Drying is the critical link during pharmaceutical process of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is directly related to the quality of drugs. The key to technology upgrading of pharmaceutical equipment in Chinese materia medica enterprise is the development of new drying techniques, which concerns the modernization of TCM. The study provides new ideas for the drying technology and equipment by means of reviewing the research status of drying process for the traditional Chinese medicinal materials and preparations, and analyzing the traditional and modern drying methods and equipment, as well as their existing problems and corresponding measures for the drying processes and equipment. In addition, this paper expounds the development trend of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and preparations of drying process and equipment.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; instrumentation ; methods ; standards ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; instrumentation ; standards ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlation of the testosterone level with circulated endothelial progenitor cells in patients with Klinefelter's syndrome (KS) and its clinical significance.

METHODSThis study included 36 patients affected by non-mosaic 47, XXY KS, each with one or more cardiovascular risk factors. Serum hormone levels and the content of circulated endothelial progenitor cells were determined by radioimmunology and cell culture methods, respectively, and the measurement was repeated after 6 months of testosterone replacement therapy.

RESULTSAfter testosterone replacement therapy, the testosterone level was increased from (8 +/- 3) to (24 +/- 10) nmol/L, while the content of endothelial progenitor cells ([41 +/- 48] cells/ml) showed no significant rise.

CONCLUSIONThere is no obvious correlation between the testosterone level and the content of endothelial progenitor cells in KS patients.

Adult ; Cell Count ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; blood ; Klinefelter Syndrome ; blood ; drug therapy ; Male ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; Testosterone ; blood ; therapeutic use

Objective:To provide clinicians with insights about the patients with breast cancer complicated with thyroid cancer and dermatomyositis,and to improve early detection of the diseases by observing the clinical characteristics of 1 case of breast cancer complicated with thyroid cancer and dermatomyositis and reviewing the literatures about the relationships between these three kinds of diseases.Methods:The medical information of this patient,including gender,age,clinical manifestations,glucocorticoid treatment dose,type of concurrent tumor and the time point it occured and therapeutic regimen were collected and recorded.These clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The patient with dermatomyositis was diagnosed with breast cancer and thyroid cancer in succession.Oral administration of 50 mg dexamethasone per day was continued in the treatment of dermatomyositis.Then the patient received 4 cycles of pirarubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by 4 cycles of paclitaxel/Hessaitin (TH) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.During the 24 weeks of chemotherapy,the breast tumor size was gradually decreased while there was no significant change in thyroid tumor size.The clinical symptoms of dermatomyositis were also improved.The blood lactic acid dehydrogenase and alpha hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase levels were decreased,but not obviously.After 8 courses of AC-TH neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical resection of thyroid cancer,there was no significant improvement in the symptoms of dermatomyositis 1 week after operation and the myocardial enzyme levels remained unchanged.Then modified radical mastectomy was performed.The myocardial enzymes were examined again 1 week after the second operation all of them were decreased to the normal levels.The clinical symptoms of dermatomyositis were also improved.Conclusion:Although the relationships between the three diseases is still controversial,the clinical data of the patient and relevant literatures collected in this paper support that breast cancer is associated with thyroid cancer and dermatomyositis is associated with breast cancer,but not thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the design of customized pelvic prosthesis, to evaluate the biomechanical property under three load conditions of customized pelvic prosthesis under three load cinditions. METHODS: A titanium alloy prosthesis for reconstruction of pelvic tumors was designed by CAD software. The strength and stiffness of the custom prosthesis under static and slow gait conditions were analyzed and evaluated by finite element method. RESULTS: The results of the finite element analysis suggested that the maximum von Mises stress in the pelvic under three load conditions were 39.0, 202.8 and 42.4 MPa; the maximum displacement were 0.199, 0.766 and 0.847 mm. The maximum von Mises stress in the prosthesis under three load conditions were 62.3, 318 and 468 MPa. The maximum Von Mises stress in the Ti-alloy prosthesis and pelvic was far smaller than the yield strength of Ti-alloy. CONCLUSIONS The study can design the size and shape of prosthesis accurately according to patient's condition. The finite element method can reduce the bone stress level and fracture risk, prolong the service life of prostheses, and ensure the safety and stability of the postoperative patients under normal gait.
Biomechanical Phenomena ; Finite Element Analysis ; Fractures, Bone ; Gait ; Humans ; Prostheses and Implants ; Prosthesis Design ; Stress, Mechanical

BACKGROUND: Hallux valgus is a common orthopedic disease, and its causes are complex and treatment is varied. The mechanical analysis of hallux valgus is an issue of concern. The finite element analysis makes it predictable to treat hallux valgus. OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical application of finite element analysis in biomechanical study of hallux valgus.METHODS: The first author searched CNKI and PubMed databases from January 1980 to March 2017 using the key words of "finite element, hallux valgus" in English and Chinese, respectively. The repetitive, irrelevant and low-quality articles were excluded. Finally 33 eligible articles were included in accordance with the inclusion criteria, and the critical issues of finite element analysis applied in hallux valgus were reviewed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) There are many researches concerning finite element of hallux valgus, which mostly require physicians to work with engineers. These methods are already very mature, but most of the model and material properties of the data come from foreign researches. (2) The finite element analysis is important and reliable for the etiology of hallux valgus, preoperative planning and prognosis. (3) The finite element model of the hallux valgus is only used on static analysis and gait cycle analysis, the modeling details and definition of material properties still need to be improved.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical features and SLC25A13 gene mutations of a child with citrin deficiency complicated with purpura, convulsive seizures and methioninemia.

METHODSThe patient was subjected to physical examination and routine laboratory tests. Blood amino acids and acylcarnitines, and urine organic acids and galactose were analyzed respectively with tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatographic mass spectrometry. SLC25A13 gene mutation screening was conducted by high resolution melt (HRM) analysis.

RESULTSThe petechiae on the patient's face and platelet count (27×10(9)/L, reference range 100×10(9)/L-300×10(9)/L) supported the diagnosis of immunologic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Laboratory tests found that the patient have abnormal coagulation, cardiac enzyme, liver function and liver enzymes dysfunction. Tandem mass spectrometry also found methionine to be increased (286 μmol/L, reference ranges 8-35 μmol/L). The patient did not manifest any galactosemia, citrullinemia and tyrosinemia. Analysis of SLC25A13 gene mutation found that the patient has carried IVS16ins3kb, in addition with abnormal HRM result for exon 6. Direct sequencing of exon 6 revealed a novel mutation c.495delA. The same mutation was not detected in 100 unrelated healthy controls. Further analysis of her family has confirmed that the c.495delA mutation has derived from her farther, and that the IVS16ins3kb was derived from her mother.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical features and metabolic spectrum of citrin deficiency can be variable. The poor prognosis and severity of clinical symptoms of the patient may be attributed to the novel c.495delA mutation.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; genetics ; pathology ; Calcium-Binding Proteins ; deficiency ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Female ; Glycine N-Methyltransferase ; deficiency ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; genetics ; Organic Anion Transporters ; deficiency ; genetics ; Pedigree ; Purpura ; genetics ; pathology ; Seizures ; genetics ; pathology

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the effects of newborn bull serum(NBS), vitamin C and vitamin E on cryopreservation of mouse seminiferous epithelial cells.

METHODSThe seminiferous epithelial cells from 7-day-old mice were cryopreserved in different freezing solutions. The cell recoveries were examined by Trypan blue exclusive staining after thawing. The freezing solutions composed of DMEM, 10% dimethylsulphoxide(DMSO), and 0, 5%, 10%, or 20% NBS, respectively, or composed of DMEM, 10% DMSO, 10% NBS, and 150 micrograms/ml vitamin C or 50 micrograms/ml vitamin E, respectively.

RESULTSThe cell recoveries in freezing solution containing 0, 5%, 10%, or 20% NBS were 83.4%, 84.7%, 85.7% and 83.6%, respectively. There were no significant differences between them. The cell recoveries in freezing solution containing vitamin C or vitamin E were 88.0% and 82.9%, respectively. There was no significant differences compared with that in freezing solution containing 10% DMSO and 10% NBS.

CONCLUSIONSNBS, vitamin C and vitamin E have no significant protecting effects on mouse seminiferous epithelial cells, and can not significantly improve the cell recoveries.

Animals ; Ascorbic Acid ; pharmacology ; Cattle ; Cryopreservation ; Epithelial Cells ; physiology ; Fetal Blood ; physiology ; Male ; Mice ; Seminiferous Epithelium ; cytology ; Vitamin K ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo review clinical features of four male patients with glutaric academia type I and screen glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase (GCDH) gene mutations.

METHODSThe 4 patients underwent brain computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses. Blood acylcarnitine and urine organic acid were analyzed with tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatographic mass spectrometry. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. The 11 exons and flanking sequences of GCDH gene were amplified with PCR and subjected to direct DNA sequencing.

RESULTSAll patients have manifested macrocephaly, with head circumference measured 50 cm (14 months), 47 cm (9 months), 46 cm (5 months) and 51 cm (14 months), respectively. Imaging analyses also revealed dilation of Sylvian fissure and lateral ventricles, frontotemporal atrophy, subarachnoid space enlargement and cerebellar vermis abnormalities. All patients had elevated glutarylcarnitine (5.8 umol/L, 7.5 umol/L, 8.3 umol/L and 7.9 umol/L, respectively) and high urinary excretion of glutaric acid. Seven mutations were identified among the patients, among which c.146_149del4, IVS6-4_Ex7+4del8, c.508A>G (p.K170E), c.797T>C (p.M266T) and c.420del10 were first discovered.

CONCLUSIONMacrocephaly and neurological impairment are the most prominent features of glutaric academia type I. Blood tandem mass spectrometry and urine gas chromatographic mass spectrometry analysis can facilitate the diagnosis. The results can be confirmed by analysis of GCDH gene mutations.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; diagnosis ; genetics ; metabolism ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Brain Diseases, Metabolic ; diagnosis ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glutaryl-CoA Dehydrogenase ; deficiency ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Sequence Alignment

OBJECTIVETo perform variation and phylogenetics analysis on the SARS-CoV genome sequence (PUMC01) isolated in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

METHODSThe cDNA library of SARS-CoV (PUMC01 isolate) was constructed by means of random-priming strategy. Random selected plasmid was sequenced and the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 was assembled by conventional methods (The Genebank Accession No. of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 is AY350750). The variation and phylogenetics analysis were performed by comparing the PUMC01 sequence with other SARS-CoV isolates.

RESULTSTen variation sites were found by comparing PUMC01 isolate with Tor2 and Urbani isolates. In phylogenetic analysis of 18 SARS-CoV isolates, two classes were observed and there is different differential time between these two classes and the different isolates in each class.

CONCLUSIONSThe evidence of phylogenetic analysis of different SARS-CoV isolates from different region is instructive for understanding the clinical relations between the different isolates and the transmission chain of SARS-CoV.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; China ; DNA, Viral ; genetics ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Viral Proteins ; genetics

Norovirus (NoV) is the main pathogen causing the global acute gastroenteritis in humans and NoV infection has become an important public health problem that threatens human health. Because of the lack of appropriate animal models and in vitro cell culture models, the development of NoV biology and antiviral research has been restricted, and there is currently no effective antiviral drug or vaccine against NoV. In the past few years, considerable progress has been made toward the development of norovirus antivirals. This review selects the most representative research examples and provides an overview of recent advances in anti-norovirus drugs and vaccines.