Objective To evaluate the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) teaching model in medical imaging education in China. Methods Such databases as PubMed, Medline, CNKI, WanFang, VIP Data were electronically searched for literature on PBL versus lecture-based learning (LBL) applied in medical imaging education in China up to April, 2015. According to the strict quality evaluation of the in-cluded studies, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results Fourteen studies were included totally. Studies included 1 233 students, of whom the PBL group had 608 cases, while LBL group had 625 cases. Compared with LBL, PBL was superior in medical imaging theoretical scores [WMD=5.22, 95%CI(3.06, 7.37), P=0.000], and the case analysis scores [WMD=6.45, 95%CI(4.77, 8.12), P=0.000]. PBL was also superior in the autonomous learning ability [RR=1.78, 95%CI (1.47, 2.16), P=0.000], the unity cooperation ability [RR=1.42,95%CI (1.25, 1.61), P=0.000] and analysis ability [RR=1.73,95%CI (1.42, 2.11), P=0.000]. There were significant differences between PBL group and LBL group. Conclusion PBL can improve teaching results in medical imaging education.

Human nerve growth factor (NGF) is a nerve cell growth regulation factor, which can provide nutrition for the neurons and promote the neurites outgrowth. In order to produce large-scale recombinant human nerve growth factor (rh-beta-NGF), we constructed a plasmid vector, which can stably express the rh-beta-NGF in the HEK293 cell lines. First, the plasmid of pCMV-beta-NGF-IRES-dhfr was constructed and transformed into HEK293 cells. Then MTX pressurized filter and limiting dilution methods were used to obtain monoclonal HEK293 cell lines. After stepwise reducing serum in culture media, the cells eventually adapted to serum-free medium and secreted rh-beta-NGF. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the expression product owned a molecular weight of about 13 kDa and a purity of more than 50%. The peptide mapping sequencing analysis demonstrated the sequences of rh-beta-NGF matched with the theoretical ones. Later we purified this protein by ion exchange and molecular sieve chromatograph. Finally, our experimental results exhibited that the recombinant cell lines can stably express rh-beta-NGF with a high efficiency of more than 20 pg/cell x day. In addition, this protein could successfully induce differentiation of PC12 cells. In summary, our recombinant HEK293 cells can express bio-active rh-beta-NGF with great efficiency and stability, which supply a valid basis to large-scale production of rh-beta-NGF.
Cell Differentiation ; Genetic Vectors ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Nerve Growth Factor ; biosynthesis ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis

Antithrombotic drugs play an important role in the prevention and treatment of thromboembolism , which include anticoagulant , anti-platelet therapies and thrombolytic drugs.In this paper , we review the pharmacological properties of these most commonly used oral antithrom-botic drugs and explore the development of anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapies , in order to guide the safety and rational use of antithrombotic drugs in clinic.

OBJECTIVETo sum up one-stage complete correction of infantile aortic coarctation (CoA) or interrupted aortic arch (IAA) associated with intracardiac anomalies through median sternotomy.

METHODSThe clinical data of 52 infants with CoA or IAA associated with intracardiac anomalies from May 2004 to March 2010 was analyzed. There were 32 male and 20 female, aged from 25 d to 7 months with a mean of (2.03 ± 0.15) months, weighted from 2.5 to 8.0 kg with a mean of (3.9 ± 0.5) kg. All of intracardiac defect were corrected by self-arcula cordisand. Forty cases with CoA were underwent by operative techniques, including resection with end to side anastomosis, extended end to side anastomosis (n = 34), and vertical incision and cross joint (n = 3). Three cases of pseudo-CoA were cut and ductus arteriosus or ligamentum arteriosus and dissected arch. Twelve cases of IAA were underwent by extended end to side anastomosis.

RESULTSThe time of cardiopulmonary bypass was (98 ± 41) min, and all patients hemorrhaged (78 ± 13) ml during operation. One case of IAA associated with double outlet right ventricle died after 43 d post-operation because of left bronchial stenosis. The other patients were in good condition. The rate of aneurysm formation was 11% in 1 to 6 years' follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSOne-stage complete correction of infantile CoA or IAA associated with intracardiac anomalies through median sternotomy yields excellent intermediate surgical results. This operative approach is beneficial, not only with shorten period of therapy and loss operative cost.

Aortic Coarctation ; surgery ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Sternotomy ; methods

There are sex differences in some brain areas in mammalians. Parkinson's disease (PD), caused by the mesencephalic substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic neuronal loss, displays sexual difference, i.e., the incidence is higher and the symptoms are more intense in males than that in females. However, it has not been known whether sexual dimorphisms exist in the SN. Sixty adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (1) Female intact group (F-INT group); (2) Male intact group (M-INT group); (3) Ovariectomized group (OVX group); (4) Castration group (CAST group); (5) Ovariectomized + estrogen-replaced group (OVX-E(2) group): The rats received sequentially physiological dose of estrogen for 3 d from the 7th day after ovariectomization. P50 auditory evoked potential (P50) was recorded for 14 d from electrodes inserted in the rat right SN in quiet and awake state. After recording, the brain tissues were dissected and the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-expressing neurons in the compact zone of the SN were counted using immunohistochemical method. The results showed that the number of TH-positive (TH(+)) cells in the SN of normal male animals was less than that in normal female rats (P<0.05), and the T/C ratio of P50 in normal males was significantly less than that in normal females (P<0.01), indicating that there exists sexual difference in function and structure in the SN. No differences in the T/C ratio of P50 or the number of TH(+) cells were found between M-INT and CAST groups. The T/C ratio of P50 and the number of TH(+) cells in the SN in OVX group were reduced significantly compared with those in F-INT group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the T/C ratio of P50 and the number of TH(+) cells in the SN between OVX- E(2) and F-INT groups 15-20 d after estrogen replacement, suggesting that estrogen can promote the survival and functional recovery of dopaminergic neurons in the SN. The results suggest that there exist sex-specific differences in the dopaminergic neurons in the SN structurally and functionally. The difference of estrogen level in cerebra between male and female animals may account for the sexual differences. Endogenous estrogen plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and modulating the functional activity of dopamine system in the SN.
Animals ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; cytology ; Estrogens ; pharmacology ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; Female ; Male ; Orchiectomy ; Ovariectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sex Characteristics ; Substantia Nigra ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Q-switched 1 064 nm Nd:YAG laser treatment on the proliferation of dermal collagen and expression of immunoglobulin binding protein/glucose related protein 78 (BiP/GRP78) in rats' skin and the mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum stress.

METHODSDorsal skin of 25 Wistar rats was divided into two parts equally after hair removal. Q-switched 1 064nm Nd:YAG laser was applied to treat rats' dorsal skin for 4 times at an interval of 2 days in the experiment part. The control part received no laser treatments. The rats' dorsal skin samples were taken on the 14th and 30th day after laser treatment to measure the dermis thickness and collagen bundles under HE stain and to measure the hydroxyproline content by alkaline hydrolysis method after laser treatment. The expression of BiP/GRP78 was also detected by immunohistochemical method. Statistics was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSThe dermis thickness increased by 29. 6% on the 14th day and 16.7% on the 30th day after laser treatment. The collagen bundles became thicker and denser. The hydroxyproline in the skin was also raised after laser treatment (P < 0.05). The immunohistochemical result showed the expression of BiP/GRP78 increased to 100% after laser treatment, showing a significant difference from the control group(X2 = 28.76, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe Q-switched 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser treatment can induce endoplasmic reticulum stress, so as to enhance the protein folding and synthesizing precisely. The proliferation of dermis collagen is the base of effect of non-ablative skin rejuvenation.

Animals ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ; Female ; Hydroxyproline ; chemistry ; Lasers, Solid-State ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Rejuvenation ; Skin ; radiation effects ; Skin Aging

Objective:To establish an in vivo diffusion model of Treponema pallidum (Tp) in New Zealand rabbits. Methods:A standard strain of Tp (Nichols strain) was recovered in the testes of New Zealand rabbits, and isolated and passaged continuously. The suspensions of the second-passage Tp were collected and inoculated onto the dorsal skin of New Zealand rabbits. After 21-day infection, the New Zealand rabbits were anesthetized and sacrificed, blood samples were collected, and skin tissues at the infection site as well as liver, spleen, testes and lymph nodes were aseptically resected. Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to detect the spread of Tp in different tissues and organs.Results:On day 21 after infection with Tp, skin lesions such as indurations and ulcers were seen at all inoculated sites of New Zealand rabbits. Pathological examination showed a lot of inflammatory cells in the infected lesions, mainly including plasma cells, macrophages and lymphocytes. Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR revealed a large number of Tp in tissues and organs, such as liver, spleen and testes.Conclusion:After inoculation with Tp in the dorsal skin of New Zealand rabbits, Tp could spread to the liver, spleen, testes and other tissues and organs through blood and lymph nodes, and the in vivo diffusion model of Tp strains in New Zealand rabbits was successfully constructed.

AIM To establish a UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS method for the simultaneous content determination of phenylalanine,isoleucine,methionine,valine,proline,tyrosine,aspartic acid,histidine,arginine,lysine and glutamic acid in Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino.METHODS The analysis of aqueous extract of G.pentaphyllum was performed on a Waters XBridge Amide column (2.1 mm × 100 mm,3.5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of water-acetonitrile (containing 0.2％ formic acid) flowing at 0.6 mL/min in a gradient elution manner.RESULTS Eleven amino acids showed good linear relationships within their own ranges (r ＞0.998 9),whose average recoveries were 90.74％-103.05％ with the RSDs of 0.61％-5.00％.CONCLU-SION This accurate,stable and reproducible method can be used for the quality control of G.pentaphyllum.

BACKGROUND: Brain injury can promote fracture healing is becoming an issue of concern, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown.OBJECTIVE: To establish a model of cerebral injury combined with right tibial fracture, and to investigate the cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide, nerve growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1.METHODS: New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: group A: blank control group;group B: simple brain injury group; group C: simple tibial fracture group; group D: tibial fracture combined with brain injury. The cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide, nerve growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 were detected at different time points. The rabbits in the groups C and D were sacrificed at 1, 4 and 8 weeks after modeling to remove the whole tibia, and scanned by X-ray. The callus volume was calculated, and the pathological changes were analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The fracture healing was faster in the group D than the group C. The callus volume,trabecular width, trabecular area ratio, and the number of newly born vessels in the group D were significantly higher than those in the group C at 4 weeks after modeling (P < 0.05). The cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide, nerve growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 in the group D were significantly higher than those in the group C (P < 0.05), and the cerebrospinal fluid levels reached the maximum values earlier than did the serum levels. Furthermore, in the group D, the calcitonin gene-related peptide level was increased earlier than the other two factors. To conclude, calcitonin gene-related peptide, nerve growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 are essential factors involved in promoting fracture healing after traumatic brain injury, and moreover calcitonin gene-related peptide shows a stronger ability than the other factors.

Objective To explore the association between total cholesterol and type 2 diabetes ( T2DM) ． Methods Non－diabetic people who aged 20 to 90 years at the baseline and who had physical examination more than 2 times were screened． Comparisons of the baseline characteristics were conducted with Student－t test or Pearson chi－square test． Generalized estimating equation ( GEE) was used to analyze the effect of total cholesterol of quantiles groups ( 2．10－ mmol /L，4．16－ mmol /L，4．76－ mmol /L and 5．42 －13．29 mmol /L) to type 2 diabetes． Results The cohort with an average age of 3．53 years per person in- cluded 12 928 subjects and 45 626 person－years． During the follow－up，447 cases of new－onset diabetes occurred and the incidence density was 9. 80‰． The high incidence of type 2 diabetes increased with the increase of total cholesterol． After adjusting the factors including age，high density lipoprotein，hypertension and obesity，based on the 2. 10－ mmol /L group，the relative risk ( RR) of the 4. 16－ mmol /L，4. 76－ mmol/L and 5. 42－13. 29 mmol /L group were 1. 24( 95% CI: 0. 83－1. 86) ，1. 75 ( 95% CI: 1. 19－2. 56) and 3. 60( 95% CI: 2. 51－5. 17) ，respectively． Conclusions Total cholesterol is associated with type 2 diabetes，and as the total cholesterol increases，the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases．