Exposure to thermal environment is one of the main concerns for manned space exploration. By focusing on the works performed on thermoregulation at microgravity or simulated microgravity, we endeavored to review the investigation on space thermal environmental physiology. First of all, the application of medical requirements for the crew module design from normal thermal comfort to accidental thermal emergencies in a space craft will be addressed. Then, alterations in the autonomic and behavioral temperature regulation caused by the effect of weightlessness both in space flight and its simulation on the ground are also discussed. Furthermore, countermeasures like exercise training, simulated natural ventilation, encouraged drink, etc., in the protection of thermoregulation during space flight is presented. Finally, the challenge of space thermal environment physiology faced in the future is figured out.
Aerospace Medicine ; Body Temperature Regulation ; Environment ; Exercise ; Humans ; Space Flight ; Weightlessness ; Weightlessness Simulation

Antipsychotic Agents ; poisoning ; Clozapine ; poisoning ; Drug Industry ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; statistics & numerical data

To compare the chemical change of Paeoniae Radix Alba (PRA) after vinegar-baking processing, as well as the effect of vinegar types exerted on the processing, 1H NMR-based metabolomic approach combined with multivariate statistical analysis was used to investigate the different metabolites between the raw and two vinegar-baked PRA. More than thirty metabolites were identified in the 1H NMR spectrum of PRA, and the multivariate statistical analysis showed that raw and two vinegar-baked PRA could be separated obviously. After vinegar-baking, the contents of isoleucine, lactate, alanine, arginine, albiflorin, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) elevated, while those of sucrose, paeoniflorin and its analogues (calculated by benzoate) decreased. The chemical compositions of two vinegar-baked PRA were also different. Shanxi vinegar- baked PRA showed higher levels of leucine, isoleucine, valine, and albiflorin, while rice vinegar-baked PRA contained more sucrose and paeoniflorin's analogues (calculated by benzoate). And the chemical changes in Shanxi vinegar-baked PRA were greater than those of rice vinegar-baked PRA. The results revealed the chemical differences between raw and vinegar-baked PRA, as well as the influence of vinegar type on processing, in a holistic manner, the results obtained suggested that the correlations between the chemical change and the drug action after processing, as well as the vinegar type used in processing, should be further studied.
Acetic Acid ; Benzoates ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Cooking ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Furaldehyde ; analogs & derivatives ; Glucosides ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics ; Monoterpenes ; Paeonia ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry

Objective To investigate the effects of vitamin D deficiency on pregnancy and fetal development in mice. Methods All female ICR mice were randomly divided into two groups. In control group, mice were fed with standard feeds (vitamin D3 >800 IU/kg). In vitamin D deficiency group (VDD), female mice were fed with feeds with vitamin D depletion (vitamin D3 <25 IU/kg). For mating purposes, four females were housed overnight with two males starting at 9 : 00 PM. Females were checked 7 : 00 AM the next morning, and the presence of a vaginal plug was designated as gestational day (GD) 0. All pregnancy mice were sacrificed on GD18. For each litter, the number of live fetuses, dead fetuses and resorption sites were counted. Live fetuses in each litter were weighed. Crown-rump lengths were examined. And skeletal development of all live fetuses in each litter was evaluated. Re-sults The pregnancy rate was lower in VDD group than that in control group(P<0.05). The number of live fetu-ses was significantly decreased(P<0.05). By contrast, the numbers of dead fetuses and resorption sites were sig-nificantly increased(P<0.05). In addition, the average weights of fetuses and placenta were reduced in vitamin D deficiency group. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency resulted in skeletal development retardation in fetuses. Conclu-sion Vitamin D deficiency impairs pregnancy and developmental outcomes in mice.

Objective To assess ventricular function of early stage neonates of different gestational ages by tissue doppler imaging(TDI).Methods Pulsed wave TDI velocities were obtained in 36 cases of premature infants with gestational ages of 32 to 36 weeks(premature group) and 33 cases of full-term infants(full-term group) aged 3 to 7 days at the lateral mitral annulus(MA),basal septum,and lateral tricuspid annulus(TA) during ventricular systole(Sa),early diastole(Ea),late diastole(Aa).Tansmitral and transtricuspid inflow were also obtained through pulsed doppler echocardiography.Results Ea and Sa in all of 3 locations were lower in the premature group compared with that of the full-term group,and Ea/Aa in TA was lower in premature group,but Aa and E/Ea showed no difference between 2 groups.Ea and Sa showed a positive correlation with gestational age and birth weight.Conclusions Ventricular systolic and diastolic function in premature infants are poorer than that in full-term infants in the early stage of neonatal period,and ventricular function is related to intra-uterus growth and maturity of the newborn.Diastolic function of the left ventricle in both groups develops rapidly during the early stage of neonatal period.

ObjectiveTo investigate the epidemic situation of brucellosis in Datong city, and to provide scientific evidence for making appropriate prevention and control measures. MethodsSurveillance data of human brucellosis in 7 countris and 4 districts in Datong city between 2006 and 2009 were collected, throng the national network straight quote system in an infectious diseases. Excel database was established and all data were statistically analyzed. Incidence of brucellosis in local population was analyzed. The regional distribution, time distribution,occupation, age and sex distribution were analyzed. Epidemic characteristics and trend of brucellosis in Datong city were summarized. Results A total of 5195 cases of brucellosis patients in Datong were found between 2006 and 2009, the average incidence rate was 57.51/10 million. All counties had the disease, and the onset of the disease mainly in the spring and summer. Most cases were young males. Farmer case was 81.67％(4243/5195) of the total patients. ConclusionsFrom 2006 to 2009, epidemic characteristic of Datong human brucellosis ishigh-low-high(incidence). We suggests the Department concerned to strengthen the prevention and control of the disease in some counties, focusing on spreading of disease prevention and control knowledge among farmers and increase their self-protection awareness.

Water soluble extract (WSE) is an important index for the quality evaluation of Astragali Radix (AR). In this study, the WSE of the wild AR from Shanxi province (SX) and the cultivated AR from Gansu Province (GS) were compared. The WSEs of two types of AR were determined according to the appendix of Chinese pharmacopoeia. Then the WSEs were subjected to NMR analysis, and the obtained data were analyzed using HCA, PCA, OPLS-DA, microarray analysis, and Spearman rank analysis. In addition, the Pearson correlation of differential metabolites were also calculated. The results showed that the WSE content of GS-AR (37.80%) was higher than that of SX-AR (32.13%). The main constituent of WSE was sucrose, and other 18 compounds, including amino acids, organic acids, were also detected. Multivariate analysis revealed that SX-AR contained more choline, succinic acid, citric acid, glutamate, taurine and aspartate, while GS samples contained more sucrose, arginine and fumaric acid. In addition, the Pearson correlations between different metabolites of the two types of AR also showed apparent differences. The results suggested that the WSE of two types of AR differs not only in the content, but also in the chemical compositions. Thus, the cultivation way is important to the quality of AR. This study supplied a new method for the comparison of extract of herbal drugs.
Arginine ; analysis ; Aspartic Acid ; analysis ; Choline ; analysis ; Citric Acid ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; chemistry ; Fumarates ; analysis ; Glutamic Acid ; analysis ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Multivariate Analysis ; Phylogeography ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Succinic Acid ; analysis ; Sucrose ; analysis ; Taurine ; analysis

Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Nickel ; toxicity ; Oxidative Stress ; physiology ; Testis ; drug effects ; metabolism

Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus and Hedysarum polybotrys belong to different genera, but have similar drug efficacy in traditional Chinese medicine theory, and H. polybotrys was used as the legal A. membranaceus var. mongholicus previously. In this study, similarities and differences between them were analyzed via their ITS/ITS2 fragments information. The ITS (internal transcribed spacer) regions were amplified using polymerase chain reaction and then sequenced in two-way. The alignment lengths of ITS regions were 616 bp, in which 508 loci were consistent, and 103 loci were different, accounting for 82.47% and 16.72% of the total ITS nucleotides in length, respectively. As genotype determines phenotype, 1HNMR-based metabolomic approach was further used to reveal the chemical similarities and differences between them. Thirty-four metabolites were identified in the 1H NMR spectra, and twenty-seven metabolites were the common components. Amino acids, carbohydrates and other primary metabolites were similar, while a large difference existed in the flavonoids and astragalosides. This study suggests that A. membranaceus var. mongholicus and H. polybotrys show similarities and differences from molecular and chemical perspectives, which has laid a foundation for elucidating the effective material basis of drug with similar efficacy and resources utilization.
Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; genetics ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics

OBJECTIVETo explore the therapeutic effect of combination of Zhuanyindan (ZYD, a self-made Chinese herbal preparation) and hormone in treating male infertility with positive antisperm antibody and its influence on nitric oxide (NO) level.

METHODSEighty-two patients were randomly divided (according to the digital list) into the WM group (n = 20, treated with prednisone), the TCM group (n = 28, treated with ZYD) and the ICWM group (n = 34, treated with prednisone plus ZYD). The clinical effect, negative converting rate of antisperm antibody, changes of NO level in semen and various parameters of sperm motion before and after treatment were observed.

RESULTSThe total effective rate in the ICWM group was 88.2%, that in the TCM group 75.0% and in the WM group 65.0%. Significant difference was seen in the ICWM and TCM group before and after treatment in NO level, sperm motion parameters, including linear motion speed, linearity, propulsion, whip frequency, sperm vitality and mean moving angle, and quality of semen (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In the WM group, significant difference in comparison before and after treatment was seen in NO level, propulsion, whip frequency, mean moving angle and quality of semen, including vitality and survival rate (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONCombination of Chinese herbs and hormone could lower the NO level in semen and improve the quality of sperm.

Adult ; Autoantibodies ; metabolism ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; drug therapy ; etiology ; immunology ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Semen ; metabolism ; Sperm Motility ; drug effects ; Spermatozoa ; immunology