Hybrid facial image feature extraction and recognition for non-invasive chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis.

Due to an absence of reliable biochemical markers, the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) mainly relies on the clinical symptoms, and the experience and skill of the doctors currently. To improve objectivity and reduce work intensity, a hybrid facial feature is proposed. First, several kinds of appearance features are identified in different facial regions according to clinical observations of traditional Chinese medicine experts, including vertical striped wrinkles on the forehead, puffiness of the lower eyelid, the skin colour of the cheeks, nose and lips, and the shape of the mouth corner. Afterwards, such features are extracted and systematically combined to form a hybrid feature. We divide the face into several regions based on twelve active appearance model (AAM) feature points, and ten straight lines across them. Then, Gabor wavelet filtering, CIELab color components, threshold-based segmentation and curve fitting are applied to extract features, and Gabor features are reduced by a manifold preserving projection method. Finally, an AdaBoost based score level fusion of multi-modal features is performed after classification of each feature. Despite that the subjects involved in this trial are exclusively Chinese, the method achieves an average accuracy of 89.04% on the training set and 88.32% on the testing set based on the K-fold cross-validation. In addition, the method also possesses desirable sensitivity and specificity on CFS prediction.

Effect of electroacupuncture on the expression of mTOR and eIF4E in hippocampus of rats with vascular dementia.

Clinically, electroacupuncture is proved to be an effective therapy for vascular dementia; however, their mechanisms remain uncertain. The aim of the current study was to investigate the mechanism of electroacupuncture therapy for vascular dementia. One month after a vascular dementia animal model was established by bilateral occlusion of common carotid arteries, electroacupuncture treatment was given at "Baihui" (DU20), "Dazhui" (DU14), and "Shenshu" (BL23). Morris water maze was used to assess the learning and memory ability of rats. Western blot assay was performed to detect the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) in hippocampus of rats. Morris water maze test showed that electroacupuncture improved the learning ability of vascular dementia rats. Western blot assay revealed that the expression level of mTOR and eIF4E in the electroacupuncture group and sham-operated group was higher than that in the vascular dementia group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the decreasing expression of mTOR and eIF4E plays important roles in the pathogenesis of vascular dementia. Electroacupuncture improves learning and memory ability by up-regulating expression of mTOR and eIF4E in the hippocampus of vascular dementia rats.

Electroacupuncture protected pyramidal cells in hippocampal CA1 region of vascular dementia rats by inhibiting the expression of p53 and Noxa.

AIM: Clinically electroacupuncture (EA) is proved an effective therapy for vascular dementia (VD), but their mechanisms remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine whether EA protects pyramidal cells from apoptosis in hippocampus of a VD rat model by inhibiting the expression of p53 and Noxa. METHODS: One month after a VD animal model was established by bilateral occlusion of common carotid arteries, EA treatment was given at "Baihui" (DU20), "Dazhui" (DU14), and "Shenshu" (BL23). The learning and memory ability was assessed by Morris water maze. Neuronal apoptosis in hippocampus was evaluated with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and the expression of p53 and Noxa was analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscope with immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: Expressions of p53 and Noxa in the EA group and sham-operated group were less than in the VD model group (P < 0.01), and the expression of p53 was positively correlated to expression of Noxa in hippocampus of VD rats (r = 0.918, P < 0.01). EA treatment could reduce the amount of apoptotic neurons in hippocampal CA1 area of rats with VD. The average latency in the Morris water maze test was significantly shorter, and escape strategies improved from edge and random searches to more linear swim pathway in the EA group compared with the VD model group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The increasing expressions of p53 and Noxa play important roles in the pathogenesis of VD. EA improves learning and memory ability and protects pyramidal cells from apoptosis by blocking expression of p53 and Noxa in the hippocampal CA1 region of VD rats. These results suggest a novel mechanism of EA treatment to VD.

The effects of radix curcumae extract on expressions of VEGF, COX-2 and PCNA in gastric mucosa of rats fed with MNNG.

AIM: To study the effects of an extract solution from radix curcumae on the expressions of VEGF, COX-2 and PCNA in gastric mucosa of rats during carcinogenesis induced MNNG. METHODS: Eighty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: group A, water and normal saline; group B, MNNG and normal saline; group C, MNNG and celecoxib; group D, MNNG and low-dose (1 g/ml) radix curcumae steam distillation extract solution; group E, MNNG and high-dose (2g/ml) radix curcumae wet distillation extract solution. In the end of the 40(th) week, all rats alive were sacrificed and the expressions of VEGF, COX-2 and PCNA in gastric mucosa were determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The expression levels of VEGF and COX-2 and the optical density levels of PCNA in group C, D and E were remarkably lower than that of group B (P<0.05), while the optical density levels of PCNA in group E were higher than that of group C and D (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The distilled extract of curcumae can down-regulate the expressions of VEGF, COX-2 and PCNA in the gastric mucosa of rats during carcinogenesis induced MNNG and can reduce the incidence of gastric caner, suggesting it maybe as a potential chemopreventive agent for gastric cancer.

Percutaneous biphasic electrical stimulation for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

In this paper, we study the effect of stimulation of the genioglossus with percutaneous biphasic electrical pulses on patients with the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The experiment was conducted in 22 patients clinically diagnosed with OSAS. The patients were monitored with polysomnography (PSG) in the trial. When the sleep apnea was detected, the genioglossus was stimulated with percutaneous biphasic electrical pulses that were automatically regulated by a microcontroller to achieve the optimal effect. The percutaneous biphasic electrical stimulation caused contraction of the genioglossus, forward movement of the tongue, and relieving of the glossopharyngeal airway obstruction. The SaO2, apnea time, hypoxemia time, and change of respiratory disturbance index (RDI) were compared in patients with treatment and without treatment. With percutaneous biphasic electrical stimulation of the genioglossus, the OSAS patients showed apnea time decreased (P < 0.01), RDI decreased (P < 0.01), and SaO2 increased (P < 0.01). No tissue injury or major discomfort was noticed during the trial. The stimulation of genioglossus with percutaneous biphasic electrical current pulse is an effective method for treating OSAS.

[Response of seed germination of three xeromorphic shrubs to drought stress].

The seed germination, seedling growth and water absorption characteristic of Caragana korshinskii, Hedysarum scoparium, and Artemisia sphearocephala were investigated under different osmotic potentials (PEG 6000, -0.3(-) -2.7 MPa). The results showed that under drought stress, C. korshinskii had the highest germination rate, while A. sphearocephala had the lowest one. Under -0.3(-) -0.6 MPa, the root length of 10-day-old A. sphearocephala seedling was significantly longer than that of H. scoparium and Caragana korshinskii(P < 0.05), and the length reached 7.9, 4.5 and 3.1 cm, respectively. There existed a significant positive correlation between seed germination rate and 72 h water absorption rate of the three shrub seeds(P < 0.01). The relationships among germination characteristics, root length, and survive percentage of seedlings were also discussed.

Application and development of palm print research.

The palm print contains a great deal of information which is of great research and application value. This paper provides palm print research methods, application, and the relationship between the palm print and cancer.