Different outcomes of infection of chickens and ducks with a duck-origin H9N2 influenza A virus.

As the major aquatic and terrestrial hosts for avian influenza viruses (AIVs), ducks and chickens play a critical role in the evolution and spread of the H9N2 virus. However, the outcomes of infection of ducks and chickens with the H9N2 virus are not sufficiently documented. In this study, we compared the outcomes of infection of chickens and Peking ducks with a duck-origin H9N2 virus. The results showed that this virus caused more pronounced clinical signs and histological lesions in chickens. As for the virus shedding, chickens shed more virus in the trachea and less virus in the cloaca in levels of interferon (IFN) γ were found in the trachea of ducks compared with chickens, while comparison with ducks. As for cytokines, namely IFNs and interleukins (IL), higher higher levels of IFN-ß, IFN-γ, IL-1ß, and IL-6 were observed in the ileum of chickens compared with ducks. Eventually, serum hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody titers were higher in chickens than in ducks. Taken together, ducks and chickens use different strategies in response to the H9N2 virus infection in tissues representing main replication sites of low-pathogenic AIVs. Given the different outcomes of the H9N2 virus infection in ducks and chickens, different measures should be taken in vaccination and treatment.

Effect of berberine alone or in combination with argon ion laser treatment on 9L rat glioma cell line.

The cell-killing effect and its possible mechanism of berberine used alone or in combination with argon ion laser treatment on 9L rat glioma cells were studied. The survival fraction of 9L cells after single treatment of berberine has been investigated using both colony formation and microtitration (MTT) method, the half lethal dose of berberine (LD50) has been estimated to be 60 micrograms/ml. After the addition of low energy laser treatment, the LD50 of berberine markedly decreased to 10 micrograms/ml. The inhibitory effect of berberine on biosynthesis for DNA, RNA, and protein of 9L cells was enhanced by argon ion laser. Moreover, when morphologic change was examined, the 9L cells showed lysis, encystation, and degeneration after berberine treatment; the laser treatment enhanced the cell-killing effect. The study proves the cell-killing effect of berberine combined with laser treatment on 9L rat glioma cell line, hence introducing the possibility of berberine as a photosensitive agent.

[Research on automatic diagnosis system of electrocardiogram].

The duration of QRS wave, P wave and T wave of ECG can be computerized and auto-detected with digital signal process and wave recognition technology. It can diagnose 15 kinds of abnormal ECG such as ventricular presystole automatically and print out corresponding diagnosis reports. In order to verify the system's stability and creditability, we used American MIT-BIH database to test our algorithms and got a good result.

Tembusu virus infection in Cherry Valley ducks: the effect of age at infection.

Three groups of Cherry Valley ducks at 5 day, 2 week and 5 week of age were intranasally infected with the WFCL strain of Tembusu virus (TMUV) to investigate the effect of host age on the outcome of TMUV infection. For each age group, clinical signs, gross and microscopic lesions, viral copy numbers in tissues and serum neutralizing antibody titers were recorded. Age-related differences in the resistance to TMUV infection were observed with younger ducks being more susceptible. Some ducks infected at 5 day and 2 week of age developed severe clinical signs, including severe neurological dysfunction and death. However, subclinical signs and no mortality were observed in ducks infected at 5 week of age. A decline in the severity of gross and microscopic lesions was observed as ducks mature. Systemic infections were established in the three age groups post challenge. Higher viral copy numbers in the tissues, especially in vital organs such as the brain and the heart, were developed in the ducks infected at 5 day of age than older ducks, correlating with the severity of clinical signs and lesions in the tissues. Furthermore, ducks infected at 5 week of age developed significantly higher serum neutralizing antibody titers than ducks infected at 5 day of age as determined by serum neutralization test. Therefore, age-related differences in the resistance to TMUV infection should be considered when studying the pathogenicity, pathogenesis, formulation of the vaccination and therapy strategies of TMUV infection in ducks.

[Determination of serum proteins by high performance capillary zone electrophoresis].

The separation method of serum proteins was established with an untreared 50 microns i.d. x 47 cm (40 cm to detector) capillary and detection of absorbance at 200 nm. Analysis was performed by pressure injectction 17.23 kPa.s and by applying 23 kV in the constant voltage mode. Serum samples were diluted 40-folds with assay buffer (12.5 mmol/L sodium borate, 1 mmol/L calcium lactate, 0.7 mmol/L magnesium sulfate, 1 mmol/L EDTA were mixed). A normal control serum protein was separated into 6 fractions. In pregnant serum, the alpha 0 was an additionally unknown fraction. Comparison of capillary electrophoresis with conventional cellulose acetate electrophoresis for analysis of serum proteins from normal control, pregnant women multiple myeloma and tonic rachitis patients indicates that capillary clectrophoresis is a new technique for the analysis of serum proteins because of its high efficiency, on-line data processing and automation. Capillary electrophoresis is the reliable technique for clinical diagnosis of serum protein abnormalities.