[Effects of electroacupuncture on expression of miR-218 and HMGB1/TLR4 signaling pathway in rats with focal cerebral ischemia].

Objectives: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) / toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway and inflammatory injury in rats with focal cerebral ischemia (FCI), so as to explore its mechanisms underlying amelioration of ischemic stroke.

Methods: Male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation (=18), model (=18) and EA (=18) groups. The FCI model was established according to Longa's method.

Plutonium in sediments of the Eastern Guangdong coast-its sources and their contribution.

The Pu activities and Pu/Pu atom ratios of surface sediments from the Eastern Guangdong coast (EGDC) were determined by sector field ICP-MS in order to examine the sources of plutonium (Pu) and quantify their contributions. The Pu activities in the EGDC ranged from 0.113 to 0.

[Effects of pre-moxibustion on expression of phosphorylated Tau protein and related protein kinases in hippocampal CA3 region of AD rats].

Objective: To observe the effect of pre-moxibustion at "Baihui"(GV20), "Shenshu"(BL23) and "Zusanli"(ST36) on expression of Tau protein and related protein kinases as glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), etc. in the hippocampal CA3 region of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rats, so as to explore its mechanism underlying prevention and treatment of AD cognitive impairment.

Methods: Male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control, sham operation， model and pre-moxibustion，with 9 rats in each group.

Proliferation and differentiation of rat osteoporosis mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) transfection.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether MSC are excellent materials for MSCs transplantation in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Material And Methods: We studied normal, osteoporosis, and TERT-transfected MSC from normal and osteoporosis rats to compare the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation using RT-PCR and Western blot by constructing an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis (OVX). The primary MSC from model rats were extracted and cultured to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation characteristics.

Donor Age and Cell Passage Affect Osteogenic Ability of Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Tissue engineering allows the restoration of pathologically damaged tissues such as cartilage and bone using bio-scaffolds containing functionally active cells. Bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are a promising source of cells for tissue engineering due to their multilineage differentiation potential. However, proliferative and osteogenic abilities of BMSCs, and quantity of stem cells decreases in the bone marrow in aged population.

A generalizability analysis of score consistency for the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding.

Our goal in this investigation was to evaluate the reliability of scores from the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) more comprehensively than in prior research using a generalizability-theory framework based on both dichotomous and polytomous scoring of items. Generalizability coefficients accounting for specific-factor, transient, and random-response error ranged from .64 to .