The impact of temporal fine structure and signal envelope on auditory motion perception.

The majority of psychoacoustic research investigating sound localization has utilized stationary sources, yet most naturally occurring sounds are in motion, either because the sound source itself moves, or the listener does. In normal hearing (NH) listeners, previous research showed the extent to which sound duration and velocity impact the ability of listeners to detect sound movement. By contrast, little is known about how listeners with hearing impairments perceive moving sounds; the only study to date comparing the performance of NH and bilateral cochlear implant (BiCI) listeners has demonstrated significantly poorer performance on motion detection tasks in BiCI listeners. Cochlear implants, auditory protheses offered to profoundly deaf individuals for access to spoken language, retain the signal envelope (ENV), while discarding temporal fine structure (TFS) of the original acoustic input. As a result, BiCI users do not have access to low-frequency TFS cues, which have previously been shown to be crucial for sound localization in NH listeners. Instead, BiCI listeners seem to rely on ENV cues for sound localization, especially level cues. Given that NH and BiCI listeners differentially utilize ENV and TFS information, the present study aimed to investigate the usefulness of these cues for auditory motion perception. We created acoustic chimaera stimuli, which allowed us to test the relative contributions of ENV and TFS to auditory motion perception. Stimuli were either moving or stationary, presented to NH listeners in free field. The task was to track the perceived sound location. We found that removing low-frequency TFS reduces sensitivity to sound motion, and fluctuating speech envelopes strongly biased the judgment of sounds to be stationary. Our findings yield a possible explanation as to why BiCI users struggle to identify sound motion, and provide a first account of cues important to the functional aspect of auditory motion perception.

Listening Effort by Native and Nonnative Listeners Due to Noise, Reverberation, and Talker Foreign Accent During English Speech Perception.

Purpose Understanding speech in complex realistic acoustic environments requires effort. In everyday listening situations, speech quality is often degraded due to adverse acoustics, such as excessive background noise level (BNL) and reverberation time (RT), or talker characteristics such as foreign accent ( Mattys, Davis, Bradlow, & Scott, 2012 ). In addition to factors affecting the quality of the input acoustic signals, listeners' individual characteristics such as language abilities can also make it more difficult and effortful to understand speech. Based on the Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening ( Pichora-Fuller et al., 2016 ), factors such as adverse acoustics, talker accent, and listener language abilities can all contribute to increasing listening effort. In this study, using both a dual-task paradigm and a self-report questionnaire, we seek to understand listening effort in a wide range of realistic classroom acoustic conditions as well as varying talker accent and listener English proficiency. Method One hundred fifteen native and nonnative adult listeners with normal hearing were tested in a dual task of speech comprehension and adaptive pursuit rotor (APR) under 15 acoustic conditions from combinations of BNLs and RTs. Listeners provided responses on the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) questionnaire immediately after completing the dual task under each acoustic condition. The NASA TLX surveyed 6 dimensions of perceived listening effort: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, effort, frustration, and perceived performance. Fifty-six listeners were tested with speech produced by native American English talkers; the other 59 listeners, with speech from native Mandarin Chinese talkers. Based on their 1st language learned during childhood, 3 groups of listeners were recruited: listeners who were native English speakers, native Mandarin Chinese speakers, and native speakers of other languages (e.g., Hindu, Korean, and Portuguese). Results Listening effort was measured objectively through the APR task performance and subjectively using the NASA TLX questionnaire. Performance on the APR task did not vary with changing acoustic conditions, but it did suggest increased listening effort for native listeners of other languages compared to the 2 other listener groups. From the NASA TLX, listeners reported feeling more frustrated and less successful in understanding Chinese-accented speech. Nonnative listeners reported more listening effort (i.e., physical demand, temporal demand, and effort) than native listeners in speech comprehension under adverse acoustics. When listeners' English proficiency was controlled, higher BNL was strongly related to a decrease in perceived performance, whereas such relationship with RT was much weaker. Nonnative listeners who shared the foreign talkers' accent reported no change in listening effort, whereas other listeners reported more difficulty in understanding the accented speech. Conclusions Adverse acoustics required more effortful listening as measured subjectively with a self-report NASA TLX. This subjective scale was more sensitive than a dual task that involved speech comprehension, which was beyond sentence recall. It was better at capturing the negative impacts on listening effort from acoustic factors (i.e., both BNL and RT), talker accent, and listener language abilities.

Sirt1 mediates improvement in cognitive defects induced by focal cerebral ischemia following hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning in rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning (HBO-PC) has been proposed as a safe and practical approach for neuroprotection in ischemic stroke. However, it is not known whether HPO-PC can improve cognitive deficits induced by cerebral ischemia, and the mechanistic basis for any beneficial effects remains unclear. We addressed this in the present study using rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) as an ischemic stroke model following HBO-PC. Cognitive function and expression of phosphorylated neurofilament heavy polypeptide (pNF-H) and doublecortin (DCX) in the hippocampus were evaluated 14 days after reperfusion and after short interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of sirtuin1 (Sirt1). HBO-PC increased pNF-H and DCX expression and mitigated cognitive deficits in MCAO rats. However, these effects were abolished by Sirt1 knockdown. Our results suggest that HBO-PC can protect the brain from injury caused by ischemia-reperfusion and that Sirt1 is a potential molecular target for therapeutic approaches designed to minimize cognitive deficits caused by cerebral ischemia.

Effects of noise, reverberation and foreign accent on native and non-native listeners' performance of English speech comprehension.

A large number of non-native English speakers may be found in American classrooms, both as listeners and talkers. Little is known about how this population comprehends speech in realistic adverse acoustical conditions. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of background noise level (BNL), reverberation time (RT), and talker foreign accent on native and non-native listeners' speech comprehension, while controlling for English language abilities. A total of 115 adult listeners completed comprehension tasks under 15 acoustic conditions: three BNLs (RC-30, RC-40, and RC-50) and five RTs (from 0.4 to 1.2 s). Fifty-six listeners were tested with speech from native English-speaking talkers and 59 with native Mandarin-Chinese-speaking talkers. Results show that, while higher BNLs were generally more detrimental to listeners with lower English proficiency, all listeners experienced significant comprehension deficits above RC-40 with native English talkers. This limit was lower (i.e., above RC-30), however, with Chinese talkers. For reverberation, non-native listeners as a group performed best with RT up to 0.6 s, while native listeners performed equally well up to 1.2 s. A matched foreign accent benefit has also been identified, where the negative impact of higher reverberation does not exist for non-native listeners who share the talker's native language.

Analysis and forecast for multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Infections among liver transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) has become an important pathogenic bacterium with specific epidemic features in the intensive care unit. We explored the epidemiology of multidrug-resistant Ab infections among liver transplant recipients at the Liver Transplantation Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. METHODS: Seventeen multidrug-resistant Ab strains were isolated from the sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens of 249 liver transplant recipients from January 2007 to December 2009. The drug resistance and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the 17 Ab strains were determined. The Ab strains were genotyped with the use of repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction. The risk factors were also characterized by single-factor and multifactor analysis to the clinical data of the 249 liver transplant recipients. RESULTS: The drug sensitivity results showed that the 17 Ab strains isolated displayed 100% drug resistance rate to aminoglycosides (gentamicin), quinolones (ciprofloxacin), penicillins (piperacillin), cephalosporins (ceftazidime, cefotaxime, and cefepime), and carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem). The 17 Ab strains could be divided into 3 genotypes: 1, 1, and 15 strains for types A, C, and B, respectively. Fungal culture positivity after operation (odds ratio [OR], 5.470) and tracheal intubation twice (OR, 11.538) were the independent risk factors for multidrug-resistant Ab strain infection. CONCLUSIONS: Type B multidrug-resistant Ab strains are prevalent in the liver transplantation center, and they could be transmitted clonally. Liver transplant recipients with postoperational fungal culture positivity and tracheal intubation twice are prone to multidrug-resistant Ab infections. Therefore, a high degree of vigilance should be paid to those recipients to avoid nosocomial Ab infections.

Gastrodin ameliorates anxiety-like behaviors and inhibits IL-1beta level and p38 MAPK phosphorylation of hippocampus in the rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Gastrodin, a main constituent of a Chinese herbal medicine, has been shown to be effective in treating various mood disorders. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether gastrodin could ameliorate stress-associated behavior in a rat model of enhanced single prolonged stress (ESPS)-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following ESPS, rats were administered orally with gastrodin (50, 100, or 200 mg/kg daily) or vehicle for 2 weeks. Animals were then tested in the open field and elevated plus-maze, and the levels of IL-6 and IL-1beta, the expression of iNOS, p38 and phospho-p38 (p-p38) in hippocampus were also tested. ESPS exposure resulted in pronounced anxiety-like behavior, elevated IL-6 and IL-1beta levels, and the higher expression of iNOS and p-p38 in hippocampus. However, repeated treatment with gastrodin, particularly at higher doses, reversed the aforementioned changes, including anxiety-like behavior, levels of IL-6 and IL-1beta, and the expression of iNOS and the p38 MAPK phosphorylation. These results indicate that gastrodin possesses anxiolytic effect and may be an effective herbal preparation for the treatment of PTSD.

Prevalence of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli producing extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs) and ESBL genes in solid organ transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacilli pose a serious and rapidly emerging threat to recipients of solid organ transplants (SOTs). However, extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs), as one of the cardinal mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial agents in SOT recipients, remain obscure. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of strains producing ESBLs in SOT patients with MDR gram-negative bacilli infections and to identify the ESBL genes carried by them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isolates from various clinical specimens of SOT recipients were identified using the VITEK 2 system, and their antibiotic sensitivity was determined by the 2-fold agar dilution method. Isolates suspected of producing ESBL enzymes were tested by an ESBL phenotypic confirmatory method, and the ESBL genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 80 MDR gram-negative strains were isolated from 350 SOT recipients. Among these strains, 42 (52.5%) had an ESBL-positive phenotype; 33 (42.3%) patients with ESBL-positive infection were found. Molecular analysis showed that most of the isolates harbored blaCTX-M-9 (78.6%), blaTEM (81.0%), and blaSHV (69.0%) genes. All the ESBL-producing strains were susceptible to carbapenems. CONCLUSIONS: MDR gram-negative isolates from SOT recipients are frequently ESBL producers. TEM and CTX-M9 were the predominant ESBL types.

Methionine and selenium yeast supplementation of the maternal diets affects antioxidant activity of breeding eggs.

Four hundred fifty 52-wk-old Langshan layer hens (dual-purpose type, an indigenous poultry breed of China) were randomly divided into 9 treatments with 5 replicates in each treatment. Birds were fed corn-soybean diets (0.13 mg of Se/kg) supplemented with 0, 0.30, and 0.60 mg/kg of Se from Se yeast and 3.2, 4.0, and 5.4 g of dl-Met/kg, respectively. Increasing Se yeast supplementation significantly increased Se concentration in the egg yolk (P < 0.01) and the Se concentration of the 3.2 g of Met/kg treatment was higher than those of the 4.0 and 5.4 g of Met/kg treatments. Adding 0.3 mg of Se/kg to the diet significantly increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in the egg yolk compared with 0 and 0.6 mg of Se/kg (P < 0.01) and increasing Se yeast supplementation significantly increased the GSH-Px activity in the egg albumen (P < 0.01). Increasing Met supplementation significantly decreased the GSH-Px activity in both the yolk and the albumen of the eggs (P < 0.01). Methionine supplemented at 3.2 and 4.0 g/kg significantly increased glutathione concentration in the egg yolk compared with 5.4 g of Met/kg (P < 0.01) and increasing Met supplementation increased the glutathione concentration in the egg albumen. Increasing Met supplementation significantly decreased malondialdehyde concentration in the egg yolk (P < 0.01) and Se supplemented at 0 and 0.6 mg/kg increased the malondialdehyde concentrations in the egg yolk compared with 0.3 mg of Se/kg (P < 0.01). Methionine supplemented at 4.0 and 5.4 g/kg significantly decreased carbonyl concentration compared with 3.2 g of Met/kg. The conclusion was drawn that Se yeast and Met supplementation of the maternal diets could enhance antioxidant activity of breeding eggs.

Effects of selenium and methionine supplementation of breeder hen diets on selenium concentration and oxidative stability of lipids in the thigh muscles of progeny.

The effects of dietary supplementation to female chickens with selenium (Se) and methionine (Met) on the next generation were studied. Lang-shan breeding hens (450) were obtained at 52 wk of age and randomly allotted to 9 treatments; 5 replicates of each treatment were carried out. The breeders were fed a basal corn-soybean meal diet (0.13 mg Se/kg) supplemented with 0, 0.30, or 0.60 mg/kg Se from Sel-Plex and 0.32%, 0.40%, or 0.54% Met for the 30-d adapting period and 70-d experiment period. Se and glutathione (GSH) concentrations, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, and the oxidative stability of muscular lipids of 90-d progeny were determined by testing the TBARS values. When breeders received the highest levels of Met or Se, GSH-Px activity was decreased, the Se concentration and the oxidative stability of muscular lipids were increased with the supplementation of Se or Met. When breeder hens were given a Met-deficient diet, supplementing with Se decreased the Se deposition in progeny thigh. With regard to lipid oxidation, 0.3 mg/kg maternal dietary Se supplementation decreased the oxidative stability of muscle lipid and 0.6 mg/kg Se supplementation showed no difference from the control. When breeders were fed a Se-deficient diet, the GSH-Px activity was increased significantly and the oxidative stability of progeny muscles was decreased with the supplementation of Met. It was concluded that supplementation of the maternal diet with higher Se and Met can increase Se deposition in progeny muscle and lead to more effective protection against lipid oxidation in progeny thighs.

Methionine and selenium yeast supplementation of the maternal diets affects color, water-holding capacity, and oxidative stability of their male offspring meat at the early stage.

Four hundred fifty 52-wk-old Lang-shan breeding hens (dual-purpose type, an indigenous poultry breed of China) were randomly divided into 9 treatments with 5 replicates each treatment. They were fed corn-soybean diets with 0, 0.30, and 0.60 mg of Se/kg from Se yeast and 3.2, 4.0, and 5.4 g of dl-Met/kg, respectively. After incubation, 250 chickens each treatment were randomly divided into 5 replicates and fed the same diet. At 21 d old, 10 male chicks in each treatment were slaughtered. There results were as follows. (1) The Se content significantly increased with the increase of Se yeast supplementation (P < 0.01). (2) The carbonyl content of the myofibrillar protein significantly decreased with the increase of Met supplementation (P < 0.01) and the carbonyl content of the 0 mg of Se/kg treatment was higher than the 0.3 mg of Se/kg treatment (P < 0.01). (3) Selenium supplementation at 0.30 and 0.60 mg/kg significantly decreased malondialdehyde content compared with that of 0 mg of Se/kg (P < 0.01) and 4.0 and 5.4 g of Met/kg supplementation significantly decreased malondialdehyde content compared with that of 3.2 g of Met/kg (P < 0.01). (4) Supplementation of Met at 5.4 g/kg significantly increased International Commission on Illumination a* value compared with 3.2 and 4.0 g of Met/kg (P < 0.01). Supplementation of Se at 0.6 mg/kg significantly increased a* value compared 0 and 0.3 mg of Se/kg (P < 0.01) and 0 mg of Se/kg significantly increased b* value compared with 0.30 and 0.60 mg of Se/kg (P < 0.01). (5) Selenium supplemented at 0.30 and 0.60 mg/kg decreased drip loss compared with 0 mg of Se/kg and 4.0 and 5.4 g of Met/kg decreased drip loss compared with 3.2 g of Met/kg, respectively. The conclusion was drawn that Met and Se yeast supplementation of the maternal diets could improve color, water-holding capacity, and oxidative stability of male offspring meat to an extent.

Degradation of PCDD/Fs by mechanochemical treatment of fly ash from medical waste incineration.

The potential of mechanochemical treatment (MC) to degrade PCDD/Fs contained in fly ash was tested via grounding with and without calcium oxide (CaO) under atmospheric pressure. Three types of fly ash collected from medical waste incineration were compared, originating either from rotary kiln fluidized bed multi-stage incinerator using activated carbon spray (FA1, FA2), or a simple stoker incinerator without activated carbon spray (FA3). In test I: CaO to FA1 mixed at ratio of 6-60% was milled at rotational speed of 350 rpm; in test II: FA2 and FA3 without CaO were milled at rotational speed of 400 rpm. The duration of the tests was 2h. The results from the present study indicate that (1) under two test conditions of with and without CaO, PCDD/Fs contained in real fly ash both can be degraded by mechanochemical treatment, (2) under condition of blending with CaO, the degradation efficiency of PCDD/Fs increased with increasing ratio of CaO, (3) the degradation efficiency of PCDD/Fs may increase with rotational speed increasing and (4) the destruction and dechlorination are major mechanism for PCDD/Fs degradation. These results show that mechanochemical treatment is a high potential technology for PCDD/Fs degradation in fly ash.

GABAA receptor alpha 4 subunits mediate extrasynaptic inhibition in thalamus and dentate gyrus and the action of gaboxadol.

The neurotransmitter GABA mediates the majority of rapid inhibition in the CNS. Inhibition can occur via the conventional mechanism, the transient activation of subsynaptic GABAA receptors (GABAA-Rs), or via continuous activation of high-affinity receptors by low concentrations of ambient GABA, leading to "tonic" inhibition that can control levels of excitability and network activity. The GABAA-R alpha4 subunit is expressed at high levels in the dentate gyrus and thalamus and is suspected to contribute to extrasynaptic GABAA-R-mediated tonic inhibition. Mice were engineered to lack the alpha4 subunit by targeted disruption of the Gabra4 gene. alpha4 Subunit knockout mice are viable, breed normally, and are superficially indistinguishable from WT mice. In electrophysiological recordings, these mice show a lack of tonic inhibition in dentate granule cells and thalamic relay neurons. Behaviorally, knockout mice are insensitive to the ataxic, sedative, and analgesic effects of the novel hypnotic drug, gaboxadol. These data demonstrate that tonic inhibition in dentate granule cells and thalamic relay neurons is mediated by extrasynaptic GABAA-Rs containing the alpha4 subunit and that gaboxadol achieves its effects via the activation of this GABAA-R subtype.

[Genetic effects of mineral elements of Fe, Zn, Mn and P in black pericarp rice grains].

Complete diallel crosses with seven varieties of black pericarp rice were conducted in one year to analyze the genetic effects on main mineral elements of Fe, Zn, Mn and P contents in kernels of parents and their F1S and F2S, using the full genetic model including triploid endosperm, cytoplasmic and maternal effects on quantitative traits of seeds in cereal crops. The results indicated that the contents of all the four mineral elements were controlled by seed direct genetic effects, maternal genetic effects as well as by cytoplasmic effects. The seed direct genetic effects were more important than the maternal genetic effects for Fe, Zn, Mn contents, and seed direct additive effects constituted a major part of their genetic effects, whereas seed direct additive, maternal additive and dominant effects formed the main part in the inheritance of P content. The heritabilities of seed direct effects of the 4 mineral element contents were all highly significant. The estimate values of narrow heritabilites of seed direct genetic effects were high for Fe, Zn and Mn contents, while those of seed and maternal effects were intermediate for P content. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the single plant selection and single grain selection based on the seed mineral element contents of hybrid offspring.

[Clinical observation of tiaojining recipe in combination with corticosterone in infantile primary nephrotic syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Tiaojining recipe (TJNR) combined with corticosterone (CS) in treating infantile primary nephrotic syndrome (IPNS). METHODS: Sixty inpatients with IPNS were divided into two groups, which consisted of 30 cases as the treated group treated by TJNR combined with CS and 30 cases of the control group were treated by CS alone for 8 weeks. The changes of urinary protein, serum albumin, blood cholesterol, platelet and blood pressure before and after treatment were observed. RESULTS: The total effective rate of the treated group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). The times for urinary protein disappearance of the treated group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group. TINR could prevent hypertension, lower lipidemia and platelets (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: TJNR could enhance the curative effects of CS on IPNS and reduce the side-effects of CS safely and effectively.

[Effect of Angelica sinensis injection on CD11c and CD14 expression in alveolar macrophage membrane of chronic bronchitis patients].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Angelica sinensis injection (ASI) in CD11c and CD14 expression in alveolar macrophage (AM) membrane of chronic bronchitis patients. METHODS: AM from 10 chronic bronchitis patients (remmision stage) and 10 healthy subjects was obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage. After had cultured for 24 hours with ASI or/and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), CD11c and CD14 expression and intracellular calcium ion concentration in AM were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: CD11c and CD14 expression levels of patients' AM membrane (n = 10) were (39.17 +/- 5.56)% and (35.73 +/- 8.05)% respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control [n = 10, (16.29 +/- 3.78)% and (15.26 +/- 5.96)%], P < 0.05. LPS could increase the elevation of CD11c expression of patients [(47.25 +/- 7.00)%, P < 0.05], while ASI could reduce the increment [LPS Plus ASI group (27.61 +/- 8.64)%, P < 0.05]. The basic calcium level of AM cytoplasma of patients was (189.47 +/- 23.69) nmol/L (n = 7), which was higher than that of healthy control (99.65 +/- 32.21) nmol/L (n = 6), P < 0.05. The intracellular calcium ion elevation in AM of patients could be induced by LPS, and ASI could inhibit the elevation. The calcium level in LPS group was (288.47 +/- 43.68) nmol/L, in ASI Plus LPS group, (236.68 +/- 28.60) nmol/L, P < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: ASI could reduce the CD11c expression in AM of chronic bronchitis patients by inhibiting LPS induced intracellular calcium ion elevation in AM, suggesting that ASI may inhibit non-specific inflammation of respiratory tract.

[Clinical and experimental studies in treating infantile acute respiratory tract infection with feiyan chuansou oral liquid].

OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutical mechanism of Feiyan Chuansou Oral Liquid (FCOL) in treating infantile acute respiratory trct infection. METHODS: Clinical and experimental studies with FCOL in treating infantile acute respiratory tract infection. RESULTS: The clinical result showed that the antitussive, expectorant, anti-asthmatic effect and resolution of dry and moist rale and wheezing of FCOL were significantly better in treatment group than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Animal experimental results also showed that antitussive, expectorant, anti-asthmatic effect of FCOL were significantly better than those of the control group (P < 0.05-0.001). Bacteriostatic test in vitro showed that FCOL could inhibit streptococcus pneumoniae, klebsiella pneumoniae, influenza bacilli and staphylococcus aureus. Antivirologic test showed that FCOL could inhibit completely the influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus. CONCLUSION: FCOL is an effective preparation in treating infantile acute respiratory infection.

[Isolation and identification of active constituent of Toddalia asiatica in cardiovascular system].

The ethereal extract from the crude ethanolic extract of Toddalia asiatica was chromatographed on silica gel and tested on biological activity. A crystalline was obtained and confirmed as an active constituent in cardiovascular system. The active constituent was identified as isopimpinellin on the basis of chemical method and spectral analysis.

Induction of NADPH-diaphorase activity in the forebrain in a model of intracerebral hemorrhage and its inhibition by the traditional Chinese medicine complex Nao Yi An.

Induction of NADPH-diaphorase (NDP) activity in the rat cerebral cortex was studied after autologous blood injection into the internal capsule as experimental model of intracerebral hemorrhage. The potential inhibitory effect on NDP induction by Nao Yi An (NYA), a complex derived from materials of animal and plant origin used in the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage in traditional Chinese medicine, was also investigated. In animals without therapeutic treatment 2 and 4 days after injection of autologous blood, NDP activity was highly induced in pyramidal neurons in the neocortex, piriform, and entorhinal cortices, in astrocytes and in phagocytes in the hematoma and the area surrounding it, as well as in the subcortical white matter, and in endothelial cells in both the cortex and subcortical white matter bilaterally. Oral administration of NYA failed to inhibit NDP induction in endothelial cells but demonstrated a strong inhibitory effect on NDP activity induced in pyramidal neurons and astrocytes. NDP induction in phagocytes was also inhibited by the administration of NYA. Altogether the present results suggest that intracerebral hemorrhage in the internal capsule may induce nitric oxide synthase activity in different cell populations in the cortex and that administration of NYA can selectively inhibit such induction and, thus, potentially play a neuroprotective role.

239 cases of high fever in viral upper respiratory infection (URI) treated with xiang shi qing jie (XSQJ) bag tea.

XSQJ bag tea was used to treat 239 cases of high fever caused by viral upper respiratory infection, widely spreading in summer and autumn. For comparison, a control group treated by penicillin combined with Ganmao Qingre Chongji or Banlangen Chongji was set up. The results showed the effect of XSQJ bag tea on the time of abating fever, resolving symptoms and physical signs were significantly better than that of the control group.