Objective To study the effects of knock down midkine(MK)by siRNA on chemosinsitivity in bladder cancer cells. Methods Three MK siRNAs were designed and constructed. After transfected with MK siRNA or scrambled siRNA for different time, cultured cells were harvested to carry on the next experiments. Expression of MK was determined by real-time RT-PCR and western blot, and apoptosis were evaluated by caspase-3 activity and TUNEL assay. MTT was performed to examine the inhibition effect of Paclitaxel (PTX) on cells. Results MK siRNA could down-regulate the MK expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The MTT results showed that the inhibit rates were (18.21±0.36)%, (18.19±0.29)%, (17.89±0.33)%, (1.86±0.52)%, (32.56±0.53) %, (53. 83±0.38) % and (78. 95±0.55) % in different groups PTX alone(0.2μmol/L), ConA +PTX(0.2 μmol/L), Con-B +PTX(0.2 μmol/L), siRNA alone(12. 50 nmol/L), siRNA(3. 125nmol/L) + PTX (0. 2 μmol/L), siRNA (6. 25 nmol/L) + PTX (0. 2 μmol/L) and siRNA (12. 50nmol/L)+PTX(0.2 μmol/L), respectively. The TUNEL results showed that apoptosis index was (1.81 ±0. 36)%, (1. 89±0. 38)%, (5. 56±0. 58)%, (9. 68±0.55)% and (15. 25±0.56)% in different groups (Con-A, Con-B, siRNA (3. 125 nmol/L), siRNA (6. 25 nmol/L) and siRNA ( 12. 5nmol/L), respectively. The activity of caspase-3 increased significantly in transefected cells with a dose-and time-dependent manner. Conclusion MK siRNA could sensitize human bladder cancer cells to chemotherapy which might be through the apotosis.

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Calcium Carbonate ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dust ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; drug effects ; physiology ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Pneumoconiosis ; epidemiology ; Sampling Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective:To investigate association between loneliness and depressive episode among rural older people.Methods:A total of 839 rural adults (aged over 60 years) from Liuyang in Hunan were enrolled by using multi-stage cluster sampling method.The Short-form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale,the Social Support Rating Scale,the Life Events Scale for the Elderly,Quality of Life Scale,and the Activity of Daily Living Scale were used to assess loneliness,the social support condition,the stimulating quantity of negative life events,the quality of life,and the abilities of daily life activities,respectively.The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-Ⅳ-TR Axis I Disorders questionnaire survey was performed by a face-to-face interview.Results:The prevalence rate of depressive episode among the rural older people was 6.8％.Multivariable analysis showed that the elderly who were with stronger loneliness were the risk factor of depression (OR=1.126,95％CI 1.038 to 1.221).Conclusion:Loneliness is positively associated with an increased risk of depressive episode.

Sleep quality is closely related to human health. It is very important to correctly discriminate the sleep stages for evaluating sleep quality, diagnosing and analyzing the sleep-related disorders. Polysomnography (PSG) signals are commonly used to record and analyze sleep stages. Effective feature extraction and representation is one of the most important steps to improve the performance of sleep stage classification. In this work, a collaborative representation (CR) algorithm was adopted to re-represent the original extracted features from electroencephalogram sig- nal, and then the kernel entropy component analysis (KECA) algorithm was further used to reduce the feature dimension of CR-feature. To evaluate the performance of CR-KECA, we compared the original feature, CR feature and readied CR feature (CR-PCA) after principal component analysis (PCA). The experimental results of sleep stage classification indicated that the CR-KECA method achieved the best performance compared with the original feature, CR feature, and CR-PCA feature with the classification accuracy of 68.74 +/- 0.46%, sensitivity of 68.76 +/- 0.43% and specificity of 92.19 +/- 0.11%. Moreover, CR algorithm had low computational complexity, and the feature dimension after KECA was much smaller, which made CR-KECA algorithm suitable for the analysis of large-scale sleep data.
Algorithms ; Electroencephalography ; Entropy ; Humans ; Polysomnography ; Principal Component Analysis ; Sleep Stages ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; diagnosis ; Software

Objective:To observe the effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui and Dazhui on cognitive function of vascular dementia rats and explore its possible mechanism. Methods:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the sham operation group, model group and electroacupuncture group, with 10 rats in each group. Rats in the model group and the electroacupuncture group were made as vascular dementia models by carotid artery ligation of the two sides. After 2 weeks of modeling, the electroacupuncture group received electroacupuncture at Baihui and Dazhui for 4 weeks. Before and after the intervention, take the novel object recognition behavior test to detect the 1, 24 h new object preference coefficient; and use magnetic resonance spectroscopy to scan the levels of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr neurometabolites in the hippocampus. q-PCR was used to detect the expression of caspase-3 and Bax in apoptotic cells. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect synapsin SYN expression. Results:Compared with the model group, the preference coefficient of new object of the electroacupuncture group at 1 h [(69.85 ± 11.26)% vs. (50.26 ± 8.85)%] and 24 h [(60.85 ± 11.86)% vs. (43.26 ± 10.25)%] significantly decreased ( P<0.01). The content of NAA/Cr (1.344 ± 0.149 vs. 0.892 ± 0.178) significantly increased ( P<0.01), and the content of Cho/Cr (0.661 ± 0.142 vs. 0.902 ± 0.178) in the hippocampus significantly decreased ( P<0.01). The expression of hippocampus caspase-3 (1.342 ± 0.041 vs. 2.437 ± 0.089), Bax (2.135 ± 0.083 vs. 4.358 ± 0.137) significantly decreased ( P<0.01), and the expression of SYN (0.577 ± 0.035 vs. 0.315 ± 0.025) significantly increased ( P<0.01). Conclusion:Electroacupuncture at Baihui and Dazhui can effectively improve the cognitive dysfunction of rats with vascular dementia, which may be related to the improvement of neuronal metabolites NAA, Cho content and inhibition of neuronal apoptosis and improvement of neuronal touch function.

The effect of addition nucleotides on heparinase production by Flavobacterium heparinum was reseached. The result indicated that addition of nucleotides cause different effects on heparinase production depend on its addi ng mode, single kind of nucleotide would restrain, but multiplex promote. The s trongest promotion happened when the propotion of nucleotides was consistent wit h the nucleic acids of heparinase mRNA. HPLC result confined the entrance of nu cleoides to the bactera cell. And it also suggested the synthesis metabolic of nucleic acids in F.heparinum was imbalance, there always be higher lever of purin nucleoides. L-Asp was added to medium culture to enhance pyridine nucle oides thynesis in order to improve the enzyme production ,which has been affecte d by the imbalance of nucleoides.

Objective To compare the effects of antenatal ambroxol and 3-day dexamethasone and 1-day dexamethasone on rats′ fetal lung morphogenesis.Methods Twelve pregnant rats were divided into 4 groups randomly:3-day ambroxol group,3-day dexamethasone group,1-day dexamethasone group and control group,every group had 3 rats.On gestational day 19,cesareans were carried out and the histologic structures of 6 fetal rats lungs of each pregnant rats were observed with light microscope,electronic microscope and image analysis.Results 1.Under the light microscope,compared with control group,fetal rats lung in three treatment groups had more alveolar numbers,larger alveolar space,and thinner alveolar septum(Pa

Objective To investigate the effect of calcium antagonist verapamil on the function of rat?- cells and tolbutamide (D860)-induced insulin release.Methods Insulin released from isolated islets were measured in control,verapamil,D860,and verapamil+D860 groups.Furthermore,intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was conducted in acute experiments treated with verapamil and D860 respectively to assess?-cell function in rats with the same allocation as in vitro.Another IVGTT was performed in the end of 4 weeks' treatment.The insulin contents in pancreas were assayed and pancreas islets morphology were observed with immunohistochemistry.Results Verapamil could inhibit insulin release from isolated islets.Verapamil group was [(1.244?0.082)ng?ml~(-1)?islet~(-1)]and control group (2.623?0.226) ng?ml~(-1)?islet~(-1)(P0.05).Also,similar results were obtained in normal rats during acute experiments and verapamil reduce the hypoglycemic effect promoted by D860. However,above results were not observed in the end of 4 weeks experiments,and no difference for insulin content and morphological change in islets was found among four groups.Conclusion Treatment of verapamil chronically does not impair islet function and interfere with the hypoglycemic effect of D860 in rats .

OBJECTIVETo understand the laws and characteristics of silicosis incidence of the workers exposed to the uranium dust from 1956 to 2002.

METHODSThe length of employment, age of occurrence of silicosis, and its duration and death age were compared between the uranium miners and uranium geological prospecting teams, and also between the miners exposed to uranium dust and those exposed to mixed uranium dust by single factor analysis method.

RESULTSWith time going on, the length of employment, age of occurrence of disease and its duration and death age were prolonged respectively in the workers exposed to uranium dust. The length of employment and age of occurrence of disease in uranium geological prospecting teams [(10.15 +/- 5.95) and (40.60 +/- 9.86) years respectively] were shorter than those in uranium miners [(14.23 +/- 8.12) and (41.38 +/- 10.98) years], but the duration (P(50)) and death age were longer [(14.29 years vs 12.52 years), (53.69 +/- 10.04) years vs (51.45 +/- 10.85) years respectively]. The length of employment and age of occurrence of disease in those exposed to uranium dust only [(11.78 +/- 8.06) and (38.04 +/- 9.89) years] were shorter than those exposed to mixed uranium dust [(12.74 +/- 6.29) years, (41.40 +/- 10.67) years], but the duration (P(50)) and death age were longer than the mixed uranium dust ones [(14.59 years vs 13.20 years), (53.93 +/- 10.60) years vs (51.82 +/- 10.20) years].

CONCLUSIONThe difference in the occurrence of silicosis in the workers exposed to uranium dust may be attributed to the physical and chemical character of the uranium dust and the different working circumstance.

An experiment was conducted using cultivated Glycyrrhiza uralensis in age of one year to study the effects of abscisic acid (ABA) on chemical components content and color of G. uralensis. By using different concentrations of ABA spraying on leaves, the change of the chemical component content was analyzed within 45 d after ABA stimulation, and the effects on quality were studied combined with colorimetric analysis data. It turned out that in some sense the content of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin had increased within 45 d, especially for liquiritin. After high concentrations of ABA (3.96 mg · L(-1)) stimulating, the content of glycyrrhizic acid rose 52% while liquiritin up 392% within 30 d. Then they both showed a decline in the content of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin on 45 d. Color index values of a* and b* were all significantly higher than that of the control group within 45 d, which meant the color of powders turned toward red and yellow. The conclusion was that ABA (3.96 mg · L(-1)) stimulating could not only improve the quality in the traditional sense through the color of G. uralensis, but also in the modern sense by improving the content of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin.
Abscisic Acid ; pharmacology ; Color ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Flavanones ; analysis ; Glucosides ; analysis ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; chemistry ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; analysis ; Plant Growth Regulators ; pharmacology