As a clean, efficient, and renewable energy, hydrogen is regarded as a promising alternative. Because of using biomass as substrate, microbial fermentative hydrogen production can meet the need of sustainable development. The factors affecting the process of microbial fermentative hydrogen production, are analyzed in this paper on the basis of microorganisms, substrates, products and operative parameters. The parameters related to hydrogen production from organic wastes, are also mentioned.

Objective To study hemodynamics of cerebral blood flow in newborns with asphyxia.Method Bilateral cerebral electrical admittance plethysmogram(BCEAP) was used to explore characteristics of cerebral blood flow in 20 healthy newborns and 20 newborns with asphyxia respectively from first to fourth day after birth.Results Both the ratio of Hs to b-S(Hs/ b-S) and index of admittance differential loop(ADL) Ⅰ+Ⅱ decreased significantly in newborns with asphyxia compared to normal control from first to fourth day after birth(P

ObjectiveTo investigate the role of platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) and its receptor in the development of hypertrophic scar. MethodsThe expression of PDGF and its receptor were detected in biopsy specimens of 9 pieces of normal skin, 7 pieces of granulation tissue of burn wound and 34 pieces of hypertrophic scar by immunohistochemical staining using specific polyclonal antibodies.ResultsPDGF and its receptor markedly increased in granulation tissue and hypertrophic scars, reaching the peak in the hypertrophic scars within 6 months and then decreased after the peak, whereas PDGF and its receptor expressed weakly in only a few normal skin specimens, and the differences were significant(P<0.05).ConclusionsThe increasing expression of PDGF and its receptor may be related to the development of hypertrophic scar.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the short-term effect and experience of Nuss procedure on 120 cases of patients with pectus excavatum.

METHODSThoracoscopy assisted Nuss procedure with different ways of anesthesia were applied to 120 cases of patients with pectus excavatum, including 7 cases of recurrence after traditional surgical procedure (6 cases) and Nuss method (another one). The patients ranged in age from 2.5 to 43 (mean 14.1) years and in Haller index from 2.91 to 29. Of the 120, 73 had symmetric and 47 had asymmetric pectus excavatum. The Nuss procedure is performed with general anesthesia and a convex steel bar is inserted under the sternum with thoracoscopy through small bilateral thoracic incisions. The steel bar is inserted with the convexity facing posteriorly, and when it is in position, the bar is turned over, thereby correcting the deformity.

RESULTSThe operation was successfully accomplished without severe complications in all the 120 cases. The mean operative time was 58 minutes and the mean volume of blood loss was 30 ml. 103 patients had one bar inserted while the other 17 cases with more extremely diffuse depression required 2 or even 3 bars to get a satisfactory correction. Such methods as modifications to the fixing points and the shape of the bar, partial osteotomy, were developed to deal with asymmetric ones.

CONCLUSIONThe Nuss procedure is a minimally invasive technique for correction of pectus excavatum. It can lead to a satisfactory outcome and surgical time is less.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Funnel Chest ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Orthopedic Procedures ; methods ; Thoracoscopy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo construct a eukaryotic expression vector for expressing hepatitis B virus (HBV) recombinant HBsAg-EGFP fusion protein and obtain a stable transfected Chang Liver cell line.

METHODSThe coding region of HBsAg gene of HBV was amplified by PCR and was digested by BamH I/EcoR I . This fragment was inserted into pEGFPN1 with T4 ligase and transformed E-coli TG1. The positive recombinant plasmid was selected, then the recombinant plasmid was transfected into Chang Liver cell by Lipofectamine 2000 cells containing stable transformants were selected by the ability of resistance to G418 and isolated with a limited dilution. The stable transfected cell line expressing high level HBsAg-EGFP fusion protein was obtained.

RESULTSThe eukaryotic expression vector named pEGFPN1-HBsAg was successfully constructed and the stable transfected Chang Liver cell line expressing pEGFPN1-HBsAg fusion protein was obtained.

CONCLUSIONThe stable transfected Chang Liver cell line could express pEGFPN1-HBsAg fusion protein, could be used to screen the proteins differentially expressed in HBsAg expression Chang Liver cells, which brought some new clues for studying the potential molecular mechanism of HBsAg protein.

Cell Line ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver ; cytology ; metabolism ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection ; methods

OBJECTIVETo gain some insights into the critical events relating to HBV transcriptional regulation by comparing HBV replicative characteristics in different cell lines.

METHODSHepatic cell lines QSG-7701 and HepG2 were transfected with plasmid PUC18-HBV 1.2 by standard calcium phosphate precipitation method, and 1.0 microg pSEAP2-control vector was included in the transfection procedures to serve as an internal control monitoring the transfection efficiency. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the medium was detected by ELISA method and HBV DNA was quantitated using fluorescent quantitative PCR. The intracellular HBsAg and HBcAg were detected with immunofluorescent staining. The gene expression profiles of QSG-7701 and HepG2 were compared using oligonucleotide microarray; partial differentially expressed genes were verified with quantitative RT-PCR.

RESULTSIn the medium of the cultured HepG2 cells, HBsAg and HBV DNA could be detected 6 days after the transfection, whereas in QSG-7701 cells, the HBsAg and HBV DNA could be detected for 2 weeks. The HBV DNA in the culture medium of QSG-7701 was about 50 times more than that of the HepG2 cells which were kept in 1 x 10(7)copies/ml(-3) x 10(7)copies/ml for 0 to 10 days after the transfection. On the 4th day after the transfection, 20% to 30% of the QSG-7701 cells were positive with HBsAg and HBcAg immunofluorescent staining. The gene microarray analysis showed that most transcription factors involved with HBV life cycle in QSG-7701 and HepG2 cells had similar levels, whereas some factors involved with HBV transcriptional regulation and core particle disassembly, such as interleukin-6 (R=5.1340), retinoid X receptor, alpha (R=5.1268), hepatic leukemia factor (R=3.2538), serine protease PRRS23 (R=2.8356), hepatitis B virus x interacting protein (R=0.4939), serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (R=0.0740) and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (negative in QSG-7701) were all differentially expressed by HepG2 cells.

CONCLUSIONDifferent than HepG2 cells, the QSG-7701 cells could support a high level and relatively stable HBV replication after HBV DNA transient transfection. The HBV core particles were probably recycled in the QSG-7701 cells. The differential gene expressions between QSG-7701 and HepG2 might explain the mechanism of the different HBV replication patterns. Hepatic cell line QSG-7701 might serve as a useful tool for HBV transcriptional regulation research.

Cell Line ; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral ; Genetic Vectors ; Genome, Viral ; Hep G2 Cells ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy and safety of Eviprostat for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSAn open, multicentral clinical trial was conducted in 100 patients with BPH. Patients received a 12-week oral administration of Eviprostat 2 tablets per-time, 3 times a day. The main indexes of efficacy include international prostatic symptom score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), residual urine ( Ru) and prostatic volume (V). The additional indexes are quality of life score (QOL) and average urinary flow rate (Qave).

RESULTSAfter a 12-week therapy, IPSS, QOL score, Qmax and Qave were significantly improved. IPSS was averagely decreased by 5.67 (P < 0.001); QOL score was averagely decreased by 1.44 (P < 0.001); Qmax was averagely increased by 1.70 ml/s (P <0.001); Qave was averagely increased by 1.15 ml/s (P < 0.001); Ru was averagely decreased by 5.07 ml (P = 0.046) , PSA level was averagely decreased by 0.129 microg/L (P < 0.017). The clinical adverse event rate was 1%.

CONCLUSIONEviprostat is a kind of safe, effective and preferable drug for treating BPH. It can improve the subjective symptoms and objective measures of the patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Drug Combinations ; Ethamsylate ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plant Extracts ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; drug therapy ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome ; Urodynamics

OBJECTIVETo detect the disease-causing point mutations in the dystrophin gene of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients.

METHODSThe approach of denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) coupling with sequencing was used to screen the point mutations of 79 exons and the untranslated regions of dystrophin gene without large deletions/duplications, which was in 6 unrelated DMD probands from 6 DMD families.

RESULTSFive disease-causing mutations, 697-698insGT, C616T, G1255T, C4279T, and C2302T, were ides created the new stop codons in downstream sites of mutations, respectively. In addition to the disease-causing point mutations, a point mutation T5586+61A in intron 39 was also found at patient 3, and a missense mutation A694T in exon 8 was detected at patient 5. Four point mutations, C2168+13T, 5740-13dupG, G5234A and C5280T, were also detected at patient 6 whose causative point mutation was unavailable. Seven point mutations have not been reported previously. Bi-directional PCR amplification of specific alleles (Bi-PASA) method was established to distinguish the haplotypes of heterozygote or homozygote in a single PCR reaction.

CONCLUSIONVia automated DHPLC screening or detecting the subexonic mutations in dystrophin gene is feasible to clinical laboratories, and also is a superior method in terms of sensitivity and efficiency.

Base Sequence ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Dystrophin ; genetics ; Gene Duplication ; Humans ; Male ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; genetics ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Deletion

OBJECTIVETo investigate the change in dendritic cells (DCs) in children with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP) and the effect of glucocorticoid on DCs in children with cITP.

METHODSFifteen children with cITP and 20 healthy controls were included in the study. Flow cytometry was used to measure the DC subsets count in the 15 children with cITP before and after glucocorticoid treatment as well as the corresponding values in the 20 healthy controls. The DCs derived from peripheral blood monocytes in children with cITP were cultured in vitro and collected, and their immunophenotypes were determined by flow cytometry.

RESULTSBefore glucocorticoid treatment, the children with cITP showed no notable change in the absolute count of myeloid DCs (mDCs) but showed decreased absolute count of plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and increased mDC/pDC ratio compared with the healthy controls (P<0.05). After glucocorticoid treatment, the children with cITP demonstrated increased absolute count of pDCs and decreased absolute count of mDCs and mDC/pDC ratio compared with before treatment (P<0.05). Before glucocorticoid treatment, the children with cITP had significantly higher positive rates of HLA-DR, CD80, CD83 and CD86 on peripheral blood DCs than the healthy controls (P<0.01). All the positive rates were significantly decreased after glucocorticoid treatment (P<0.01), so that there was no significant difference from the healthy controls (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSDisproportion and functional disturbance of DC subsets is associated with the pathogenesis of cITP in children. Glucocorticoid can strengthen the immunosuppression of DCs in children with cITP, which may contribute to the effectiveness of glucocorticoid as a treatment.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chronic Disease ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Male ; Thrombocytopenia ; drug therapy ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo assay the expression of KiSS-1 and GnRH in the male rat hypothalamus at different developmental stages, and to explore the significance of KiSS-1 in sex development onset and normal reproduction regulation.

METHODSExpression analyses of KiSS-1 and GnRH genes were conducted in the rat hypothalamus at different developmental stages with RT-PCR and real time-PCR. The testosterone level was assayed by chemoluminescence technique.

RESULTSKiSS-1 mRNA rose gradually during sex development in the rat hypothalamus, highest at puberty and lowered a little at adulthood. KiSS-1 mRNA of the prepubertal, early pubertal, pubertal and adult rats was 1.7, 2.1, 3.5 and 2.0 times higher than that of the infantile rats respectively. The expression of GnRH and KiSS-1 correlated positively (r = 0.905, P < 0.05). But the activation of GnRH neuron was later than KiSS-1. The expression of GnRH was the highest in the puberty rats. GnRH mRNA of the prepubertal, early pubertal, pubertal and adult rats was 1.1, 1.94, 2.42 and 1.92 times higher than that of the infantile rats respectively. The level of testosterone in the adult rats was significantly higher than that at the earlier stage and was the highest at the adult stage.

CONCLUSIONThe expression of KiSS-1 correlates positively with that of GnRH. KiSS-1 may participate in the regulation of GnRH and is relevant to puberty onset and the regulation of reproduction function.

Animals ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Hypothalamus ; metabolism ; Kisspeptins ; Male ; Proteins ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction