[How to construct clinical laboratory of the hospital in post epidemic time].

A novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in the world. The epidemic of the new coronavirus pneumonia has been preliminarily controlled successfully in China. At this time, how to construct the clinical laboratory in the hospital? This artical puts some forward thoughts, such as improve the construction of biological safety protection ability, detection ability, test platform construction, scientific research ability construction, personnel training and clinical communication ability, etc. These above advices could provide reference for the development direction of the clinical laboratory in post epidemic era.

[Effectiveness evaluation of health belief model-based health education intervention for patients with hypertension in community settings].

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of health belief model-based health education intervention in improving blood pressure control of patients with hypertension in community settings. Methods: From September 2016 to September 2017, 400 newly diagnosed patients with hypertension were recruited from 6 community healthcare centers with comparable population size and health services in the Shunyi District of Beijing. All community healthcare centers were randomly assigned to the intervention group (206 patients) and the control group (194 patients). Patients in the intervention group received 3 lectures (20-30 min for each) of health belief model-based health education. Patients in the control group received usual care. The basic characteristics, health beliefs, and health literacy were collected, and blood pressure was measured before and after the intervention, respectively. The difference-in-difference model was used to analyze the change of blood pressure and the influencing factors between two groups before and after the intervention. Results: A total of 134 patients in the intervention group and 129 patients in the control group completed the study. After adjusting for the age, gender, family income, medical insurance, chronic diseases and family history, the score of perceived barriers was increased by 1.65 (P=0.016), and perceived seriousness was decreased by 0.73 (P=0.018). The systolic blood pressure of patients was decreased by 7.37 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa, P=0.001) and diastolic blood pressure was decreased by 4.07 mmHg (P=0.014), respectively. The ß (95%CI) values were -7.37 (-11.88,-2.86) and -4.07 (-7.30, -0.84). The perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy had a significant influence on the blood pressure of patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: Health belief model-based health education intervention could significantly improve the blood pressure control of patients with hypertension in the community settings.

High glucose promotes prostate cancer cells apoptosis via Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influences of high glucose on the proliferation and apoptosis of prostate cancer cells and analyze its possible mechanism of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP was divided into control group, mannitol group, and high glucose group. Then, the proliferation in each group was detected via methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Hoechst staining assay was performed to determine the apoptosis level in each group. Western blotting was employed to measure the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS) proteins. The cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was measured through 2,7-dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to detect the content of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and inflammatory factors. RESULTS: High glucose significantly promoted the proliferation of prostate cancer cells LNCaP (p<0.01) and increased the apoptosis level of cells (p<0.01). In high glucose group, the expression level of Caspase-3 protein was overtly increased (p<0.01), while that of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)/Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) was significantly decreased (p<0.01). High glucose group had clearly increased the content of ROS (p<0.01), LDH (p<0.01), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p<0.01), but decreased the content of IL-10 (p<0.01). High glucose notably lowered the protein expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, and γ-GCS in the cells (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: High glucose represses the activation of the Nrf2/anti-oxidation response element (ARE) signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells and increases the content of ROS, IL-6, and the expression of apoptotic proteins in the cells, thus promoting the apoptosis of prostate cancer cells.

Integrative diagnosis of cancer by combining CTCs and associated peripheral blood cells in liquid biopsy.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as cells shed from solid tumor into the vasculature, play a significant role in tumor metastasis. In the peripheral blood, immune cells and stromal cells can interact with CTCs and influence their biological behaviors of survival, proliferation, dissemination, and immune evasion. These peripheral blood cells can evolve synergistically with CTCs to constitute the liquid microenvironment which is essential for tumor progression. Here, we review the mechanisms of peripheral blood cells interacting with CTCs and uncover their effects on both CTCs and tumor metastasis. Then, we introduce the applications of these CTC-associated peripheral blood cells in the clinical setting. Besides, some peripheral blood cell subsets are of additional clinical values to CTCs in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. To improve the clinical utility of CTCs, an integrative analysis of CTCs and associated peripheral blood cells should be advocated for, which could provide a novel insight into tumor biology and offer comprehensive information in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy efficacy evaluation.

Effect of oxygen content on the transport properties of LaTiO(3+ß/2) thin films.

The structural and transport properties of LaTiO(3+ß/2) epitaxial thin films, grown at different oxygen pressures ranging from 6.6 × 10(-4) to 5 Pa, have been investigated. X-ray diffraction peaks of the films shift to lower angles with increasing oxygen pressure, indicative of a variation of the corresponding lattice spacing. All the films show T(2) dependence of resistivity over a large temperature range of ∼200 K, suggesting a band-filling-induced metallic Fermi-liquid behaviour. Upturns in resistivity have been revealed at low temperatures, which could be ascribed to the Anderson-localization effect caused by the cation vacancies. Furthermore, for the thin films grown at high oxygen pressures of 0.5 and 5 Pa, the dependence of resistivity on temperature shows a maximum at high temperatures. The maximum seems to support the argument that transition between t-orbital ordering and disordering plays an important role in dominating transport properties at high temperatures. Carrier density deduced from Hall coefficient increases with the decrease of oxygen content, and shows strong temperature dependence. From the experimental data, it can be asserted that in the LaTiO(3+ß/2) thin films, besides the band filling effect, localization or disorder caused by La and Ti vacancy effects controls the unique transport properties.

Topographic inventories of vagal afferents in gastrointestinal muscle.

To inventory and characterize the two types of vagal afferents (both putative mechanoreceptors) in the muscle of the gastrointestinal tract, the authors injected wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase into the nodose ganglia of rats that had received unilateral ventral rhizotomies to eliminate efferents. The gut, from the oral esophagus to the distal colon, was divided into wholemounts, processed with tetramethylbenzidine, and surveyed to establish normative topographic maps of afferents. Vagal intraganglionic laminar endings (IGLEs) were ubiquitous, with concentrations varying on a longitudinal gradient (higher rostrally). This overall gradient was punctuated by denser condensations of endings in the oral esophagus, gastric corpus, and distal ileum. In regional specializations, IGLEs were fused into conspicuous, dense networks in the laryngeal esophagus and the antrum. Intramuscular arrays (IMAs) had restricted distributions, including the walls of the stomach and the sphincters throughout the gut. In the forestomach, a singular concentration of orthogonally crossed IMAs was organized into a lattice or "fovea." IMAs displayed variations in morphology, with one specialization consisting of short, terminal processes associated with sphincters and a more widespread form consisting of long, rectilinear processes in the forestomach, along the greater curvature, and in limited intestinal regions. On the basis of their topographic patterns and structural specializations, the two putative mechanoreceptors may have different functions: IGLEs appear situated to integrate intramural tension, and perhaps myenteric neuronal activity, into rhythmical, propagated motor programs, such as swallowing, peristalsis, and emptying. IMAs are distributed strategically and appear to satisfy structural requirements for stretch receptors tuned to tonic or more aperiodic events that may affect central nervous system processing as well as local gastrointestinal coordination.

[Observation of reconstruction of wrist joint by replacement of distal end of radius with vascularized fibular head].

OBJECTIVE: This paper is aimed to observe the long-term result of reconstruction of wrist joint by replacing distal end of radius with vascularized fibular head in patient of giant tumor. METHODS: From July 1978 to November 1993, 12 cases of giant tumor of distal end of radius were treated by this procedure and followed up for 6 months to 15 years, and the movement range of wrist, grip strength, and pain were evaluated. RESULTS: The painful wrist released in 11 cases, only one case still existed mild pain and felt discomfortable. The average range of movement of wrist joint was 34.05 degree in volar flexion, 52.80 degree in dorsal extension, 26.25 degree in ulnar deviation, and 19.75 degree in radial deviation, and average grip strength was 44.6 kg. Compared with the contralateral side, there were accounted for 46.2%, 72.7%, 76.1%, 80.6%, and 76.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: Replacement of distal end of radius with fibular head to reconstruct wrist joint can restore function of carpal joint, which is proved to be a safe and effective method.

Motoneurotrophins derived from limb buds protect the motoneurons in anterior spinal cord after nerve injury and promote nerve regeneration.

The effects of limb bud-derived motoneurotrophins (LBMNTs) as seen in the motoneurons in the anterior spinal cord and sciatic nerve regeneration of adult rats, were evaluated in the present study. A nerve regeneration chamber with a nerve gap of 9 mm was created by suturing the proximal and distal ends of a random sciatic nerve into a silicone tube after removal of a 5 mm piece of nerve in the distal end, The chamber of the experimental group was filled with 34.34 microg LBMNTs and PBS (0.01 mol/ml, pH 7.0),and the control group with PBS only. At 1 day, 4 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks post surgery, the content of acetylcholine esterase (AchE) and acid phosphatase (ACP) of the anterior spinal cord (injured side) was quantified, and the corresponding motoneuron's ultrastructure and the existant ratio were also examined. Meanwhile, the regenerated nerve from within the silicone tube was examined at 2, 4 and 6 weeks post surgery for histological studies at both the light microscopic and ultrastructural levels. The experimental group showed a smaller decrease of AchE and an increase of ACP, a larger existant ratio of motoneurons, better ultrastructure and a more mature regenerated nerve based on a larger diameter of the regenerated nerve trunk, a greater number of axons and thicker myelin sheaths than the control group. So it was concluded that LBMNTs had a high activity of protecting motoneurons in the anterior spinal cord after nerve injury and promoting nerve regeneration, and it may be a new source of neurotrophic factors (NTFs).

Suppression of meal size by intestinal nutrients is eliminated by celiac vagal deafferentation.

The arrival of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract suppresses intake. To specify the neural pathways and receptor locations of this feedback, we examined the effects of intraduodenal infusions of 10 nutrients plus saline on short-term food intake of rats with selective deafferentations of vagal celiac branches. Three response profiles were observed: 1) isotonic saline, 5.6% glycerol, and 3% fructose did not inhibit intake of controls or selectively deafferented animals; 2) 3% glucose, 3% maltose, 3% L-phenylalanine, 12% Isocal, and 1.4% oleic acid suppressed intake of controls, but this inhibition was eliminated by vagal celiac deafferentation; and 3) 3% casein hydrolysate and 24% Isocal suppressed intake of controls and rats with selective vagotomies, although the latter exhibited significantly less suppression. In addition, elimination of celiac afferents chronically reduced meal size (i.e., first 30-min intake) without reducing daily food intake or body weight. Furthermore, D-phenylalanine infusions produced a delayed suppression of food intake in controls (possibly from intraluminal irritation); however, this reduction was eliminated with celiac deafferentation. Overall, this experiment indicates that vagal celiac afferents are critical for preabsorptive detection of some energy-yielding molecules or properties of nutrient solutions (as well as, perhaps, intraluminal inflammation), but not others, which are still detected, although only partially.

Selective vagal rhizotomies: a new dorsal surgical approach used for intestinal deafferentations.

We have developed a dorsal intracranial surgery that is minimally invasive and gives excellent access to either afferent or efferent vagal rootlets to produce selective deafferentations or deefferentations in the rat. We have combined this new unilateral afferent rhizotomy with a contralateral celiac branch cut (to completely deafferent the intestines) and a duodenal catheter placement 4 cm distal to the pylorus. Animals were maintained with 17 h/day access to a nutritionally complete liquid diet. Measures of first meal size, daily intake, and body weight before and after both surgeries indicated that animals with unilateral vagal deafferentiations recovered as fast and completely as sham-operated controls. Intraduodenal oleate (1.2 kcal) infusions reduced the size of the first meal in surgical controls (by 64%; P < 0.01) but not in the deafferented rats. A dual wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase/Fluorogold protocol provides verification of sensory and motor lesions. The selective vagal deafferentation provided by the new surgery offers a useful model for determining gastrointestinal sites of nutrient detection and separating pre- and postabsorptive consequences of a meal.

The ratio of pre- to postganglionic neurons and related issues in the autonomic nervous system.

The motor outflow of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is differentiated into two major divisions, parasympathetic (PSNS) and sympathetic (SNS). Both are organized hierarchically into pre- and postganglionic levels, but classically the two divisions have been assumed to differ in their ratios of pre- to postganglionic neurons. The PSNS been characterized as having lower ('one-to-few') ratios, whereas the SNS has been described as possessing higher ('one-to-many') ratios. These patterns have been assumed to measure differing divergences of the outflows. In this review, a ratio of pre- to postganglionic neurons is called a ratio index, and the idea that the PSNS and SNS have characteristically different ratio indexes and divergences is called the ratio rule. The putative differences in the ratio indexes of the two divisions - as well as Fulton's influential proposal that they form one of the bases of contrasting functional capacities of the PSNS and SNS - have been widely accepted for nearly for nearly three quarters of a century. A survey of the original observations yielding the concept of the ratio rule as well as the more recent estimates of pre- and postganglionic numbers, however, challenges both the generality and the adequacy of the ratio rule and indexes. The originally formulated differences between the PSNS and SNS represent an overgeneralization since they were based on observations of only two ganglia, the ciliary ganglion in the PSNS and the superior cervical ganglion in the SNS. Furthermore, these original estimates were based on limited samples and were subject to a number of counting artifacts. A survey of the literature suggests that ratio indexes vary much more within each ANS division than they do between the two divisions. When ganglia other than the ciliary and superior cervical are examined, the two divisions of the ANS have broad, largely overlapping ranges of ratio indexes. Additionally, other PSNS-SNS pairs can be found in which the relative sizes of their respective indexes are completely contrary to the ratio rule. For a given ganglion, there are substantial differences in the ratio index between species, between individuals of the same species, and between stages of development in the same species. Furthermore, both divisions of the ANS have wide and largely overlapping ranges of physiological effects varying from specific to diffuse, from local to widespread. Finally, the ratio index measure ignores the degree of convergence found in different ganglia, and it is insensitive to the fact that many ganglia have multiple functionally distinct motor neuron pools, each with separate inputs varying in their degrees of divergence and/or convergence. Thus ratio indexes do not differentiate the PSNS from the SNS, and conclusions based on such putative distinctions are questionable.

Reconstruction of the lower leg and foot with the reverse pedicled posterior tibial fasciocutaneous flap.

The use of reverse flow island flaps for reconstructive surgery in the distal leg and foot represents an alternative to free flap transfer. This paper reports on the use of a reverse pedicled posterior tibial artery flap in four patients. The flap can reach any part of the foot.

Regulated expression of foreign genes in mammalian cells under the control of coliphage T3 RNA polymerase and lac repressor.

Systems that stringently regulate the expression of individual genes within a complex genetic background have contributed greatly to the analysis of gene function. In this report the development of a highly regulated expression system in mammalian cells is described in which transcription of a foreign gene is mediated by the bacteriophage T3 RNA polymerase under the control of the Escherichia coli lac repressor. Rabbit kidney cell lines have been established that constitutively express the phage RNA polymerase and lac repressor. The two bacterial proteins regulate the transcription of the coding sequence of the firefly luciferase, which has been placed under the control of a T3 promoter/lac operator fusion. In the presence of the inducer isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactoside, efficient T3 polymerase-dependent transcription is observed, which is tightly repressed in the absence of inducer. Translation of the T3 transcripts can be mediated by vaccinia virus functions. The demonstration that a specific transcription activity can be regulated over a range of several orders of magnitude in higher eukaryotic cells by using a highly specific and nontoxic inducer has broad implications for a variety of studies.

Gabaergic interneurons in the dorsal raphe mediate the effects of apomorphine on serotonergic system.

Apomorphine (APO) has been shown to elevate the concentrations of serotonin (5-HT) and its major metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the mesostriatal but not the mesolimbic serotonergic systems. We have previously demonstrated that the serotonergic actions of APO were secondary to dopamine (DA) autoreceptor stimulation in the substantia nigra. Using picrotoxin as a pharmacological tool, we have presently found that these effects of APO were also indirectly mediated through gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons. In examination of the exact anatomical locus of GABA neurons responsible for the observed effects of APO, the results indicate that bilateral lateral habenular lesions did not block the effects of APO on 5-HT neurons, while direct picrotoxin infusion to the dorsal raphe, at a dose having no significant influence by itself, antagonized APO's actions. Together with the anatomical, biochemical and histofluorescent findings, it is suggested that APO influences dorsal raphe 5-HT by stimulation of DA autoreceptors in the substantia nigra; therefore, inhibition of DA neuron activity and the nigro-raphe pathway. Normally, DA probably exerts an excitatory influence on gabaergic interneurons in the dorsal raphe, and these inhibitory interneurons then synapse on 5-HT neurons in the same area. Activation of 5-HT neurons were explained by a disinhibitory effect as a result of reduced release of GABA due to feedback inhibition of DA neuron firing following APO activation of DA autoreceptors in the substantia nigra. The striatal presynaptic and postsynaptic DA receptors, however, do not appear to mediate the above effects of APO.