BACKGROUND:Human memory is significantly correlated with recognition. When recognition begins to decrease, a decrease in memory appears first. How about the memory of rural population?OBJECTIVE:To investigate the picture memory related factors of the rural households who are over 50 years old.SETTING:Department of Geriatrics,Huaian First Hospital,Nanjing Medical University;Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital,Fudan University.PARTICIPANTS:Totally 50 rural inpatients at the Department of Geriatrics,Huaian First Hospital Nanjing Medical University,who would be recovered and out of charge,were selected from March 2003 to February2004. Meanwhile, 11 relatives of the patients and 55 healthy elderly people from Dingji Town,Huaiyin District, were also included.All the participants were over 50 years old.METHODS:Employing questionnaire,mini-mental state examination,auditory-verbal learning test (AVLT), pictorial learning test and many nonmemory tests were performed. According to the levels of education,participants were divided into illiterate group,primary school group,junior middle school group and higher than junior middle school group.The correlation of picture memory ability with sex,age,educational level and simple intelligence test was compared. And the interactions among variables of picture memory were also investigated.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The relationships between the variablesof picture memory and age, sex, educational level and simple intelligence of rural households in Huaian city were calculated. And the interactions among these variables were all investigated.RESULTS:Practically, 103 participants entered the statistical analysis proage,sex,educational level and simple intelligence:Except for recurring figures, all the other variables of picture memory had positive correlations with simple intelligence and educational level (r=0.197-0.533, P ＜ 0.05-0.01).Among them, immediate memory showed the closest correlation with simple intelligence (r=0.533).Delayed recall memory of pictures, recurring figures,and serial memory 4 (the number of recalled pictures in the last 4 pictures in delayed recall test) had negative correlation with age (r=-0.194 to -0.324,P ＜ 0.05-0.01),among them, serial memory of 4 pictures had the closest correlation with age (r=-0.324),while, all the other variables were not related to age. All the variables of picture memory were not linked to sex. Recurring pictures was not linked to educational level 1 (period of education:0-11 years),2 (education level: illiterate, primary school, junior middle interactions among these variables:Recurring figures was not linked to serial memory 2 (the number of recalled pictures in the last 4 pictures in immediate memory test),serial memory 1 (the number of recalled pictures in the first4 pictures in immediate memory test) was not related to serial memory 2 and serial memory 4.Except for these cases, variables of picture memory had significant correlations with each other (r =0.206-0.855 ,P ＜ 0.05-0.01),and delayed recall memory of pictures had the closest relationship with conceptual memory 2 (r=0.855).CONCLUSION:Picture memory capacity of middle aged and elderly rural households is not linked to sex, while it is correlated with age,educational level and intelligence.

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage of various chronic liver diseases.Early diagnosis and staging of liver cirrhosis,as well as effective disease assessment,are of great clinical significance.The application of liver biopsy,serological testing,and radiological examination in the clinical diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and the research advances in evaluation of liver reserve function,complications,and prognosis are re-viewed.It is pointed out that with the development of molecular biological and imaging techniques,the accuracy and specificity of noninva-sive diagnosis will be increased,and the disease assessment system will be improved.

Objective To evaluate the prevalence and clinic relevance of hepatitis G virus(HGV)infection in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods Reverse-transcription(RT) nested polymerase chain reaction(PCR)was used to detect HGV in 50 HD patients. The prevalence of HGV infection, their relationship with risk factors, liver function and HBV, HCV infection were investigated. Results HGV RNA was found in 14 percent of the HD patients (7 of 50), as compared with none of health blood donors(0 of 20, P

Purpose To explore the Relationship between expression of apoptosis-modulating proteins amdmultidrug resistance in K562/VCR cells. Methods Irnmunocytochemical methol and western blot wereused to analyze the expression of apoptosis-modulating proteins (Bcl - 2, Bcl-XL, Bax, Bak ) in multidrugresistant cell line K562/VCR and drugsensitive cell line K562. Results The positive cell rates ofapoptosis-suppressing protein Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in K562/VCR were (40.0 ± 8.0) % and (60.0 ± 10.0) % .While the rates in K562 were (1.0 ± 0.3) % and (20.0 ± 4.0) %. There was significant difference in thepositive cell rates of Bcl - 2 and Bcl - XL between K562/VCR and K562 ( n = 3, P ＜ 0.05 ). It was alsofound there was no significant difference in expression of Bax between K562/VCR and K562. Furthemore,Bak was not expressed in both K562/VCR and K562 or the expression was very low. Conclusions Wesuggest that Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL play important roles in multidrug resistance in K562/VCR, while Bax and Bakmight not be important.

Microbial nitrilases have attracted increasing attention in nitrile hydrolysis for carboxylic acid production in recent years. A bacterium with nitrilase activity was isolated and identified as Pseudomonas putida CGMCC3830 based on its morphology, physiological and biochemical characteristics, as well as 16S rRNA gene sequence. The nitrilase production was optimized by varying culture conditions using the one-factor-at-a-time method and response surface methodology. Glycerol 13.54 g/L, tryptone 11.59 g/L, yeast extract 5.21 g/L, KH2PO4 1 g/L, NaCl 1 g/L, urea 1 g/L, initial pH 6.0 and culture temperature 30 degrees C were proved to be the optimal culture conditions. It resulted in the maximal nitrilase production of 36.12 U/mL from 2.02 U/mL. Investigations on substrate specificity demonstrate P. putida nitrilase preferentially hydrolyze aromatic nitriles. When applied in nicotinic acid synthesis, 2 mg/mL P. putida cells completely hydrolyzed 20.8 g/L 3-cyanopyridine into nicotinic acid in 90 min. The results indicated P. putida CGMCC3830 displayed potential for industrial production of nicotinic acid.
Aminohydrolases ; biosynthesis ; Culture Media ; Hydrolysis ; Niacin ; biosynthesis ; Nitriles ; metabolism ; Pseudomonas putida ; enzymology ; Pyridines ; metabolism ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; genetics ; Substrate Specificity ; Temperature

[Summary] The relationship between the state of cognition and hypertension in 155 type 2 diabetic patients was studied.The results showed that significant difference in the state of cognition was found in patients with or without hypertension,so as to those with poorly or well controlled hypertension (P＜0.05).Systolic blood pressure,pulse pressure,mean arterial blood pressure,and duration of hypertension were negatively correlated with multiple cognitive domains,suggesting that proper control of blood pressure may have a protective effect on cognitive function in type 2 diabetic patients.

This paper retrospectively analyzed nursing care of 20 critically ill patients with human infections of avian influenza A(H7N9) virus treated by oxygen therapy.According to the severity of hypoxia in patients admitted to the hospital,individualized oxygen therapy strategy was selected,such as humidified high flow nasal cannula or mechanical ventilation.Oxygen therapy strategy was adjusted in a timely manner according to patients' condition,such as prone position ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.As a resuh,15 cases were transferred to the general ward when the virus associated test was negative,and 5 cases died.

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a common complication of decompensated cirrhosis and is traditionally defined as progressive oliguria or anuria, azotemia, dilutional hyponatremia, and hyponatremia, while renal insufficiency without marked organic lesions in the kidney is the typical manifestation of HRS. Recent studies have found that besides the abnormalities in hemodynamics, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and direct renal tubular toxicity of bile salts are jointly involved in the development and progression of HRS. HRS is not the only renal complication in patients with liver cirrhosis, and it is only a functional form of acute kidney injury (AKI). HRS meeting the criteria for AKI is called HRS-AKI, which is formerly known as HRS-Ⅰ type. For cirrhotic patients with acute kidney disease or chronic kidney disease, if they meet the criteria for HRS, they can be diagnosed with HRS-NAKI, which is formerly known as HRS-Ⅱ type. The most common risk factors for HRS are infection, digestive bleeding, and large-volume paracentesis without transfusion of human serum albumin for volume expansion.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of TGF-beta1 and STAT3 signaling in liver fibrosis using a rat model system and to determine the therapeutic mechanism of AG490 in relation to this signaling pathway.

METHODSRats were randomly divided into a control group and DENA-induced liver fibrosis model group, and then subdivided into AG490 treatment groups. During fibrosis development, liver tissue samples were collected at different time points (0, 4 and 8 weeks) and evaluated according to the Scheuer scoring system. Expression of STAT3, TGFbeta1, alpha-SMA, E-cadherin, MMP2 and TIMP1 was measured by PCR (mRNA) and immunohistochemistry and western blotting (protein).

RESULTSIncreasing degrees of inflammation and fibrosis were observed in liver tissues of DENA-treated rats throughout model establishment. The mRNA expression of TGFbeta1 and STAT3 was significantly increased in DENA-induced rats with advanced fibrosis (AF) compared to those with early fibrosis (EF) (P = 0.034 and P = 0.012 respectively). The protein expression of TGF-beta1, phospho-Smad2, alpha-SMA, E-cadherin, STAT3 and phospho-STAT3 was significantly increased in DENA-induced rats with AF compared to the unmodeled control group (P = 0.048, P = 0.003, P = 0.002, P = 0.028, P = 0.009 and P = 0.039). The protein expression of E-cadherin was lower in the DENA-induced rats with AF than in those with EF (P = 0.026). STAT3 and TGF-beta1 co-expression was detected in AF tissues. DENA-induced AG490-treated rats with AF showed substantially lower protein expression of STAT3, TGF-beta1, MMP2 and TIMP1 compared to DENA-induced untreated rats with AF (P = 0.006, P = 0.018, P = 0.010 and P = 0.005); in addition, the degrees of fibrosis and inflammation were also greatly reduced in the DENA-induced AG490-treated rats with AF compared to DENA-induced untreated rats with AF (P = 0.042 and P = 0.021). Conclusions STAT3 signal transduction may regulate the TGF-beta1 pathway and affect liver fibrosis, especially in the advanced phase. AG490 can inhibit TGFbeta1-STAT3 signaling, resulting in reversal of liver fibrosis.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver Cirrhosis ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism ; Tyrphostins ; pharmacology

To illustrate the complex fermentation process of submerged culture of Antrodia camphorata ATCC 200183, we observed the morphology change of this filamentous fungus. Then we used two optimization models namely response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) to model the fermentation process of Antrodia camphorata. By genetic algorithm (GA), we optimized the inoculum size and medium components for Antrodia camphorata production. The results show that fitness and prediction accuracy of ANN model was higher when compared to those of RSM model. Using GA, we optimized the input space of ANN model, and obtained maximum biomass of 6.2 g/L at the GA-optimized concentrations of spore (1.76x 10(5) /mL) and medium components (glucose, 29.1 g/L; peptone, 9.3 g/L; and soybean flour, 2.8 g/L). The biomass obtained using the ANN-GA designed medium was (6.1+/-0.2) g/L which was in good agreement with the predicted value. The same optimization process may be used to improve the production of mycelia and bioactive metabolites from potent medicinal fungi by changing the fermentation parameters.
Algorithms ; Antrodia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Culture Media ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Mycelium ; metabolism ; Neural Networks (Computer)