[Electromyographic signals and the starting threshold voltage of orbicularis oris muscle in healthy rhesus monkeys].

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of electromyography (EMG) signals and the starting threshold voltages of the orbicularis oris muscles (OOM) in healthy rhesus monkeys under different muscle movement conditions. Methods: The EMG signals and the starting threshold voltages at different time points in 4 healthy rhesus monkeys were acquired and recorded with EMG device and evoked potentiometer. The voltage amplitude variation of EMG signals was analyzed, and the voltage amplitude range of EMG signals at the beginning of OOM contraction was established. The data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Results: The EMG of OOM in healthy monkeys in the quiet, natural and continuous mouth-closed state was linear and relatively stable, and the absolute value fluctuated between 15 and 50 µV. The EMG waveform increased rapidly during the natural lip contraction movement, and its amplitude fluctuated greatly, with the highest absolute value of the peak value reaching hundreds of microvolts. The amplitude of EMG induced by continuous mouth closure was more than thousands of microvolts. There was no significant difference in EMG amplitudes of OOM in the healthy rhesus monkey under quiet and continuous lip closure at different time points (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in threshold voltages in the state of natural lip contraction of bilateral OOM at different time points (average range: 57.17-57.47 µV) in the healthy rhesus monkeys (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in threshold voltages of OOM induced by bilateral OOM at different time points(average range: 55.38-55.99 µV) in the healthy rhesus monkeys(P>0.05). There were significant differences in the absolute values of EMG amplitudes of OOM between the three lip movement modes: (30.67±8.72) µV in quiet and natural continuous lip closure (475.12±54.72) µV in natural lip contraction, and (921.22±312.79) µV in the induced persistent lip closure, with t values of -8.48, -9.35 and -5.01 respectively, all P<0.001. Conclusions: The EMG signals of OOM show different characteristics under different muscle movement conditions, which can be used as a basis for computer to judge and recognize the movement conditions of OOM. The upper limits of the EMG threshold voltage values of OOM under different motion states are 55-60 µV.

[Effect of dynamic balance during the onset of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo on residual dizziness after successful repositioning: a multicenter prospective cohort study].

Objective: To explore the characteristics of dynamic balance during the onset of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and its prediction of residual symptoms after successful repositioning. Methods: From January 2018 to August 2019, patients diagnosed with unilateral posterior semicircular canal or horizontal semicircular canal BPPV were consecutively enrolled from five otolaryngology clinics in Shanghai. The dynamic balance function was measured by sensory organization test (SOT) before repositioning maneuver, and the residual symptoms and its duration were followed up from one week to up to three months. Results: A total of 260 patients were recruited. After excluding 17 cases, 243 cases were successfully followed up including 89 males and 154 females, with an average age of (52.9±13.0) years. There were 175 cases of posterior semicircular BPPV, 61 cases of horizontal semicircular BPPV and 7 cases of canal conversion (from horizontal to posterior semicircular). Among 243 patients, 118 cases reported residual symptoms, with an incidence of 48.6%. The results of SOT showed that 58.0%(141/243) of the patients had abnormal vestibular input and 41.6%(101/243) were categorized as "near falls". With respect to the detailed residual symptoms, 47 cases (39.8%) reported unsteadiness or floating, 35 cases (29.7%) had fogginess/heaviness feeling, 22 cases (18.6%) had transient dizzy while head moving, and 15 cases (12.7%) reported that the symptom was too subtle to describe. Compared with the group without residual symptoms, the group with residual symptoms had more abnormal vestibular input(χ²=67.25, P<0.001) and near falls(χ²=74.78, P<0.001) as identified by SOT test. Cox proportional hazards regression failed to reveal any SOT results having significantly impact on the duration of residual symptoms [abnormal vestibular input (HR= 0.93, 95%CI: 0.48, 1.80), and near falls (HR= 0.90, 95%CI: 0.56, 1.46)]. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the duration of residual symptoms among patients with different SOT manifestations [Log rank (Mantel-Cox) test, P>0.05]. Conclusions: The impaired dynamic balance during the onset of BPPV is characterized by "abnormal vestibular input". The residual symptoms are mainly characterized by unsteadiness or floating feeling. The defect of dynamic balance function is a predictor of the residual symptoms after successful repositioning, but not for the duration of such symptoms.

[Asymptomatic infection of COVID-19 and its challenge to epidemic prevention and control].

COVID-19 had caused the epidemic in Wuhan of China in December 2019. The asymptomatic infection of COVID-19 was found with the further research. This paper summarizes the discovery of the asymptomatic infection cases, analyzes their outcomes and transmission risks, and put forward the targeted suggestions for the prevention and control of asymptomatic infection of COVID-19 according to the existing problems in epidemic response.

[Study on the method of microelectrodes implantation of artificial facial nerve prosthesis in closed mouth of orbicularis oris muscle in monkeys with facial nerve paralysis].

Objective: To explore the optimal method of microelectrode implantation that can produce efficient mouth closure with microelectrode for orbicularis oris muscle (OOM) in rhesus monkeys with unilateral peripheral facial paralysis (UPFP) in order to provide basis for the research and development of artificial facial nerve prosthesis (AFNP). Methods: Right lateral peripheral facial paralysis model on four healthy rhesus monkeys (two males and two femles, aged 5-6 years, weighed 2.0-3.0 kg) were prepared. AFNP electric stimulation was used to induce closed-mouth reaction of the affected OOM with a one-way rectangular pulse, 50 Hz frequency and 0.2 ms pulse width in vitro. Around the affected lateral OOM, four stimulus electrodes implantation positions were selected at the upper lip (position A), the lower lip (position B), the connection with the corner of the mouth to the ipsilateral tragus (position C), and the horizontal line of the mouth angle (position D). According to the different implantation positions of three stimulation electrodes on the stimulation side of AFNP and the results of our previous study, six groups of microelectrode implantation methods were designed. In Group A, two microelectrodes were implanted at position A and one microelectrode was implanted at position B; in Group B, one microelectrode was implanted at position A, B and C respectively; in Group C, one microelectrode was implanted at position A and two microelectrodes were implanted at position B; in Group D, one microelectrode was implanted at position A, B and D respectively; in Group E, one microelectrode was implanted at position A, C and D respectively; in Group F, one microelectrode was implanted at position B, C and D respectively. The minimum stimulating current (threshold current) required for effective mouth closure were recorded. The threshold and peak current values were compared using one-way ANOVA and LSD-t multiple comparisons. Results: The microelectrodes of the AFNP stimulating side in Group E and F failed to induce a smooth mouth closure. The microelectrodes in A, B, C and D group induced smooth mouth closure. The threshold current value of OOM contraction on affected side in the Group A, B, C, and D were (1.35±0.05), (1.02±0.04), (1.40±0.04) and (1.10±0.02) mA, respectively (F=295.302, P<0.001), with the lowest value in Group B and there was significant difference between the current value in Group B and those in the other groups (all P<0.05). The peak current value of OOM contraction on affected side in the four groups were (3.95±0.02), (2.95±0.03), (3.99±0.05) and (3.51±0.01) mA, respectively (F=1 014.985, P<0.001). Group B showed the best lip-closure morphology observed with naked eyes. Conclusions: When three output microelectrode of the AFNP stimulated side are separately imbedded into the upper lip, the lower lip and the connection with the corner of the mouth to the ipsilateral tragus, AFNP can sufficiently induce closed-mouth reaction. These positions are suitable as priority options microelectrodes implantation positions for the microelectrodes of the AFNP stimulated side.

Upgrading of by-product from beverage industry through solid-state fermentation with Candida utilis and Bacillus subtilis.

Yellow wine lees (YWL) are the main co-products in yellow wine industry with unbalanced amino acid (AA) profiles. Solid-state fermentation was employed in this study to upgrade the YWL for ruminant animals. A 3 × 3 orthogonal design was conducted to optimize the fermentation condition for optimal crude protein (CP) yield as follows: ratio of water to total solid medium at 50 : 100 (v/w), temperature of 30°C, and ratio of Candida utilis to Bacillus subtilis at 2 : 1. The contents of CP, peptides and AA of fermented products were 14·5, 40·9 and 26·1% higher than those of the unfermented respectively. In particular, the essential AA were highly improved, especially for lysine and methionine. The fermentation increased the in vitro microbial protein synthesis with higher CP digestibility and dramatically enhanced the ability of scavenging free radicals of the YWL. It is concluded that the microbial pretreatment can greatly improve the nutritional value of YWL, making these materials more suitable as feeds for animals, including ruminants. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Yellow wine lees (YWL) are the main co-products in yellow wine industry with unbalanced amino acid (AA) profiles and are not well utilized. A strain combination of Candida utilis and Bacillus subtilis was employed to upgrade YWL. Contents of crude protein and peptides of YWL were greatly increased by microbial fermentation. Essential AAs of YWL were highly improved after the solid-state fermentation and no negative impact was observed in in vitro digestibility. Fermented YWL may be a good feed source for ruminants.

Protective effect of penehyclidine hydrochloride on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury in rat.

We aimed to observe the effect of penehyclidine hydrochloride (PHC) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury in rats and expression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin. Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided randomly (N = 10) into control group (C), LPS group (LPS), low-dose PHC group (L-PHC), and high-dose PHC group (H-PHC). All rats, except C group, received a vena caudalis injection of 5.0 mg/kg LPS; after 30 min, rats in L-PHC and H-PHC groups received a vena caudalis injection of 0.3 and 0.9 mg/kg PHC. After 24 h, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß, serum creatinine (Scr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected. Histopathological changes and expression of ZO-1 and occludin were observed in renal tissues. Versus levels of TNF-α (38.5 ± 9.0), IL-1ß (46.3 ± 12.7), Scr (37.2 ± 9.3), and BUN (6.5 ± 1.1) in control group, those in LPS group, TNF-α (159.0 ± 21.3), IL-1ß (130.8 ± 18.7), Scr (98.5 ± 18.2), and BUN (12.8 ± 1.8), increased obviously (P < 0.05), with significantly structural changes and decreases of ZO-1 and occludin. However, TNF-α (111.3 ± 11.6), IL-1ß (78.4 ± 14.3), Scr (51.3 ± 12.5), BUN (8.1 ± 1.2) in H-PHC group, and TNF-α (120.8 ± 14.3), IL-1ß (92.5 ± 19.0), Scr (56.7 ± 14.7), BUN (9.7 ± 1.6) in L-PHC group were obviously decreased (P < 0.05). PHC has protective effects on acute kidney injury in sepsis, including abatement of renal tissue inflammation and functional improvement, potentially by upregulating ZO-1 and occludin.

Protective effects of remifentanil preconditioning on cerebral injury during pump-assisted coronary artery bypass graft.

The protective effects of remifentanil preconditioning on serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) during pump-assisted coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were investigated. Forty pump-assisted CABG patients were randomly divided into a remifentanil preconditioning group (R group) and a control group (C group, N = 10; normal saline). The R group was further divided into 3 sub-groups (R1, R2, and R3; N = 10 per group) according to the remifentanil dose (0.6, 1.2, and 1.8 µg·kg(-1)·min(-1), respectively). A venous blood sample was taken at anesthesia induction (T0), before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (T1), CPB 30 min (T2), and after CPB (T3), and protein concentrations were measured. Patients were tested 24 h before and after the operation with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the difference was calculated. The MMSE score difference in the R3 group was lower than those of the other 3 groups (P < 0.05). At T2 and T3, the R3 group showed a significant decrease in S-100ß protein and MDA and an increase in SOD (P < 0.05) compared with the other groups, and S-100ß was negatively correlated with SOD activity (T2: r = -0.76, -0.80, P < 0.01; T3: r = -0.795, P < 0.01), and was positively correlated with MDA density (T2: r = 0.71, P < 0.01; T3: r = 0.71, P < 0.01). In conclusion, high-dosage remifentanil preconditioning played a protective role on brain damage, possibly through inhibition of the oxidative stress response.

Operating costs for reducing total emission loads of key pollutants in municipal wastewater treatment plants in China.

Total emission load reduction of COD, NH(4)-N, TN, and TP is the key measure in controlling water pollution and eutrophication. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) are major contributors in lowering energy consumption and reducing pollutant discharge. The flow-based operating costs have not been directly established to relate to costs of pollutant reduction based on an investigation of 11 MWWTPs in China. However, energy consumption to eliminate one kilogram of COD or NH(4)-N was observed to decrease when the total reduced pollutants is increased. Additional energy consumption required to remove nitrogen and phosphorus is allotted for mixers and internal return pumps. Major factors for operating costs include influent and effluent concentration, design capacity, and flow loading rate. Therefore, an operating cost model for the total emission load reduction of COD, NH(4)-N, TN, and TP was developed based on energy consumption and the above mentioned major factors. Using this model to calculate the operating costs for MWWTPs would facilitate more reduction of key pollutants than the flow-based method.

Genetic mapping of EST-derived microsatellites from the diploid Gossypium arboreum in allotetraploid cotton.

To increase the numbers of microsatellites available for use in constructing a genetic map, and facilitate the use of functional genomics to elucidate fiber development and breeding in cotton, we sampled microsatellite sequences from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) transcribed during fiber elongation in the A-genome species Gossypium arboreum to evaluate their frequency of occurrence, level of polymorphism and distribution in the At and Dt subgenomes of tetraploid cotton. From among ESTs derived from G. arboreum fibers at 7-10 days post anthesis (dpa), 931 ESTs were found to contain simple sequence repeats (SSRs); 544 (58.4%) EST-SSR primer pairs were developed, and 468 (86%) amplified PCR products from allotetraploid cotton (G. hirsutumcv. TM-1 and G. barbadense cv. Hai7124). However, only 99 (18.2%) of these were found to be polymorphic and segregating in our interspecific BC1 mapping population [(TM-1xHai7124)xTM-1]. In these amplified and informative EST-SSRs, hexa- and tri-nucleotide repeat motifs were the most frequent, representing 40.1 and 30%, respectively, of the total. A total of 111 loci detected with these 99 EST-SSRs were integrated into our backbone map including 511 SSR loci. The distribution of the EST-SSRs appeared to be non-random, since 72 loci were anchored to the At and 37 to the Dt subgenome of allotetraploid cotton based on linkage tests. Interestingly, out of the 10 pairs of duplicate loci amplified, seven were mapped to the corresponding homologous linkage groups and/or chromosomes. BLASTX analysis revealed that 69 of the 99 ESTs showed significant similarities to known genes. Some genes important for fiber development, such as sucrose synthase, were mapped to corresponding chromosomes. These EST-SSRs provide structural and functional genomic information that will be useful for understanding cotton fiber development.

[Genetic diversity detected by DNA markers and phenotypes in Upland cotton].

Genetic diversity of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars was evaluated by SSR, ISSR, and RAPD. The genomic DNAs of 36 domestic and exotic cultivars were amplified with 81 SSR primer pairs; 7 ISSR primers and 53 RAPD primers, which yielded 282 polymorphic bands. The range of pair similarity coefficient (Nei, M. And W. Li 1979) between cultivars is from 0.5745 to 0.9291. The result indicated that although the present cultivars have genetic variation to a certain extent, the genetic basis of them is relatively narrow, and it is essential to find some new germplasm for the development of new cultivars. As expected, the classification of the cotton cultivars using the Unweighted Pair-group Method with Arithmetic Average based on the pair similarity coefficients is mostly consistent with known pedigree information and breeding experience. The 36 cotton cultivars have been mainly classed into exotic cultivar group, Chinese Xinjiang ecological region cultivar group, early-mature domestic cutivar group and mediate-mature domestic cultivar group. Carmen and Colorado cultivars from Spain have the lowest similarity with other cultivars, while TM-1 (genetic standard line), MD5lne and PD9364 cultivars from American have higher similarity with domestic cultivars. The reason may be that the parents of the domestic cultivars were mainly introduced from America. However, clusters of domestic cultivars are not all in accordance with their ecological regions, which may result from the pedigree complexity of the cultivars. Meanwhile the genetic diversity of 36 cultivars was investigated at phenotypic level with agronomic and fiber quality traits in the field experiments in 1999 and 2000, and was measured by Euclidean distance on the genotypes. Although grouping result of cluster analysis based on the Euclidean distance is similar than that of molecular data with a significant negative correlation of -0.3350 between the pair similarity coefficients and the Euclidean distance, the subgroup classification of the two methods gives different result. The molecular markers can be effectively applied in classifying cultivars within the group. The study provides useful information for the selection of parents in the development of cotton cultivars and hybrids as well.

Design of policy mechanism to promote cleaner production in China.

In order to promote cleaner production in China, a package of policy options was presented based on the identification of the barriers encountered in the CP demonstration project and the effectiveness and feasibility of policy options for the CP implementation were analyzed. Furthermore, the policy mechanism framework was given, which composes of compulsory, economic incentive, social pressure and supportive function. Finally, the implementation strategy of the policy mechanism, in which the emphasis will be changed from compulsory policy options towards economic and social pressure policy options, was proposed.

[Investigation of different dosages of inserted Bt genes and their insect-resistance in transgenic Bt cotton].

The plants with various dosages of inserted Bt genes were developed by intercrossing among transgenic Bt lines in which Bt genes were inserted in different chromosomes, and commercial non-transgenic Bt varieties. Laboratory bioassay of insect-resistance and Bt toxin protein assays with ELISA were used to detect efficacy to bollworm in different cotton growing stages. As transgenic Bt insect-resistant cotton, temporal difference of resistance existed in plants converging on different dosages of inserted Bt genes, i.e., there was a declining level of efficacy with plant age as the mortality (%) of Helicoverpa and Bt toxin protein expressional level decreased gradually, when analyzed with leaves from the main stem. Our research also revealed that the insect-resistance of converging 4 Bt genes plants was decreased due to homozygous suppression.

Studies of the inheritance of seed qualities and the exploitation of F2 heterosis in low gossypol strains in upland cotton.

Twenty cross combinations were made with 4 recessive glandless lines (gl2gl2 gl3gl3) used as females and 5 dominant glandless lines (Gl2eGl2e Gl3Gl3) used as male parents to estimate the genetic variance components of kernel oil and protein content of seeds, oil and protein index, and kernel index using a genetic model for parents, F2 and F3. The results showed that all the analyzed traits were mainly controlled by additive effects. Oil content was controlled mainly by maternal additive effect, and other traits by direct additive effect. The average heterosis of F2 over mid-parent based on population mean was -1.99% to 1.11% for all these traits. It suggests that little inbreeding depression exists for F2 and F3 seeds. There were 75% and 60% of the F2 and the F3 combinations in which open-pollinated seeds contained gossypol levels lower than 0.4 gkg-1. This result indicated that it is possible to screen and select high yielding F2 hybrids with a gossypol content lower than the regulated criterion and without lowering seed quality.

[Clinical observation of effect on tongmai yizhi capsule in treating vascular dementia].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Tongmai Yizhi capsule (TMYZC) on learning in patients of vascular dementia (VD). METHODS: Thirty patients of VD were treated by oral administration of TMYZC, the changes in them before and after treatment were observed and compared with those in the 20 patients treated with hydergine as control. RESULTS: The total effective rate in the TMYZC treated group was 70.67% while that in the control group was 70.00%, the difference between the two groups was insignificant. CONCLUSION: Both TMYZC and hydergine have the effects of dilating blood vessels, increasing the cerebral blood flow, lowering the hyper-coagulative status and improving the free radical scavenging capability of patients.

[Molecular tagging and mapping of QTLs for super quality fiber properties in upland cotton].

A G. anomalum introgression line, 7235, characterized as super quality fiber properties, was used to identify molecular markers linked to fiber property QTLs. By use of (7235 x TM-1)F2 in Nanjing and College Station, USA, and (7235 x TM-1)F3 in Nanjing and Hainan. Bulked segregation analysis was employed to produce 3 pairs of mixed DNA pools for fiber strength, micronaire and fiber length according to individual value of (7235 x TM-1)F2 and F2:3. A total of 221 pairs of SSR primers, 1,840 arbitrary 10-mer oligonucleotide primers and 77 ISSR primers were used to screen polymorphism between two parents, and 3 pairs of bulked DNA pools. Fifteen markers amplified by thirteen primers were identified to be linked with fiber quality QTLs through DNA polymorphism surveying between the parents, and then paired bulked DNAs, and screening the individual plant of (7235 x TM1)F2. Linkage test indicated 15 markers could be mapped to three linkage groups. In the first linkage group, eight markers (two SSR and six RAPD markers) associated with fiber strength were tightly linked with 2.2 cM interval genetic distance on average, and located on chromosome 10 in cotton. Two major QTLs for fiber quality characters were identified. One for fiber strength could explain 35% of the phenotypic variation in F2, and 53.8% in F2:3 at Hainan, which has the greatest single QTL effect of fiber strength and could be identified in all four environments, and tightly linked to 6 RAPD markers and 2 SSR markers with genetic distance no more than 16 cM in chromosome 10, in which FSRl933 is the nearest with the distance no more than 0.6 cM. One QTL linked to FMR1(603) for Micronaire could explain 7.8% of the phenotypic variation in F2, and 25.4% in F2:3 at Hainan, and expressed in all four environments. One QTL linked to FLR1(1550) for fiber length could explain 9.5% of the phenotypic variation in F2:3 at Hainan, very little in other environments. So they can be used in marker-assisted selection in increasing fiber quality of commercial cultivars.

[Experimental study on anti-atherosclerotic effect of tongmai jiangzhi oral liquor].

27 Japanese white male rabbits were divided into 3 groups for evaluation of Tongmai Jiangzhi Oral Liquor (TMJZ) in reducing the serum cholesterol, the level of plasma lipid peroxidation (LPO), the plasma TXB2 and suppressing of atherosclerotic plaque formation in atherogenesis. The results indicated that TMJZ not only decreased significantly the levels of serum cholesterol, triglyceride, LPO and TXB2, but also increased markedly blood glutathion peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity and regulated the balance of TXB2/6-keto-PGF1 alpha. The area of atherosclerotic plaque coverage in aorta and the thickness of plaque after oral TMJZ were much smaller than those of high cholesterol-fed rabbits. It is suggested that the effect of TMJZ on above-mentioned indexes might be important mechanism of its anti-atherosclerotic effect.

[Combined ringing constriction and valvuloplasty in the treatment of varicosity of the great saphenous vein].

Eleven cases (17 limbs) of varicosity of the great saphenous vein were treated by combined ringing constriction and valvuloplasty of the femoral veins and the first valvula of the great saphenous veins using autogenous vein strips. Valvular incompetency of the femoral veins and the great saphenous veins wore corrected, and the physiological function of the great saphenous vein was restored.

Assessment of combined thermoradiotherapy in recurrent of advanced carcinoma of the breast.

During 1980 to 1983, 40 patients with advanced or locally recurrent breast cancer were treated with the thermo-radiotherapy. Ten of these were primary cases and 30 recurrent. In 23 patients who had 2 to 3 lesions. Altogether there were 64 lesions treated. Combined thermo-radiotherapy was applied to the bigger lesions (42 in number) and irradiation alone to the small ones (22 in number). Average size of lesions treated with combined therapy was 38.7 cm2 and that by irradiation alone was 12.1 cm2. In 20 patients of this series previous irradiation (40-65 Gy) were given. Hyperthermia was given by using microwave 2450 MHz and 915 MHz, twice a week, 15-30 minutes following irradiation. Intratumoral temperature was maintained at 41-44 degrees C for 40 minutes. A average of 11.6 sessions of heat was given. Radiotherapy was given after conventional freactionation technic 2-2.5 Gy/day x 4-5/week to reach a total dosage of 20-80 Gy (average 47 Gy). Notwithstanding the size of tumor treated with combined therapy was 2 to 3 times larger than that treated by radiotherapy alone, the CR rate, of lesions after combined therapy was significantly better than radiation alone, 64.3% V.S. 36.4% (P less than 0.01). The authors believe that the optimal size of tumor for hyperthermia using microwave 2450 MHz or 915 MHz may be less than 5-6 in diameter.