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SUMMARY: Sex determination of unknown persons plays an important role in forensic science. As most bones used for sex determination are recovered in incomplete state, it is often necessary to use bones that are recovered intact e.g., the sphenoid sinus. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of sphenoid sinuses dimensions for sex determination using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images in Chinese adults. MRI images of 79 sphenoid sinuses (from 44 men and 35 women) were retrospectively selected. The height, anterior-posterior diameter, area, and perimeter were measured in the midsagittal view of the sphenoid sinuses. All data were subjected to descriptive and discriminative functional analysis with unpaired t-test and canonical discriminant. Comparison between male and female groups showed significant statistical differences regarding the height, anterior-posterior diameter, area, and perimeter of sphenoid sinuses. The predictive accuracy rate of the sphenoid sinus to identify sex was 63.6 % in males and 62.9 % in females with an overall accuracy of 63.3 %. This study proposed the importance of sexual dimorphism of sphenoid sinus dimensions, especially if other methods are not available. It suggested using MRI in forensics science thus obviating the complete dependence on the usage of conventional computed tomography (CT) and facilitating the study of forensic anatomy at the level of soft tissue.
La determinación del sexo de personas desconocidas juega un papel importante en la ciencia forense. Como la mayoría de los huesos utilizados para la determinación del sexo se recuperan en un estado incompleto, a menudo es necesario utilizar huesos recuperados intactos, por ejemplo, el seno esfenoidal. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el valor diagnóstico de las dimensiones de los senos esfenoidales para la determinación del sexo utilizando imágenes de resonancia magnética en individuos adultos chinos. Se seleccionaron retrospectivamente imágenes de resonancia magnética de 79 senos esfenoidales (de 44 hombres y 35 mujeres). La altura, el diámetro anteroposterior, el área y el perímetro de los senos esfenoidales, se midieron en vista mediana sagital. Todos los datos se sometieron a análisis funcional descriptivo y discriminativo con prueba t no pareada y discriminante canónico. La comparación entre los grupos de hombres y mujeres mostró diferencias estadísticas significativas en cuanto a la altura, el diámetro anteroposterior, el área y el perímetro de los senos esfenoidales. La tasa de precisión predictiva del seno esfenoidal para identificar el sexo fue del 63,6 % en hombres y del 62,9 % en mujeres, con una precisión general del 63,3 %. Este estudio propuso la importancia del dimorfismo sexual de las dimensiones del seno esfenoidal, especialmente si no se dispone de otros métodos. Se sugiere utilizar la resonancia magnética en la ciencia forense, obviando así la dependencia total del uso de la tomografía computarizada convencional y facilitando con esto el estudio de la anatomía forense a nivel de los tejidos blandos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Sphenoid Sinus/diagnostic imaging , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Sex Determination by Skeleton/methods , Sphenoid Sinus/anatomy & histology , Discriminant Analysis , Prospective Studies , Sex Characteristics , Forensic SciencesABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze and compare the volatile oil components of pine needle of Pinus yunnanensis from different habitats. Method:The volatile oils of pine needle of P. yunnanensis from 12 different habitats were extracted by supercritical CO2 extraction （SFE-CO2），the components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS），and relative percentage of each component was determined by peak area normalization method，and SPSS 20.0 software was used for principal component analysis. Result:The 137 compounds were isolated from the volatile oil of pine needle of P. yunnanensis from 12 different producing areas，with 1 sample identified 57 species，2 samples identified 57 species，3 samples identified 54 species，4 samples identified 48 species，5 samples to identify 58 species，6 samples identified 60 species，7 samples identified 53 species，8 samples identified 55 species，9 samples identified 56 species，10 samples to identify 58 species，11 samples identified 54 species and 12 samples to identify 50 species，composed of hydrocarbon，acid，alcohol，ester，aldehyde，ketone，phenol，ether 8 compounds，including 11 common composition including alpha pinene，beta pinene，beta caryophyllene，7C，10C，16C-hexadecatrienoic acid and palmitic acid methyl ester，palmitic acid，phthalic acid dibutyl do acid，alcohol，stearic acid，mountain，wood tar acid. Conclusion:In this study，supercritical CO2 extraction （SFE-CO2） was used to extract the volatile oil of pine needle of P. yunnanensis from different habitats. It was found that the volatile oil of pine needle of P. yunnanensis was mainly composed of hydrocarbons，acids，esters and alcohols. And the content and species of volatile oil of pine needle of P. yunnanensis from different producing areas differ greatly which lay a foundation for the further development and utilization of pine needle of P. yunnanensis resources.
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Objective: To observe the clinical effect of clustered non-invasive mechanical ventilation strategy in the treatment for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD) complicated with hypercapnia encephalopathy(HE) so as to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the scheme. Methods: According to the inclusion criteria, 164 patients with AECOPD complicated with HE were divided into the observation group(74 cases) and the control group (90 cases) as the random method. The patients of observation group were treated with clustered non-invasive ventilation(NIV), and the patients of control group were treated with invasive mechanical ventilation(IMV). The blood gas indexes of the two groups before and after 2 hours of treatment were observed, and the improved situations of the two groups were evaluated by KPS score. Besides, the hospitalization time and the mechanical ventilation time of the two groups were observed, and the incidence of adverse events and case fatality rate of 1 year in the two groups were counted and analyzed, and the reliability of the clustered NIV scheme was further evaluated. Results: Before treatment, there were no significant differences in pH, oxygenation index(PaO2/FiO2), partial pressure of carbon dioxide in artery (PaCO2) level and KPS score between the two groups(t=1.021, t=1.301, t=0.985, t=1.017, P>0.05). Although these indicators were obviously improved after these patients of two groups were treated, the differences of them between before and after treatment were no significant(t=2.017, t=1.825, t=1.163, t=1.520, P>0.05). On the other hand, the differences of time of mechanical ventilation, the hospitalization time and the times of intubation between the observation group and the control group were significant(t=7.018, t=8.523, t=7.954, P<0.05). In the observation group, there were 12 cases were failure, and 4 patients died in hospital, while the number of died in hospital were 18 cases in control group, and the difference of the number of died in hospital between the two groups was significant(x2=5.631, P<0.05). Besides, the difference of complication between the two groups was significant(x2=7.014, P<0.05). And the difference of case fatality rate of 1 year between the two groups was no significant. Conclusion: It is safe and effective for patients with AECOPD complicated with HE to implement cluster noninvasive mechanical ventilation strategy on the basis of meeting the condition of non-invasive mechanical ventilation. And it has clinical application value.
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Objective To reveal the shear stress regulation mechanism on vWF-A1A2A3-mediated rolling of platelets in flows. Methods Platelets were perfused with various flow rates over 200 μg/mL vWF A1A2A3 in parallel-plate flow chamber. The rolling events of platelets near the bottom of chamber were observed and analyzed to obtain the rolling characteristics. Results The mean rolling velocity and time, stop frequency and fractional stop time of platelets were all found to be biphasic dependent on wall shear stress, with all the threshold/inflection points occurring under the fluid stress of 0.8 Pa. Increasing shear stress below the threshold would slow and stabilize cell rolling in flows. Conclusions Wall shear stress regulates velocity of A1A2A3-mediated cell rolling by adjusting the cell stop time, suggesting that a catch-to slip-bond transition serves as a mechanical regulation mechanism for platelet rolling through A1A2A3 GPIbα interaction in flows.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To probe into the best acupoint-prescription for the simple acupoint catgut embedding therapy in treatment of bronchial asthma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-eight Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups: the simple acupoint catgut embedding at Feishu (BL 13), Danzhong (CV 17) and Shenshu (BL 23) group (group A), the simple acupoint catgut embedding at Shenshu (BL 23) group (group B), the simple acupoint catgut embedding at Feishu (BL 13) and Danzhong (CV 17) group (group C), Dexamethasone group (group D), model group (group E), and control group (group F), 8 rats in each group. The asthmatic models were established by Ovalbumin (OVA) except group F. Rats in group A, B and C were treated with catgut embedding at the corresponding acupoints from the first experimental day. In group E and D, Dexamethasone and sterile were intraperitoneal injected respectively from the 15th experimental day, once a day for 2 weeks consistantly. No interventions were added on group F. For the six groups, the symptoms of asthmatic attack were observed and the pathologic changes of lung tissue were examined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The times of sneeze and rhinocnesmus scratching nose in group E were increased significantly compared with those in group F (both P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference between group D and F (both P > 0.05). As compared with that in group E, except the times of sneeze in group C, the times mentioned above were decreased significantly in all the treatment groups (all P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between group A and D (both P > 0.05), but the times mentioned above were increased significantly in group B and C as compared with that in group A (all P < 0.01). (2) The symptoms of asthmatic attack and the pathologic changes of airway tissue were all alleviated in group A, B and C, but a better amelioration was observed in group A, with no mucus epistom in the bronchial lumen and few infiltrations of inflammatory cells around the bronchi.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The improvement of the simple acupoint catgut embedding at "Feishu" (BL 13), "Danzhong" (CV 17)and "Shenshu" (BL 23) on the airway inflammation in asthmatic rats is better than that of catgut embedding at "Feishu" (BL 13) and "Danzhong" (CV 17) or at "Shenshu" (BL 23) only.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Rats , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Methods , Asthma , Pathology , Therapeutics , Catgut , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Random Allocation , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes in cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-2, TNF-alpha) of peripheral blood and cervical mucous of infertile women with mycoplasma infection and the effect of intervention of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>According to the results of culture of mycoplasma from genital tracts, 72 patients with positive mycoplasma were randomly divided into the TCM group (38 cases) and the western medicine group (34 cases). The western medicine group was treated with 0.5 g azithromycin for 3 days and consecutively treated for six courses of treatment, each course of treatment of 4 days. The TCM group were treated with Xiaozhi decoction twice every day for 6 weeks. The IL-1beta, IL-2 and TNF-alpha levels of the peripheral blood and cervical mucous of the two groups were measured by the Ria testing before and after the treatment, and the mycoplasma culture (-) of 32 infertile women as set for control.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Before the treatment, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in levels of the two treatment groups were higher than those of the control group (P < 0.01). In the TCM group, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta levels showed significant differences compared with those before the treatment (P < 0.05) and those of the western group after the treatment (P < 0.01); and IL-2 level didn't have significant change before and after the treatment. The cytokines in peripheral blood of the two treatment groups showed notable difference compared with those of the control group (P < 0.01). In TCM group, IL-2 level had remarkable difference compared with that before the treatment (P < 0.01) and compared with the control group after the treatment (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-2, TNF-alpha) in the peripheral blood and cervical mucous increase in infertile women with the mycoplasma infection, suggesting that TCMs can effectively inhibit the levels of IL-1beta, IL-2, TNF-alpha in the peripheral blood and IL-1beta, TNF-alpha in cervical mucous. It is proved that Xiaozhi decoction can be used to treat infertile women with mycoplasma infection.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Young Adult , Cytokines , Blood , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Infertility, Female , Blood , Drug Therapy , Allergy and Immunology , Mycoplasma Infections , Blood , Drug Therapy , Allergy and ImmunologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the underlying mechanism of the simple acupoint catgut emhedding on the treatment of the asthma in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty two Wistar rats with asthma were estahlished hy ovalhumin (OVA), and randomly divided into four groups: the simple acupoint catgut emhedding group (A), Dexamethasone group (B), model group (C), control group (D), 8 cases in each group. In group A, emhed thread was carried out on the first experimental day, "Feishu (BL 13)" "Danzhong (CV 17)" "Shenshu (BL 23)" were selected. In the group B and the group C, 1.5 mg/kg Dexamethasone and 20 mg/kg sterile water were intraperitoneal injected respectively from the 15th experimental day, once a day for 2 weeks consistently. There was no treatment in the group D. For the four groups, asthmatic attack was ohserved, the cells in hronchoalveolar lavage fluid were counted and classified, the pathologic change of lung tissue was examined, the level of ICAM-1 and NF-kappaB in hronchioles was detected with immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) In the group A, the symptom of asthmatic attack was alleviated and the infiltration of inflammatory cells around the hronchi were remarkahly decreased. In the group C, the total amount of cells in hronchoalveolar lavage fluid and other inflammatory cells were ohviously higher than those of group A. On the other hand, inflammatory effusion in airway and infiltration of inflammatory cells in airway wall in the group A were lower than those of group C. (2) The expression of ICAM-1 and NP-kappaB in lung tissue of group C was higher than those of group D (P < 0.01). (3) The expression of ICAM-1 and NF-kappaB in lung tissue of group B and group A was ohviously lower than those of group C (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The simple acupoint catgut emhedding can inhahit the expression of ICAM-1 and NP-kappaB and alleviate airway inflammation in the asthmatic rats.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Male , Rats , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Asthma , Allergy and Immunology , Therapeutics , Catgut , Disease Models, Animal , Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 , Allergy and Immunology , NF-kappa B , Allergy and Immunology , Random Allocation , Rats, Wistar , Respiratory System , Allergy and ImmunologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide some possible theoretical and experimental basis for the modern biomedical mechanism of "receiving stimulation, preventing and treating diseases", by exploring the effects of pressure signal's biological transformation of rat "Zusanli" (ST 36) fascia tissue fibroblasts under mechanical stimulation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Pressure was given on rat "Zusanli" (ST 36) and its adjacent area's fascia tissue cells cultured in vitro and identified by morphology. The contents of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in culture medium were detected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The fascia tissue cells in "Zusanli" and its adjacent area are almost consisted of fibroblasts. The pressure stimulation significantly accelerated the synthesis and release of PGE2 and IL-6.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupoint and non-acupoint fibroblasts can directly receive mechanical stimulation, and then the mechanical signals were transformed as biological ones.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Rats , Acupressure , Acupuncture Points , Dinoprostone , Bodily Secretions , Fascia , Cell Biology , Fibroblasts , Bodily Secretions , Interleukin-6 , Bodily Secretions , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Signal Transduction , PhysiologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the effect of acetylcholine (ACh) on the electric activities of pain-excitation neurons (PEN) and pain-inhibitation neurons (PIN) in the hippocampal CA1 area of normal rats or morphinistic rats, and to explore the role of ACh in regulation of pain perception in CA1 area under normal condition and morphine addiction.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The trains of electric impulses applied to sciatic nerve were set as noxious stimulation. The discharges of PEN and PIN in the CA1 area were recorded extracellularly by glass microelectrode. We observed the influence of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of ACh and atropine on the noxious stimulation-evoked activities of PEN and PIN in the CA1 area.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Noxious stimulation enhanced the electric activity of PEN and depressed that of PIN in the CA1 area of both normal and addiction rats. In normal rats, ACh decrease the pain-evoked discharge frequency of PEN, while increased the frequency of PIN. These effects reached the peak value at 4 min after injection of ACh. In morphinistic rats, ACh also inhibited the PEN electric activity and potentialized the PIN electric activity, but the maximum effect appeared at 6 min after administration. The ACh-induced responses were significantly blocked by muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cholinergic neurons and muscarinic receptors in the hippocampal CA1 area are involved in the processing of nociceptive information and they may play an analgesia role in pain modulation. Morphine addiction attenuated the sensitivity of pain-related neurons to the noxious information.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Male , Rats , Acetylcholine , Metabolism , Adaptation, Physiological , Physiology , Electric Stimulation , Evoked Potentials , Physiology , Hippocampus , Cell Biology , Metabolism , Injections, Intraventricular , Morphine , Pharmacology , Morphine Dependence , Metabolism , Narcotics , Pharmacology , Neuronal Plasticity , Physiology , Neurons , Physiology , Pain , Metabolism , Pain Threshold , Physiology , Rats, Wistar , Receptors, Cholinergic , Metabolism , Sciatic Nerve , Signal Transduction , PhysiologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe therapeutic effect of acupoint embedding thread therapy on ulcerative colitis and to study the mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The rat model of ulcerative colitis was developed with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene method. The 20th day after the end of model development, they were randomly divided into a model group, a salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP) treatment group and an acupoint embedding thread therapy group. The SASP treatment group were treated with intragastrical perfusion of 4.5% SASP suspension, and the acupoint embedding thread therapy group were treated with embedding thread at "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Shangjuxu" (ST 37). Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) was detected with indirect immunofluorescence, and the pathological changes were investigated with pathological tissue section technique.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of ANCA reached to 62.5% in the rat with ulcerative colitis with significant differences among the 3 groups. After treatment, the positive rate of ANCA was decreased in the two treatment groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupoint embedding thread therapy has definite therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis and the mechanism is possibly related with the decrease of ANCA.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Rats , Acupuncture Points , Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic , Colitis, Ulcerative , TherapeuticsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To measure continuously the urine beta-FSH excretion in the patients with male hypogonadism, and to evaluate the significance of urine beta-FSH when used in the clinical practice and pathophysiological study on male hypogonadism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four health male volunteers (aged 19, 22, 27 and 33 years), four patients with the hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (aged 17, 17, 19 and 24 years) and five patients with idiopathy hypogonadism (hypergonadotropic, aged 16, 16, 17, 20 and 22 years) were asked to collect their morning-first urine samples for 30 to 32 days. One normal men collected his urine samples for 63 days. The urine beta-FSH was assayed with the method of EIA, then corrected by creatinine (Cr) concentration.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The urine beta-FSH level of normal men was (1.16 +/- 0.20) micrograms/mg Cr, with the peak variation in their curves, peak level at 2.76 micrograms/mg Cr. The levels of urine beta-FSH of 4 patients with the hypogonadotropic hypogonadism were lower significantly than those of normal men [(0.58 +/- 0.31) (0.93 +/- 0.47) (0.47 +/- 0.33) and (0.60 +/- 0.40) micrograms/mg Cr], without fluctuation in their curves. beta-FSH levels of 5 patients with idiopathy hypogonadism were higher significantly [(3.02 +/- 0.93), (4.36 +/- 1.12), (4.79 +/- 0.78), (4.64 +/- 1.42) and (3.88 +/- 1.42) micrograms/mg Cr], with irregular fluctuation, the highest peak level at 6.83 micrograms/mg Cr. The second sexual characteristics of hypogonadal patients were poor and serum testosterone levels low.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The urine beta-FSH level raised with irregular fluctuation in patients with idiopathy hypogonadism, while lowed without any fluctuation in patients with the hypogonadism. These findings suggested that the urine beta-FSH excretion was useful for the clinically classified diagnoses and pathophysiological study on male hypogonadism, and for observing the treatment reaction of androgen replacement.</p>