Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Arterial Baroreceptor Remodeling in Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes / 神经科学通报·英文版

Clinical trials and animal experimental studies have demonstrated an association of arterial baroreflex impairment with the prognosis and mortality of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. As a primary part of the arterial baroreflex arc, the pressure sensitivity of arterial baroreceptors is blunted and involved in arterial baroreflex dysfunction in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Changes in the arterial vascular walls, mechanosensitive ion channels, and voltage-gated ion channels contribute to the attenuation of arterial baroreceptor sensitivity. Some endogenous substances (such as angiotensin II and superoxide anion) can modulate these morphological and functional alterations through intracellular signaling pathways in impaired arterial baroreceptors. Arterial baroreceptors can be considered as a potential therapeutic target to improve the prognosis of patients with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Effect of exercise prescription and mobile APP for health education on the physical self-esteem, and mental health among female college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the influence of exercise prescription and mobile APP for health education on the physical self-esteem and mental health among female college students,and to provide a reference for improving the level of their mental health.@*Methods@#A stratified random cluster sampling survey was conducted in Tongren university among female freshmen and junior students. Physical Self-esteem Scale and the SCL-90 Scale were used before and after a 4-month exercise prescription and mobile APP for health education among 233 female college students.@*Results@#After intervention, the intervention group had significant higher scores in physical status (14.82±2.37), physical quality (14.36±2.42), motor skill (14.11±2.54), bodily appealing (15.33±2.86) and physical self-worth (15.58±2.72) compared with the control group (t=4.87, 4.51, 4.65, 4.67, 4.10, P<0.05). Somatization symptom (1.37±0.35), interpersonal sensitivity (1.73±0.49), depression (1.67±0.49) and anxiety (1.47±0.46) was significantly improved in the intervention group (t=2.01, 2.01, 2.12, 2.08, P<0.05). Body mass index (BMI) (22.38±2.82) kg/m2 of the intervention group was lower than the control group(23.57±3.08)kg/m2(t=4.40,P<0.05). The intervention group reported longer exercise duration (1.66±0.81) and exercise time (3.61±1.74) compared with the control group (t=-4.66，-5.28,P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#The exercise prescription and mobile APP for health education can improve physical self-esteem and mental health, reduce sedentary behavior and increase the exercise duration and exercise time among female college students.

Three-dimensional Printed Scaffolds with Gelatin and Platelets EnhancePreosteoblast Growth Behavior and the Sustained-release Effect of Growth Factors / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology holds great promise for treating diseases or injuries that affect human bones with enhanced performance over traditional techniques. Different patterns of design can lead to various mechanical properties and biocompatibility to various degrees. However, there is still a long way to go before we can fully take advantage of 3D printing technologies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This study tailored 3D printed scaffolds with gelatin and platelets to maximize bone regeneration. The scaffolds were designed with special internal porous structures that can allow bone tissue and large molecules to infiltrate better into the scaffolds. They were then treated with gelatin and platelets via thermo-crosslinking and freeze-drying, respectively. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 were measured at different time points after the scaffolds had been made. Cell proliferation and cytotoxicity were determined via cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was a massive boost in the level of VEGF and TGF-β1 released by the scaffolds with gelatin and platelets compared to that of scaffolds with only gelatin. After 21 days of culture, the CCK-8 cell counts of the control group and treated group were significantly higher than that of the blank group (P < 0.05). The cytotoxicity test also indicated the safety of the scaffolds.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Our experiments confirmed that the 3D printed scaffolds we had designed could provide a sustained-release effect for growth factors and improve the proliferation of preosteoblasts with little cytotoxicity in vitro. They may hold promise as bone graft substitute materials in the future.</p>

Establishment and assessment of rat models of glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish the rat models of glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis and evaluate the osteonecrosis by high-resolution micro-CT and histomorphology.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 30 Sprague-Dawley male adult rats (age:12 weeks; body weight:400-450 g) were randomized into two groups:one group received two doses of intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (20 μg/kg) at an interval of 24 hours, 24 hours later, the rats received three doses of intramuscular injection of methylprednisolone (40 mg/kg) at an interval of 24 hours; in the control group,the rats received same amount of normal saline. Four weeks later, 5 rats in each group were sacrificed randomly.Eight weeks later, all the remaining rats were sacrificed and the femur specimens were scanned by micro-CT. The trabeculae parameters of the femoral head were calculated. The hematoxylin and eosin staining were performed to calculated the success rate.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence of osteonecrosis was 80% in the experimental group. The micro-CT demonstrated broken and cystic degeneration. The quantitative analysis showed that the bone volume/total volume (experimental group:0.55 ± 0.13 vs.</p><p><b>CONTROL GROUP</b>0.68 ± 0.12;P<0.05), bone surface area / bone volume (experimental group:20.45 ± 5.13 vs.</p><p><b>CONTROL GROUP</b>24.00 ± 5.20;P<0.05), and trabeculae number(experimental group: 5.67 ± 0.50 vs.</p><p><b>CONTROL GROUP</b>6.24 ± 0.96; P<0.05) were significantly lower in experimental group than those in control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A rat model of glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis was successfully established by lipopolysaccharide and methylpredniso- lone. High-resolution micro-CT is useful for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the morphology and structure of trabeculae, showing good consistence with the histomorphological findings.</p>

Therapeutic effects of Fuzhenghuayu decoction in a CCl4-induced liver cirrhosis rat model and on hepatic stellate cell activation / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the influence of Fuzhenghuayu decoction on fibrotic liver tissue and activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) using a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver cirrhosis rat model system.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the following groups: normal (non-model, non-drug intervention), CCl4 liver fibrosis model, and CCl4 liver fibrosis model Fuzhenghuayu drug intervention at low dose (0.75 g/kg/d) and high dose (1.5 g/kg/d). The drug intervention was administered via oral-gastric irrigation once daily for 6 times per week over a 6-week period. Four rats from each group were sacrificed at the end of week 2, 4, and 6 for serum and liver tissue collection. Liver fibrosis was evaluated by histology, and expression of a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) was determined by immunohistochemistry. Liver function was assessed by measuring levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin (TBil). Between-group comparisons were made by completely random design and ANOVA with Bonferroni correction.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At the end of weeks 2, 4 and 6, all four groups showed significantly different levels of ALT, AST, and TBil; in addition, the model group and drug intervention groups had significantly higher levels of ALT, AST, and TBil than the control group, the drug intervention groups showed significantly lower levels of ALT, AST, and TBil than the model group (P less than 0.01 or less than 0.05), and the differences between the low dose and high dose groups reached statistical significance (P less than 0.01 or less than 0.05). At the end of weeks 2, 4 and 6, the model group and drug intervention groups had significantly higher area ratio of liver fibrosis than the normal group (F = model: 18.68, low dose: 49.95, high dose: 82.44, P less than 0.01), but the two drug intervention groups had significantly less area ratio of liver fibrosis than the model group (P less than 0.05) and the high dose group showed the most robust decrease. In addition, the model group and drug intervention groups showed higher expression of a-SMA than the normal group (F = model: 18.68, low dose: 49.95, high dose: 82.44, P less than 0.01), but two drug intervention groups had significantly less a-SMA than the model group (F = model: 46.32, low dose: 40.30, high dose: 58.42, P less than 0.05) and the high dose group showed the most robust decrease.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The Fuzhenghuayu decoction reduces the numbers of activated HSCs, thereby leading to down-regulated a-SMA expression and reduced degree of liver fibrosis; these effects may represent the mechanism by which this drug suppresses hepatic fibrosis.</p>

Clinical features and therapeutic response of aplastic anemia patients with or without cytogenetic abnormalities / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare clinical features and therapeutic response of patients with aplastic anemia with and without cytogenetic abnormalities.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical features of 133 patients with successful chromosomal analysis were retrospectively studied, and therapeutic response between patients with and without cytogenetic abnormalities was compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cytogenetic abnormalities were found in 9 patients, which included trisomy 8 (4 cases), monosomy 7 (2 cases) and Xq- (1 case), 1q- (1 case) and 7q- (1 case). No significant difference was detected between patients with or without cytogenetic abnormalities in terms of age (50 vs. 58, P=0.337), sex ratio (male 55.56% vs. 62.10%, female 44.44% vs. 37.90%, P=0.762), or episode of acute aplastic anemia (44.44% vs. 37.10%, P=0.728). Patients with cytogenetic abnormalities had a tendency towards poorer rate of therapeutic response, which was however not significantly different from those without (55.56% vs. 79.03%, P=0.116). All of the 4 patients with +8 responded to treatment, whilst none of those with -7 or 7q- did.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>No significant difference was found between aplastic anemia patients with or without cytogenetic abnormalities in terms of clinical features and therapeutic response. Patients with trisomy 8 seem to have a favorable response towards treatment.</p>

Genetic variation and evolutionary demography of Fenneropenaeus chinensis populations, as revealed by the analysis of mitochondrial control region sequences

Genetic variation and evolutionary demography of the shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis were investigated using sequence data of the complete mitochondrial control region (CR). Fragments of 993 bp of the CR were sequenced for 93 individuals from five localities over most of the species' range in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. There were 84 variable sites defining 68 haplotypes. Haplotype diversity levels were very high (0.95 ± 0.03-0.99 ± 0.02) in F. chinensis populations, whereas those of nucleotide diversity were moderate to low (0.66 ± 0.36 percent-0.84 ± 0.46 percent). Analysis of molecular variance and conventional population statistics (F ST) revealed no significant genetic structure throughout the range of F. chinensis. Mismatch distribution, estimates of population parameters and neutrality tests revealed that the significant fluctuations and shallow coalescence of mtDNA genealogies observed were coincident with estimated demographic parameters and neutrality tests, in implying important past-population size fluctuations or range expansion. Isolation with Migration (IM) coalescence results suggest that F. chinensis, distributed along the coasts of northern China and the Korean Peninsula (about 1000 km apart), diverged recently, the estimated time-split being 12,800 (7,400-18,600) years ago.

The study of cyclic fatigue and lifetime for all-ceramic crown after cementation / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study mechanical and cyclic fatigue behavior of IPS Empress2 under cyclic loading, and to establish guidelines for the use and design of all-ceramic crowns.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A 3-D finit element method model of tooth and crown were established. The strength and lifetime of all-ceramic crowns under cyclic loading in centric occlusion were investigated using computational techniques of the Abaqus and MSC Fatigue software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Most of the fatigue and fracture of all-ceramic crown occurred within the veneering material at cervical marginal of the crown. The number of loading cycles before failure occurred varied within specified limits 2,506,109-6,950,243. The lifetime of the crown decreased significantly as loading increased and decreased gradually as loading time increased as well.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The mechanical and fatigue behavior of ceramic materials and restorations need to be improved before clinical use in order to guarantee clinical long-term success of all-ceramic crown. properly in order to increase the longevity of all-ceramic crowns.</p>

Preparation and dose-effect analysis of ecdysterone cream for promoting wound healing / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prepare ecdysterone cream for promoting wound healing and conduct the dose-effect analysis to determine the optimal concentration.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The cream substrate containing 4 concentrations (0.625%, 1.25%, 2.5% and 5%) of ecdysterone was prepared. Full-thickness skin defect was induced in 9 New Zealand rabbits at 5 sites on the dorsal skin, and the wounds were treated with blank cream substrate and ecdysterone cream at the 4 concentrations, respectively. On days 4, 8 and 12 after the injury, the healing area and the healing rate for each wound were determined, and in one rabbit, the tissues around the wounds were sampled for pathological examination.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ecdysterone cream significantly promoted wound healing as shown by increased percentage of the healing area (P<0.01), and the optimal concentration was 2.5%. Pathologically, the wounds treated with 2.5% ecdysterone cream exhibited more obvious granulation tissue formation and proliferation of the epithelial cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts than those treated with the cream of the other concentrations.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The ecdysterone cream can obviously promote wound healing in rabbits at the optimal concentration of 2.5%, which may offer a clinical alternative for promoting wound healing.</p>

Influence of bicortical anchorage on the natural frequencies of dental implant / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the influences of bicortical anchorage on values of natural frequencies of dental implants utilizing the 3-dimensional finite element analysis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using the commercial code of Solidworks, 3-D models of a screw-shaped dental implant and a mandibular bone segment were generated. After the 3-D implant-bone complex was meshed by ABAQUS software, effects of bicortical anchorage on the buccolingual and axial first-order natural frequencies of the implant were computed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Bicortical anchorage increased both the buccolingual and axial natural frequencies remarkably. As the bicortical anchorage got deeper, the frequencies correspondingly got higher.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Bicortical anchorage can increase the buccolingual and axial primary stability of dental implants.</p>

The study of viscoelastic residual stresses of ceramic-metal bond / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the residual stresses of ceramic-metal bond at viscoelastic and elastic phases during cooling of porcelain-fused-to-metal in order to precisely calculate the ceramic-metal bond strength and improve the restorations.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The finite element model was set up according the crack initiation test (three-point flexure bond test) based on ISO Standard, elements of viscoelastic and themal-displacement were used to part the model. The result at viscoelastic phases was used as initiation condition of elastic phases to add up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The compressive stress was caused by metal during cooling occurred in the ceramic. The shear stress induced by loading was offset by thermal shear stress. Load tensile stress and the thermal compressive stress vertical of interface concentrated at the end of the bond interface, but the tensile was greatly higher.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The residual stress is very important to metal-ceramic restorations, and the viscoelastic behavior of porcelain greatly influences it. If the metal and ceramic are compatible,the components stresses of the residual stresses may benefit to ceramic-metal bond, and can be taken as a part of bond stresses.</p>