OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical therapeutic effect on painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PDPN) between dragon-tiger fighting needling and pregabalin capsules. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with PDPN were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. On the base of treatment with routine anti-hyperglycaemic measures and nutritional neurotherapy, the dragon-tiger fighting needling was exerted at Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Xuehai (SP 10) in the observation group, once daily. Pregabalin capsules were prescribed for oral administration in the control group, 75 mg, twice a day. The treatment for 2 weeks was as one course and 2 courses of treatment were required in total. The score of visual analogue scale (VAS), the score of MOS item short form health survey (SF-36) and nerve conduction velocity before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. The clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated in the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, VAS score was reduced as compared with before treatment in the two groups ( CONCLUSION The dragon-tiger fighting needling therapy relieves painful symptoms, improves the quality of life and increases nerve conduction velocity in the patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and the therapeutic effect is better than oral administration of pregabalin capsules.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Neuropathies/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Tigers ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Tigers

BACKGROUND: Black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon is one of the common causes of shellfish allergy that is increasing worldwide. One of the important problems in the management of shellfish allergy is the lack of accurate diagnostic assay because the biological and immunological properties of allergens in black tiger shrimp have not been well characterized. This study aims to detect proteins with the ability to bind and cross-link immunoglobulin E (IgE) from black tiger shrimp by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot, and a humanized rat basophilic leukemia reporter cell line RS-ATL8. METHODS: Sera from shrimp allergic subjects were subjected to ELISA and Western blots using raw or cooked shrimp extract as antigens. Pooled sera were used to sensitize the RS-ATL8 reporter cell line and cells were activated by shrimp extract. Eluted protein extracts separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) were tested on the RS-ATL8 cell line and subjected to mass spectrometry to identify potential candidate allergens. RESULTS: Allergic sera reacted stronger to raw shrimp extract than cooked shrimp extract (P=0.009). Western blot demonstrated that major IgE reactivity protein bands were at 32–39 kDa and 91–230 kDa in both raw and cooked shrimp extracts. The eluted protein bands at the molecular weight of 38 and 115 kDa from raw shrimp extract induced IgE cross-linking as assayed by the RS-ATL8 cell line. These protein bands were subjected to mass spectrometry for analysis. Ubiquitin-activating enzyme and crustacyanin were identified as potential candidate novel shrimp allergens. CONCLUSIONS: The RS-ATL8 reporter cell line can be used to identify potential new shrimp allergens that can functionally cross-link IgE and induce mast cell degranulation.
Allergens ; Animals ; Basophils ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulins ; Leukemia ; Mass Spectrometry ; Mast Cells ; Molecular Weight ; Penaeidae ; Rats ; Shellfish Hypersensitivity ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; Tigers ; Ubiquitin-Activating Enzymes

We describe our initial experience with the use of biodegradable (BD) stents in benign ischemic colorectal strictures with two cases. The first case is of a 40-year-old male with a history of retroperitoneal sarcoma who developed a benign stricture in the descending colon postsurgical and radiotherapy treatment. Balloon dilation was required in order to pass the delivery system. The patient experienced significant pain postdeployment and post procedure computed tomography scan demonstrated a small perforation requiring an emergency laparotomy. The second case is a 61-year-old male with a history of retroperitoneal sarcoma who also developed an ischemic stricture in the descending colon after surgical excision. Using a combined fluoroscopic and endoscopic approach 3 separate BD stents were inserted over a 17-month period improving clinical symptoms of intermittent obstruction. These symptoms reoccurred after stent disintegration and the patient was definitively managed surgically with colostomy formation. The use of BD stents, although appealing, does not provide an adequate long term result. Additionally, more flexible, smaller calibre systems are required for deployment in tortuous environments.
Adult ; Colon, Descending ; Colostomy ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiotherapy ; Sarcoma ; Stents* ; Tigers*

Toxascaris leonina is a common parasitic nematode of wild mammals and has significant impacts on the protection of rare wild animals. To analyze population genetic characteristics of T. leonina from South China tiger, its mitochondrial (mt) genome was sequenced. Its complete circular mt genome was 14,277 bp in length, including 12 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 2 non-coding regions. The nucleotide composition was biased toward A and T. The most common start codon and stop codon were TTG and TAG, and 4 genes ended with an incomplete stop codon. There were 13 intergenic regions ranging 1 to 10 bp in size. Phylogenetically, T. leonina from a South China tiger was close to canine T. leonina. This study reports for the first time a complete mt genome sequence of T. leonina from the South China tiger, and provides a scientific basis for studying the genetic diversity of nematodes between different hosts.
Animals ; Animals, Wild ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; China* ; Codon, Initiator ; Codon, Terminator ; DNA, Intergenic ; Genes, rRNA ; Genetic Variation ; Genome ; Genome, Mitochondrial* ; Mammals ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Transfer ; Sequence Analysis* ; Tigers* ; Toxascaris*

The morphology of the lingual papillae in a female Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tongue was 22.3 cm in length and 7.1 cm in width. Numerous filiform papillae were distributed over the entire dorsal surface of the tongue. SEM examination of the tongue revealed two types of mechanical papillae, i.e. filiform and conical papilla, and two types of gustatory papillae, i.e. fungiform and vallate papilla, on the dorsal surface of the tongue. Each filiform papilla consisted of one primary papilla and several secondary papillae. The filiform papillae on the anterior part of the tongue were divided into one primary and 6~14 secondary papillae. Unlike other mammalians, however, secondary papillae in the mid-part of the tongue showed pineal-like papillae. In the posterior part of the tongue, secondary papillae were rare or absent. Fungiform papillae were surrounded by filiform papillae and densely distributed on the lingual surface. There were two vallate papillae on the borderline between the lingual body and root of the tongue. A vallate papilla contained two secondary papillae inside the grooves. Conical papillae were located in the area of the vallate papillae and covered the posterior part of the tongue root. No foliate papillae were seen on both margins of the posterior part of the tongue. Our results indicate that the structure on the lingual papillae of the Bengal tiger is somewhat different from that of other mammals.
Female ; Humans ; Mammals ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Tigers* ; Tongue

This study clarifies the causes of the repetitive occurrences of such phenomena as rinderpest, epidemic, famine, and tiger disasters recorded in the Joseon Dynasty Chronicle and the Seungjeongwon Journals in the period of great catastrophe, the late 17th century in which the great Gyeongsin famine (1670~1671) and the great Eulbyeong famine (1695~1696) occurred, from the perspective that they were biological exchanges caused by the new arrival of rinderpest in the early 17th century. It is an objection to the achievements by existing studies which suggest that the great catastrophes occurring in the late 17th century are evidence of phenomena in a little ice age. First of all, rinderpest has had influence on East Asia as it had been spread from certain areas in Machuria in May 1636 through Joseon, where it raged throughout the nation, and then to the west part of Japan. The new arrival of rinderpest was indigenized in Joseon, where it was localized and spread periodically while it was adjusted to changes in the population of cattle with immunity in accordance with their life spans and reproduction rates. As the new rinderpest, which showed high pathogenicity in the early 17th century, was indigenized with its high mortality and continued until the late 17th century, it broke out periodically in general. Contrastively, epidemics like smallpox and measles that were indigenized as routine ones had occurred constantly from far past times. As a result, the rinderpest, which tried a new indigenization, and the human epidemics, which had been already indigenized long ago, were unexpectedly overlapped in their breakout, and hence great changes were noticed in the aspects of the human casualty due to epidemics. The outbreak of rinderpest resulted in famine due to lack of farming cattle, and the famine caused epidemics among people. The casualty of the human population due to the epidemics in turn led to negligence of farming cattle, which constituted factors that triggered rage and epidemics of rinderpest. The more the number of sources of infection and hosts with low immunity increased, the more lost human resources and farming cattle were lost, which led to a great famine. The periodic outbreak of the rinderpester along with the routine prevalence of various epidemics in the 17thcentury also had influenced on domestic and wild animals. Due to these phenomenon, full-fledged famines occurred that were incomparable with earlier ones. The number of domestic animals that were neglected by people who, faced with famines, were not able to take care of them was increased, and this might have brought about the rage of epidemics like rinderpest in domestic animals like cattle. The great Gyeongsin and Eulbyeong famines due to reoccurrence of the rinderpest in the late 17th century linked rinderpester, epidemics and great famines so that they interacted with each other. Furthermore, the recurring cycle of epidemics-famines-rinderpest-great famines constituted a great cycle with synergy, which resulted in eco-economic-historical great catastrophes accompanied by large scale casualties. Therefore, the Gyeongsin and Eulbyeong famines occurring in the late 17th century can be treated as events caused by the repetition of various periodic disastrous factors generated in 1670~1671 and in 1695~1696 respectively, and particularly as phenomena caused by biological exchanges based on rinderpester., rather than as little ice age phenomena due to relatively long term temperature lowering.
Animals ; Cattle ; Communicable Diseases/epidemiology/etiology/*history ; Epidemics/*history ; History, 17th Century ; Korea/epidemiology ; Population Dynamics ; Rinderpest/epidemiology/*history/virology ; Starvation/epidemiology/etiology/*history ; Tigers/physiology

Tigers are one of the most endangered species over the world and protected internationally or locally. However, they are still traded illegally for the Traditional East Asia Medicine or souvenirs / mementos as well as fake products. In the present study, to identify the species of the specimen known as the tiger's genitalia that was sold for mementos in China, two approaches of genetic tools and morphological comparisons were applied. On the basis of the entire sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1,140 bp), the result of nucleotide comparisons showed that the specimen examined here is matched with banteng, Bos javanicus (Identities = 1,138/1,140; 99%). In addition, the examination of external morphological characters revealed that the genitalia of the specimen is much more similar to the one of cows, not to tigers. The outcomes highlighted that there are still some fake products of tigers traded in market and molecular genetic tools could help identifying species of wildlife products.
Base Sequence* ; China ; Cytochromes b ; DNA* ; Endangered Species ; Genitalia ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Molecular Biology ; Sequence Analysis, DNA* ; Tigers*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The most important complications of the transradial coronary approach during coronary artery angiography are occlusion of the radial artery and arterial spasm which are known to be influenced by catheter size, procedure time, and repeat procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a Tiger catheter (TC) which was designed for the selection of right and left coronary artery ostia simultaneously, compared with the Judgkins catheter (JC) during transradial coronary angiography (CAG). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred forty-four patients were randomized between groups who underwent CAG with a standard 5F JC or a TC. The procedure time and vasospasm of the radial artery, which were expressed as stenosis of the vessel diameter, were examined using a transradial approach. Four parts of the blood vessel diameter were measured at baseline, during injection of the vasodilator, and at the end of the procedure. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in gender, age, weight, or other cardiovascular risk factors between the two groups of patients. CAG was successfully performed using a TC in 89% of the patients. A TC was associated with a significantly shorter total procedure time than the JC for diagnostic CAG (451+/-120.4 vs. 542.3+/-180.5 sec, p=0.001), respectively. There was no significant difference in stenosis between the two groups (36% vs. 41% in TC and JC, respectively, p=0.358). There were no angiographic or clinical complications in each group. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the TC is associated with decreased total CAG procedure time compared with the JC.
Angiography ; Blood Vessels ; Catheters ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnostic Equipment ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Radial Artery ; Risk Factors ; Spasm ; Tigers

In this study, the HPAIV A/Tiger/Harbin/01/2002 (H5N1) used was originated from tigers and propagated in SPF embryonated hen eggs. TCID5, of the virus was 10(-7.36)/0. 05mL on MDCK cell. The cats were inoculated through bronchus route and then, the cats of dead and control were collected for histopathological and immunohistochemistry examination. Meanwhile, the emulsion supernatant fluid of organs and the pharyngeal swab samples of the dead cats were collected for RT-PCR, survived cats and the control cats were tested for the presence of HI antibody by standard method. The results indicated that the damage of lungs from the dead cats were most obvious, the wide range of red consolidation focus emerged on the lobus pulmonis, the fused focus of infection caused injury of lungs. Histology under the microscope revealed diffuse alveolar damage, confluence phlegmasia pathology, infiltration of lymphomonocytes, sackful of infiltration of macrophages and manipulus protein-like effusion in the alveolar. By immunohistochemistry, the positively stained virus particles were found on the epithelial cells of bronchus and alveolus, and also in the endochylema of lymphomonocytes. The specific electophoretic band of 464bp amplified by RT-PCR from samples of pharyngeal swabs, lungs, kidneys, hearts and brains was as same as the theory value. HI antibody titers of the survived cat were 1:32.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Cat Diseases ; pathology ; Cats ; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests ; Immunohistochemistry ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; immunology ; pathogenicity ; Orthomyxoviridae Infections ; pathology ; veterinary ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tigers ; virology