Objective To study the optimum culture media and liquid conditions in shaking flasks for laccase production by Ganoderma lucidum. Methods Taking S_3 stain of G. lucidum as test materials and laccase activity of G. lucidum as measurement index to optimize the culture media and liquid conditions through orthogonal test. Results The optimum culture components of media were: Glucose 30 g/L, cotton 0.2%, (NH_4)_2HPO_4 0.66 g/L, casein 0.5%, Tween-80 0.15 mL; the optimum conditions were: initial pH value of medium was 5.5, 75 mL medium was in 250 mL-flask, inoculation was 12.5%, mycelium age was 5?24 h for 9?24 h culture. Conclusion Laccase activity of G. lucidum has been improved remarkably in the optimum culture media and liquid conditions.

Objective To investigate the spherical diopter and astigmatism change of humans at sitting and supine position.De- sign Prospective case series.Participants 96 eyes of 52 patients (spherical diopter from-2.50 D to-10.00 D,astigmatism diopter from -0.75 D to-4.50 D) were selected.Methods The subjects were examined with NIKON portable retinomax at sitting and supine posi- tion,respectively.Main Outcome Measures The spherical diopter,cylinder diopter and axis change were analyzed statistically.Re- sults Spherical diopter at supine position (-5.31?3.43 D) was a little higher than that at sitting position (-5.27?3.24 D) statistically(P= 0.25),and cylinder diopter at sitting position (-2.27?1.24 D) and at supine position (-2.35?1.19 D) was no statistically difference (P= 0.20).The axis of astigmatism changed from-16?to +18?.Axis change was within 2?in 52.1% eyes,6?-10?in 5.2%,over 10?in 3.1%. The change of axis rotation tended to counter-clockwise in the right eye and clockwise in the left eye.Conclusions Eye rotation at sit- ting and supine position may cause the astigmatism axis change.It may be one of the main factors affecting the results of LASIK.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between gene polymorphisms of disease-relevant multiple cytokines including TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10,TGF-β1,IFN-γand acute graft versus host disease(aGVHD) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell trans-plantation ( allo-HSCT ) . Methods:32 cases of recipients received allo-HSCT and 36 cases of normal groups in January 2014 to December 2015 were selected as objects of study. We detected genotypes on specific SNP of target genes by polymerase chain reation ( PCR) combined with gene sequencing and observed the occurrence of aGVHD in postoperative recipients. The influence of cytokine gene polymorphisms on prognosis of allo-HSCT patients was analyzed,and the potential relationship between specific SNP mutation of the disease-relevant cytokine genes and severity of aGVHD was discussed. Results:Distribution of cytokines gene polymorphism including TNF-α-308(G/A),IL-6-174(G/C),IL-10-1082(A/G),TGF-β1+915(G/C),IFN-γ(T/A) had no significant differences with incidence of severe aGVHD(P>0. 05). However,the occurrence of severe aGVHD in allo-HSCT recipients with C/T genotype was significantly higher than C/C and T/T in SNP of TGF-β1+869(P<0. 01). Conclusion:Gene polymorphism of TGF-β1+869(C/T) in allo-HSCT patients was closely related to the occurrence of severe aGVHD. The research show allo-HSCT patients with C/T genotype occurred severe aGVHD more frequently, which is an important potential risk factor to induce the incidence of severe aGVHD. Therefore,detecting gene polymorphism of TGF-β1+869 ( C/T ) in allo-HSCT recipients and developing the appropriate therapeutic regimen may be helpful to reduce the incidence of aGVHD.

Objective To study the clinical significance of pulmonary membrane diffusing capacity(Dm) and pulmonary capillary blood volume(Vc) in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Methods Spirometry was performed in 38 patients with stable COPD and 35 healthy individuals in resting condition.The changes of pulmonary parameters were obtained and compared between groups. Results Spirometry test revealed that the percent predicted forced expired volume in one second(FEV1),FEV1/forced volume capacity(FVC)and the percent predicted maximal ventilatory volume(MVV) were declined from stage Ⅰin patients with COPD in comparison with healthy individuals,while diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide of lung(DLCO),carbon monoxide diffusing capacity per liter of alveolar(DLCO/VA),Dm and Vc were declined from stage Ⅱ.Dm in patients with COPD of stageⅠwas sig-nificantly decreased compared with the controls,while Vc was increased compared with the controls(both P

OBJECTIVETo develop a new technique for assessing the risk of birth defects, which are a major cause of infant mortality and disability in many parts of the world.

METHODSThe region of interest in this study was Heshun County, the county in China with the highest rate of neural tube defects (NTDs). A hybrid particle swarm optimization/ant colony optimization (PSO/ACO) algorithm was used to quantify the probability of NTDs occurring at villages with no births. The hybrid PSO/ACO algorithm is a form of artificial intelligence adapted for hierarchical classification. It is a powerful technique for modeling complex problems involving impacts of causes.

RESULTSThe algorithm was easy to apply, with the accuracy of the results being 69.5%±7.02% at the 95% confidence level.

CONCLUSIONThe proposed method is simple to apply, has acceptable fault tolerance, and greatly enhances the accuracy of calculations.

Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; China ; epidemiology ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Models, Biological ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND:Numerous studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cel s (MSCs) can effectively attenuate the fibrosis of damaged heart, lung and kidney by secreting various bioactive factors. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the anti-fibrotic therapeutic potential of bone marrow MSCs conditioned media in vitro. METHODS:Normal fibroblasts and hypertrophic scar fibroblasts were treated with bone marrow MSCs conditioned media, then transforming growth factor-βand col agen production were analyzed by ELISA, and mRNA expression level of Smad7 and hydroxyproline content were detected by RT-PCR and colorimetry, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Bone marrow MSCs conditioned media significantly inhibited the production of both transforming growth factor-βand col agen in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (P<0. 01), and up-regulated the mRNA expression level of Smad7 (P<0. 01), a major inhibitory regulator in the SMAD family. However, the normal fibroblasts were scarcely influenced by bone marrow MSCs conditioned media. These findings indicate that bone marrow MSCs conditioned media is considered a promising candidate for the treatment of hypertrophic scars, which may provide new theoretical supports to reduce cutaneous scarring.

To investigate the bioactivity of Nocardia rubra Cell (NC), the mice were used to assay the toxicity, the effects on immune organs, phagocytes of peritoneal macrophage and the antitumor activity by perfusion of NC to the stomach of mice. Results indicated that NC could obviously stimulate in vitro the phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophage from mice, and remarkably inhibit the growth of S180 in mice, and its LD50 was more than 10 g/kg. In conclusion, NC had low toxicity, it could significantly enhance the organism immunologic function and had obvious antitumor effect and the anti-infection effect against a pathogenic microorganism.

Aim To study the therapeutic effect of CpG-ODN, an agonist of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), on hypoxic/ischemic encephapathy in neonatal rats and investigate the mechanisms.Methods Fifty healthy 7-day-old neonatal Wistar rats (in either gender, weighing 12~17g) were randomly divided into sham operation group, HIBD group, and CpG-ODN low group(0.35 mL·kg-1), CpG-ODN middle group(1.40 mL·kg-1), CpG-ODN high group(5.60 mL·kg-1).The neurological function was scored after 48h operation;ten rats of each group was executed respectively and brains tissue was taken;HE staining was used to observe the brain pathological changes.Western blot assay was used to detect the expressions of TLR9 and phosphor-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases(p-p38 MAPK), and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was adopted to detect TNF-α expression.Results The CpG-ODN low, middle group were improved in impairment significantly compared with the HIBD group, and the brain pathological change was lessened, while the CpG-ODN high group was impaired significantly compared with the HIBD group (P<0.05), and brain pathological change was sharpened.Western blot showed the up-regulation in TLR9 and p-p38 MAPK and a significant increase of the expression of TNF-α in the brain tissue in CpG-ODN group with statistical difference in HIBD group and sham operation group(P<0.05).Conclusions The neuro-behavioral score and nervous system function can be improved and the hypoxic/ischemic brain damage can be reduced in neonatal rats in the CpG-ODN low, middle group.The protective mechanisms may be suitably via activating p38 MAPK signaling pathway to promote p38 MAPK phosphory1ation and up-regulation of the expression of TNF-α in the brain tissue of rats.

This study is to observe the inhibition of etoposide on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) and explore its possible mechanism of action. Dinitrofluorobenzene was used to induce the allergic contact dermatitis in mouse ear. Three groups of animals were orally administrated with different doses of VP-16 (5, 10, and 20 mg x kg(-1)), separately, for six days. The degree of skin inflammatory reaction was observed by optical microscope. Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Radioimmunoassay was applied to measure the serum level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). VP-16 significantly decreased inflammatory cell infiltration and the degree of infiltration reaction, and decreased the level of TNF-a in serum and the expression of ICAM-l in skin. VP-16 can significantly inhibit allergic contact dermatitis induced by DNFB. This therapeutic effect of VP-16 on murine ACD may be due to inhibiting expression of some cytokines.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; pharmacology ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; blood ; etiology ; metabolism ; Dinitrofluorobenzene ; Etoposide ; pharmacology ; Female ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Male ; Mice ; Random Allocation ; Skin ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

OBJECTIVETo search new clues to reveal the action mechanism of inhaled anesthetics.

METHODSThree kinds of Drosophila melanogaster were used as studied models: the wild type strain (H), the sevoflurane-sensitive strain (S), and the sevoflurane-resistant strain (R). Differential display reverse transcriptional-polymerase chain reaction method was performed to examine the differentially expressed fragments between Drosophila induced with and without sevoflurane. Rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method was used to clone the full length cDNA from positive differentially expressed fragments.

RESULTSThirty-one differentially expressed fragments were found between the two groups. Three fragments were identified as the positive differentially expressed fragments by Northern blot analysis. Two full-length cDNAs were cloned by RACE method, among which one was a 1.0 kb Drosophila calmodulin (CaM), located on Chr.2; the other was a 4.1 kb gene with unknown function (No.45), located on Chr.3.

CONCLUSIONThe two full-length cDNAs belong to the genes that related to anesthetic action pathway, which might participate in the regulation of cellular functions and signal transduction pathways. The two genes that we found should provide a novel way to study the mechanism of inhaled anesthetic action.

Anesthetics, Inhalation ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; Drosophila melanogaster ; drug effects ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Methyl Ethers ; pharmacology ; Signal Transduction