Objective To investigate the oxalate-degrading and growth abilities of lactic acid bacteria coming from yoghourt in vitro culture broth. Methods The species of lactic acid bacteria obtained from 6 brands of yoghourt were identified. Different brands of yoghourt were separately cultured in broth and incubated at 37 ℃,5% CO2 for 48 h, getting the concentration of lactic acid bacteria through slab counting method. The brand of yoghourt with the highest quantity of bacteria was chosen as the study subject. Three species of bacteria and the mixture bacteria obtained from the chosen brand of yoghourt were cultured separately for 72 h in MRS broth which contained three different concentrations of ammonium oxalate, and the broth without inoculating of bacterium was prepared as control. The amount of bacteria in culture was detected, the concentration of ammonium oxalate was detected through photometric determination of oxalic acid by its catalytic reaction of methyl red by potassium chromate. Results Three species of lactic acid bacteria (L.bulgaria, L.acidophilus and L.thermophilus) were detected in each brand of yoghourt. The quantity of bacteria in Weiquan yoghourt is the highest. After 72 h incubation, the concentrations of oxalate in all the broths containing bacteria were lower than those in the control. L.acidophilus showed the best degrading activity. The higher the concentration of oxalate was, the bigger the amount of oxalate degraded was, the smaller the percent of degrading was, and the less the growth ability of bacteria was. Conclusion All the species coming from yoghourt have the ability of oxalate degrading, which increases with the concentration of oxalate in culture.But the high concentration of oxalate restrains the growth of bacteria.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by repeated intermittent hypoxia (IH), hypercapnia, sleep fragmentation and intrathoracic pressure change. IH is related to the clinical pathophysiological processes of hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, stroke, heart failure and sudden death. IH from OSA can lead to metabol-ic dysregulation, endothelial dysfunction, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress and the change of nerve body fluids, which has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This study mainly describes the pathogenesis of IH leading to the various cardiovascular diseases.

Cerebral Palsy ; classification ; complications ; epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Developmental Disabilities ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Language Disorders ; complications ; Male ; Seizures ; complications ; Sex Factors ; Vision Disorders ; complications

To observe the effects of Danshen-containing serum on SuFu and DYRK2 expression in the HSCs stimulated by leptin. SD rats (n = 60) were used to make danshen-containing serum by gastric perfusion for ten days with Danshen water decoction, normal saline and colchicine. The HSCs that were cultured in vitro would be stimulated for 24 hours by leptin (100 μg x L(-1)) except blank control group, after being intervened, the drug serum in each group would be cultured at 37 degrees C in 5% incubator. The cells would be collected after 24 hours, then the effects of danshen-containing serum on the proliferation of HSCs were detected by MTT, the expression of SuFu mRNA and DYRK2 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR, the expression of SuFu and DYRK2 proteins were tested by Western blot. Compared with blank control group, the expression of DYRK2 mRNA and DYRK2 proteins were enhanced obviously after stimulated the HSCs of rats by leptin (P < 0.01), but the expression of SuFu mRNA and SuFu proteins were decreased significantly (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, after cyclopamine group (Hh pathway inhibitor), Danshen-containing serum and colchicine were interfered, the expression of DYRK2 mRNA and DYRK2 proteins were decreased clearly (P < 0.01), but the expression of SuFu mRNA and SuFu proteins were increased significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Compared with model group, adding purmorphamine (Hh pathway agonist) to model group and making it activate could increase the expression of DYRK2 mRNA and DYRK2 proteins, but the expression of SuFu mRNA and SuFu proteins were decreased significantly (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, using the Danshen-containing serum to interfere the purmorphamine group could make the expression of DYRK2 mRNA and DYRK2 proteins decrease and the expression of SuFu mRNA and SuFu proteins increase significantly (P < 0.01). Danshen-containing serum would inhibition the activation and increment of HSCs by interfering the expression of SuFu and DYRK2 which were induced by leptin.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo review the recent studies about human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) and advances in the treatment of spinal cord injury. Data sources Published articles (1983 - 2007) about hUCMSCs and spinal cord injury were selected using Medline. Study selection Articles selected were relevant to development of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for transplantation in spinal cord injury therapy. Of 258 originally identified articles 51 were selected that specifically addressed the stated purpose.

RESULTSRecent work has revealed that hUCMSCs share most of the characteristics with MSCs derived from bone marrow and are more appropriate to transplantation for cell based therapies.

CONCLUSIONSHuman umbilical cord could be regarded as a source of MSCs for experimental and clinical needs. In addition, as a peculiar source of stem cells, hUCMSCs may play an important role in the treatment of spinal cord injury.

Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; physiology ; Models, Biological ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; pathology ; therapy ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology

A high productive poly ?-glutamic acid(?-PGA) strain PGA-N in a culture medium containing no L-glutamine was isolated from fermentation products.With the following identifications of colony mor-phology,physiological and biochemistry experiments,and genetics,the strain PGA-N was classified as a Bacillus licheniformis.According to the product environment,the base culture medium having no L-glutamine was simulated.In order to enhance the production of the strain PGA-N,the fermentation condi-tions,such as carbon source,nitrogen source,were optimized and the ?-glutamic acid production reached 5.16 g/L after getting the optimum formulation of this culture medium.PGA-N was mutagenized with com-bination of NTG and UV.A mutant PGA-N-C10 was screened which PGA production was increased from 5.16 g/L to 8.82 g/L.The study also investigated the effects of agitation speed on the cell biomass,?-PGA production and the ?-PGA molecular weight.The ?-PGA yield of PGA-N-C10 was as high as 11.00 g/L when the agitation speed was 400 r/min.

Acetic acid bacteria are Gram-negative,obligate aerobic bacteria that have the ability to incompletely oxidize alcohols or sugars to organic acids as end products. The taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria has undergone many changes in the last 30 years. The early classification systems for these bacteria were based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. Today,the acetic acid bacteria are classified as the consensus result of a polyphasic analysis,combining phenotypic,chemotaxonomic and genotypic data. This paper reviewed the polyphasic taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria,mainly introduced the current classification of acetic acid bacteria,then discussed the application of phenotypic,chemotaxonomic and genotypic method in the taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria.

Objective To understand the ethics conflict situations between the pre-hospital patients and ambulance staff's determinations. Methods Taking a survey among the pre-hospital emergency physicians(80 people)and nurses(248 people)by Questionnaire of ethics conflicts during pre-hospital emergeney service,to investigate the ethics conflict situations between the pre-hospital patients and ambulance staff's determinations. Resulls (8.046±6.990)%of the patients who needed treatments refused to be treated completely,and(14.544±10.558)%of them refused partially.(14.451±14.747)% of the patients who needed ambulance transport refused to be delivered.In the patients who refused treatments and transportation.payment problem accounted for(23.52±19.79)%,(22.22±20.84)%of them did not believe they needed.(5.77±4.47)%of them wished to die,(19.44.4±18.65)%of them were hard to be idenfified.Other reasons accounted for(30.08±25.78)%.(20.31.4±16.66)% of the patients refused the ambulance crews' judge for some state.(29.66.4±24.02)%of the patients who got the pre-hospital emergency service were not necessary to call an ambulance.(22.1 l±19.52)%of the patients' demand conflicted with pre-hospital emergency services network management system.Conclusions There exists some conflicts between the pre-hospital patients and ambulance crews' determinations.

Objective To analyze the results of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination(OSCE) of medical interns in Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,and to assess the role of OSCE in clinical teaching and practice. MethodsAtolal of 104 medical interns of five-year education program in 2002 and seven-year education program in 2003 in School of Medicine had taken part in OSCE of gynecology and obstetrics.The OSCE consisted of six stations: gynecologic examination,obstetric examination,oral test,interrogation of standardized-patients(SP),drawing partogram,and non-stress test(NST) explanation.After gathering the data of each station,the software of SPSS 11.0 was used to make statistical analysis. Results The median scores were as follows: 92.0 for gynecologic examination,91.0 for obstetric examination,83.5 for oral test,80.0 for interrogation of SP,80.0 for drawing partogram,and 70.0 for NST explanation.There was no significant impact of familiarity to OSCE on the results of the test.The results showed that medical interns did good job in basic performance,but lack of clinical practice skills in some complicated practice of gynecology and obstetrics.Conclusion The grading system and stations setup of OSCE in Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital show objectivity and equity.The OSCE can be widely applied in the after-department examination and even graduation examination.

Objective To investigate the effects of dietary consumption of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) on the control of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods One hundred and eighty-five patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from a community in Shanghai were randomly divided into MUFA intervention group (MUFA group,n=125) and control group (n=60). The patients in MUFA group consumed tea oil enriched in MUFA for 3 months,while those in control group consumed normal oil. The serum glucose (fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour postprandial glucose),fasting insulin and blood lipid were examined before intervention and three months after intervention,and the parameters were compared within groups and between groups. Results The serum fasting glucose,fasting insulin,total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol 3 months after intervention were significantly lower than those before intervention in MUFA group (P0.05),while the serum fasting glucose,total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol in MUFA group were significantly lower than those in control group 3 months after intervention (P0.05). Conclusion Dietary consumption of MUFA can improve the glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.