Objective To study the effect of rapamycin on the balance of T helper cell subsets in rats with pulmonary fibrosis. Methods Fifteen male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control group, model group and rapamycin group, with 5 rats in each group. Pulmonary fibrosis model was reproduced by using the method of intratracheal instillation of bleomycin (5 mg/kg). Control group was treated by intratracheal instillation of saline (1.25 mL/kg) to obtain the negative control. The rats of the rapamycin group were given rapamycin (1 mg·kg-1·d-1) by gastric perfusion for consecutive 10 days beginning on the 3rd day after intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. On the 28th day all rats were sacrificed, and the peripheral blood and the lung tissues were harvested. The lung tissue was observed. And the severity of pulmonary fibrosis in rats was assessed by Ashcroft score. The lung tissues were performed using immunohistochemical staining to detect the expression ofγ-interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukins (IL-4, IL-17). Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentages of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Results The severity of pulmonary fibrosis was improved in rats of rapamycin group compared with that of model group, and the Ashcroft score was decreased (2.92±0.64 vs. 5.76±1.76, F = 16.276, P = 0.080). The expression levels of IL-4 and IL-17 (A value) in model group were the highest (4 789.0±1 014.6, 19 139.0±2 433.3), followed by those of the rapamycin group (3 547.0±953.8, 10 380.0±2 352.4), and the least was found in the control group (1 627.0±914.8, 4 419.0±923.6). The expression levels of IFN-γ (A value) in control group were the highest (9 956.0±1 172.6), followed by those of the rapamycin group (7 487.0±998.4), and the least was found in the model group (6 054.0±1 045.2). There were significantly differences in above parameters among three groups (all P<0.01). Compared with the control group and model group, the percentages of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+T cells in CD4+CD25+, CD4+cells, and lymphocytes were significantly increased in rapamycin group [(57.36±8.84)% vs. (41.28±5.91)%, (34.52±4.56)%; (4.77±0.48)% vs. (3.15±0.37)%, (3.14±0.28)%;(1.97±0.22)%vs. (1.24±0.17)%, (1.44±0.21)%, all P<0.05], and the percentages of CD8+CD25+Foxp3+T cells in CD8+CD25+, CD8+cells, and lymphocytes were also significantly increased in rapamycin group [(73.92±7.69)% vs. (33.44±4.46)%, (49.14±11.38)%; (1.73±1.05)% vs. (0.46±0.15)%, (0.71±0.42)%;(0.31±0.20)% vs. (0.09±0.04)%, (0.14±0.09)%, all P < 0.05]. The percentage of CD8+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells in CD8+CD25+in model group was significantly higher than that in control group [(49.14±11.38)% vs. (33.44±4.46)%, P < 0.05]. Conclusions T helper cell subsets are imbalanced in pulmonary fibrosis rats. Rapamycin can prevent bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, and its antifibrotic effect maybe the promotion of proliferation and function of regulatory T cells and imbalance regulation of T helper cell subsets.

Objective To explore the effect of rapamycin on pulmonary fibrosis in rats and its mechanism.Methods Pulmonary fibrosis model was induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin (5mg/kg).Control group was treated by intratracheal instillation of saline (1.25 ml/kg) to obtain the negative control.The rats of the rapamycin-treated group were given rapamycin (1 mg/kg per day) by gastric perfusion for consecutive 10 days beginning on the third day after intratracheal instillation of bleomycin.On the 28th day,all rats were sacrificed and the peripheral blood and the lung tissues were harvested.Lung tissues were performed hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining.The severity of pulmonary fibrosis in rats was assessed by Ashcroft score.Lung tissues were performed immunohistochemical staining to detect the expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta).The expression level was judged by integrated optical density.Results The severity of pulmonary fibrosis was improved in rats of rapamycin-treated group compared with the rats of bleomycin-treated group.A significant difference in Ashcroft score was found between rapamycin-treated group and bleomycin-treated group(2.92 ± 0.64 vs 5.76 ± 1.76,P ＜ 0.01).The expression level of TGF-β was increased in rapamycin-treated group compared with the normal control group (5520.00 ± 1614.20 vs 3370.00 ± 1478.14,P ＜0.01).The expression level of TGF-β was decreased in rapamycin-treated group compared with the bleomycin-treated group (5520.00 ± 1614.20 vs 7772.00 ±1526.46 P ＜0.01).Conclusions Rapamycin can prevent bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

The effect of PubMed on the development of biomedical journals and the role of its Linkout function in extending the effect of journals were analyzed , followed by a description of the technologies and methods for the full-text seamless link of journal Websites and PubMed using its Linkout function with Biomedical and Environmental Sciences as an example .

Objective To identify nine species of Dendrobium Sw. by inter-simple sequence repeats-polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR) method and to investigate the difference among the species of Dendrobium Sw. at DNA molecular level. Methods Ten primers constituted by simple sequence repeats (SSR) were tested for PCR and sepharose electrophoresis of the nine species. Results Seven of the ten primers amplified polymorphic bands. The number of polymorphic band positions of each primer ranged from 7 to 14, and the size of fragments ranged from 220 to 1 260 bp. The amplification patterns of two primers, namely UBC-807 and UBC-864, were higher in terms of polymorphic and amplified band ratio. Each of them was able to distinguish all the examined species. Conclusion ISSR-PCR provides a quick, reliable molecular marker technique for identification of different species of Dendrobium Sw.

Objective To show the international protocols for blood pressure monitoring based on a real example. Methods The assessment process of international protocol that can be released by Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring of European Society of Hypertension was evaluated. Results 33 participants were selected, which all indexes in evaluation stage one and stage two of the indicators were detected through. The 95% consistency interval in difference between tested device and reference monitor was 10.65～-12.67 mmHg for systolic BP and 13.68～-14.03 mmHg for diastolic BP, and there were 7.1% (7/99) and 6.1% (6/99) of valid points out of the 95% consistency interval. Conclusion The measured automatic blood pressure in the normal environment, measuring accuracy and the standard with the control of mercury -type sphygmomanometer is coincident, so it can be recommended for home application.

Objective To compare blood pressures results measured by automated sphygmomanometer and standard mercury sphygmomanometer,and to investigate the application of measurements consistency evaluation method in accurate measurement of automated sphygmomanometer.Methods Intraclass correlation coefficient was used to estimate the reliability of repeated measurements,and Bland -Altman method was adopted to evaluate the consistency between automated sphygmomanometer and standard mercury sphygmomanometer.Meanwhile,the results were compared with protocol of European Society of Hypertension.Results The tested automated sphygmomanometer did not adapt to the criteria of European Society of Hypertension.The intraclass correlation coefficient of mercury sphygmomanometer was 0.937 for systolic blood pressure,0.849 for diastolic blood pressure.The intraclass correlation coefficient of tested sphygmomanometer was 0.944 for systolic blood pressure,0.929 for diastolic blood pressure.The 95% consistency interval was(-10.20 to 16.94)mmHg for systolic blood pressure and(-6.25 to 11.69)mmHg for diastolic blood pressure.Conclusion Normally,Bland-Altman method has the same judgment result with protocol of European Society of Hypertension.

Objective: To investigate the recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis patients 5 years after successful treatment in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, and to analyze its influencing factors. Methods: The data of pulmonary tuberculosis patients who were successfully treated in Hengyang City in 2014 were collected through the tuberculosis management information system. The recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis was defined as the endpoint, and all patients were observed for five consecutive years. Factors affecting recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis were identified using Kaplan-Meier estimates, log-rank test and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Results: A total of 6 626 patients with successfully treated pulmonary tuberculosis were included, including 4 961 males and 1 665 females, with a median age of 54 years. There were 536 cases with recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis within five years, with a 8.09% cumulative proportion of recurrence and annual recurrence rate of 1.75 per 100 person-years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that men ( HR=1.592, 95%CI: 1.256-2.019 ), age of 40 years and greater ( age of 40 to 59 years, HR=7.025, 95%CI: 1.739-28.377; age of 60 years and greater, HR=8.175, 95%CI: 2.024-33.023), farmers ( HR=1.379, 95%CI: 1.070-1.778 ), retreatment ( HR=6.398, 95%CI: 5.163-7.929 ) and positive etiology ( HR=1.255, 95%CI: 1.042-1.511 ) were risk factors for five-year recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis among successfully-treated patients. Conclusions High recurrence rate is found among pulmonary tuberculosis patients within five years after successful treatment in Hengyang City. There is a high risk of pulmonary tuberculosis recurrence among male, etiologically positive, retreated farmers at ages of 40 years and older, and targeted interventions are recommended.

Background: Early diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis are important for the prognosis and evaluating the survival of patients.Aims: To systematically assess the diagnostic value of transient elastography (TE) for staging of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease.Methods: PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,CNKI,Wanfang and VIP from Jan.2001 to Dec.2015 were retrieved to collect the articles with staging of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease by TE.Data extraction was conducted.Article quality was evaluated by quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies 2 (QUADAS2).Meta-analysis was conducted by Stata 12.0 software.Results: Twenty articles involving 5 748 patients were included.Meta-analysis showed that the combined sensitivity,specificity and AUC of TE for diagnosing significant fibrosis (≥F2) were 0.78 (95％ CI: 0.73-0.82),0.85 (95％ CI: 0.80-0.88) and 0.88 (95％ CI: 0.85-0.91),respectively.The combined sensitivity,specificity and AUC for advanced fibrosis (≥F3) were 0.89 (95％ CI: 0.86-0.91),0.88 (95％ CI: 0.85-0.91) and 0.94 (95％ CI: 0.92-0.96),respectively.The combined sensitivity,specificity and AUC for cirrhosis (F4) were 0.91 (95％ CI: 0.86-0.95),0.89 (95％ CI: 0.87-0.92) and 0.95 (95％ CI: 0.93-0.97),respectively.Conclusions: TE technique has a good diagnostic value in assessing significant fibrosis,advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic liver disease,especially for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis.

To investigate the biological role of snake venom cystatin(sv-cystatin) in tumor progression, the cDNA of sv-cystatin amplified by PCR from pUC18-cystatin plasmid was cloned into methanol-inducible expression vector pPICZ?A. The linearized recombinant plasmid pPICZ?A-cystatin was transfered into Pichia pastoris, strain GS115 by electrophoration. Transfermants with phenotype Mut+ selected were identified by PCR analysis and induced in 1.0% methanol. The reombinant sv-cystatin protein was examined by SDS-PAGE, Western blot analysis. The molecular mass of expression product was about 14 kDa and approximately 16 mg/L of recombinant sv-cystatin was produced from one of GS115-cystatin transformants. The chromatography purified protein could reduce the activity of papain. The ability of B16F1 cells treated with recombinant sv-cystatin to invade the reconstituted basement membrane decreased significantly (P

Objective To observe the clinical effect of Guanggu Jisheng decoction on the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during recovery stage. Methods A total of 122 convalescent COVID-19 patients in Guanggu Branch of Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital of Hubei Province were treated with Guanggu Jisheng decoction for 3 consecutive courses, each course lasting 3 days. The changes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes before and after treatment were compared. Scores were recorded according to the laboratory testing and the severity of symptoms (no symptom, mild, common and severe) to investigate the clinical curative effect of Guanggu Jisheng decoction on the treatment of convalescent COVID-19. Results According to the TCM syndrome scores, after one course of treatment (3 days), the total effective rate was 75.41% (92/122), with the effective rate being 31.97% (39/122), the significant efficiency being 21.31% (26/122), and the clinical recovery rate being 22.13% (27/122). After two courses of treatment (6 days), the total effective rate was 86.89% (106/122), with the effective rate being 32.79% (40/122), the significant efficiency being 28.69% (35/122), and the clinical recovery rate being 25.41% (31/122). After three courses of treatment (9 days), the total effective rate was 88.52% (108/122), with the effective rate being 16.39% (20/122), the significant efficiency being 31.15% (38/122), and the clinical recovery rate being 40.98% (50/122). The symptoms of cough, fatigue, shortness of breath and sweating were significantly improved. No patients turned positive again from negative of respiratory pathogen nucleic acid. Conclusion Guanggu Jisheng decoction has a good clinical effect on convalescent COVID-19 patients. It can significantly improve the clinical symptoms.