The intraspecies quorum sensing system of Streptococcus mutans is involved with com genes family.ComE is a kind of response regulator and act as a promoter to the quorum sensing genes.S.mutans comE mutant strain IFD140?comE was constructed using the inframe-deletion system via twice homologous recombination.In current genetic studies of S.mutans,insertion duplication and allelic exchange mutagenesis techniques routinely create polar effects to downstream genes.In-frame deletions are essentially free of these polar effects because the mutation does not introduce any genetic markers.By PCR,sequencing and RT-PCR,it was confirmed that IFD140?comE has only 717bp deleted within the comE gene and the transcription of the downstream gene comD was not interfered.The research of the morphological characteristics indicated that IFD140?comE formed clumps and cells accumulated at the bottom of the glass tubes and light-microscopic observations displayed that the mutant strain formed significantly longer chains compared to those formed by the wild strain.The successfully construction of IFD140?comE lay a foundation for further quorum sensing research.

Objective To explore the correlation between acute gastrointestinal side effects caused by radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer and degree of gastroduodenal radioactive injury under gastoendoscopy.Methods From February 2010 to May 2015,112 patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy were enrolled.The correlation between gastroscopic findings and degree of gastrointestinal side effects (grade zero to five) was analyzed.The effects of different radiotherapy on the formation of radiation ulcers were also investigated.Chi-square test and Spearman correlation analysis were performed for statistically analysis.Results The incidence of radioactive gastroduodenitis was 57.1 ％ (64/112).The incidence of radiation-induced ulcer was 42.0 ％ (47/112).Among the 112 patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy,patients with over grade two nausea,vomiting,dyspepsia and constipation received symptomatic treatment.Thirty-one patients (27.7 ％) of them received appetitestimulating treatment,53 patients (47.3％) were given anti-nausea treatment,39 patients (34.8％)received therapy of promoting digestion,and 24 patients (21.4 ％) received therapy of relieving constipation.The incidence of radiation-induced ulcer in patients with grade one acute gastrointestinal side effects was 25.8 ％ (8/31),lower than that of patients with over grade two acute gastrointestinal side effects (48.1％,39/81),and the difference was statistically significant (x2 =4.595,P=0.032).The grade of acute gastrointestinal side effects was positively correlated with that of radiation-induced injury under gastroendoscopy (r=0.295,P =0.002).The incidences of radiation-induced ulcer of gamma knife radiotherapy and helical tomotherapy were 50.0 ％ (15/30) and 39.2 ％ (31/79),respectively,and the difference was not statistically significant (x2 =1.032,P =0.301).Conclusions The occurrence of radiation ulcers should be alerted if over grade two acute gastrointestinal side effects presented in patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy.The radiotherapy caused gastrointestinal side effects can not be evaluated just according to clinical symptoms.Endoscopic findings and pathological diagnosis are the gold standard.

A new wood-degrading fungus Monodictys asperospera(Cooke & Massee) Ellis with a high level of laccase production was chosen to study.This laccase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation,DEAE-cellulose and sephacryl S-300.Purification of about 8.1 fold was achieved with an overall yield of 5.7%.Its molecular weight was estimated to be about 77 kD.The optimum temperature and pH of the lac-case activity were 55?C and 6.0,respectively.Kinetic studies of the laccase showed that the Km and the Vmax for using syringaldazine as substrate was 0.163 mmol/L and 0.194 mmol/(L.min),respectively.The carbo-hydrate content was 18.14%.In addition,it was found that laccase activity was significantly inhibited by Cu2+.

Glaucoma is a group of diseases which can threaten and damage the optic nerve and its visual pathway, leading to visual impairment as a result. Glaucomatous optic neuropathy is a chronic disease accompanied by apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells ( RGCs ) , visual field defect and cupping of optic nerve head. The gold standard in functional glaucoma evaluation is standard automated perimetry ( SAP) , but it is often limited to the subjective feelings of the patients. Still, visual electrophysiological techniques cannot replace the conventional inspection, but with its rapid development, it has provided a new strategy for the early diagnosis of glaucoma as a supplement because it can show changes in amplitude and latency before visual field defect. Here we review three special electroretinograms and multifocal focal visually evoked potentials in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.

The prescriptions including Polygoni Multiflori Caulis that built by Pro. Yan were collected to build a database based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) inheritance assist system. The method of association rules with apriori algorithm was used to achieve frequency of single medicine, frequency of drug combinations, association rules between drugs and core drug combinations. The datamining results indicated that in the prescriptions that including Polygoni Multiflori Caulis, the highest frequency used drugs were parched Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, Ostreae Concha, Ossis Mastodi Fossilia, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma, Paeoniae Rubra Radix, and so on. The most frequent drug combinations were "Polygoni Multiflori Caulis-parched Ziziphi Spinosae Semen", "Ostreae Concha-Polygoni Multiflori Caulis", and "Polygoni Multiflori Caulis-Ossis Mastodi Fossilia". The drug association rules of confidence coefficient 1 were "Ostreae Concha-->Polygoni Multiflori Caulis", "Poria-->Polygoni Multiflori Caulis", "parched Ziziphi Spinosae Semen-->Polygoni Multiflori Caulis", and "Paeoniae Alba Radix-->Polygoni Multiflori Caulis". The core drug combinations in the treatment of insomnia were Ossis Mastodi Fossilia, Polygoni Multiflori Caulis, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Ostreae Concha, Polygalae Radix, Margaritifera Concha, Poria, and parched Ziziphi Spinosae Semen. And the core drug combinations in the treatment of obstruction of Qi in chest were Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma, Polygoni Multiflori Caulis, parched Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, Trichosanthis Fructus, Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus, and Paeoniae Rubra Radix.
Data Mining ; methods ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Polygonaceae ; chemistry ; Prescriptions

Objective: To analyze associations of MRI-lesions and clinical features with disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Shanghai, China. Methods: We studied patients with MS, identified from a survey in Shanghai, whose sites of lesions in the CNS was based on the MRI examinations. Associations between MRI-lesions, various clinical variables and the severity of disability were analyzed with univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: There were 210 patients in this study. The disability of the patients with lesions confined to the spinal cord was significantly more severe than those with lesions in the brain (p < 0.008). Current age (OR: 1.041, 95% CI: 1.007~1.077), MS duration (OR: 1.082, 95% CI: 1.011~1.159) and MRI-lesions in the spinal cord (OR: 2.441, 95% CI: 1.039~5.737) were significantly associated with severity of disability on multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: MRI-lesions in the spinal cord, older age, a longer MS duration were significantly associated with a more severe disability in this MS study in Shanghai China.

Objective To evaluate the role of late course accelerated fractions.ted irradiation(LCAF) combined with concurrent chemotherapy in the management of esophageal carcinoma.Methods From March 1998 to July 2000,111 eligible patients were randomized into LCAF alone group(LCAF,57 patients)or LCAF plus concurrent chemotherapy group(LACF-CT,54 patients).The radiotherapy regimen was identical in the two groups,consisting of conventional fractionation in the first 2/3 course and accelerated fractionation in the second 1/ 3 course to a total dose of 68.4 Gy/41 Fx/44 d.Chemotherapy regimen consisted of four eycles of cisplatin 25 mg/ (m~2?d)plus fluorouracil 600 mg/(m~2?d)on day 1 to 3 every 4 weeks and was delivered on the first day of radiotherapy.Results The median follow-up time was 67.1 months(range 47.6-76.4 months).The 1-,3-,5- year survival rate was 67%,44% ,40% and 77%,39% 28% in LACF-CF and LEAF group,respectively(P =0.310).Grade 3+4 acute side-effact was 42% and 25% in LCAF-CT and LCAF group,respectively(P＜0. 05),with 3 treatment-related deaths in the LCAF-CT group.Conclusions Late course accelerated fractionated irradiation combined with concurrent chemotherapy has a trend towards improving the survival,at the cost of increasing acute side-effect.Its role needs further confirmation by larger sample studied in randomization.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitor PTK787 on cell proliferation, cell cycle and the expression of fak mRNA of human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line K562, and to explore the mechanism of PTK787 against acute myeloid leukemia. The MTT method was used to detect the effects of PTK787 in various concentrations and at different time points on proliferation of K562 cells; the flow cytometry was used to determine the effects of PTK787 in different concentrations on cell cycle of K562 cells; the RT-PCR was used to assay the expression of fak mRNA in K562 cells treated with PTK787 for 48 hours. The results showed that along with increasing of the concentration and prolonging of time, the inhibitory rate of PTK787 on K562 proliferation was gradually enhanced. The comparison between various concentration groups at same time or comparison between various time groups in same concentration showed significant differences (p < 0.05), in which the effect of 320 micromol/L PTK787 on cells was strongest, while the continuous increase of PTK787 concentration or prolong of action time did not enhance the inhibitory rate on K562 proliferation. With increasing of drug concentration, the cell proportion in G(1) phase gradually increased, the cell proportion in S phase gradually decreased, the comparison between various groups revealed significant differences (p < 0.05), however the continuous increase of drug concentration from 160 micromol/L did not obviously change the cell proportion in phases of cell cycle. With increasing of drug concentration, the expression of fak mRNA in K562 cells gradually reduced with significant differences between various groups (p < 0.05), but with continuous increase of drug concentration from 160 micromol/L, the effect of PTK787 on the expression of fak mRNA in K562 cells also did not obviously change. It is concluded that the PTK787 shows effect of anti-leukemia cells through inhibiting transformation of the K562 cells from G(1) phase into S phase and decreasing the expression of fak mRNA in cells.
Cell Cycle ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Phthalazines ; pharmacology ; Pyridines ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics

Adolescent ; Brachial Plexus ; physiopathology ; Encephalitis ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Facial Muscles ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVEBy reverse engineering and rapid prototyping techniques to found a new design method of maxillofacial restoration.

METHODSBy laser scanning apparatus the plaster face model was scanned and the primitive face point data were acquired. With the reverse engineering software, the point data were reconstructed to one smooth face surface image and the defect orbital tissue shape data was obtained from the normal contralateral tissue data in the software. The model designed the three-dimensional data of defect part and the rapid prototyping technique made the resin orbital restoration.

RESULTSThe laser scanning apparatus acquired the distinct and precise model data of the plaster face-model. The Digisurface retrograde engineer software succeeded to fulfill the unilateral orbital defect computer-aided design. The orbital restoration inosculated the plaster model tightly and symmetrically.

CONCLUSIONThe reverse engineering software and rapid prototyping technique could finish the computer-aided design and manufacture of the unilateral orbital defect restoration smoothly and satisfactorily.

Computer-Aided Design ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Orbit ; anatomy & histology ; injuries ; surgery ; Orbital Implants ; Prosthesis Design ; methods