The Influence of Life-and-Death Views on the Well-Being of Chinese Tujia Ethnic Adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how a person's view of life and death might influence various aspects of well-being. Similar studies have been conducted with adolescents in different cultures, but not with Chinese Tujia ethnic adolescents. Tujia adolescents (N = 309) completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Death Attitude Profile (DAP), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Happiness Inventory (HI). Results indicated that Chinese Tujia ethnic adolescents maintain a relatively positive life-and-death view and overall well-being. Meaning in life and death attitude both corresponded with overall well-being. A dominance analysis indicated that meaning in life can predict the well-being of a person better than a death attitude. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The covalent NLRP3-inflammasome inhibitor Oridonin relieves myocardial infarction induced myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodeling in mice.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) triggers a strong inflammatory response that is associated with myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodeling. Interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-18 are key players in this response and are controlled by NLRP3-inflammatory bodies. Oridonin is a newly reported NLRP3 inhibitor with strong anti-inflammatory activity. We hypothesized that the covalent NLRP3 inhibitor Oridonin could reduce IL-1ß and IL-18 expression and ameliorate myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction in mice, improve poor heart remodeling, and preserve heart function. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to left coronary artery ligation to induce MI and then treated with Oridonin (1, 3, or 6 mg/kg), MCC950 (10 mg/kg), CY-09 (5 mg/kg) or saline three times a week for two weeks. Four weeks after MI, cardiac function and myocardial fibrosis were assessed. In addition, myocardial expressions of inflammatory factors and fibrotic markers were analyzed by western blot, immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Oridonin treatment preserved left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening, and markedly limited the myocardial infarct size in treated mice. The myocardial fibrosis was lower in the 1 mg/kg group (15.98 ± 1.64)%, 3 mg/kg group (17.39 ± 2.45)%, and 6 mg/kg group (16.76 ± 3.06)% compared to the control group (23.38 ± 1.65)%. Moreover, similar with the results of Oridonin, MCC950 and CY-09 also preserved cardiac function and reduced myocardial fibrosis. The expression levels of NLRP3, IL-1ß and IL-18 were decreased in the Oridonin treatment group compared to non-treated group. In addition, myocardial macrophage and neutrophil influxes were attenuated in the Oridonin treated group. CONCLUSIONS: The covalent NLRP3-inflammasome inhibitor Oridonin reduces myocardial fibrosis and preserves cardiac function in a mouse MI model, which indicates potential therapeutic effect of Oridonin on acute MI patients.

[Upregulation of miR-498 suppresses Th17 cell differentiation by targeting STAT3 in rheumatoid arthritis patients].

To investigate the effect and mechanism of miR-498 on Th17 cell differentiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBCs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, peripheral blood samples were collected from RA patients and healthy controls, respectively. The proportion of CD4+IL-17+ T cells (Th17 cells) or CD4+FOXP3+ T cells (Tregs) in T cells and the Th17/Treg ratio were identified by the flow cytometer. The STAT3 and miR-498 expression were measured by Western blot and real-time PCR, respectively. ELISA was used to detect IL-17 concentrations. Luciferase assay was performed to confirm that miR-498 directly targeted the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of STAT3 in CD4+ T cells. The effect of miR-498 on Th17 cell differentiation was explored by transfection of miR-498 mimic and/or pcDNA-STAT3 into CD4+ T cells. In PMBCs of RA patients, the Th17/CD4+ T cell ratio was significantly increased, while the Tregs/CD4+ T cell ratio was obviously decreased, leading to a higher Th17/Treg ratio. The results showed a reduced miR-498 expression and an increased STAT3 protein expression in PMBCs, and an increased IL-17 concentration in serum of RA patients. In cells transfected with wild-type-STAT3-LU, miR-498 mimic significantly reduced the luciferase activity, STAT3 gene and protein expression, and miR-498 inhibitor had an opposite function. While the miR-498 mimic/inhibitor had no effect on the luciferase activity and STAT3 expression in cells transfected with mutant-STAT3-LU. CD4+ T cells transfected with miR-498 mimic had a lower Th17/CD4+ T cell ratio and IL-17 concentration, however, transfection of pcDNA-STAT3 reversed the effect of miR-498 mimic on Th17/CD4+ T cell ratio and IL-17 concentration. These results suggest that overexpression of miR-498 suppresses Th17 cell differentiation by targeting STAT3 in RA patients.

PI3K-Akt/eNOS in remote postconditioning induced by brief pulmonary ischemia.

PURPOSE: Postconditioning, a series of brief ischemia-reperfusion sequences given before an ischemic heart undergoes sustained reperfusion, has been shown to lessen ischemia/reperfusion injury. The current study establishes a rabbit model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion and studied the effects of pulmonary remote postconditioning in this model. METHODS: Serum levels of creatine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA), protein expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), Rho kinase (ROCK- 2), and protein kinase B (Akt) in myocardial cells and the apoptosis index of myocardial cells were examined. RESULTS: Pulmonary remote postconditioning decreased CK, significantly decreased MDA, and increased SOD. Postconditioning significantly increased eNOS protein expression. Administration of eNOS inhibitor, L-NAME, dramatically suppressed the postconditioning-induced eNOS protein expression and serum SOD level, but significantly increased MDA level. The two longer sessions of postconditioning increased Akt, although this increase was not accompanied by changes in levels of the Akt inhibitor, ROCK-2. Blocking eNOS activity with L-NAME had no visible effect on either Akt or ROCK-2. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a role for Akt in remote postconditioning-induced myocardial protection, but do not support an involvement of eNOS in Akt-mediated action.

Acute renal failure in hospitalized patients in China: a prospective study.

Acute renal failure (ARF) is a common complication in hospitalized patients, but little is known about the epidemiology of ARF in China. In this study, we performed a prospective examination of the cause, prognosis, and risk factors associated with ARF at a hospital in Shanghai, China. We considered all ARF patients who were admitted to our hospital from December 2003 to December 2006. Among the 320 ARF patients, 135 (42.2%) were over the age of 60. Sepsis, heart failure, and nephrotoxic drug use were the leading causes of ARF. The overall mortality rate was 31.9%, and mortality rate was significantly higher among the elderly. Logistic regression indicated that heart failure, respiratory failure, and malignant cancer were risk factors independently associated with poor prognosis. In this Shanghai hospital, there was a high incidence and mortality rate of patients hospitalized with ARF. The prognosis of patients who underwent renal replacement therapy was better than those who were treated more conservatively.

The significance of platelet activation in ankylosing spondylitis.

The objective of this study was to explore the significance of platelet activation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Thirty-five AS patients and 15 normal controls were selected from November 2005 to October 2006. The number of CD62P- and CD63-positive cells were detected by flow cytometry. At the same time, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), platelet count (PLT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined in both groups. The percentage of CD62P-positive cell in AS patients (13.60 +/- 7.64%) was significantly higher than that in control group (2.78 +/- 1.04%; P < 0.01). The percentage of CD63-positive cell in AS patients (6.92 +/- 4.16%) was significantly higher than that in control group (4.13 +/- 1.85%; P < 0.05). The levels of CRP (20.18 +/- 23.17 mg/l), PLT (259.54 +/- 102.59 x 10(9)/l) and ESR (36.86 +/- 31.23 mm/h) in AS patients were higher than those in normal controls, respectively (3.21 +/- 2.18 mg/l, P < 0.01; 197.00 +/- 55.70 x 10(9)/l, P < 0.01; 12.25 +/- 5.05 mm/h, P < 0.05). Platelet activation may be a sign of AS exacerbation.

Induced current electrical impedance tomography system: experimental results and numerical simulations.

In electrical impedance tomography (EIT), measurements of developed surface potentials due to applied currents are used for the reconstruction of the conductivity distribution. Practical implementation of EIT systems is known to be problematic due to the high sensitivity to noise of such systems, leading to a poor imaging quality. In the present study, the performance of an induced current EIT (ICEIT) system, where eddy current is applied using magnetic induction, was studied by comparing the voltage measurements to simulated data, and examining the imaging quality with respect to simulated reconstructions for several phantom configurations. A 3-coil, 32-electrode ICEIT system was built, and an iterative modified Newton-Raphson algorithm was developed for the solution of the inverse problem. The RMS norm between the simulated and the experimental voltages was found to be 0.08 +/- 0.05 mV (<3%). Two regularization methods were implemented and compared: the Marquardt regularization and the Laplacian regularization (a bounded second-derivative regularization). While the Laplacian regularization method was found to be preferred for simulated data, it resulted in distinctive spatial artifacts for measured data. The experimental reconstructed images were found to be indicative of the angular positioning of the conductivity perturbations, though the radial sensitivity was low, especially when using the Marquardt regularization method.

[Determination of deoxyribonucleic acid with pararosaniline by a resonance light-scattering method].

The method is based on the enhancement effect of the resonance light-scattering (RLS) of pararosaniline by DNA. In the pH rang of 0.5-1.5, the enhanced intensity of pararosaniline RLS at 355 nm is proportional to the concentration of DNA in the rang of 0.20-15 micrograms.mL-1. The detection limit is 36 ng.mL-1. This method is simple, rapid and has been applied satisfactorily to the determination of DNA in mixed samples.

[Determination of tyrosine based on the fluorescence quenching by molebrum (VI)].

A new selective and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of Tyrosine in beer and grape wine has been developed. This method is based on the quenching of fluorescence of Tyrosine by Molybrum(VI). The exitation and emission wavelengths were found to be 278 and 305 nm, respectively. There was a linear relationship in the range of 0.01-14.4 micrograms.mL-1 for Tyrosine. This method is simple and rapid, and has been applied to the determination of Tyrosine in beer and grape wine with satisfactory results.