Animals ; Apoptosis ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; metabolism ; pathology ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Mitochondria ; pathology ; Podocytes ; cytology

OBJECTIVEIn order to improve the irrigation for Panax notginseng growing seedlings, different mulching ways were carried out to investigate the effects of double mulching.

METHODField experiment was applied to study soil moisture, soil temperature and bulk density of different mulching ways while the germination rate and seedlings growth also were investigated.

RESULTCompared with the traditional single mulching with pine leaves or straw, double mulching using plastic film combined with pine leaves or straw could reduce 2/3 volumes of irrigation at the early seedling time Double mulching treatments didn't need to irrigate for 40 days from seeding to germination, and kept soil moisture and temperature steady at whole seedling time about 30% and 9.0-16.6 degrees C, respectively. The steady soil moisture and temperature benefited to resist late spring cold and germinate earlier while kept germination regularly, higher rate and seedlings quality. In contrast, single mulching using pine leaves or straw had poor soil moisture and temperature preserving, needed to irrigate every 12-day, meanwhile dropped the germination and booming time 14 days and 24-26 days, respectively, reduced germination rate about 11.3%-8.7%. However, single pine leaves mulching was better than straw mulching. In addition, though better effects of soil moisture and temperature preserving as well as earlier and higher rate of germination with single plastic films mulching had, some disadvantages had also been observed, such as daily soil temperature changed greatly, seedling bed soil hardened easily, more moss and weeds resulted difficulty in later management.

CONCLUSIONTo the purpose of saving water and labor as well as getting higher germination rate and seedlings quality, double mulching using plastic films combined pine leaves at the early time and single mulching removing plastic films at the later time is suggested to apply in the growing seedlings of P. notoginseng.

Agriculture ; methods ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Fertilizers ; analysis ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Quality Control ; Seedlings ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Soil ; chemistry

To perform a systemic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of PET (CT) and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for diagnosing neuroblastoma (NB),electronic databases were searched as well as relevant references and conference proceedings.The diagnostic accuracy of MIBG and PET (CT) was calculated for NB,primary NB,and relapse/metastasis of NB based on their sensitivity,specificity,and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUSROC) in terms of per-lesion and per-patient data.A total of 40 eligible studies comprising 1134 patients with 939 NB lesions were considered for the meta-analysis.For the staging of NB,the per-lesion AUSROC value of MIBG was lower than that of PET (CT) [0.8064±0.0414 vs.0.9366±0.0166 (P＜0.05)].The per-patient AUSROC value of MIBG and PET (CT) for the diagnosis of NB was 0.8771±0.0230 and 0.6851±0.2111,respectively.The summary sensitivity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.79 and 0.89,respectively.The summary specificity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.84 and 0.71,respectively.PET (CT) showed higher per-lesion accuracy than MIBG and might be the preferred modality for the staging of NB.On the other hand,MIBG has a comparable diagnosing performance with PET (CT) in per-patient analysis but shows a better specificity.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of the Chinese herbal formula Wuzi Yanzong Pill (, WYP) on the spermatogenesis and specific secretory functions of Sertoli cells in rat model and to investigate the underlying mechanism.

METHODSFive groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats including the control group, the model group, the low-dose WYP group, the medium-dose WYP group and the high-dose WYP group (5 in each group) were treated daily with vehicle, multiglycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f (GTW) either alone (20 mg/kg) or followed by WYP (0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 g/kg daily), respectively for 30 days. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), inhibin B (INHB) and testosterone (T) were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Androgen-binding protein (ABP) gene expression and transferrin (TF) protein expression in testis tissue specimens of all rats were determined using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analysis, respectively. Histopathological alterations in the testis were determined using Johnsen's score.

RESULTSThe toxicity of GTW towards Sertoli cell secretory functions and spermatogenesis was accompanied by increased serum FSH concentrations and decreased INHB and T concentrations. Upregulated ABP mRNA levels, and decreased TF protein expression and Johnsen's scores were detected in the model group compared with the control group P<0.05 or P<0.01). Oral high-dose WYP administrations to GTW-treated rats effectively alleviated all of the GTW-induced changes in specific secretory functions of Sertoli cells (ABP, INHB and TF). Furthermore, serum T level and Johnsen's score of the testis increased greatly compared with the model group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONWYP has the ability to improve the spermatogenesis, possibly through modulating the secretory proteins expression of Sertoli cells.

Androgen-Binding Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Inhibins ; blood ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sertoli Cells ; drug effects ; secretion ; Spermatogenesis ; drug effects ; Tablets ; Testis ; cytology ; metabolism ; Testosterone ; blood ; Transferrin ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDPulmonary embolism (PE) is often mistaken as acute coronary syndromes (ACS) because of the considerable overlap in their clinical features. We evaluated the factors causing misdiagnosis of PE as ACS and factors that differentiate PE from ACS to improve the diagnosis efficacy of PE.

METHODSThe medical records of 22 consecutive PE patients, between 2001 and 2010, who were initially suspected of ACS were retrieved. ACS was ruled out by coronary artery angiography before a definite diagnosis of PE was given. Twenty-two contemporary cases of ACS matched by age and sex were recruited as controls. Clinical manifestations, electrocardiograms (ECG), and biomarkers of these patients were reviewed retrospectively. The factors causing misdiagnosis of PE as ACS and factors differentiating PE from ACS were evaluated.

RESULTSWe found two leading causes of misdiagnosis of PE as ACS. One is that PE can resemble ACS in several clinical aspects (symptoms and signs, ECG findings, plasma cardiac troponin I, and D-dimer). The other is the insufficient recognition of PE by clinicians. Risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE), especially deep venous thrombosis (DVT), together with signs of PE, such as unexplained dyspnea or hypoxemia, and right ventricular pressure overload on ECGs are valuable in differentiating the two diseases.

CONCLUSIONSDifferentiation between PE and ACS is sometimes challenging. Adequate awareness of the risk factors for VTE and the signs of PE are crucial in the diagnosis of PE.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; diagnostic imaging ; Adult ; Aged ; Coronary Angiography ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Embolism ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To investigate the epidemical features, etiological and clinical characteristics of HFMD in Suzhou city, from 2011 to 2015, providing the scientific supports for HFMD prevention and control. Methods: In each district of Suzhou city, at least five specimens of mild cases were collected per month, while all of the severe cases were sampled. The RNA from each sample was examined using a commercially available real-time PCR kit. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 11.5 software. Results: We retrospectively analyzed HFMD epidemiological data in Suzhou from 2011 to 2015, a total of 4 552 outpatients in Suzhou city were diagnosed with HFMD, including 2 818 positive specimen, the total positive rate was 61.90%, and there was a significant difference in the positive rates between the adjacent years (χ²=186.09, P<0.0001). From 2011 to 2015 in Suzhou, HFMD mainly affected children aged 1 to 5 years old, 66.17% of them were 1to 3 years old. Enterovirus 71(EV71) and coxsackievirus A16(CVA16) were the predominant viral genotypes in Suzhou from 2011 to 2012, and 2014. In 2013, other EVs were dominant, the severe cases mainly correlated with EV71 subtypes, and the proportion of patients with severe disease was significantly decreased in 2013. Conclusions EV71 and CVA16 are still the important pathogens of HFMD, other EVs also occupy a certain proportion, it is the time to select one or two advantage pathogens from the other EVs into the HFMD monitoring.

Objective Using olfactory event related potentials(OERP) and magnetic resonance to evaluate olfactory function in patients with posttraumatic anosmia. Methods Twenty four patients with posttraumatic anosmia were reviewed retrospectively. A thorough medical history,physical examination,nasal endoscopy,T&T olfactory testing,olfactory event-related potentials,brain computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance image of olfactory pathway were performed in all patients. Results Subjective olfactory testing indicated 20 of 24 patients were birhinal anosmia. 2 with right nostril anosmia and left impairment,2 with left anosmia and right normal. No OERP were obtained in 24(20 were birhinal,4 was monorhinal),except 4 cases with single nostril. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the injures to the olfactory bulbs(100%),rectus gyrus(91.7%),orbital gyrus(67%),olfactory tracts(8%) and temporal lobes(8%). Conclusions OERP can objectively evaluate posttraumatic olfactory function,and magnetic resonance of olfactory pathway can precisely identify the location and extent of injures.

Recombinant mutant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rmhG-CSF) was pegylated, purified and characterized. rhG-CSF was mutated in position 1,3,4,5,17, and cysteine was added in C-terminal. rmhG-CSF was pegylated by PEG-Mal 20000 and separated by ion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography. Analysis of SDS-PAGE showed thar the purity of the separated PEG-rmhG-CSF was greater than 95%. and in intro and in vivo bioactivity study showed that target modified PEG-rmhG-CSF kept full bioactivity which was better than traditional pegylation method, and longer half-life was proved in mice.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Chromatography, Ion Exchange ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Polyethylene Glycols ; chemistry ; Protein Sorting Signals ; Recombinant Proteins

Objective To investigate the resistance mechanism of a carbapenems-resistant Leclercia adcarboxglata.Methods The species was identified by the automatic microbial analyzer,matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and 16S rRNA sequence analysis.The conventional drug susceptibility test was detected with automatic microbial analyzer,and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for imipenem was examined by E-test.The phenotypes of carbapenemase were detected by modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM) and the genotypes of resistance genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing.The characteristics of the carried plasmid were analyzed by conjugation test and S1pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE).Results The clinical isolates of Leclercia adcarboxglata were resistant to imipenem,other beta-lactam antibiotics(except aztreonam) and aminoglycosides,but sensitive to quinolones and sulfonamides.The conjugation test resulted in a drug-resistance spectrum of the receptor strain E.coli J53 similar to Leclercia adcarboxglata bacteria.The phenotype of carbapenemase was positive.PCR amplification and sequencing analysis showed that blaNDM-1,blaTEM and aac (6')-Ib were detectable in the isolates simultaneously,while the conjugon only carried blaNDM-1.S1-PFGE revealed that Leclercia adcarboxglata carried 3 plasmids.Conclusion The carbapenems resistance of Leclercia adcarboxglata may contribute to carrying blaNDM-1 gene which may exist in an around 100 kb plasmid transmitted with conjugation.

We investigated the formation mechanism and immediate constituents of nanotubes between adjacent bacteria,pre venting rapid increase of drug-resistant bacteria provide potential targets.We used scanning electron microscopy(SEM) to observe formation of nanotubes;glutamic was determined by surface desorption atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry(SDAPCI-MS)and peptidoglycan was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in the forma tion of nanotubes before and after.The results showed that Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli consumed more glutamic after formation of nanotubes;at the same time,the concentration of peptidoglycan in nanotubes formation of S.aureus and E.coli increased significantly.This study illuminated the glutamic and peptidoglycanin role mechanism of nanotubes form.We found that peptidoglycan is constituents of nanotubes and glutamic is the main energy source for the formation of nanotubes.