Excitotoxicity refers to a process of neuronal death caused by excessive or prolonged activation of receptors for the excitatory amino acids, which is related to the overload of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and mitochondrial depolarization. The well accepted hypothesis that Ca2+ plays a central role in neurotoxicity, and it mediated excitotoxicity is deeply involved in both acute and chronic neurodegeneration suggests that inhibitors of Ca2+ transduction, such as NMDA antagonists, might block the pathological process at an early stage and provide more effective protections.

Objective To discuss a simple and effective method of medial epicanthoplasty with the subcilliary incision, which can decrease the visible scar. Methods From January of 2007 to De-cember of 2008, 38 patients with epicanthal fold underwent epicanthoplasty using the new method. During the operation a skin incision was subcilliarily made outward from the original medial epican-thus. After elevating the flap and excising the orbicularis oculi muscle beneath the epieanthal fold, the new medial epicanthus was sutured to the designed point. Then subciliary incision was trimmed and sutured. Results Most of the patients obtained satisfactory results. Only one patient complained a-bout visible scarring and none required revision surgery. Scarring was avoided on the noticeable medial canthal region because the only incisions needed were subciliary incisions. Conclusions This method is simple to design and easy to perform. The operative results are effective without visible scars on the medial canthal region.

Objective To evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) in the formation of hyperplastic scar in rabbit ears.Methods The ears of 20 New Zealand rabbits were used to construct an animal model for hyperplastic scar by operation.After the establishment of scar models,the rabbits were randomly divided into 4 experimental groups and one control group with 4 mice (48 wound surfaces) in each group.The mice in the 4 experimental groups were treated with hyperbaric oxygen for 7,14,21 and 28 days,respectively,and those in the control group remained in normoxic environment after operation.Scar tissues were resected from all the rabbit ears on day 29 after operation.Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was conducted for the observation of morphological changes and calculation of scar elevation index,and immunohistochemistry to measure the expressions of HIF-1α and IGF-1R.Statistical analysis was carried out by one-way analysis of variance followed by least significant difference t-test.Results HE staining showed that both the number of fibroblasts and amount of collagen fibers were significantly reduced in the experimental groups compared with the control group.Scar elevation index was 4.28 ± 0.22 in the control group,3.64 ± 0.29,3.46 ± 0.21,3.29 ± 0.21,3.16 ± 0.15 in the 7-,14-,21-and 28-day experimental groups respectively,with significant differences among these groups (F =77.70,P ＜ 0.05).The expressions of HIF-1α and IGF-1R were significantly lower in these experimental groups than in the control group (all P ＜ 0.01),lower in the 14-day group than in the 7-day group (P ＜ 0.05),and lower in the 21-day group than in the 14-day group (P ＜ 0.05),with no significant differences between the 28-day group and 21-day group (both P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Hyperbaric oxygen can effectively down-regulate the expressions of HIF-1α and IGF-1R in scar tissue,and significantly inhibit the formation of hyperplastic scar in rabbit ears.

Objective To study the function of hyperbaric oxygen in the wound healing of skin dermabrasion.Methods A total of 32 cases of facial scar underwent skin dermabrasion,in which 20 cases were caused by acne and 12 cases by external injury.16 cases were given hyperbaric oxygen treatment after skin dermabrasion randomly and lasted for 6 days,while the other 16 cases were given only routine dressing change which was same to the hyperbaric oxygen group.We observed the wound healing time and dress changing time under the condition of hyperbaric oxygen and no hyperbaric oxygen after skin dermabrasion.Results Sixteen cases received hyperbaric oxygen recovered with short healing time,average 11 days,while other 16 cases received no hyperbaric oxygen recovered with longer healing time,average 16 days,without wound infection.Significant statistical difference (P＜0.05) was found by SPSS 11.5 analysis.However,the average time of dress changing in hyperbaric oxygen group was 5 days,which was a little more than that of the group without hyperbaric oxygen treatment (average time of 4 days) although there was no significant statistical difference between the two groups.Conclusions The wound healing of skin dermabrasion can be improved by hyperbaric oxygen.

Objective To explore the effect of navigation assisted surgery system in the medical teaching in the department of neurosurgery. Method From May 4 of 2015 to June 3 of 2015, 51 medical undergraduates of clinical medicine in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University were ran-domly divided into experiment group (navigation assisted surgical technique system teaching, n=25) and traditional group (traditional teaching, n=26). Practical effect of the different modes was evaluated by ques-tionnaire and examination results. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0. Enumeration data were compared between groups using chi square test or t test. Result After the teaching, the theoretical results of the experimental group and the control group were (83.05 ± 6.03) and (74.32 ± 7.12), and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.96, P=0.005). Clinical skills scores were (89.43 ± 5.12) and (81.11 ± 8.02), and the difference was statistically significant (t=2.91, P=0.029). The questionnaire showed that the experimental group students'!satisfaction degree to their own teaching method was better than that of control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with the traditional teaching, the navigation assisted neurosurgical operation has obvious advantages. It can improve students'!enthusiasm for learning the professional knowledge and skills in neurosurgery, stimulate students'!learning interest and improve students'!test scores.

Objective To observe the neurotoxicity of epidural different dose of dexmedetomi-dine in combination with 0.75% bupivacaine.Methods Twenty-five rabbits weight 2-3 kg without gender tendency and equipped with an epidural lumbar catheter were allocated randomly to five groups with 5 cases each.The control group (group C)received injections of 1.5 ml normal saline,0.75%bupivacaine 1.5 ml plus normal saline 0.5 ml in group B,and the other treatment groups received in-jections of 0.75% bupivacaine 1 ml plus dexmedetomidine 0.1 μg/kg (group D1 ), 0.75%bupivacaine 1 ml plus dexmedetomidine 0.2 μg/kg (group D2 )or 0.75% bupivacaine 1 ml plus dexmedetomidine 0.4 μg/kg (group D3),in the same volume of 1.5 ml.After successive 3-day epi-dural administration of the drugs and a 3-day observation,the rabbits were killed and the spinal cord was examined under optical and electron microscope.Results Serious damages of neuron were found in 1 animal from group D2 and 2 from group D3 under optical microscope.There was unclear bounda-ries between gray and white matter.Some nerve cells appeared necrosis in the grey matter of spinal cord and the number of nerve cells was decreased.Some reversible changes were found in all groups under electron microscope.Conclusion Epidural administration of dexmedetomidine can induce spinal cord and spinal nerves injury dose-dependently,and the motor function can recuperated completely.

This study is to observe the effect of N-(3-phenylallylidene)-6-fluoro-1, 8-(2, 1-propoxy)-7-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-quinolin-4(1H)-one-3-carbonyl hyarazine (FQ16) on apoptosis of hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells in vitro. With different concentrations of FQ16 at different times used to treat SMMC-7721 cells in vitro, the proliferation of the cells and the inhibition effect of FQ16 on the cell proliferation were examined by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was determined by Hoechst 33258/PI fluorescence staining, TUNEL and agarose gel electrophoresis method. The effect of FQ16 on topoisomerase II activity was measured by agarose gel electrophoresis using Plasmid pBR322 DNA as the substrate. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, delta psi m) was measured by high content screening image system. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression changes of Bcl-2 mRNA and Bax mRNA. The caspase-9, caspase-8, caspase-3, p53, Bcl-2 and Bax protein expressions were detected by Western blotting analysis. The results showed that the cell proliferation was inhibited by FQ16 at 0.625 - 10 micromol L(-1) in a time-dose dependent manner. Treatment of SMMC-7721 cells with different concentrations of FQ16 for 24 h increased the percentage of the apoptosis cells obviously (P<0.05), the typical ladder DNA in apoptotic cells and a concomitant dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Compared with control group, FQ16 influenced obviously DNA topoisomerase II activity, stimulated DNA cleavage and inhibited DNA reunion mediated by topoisomerase II. In addition, FQ16 (3 - 7.39 micromol L(-1)) increased mRNA expression of Bax and protein expression of p53, Bax, caspase-9, caspase-3, separately, and induced cytosolic accumulation of activities caspase-9 and caspase-3, whereas the mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2 decreased with no change of caspase-8. Therefore it can be concluded that the effects of inhibited topoisomerase II and mitochondrial-dependent pathways were involved in FQ16 induction of apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells.

The expensive production of bioethanol is because it has not yet reached the 'THREE-HIGH' (High-titer, high-conversion and high-productivity) technical levels of starchy ethanol production. To cope with it, it is necessary to implement a high-gravity mash bioethanol production (HMBP), in which sugar hydrolysates are thick and fermentation-inhibitive compounds are negligible. In this work, HMBP from an atmospheric glycerol autocatalytic organosolv pretreated wheat straw was carried out with different fermentation strategies. Under an optimized condition (15% substrate concentration, 10 g/L (NH4)2SO4, 30 FPU/g dry matter, 10% (V/V) inoculum ratio), HMBP was at 31.2 g/L with a shaking simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) at 37 degrees C for 72 h, and achieved with a conversion of 73% and a productivity of 0.43 g/(L x h). Further by a semi-SFF with pre-hydrolysis time of 24 h, HMBP reached 33.7 g/L, the conversion and productivity of which was 79% and 0.47 g/(L x h), respectively. During the SSF and semi-SSF, more than 90% of the cellulose in both substrates were hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars. Finally, a fed-batch semi-SFF was developed with an initial substrate concentration of 15%, in which dried substrate (= the weight of the initial substrate) was divided into three portions and added into the conical flask once each 8 h during the first 24 h. HMBP achieved at 51.2 g/L for 72 h with a high productivity of 0.71 g/(L x h) while a low cellulose conversion of 62%. Interestingly, the fermentation inhibitive compound was mainly acetic acid, less than 3.0 g/L, and there were no other inhibitors detected, commonly furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural existing in the slurry. The data indicate that the lignocellulosic substrate subjected to the atmospheric glycerol autocatalytic organosolv pretreatment is very applicable for HMBP. The fed-batch semi-SFF is effective and desirable to realize an HMBP.
Biofuels ; Carbohydrates ; chemistry ; Cellulose ; chemistry ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Furaldehyde ; chemistry ; Glycerol ; chemistry ; Hydrolysis ; Triticum

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on NAFLD in MSG-IR mice and to provide mechanism insights into its therapeutic effect. The MSG-IR mice with insulin resistance were treated with high dose (0.1 micromol.kg-1d-1) and low dose (0.025 micromol.kg-1d-1) of FGF21 once a day for 5 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, serum lipids, insulin and aminotransferases were measured. Hepatic steatosis was observed. The expression of key genes regulating energy metabolism were detected by real-time PCR. The results showed that after 5 weeks treatment, both doses of FGF21 reduced body weight (P<0.01), corrected dyslipidemia (P<0.01), reversed steatosis and restored the liver morphology in the MSG model mice and significantly ameliorated insulin resistance. Additionally, real-time PCR showed that FGF21 significantly reduced transcription levels of fat synthetic genes, decreased fat synthesis and promoted lipolysis and energy metabolism by up-regulating key genes of lipolysis, thereby liver fat accumulation was reduced and liver function was restored to normal levels. In conclusion, FGF21 significantly reduces body weight of the MSG-IR mice, ameliorates insulin resistance, reverses hepatic steatosis. These findings provide a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of NAFLD.