Taking Radix Phodiolae polysac-charides (RPPS) which was extrated from Radix Phodiolae native to Tibet, and using the immunosuppresive mice model, induced with Cy (cyclophosphamide), this paper investigated effects of RPPS on the WBC numbers and Hb content of perpheral blood, thymus weight and cell-mediated immunity of mice. It was found that RPPS had no obvious effects on WBCnumbers and thymus weight, and could decrease the content of Hb in normal mice while it increased the content of Hb in immunosuppresive mice. RPPS not only could enhance lymphocyte transformation and NK activity in normal mice but also could reverse the decrease of the above indexes in immunosuppresive mice. The results suggested that RPPS be a new biological response modifier.

Objective To observe the clinical effects of Xie's Feiai No.1 formula on patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its influence on body immune system, VEGF (blood vessel endothelia growth factor) and CYFRA21-1 (keratoprotein 21-1). Methods 650 cases of advanced NSCLC were randomized into a treatment group and chemotherapy group, with 350 cases and 300 cases in each group respectively. The treatment group was administrated with Xie's Feiai No.1 formula, while the chemotherapy group was treated with chemotherapy ofGP plan/TP plan. Both groups were treated for 2 months. Results The short-term effective rate was 56.57% in the treatment group, which was superior to 44.33% (P<0.01) in the chemotherapy group; Steady rate KPS score improvement was 85.14% in the treatment group, which was also higher than 27.00% (P<0.01) in the chemotherapy group; besides the levels of total T cell, adjuvant T cell and NK cell in the treatment group were higher than the chemotherapy group, while the levels of Ts cell, VEGF and CYFRA21-1 int the treatment group were lower than the chemotherapy group. Long-term efficacy observation showed that the survival rate of 117 cases with advanced NSCLC was 83.59% in one year and 46.27% in three years in the treatment group, both significantly higher than those in the chemotherapy group (P<0.01).Conclusion Xie's Feiai No.l formula can increase NSCLC patients' survival time, improve quality of life, strengthen immunological function and restrain tumor cells' activities.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by host's dysfunctional response to infection, which is an important cause of health threat worldwide. Recent studies have found that the metabolic disorder of iron homeostasis is closely related to sepsis. The body has a highly accurate iron metabolism and regulation system to prevent iron deficiency or iron overload. The imbalance of intracellular iron homeostasis is now considered to be one of the important mechanisms of sepsis and may be a new target for clinical intervention.

Spinocerebellar ataxias are a high clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, usually belongs to autosomal dominant hereditary cerebellar ataxia. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5) is one of the extremely rare subtypes and caused by heterozygous mutation of SPTBN2 gene. A case of infant-onset SCA5 patient is reported, mainly manifested as global developmental delay, ataxia and dysarthria, carrying the heterozygous missense variant c.1438C>T (p. Arg480Trp) in the SPTBN2 gene. This mutation may have an important impact on functional regions of the β-Ⅲ spectrin, leading to the occurrence of disease.

Objective Obesity has been shown to be an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with primary breast cancer.The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of obesity on Chinese women with breast cancer.Methods This is a retrospective analysis of 1699 breast cancer patients.We evaluated the effect of body mass index (BMI) on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in these patients.BMI was obtained before surgery.Obesity was defined as a BMI≥24.Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log rank test were employed to perform survival analysis.The impact of different characteristics on survival was assessed by using Cox proportional-hazards regression model.Results In total 635 ( 37.4%) patients were obese, while 1 064 (62.6%) were non-obese.Comparing the tumor characteristics in the two groups, the BMI≥24 group showed a higher rate of older age ( P<0.001) , postmenopausal status ( P<0.001) , increased risk of lymph node metastasis ( P=0.001) and less chances of accepting breast conservation surgery ( P=0.012) . The median follow-up time was 16 months, and the estimated 16-months DFS was 98.1%for non-obese and 95.0%for obese patients ( P=0.007) , the estimated 16-months OS was 99.4%for non-obese and 98.4%for obese patients(P=0.004).The multivariate analysis indicated that obesity is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS in breast cancer patients.Conclusions Our findings suggest that obesity is associated with a poorer outcome in Chinese female patients with breast cancer.

Objective Obesity has been shown to be an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with primary breast cancer.The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of obesity on Chinese women with breast cancer.Methods This is a retrospective analysis of 1699 breast cancer patients.We evaluated the effect of body mass index (BMI) on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in these patients.BMI was obtained before surgery.Obesity was defined as a BMI≥24.Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log rank test were employed to perform survival analysis.The impact of different characteristics on survival was assessed by using Cox proportional-hazards regression model.Results In total 635 ( 37.4%) patients were obese, while 1 064 (62.6%) were non-obese.Comparing the tumor characteristics in the two groups, the BMI≥24 group showed a higher rate of older age ( P<0.001) , postmenopausal status ( P<0.001) , increased risk of lymph node metastasis ( P=0.001) and less chances of accepting breast conservation surgery ( P=0.012) . The median follow-up time was 16 months, and the estimated 16-months DFS was 98.1%for non-obese and 95.0%for obese patients ( P=0.007) , the estimated 16-months OS was 99.4%for non-obese and 98.4%for obese patients(P=0.004).The multivariate analysis indicated that obesity is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS in breast cancer patients.Conclusions Our findings suggest that obesity is associated with a poorer outcome in Chinese female patients with breast cancer.

Objective This study aimed to develop an experimental animal platform for evaluating the feasibility and safety of intelligent acupuncture robots and to lay the foundation for further research.Methods Six 2-month-old Guangxi Bama miniature pigs were used as experimental subjects for acupuncture verification after anesthesia.First,manual acupuncture verification was carried out.Six acupoints were selected for each experimental animal and the needles were left for 20 min after the lifting,inserting,and twisting manipulation.Before and after controls were included.The experiment was carried out for 28 days,and each experiment was conducted once every 2 days for a total of 10 times.After verification of manual acupuncture,a point 10 mm from each of the six selected acupoints was selected,with a total of 12 points,and acupuncture operations were carried out on the experimental animals using the intelligent acupuncture module of the acupuncture robot at different frequencies and angles,to further verify the stability and feasibility of the animal platform.Results Routine safety-related blood indicators and blood biochemistry indicators after the procedure were normal and stable compared with those before the procedure.The average heart rate of the animals was 124 beats/min,the average blood pressure was 87/36 mmHg,and the average body temperature of was 36℃at a room temperature of 25℃,with no significant change in body temperature during and after the experiment.On the basis of this experimental platform,acupuncture manipulation using the intelligent acupuncture module of the acupuncture robot was completed successfully,with no abnormalities related to acupuncture such as bending,breaking,or stagnation of needles during the experimental process,and the experimental animals showed no obvious abnormalities.Conclusions This study established a stable experimental animal platform for evaluating the feasibility and safety of acupuncture carried out by intelligent acupuncture robots,based on the existing experimental method of miniature pigs.These result lay a foundation for further research related to the use of intelligent acupuncture robots.

OBJECTIVEObesity has been shown to be an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with primary breast cancer. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of obesity on Chinese women with breast cancer.

METHODSThis is a retrospective analysis of 1699 breast cancer patients. We evaluated the effect of body mass index (BMI) on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in these patients. BMI was obtained before surgery. Obesity was defined as a BMI ≥ 24. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log rank test were employed to perform survival analysis. The impact of different characteristics on survival was assessed by using Cox proportional-hazards regression model.

RESULTSIn total 635 (37.4%) patients were obese, while 1 064 (62.6%) were non-obese. Comparing the tumor characteristics in the two groups, the BMI ≥ 24 group showed a higher rate of older age (P < 0.001), postmenopausal status (P < 0.001), increased risk of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001) and less chances of accepting breast conservation surgery (P = 0.012). The median follow-up time was 16 months, and the estimated 16-months DFS was 98.1% for non-obese and 95.0% for obese patients (P = 0.007), the estimated 16-months OS was 99.4% for non-obese and 98.4% for obese patients (P = 0.004). The multivariate analysis indicated that obesity is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS in breast cancer patients.

CONCLUSIONSOur findings suggest that obesity is associated with a poorer outcome in Chinese female patients with breast cancer.

Body Mass Index ; Breast Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Obesity ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis

Objective·To develope an auditory brainstem implant(ABI)vocoder based on cochlear implant(CI)vocoder characteristics and ABI electrode array topology,and to verify its reliability.Methods·An"n-of-m"coding strategy CI/ABI vocoder was constructed based on MATLAB.Within each frame,only the envelopes of the n channels with the highest energy were selected.The interaction coefficient(IC)(range:1?3),channel numbers(range:5?22),and electrode array topology(CI/ABI)were adjustable parameters,allowing for the synthesis of simulated speech.Psychoacoustic evaluation was employed,recruiting normal hearing subjects to perform closed-set simulated phoneme perception.The phoneme recognition accuracy(20 vowel questions/condition,11 consonant questions/condition)was compared with the corresponding conditions of CI and ABI from reference literature to determine the IC value of the vocoder and verify its reliability.Results·The vocoder successfully synthesized all test stimuli.In the closed-set CI-simulated speech recognition,the simulated vowel and consonant recognition accuracy for IC2 and IC3 conditions showed no significant difference compared to the accuracy reported in the CI reference literature(P＞0.05).The difference in vowel and consonant accuracy between IC2 and the literature was smaller than that between IC3 and the literature(vowel|d|=1.6%vs.20%,consonant|d|=8.4%vs.9.9%),thus determining the optimal interaction coefficient of this model as 2.Subsequently,when modifying the electrode array topology to ABI,it was found that the simulated phoneme recognition accuracy for a 16-channel ABI was significantly lower than that for the 16-channel CI group,consistent with the reported literature.The simulated vowel and consonant accuracy within the 5?8 channel range for ABI showed no significant difference(P＞0.05),also aligning with the trend reported in the literature.Conclusion·A CI/ABI vocoder based on"n-of-m"coding strategy is established and the optimal IC is determined.The established ABI encoder has been evaluated for high reliability through psychoacoustic experiments.It provides suitable technical means for validating ABI-specific coding strategies.

Animal infectious diseases pose a serious and continuing threat to the animal health and cause huge economic losses throughout the world. Vaccination is one of the most effective solutions to prevent and control animal infectious diseases. With the development of biotechnologies and the need for disease prevention and control, the focus of vaccine research has been shifted to the development of safe, efficient, broad-spectrum, low-dose and marker vaccines. Novel vaccines capable of inducing high levels of both humoral and cellular immune responses are promising to provide more efficient protection against animal infectious diseases. This minireview summarizes the development, applications, advantages and disadvantages of new-concept animal vaccines emerging in recent years, including mucosal vaccines, long-acting and fast-acting vaccines, chimeric vaccines, nanoparticle vaccines, and so on. Furthermore, we discuss future directions of the vaccines, in order to provide new insights for animal vaccine development.
Animals ; Communicable Diseases ; Immunity, Cellular ; Nanoparticles ; Vaccination ; Vaccines