Objective To design and manufacture a hypobaric cabin simulator for experimental animals.Methods The simulator was composed of a fully transparent working chamber,an electrical chamber,a pressure control component and a program control component,which had its body made of polymethyl methacrylate plastics,the hatch made of metal plate and support by reinforced metal bar.The air inside chamber was exhausted by the diaphragm vacuum pump,the air inflow was controlled by proportional valve,and the inner pressure and the speed of rise and decline were exactly controlled by the balance of inflow and exhaust.Results The new type of hypobaric cabin simulator had the characteristics of accurate pressure control,low fluctuation range and controllable up and down time,low noise as well as adaptable air exchange rate.Conclusion The new type of hypobaric cabin simulator matches the national standard for experimental animals,and can be used in making the animal model of high altitude diseases.

Objective To analyze white matter hyperintensities(WMH)and brain volumes quantitatively in patients with Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leucoencephalopathy(CADASIL)on conventional MRI and correlate them with clinical parameters.Methods Fifteen patients with CADASIL confirmed by pathological investigation underwent conventional MRI examinations.Involvement of centrum semiovale,posterior limbs of the internal capsule,corpus callosum,external capsules and white matter of the temporal poles was determined by an experienced radiologist.Normalized brain volume(NBV)and the percentage of WMH to brain volume were calculated with softwares and they were correlated with NIHSS and MMSE statistically.Results Involvement of white matter in the brains of patients with CADASIL included:semiovale centrum in 13 cases,white matter of the temporal poles in 10 cases,external capsules in 8 cases,posterior limbs of the internal capsule in 5 cases,corpus callosum in 4 cases.The percentage of WMH to brain volume was(5.7±1.4)%,and the NBV was(1602±58)×103mm3.Spearman test showed a significant relationship between age and NBV(r=-0.555,P＜0.05).There was a significant relationship between NBV and NIHSS(r=-0.624.P＜0.05).The percentage of WMH to brain volume correlated significantly with NIHSS and MMSE(r=0.522,P＜0.05;r=-0.679,P＜0.01).Conclusions The white matter hvperintensities and brain volume in patients with CADASIL can be assessed quantitatively,which showed correlation with severity of the clinical scale.The development of WMH may refleet the degree of cognitive impairment in CADASIL.

Measuring the content of soluble reducing sugar, total sugar, soluble protein, guanosine, alkaloids, and succinic acid of Pinellia ternata tuber were measured by anthrone-sulfuric acid colorimetric method, Coomassie brilliant blue method, RP-HPLC, reverse potentiometric titration, acid dye colorimetry, respectively. The result showed that yellow light could promote the growth and development of P. ternata and increase the content of soluble reducing sugar, total sugar, alkaloids, and succinic acid. Under blue light could promote the content of soluble protein and guanosine. Red and yellow light increased the content of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, contrastively blue light reduced the content of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. White film through the most uniform spectrum was most conducive to the synthesis of chlorophyll a. As single film, blue film, yellow film were more conducive to the synthesis of chlorophyll a, green film and red film had been relatively beneficial to the synthesis of chlorophyll b. Bulbil formed the largest number and the biggest propagation coefficient of P. ternata under red light showed that it could increase the production of P. ternata under red light.
Carbohydrate Metabolism ; radiation effects ; Chlorophyll ; metabolism ; Light ; Pinellia ; growth & development ; metabolism ; radiation effects ; Plant Leaves ; growth & development ; radiation effects ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Quality Control ; Solubility

Biological characteristic of Salvia miltiorrhiza f. alba in field was studied. HPLC method was used to determine the lipophilic constituents (dihydrotanshinone, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone, tanshinone II (A) and miltione) and hydrophilic constituents (salvianolic acid, rosemarinic acid). The results showed that the fresh weight of S. miltiorrhiza f. alba which cropped for 2 years was decreased by 80.47%, while dry weight decreased by 79.42%. The normal diameter of the root was 0.3-0.5 cm, however, the diameter was 0.2-0.4 cm after 2 years, it was said that the decrease of the root diameter was the main reason for the decrease of the yield. The average contents of dihydrotanshinone, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone, tanshinone II (A), miltione, salvianolic acid and rosemarinic acid were decreased by 35.26%, 32.26%, 19.35%, 3.39%, 64.40%, 66.93% in plant which continuously cropped for 2 years, respectively. The yield and active constituents were mostly effected in the plant of S. miltiorrhiza f. alba, which continuously cropped for 2 years.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Linear Models ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Time Factors

Adolescent ; Adult ; Astrocytoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Brain Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Child ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Microsurgery ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Thalamic Diseases ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Thalamus ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo establish an HPLC fingerprint to evaluate the quality of Polygalae Radix, root xylem, and those collected in different growth ages or harvest time.

METHODSeparation was performed at 30 °C on a Kromasil C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm); the mobile phases was acetonitrile and 0.05% H3PO4 water in the gradient elution; the flow rate was set at 1.0 mL · min(-1) and the detection wavelength at 314 nm; the quality discriminant analyses were accomplished by means of similarity analysis, cluster analysis, principal component analysis and neural network model.

RESULTIn 26 batches of Polygalae Radix, 24 batches fingerprint similarities were above 0.8. In 5 different growth or harvest time batches, 4 batches were above 0.8; in 8 batches root xylem samples, the similarities were all above 0.875. The similarity analysis was in accord with the quality discriminant analysis of cluster analysis, principal component analysis and neural network model.

CONCLUSIONFingerprint combined with chemical pattern recognition technique can effectively evaluate the quality of Polygalae Radix. The active substance species are all similar in cultivated, wild, different growth or harvest time Polygalae Radix and polygala root xylem, but the chromatography peak areas are different. The effective material contents are similar between wild and cultivated Polygalae Radix, but each chromatographic peak area of the root xylem is much smaller than that of Polygalae Radix. The chemical substance accumulation mainly depends on harvest month, but little growth time in Polygalae Radix.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; classification ; Polygala ; chemistry ; classification ; Quality Control

OBJECTIVETo compare the difference in strength degradation and morphology damage of two dental ceramic materials after Hertzian contact cyclic fatigue.

METHODSHertzian contact technique was used to investigate the response of Empress II glass ceramic and GI- II glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic to cyclic fatigue. Critical loads of specimens after different fatigue cycles were recorded.

RESULTSFor Empress II glass ceramic, critical load had significantly difference between specimens after 10(5) cycles loading. No significant difference of critical load was found in GI- II glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic after cycles loading.

CONCLUSIONGI- II glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic has better capability in resistance to cyclic loading. It may attribute to microstructure of material. Empress II glass ceramic shows a brittle damage model.

Aluminum Oxide ; Aluminum Silicates ; Ceramics ; Dental Porcelain ; Glass ; Humans ; Materials Testing

Objective To assess retinal arteriole stenosis in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) and to evaluate the relationship between retinal arteriole stenosis with cranial MRI changes and clinical features. Methods Sixteen CADASIL patients (mean age was (43.4±8.1)years, mean duration was(4.7±3.4)years)and sixteen age matched healthy individuals were enrolled. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and modified Rankin scale scoring were performed in 16 patients. Cranial MRl with Coulthard scores was assessed on CADASIL patients as well. Retinal examinations for arteriole stenosis were done for each subject. Bivariate correlations (Kendall's tau-b) were used to assess the relationship among the grade of retinal stenosis, MMSE, modified Rankin seale, cranial MRI with Coulthard scores and age. Results Retinal arteriole stenosis presented in 15 cases. in whom 4 cases showed mild arterio-venous nicking. while it only presented in 2 controls. Grade 0.Ⅰ, and Ⅲ of retinal arteriole stenosis are noted in 1/16,4/16,7/16 and 4/16cases respectively. Coulthard scores of cerebral MRl were 6.0.19.0.25.1 and 29.8 respectively from Grade 0 toⅢ of retinal arteriole stenosis. The correlation coefficient of retinal arteriole stenosis and cranial MRI scores was 0.743(P＜0.001＝,MMSE-0.429(P＜0.05＝,modified Rankin scale 0.437(P＞0.05).and age 0.299(P＞0.05).Conclusion Retinal arteriole stenosis is significantly correlated with lesion in cranial MRI and dementia.

Objective To investigate the density of bladder pacemaker cells (ICC) in prostatic hyperplasia with detrusor underactivity (PDU) and the impact of stress environment on its growth. Methods 23 PDU guinea pig models and 26 pigs for control (BPH, n = 6; normal group, n = 20) were developed. After water-filled urodynamic pressure measurement of bladder for three groups , detrusor tissue was made into frozen sections. TheICC numberwere measured with immunofluorescence stainingand observed by confocal microscopy. Further ICC cells in vitro were cultured under stress environment and its counts were analyzed by colony formation assay. Results Decreased density of ICC was observed in PDU group (0.28 ± 0.52)% compared to control [(5 ± 0.36)%,P < 0.05] and the BPH group (5.4% ± 0.42)%, P < 0.05). The ratio of dimer and monomer [(6.13 ± 1.45)%] in PDU group was significantly lower than those of the control [31.55 ± 9.67)%, P < 0.05] and the BPH group [(71.52 ± 8.95)%, P < 0.05]. There is a negative correlation between the density of ICC in vitro and duration of stress. By contrast , there is a positive correlation between the density of ICC and incubation time after the stress is removed. Conclusion Distribution of decreased density of ICC is involved in the pathogenesis of PDU , which may be due to long-term stress environment. Thus eliminating stress environment may help restore ICC density in PDU.