Objective To explore the possible mechanism for the neuroprotective effect of ifenprodil by investigating its effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and activity and apoptosis in the ischemic penumbra following focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Fifty-four adult male SD rats weighing 280-320 g were randomly divided into 3 groups ( n = 18 each) : I sham operation group (group S) ; II focal cerebral I/R group (group I/R) and Ⅲ ifenpradil preconditioning group (group IF) received intraperitoneal ifenprodil 10 mg/kg before focal cerebral I/R. Focal cerebral I/R was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) . A 3-0 nylon thread with rounded tip was inserted into right internal jugular vein and threaded cranially until resistance was met. MCAO was maintained for 2 h. At 48 h after reperfusion, the animals were assessed for neurological function which was scored (0 = no functional deficit, 4 = unable to crawl, unconscious) and then decapitated. The brains were immediately removed for microscopic examination and determination of iNOS protein expression and activity, NO content and apoptosis in the ischemic core (IC) and penumbra (IP). Results Ifenprodil pretreatment significantly decreased the cerebral infarct size and neurological scores in group IF as compared with group I/R. In group I/R the iNOS activity was increased compared with group S.The iNOS activity and NO content were significantly lower in IP than in IC in group IR and IF. The TUNEL-positive cells were also mainly confined to IP. Compared with group I/R, in group IF the iNOS protein expression was significantly down-regulated in IC and IP and the iNOS activity and NO content in IC and IP were suppressed and TUNEL-positive cells were significantly reduced in IP. Conclusion Ifenprodil pretreatment has protective effect against cerebral I/R injury by inhibiting iNOS protein expression in IP, suppressing iNOS activity and NO content and reducing apoptosis.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of serum cystatin C(CysC)level in the diagnosis of renal damage in critically ill children.Methods One handred and forty-two critically ill children admitted to the Boai Hospital pediatric intensive care unit from January 2007 to December 2008 were included in the study.CysC,serum creafinine(SCr)and creatinine clearance rate(Ccr)were collected and analyzed.Pediatric critical illness scoring was done to assess the degree of disease.Renal damage was established according to Ccr＜80 ml/(min·1.73 m~2)(traditional gold standard)and CysC＞1.50 mg/L.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)was analyzed to get the best point value of the diagnosis,and evaluated its sensitivity and specificity.Results According to the Ccr and CysC standards,the incidence of renal injury were 40.8%(58/142)and 50.7%(72/142),respectively(χ~2 =64.93,P＜0.001);ROC curve analysis showed that the best diagnosis point of renal injury was 1.55 mg/L;sensitivity of 94.8%,specificity 81.0%.Area under the ROC curve was 0.98(95%CI 0.97～0.98),for the diagnosis of renal damage in critically ill children was statistically significant(P=0.000).Conclusion Serum cystatin C level is a better marker of renal damage than the Ccr,can increase the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.of renal damage in critically ill children.

Objective To study the influence of general anesthesia and epidural anesthesia on postoperative short-term cognitive function in the elderly patients undergoing orthopedics surgery.Methods 120 patients with hip joint displacement or internal fixation after femur fracture and American Society of Anesthesiology Ⅰ and Ⅱ were randomly divided into general anesthesia and epidural anesthesia groups(n=60 for each group).Artery blood pressure(ABP)and heart rate were recorded before operation,pre-operation after anesthesia,during 30 min operation,during main operation and at operation end.Cognitive function was detected by mini-mental state(MMS)before induction of anesthesia and 6 h,12 h,24 h and 72 h after anesthesia.Results There were no differences in ABP and heart rate during operation between the two groups(P＞0.05).The scores of MMS in general anesthesia group at 6 h(26.5±0.5),12 h(25.4±0.7)and 24 h(27.4±0.3)were decreased as compared with pre-induction of anesthesia(29.5 ± 0.3)(P＜ 0.05),while no difference was found at 72 h(29.3±0.3).The scores of MMS in epidural anesthesia group at 6 h(26.6±0.4)and 12 h(25.6±0.8)were lower(P＜0.05),while had no difference at 24 h(29.1±0.4)and 72 h (29.5±0.4)(P＞0.05)as compared with pre-induction of anesthesia(29.4±0.4).At 24 h after anesthesia,the MMS scores were higher in epidural anesthesia group(29.1±0.4)than in general anesthesia group(27.4±0.3)(P＜0.01).Conclusions General anesthesia may contribute to more obvious influences on cognitive function than epidural anaesthesias within 12h after operation in the elderly patients undergoing orthopedics surgery.

Objective To determine levels of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, interleukin (IL)-10, and visfatin in adipocytes treated by different degrees of intermittent hypoxia (IH), and to investigate the mechanism of IH leading to insulin resistance (IR). Methods The cell model of intermittent hypoxia/re-oxygenation (IH/ROX) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was established. Differentiation mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes, were randomly divided into 10 groups including four different-frequency intermittent hypoxia groups(IH1-4, fixed intermittent hypoxia scheme for 1.5%O2 45 s and then re-oxygen 21%O2 for 2 min 15 s, 4 min 15 s, 5 min 45 s and 8 min 45 s, 60 times circulation), and their normal oxygen control groups (SC1-4, instead each IH group 1.5%O2 to 21%O2, the rest groups were treated as same as IH group), continuous hypoxia group (CH, 10%O2 for 6 h) and normal oxygen control group (CC, 21%O2 for 6 h). ELISA method was used to determine the levels of IL-10 and visfatin in the supematant of adipocytes. Western blot method was used to determine the protein levels of NF-κB p65 and visfatin. Real-time PCR method was used to determine the mRNA levels of IL-10 and visfatin. Results The protein and mRNA expressions of IL-10 were significantly lower in IH group and CH group than those of control groups (P<0.01). The levels of NF-κB p65 protein were significantly increased in IH group and CH group than those of control group. The protein and mRNA expressions of visfatin were significantly higher in IH1, IH2 and CH groups than those of control group (P<0.01). Conclusion As a prominent feature of OSA pathophysiology, IH may take part in insulin resistance of OSA patients by abnormally secreting NF-κB, IL-10 and visfatin in adipocytes.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of endogenous non-coding RNAs discovered recently, which are produced by models such as circularization driven by intron pairing and are regulated by related regulatory factors. An important biological function of circRNAs is to act as a molecular sponge to make the level of microRNAs significantly change in a short period of time. A number of studies have shown that circRNAs are closely associated with ischemic stroke. Therefore, a better understanding of the function of circRNAs and its regulatory mechanism will help to explore the expression of circRNAs in early ischemic stroke and its molecular mechanism in the occurrence and development of ischemic stroke, so as to establish an early warning model to realize the early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment of ischemic stroke. This article reviews the definition, biological characteristics, and expression changes and roles of circRNAs after ischemic stroke.

Objective To investigate the rehabilitation role of family-community-hospital rehabilitation management for communityschizophrenics. Methods 110 schizophrenic patients were divided into the control group (n=60) and the training group (n=50). The controlgroup were followed up once a month, while the training group participated in the family-community-hospital rehabilitation care. They wereassessed with Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS), General Well-Being Schedule (GWB), Self-Esteem Scale (SES) before and afterthe treatment, as well as the compliance and management of medcine questionnaire. Results No significant difference was found betweenthese groups with SDSS, happiness, self-esteem, compliance and management of medcine before the training(P>0.05), but were significantlyhigher in the training group(P<0.01). Conclusion Family-community-hospital rehabilitation management can significantly improvethe social function, the happiness, the self-esteem, the medication compliance and self-management of schizophrenia patients.

Objective To explore the ultrasound performance and related factors on the role of normal living rabbit's liver by laser ablation. Methods The rabbit's liver tissue were ablated by Echolaser integrated laser interventional ultrasound system, and the necrosis of the lesion and performance of pathology and anatomy were observed. Results The outline of the lesion was ellipse like. The two-dimensional US showed regular hyperecho area in the center, mild strong echo in the peripheral and mild attenuation backward. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) showed a filling defect of contrast media in the ablated area. After dissection, the center of the lesion was slag-like carbon, the peripheral was necrosis area; HE staining showed: the center of the lesion was cavity like and dye-free,peripheral area was irregular red staining, the surrounding area was infiltrative inflammatory cells. Different power and time leaded to differences of the ablative effect and lesion size:the more power and time,the bigger of the ablative size. The ablative effect and lesion size was stable in 3 W 10 min and 5 W 6 min groups and caused the complete necrosis of the zone, there existed statistical differences among the two groups. Conclusions Laser ablation can cause fast, precise, effective and safe necrosis of the liver tissue, and the more power and time, the bigger of the ablative size.

To explore the self-organization robustness of the biological neural network, and thus to provide new ideas and methods for the electromagnetic bionic protection, we studied both the information transmission mechanism of neural network and spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) mechanism, and then investigated the relationship between synaptic plastic and adaptive characteristic of biology. Then a feedforward neural network with the Izhikevich model and the STDP mechanism was constructed, and the adaptive robust capacity of the network was analyzed. Simulation results showed that the neural network based on STDP mechanism had good rubustness capacity, and this characteristics is closely related to the STDP mechanisms. Based on this simulation work, the cell circuit with neurons and synaptic circuit which can simulate the information processing mechanisms of biological nervous system will be further built, then the electronic circuits with adaptive robustness will be designed based on the cell circuit.
Action Potentials ; Models, Neurological ; Nerve Net ; Neuronal Plasticity ; Neurons

Objective To evaluate the effect of hydrogen sulfide combined with mild hypothermia on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. Methods Eighty male SD rats, aged 3 months, weighing 250-300 g, were randomly divided into 5 groups ( n = 16 each): sham operation group (group S), cerebral I/R group,mild hypothermia group (group M), sodium hydrosulfide group (group NaHS) and NaHS + mild hypothermia group (group NM). In group I/R, M, NaHS and NM, cerebral I/R was induced by occlusion of 4 vessels (cauterization of bilateral vertebral arteries and 15 min occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries) followed by reperfusion. In group NaHS and NM, intraperitoneal NaHS 14 μmol/kg was injected immediately after reperfusion, while the equal volume of normal saline was injected in the other three groups. At the same time, the rectal temperature was reduced to 32-33 ℃ within 15 min, lasting for 6 h, in group M and NM, while it was maintained at 36-37 ℃by physical method in other groups. Twelve rats of each group were sacrificed after 6 h of reperfusion, and then the hippocampus was removed for determination of the content of H2 S by using spectrophotometer and the expression of p-CREB and BDNF mRNA by using Western blot and RT-PCR respectively. Four rats in each group were sacririced after 72 h of reperfusion and then the hippocampus was removed for microscopic examination. Results The cerebral I/R injury was attenuated in group M, NaHS and NM compared with group I/R, with the slightest injury in group NM. The H2S content was significantly higher in group I/R, M, NaHS and NM than in group S, and in group NaHS and NM than in group I/R and M. The expression of p-CREB and BNDF mRNA was significantly higher in group I/R, M, NaHS and NM than in group S, and in group M, NaHS and NM than in group I/R. The BDNF mRNA expression was significantly higher in group NM than in group M and NaHS. There was no significant difference in the H2S content and the expression of p-CREB and BNDF mRNA between group NaHS and M.Conclusion Hydrogen sulfide combined with mild hypothermia can attenuate cerebral I/R injury by up-regulating the expression of p-CREB and BDNF mRNA in hippocampus in rats.

Objective To explore the imaging features of liver tumors with real-time tissue elastography.Methods Eighty-five liver lesions in 67 cases were scanned with conventional ultrasonography and elastography using HI-Vision900 system and then assessed with grade scores.Results on ultrasound were compared with those on pathology.Results Majority of lesions with grade a-b on elastography were identified as benign on pathology, while most of masses with grade c-e on elastography were confirmed as malignant on pathology.The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 93.5%, 87.0% and 91.8% for elastography to detect malignant lesions,74.2% ,73.4% and 74.1% for conventional ultrasound.The Kappa value of two doctors on elastography in group Ⅰ (the depth of the lesion ≤10cm) was significantly higher than group Ⅱ (the depth of the lesion ＞10cm).Conclusions Real-time tissue elastography of liver tumors provides a new convenient,non-invasive diagnostic methods,contribute to identify the benign and malignant live tumors.