Left atrial appendage ( LAA) arises from the left atrial free wall. It is the remnant of the original embryonic LA, distinct from the rest of the left atrium. It has a unique anatomical structure, physiological function, hemodynamic characteristics. LAA has complex surrounding structures, great variability, and close relation with thrombosis. This paper reviews the morphological and functional characteristics of LAA. Familiar with adjacent relationship of LAA and correlation between LAA and thrombus formation has important clinical significance that can reduce the risk of postoperative complications in interventional procedures, the incidence of car?dioembolic stroke, the clinical misdiagnosis on LAA thrombosis.

Agouti Signaling Protein ; Animals ; Central Nervous System ; abnormalities ; metabolism ; pathology ; Energy Metabolism ; Hair Color ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Mutation ; Obesity ; genetics ; metabolism

Angina Pectoris ; drug therapy ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; Technology, Pharmaceutical

Amygdala ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Kindling, Neurologic ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; drug effects ; physiology ; Epilepsy ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Female ; Flunarizine ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; physiology ; Male ; Penicillins ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate diagnosis and therapeutic effects of knee joint synovial chondromatosis with arthroscopic.

METHODSFrom March 1995 to July 2011, 28 patients with knee joint synovial chondromatosis were treated. Among them, 18 males and 10 females ranging age from 25 to 81 (mean 55.2) years,the course of disease ranged from 0.5 to 15 (mean 5.6) years. Clinical manifestation mainly included pain, swell and functional limitation of knee joint. Knee open surgery (17 cases) and laparoscopic surgery (10 cases) were respectively used. Clinical symptom,image data,pathological manifestation and effects under arthroscopy were observed, Lysholm scoring was used to evaluate effects.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up except one lost, the duration ranging from 6 to 24 months. Lysholm score in knee open surgery was increased from (41.89 +/- 6.81) preoperatively to (67.73 +/- 7.62) postoperatively;while in laparoscopic surgery it was increased from (40.78 +/- 7.54) preoperatively to (77.46 +/- 8.43) postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONArthroscopic surgery, which has no risk of rupture of incision, nonunion, earlier to exercise, is a good method to diagnosis and treat knee joint synovial chondromatosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chondromatosis, Synovial ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; surgery ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

With references of historical materials and modern literature regarding acupoint characteristic, a secondary analysis on the concept, origin, related factors and research methods in present research of acupoint characteristic is performed. The acupoint characteristic should be considered as an acupoint inherent attribute that could explain physiological and pathological manifestations at the same time, including location attribute and function attribute, which is related with time and treatment method. Some re-thinking on acupoint characteristic is proposed as well as advice on further research method and direction, hoping to promote the research development of acupoint characteristic.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Meridians

The core-crosslinked polymeric micelles were used as a new drug delivery system, which can decrease the premature drug release in blood circulation, improve the stability of the micelles, and effectively transport the drug into the therapy sites. Then the drug bioavailability increased further, while the side effect reduced. Most drugs were physically entrapped or chemically covalent with the polymer in the internals of micelles. Based on the various constitutions and properties of polymeric micelles as well as the special characteristics of body microenvironment, the environment-responsive or active targeting core-crosslinked micelles were designed and prepared. As a result, the drug controlled release behavior was obtained. In the present paper, the research progress of all kinds of core-crosslinked micelles which were published in recent years is introduced. Moreover, the characteristic and application prospect of these micelles in drug delivery system are analyzed and summarized.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Cross-Linking Reagents ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Humans ; Micelles ; Molecular Structure ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Particle Size ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; administration & dosage ; Polyethylene Glycols ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Polymers ; chemistry ; metabolism

Valve replacement represents the most common surgical therapy for valvular heart diseases. However, the long-term results of the valve protheses in clinical use are not satisfying. Recently, with the development of tissue engineering, more and more studies are focusing on creating ideal valve substitutes through seeding autologous cells on biodegradable scaffold. This article describes the definition of valvular tissue engineering, the choice of scaffold biomaterials, the methods of cell culture and seeding, and the evaluation of tissue-engineered heart valves. Furthermore, the problems which should be resolved in the future are also presented in the article.
Animals ; Bioartificial Organs ; Biocompatible Materials ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Cells, Cultured ; Heart Valve Prosthesis ; Polymers ; Tissue Engineering

OBJECTIVE Toinvestigatetheantidepressantandantianxietyeffectofproanthocyani-dins(OPC)inchronicallystressedratsanditsunderlyingmechanism.METHODS Onemethodwas selected from 8 different stress methods each day,and the rats were treated with OPC (25,50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 )1 h before the stress method.The chronically stressed model was established.After 21 d stress experi ment,the i mmobility ti me in force swi mming test,sucrose consu mption and the nu mber of marbles buried in the marble burying test were observed respectively each day.OPC (25,50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 )was given 1 h before each test.In addition,Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element-bindingprotein(p-CREB)inthehippocampusandfrontalcortex.RESULTS Comparedwith the control group,the chronically stressed group showed obvious depressive-like and anxiety-like behav-ior,while the immobility time decreased from (90.57 ±4.27)s in chronically stressed group to (78.25 ± 2.53)s (P<0.05),(72.12 ±3.21 )s(P<0.05)and (60.77 ±3.41 )s (P<0.05)when ig given OPC 25,50 and 100 mg·kg -1 respectively,the ratio of sucrose preference increased from (42.80 ±4.92)%to (67.54 ±4.32)%(P<0.05)and (72.21 ±7.99)%(P<0.05)when ig given OPC 50 and 1 00 mg· kg -1 respectively,the number of buried marbles decreased from 1 .57 ±0.21 in chronically stressed group to 0.63 ±0.26 (P<0.05)and 0.44 ±0.1 8 (P<0.05)when ig given OPC 50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 respectively.The expression of p-CREB in the hippocampus and frontal cortex distinctively increased in OPC group (25,50 and 100 mg·kg -1 )(P<0.05),so did the expression of BDNF in the hippocampus andfrontalcortexinOPCgroup(50and100mg·kg-1)(P<0.05).CONCLUSION OPCcanreverse the depressive-like and anxiety-like behavior in chronically stressed rats,which may be related to the cAMP-CREB-BDNF signal transduction cascades.