Objective To discuss the relation between influenza peak, temperature and relative humidity. Methods Statistical analysis on the data of influenza consultation rates, temperature and relative humidity from 1998 to 2002 in Hong Kong area was carried out to propose some relation between influenza peak, temperature and relative humidity. Results It was slightly possible to cause influenza peak when the week-averaged temperature was less than 20 ℃ and largely possible to cause influenza peak when the week-averaged temperature was less than 15 ℃. It was also largely possible to cause influenza peak when the week-averaged temperature was very low and the relative humidity was higher which resulted the lower body-sense temperature compared with the forecasting temperature. Conclusion The prevalence of influenza occurs during four seasons in one year in Hong Kong, but the prevalence peak of influenza mainly appears under the condition of lower temperature(

Abnormalities, Multiple ; Bronchi ; abnormalities ; Bronchography ; Constriction, Pathologic ; diagnostic imaging ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Trachea ; abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; Tracheal Stenosis ; congenital ; diagnostic imaging

To study the mechanism of Shenkangling (SKL), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, combined with prednisone in treating adriamycin-induced nephropathy in rats.

BackgroundIn an ideal eye there would be no light scattering at all,but the eye media is not optically ideal.Intraocular straylight causes a veil of light and reduction in the contrast of the retinal image and thus decrease the quality of vision.ObjectiveThe present study was to investigate the repeatability and reproducibility of C-Quant straylight meter( Oculus,Germany)in measuring retinal straylight of myopia and post-laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK) corneas.MethodsThis is a prospective research.The consecutive 35 eyes of 21 myopic patients and 34 eyes of 22 patients who received LASIK were included in this trail.Retinal straylight was measured for 7 times at a period of time and analyzed quantificational to evaluate the repeatability of measurement.Thirty-eight eyes of 19 patients were measured again at 3-7 days for 3 times at a period of time to assess the reproducibility of C-Quant straylight meter.The mean standard difference (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) were used as the credibility evaluation.This clinical study complied with Helsinki Declaration and the informed consent was obtained prior to the medical procedure.ResultsThe straylight Log(s) of 7 times measurement were all less than 0.95.The mean Log(s) were 0.92±0.12 and 0.93±0.17 respectively in myopia group and post-LASIK group,without statistically significant differences among 7 times measurement( F=0.335,P=0.812;F=1.000,P=0.409).The mean SD for the 7 times measurement was 0.07 Log units.SD and CV increased with the number of measurements.The differences of mean SD and CV between 3 times result and 6 times result were significant different (t =-2.080,P =0.045;t =-2.190,P =0.035 ).No difference was found between different time periods( t =-0.531,P=0.598 ).The difference of the results between two measurements from the same patient was 0.013.ConclusionsC-Quant is a noncontact,noninvade,rapid and convenient method for the measurement of straylight in myopia and post-LASIK eyes due to the high repeatability and reproducibility.

The content of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) which as the enzymatic hydrolysis product of benzyl glucosinolate through thioglucosidase was determined by HPLC. The content of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) which as the enzymatic hydrolysis product of benzyl glucosinolate through thioglucosidase was determined by HPLC. The chromatography condition was as follows: Kaseisorb LC ODS 2000 (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 min) column with the mobile phase of acetonitrile(A)-water( B) under gradient elution (0-5 min, 3%-8% A; 5-9 min, 8%-48% A; 9-23 min, 48%-62% A; 23-28 min, 62%-99% A); the flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1) with 10 microL injection volume; detection wavelength was 246 nm and temperature of column was 40 degrees C. The content of benzyl glucosinolate was in the range of 10.76-17.91 g x L(-1). The method is simple, accurate and good reproducibility which can be used for the determination of benzyl glucosinolate in Lepidium meyenii, effectively.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Glucosinolates ; analysis ; Lepidium ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; analysis

To establish a new method for identifying genus of Lilium by DNA barcoding technology, ITS, ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK and rbcL sequences were analyzed in term of variation of inter- and intra-species, barcoding gap, neighbor-joining tree to distinguish genus of Lilium based on 978 sequences from experimental and GenBank database, and identification efficiency was evaluated by Nearest distance and BLAST1 methods. The results showed that DNA barcoding could identify different species in genus of Lilium. ITS sequence performed higher identification efficiency, and had significant difference between intra- and inter-species. And NJ tree could also divide species into different clades. Results indicate that DNA barcoding can identify genus of Lilium accurately. ITS sequence can be the optimal barcode to identify species of Lilium.
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Lilium ; classification

This study provides the candidate sequences in the identification of Radix et Rhizoma Clematidis and its adulterants using DNA barcoding. We amplified and sequenced the region psbA-trnH, with the data of 284 sequences from GenBank, the differential intra- and inter-specific divergences, genetic distance, barcoding gap were used to evaluate five barcodes, and the identification efficiency was assessed using BLAST1 and Nearest Distance methods. The results showed that psbA-trnH barcodes performed high identification efficiency and inter-specific divergences among the five different DNA barcodes. Analysis of the barcoding gap and NJ tree showed psbA-trnH was superior to other barcodes. Based on the identification and PCR amplification efficiency, psbA-trnH can be the ideal barcode to identify Radix et Rhizoma Clematidis and its adulterants accurately.
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Drug Contamination ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Plant Roots ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification ; genetics ; Ranunculaceae ; classification ; genetics ; Rhizome ; genetics ; Species Specificity

BACKGROUND: Ephedra, a Chinese medicine, is often used to treat obesity with relatively satisfying results recently. However, the effects of Ephedra on the perimenopausal and postmenopausal obese women remain unclear.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of oral Ephedra decoction on body mass and the levels of blood lipids, blood glucose and hormone in ovarietomized obese rats.DESIGN: A completely randomized and controlled experiment.SETTING: Institute of Physiology and Psychology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University.MATERIALS: The experiment was performed in the Key Laboratory of Pre-clinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province and the Laboratory of Institute of Physiology and Psychology, School of Basic Medical Sciences,Lanzhou University from February 2006 to June 2006. Forty-four healthy female SD rats were randomly divided into four groups with 11 rats in each group, namely sham-operated group, ovariectomized group, estrogen replacement therapy group and Ephedra group.METHODS: ① After having been narcotized by cloraminone (110 mg/kg),rats were underwent a bilateral ovariectomy except those in the sham-operated group, which were also operated, but their ovaries were not cut off. ②Rats in the sham-operated group and ovariectomized group were subcutaneously injected with sesame oil (0.2 mL/each rat) every day postoperatively till the end of the experiment. ③ The rats in the estrogen replacement therapy group were given estradiol (1 mg/kg) by subcutaneous injection every day postoperatively till the end of the experiment. ④ The rats in the Ephedra group freely drank 1% water extracts from Ephedra postoperatively, later the concentration of Ephedra gradually increased to 8% on the sixth day, which lasted until the end of the experiment. ⑤ The food intake was monitored daily, and body mass was measured every ten days. ⑥ At the end of the experiment, all the rats were fasted for 12 hours and collected blood samples for the measurement of serum indexes. The body mass and body length were measured to calculate the Lee's index [(g)×103/body length (cm)] at the same time.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Body mass and Lee's index at different time points in each group. ② Food intake at different time points in each group. ③ Levels of blood lipids and blood glucose in each group. ④Levels of estrogen, progesterone and insulin in each group.RESULTS: Forty-four rats all entered the analysis of results. ① Result of body mass and Lee's index at different time points: The body masses on the 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th days in the ovariectomized group were (256.4±14.3),(271.3±16.1), (276.4±12.7), (285.7±24.2) g, which were significantly higher than those in the sham-operated group [(226.5±11.5), (241.8±12.6),(243.1±13.5), (251.1±22.4) g, P ＜ 0.05-0.01], and the Lee's index in the ovariectomized group was greater than that in the sham-operated group(317.2±13.5, 280.4±11.2, P ＜ 0.01). The body masses on the 40th and 50th days in the estrogen replacement therapy group were (243.7±14.8) and(246.2±11.9) g, which were significantly lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01), and the Lee's index (289.9±13.5) was lower than that in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.01). The body masses on the 40th and 50th days in the Ephedra group were (245.4 ±14.1) and(252.4±14.9) g, and the Lee's index was 294.4±11.0, which were all lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05). ② Result of Food in take at different time points: The food intakes on the 30th, 40th and 50th days in the Ephedra group were (17.8±2.4), (22.3±3.9), (26.1±3.5) g per day,which were decreased as compared with those in the ovariectomized group[(25.9±4.7), (28.5±5.3), (32.8±5.5) g per day, P ＜ 0.05]. ③ Levels of blood lipids and blood glucose: The levels of triglyceride, cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the ovariectomized group were (1.73±0.32), (1.45±0.50), (0.78±0.19) mmol/L, which were higher than those in the sham-operated group [(0.94±0.29), (1.05±0.30), (0.08±0.11) mmol/L, P ＜ 0.01]. After the estrogen replacement therapy, the levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C and blood glucose were (1.10±0.34),(1.14±0.30), (0.17±0.05), (5.88±1.21) mmol/L, which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01), but the level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was higher than that in the ovariectomized group [(1.11±0.31), (0.88±0.21) mmol/L, P ＜ 0.05]. The levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C in the Ephedra group were (0.97±0.16), (1.11±0.20), (0.59±0.07) and (0.45±0.061) mmol/L, which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01). ④ The serum levels of estrogen, progesterone and insulin in each group: The serum levels of estrogen and progesterone in the ovariectomized group were lower than those in the sham-operated group [(17.09±9.00), (28.51 ±7.99) μg/L;(58.69±12.11), (62.73±10.93) μg/L, P ＜ 0.01], the serum level of insulin was higher than that in the sham-operated group [(31.74±6.69),(23.75±6.66) mU/L, P ＜ 0.01]. The serum levels of estrogen in the estro gen replacement therapy and Ephedra group were (36.03±8.83) and (30.18±8.61) ng/L, which were higher than those in the ovariectomized group(P ＜ 0.05-0.01), the level of insulin were (21.34±4.57), (24.86±6.20) mU/L,which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01).The serum level of progesterone in the Ephedra group [(17.68±6.19) μg/L]was lower than that in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: Ephedra can promote loss of body mass, reduce levels of the blood lipids and insulin, and increase the serum levels of hormones in ovariectomized obese rats.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the vertigo controlling situation between the endolymphatic sac decompression(ELSD) and semicircular canal occlusion (SCO) in stage 4 Ménière disease. METHOD: Fourteen patients who underwent endolymphatic sac decompression and 9 patients who underwent semicircular canal occlusion from 2009 to 2013 were followed. All patients has complete preoperative examination and postoperative follow-up. RESULT: The vetigo control of the patients underwent endolymphatic sac decompression: completely control 35.7%; basic control 28.6%; partly control 14.3%; the vetigo control of the patients underwent semicircular canal occlusion: completely control 88.9%; basic control 11.1%. CONCLUSION ELSD and SCO are alternative methods for the patients of stage 4. SCO has a much highter complete vertigo control rate. For the patients without practical listening, SCO is a better choice.
Endolymphatic Sac ; surgery ; Humans ; Meniere Disease ; surgery ; Otologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Semicircular Canals ; surgery ; Vertigo ; surgery

The portable gastrointestinal wireless endoscope image receiver is developed and based on TMS320C6211 DSP. It can receive and demodulate the modulated signal which is transmitted from the camera-capsule, and then output the video signal. The synchronizing signals offered by SAA7114H are made best of and are used to design the time logic circuit. The fitful video signal can be collected under the control of the time logic circuit. The circuit can automatically get rid of useless blank data and only collect effective and good-quality video signals, and storage them in CF card. In addition, the image signal can be processed and compressed by DSP, and thus the data storage space and the data- analyzing time can be saved.
Capsule Endoscopes ; Capsule Endoscopy ; methods ; Computer Systems ; Endoscopes, Gastrointestinal ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; methods ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; Software