Genetic source tracking of an anthrax outbreak in Shaanxi province, China.

BACKGROUND: Anthrax is an acute zoonotic infectious disease caused by the bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. From 26 July to 8 August 2015, an outbreak with 20 suspected cutaneous anthrax cases was reported in Ganquan County, Shaanxi province in China. The genetic source tracking analysis of the anthrax outbreak was performed by molecular epidemiological methods in this study. METHODS: Three molecular typing methods, namely canonical single nucleotide polymorphisms (canSNP), multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), and single nucleotide repeat (SNR) analysis, were used to investigate the possible source of transmission and identify the genetic relationship among the strains isolated from human cases and diseased animals during the outbreak. RESULTS: Five strains isolated from diseased mules were clustered together with patients' isolates using canSNP typing and MLVA. The causative B. anthracis lineages in this outbreak belonged to the A.Br.001/002 canSNP subgroup and the MLVA15-31 genotype (the 31 genotype in MLVA15 scheme). Because nine isolates from another four provinces in China were clustered together with outbreak-related strains by the canSNP (A.Br.001/002 subgroup) and MLVA15 method (MLVA15-31 genotype), still another SNR analysis (CL10, CL12, CL33, and CL35) was used to source track the outbreak, and the results suggesting that these patients in the anthrax outbreak were probably infected by the same pathogen clone. CONCLUSIONS: It was deduced that the anthrax outbreak occurred in Shaanxi province, China in 2015 was a local occurrence.

[Research progress on tranexamic acid application strategy in total knee arthroplasty].

Tranexamic acid(TXA) as an antifibrinolytic drugs used to reduce the total knee arthroplasty(TKA) postoperative blood loss is a hot issue in recent years. Such as blood loss, hemoglobin, transfusion rate and other relevant indexs effected by the impact of total knee replacement have been studied and investigated by many scholars. There is no a gold standard about how to safely and effectively apply the TXA. Depending on the dose, TXA may be used by body weight or using 1.5 g or 3.0 g directly. Depending on the different route of administration, TXA may be intravenous infusion, topical application and oral medication. Depending on the using opportunity, TXA can be used preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative or combined application with different times. Without any increase in the chances of thrombosis after TKA, choosing the more scientific instructions to play the greatest utility TXA is a hot issue recently.

Analysis of association among clinical features and shorter leukocyte telomere length in mitochondrial diabetes with m.3243A>G mitochondrial DNA mutation.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial diabetes is a kind of rare diabetes caused by monogenic mutation in mitochondria. The study aimed to summarize the clinical phenotype profiles in mitochondrial diabetes with m.3243 A>G mitochondrial DNA mutation and to investigate the mechanism in this kind of diabetes by analyzing the relationship among clinical phenotypes and peripheral leukocyte DNA telomere length. METHODS: Fifteen patients with maternally inherited diabetes in five families were confirmed as carrying the m.3243 A>G mitochondrial DNA mutation. One hundred patients with type 2 diabetes and one hundred healthy control subjects were recruited to participate in the study. Sanger sequencing was used to detect the m.3243 A>G mitochondrial DNA mutation. The peak height G/A ratio in the sequence diagram was calculated. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to measure telomere length. RESULTS: The patients with mitochondrial diabetes all had definite maternally inherited history, normal BMI (19.5 ± 2.36 kg/m(2)), early onset of diabetes (35.0 ± 14.6 years) and deafness. The peak height G/A ratio correlated significantly and negatively with the age at onset of diabetes (≦ 25 years, 61.6 ± 20.17%; 25-45 years, 16.59 ± 8.64%; >45 years, 6.37 ± 0.59%; p = 0.000). Telomere length was significantly shorter among patients with mitochondrial diabetes and type 2 diabetes than in the control group (1.28 ± 0.54 vs. 1.14 ± 0.43 vs. 1.63 ± 0.61; p = 0.000). However, there was no significant difference between patients with mitochondrial diabetes and those with type 2 diabetes. There was no correlation between telomere length and the peak height G/A ratio. CONCLUSION: Deafness with definite maternal inheritance and normal BMI, associated with elevated blood lactic acid and encephalomyopathy, for the most part, suggest the diagnosis of mitochondrial diabetes . The peak height G/A ratio could reflect the spectrum of age at onset of the disease. Telomere length was shorter in patients with mitochondrial diabetes and those with type 2 diabetes, which suggests that the shorter telomere length is likely involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes but is not specific for this kind of diabetes.

Barker-coded excitation in ophthalmological ultrasound imaging.

High-frequency ultrasound is an attractive means to obtain fine-resolution images of biological tissues for ophthalmologic imaging. To solve the tradeoff between axial resolution and detection depth, existing in the conventional single-pulse excitation, this study develops a new method which uses 13-bit Barker-coded excitation and a mismatched filter for high-frequency ophthalmologic imaging. A novel imaging platform has been designed after trying out various encoding methods. The simulation and experiment result show that the mismatched filter can achieve a much higher out signal main to side lobe which is 9.7 times of the matched one. The coded excitation method has significant advantages over the single-pulse excitation system in terms of a lower MI, a higher resolution, and a deeper detection depth, which improve the quality of ophthalmic tissue imaging. Therefore, this method has great values in scientific application and medical market.

Quercetin: a potential natural drug for adjuvant treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the rheumatism mainly manifested as disabling joint disease and mainly involves hands, wrists, feet and other small joints. Recurrent arthritis attacks, synovial cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia and bone and cartilage damages eventually lead to joint dysfunction and other complications, and there is no cure. Quercetin (QU) is a kind of natural flavonoids, with lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory and other pharmacological activities, and minor toxic side effects. Thus, we assume that QU may be an adjuvant natural drug for treatment of RA. The possible mechanism is through regulation of NF-κB, to inhibit the transcription of joint synovitis factors, hinder the generation of inflammatory factors, and inhibit the inflammatory reaction; through inhibiting the activities of VEGF, bFGF, MMP-2 and other cytokines, to inhibit angiogenesis in multiple links and inhibit synovial pannus formation. QU may be an adjuvant natural drug for treatment of RA.

[Development of a transmitting and echo receiving system for high frequency ultrasonic imaging].

A transmitting and receiving system used in high frequency ultrasound imaging is introduced and has been used for image collection of 10MHz, 20MHz and 50MHz HF ultrasonic imaging equipment. Its experimental results show that this transmitting and receiving system is capable of obtaining a better quality of medical images.

[Role of intestinal lymphatic pathway in pathogenesis of intestine-derived bacteria/endotoxin translocation in rats in shock].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the changes of toxic substances in mesenteric lymph and portal vein blood of rats in hemorrhagic shock, and the influence of mesenteric lymph duct ligation on level of endotoxin (ET) in organs and bacterial contents in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and spleen in rats with hemorrhagic shock, and to evaluate the role of lymphatic pathway in pathogenesis of intestine-derived bacteria/endotoxin translocation (BET) in rats with shock. METHODS: Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the shock group and control group. A model of serious hemorrhagic shock was reproduced by blood shedding to maintain the blood pressure at 40 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa) for 90 minutes under aseptic condition, and MLN and portal vein blood were harvested. The specimens were also obtained in control group. The contents of ET, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined in them. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the sham operation group, shock group and lymphatic duct ligation group. Mesenteric lymph ducts were ligated after resuscitation. All rats were sacrificed, and lung, liver, heart and kidney were removed and homogenized for determination of the content of ET. MLN and spleen homogenates were subjected to bacterial culture. RESULTS: The contents of ET, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in lymph were significantly higher than those of plasma in shock group, and also higher than that in normal plasma and normal lymph (all P<0.01). In shock group the contents of ET in lung, liver, heart and renal homogenate 3 and 6 hours after transfusion and resuscitation were significantly higher than those of sham operation group and ligation group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Bacterial culture of MLN and spleen in shock group rats 3 and 6 hours after transfusion and resuscitation was positive, but it was not in ligation group. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that the intestinal lymphatic pathway plays an important role after compromise of gut barrier function in carrying out BET after hemorrhagic shock.

[Clinical experience of treatment of 275 mandible fractures].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the treatment effect of mandible fractures. METHODS: Clinical data of 275 mandibular fracture patients of Tongchuan people's hospital were analysed. RESULTS: (1) The systemic health of 27 non-surgery cases were influenced during the intermaxillary ligation and 3 cases of them had deformity of maxillofacial region. (2) In the surgery group, 5 of 73 cases fixed by steel wire had disorder of occlusion, 6 of 169 cases fixed by titanium mini plate accepted secondary operation of removing the plates, and 6 cases fixed by bioabsorbable mini plate had better effect. CONCLUSION: The internal rigid fixation is an appropriate and effective method for the mandible fractures.

[Correlation between point mutation frequency of MBL gene exon I and plasma MBL concentration in healthy Mongolians].

AIM: To investigate the point mutation at codon 54 of mannose binding lectin (MBL) gene, detect the plasma MBL level, and analyze the correlation between the gene mutation frequency and plasma MBL concentration. METHODS: A method for detecting MBL gene point mutation (PCR-RFLP) was established with self-designed primers according to MBL genomic sequence. The plasma MBL concentration was detected by MBL Oliger ELISA kit. RESULTS: The PCR-RFLP for detecting the point mutation at codon 54 of MBL gene was established. Frequency of point mutation at codon 54 of MBL gene in healthy Mongolians was 0.18. The plasma MBL concentration was (2.53+/-1.96)mg/L. There was negative correlation between plasma MBL concentration and MBL gene mutation frequency in Mongolians (r = -0.641). CONCLUSION: The established method of PCR-RFLP was proved to have high specificity, excellent reproducibility and high sensitivity. The relationship between frequency of mutation at codon 54 of MBL gene and the plasma MBL concentration in healthy Mongolians is negatively correlated.