Objective: To review the problems existing in the development and application of current electroacupuncture (EA) apparatuses, and provide reference for the development of EA apparatuses. Methods: Related literatures about EA apparatus were derived from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang) and Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP) between 2013 and 2017. Literatures about the development of EA apparatuses and the application for experimental research and clinical treatment published in Chinese journals were retrieved, and the development and application of EA apparatuses were summarized. Results: Among the 107 selected literatures, 48 types of EA apparatuses were used, of which only 11 models could be found in the registration list and within the validity period. There was no registration information for the EA apparatus newly developed in the past 5 years. The EA parameters used in experimental research and clinical treatment in Chinese medicine were different, and the combination of stimulation parameters was diverse. Conclusion: At present, most of the new EA products are still in the experimental or research stage, and the transformation of results has not yet been achieved. Moreover, there is no unified standard for the use of EA apparatus and its stimulation parameters in experimental research and clinical treatment, which is not conducive to the standardization process of EA stimulation.

OBJECTIVETo explore the risk factors of low back pain (LBP) among greenhouse vegetable planting farmers and estimate the level of the effects.

METHODSA self-made questionnaire based on the Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the Nordic Questionnaire was conducted to 639 greenhouse vegetable planting farmers and then structural equation model was used to analyze the risk factors of LBP in SmartPLS software.

RESULTSThe coefficient of determination of the model was 0.827, and the structural coefficients of dynamic loads, static loads, force exertion, ergonomic environment and repetitive loads on LBP were 0.21, 0.43,0.27, 0.045 and 0.034 respectively, and the total effects of the above latent variables on LBP were 0.21, 0.43,0.27, 0.33 and 0.034 respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe main risk factors of LBP among greenhouse vegetable planting farmers were static loads, ergonomic environment, force exertion and dynamic loads.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Diseases ; etiology ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vegetables

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical experiment of cortical screw in the treatment of tibiofibular syndesmosis separation together with ankle fractures.

METHODSFrom March 2008 to May 2012,42 patients with tibiofibular syndesmosis separation were treated with cortical screw, including 20 cases in the left and 24 cases in the right. All the patients had closed injury. According to Lauge-Hansen classification, there were 18 cases of supination-external rotation, in which 4 patients with injuries belong to type II, 8 patients with injuries belong to type III, 6 patients with injuries belong to type IV; 14 cases of pronation-external rotation, in which 6 patients with injuries belong to type III, 8 patients with injuries belong to type IV; and 12 cases of pronation-abduction, in which 4 patients with injuries belong to type II, 8 patients with injuries belong to type III. According to injury of ankle, 4 patients had injuries in one ankle, 28 patients had injuries in 2 ankles, and 12 patients had injuries in 3 ankles. All the patients were diagnosised definitely in sight of medical history, checking-up, iconography. The clinical effects were evaluated based on Baird-Jackson score and activity degree of ankle.

RESULTSAll the patient were followed up, and the duration ranged from 11 to 23 months, with an average of 15.7 months. No postoperative wound infection, nonunion, and tibiofibular syndesmosis separation again and other complications occurred. Postoperative Baird-Jackson score exhibited 91.56 ± 6.26 (75 to 99), and 26 patients got an excellent result, 10 good, 6 poor and 2 bad. One patient had nail broken after operation,and got good function after removing broken nail without external fixation. Other 1 patient had osteoarthritis to 1 degree, and got better result with the treatment of physical therapy and intra-articular injection.

CONCLUSIONCortex screw is the effective treatment for tibiofibular syndesmosis separation. Clear diagnosis, delicate operation and postoperative reasonable functional exercise are primary factor of prognosis.

Adult ; Ankle Fractures ; surgery ; Ankle Joint ; surgery ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of botulinum toxin A in conjunction with Wuidatechniques in the treatment of lower limbs spasticity in children with cerebral palsy. Methods Forty patients weredivided randomly into a treatment group and a control group. The 18 patients in the treatment group were treatedwith Botulinum toxin A injection and Wuida rehabilitation techniques, the other 22 patients with Wuida techniquessolely served as control. All the patients were evaluated with Physician Rating Scale (PRS) and Ashworth Scale.Results Botulinum toxin A in conjunction with Wuida techniques significantly improved in the lower limbs func-tion of the patients at 3 days after treatment(P

In order to identify Cimicifugae Rhizoma from its adulterants and to ensure its safe use, the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequence of Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants were amplified and bidirectionally sequenced by DNA barcoding technology. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed by the CodonCode Aligner V3.7.1. The genetic distances were computed by MEGA 5.0. Identification analyses were performed using neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. The length of ITS2 sequence of the three origin plants of Cimicifugae Rhizoma include Cimicifuga heracleifolia, C. foetida, C. dahurica was 217, 219 and 219 bp, respectively. Their intraspecific genetic distance was much lower than the interspecific genetic distance with their closely related species. The NJ tree of ITS2 indicated that the three origin plants of Cimicifugae Rhizoma formed a monophyletic clade, Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants could be distinguished clearly. The authors proposed that ITS2 sequence was suitable for the authentication of Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants.
Base Sequence ; China ; Cimicifuga ; classification ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; classification ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Quality Control ; Rhizome ; classification ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the relation of the anogenital distance (AGD) with cryptorchidism in male newborns.

METHODSThis study included 350 male infants delivered in two community hospitals between September 2013 and September 2014. Within 24 hours after birth, a pediatric surgeon measured the AGD of the neonates and determined whether they had cryptorchidism. According to the testicular position, we divided the undescended testes into three types: upper scrotal, inguinal, and non-palpable.

RESULTSTotally 39 cases of cryptorchidism were found in the 350 newborns. The AGD of the cryptorchidism infants was significantly shorter than that of the normal neonates ([2.01 ± 0.22] vs [2.35 ± 0.19] cm, P < 0.01), and statistically significant differences remained even when preterm and low birth-weight infants were excluded ([2.32 ± 0.14] vs [2.06 ± 0.19] cm; (2.37 ± 0.17) cm vs (2.12 ± 0.12) cm, all P < 0.01). The newborns with higher-position cryptorchidism had a shorter AGD, though with no significant difference (F = 0.434, P > 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the AGD between unilateral and bilateral cryptorchidism ([1.96 ± 0.13] vs [2.02 ± 0.17] cm, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONShorter AGD is associated with a higher incidence of cryptorchidism in male newborns. AGD could serve as a potential biomarker for disruption of androgen action during the male programming window period.

Androgens ; physiology ; Cryptorchidism ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Perineum ; abnormalities

Objective To investigate the potential role of soluble triggering receptor expressed on ayeloid cells-1(sTREM-1) expression in serum,endotracheal aspiration (ETA),bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) as early biomarkers for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods One hundred and thirty-two patients with clinically suspected VAP were prospectively included in this multicenter study.The levels of sTREM-1 in serum,ETA,BALF and EBC were analyzed for diagnostic evaluation at the time of VAP clinically suspected.The bacterial count over 104/CFU as a gold standard for VAP,and the receiver operating characteristic curves were used to identify the ideal cutoff values.Results VAP was confirmed in 76 patients (57.58％).In VAP patients (VAP group) and non-VAP patients (non-VAP group),the level of sTREM-1 in BALF was 32.35 (30.08-41.72) and 18.92(11.89-31.72) ng/L,and the level of sTREM-1 in EBC was 1.57 (1.02-2.61) and 0.41(0.19-1.61)ng/L respectively.The level of sTREM-1 in BALF and in EBC in VAP group was significantly higher than that in non-VAP group (P ＜0.05).The optimum cutoff value for sTREM-1 in BALF according to the maximum Youden index was 23.61 ng/L.This cutoff value had 85.5％ sensitivity and 73.1％ specificity,with 0.813 area under the curve.sTREM-1 in BALF had excellent correlation with that in EBC (R2 =0.78,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The results of this prospective study suggest that sTREM-1 levels in BALF and EBC have better roles in facilitating the diagnosis of VAP and thus may be practically recommended to guide the administration of antibiotics when VAP is suspected.

Objective To investigate the acute toxicity, subacute toxicity, nasal membrane local toxicity of the Magnolia biondii Pamp volatile oil nanometer bangosome. Methods Kunming mice and SD rats were selected as experimental material. Kunming mice were used in the acute and subacute toxicity tests by intragastric administration of Magnolia biondii Pamp volatile oil nanometer bangosome with different dosage and different time, and SD rats were used in the nasal membrane local toxicity test by nose dropping, while the control group was treated with intragastric administration of or nose dropping with normal saline for the same dosage. The treatment course lasted fifteen days. At the end of the tests, the general condition, routine blood test, function index of live and kidney, organ humid weight index, histological changes of liver and kidney and ultra microstructure change of rat nasal membrane were obtained and compared with the control group. Results In the acute toxicity test, the daily maximum tolerant dosage by intragastric administration was equal to 222.7 times of the clinical routine, with no marked toxic reaction. In the subacute toxicity test, the general condition, blood test, organ humid weight index and histological changes of live and kidney in different dosage groups were similar to the control group. While in the function index of live and kidney, uric acid was stepped down in the middle and large dose groups, and total bilirubin was decreased in the large dose group. The nasal membrane local toxicity test revealed that there was little change in the ultra microstructure of rat nasal membrane.Conclusion The Magnolia biondii Pamp volatile oil nanometer bangosome may have little toxicity by intragastric administration and nose dropping.

Objective To study the antitumor effect and mechanism of co-cultured cytokine-induced killer(CIK) cells and autologous DC modified with IL-24 gene on A549 cells in vitro. Methods DC and CIK cells were prepared routinely from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC). Recombinant adenovirus vector pAdEasy-1-pTrack-CMV-IL-24 was extracted from DH5α, it was lineared with Pac I and transfected into A293 cells, and then the IL-24 recombined adenovirus(Ad-IL-24) was obtained. Ad-IL-24 was used to infect DC. The cells obtained were named DC-IL-24. RT-PCR and ELISA were used to evaluate the expression of IL-24 gene in transfected DC. The phenotypes change of DC were identified by flow cytometry analysis, the concen-tration of IL-12 and TNF-α in supernatant of DC were determined by EIJSA. The ability of CIK producing per-forin was measured by homolysis method. FCM was used to determine the cytotoxicity of cocultured CIK cells and autologous DC modified with IL-24 gene to A549 cells. Results We obtained the high titre of Ad-IL-24.IL-24 gene was transfered into DC successfully via Ad-IL-24. The green fluorescence was observed on DC by fluorescence microscope. The expression rate of CD80, CD83, HI.A-DR, CD40, CXCR4 on DC-IL-24 was sig-nificantly increased compared with that of the control group. DC-IL-24 produced markedly higher levels of IL-12 and TNF-α as compared with DC. DC-IL-24 can enhance the ability of CIK cells producing perforin. On com-parison with non-transfected DC co-cultured with CIK cells, transfected DC co-cultured with CIK cells had a sig-nificantly higher lytic activity against A549 cells. Conclusion IL-24 gene modification can enhance the anti-tu-moral immunity of DC. The mechanism of which might be related to the increased secretion of IL-12 and TNF-α, up-regulation expression of co-stimulatory molecules and MHC Ⅱ class molecules on DC, promoting the acti-vation and maturation of DC, and then enhancing CIK cells to generate specific anti-tumoral immunity.

Objective:To study the antitumor effect and mechanism of cocultured CIK cells modified with IL-24 gene and autologous DCs on HL-60 cells in vitro.Methods:DCs and CIK cells were prepared routinely from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMC).IL-24 gene was transferred into CIK cells via electroporation.The cells obtained were named CIK-IL24.RT-PCR and ELISA were used to evaluate expression of IL-24 gene in transfected CIK cells.The phenotypic changes of CIK cells were identified by flowcytometry analysis.The concentration of IFN-γ and TNF-α in supernatant of CIK was determined by ELISA.FCM was used to determine the cytotoxicity of cocultured CIK cells modified with IL-24 gene and autologous DCs against HL-60 cells.Results:Eukaryotic expressing plasmid pcDNA3.0-IL24 was transferred into CIK cells successfully via electroporation.The expressing rate of CD3~+、CD3~+CD56~+ cells had no significant change in CIK cells.However,the rate of CD4~+CD25~+ cells was significantly decreased compared with that of the control group.Expression of adhesion molecules CD54,CXCR4 were significantly increased on CD3+CD56+ cells.CIK-IL24 cells produced markedly higher levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α as compared with the CIK cells.By comparison with non-transfected CIK cells co-cultured with DCs,transfected CIK cells co-cultured with DCs had a significantly higher lytic activity against HL-60 cells.Conclusion:IL-24 gene modification can enhance the anti-tumoral immunity of CIK cells,the mechanism of which might be related to the increased secretion of IFN-γ,TNF-α,up-regulation of adhesion molecule expression,and reduction of the rate of CD4~+CD25~+ cells in CIK cells.