Astragalus produced in Gansu were chosen as the raw material to leachate. Studied the antibiotic effects of the leaching solution on the cariogenic bacteria and compared with the imported bacteriostatic product MI. Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli were cultured in the medium for 24 h. The PH and A600 values were measured. Statistical analysis was conducted by using SPSS 13.0. The leaching solution of astragalus has the same inhibitory effects on the growth and acid production of streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli as MI.

Objective: To investigate the candidal infection status in puerperas in Lanzhou, and the candidal transmission from mothers to their newborn infants. Methods: Vaginal fluid and saliva samples from 104 puerperas, as well as 104 saliva samples from their newborn infants were collected. The Candida species were cultured, isolated and identified using CHROMagar media. Further identification was done using molecular biological method. Results; In 81 of 312 specimens (104 x2 from mothers and 104 from infants), Candida species were found. 39.42% (41 cases) was observed in the vaginal fluid and 33.65% (35 cases) was in saliva of puerperas respectively, and 21. 15% (22 cases) in both vagina and oral cavity. 4.81% (5 cases) was found in oral cavities of newborn infants. The distribution of Candida species were 53 Candida albicans, 33 Candida glabrata, 2 Candida krusei and 1 Candida tropical. In 2 pairs of mother-infant, the same genotype of Candida ablicans was identified using PCR method. Conclusion; The Candida detection rate of newborn infants and transmission rate from mothers to their neonates in Lanzhou are higher than that reported in other areas. The colonization of Candida in newborn infants is relevant to both horizontal and vertical transmission. It can decrease the possibility of Candidal infection in newborn infants by controlling the Candidal transmission in hospital and preventing the infection in pregnant women.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of suppression of EphB4 and/or mTOR on the biological behaviors of ovarian cancer cells, and the potential regulatory pathways. Antisense EphB4 vectors and shRNA vectors targeting mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were constructed and transfected into A2780 and SKOV3 cells (two ovarian cancer cell lines). The effects of the antisense EphB4 vectors and the shRNA vectors on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of ovarian cancer cells were measured, and the expression of EphB4, mTOR and Akt detected. The results showed that transfection with mTOR shRNA could inhibit growth, induce apoptosis, and reduce invasive ability of ovarian cancer cells, which was accompanied by downregulation of EphB4, mTOR and Akt. The inhibitory effects on cell growth caused by mTOR shRNA alone were weaker than those by antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4. In the antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4-transfected cells, it was found that EphB4 knockdown could decrease the mTOR expression and slightly reduce the Akt phosphorylation. Significant suppressive effects on cell growth were observed in cells co-transfected with antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4 and mTOR shRNA. In co-transfection group, the expression levels of EphB4, mTOR and Akt were distinctly lower than those in other groups. It was concluded that suppression of EphB4 may inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells by downregulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, and reverse Akt phosphorylation induced by mTOR shRNA. Inhibition of EphB4 and mTOR combined may cooperatively suppress the biological behaviors of ovarian cancer cells.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of suppression of EphB4 and/or mTOR on the biological behaviors of ovarian cancer cells, and the potential regulatory pathways. Antisense EphB4 vectors and shRNA vectors targeting mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were constructed and transfected into A2780 and SKOV3 cells (two ovarian cancer cell lines). The effects of the antisense EphB4 vectors and the shRNA vectors on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of ovarian cancer cells were measured, and the expression of EphB4, mTOR and Akt detected. The results showed that transfection with mTOR shRNA could inhibit growth, induce apoptosis, and reduce invasive ability of ovarian cancer cells, which was accompanied by downregulation of EphB4, mTOR and Akt. The inhibitory effects on cell growth caused by mTOR shRNA alone were weaker than those by antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4. In the antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4-transfected cells, it was found that EphB4 knockdown could decrease the mTOR expression and slightly reduce the Akt phosphorylation. Significant suppressive effects on cell growth were observed in cells co-transfected with antisense pEGFP-C1-EphB4 and mTOR shRNA. In co-transfection group, the expression levels of EphB4, mTOR and Akt were distinctly lower than those in other groups. It was concluded that suppression of EphB4 may inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells by downregulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, and reverse Akt phosphorylation induced by mTOR shRNA. Inhibition of EphB4 and mTOR combined may cooperatively suppress the biological behaviors of ovarian cancer cells.
Apoptosis ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Down-Regulation ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Receptor, EphB4 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Suppression, Genetic ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the genetic etiology of fetuses with ventricular septal defects (VSD) using chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA).

METHODSA total of 248 fetuses were divided into isolated VSD group, VSD with other cardiac and/or great vessels malformation group, VSD with extra-cardiac anomalies group (including malformation and sonographic soft markers), and VSD with both cardiac and extra-cardiac anomalies group. Standard karyotyping was carried out for all fetuses, and CMA was performed for 6 fetuses with an abnormal karyotype and a proportion of fetuses with a normal karyotype. All cases were followed up, and neonates were followed up until 1 year of age.

RESULTSChromosomal abnormalities were identified in 60 (24.2%) of the 248 fetuses. For 6 of the fetuses subjected to further CMA analysis, the origin of abnormal chromosomes were clarified, among which 2 have overlapped with the critical region of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Candidate genes for VSD included WHSC1, LBX1, LDB3 and BBS10. For 143 fetuses with a normal karyotype, CMA has identified pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) in 11 cases (7.7%). These included 9 well-known microdeletion or microduplication syndromes, including 22q11.2 microdeletion, 17p11.2 microdeletion (Smith-Magenis syndrome), 17p13.3 microdeletion (Miller-Dieker syndrome), 1p36 microdeletion, 1q21.1 microduplication and 4q deletion. Candidate genes for VSD included TBX1, LZTR1, FAT1, AKAP10, SKI, PRDM26, GJA5, ERCC4 and YWHAE. For 48.7% of the fetuses with benign CNVs, spontaneously closure has occurred within the first year of life.

CONCLUSIONCMA may increase the detection rate of submicroscopic imbalances by 7.7%. No significant correlation between different groups of VSD and the pathogenic CNVs was observed. Whole-genome CMA should be recommended to the fetuses with VSD but a normal karyotype. Nearly half of VSDs with benign CNVs may close spontaneously within the first year of life.

Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosome Deletion ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Karyotyping ; Microarray Analysis ; methods ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of single plate,double plates,and intramedullary nail in treating medial cortical comminuted fractures of the medial distal femur.Methods A retrospective case control study was conducted on 63 cases of medial cortical comminuted fractures of the medial distal femur treated from November 2011 through October 2016.According to the type of internal fixation,19 cases of middle and distal shaft fractures were divided into the single plate group (n =11) comprising four males and seven females,aged averagely 57.5 years,and intramedullary nail group (n =8) comprising five males and three females,aged averagely 56.4 years.Forty-four cases of distal femoral fractures were divided into the single plate group (n =14) comprising six males and eight females,aged averagely 57.6 years,intramedullary nail group (n =9) comprising five males and four females,aged averagely 56.6 years,and double plates group (n =21) comprising 14 males and seven females,aged averagely 55.1 years.The rate and period of racture healing,distal femoral valgus resection (DFVR),femoral angle,change of DFVR and femoral angle,and complications were compared within and between groups.Results All the cases were followed up for 6-37 months (mean,13.4 months).Of 19 cases of middle and distal shaft fractures,there were no statistically significant differences in fracture healing rate and period,DFVR after operation and at the last follow-up,and the amount of change of DFVR between the single plate and double plates group (P ＞ 0.05).With respect to postoperative complications of the two groups,no significant difference was found for the rate of nonunion,infection,internal fixation failure,and mal union (P ＞ 0.05).However,the incidence rate of adverse events in single plate group (46％) was significantly higher than that in intramedullary nail group (0) (P ＜0.05).Of the 44 cases of distal femoral fractures,the pairwise comparisons among three groups showed no statistically significant differences in fracture healing rate,healing period,and the post operative femoral angle (P ＞ 0.05).The femoral angle at the last follow-up in intramcdullary nail group was (80.80 ± 2.93) °,significantly lower than (85.28 ± 5.89) ° in single plate group and (83.55 ± 3.51) ° in double plates group (P ＜ 0.05).Within the intramedullary nail group,no significant difference was found between the femoral angle immediately after operation and at the last follow-up (P ＞ 0.05),but significant difference was detected in both single plate group and double plates group (P ＜ 0.05).The amount of change of the femoral angle in intramedullary nail group [(0.25 ± 1.95) °] was significantly lower than (4.03 ± 3.78) ° in single plate group and (2.60 ± 2.24) ° in double plates group (P ＜ 0.05).With respect to post operative complications in the three groups,no significant difference was found for the rate of nonunion,infection,internal fixation failure,and malunion (P ＞ 0.05).The malunion rate in single plate group (36％) was significantly higher than that in double plates group (14％).The incidence rate of adverse events in single plate group (50％) was significantly higher than that in double plates group (14％) (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Three internal fixations have similar clinical results in fracture healing rate and period.For medial cortical comminuted middle and distal shaft fractures,and distal femoral fractures without involving articular surface,intramedullary nail has better results than locking plate.For medial cortical comminuted distal femoral fractures involving articular surface,double plates fixation might be a better option.

Objective:To explore a fast and accurate method to diagnose children's pneumonia according to respiratory signals, so as to avoid the cancer induction caused by traditional X-ray examination.Methods:A Mach Zehnder optical fiber sensor was used to build a respiratory signals(RSPs) detection system, and the RSPs of the monitored children were extracted according to the vibration signal generated by the children's lung rales. Preprocessing methods such as the discrete cosine transform(DCT) were used to compress and denoise the RSPs. Multi-feature extraction of RSPs was conducted through signal processing methods such as the Hilbert transform and autoregressive (AR) model spectrum estimation. A support vector machine (SVM) classification model was constructed to classify the collected RSPs.Results:The accuracy rate of the proposed RSP classification of children with or without pneumonia was 94.41%, which was higher than the previous methods.Conclusions:The children's pneumonia diagnosis system based on an optical fiber sensor has a higher detection accuracy, and is expected to be widely used in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the application value of whole exome sequencing technology in fetuses with congenital structural abnormalities. METHODS: The chromosomal abnormalities of 1147 families were analyzed. According to the follow-up results, the data of fetuses with new phenotypes in late pregnancy or after birth were reanalyzed. Subgroups were divided according to the organs involved and whether single malformation or not. The gene regulatory network map was drawn by using string database and Cytoscape software. Fisher exact probability method was used to compare the difference of the diagnostic rate of pathogenic genes among the groups. RESULTS: A total of 160 fetal cases received positive molecular diagnosed, involving 178 variant sites of 125 pathogenic genes, including 8 cases (4.9%, 8/163) by data reanalysis, and the overall positive diagnosis rate was 13.9%. Diagnostic rate was highest in the group of skeletal malformation (31.5%, 39/124) and lowest in that with thoracic malformation (0, 0/32). The gene clusters of fetal edema and intrauterine growth restriction were independent, and were not associated with the major structural malformations. The probability of each parent carrying the same recessive gene variant was 0.03 (39/1146) and 0.08 (4/53) with positive family history. CONCLUSION For fetuses with congenital structural abnormalities that are negative for conventional genetic tests, 13.9% of phenotypic associated pathogenic/likely pathogenic genetic variants can be detected by whole exome sequencing technology. Its application value for prenatal diagnosis varies in fetus with different organs involved. Reanalysis of sequencing data for cases with new phenotypes in late pregnancy or after birth can further improve the molecular diagnosis rate. Further investigations are needed to explore the related genetic mechanisms.
Female ; Fetal Diseases ; Fetus/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Technology ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Whole Exome Sequencing

Objective:To evaluate the value of whole exome sequencing (WES) in prenatal clinical application.Methods:A total of 1 152 cases of congenital abnormal [including structural malformation, nuchal translucency (NT) thickening and intrauterine growth restriction] with traditional prenatal diagnosis [including G-band karyotype analysis and chromosome microarray analysis (CMA)] negative were analyzed. The congenital abnormal fetuses were divided into retrospective group and prospective group according to the time of WES detection, that is whether the pregnancy termination or not. According to the specific location of fetal malformation and their family history, the cohort was divided into subgroups. The clinical prognosis of all fetuses were followed up, and the effect of WES test results on pregnancy decision-making and clinical intervention were analyzed. According to the follow-up results, the data of fetuses with new phenotypes in the third trimester or after birth were re-analyzed.Results:Among 1 152 families who received WES, 5 families were excluded because of nonbiological parents. Among the remaining 1 147 families, 152 fetuses obtained positive diagnosis (13.3%,152/1 147), including 74 fetuses in the retrospective group (16.1%,74/460) and 78 fetuses in the prospective group (11.4%,78/687). In fetuses with negative CMA and G-band karyotype analysis results but new phenotypes in the third trimester or after birth, the positive rate by WES data re-analysis was 4.9% (8/163). A total of 34 (21.3%, 34/160) fetuses were directly affected by the corresponding positive molecular diagnosis. Among 68 cases of live births with diagnostic variation grade 4, 29 cases (42.7%, 29/68) received appropriate medical intervention through rapid review of WES results.Conclusions:WES could increase the detection rate of abnormal fetuses with negative G-banding karyotype analysis and CMA by 13.3%. Prenatal WES could guide pregnancy decision-making and early clinical intervention. It might be an effective strategy to pay attention to the special follow-up of the third trimester and postnatal fetus and to re-analyze the WES data.

The study was carried out to understand the changes in the ethical cognition status of laboratory animals and the effectiveness of laboratory animal ethics education among medical students in Xiangya School of Medicine of Central South University (CSU), and provide new enlightenment for further strengthening the ethical education of laboratory animals. In the study, the same self-compiled questionnaire was used to investigate the ethical cognition of experimental animals among medical students in Xiangya School of Medicine of CSU in 2011 and 2021, and 359 and 363 questionnaires were collected respectively. Through comparative analysis of the questionnaire results before and after ten years, it was found that medical students’ animal experiment operation and attitudes towards laboratory animals, cognition of experimental animal ethics knowledge and their attitude to animal experiment ethics education were significantly improved. It showed that the state of experimental animal ethics cognition among medical students in Xiangya School of Medicine of CSU had improved significantly in recent 10 years, but the cognition of experimental animal ethics knowledge was higher than the actual behavior of caring for experimental animals, and there was the phenomenon of "separation of knowledge and action". The ethics education of experimental animals needs to pay more attention to the development of students’ behavior of caring for experimental animals.