ABSTRACT
Ginseng is one of the most widely used herbal medicines in the world. Wild ginseng is thought to be more effective than cultivated ginseng in chemoprevention; however, little has been reported on the differences between wild and cultivated ginseng. In the present study we used suppressive subtractive hybridization to identify wild ginseng-specific genes. One of the clones isolated in this screen was the NRT2 gene (designated pNRT2), a high-affinity nitrate transporter. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction results showed that pNRT2 expression was significantly upregulated in wild ginseng compared with cultivated ginseng. However, pNRT2 mRNA levels were similar between mountain cultivated ginseng and mountain wild ginseng. Nitrate is an important nitrogen source for plant growth, and its soil levels can vary in wild environments; thus it is conceivable that pNRT2 expression is upregulated in wild ginseng and may be an important marker of wild ginseng.
Subject(s)
Agriculture , Anion Transport Proteins/genetics , Ecosystem , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Gene Expression , Genes, Plant , Panax/genetics , Anion Transport Proteins/metabolism , Genetic Markers/physiology , Nitrate Transporters , Nitrogen/metabolism , Nucleic Acid Hybridization , Panax/metabolism , Plant Proteins/genetics , Plant Proteins/metabolism , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Up-RegulationABSTRACT
The foreshortening or dogboning of a stent that occurs due to transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion can induce a vascular injury, resulting in restenosis of the coronary artery. However, previous studies rarely considered the effects of transient non-uniform balloon expansion on analysis of the mechanical properties and behaviors of stents during stent deployment, nor did they determine design parameters to minimize the restenosis risk driven by foreshortening or dogboning. The aim of the current study was, therefore, to suggest potential design parameters capable of reducing the possibility of restenosis risk driven by foreshortening or dogboning through a comparative study of seven commercial stents using finite element (FE) analyses of a realistic transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion process. The results indicate that using stents composed of opened unit cells connected by bend-shaped link structures, in particular the MAC Plus stent, and controlling the geometrical and morphological features of the unit cell strut or the link structure at the distal ends of stent may prevent restenosis risk caused by foreshortening or dogboning. This study provides a first look at the realistic transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion by investigating the mechanical properties, behaviors, and design parameters capable of reducing the possibility of restenosis risk induced by the foreshortening or the dogboning.
Subject(s)
Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary/adverse effects , Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary/instrumentation , Blood Vessel Prosthesis/adverse effects , Computer-Aided Design , Graft Occlusion, Vascular/prevention & control , Graft Occlusion, Vascular/physiopathology , Stents/adverse effects , Animals , Computer Simulation , Equipment Failure Analysis/methods , Feasibility Studies , Graft Occlusion, Vascular/etiology , Humans , Models, Cardiovascular , Prosthesis Design/methods , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) affect millions of people without regard for age, race or sex, but little information related to FGIDs and few methods are available for diagnosing FGIDs. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate any alterations to the gastrointestinal tracts induced by FGIDs and to develop and test an ultrasonic diagnostic system capable of detecting the alteration in the gastrointestinal tract. Palpation/percussion examinations were performed on 40 participants with or without FGIDs to identify any mechanical alterations to the gastrointestinal tract induced by FGIDs. An ultrasonic diagnostic system for FGIDs was developed and clinical trials were performed on same participants used in the palpation/percussion examinations to test the system under actual clinical conditions. The results obtained from the palpation/percussion examinations showed that a gastrointestinal tract with a FGID became more rigid than a healthy tract (p < 0.05). Clinical trials also showed that gastrointestinal tracts in the patient group with FGIDs were in fact more rigid than those in the control group without FGIDs (p < 0.05). These findings indicated that our newly designed ultrasonic diagnostic system may be useful in clinics to accurately diagnose FGIDs through detecting mechanical alterations to the rigidity of the gastrointestinal tract induced by FGIDs. The current study may be valuable by identifying for the first time mechanical alterations of the gastrointestinal tract induced by FGIDs and may prove valuable as the first step in the development of a diagnostic system for FGIDs.
