This study was aimed to observe effects ofDendrobium ofifcinaleKimura et Migo on cardiac function and changes of blood vessel in rabbits with coronary heart disease (CHD).Thirty clean grade healthy rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups, which were the control group, model group,Dendrobium low-dose (DLD), middle-dose (DMD), and high-dose (DHD) group, with 6 rabbits in each group. Constrictor ring was implanted in the left coronary artery to establish CHD model in the model group, DLD, DMD and DHD groups. Intragastric administration of Dendrobium decoction at the dose of 10, 20, and 40 g·kg-1 was given to rabbits in the DLD, DMD and DHD groups once a day for 21 consecutive days, respectively. The same volume of normal saline was given to the control group and the model group. Detections were made on levels of IL-8, TNF-α, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, the expression of actin, changes of LVSP, LVEDP,±dp/dtmax, BPs, BPd and morphologic changes of blood vessel. The results showed that compared with the control group, levels of IL-8, TNF-α, VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and the expression of actin increased or significantly increased in the model group with statistical significance (P< 0.05, orP< 0.01); LVEDP increased significantly (P< 0.01). However, LVSP,±dp/dtmax and BPs reduced (P< 0.05, orP< 0.01). The blood vessel wall became thicker. Compared with the model group, IL-8, TNF-α, VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and the expression of actin in the DMD and DHD group reduced or significantly reduced with statistical significance (P< 0.05, orP< 0.01); LVEDP reduced significantly in the DMD and DHD group with statistical significance (P< 0.01). While, LVSP,±dp/dtmax and BPs increased or significantly increased with statistical significance (P< 0.05, orP< 0.01). The thickening of blood vessel wall was inhibited. It was concluded thatDendrobium ofifcinale Kimura et Migo can improve cardiac function, which may take effect by improving and inhibiting pathologic changes of blood vessel and alleviating vessel injury.

Objectives To measure the microstructural differences in the brains of participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment ( aMCI) and compare with a control group using a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging ( DTI) technique with fully automated image analysis tools. Methods A standardized clinical and neuropsychological evaluation was conducted on each subject 31 participants (15 participants with aMCI, 16 healthy elderly adults) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based DTI. To control the effects of anatomical variation, the diffusion images of all participants were registered to standard anatomical space. Voxel-by-voxel comparisons showed significant regional reductions in white matter regions of fractional anisotropy (FA) in the participants with aMCI as compared with the controls. Results Significantly decreased FA value measurements (P<0. 001) were observed in the right frontal white matter in participants with aMCI. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the patients with aMCI and controls in considering the small regions of bilateral superior frontal gyrus white matter (P < 0.001). Conclusions White matter damage of frontal lobe may play an important role in histopathologic changes associated with amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Objective To investigate the executive function of the patients with first-episode schizophrenia,and their relationships with the positive and negative symptoms. And to evaluate the activation characteristics of prefrontal cortex(PFC) in the schizophrenia. Methods Near-infrared spectroscopy(NIRS) was used to assess the activation of the bilateral PFCs during the computerized version of Tower of London(TOL) tasks in schizophrenia and controls. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS) was used to assess the psychiatric symptoms of the schizophrenia. 40 schizophrenic patients and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects participated in this study. Results ( 1 ) The number of correct TOL responses in patients ( one-move ( 7.35 ± 1. 94 ), two-move ( 7.30 ± 2.53 ), three-move ( 6.58 ± 2.53 ), four-move ( 2.90 ± 1.89 ) ) was significantly less than the healthy controls( one-move (8.82 ± 1.48 ), two-move ( 8.38 ± 1.59 ), three-move ( 7.68 ± 1.47 ), four-move ( 3.73 ±1.71 ); P＜0. 05 ). ( 2 ) There was a significant negative correlation between the patients' task performance and the negative symptom scores(P ＜ 0.05 ). (3) The majority of the prefrontal area was activated in health subjects.Patients were characterized by significant decreased activation in the left PFC during the TOL task compared to healthy subjects. Conclusion Schizophrenic patients have executive function disorder at the initial stage of the disease.The results support that schizophrenia patients have hypofrontality ,and executive function is significantly negatively correlated with negative symptoms. NIRS my be a useful tool for research and clinical assessment for major psychoses.

Objective　To establish a dual droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay for herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Methods The specific primers and probes were derived based on the conserved regions of HSV-1 and VZV genome. The primer-probe combinations were screened, and the annealing temperatures and primer-probe concentration ratios of the dual-droplet digital PCR reaction were optimized to establish a dual-droplet digital PCR reaction system for HSV-1 and VZV, which was tested for other viruses and validated for clinical samples. The sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the established dual microtiter digital PCR method were analyzed. Results The optimal concentrations of primers and probes for the dual ddPCR detection method of HSV-I and VZV were determined to be 800 nmol/L and 250 nmol/L, respectively, with an optimal annealing temperature of 56 ℃. The correlation coefficient (R2) of the standard curve of the dual ddPCR assay was 0.99, showing a clear linear relationship. The method showed high sensitivity, with the lowest detection limit of herpes simplex virus type I being 2.97 copies/μL, and for VZV being 2.73 copies/μL. The repeatability was high with a small coefficient of variation and stable detection results; the specificity was excellent, and no cross-reaction was found with herpes simplex virus type Ⅱ, Epstein-Barr virus, Adenovirus, Coxsackievirus (CA6/CA10/CA16), Cytomegalovirus, Human Cytomegalovirus, Human enterovirus 71, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Measles virus, Mumps virus, and human nucleic acids. Conclusions The dual droplet digital PCR assay for herpes simplex virus type I and varicella-zoster virus established in this experiment has strong sensitivity, specificity, and high repeatability, and can provide a solution for rapid quantitative detection of the two viruses in different scenarios.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of Sanyinjiao acupoint sticking with Gushen Yutai Tie on threatened abortion. Methods A total of 216 women diagnosed with threatened abortion were randomly assigned to trial group (108 cases) and control group (108 cases). Both groups were treated with TCM syndrome differentiation treatment and progesterone soft capsule, and the trial group was treated with Gushen Yutai Tie acupoint sticking at Sanyinjiao (SP6) additionally. One treatment course was five days, and both groups were treated for three courses. Vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal pain, lumbar pain, nausea and vomiting were observed, pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) of the uterine artery were detected after treatment. Results The total effective rate in the trial group was 97.22% (105/108), which was significantly higher than that of 90.74% (98/108) in the control group (P<0.05). Symptom scores in the trial group were also significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). PI and RI in the ineffective (pregnancy failure) group were much lower than that of effective (threatened abortions with normal outcome) group (P<0.01). Conclusion The treatment that Gushen Yutai Tie acupoint sticking at Sanyinjiao combined with TCM syndrome differentiation and progesterone soft capsule had a better effect to improve pregnancy success rate in threatened abortion. PI and RI in uterine artery could be used to evaluate the outcome of pregnancy.

Objective To determine the radioactive enrichment level in marine biological media around Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant and to evaluate the impact of effluent on marine biological media in the surrounding sea area based on the discharge of effluent from the nuclear power plant over the years and the monitoring level of surrounding marine media. Methods The monitoring data of ³H, ¹⁴C, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, and ^110mAg in the environmental media monitored in Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant from 2008 to 2017 were collected, and the data were processed and analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Results The activity concentrations of tritium in mullet and oyster in the sea area around Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant were 0.5-2.9 Bq/kg and 0.55-8.2 Bq/kg, respectively, and the activity concentrations of tritium in both increased generally under the influence of effluent from the nuclear power plant. The activity concentrations of ¹⁴C, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁹⁰Sr in the monitored organisms were lower than the background values. The results of correlation analysis showed that the effluent from the nuclear power plant had almost no effect on ¹⁴C. The activity level of ^110mAg decreased significantly year by year in oyster, and remained below the background level in mullet. Conclusion Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant is the longest operating nuclear power plant in mainland China. Most of the nuclides in biological media in the surrounding sea area are lower than the background levels, and the effluents from the nuclear power plant have little influence on marine biological media in the surrounding sea area.

Objective To observe the drainage pathways of interstitial fluid(ISF)and substance clearance pattern in rat brain with fluorescence tracing imaging and treacer-based MRI.Methods Thirty-three male SD rats were randomly divided into fluorescence tracing group(F group,n=18)and treacer-based MRI group(MRI group,n=15),then further divided into thalamic,hippocampal and caudate nucleus subgroups,respectively.Evans blue was injected to rats in F group,and cardiac perfusion was performed after injection,then brain tissue was harvested,and frozen sections were made to observe the drainage pathways of IFS in different subgroups.MRI was performed on rats in MRI group before and after injection of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(Gd-DTPA)to observe signal intensity in ROI of brain regions in different subgroups,the signal unit ratio was calculated,and the changing trend was explored.Results ISF in thalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus had different dominant drainage pathways,and the time of tracer reached to adjacent brain regions and whole brain in F group were different.In MRI group,within 4 h after injection of Gd-DTPA,there were differences in direction and clearance rate among tracer in thalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus,mainly manifesting as the tracer in thalamus and hippocampus drained to the ipsilateral cortex and lateral ventricle,while the tracer in the caudate nucleus diffused to the cortex and midbrain,and there were differences of the peak time of tracer signal among adjacent drainage brain regions.Conclusion Fluorescence and MR dual-mode imaging showed that there were differences in the dominant drainage pathways of IFS and clearance rates of small molecule substances among hypothalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus of rats.

Objective To observe the alterations in functional complexity of brain regions in autism spectrum disorder(ASD)patients and correlations with the predicted brain age.Methods Open brain resting-state functional MRI(rs-MRI)data of 93 ASD patients and 96 typically developing adolescents(healthy subjects)were downloaded.The functional complexity in brain regions were extracted with self-developed virtual digital brain software,and the alterations in functional complexity of brain regions in ASD patients and correlations with their ages were analyzed.Two networks were prospectively trained with data of 65 ASD patients and 67 healthy subjects as the training set to predict brain age,and the results were evaluated,and the predicting errors were compared using test set,i.e.the other 28 ASD patients and 29 healthy subjects.Results Compared to healthy subjects,on the basis of anatomical automatic labeling(AAL)atlas,ASD patients exhibited significantly reduced functional complexity based on Shannon entropy in the left precuneus,left cuneus and right parahippocampal gyrus.Conversely,functional complexity of ASD patients based on permutation entropy significantly increased in the left cuneus and right cerebellar Crus Ⅱ region.The left hippocampus showed reduced functional complexity based on Pearson correlation coefficient,while the left middle temporal gyrus showed increased functional complexity based on Pearson correlation coefficient.The functional complexity in brain regions of ASD patients were not closely correlated with ages(all|r|＜0.4).According to the trained fully connected network,the predicted brain ages of ASD patients and healthy subjects in test set were all lower than their physiological ages,but no significant difference was found between the prediction errors of ASD patients and healthy subjects(P=0.283).Conclusion Functional complexity changed in some brain region functions in ASD patients.The predicted brain ages of ASD patients based on the obtained fully connected network were on the low side,but not obviously affected by the alterations of functional complexity in brain regions.

An important and unresolved question is how human brain regions process information and interact with each other in intertemporal choice related to gains and losses. Using psychophysiological interaction and dynamic causal modeling analyses, we investigated the functional interactions between regions involved in the decision-making process while participants performed temporal discounting tasks in both the gains and losses domains. We found two distinct intrinsic valuation systems underlying temporal discounting in the gains and losses domains: gains were specifically evaluated in the medial regions, including the medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, and losses were evaluated in the lateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, immediate reward or punishment was found to modulate the functional interactions between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and distinct regions in both the gains and losses domains: in the gains domain, the mesolimbic regions; in the losses domain, the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. These findings suggest that intertemporal choice of gains and losses might involve distinct valuation systems, and more importantly, separate neural interactions may implement the intertemporal choices of gains and losses. These findings may provide a new biological perspective for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying intertemporal choice of gains and losses.
Adult ; Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; physiology ; Brain Mapping ; Delay Discounting ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neural Pathways ; diagnostic imaging ; physiology ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Psychophysics ; Reward ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To study the difference in age estimation based on quantitative analysis of DNA methylation by MassARRAY and pyrosequencing techniques. METHODS: The methylation levels of 9 CpG sites from two independent whole blood sample sets (containing 65 and 62 samples) were detected using MassARRAY and pyrosequencing techniques. Z-score transformation was used to remove the batch effects of different techniques, and a linear regression model was used for age prediction. RESULTS: For age prediction using the MassARRAY system, the 65 samples showed a mean absolute difference (MAD) of 2.49 years before Z-score transformation of the data and 2.44 years after the transformation, similar to the results in the 62 samples (MAD of 3.36 years before and 3.42 years after Z-score transformation). For data typed from pyrosequencing, the 65 samples showed a MAD of 4.20 years before and 2.76 years after data Z-score transformation, also similar to the results in the 62 samples (MAD of 3.92 years before and 3.63 years after data transformation). CONCLUSIONS Z-score transformation can effectively reduce the system batch effect between MassARRAY and pyrosequencing. Data from the MassARRAY system allows direct age estimation without further data processing, while the pyrosequencing data may increase the error in age estimation, which can be corrected by Z-score transformation of the data.
CpG Islands/genetics* ; DNA Methylation ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Linear Models ; Sequence Analysis, DNA