Objective To investigate the distribution of water fluoride and the status of water-improving defluoridation projects,thus to explore the condition of endemic fluorosis in Guangxi Province.Methods According to"The National Technical Scheme for Endemic Disease Contml in 2005",the fuorine content in water Was determined by F-ion selective electrode,children's dental fluorosis was checked by Dean method.and the skeletal fluorosis was checked by the standard of clinical scale of skeletal fluorosis.Results 305 water samples in 61 villages were examined,among which 71 waters were exceeded the standard,accounting for 23.28%(71/305).The projects of defluoriding drinking water were running well except one was discarded.The prevalence of dental fluorosis was 13.55%(356/2627),the prevalence of skeletal fluorosis was 4.02%(65/1615).Conclusions The situation of endemic fluorosis control is not optimistic in Guangxi,which needs fuaher prevention and controls.

Objective To explore the value of transrectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer.Methods Forty patients with final diagnosis of advanced(T≥3) rectal cancer were respectively examined with transrectal ultrasound (TRUS),endorectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) before and after neoadjuvant therapy(NET).The tumor size,strain ratio and quantitative parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasound including arrival time(AT),time-to-peak (TTP),peak intensity(PI) and area under the curve(AUC) were recorded and compared before and after NET.In addition,the TRUS stages and postoperative pathological diagnosis were compared after NET.Results ①There were significant decreases in tumor size and strain ratio after the therapy compared with pre-therapy in all these patients(t =-6.13,P ＜0.001;t =-24.92,P ＜ 0.001).②PI and AUC were lower after NET than those of pre-therapy and the differences were significant(t =-9.66,P =0.001;t =-13.58,P ＜0.001).However,the changes of AT and TTP were no statistical significances (t =-1.17,P =0.307;t =-1.26,P =0.275).③The accuracys of preoperative TRUS for T stage and N stage of tumor evaluated according to pathology were respectively 75.0 ％ (30/40,Kappa =0.593,P =0.000) and 72.5 ％ (29/40,Kappa =0.396,P =0.009).Conclusions Transrectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound can reflect the pathological changes and perfusion characteristics of lesions in a certain extent and have high value in clinical therapy.

Objective To describe a novel surgical technique for male long-segment urethral stric- ture after pelvic trauma using the intact and pedieled pendulous urethra to replace the bulbar and membra- nous urethra,and then reconstructing anterior urethra.Methods Three patients with long-segment post- traumatic bulbar and membranous urethral strictures with short left pendulous urethras who had undergone several failed previous surgeries were treated with staged pendulous-prostatic anastomotic urethroplasty fol- lowed by reconstruction of the anterior urethra.This procedure was divided into 3 stages.The first-stage sur- gery was mobilization of anterior urethra down to the coronary sulcus and then re-routing the prostatic urethra followed by pendulous-prostatic anastomotic urethroplasty with transposition of penis to perineum.The sec- ond-stage surgery was transecting the anterior urethra at the site of coronary sulcus 6 months later when it was re-vaseularized,then straightening the penis and performing urethroperineostomy.The third-stage surgery was reconstruction of anterior urethra 6 months later.Results Case 1 reported satisfactory voiding postopera- tively.Retrograde urethrography showed that the urethra was patent with no post-voiding residual urine (PVR),and bilateral vesicoureteral reflux almost disappeared.The Qmax was 18.8ml/s,and 18ml/s after the third stage surgery and at 2-year follow-up.Case 2 also had satisfactory voiding.A 22F urethral catheter could smoothly pass through the urethra,and Qmax was 19.5 ml/s with no PVR at 2-year follow-up.Case 3 underwent the first stage surgery through perineal and pubic routes.The urethrorectal and urethroperineal fis- tulas were excised and repaired simultaneously.After operation the fistulas healed,but the stenostomia resul- ting from wound infection needed further treatment.Conclusions This procedure is effective for men with complex long-segment post-traumatic bulbar and membranous urethral strictures,especially for those undergo- ing failed previous surgical treatment.

To define the action sites of adrenomedullin (ADM) in the rat brain, and to examine whether neuronal NO may participate in the actions of ADM, the present study was undertaken to examine the effects of i.c.v. administration of ADM on the induction of Fos protein and on nitric oxide-producing neurons in rat brain nuclei involved in cardiovascular regulation, using double immunohistochemical method for Fos and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Following i.c.v. administration of ADM (1 nmol/kg, 3 nmol/kg), Fos-like immunoreactivity neurons were markedly increased in several brain areas of the rat, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the area postrema, the locus coeruleus, the parabrachial nucleus and the nucleus paragigantocelluaris laterialis (PGL) in the brainstem, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in the hypothalamus, as well as the central amygdaloid nucleus and the lateral habenular nucleus in the forebrain. Following i.c.v. injection of ADM (1 nmol/kg, 3 nmol/kg), the number of double-labeled neurons for Fos and nNOS was increased in the PVN and SON. Small numbers of double-labeled neurons were also found in the NTS and PGL following i.c.v. injection of ADM (3 nmol/kg), while i.c.v. injection of ADM (1 nmol/kg) did not change the number of double-labeled neurons in the NTS and PGL. Pretreatment with calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist CGRP(8-37) (30 nmol/kg) significantly reduced the action of ADM (3 nmol/kg) in the brain. These results suggest that centrally administered ADM may increase the expression of c-fos in the forebrain, the hypothalamus and the brainstem and activate nitric oxide-producing neurons in the PVN, SON, NTS and PGL. These effects may be partly mediated by CGRP receptors.
Adrenomedullin ; Animals ; Brain Stem ; metabolism ; Injections, Intraventricular ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I ; metabolism ; Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus ; metabolism ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Solitary Nucleus ; physiology

WRKY transcription factor is one of the Zinc finger proteins which contains a highly conserved WRKY domain and is a family of the plant-specific transcription factor. The plasmid pET28a-SmWRKY1 harboring Salvia miltiorrhiza WRKY1 (SmWRKY1) gene was successfully transformed and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The conditions on protein expression of SmWRKY1 in E. coli, including induction duration, temperature, IPTG concentration and the E. coli concentration were optimized. The results showed that the highest protein expression of SmWRKY1 was obtained at 24 hours after the E. coli was cultured in the presence of 0.2 mol x L(-1) IPTG at 20 degrees C with A600 values of 1.0-1.5. This recombinant histidine-tagged protein was expressed at 2.454 g x L(-1) as inclusion body, which was first extracted using urea, and then purified by Ni2+ affinity chromatography and identified by SDS-PAGE. The expression of SmWRKY1 in E. coli was further confirmed by western blotting analysis.
Blotting, Western ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Weight ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; genetics

Objective To investigate the geographical distribution of excessive iodine in drinking water and to demarc aI|e the excessive iodine regions in Hebei Province.Methods In 173 counties of Hebei Province, town was surveyed as an elementary unit.Five villages were sampled according to the direction of east,west, south,north,center in every town.If the water sources were more than 5 in a village,water was sampled according to the direction ofeast,west, south,north, center, respectively;If the water sources were less than 5 in a village, all were sampled:If the village used water of cental supply,only one sample wag collected.Arsenic-cerium catalysis was used to determine the iodine concentration of drinking water.Results Two thousands and forty-nine towns were investigated and 19 352 water samples were determined in Hebei Province.One hundred and seventy- two towns were confirmed to be excessive iodine areas,where the range of water iodine Wag 0.1～2840.4μg/L The water 8amDle with 18 358 had a water iodine median less than 150.0μg/L The areas with water iodine median less than 150.0μg/L,in between 150.0μg/L and less than 300.0μg/L,and equal to or more than 300.0 μg/L accounted for 94.86%,2.92%and 2.22%,respectively.There were 110 towns with water iodine median being between 150.0μg/L and iess than 300.0 μg/L and 62 towns with water iodine median equal to or more than 300 gμ/L.Exeessive iodine towns distributed in 33 counties of 6 cities involving 5 854 960 residents in'Hebei Provmce. MOBt of the water sources with excessive iodine Cangzhou were deep wells and there was a positive correlation between we depth and water iodine concentration (r=0.430,P<0.01), while they were shallow wells in Handan, Xingtai.Hengshui,and no correlation was found between well depth and water iodine concentration(r=-0.060,-0.119.-0.121,P>0.05).Conclusions Six cities have excessive iodine water resotlrees in Hebei Province, mostly in Handan.xingtai,Hengshui and Cangzhou Cities,which all are low-lying land.The water with excessive iodine is hypogene,and the towns with excessive iodine water distributein patchy or spot pattern.

OBJECTIVETo develop a gene chip for rapid detection of the "a" determinant hotpoint mutation of hepatitis B virus (HBV).

METHODSPrimers were designed in the HBV conservative region, and probes for detecting 126A, 126S, 144A, 145R, 145E, 144A+145R, and 144A+145E mutants were developed for that gene chip. PCR amplification and gene chip technology were optimized. The performance of the gene chip was evaluated by detecting the reference plasmids. Forty five samples of serum obtained from patients with chronic hepatitis B were used to compare the sensitivity of the gene chip and the direct sequencing of PCR products.

RESULTSThe oligonucleotide microarray was specific for mutant and native plasmids. The sensitivity of the gene chip was 5 x 10(3)copies/micro l with a high reproducibility. The gene chip could detect minor variants when they were more than 10% among the HBV strains. The positive rates of 126A, 126S-1, 126S-2 detected in the 45 specimens by the gene chip (46.67%, 35.56% and 24.44%, respectively) were higher than those detected by direct sequencing of PCR products (9.00%, 4.44% and 2.22%; P=0.000, P=0.000 and P=0.002, respectively). The sequencing of cloned PCR products demonstrated that the gene chip was specific for the "a" determinant hotpoint mutation detection.

CONCLUSIONHBV "a" determinant hotpoint mutations can be detected by oligonucleotide microarray with high sensitivity and specificity, providing a method for large scale screening of the mutants.

Hepatitis B ; blood ; diagnosis ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods ; Point Mutation

BACKGROUNDThe blood supply to the eye comes from the retinal central vascular system of the ophthalmic artery and the ciliary vascular system. The ophthalmic artery stems from the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. If occlusion or stenosis occurs in the carotid artery, the blood perfusion to the ophthalmic artery becomes insufficient, leading to signs and symptoms of anterior and posterior ocular ischemia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of ocular ischemic diseases caused by carotid artery stenosis.

METHODSThis study was a retrospective review of 145 patients with carotid artery stenosis. Fifty-eight patients who had symptoms of ocular ischemic disease caused by carotid artery stenosis formed group A and the other 87 patients who only had carotid artery stenosis formed group B. We analyzed the causes and course of disease, and relative risk factors, by comparing the two groups.

RESULTSThe degree of carotid artery stenosis in group A was higher than that in group B. And group A had a greater decrease of ophthalmic artery flow. Male, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking were significantly related to carotid artery stenosis. Amaurosis fugax was the most common ocular symptom in group A. The ocular ischemic diseases mainly included ischemic optic neuropathy, central/branch retinal artery occlusion, ophthalmoplegia externa, and ocular ischemic syndrome.

CONCLUSIONSCarotid artery stenosis correlates with ocular ischemic diseases. Ophthalmologists must observe for ocular symptoms, which were the onset symptoms in some patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carotid Stenosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Eye Diseases ; etiology ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; physiopathology ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; Ischemia ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of interferon -alpha1b (IFN-alpha1b) on hepatic intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression and serum HBV DNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

METHODSBefore and 6 months after IFN-alpha1b treatment, liver biopsy was performed in patients with chronic hepatitis B to detect the expression of ICAM-1 in the liver tissues using immunohistochemistry. Serum HBV load was detected with real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTCAM-1 expression in the liver tissue was significantly down-regulated after IFN treatment in patients with severe and moderate chronic hepatitis B (P<0.05). No significant variation was noted in the expression of ICAM-1 in the livers of patients with mild chronic hepatitis B after the treatment (P>0.05). In the patients weakly positive for ICAM-1 expression (+), serum HBV DNA varied scarcely after the treatment (P>0.05), while in the patients with strong ICAM-1 positivity (++, +++, or ++++), significant variation of serum HBV DNA occurred after the treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe therapeutic effect of IFN-alpha1b is associated with the expression of ICAM-1 in the hepatocytes, and its expression might enhance the effects of IFN on HBV DNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Adolescent ; Adult ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; biosynthesis ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Viral Load ; Young Adult

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of agmatine (Agm) on the electrical activity of neurons in subfornical organ (SFO) slices using extracellular recording technique. The results are as follows. (1) In response to the application of Agm (1.0 micromol/L) into the superfusate for 2 min, the discharge rate of 24/28 (85.7%) subfornical neurons was decreased significantly, while the discharge rate of 4/28 (14.3%) neurons were not affected. (2) Pretreatment with L-glutamate (0.3 mmol/L) led to a marked increase in the discharge rate of 19/24 (79.2%) subfornical neurons in an epileptiform pattern and the activity of the remaining 5/24 (20.8%) neurons was unaffected. By application of Agm (1.0 micromol/L) into the superfusate for 2 min, the epileptiform dicharge of 15/19 (78.9%) neurons was suppressed significantly, while that of the other 4 (21.1%) neurons was not inhibited. (3) In 12 neurons, perfusion of the selective L-type calcium channel agonist, Bay K-8644 (0.1 micromol/L), induced a significant increase in the discharge rate of 10/12 (83.3%) neurons, while the other 2 (16.7%) neurons showed no change. The increased discharge of 8/10 (80%) neurons was reduced by application of Agm (1.0 micromol/L) into the superfusate and that of 2/10 (20%) neurons was not affected. (4) Application of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 50 micromol/L) into the superfusate also significantly increased the discharge rate of 6/9 (66.7%) neurons, and that of 3/9 (33.3%) neurons had no response. Agm (1.0 micromol/L) applied into the superfusate reduced the increased discharge of all 6/6 (100%) neurons. These results suggest that Agm can inhibit the spontaneous discharge, and L-glutamate, Bay K-8644- or L-NAME-induced discharge of neurons in SFO. These inhibitory effects of Agm may be related to the blockade of NMDA receptors and reduction in calcium influx in SFO neurons.
3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester ; pharmacology ; Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Agmatine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Calcium Channel Agonists ; pharmacology ; Female ; Glutamic Acid ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; physiology ; Male ; Neurons ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Drug ; agonists ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Subfornical Organ ; drug effects ; physiology