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Background: This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture stimulation at acupoints of the heart meridian on vascular dementia (VD). Methods: A total of 120 VD patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: The observation group, in which patients were treated with electroacupuncture stimulation; The control group, in which the patients were treated with oral medicine. Cognitive function was assessed by using the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE), Activity of Daily Living (ADL) and functional activities questionnaire (FAQ). Results: The total effective rate was 75% in the observation group and 73.33% in the control group, and the difference between these two groups was not statistically significant (P >0.05). After treatment, the MMSE, ADL and FAQ scores in these two groups significantly improved, when compared to scores before treatment (P P >0.05). Conclusion: Electroacupuncture stimulation at acupoints of the heart meridian has a definite effect in improving the cognitive function of VD patients.

Background This study aimed to study the expression level of cofilin after electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment, using ischemic brain injury model in mice. In addition, infarct volume and neurological functions were measured to understand whether electroacupuncture stimulation could restore the functions of the brain. Methods Total of 36 mice was randomly divided into three groups: sham group, middle cerebral artery occlusion model (MACO), and middle cerebral artery occlusion model pretreated with EA (MACO + EA). Mice were stimulated at "Baihui (G20)" and "Dazhui (G14)" 24 hours before focal cerebral ischemia. Infarct volume and neuronal function of brain tissue were scored among different experimental groups. The expression level of cofilin and phosphocofilin of brain tissue were evaluated by using Western blot analysis. TUNEL assay was performed to determine the degree of cell apoptosis. Results Compared with the sham group, the level of cofilin was dramatically reduced in the MACO group. EA pretreatment could reduce the protein level of cofilin, while EA therapy could also upregulate the protein level of phosphocofilin. Improved neuronal function, smaller infarct volume, and reduced neuronal apoptosis were observed among the mice underwent EA before middle artery occlusion. Conclusion Our results from Western blot analysis and TUNEL assay might suggest that the upregulation of cofilin was concerned with the EA protects rats from ischemic brain injury. Cofilin might be a potential target for developing drugs against brain ischemia.

We explored the immunomodulatory effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on peripheral blood T lym-phocytes in patients with decompensation stage, hepatitis B-associated cirrhosis. MSCs from nine patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated for fluorescent staining. Following stimulation by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), peripheral blood lymphocytes were co-cultured with BMSCs in serum and divided into four groups: (1) BMSC + lymphocyte + PHA contact culture group; (2) BMSC + lymphocyte + PHA non-contact culture group; (3) lym-phocyte + PHA positive control group; and (4) lymphocyte-only negative control group. Lymphocyte proliferation and frequencies of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(-) Tregs and CD4(+)CD8(-)IL-17(+) (Th17) cells were de-tected. Cell proliferation in groups 1 and 2 declined compared with group 3 (P0.01), and was notably higher than in group 4 (P0.01). CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(-) Tregs frequencies in groups 1 and 2 were higher than in groups 3 and 4. In an intra-group comparison before and after culture, Th17 cell frequencies in groups 1 and 2 were higher than in group 4 (P0.01), but lower than in group 3 (P0.01). The Treg/Th17 ratio in groups 1 and 2 increased (P0.01), but did not change signifi-cantly in groups 3 and 4 (P0.05). In a comparison between groups after culture, the Treg/Th17 ratio in groups 1 and 2 increased more than in groups 3 and 4 (P0.01). BMSCs from cirrhotic patients can inhibit the proliferation of peripheral blood T lymphocytes, upregulate the ex-pression of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(-) Tregs, and improve Treg/Th17 imbal-ance. The mechanism by which this takes place may be associated with immunomodulatory effects induced by the secretion of soluble factors.

The incorporation of straw in cultivated fields can potentially improve soil quality and crop yield. However, the presence of recalcitrant carbon compounds in straw slow its decomposition rate. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different nitrogen sources, with and without the application of zinc, on straw decomposition and soil quality. Soils were treated with three different nitrogen sources, with and without zinc: urea (CO(NH2)2), ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4), and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). The combined treatments were as follows: maize (M) and wheat (W) straw incorporated into urea-, ammonium sulfate-, or ammonium chloride-treated soil (U, S, and C, respectively) with and without zinc (Z) (MU, MUZ, WU, WUZ; MS, MSZ, WS, WSZ; MC, MCZ, WC, WCZ, respectively); straw with zinc only (MZ, WZ); straw with untreated soil (MS, WS); and soil-only or control conditions (NT). The experiment consisted of 17 treatments with four replications. Each pot contained 150 g soil and 1.125 g straw, had a moisture content of 80% of the field capacity, and was incubated for 53 days at 25°C. The rates of CO2-C emission, cumulative CO2-C evolution, total CO2 production in the soils of different treatments were measured to infer decomposition rates. The total organic carbon (TOC), labile organic carbon (LOC), and soil microbial biomass in the soils of different treatments were measured to infer soil quality. All results were significantly different (P

The performance of three BAFs with zeolite, activated carbon and anthracite media for the treatment of polluted Huaihe raw water were investigated. All three BAFs performed promising permanganate index (CODMn) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) removal efficiency as well as the turbidity removal was over 60%. Moreover, the CODMn and NH4+-N removal in the three BAFs were affacted by the characteristics of filter media. Activated carbon and anthracite had better CODMn removal than zeolite. Zeolite had the best NH4+-N removal, followed by activated carbon, anthracite was the worst.

As a result of the base-rock corrosion effects and the suspension-carrying capability of polymer in the system of strong base ASP flooding, the concentration of silicon ions in reservoir liquid increases. As the liquid flows into the surface pipelines with tracer heating water injecting, thermodynamics and kinetics conditions change. Suspending power and pH value also decrease. Heavy oil (which content is more than 25%), silts, carbonates and silicates co-deposite, which can cause surface pipelines jamming and even production stopping. Physical or chemistry methods can prolong the rinsing cycles of surface pipelines. Pilot tests indicated that injecting resistance sedimentation agents cost little which had a long rinsing cycle above one year. Hot washing technology had a low cost but with a short rinsing cycle about 2-4 months and the treatment efficiency was easy influenced by the content of oil in blockages. Cavitating water jets technology had good effects and its rinsing cycle were 6 months but cost was high.

Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) has been global applied in secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment process in the past decades. As the increasing application of BAF, it was required to get deeper understanding of the operational discipline, parameter optimization and structural characteristics of BAF to improve the treatment efficiency and to operate stability constantly. In this paper, a physical filtration equation of clean filter bed was established firstly based on an average porosity ratio equation and Kozeny-Carman filtration equation. And then the influence of biological oxidation and biofilm development were introduced, of which the Eckenfelder mode and oxygen transfer were considered, to induce a hybrid physical- biologically equation to describe the headloss development in the BAF.

In order to evaluate the feasibility of the hybrid physical– biologically filtration equation of Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) developed previously, the parameters of the filtration equations were determined through the numerical simulation and experimental fitting, and the empirical formula was carried out finally. The results showed that experimental data were in agreement with the simulated data very well, illustrated that the determined parameter was reasonable and the equation can be used to forecast the headloss development of the tested filter.

Aims: To investigate the situations of abnormal glucose metabolism and dysfunction of pancreatic islet beta cells in subjects of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with cirrhosis. Methods: 106 hepatitis B virus (HBV) positive subjects with liver cirrhosis as well as with different grade of Child-Pugh and 37 healthy subjects were included in this study. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), C-peptide and insulin release test were detected. Plasma glucose and insulin levels were analyzed periodically for 2 h after oral glucose loading. Results: There was no significant difference in the level of fasting plasma glucose and C-peptide between cirrhosis group and control group (P>0.05). The levels of OGTT 2 h glucose, insulin and C peptide were significantly higher in cirrhosis group than control group (P

To study cellular and humoral immune status on prophase of severe hepatitis B (PSHB).56 cases of PSHB patients, 40 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and 20 cases of healthy volunteers were enrolled for detection of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ and CD3-/CD19+ (B cells) lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood by flow cytometry. Serum IgG and complement C3 was detected by immunoturbidimetry and analyzed statistically.Compared with CHB group and healthy control group, percentage of lymphocyte subsets CD8+ were significantly lower in PSHB group (P0.01 or P0.05). While the percentage of lymphocyte subsets CD4+ and ratio of CD4+/CD8+ in PSHB group was obviously higher than those in CHB group (P0.+01 or P0.05). In addition, There was no significant difference on the percentage of B cell and level of serum IgG between PSHB group and CHB group (P0.05, while the level of serum complement C3 in PSHB group were significantly lower than those in CHB group and healthy control group (P0.01, P0.05).PSHB has a certain degree of cellular immune dysfunction, which characterized by cellular immune function hyperfunction and humoral immune suppression.

To analyze the characteristics of immunocompetent cells in peripheral blood on prophase of severe hepatitis B (PSHB).48 cases of PSHB patients, 35 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and 20 cases of healthy volunteers were enrolled for detection of CD3+, CD3+/ CD4+, CD3+/CD8+ and CD4+/CD25+/CD45+ lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood by flow cytometry. The absolute numbers of each lymphocyte subset were calculated and analyzed statistically. Results Compared with CHB group and healthy control group, The absolute numbers of circulating CD3+, CD8+ T cells and CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) were significantly lower in PSHB group( P0. 01 or P0.05). There was no significant difference on the absolute numbers of circulating CD4+ T cells between PSHB group and CHB group (P9.05), while the percentage of lymphocyte subsets CD4+ in PSHB group was significantly higher than that in CHB group (P0.05). In addition, CD4+/CD8+ ratio in PSHB were significantly higher than those in the CHB group and healthy control group (P0.01 or P0.05).PSHB has a certain degree of cellular immune dysfunction, which characterized by CD4+ T cells dominated and the decline of absolute numbers of CD8+ T cells and CD4+ CD25+ Tregs.