OBJECTIVETo assess mental fatigue by noninvasive monitoring of the physiological signals.

METHODSThe changes in the physiological parameters including the electrodermal activity, heart rate and heart rate variability were analyzed in 14 subjects performing the reaction-time tasks when fatigue and changes in the reaction time occurred.

RESULTSThe average skin conductance level, average heart rate, and heart rate variability parameters including the total power density, percentage of the very low power density, percentage of high power density all differed significantly between the sober state and the mental fatigue state.

CONCLUSIONMonitoring the physiological parameters including the electrodermal activity, heart rate and heart rate variability is a noninvasive, effective and practical approach to mental fatigue assessment.

Adult ; Galvanic Skin Response ; physiology ; Heart Rate ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Fatigue ; physiopathology ; Reaction Time ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo propose a new method for acquiring pulmonary function parameters based on measurement of volume changes of thoracic impedance.

METHODSWe studied the relationship between the volume changes of thoracic impedance and pulmonary function parameters during forced breathing based on bioimpedance measurement, and developed an instrument for measuring thoracic impedance. Using this instrument and a MRI spirolab III lung function test instrument, both based on flowmeter measurement, we measured such pulmonary function parameters including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second/FVC (FEV1/FVC), and peak expiratory flow in 10 healthy volunteers and compared the measurement results.

RESULTSThe differences in the parameters measured using the two instruments were all within two folds of the positive and negative standard deviations of the average values, demonstrating good consistency in the measurement between the two methods.

CONCLUSIONSThe measurement results of the bioimpedance-based instrument we developed show good consistency with those by the commercially available pulmonary function test instrument.

Adult ; Electric Impedance ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Respiratory Function Tests ; methods ; Thorax ; physiology ; Vital Capacity ; Young Adult

This paper is aimed to study the feasibility of myocardial infarction risk assessment by noninvasive multivariable trend analysis, including heart rate variability (HRV), deceleration capacity (DC) of heart rate and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Thirty five patients with cardiovascular diseases (11 Myocardial infarction (MI), 8 coronary artery disease (CAD), 6 artery atherosclerosis (AA) and 10 hypertension), and 31 healthy subjects were randomly selected into a control group for this research as comparison. 15 min ECG and 1 min pulse wave data were collected based on the analysis workbench developed by our Lab. HRV, DC and PWV between the cardiovascular group and the control group were analyzed and compared. The results showed that the HRV indices, DC and PWV were significantly higher than those in the control group. The DC and the HRV indices including NN50, PNN50 and TINN especially presented a decline trend that was consistent with the regularity of cardiovascular development process. This noninvasive multivariable trend analysis of HRV, DC and PWV can be a reference for the earlier risk prediction of MI.
Aged ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Forecasting ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction ; physiopathology ; Pulse ; Risk Assessment

To prepare recombinant human retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) by using the baculovirus expression system and to detect its immunogenicity, the fusion DNA fragment of secretory signal peptide SS64 and human RBP4 gene was subcloned into a baculovirus transfer vector pFastBac-dual(pFBd), and the corresponding recombinant transfer plasmid was transformed into E. coli strain DH10bac, after transposition recombinant shuttle bacmid was screened out. The logarithmic phase Sf9 cells were transfected with the recombinant bacmid and then the recombinant baculovirus containing hRBP4 expression box were generated. After amplification of recombinant baculovirus, the recombinant baculovirus seeds were obtained. To express human RBP4, logarithmic phase Sf9 cells were infected with the virus seeds and SDS-PAGE and Western blotting were used to detect and identify the expression. Finally, to prepare a batch of RBP4 protein, logarithmic phase Sf9 cells in suspension culture were infected with recombinant baculovirus seeds and the supernatant was harvested after 120 hours post-infection for purification. Finally for preparation of polyclonal antibody and evaluation of immunogenicity, the recombinant hRBP4 from insect cells and from E. coli were immunized rabbits. Restriction enzyme digestion and sequencing confirmed that the recombinant baculovirus transfer plasmid was constructed correctly, and subsequently recombinant RBP4-bacmid was generated successfully. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis suggested that human RBP4 protein was highly expressed in Sf9 cells with the molecular weight of approximately 23 kDa. The recombinant RBP4 protein could be secreted into the medium efficiently, and the expression level was calculated amount of 100 mg/L. Finally the rabbit antiserum was harvested after recombinant RBP4 immunization, therein the titer of antiserum against baculovirus recombinant RBP4 is 1:100 000 whereas the titer of antiserum against E. coli recombinant RBP4 is only 1:10 000. Overall, human RBP4 was high efficiently expressed successfully with good antigenicity in baculovirus system, and high affinity antiserum was obtained. A solid foundation was laid for the next step of the preparation of human serum RBP4 detection kit.
Animals ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; Blotting, Western ; Cloning, Molecular ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Immune Sera ; Insecta ; Rabbits ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Sf9 Cells ; metabolism ; Transfection

Objective:To explore the enhancement effect of different concentrations of contrast media on blood vessels and hollow organs in CT enterography.Methods:Sixty patients with CT enterography were enrolled from January to August 2019 at Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, and were prospectively randomly divided into three groups (group A: 90 ml 400 mg/ml contrast media, group B: 90 ml 350 mg/ml contrast media, and group C: 79 ml 400 mg/ml contrast media). Evaluation parameters included CT value, signal noise ratio (SNR) and contrast noise ratio (CNR) of main abdominal vessels (abdominal aorta, superior and inferior mesenteric atery, jejunal artery, ileum artery, superior and inferior mesenteric vein), jejunum, ileum and inflammatory bowel disease. The overall image quality and direct jejunum ileum artery quality scores were evaluated. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the parameters among the three groups.Results:There was no statistical difference in CT value, SNR and CNR of each measurement index among the three groups in plain scan ( P>0.05). The CT value, SNR and CNR of abdominal aorta, superior mesenteric artery, inferior mesenteric artery, jejunal artery and ileal artery in group A and C were higher than those in group B in arterial phase ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between group A and group C ( P>0.05). The CT value, SNR and CNR of superior mesenteric vein, inferior mesenteric vein, normal jejunum, ileum and inflammatory lesions in group A were higher than those in group B and C in venous phase ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between group B and group C ( P>0.05). The overall image quality scores of group A, B and C were (3.8±0.7), (3.4±0.6), (3.4±0.6), respectively, with no significant difference ( F=3.075, P=0.054). The direct jejunum ileum artery scores of the three groups were (3.5±0.5), (3.1±0.5), (3.4±0.5), respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( F=3.684, P=0.031). Conclusion:At the same injection rate and scanning parameters, contrast media at 400 mg/ml can provide better vessel and hollow organ enhancement.

Objective To compare the hemostatic safety and efficacy of a new butterfly femoral artery compression device (FACD) with those of manual compression (MC) in patients undergoing percutaneous peripheral endovascular interventions via femoral artery. Methods A total of 283 patients, who received percutaneous endovascular interventions via femoral artery during the period from September 2016 to December 2017, were enrolled in this study. After endovascular intervention, 167 patients received FACD to make hemostasis (FACD group), and 116 patients received MC hemostasis (MC group) . The patient's comfortableness, time used for hemostasis (min), limb immobilization time (h), and the incidence of vascular complications in both groups were analyzed. Results All 283 patients were included in analysis, the results indicated that the hemostatic success rates in FACD group and MC group were 96.4％ (161/167) and 94.0％ (109/116) respectively, the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05) . The postoperative Kolcaba Comfort Scale score of FACD group was (85.0 ±11.2) points, which was remarkably higher than (58.4±11.7) points of MC group (P<0.05), the time used for hemostasis in FACD group was (9.2 ±2.2) min, which was strikingly shorter than (18.5 ±2.9) min in MC group (P <0.05) . The limb immobilization time in FACD group was (10.4±2.4) hours, which was obviously shorter than (23.1±4.1) hours in MC group (P <0.05) . The incidence of vascular complications in FACD group was 3.6％, which was dramatically lower than 9.5％ in MC group (χ2=4.206, P=0.04) . Conclusion The use of the new butterfly FACD can promptly, safely and effectively stop bleeding of femoral artery puncture site. The new butterfly FACD is superior to MC in shortening hemostatic time and limb immobilization time, in reducing incidence of vascular complications, as well as in improving patient's comfortableness degree.

Objective:To explore the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of fibro-adipose vascular anomaly(FAVA).Methods:The data of the patients with FAVA admitted to Xi’an International Medical Center Hospital between October 2019 and February 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were routinely performed. X-ray and CT were performed for patients with unequal length of lower limbs, lesions involving joints, and obvious joint deformities. The treatment plan was made according to the stage: stage Ⅰ (pain stage), open or laparoscopi radical resection of the lesion was performed; stage Ⅱ (contracture stage), radical surgery was performed to remove the lesion, sometimes combined with Achilles tendon lengthening or tenolysis, and rehabilitation training was performed 2 weeks after surgery; stage Ⅲ(deformity stage), comprehensive treatment based on surgical resection was adopted, combined with joint capsule release, Achilles tendon lengthening or dissection, tendon transfer and oral sirolimus (each time 0.08 mg/m 2, twice daily ) before and after the operation. For patients with lesions involving multiple anatomical regions, staged surgery was performed, and in principle, only one anatomical region was operated per time. Patients were followed up for pain, joint activity and recurrence. Results:A total of 42 patients were admitted, including 18 males and 24 females. The onset age was (7.3±5.0) years, but the average age of diagnosis was (12.5±6.0) years. The lower limbs were involved in 38 cases, the upper limbs in 4 cases. There were 17 cases of stage Ⅰ, 17 cases of stage Ⅱ and 8 cases of stage Ⅲ. Only 4 cases had no misdiagnosis experience, and the misdiagnosis rate was 90.5%(38/42). Persistent pain, muscle contractures and joint deformities were the main clinical symptoms of the disease. MRI showed heterogeneous high and low signal intensity on T1-weighted images, and the high signal intensity was the same as that of subcutaneous adipose tissue. T2 fat-suppressed sequences showed stronger heterogeneous hyperintensity. The follow-up time was (14.6±10.8) months. Patients who took sirolimus orally before or after surgery experienced significant relief of pain symptoms. Of the 42 patients, the symptoms of 31 patients were completely relieved after the operation, and 11 patients still had residual pain or joint movement disorder or even deformity after the operation. Sixteen of 17 stage Ⅰ patients were cured, the lesion was further expanded and the pain recurred in 1 case after the operation. Of the 17 stage Ⅱ patients, 15 were cured, and 2 had mild limitation of ankle movement after the operation. Eight stage Ⅲ patients had varying degrees of pain or joint movement disorder after surgery, postoperative oral sirolimus significantly relieved symptoms. All 10 patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ who underwent endoscopic resection were cured.Conclusion:FAVA usually occurred in school-age and adolescent children. Pain, muscle contracture and joint deformity were the characteristic clinical features. Combined with MRI features, the diagnosis can be confirmed. FAVA staging system could guide treatment and predict prognosis. For stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ patients, surgery should be performed as soon as possible and the prognosis was good. For stage Ⅲ patients, surgery-based comprehensive treatment could improve symptoms, but it was difficult to cure them radically. Oral sirolimus was also required after surgery.

Objective To propose a new method for acquiring pulmonary function parameters based on measurement of volume changes of thoracic impedance. Methods We studied the relationship between the volume changes of thoracic impedance and pulmonary function parameters during forced breathing based on bioimpedance measurement, and developed an instrument for measuring thoracic impedance. Using this instrument and a MRI spirolab III lung function test instrument, both based on flowmeter measurement, we measured such pulmonary function parameters including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second/FVC (FEV1/FVC), and peak expiratory flow in 10 healthy volunteers and compared the measurement results. Results The differences in the parameters measured using the two instruments were all within two folds of the positive and negative standard deviations of the average values, demonstrating good consistency in the measurement between the two methods. Conclusions The measurement results of the bioimpedance-based instrument we developed show good consistency with those by the commercially available pulmonary function test instrument.