Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture and nerve and tendon gliding exercises on mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome.Methods Forty patients with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group,each of 20.Both groups were given neurotrophic drugs.The observation group was additionally provided with electroacupuncture and nerve and tendon gliding exercises,while the control group was given routine health education for 4 weeks.The Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire (BCTQ),a visual analogue scale (VAS),thumb and middle finger to wrist motor conduction velocity (MCV),sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs),median nerve distal motor latency (DML) and the amplitude of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of the musculi abductor pollicis brevis were evaluated.Results There were no significant differences in any of the measurements between the two groups before the treatment.After four weeks of treatment,significantly better improvement was observed in the average SCV of the thumb and wrist,the SCV of the digitus medius and wrist,the SNAP of the thumb and wrist,the SNAP of the digitus medius and wrist,the DML of the nervus medianus and the CMAP of the abductor pollicis brevis in the observation group compared to before the treatment and compared to the control group.Moreover,there was a significant decrease in the observation group's average BCTQ symptom score and function score and in their VAS ratings.However,in the control group significant differences were only found in the average SCV of the thumb and wrist,the DML of the nervus medianus and in their VAS ratings.Conclusions Electroacupuncture and nerve and tendon gliding exercises can significantly relieve symptoms and restore hand function.They are worth applying in clinical practice.

Objectives To investigate and analyze depressive state in patients with diabetes in a community so as to assess adverse impact of depression on diabetes and provide basis for health intervention.Methods A total of 115 patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy control group matched for demographic data and therapeutic compliance were selected from a community.All the subjects were evaluated with Beck Depression Inventory ( BDI),and their baseline data were collected by a short self-administered questionnaire,including diabetic history and medication compliance.Fasting blood glucose ( FBG),two hour post-prandial blood glucose (2hPBG) and HbAlc were measured for the diabetes mellitus (DM) group.Results BDI score was significantly higher in DM group than that in control group (P 0.05 ).There was significant difference in metabolic control,medication compliance and number of patients with complications between depression and non-depression groups in diabetics (P

Objective To investigate the in vitro inhibitory effects of regulatory T cells ( Treg ) from unpregnant mice and pregnancy-induced regulatory T cells ( piTreg) on the proliferation of na?ve T cells and their differences .Methods The numbers of piTreg cells from allogeneic pregnant mice ( C57/B6 fe-male×BALB/c male) on day 12.5 (E12.5d) of gestation and Treg cells from unpregnant C57/B6 mice were detected respectively by flow cytometry .The percentages of piTreg cells and Treg cells in CD 4+T cells of age-matched female mice and their intracellular expression of Foxp 3 were analyzed .The in vitro inhibitory effects of piTreg cells and Treg cells on the CFSE-labeled na?ve T cells ( effector cells ) were compared in a one-way mixed lymphocyte culture system using mitomycin C-inactivated CD4-T cells as stimulator cells . Results The level of piTreg cells in splenic mononuclear cells was significantly higher than that of Treg cells (P<0.001) from normal mice.Foxp3 was highly expressed in both piTreg cells and Treg cells , howev-er slightly increased in piTreg cells .Moreover , piTreg cells had a significant stronger in vitro inhibitory effect on na?ve T cells proliferation than that of Tregs cells (P<0.006), which was in a cell-dependent manner. Conclusion The present study suggests that the piTreg cells have a stronger inhibitory effect on na ?ve T cell proliferation as compared with Terg cells from unpregnant mice , The differential activity of CD 4+CD25+Treg might be mediated by the paternal antigens during pregnancy .

The aerolysin genes (aerA) of BZ and NK isolates were cloned and sequenced. The sequence analysis showed that the partial aerA of BZ and NK isolates consisted of 1393 bp, encoding a protein of 464 amino acids. The similarity of nucleotide and amino acid sequences of aerA between BZ and NK isolates was 97.6% and 98.3% respectively. The nucleotide sequence of aerA of BZ strain exhibited 71.6% to 97.5% homology with other Aeromonas isolates, and the amino acid sequence exhibited 68.0% to 98.9% homology. The phylogenetic tree based on aerA nucleotide sequences from Aeromonas isolates was constructed with neighbor-joining method. It showed that there were three branches of aerolysin genes, and a close relation- ship among Aeromonas hydrophila isolates which were clustered into the same branch.

Bacillus subtilis B6-1 was used as an original strain for mutagenic treatment and a defined medium was used as the selective medium. A mutant named B. subtilis W003 was isolated after three serial ultraviolet (UV) irradiations and one diethyl sulfate (DES) treatment. The ?-PGA yield on a rotary shaker was enhanced from 10.9 g/L in parental strain to 20.5 g/L in the mutant. It was illustrated by single factor experiments that the optimal carbon and nitrogen sources were glucose and (NH4)2SO4 respectively. The optimal fermentation medium was achieved by orthogonal test. In the optimal medium, a ?-PGA yield of 45.3 g/L was obtained after 36 h cultivation.

Objective To investigate if rat enhancer of split- and hairy-related protein-2 (SHARP-2) short hairpin RNA interference (shRNAi) prolongs the survival time of rat kidney transplant recipients. Methods Gene recombinant procedures, transfection and co-transfection were carried out to introduce short hairpin RNA interference sequences target for SHARP-2 into 3rd generation self-inactivated lentiviral-ViraPower packaging mix. Limiting dilution method was used for viral titration. Real-time PCR was employed for quantification of gene expression. Rat kidney transplantation was utilized to investigate the effect of SHARP-2 gene silence on the recipient survival. Results A lentiviral-based shRNAi construct LV-SHARP-2iC showed 84% SHARP-2 gene silence efficiency in normal rat kidney cells. At multiplicity of infection 20, 57% T cells could be transfected by lentivirus with spinoculation method. In activated T cells, SHARP-2 g ene silence resulted in 61.3% and 68.7% reduction of intedeukin 2 (IL-2) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) gene expression. When donor kidney was perfused with 5×107 TU LV-SHARP-2iC, the median survival time prolonged for 4-5 days as compared to blank and scramble control groups. Conclusions A recombinant lentivirus LV-SHARP-2iC that effectively silence SHARP-2 gene expression is constructed successfully, leading to the inhibition of IL-2 and IFN-γ. LV-SHARP-2iC treatment can prolong the survival time of rat kidney transplant recipients.

Objective To investigate the histological changes of the right ventricular remodeling in Xinjiang Mar-mota baibacina which are adapted to high-altitude hypoxia .Methods Hematoxylin and eosin and Masson staining was used to examine the pathological changes and degree of fibrosis , and immunohistochemical technique was used to detect connexin 43 ( CX43) expression in the right ventricular myocardium .Results In the right ventricular myocardium , cardio-myocyte hypertrophy and increased amount of collagen fibers were observed .The right ventricular hypertrophy index and weight index of Marmota baibacina were significantly higher , and expression of CX43 was significantly reduced than that of normal rats ( P<0.05 for both ) .Conclusions High-altitude hypoxia induces right ventricular remodeling in Xinjiang Marmota baibacina.It can be used as an ideal animal model for studies on the mechanisms of hypoxia adaptation on high -altitude plateau .

Objective To evaluate the effects of TENS on metatarsus plantar flexion and inversion in stroke patients,and to explore its mechanism.Methods Thirty-two stroke patients with gastrocnemius spasticity were randomly divided into a control group (n=16) and a TENS group (n=16).All patients were treated with foot sup- ports,neurodevelopmental and manipulation therapies.In addition,the TENS group received TENS on the anterior tibialis,peroneus longus and brevis muscles.All patients were assessed in terms of their Chinese stroke scale(CSS) and H reflex scores before and after therapy.Results Compared with those in the control group,the H reflex scores in the TENS group were obviously decreased,while H reflex latency was prolonged and H/M was reduced. Gait in the TENS group was evidently improved.Conclusion TENS is an effective therapy to decrease gastrocnemi- us spasticity and to improve the gait of stroke patients.

Objective To investigate the application value of the ultrasonic elastic tissue dispersion quantitative analysis technique in different stages of subacute thyroiditis (SAT).Methods One hundred and forty-four SAT lesions detected from 81 patients were enrolled in the patient group.They were further divided into three subgroups,including acute group (group Ⅰ),medium group (group Ⅱ) and recovery group (group Ⅲ).Another 59 healthy volunteers were collected as control group.All the participants accepted conventional ultrasound and elastographic examinations.Eleven parameters were obtained by the tissue dispersion quantitative analysis software.These parameters were compared between groups and among subgroups by ANOVA.The correlation between all the parameters and the course of SAT were analyzed by Spearman and Multiple linear regression methods.Results Between groups and among subgroups,the complexity (COMP) and correlation (CORR) were not statistically different(all P ＞0.05).Differences of kurtosis (KURT) and angular secon moment (ASM) among the three subgroups were not significant (all P ＞0.05).Differences between groups and among subgroups were significantly different among the value of all the other seven indexes (all P ＜0.01).Moreover,they were all correlated with the clinical staging,with the highest coefficient in area ration of low-strain region (％ AREA)(r =-0.881).Regression model was constructed and only ％ AREA was selected into the regression equation.ROC curves were constructed to estimate the clinic value of ％ AREA in staging patients of SAT,the areas under ROC curves were0.986(group Ⅰ vs group Ⅱ-Ⅲ) and 0.988 (group Ⅰ-Ⅱ vs group Ⅲ[) for ％AREA,respectively.Conclusions The tissue dispersion quantitative analysis technique is helpful in estimating the stiffness of thyroid in patients with SAT.

BACKGROUNDBevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, has shown promising activity in recurrent malignant gliomas. We reported the treatment response for the combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy in a series of six patients with recurrent malignant glioma and investigated the molecular alterations in cancer pathways using the surgical biopsies from these patients.

METHODSStandard therapy with primary resection followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy had failed in all patients. Bevacizumab was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Concomitantly, four patients received temozolomide (50 mgxm(-2)xd(-1)), one patient irinotecan (125 mg/m(2) every 2 weeks) and one patient topotecan (1.2 mgxm(-2)xd(-1)). Response to therapy was mainly determined by magnetic resonance imaging. The expression of Ras, phosphorylated mitogen activated protein kinase (p-MAPK), phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT), phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) and phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) were semiquantitatively assessed by immunohistochemistry using surgical biopsies before the initial treatment.

RESULTSFive of the six patients had a radiographic response. Three were complete response, and two were partial response. Only one patient had progressive disease. The 6-month progession-free survival (PFS) was 33% and the median PFS was 15 weeks, with a range of 6 to more than 60 weeks. Of the three core pathways analyzed in this study, the Ras/MAPK and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mTOR pathways were more likely to be associated with the treatment response to bevacizumab. In two younger patients (ages < 50) with complete response, simultaneous overexpression of p-MAPK, p-AKT and p-mTOR might be the crucial feature.

CONCLUSIONSBevacizumab in combination with chemotherapeutic agents may be an effective strategy for patients with recurrent malignant glioma. Activated MAPK and AKT might be possible biomarkers for selecting suitable patients for this targeted therapy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; Bevacizumab ; Camptothecin ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Glioma ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; mortality ; pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult