[Effect of acupuncture for dysphagia after stroke based on fiberoptic endoscopic swallowing function evaluation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture combined with regular treatment and swallowing function training on pharyngeal motor, sensory function and penetration-aspiration function in patients with dysphagia after stroke. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with dysphagia after stroke were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, 30 patients in each group. Both groups were treated with conventional treatment and swallowing function training; in addition, the observation group was treated with acupuncture at Lianquan (CV 23), Fengfu (GV 16), Yifeng (TE 17). All the treatments were given once a day, 5 days a week, for totally 4 weeks. In the two groups, the pharyngeal motor and sensory function, penetration-aspiration scores were evaluated by fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), and the Kubota water swallowing test scores were assessed before and after treatment, and the clinical effects were compared. RESULTS: After treatment, the pharyngeal motor and sensory function in the two groups were all higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were better than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the penetration-aspiration scores and Kubota water swallowing test scores in the two groups were all lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 93.3% (28/30) in the observation group, which was better than 73.3% (22/30) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with regular treatment and swallowing training could improve the pharyngeal motor and sensory function, and penetration-aspiration scores in patients with dysphagia after stroke.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Swallowing Function of Poststroke Patients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on swallowing function in poststroke patients. DESIGN: We searched for potentially eligible randomized controlled trials from electronic databases, including the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical (VIP) databases, from their inception to January 15, 2021. All statistical analyses were performed using RevMan 5.4, and the standardized mean difference with 95% confidence intervals was estimated for the swallowing function outcomes and to understand the mean effect size. RESULTS: Ten studies involving 343 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The overall analyses demonstrated a significant effect size for swallowing function. Subgroup analyses suggested that both acute and chronic stroke patients showed significant effects on swallowing function after transcranial direct current stimulation. Furthermore, compared with sham stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation anodal to the affected, unaffected, and bilateral hemispheres can produce a significant effect size for swallowing function in stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis showed that transcranial direct current stimulation is likely to be effective for the recovery of dysphagia in poststroke patients, in the acute or chronic phase, and that the effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation to unaffected hemispheres is larger.

Protective Effects of Oroxylin A on Retinal Ganglion Cells in Experimental Model of Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy.

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common cause of acute vision loss in older people, and there is no effective therapy. The effect of the systemic or local application of steroids for NAION patients remains controversial. Oroxylin A (OA) (5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone) is a bioactive flavonoid extracted from Scutellariae baicalensis Georgi. with various beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. A previous study showed that OA promotes retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival after optic nerve (ON) crush injury. The purpose of this research was to further explore the potential actions of OA in ischemic injury in an experimental anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (rAION) rat model induced by photothrombosis. Our results show that OA efficiently attenuated ischemic injury in rats by reducing optic disc edema, the apoptotic death of retinal ganglion cells, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells. Moreover, OA significantly ameliorated the pathologic changes of demyelination, modulated microglial polarization, and preserved visual function after rAION induction. OA activated nuclear factor E2 related factor (Nrf2) signaling and its downstream antioxidant enzymes NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO-1) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in the retina. We demonstrated that OA activates Nrf2 signaling, protecting retinal ganglion cells from ischemic injury, in the rAION model and could potentially be used as a therapeutic approach in ischemic optic neuropathy.

[Discussion on related problems of model species of fungus： Paecilomyces hepialid].

Paecilomyces hepiali is a new species of fungus isolated from a field collection of Ophiocordyceps sinensis from Baima snow mountain, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province by the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The specimen was identified and named as Paecilomyces hepiali by Qing-Tao Chen, the professor of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Paecilomyces hepiali) (2008), who identified a dried culture of living strain 82-2 as the holotype. Until now, the holotype (the voucher specimen) was deposited in the Herbarium of the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica (HICMM), China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing. The P. hepiali neotype designated by the paper "Neotypification of P. hepiali (Hypocreales)" published in TAXON 64 (1) by Yao Yi-Jian et al. in February 2015 is untenable.

Oroxylin A promotes retinal ganglion cell survival in a rat optic nerve crush model.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of oroxylin A on the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and the activation of microglial cells in a rat optic nerve (ON) crush model. METHODS: Oroxylin A (15mg/Kg in 0.2ml phosphate-buffered saline) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS control) was immediately administered after ON crush once by subcutaneous injection. Rats were euthanized at 2 weeks after the crush injury. The density of RGC was counted by retrograde labeling with FluoroGold and immunostaining of retina flat mounts for Brn3a. Electrophysiological visual function was assessed by flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP). TUNEL assay, immunoblotting analysis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the retinas, and immunohistochemistry of GFAP in the retinas and ED1 in the ON were evaluated. RESULTS: Two weeks after the insult, the oroxylin A-treated group had significantly higher FG labeled cells and Brn3a+ cells suggesting preserved RGC density in the central and mid-peripheral retinas compared with those of the PBS-treated group. FVEP measurements showed a significantly better preserved latency of the P1 wave in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated rats than the ON-crushed, PBS treated rats. TUNEL assays showed fewer TUNEL positive cells in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated rats. The number of ED1 positive cells was reduced at the lesion site of the optic nerve in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated group. Increased GFAP expression in the retina was reduced greatly in ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated group. Furthermore, administration of oroxylin A significantly attenuated ON crush insult-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression in the retinas. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that oroxylin A hasss neuroprotective effects on RGC survival with preserved visual function and a decrease in microglial infiltration in the ONs after ON crush injury.

Associates of cardiopulmonary arrest in the perihemodialytic period.

Cardiopulmonary arrest during and proximate to hemodialysis is rare but highly fatal. Studies have examined peridialytic sudden cardiac event risk factors, but no study has considered associates of cardiopulmonary arrests (fatal and nonfatal events including cardiac and respiratory causes). This study was designed to elucidate patient and procedural factors associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Data for this case-control study were taken from the hemodialysis population at Fresenius Medical Care, North America. 924 in-center cardiopulmonary events (cases) and 75,538 controls were identified. Cases and controls were 1 : 5 matched on age, sex, race, and diabetes. Predictors of cardiopulmonary arrest were considered for logistic model inclusion. Missed treatments due to hospitalization, lower body mass, coronary artery disease, heart failure, lower albumin and hemoglobin, lower dialysate potassium, higher serum calcium, greater erythropoietin stimulating agent dose, and normalized protein catabolic rate (J-shaped) were associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Of these, lower albumin, hemoglobin, and body mass index; higher erythropoietin stimulating agent dose; and greater missed sessions had the strongest associations with outcome. Patient health markers and procedural factors are associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. In addition to optimizing nutritional status, it may be prudent to limit exposure to low dialysate potassium (<2 K bath) and to use the lowest effective erythropoietin stimulating agent dose.

[Mechanism exploration on synthesis of secondary metabolites in Sorbus aucuparia cell cultures treated with yeast extract].

Suspension cultures cell of Sorbus aucuparia (SASC) was used as materials, the changes of physiological and biochemical indexes of SASC after treatment with yeast extract (YE) were detected, and the synthetic mechanism of secondary metabolites in SASC treated with YE was preliminarily explored. The results were as follows: under the assay conditions, SASC was induced to synthesize five biphenyl compounds, and these compounds content changed differently with induction time prolonging; YE treatment inhibited cell growth, the culture medium pH was gradually reduced after treatment; water-soluble protein content showed a trend of slow decline, which was significantly increased in YE treatment group (YE group) compared with the control group (CK group), the maximum relative content was 147.76% in contrast with CK group; both YE group and CK group were extracellular Ca2+ flow influx, but the YE group flow was significantly slow than CK group. The results indicate that YE induced the cells in a stress state, which was not conducive to the growth of cells and forced the cells to synthesize biphenyl compounds against external stress; water-soluble protein may serve as intracellular enzymes involved in the synthesis of compounds regulation; Ca2+ may as signal molecule mediate cell signal transduction respond to YE stress.

[Restriction endonuclease digest - melting curve analysis: a new SNP genotyping and its application in traditional Chinese medicine authentication].

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) is an important molecular marker in traditional Chinese medicine research, and it is widely used in TCM authentication. The present study created a new genotyping method by combining restriction endonuclease digesting with melting curve analysis, which is a stable, rapid and easy doing SNP genotyping method. The new method analyzed SNP genotyping of two chloroplast SNP which was located in or out of the endonuclease recognition site, the results showed that when attaching a 14 bp GC-clamp (cggcgggagggcgg) to 5' end of the primer and selecting suited endonuclease to digest the amplification products, the melting curve of Lonicera japonica and Atractylodes macrocephala were all of double peaks and the adulterants Shan-yin-hua and A. lancea were of single peaks. The results indicated that the method had good stability and reproducibility for identifying authentic medicines from its adulterants. It is a potential SNP genotyping method and named restriction endonuclease digest - melting curve analysis.

[Cloning and expression analysis of pathogenesis-related protein 1 gene of Panax notoginseng].

By reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), an open reading frame of pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR1) was isolated from Panax notoginseng and named as PnPR1. Molecular and bioinformatic analyses of PnPR1 revealed that an open reading frame of 501 bp was predicted to encode a 166-amino acid protein with a deduced molecular mass of 18.1 kD. Homology analysis showed that the deduced amino acid sequence of PR1 protein of Panax notoginseng had a high similarity with other higher plants had the same conservative structure domain of cysteine-rich secretory protein (CAP). The recombinant expressed plasmid pET28a(+)-PnPR1 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The expression conditions were optimized by induction at different times, different temperatures, different IPTG concentrations and different giving times. The optimum expression condition was 0.4 mmol.L-1 IPTG at 28 degrees C for 20 h. The successful expression of PnPR1 provides some basis for protein purification and preparation of the monoclonal antibody.

[Growth and accumulation of shikonin compounds of two kinds of cells in suspension culture of Arnebia euchroma].

Via studying the phenotype, growth curve and secondary metabolites of two kinds of suspension culture cell of Arnebia euchroma, the kinetics parameters of growth and accumulation of shikonin compounds in cell suspension culture of A. euchroma was obtained through simulating and modeling. This Study found that the red high-yielding one was a fine cell line for producing shikonin compounds, and the white low-yielding one may be a mutant. The first-order and second-order derivative of the fitting function were obtained by fitting the Logistic model of growth curve to get the growth rate and growth acceleration curve of the suspended cells. It is found that the best period to subculture was the 15th day cultured in fresh medium, and the best period of the induction process was the 13th-14th day. When compared the growth rate of the red line and the shikonin compounds accumulation curve, it is found that the rapid growth of the biomass of cells was not conducive to the synthesis and accumulation of shikonin compounds.

Real-time automatic fiducial marker tracking in low contrast cine-MV images.

PURPOSE: To develop a real-time automatic method for tracking implanted radiographic markers in low-contrast cine-MV patient images used in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). METHODS: Intrafraction motion tracking using radiotherapy beam-line MV images have gained some attention recently in IGRT because no additional imaging dose is introduced. However, MV images have much lower contrast than kV images, therefore a robust and automatic algorithm for marker detection in MV images is a prerequisite. Previous marker detection methods are all based on template matching or its derivatives. Template matching needs to match object shape that changes significantly for different implantation and projection angle. While these methods require a large number of templates to cover various situations, they are often forced to use a smaller number of templates to reduce the computation load because their methods all require exhaustive search in the region of interest. The authors solve this problem by synergetic use of modern but well-tested computer vision and artificial intelligence techniques; specifically the authors detect implanted markers utilizing discriminant analysis for initialization and use mean-shift feature space analysis for sequential tracking. This novel approach avoids exhaustive search by exploiting the temporal correlation between consecutive frames and makes it possible to perform more sophisticated detection at the beginning to improve the accuracy, followed by ultrafast sequential tracking after the initialization. The method was evaluated and validated using 1149 cine-MV images from two prostate IGRT patients and compared with manual marker detection results from six researchers. The average of the manual detection results is considered as the ground truth for comparisons. RESULTS: The average root-mean-square errors of our real-time automatic tracking method from the ground truth are 1.9 and 2.1 pixels for the two patients (0.26 mm/pixel). The standard deviations of the results from the 6 researchers are 2.3 and 2.6 pixels. The proposed framework takes about 128 ms to detect four markers in the first MV images and about 23 ms to track these markers in each of the subsequent images. CONCLUSIONS: The unified framework for tracking of multiple markers presented here can achieve marker detection accuracy similar to manual detection even in low-contrast cine-MV images. It can cope with shape deformations of fiducial markers at different gantry angles. The fast processing speed reduces the image processing portion of the system latency, therefore can improve the performance of real-time motion compensation.

[Identification of a novel PHOX2A gene mutation in a Chinese family with congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles type 2].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential mutation of PHOX2A (or ARIX) gene in a Chinese family affected with congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles tyep 2 (CFEOM2). METHODS: Genomic DNA was obtained from affected and unaffected members of the family. With an ABI PRSIM Linkage Mapping Set-MD10 kit, selected markers flanking the PHOX2A locus were used for linkage analysis. Exons of PHOX2 gene were amplified and sequenced. A total of 100 normal subjects were recruited as controls. RESULTS: Genetic linkage was found at 11q13 between D11S4151 and D11S1320 and the PHOX2A gene. DNA sequencing has identified a heterozygous mutation in the exon 2 of the gene (227T to G, N76K). The same mutation was not found in the unaffected and 100 normal controls. CONCLUSION: A mutation of the PHOX2A gene 227T to G is responsible for the onset of congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles type 2 in this Chinese family.

[Preliminary study on the MLVA genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Fujian province].

OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily understand the genotyping characteristics regarding the variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates so as to provide evidence for the development of tuberculosis control and prevention programs in Fujian province. METHODS: Fifteen VNTR locus sets were used to detect the clinical isolates from the fifth surveillance project on tuberculosis resistance, in Fujian province. BioNumerics version 4.5 were used to analyze the cluster from the results generated by genotyping. RESULTS: 313 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were divided into 9 clusters, including I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX, with the number of 220, 9, 48, 2, 1, 3, 10, 10, 10 isolates, respectively. Cluster I was the major lineage, accounting for 70.3% (220/313) of the total. Resistance rates of cluster I isolates to isoniazid, streptomycin, ethambutol and multi-drug-resistant were not statistically different from other clusters (P > 0.05). However, resistance rate to rifampicin (RFP) was significantly higher than that of other isolates of the clusters, 33.2% (73/220) vs. 20.4% (19/93) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The strains isolated from Fujian province showed significant polymorphism on genotyping. Cluster I seemed to be the dominant, calling for the close monitoring program on cluster I strains. RESULTS: from our initial studies demonstrated the existence of significant correlation between cluster I strains and drug resistance to RFP.

[Effects of plant growth regulator mepiquat chloride on content of active compounds in Scutellaria baicalensis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of plant growth regulator mepiquat chloride (DPC) on the growing development of plant and the content of active compounds in Scutellaria baicalensis. METHOD: After spraying DPC during the seedling period, the length of taproot, fresh weight of root, diameter of taproot and the length of stem were measured. The contents of baicalin, baicalein and wogonin were determined by HPLC, respectively. Total flavonoids and scavenging DPPH were determined with ultraviolet spectrophotometry. RESULT: After spraying DPC, fresh weight of S. baicalensis root was significant increased, and root diameter was also increased. The contents of baicalin and total flavonoids were significantly increased and baicalein and wogonin were decreased remarkably. Compared with controls, scavenging activity of ethanol extracts on DPPH free radical was no significant changed after spraying DPC. CONCLUSION: Plant growth regulator DPC could regulate the growth on the ground and underground effectively, and could enhance the content of flavonoids compounds of S. baicalensis.

[Cloning and bioinformatic analysis of FatB genes in Lonicera japonica Thunb and its substitutes].

A FatB unigene was obtained from the transcriptome dataset of Lonicera japonica Thunb. Full-length FatB cDNA was cloned from buds of Lonicera japonica Thunb., Lonicera japonica Thunb. var. chinensis (Wats.) Bak., Lonicera hypoglauca Miq. and Lonicera dasystyla Rehd. using RT-PCR technology, and named as LJFatB, LHFatB, LJCFatB and LDFatB. The results of bioinformatic analysis showed that LJFatB, LJCFatB, LHFatB and LDFatB and Arabidopsis thaliana AtFatB had a closely relationship. Nucleotide sequences and protein secondary structure of LJFatB, LJCFatB, LHFatB and LDFatB are different and their proteins had conserved FatB substrate binding sites and catalytic activity sites. Transcriptive level of LJFatB, LJCFatB, LHFatB and LDFatB in bud was not significantly different. Therefore, LJFatB, LJCFatB, LHFatB and LDFatB could have the same biological function as AtFatB.

[Different pruning to yield and quality of Lonicerea Japonicae Flos].

OBJECTIVE: To find out the influence of differences pruning on Lonicerea Japonicae Flos on it's yield and quality, and provide reference for reasonable pruning. METHOD: Using different pruning treatments, the growth and yield and chlorogenic acid and galuteolin contents of Lonicerea Japonicae Flos were measured and compared. And the source and sink theory were used to interpret the rationality of the best way. RESULT: There existed significant differences in the growth and branching and yield at differences pruning methods, but not including chlorogenic acid and galuteolin contents of Lonicerea Japonicae Flos. CONCLUSION: The best pruning treatments is in shearing.

[Authentication of Lonicera japonica using bidirectional PCR amplification of specific alleles].

OBJECTIVE: To identify SNP in flos Lonicerae, and authenticate Lonicera japonica from its adulterants and the mixture by using bidirectional PCR amplification of specific alleles (Bi-PASA). METHOD: SNP of L. japonica and its adulterants was identified by using ClustulW to align trnL-trnF sequences of the Lonicera genus from GenBank database. Bi-PASA primer was designed and the PCR reaction systems including annealing temperature optimized. Optimized result was performed in 84 samples to authenticate L. japonica, its adulterants and the mixture. RESULT: When the annealing temperature was 61 degrees C, DNA from L. japonica would be amplified 468 bp whereas PCR products from all of the 9 adulterants were 324 bp. The established method also can detect 5% of intentional adulteration DNA into L. japonica. CONCLUSION: The Bi-SPASA could authenticate L. japonica from its adulterants and the mixture.

[Effect of different developmental stage on plant growth and active compounds in Scutellaria baicalensis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the developmental phase on the growth and active compounds in Scutellaria baicalensis. METHOD: Seeds of wild plants were collected from Laiwu and sowed in Fangshan (Beijing) and Laiwu (Shandong). Samples of aerial and underground parts were collected in five growth periods of sprouts, seedlings, flowering, seed drop and withered periods respectively. The length of taproot, fresh weight of root, diameter of taproot and the length of stem were determined. The content of active compounds and total flavonoids were determined by HPLC and ultraviolet spectrophotometry respectively. The transcripted level of PAL1, PAL2, PAL3, C4H, 4CL, CHS, GUS and UBGAT were analyzed with RT-PCR. RESULT: The results showed that the aerial part of S. baicalensis grew quickly before flowering stage, and the underground part grew mostly between the periods of flowering and withered. In the whole growing developmental periods, the content of total flavonoids was not changed significantly, the content of baicalin was increased gradually and the content of baicalein was decreased gradually. Expression level of PAL and 4CL was the highest in withered period, CHS was increased between flowering and seed drop and decreased in withered period. CONCLUSION: Seedlings and withered periods may be the key phase affecting the growth and active compounds in S. baicalensis.

Effect of opponent type on moral emotions and responses to video game play.

This study suggests that fighting against different types of opponents in video games (e.g., human opponents vs. monster opponents) may lead to different emotional responses and moral judgments toward game characters. Based on Bandura's moral disengagement theory, this study proposes that shooting at monster opponents makes game players feel less guilty and judge the player-controlled character as more morally justified. An experiment was conducted in which participants played shooting games with either human opponents or monster opponents. The results show that when playing against monster opponents, participants felt both less ashamed and less guilty, reported enjoying the game more, and judged their character as more justified than participants who played against human opponents.