College of Stomatology of Wuhan University was the first dental school who introduced the Kavo head-simulator for clinical teaching.In this study,students of stomatology were investigated before and after head-simulator training and questionares were made.The results have showed that head-simulator teaching system not only raises the activity of student,consolidates the basic knowledge,develops the clinical thinking ability,but also increases the ability of clinical operational skill before clinical training.

AIMTo compare the influences of wood-cultured Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (Gl-PS-WC) and bag-cultured Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (Gl-PS-BC) on the proliferation activities of murine spleen lymphocytes in vitro, and investigate whether Gl-PS-BC can be substituted for Gl-PS-WC.

METHODSMixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) reaction, lymphocyte proliferation induced by concanavalin A (Con A, 1 mg.L-1) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5 mg.L-1), MLC reactions inhibited by immunosuppressive drugs, cyclosporine A (CsA, 0.1 mg.L-1), mitomycin (Mit C, 0.1 mg.L-1), or antitumor drug, etoposide (VP-16, 0.1 mg.L-1), were detected in the presence or absence of Gl-PS-WC and Gl-PS-BC in the concentration range of 0.2-12.8 mg.L-1.

RESULTSTwo kinds of polysaccharides were shown to promote MLC in the range of 0.2-12.8 mg.L-1, increase lymphocyte proliferation induced by Con A or LPS and antagonize the inhibitory effects of CsA, Mit C or VP-16 on MLC. No significant difference was observed between these two kinds of polysaccharides in selected concentrations.

CONCLUSIONGl-PS-WC and Gl-PS-BC showed similar effects on the proliferation activities of murine spleen lymphocytes in vitro.

Animals ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Cell Separation ; Cyclosporine ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed ; Lymphocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Polysaccharides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Reishi ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Spleen ; cytology ; Wood

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical outcomes of primary anterior radical debridement, bone autograft, and sacral rod fixation for the treatment of tuberculosis of the lumbosacral segment.

METHODSFrom March 2004 to November 2008,11 patients with tuberculosis of the lumbosacral segments received antituberculosis medications for 2 to 3 weeks before anterior radical debridement, autologous iliac bone grafting, and internal sacral rod fixation. Among the patients, 5 patients were male and 6 patients were female, with an average age of (44.45 +/- 8.50) years (ranged from 29 to 56 years). The average time from stage of onset to operation was 11 months (ranged from 8 to 15 months). All the patients presented with various degrees of lower back pain; one patient experienced preoperative lower extremity radicular pain, while 2 patients experienced saddle area anaesthesia. However, only 6 patients exhibited mild to moderate tuberculous toxic reactions. All the patients were evaluated by plain radiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The diagnosis of tuberculosis was made with reference to clinical and radiological findings. Surgery was performed when the toxic symptoms of tuberculosis were controlled and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) decreased to (37.2 +/- 9.6) mm/h (25 to 54 mm/h). Lumbosacral angle, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, ESR, and neurological performance were assessed before and after surgery.

RESULTSAll surgical procedures were performed successfully without intra or postoperative complications. There were no instances of spinal tuberculosis recurrence. Patients were followed up for a mean of (19.64 +/- 5.43) months. The mean lumbosacral angle significantly increased from the preoperative mean (12.9 +/- 5.0) degrees to postoperative (21.5 +/- 6.1) degrees and at final follow-up (20.1 +/- 5.2) degrees (P < 0.001). The mean VAS scores and ESR significantly decreased from preoperative (7.3 +/- 1.2) score and (37.2 +/- 9.6) mm/h respectively to final follow-up (0.6 +/- 0.5) score and (10.5 +/- 2.3) mm/h respectively (P < 0.001). Bone fusion occurred in all patients at a mean of (9.0 +/- 1.9) months (ranged 6 to 12 months) after surgery. Three patients who had impaired neurological performance before surgery had normal neurological performance after surgery.

CONCLUSIONOur findings suggest that anterior radical debridement, interbody fusion, and sacral rod fixation can be an effective treatment option for lumbosacral segment tuberculosis.

Adult ; Debridement ; Female ; Humans ; Lumbosacral Region ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sacrum ; surgery ; Spinal Fusion ; Tuberculosis, Spinal ; surgery

The epidemiological survey of prevalence of NIDDM (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) and IGT(impaired glucose tolerance)was conducted among 9450 residents aged 25～70 in some areas of Hubei Province, China. The results show that NIDDM and IGT prevalences are 2.62% and 4.48%, respectively. There is no significant difference between male and female (P>0.05). The NIDDM prevalence in cities is slightly higher than that in countryside, but the difference is not significant (P>0.05). However, the IGT prevalence in city is significantly higher than that in countryside (P<0.01). The prevalence of both NIDDM and IGT is increasing along with the age of the population. It is also significantly related to the family history of NIDDM, hypertension, and high body mass index (BMI). By using stepwise logistic regression to analyse the risk factors of NIDDM, age (OR=1.86),BMI(OR=2.69), family history (OR=2.84) and hypertension (OR=2.23) entered the model (significance level is α=0.05).

OBJECTIVETo further study the role of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in the pathogenesis of the type 2 diabetes mellitus.

METHODSHCMV DNA levels in sera from 29 type 2 diabetic patients and 23 controls were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and comparative analyses was made between HCMV DNA and T cell subsets, blood glucose (BG), insulin (Ins) and C peptide (C-P).

RESULTSThe levels of HCMV DNA were (1.81+/-1.67) x 10(8) copies/ml for type 2 diabetic patients, a level significantly higher than that (5.50+/-4.30) x 10(7) copies/ml of controls. The percentage of CD8 for type 2 diabetic patients with positive HCMV DNA was 29.53%+/-2.00%, being much higher than that for controls (27.13%+/-4.12%), while the ratio of CD4/CD8 1.24+/-0.05 was significantly lower than that 1.41+/-0.10 of controls. Fasting C-P of type 2 diabetic patients with positive HCMV DNA was far lower than that of those with negative HCMV DNA, but the differences of BG and Ins between the two groups were not significant.

CONCLUSIONActive HCMV infection of type 2 diabetic patients may suppress cellular immunity and its influence on the pathogenesis of the type 2 diabetes mellitus should be further studied.

Adult ; Cytomegalovirus ; genetics ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; complications ; immunology ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; immunology ; virology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets

OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence rate, pattern and affective factors of mental disorder due to brain damage. METHODS: According to CCMD-2-R, 388 subjects with traumatic brain damage in the Psychiatric Hospital of Huainan city within last 5 years were assessed by three psychiatrists 6 months to 1 year after brain injury. RESULTS: (1) 74.2% of the mental disordered due to brain injury have intellectual impairment, most of them is mild; (2) The intracranial hematoma, brain stem injury, brain injury extent, GCS, complicated mental disorder, and education have great effect on intellectual impairment; (3) There is an intimate relationship between the intellectual impairment and the brain stem injury, intracranial hematoma, GCS, brain injury extent, and unconsciousness time. There is an intimate relationship between the mental symptom and the brain injury extent, contusion and laceration of brain, frontal lobe injury, and intracranial hematoma. There is also an intimate relationship between the personality change and the frontal lobe injury, unfolding brain case treatment, and intracranial hematoma. CONCLUSION To assess overall mental disorder should rely on the characteristics of craniocerebral injuries.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Brain Injuries/complications* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability/etiology* ; Intelligence ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mental Disorders/etiology* ; Middle Aged ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Young Adult

To investigate the cellular mechanisms of pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy transition to heart failure, we observed time course of changes in morphology and contractile function of cardiomyocytes in transverse abdominal aortic constriction (TAC) rats. Since TAC rats suffered higher stress, body weight had a slower growth rate compared with that of synchronous control rats. Therefore, the left ventricular to body weight ratio produced experimental bias to evaluate the degree of cardiac hypertrophy. Length and width of collagenase-isolated cardiomyocyte were directly measured. Length, width and calculated surface area of cardiomyocyte showed a progressive increase in 8-, 16-, and 20-week TAC rats. The increasing rate of surface area in cardiomyocytes was higher at the middle stage of TAC (from the eighth to sixteenth week). Due to the constraint of fibrosis formation, the increasing rate of surface area in cardiomyocytes was slower at the late stage of TAC (from the sixteenth to twentieth week). The sarcomere length of cardiomyocytes was unchanged, whereas sarcomere numbers were significantly increased in 8-, 16-, and 20-week TAC rats. Shortening amplitude of unloaded contraction in single cardiomyocyte was significantly enhanced in 1-week TAC rats, but not altered in 8-week TAC rats compared with that in the synchronous control rats. On the contrary, unloaded shortening amplitude of single cardiomyocyte was significantly reduced in 16- and 20-week TAC rats. The above results suggest that the reduced shortening amplitude may be associated with intrinsic molecular alterations in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes.
Animals ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Cardiomegaly ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Cell Enlargement ; Constriction ; Hypertension ; complications ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Myocardial Contraction ; physiology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; pathology ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expressions of calpain and calpastatin in the myocardium of simulated weightlessness rats, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) degradations. Tail-suspended (SUS) rats were used as a simulated weightlessness model on the ground. The myocardium of rats was homogenized, and the expressions of calpain-1, calpain-2, calpastatin and cTnI were analyzed by Western blotting technique. Calpastatin expression was significantly decreased in 2- and 4-week SUS groups compared with that in the synchronous controls (P<0.05). Calpain-2 expression was slightly decreased, whereas calpain-1 expression was unaltered in SUS groups. However, calpain-1/calpastatin and calpain-2/calpastatin ratios were increased after tail-suspension, being significantly higher in 2- and 4-week SUS groups than those in the synchronous controls (P<0.05, P<0.01). Cardiac TnI degradation was significantly increased after tail-suspension (P<0.01), but cTnI degradation in both SUS and control groups was significantly inhibited by a non-specific inhibitor of calpain, PD150606 (P<0.01). These results suggest that an increase in calpain activity may enhance cTnI degradation in the myocardium of tail-suspended rats.
Animals ; Calcium-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Calpain ; metabolism ; Hindlimb Suspension ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Proteolysis ; Rats ; Troponin I ; metabolism ; Weightlessness Simulation

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of expression of c-kit (marker of interstitial cells of Cajal, ICC) in colon with slow transit constipation (STC) in rats.

METHODSSlow transit constipation (STC) rat model was induced by intragastric administration of compound diphenoxylate. Western blotting was used to measure the expression of c-kit in colon of STC rats (model group) and normal rats (control group). Gray scale ratio of c-kit to β-actin was used as the relative quantity of c-kit.

RESULTSFecal quantity per day of STC group was (1.3±0.7) g/100 g, significantly lower than that in normal rats [(1.6±0.9) g/100 g, t=10.798, P<0.05]. In model rats, the time of discharge of the first black fecal was (461.6±150.8) min, significantly longer than that in normal rats [(351.3±119.9) min, t=2.291, P<0.05]. Western blotting revealed that the average values of gray scale ratio of c-kit in proximal colon were 0.277±0.077 and 0.576±0.081 (t=10.719, P<0.05), in distal colon were 0.280±0.075 and 0.571±0.079 (t=10.700, P<0.05) in model group and control group respectively.

CONCLUSIONDown-regulation of c-kit expression in proximal colon and distal colon is associated to the pathogenesis of slow transit constipation in rats.

Animals ; Chronic Disease ; Colon ; metabolism ; pathology ; Constipation ; metabolism ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Interstitial Cells of Cajal ; pathology ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley