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Objective: To observe the effects of Chinese patent medicines with the function of replenishing qi to activate blood (RQAB) plus ischemic postconditioning (IPoC) in protecting myocardium of rats from ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, and to explore the possible mechanisms., Methods: Seventy-five Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group (the suture was penetrated around the left anterior descending coronary artery, but not tied, n=15), I/R group (30 minutes of in situ transient occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, followed by 1 hour of reperfusion, n=15), IPoC group (30 minutes occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, followed by 3 cycles of 10 s of reperfusion/10 s of ischemia before 1-hour reperfusion, n=15), RQAB plus IPoC group (pretreated with 0.162 g/kg Xinyue Capsule and 0.135 g/kg Xiongshao Capsule for 14 days, and treated with IPoC 2 h after the final gavage, n=15), fosinopril sodium plus IPoC group (pretreated with fosinopril sodium, 0.9 mg/kg, n=15). Serum creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) activity and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) level were detected; myocardial infarction size was measured by nitrotetrazolium blue chloride staining; Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 in myocardial tissue were examined by immunohistochemical method; interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in myocardial tissue were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay., Results: Compared with the I/R group, myocardial enzymes and infarction size were decreased significantly in the IPoC group (P<0.01); expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 and levels of IL-1beta and IL-6 in myocardial tissues were also significantly lower than those in the I/R group (P<0.05). Compared with the fosinopril sodium plus IPoC group, expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 were decreased significantly in the RQAB plus IPoC group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with IPoC, RQAB plus IPoC reduced the infarction size and the release of myocardial enzyme CK-MB (P<0.01), and decreased the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 and the levels of IL-1beta and IL-6 (P<0.05, P<0.01) in myocardial tissues., Conclusion: Pretreatment with Chinese herbs for nourishing qi and activating blood circulation can enhance the protective effect of IPoC on rat myocardial I/R injury, and its mechanism may be related to inhibition of TLR expression and expressions of the downstream proinflammatory cytokines.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography using oral and intravenous contrast agents in preoperative staging of gastric cancer., Methods: Sixty-two patients with biopsy-proven gastric cancer were enrolled into this study, and were examined by double contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography preoperatively. The results were compared with postoperative pathologic findings., Results: The accuracy of oral contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography and double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in determining the T stage of gastric cancer was 72.9% (T1: 66.7%, T2: 60.0%, T3: 76.9%, T4: 71.4%) and 88.1% (T1: 66.7%, T2: 80.0%, T3: 89.7%, T4: 100%), respectively, with a statistically significant difference between the two methods (P = 0.036). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Youden index of oral contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography and double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in assessment of lymph node metastasis were 74.5%, 66.7%, 72.9%, and 0.41 versus 89.4%, 75.0%, 86.4%, 0.76, respectively. No significant difference in the accuracy of assessment for lymph node metastasis was observed (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is useful for preoperative staging of gastric cancer, especially for T staging.

Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-films were made on planar and textured glass substrates by aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of in situ amorphous silicon (a-Si) deposited by DC-magnetron. The poly-Si films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A narrow and symmetrical Ranman peak at the wave number of about 521 cm(-1) was observed for all samples, indicating that the films were fully crystallized. XRD results show that the crystallites in the authors' AIC poly-Si films were preferably (111) oriented. The measurement of full width at half maximum (FWHW) of (111) XRD peaks showed that the quality of the films was affected by the a-Si deposition temperature and the surface morphology of the glass substrates. It is likely that an a-Si deposition temperature of 200 degrees C seems to be ideal for the preparation of poly-Si films by AIC.

Objective: To observe the effects of Chinese drugs for supplementing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation on the myocardial perfusion in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients after revascularization., Methods: Eighty patients with anterior or inferior ventricular wall AMI, who had received revascularization by intravenous thrombolysis or coronary bypass, were randomized into the treated group and the control group equally, both treated with conventional Western medical treatment, but combined, respectively, with Xinyue Capsule (, XYC) plus Composite Salvia Tablet (CST) and placebo for 3 months. Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) was performed 14 days and 3 months after revascularization, respectively on every patient to observe blood perfusion extent (b value), myocardial perfusion velocity (k value) and local blood fl ow volume (k x b) in left ventricular infarction-related vascular segments under stressed state., Results: With 5 cases dropping out in the observation period (3 in the treated group and 2 in the control group), the trial was completed in 75 patients in total. The 14-day DSE shows that the b value and k x b value of left anterior ventricular wall mid segment and apex segment, and the k value of apex segment in patients with anterior wall AMI, as well as the b value and k x b of basal segment in patients with inferior wall AMI in the treated group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The 3-month DSE shows that the b value of apex segment, k x b value of basal segment, mid segment and apex segment of left anterior ventricular wall in patients with anterior wall AMI as well as the b value and k x b value of basal segment of left inferior ventricular wall in patients with inferior wall AMI were all higher in the treated group than those in the control group, respectively (P<0.05). The comparison between 14-day DSE and 3-month DSE in the treated group showed that the b value of apex segment of left anterior ventricular wall in patients with anterior wall AMI and the k x b value of apex segment and mid segment of left inferior ventricular wall in patients with inferior wall AMI significantly increased along with the on-going treatment (P<0.05)., Conclusion: Therapy with Chinese drugs for supplementing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation in combination with conventional Western medical treatment could obviously improve the blood perfusion at the myocardial tissue level in infarction-related vascular segments.

Objective: To study the effect of Panax quinquefolius Saponin (PQS), an extraction from stem and leaf of American ginseng, on vascular regeneration in infarcted area, and expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in myocardium of rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI)., Methods: Fifty male Wistar rats were established into AMI model successfully and randomly divided into 5 groups equally, i.e. the model group, the high, middle and low dose PQS groups and the metoprolol group. They were treated with saline, different doses of PQS (54 mg/kg x d, 27 mg/kg x d, 13.5 mg/kg x d)and metoprolol (4.5 mg/kg x d) respectively, by gavage once a day for 14 days. Besides, a sham operated group and a normal control group were set up for control with 10 rats in each group. All rats were killed on the 15th day. Six samples of heart were chosen from each group for examining expressions of VEGF, bFGF and the VIII coagulation factor under light microscopy by immunohistochemical staining, and the quantitative analysis on positive responsive intensity of VEGF and bFGF was conducted on the other 4 heart samples using the image analysing system, then mean micro-vessel density (MMVD) was calculated., Results: The expressions of VEGF and MMVD were higher in the high and the middle dose PQS groups than those in the model group (P < 0.05) and the expression of bFGF was higher in the three PQS groups than that in the model group (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: PQS can protect myocardium from ischemic injury in rats after AMI by way of promoting angiogenesis in the infarcted or ischemic area of myocardium and up-regulating expressions of VEGF and bFGF in myocardial cells.

The content of imidacloprid in pesticide is usually measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, which is precise but time-consuming. In the present work the content of imidacloprid in pesticide was measured by infrared spectroscopy with pressing potassium bromide troche (KBr). A comparison of infrared spectra between analytic imidacloprid and commercial pesticide showed that the absorption peak of imidacloprid at 939.2 cm(-1) is independent and can be used as the characteristic absorption peak for quantitative determination. The area from 947 to 925.8 cm(-1) for the infrared spectra of imidacloprid and its content meet the linear equation: Area = l.3665 x 10(-1) + 2.37 x 10(-2) x c, r = 0.99953. Finally, the authors could draw a conclusion that the method of NIR, instead of routine lab analysis, is feasible for the determination of imidacloprid in pesticide.

Charge recombination in reaction center of photosystem II (PS II) is regarded as the origination of delayed fluorescence (DF). The mechanism for 730 nm component appearing in the DF spectrum of chloroplast was studied with different spectral analysis methods. Experimental results of the delayed fluorescence spectrum at different chloroplast concentration showed that the apexes at 685 and 730 nm ascend when the concentration is relative low; the peak value at 685 nm reaches a maximum when the concentration is 7.8 microg x m(L-1), however, the apex at 730 nm is still increasing. The peak value at 730 nm finally reaches a maximum at chloroplast concentration of 31.2 microg x mL(-1), while the apex at 685 nm has apparently decreased. The results of absorption spectrum showed that the ratios of A685 to A730 are almost a constant during the process of increasing chloroplast concentration. Furthermore, the excitation spectrum for 730 nm fluorescence shows that the 685 nm light has a high excitation efficiency. Above experimental results indicated that the 730 nm component of DF spectrum is the fluorescence of chlorophyll a in PSI reaction center excited by 685 nm DF. Meanwhile, this conclusion was further verified by the invariability of DF spectrum at different delay time (1-9 s).

Objective: To study the effect of methylene blue on the growth and acid production of Streptococcus mutans, and the effect of methylene blue on acid production metabolism in plaque glycolysis model (i-PGM) in vitro, and investigate the practicability of methylene blue as a new kind of dental caries prevention agent., Methods: Nephelometer method was used to measure OD value of Streptococcus mutans culture fluid in the different incubation conditions. The kinds and quantities of acid produced by Streptococcus mutans in the different incubation conditions were measured with gas chromatography. pH values of glycolysis buffer media of i-PGM in the different treatment conditions were measured by ORION electrode., Results: (1) The OD value of Streptococcus mutans treated by methylene blue was lower than that by normal saline, and there was significant statistical difference between them. (2) The kinds of acid in three different culture fluid were same, but the total quantities of acid were significantly different among three different culture fluid, in which the total quantities of acid of culture fluids treated by glucose was the greatest, and treated by methylene blue was the lest. (3) The pH value of i-PGM treated by methylene blue was significantly different compared with negative control group, but was not significantly different compared with positive control group., Conclusion: Methylene blue can inhibit the growth and acid production metabolism of Streptococcus matans and acid production metabolism of i-PGM.

Research of the mechanism for delayed fluorescence origin play an important role in the application of DF. Based onthe charge recombination theory, the mechanism for delayed fluorescence origin is theoretically analyzed in this paper. The decay kinetics of DF, depending on the backward transport electron and oxidized state P680+, can be well fitted by poly-exponent. The relative fast component of DF originates from the Z+ P680 Q(A)- states, generated during the previous period of the sample illumination. On the other hand, the slow component of DF is ascribed to the state Q(B)= --the next electron carrier of deoxidized side in PS II. Meanwhile, the experimental results confirmed the theoretical conclusion. Furthermore, the authors testified that the third component with lifetime much greater than the time of the registration period (which is presented as a constant), is corresponds to the recombination of P680+ and the backward transport electron from PSI.

Objective: To establish method for the quantitative determination of adenosine phosphates in rat myocardium by optimized high performance liquid chromatogram (HPLC)., Methods: ODS HYPERSIL C(18) column and a mobile phase of 50 mmol/L tribasic potassium phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.5), with UV detector at 254 nm were used., Results: The average recovery rates of myocardial adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) were 99%-107%, 96%-104% and 95%-119%, respectively; relative standard deviations (RSDs) of within-day and between-days were less than 1.5% and 5.1%, respectively., Conclusion: The method is simple, rapid and accurate, and can be used to analyse the adenosine phosphates in myocardium.

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of cytokeratin 13 (CK13) gene expression control and the effects of different motifs of CK13 gene 5' flanking region on its transcriptional activity., Methods: The molecular clone technique and reporter gene analysis were used to assay the effects of different motifs of 513 bp of CK13 gene 5' flanking region on its transcriptional activity. The pCAT enhancer vectors with different motifs of CK13 gene 5' flanking region were constructed and transferred to HeLa cells with the help of lipofectin. The instant CAT expression of different clones was detected and the effects of different motifs of the CK13 gene 5' flanking region on its transcriptional activity were evaluated., Results: 119 bp from -nt.325 to -nt.207 upstream of the first ATG of CK13 gene 5' flanking region included a silent element. 113 bp region from -nt.206 to -nt.94 included an enhanced element., Conclusion: 513 bp of CK13 gene 5' flanking region includes a silent element and an enhanced element. Further locating these cis elements and detecting the related trans reaction factors may unveil some important clues to the details of the mechanisms for the CK13 gene expression and tissue-specific expression.

Background & Objective: The chromosomal aberration is common in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The currently-used methods for detecting chromosomal abnormalities are complicated and of limited clinical value. The purpose of the present study was to explore the feasibility of detecting chromosomal abnormalities in NPC by rapid primed in situ labeling (RPRINS)., Methods: Using RPRINS technique with specific oligonucleotide primers of chromosome 3 and 7, the abnormalities of chromosome 3 and 7 in the frozen section tissues of 15 cases of NPC and 5 cases of normal nasopharyngeal mucosa (NNM) were detected. Loss of chromosome was defined when the percentage of cells with labeling signals /=65%, and the increase in chromosomal copy number was defined when the percentage of cells with labeling signals >/=3 was >/=6.5%., Results: In 15 cases of NPC tissues, the chromosome 3 had a labeling rate of 88.6% and increasing copy numbers in ten cases (66.7%), and the chromosome 7 had a labeling rate of 87.4% and loss of chromosome in five cases (33.3%). Four cases coexisted with increasing chromosome 3 copy numbers and loss of chromosome 7. In contrast, the labeling rates of chromosome 3 and 7 in NNM were 92.0% and 91.8%, respectively, and the percentage of diploid cells were 43.2% and 43.6%, respectively, with absence of triploid. There was a significant difference in the percentage of diploid cells between NPC and NNM (P< 0.05)., Conclusion: The technique of rapid PRINS could be used to detect chromosomes in frozen section tissues, and the chromosomal abnormalities would be helpful in diagnosis of NPC.

Objective: To evaluate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its clinical significance., Methods: The expression of VEGF in the 47 NPC and 10 chronic nasopharngotis tissues was examined by an immunohistochemical S-P method., Results: 1. The positive rate of VEGF was 68.0% (32/47) in NPC tissues, but VEGF protein was not detected in chronic nasopharngotis tissues. 2. The VEGF positive rate of NPC with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that of NPC without lymph node metastasis (82.6% vs. 54.2%, P < 0.05). 2. The VEGF positive rate of recurrent NPC was significantly higher than that without recurrent NPC (85.0% vs. 55.5%, P < 0.05). 4. The VEGF positive rate of the less than 5-year survival after a radiotherapy in the NPC patients was significantly higher than that of the more than 5-year ones in the chronic nasopharyngotis patients (84.2% vs. 64.3%, P < 0.05). 5. The VEGF positive rate of NPC tissues with the Stage III-IV was significantly higher than that with the Stage I-II (80.0% vs. 49.0%, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The overexpression of VEGF may play a role in the pathogenesis of NPC and the detection of VEGF protein in the NPC tissues may be useful for calculating the lymph node metastasis and recurrence, judging the clinical stages, and evaluating the prognose of NPC.