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Objective: To provide an effective treatment for the Osteoarthritis of the hip by observing the effect of local blocking of HongHua injection on relieving hip pain. Methods: Methods from June 2015 to May 2017, 60 patients with Osteoarthritis of the hip in Wangjing Hospital of Chinese Academy of Sciences were randomly divided into treatment group and control group, 30 cases in each group. The treatment group was given local blockingof HongHua injection treatment, control group using Compound Betamethasone Injection local closed treatment. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score, pericoxal local tenderness and hip mobility were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect. The therapeutic indicators at six different time points after 1 days, 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks and 1 months after treatment were compared. Results: All the 60 cases completed treatment and follow-up, and there were no cases of abscission. There was no significant difference in gender, age, etiology, classification and Harris score before treatment between the two groups (P > 0.05), which was comparable. VAS score: There was no significant difference between the two groups on the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 2nd week after treatment (P > 0.05), but the treatment group was lower than the control group on the 1st month after treatment (P < 0.01). Hip joint activity: There was no significant difference in hip joint activity between the two groups 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks and 1 month after treatment (P > 0.05). Local tenderness around hip: The efficacy of the midpoint inguinal tenderness score was similar between the two groups at 1 day, 7 days, 2 weeks and 1 month after treatment (P > 0.05); the treatment group was lower than the control group at 3 days after treatment (P < 0.01); the adductor starting tenderness score had no significant difference at 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks and 1 month after treatment (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Local blockingof HongHua injection is effective and effective in treating hip pain in Osteoarthritis of the hip. The HongHua injection has many advantages, such as good safety and wide indications. It is worthy of further clinical application.

Objective: To explore the patterns of TCM syndromes and syndrome distribution of knee osteoarthritis through modern literature research. Methods: All journal articles from China Knowledge Network, Wanfang, and China Biomedical Database from January to August 1, 2019 were searched, and documents that met the criteria for inclusion and exclusion were screened out. Knee joints were extracted on the premise of data standardization. Inflammatory syndrome types, syndromes, regional distribution of literature, and commonly cited literature of syndrome reference standards are used to establish a database using an Excel table for analysis using frequency analysis. Results: A total of 2027 articles were included. The geographical distribution of the included articles was mainly East China (23.53%), Central China (19.93%), and South China (19.24%). The commonly cited reference for the knee osteoarthritis syndrome reference standard is "Chinese medicine" Guiding Principles for Clinical Research of New Drugs (47.09%),"Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Efficacy Standards" (40.27%), "Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for 95 Major Diseases in 22 Specialties" (4.58%), "Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for Knee Paralysis", " KOA TCM Experts' Consensus (2015 Edition) "," Traditional Chinese Medicine ", the common types of knee osteoarthritis are liver and kidney deficiency (17.65%), blood stasis (12.40%), wind cold and dampness (11.76%) , Cold dampness obstruction, yang deficiency and cold coagulation, liver and kidney deficiency, tendon and blood stasis, qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome; common disease site syndromes are liver and kidney, and disease syndrome syndromes are dampness, cold, blood stasis, and yin Deficiency, wind, yang deficiency, heat, qi stagnation, fine deficiency, sputum, qi deficiency, and blood deficiency; the most common form of syndrome combination is the combination of two and three syndromes. Conclusion: TCM syndrome types and the distribution of syndrome elements are in line with the current mainstream understanding of the pathogenesis of knee osteoarthritis. The syndrome differentiation of knee osteoarthritis can summarize the main pathogenesis of the disease. Helps to classify TCM syndromes of knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To explore the correlation between different types of osteonecrosis of the femoral head and blood lipids and coagulation indexes, in order to provide relevant references for the pathogenesis of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Methods: 308 cases of ONFH were divided into alcohol group (165 cases), hormone group (113 cases), trauma group (30 cases), and basic data of patients were collected. Blood lipid indicators: total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A, apolipoprotein B; coagulation indicators: activated partial thromboplastin time, plasma prothrombin time, fibrinogen, thrombin time indicators, using analysis of variance method for different types of osteonecrosis of the femoral head and blood lipids, coagulation indicators Search for relevance. Results: 1. Comparison of three groups of blood lipid indicators: total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in the alcohol group were higher than those in the trauma group (P0.05). 2. Comparison of three groups of coagulation indicators: hormone The fibrinogen index of the group was higher than that of the trauma group (P0.05). The coagulation index of the hormone group and the alcohol group was compared. The differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusions: 1. Nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (alcoholic, hormonal) patients are characterized by markedly elevated blood lipids (total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol) and coagulation (fibrinogen) indicators; 2. Intravascular coagulation and lipid metabolism disorders may be the pathological basis of non-traumatic Osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

Wangbi Tablets are widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, knee osteoarthritis and other diseases at pre-sent. Long-term clinical application and research have shown that this drug has a good effect in reducing the pain of related diseases and improving symptoms. Due to the lack of guidance in the instructions and currently no relevant norms to guide the clinical application of Wangbi Tablets, in order to further improve clinicians' understanding of the drug and fully tap the clinical advantages of the drug, the Professional Committee of Orthopedics and Traumatology Drug Research of China Association of Chinese Medicine organized experts in the fields of rheumatism, orthopedics, pharmacy and methodology in Chinese and western medicine to develop expert consensus on Chinese patent medicines in accordance with the relevant requirements of the consensus methodology. Based on full consideration of clinical research evidence and expert experience, the clinical issues were summarized in the consensus, and for those clinical problems supported by evidences, the internationally recognized recommendation evaluation and formulation method GRADE was used to evaluate the evidence and form recommendations; for those clinical issues not supported by evidences, a consensus was reached through the nominal group method to form consensus recommendations. The consensus adopted a concise and clear format to form re-commendations or reach consensus suggestions on the medication regimen, medication characteristics, intervention timing, usage and dosage, course of use and safety issues for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and knee osteoarthritis with Wangbi Tablets. It is suggested that its application will better improve the efficacy of Wangbi Tablets in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and knee osteoarthritis, at the same time provide a reference for clinicians to use Wangbi Tablets in a standardized, reasonable and safe manner.

Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) is one of the most commonly used and effective traditional Chinese herbal medicines against rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Both Tripterygium Glycoside Tablets (TGT) and Tripterygium wilfordii Tablets (TWT) are the representative TwHF-based agents enrolled into the 2019 edition of Medicine Catalog for National Basic Medical Insurance, Injury Insurance, and Maternity Insurance. However, individual differences in TGT/TWT response across patients usually exist in the process of treating RA, implying that the clinical application of the two agents may not be standardized leading to the ineffective treatment and the risk of side effects. Growing evidence show that the bioactive constituents of TwHF may often have toxicity, the package insert of TGT and TWT may not be described in detail, and the therapeutic windows of the two agents are narrow. Thus, it is an urgent task to develop a standardized clinical practice guideline for TGT and TWT in the treatment of RA. In the current study, a group of clinical experts of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in the research field of rheumatism diseases, pharmacists, and methodologists of evidence-based medicine were invited to select the clinical questions, to determine the levels of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations, and to develop the recommendations and good practice points. The guideline is formed based on the combination of clinical research evidence and expert experience (evidence-based, consensus, supplemented by experience). The clinical problems which are supported by clinical evidence may form recommendations, and the clinical problems without clinical evidence may form experts’ suggestions. Both recommendations and experts' suggestions in this guideline summarized the clinical indications, usage, dosage, combined medication, and safety of TGT and TWT against RA systematically and comprehensively, which may offer a professional guidance in the context of the clinical application of the two TwHF-based agents.

The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of Tripterysium Glycosides Tablets( TGT) alone or in combination with methotrexate( MTX) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis( RA) based on the laboratory index criteria and to provide a basis for the clinical application of TGT against RA. Six databases including CNKI,Wan Fang,VIP,PubMed,EMbase and Cochrane were retrieved for randomized controlled trials( RCT) about TGT alone or combination with MTX in the treatment of RA.Then risk assessment tools were used for quality evaluation of the studies,and data extraction and analysis were conducted by using Rev Man 5.3 software for Meta-analysis. A total of 1 709 articles were retrieved,and finally 25 studies were included,with a total sample size of 2 507 cases. Meta-analysis results showed that between TGT alone and TGT alone,MDESR=-2. 66,95%CI[-8.17,2.86],P = 0.35; MDCRP=-2.38,95%CI[-9.01,4.24],P = 0.48; between TGT combined with MTX and MTX alone,MDESR= 8.74,95%CI[6.72,10.76],P0.000 01; MDCRP= 5.37,95%CI[3.71,7.03],P0.000 01; SMDRF= 1.05,95%CI[0.51,1.60],P = 0.000 1.The effect of TGT on decreasing CRP and ESR in RA patients was similar to the MTX. In addition,TGT combined with MTX were more effective in decreasing CRP,ESR,RF than MTX alone. However,due to the potential bias in the included studies,more and high-quality randomized controlled trials would be needed to improve the level of evidence.

Lead exposure has been implicated in the impairment of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) areas of rats. However, whether the degradation of physiological properties is based on the morphological alteration of granule neurons in DG areas remains elusive. Here, we examined the dendritic branch extension and spine formation of granule neurons after lead exposure during development in rats. Dendritic morphology was studied using Golgi-Cox stain method, which was followed by Sholl analysis at postnatal days 14 and 21. Our results indicated that, for both ages, lead exposure significantly decreased the total dendritic length and spine density of granule neurons in the DG of the rat hippocampus. Further branch order analysis revealed that the decrease of dendritic length was observed only at the second branch order. Moreover, there were obvious deficits in the proportion and size of mushroom-type spines. These deficits in spine formation and maturity were accompanied by a decrease in Arc/Arg3.1 expression. Our present findings are the first to show that developmental lead exposure disturbs branch and spine formation in hippocampal DG areas. Arc/Arg3.1 may have a critical role in the disruption of neuronal morphology and synaptic plasticity in lead-exposed rats.

Image-based finite element modelling has been commonly used to determine the biomechanical behaviours of human femora, particularly for the diagnosis of femoral head necrosis. One of the fundamental aspects of biomechanical modelling is the relationship between bone density, which is obtained from images, and elastic modulus. While there exist some empirical equations relating density with elastic modulus, the characterization of this relationship remains incomplete, especially for necrotic femoral heads. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between density and elastic modulus by combining ultrasonic scanning and computed tomography (CT). Bone specimens were surgically removed from the femora of eight persons (seven females and one male in the age range of 55-68 years old) and underwent both ultrasonic and CT scanning. The images were processed with MATLAB scripts, and a bilinear interpolation algorithm was used to determine the relationship between the CT-measured densities and ultrasound-measured elastic moduli. The results showed different density-elastic modulus relations between the hardening strap of the necrotic region and non-hardening strap areas of the necrotic region. The uniqueness of this study is the characterization of mechanical properties (in the present study, the density-modulus relationship) from clinical images, which would be valuable in computational biomechanics used for the diagnosis and treatment evaluation of femoral head necrosis.

To evaluate the status and risk factors for the misdiagnosis of femoral head osteonecrosis, providing the basis for accurate diagnosis of osteonecrosis of femoral head.The data of 314 hospitalized patients were collected from March 2015 to March 2016, and the risk factors for osteonecrosis of femoral head were analyzed by Logistic regression model. Misdiagnosis was defined that the diagnosis given on the first time was different from that on the second time or that given by expert group with the same symptoms and signs. The general data, predisposing factors, time of onset, hospital visits, clinical manifestations, X-ray film of hip joint, MRI and other data were statistically analyzed.Total 127 patients experienced misdiagnosis (up to 40.8%). Among them, the patients with osteonecrosis of femoral head misdiagnosed as other diseases accounted for 77.2% and the patients with other diseases misdiagnosed osteonecrosis of femoral head accounted for 22.8%. Statistical analysis showed that the predisposing factors, history of glucocorticoid and alcohol intake, diseased lower limb, pained lower limb, hidden disease attack, the level of first reception hospital and expert were significantly related with the misdiagnosis of femoral head osteonecrosis based on the logistic regression model (Misdiagnosis rate of femoral head necrosis is high. Hidden disease attack and low level of first reception expert are the high risk factors associated with the misdiagnosis in which the femoral head necrosis was misdiagnosed as other diseases, however, glucocorticoid intake history is the protective factor of misdiagnosis. Low level of first reception expert is the high risk factor associated with the misdiagnosis in which other diseases were misdiagnosed as necrosis of femoral head.

In femoral head necrosis, the cortical shell of the femoral head collapses and buckles into the cancellous bone. The purpose of this study is to explore the biomechanical characteristics of the femoral head and the necrosis region by comparing the results before and after drug treatment. In this paper, we study two patient cases with femoral head necrosis disease and establish the corresponding computational three-dimensional models. The results show that the deformation of the femur decreases slightly after the treatment, the equivalent stress distributes more evenly, and the stress magnitude reduces. The results also reveal that the volume of the necrosis in the femoral head decreases after treatment, the overall necrosis presents relatively lower equivalent stress, and the area with the relatively high equivalent stress is smaller comparing to the necrosis in femoral head before treatment.

Sanmiao formula (SM) is a basic prescription for the treatment of gouty and rheumatoid arthritis that has been used in China over a long period of history. However, there is no evidence associating SM with the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, a characterization of the anti-OA effect of SM was conducted using an in vivo rat model induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection and medial meniscus resection (ACLT plus MMx), together with in vitro studies using chondrocytes for further molecular characterization. Rats subjected to ACLT plus MMx were treated with SM at doses of 0.63, 1.25 and 2.5 g/kg per day for three or six weeks. SM treatment significantly inhibited the histopathological changes of articular cartilage damage and synovial inflammation in the rats following ACLT plus MMx. SM (2.5 g/kg) clearly inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis and prevented cartilage matrix degradation, which was indicated by the increased proteoglycan and collagen content, particularly with regard to type II collagen expression in articular cartilage. Furthermore, SM (2.5 g/kg) markedly inhibited the release of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α and nitric oxide in serum, while simultaneously increasing the levels of bone morphogenetic protein-2 and transforming growth factor-β in the circulation. Notably, SM (2.5 g/kg) clearly attenuated the OA-augmented expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 and augmented the OA-reduced expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 in the knee joints. In addition, SM significantly reduced the proportion of early and late apoptotic and sub-G1 phase cells, and clearly decreased the expression of MMP-13 and increased that of TIMP-1 at the mRNA and protein levels in IL-1β-induced chondrocytes. These findings provide the first evidence that SM effectively treats OA by inhibiting chondrocyte apoptosis, cartilage matrix degradation and the inflammatory response.

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the effects of different frequencies of physical therapy intervention on the total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) risk of osteoarthritis (OA) patients. We sampled 438,833 insurants from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database for patients diagnosed as having OA during 2000 to 2013. OA who received physical therapy within in the first year of OA diagnosis were divided based on the number of sessions they received in that first year: >24, 13–23, and 24 cohort and 4.9% and 1.4% (all P 24 cohort were 0.77 (0.67–0.87, P 24 physical therapy sessions within 1 year of receiving an OA diagnosis exhibited reduced of TKA and THA risks.

A Chinese herbal preparation, SiMiaoFang (SMF), has been used clinically for treating arthralgia by virtue of its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving activities. However, no evidence base links SMF to anti-osteoarthritis (OA), particularly its link to inhibiting cartilage matrix degradation. In this study, we undertook a characterization of anti-OA activity of SMF using an in vivo rat model induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection and medial meniscus resection (ACLT+MMx) together with in vitro studies with chondrocytes for further molecular characterization. ACLT+MMx rats were treated with SMF at doses of 0.63, 1.25, and 2.5 grams/kg per day for 6 weeks. SMF treatments significantly inhibited cartilage matrix degradation, as indicated by increasing proteoglycan and collagen content, particularly type II collagen expression in articular cartilage, decreasing CTX-II (collagen type II degradation marker), and increasing CPII (collagen type II synthesis marker) in circulation. Moreover, SMF suppressed synovial inflammation and inhibited release of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α in serum. The levels of serum prostaglandin E₂ and nitric oxide productions were decreased via suppression of the production of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase, respectively. Importantly, SMF interfered with OA-augmented expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -3 and -13 and aggrecanases (ADAMTS) -4 and -5, which are considered to be key enzymes in cartilage matrix degradation, and simultaneously augmented OA-reduced tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) -1 and -3 expression in the joints. The largest changes in these parameters were found at the highest dose. Meanwhile, SMF significantly decreased MMP-3 and -13 and increased TIMP-1 and -3 at mRNA and protein levels in IL-1β-induced chondrocytes. These findings provide the first evidence that SMF effectively treats OA by inhibiting cartilage matrix degradation.

To study clinical outcomes of Chinese medidine fumigation and massage therapy for the treatment of knee stability and functional recovery after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction operation,and to explore the effect on tendon-bone healing.Total 50 patients were divided into two groups: the control group (normal rehabilitation therapy group),the treatment group (Chinese medicine fumigation and manipulation group). There were 25 patients in the control group, including 16 males and 9 females, who were treated with isometric muscle training, with the gradually enlarging amplitude of flexion and progressive loading of bearing training for knee recovery. There were 25 patients in the treatment group, including 15 males and 10 females,who were treated with the conventional rehabilitation therapy combined with Chinese medicine fumigation and massage therapy. The Chinese herbs named as Haitongpi decoction was steamed by a special equipment to fumigate the knee after operation; Based on the biomechanical parameters of the ligament reconstruction, the massage therapy was designed to control the degree of the knee flexion and release the adhesion for early recovery of knee functions. The Lysholm knee function evaluation system was used, and MRI examination was performed to measure the change in width of ligament tunnel in femur and tibia to evaluate the safety and stability of the treatment.Lysholm system showed that two groups both had improving results from the 1st month after operation to the 3rd month (treatment group, F=36.54, P0.05; the control group, F=28.12, P0.05), and the results of the treatment group was better than that of the control group at the observation point (the 1st month, t=0.105, P0.05; the 3rd month, t=5.361, P0.01). There was no difference between the two groups when evaluating the bone and tendon healing 3 and 12 months after operation (P0.05), indicating that Chinese rehabilitation therapy was a safety treatment without the influence on the loosing of tendon.Chinese medicine fumigation and massage therapy can early improve the knee function after the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction operation without the disturbance of the knee stability.

To optimize a measuring method of osteonecrotic area by analyzing the average osteonecrotic areas and osteonecritic volume using multi layer MR images.The MRI images of 87 cases (120 hips) of ONFH(ARCO II) were collected retrospectively from January 2011 to January 2012 in Wangjing Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medicine Science. PHILIPS Achieval 1.5T MR was used to obtain coronal TSE T1 weighted (T1W) images. The scanning parameters were shown as follows:slice thickness, 3.5 mm; gap, 0.3 mm; images repetition time(TR), 500 ms;echo time(TE), 20 ms;field of view (FOV), 374 mm;total 12 layers. According to the distribution rule of osteonecrotic lesion, the layer of coronal T1-weighted imaging showing most of femoral neck was marked as layer 0(L0). The layers before L0 were marked in sequence L1, L2, L3, L4... , and the layers after L0 were marked in sequence L-1, L-2, L-3, L-4... . Auto CAD 2007 was used to measure the percentage of osteonecrotic area and calcu late the average data, and then decreased the layer from low to high layer successively based on frequency of osteonecrotic occurrences. First, the layer with lowest frequency of osteonecrotic occurrenoses L3 was removed, then calculated the average osteonecrotic area of the ramaining 8 layers. L5, L4, L-2, L-1, L3 layers were gradually removed, resulting in the calculation of avereage osteonecrotic areas in 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 layers. These areas were compared to the osteonecrotic volume in MR imagings, leading to the optimization of the fewest layer measuring method of osteonecrotic area using a statistical analysis.The percentage of osteonecrotic volume in 120 hips was 0.333±0.151. The average osteonecrotic areas of 9 to 3 layers were 0.321±0.117, 0.317±0.136, 0.312±0.147, 0.333±0.153, 0.348±0.172, 0.365±0.174, 0.377±0.202 respectively. There were no statistical differences of the average osteonecrotic areas and osteonecrotic volume in 9 to 3 layers(The results of 4(L0, L1, L2, L3) layers measuring method and osteonecrotic volume measuring method are similar. The 4 layers measuring method is an accurate, convenient, valuable method measuring the esteonecrotic area with the fewest layers, which is worth to be popularized in clinical application.

This study investigated experimental equilibrium solubilities of Jatropha curcas and Aquiliaria crassna oils dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide at temperatures of 318–338 K and pressures of 20, 25, 30, 35 MPa. The highest solubility of J. curcas and A. crassna oil were 29.8 and 28.4 mg L −1 , respectively, at 338 K and 35 MPa. The oil solubilities and the concentration of triglycerides both increased with increasing temperature and pressure. Triglyceride molecules surrounded by carbon dioxide molecules may be proposed since solubilities increased with the flux of supercritical carbon dioxide. The solubility of these two oils linearly increased with the density of supercritical carbon dioxide. Experimental data of the oil solubility were successfully correlated by the Chrastil equation.

This study investigates supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) extraction of triglycerides from powdered Jatropha curcas crude seeds followed by subcritical hydrolysis and supercritical methylation of the oil extracted by scCO 2 to obtain biodiesel. Effects of the reaction temperature, the reaction time and the solvent to feed ratio on free fatty acids in the hydrolyzed oil and fatty acid esters in the methylated oil via two experimental designs were also examined. Supercritical methylation of the hydrolyzed oil following subcritical hydrolysis of the scCO 2 extract yielded a methylation reaction conversion of 98.3%. The activation energy of hydrolysis and trans-esterified reactions were 50.2 and 23.9 kJ/mole, respectively. This study demonstrates that supercritical methylation preceded by subcritical hydrolysis of the scCO 2 oil is a feasible two-step process in producing biodiesel from powdered Jatropha seeds.

This study examines the effects of pressure, temperature and solvent to solid ratio (SSR) on extraction efficiency of triglycerides from powdered Aquilaria crassna seeds by using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) extraction. Supercritical extractions were designed for pressures ranging from 250 to 350 bar, temperatures ranging from 313 to 333 K and SSR values ranging from 60:1 to 120:1. All values were selected using response surface methodology (RSM) in order to determine their effects on the concentration of triglycerides from the SC-CO 2 extracted oil. Using 3000 g of carbon dioxide over 4 h, a supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (at 310 bar, 333 K and an SSR value of 100:1) yielded 33.99% oil having the concentration of triglycerides of 568.3 mg/g. The extraction efficiency (i.e. recovery) of triglycerides reached 96.77%. Changes in pressure presented more effective in increasing the recovery of triglycerides. Both temperature and the SSR value are important in obtaining high concentration of triglycerides from the A. crassna seeds that are potential for biodiesel materials.

This study investigates supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) extraction of triglycerides from powdered Jatropha curcas kernels followed by subcritical hydrolysis and supercritical methylation of the extracted SC-CO 2 oil to obtain a 98.5% purity level of biodiesel. Effects of the reaction temperature, the reaction time and the solvent to feed ratio on free fatty acids in the hydrolyzed oil and fatty acid esters in the methylated oil via two experimental designs were also examined. Supercritical methylation of the hydrolyzed oil following subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO 2 extract yielded a methylation reaction conversion of 99%. The activation energy of hydrolysis and trans-esterified reactions were 68.5 and 45.2 kJ/mole, respectively. This study demonstrates that supercritical methylation preceded by subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO 2 oil is a feasible two-step process in producing biodiesel from powdered Jatropha kernels.

This study examines the effects of pressure, temperature and solvent to solid ratio (SSR) on extraction efficiency of triglycerides from powdered Jatropha seeds by using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Supercritical extractions were designed for pressures ranging from 250 to 350 bar, temperatures ranging from 313 to 333 K and SSR values ranging from 65:1 to 125:1. All values were selected using response surface methodology in order to determine their effects on the concentration of triglycerides from the extracted oil. Using 3750 g of carbon dioxide over 5 h, a supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (at 350 bar, 333 K and an SSR value of 125:1) yielded 43.51% oil. The concentration and extraction efficiency (i.e. recovery) of triglycerides in the extract reached 657.1 mg/g and 97.62%, respectively. Changes in pressure presented more effective in increasing the recovery of triglycerides, but both temperature and the SSR value are important in obtaining high concentration of triglycerides from the Jatropha seeds that are useful for biodiesel materials.

Electronic business (e-business) enables employees in organizations to complete jobs more efficiently if they can rely on the dependable functions and services delivered by e-business. Unfortunately, only a limited amount of research has explored the topic of employee perceived dependability of e-business, and the concept lacks measurement tools. Hence, this research develops a validated instrument for measuring e-business dependability (EBD) from an employee perspective. Based on a survey of 152 employees in six large semiconductor manufacturing companies in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park in Taiwan, this research conceptualizes and operationalizes the construct of EBD, and then creates and refines an e-business dependability instrument (EBDI). After rigorous purification procedures, the 22-item EBD instrument with good reliability and validity is presented. Finally, this paper concludes with a discussion of potential applications of this EBD instrument. The e-business dependability instrument and its potential implications will not only aid researchers interested in designing and testing related e-business theories, but also provide direction for managers in improving the quality and performance of e-business.

The present study aims at evaluating the impairment of LTP and depotentiation (DP) of LTP induced by acute lead exposure, and the effects of peripheral carbachol (CCh) application on LTP/DP of acute and chronic lead-exposed rats in dentate gyrus in vivo. Rats (80–100 days) were acutely exposed to lead by intraperitoneal injection of 0.2% lead acetate (PbAc) solution (1.5 mg/100 g) and/or CCh (1 μg/100 g). Rats were chronically exposed to lead from parturition through adulthood (80–100 days) by the drinking of 0.2% PbAc solution and/or CCh (1 μg/100 g) chronic intraperitoneal injection one week. The input–output (I/O) function, paired-pulse reaction (PPR), excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and population spike (PS) amplitude were measured in response to stimulation applied to the lateral perforant path. Results showed that: first, acute lead exposure significantly depressed the amplitudes of LTP/DP of both EPSP slope and PS amplitude. Second, CCh significantly increased the amplitudes of both EPSP LTP/DP and PS LTP of acute Pb-exposed rats. After CCh treatment, the magnitudes of EPSP LTP/DP and PS LTP of acute Pb-exposed rats showed no significant difference with controls. Third, Chronic CCh application also reversed chronic Pb-induced impairment of PS LTP and EPSP DP of LTP. As CCh does not cross blood-brain barrier in healthy animals, the data suggest that CCh may traverse BBB in Pb-exposed animals and cure Pb-induced dysfunction of learning and memory.

Lead exposure has been implicated in the impairment of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) areas of rats. However, whether the degradation of physiological properties is based on the morphological alteration of granule neurons in DG areas remains elusive. Here, we examined the dendritic branch extension and spine formation of granule neurons after lead exposure during development in rats. Dendritic morphology was studied using Golgi-Cox stain method, which was followed by Sholl analysis at postnatal days 14 and 21. Our results indicated that, for both ages, lead exposure significantly decreased the total dendritic length and spine density of granule neurons in the DG of the rat hippocampus. Further branch order analysis revealed that the decrease of dendritic length was observed only at the second branch order. Moreover, there were obvious deficits in the proportion and size of mushroom-type spines. These deficits in spine formation and maturity were accompanied by a decrease in Arc/Arg3.1 expression. Our present findings are the first to show that developmental lead exposure disturbs branch and spine formation in hippocampal DG areas. Arc/Arg3.1 may have a critical role in the disruption of neuronal morphology and synaptic plasticity in lead-exposed rats.

The effects of copper on voltage-gated A-type potassium currents were investigated in acutely dissociated rat hippocampal CA1 neurons using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Extracellular application of various concentrations of copper (1-1000 microM) reversibly reduced the amplitude of voltage-gated A-type potassium currents in a dose-dependent manner with a 50% inhibitory concentration value of 130 microM. Copper (300 microM) increased the V1/2 of the activation curve and state-inactivation curve by 17.2 and 9.0 mV, respectively. Thus, copper slowed down the activation and inactivation process of voltage-gated A-type potassium currents. This study indicated that copper reversibly inhibits the hippocampal CA1 neuronal voltage-gated A-type potassium current in a dose-dependent and voltage-dependent manner, and such actions are likely involved in the regulation of the neuronal excitability and the pathophysiology of Wilson's disease.

Nickel sulfide (NiS) hollow spheres have been successfully synthesized by γ-irradiation, at room temperature, of an aqueous PMMA–CS2–ethanol solution that contains NiSO4·6H2O. Electron microscopy results show that the diameter of the NiS hollow spheres and the thickness of the sphere shells are about 500 nm and 20 nm, respectively. The room-temperature UV-vis absorption spectrum of the NiS hollow spheres gives a peak centered at around 233 nm (5.56 eV) with a remarkable blue-shift relative to that of bulk NiS (2.1 eV). This remarkable blue-shift may be attributed to the small dimensions of the materials. A possible growth mechanism of NiS hollow spheres by γ-irradiation method is also presented. The successful preparation of NiS hollow spheres on a large scale under mild conditions could be of interest for both applications and fundamental studies.

To observe the efficacy and features of treating early-to-middle stage nontraumatic osteonecrosis of femoral head (NONFH) patients by Jianpi Huogu Recipe (JHR).Using retrospective paired control method, early-to-middle stage NONFH patients treated by JHR and followed-up for 2 years were recruited as the test group (47 cases). Those accepted surgery of core decompression, focus debridement and bone graft were recruited as the control group (48 cases). Radiographic images and clinical data of patients were collected before and after treatment. The stable rate and excellent rate of Harris score were taken as efficacy evaluation indicators.(1) There was no statistical difference in excellent rate of Harris score between the two groups (95.74% vs. 79.17%, P0.05). But better effects were obtained in the test group in relieving pain, improving joint deformation, joint mobility, and total Harris score (P0. 05, P0. 01). There was no statistical difference in the stable rate of radiography between the two groups (74.47% vs. 75.00%, P0.05). (2) There was no statistical difference in the stable rate of radiography at phase II and Ill [staging by Association Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO)] between the two groups (82.05% vs. 80.00%, 37.50% vs. 50.00%, P0.05). (3) The stable rate of radiography and excellent rate of Harris score were obviously higher in ARCO phase II patients than in ARCO phase Il patients (82.05% vs. 37.50%,97.44% vs. 87.50%, P0.01).Equivalent stable rate of radiography to that of surgery could be obtained in treating early-to-middle stage NONFH patients by JHR. But it was better than surgery in relieving pain, improving joint deformation and joint mobility.

To observe effects of blood circulation promoting compounds combined with medicinal guides on content of bone glaprotein (BGP), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BPM-2) and expression of BMP-2 mRNA in rabbits with femoral head necrosis, and explore its mechanism.Ninety-eight healthy Spragur-Dawley male rabbits were collected and weighted 2.2 to 2.8 kg. Eighty-four rabbits were built femoral head necrosis model by freezing left femoral head in liquid nitrogen, then randomly divided into 6 groups, 14 in each group. The 6 groups included model group,promoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction group,promoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction combined with achyranthes bidentata group,radix angelicae pubescentis, asarum group, and platycodon grandiflorum group,other 14 rabbits were sham operation group. While drug groups were administrated corresponding Chinese herb after molding,model group and shamp operation group were given saline. Recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor ( 30 microg x kg(-1) x d(-1))were injected into all rabbits for 7 days. Samples were taken on the second and fourth week,the content of BGP and BMP-2 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELSA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA), histopathological changes of left femoral head were observed by Hematoxylin and Eeosin staining (HE), and expression of BMP-2 mRNA were tested by fluorescence in situ hybridization.Compared with sham operation group, the rate of empty lacunae femoral head were obviously increased in model group, and the content of BGP were increased on the second week, and BMP-2 and BMP-2 mRNA were decreased on the fourth week. Compared with model group, the content of BGP, BMP-2 and BMP-2 mRNA were higher both of the second and fourth week in promoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction group. The rate of empty la- cunae femoral head were lower in achyranthes bidentata group, BGP, BMP-2 and BMP-2 mRNA were higher on the fourth week. The rate of empty lacunae femoral head were lower in platycodon grandiflorum group, and BGP were decreased on the second and fourth week, BMP-2 were lower on the second week ,while BMP-2 mRNA were decreased on the fourth week; the content of BMP-2 and BMP-2 mRNA were increased in radix angelicae pubescentis group on the second week; while there was no change in asarum group.Radix angelicae pubescentis can increase the content of BGP, BMP-2 and expression of BMP-2 mRNA ,which is an effective mechanism of preventing femoral head necrosis.

This chapter elucidates supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of triglycerides from powdered Jatropha curcas kernels and seeds, followed by a series of subcritical hydrolysis and supercritical methylation of the extracted SC-CO2 oil to obtain a 98.5% purity level of biodiesel. Effects of the reaction temperature, the reaction time, and the solvent-to-solid ratio on free fatty acid (FFA) in the hydrolyzed oil and fatty acid esters in the methylated oil via two experimental designs were also examined. Supercritical methylation of the hydrolyzed oil following subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO2 extract yielded a methylation reaction conversion of 99%, and activation energies of hydrolysis and transesterified reactions were found, respectively. This study demonstrates that supercritical methylation preceded by subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO2-extracted oil is a feasible two-step process in producing biodiesel from powdered Jatropha kernels better than that from Jatropha seeds. The economical estimation of the process was also examined.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), a kind of stem cells residing in bone marrow, have self-renewal, high proliferative capacity and the potential of multilineage differentiation. It has a good prospect in application of the cell replacement therapy, the gene therapy and the tissue engineering and so on. As the content of BMSCs is extremely low in bone marrow, BM-SCs must be amplified in vitro and induced to differentiation to meet the clinical needs. Researches of the recent years suggest there is a very promising way that Chinese medicine could induce BMSCs proliferation, differentiation. Based on the Chinese medicine theory, "the kidney generating marrow and dominating bone" and "kidney storing essence, essence and marrow", the TCM scholars have done some researches to explore the function of warming yang and reinforcing kidney of Chinese medicine to promote bone marrow stromal cells and found that these drugs can promote the BMSCs to proliferate and to differentiate into osteogenic, cartilage and nerve cells. This article elaborates and presents the researches on this aspect.

To study the mechanism of Huogu I formula (I) in treating osteonecrosis of femoral head.Forty-eight healthy female Leghorn chickens were randomly divided into control group, model group and Huogu I group, and each group consisted of 16 chickens. At the meantime of model establishment, chickens of the Huogu I group were administrated with decoction, while the model and control group with distilled water by gavage. At the 8th and 16th week after medication, blood samples were obtained for blood lipid detection while both sides of femoral head were harvested for the rest of examinations. Specifically, expressions of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFβ(1)), Smad4 and Smad7 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry, while expression of osteoprotegerin/receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (OPG/RANKL) mRNA was detected by in situ hybridization.Compared with the control group, serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the model group rose significantly. Positive cell counting of BMP2, TGFβ(1), Smad4 and OPG in femoral head of the model group dropped prominently. Positive cell counting of Smad7 and RANKL increased dramatically. In contrast with the model group, levels of TC, TG and LDL-C in Huogu I group reduced significantly. Positive cell counting of BMP2, TGFβ(1), Smad4 and OPG in femoral head of the Huogu I group increased prominently. Indices of Smad7 and RANKL both decreased significantly. Especially at the 8th week, these variations were more significant.Huogu I formula is effective in promoting repair of necrotic femoral head by regulating the expressions of BMP2, TGFβ(1), Smads and OPG/RANKL of osteoclast in femoral head.

To evaluate and compare the histopathology effects and mechanisms of the methods of "invigorating spleen to remove phlempromoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction" and "invigorate the kidneypromoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction" preventing hormone induced femoral head necrosis in hens.Sixty-four healthy hens were randomly divided into 4 groups: blank control group, model group, Jianpi group (with therapeutics of invigorating spleen to remove phlem), Bushen group (with the effect of warming kidney for duresis). All hens were injected intramuscularly with Medrat once a week for 16 weeks but normal saline in blank control group. Bilateral femoral heads were dissected on 8 weeks or 16 weeks. Paraffin tissue sections were prepared to detect histopathologic change with hematoxylin and eosin, or mason staining.Histological analysis showed that Huogu recipe I and Huogu recipe II can promote osteogenesis and repair osteonecrosis, increase blood circulation of bone marrow, and inhibit pimelosis of bone marrow. Compared with blank control group, the areas of adipose cells increased significantly (t = -12.9, P0.01), the area of immature collagen increased significantly (t = -2.0, P0.05) and the ratio of empty lacuna in medullary cavity (t = -3.7, P0.05). Compared with model group, both the area of adipose cells and the ratio of empty lacuna decreased in Jianpi group and Bushen group (F = 26.8, 13.5, P0.01), so it was with the Bushen group immature collagen (F = 4.6, P0.01).Both the methods of "invigorating spleen to remove phlempromoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction" and "invigorate the kidneypromoting blood circulation to remove meridian obstruction" can prevent hormone induced femoral head necrosis. The time taking effect in the method of "invigorating spleen to remove phlem" was shorter.

To investigate therapeutic effects of intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate, arthroscopy and total hip replacement for the treatment of different severity hip osteoarthritis.Eighty-nine patients were treated with the three methods from June 2004 to August 2008. There were 33 males and 56 females, ranging in age from 30 to 72 years, averaged 51.8 years. The disease course ranged from 3 to 360 months, with a mean of 58.7 months. All the patients had hip pain and limited movement of hip joint. The patients were treated according to ISOA score and Kellgren-Lawrance (K-L) grades of hip osteoarthritis. The preoperative and postoperative Harris scores were compared.After the operation, 83 patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 3 to 58 months. The Harris scores results: the patients with slight hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade I got an averaged preoperative score of (70.50 +/- 4.62) and postoperative score of (91.75 +/- 4.01); the patients with slight hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade II got an averaged preoperative score of (70.15 +/- 3.79) and postoperative score of (82.18 +/- 3.92). The patients with moderate hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade III got an averaged preoperative score of (57.12 +/- 2.19) and postoperative score of (89.94 +/- 1.13) score. The patients with serious hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade IV got an averaged preoperative score of (48.63 +/- 2.21) and postoperative score of (90.76 +/- 1.14); the patients with very serious hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade IV got an averaged preoperative score of (42.67 +/- 3.17) and postoperative score of (91.97 +/- 2.24); the patients with extremely serious hip osteoarthritis and K-L grade IV got an averaged preoperative score of (36.46 +/- 2.96) and postoperative score of (82.69 +/- 1.19). There were significant differences in scores of all groups before and after treatment.The hip osteoarthritis should be treated according to its serious degree such as slight, moderate and severe, as well as based on its X-ray classification, which is the best method to get satisfactory results.

To study early femoral head necrosis radiographic imaging features to provide objective basis for the clinical differential diagnosis and therapeutic schedule's choice.Ninty-one patients with femur head necrosis of ARCO stage I and II whom were diagnosed by clinic and MRI and treated from March 2007 to June 2008 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 32 males and 59 females with an average age of (34.83 +/- 9.57) years ranging from 21 to 60 years. The course of disease were from 2 to 12 months. There were 17 cases of unilateral and 74 of bilateral; 48 cases caused by steroid, 35 cases by alcohol and 8 cases for unknown reasons. The images of X-ray, CT and MRI of femoral head were analyzed to summarize the characteristic and to distinguish with the imaging of similar osteonecrosis.Ninety-one cases had linear low signal on T1WI in weight-bearing area of femoral head and high signal of the "dual taxation" on T2WI. But the shapes had different characteristics. There were 36 cases (39.56%) of line type shapes, 28 cases (30.77%) of oval shapes, 14 cases (15.38%) of map-like shapes, 13 cases (14.29%) of wedge shapes. The X-rays of the disease similar to bone necrosis including primary hip osteoarthritis, developmental dysplasia of hip arthritis, femoral head epiphysitis (coxa plana), rheumatoid hip arthritis, hip arthritis of ankylosing spondylitis, transitional synovitis of hip joint, femoral head bone marrow edema etc, had the similar performance to femur head necrosis like cystic changes, joint space narrowing, femoral head deformation. MRI performance had their own characteristics.Mastering the image features of the early femoral head necrosis will help the early diagnosis and treatment of hip joint necrosis disease.

In order to evaluate the effect of omega-3 fish oil supplement by gavage (0.4 mL/100 g body weight) on the chronic lead-induced (0.2% lead acetate) impairments of long-term potentiation (LTP) in rat dentate gyrus (DG) in vivo, we designed the experiments which were carried out in four groups of newborn Wistar rats (the control, the lead-exposed, the control with fish oil treatment and the lead-exposed with fish oil treatment, respectively). The excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and population spike (PS) amplitude were measured in the DG of rats with above different treatments at the age of 80-90 d in response to stimulation applied to the lateral perforant path. The results showed (1) postnatal chronic lead-exposure impaired LTP measured on both EPSP slope and PS amplitude in DG area of the hippocampus; (2) in the control rats, omega-3 fish oil had no effect on LTP while in the lead-exposed rats, omega-3 fish oil had a protective effect on LTP. These results suggest that omega-3 fish oil supplement could protect rats from the lead-induced impairment of LTP. Omega-3 fish oil might be a preventive substance in reducing LTP deficits induced by lead.

To study the effects of Methylprednisolone and Dexamethasone on the avascular necrosis of femoral head in chickens.Thirty-six chickens were randomly divided into 6 groups (n = 6): control group (group A), Methylprednisolone low dose group (group B), Methylprednisolone large dose group (group C), small dose Dexamethasone and horse serum group (group D), middle dose Dexamethasone and horse serum group (group E), and Dexamethasone large dose group (group F). On the 6th and 12th weeks, blood samples were obtained to determine the level of total cholesterol triglyeride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). On the 12th week, femoral heads were taken off. Paraffin tissue sections were prepared to detect histopathologic change with hematoxylin and eosin staining.On the 6th week, compared with group A, the level of CHO increased significantly in group C and group F (P0.05), and TG increased in group B, C and group E, while HDL decreased in group B, C and group E. On the 12th week, the level of TG and CHO increased in group B, C, E and group F, and HDL decreased in group C, D and group E (P0.05). LDL was not detected in most chickens. The ratio of empty lacuna was higher in group C and group E compared with those of the control group (P0.05).Methylprednisolone is easier to induce osteonecrosis of femoral head than Dexamethasone. The condition of metabolic disorder in blood may be the basic pathomechanism of steroid-induced necrosis of femoral head.

To investigate the effects of Apo A1 and B gene polymorphism on avascular necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH) in north Chinese Han population.Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) technique was used in samples of 143 cases with documented ANFH and 92 healthy control matched by age and sex individuals selected from north Chinese Han nationality. The studied loci include promoter region (-75bp) and the intron 1 (+83 bp) of Apo A1 gene, Eco RI,Xba I of Apo B gene; polymerase chain reaction was used to study 3'-VNTR of Apo B gene.At -75 bp in promoter, the frequency of A/A genotype in ANFH group was significantly higher than that in control group (P0.01), while the frequency of G/A genotype in ANFH group was significantly lower than that in control group (P0.01). No difference was found in the frequency of genotype at +83bp in intron 1 of Apo A1 gene, Eco RI, Xba I and 3'-VNTR loci of Apo B gene.Apolipoprotein A1 gene A/A substitution at position -75 in promotor is associated with ANFH, the mutation may be one of the sensitive genes of ANFH, first reported inside and abroad. But no evident relationship was found between gene polymorphism of +75 bp loci of Apo A1 gene, Eco RI loci of Apo B gene, Xba I loci of Apo B gene or 3'-VNTR of Apo B gene and ANFH.

Objectives. To evaluate the reporting quality of published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in the Tai Chi literature following the publication of the CONSORT guidelines in 2001.Data Sources. The OVID MEDLINE and PUBMED databases.Review Methods. To survey the general characteristics of Tai Chi RCTs in the literature, we included any report if (i) it was an original report of the trial; (ii) its design was RCT; (iii) one of the treatments being tested was Tai Chi; and (iv) it was in English. In addition, we assessed the reporting quality of RCTs that were published between 2002 and 2007, using a modified CONSORT checklist of 40 items. The adequate description of Tai Chi interventions in these trials was examined against a 10-item checklist adapted from previous reviews.Results. The search yielded 31 Tai Chi RCTs published from 2002 to 2007 and only 11 for 1992–2001. Among trials published during 2002–2007, the most adequately reported criteria were related to background, participant eligibility and interpretation of the study results. Nonetheless, the most poorly reported items were associated with randomization allocation concealment, implementation of randomization and the definitions of period of recruitment and follow-up. In addition, only 23% of RCTs provided adequate details of Tai Chi intervention used in the trials.Conclusion. The findings in this review indicated that the reporting quality of Tai Chi intervention trials is sub-optimal. Substantial improvement is required to meet the CONSORT guidelines and allow assessment of the quality of evidence. We believe that not only investigators, but also journal editors, reviewers and funding agencies need to follow the CONSORT guidelines to improve the standards of research and strengthen the evidence base for Tai Chi and for complementary and alternative medicine.

The roles of the muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (mAChRs) in long-term potentiation (LTP) at many areas of the central nervous system including the hippocampus, have been extensively studied. However, not much is known about the modulation of LTP through individual subtypes of mAChR (M(1)-M(5) subtype). In this study, we investigated the involvement of each individual subtypes of mAChR in LTP induction by intrahippocampal administration of cholinergic ligands at the dentate gyrus (DG) of anesthetized rats. We found atropine, an antagonist of mAChRs, suppressed the induction of LTP. This observation confirmed that the muscarinic system is involved in LTP. We then examined the effects of M(1)AChR antagonists (pirenzepine and telenzepine), M(2/4)AChR antagonists (Methoctramine and {11-[[2-[(diethylamino)methyl]-1-piperidinyl]acetyl]-5,11-dihydro-6H-pyrido[2,3-b][1,4]benzodiazepin-6-one}(AFDX-116)), and M(3/5)AChR antagonist (4-diphenylacetoxy-N-methylpiperidine methiodide (4-DAMP)) on LTP. Our results showed that both M(1)AChR and M(2/4)AChR antagonists but not M(3/5)AChR antagonist suppressed the amplitude of LTP. We also examined the effects of these cholinergic ligands on basal synaptic transmission and found that only pirenzepine augmented the amplitude of population spike. This study suggests that individual mAChR subtypes play different modulation roles in LTP induction in the DG of rats.

Increasing evidence suggests that lead (Pb) produces impairments partly through oxidative stress. Though many researchers have investigated protective effect of some antioxidant nutrients against Pb toxicity, little information is available about the effect of antioxidants on Pb-induced impairment of synaptic plasticity. Quercetin, a strong antioxidant and radical scavenger, is the representative natural flavonoid molecule abundant in fruits and vegetables. Previous studies have found that quercetin was neuroprotective in many cases. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of quercetin on chronic Pb exposure-induced impairment of synaptic plasticity in adult rat dentate gyrus (DG) area in vivo. The input/output (I/O) functions, paired-pulse reactions (PPR), excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP), and population spike (PS) amplitude were measured in the DG area of different groups of rats in response to stimulation applied to the lateral perforant path. The results showed that the depressed I/O, PPR, and long-term potentiation (LTP) of Pb-exposed group were significantly increased by quercetin treatment. In addition, hippocampal Pb concentration was partially reduced after quercetin treatment. These findings suggest that quercetin treatment could relieve chronic Pb exposure-induced impairment of synaptic plasticity and might be a potential therapeutic intervention to cure cognitive deficits induced by Pb.

E-business' influences in creating transactional efficiencies, facilitating innovations, and making faster diffusion of codified knowledge seem to be revolutionary for employees. Unfortunately, no published survey focuses exclusively on examining employees' perception of dependability with e-business (EDEB). This paper presents such an instrument and reports on a pilot study based on a survey of 152 employees practicing in six international semiconductor manufacturing companies in the Hsin-Chu Science-based Industrial Park in Taiwan. After a deep exploration for the conceptualization and operationalization of employees' perception of dependability with e-business construct, procedures used in generating and purifying the employee dependability with e-business (i.e., EDEB) scale are described. The results suggest a 22-item instrument that measures six dimensions of employee dependability with e-business - information quality, system quality, usefulness, ease of use, reliability, and assurance. Evidence of the instrument's factor structure, reliability, and validity are examined next. Finally, this paper concludes a discussion of potential applications of this instrument for achieving more precision in e-business success.