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Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human body that plays an important physiological function in life. Compared with inorganic selenium, organic selenium has high bioavailability and low toxicity, making it a superior source of selenium supplementation. Bioactive selenium-containing peptides are important forms of organic selenium, mainly be isolated from selenium-enriched plants and obtained from synthetic pathway, which have become a research hotspot in recent years due to their multiple healthful biological activities. In this review, the isolation and artificial chelating preparation, and the common sources of plant-derived bioactive selenium-containing peptides, as well as their various bioactivities such as antioxidant, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anticancer, hypotensive are summarized. This review would provide a theoretical reference for the development and utilization of plant-derived bioactive seleniumcontaining peptides in functional foods and medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of poor heat resistance, deformation, and swelling, a turning test of polycarbonate was carried out under dry cutting, water cooling, ultra-low temperature cooling, and the shape of the surface was analyzed. The morphological differences of machined surfaces were explained from the perspective of relaxation time of molecular chains, crazing generation, and brittle-toughness transition. It is found that, on polycarbonate surfaces, dry cutting produces a large number f strong crazing, water-cooled cutting produced a large number of fine crazing, while the ultra-low temperature cooling cutting produces less crazing. Therefore, ultra-low temperature cooling has a positive effect on improving the processing quality of polycarbonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of ecological engineering projects such as " Green for Grain" causes great changes in the cycling and stoichiometry of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), with consequences on soil microbial biomass stoichiometric characteristics. However, the temporal dynamics and coordination of soil-microbial C:N:P stoichiometry are still unclear. In this study, we examined the variations of soil-microbial biomass C, N, and P with the tea plantation ages (<5 a, 5-10 a, 10-20 a, 20-30 a, and >30 a) in a small watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. We analyzed the relationships between their stoichiometric ratios, microbial entropy (qMBC, qMBN, qMBP), and stoichiometric imbalance (ratios of soil C, N, P stoichiometry to microbial biomass C, N, P stoichiometry). The results showed that with the increases of tea plantation ages, soil and microbial biomass C, N, P contents, soil C : N and C : P significantly increased, while soil N: P declined; the microbial biomass C:P and N:P increased first and then decreased, but microbial biomass C:N did not change. Tea plantation ages significantly affected soil microbial entropy and soil-microbial stoichiometry imbalance (C:Nimb, C:Pimb, N:Pimb). With the increases of tea plantation ages, qMBC first decreased and then increased, while qMBN and qMBP went up in a fluctuating pattern. The C-N stoichiometry imbalance (C:Nimb) and C-P stoichiometry imbalance (C:Pimb) increased significantly, while the N-P stoichiometry imbalance (N:Pimb) showed a fluctuating rise. Results of the redundancy analysis showed that qMBC was positively correlated with soil N: P and microbial biomass C:N:P, but negatively correlated with microbial stoichiometric imbalance and soil C: N, C: P; whereas qMBN and qMBP showed the opposite situation. The microbial biomass C:P was most closely related to qMBC, while C:Nimb and C: Pimb had greater effects on qMBN and qMBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degradation characteristics of polypropylene carbonate (PPC) mulch film and ordinary mulching film in soil were studied through the field net bag landfill experiment. The results showed that in 0~1,50 days, the PPC film in the soil broke gradually due to the degradation reaction. Moreover, the degradation rate increased gradually and the highest degradation rate was 39.67%, while the surface of the common mulch film did not change and the degradation rate did not increase, with the highest degradation rate for the common mulch film only 1.52%. The absorption peaks of methylene C-H, C=O, C-O-C antisymmetric stretching, C-OH, and C-O decreased in the chemical structure of the PPC film. In 0~150 days, the elongation at break and tensile strength of the PPC film and common mulch film decreased, and the mechanical properties of the PPC film were always lower than that of common mulch film. At 150 d, the tensile strength and elongation at break of the PPC film were 4.08 MPa and 114.17% respectively, while those of the common mulch film were 10.79 MPa and 190.15% respectively. The findings indicated that the degradation rate of PPC film has a power exponential relationship with its mechanical properties, and the mechanical properties will be reduced with an increase in the degradation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop straw is of great significance in improving farmland ecological environment, soil fertility, and enhance crop quality and yield. The application of decomposed livestock manure into soil can not only provide a good breath environment and energy for microorganisms, but also have a short growth cycle of microorganisms, and livestock manure can cause rapid changes in microorganisms. Taking the typical dark brown soil cultivated land in Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province, as the experimental area, the characteristics of in-situ strip composting of livestock manure and corn straw in the field by nylon mesh bag landfill method was studied. Four treatments were set up in the experiment: corn straw (CS), corn straw + pig manure (SPM), corn straw + chicken manure (SCM), corn straw + cow dung (SCD). The samples were collected at 30 d, 60 d, 90 d, 120 d and 150 d after bag burying and the mass loss rate and nutrient release rate of corn straw under each treatment were measured. The results showed that by 150 days after the end of the experiment, the mass loss rate of corn straw under the four treatments increased rapidly in the early stage and slowly increased in the later stage, and the cumulative mass loss rate of corn straw ranged from 42.48%~53.28%. At the same time, the cumulative release rates of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in corn straw under the four treatments were 56.87%~66.95%, 41.01%~46.15%, 44.92%~48.94%, 94.14%~96.24%, respectively. The addition of livestock manure accelerated the decomposition of corn straw, and increased the mass loss rate and nutrient release rate of straw. The best performance was SCM treatment, and the difference between SCM treatment and other treatments was significant (P<0.05). In addition, the cumulative mass loss rate was SCM>SPM>SCD>CS, and the cumulative release of nutrients was K>C>P>N. In conclusion, corn straw in situ strip composting combined with different livestock manure is beneficial to the decomposition of corn straw and promotes the release of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in corn straw, and the straw returning to the field with chicken manure being the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on how to improve the photosynthesis rate and yield of tomato, which are mostly affected by water and fertilizer, are receiving more and more attention. However, little is known about the coupling effect of irrigation and fertilizer on tomato's photosynthesis rate, yield and water use efficiency (WUE). Our research was to find the best water-fertilizer coupling effects, to reveal the relations between two, and to provide data support for high yield and WUE for tomato production. Randomized block design through quadratic regression orthogonal rotary method with 16 treatments and three replicates was used in this research. The irrigation lower limit was 50% of field capacity, irrigation maximum and fertilizer were divided into 5 levels (60%, 66%, 80%, 94% and 100% of field capacity; N:P2O5:K2O 125:63:125, 200:100:200, 375:187:375, 550:275:550, 625:313:625 kg/hm2, respectively). Each block was 7 m×1.2 m with 25 plants; blocks were separated by 50 cm deep plastic film to prevent the cross penetration of water and fertilizer. Tomato Jinpeng 1 seedlings with 5 leaves were transplanted with double rows of 60 cm row spacing and 30 cm plant spacing in plastic tunnel on March 9, 2013 and uprooted on June 20, 2013. Ten days after transplanting, 3 fertigation devices (MixRite-2054, Israel) were used for irrigation through mulched drip irrigation. Soil moisture was monitored using TDR (TDR 300, USA). When the moisture was lower than the lower limit, drip irrigation was supplied to the corresponding maximum; the drip velocity and time were measured and recorded. Fertilizer of each treatment except P2O5 was equally supplied for 5 times (before transplanting, the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th fruit enlarging period); P2O5 was all supplied as base fertilizer before transplanting. The photosynthesis rate was measured with portable photosynthesis systems (Li-6400, LI-COR Biosciences Company, USA) between 9:00-11:00 am on May 30, 2013. The yield and the quantity of water and fertilizer for each treatment were recorded. By building a mathematical model about its photosynthesis and yield, the coupling of water-fertilizer was analyzed and studied. The results suggested that the two models were significant, and the determination coefficient R2 was 0.93 and 0.95, respectively. Photosynthesis rate was more influenced by water than fertilizer, however the yield was opposite. The water-fertilizer coupling and yield were positive related. A significant ascend trend of photosynthesis occurred with the increase of irrigation maximum, and it began to decrease when the irrigation maximum reached a certain amount. Moreover, disregarding the amount of irrigation water, the photosynthesis increased first and then decreased slowly. The yield increased remarkably with an increase in irrigation water and fertilizer of a certain range, but decreased when the quantity was exceeded. Water and fertilizer affected yield and WUE due to their impact on photosynthesis. The yield wasn't linear correlate with photosynthesis. The medium water and high fertilizer were favorable for tomato photosynthesis, but lower in fruit yield compared with medium water and medium fertilizer. It also demonstrated that optimizing proportion of irrigation maximum and fertilizer was favorable to increase the yield and WUE, which provided water and fertilizer use guideline for high yield and highly efficient production of tomato. The most suitable combination of irrigation and fertilizer was as follows: irrigation lower limit was 50% of field capacity, irrigation maximum was 80%-82% of field capacity, and the fertilizer was 313.75-439.75 kg/hm2 of N, 156.55-219.19 kg/hm2 of P2O5 and 313.75-439.75 kg/hm2 K2O. Under this combination, the highest yield and WUE were 124 t/hm2 and 43.2 kg/m3 water, respectively. Verification test was conducted from 5 August, 2013 to 18 November, 2013 using these rates of fertilizer and water at South Horticultural Field of Northwest A&F University showed a similar result. This indicated that the models were reliable and could provide guidance for agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arch roof structure has been widely used in designing solar-greenhouse to efficiently utilize solar energy. The arc structure of solar-greenhouse roof in solar-greenhouse lighting was investigated in this study. The experiment results indicated that the light penetration is essentially same for different arch roof structures under the same ratio of rise to span. The patterns of arch structure and the light transmittance performance were further investigated inside the solar-greenhouse. The linear roof had better performance under the same height-span ratio. We designed a tilting roof solar-greenhouse based on the theoretical analysis. The inclination angle of roof could be adjusted for different demands of daylight under different climate conditions. Its structure is simple, economical and efficient. All studies in this paper are mainly aimed at what is called a "solar-greenhouse with active day lighting technology". This paper describes three types of solar-greenhouses: one innovation structure with the tilting roof solar-greenhouse, and two normal structures with fixed roof angle and 8m-span and 9m-span solar-greenhouse, respectively. Compared to the normal solar-greenhouse with fixed roof angle, the tilting roof solar-greenhouse has new form roof with adjustable tilt angle. The dip angle of the tilting roof-greenhouse's lighting surface can be adjusted based on different solar altitudes. The dip angle of the tilting roof-greenhouse's lighting surface is increased if the solar altitude is decreased. In this paper different experimental data was analyzed using the lighting analysis method. The temperature and the solar irradiance changing rate indoors and outdoors of solar-greenhouse were used to develop a new structural model of high-performance greenhouse. The tilting roof solar-greenhouse is more efficient in utilization of solar energy and raising temperature. Illumination and indoor temperature in the greenhouse with active tilting roof technology has a great enhancement compared with normal structure. The average increasing rate of lighting performance was 41.75%, e.g. 69.55W/m2 in the tilting roof solar-greenhouse during 09:00 am-16:00 pm. The solar-greenhouse with adjustable tilt angle was the most economic structure based on synthesized indexes. This structure increased the day-lighting performance by 25.05%, e.g.38.99 w/m2, compared with the solar-greenhouse with fixed roof angle and with the same height-span ratio. Compared with the normal type with fixed roof angle, the mean indoor temperature increased is 3.1? in the greenhouse with active tilting roof at the heat preservation period. This paper also discusses the influence coefficient of active day lighting technology, analysis the significance and skill of solar energy utilization in the design of new solar-greenhouse structure according to indoor day lighting analysis of indoor average temperatures. It is expected that experiment results and analysis will support the efficient utilization of Solar Energy and the improvement of greenhouse structure management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human chromosomes karyotyping is an important means to diagnose genetic diseases. Chromosome image type recognition is a key step in the karyotyping process. Accurate and efficient identification is of great significance for automatic chromosome karyotyping. In this paper, we propose a model named segmentally recalibrated dense convolutional network (SR-DenseNet). In each stage of the model, the dense connected network layers is used to extract the features of different abstract levels of chromosomes automatically, and then the concatenation of all the layers which extract different local features is recalibrated with squeeze-and-excitation (SE) block. SE blocks explicitly construct learnable structures for importance of the features. Then a model fusion method is proposed and an expert group of chromosome recognition models is constructed. On the public available Copenhagen chromosome recognition dataset (G-bands) the proposed model achieves error rate of only 1.60%, and with model fusion the error further drops to 0.99%. On the Padova chromosome dataset (Q-bands) the model gets the corresponding error rate of 6.67%, and with model fusion the error further drops to 5.98%. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper is effective and has the potential to realize the automation of chromosome type recognition.

This research evaluated the clinical efficacy of three-wings rib plate in the treatment of multiple rib fractures and flail chest with mechanical analysis and clinical verification. The model of rib and three-wings rib plate was reconstructed. The contact simulation with pretension stress was applied to the plate's fixation, and it was found that the bearable stress of the rib fractures after fixation increased from the result which indicated a good fixation efficacy of the plate. Clinical data of 53 cases of rib fractures and flail chest treated with three-wings rib plate in Shanghai Pudong Hospital of Fudan University were retrospectively analyzed. After the operation, the pain of the patients was relieved. Postoperative CT reconstruction of the chest showed good restoration of the rib fractures, which verified the clinical efficacy of three-wings rib plate. The three-wings rib plate showed a high value in clinical use for treatment of rib fractures.

Objective: To investigate the accuracy of arrhythmia detection algorithm and the effectiveness of Reveal LINQ insertable cardiac monitor (ICM). Methods: This single-center, descriptive, non-controlled clinical study was designed to enroll consecutive patients who were implanted with Reveal LINQ ICM in Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center from June 19, 2014 to April 18, 2017. The safety of implant procedure, the accuracy of automatic arrhythmia detection algorithm and the clinical effectiveness were evaluated and validated independently by two physicians. Results: Sixty patients with average age of (65±13) years (30-89 years) were enrolled and the follow-up duration was 466 days (30-1 072 days). Of these, 57 patients are male. The indications of ICM implantation were unexplained syncope in 35 cases, cryptogenic stroke in 13 cases, atrial fibrillation (AF) management in 5 cases, and palpitations in 7 cases. The implantation procedure was safe and successful in all patients without complications. The detection accuracy of arrhythmia algorithm was 86% (620/723), 82% (2 369/2 876), and 30% (411/1 380) for tachycardia, bradycardia, and pause events, respectively. The detection accuracy of arrhythmia algorithm for AF was 17% (5/30), 60% (1 569/2 632) and 69% (172/251) for cryptogenic stroke, unexplained syncope, and AF management, respectively. Important clinical findings were observed in 15% (9/60) patients. Only 5% (3/60) patients had important findings based on the intended clinical indications. Conclusion: The Reveal LINQ ICM is a safe, simple, and effective procedure for the detection of tachycardia and bradycardia events. However, the automatic AF and pause events detection algorithm had high false positive rate which requires further improvement.

Objective: To discuss the value of surgical hip dislocation approach in the treatment of femoral head fracture., Methods: A retrospectively analysis was made on the clinical data of 15 patients with femoral head fractures treated through surgical hip dislocation approach between January 2010 and February 2013. There were 11 men and 4 women with an average age of 30.8 years (range, 15-63 years). The causes included traffic accident injury in 9 cases, falling injury from height in 5 cases, and sports injury in 1 case. According to Pipkin typing, 2 cases were rated as type I, 7 cases as type II, 1 case as type III, and 5 cases as type IV. The interval of injury and operation was 2-10 days (mean, 4.1 days). Reduction was performed in 10 patients within 6 hours after injury, and then bone traction was given for 4-6 weeks except 5 patients who received reduction in the other hospital., Results: Primary healing of incision was obtained in all patients after surgery without complications of dislocation and lower limbs deep venous thrombosis. The mean follow-up time was 29.9 months (range, 25-36 months). During follow-up, there was no infection, breakage of internal fixation, or nonunion of femoral greater trochanter fracture. In 3 patients having necrosis of the femoral head, 2 had no obvious symptoms [staging as IIa and IIb respectively according to Association Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO) staging system], and 1 (stage IIIb) had nonunion of the femoral neck fracture, who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA). In 4 patients having myositis ossificans (2 cases of grade I, 1 case of grade II, and 1 case of grade III based on Brooker grading), no treatment was given in 3 cases and the focus was removed during THA in 1 case. According to the Thompson-Epstein scale at last follow-up, the results were excellent in 9 cases, good in 3 cases, fair in 1 case, and poor in 2 cases, and the excellent and good rate was 80%., Conclusion: Surgical hip dislocation approach can not only protect the residual vessels of the femoral head but also fully expose the acetabulum and femoral head, which is the ideal approach for the treatment of femoral head fractures.

Objective: Widely pacemaker/implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation is also related to an increasing need for transvenous lead extraction. Understanding the location and extent of pathological changes, including adhesions and fibrous tissue formation along the course of chronic pacemaker/ICD leads, are essential for operators performing lead extraction operations in order to reduce the potential life threatening complications., Methods: Three parts are included in the research, pathological examination on 83 extracted pacemaker/ICD leads using excimer laser technique from March 2008 to March 2011, autopsy examination of one died patient during lead extraction for lead-related infective endocarditis, and anatomical analysis on pacemaker/ICD leads from 10 patients died of other non-cardiac causes., Results: Extensive encapsulated fibrous tissue around the leads and extensive adhesion/fibrosis along the course of the leads from venous entry site to the lead/myocardial interface could be detected on transvenous pacemaker/ICD leads. Since the tissue at the junction between superior vena cava (SVC) and right atrium (RA) is very thin, free of pericardium, thus, this is a common place for extensive adhesion/fibrosis and myocardial perforation/tear during lead extraction, which accounted for one death during extraction in our cohort. Extensive adhesion and fibrosis were also observed at the tricuspid valve and subvalvular structures. Leads implanted to the right ventricular apex were close to the epicardial surface and prone to perforation through myocardium. It is common to observe thrombus on the leads or at the interface between leads and myocardial tissue, especially at right atrial appendage (RAA) at the site of lead insertion., Conclusion: Extensive adhesions and fibrosis can be commonly seen along the course of pacemaker/ICD leads, and at SVC to RA junction, the tricuspid valve/subvalvular structures, and RA/RV lead interface. The tissue at SVC to RA junction is very thin, making it vulnerable for myocardial perforation/tear during lead extraction. Thrombus is commonly seen along the leads or at the lead-tissue interface.

Objective: To investigate the effect and mechanism of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) based vector mediated interlukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Rα) gene for knee osteoarthritis in rabbits., Methods: HSV-1 vectors containing IL-1Rα genes were constructed and injected into the joint space of the osteoarthritis knee in rabbits for 4 weeks. The rabbits were sacrificed, and the knees were lavaged, dissected and the effect of transgene expression was analyzed. Levels of IL-1Rα and IL-1 expression in the recovered lavage fluids were measured with a cytokine ELISA kit. Cartilage from the lesion areas of medial femoral condyle and synovium were observed with hematoxylin and eosin (cartilage and synovium) and toluidine blue (cartilage). The blank control group was injected pHSV-LacZ vector into rabbit knees., Results: Intra-articular delivery of pHSV-IL-1Rα-LacZ resulted in a significant inhibition of IL-1 level and cartilage degradation compared with those in the blank control group (P<0.05)., Conclusion: pHSV-LacZ is an ideal vector to mediate intra-articular gene delivery in the rabbit model of osteoarthritis. Continuous intra-articular expression of IL-1Rα can treat knee osteoarthritis by inhibiting IL-1.

To summarize the case of combined heart-lung transplantation for a patient who survived for 8.5 years. On September 20, 2003, at Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, homologous heartlung transplantation was performed on a male patient who was diagnosed with cardiopulmonary failure secondary to congenital ventricular septal defect with severe pulmonary hypertension. Heart-lung allograft was preserved with 1500 mL modified St.Thomas solution and 3000 mL modified LPD solution. Postoperative immunosuppressive therapies included: methylprednisolone and human anti-lymphocyte globulin protein in the induction period; and combination of ciclosporin A, CellCept and prednisolone in the stable period. In 2007, the treatment was changed to CellCept mg, twice a day+FK506 4 mg, twice a day. The patient lived 8.5 years of normal life with cardiac function of NYHA I-II. Echocardiogram showed left ventricular ejection fraction of 61% to 74%. Heart-lung transplantation proved reliable therapy modality for terminal cardiopulmonary failure. Excellent donor organ preservation and proper perioperative treatment are key factors for long-term survival after heart-lung transplantation.

Objective: To summarize the characteristics of reoperative valve surgery after previous open-heart valve surgery., Methods: From 1996 to 2010, 155 patients who underwent reoperative valve surgery, either valve replacement or tricuspid annuloplasty or the repair of perivalvular leakage were included in the study. The reoperative interval was 1-266 (94.82 ± 85.37) months. All surgeries were carried out with extracorporeal circulation under moderated hypothermia. The cardioplegic solution in cold crystal or blood was used if heart beating was stopped during the surgery., Results: The total in-hospital mortality was 5.81%, while it was 2.75% from 2005 to 2010. The end-diastolic dimension, size of atrium and ventricles were reduced after the reoperation. Ventricular arrhythmia and low cardiac output were the most frequent complications., Conclusion: The success rate of reoperative valve surgery can be improved by the distinctive therapeutic strategies based on the clinical characteristics and therapy principles obtained from practice experiences.

A new type of polypropylene tubular membrane apparatus of rotating cross flow was designed to study experimentally the flow field characteristics of the tangential section of the membrane annular gap. The authors designed rotary linear tangential flow tubular membrane separator and its test system for the first time. Through the system, the flow field of rotary linear tangential flow with the advanced Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was tested for the first time. A lot of streamlines and vorticity maps of the tangential section of separator in different operation conditions were obtained. The velocity distribution characteristics were analyzed quantitatively: 1. At non-vortex area, no matter how the operation parameters change, the velocity near to rotary tangential flow entrance was higher than the velocity far from entrance at the same radial coordinates. At vortex area, generally the flow velocity of inner vortex was lower than the outer vortex. At the vortex center, the velocity was lowest, the tangential velocity were equal to zero generally. At the vortex center zone, the tangential velocity was less than the axial velocity. 2. Under test operations, the tangential velocity and axial velocity of vortices borders are 1-2 times of average axial velocity of membrane module annular gap. The maximum tangential velocity and axial velocity of ellipse vortices were 2-6 times of average axial velocity of membrane module annular gap. 3. The vortices that are formed on the tangential section, there existed mass transfer between inner and outer parts of fluid. Much fluid of outer vortices got into the inner ones, which was able to prevent membrane tube from particles blocking up very soon.

Objective: To explore the activation of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and vascular endothelial cells co-cultured with and stimulated by lipopolysaccharide., Methods: PMNs in concentration of 2 x 10(6)/ml isolated from healthy volunteers by Percoll gradient were added to monolayer of ECV-304 cells grown to confluency, then different groups were prepared according to final concentration of lipopolysaccharide. The morphological change was observed under invert microscope. The changes in TNFalpha and IL-6 levels of the supernatant of the cultured cells were determined at 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours after culturation., Results: The TNFalpha production of cultured pure ECV-304 exhibited no remarkable change when stimulated by different concentrations of LPS. But the TNFalpha production of the ECV-304 increased significantly when co-cultured with PMNs at 4 hr and stimulated by LPS in concentration of 10 micro g/ml, and increased at 8 hours and lasted up to 24 hours of culturation in higher levels (P < 0.05). The IL-6 production of cultured pure ECV-304 increased obviously along with the increase of LPS concentration, and it showed no change when PMNs co-cultured with ECV-304. While the IL-6 level in the supernatant of co-cultured ECV-304 with PMNs increased sharply when stimulated by both low (100 ng/ml) and high (1 micro g/ml) concentrations of LPS and maintained at high levels up to 24 hours of culturation. The higher the concentration of LPS was, the quicker the IL-6 level increased., Conclusion: Co-cultured PMNs and endothelial cells could be activated and activation state could be maitained by low concentrations of LPS.