With the special organization structure and function,retina is thought to be a prime candidate for developing the cellular therapies.Many types of stem cells have been explored to use for the treatment of retinal diseases and exhibit significant potential for further clinical application.However,before these results are translated to a clinical setting,sufficient investigations are required,such as the selection of the type of stem cells,transplantation strategy,the mechanism of therapeutic effect and biological safety,and how to get high differentiation efficiency,clarify the best development phase before transplantation,and achieve effective functional and structural integration of stem cells in the retina,etc.

0.05), reduced obviously in hydrotherapy group as compared with sham group. Postsynaptic density (PSD) in hippocampus was more in intervention group than non-intervention group. Conclusion Enriched environment stimulus and hydrotherapy can promote the rehabilitation of neonatal rats with HIBD. The intervention effects of enriched environment and combined application of enriched environment stimulus and hydrotherapy is better than hydrotherapy. The change of NMDA receptor in hippocampus might be one of the mechanism.

OBJECTIVE:To compare the therapeutic effects of taurine and catalin eye drops.METHODS:All the mice were divided into the normal control group,the cataract control group,the taurine group and the catalin eye drops group.Except the normal control group,the rest ones were used to establish the galactose cataract models and then received eyedrop administration everyday.The contents of taurine,glycin and glutamic acid in crystalline lens were measured by high perfor?mance liquid chromatography.RESULTS:The contents of amino-acids were not found lower in the taurine group as com?pared with the catalin eye drops group.CONCLUSION:Taurine shows the preventive and therapeutic effects on the experi?mental cataract,which can be comparable to that of catalin eye drops or even more advantageous.

0.05).There was a negative correlation between PASP and the level of H2S in 3 groups at time points of pre-operation,1 h and 24 h post-operation (pre-operation,r=-0.66,P

Objective:To observe the effect of simvastatin at different doses on the inflammatory factors and renal function in se-nile patients with diabetic kidney disease ( DKD) . Methods:Totally 160 cases of DKD patients were randomly divided into the control group, low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group. All the patients were given the foundation treatment, and the low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group was respectively given simvastatin 10, 20,40 mg·d-1 . The changes of in-flammatory cytokines (CRP, ICAM-1 and IL-1β) and renal index (BUN, Cr, UAER, 24hUpro and Uβ2-MG) among the groups were observed and compared before and after the 4-week treatment. Results:CRP in the high dose group after the treatment was significantly decreased when compared with that before the treatment and that in the control group after the treatment, and the difference was statisti-cally significant (P<0. 05). ICAM-1 in the low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group was significantly decreased when compared with that before the treatment and that in the control group after the treatment, and the difference was statistically sig-nificant (P<0. 05). IL-1β in the four groups after the treatment had no obvious change when compared with that before the treatment, and there was no significant difference among the groups (P >0.05). BUN in the four groups after the treatment had no obvious change when compared with that before the treatment, and there was no significant difference among the groups (P>0. 05). Cr and UAER in the four groups after the treatment were significantly decreased (P<0. 05), those in the low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group after the treatment were significantly lower than those in the control group after the treatment (P<0. 05), and those in the conventional dose group and high dose group after the treatment were significantly lower than those in the low dose group after the treatment (P<0. 05). 24hUpro in the low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group after the treatment was significantly decreased when compared with that before the treatment and that in the control group after the treatment (P<0. 05). Uβ2-MG in the low dose group, conventional dose group and high dose group after the treatment was significantly decreased when com-pared with that before the treatment and that in the control group after the treatment (P<0. 05), that in the conventional dose group and high dose group after the treatment was significantly decreased when compared with that in the low dose group after the treatment (P<0. 05), and that in the high dose group after the treatment was significantly lower than that in the conventional dose group after the treatment (P<0. 05). ③There was no statistically significant difference in the adverse reactions incidence among the four groups (P>0. 05). Conclusion:Simvastatin can improve diabetic nephropathy conditions in two aspects of inflammation factors and renal in-dex, and simvastatin at high dose shows more advantages.

Hearing loss caused by cochlear damage is the main symptom of sudden deafness (SD). Some patients also suffer from vestibular symptoms. In recent years, more attention has been paid to the vestibular dysfunction in patients with SD. The lesions could involve the whole inner ear in SD patients with and without vertigo. Comprehensive evaluation of vestibular function may help us understand the extent of lesions in sudden deafness and analyze the pathogenesis of disease. A less involvement of inner ear lesion may indicate a better hearing recovery.
Cochlea ; injuries ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Vertigo ; Vestibule, Labyrinth ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND: Chitosan/poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) copolymer has been paid close attention for special biological source of Chitosan and PHB. However, there has been no proper method for them to polymerize effectively.OBJECTIVE: To prepare chitosan/PHB graft copolymer in a homogeneous medium, using a gentle initiator.DESIGN, TIME and SETTING: This study, a single-sample experiment, was performed at the Research Center of Chemistry, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China from August 2007 to October 2007.MATERIALS: Chitosan: DD=100%, Mη=123000, Kyoto, Japan. PHB was purchased from Aldrich chemicals and the molecular weight was 10000.METHODS: Chitosan was grafted with poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) in acetic acid/dimethyl sulfoxide system, and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) was used as initiator. The reaction temperature was 85℃ and the reaction continued for 5 hours with nitrogen protection. Grafting reaction and the chemical structure of the copolymer were confirmed by infrared analysis, NMR and elemental analysis. The crystal form and thermal stability of copolymer were characterized with wide-angel X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis balance, respectively.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The chemical structure of copolymer, crystal form as well as thermal stability.RESULTS: Grafting reaction was confirmed by infrared analysis, NMR and elemental analysis. Wide angle X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis indicated that graft copolymer was different from chitosan and PHB in crystalline morphology, and had a good thermal stability.CONCLUSION: Using BPO as initiator, chitosan/PHB grafting copolymer is prepared and it has a steady property.

Objective To compare the axial length (AL) measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan in the patients with idiopathic macular hole and study the correlation between the difference of the two measurements and the foveal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods Twenty-seven eyes of 26 idiopathic macular hole patients (IMH group) and 27 eyes of 25 patients with mild cataract (control group) were enrolled in this study.Foveal thickness was measured with 3D OCT.The AL was measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan,and the consistency of the two measurements was determined by Bland Altman analysis.The correlation between the difference of the two measurements and foveal thickness was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Results Mean foveal thickness of IMH and control eyes were (372.85±60.02) μm and (243.44±22.50) μm,respectively.The difference between the foveal thickness of the two groups was highly significant (t=-10.490,P＜0.001).In the IMH group,the AL measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan were (23.20± 1.12) mm and (23.18± 1.13) mm,respectively,the difference between the two measurements was not statistically significant (t =-0.549,P =0.588),whereas in the control group,the AL was (23.41 ± 0.72) mm by Lenstar and (23.33 ± 0.74) mm by contact A-Scan,the two measurements were significantly different (t=-4.832,P＜0.001).However,no correlation was found by Pearson correlation analysis between the difference of the two measurements and the foveal thickness in either IMH or control group (r=0.181,-0.141; P＞0.05).Conclusions Although there is no difference of axial length measurements using Lenstar and contact A-Scan in IMH eyes,in clinical measurements the results of two instruments should be taken into comprehensive consideration.

BACKGROUND: Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) refers to join the fluorescence groups into PCR reacting system, and to real-time monitor entire PCR process using the fluorescence signal accumulation, finally to make the quantitative analysis of the unknown template through the standard curve. OBJECTIVE: To study the theory of real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and to explore its applications and progress in medicine. METHODS: With "real-time fluorescence quota PCR, theorem, application" in English for the search term, PubMed database was retrieved from January 2000 to December 2008. With "real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, principle, application" in Chinese for the search term, Wanfang Database from January 2000 to December 2008, Tsinghua Tongfang Chinese database from January 2000 to December 2008 ware was retrieved. Literatures were limited to English and Chinese languages. Cell factor and tumor resistance genes served as the evaluation index. The methodology of research on the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology and medical applied research on real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology were included. While repetitive research and Meta analysis were excluded. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Because real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology has not only realized PCR develops from qualitative to quantitative levels, but also has strong specificity, high sensitivity, good duplication, accurate quantization, high automaticity, and entire blocking response compared with conventional PCR, thus it becomes the important tool in the molecular biology research. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technique has been widely applied, such as mRNA expression, detections of DNA copy number and determination of mononucleotide polymorphism, as well as in the clinical medicine including accurate quantitative examination of mycobacterium tuberculosis, Type B and Type C hepatitis, AIDS virus, gonococcus, and chlamydia trachomatis. Its quantitative scope extremely extends, no need of gradient dilution, the specificity is stronger, overcomes the false positivity. Due to the traditional PCR technology cannot give the accurate quantization, it is greatly limited in the practical application. Therefore, the accurate quantization of the PCR product, particularly the dynamic monitoring of viral etiology, becomes the urgent need.

OBJECTIVETo construct a 3D finite-element model of the craniofacial complex with the original DICOM data of CT and to investigate the preliminary biomechanical characteristics with different directions and magnitudes of retractive forces to the maxilla of rhesus monkeys.

METHODSA male rhesus monkey with mixed dentition was used. Spiral CT was performed to establish a 3D finite-element model of the craniofacial complex. The ANSYS 12.1 software was used to analyze craniofacial complex displacement.

RESULTSEach landmark showed larger displacement with increasing force value. The displacement values and force size exhibited a linear relationship. In the x-axis direction, all displacements were small. In the y-axis direction, all displacements showed significantly higher changes with increasing force value displacement. In the z-axis direction, the A-point and ANS point moved downward, but PNS moved upward.

CONCLUSIONLoading retractive force resultes in an apparent backward and clockwise rotation on the maxilla with no obvious effects on the width of the upper jaw.