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Background: Paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia is a devastating condition in the clinic. Here, we develop an awake rabbit model of spinal cord ischemia with delayed paraplegia and explore the influence of ambient temperature on the outcomes after injury., Methods: A total of 47 male rabbits were involved in the present study. Transient spinal cord ischemia was induced by occluding the infrarenal abdominal aorta of awake rabbits at different ambient temperatures. To find the optimal conditions for developing delayed paraplegia, hindlimb motor function after ischemia was evaluated between experiments., Results: The onset and magnitude of ischemic injury varied with the ambient temperature maintained during the peri-ischemia period. More serious spinal cord injury occurred when ischemia was induced at higher temperatures. At 18°C, 25-minute ischemia resulted in 74% of rabbits developing delayed paraplegia. At a temperature of 28°C or higher, most of the animals developed acute paraplegia immediately. While at 13°C, rabbits usually regained normal motor function without paraplegia., Conclusion: This awake rabbit model is highly reproducible and will be helpful in future studies of delayed paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia. The ambient temperature must be considered while using this model during investigation of therapeutic interventions., (© 2023 The Authors. Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences.)

Pyrolysis is an effective method for treating of livestock and poultry manure developed in recent years. It can completely decompose pathogens and antibiotics, stabilize heavy metals, and enrich phosphorus (P) in biochar. To elucidate the P migration mechanism under different pig manure pyrolysis temperatures, sequential fractionation, solution 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure techniques were used to analyze the P species in pig manure biochar (PMB). The results indicated that most of the organic P in the pig manure was converted to inorganic P during pyrolysis. Moreover, the transformation to different P groups pathways was clarified. The phase transition from amorphous to crystalline calcium phosphate was promoted when the temperature was above 600 °C. The content of P extracted by hydrochloric acid, which was the long-term available P for plant uptake, increased significantly. PMB pyrolyzed at 600 °C can be used as a highly effective substitute for P source. It provides the necessary P species (e.g. water-soluble P.) and metal elements for the growth of water spinach plants, and which are slow-release comparing with the Hogland nutrient solution., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The inflammation-related tumor microenvironment (TME) is one of the major driving forces of hepatocarcinogenesis. We aimed to investigate cell-to-cell communication among Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) through re-analyzing HCC single-cell RNA-seq data, and to confirm such cellular interaction through in vitro and in vivo study. We found a subset of Regulatory B cells with PD-L1 expression (PD-L1 + Bregs), mainly located in adjacent HCC tissues. In co-localization with PD-L1 + Bregs, a subset of Tumor Associated Macrophages with high expression of CXCL12 (CXCL12 + TAMs) was also mainly located in adjacent HCC tissues. Moreover, CXCL12 + TAMs can be stimulated in vitro using an HCC conditional medium. Using CellChat analysis and Multiplex Immunohistochemistry staining (mIHC), CXCL12 + TAMs were found to be first recruited by Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) through a CD74/macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) pattern, and further differentiated into TGF-β-enriched tissues. Furthermore, CXCL12 + TAMs recruited PD-L1 + Bregs via the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis, and CXCR4 expression was significantly positively correlated to PD-L1 expression in PD-L1 + Bregs. At last, we confirmed the communications among CAFs, Macrophages and B cells and their tumor-promoting effects by using an orthotopic mouse model of HCC. Immunosuppressive HCC TME involving cell-to-cell communications comprised MIF-secreting CAFs, CXCL12-secreting TAMs, and PD-L1-producing Bregs, and their regulation could be promising therapeutic targets in future immunotherapy for human HCC., Competing Interests: None., (AJCR Copyright © 2024.)

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) in children. Methods: Twenty-five children with ACC diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China from March 2014 to August 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The related literature was reviewed. Results: A total of 25 children with ACC were collected, including 11 males and 14 females, with a male to female ratio of 1.0∶1.3. The patient ages ranged from 8 months to 14 years (median, 4 years). Eighteen cases with clinical data had functional tumors (18/22, 81.8%) presenting with virilization or precocious puberty (15/18), symptoms related to hypercortisolism (8/18) or endocrine symptoms mixed with both (5/18), while 3 cases (3/22, 13.6%) had unknown clinical data. The clinical manifestations of four patients with nonfunctional tumors were an abdominal mass and/or abdominal pain, walking instability and others. Grossly, the average maximum diameter of the tumor was 9.4 cm. Most of the tumors were nodular and partially encapsuled. The cut surfaces were gray or gray brown, soft with hemorrhage. Histologically, the tumor cells were diffusely distributed, separated by a vascular-rich network. The tumor cells were large, with distinct nucleoli, abundant eosinophilic or clear cytoplasm, and round or oval nuclei. The mitotic index was high, and atypical mitoses were common. Necrosis, calcification, capsule invasion or/and venous invasion were present. In some cases, the tumor invaded the surrounding soft tissues or kidneys. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were diffusely positive for syn and SF1 and focally positive for α-inhibin, Melan A and Calretinin, but negative for CgA. Ki-67 proliferation index ranged from 2%-90%. TP53 gene status was examined in 7 cases, in which mutations were detected in 4 cases. Follow-up data was obtained in 21 patients, among whom 18 received chemotherapy and 3 received radiotherapy. Distant metastasis occurred in 13 patients. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.2 months and median overall survival (OS) was 54.7 months. Patients aged less than 5 years had a better prognosis for OS ( P <0.05) than the older ones (≥5 years), but a similar PFS ( P >0.05). Male patients and Ki-67 proliferation index <15% had a better prognosis tendency for OS, but there was no statistically significant difference ( P >0.05). Conclusions: ACC in children is a rare, often functional tumor associated with Li-Fraumeni genetic syndrome and has a poor prognosis. Diagnosis and differential diagnosis require a combination of morphological, phenotypic and clinical analysis.

Objective: Resuscitation with whole blood is known to be better than that with saline in attaining the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and improving the short-term survival rate for hemorrhage-induced traumatic cardiac arrest (HiTCA). However, the resuscitation with whole blood alone fails to address the pathophysiological abnormalities, including hyperglycemia, hyperkalemia and coagulopathy, after HiTCA. The present study aimed to determine whether the modified glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) therapy can ameliorate the above-mentioned pathophysiological abnormalities, enhance the ROSC, improve the function of key organs, and reduce the mortality after HiTCA., Methods: HiTCA was induced in rabbits (n=36) by controlled hemorrhage. Following arrest, the rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (n=12 each): group A (no resuscitation), group B (resuscitation with whole blood), and group C (resuscitation with whole blood plus GIK). The GIK therapy was administered based on the actual concentration of glucose and potassium. The ROSC rate and survival rate were obtained. Hemodynamical and biochemical changes were detected. Thromboelastography (TEG) was used to measure coagulation parameters, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect parameters related to inflammation, coagulation and the function of brain., Results: All animals in groups B and C attained ROSC. Two rabbits died 24-48 h after HiTCA in group B, while no rabbits died in group C. The GIK therapy significantly reduced the levels of blood glucose, potassium, and biological markers for inflammatory reaction, and improved the heart, kidney, liver and brain function in group C when compared to group B. Furthermore, the R values of TEG were significantly lower in group C than in group B, and the maximum amplitude of TEG was slightly lower in group B than in group C, with no significant difference found., Conclusion: Resuscitation with whole blood and modified GIK therapy combined can ameliorate the pathophysiological disorders, including hyperglycemia, hyperkalemia and coagulopathy, and may improve the function of key organs after HiTCA., (© 2023. Huazhong University of Science and Technology.)

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria are two important organelles that are highly dynamic in mammalian cells. The physical connection between them is mitochondria associated ER membranes (MAM). In recent years, studies on endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria have shifted from independent division to association and comparison, especially MAM has gradually become a research hotspot. MAM connects the two organelles, not only to maintain their independent structure and function, but also to promote metabolism and signal transduction between them. This paper reviews the morphological structure and protein localization of MAM, and briefly analyzes the functions of MAM in regulating Ca 2+ transport, lipid synthesis, mitochondrial fusion and fission, endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress, autophagy and inflammation. Since ER stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are important pathological events in neurological diseases including ischemic stroke, MAM is likely to play an important role in cerebral ischemia by regulating the signaling of the two organelles and the crosstalk of the two pathological events., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest I declare that I have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Rhizome rot is one of the main disease in the cultivation of Polygonatum cyrtonema, and it is also a global disease which seriously occurs on the perennial medicinal plants such as Panax notoginseng and P. ginseng. There is no effective control method at present. To identify the effects of three biocontrol microbes(Penicillium oxalicum QZ8, Trichoderma asperellum QZ2, and Brevibacillus amyloliquefaciens WK1) on the pathogens causing rhizome rot of P. cyrtonema, this study verified six suspected pathogens for their pathogenicity on P. cyrtonema. The result showed that Fusarium sp. HJ4, Colletotrichum sp. HJ4-1, and Phomopsis sp. HJ15 were the pathogens of rhizome rot of P. cyrtonema, and it was found for the first time that Phomopsis sp. could cause rhizome rot P. cyrtonema. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of biocontrol microbes and their secondary metabolites on three pathogens were determined by confrontation culture. The results showed that the three tested biocontrol microbes significantly inhibited the growth of three pathogens. Moreover, the secondary metabolites of T. asperellum QZ2 and B. amyloliquefaciens WK1 showed significant inhibition against the three pathogens(P&lt;0.05), and the effect of B. amyloliquefaciens WK1 sterile filtrate was significantly higher than that of high tempe-rature sterilized filtrate(P&lt;0.05). B. amyloliquefaciens WK1 produced antibacterial metabolites to inhibit the growth of pathogens, and the growth inhibition rate of its sterile filtrate against three pathogens ranged from 87.84% to 93.14%. T. asperellum QZ2 inhibited the growth of pathogens through competition and antagonism, and P. oxalicum QZ8 exerted the inhibitory effect through competition. The research provides new ideas for the prevention and treatment of rhizome rot of P. cyrtonema and provides a basis for the di-sease control in other crops.

Bone fracture remains a common occurrence, with a population-weighted incidence of approximately 3.21 per 1000. In addition, approximately 2% to 50% of patients with skeletal fractures will develop an infection, one of the causes of disordered bone healing. Dysfunction of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) plays a key role in disordered bone repair. However, the specific mechanisms underlying BMSC dysfunction caused by bone infection are largely unknown. In this study, we discovered that Fibulin2 expression was upregulated in infected bone tissues and that BMSCs were the source of infection-induced Fibulin2. Importantly, Fibulin2 knockout accelerated mineralized bone formation during skeletal development and inhibited inflammatory bone resorption. We demonstrated that Fibulin2 suppressed BMSC osteogenic differentiation by binding to Notch2 and inactivating the Notch2 signaling pathway. Moreover, Fibulin2 knockdown restored Notch2 pathway activation and promoted BMSC osteogenesis; these outcomes were abolished by DAPT, a Notch inhibitor. Furthermore, transplanted Fibulin2 knockdown BMSCs displayed better bone repair potential in vivo. Altogether, Fibulin2 is a negative regulator of BMSC osteogenic differentiation that inhibits osteogenesis by inactivating the Notch2 signaling pathway in infected bone., (© 2023. Crown.)

Objective: Hemostatic gauze application is an effective way to control major bleeding, which is the most common cause of death in trauma in both civilian and military settings. Coagulation derangement after acute exposure to high altitude might alter the effects of hemostatic gauzes. The present study aimed to observe the hemostatic effects of bio-zeolite gauze (BZG) and QuikClot Combat Gauze® (QCG) on major bleeding in rabbits acutely exposed to high altitude. Methods: Sixty rabbits were randomly and evenly divided into six groups. Animal models of simulated blast- and fragment-induced inguinal major bleeding were prepared in lower altitude and high-altitude areas, and BZG, QCG, and ordinary gauze without hemostatic material were used to control bleeding. The primary outcomes included immediate hemostasis rate, blood loss, and survival rate, while the secondary outcomes included hemodynamic parameters, laboratory examinations, and coagulation-relevant markers. Results: The overall effects of BZG and QCG were better than those of ordinary gauze, with a higher immediate hemostatic rate, less blood loss, and higher survival rate at 90 min after gauze application and higher red blood cell and platelet counts and lower creatinine level at 30 min after gauze application in lower altitude. The concentrations of coagulation factor XII and factor X in rabbits acutely exposed to high altitude were significantly lower than those in lower altitude. At high altitude, the hemostatic effects of BZG did not decrease significantly compared to those in the lower altitude, whereas those of ordinary gauze and QCG decreased significantly at high altitude compared to those in the lower altitude. Conclusions: Coagulation derangement after acute exposure to high altitude has negative effects on ordinary gauze and QCG but has no significant negative hemostatic effects on BZG.

Purpose: To develop animal models of penetrating thoracic injuries and to observe the effects of the animal model-based training on improving the trainees' performance for emergent and urgent thoracic surgeries., Methods: With a homemade machine, animal models of lung injuries and penetrating heart injuries were produced in porcine and used for training of chest tube drainage, urgent sternotomy, and emergent thoracotomy. Coefficient of variation of abbreviated injury scale and blood loss was calculated to judge the reproducibility of animal models. Five operation teams from basic-level hospitals (group A) and five operation teams from level III hospitals (group B) were included to be trained and tested. Testing standards for the operations were established after thorough literature review, and expert questionnaires were employed to evaluate the scientificity and feasibility of the testing standards. Tests were carried out after the training. Pre- and post-training performances were compared. Post-training survey using 7-point Likert scale was taken to evaluate the feelings of the trainees to these training approaches., Results: Animal models of the three kinds of penetrating chest injuries were successfully established and the coefficient of variation of abbreviated injury scale and blood loss were all less than 25%. After literature review, testing standards were established, and expert questionnaire results showed that the scientific score was 7.30 ± 1.49, and the feasibility score was 7.50 ± 0.89. Post-training performance was significantly higher in both group A and group B than pre-training performance. Post-training survey showed that all the trainees felt confident in applying the operations and were generally agreed that the training procedure were very helpful in improving operation skills for thoracic penetrating injury., Conclusions: Animal model-based simulation training established in the current study could improve the trainees' performance for emergent and urgent thoracic surgeries, especially of the surgical teams from basic-level hospitals., (Copyright © 2022 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present study demonstrated for the first time that SNORA70E, which belongs to box H/ACA small nucleolar noncoding RNAs (snoRNAs) who could bind and induce pseudouridylation of RNAs, was significantly elevated in ovarian cancer tissues and was an unfavourable prognostic factor of ovarian cancer. The over-expression of SNORA70E showed increased cell proliferation, invasion and migration in vitro and induced tumour growth in vivo. Further research found that SNORA70E regulates RAS-Related Protein 1B (RAP1B) mRNA through pseudouracil modification by combing with the pyrimidine synthase Dyskerin Pseudouridine Synthase 1 (DKC1) and increase RAP1B protein level. What's more, the silencing of DKC1/RAP1B in SNORA70E overexpression cells both inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion through reducing β-catenin, PI3K, AKT1, mTOR, and MMP9 protein levels. Besides, RNA-Seq results revealed that SNORA70E regulates the alternative splicing of PARP-1 binding protein (PARPBP), leading to the 4th exon-skipping in PARPBP-88, forming a new transcript PARPBP-15, which promoted cell invasion, migration and proliferation. Finally, ASO-mediated silencing of SNORA70E could inhibit ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion, migration ability in vitro and inhibit tumorigenicity in vivo. In conclusion, SNORA70E promotes the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer through pseudouridylation modification of RAP1B and alternative splicing of PARPBP. Our results demonstrated that SNORA70E may be a new diagnostic and therapeutic target for ovarian cancer., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In contrast with the well-established enantioconvergent radical C(sp 3 )-C cross-coupling of racemic secondary alkyl electrophiles, the corresponding coupling of tertiary electrophiles to forge all-carbon quaternary stereocentres remains underexplored. The major challenge arises from the steric hindrance and the difficult enantio-differentiation of three distinct carbon substituents of prochiral tertiary radicals. Here we demonstrate a general copper-catalysed enantioconvergent C(sp 3 )-C(sp) cross-coupling of diverse racemic tertiary alkyl halides with terminal alkynes (87 examples). Key to the success is the rational design of chiral anionic N,N,N-ligands tailor-made for the computationally predicted outer-sphere radical group transfer pathway. This protocol provides a practical platform for the construction of chiral C(sp 3 )-C(sp/sp 2 /sp 3 ) bonds, allowing for expedient access to an array of synthetically challenging quaternary carbon building blocks of interest in organic synthesis and related areas., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Purpose: It is challenging to prepare military surgeons with the skills of combat damage control surgery (CDCS). The current study aimed to establish a damage control surgery (DCS) training platform for explosive combined thoraco-abdominal injuries., Methods: The training platform established in this study consisted of 3 main components: (1) A 50 m × 50 m square yard was constructed as the explosion site. Safety was assessed through cameras. (2) Sixteen pigs were injured by an explosion of trinitrotoluene attached with steel balls and were randomly divided into the DCS group (accepted DCS) and the control group (have not accepted DCS). The mortality rate was observed. (3) The literature was reviewed to identify the key factors for assessing CDCS, and testing standards for CDCS were then established. Expert questionnaires were employed to evaluate the scientificity and feasibility of the testing standards. Then, a 5-day training course with incorporated tests was used to test the efficacy of the established platform. In total, 30 teams attended the first training course. The scores that the trainees received before and after the training were compared. SPSS 11.0 was employed to analyze the results., Results: The high-speed video playback confirmed the safety of the explosion site as no explosion fragments projected beyond the wall. No pig died within 24 h when DCS was performed, while 7 pigs died in the control group. After a literature review, assessment criteria for CDCS were established that had a total score of 100 points and had 4 major parts: leadership and team cooperation, resuscitation, surgical procedure, and final outcome. Expert questionnaire results showed that the scientific score was 8.6 ± 1.25, and the feasibility score was 8.74 ± 1.19. When compared with the basic level, the trainees' score improved significantly after training., Conclusion: The platform established in this study was useful for CDCS training., (Copyright © 2022 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are mainly expressed in mammalian germ cells, playing an important role in maintaining germ line DNA integrity, inhibiting transposon transcription and translation, participating in heterochromatin formation, epigenetic regulation, and germ cell genesis. They combine with P-element induced wimpy testis (PIWI) proteins to form effector complexes known as piRNA-induced silencing complexes (pi-RISC) to regulate the gene silencing pathway. Recent evidence suggests that numerous piRNAs, with tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing functions in cancer development, are dysregulated in tumor tissues, and are related to clinical prognosis. In the present review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on the function and regulatory mechanisms of piRNAs in the tumorigenesis and progression of cancer, providing evidence for the potential use of piRNAs in the diagnosis and clinical treatment of cancer.

Objectives: Osteoporosis remains a clinical challenge. Teriparatide is an anabolic drug and alendronate is an antiresorptive agent; both are used in the treatment of osteoporosis. Comprehensive reviews investigating the comparative safety and efficacy of teriparatide versus alendronate are scarce. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the safety and efficacy of teriparatide versus alendronate for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis., Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature review of the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry, and the China Academic Journal Network Publishing databases for relevant RCTs of teriparatide versus alendronate in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients. Outcome measures were percentage change in lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) and incidence of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures. Effect size was reported as weighted mean differences (WMDs) for continuous outcomes and odds ratios (OR) for dichotomous outcomes, with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs)., Results: Six trials involving 618 patients were included. The meta-analysis demonstrated a significant increase in lumbar spine BMD (WMD: 3.46, 95% CI: 2.15-4.77, P < .00001), but not femoral neck BMD (WMD = 1.50, 95% CI: 0.04-2.95, P = .04), in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients treated with teriparatide compared with alendronate for 6 to 18 months. These beneficial effects were apparent in the lumbar spine at 12 months of treatment (WMD: 4.49, 95% CI: 2.57-6.40, P < .01). Teriparatide was not superior to alendronate in reducing fracture risk (OR: -0.03, 95% CI: -0.12 to 0.07; P = .52)., Conclusion: Teriparatide may be superior to alendronate for increasing lumbar spine BMD in postmenopausal osteoporosis. The efficacy and safety of long-term teriparatide and alendronate treatment in postmenopausal osteoporosis should be further investigated in clinical trials.

Background: The identification of the cause of chronic low back pain (CLBP) represents a great challenge to orthopedists due to the controversy over the diagnosis of discogenic low back pain (DLBP) and the existence of a number of cases of CLBP of unknown origin. This study aimed to develop diagnostic models to distinguish DLBP from other forms of CLBP and to identify serum biomarkers for DLBP., Methods: Serum samples were collected from patients with DLBP, chronic lumbar disc herniation (LDH), or CLBP of unknown origin, and healthy controls (N), and randomly divided into a training set (n = 30) and a blind test set (n = 30). Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was performed for protein profiling of these samples. After the discriminative ability of two most significantly differential peaks from each two groups was assessed using scatter plots, classification models were developed using differential peptide peaks to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy. The identity of peptides corresponding to three representative differential peaks was analyzed., Results: The fewest statistically significant differential peaks were identified between DLBP and CLBP (3), followed by CLBP vs. N (5), DLBP vs. N (9), LDH vs. CLBP (20), DLBP vs. LDH (23), and LDH vs. N (43). The discriminative ability of two most significantly differential peaks was poor in classifying DLBP vs. CLBP but good in classifying DLBP vs. LDH. The accuracy of models for classification of DLBP vs. CLBP was not very high in the blind test (forecasting ability, 67.24%; sensitivity, 70%), although a higher accuracy was observed for classification of DLBP vs. LDH and LDH vs. N (forecasting abilities, ~90%; sensitivities, >90%). A further investigation of three representative differential peaks led to the identification of two peaks as peptides of complement C3, and one peak as a human fibrinogen peptide., Conclusions: Our findings benefit not only the diagnosis of CLBP but also the understanding of the differences between different forms of DLBP. The ability to distinguish between different causes of CLBP and the identification of serum biomarkers may be of great value to diagnose different causes of DLBP and predict treatment efficacy.

Objective: To establish a quantitative estimate model for diagnosing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes of patients with osteoporosis., Methods: Symptoms and signs of osteoporosis and methodology related to syndrome research were collected by reviewing medical literature. The symptoms and sighs were quantitatively classified into three, two or one category according to a 100-mm visual analog scale. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of TCM qualitative syndromes was performed based on analytic hierarchy process. Then "Hall for Workshop of Metasynthetic Engineering" expert symposium was held on subjects of syndrome quantification method and weight of evaluation indices in different levels for developing the analysis model of common syndromes. For clinical verification, the created models were applied to patients with osteoporosis for discriminating syndromes. Syndrome of each patient was also identified by 8 experts major in integrative medicine treating osteoporosis for comparing the coincidence rate using a self-made clinical questionnaire., Results: Through literature reviewing, symptoms and signs quantification and expert discussing, the authors formed estimate models of essence deficit, qi deficiency, yin deficiency, yang deficiency, and blood stasis. A total of 220 patients with osteoporosis were enrolled and filled the clinical questionnaire. All 8 experts completed and returned the questionnaire (1 760 cases), and 1 545 of them were filled in completely. Experts' opinion on syndrome differentiation was exactly coincidence to estimate model in 611 cases and almost coincidence in 639 cases. The total coincidence rate reached to 94.05%., Conclusion: The estimate model for syndrome differentiation of osteoporosis has a high-coincidence rate with the fuzzy evaluation from experts, with good rationality and feasibility, and is worthy of promotion in the clinical study.

Objective: To establish diagnostic criteria for common traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in osteoporosis., Methods: Based on the collection and analysis of related medical literature, clinical investigation, and expert discussion, a draft of preliminary diagnostic criteria for the basic syndromes of TCM in patients with osteoporosis was formulated. Then it was used in clinic for verification and revised repeatedly until a formal version of diagnostic criteria was satisfactorily achieved., Results: The basic syndromes listed in the diagnostic criteria for patients with osteoporosis consisted of two parts: qualitative diagnosis and localization diagnosis. Results of qualitative diagnosis showed that the qualitative syndromes included damage of essence, deficiency of vital energy, deficiency of yin, deficiency of yang and blood stasis. The localization diagnosis showed that location of osteoporosis is bone and corresponds to the kidney, and also involves liver, lung, spleen (stomach) and heart. The diagnostic content has established the specific symptoms and the non-specific symptoms during various stages. Each of the above syndromes could be diagnosed according to a specific combination of its corresponding symptoms or signs. The clinical verification results showed that the total matching ratio of qualitative diagnosis was 80.56% between the diagnoses made according to the criteria and the diagnoses acquired from the experts' experience, and the total matching ratio of localization diagnosis was 85.56%., Conclusion: The TCM syndrome diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis is generally consistent with TCM clinical practice, worthy of further popularization and application in clinical practice.

Objective: To establish a quantitative model for evaluating the degree of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes often seen in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)., Methods: Medical literature concerning clinical investigation of TCM syndromes of CHD was collected and organized, and the "Hall for Workshop of Metasynthetic Engineering" expert symposium method was applied. First, the 100 millimeter scaling was used for combining with scoring on degree of symptoms to establish a quantitative criterion for classification of symptom degree in CHD patients, and the model was established by using comprehensive analytic hierarchy process as the mathematical tool to estimate the weight of the criterion for evaluating qualitative syndromes in various layers by specialists. Then the model was verified in clinical practice and the outcomes were compared with fuzzy evaluation from the specialists., Results: A total of 287 clinical observation forms on CHD cases were collected, and 167 forms were available after excluding any irregular forms. The results showed that basic coincidence rate between the outcomes derived from specialists and those from the model was 68.26% (114/167), and part coincidence rate was 88.62%(148/167)., Conclusion: This model, with good rationality and feasibility, has a high coincidence rate with fuzzy evaluation from specialists, and can be promoted in clinical practice. It is a good quantitative model for evaluating the degree of TCM syndromes of CHD.

Objective: To investigate clinical effects and mechanism of Tangweikang (TWK) in treating diabetic gastroparesis., Methods: Ninety diabetic gastroparesis patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups. Besides conventional hypoglycemic treatment, the 30 patients in the treated group were given TWK and the 30 in the control group were given Domperidone additionally, while to the 30 in the blank group, no additional drug was given. The clinical efficacy and the changes in level of motilin and gastric emptying rate were observed., Results: TWK showed significant effects in improving clinical symptoms of patients, increasing gastric emptying rate, promoting gastrointestinal kinetics, shortening gastric emptying time and was beneficial to the control of blood sugar, including the 2 h post-prandial blood sugar and fructosamine. The curative rate and total effective rate in the treated group were 63.33% (19/30) and 93.33% (29/30) respectively, significantly different to those in the control group 26.67% (8/30) and 63.33%, also different to those in the blank group 23.33% (3/ 30) and 10.00%, respectively (P < 0.01). The clinical efficacy in the treated group was superior to that in the other two groups., Conclusion: TWK has favorable therapeutic efficacy in treating DGP.

Data from a set of 5-location and 2-year experiments on 10 representative historical cotton varieties and the data of Huang-Huai Regional Cotton Trials from 1973 to 1996 were analyzed to estimate the effects of genetic improvement in agronomy properties, disease resistance and stability of cotton in Huang-Huai Region in China. The results indicated that a great genetic progress of earliness and disease resistance had been achieved by breeding programs since 1950's. The maturity was shortened 3-5 days; The rate of preforst yield was increased about 7 percentages. The problem of resistance to Fususium wilt has been solved and the resistance to Verticillum wilt was improving. Some progress in stability of cotton varieties also has been achieved by breeding programs since 1950.

The character of red petals with a large basal spot was transferred from Gossypium bickii into G. hirsutum L., and the pure lines (HBRL) with the character were obtained by Liang Zhenglan in 1988. Results of genetic analysis for G. hirsutum pure line of red petals (R3bic) and large basal spot (R2bic) were reported in the present study. The large basal spot was dominant to the small basal-spot and spotlessness of G. hirsutum. R2bic was shown to be allelic to R2 of G. hirsutum, and R2bic, R2 and r2 were multiple alleles. R2bic was found to be linked with Lc1, and linkage between R2bic and Lc1 was estimated at 37.31 +/- 2.44 centimorgans, The red petal (R3bic) was epistatic dominance to the yellow petal (Y1) and cream petal (y1), and R3bic is closely linked with R2bic. It is proposed that the introgressive gene of the large basal spot from G. bickii into G. hirsutum be assigned gene symbol R2bic, and the red petals be given the gene symbol R3bic.

To study the effectiveness of Gossypium interspecific hybrid breeding on molecular level, the six germplasm lines from interspecific hybrids between G. hirsutum and G. bickii were analysed by the techniques of RAPD and isozyme electrophoresis. The main results were summarized as follows: (1) The basic zymograms of peroxidase isozyme of the six germplasm lines were similar to their G. hirsutum parent, but two out of the germplasm lines showed one specific band of the wild parent of G. bickii (pI 4.85); (2) The RAPD fingerprint showed distinct difference of genomic DNA among the germplasm lines; (3) The four specific DNA fragments of G. bickii were observed in RAPD patters of four out of the six germplasm lines.

To study the genetic character of trispecific hybrid cultivar Shiyuan 321, we analyzed this cultivar and its parents by isozyme and RAPD techniques. The main results are as follows: (1) Esterase isozyme analysis showed that there was one specific band among cultivar Suiyuan 321 and its parents, G. thurberi and G. barbadense; (2) Six specific DNA fragments amplified by 4 primers were found among cultivar Shiyuan 321 and its parents G. barbadense, G. thurberi; (3) By comparing RAPD differences among Shiyuan 321 and its parents, it is indicated that the genetic heterogeneity of cultivar Shiyuan 321 is very high at its genomic DNA level. The above results proved that Shiyuan 321 is a trispecific cultivar from G. barbadense x G. thurberi x G. hirsutum as well as a new germplasm.