Objective To investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on motor function of upper limbs of stroke patients. Methods 80 stroke patients were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. Both groups accepted routine rehabilitation, while the experimental group accepted anodal stimulation, and the control group received sham stimulation. They were assessed with Brunnstrom stages of arms and hands, Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) of upper extremities, Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Motor Assessment Scale (MAS) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) before and 1 month after treatment. Results All the scores improved in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and improved more in the Brunnstrom stages of arms and hands, FMA, ARAT in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion tDCS may promote the recovery of arms and hands function of stroke patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of c-fos in rats' skin during wound healing. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was conducted on paraffin section from incised wounding model of rat skin. RESULTS: Fos protein improved from the time of 10 min after wounding in the wound edge, then it reached peak at 3 h. 24 h after injury, the quantity of Fos expression had no difference with that of normal skin. CONCLUSION Fos is sensitive after wound, but should be used with other criteria in wounding interval estimation as it's unstediness.
Animals ; Genes, Immediate-Early ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/biosynthesis* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin/metabolism* ; Time Factors ; Wounds and Injuries/metabolism*

Sulfur fumigation, which is traditional method for preservation, pest control, insecticide and sterilization, has long been widely used in processing and storage and played a positive role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As some businesses sided pursuit of profit, abused and repeated use of sulfur fumigation, have resulted in a large number of harmful residues, such as sulf dioxide (SO2) and harmful heavy metals, which brings a significant impact and danger on human health. This article summarizes the sulfur species and the sulfur fumigation methods and analyzes the harmful substances in TCM after sulfur fumigation, to provide a reference of the choice of species for the sulfur, the optimization of sulfur fumigation process and the standardized processing of TCM after sulfur fumigation.
Animals ; Drug Contamination ; Fumigation ; methods ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Safety ; Sulfur ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

AIMTo explore the changes of rat platelet phospholipase A2 (PLA2) mRNA content in bacteria infected rat and study the cDNA and amino acid sequences of the PLA2 structure to lay a good foundation for the development of new antibiotics.

METHODSThe PLA2 mRNA level in blood was determined by RT-PCR. The DNA sequence was cloned and analyzed.

RESULTSAfter injection of bacteria in rats, the mRNA level of PLA2 in blood increased markedly. The cDNA and amino acid sequence were highly homologous to other PLA2 cDNA from different tissues of the rat.

CONCLUSIONPlatelet PLA2 in blood responded quickly to bacteria infection in gene level. Therefore, the PLA2 protein was produced increasingly which was shown to control the infection with bacteria. Although there are little difference between PLA2 cDNA cloned from blood and other sources in DNA and amino acid sequences, the catalytic site for enzymatic activity and basic structure are identical.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; metabolism ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phospholipases A ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phospholipases A2 ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Staphylococcal Infections ; blood ; Staphylococcus aureus

A fermentation system composed of four airlift suspended-bed bioreactors in series and with a total working volume of 4800 mL was established. Continuous ethanol fermentation using self-flocculating yeast SPSC01, a fusant from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and two-stage enzymatic hydrolyte of dry milling corn powder, was continuously run for 120 days. All of the backset distillage collected after distilling the final beer was used to mix the corn powder and no any other wastes except the solid residue of corn powder was discharged from the fermentation system, which guaranteed the distillage to be recycled at its maximum. The experimental results revealed that both ethanol and residual sugar in the final beer could be maintained relatively stable with their average levels of 93.6 and 7.9 g/L, respectively when the fermentation system was operated at the dilution rate of 0.05 h(-1). Parameter oscillations reported previously were also observed for the first and second bioreactors, but were effectively attenuated thereafter, which indicated that high yeast cell concentrations resulted from the self-immobilization of this special self-flocculating strain contributed to damp these oscillations. The monitoring of residual nitrogen and phosphor indicated that the accumulations of these nutritional elements occurred and the amount of these inorganic salts supplemented in the substrate should be decreased properly.
Bioreactors ; microbiology ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Flocculation ; Immobilization ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; metabolism ; Schizosaccharomyces ; metabolism ; Zea mays ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the identification method of Pterocephalus hookeri.

METHODThe microscopical, Physicochemical and TLC methods were used.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONThe convenient and effective identification methods for P. hookeri were established, which provide basis for its quality standard and development.

Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Magnoliopsida ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Pharmacognosy ; Plant Leaves ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Quality Control

Background Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a monogenic inheritance and blinding disease of fundus oculi.There is not an effective therapeutic method now.Objective This work was to identify the mutations of RP1 gene in Chinese RP patients in Ningxia area and to explore the potential interactions in the pathogenesis of RP.Methods The periphery blood of 3-5 ml was collected from 110 individuals with RP(35 ADRP and 75SRP)and 100 normal controls in Ningxia area.Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct DNA sequencing were used to screening the sequence alterations in the entire coding region and splice sites of RP1 gene.Multivariate analysis and two web-based programs( PolyPhen and SIFT) were used to analyze the results.Results Eleven mutation locus were detected in the exon 4 of RP1 gene including two novel sequence variants:p.Lys1152Lys without a higher mutation rate in comparison with normal control group(x2 =9.12 P＜0.01 ),but c.* 247A＞C with a higher mutation rate in comparison with normal control group(x2 =12.77,P＜0.01 ) and c.* 247A＞C mutation was thought to be correlated with RP( r=1.11,P＜0.05 ).The other ten mutation locus were reported as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP).The mutation rate of p.Gln1725Gln was found to be higher in the RP patients than the normal controls (x2 =42.09,P＜0.01 ),but no the significant correlation was seen between the pathogenesis of RP and mutation of p.Gln1725Gln(r=1.74,P＞0.05).p.Lys1152Lys mutation was found in only 1 patient.Three SNPs( p.Arg872His,Ala1670Thr,Ser1691Pro) were always occurred in the same 83 RP patient and the relevance ratio was higher than controls ( P＜0.01 ).The age of night blindness on patients with concurrent three mutations was (30.54± 13.68 ) years,and the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.50 ± 0.38.The age of night blindness on patients without concurrent three mutations was(21.06± 16.24) years,and the BCVA was 0.40 ±0.33 and were higher than controls ( t =2.11,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions In this study,the prevalence of RP1 mutations among the RP patients in Ningxia population was lower than other populations (＜ 1％ ).The alliance of SNPs (p.Arg872His、p.Ala1670Thr、p.Ser1691Pro) may play a protective role on RP patients and reduce the frequency of mutatiaon in RP1 gene.

BACKGROUNDTo investigate variant genotyping of CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A and CCR5Delta32 in HIV-1 infected Chinese Long-term nonprogressors and to study their association with disease progression.

METHODSThe genotypes of CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A and CCR5Delta32 were detected by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP) assay in seventeen HIV-1 infected Chinese Long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs) and thirty-nine Chinese typical progressors (TPs).

RESULTSThe frequency of CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A in LTNPs are 50% and 62.5%, higher than those (23.08% and 33.33%) in TPs. Only one heterozygous CCR5 mutant was detected in LTNPs, and no CCR5 mutant in TPs.

CONCLUSIONVariant genotyping of CCR2-64ISDF1-3'A and CCR5Delta32 may be protective factors for delaying disease progression in HIV-1 infected Chinese LTNPs.

Chemokine CXCL12 ; genetics ; China ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HIV Infections ; genetics ; pathology ; virology ; HIV Long-Term Survivors ; HIV-1 ; physiology ; Host-Pathogen Interactions ; Humans ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Receptors, CCR2 ; genetics ; Receptors, CCR5 ; genetics ; Receptors, HIV ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo report a patient with congenital plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) deficiency and explore its molecular mechanism.

METHODSThe activities of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), alpha(2) antiplasmin (alpha(2)AP) and PAI-1 were measured by the methods of chromogenic substrate, the antigens of tPA and PAI-1 were measured by ELISA. PAI-1 gene was studied by PCR product sequencing and restriction endonuclease ana-lysing.

RESULTSIn the present patient, the euglobulin clot lysis time was 70 minutes and was corrected to normal range after added 50 ng/ml PAI-1 to his plasma. The activities of t-PA, alpha(2)AP, and factor were normal; the activity and antigen of PAI-1 in plasma were both significantly decreased. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the patient had a heterozygous missense mutation in exon 2, a G to A transition at nucleotide 43. The possibility of gene polymorphism was excluded by restriction endonuclease analysing.

CONCLUSIONSIt is the first patient with congenital PAI-1 deficiency reported in China. The PAI-1 deficiency in the patient may be caused by compound heterozygosity, one of which is the G to A transition at nt43, a new mutation in congenital PAI-1 deficiency.

Adult ; Base Sequence ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 ; blood ; deficiency ; genetics

OBJECTIVEData obtained from a differentially expressed cDNA library constructed previously in this laboratory demonstrated that the extracellular matrix molecule osteopontin (OPN) is one of most considerably over-expressed genes in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). The purpose of the present study was to explore the expression status of OPN in a large scale NSCLC tissue samples, and estimate its significance in progression of the malignant disease.

METHODSRT-PCR was performed with the tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 35 patients with NSCLC, at transcriptional levels of OPN. To determine the expression of OPN protein in the tumor tissues, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was subsequently carried out on paraffin-embedded sections in tissue microarrays containing 662 samples derived from NSCLC cases. The correlation between the expression level of OPN and clinical characteristics was analyzed statistically.

RESULTSComparing with the paired normal lung tissue, high level RNA of OPN was detected in 80.0% (28/35) of the NSCLC tumor tissues by RT-PCR, which confirmed the information obtained previously by our differentially expressed cDNA library. The results of IHC analysis showed that positively stained OPN protein was observed in 59.6% (331/555) of the tumor tissues, which was remarkably higher than that (25.2%, 27/107) detected in the normal control tissues (P < 0.001). Among the NSCLCs investigated, over-expressed OPN was more frequently found in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) than in adenocarcinomas. A further analysis on SCCs demonstrated that the rate of over-expressed OPN was significantly different between the primary tumors with and without lymphatic metastases (68.6% vs. 49.7%, P = 0.001), but similar in the primary tumors and their corresponding metastases in lymph nodes (68.6% vs. 75.5%, P = 0.171).

CONCLUSIONExpression of OPN protein is distinctly increased in NSCLCs, particularly in SCCs. OPN over-expression is considerably correlated with lymph node metastasis, increasing the risk of tumor metastasis (OR = 2.212). The resulting data suggest that OPN facilitates the progression of NSCLCs.

Adenocarcinoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteopontin ; genetics ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation