The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of fluoxetine (FLX) on the expressions of BDNF and Bcl-2 in the hippocampus, the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex of conditioned fear (CF) model mice. Forty eight mice were randomly divided into three groups, normal control group, CF stress group and FLX-pretreated CF group. The FLX-pretreated CF group was given FLX (10 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) for 7 days before CF stress. After CF stress model was established, all mice were given behavioral experiments to test whether FLX impaired or improved the auditory and contextual fear conditioning. Then mice were sacrificed. The expressions of BDNF and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blotting. The results showed that the freezing time of FLX-pretreated CF group was significantly lower than that of CF group; FLX pretreatment up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 in the hippocampus at 1 d after CF stress (P < 0.001), but no significant differences was observed at 7 d; BDNF significantly increased in the hippocampus at 7 d (P < 0.001), but no differences at 1 d; the expressions of BDNF and Bcl-2 in the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex were of no obvious differences between CF group and FLX-pretreated CF group at 1 d or 7 d after CF stress. Parallel to these changes, pretreatment with FLX could affect histopathologic changes induced by CF stress. Furthermore, the results indicated that FLX pretreatment could protect against CF stress-induced neurological damage via the activation of BDNF and Bcl-2 in hippocampus.
Amygdala ; metabolism ; Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; metabolism ; Fear ; drug effects ; Fluoxetine ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; Male ; Memory ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Prefrontal Cortex ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Stress, Psychological ; metabolism

The glutamate dehydrogenase (EC.1.4.1.4) gene which amplified from the genome of Brevibacterium flavum GDK-9 by polymerase chain reaction was linked with pUCm-T for sequence alignment. Analysis of gdh sequences revealed that the whole sequence is 1927 bp, only one ORF existed, which used ATG as the initiation codon and coded a peptide of 448 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 48 kD. The comparability between the cloned gdh sequence to the reported sequence is high to 99.55%. Only the 1190th base mutation (C→A) lead to the change of amino acid sequence (Thr→Asn), the others are not. The recombinant plasmid pXG was then transformed into E. coli XL-Blue and Brevibacterium flavum GDK-9 which was induced by IPTG. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that there was a clear induced protein band with molecular mass of 48.7 kD on expected position. Standard glutamate fermentations indicated that although the level of GDH increases the intracellular glutamate pool, the level of GDH has no influence on glutamate secretion.

Objective To provide a new method for sacral fracture fixation by means of 3D recon-struction and reverse engineering technique. Methods Pelvis images of 3D CT scan were obtained from patients with sacral fracture. The digital data were transferred into a computer workstation. 3D models of pelvis were reconstructed using Amira 3.1 software and saved in STL format. The 3D fracture models were imported into Imageware 10.0 software. Different situations of reduction (total reduction, half reduction and no-reduction) were simulated using Imageware 10.0 software. The extract locations and the best directions of inserting iliosacral lag screws were defined using Reverse Engineering according to the 3 situations to before navigation templates were designed according to the posterior anatomic features of the ilium and the insertion channels. Exact navi-gational templates were manufactured by rapid prototyping. Drill guides were sterilized and used intraoperatively to assist surgical navigation and placement of iliosacral lag screws. Results Accurate screw placement was confirmed with postoperative X-ray and CT scanning. The navigation templates were found to be helpful and highly accurate. Conclusion The navigation template may be a useful method for mini-invasive fixation of sacroiliac joint fracture.

Objeetive To analyze the effect of treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment(RRD) by scleral bucking as well as the relative risk factors affecting the anatomical reattachment and visual recovery.Methods One hundred and fortyeight patients (148 eyes) with RRD treated by sclera buckling surgery in our hospital during January 2012 to January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.The rate of postoperative retinal anatomic reattachment,the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and complications were observed.Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlative factors affecting the anatomical reattachment and postoperative vision restoration.R~ults Retinal reattachment achieved in 91.9％ after initial surgery and the final success rate for anatomic reattachment was 97.3％ assessed with ophthalmoscope and fundus photography.But these two rates were assessed with the optical coherence tomography (OCT) were 60.1％ and 80.4％ respectively.Single factor Logistic regression analysis showed that retinal detachment was affected by multiple breaks and Grade C1 PVR(all P ＜0.05);Single factor Logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative BCVA,course of disease,retinal detachment range,macular involvement or not had an impact on the postoperative recovery of BCVA (all P ＜ 0.05),preoperative age,refractive status,releasing retinal fluid or not,intravitreal gas injection,combined scleral buckling,and postoperative subretinal fluid,all of these factors had no effect on BCVA recovery after surgery (all P ＞ 0.05).And through multiple factors Logistic regression analysis,preoperative BCVA was an independent risk factor for BCVA recovery after surgery (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Scleral bucking is an effective technique for managing RRD,but multiple breaks and Grade C1 PVR are significant risk factors for anatomic.Preoperative BCVA,course of disease,retinal detachment range,macular involvement or not have the impact on the BCVA recovery after scleral buckling,and the preoperative BCVA is the key factor.Early diagnosis and early treatment as well as protecting the preoperative visual acuity can improve prognosis.

Objective To investigate the effect of different etiology on the serum level of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF), and to assess any correlation of CA125 with serum level of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). Methods The 155 aged patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class Ⅲ or Ⅳ were enrolled and grouped into four reasons of hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiomyopathy and other reasons, and 25 healthy old persons as control.CA125 and BNP levels were measured by automatic chemiluminescent immunoassay and enzyme immunoradiometric assay, respectively. Results CA125 level in patients with CHF was (83.4±6.6)U/L for hypertension, (36.8±1.4)U/L for CHD, (38.1±1.6)U/L for cardiomyopathy and (38.4±1.4)U/L for other reasons, which significantly higher than for healthy controls [(14.3±1.15) U/L, P＜0.05].Especially, CA125 level in hypertension group was notable higher than in other reasons of group (P＜0.05), and was positively related to BNP level (r=0.67,P＜0.05). Conclusions Serum CA125 level is a predictor for clinical pathogen of CHF.Therefore, it may be a useful additional marker for the evaluation of clinical treatment of these patients

A binary plant expression vector, pCM12-slm, carrying the aroAM12 mutant gene encoding bacterial 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and the Bts1m recombinant gene consisting of 331 N-terminal amino acids of CryIAc and 284 C-terminal amino acids of CryIAb has been constructed. The truncated Bts1 gene was fused with the PR1b signal peptide sequence and expressed in tobacco plants under the control of 2E-CaMV35S promoter and the omega (omega) translation enhancer sequence from tobacco mosaic virus. The mutant aroAM12 was fused with the transit sequence of tobacco EPSPS and expressed in tobacco plants under the control of the CaMV35S promoter. Tobacco leaves were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 harboring the pCM12-slm plasmid, and the transgenic plants were selected directly on medium containing the herbicide. Forty glyphosate resistant plants were regenerated, with a transformation frequency of 27%. Transgenic plants were initially assessed for glyphosate resistance by placing leaf discs on shoot induction media containing the herbicide. Rooted plantlets, propagated from selected transgenic tobacco, were transferred to soil in a greenhouse and tested for glyphosate resistance by spraying them with Roundup at a commercial recommended dose. The glyphosate resistance assay indicated that all the transgenic plants showed highly resistant to the herbicide. The PCR assay showed that the aroAM12 gene was present in all of the 40 T0 transfer plants, and Bts1m genes present in 28 of 40 of the transgenic plants. Southern blot analysis further confirmed that the copy number of the transgenes varied from one to three copies in different transgenic plants. Northern blot and immunodot blot showed that the aroAM12 and Bts1m genes were expressed at the transcription and translation levels. Transgenic plants containing both the aroA M12 and Bts1m genes were further assessed for insect resistance. Tobacco leaves of T0 transgenic plants were infested with tobacco bollworm H. assulta larvae for 6 days. The result (table 1) showed that the survival rate of insect larvae was between 0-10%, and the growth of insect larvae was seriously inhibited, suggesting pCM12-slm as a dual functional vector with potential application in breeding of glyphosate and insect resistance transgenic plants.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens ; genetics ; Animals ; Blotting, Northern ; Blotting, Southern ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; physiology ; Herbicides ; pharmacology ; Moths ; pathogenicity ; Plant Diseases ; parasitology ; Plant Leaves ; drug effects ; genetics ; parasitology ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; drug effects ; genetics ; parasitology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tobacco ; drug effects ; genetics ; parasitology

Objective Because of high precision and mild side effects,intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) has become a hot spot in the radiotherapy field.Nevertheless,the precision of IMPT is extremely sensitive to the range uncertainties.In this paper,a novel robust optimization method was proposed to reduce the effect of range uncertainty upon IMPT.Methods Firstly,the robust optimization model was established which contained three types of range including the increased range,the normal range and the shortened range.The objective function was expressed in quadratic function.The organ dose contribution matrix of each range was calculated by proton pencil beam algorithm.The range deviation was discretized and the probability of each range was obtained based on the Gauss distribution function.Finally,the conjugate gradient method was adopted to find the optimal solution to make the actual dose coverage of the target area and the organs at risk distributed within the expected dose as possible.Results The 3 sets of simulation tests provided by the AAPM TG-119 Report were utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of this method:nasopharyngeal carcinoma,prostate and "C"-type cases.Compared with conventional IMPT optimization approach,this novel method was less sensitive to the range uncertainty.When the range deviation occurred,the dose coverage of the target area and organs at risk of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma and prostate cases almost reached the expected dose,and the high dose coverage of the target area and organs at risk protection were improved in the"C"-type cases.Conclusions To compensate for the range uncertainty,this novel method can enhance the dose coverage of the target area and reduce the dose coverage of the organs at risk.

To establish a sensitive and specific HPLC method for quality control of Radix Paeoniae Alba, HPLC method was applied for quality assessment of Radix Paeoniae Alba. HPLC analysis was performed on a Symmetry C18 column (250 mm x 4. 6 mm ID, 5 microm, Waters, USA). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile (solvent A) and water containing 0.1% (v/v) phosphoric acid (solvent B) at a constant flow rate of 0.8 mL x min(-1). An increasing linear gradient (v/v) of solvent A was used (t/min, % A): (0,10), (5,10), (25,15), (45, 22), (46, 65), (50, 80) and (60, 80). The column temperature was set at 25 degrees C. The chromatograms were monitored at 230 nm and the on-line UV spectra were recorded in the range of 190 - 400 nm. The HPLC chromatographic fingerprinting of Radix Paeoniae Alba, showing 11 characteristic peaks, was established from 28 lots of Radix Paeoniae Alba. The areas of main chromatographic peaks were found to complied with the following rule: paeoniflorin > 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-penta-O-galloyl-glucos > albiflorin > methyl gallate > other compounds. The chromatographic fingerprinting of Radix Paeoniae Alba with high specificity can be used to control its quality and assure lot-to-lot consistency.
Benzoates ; analysis ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; analysis ; China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Ecosystem ; Glucosides ; analysis ; Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Monoterpenes ; Paeonia ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results

AIM: Accommodation is one of the most important functions of human eye, while its mechanism is still under discussion. This paper aimed to study accommodation mechanism with numerical simulation.METHODS: A simulation model was constructed to study the mechanism of accommodation based on the experimental data derived from published resources. The displacement and pressure are applied on the model to study the deformation of lens during accommodating.RESULTS: The simulation showed that, as the eye was accommodating, the thickness of the lens increased linearly,and the lens diameter decreased linearly. The optical power of the lens increased as the accommodation increased. This result was accord with the public facts in accommodation.Furthermore, the pressure was found to have a great influence on the shape of the lens and the optical power. The lens became thinner and flatter as the pressure increased and the pressure caused a remarkable increase of lens' optical power.CONCLUSION: The outcome of this paper is consistent with the Helmholtz's hypothesis on accommodation to some extent. The analytical model presented in this paper can be used in the theoretical study of the accommodation mechanism of the human lens.

Objective To evaluate the activities of vastus medialis, rectus femoris and vastus lateralis during stair descent in healthy youth. Methods Thirty healthy college students were recruited from the Capital Medical University 2015 admissions in 2016. The electrode was put on the dominant side of the quadriceps. Surface electromyography was used to record muscle activity during stair descent. Results During stair descent, the maximum amplitude and mean amplitude were significantly lower in rectus femoris than in vastus medialis and vas-tus lateralis (P<0.001). No significant difference was found between vastus medialis and vastus lateralis (P>0.05). Conclusion The activa-tion of both vastus medialis and vastus lateralis during stair descent is significantly higher than that of rectus femoris. The coactivation of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis is equal in healthy youth.