination sites on homologous chromosomes, and analyzed the relationship between abnormal recombination and pathological findings.

RESULTSPathological examination showed that the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubules was thickened in 3 of the cases and atrophied in the other 3, the number of autosomal MLH1 foci in a spermatocyte ranging from 10 to 50 in the former 3, and from 30 to 50 in the latter 3.

CONCLUSIONThe increased range of the homologous chromosomal recombination frequency may be one of the possible factors for the thickening of seminiferous tubule basement membrane and even lumen occlusion in NOA patients.

Adult ; Azoospermia ; genetics ; pathology ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Humans ; Male ; Meiosis ; Recombination, Genetic ; Spermatocytes ; cytology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of Moraxella catarrhalis in the nasopharyngeal region of children with respiratory infection and the sensitivity of Moraxella catarrhalis isolates to common antimicrobial drugs.

METHODSNasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 1 082 children with respiratory infection, and Moraxella catarrhalis strains were isolated. The E-test method and disc diffusion test were used to determine the sensitivity of these strains to 11 common antimicrobial drugs. The test results were interpreted with reference to the standards of European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). The nitrocefin disc method was used to detect whether the isolated strains produced β-lactamase.

RESULTSAmong the 1 082 children with respiratory infection, 77 (77/1 082, 7.12%) carried Moraxella catarrhalis in the nasopharyngeal region. All the strains produced β-lactamase. With reference to all the three standards, all the strains were sensitive to amoxycillin-clavulanate and had a susceptibility rate of >95% towards ciprofloxacin and tetracycline. According to the EUCAST and CLSI standards, the susceptibility rate of the strains towards sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim was as high as 98.7%, and more than 80% of all strains were sensitive to the three cephalosporins detected; however, with reference to the BSAC standard, only 2.6% of the strains were sensitive to cefuroxime, with an intermediate rate of 44.2% and a drug resistance rate of 53.2%. The rate of resistance to ampicillin was 81.8%. According to the CLSI standard, the non-susceptibility rate of the strains to erythromycin was 79.2%, and according to the EUCAST or BSAC standards, their non-susceptibility rate reached 90.9%; more than one third of the strains (27/77, 35.1%) had a minimal inhibitory concentration of >256 mg/L.

CONCLUSIONSAll of the Moraxella catarrhalis isolates in the nasopharyngeal region of children with respiratory infection produce β-lactamase and are sensitive to amoxycillin-clavulanate. These isolates have high susceptibility rates to the third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, but most of the isolates are resistant to ampicillin, cefuroxime, and erythromycin.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Nasopharynx ; microbiology ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; microbiology

Adult ; Carbolines ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Piperazines ; therapeutic use ; Purines ; therapeutic use ; Semen ; Sildenafil Citrate ; Specimen Handling ; Sulfones ; therapeutic use ; Tadalafil