Objective To explore the extent of agreement between measurements of temporal and spatial gait parameters made with portable gait analysis equipment and in the laboratory.Methods Fifteen healthy young people submitted to laboratory gait analysis using 3D motion analysis apparatus and then on the same day to analysis using the Gait Watch portable apparatus.Cadence,stride length,walking speed and step length were recorded.Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement between the two gait analyses.Results Test-retest comparisons with the Gait Watch apparatus generated ICCs for the temporal and spatial parameters ranging between 0.80 and 0.98,indicating good test-retest reliability.Bland-Altman plots comparing the two measurement systems also showed good agreement.According to paired simple t tests,the stride length,walking speed,and step length assessments with the two systems showed significant differences.All exceeded the minimum detection threshold (stride length =0.05 m,walking speed =0.12 m/s,left step length =0.03 m,right step length =0.04 m).Conclusions Measurements of cadence,stride length,walking speed and step length with the two systems yield acceptable agreement,and either can be used in clinical walking assessment.

Objective To analyze the clinical features,epidemiologic information and outcome in confirmed cases of human infection with a highly pathogenic influenza A(H5N1).Methods The clinical features and epidemiologic findings in 2 confirmed cases of avian influenza A(H5N1)in Anhui province,in November 2005.Clinical data on vital signs,physical findings,laboratory tests and roentgenology were obtained by means of retrospective review of the hospital records.Epidemiologic data were collected through interviews of the patients and their relatives.Results In both cases,the diagnosis of influenza A(H5N1)was confirmed by means of viral culture and real-time polymerase chain reaction with specific primers for H5 and N1 in samples obtained from tracheal aspiration.All patients were previously healthy young women and resided in village.They had a clear history of di- rect contact with sick/dead poultry and prepared dead chickens at home for eating(removed feathers, washed,cut)hut no report of confirmed HSN1 animals in the village.The time between exposure and onset of illness were 5 days,no one else in family sick.The time between the onset of illness and hos- pitalization were 5 days and 6 days,respectively.Two patients have initial symptoms of high fever (typically a temperature more than 38℃).The prominent clinical features were those of influenza syndrome,including fever,cough,and shortness of breath.Upper respiratory tract symptoms were absent.The platelet counts were decreased.In both patients,there were marked abnormalities on chest radiography,radiographic changes include bilateral and unilateral lobular consolidations with air bronchograms,and had dramatic worsening of findings.Two patients developed acute respiratory dis- tress syndrome(ARDS)complicated multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS)and died of pro- gressive respiratory failure.Conclusions Exposure to dead poultry within a week before the onset of illness was associated with Influenza A(H5N1)infection in humans,but no definitive evidence of hu man-to-human transmission has been found yet.Influenza A(HSNI)infection,characterized by fe- ver,an influenza-like illness with lower respiratory tract symptoms,carries a high risk of death.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To induce mouse embryonic stem(ES)cells to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells by means of a 5-step model system.Methods E14.1 mouse ES cells were cultured in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor(LIF)for 2 days(step 1),then the cells were cultured in hanging drops to form embryonic bodies(EBs)and the resulting EBs were cultured in suspension for 6 days in the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor bFGF(step 2).Subsequently the EBs were cultured in the medium containing glucagon- like peptide 1(GLP-1),hepatocyte growth factor(HGF),nerve growth factor(NGF)and nicotinamide for 10 days(step 3).After that,the EBs were dissociated into single cells,and the cells were cultured in monolayer in the presence of GLP-1,betacellulin,activin A,bFGF and nicotinamide for 10 days(step 4).Finally,the cells were cultured in low-glucose medium containing nicotinamide for 4 days(step 5).Insulin and some other islet- related genes expressions were investigated using RT-PCR and insulin expression was also investigated by DTZ- staining and immunohistochemistry.The percentage of insulin-secreting cells was evaluated by flowcytometry and insulin concentrations were measured by RIA.Results mRNA expression of insulin became visible at step 3 and more evident at step 5.Additionally,at step 5,mRNAs of glucagon,somatostatin,pancreatic polypeptide(PP), pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1(PDX-1),beta-cell E box transactivator 2(Beta2)and neurogenin 3(Ngn3) were detected.DTZ-staining positive cells and insulin immunohistochemical staining positive cells were observed. The percentage of insulin-positive cells was(24.0?2.5)%(n=6).In the presence of 5.6 mmol/L and 25 mmol/L glucose,insulin concentrations were(0.05?0.01)?g/L and(0.13?0.02)?g/L respectively(n= 6).Conclusion E14.1 mouse ES cells can be induced to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells by the 5-step model system.Insulin-secreting cells can release insulin into culture medium when treated with glucose,and insulin concentrations increase with rising concentration of glucose.

Most drugs need to interact with cell membrane to reach the biological target, so that membrane affinity assay is an important early screening step in drug discovery. However, at present, the traditional oil-water distribution method is still used, a new, simple and accurate method for membrane affinity assay is urgently needed. In this study, according to the colorimetric principle, a new assay model based on polydiacetylene vesicles was optimized through a series of experiments including different concentrations of vesicle solution, temperature, or pH reaction environment. On this basis, tetracaine hydrochloride, 2-methylimidazole and histamine were used as model drugs to measure the membrane affinity constants and verify the between-batch precision of the optimized assay model (relative standard deviation less than 5%). In addition, polydiacetylene vesicles were stable for up to 180 days, demonstrating the potential application of the assay model. This strategy is simple, stable, reliable, with high reproducibility, low cost and easy to promote, which provided a new tool and a new direction for the high-throughput assay of membrane affinity.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of dexmedetomidine combined electrical stimulation on cognitive function of neurosurgical diseases patients treated by extracerebral intervention.

METHODSTotally 122 patients with neurosurgical diseases who underwent selective intervention were randomly assigned to the observation group and the control group, 61 cases in each group. Patients in the control group recieved anesthesia by dexmedetomidine. Those in the observation group received electrical stimulation at Baihui (DU20), Yintang ( EX-HN3), and Neiguan (PC6) before dexmedetomidine anesthesia. The cognitive function of patients at preoperative day 1 and postoperative day 1 was respectively evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examinations (MMSE). Serum NSE, S-100β, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α levels were detected in the two groups before intervention and immediately after intervention using ELISA.

RESULTSMMSE scores of two groups were significantly reduced at post-intervention day 1, as compared with one day before intervention. MMSE score of the observation group at post-intervention day 1 was (23.15 ± 1.87) points, significantly higher than that of the control group [ (19.34 ± 1.64) points , (P < 0.05)]. The postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) incidence rate of the observation group was 16.4% (10/61), significantly lower than that of the control group [39.3% (24/61); P < 0.05]. Compared with before intervention, NSE and S-100β protein levels, IL-1β, IL-6 and α-TNF levels of the two groups increased (P < 0.05). Post-intervention NSE and S-100β protein levels, IL-1β, IL-6 and α-TNF levels were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONDexmedetomidine combied electrical stimulation could effectively prevent the occurrence of postoperative cognition, and reduce levels of NSA, S-100β, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α.

Acupuncture Points ; Anesthesia ; methods ; Cognition ; Cognition Disorders ; prevention & control ; Dexmedetomidine ; therapeutic use ; Electric Stimulation Therapy ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; blood ; Postoperative Complications ; Postoperative Period ; S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit ; blood ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

reproducible, and may cover the major circulating strains in China.

To analyze and discuss placebo-related information in clinical research literatures in the past 30 years, including placebo's dosage form, ingredients, preparation process and quality control. Effort were made to research the CNKI. full-text database to preliminary find 700 placebo-related clinical research literature, screen out 301 eligible articles by hand, read the literatures to extract placebo-related information and make statistics and discussions. According to the results, Chinese randomized placebo-controlled clinical studies were characterized by diverse dosage forms of placebo with lack of reports for components, as evidenced by the only 17 literatures describing placebo's preparation or specific composition among the 301 literatures. Placebo-controlled clinical trials covered a wide range of disease spectra, but with a specific tropism of diseases in terms of system classification. Although placebo plays a key role in blinded clinical studies, researchers made less records of placebo, perhaps because they paid less attention to placebo or more attention to the research process or restricted by other objective conditions. Moreover, placebo production, quality control and quality evaluation also need to be further standardized.
Biomedical Research ; history ; standards ; China ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans ; Placebo Effect ; Quality Control ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; history ; standards

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between oral neoplasm genetic susceptibility and genetic polymorphism of p53 intron 7.

METHODSThe intron 7 ApaI polymorphism of p53 was analyzed in 95 oral neoplasm patients and 105 healthy individuals by utilizing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) genotyping assay technique, and direct sequencing was performed in 30 cases which were selected from the patients and controls by random sampling.

RESULTSIn oral neoplasms cases, haplotype combinations were T-G 43.2%, C-T 56.8%, and frequencies of genotype were T-G/T-G 15.8%, C-T/T-G 54.7%, C-T/C-T 29.5%, while in controls they were T-G 30.9%, C-T 69.1% and T-G/T-G 10.5%, C-T/T-G 41.0%, C-T/C-T 48.5%. There was a significant difference in the allelic frequency and the genotypical distributions between the oral neoplasm patients and the controls. The individuals with the T-G allele had a slight increasing neoplasm risk than individuals with C-T allele; the OR for T-G versus C-T was 1.69 (95% CI, 1.12 - 2.51). The risk of suffering from oral neoplasms was higher in the individuals of T-G/T-G genotype and of T-G/C-T genotype than in individuals of C-T/CT genotype with odds ratio of 2.48 versus 2.20.

CONCLUSIONSThere are two polymorphic points in the 7th intron of human p53 gene, which could be associated with genetic susceptibility of oral neoplasms. T-G allele may be the risk factor of oral neoplasms.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Introns ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mouth Neoplasms ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; genetics

A new method for the preparation of oligonucleotide microarray for gene expression detection was found. The key techniques and standards of quality controlling for preparation of oligonucleotide microarray was explored using gene of human 23 kD highly protein and Luciferase and mouse cytokine-associated genes. By the using of a software system MProbe, oligonucleotide probes were designed and BLAST. All the probes have a very high specificity, i.e. except target sequence, the similarity between the probe and non-target sequences is less than 70% and the hairpin structure are not exist in all probes. All the probes have the same length 40. GC contents in all probes are in a narrow scope (from 45% to 55%). All the probes are modified with amino at 5' or 3' terminal. The satisfied images with good sensitivity and very high specificity were obtained by the using of the methods above and also using of positive and negative controls and some internal controls(house keeping gene) to quantitate and balance expression of genes. High specificity, good sensitivity and stability have been verified by three continuous experiments using the oligonucleotide microarray to study gene expression profile of normal mouse breast grand tissue. The oligonucleotide microarray for expression detection prepared using our method have high specificity, good sensitivity and stability et al. It may be a more advanced method for analysis of gene expression profile.
Animals ; Cytokines ; genetics ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; genetics ; Interleukin-10 ; genetics ; Mammary Glands, Animal ; metabolism ; Mice ; Nerve Growth Factor ; genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods ; Polymerase Chain Reaction