Objective To observe the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with abdominal muscle electrical stimulation on the pulmonary ventilation of patients with cervical spinal cord injury.Methods Twenty-five patients with cervical spinal cord injury were randomized into an experimental group (n =13) and a control group (n =12).The control group was given comprehensive rehabilitation treatment,including upper limb movements,standing training and training of respiratory function,while the experimental group was given repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and abdominal muscle electrical stimulation in addition to the comprehensive rehabilitation treatment.The patients' maximum lung capacity (VC),forced expiratory volume for 1 second (FEV1),peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and tidal volume (VT) were measured at the outset and after 3 months of treatment.Results The lung function indexes increased in both groups after treatment,but each index improved significantly more in the experimental group,on average,than in the control group.Conclusion As a supplement to routine respiratory function training,repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with abdominal intermediate frequency electrical stimulation can improve the pulmonary ventilation function of patients with middle and lower cervical spinal cord injury.

Objective T o observe the expression changes of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (H IF-1α) and vascular endothelial grow th factor-A (V E G F-A ) in rats w ith arrhythm ias, and to explore the differences of the expression pattern in the tw o indicators of acute m yocardial ischem ia caused by arrhythm ias and coronary insufficiency. Methods T he arrhythm ia w as induced by C aC l2, and the expression changes of H IF-1α and V E G F-A w ere detected by im m unohistochem istry, W estern blotting and real-tim e PC R w ithin 6 h after the arrhythm ia in rats. Results T he expression of H IF-1α and V E G F-A show ed diffuse in the m yocardial tissue of rats died from arrhythm ias. B oth of them increased in the early arrhythm ia, then decreased. E xtensive m yocardial ischem ia happened at the beginning of arrhythm ia occurrence and its range didn't expand w ith tim e. Conclusion T he expressions of H IF-1α and V E G F-A in m yocardium of the rats w ith arrhythm ia can provide evidence for the differential diagnosis of acute m yocardial is-chem ia caused by fatal arrhythm ia and coronary insufficiency.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the differentially expressed genes in rat in the process of regression of vascular calcification by using the suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH).

METHODS24 SD male rats which aged 6 weeks and specific pathogen free grade were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 8): control group, calcification group and regression group respectively. Vascular calcification model (vitamin D3 plus nicotine, VDN) were made from rats in calcification group and regression group, and rats in control group were intragastric administered with normal saline and lavaged with peanut oil. Rats were bred for 8 weeks in calcification group and control group, while rats in regression group were fed for 16 weeks. All rats were killed to measure concentration of calcium in the arterial tissue and examine the pathological lesion changes. Subtractive hybridization among vascular cDNA sequences from calcification group and regression group were established. The cDNA fragments which expressed higher or lower in regression group than those in calcification group were isolated. Differentially expressed genes with cDNA fragment were inserted into PMD18-T plasmid vector and transformed competent DH-5alpha, cDNA libraries of differentially expressed gene between calcification group and regression group were then constructed. Recombinant vectors were analyzed by colony PCR, positive genes were randomly selected for sequencing and analyzed by BLAST. 4 genes were randomly selected for RT-PCR certification combined with semi-quantitative analysis of DNA bands.

RESULTSVDN model of rats were successfully constructed. Concentration of tissue calcium in calcification group (15.34 mg/g +/- 2.51 mg/g) was significantly increased compared to that in control group (5.20 mg/g +/- 0.75 mg/g, P < 0.001), while in comparison with calcification group (15.34 mg/g +/- 2.51 mg/g), calcium in regression group was relatively lower (12.73 mg/g +/- 1.89 mg/g, P < 0.05). 28 up-regulated genes and 22 down-regulated genes were gained through sequencing and BLAST analysis among positive clones. RT-PCR validation indicated that 4 genes such as prdx3 and Ank2 had increasedly expressed in regression group than those in calcification group, the average fold change was 1.7.

CONCLUSIONRat vascular calcification tissue had characteristic of active regression. Genes in relation to pyrophosphoric acid synthesis, glutamate signal peptides, anti-oxidant and ant-apoptosis were up-regulated, at the same time many genes related to ossification and oxidation activity were down-regulated in the process of calcification regression. Increased expression of calcification suppressor genes accompanying decreased expression of calcification promoting genes might be the intrinsic mechanisms which initiated the active regression of calcified tissues.

Animals ; Aorta ; metabolism ; pathology ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Calcification ; genetics ; physiopathology

Background: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection is ubiquitous around the world.Diagnosis of the porcine circovirus-associated disease requires clinic-pathological elements together with the quantification of viral loads. Furthermore, given pig farms in regions lacking access to sufficient laboratory equipment, developing diagnostic devices with high accuracy, accessibility, and affordability is a necessity. Objectives: This study aims to investigate two newly developed diagnostic tools that may satisfy these criteria. Methods: We collected 250 specimens, including 170 PCV2-positive and 80 PCV2-negative samples. The standard diagnosis and cycle threshold (Ct) values were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Then, two point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms, convective polymerase chain reaction (cPCR, qualitative assay: positive or negative results are shown) and EZtargex (quantitative assay: Ct values are shown), were examined and analyzed. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of cPCR were 88.23% and 100%, respectively; the sensitivity and specificity of EZtargex were 87.65% and 100%, respectively. These assays also showed excellent concordance compared with the qPCR assay (κ = 0.828 for cPCR and κ = 0.820 for EZtargex). The statistical analysis showed a great diagnostic power of the EZtargex assay to discriminate between samples with different levels of positivity. Conclusions The two point-of-care diagnostic platforms are accurate, rapid, convenient and require little training for PCV2 diagnosis. These POC platforms can discriminate viral loads to predict the clinical status of the animals. The current study provided evidence that these diagnostics were applicable with high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of PCV2 infection in the field.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Banks ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Blood Donors ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Child ; Female ; Hepatitis C ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo understand the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in urban and rural areas of Beijing using the serological method.

METHODSTotally 589 serum samples were collected from children in Beijing urban and rural areas who were 0--14 years old and tested with Viron-Seron ELISA classic EBV virus capsid antigen IgG antibody (EBV VCA IgG) kit. Optical density of serum samples was obtained at the wavelength of 405 nanometers. Sero-positive or negative samples were determined according to standard curve and cut-off attached in ELISA classic EBV VCA IgG kits. The activity of EBV VCA IgG was calculated by using special formula. The percentage and activity of EBV VCA IgG from Beijing children were compared with SPSS 13.0 between the urban and rural areas.

RESULTSThe percentage of EBV VCA IgG seropositive samples was 83.6%, and 80.8% in those from urban and 86.2% in those from rural areas. The peak value of EBV infection was 71% seen among children under the age of 3 years, and in urban area the rate was 67.7%, which was lower than that in the rural area (75.3%), and was 82.5% by the age of 6, which was lower than the data (up to 90%) reported 30 years ago. There was a significant difference in EBV infection rate and VCA IgG activities in children at different ages between urban and rural areas (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe rate of EBV infection in children living in urban area was lower by the age of 6 years. The primary infection of EBV occurred late in part of children lived in urban area.

Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Antigens, Viral ; immunology ; Capsid Proteins ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Cities ; epidemiology ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; epidemiology ; immunology ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; analysis ; immunology ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Rural Population ; statistics & numerical data ; Serologic Tests

Classical Representative Famous Prescription is the valuable cultural heritage of Chinese medicine. In November 2018,the State Council issued the " Intensive Implementation of the National Intellectual Property Strategy in 2018 to Accelerate the Construction of IP Strong Country",explicitly proposing to strengthen the intellectual property protection of Classical Representative Famous Prescription.How about the current situation of intellectual property protection of lassical Representative Famous Prescription in China? We selected Liuwei Dihuang Pills,Shengmai Powder and Guizhi Fuling Pills( three representative drugs on market) from Chinese Pharmacopoeia2015 Volume I issued by Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission to analyze their patent layout,reflecting its status quo of patent protection as follows: first,in recent years,the number of related patent applications for Classical Representative Famous Prescriptions has declined,which was positively correlated with the drug registration and approval policies in recent years,but the policy dividend has not been reflected in the patent application,which may be related to the long period of pharmaceutical R&D; secondly,the patent applicant in the field of Chinese medicine is mainly based on individuals,but the applicant of Classical Representative Famous Prescription is mainly of enterprises,and in addition,the company applicants have the highest authorization rate; thirdly,the main technologies are to improve preparation method and the dosage form in the research and development of Classical Representative Famous Prescription,but these two types of authorized patents have much difficulty in further application on the market. Therefore,the innovative entities shall look for a new breakthrough in secondary development and utilization of Classical Representative Famous Prescriptions.
China ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Patents as Topic

Blast injury of the chest injury is the most common wound in modern war trauma and terrorist attacks, and is also the most fatal type of whole body explosion injury. Most patients with severe blast injury of the chest die in the early stage before hospitalization or during transportation, so first aid is critically important. At present, there exist widespread problems such as non-standard treatment and large difference in curative effect, while there lacks clinical treatment standards for blast injury of the chest. According to the principles of scientificity, practicality and advancement, the Trauma Society of Chinese Medical Association has formulated the guidance of classification, pre-hospital first aid, in-hospital treatment and major injury management strategies for blast injury of the chest, aiming to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

OBJECTIVEIn mid-July 2005, five patients presented with septic shock to a hospital in Ziyang city in Sichuan, China, to identify the etiology of the unknown reason disease, an epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory study were conducted.

METHODSAn enhanced surveillance program were established in Sichuan, the following activities were introduced: active case finding in Sichuan of (a) laboratory diagnosed Streptococcus suis infection and (b) clinically diagnosed probable cases with exposure history; supplemented by (c) monitoring reports on meningococcal meningitis. Streptococcus suis serotype 2 infection was confirmed by culture and biochemical reactions, followed by sequencing for specific genes for serotype and virulence factors.

RESULTSFrom June 10 to August 21, 2005, 68 laboratory confirmed cases of human Streptococcus suis infections were reported. All were villagers who gave a history of direct exposure to deceased or sick pigs in their backyards where slaughtering was performed. Twenty six (38%) presented with toxic shock syndrome of which 15 (58%) died. Other presentations were septicaemia or meningitis. All isolates were tested positive for genes for tuf, species-specific 16S rRNA, cps2J, mrp, ef and sly. There were 136 clinically diagnosed probable cases with similar exposure history but incomplete laboratory investigations.

CONCLUSIONAn outbreak of human Streptococcus suis serotype 2 infections occurred in villagers after direct exposure to deceased or sick pigs in Sichuan. Prohibition of slaughtering in backyards brought the outbreak to a halt. A virulent strain of the bacteria is speculated to be in circulation, and is responsible for the unusual presentation of toxic shock syndrome with high case fatality.

Animals ; Bacteremia ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Meningitis, Bacterial ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Shock, Septic ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; veterinary ; Streptococcus suis ; isolation & purification ; Swine ; Swine Diseases ; microbiology

The aim of this paper was to discuss the protective effect and mechanism of Acanthopanax senticosus polysaccharides( ASPs) on immunological liver injury caused by conanavalin A( Con A). BALB/c mice were randomly divided into seven groups: control group,model group( Con A),low-,medium-,and high-dose( 36. 25,72. 5,145 mg·kg~(-1)) ASPs groups,bifendate( 200 mg·kg~(-1),positive drug) group and pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate( PDTC,NF-κB inhibitor,200 mg·kg~(-1)) group. ASPs groups and bifendate group were given with corresponding drugs by ig administration once daily for 7 d. Control group,model group and PDTC group were given with normal saline by ig administration once daily for 7 d. After the last ig administration,PDTC was given in DTC group by iv administration( 200 mg·kg~(-1)); 0. 5 h after that,Con A( 20 mg·kg~(-1)) was injected via the tail vein to induce immunological liver injury in all the mice except normal control group. The mice were killed 8 h later and their liver tissues were collected for histopathological examination. The contents of nitric oxide( NO),superoxide dismutase( SOD),malondialdehyde( MDA),reduced glutathione( GSHPX),interleukin( IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor( TNF-α) in liver tissues were detected by kit assay. Western blot method was used to detect TNF-α,intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1( ICAM-1),inducible nitric oxide synthase( i NOS) and nuclear factor( NF-κB) protein expression in liver tissues. As compared with model group,ASPs not only could reduce the activity of MDA,NO,IL-1β and TNF-α,but also increase the content of GSH-PX and SOD; at the same time,the protein expression levels of TNF-α,ICAM-1,i NOS and NF-κB were reduced in liver tissues; in addition,inflammatory cell infiltration was alleviated,hepatocyte cytoplasm was loose and swollen,and nuclear condensation and staining were improved. ASPs has a protective effect on immunological liver injury,and the mechanism may be associated with regulating secretion of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of adhesion factor through NF-κB signaling pathway.
Animals ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; drug therapy ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Eleutherococcus ; chemistry ; Liver ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Peptides, Cyclic ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Signal Transduction