We carried out parallel design and development of two differently structured auto sampler based on a multi-axis and multi-mode high-precision closed-loop servo control system. An integrated embedded control drive module was developed based on the idea of compatibility and inter-changeability, so that DC motor and encoder were standardized into uniform models. Meanwhile, electric and mechanical interfaces were uniformed to a same standard. This allows the direct exchange of above-mentioned components between the two models. A 1-μL manual sample injection syringe was installed on both standard 110-sample and platform 40-sample liquid auto sample injectors connected with gas chromatographer. Approximately 0. 5μL of cetane-isooctyl was sampled for 6 consecutive times at six different positions in the sample bottle. The repeatability RSDs of the injection peak areas of the two systems were 1. 1% and 1. 5%, respectively. A linear correlation coefficient (0. 9947) of peak area with injection volume was achieved based on the gradient sampling volume of 0. 1, 0. 3, 0. 5, 0. 7 and 0. 9 μL.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Liuweidihuang Pills in relieving cellphone electromagnetic radiation-induced histomorphological abnormality, oxidative injury, and cell apoptosis in the rat testis.

METHODSThirty adult male SD rats were equally randomized into a normal, a radiated, and a Liuweidihuang group, the animals in the latter two groups exposed to electromagnetic radiation of 900 MHz cellphone frequency 4 hours a day for 18 days. Meanwhile, the rats in the Liuweidihuang group were treated with the suspension of Liuweidihuang Pills at 1 ml/100 g body weight and the other rats intragastrically with the equal volume of purified water. Then all the rats were killed for observation of testicular histomorphology by routine HE staining, measurement of testicular malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels by colorimetry, and determination of the expressions of bax and bcl-2 proteins in the testis tissue by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSCompared with the normal controls, the radiated rats showed obviously loose structure, reduced layers of spermatocytes, and cavitation in the seminiferous tubules. Significant increases were observed in the MDA level (P < 0.01) and bax expression (P < 0.01) but decreases in the GSH level (P < 0.01) and bcl-2 expression (P < 0.01) in the testis issue of the radiated rats. In comparison with the radiated rats, those of the Liuweidihuang group exhibited nearly normal testicular structure, significantly lower MDA level (P < 0.05), bax expression (P < 0.01), and bcl-2 expression (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLiuweidihuang Pills can improve cellphone electromagnetic radiation-induced histomorphological abnormality of the testis tissue and reduce its oxidative damage and cell apoptosis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Cell Phone ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Electromagnetic Radiation ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Radiation-Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Seminiferous Tubules ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Spermatocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; radiation effects ; Staining and Labeling ; Testis ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; radiation effects

Many bioactive peptides from neural and endocrine tissue are amidated at C-terminals,which is essential for their activities.The ?-amide comes from post-translational modification that is catalyzed by ?-AE (?-amidating enzyme) or PAM (pepdilylglycine ?-amidating monooxygenase).The gene encoding ?-AE was amplified with PCR and cloned into the plasmid pET-30a.After the recombinant plasmid pET-A was transformed into E.coli BL21,the ?-AE was expressed and purified by the Ni2+affinity chromatography,which has the ability catalyzing Dns-Tyr-Val-Gly to Dns-Tyr-Val-NH2.It identified that the recombinant protein producing by E.coli BL21 is ?-AE,which will benefit for studies of amidation at the C-terminals of peptides.

SUMMARY Objective:To investigate the influence of cryoprotectants and cooling rates in vitrificationmethod on the spindles of rabbit M Ⅱ oocytes.Methods:Rabbit oocytes were verified by using cryoloopwith ethylene glycol(EG)singly or EG combined with dimethyl sulphoxide(DMSO)as cryoprotectants,and cooled by taking oocytes directly into liquid nitrogen or by vitrification machine.After frozen rabbit o-ocytes thawed,the microtubulin and chromosome of the spindles were fixation and stained by immunofluo-rescent method.Confocal microscope was used to reveal spindle configuration.Results:In the two proto-cols of single EG used and EG combined with DMSO,the spindles were severely injured.But in protocolof EG combined with DMSO and at ultra-rapid cooling rate,the normal configuration of spindle rate ofthawed rabbit oobytes was similar to that of the control group.Conclusion:The protocol of EG combinedwith DMSO as cryoprotectants and with extremely high cooling rate by vitrification machine can producethe best effect on conservation of spindle configuration in vitrification of rabbit oocytes.

Objective To set a rapid,simple gene diagnosis method for Down syndrome.Methods Three short tandem repeats(D21S11,D21S1270,D21S1437)loci in or near Down syndrome critical region(DSCR) were analyzed and detected by polymerase chain reaction and DNA quantitative analysis in 11 core ancestry.Results There were four types by DNA quantitative analysis to different individuals at a short tandem repeats(STR) locus.In type one,a homozygote of one allelic gene was detected.In type two,a normal heterozygote of two allelic genes was found,the content or two DNA electrophoresis bands was approximately 1∶1.In type three,a Down syndrome patient of two allelic genes was discovered.The quantity of two electrophoresis bands was nearly 2∶1.In type four,the patient showed three DNA electrophoresis bands which the content was approximately 1∶1∶1.Conclusion A rapid gene diagnosis and prenatal diagnosis method for Down syndrome can be used for quantitative analysis of STR polymorphism loci.

Objective:To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire 6.0 (EDE-Q 6.0) in female patients with eating disorders.Methods:A total of 239 patients with eating disorder and 142 healthy controls who were recruited consented to participate in the study and completed Chinese EDE-Q 6.0.Confirmatory factor analysis was used in patients to compare the original 4-factor model,1-factor model and 3-factor model.The criterion validity was tested with the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI).Mann-Whitney U analysis was used to compare the differences of EDE-Q 6.0 scores on the two samples to test the empirical validity,and ROC analysis was used to determine the cut-off value.The internal consistency of the scale was tested in two samples.Among all participants,89 patients and 31 healthy controls were retested 1 month later.Results:The original 4-factor model fit better than the other two.The EDE-Q 6.0 total score and the EDI total score had a high consistency in the total sample,patients and controls,respectively (ICC =0.88,0.87,0.73).Patients had higher scores on the EDE-Q 6.0 than controls (Ps ＜0.01).The mean area under the curve (AUC) of EDE-Q 6.0 was 0.91,the optimal cut-off point of EDE-Q 6.0 was total score ≥ 1.27,sensitivity and specificity were 79.4％ and 88.2％ respectively.The Cronbach α coefficients were 0.95,0.91,and 0.88 for the total sample,patients and controls respectively.The test-retest reliabilities were 0.73 for the total scale,0.58,0.68,0.69 and 0.71 for the 4 factors.Conclusion:The Chinese version of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire 6.0 have good psychometric properties and diagnosis accuracy,and it could be used to assess the severity of clinical symptoms.

Objective To determine the levels and significance of Krebs von den lungen-6(KL-6), pulmonary surfactant protein A (SP-A), SP-D and interleukin (IL)-6 in patients with connective tissue disease interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD). Methods The serum KL-6, SP-A, SP-D and IL-6 in all subjects were detected and the imaging and pulmonary function were recorded t test, χ2 test, non-parametric test, ANOVA and correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results ① The levels of serum KL-6, SP-A, SP-D, IL-6 in the CTD-ILD group [551.4 (428.2, 883.5) U/ml, 938.4(435.2, 2324.7) pg/ml, 90.7 (80.7, 100.3) ng/ml and 30.4 (22.9, 41.7) pg/ml; P all<0.05] was significantly higher than that in the CTD group [192.9 (139.2, 266.2) U/ml; 458.0 (372.6, 529.0) pg/ml; 80.0 (71.2, 98.3) ng/ml; 18.6 (4.9, 31.0) pg/ml, Z=-5.383, -3.76, -2.123,-3.903, P all <0.05]; and higher than healthy controls (n=30) [183.2(141.9, 216.6) U/ml; 229.0(162.0, 248.0) pg/ml;50.8(26.1, 96.4) ng/ml;7.1(3.7, 8.7) pg/ml, Z=-5.801,-8.13, 2.272, 3.266;P all<0.05].②The levels of KL-6 in pulmonary HRCT for active ILD group was significantly higher than the non-active ILD group [998.5 (640.3, 1293.3) U/ml vs 565.0(434.0, 799.5) U/ml, Z=2.182, P=0.023], there was no statistical difference in the levels of SP-A, SP-D, IL-6 between the 2 groups. ③ Spearman correlation analysis showed that KL-6 was negatively correlated with forced vital capacity (FVC%);SP-D, IL-6 and diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (DLCO %). ④ Logistic multiple regression analysis showed that KL-6 [OR=1.017, P=0.002, 95%CI (1.006, 1.028)], SP-A [OR=1.023, P=0.009, 95%CI (1.006, 1.041)], SP-D [OR=1.175, P=0.009, 95%CI (1.075, 1.264)], IL-6[OR=1.213, P=0.001, 95%CI(1.088, 1.354)] were the risk factors for ILD. Conclusion Serum KL-6, SP-A, SP-D and IL-6 are significantly increased and correlate with CTD-ILD. KL-6 is related to the pulmonary inflammatory disease and vital capacity, while SP-D and IL-6 are related to diffusion function.

Objective To assess the risk factors that could influence the severity of esophageal inju- ry in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD).Methods GERD patients diagnosed on the ba- sis of endoscopic reflux esophagitis or pathological results of 24 hour esophageal pH monitoring were divided into three groups as non-erosive reflux disease group(NERD)(n=83),mild esophagitis group(n=51) and severe esophagitis group(n=22).The clinic data and esophageal pH parameters were recorded in the three groups.A logistic regression was used to assess the joint influences of clinic characteristics,hiatus her- nia,and esophageal pH parameters on the severity of esophageal injury.Results Patients in severe esoph- agitis group were more likely to have advanced age and hiatus hernia.The number of supine long reflux epi- sodes measured by esophageal pH monitoring significantly increased with increasing grades of mueosal dam- age(P

Objective To study the relationship between Couagen Ⅰ,MMP-2,TIMP-2 gene expression and atrial fibrosis during heart failure(HF)in dog.Methods Fourteen dogs were used and randomized into HF induced by ventricular tachypacing and control group.Burst atrial pacing was used to induce atrial fibrillation(AF).And the mRNA and protein level of collagen Ⅰ,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical technique.Tissue samples were stained with Mallory trichrome.Results Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased from (67.4? 6.0)% to (29.2?7.8)%,the inducible rate of AF(7/7 vs 2/7) and sustained AF(5/7 vs 0/7) increased and duration of AF stabeatrial fibrillation(SAF) [(462.12?181.43)s vs(0.57?0.57) s] prolonged significantly in HF group.Atrial fibrous tissue content and atrial size of HF group were significantly greater than the controls dogs(268.8% in lefe atria and 190.3% in right atria).The mRNA and protein level of collagen Ⅰ(56.2% and 132.2% in lefe atria,37.4% and 78.0% in right atria)and MMP-2 (100.0% and 115.7% in lefe atria,65.7% and 96.8% in right atria) increased evidently in both lefe atria and right atria,TIMP-2 mRNA decreased 46.3% in lefe atria and had no change in right atria and that its protein had no change in both atrium,whereas the ratio of MMP-2/ TIMP-2 of mRNA and protein increased markedly in both lefe atria (285.3% and 148.8%)and right atria (106.1% and 134.7%)of HF group.SAF had a positive correlation with fibrosis and the gene level of collagen Ⅰ in lefe atria,the ratio of MMP-2/TIMP-2 had a positive correlation with fibrosis and collagen Ⅰ gene level in lefe atria during HF.Conclusions The changes of collagen Ⅰ,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 gene expression appear to be a molecular mechanism of AF, and the molecular remodeling of collagen Ⅰ induced by regulation unbalance of MMP-2/TIMP-2 appears to be an important mechanism of atrial fibrosis during HF.

Objective To explore the role of maternal physiology, mentality and prenatal health care on low birth weight (LBW). Methods A LBW-small for gestation age (SGA)-control group retrospective study was conducted based upon a population of infants born from November 2004 to June 2006. 896 cases involved in this study were entirely under voluntary participation and subject could withdraw their consent at any point. All subject recruitment and enrollment took place at Fujian Provincial Maternal and Children Hospital at the time of delivery. Using χ2 test for single factor analysis and logistic regression for multiple analyses Results There were 15 out of 22 single factors having statistical significances, including 2 maternal psychological, 4 physiological, 6 pathological and 3 prenatal health care factors respectively. When multi-factorial stepwise regression analyses was performed, there were 9 factors for main relative factors of LBW ,including women's height, number of prenatal examination, in-normal non-stress test, umbilical cord around the neck, retardation of the umbilical blood flow, week of gestation when the first examination was performed, premature rupture of membrane, preference on the sex of the infant, abnormal family history etc.were influencing the existence of LBW. Awareness on health information appeared to be a protective factor,suggesting that LBW could be prevented during the pregnant period. Conclusion Multiple factors seemed to be contributing to the incidence of low birth weight.