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The valved linear compressor (VLC) is an essential part of the Joule-Thompson (J-T) throttling cryocooler in the liquid helium temperature region. The pressure pulsation may cause the fluctuation of the temperature and cooling capacity of the cryocooler, thus affecting its temperature stability. To measure the pressure pulsation of the VLC's pipe system, the mathematical model of pressure pulsation in the buffer tank of the VLC was established with the transfer matrix method based on the plane wave theory. The quantitative representation of the pulsating mass flow of the VLC was obtained with the linear damping based on the plane wave theory. Then, a test bench was set up to measure the pressure pulsation. The influence of the VLC's operating frequency and the suction and discharge buffer tank volume on the pressure pulsation was discussed. Results show that the pressure pulsation of the pipe system is related to the VLC's operating frequency. The pressure pulsation of the pipe system increases with the increase of the VLC's operating frequency. Both the inlet and outlet buffer tanks can effectively inhibit the pressure pulsation, but their capability is independent of each other. The pressure pulsation inhibition effect is better with the increase of the buffer tank volume. With the increase of the buffer tank volume, the pressure inhomogeneity at the inlet of the inlet buffer tank decreases to 164 over 423, but the pressure inhomogeneity at the outlet of the outlet buffer tank decreases to 8 over 23.

Hydrogen energy storage has many characteristics such as large energy storage capacity, long storage time, clean and pollution-free, and it realizes the interconnection and complementation of multiple energy networks and collaborative optimization. It is expected to become an important supporting technology to promote the development of distributed energy and improve the efficiency of terminal energy utilization. In order to improve the reliability and renewable energy utilization rate of islanded microgrid, the operation characteristics of typical electric, hydrogen and thermal devices are analyzed, and a multi-objective optimization configuration model of the islanded microgrid is proposed. Then, the target problem is solved based on simulated annealing particle swarm optimization (SAPSO) algorithm to obtain technical and economic indicators under different configuration schemes. Finally, based on the annual natural resource and electric heating load characteristic curve of a certain place in the north, the model built on MATLAB can effectively promote that the load loss rate of the proposed multi-energy complementary configuration scheme decreases by 3.18%, and the utilization rate of renewable energy increases by 8.37% compared with the traditional electric energy storage configuration scheme. Thus, the proposed configuration scheme can effectively promote the consumption of renewable energy and ensure the economy and power supply reliability of the independent micro-grid.

In order to study the transmission performance of slotted-type eddy-current couplers with radial misalignment, based on the theory of the equivalent magnetic charge theory, the copper which cuts the magnetic field line in motion is equivalent to permanent magnet. Combining with Coulomb's law, a calculation model of output torque is established in this study. The analysis of magnetic flux density, copper loss and output torque of couplers are all simulated by finite element software, and the maximum allowable value of radial misalignment is obtained. The results show that with the increase of radial misalignment, the induced magnetic field decreases during operation, which results in the increase of the magnetic flux density, the decrease of the copper loss and the torque, and the fluctuations of the copper loss and the output torque changing with time become more and more obvious. When the radial misalignment is less than 6 mm, the torque generated by the couplers can almost be remained accurately and the fluctuation of the torque is relatively stable.

To promote the application of digital twin technology in power grids， its application in transmission and transformation projects is studied. A general definition of digital twin technology for transmission and transformation project management is given by summarization of the connotation and typical features of the technology. Based on the application backgrounds and targets， a five-dimensional model of digital twin technology for transmission and transformation project management is constructed. By focusing on the analysis of application service dimensions in the five-dimensional model， the paper systematically introduces the specific application methods of digital twin technology in transmission and transformation project management， with business scenarios covering construction process simulation and deduction， safety quality supervision and management， and schedule and cost analysis and early warning. Finally， the current practice and subsequent expansion directions are summarized.

With the steady progress of intelligent mine construction and the acceleration of the implementation of digital transformation of coal enterprises, the demand for digital business applications of coal mine users is growing exponentially. This puts forward higher requirements for the efficiency of business application development. The traditional development model of application systems in the coal industry relies excessively on professional manufacturers. It has problems, such as long implementation cycles, high implementation costs and low resource reuse rates. It is difficult to meet the management requirements of coal mine users for rapid development of business applications. To solve the above problems, a design scheme of intelligent mine low code industrial IoT platform using the 'model driven' development mode is proposed. Based on microservices technology, the platform architecture including the data acquisition layer, data processing layer, data storage layer, data release layer, human-computer interaction and application layer is designed. The operation platform at each level resolves the corresponding functions of the development platform configuration through a resolution engine. By designing data encoding and master data specifications, platform internal data interaction specifications, platform interfaces and services, a unified technical system has been established. The unified supervision of various IoT monitoring objects on coal mine operation sites is achieved. By developing a low code component toolbox, a series of common functions and business logic that originally needed to be customized and developed in various monitoring system software for coal mines are uniformly encapsulated. It forms directly reusable components that can adapt to different types of monitoring system applications in coal mines. This provides users with a visual development environment for intelligent mining application software development by dragging and dropping components and configuring parameters. The application results indicate that this platform can provide a rapid development platform for coal mine monitoring systems, meeting the daily needs of coal mine users for emergency customized task development.

In this study, we explored the effects and principles of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in preventing acute radiodermatitis (RD) in breast cancer patients. Twenty patients with breast cancer, who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and had undergone modified radical mastectomy, were selected and administered standard preventive radiotherapy. Fifteen days after the first radiotherapy dose, the patients were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group and subjected to additional LED exposure. Twenty-one days after LED illumination, the preventive effect of LED on RD was evaluated by statistically analyzing the RD scores of the two groups. The preventive effects were inferred by histological and gene expression analyses. The results showed that compared with the control group, the RD score of the experimental group did not change significantly, so that the prevention effect of LED was significant. Our results showed that LED exposure increased skin appendage (p=0.041), accelerated microvascular growth (p=0.007), and increased IL-10 and MMP-9 expression (p

Commercial-off-the-shelf(COTS) FPGAs are often advocated as the only solution to the increasing performance requirements in space applications. It also increases the circuit sensitivity to multiple bit upsets(MBU), thus specific design techniques must be applied to compensate this effect. This work tackles fault tolerance along three abstraction levels: user logic, configuration memory and control. At the user logic level, a new ultra-low overhead forward temporal redundancy(FTR) scheme is proposed for error detection in user logic. At the configuration memory level in the FPGA, this work leverages the opportunities brought by frame- and module-based dynamic partial reconfiguration(DPR) to handle configuration memory errors. At the control level, this work fully exploits the modern Xilinx ZYNQ system-on-chip FPGA which embeds a hard processor used for circuit state preservation with checkpointing and rollback. The overall topology is successfully validated with 99.997% reliability through fault-injection for a seven pipelined LEON3 processor at a global resource overhead only 85% in LUTs and 125% in flip-flops.

In view of problem that method of null space linear discriminant analysis is difficult to reveal nonlinear structure of data of face image space, the paper proposed a method of null space kernel discriminant analysis. It introduced derivation process and solving steps of the method in details. Test result shows that the method can extract null space of scatter matrix within class in kernel space and remove null space of scatter matrix inter classes to the utmost extent, the new extracted feature can be used to make face recognition effectively.

Currently, the relationship between the deteriorating air quality and citizens' demands for a clean and healthy environment is becoming increasingly tense, which forces cities to solve air pollution and related health problems in the process of urban development. Based on the remote sensing data of PM2.5 concentration and population density in China from 2008 to 2018, an exposure-response function was used to estimate the mortality and morbidity caused by long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution. Furthermore, the K-Means cluster analysis method was selected for city classification, and econometric models were established for different types of cities to analyze health risk factors. The results showed that: Although PM2.5 pollution and related health risks experienced a process of deterioration, mitigation, and then improvement, all kinds of health problems caused by pollution were still severe, with hundreds of people suffering from premature deaths and related diseases. From the analysis of influencing factors, health risks were mainly affected by factors such as urbanization rate, population density, industrial structure, and economic development. In terms of different types of cities, the leading factors of health risks in industrial cities were urbanization rate, population density and industrial structure; those of resource-based cities were urbanization rate and population density; those of central cities were population density and industrial structure; and those of other types of cities were urbanization rate and population density. Finally, based on the differences in urban characteristics and leading factors of health risks, this study gives policy recommendations for urban development modeling, industrial structure optimization, public health service improvement, and evaluation standard reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain high performance glucose sensor electrode material, CuCo2C4 precursors were prepared by solvothermal method using Cu(NO3)2 and Co(NO3)2 as metal sources in a mixed solvent system of glycerol and isopropanol, followed by calcination to obtain CuCo2C4 hollow structure. The composition, structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is con-firmed that the obtained samples are spinel CuCo2C4 hollow spheres and the shell surface has a large number of pore structures formed by the accumulation of nanoparticles. The detection limit of glucose based on this material modified electrode is as low as 2.6 nmol/L (S/N=3), the sensitivity is as high as 1 854.87 µA ⋅ (mmol/L)-1 ⋅ cm-2, the linear detection range is 0~750 µmol/L, and has good anti-interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For demanding of large data processing and business intelligence of retail proposing a big data business intelligence system architecture. The architecture that includes big-data processing and business intelligence application. The system modules are described in detail, data processing in the system and introduce some requirements of data analysis about retail industry. Implementing a system of intelligence business and design an application of improving the sales of products for retail industry based on the architecture we propose. The experimental result shows that the business intelligence system we developed can enhance decision-making of improving the sales of goods for retail industry based on the architecture we propose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low temperature controllable absorption cell was established, which can calibrate the concentration of gas. The atmosphere radiation transfer software ARHiRS was used to compute the absorption of the cell. The experimental result indicates that, due to the difference of the external and internal temperature of the cell, which was in the condition of 1 m in length and full filled with CO2at 1.01 X 105 Pa, the internal temperature distribution is nonuniform. The simulation demonstrates that, the error caused by the effect of nonuniform temperature distribution on the absorption transmission of gas is no more than 0.05%, and the error of the concentration inversion does not exceed 0.8%. It is concluded that the established absorption cell can meet the needs of the concentration calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of age and involved semicircular canals on the results of caloric test in patients with primary horizontal semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo（BPPV）. Methods: A total of 258 patients conforming to the diagnosis of primary horizontal semicircular canal BPPV were selected as the case group, and another 110 non-BPPV patients with dizziness/vertigo as the main complaint were selected as the control group. Both groups were divided into elderly group and young and middle-aged group according to their age, and the general information and the results of the caloric test were compared and analyzed for each group. Results: ①There was no statistically significant difference in gender composition and type of involved semicircular canal between the different age groups（ P >0.05）；②In patients with horizontal semicircular canal canalolithiasis, there was no statistically significant difference in the rate of abnormal caloric test results between the different age groups（ P >0.05）；③In patients with horizontal semicircular canal cupulolithiasis, there was a statistically significant difference in the rate of abnormal caloric test results between the different age groups（ P <0.05）；④In the same age group, there was no statistically significant difference in the rate of abnormal caloric test results between the patients with horizontal semicircular canal canalolithiasis and the patients with cupulolithiasis（ P >0.05）；⑤In the control group, there was no statistically significant difference between the different age groups in gender composition（ P >0.05）；⑥In the control group, there was a statistically significant difference in the rate of abnormal caloric test results between the different age groups（ P <0.05）；⑦Among the patients in the same age group, there was no statistically significant difference in the age distribution between the case and control groups（ P >0.05）；⑧In patients of the same age group, there was no statistically significant difference in the rate of abnormal caloric test results between the case and control groups（ P >0.05）. Conclusion: The involvement of the semicircular canal does not affect the results of the caloric test, but age can affect the results, especially in BPPV patients with horizontal semicircular canal cupulolithiasis., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objective: To analyze the objective test results of the pure-tone audiogram （PTA）, extended high-frequency audiometry （EHFA）, distortion product otoacoustic emission （DPOAE）, auditory brainstem response（ABR）, and electrocochleogram （ECochG） in patients with unilateral acute tinnitus, summarize their characteristics and explore their clinical application value in hidden hearing loss. Methods: PTA, DPOAE, ABR, and ECochG tests were performed in 33 patients with unilateral acute tinnitus as the chief complaint. The detection rate and response amplitude of each DPOAE frequency, incubation period, and interval of ABR waves and -SP/AP in ECochG were analyzed. Results: ①The thresholds of PTA at 0.25-8 kHz in both ears were in the normal range （ P >0.05）, and the thresholds of PTA at 9-16 kHz in affected ears were higher than those in healthy ears （ P <0.001）; ②There was statistical significance in the detection rate and response amplitude of DPOAE at 3, 4, 6, 8 kHz between ears （ P <0.05）; ③The incubation period of ABR Ⅰ wave in affected ears was （1.55±0.17） ms, that in the healthy ear was （1.50±0.14） ms, among them, the incubation period of ABR Ⅰ wave in the affected ear was longer than that in the healthy ear, and the difference was statistically significant （ P <0.05）; ④In ECochG, there was no significant difference in -SP amplitude between ears （ P >0.05）, but there was a significant difference in AP amplitude and -SP/AP amplitude between ears （ P <0.05）. Conclusion: EHFA, DPOAE, ABR, and ECochG have clinical significance in evaluating cochlear function in tinnitus patients., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method was developed for determination of 39 veterinary drugs in Procambarusclarkii. Samples were extracted with acidified acetonitrile and purified with enhanced matrix removal-lipid (EMR-Lipid) adsorbent and graphitized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (GMWNTs). Extracts were analyzed by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Target compounds were screened according to accurate mass, isotopic ratio, and retention time, and confirmed by library search. Target analytes were quantified using the chromatographic peak area of each compound. For each of the drugs of interest, calibration curves were linear in their respective ranges with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were 3-15 μg/kg. The recoveries for target compounds spiked in Procambarusclarkii ranged from 62.4% to 105.8%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranging from 2.5% to 13.5%. This method is simple, rapid, accurate, and suitable for simultaneous determination of 39 veterinary drugs, including sulfonamides, quinolones, and triphenylmethane, extracted from Procambarusclarkii.

Purpose: Oral lichen planus was considered as T cell mediated autoimmune disease affecting oral mucosa with unknown etiopathogenesis. Helper T lymphocytes played an important role in the pathogenesis of OLP. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible role of Th17 and Treg cells in OLP lesions., Methods: Forty three patients with OLP (24 patients with reticular OLP and 19 patients with atrophic-erosive OLP) and 13 healthy volunteers were recruited in this study. Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to detect the expressions of RORRORγT and FOXP3, which were the lineage-specific transcription factors for Th17 and Treg, respectively. Statistical difference was evaluated by GraphPad Prism 5 software., Results: The results showed that the expressions of RORRORγT and FOXP3 in OLP lesions were significantly higher than that in normal oral mucosa, and correlated with the clinical classification of OLP. Additionally, it was found that RORRORγT/FOXP3 ratio in atrophic-erosive OLP was significantly higher than that in reticular OLP and control group; Moreover, increased RORRORγT/FOXP3 ratio in reticular OLP was found compared with control group, but the difference was not statistically significant., Conclusions: The results demonstrate that Th17 and Treg cells participate in the immune response in OLP lesions. Th17 predominance of Th17/Treg imbalance may implicate the immune response in atrophic-erosive OLP. These findings help to broaden our view on the pathogenesis of OLP.

Objective: To explore the feasibility and clinical significance of the detection of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in human colorectal cancer., Methods: Levels of NGAL in serum samples from 133 healthy people, 125 colorectal polyps patients and 100 colorectal cancer patients respectively were determined by sandwich ELISA assay. Relationship of NGAL level with clinicopathological features of colorectal cancer patients was analyzed. The optimal cut-off value of serum NGAL for diagnosing colorectal cancer was determined by ROC curve and compared with CEA and CA19-9. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the relationship of NGAL level with the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer., Results: The median serum NGAL protein level in 100 colorectal cancer cases was 67.96 (53.30-79.86) μg/L, significantly higher than that in healthy people and colorectal polyps patients. The differences were statistically significant (all P<0.01). Serum NGAL protein level was significantly associated with tumor diameter, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and vascular involvement (P<0.05). The optimal cut-off point of serum NGAL protein level for diagnosing colorectal cancer was 49.78 μg/L, and the sensitivity and specificity were 88% and 81% respectively. As for colorectal cancer patients with stage I, the sensitivity of serum NGAL (78.9%) was significantly higher as compared to CA19-9 (31.6%) and CEA (36.8%); as for those with stage II, the sensitivity of serum NGAL(88.0%) was also significantly higher compared to CA19-9 (48.0%) and CEA (52.0%). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with positive NGAL (≥49.78 μg/L) had worse survival than those with negative NGAL (P=0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that NGAL was an independent prognostic factor (HR=2.060, 95%CI:1.023-4.150, P=0.043)., Conclusions: NGAL can be served as the novel malignant biological phenotype marker for human colorectal cancer and can be used for the risk stratification. NGAL may be an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effect of CD133(+) cells on radiosensitivity of rectal cancer cells., Methods: In vitro experiments: CD133(+) cells were purified with Immunomagnetic beads from human rectal cancer cell line SW480 cells and annexin V/PI staining was used to determine apoptosis in CD133(+) and CD133(-) cells. In vivo experiments: Transplanted rectal tumor was established in 30 nude mice using primarily established SW480 cells. The tumor cells were divided into CD133-high and CD133-low groups based on the immunohistochemical staining of CD133 expression of the tumor cells. The tumor size after irradiation was recorded every three days., Results: CD133(+) cells had a much lower percentage of apoptosis after radiation exposure compared with CD133(-) cells [(12.6 ± 3.2) % vs. (38.8 ± 6.7) %, P < 0.01]. In vivo experiment showed that the normalized tumor size of CD133-high group (3.00 ± 0.32) became significantly larger than that of the CD133-low group(2.55 ± 0.29) at the ninth day and this difference lasted until the observation end (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: CD133(+) cells have a radioresistant effect on rectal cancer cells and may become a potential therapeutic target in the radiotherapy of rectal cancer.

Objective: To assess left ventricular (LV) strain by 3-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)., Methods: All subjects underwent invasive coronary angiography.2-dimensional and 3-dimensional echocardiography were performed in 52 subjects with suspected CHD. Longitudinal strain (LS) , circumferential strain (CS) , radial strain (RS) and area strain (AS) in 17 LV segments were acquired by 3D-STI respectively., Results: According to coronary angiography results, 35 (76.1%)subjects were diagnosed as CHD, and 138 coronary branches were divided into the control group(25 branches, 18.1%), the mild stenosis group (31 branches, 22.5%), the moderate stenosis group (43 branches, 31.2%) and the severe stenosis group (39 branches, 28.2%).3D-STI was performed with reliable tracking quality in 46(88.5%) out of the 52 subjects initially enrolled in this study. 3D-STI showed:(1)LS was similar between mild stenosis group and the control group (P > 0.05) and significantly reduced in the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05), and LS in some segments (MAS, AA, A, BAL, MAL, AL, BIS, MIS and AI) of moderate stenosis group were significantly decreased compared with the mild stenosis group (P < 0.05). LS of all segments in the severe stenosis group decreased significantly compared with the control group, the mild stenosis group and the moderate stenosis (P < 0.05). (2)RS was similar between mild stenosis group and the control group (P > 0.05) . RS in some segments (BAS,MA and BI) was significantly decreased in the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05). RS was significantly decreased in the severe stenosis group compared with the control group and the mild stenosis group (except for AS,AL,MIS,MI and AI) (P < 0.05). (3) CS was similar between mild stenosis group and the control group (P > 0.05) and was significantly reduced in some segments (BAS,AS,BIL and BI) of the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05). CS was significantly decreased in the severe stenosis group compared with the control group, the mild stenosis group and the moderate stenosis(P < 0.05). (4) AS was significantly decreased in the mild stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05, except for BIL,MAL and BIS) and in all segments of the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group and the mild stenosis group(P < 0.05). AS was significantly decreased in the severe stenosis group compared with the control group, the mild stenosis group and the moderate stenosis(P < 0.05). The progressive decrease in AS was observed from the control group to the mild stenosis group, the moderate stenosis group and the severe stenosis group (P < 0.05). In addition, AS was negatively correlated with coronary artery Gensini score (r = -0.71, P < 0.01) ., Conclusion: LV strain can be reliably quantified by 3D-STI. AS is a more sensitive parameter to detect coronary artery disease at early phase.

Objective: To evaluate the molluscicidal effect of a novel nano-silver biological molluscicide in the field and its toxicity to other aquatic organisms., Methods: A marshland of the Qiupu River was selected as the study site. Four 1 m3 pools were excavated. Four groups, including 300 g/m3 and 600 g/m3 nano-silver biological molluscicide groups, a 2 g/m3 50% niclosamide group, and a natural water (control) group were assigned to the four pools which had 100 Oncomelania hupensis snails and 100 crucian seedlings. The molluscicidal effects and toxicity to the aquatic organisms were observed., Results: The snail death rates were 100% and crucian seedling death rates were 6% in the 600 g/m3 nano-silver biological molluscicide group and 300 g/m3 nano-silver biological molluscicide group in 7 days and 14 days. The snail death rate was 100% in the niclosamide group in 7 days, and the crucian seedling death rate was 100% in the niclosamide group in 3 days. The snail death rates were 7% and 14% in the control group in 7 and 14 days respectively, and the crucian seedling death rate was 22% in the control group., Conclusions: The novel nano-silver biological molluscicide possesses an excellent molluscicidal capability and non-toxicity to the other aquatic organisms. Therefore, it may become a new, efficient and environment-friendly bio-molluscicide for extensive application.

Tumor angiogenesis defines tumor growth as it is dependent on generation of new blood vessels. Over forty years ago, Folkman hypothesized that inhibiting tumor angiogenesis could inhibit the growth of solid tumors and thus could be exploited as a therapeutic strategy. Among the numerous factors have been implicated in the angiogenesis activation process, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the best studied angiogenesis target in cancer, using many different approaches in a wide variety of human cancers. Bevacizumab is the first anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody and proof-of-concept angiogenesis inhibitor that has been approved by the United States FDA for several tumor types. Drugs inhibiting VEGF work through several mechanisms, including inhibition of tumor blood vessel growth, vascular renormalization, potentiating of other antitumor agents, and inhibiting tumor metastasis. Unlike colorectal, kidney, lung, and brain tumors, the use of bevacizumab in breast cancer has been, as it were, on a rollercoaster in the United States, from accelerated approval for early drug access by patients in February 2008, to modest efficacy that fell short of high expectations, and increasing concern for serious toxicity in July 2010, and on to FDA revocation of accelerated approval for metastatic breast cancer patients in November 2011. Through a concise review of the FDA process, we have summarized its lessons, the challenges in developing new cancer drugs, and perspectives on further development of bevacizumab and other angiogenesis inhibitors in treatment of breast cancer. Despite all the challenges, antiangiogenesis remains a promising strategy to conquer breast cancer.

Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is the most important measurement of the left ventricular function and the most commonly used parameter in clinical cardiac imaging. LVEF can be measured with different cardiac imaging techniques: left ventricular contrast angiography by catheterization, echocardiography, radionuclide ventriculography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac computed tomography. In this article, we reviewed the specifics of each of the cardiac imaging modality, their strength and pitfalls. We also compared the consistency and variance between them. The selection of a specific cardiac imaging modality in clinical practice should depend on the indications, local expertise and the historic data of the patient. In general, these cardiac imaging modalities correlate well, but the variance and standard deviation are large so the measurement numbers should not be used interchangeably.

Objective: To explore the characteristics of temporal distribution and epidemic trend of autumn-winter type scrub typhus using the time series analysis., Methods: Based on the data of scrub typhus collected from Shandong Diseases Reporting Information System from 2006 to 2011, both spectral analysis and moving average analysis were used to analyze the annual data of scrub typhus while scrub typhus incidence in 2012 - 2014 was forecasted. Seasonal decomposition analysis was applied to analyze the monthly data from January of 2006 to October of 2011, followed by Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) which was constructed to forecast case number in November and December of 2011 and compared to the actual incidence., Results: The results of spectral analysis showed that the prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus had a feature of '3-year-periodicity'. A long-term up-trend was confirmed by method of moving average analysis, with annually case numbers of 310, 337 and another number of 366 forecasted for 2012 to 2014, respectively, with the annual increase rate as 9% per-year. Data from analysis of monthly data of scrub typhus showed that through multiple seasonal decomposition analysis, the results indicated that the prevalence of this disease possessed a typical autumn-winter type. The seasonality indexes for scrub typhus in October and November were 8.454 and 2.230, respectively, while others were less than 1.000. The ARIMA(0,1,1) (0,1,0)(12) model of (1-B)(1-B(12))X(t) = (1-0.811B)u(t) that was used to forecast the prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus and was constructed with the residual error of 16 lags as white noise. The Box-Jenkins test statistic for the model was 3.116, giving a P value of 0.999. The model fitted the data well. Good accordance was achieved between the observed values and the forecasted values of scrub typhus in November and December of 2011 which was produced by the ARIMA model, and all observed values were within the forecasted 95%CI., Conclusion: The prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus showed a 3-year-periodicity, with a long-term up-trend, and the case numbers of 2012 to 2014 were forecasted, rising on the end with an increasing rate of 9% per year, which occurred seasonally with October as the peak time in every year. The ARIMA(0,1,1) (0,1,0)(12) model seemed to be quite appropriate in predicting the autumn-winter type scrub typhus.

Objective: To explore the epidemic features of scrub typhus between year 2006 and 2010 in Shandong Province., Methods: Based on the data collected through Diseases Reporting Information System between year 2006 and 2010 in Shandong province, 1291 cases of scrub typhus were selected. The study described the population distribution features of the scrub typhus patients, and explored the temporal and spatial distribution features of the disease by applying the methods of spatial thematic mapping, inverse distance weighted, spatial autocorrelation analysis, spatial clustering analysis, temporal clustering analysis and spatial variation analysis in temporal trends based on Geographic Information software (ArcGIS 9.3) and Spatial Clustering Software (SatScan 7.0)., Results: The onset age of the 1291 patients ranged between 1 and 92 years old.639 out of 1291 patients were over 55 years old, accounting for 49.5%.640 patients were male and the other 651 patients were female, occupying 49.6% and 50.4% respectively. The gender ratio was 1:1.02. Patients were found in farmers, workers, students and preschool children. However, most of the cases were farmers, up to 84.8% (1095/1291). Global Moran's I index was 0.324 (P < 0.01). The local Moran's I index in 8 locations were proved to have statistical significance (P < 0.01); all of which were H-H clustering areas. Gangcheng (38 cases), Laicheng (154 cases), Xintai (160 cases) and Donggang (105 cases) were important locations, whose local Moran's I index were 2.111, 1.642, 1.277 and 0.775 respectively. The clustering period of scrub typhus in respective year were as follows: 2006.09.23 - 2006.11.20 (202 cases), 2007.10.02 - 2007.11.11 (197 cases), 2008.09.30 - 2008.11.07 (302 cases), 2009.09.25 - 2009.11.10 (204 cases), and 2010.10.05 - 2010.11.13 (226 cases), whose RR values were separately 45.55, 34.60, 50.64, 53.09 and 79.84 (P < 0.01). Two spatial clustering area were found in the study, one was the area centered Taian and Xintai with radiation radius at 58.28 km (542 cases) and the other one was the area centered Rizhao and Donggang with radiation radius at 22.68 km (134 cases), whose RR values were 4.52 and 3.96 (P < 0.01). The spatial features of the two clustering areas were inland low hills area and coastal hills area. The highest annual growth rate of the disease was 45.04%, found in the area centered Linyi and Mengyin counties, with the radiation radius at 45.82 km. The RR value was 3.68 (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The majority of the scrub typhus patients were middle-aged and elderly farmers. The epidemic peak was between the last 10 days of September and the first 10 days of November. A positive spatial correlation of the disease was found; and most cases clustered in inland low hills area and costal hills area; especially the area around Linyi and Mengyin, with the highest annual growth rates of the disease.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding small RNAs at the length about 22nt, which are found in the cells of both unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes, and highly conserved in many processes of biological evolution. miRNAs play important roles in the regulation of animal development, physiological functions, and pathological processes. As a model organism, zebrafish has been widely used in the modern biological researches. The studies on miRNAs in zebrafish are capable of revealing the function of miRNAs in vertebrate. This paper reviews the effects of total miRNA deletion and the individual miRNAs on the embryonic development of zebrafish in order to provide the clues for the functional researches of miRNAs on vertebrate and breeding in fish.

To investigate population structure and marker assisted breeding, fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats (FIASCO) and GenBank database mining were used to develop novel microsatellite markers for sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicus). Genomic DNA fragments containing SSR sequences were captured by hybridization to (GT)(13) biotin-labeled probe and were ligated to PMD18-T vector. Among 150 randomly chosen clones from the SSR-enriched library, 66 sequences contained microsatellite motif over five repeats. In addition, 540 cDNA sequences and 132 ESTs of Lateolabrax japonicus were downloaded from GenBank and screened for di-, tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeats, while 22 sequences were found to contain microsatellites. As a result, 15 microsatellite loci were shown to be polymorphic in 30 Lateolabrax japonicus individuals, with the alleles ranging from two to ten, the observed heterozygosities from 0.6000-1.0000, and the expected heterozygosities from 0.5079-0.8890. Four loci (SP17, SP52, SP94 and SP468) were deviated from HWE in the sampled population after Bonferroni's correction, and no linkage disequilibrium was found among all loci (P<0.003), whereas null alleles were detected at locus SP52 (P<0.05). Among 15 polymorphic loci, the PIC values, which can be used for related population genetics analysis, were all above 0.5, with the exception of SP17 and SP468.

Taking solar source as radiation in the near-infrared high-resolution absorption spectrum is widely used in remote sensing of atmospheric parameters. The present paper will take retrieval of the concentration of CO2 for example, and study the effect of solar spectra resolution. Retrieving concentrations of CO2 by using high resolution absorption spectra, a method which uses the program provided by AER to calculate the solar spectra at the top of atmosphere as radiation and combine with the HRATS (high resolution atmospheric transmission simulation) to simulate retrieving concentration of CO2. Numerical simulation shows that the accuracy of solar spectrum is important to retrieval, especially in the hyper-resolution spectral retrieavl, and the error of retrieval concentration has poor linear relation with the resolution of observation, but there is a tendency that the decrease in the resolution requires low resolution of solar spectrum. In order to retrieve the concentration of CO2 of atmosphere, the authors' should take full advantage of high-resolution solar spectrum at the top of atmosphere.

Objective: To investigate the effects of lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on the formation of traumatic neuroma and pain after transection of sciatic nerve in rats., Methods: Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, weighing 200-220 g, half male and half female, were allocated into 2 groups randomly: LBP group and control group (n = 20 per group). The right sciatic nerves were transected and 2 cm sciatic nerve were removed in all rats of the 2 groups. LBP were intraperitoneally injected in a volume of 10 mg/(kgd) in the LBP group, while the same volume normal saline (NS) in the control group for 28 days. The deficiency of toenail and toe were observed to estimate the autophagy of the operated limb. Light microscope and transmission electron microscope were used to observe the formation of traumatic neuroma after transection of sciatic nerve., Results: Autophagy was observed in 5 rats (25%) of LBP group and in 12 rats (60%) of control group at 4 weeks, showing significant difference (P < 0.05). Neuroma formed in 8 rats (40%) of LBP group and in 16 rats (80%) of control group, showing significant difference (P < 0.05). The observation of light microscope showed that there were unorganized growth cells in the neuroma, infiltrated muscle cells, the regeneration of axons and ensheathing cells to form small patch and funicular structure in the control group, while in the LBP group there were less proliferation of nerve fibers with a regular arrangement. Transmission electron microscope showed that there were lots of axons in nerve tumour, more fusoid fibroblasts, more collagen fiber, and hyperplasia and degenerated myelin sheath in the control group, while in the LBP group there were less myelin sheath in the proximal end of injuring nerves, less Schwann cells and fibroblasts, and sparsed collagen fibers., Conclusion: LBP can inhibit autophagy and the formation of traumatic neuroma after transection of sciatic nerve in rats.

The present article investigated the laser induced breakdown spectra of atmosphere molecules as background spectrum for the measurement of airborne particles. The authors detailedly analyzed the spectral lines of oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen in the laser induced breakdown spectra of atmosphere molecules corresponding to the National Institute of Standards and Technology atomic spectroscopy database line data. In addition, the authors studied the intensity of emitted spectral lines induced by laser breakdown process at different time delays and signal integration width As a result, the authors obtained the conclusion that the intensity of signal depends on variations of delay time strongly, and with a delay time more than 7 micros the interference resulting from the presence of atmosphere molecule can be reduced effectively in the application of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. Also, the variations in signal integration width have few effects while it is longer than the instrument minimum of 1.1 ms. Besides, this paper investigated the relative intensities of spectral lines of oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen in the condition of different contents of water vapor in atmosphere, and the authors observed that the intensities of atomic emission line of hydrogen have a linear trend varying with the moisture in atmosphere. These results can be useful for the further application of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in detecting and monitoring of airborne particles in the air.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Entamoeba gingivalis infection in college students in Tangshan, and analyze the relationship between the infection and human behaviors., Methods: 551 students of grades 1-3 from six colleges in Tangshan received questionnairing, which covered the oral health state, teeth-brushing, xylitol gum-chewing, diet fondness, and smoking. Specimens were taken from the tooth surface of the lesion or fouling materials by using disinfected toothpicks and the smears were observed microscopically to examine Entamoeba gingivalis infection., Results: The prevalence of Entamoeba gingivalis infection was 28.3% (156/551), 30.4% (55/181) and 24.6% in males and females (91/370) respectively (chi2=2.09, P>0.05). The prevalence in students with or without oral disorders was 41.2% (84/204) and 20.8% (72/347) respectively, with a significant statistical difference (chi2=26.41, P<0.01); it was 22.5% (53/236) and 32.7% (103/315) among students who cleaned their teeth regularly or irregularly (chi2=6.97, P<0.01); it was 18.3% (17/93) and 30.4% (139/458) among those usually with or without chewing xylitol gum (chi2=5.55, P<0.05)., Conclusion: Entamoeba gingivalis infection is common in the college students in Tangshan and it has a close relation to the oral hygiene habits and the presence of oral disorders.

Objective: To investigate the influence of diammonium glycyrrhizinate (DG) on the expression of NF-kappaB and neuron apoptosis after spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats., Methods: Fourty-eight healthy SD male rats, weighing 220-270 g, were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group, with 24 rats in each group. A model of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury was completed by intercepting the rats' abdominal aorta between right and left renal arteries for 30 minunts. In the experimental group, each rat was injected 20 mg/kg DG via sublingual vein 10 minutes before ischemia occurred. Equal qualities of physiological saline were injected into the rats in the control group. The two groups were observed at 3, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, respectively. Lumbar myeloid tissues were prepared at the different times, respectively. The expression of NF-kappaB p65 in lumbar myeloid tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and the apoptosis of neurons was examined by TUNEL reaction. Meanwhile, histological changes of spinal cord were observed by HE staining. Then the correlation between NF-kappaB and neuron apoptosis was analyzed., Results: HE staining showed obvious histological changes of spinal cord of the two groups. In the control group, myeloid tissue edema and normal neurons were observed at 3 hours; there were more histological changes at 24 hours and 72 hours; vacuoles in gray matters and some survived neurons were seen at 168 hours. The histological changes at each time in the experimental group were fewer than those in the control group. The immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of NF-kappaB p65 was observed. After ischemia-reperfusion, the expression strengthened at 3 hours, reached the peak at 24 hours and then weakened slowly. At 3, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, the absorbency (A) value of NF-kappaB p65 in the experimental group was 0.306 0 +/- 0.024 4, 0.396 4 +/- 0.022 7, 0.296 6 +/- 0.021 1 and 0.267 9 +/- 0.015 3, respectively, and that in the control group was 0.361 1 +/- 0.017 7, 0.496 6 +/- 0.020 1, 0.356 3 +/- 0.0210 and 0.3014 +/- 0.018 1, respectively. There were significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). The inhabitation ratio of NF-kappaB p65 expression by DG was 15.40%, 20.17%, 19.28% and 11.11% at 3, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, respectively. Neuron apoptosis was observed, which strengthened at 3 hours and was the most serious at 24 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion. At 3, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, the A value of neuron apoptosis in the experimental group was 0.1710 +/- 0.029 1, 0.175 5 +/- 0.0311, 0.175 1 +/- 0.027 9 and 0.183 2 +/- 0.023 7, respectively, and that in the control group was 0.236 8 +/- 0.063 6, 0.241 2 +/- 0.042 6, 0.201 5 +/- 0.049 8 and 0.250 1 +/- 0.048 4, respectively. There were significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). The inhabitation ratio of neuron apoptosis by DG was 27.79%, 27.23%, 13.08% and 26.74% at 3, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, respectively. The expression of NF-kappaB in myeloid tissues was positively correlated with neurons apoptosis in the two groups (r = 0.838, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury may cause a marked expression of NF-kappaB and notable evidence of neurons apoptosis. DG can reduce neurons apoptosis by inhibiting the expression of NF-kappaB.

Objective: To investigate the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the proliferation of human salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) cell line ACC-2 in vitro., Results: The effect of ectogenic bFGF on proliferation of ACC-2 was observed by MTT assay. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity was measured by immuno-precipitation. p-ERK1/2, Cyclin D1 and p21waf/cip1 expression were assessed by Western blot., Results: bFGF could enhance the proliferation of ACC-2. Stimulated by bFGF, the proliferation ratio increased significantly. The intracellular ERK activity, p-ERK1/2 and Cyclin D1 expression were increased, while p21waf/cip1 expression was inhibited by different concentrations of bFGF. The above effects of bFGF could be attenuated by MEK inhibitor U0126., Conclusion: bFGF stimulates the proliferation of ACC-2 in a dose dependent manner. The proliferation effect of bFGF may be due to up-regulating ERK, Cyclin D1 and p21waf/cip1 signaling pathway. This research can help us to explore a new pathogenesis and therapy of the ACC.

Using 30 microsatellite markers and combining quantity characters such as body weight, body size and body width, we evaluated the genetic potential of 3 Germany mirror carp populations. Number of effective alleles (Ae), observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity values and polymorphic information contents (PIC) were all calculated. 287 alleles and 559 genotypes were detected. The DNA fragment length was 109-400 bp. The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was checked and phenomenon of some disequilibrium were studied according to the test of c2. The result showed that the level of genetic variability was moderate, but genetic potential of Shuanglai population was much lower than that Huanxin and Songpu breeding populations. Polymorphic Information Contents (PIC) of the 3 populations of Germany mirror carp were between 0.08787 and 0.5377, both of highly and moderately polymorphic markers were 13. The number of effective alleles (Ae) were between 1.1014 and 6.4665. The observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity values were 0.0968-0.9892 and 0.0926-0.8554 respectively. The linkage correlation was analyzed using data of body weight, body size and body width and 30 loci. The result shown that there existed 2 loci, HLJ319 and HLJ693 associated with body size. The HLJ693 locus significantly correlated with body weight character. The HLJ677 locus linked with body width. And then the result were verified in Recombinant Inbred Lines (RIL) of common carp. It shown that the HLJ319 locus was significantly linked with body size, the same as the result of common carp QTL location.

Objective: Increased portal inflow and intrahepatic resistance may play a part of the role in pathogenesis of portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients. Some vasoactive substances may play an important role in the regulation of hepatic hemodynamics. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of two different dosages of octreotide on portal pressure and hepatic hemodynamics., Methods: 26 cirrhotic patients who underwent portal-azygous devascularization and splenectomy were investigated in a randomized and double-blind study. Patients were assigned to receive treatment either with a bolus of octreotide 100 microg, followed by infusion of 50 microg/h for 72 h (Group A, n = 12) or with a bolus of octreotide 100 microg, followed by infusion of 25 microg/h for 72 h (Group B, n = 14). The portal pressure was dynamically measured via a catheter placed in portal vein. The indexes of hepatic hemodynamics, including maximal and mean velocity of portal vein flow (PFV(max), PFV(mean)), maximal and minimal velocity of hepatic artery flow (HAV(max), HAV(min)) were measured using colour sonography at baseline, 72 h after infusion octreotide and 7 days after cessation of the infusion., Results: The portal pressure declined 15.4% on average either in group A or group B after surgery. Portal pressure was significantly decreased after infusion of octreotide in both group A and B as compared with that at baseline. The mean decrease of portal pressure was 20.6%. The portal pressure showed a sustained decrease in group A, but it returned to baseline in group B after stopping of octreotide infusion. The portal pressure in group A and B was statistically different 24 h after stopping octreotide infusion (24.8 +/- 6.5 vs 29.4 +/- 5.8), 48 h (25.3 +/- 6.7 vs 29.9 +/- 7.0), P < 0.05. However, no differences of portal pressure between group A and B before surgery (41.0 +/- 6.6 vs 38.5 +/- 4.7), baseline (32.8 +/- 4.9 vs 33.6 +/- 6.5) and during octreotide infusion were observed. PFV(max) and PFV(mean) were significantly decreased as compared with baseline either before surgery or octreotide infusion. However, HAV(max) and HAV(min) were significantly increased as compared with baseline and before surgery. No relationship between portal pressure and sonography indexes was observed., Conclusions: Both dosages of octreotide infusion 50 microg/h and 25 microg/h can significantly reduce portal pressure, although with 25 microg/h of octreotide is reflects it seen returned to baseline. The dosage 50 microg/h of octreotide infusion may be more rational for prevention rebleeding of varices in cirrhotic portal hypertensive patients.

Objective: To investigate the change of chemosensitivity of hepatocarcinoma cell line (HepG(2)/ADM) after treated by bromocriptine (BCT) combination with human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)., Methods: Firstly, TNF-alpha gene was transfected into HepG(2)/ADM cell line by liposome to establish a cell model expressing the TNF-alpha protein stably. All experiments were divided into four groups and named blank control group (group A), drug resistant group HepG(2)/ADM (group B), TNF-alpha gene group HepG(2)/ADM/TNF (group C) and BCT group (group D) respectively. And group D came from group C treated with BCT simultaneously. MTT assay was tested to detect the sensitivity to ADM of each group and Rhodamine 123 (Rh123) was applied to test the function of P-gp by flow cytometric analysis (FCM). MDR associated genes and proteins and PKC-alpha protein were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blot and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods, respectively. The expression and the apoptosis rate of Bcl-2 in the hepatocarcinoma cells were detected by FCM., Results: There was significant difference between group C and D in the rate of reversing resistance and the intracellular Rho123 accumulation (P < 0.01). MDR1 mRNA and P-gp protein expression in group C and D were low similar to that in group A, but no difference could be found among them (P > 0.05). As we found that PKC-alpha protein expression was downregulated in group D but Bcl-2 protein expression was downregulated in group C, and there was significant difference compared to other groups. The apoptosis rate of hepatocarcinoma cells was much higher in group D than that in group C (P < 0.01) with FCM, but similar to group A (P > 0.05)., Conclusions: Synergistic effect of BCT and TNF-alpha on reversing hepatocellular carcinoma multidrug resistance could enhance the susceptibility of HepG(2)/ADM cells to cytotoxic drugs.

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of reversing multidrug resistance of hepatocarcinoma by bromocriptine (BCT) in vitro and in vivo., Methods: Three groups of cultured HepG2 cells were used: HepG2 (group A), the multidrug resistance HepG2/ADM cells (group B), and the HepG2/ADM cells treated with BCT (group C). Rhodamine 123 test was used to detect the function of P-gp protein. MTT assay was performed to examine the IC50. Multidrug resistance index to common five anticancer drugs of different concentrations of BCT and immunocytochemistry was performed to detect the expression of PKC-a protein. P-gp protein levels of the cells of each group were determined by Western blot. In addition, HepG2 and HepG2/ADM were injected into the livers of the nude mice (NM) (named NM HepG2, NM ADM, NM BCT groups respectively). The BCT group mice were treated with bromocriptine through gastric feedings. The sizes of the tumor growths in the livers were measured using B ultrasound. The MDR1mRNA levels in these tumor tissues were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the apoptosis rates of them were measured with TUNEL assay. 99mTc-MIBI SPECT was performed to detect the tumor 99mTc-MIBI accumulation index before and after the BCT treatment., Results: The rate of reversing resistance to ADM by BCT was 45.68% shown by using MTT assay, and the intracellular Rho123 accumulation increased more than two times compared with the control group shown by flow cytometric assay at the concentration of 10 micromol/L BCT and the effect was time-dependent. Between group B and group C there was a significant difference in the expression of PKC-alpha protein by immunocytochemistry detection (q = 5.37, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference in the expression of P-gp protein between the two groups (q = 1.86, P > 0.05) . There was no notable difference of growth rates of the transplanted liver tumors among the three NM groups (F = 6.39, P > 0.05), and the inhibition rate of tumor volume and weight in NM BCT was higher than that in NM ADM (q1 = 5.89, q2 = 4.92, P < 0.01), but similar to that in NM HepG2 (q1 = 2.47, q2 = 3.02, P > 0.05). No difference was detected in MDR1mRNA between NM ADM and NM BCT using RT-PCR (q = 3.71, P > 0.05). The average number of apoptotic cells per high-power field (25.7+/-1.8) in NM BCT tumor tissues was higher than that in group ADM (2.7+/-0.2) (q = 3.72, P < 0.01), but similar to that of NM HepG2 (23.9+/-1.6) (q = 1.43, P > 0.05). The uptake of 99mTc-MIBI in all the NM after BCT therapy was significantly higher than that before the BCT treatment (t = 3.58, P < 0.01)., Conclusions: BCT can reverse multidrug resistance of hepatocarcinomas by inhibiting the function of P-gp protein and can enhance the susceptibility of HepG2/ADM cells to cytotoxic drugs.

Objective: To investigate synergistic effect of bromocriptine (BCT) combining tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on reversing multidrug resistance in a nude mouse model of liver neoplasm., Methods: Human hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG(2) (HepG(2) group), drug resistant hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG(2)/adriamycin (HepG(2)/ADM group) and hepatocarcinoma cell line transfected with TNF-alpha gene HepG(2)/ADM/TNF (TNF group and BCT group) were injected into the liver of nude mice via orthotopic implantation to establish multidrug resistance model of liver neoplasm in vivo. All the mice were injected with 5-fluouracil + adriamycin + mitomycin in abdominal cavity for 7 d. The mice in BCT group was simultaneously given bromocriptine through gastric canal. Size and weight of the tumor were measured. Furthermore tumor histological character and growth of the nude mice was observed and its chemosensitivity was tested. MDR associated genes and proteins (MRP, LRP) of implanted tumors were detected by immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcriptive polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and apoptosis rate of hepatocarcinoma cells was detected by TUNEL assay., Results: The nude mouse model of each cell line was all inoculated successfully. The tumor growth rate and weight were significantly different among groups (P < 0.05). After chemotherapy tumor growth inhibition rate was higher in BCT group (67%) compared to ADM and TNF groups (P < 0.01), and similar to HepG(2) group (54%). MDR1 and LRP mRNA could be detected in all groups, but TNF-alpha was detected only in TNF-alpha and BCT groups. Furthermore, MDR1 and LRP protein expression of tumors in TNF-alpha and BCT groups was low similar to HepG(2) group. The apoptosis rate of hepatocarcinoma cells was much higher in BCT group than in other groups (P < 0.05) with TUNEL assay., Conclusions: TNF-alpha gene can down-regulate the MDR associated genes and proteins expression for example MDR1, LRP, and lower its tumorgenesis. Moreover, bromocriptine can enhance the susceptibility of HepG(2)/ADM cells to cytotoxic drugs.

The effect of micro-aerobic hydrolysis and acidification to high strength antibiotic wastewater treatment is studied. The results demonstrate that micro oxygen enhanced the physiological metabolizability of facultative hydrolytic and acidogenic bacteria, and aerating stirring improved the hydraulic condition. Degree of acidification (AD) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) in the effluent reached 58.64% and 4825 mg/L with the shortest HRT 10 h and the maximal OLR 20 kg/(m3 x d), respectively. Wastewater biodegradability was improved greatly and rising BOD5/COD was about 17%, which offered good substrate for post aerobic treatment. The effluent quality was relative stable with the fluctuant influent, and COD and SS were 7000-8000 mg/L and 150-300 mg/L, respectively, while the removal efficiencies of COD and SS were 15%-30% and 90%-95%. The changement of VFA lagged behind that of AD in the effluent, and AD would represent the effect of hydrolysis and acidification process more properly. The sludge bed in the bottom of the reactor was the main reaction field for VFA production, and the height of the reactor for stable VFA production increased with the increase of OLR. The filling field mainly aimed to entrap SS in the effluent and benefited little to VFA production. Sludge in the reactor was mainly little sludge particles with the size of 0.5-1.0 mm and flocculent sludge.