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The present study is intended to develop and test a cost-effective and efficient printing method for fabricating flexible metamaterial film with high electromagnetic wave absorptivity. The film can be easily applied to the surfaces with curved aspects. Firstly, numerical parametric study of the absorption characteristics of the film is performed for the range of frequency varying from 2.0 to 9.0 GHz based on commercial software package. Secondly, the flexible metamaterial films are fabricated, and experiments are conducted. The flexible metamaterial film consists of a flexible dielectric film made of polyimide (PI) and an array of split-ring resonators. The split-ring resonators of different geometric dimensions are fabricated on the PI film surface by using a silver nanoparticles ink jet printer. The performance of the flexible structure is then measured and dependence of operation frequency with higher absorptivity on the dimensions of the split-ring resonators is investigated. A comparison between the numerical and experimental data shows that the numerical predictions of the operation frequency with higher absorptivity closely agree with the experimental data.

BackgroudTo compare the performance of the new flow cytometer UF-5000 with UF-1000i (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) and Gram stain in predicting the bacterial patterns in urine samples MethodsWomen with symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infection were enrolled. Mid-stream urine sample was collected for gram staining, urine analysis and urine culture. Bacterial patterns were classified though UF1000i (none, cocci bacteria or rods/mixed growth), UF-5000 (none, cocci, rods or mixed growth) and Gram stain. Results Among the 102 samples, there were 10 gram-positive cocci, 2 gram-positive bacilli, 66 gram-negative rods, and 24 mixed growth. The sensitivity/specificity of the UF-1000i was 81.8/91.1% for gram-negative rods and 23.5/96.9% for cocci/mixed. The sensitivity/specificity of the UF-5000 was 80.0/88.2% for gram negative rods and 70.0/86.5% for gram-positive cocci.ConclusionsThe UF-5000 demonstrated the good sensitivity and specificity for Gram-negative bacilli bacteria and demonstrated an improved sensitivity for detecting Gram-positive cocci.

In the process of evaluating the oilfield development plans, there always exist uncertainties in data, weight assignment, and scheme grading. In this article, an improved evaluation method is introduced to tackle the uncertainties based on a cloud model. The indicators of a development plan are input into this model and a contribution score cloud is obtained for evaluation. The evaluation clouds of all the development plans are sorted by the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), with the weighted hamming distance. Then we can get the optimum development plan according to the order. In this model, the randomness and the fuzziness are both taken into consideration, and the feasibility and validity are verified by an example.

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of epidural versus intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) during the post-cesarean section (CS) period. The anesthesia records and pain control charts of 90 patients undergoing CS from July 2003 to April 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. Twelve patients for emergency delivery and patients who refused to undergo regional anesthesia were grouped in Group I (GI); 78 patients received epidural anesthesia and were put in Group II (GII). Fourteen per cent of our patients received intravenous PCA following general anesthesia for CS. No differences in age, weight and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) values on days 1–3 after intervention were observed between groups, but the total dose of morphine requirement to achieve adequate post-CS pain relief was significantly higher in GI than in GII.

Background: Epidural anesthesia is widely used in the obstetric setting for providing not only labor pain relief, but also surgical analgesia for cesarean section and postoperative pain relief. However, the side effect of pruritus is of great concern for its high occurrence rate. The aim of our study was to compare and analyze the effectiveness of different regimens of epidural morphine analgesia for postcesarean section patients experiencing pruritus. Methods: We had retrospectively studied from June 2003 to April 2004 144 subjects undergoing cesarean section who agreed to accept postoperative pain relief via epidural route. Visual analogue scales (VAS) were compared between subjects not experiencing pruritus (Group I) and subjects experiencing pruritus (Group II) with modified regimens. Results: Thirty six subjects (Group II) out of 144 patients (25%) suffered from pruritus. Six different regimens were prescribed by anesthesiologists in these subjects. The characteristic of most different regim...

Batch size is an important issue in a supply chain system. It affects stock, cost, and service quality. This paper presents a batch-size decision method to determine the optimal batch size for a supply chain system. The goal of this method is to minimize the total cost of a supply chain at a reasonable service level. The proposed method first applies a mathematical model to finding the possible solutions and then uses a simulation tool to model the real-world situation. Three major research variables are involved in the mathematical model: (1) materials ordering batch size, (2) production batch size, and (3) product distribution batch size. At the simulation phase, three performance indicators—operational cost, system total cost, and service level—are used to evaluate whether the tuned variables fit the best solution. A real case of a garment supply chain is presented to evaluate the performance of the method. The results show the effectiveness of our method.

Liver injury is known to often progress even after the hepatotoxicant is dissipated. The hydrolytic enzyme calpain, which is released from dying hepatocytes, destroys the surrounding cells and results in progression of injury. Therefore, control of calpain activation may be a suitable therapeutic intervention in cases of fulminant hepatic failure. This study evaluated the effects of a potent cell-permeable calpain inhibitor, MDL28170, and its mechanisms of action on thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. We found that MDL28170 significantly decreased mortality and change in serum transaminase after TAA administration. The necroinflammatory response in the liver was also suppressed. Furthermore, a significant suppression of hepatocyte apoptosis could be found by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling assay. The upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), both of which are known to mediate the propagation of inflammation, was abolished. MDL2810 also effectively blocked hepatic stellate cell activation, which is assumed to be the early step in liver fibrosis. These results demonstrated that MDL28170 attenuated TAA-induced acute liver failure by inhibiting hepatocyte apoptosis, abrogating iNOS and TNF-alpha mRNA upregulation and blocking hepatic stellate cell activation.

To explore safe, effective, simple and easy non-drug treatments for grade 1 essential hypertension.According to TCM syndrome differentiation, 126 cases of grade 1 essential hypertension were classified into 4 types: liver-fire hyperactivity syndrome, yin-deficiency and yang-hyperactivity syndrome, excessive phlegm-dampness syndrome, yin-yang deficiency syndrome, and then the patients were randomly divided into a photoelectric combined with musical treatment group (group A), an acupuncture group(group B) and a placebo group (group C). The acupoints were selected according to TCM syndrome differentiation in group A and group B, and multi-mode audio frequency pulse photoelectric therapeutic apparatus and acupuncture were used in the two groups respectively, once daily. Taichong (LR 3) and Quchi (LI 11) were selected in liver-fire hyperactivity syndrome, Taixi (KI 3) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) were selected yi yin-deficiency and yang-hyperactivity syndrome, Zusanli (ST 36) and Fenglong (ST 40) were selected in excessive phlegm-dampness syndrome, while Taixi (KI 3) and Guanyuan (CV 4) were selected yi yirryang deficiency syndrome. The group C was treated with oral administration of starch tablet (25 mg), one tablet each time,three times everyday. Ten days were considered as one course, totally three courses were required in the three groups. The blood pressure and scores of TCM syndromes before and after treatment were compared among the three groups.The blood pressure decreased significantly after treatment in group A and group B (all P0.01), and the decrease in systolic blood pressure was more significant in group A (P0.05). The total effective rate was 90.5 / (38/42) in group A, which was superior to 71. 4 (30/42, P0.05) in group B and 19.1% (18/34, P0. 01) in group C. The scores of TCM syndromes were both improved in group A and group B, but without significant difference between the two groups (P0.05).The clinical effect of multi-mode audio frequency pulse photoelectric therapeutic apparatus for treatment of grade 1 essential hypertension is reliable. Meanwhile, it has the advantages of a non-invasive and simple operation.

To study a non-drug therapy for hypertension disease by combining percutaneous laser and electric pulse stimulation to acupoint with music, and to test the efficiency of the combining treatment to grade 1 essential hypertension.A total of 174 patients with grade 1 essential hypertension were randomly assigned to 3 groups with a random number table after Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome differentiation: the photoelectric and musical treatment group (Group 1, with a self-developed multi-mode audio frequency pulse photoelectric therapeutic apparatus), acupuncture group (Group 2), and oral placebo group (Group 3), 58 cases per group. The curative effect of each group was evaluated by the changes of blood pressure and CM syndrome integral before and after treatment.Compared with Group 3, there were significant decrease of blood pressure and CM syndrome integral in Group 1 and Group 2 (P0.01). Compared with Group 2, Group 1 showed the highest decrease in systolic pressure (P0.017). The total effective rate of anti-hypertension in Group 1 (91.38%, 53/58) was significantly higher than that in Group 2 (74.13%, 43/58) and Group 3 (18.97%, 11/58, P0.05 or P0.01); and that in Group 2 was also significantly higher than that in Group 3 (P0.01). There were significant difference in the total effective rate of CM syndrome integral in both Group 1 (93.10%, 54/58) and Group 2 (84.48%, 49/58) as compared with Group 3 (17.24%, 10/58, P0.01), while there was no significant difference between Group 1 and Group 2 (P0.05).The multi-mode audio frequency pulse photoelectric therapeutic apparatus, combining music, laser and electric pulse stimulation, is clinically useful for grade 1 essential hypertension. This "three in one" therapy method is non-invasive, easy and simple to handle. It is expected to be popularized as a new alternative treatment.

To investigate the optimal technology of extraction of fufang zhenqin feining capsules and establish a method for determination its oleanolic acid.Orthogonal test was employed for selecting the optimum extraction technology by the index of the content of oleanolic acid in extraction. HPLC was performed on a C18 (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) column using methanol-0.3% triethylamine solution (80: 20) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The detection wavelength was set at 210 nm. The column temperature was 30 degrees C and the injection size was 25 microL.The optimum extraction technology was as follows: the concertration of alcohol was 70%, the ratio of solid/material was 8: 1, extracting 3 times with half an hour for each time. The linear range of oleanolic acid was 59.68 - 596.8 microg/ml (r = 0.9997), the average recovery was 99.79% (RSD = 0.5%).The considerable extraction rate of active components in the drugs is achieved by applying the selected technology, and the simple method is fit for production. The established HPLC method is simple, accurate, special and can be used for the quality control of fufang zhenqin feining capsules.

To investigate the clinical characteristics and responsible agents of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in pediatric patients.Thirty-one cases of DILI treated in our hospital's pediatric ward were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical data for each patient were extracted from the patient's medical records, and included reported causes, physical and biochemical features, natural history, blood examination results, and hepatic pathology findings.The 31 pediatric cases of DILI accounted for 1.7% of the 1831 total cases of drug-induced liver injury treated at our hospital between February 2002 to June 2011. The pediatric DILI population was composed of 20 males and 11 females, with an average age of 8.8+/-3.9 years old (range, 0.3-14.0). The liver injury patterns represented among the cases were: hepatocellular (25.8%), cholestasis (25.8%), and mixed hepatocellular-cholestatic (48.4%). Antimicrobials were the most common cause (41.9%) of DILI, followed by the herbal medicine (29.0%) and febrifuge drugs (19.4%). A single drug was implicated in nine cases (29.0%), and two or more drugs were implicated in 22 cases (71%). Most of the children had good prognosis, but those with pre-existing disease had poor prognosis. One child died of hepatic failure, making the death rate 3.23%. The average hospitalization time was 25.2 days, and the patients with hepatocellular injury had shorter hospitalization time than those with mixed injury.Drug-induced liver injury in our pediatric population was most often caused by antimicrobials, followed by herbal medicine and febrifuge drugs. Most patients presented with mixed hepatocellular-cholestatic injury. Children with pre-existing diseases or hepatic failure had poor prognosis.

A significant loss of neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) has been reported in animal models of peripheral nerve injury. Neonatal sensory neurons are more susceptible than adult neurons to axotomy- or nerve growth factor (NGF) withdrawal-induced cell death. To develop therapies for preventing irreversible sensory cell loss, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for DRG cell death and survival. Here we describe how the expression of the growth arrest- and DNA damage-inducible gene 45α (GADD45A) is correlated with neuronal survival after axotomy in vivo and after NGF withdrawal in vitro. GADD45A expression is low at birth and does not change significantly after spinal nerve ligation (SNL). In contrast, GADD45A is robustly up-regulated in the adult rat DRG 24 hr after SNL, and this up-regulation persists as long as the injured fibers are prevented from regenerating. In vitro delivery of GADD45A protects neonatal rat DRG neurons from NGF withdrawal-induced cytochrome c release and cell death. In addition, in vivo knockdown of GADD45A expression in adult injured DRG by small hairpin RNA increased cell death. Our results indicate that GADD45A protects neuronal cells from SNL-induced cell death.

Background Gene transfer into many cell types has been successfully used to develop alternative and adjunct approaches to conventional medical treatment. However, effective transfection of postmitotic neurons remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to develop a method for gene transfer into rat primary dorsal root ganglion neurons using sonoporation. Methods Dissociated cells from adult rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells were sonicated for 1-8 s at 2.5-10 W to determine the optimal ultrasound duration and power for gene transfection and cell survival. Transfection efficiency was compared between sonoporation, liposome and lentiviral vector gene transfer techniques. Results The optimum ultrasound intensity was 5 W for 2 s and yielded an efficiency of gene transfection of 31% and a survival rate of 35%. Conclusions Sonoporation can be optimized to minimize cell death and yield a high percentage of transfected neurons and that this technique can be easily applied to primary cultures of rat dorsal root ganglion neurons.

The present study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanism of intra-arterial propofol-induced vascular permeability change resulting in tissue edema. The mechanism of propofol-induced hyperpermeability was examined in a rat femoral artery injection model. Vascular permeability was determined by measuring the Evans blue content of the dorsal skin of the infused limb at 15, 30, 45 and 60 min after propofol injection. The total content of the tight junction proteins occludin, ZO-1 and claudin-5 under experimental conditions was also determined by western blotting. Intra-arterial injection with propofol resulted in a marked dose-dependent increase in vascular permeability of the rat hindpaw. Pretreatment with 10 mg/kg of N-nitro-L: -arginine methyl ester (L: -NAME) but not aminoguanidine significantly inhibited the change in vascular permeability after challenge with propofol. Pretreatment with L: -arginine and nitroprusside increased the propofol-induced permeability change. Intra-arterial injection of propofol significantly increased occludin phosphorylation after 15 min, which was consistent with the time profile of the vascular permeability change. L: -NAME partially reversed the change in occludin phosphorylation, whereas aminoguanidine had no effect compared with that in the controls. Our observations indicate that nitric oxide (NO) is an important mediator in the induction of vascular permeability induced by propofol. Occludin phosphorylation is a determining factor in the vascular permeability change induced by propofol. NO synthase (NOS) inhibitors might be useful in the treatment of accidental intra-arterial injection of propofol, in the reduction of any adverse effects.

We evaluated paravertebral transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as a means of enhancing anesthesia during hysterectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 21) and control (n = 20) groups. Anesthesia with isoflurane was performed uniformly for all patients. Paravertebral (T6 and T7) TENS (50 mA, 15 Hz, continuously) was applied in the experimental group. After 15 min of isoflurane, a lower abdominal, skin-to-adipose-tissue incision was made. Seventeen of 21 patients in the experimental group showed no arm or leg movements during the incision, compared to 8 with 20 patients in the control group (P = 0.007). TENS deserves further exploration as an adjunct technique for general anesthesia.

In this paper we demonstrated a fiber sensing system using the method of wavelength locking of two nearly identical fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) to interrogate the wavelength shift by directly measuring the intensity of the reflection from the sampling FBG. The light source of the sensing system is based on a fiber ring laser structure in which a reference FBG is used for locking the wavelength of the fiber ring laser pumped by a 980 nm laser diode to achieve lasing at 1555.85 nm. The wavelength locking method is able to an effective way of interrogating the wavelength shifting of a FBG by the intensity of the reflection from the sampling FBG, and is able to achieve real time sensing of the physical perturbations. In addition, the characteristics of the fiber sensing system for dynamic vibration and the key factors to acquire stable sensing are discussed.

We describe an approach employing intrathecal plasmid electrotransfer to deliver secretable forms beta-endorphin, which can produce profound and long lasting analgesia in neuropathic rats. A tetracycline-inducible system (Tet-On) composed of three plasmids coding, respectively, for the transgene, the tetracycline transcriptional activator rtTA, and the silencer tTS was employed. The regulation of beta-endorphin expression was first assessed in spinal neuronal culture, then we electrotranfected this plasmid into the spinal cord of mononeuropathic rats and evaluated the analgesic potential of this therapy in vivo by thermal and mechanical withdrawal latency. Intraperitoneal injections of doxycycline were made to elucidate the possible exogenous upregulation of transfected beta-endorphin gene expression in vivo. The levels of beta-endorphin were analysed by intrathecal microdialysis and RIA. We found that he expression of the transgene upon doxycycline stimulation was rapid, stable, and tightly regulated (no background expression) both in vitro and vivo. The beta-endorphin protein was secreted into CSF at a level of 45 pmol/L in dialysate, which was sufficient to inhibit neuropathic pain. In conclusion, we have shown that controllable expression of beta-endorphin can be obtained following intrathecal electrotransfer of a tetracycline-inducible, three-plasmid-based system. Beta-endorphin protein expression following intrathecal electrotransfer allweviates siatic nerve ligation-induced limb pain. Although physiological minute-to-minute beta-endorphin regulation may not be attained, this approach suffice as a sole or complementary treatment for chronic pain.

Postoperative paraplegia is a major complication, of which the pathogenesis is usually multifactorial. This report is to discuss the case of a 36-year-old male patient who, after total hip replacement (THR), right, sustained a sudden-onset postoperative paraplegia. On subsequent examination, it was discovered that the patient had multiple vertebral metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resulting in thecal sac compression at L1 and S1 levels. This instance of distal spinal metastasis from HCC, with initial presentation of a sudden onset of paraplegia immediately after THR surgery, is worth reporting because of its being a rare occurrence and traumatizing effects on the patient, family members, and the surgical team. More importantly, we bring forth this case in order to advance an opinion concerning prevention of this devastating complication. Hence, we discuss the contributory factors and the appropriate perioperative survey and management relevant to cancer patients who are to undergo a non-cancer surgery.

The activities of Na,H-ZSM—5 catalysts for o-xylene isomerization and for dimethylether conversion into hydrocarbons are shown to be proportional to their protonic exchange rate, This indicates that all the active acid centres of ZSM—5 are identical.