BACKGROUND:Cortical electrical stimulation has achieved good effects in treatment of stroke through animal and clinical experiments.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of a ful y implanted cortical electrical stimulation device with long time, low intensity and various frequencies stimulation protocols on the neurological function recovery in a rat model of local cerebral infarction.
METHODS:The cerebral infarction model was established through middle cerebral artery occlusion in 60 Sprague-Dawley adult male rats. Forty rats with 1-3 points by Bederson scale were detected with magnetic resonance imaging, which was used to confirm cortex infarction and to identify a location for implantation of stimulating electrode over the peri-infarct cortex. Twenty-three rats with cortex infarction were randomly divided into cortical electrical stimulation group (CES group, n=13) and no stimulation group (NS group;n=10). The device was implanted on 6 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion, and the stimulation was given for 16 days. The stimulation program consists of two sessions lasting half an hour each in the morning and in the afternoon respectively. Stimulator delivered biphasic charge balanced pulses (pulse width=200μs) with various frequencies of 50 Hz, 20 Hz and 5 Hz within 10 second blocks and then repeated. The rats of NS group were implanted with the device, but received no electrical stimulation. The behavioral tests, includingforelimb use asymmetry test and foot fault test were performed at 2 and 16 days after implantation. Final y, al of the devices were taken out to test if they were normal y working and al of the rats were sacrificed for hematoxylin-eosin staining, which can reflect the structure of peri-infarct cortex and cellmorphology.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There was only one stimulator in CES group cannot normal y work, and the remaining 22 ones worked wel . The skin covered the implanted stimulator was slightly ulcerated in one rat, and the incisions of the other rats were healed wel . Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed clear and intact structure in peri-infarction cortex (i.e., electrodes were implanted at the cortex), neurons arranged in neat rows, with abundant neuronal cytoplasm and clear nucleolus. The glial cells have complete structures, and there was no edema in the intercellular spaces. Foot-fault and forelimb use asymmetry tests showed the improved neurological function in rats of CES group than that of NS group. We designed a ful-implanted cortical electrical stimulator used in cerebral ischemic rats, and established an implanted method with long time, low intensity and various frequencies pulsed electrical stimulation. The results indicated the stimulation pattern in our study is safe and effective, and it can significantly promote functional recovery in local cerebral infarction rats.

plus stented elephant trunk implantation (Bentall+Sun′s surgery), aortic root replacement (Bentall surgery), stent implantation, thoracic and abdominal aorta replacement. The aortic operation time of the 19 patients were 5 gestational weeks to 1 month after delivery. The relation between aortic operation and the termination of pregnancy: 4 patients underwent aorta surgery after termination of pregnancy, 9 patients had cesarean section and aorta surgery at the same time, 6 patients underwent aorta surgery before cesarean section. ②5 patients did not receive arota surgery, 2 patients of type A dissection and 1 patient of type B dissection died before the surgery;2 cases of type B dissection underwent conservative treatment. The termination time of pregnancy was 6-37 gestational weeks, with the average of (26 ± 10) weeks. (3)Maternal and fetal outcomes:20 patients survived after treatment (83%,20/24) and 4 patients died (17%,4/24). 10 cases were live births, including 4 full-term infants and 6 preterm premature infants. The birth weight of the neonates was 1 080-3 800 g, with the average of (2 302±764) g. Three of them were very low birth weight infants and 1 was low birth weight infant;3 neonates had mild asphyxia. The neonates were followed up for 0.5 to 10 years, with the average time of (1.4 ± 1.7) years. So far the infants′ development was good.Conclusions Pregnancy with aortic dissection is pernicious. Early identification, prompt diagnosis and prompt interventing of the vascular surgery are necessary to the safety of mother and fetus.

Objective: To investigate the core information about tuberculosis prevention and control knowledge among residents in Jiangxi Province, so as to provide insights into formulation of health education strategy for tuberculosis prevention and control. Methods: Permanent residents at ages of 15 years and older were sampled from Jiangxi Province using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method from January to June 2021. Participants' demographic features and access to health education for tuberculosis prevention and control were collected through questionnaires, and the awareness of core information about tuberculosis prevention and control was investigated according to Key Points for Core Information and Knowledge about Tuberculosis Prevention and Control (2016 version). Results: A total of 1 280 questionnaires were allocated, and 1 217 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 95.08%. The respondents included 605 men (49.71%) and 612 women (50.29%), and had a mean age of (50.05±15.78) years. The overall awareness of core information of tuberculosis prevention and control was 80.46%, and the awareness rates of “Pulmonary tuberculosis is suspected and timely healthcare-seeking is required if you have cough or expectoration for more than 2 weeks”, “Pulmonary tuberculosis is mainly transmitted via respiratory tract, and everyone is likely to be infected”, “No spit anywhere, covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and wearing a mouth mask may reduce the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis”, “Pulmonary tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease that poses a long-term damage to health” and “Most patients may be cured and others are avoided to be infected following standard whole-process treatment” were 90.22%, 86.52%, 85.95%, 80.03% and 59.57%, respectively. There were 491 respondents that were aware of all core information about tuberculosis prevention and control (40.35%), and network was the predominant route for acquiring health education about tuberculosis prevention and control (62.08%, 586/944). Conclusions The overall awareness of core information about tuberculosis prevention and control did not achieve the target set in the 13th Five-year Plan for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control, and the awareness of tuberculosis treatment-related knowledge was low.

BACKGROUND: Emblic leafflower fruit contains rich vitamin C, organic acid and mineral substance. It is indicated in modern research that emblic leaafflower fruit acts on preventing from cancer and anti-aging too. In recent years, more and more concerns have been paid to the researches on functional factor of emblic leafflower fruit and the development of the relevant functional food. It has been verified that emblic leafflower fruit acts on reducing lipid and anti-oxidation in vitro, but there are still lacks of enough basic researches to support it.OBJECTIVE: To probe into mechanism of emblid leafflower fruit on anti-oxidation and protection of vascular endothelial function in rabbits with hyperlipemia.DESIGN: Randomized controlled experimental study based on the experimental animals.SETTING: Atherosclerosis(As) experimental room in a university hospital.MATERIALS: Totally 24 normal NewZealand male rabbits, mass weighted (2.2±0.5) kg.METHODS: The experiment was performed in As Experimental Room of Beijing Anzhen Hospital from September 2001 to May 2002. Totally 24 New Zealand male rabbits were randomized into the control, the power of emblid leafflower fruit group(powder group)(4 g/kg day) and hypercholesterolemia model group (model group), 8 rabbits in each group. In both power and model groups, the rabbits were fed with hypercholesterol food. Oxidase method was applied to assay the content of serum lipid, chemical method to assay the plasma total anti-oxidation and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), radio-immune method to assay the content of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1), digoxin labeled probe and tissue hybridism in situ to assay the expression of endothelin mRNA of aortic tunica intima, and image analyzer to assay the area of aortic intimal atherosclerosis plaque and the ratio between the area of tunica intima and the area of tunica media.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes included blood lipid level, serum MDA concentration and the comparison of artery plaque areas. The secondary outcomes included the changes in plasma ET-1.RESULTS: By the comparison between the powder group and model group in triglyceride(TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were significantly reduced [(11.70 ± 1.73), (14.32 ±2.22) mmol/L, P<0.05; (0.740 ± 0.107), (1.450 ± 0.220) mmol/L, P <0.01 successively]and thehigh density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) was increased MDA was significantly decreased [ (3.88 ± 0.51 ), (6. 29 ± 1.43 ) mmol / L,P < 0.01 ] and the total anti-oxidation significantly increased [ (10. 771der photo-microscope that the plaque area and the ratio between intima area and media area were remarkably decreased [(39.46±6.53), (50.69± 12.36)mmol/L, P < 0.05; (0. 62 ±0. 32), (1.38 ±0.38) mmol/L, Pgranules of aortic intima ET-1 gene were rem~kably decreased compared with the model group.CONCLUSION: Emblic leafflower fruit prevents from the formation of experimental atheromatous plaque in rabbits probably by regulating rabbit lipid metabolism, improving anti-oxidation to reduce lipid peroxidation and protecting endothelial function to inhibit the expression of artery intima ET-1 gene.

Objective To observe the expression of Cathepsin S in the human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ) perfusion induced AAA lesions in apolipoprotein E-deficient(ApoE-/-) mice.Methods AAA specimens of clinical diagnosis patients(AAA group) and the normal blood vessels(control group)were collected.The AAA model was established by infused Ang Ⅱ 1 000ng · kg-1 · d-1 to ApoE-/-mice.Elastic fibersfracture was observed by elastic fiber staining and Cathepsin S expression by immunohistochemistry.Results The elastic fiber staining revealed that the elastic fibers fracture of the human and mouse AAA group increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05) ; Cathepsin S expression significantly increased in the human and mouse AAA group than the control group by immunohistochemistry(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Cathepsin S is activated in human and murine AAA lesions and may be involved in the pathogenesis of AAA.

Objective To establish the method and cardiovascular imaging in mice using ultrasound biomicroscopy(UBM) with anatomical confirmation by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and to evaluate the feasibility and value of UBM in mice cardiovascular imaging.Methods The mouse thoracic anatomy was elucidated using Signo 3.0T MR imaging on 2 healthy C57BL/6 adult male mice.The structures and flow of mice heart and great vessels in 16 healthy C57BL/6 adult male mice were showed and analyzed by Visualsonics Vevo 770 UBM through several acoustic windows, including left parasternal, right parasternal, apical regions, and suprasternalis.The systolic and diastolic function of mice heart were also evaluated.ResultsAnatomic characteristic of mice could be displayed by MR imaging.The heart was mostly located in left thoracic cavity.The angle between long axis of the heart and the midline of the chest was about 45 degrees.Left atrium,left ventricle, mitral valve and right ventricle were located on the left side of the midline of the chest.Aortic valve orifice, ascending aorta,right atrium and tricuspid valve were located on the right side of the midline of the chest.Left heart long axis view,left ventricular short axis view,ascending aorta long axis view,long axis view of aortic arch, aortic short axis view, right ventricular inflow tract long axis view, pulmonary artery long axis view and so on were obtained clearly using UBM.The structures of heart and great vessels were displayed and the cardiovascular parameters could be measured accurately,including left atrium,left ventricle,aorta and aortic arch,interventricular septum,right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery, innominate artery, right internal carotid artery and the velocity in each valve orifices from Doppler flow spectrum.No significant difference was found in the measurements between different age groups.Conclusions The cardiovascular structures and hemodynamics could be displayed by UBM in mice when appropriate acoustic windows and sections were selected.This novel imaging protocol provides us a non-invasive way to follow atherosclerosis in genes knockout mice.

OBJECTIVETo screen the point mutation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) gene in Chinese familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients, characterize the relationship between the genotype and the phenotype and discuss the molecular pathological mechanism of FH.

METHODSA patient with clinical phenotype of homozygous FH and her parents were investigated for mutations in the promoter and all eighteen exons of the LDL-R gene. Screening was carried out using Touch-down PCR and direct DNA sequencing; multiple alignment analysis by DNASIS 2.5 was used to find base alteration, and the LDL-R gene mutation database was searched to identify the alteration. In addition, the apolipoprotein B gene (apo B) was screened for known mutations (R3500Q) that cause familial defective apo B100 (FDB) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

RESULTSTwo new heterozygous mutations in exons 4 and 9 of the LDL-R gene were identified in the proband (C122Y and T383I) as well as her parents. Both of the mutations have not been published in the LDL-R gene mutation database. No mutation of apo B100 (R3500Q) was observed.

CONCLUSIONTwo new mutations (C112Y and T383I) were found in the LDL-R gene, which may result in FH and may be particularly pathogenetic genotypes in Chinese people.

Adult ; Apolipoproteins B ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; China ; Female ; Heterozygote ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Receptors, LDL ; genetics

Objective:To investigate characteristic CT manifestations of primary pulmonary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).Methods:CT images of 14 patients [10 males and 4 females, age （54±2） years old, range 32 to 91] with pathologically-proved pulmonary DLBCL lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed．Plain CT and contrast enhanced CT imaging were performed in all 14 patients. Image characteristics including lesion size, locations and distribution, morphology and margin, density and enhancement degrees, bronchia and lesion surroundings, other thoracic extra-pulmonary manifestations, as well as distant metastasis were analyzed and recorded. The maximal diameter of mass and/or nodules, pre and post-contrast CT values were measured. Among all 14 cases, 8 cases were initially diagnosed as lung carcinoma, 5 cases as infection, one case as lymphoma.Results:Among all 14 primary lung DLBCL cases, there were 10 case with multiple lesions and 4 with single lesion. Masses and/or nodules were found in 12 cases, with the maximum diameter of the lesions as 0.8-8.2 cm, the median value as 5.3 (2.9, 7.8) cm. Two cases showed simple consolidation. The margins of the lesions were clear and smooth in 12 cases, and fuzzy in 2 cases. The density of the lesions on pre-contrast CT was relatively uniform, with mean CT value (35.1±1.0) HU. After contrast, 10 cases displayed mild to moderate homogeneous enhancement, 4 cases showed heterogenous enhancement. The mean CT value of post-contrast images was (61.8±1.5) HU. In arterial phase, the mean CT value was (50.9±1.3) HU. Angiographic sign was found in 9 cases in arterial phase. Of the 14 cases, bronchus was clear and smooth in 5 cases. In 4 cases, bronchus was found slight compressed or stenosis; and 5 cases showed intra-lesion bronchi invasion or occlusion. Interstitial tissue around the lesion was found slightly thickened in 8 cases. The pleura showed unevenly thickened and invaded in 8 cases. Mediastinal or hilar lymphadenopathy and fusion were found in 10 cases, with 3 cases involving mediastinal large blood vessels, and 7 cases displaying infiltrative growth pattern. There were 4 cases with pleural effusion. CT follow-up after treatment in 8 cases showed no distant metastasis (7 cases showed good prognosis, with lesions disappearing after radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgical resection; 1 case showed progressed with lesion increased after chemotherapy). Six patients abandoned the treatment and discharged from the hospital.Conclusions:Primary DLBCL is a high invasive and malignant entity with certain CT characteristics. The confirmed diagnosis of pulmonary DLBCL depends on pathological results.

Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage(HICH)is a disease with a rapid onset,rapid progression,high mortality rate,and long-term impact on the ability to function.Non-contrast agent-based CT(NCCT)is a common method for evaluating and identifying HICH.Recent radiomics in image processing and machine learning(ML)have enabled the extraction of high-dimensional feature information from medical images,which can be used to rapidly and accurately diagnose HICH and predict its course of disease.The paper describes the application of radiomics and ML techniques in HICH diagnosis and treatment,and identifies possible directions for future research.

Angiopoietin-like protein 8(ANGPTL8)secreted by liver and adipose tissue,is a glycoprotein exerting paramount effects on facilitation of vascular remodeling and regulation of inflammatory response;ANGPTL8 is in-volved in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases including coronary artery disease,hypertension,aortic aneurysm and pathological cardiac hypertrophy,and holds promise for being a new target for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.