Jiawei guomin decoction regulates the degranulation of mast cells in atopic dermatitis mice via the HIS/PAR-2 pathway.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Guomin decoction (GMD) is a traditional Chinese medicine commonly used in clinical practice. It has traditionally been used to treat all allergic diseases. Currently, Jiawei Guomin Decoction (JWGMD) is used to treat sensitive skin after initial therapy.

[Effects of moxibustion on the structure and function of blood brain barrier in Alzheimer's disease model rats].

Objective: To investigate the effects of moxibustion on the structure and function of blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer's disease (AD) model rats.

Methods: Forty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control group, sham operation group, model group, moxibustion group. Model group and moxibustion group rats were injected with aggregated Aβ by bilateral hippocampus.

LY303511 displays antiproliferation potential against oral cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

LY303511 was developed as a negative control of LY294002 without pan-phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibition. We hypothesize LY303511 generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to induce apoptosis for killing oral cancer cells. In MTS assay, LY303511 dose-responsively decreases survival in three kinds of oral cancer cells but little damage to normal oral cells (HGF-1).

Understanding the mechanisms of dormancy in an invasive alien Sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata through transcript and metabolite profiling.

The sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata, is a pest of sycamore trees. In China, it is found in the most northern border where it has been known to become dormant during harsh winters. But the molecular and metabolic basis for dormancy in this insect is still unknown.

Multifactorial theory applied to the neurotoxicity of paraquat and paraquat-induced mechanisms of developing Parkinson's disease.

Laboratory studies involving repeated exposure to paraquat (PQ) in different animal models can induce many of the pathological features of Parkinson's disease (PD), such as the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Epidemiological studies identify an increased risk of developing PD in human populations living in areas where PQ exposure is likely to occur and among workers lacking appropriate protective equipment. The mechanisms involved in developing PD may not be due to any single cause, but rather a multifactorial situation may exist where PQ exposure may cause PD in some circumstances.

[Study on the risk factors of tuberculosis in four cities and provinces in China].

Objective: To investigate the influencing factors on tuberculosis (TB) in four provinces in the eastern and central parts of China.

Methods: From Nov. 2009 to Feb.

[Construction of surveillance and early-warning-index-system on tuberculosis in China].

Objective: To establish the surveillance and warning index system corresponding with the epidemic characteristics of tuberculosis, in China.

Methods: Literature review and expert meeting were conducted to formulate the preliminary index system frame. Delphi method was used for screening the index and determining the weight of each index.

[The influence of T lymphocyte activation on HIV-1 susceptibility of Han Chinese].

Objective: To explore the influence of T lymphocyte activation on HIV-1 susceptibility of Han Chinese.

Methods: In 2008, 37 HIV-1 highly exposed persistently seronegative individuals (ESNs) and 101 healthy controls were screened from Shenzhen. Flow cytometer was used to assay the expression difference of HIV-1 infection related co-receptor, the difference between the two groups were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U statistics methods.

Interactions between genetic variants in the adiponectin, adiponectin receptor 1 and environmental factors on the risk of colorectal cancer.

Background: Metabolic syndrome traits play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer. Adipokines, key metabolic syndrome cellular mediators, when abnormal, may induce carcinogenesis.

Methodology/principal Findings: To investigate whether polymorphisms of important adipokines, adiponectin (ADIPOQ) and its receptors, either alone or in combination with environmental factors, are implicated in colorectal cancer, a two-stage case-control study was conducted.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care units in Hubei Province, China: a multicentre prospective cohort survey.

A multicentre prospective cohort study was performed in 17 intensive care units (ICUs) in tertiary care hospitals in Hubei Province, China. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) was defined according to modified criteria from the published literature. Among 4155 ventilated patients, the crude incidence and incidence rate of VAP were 20.

Predicting the incidence risk of ischemic stroke in a hospital population of southern China: a classification tree analysis.

Objective: To determine the major risk factors and their interactions of ischemic stroke (IS) and to develop a classification tree model to predict the incidence risk of IS for a Chinese population.

Methods: Exhaustive Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (Exhaustive CHAID) algorithm of classification tree method was applied to build a prediction model for the incidence risk of IS under the design of 1:1 matched case-control study. The statistics of misclassification risk was used to evaluate the fitness of the model.

Association between two functional polymorphisms of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 and colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population.

Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) are modulated by functional variants of IGFBP3 and therefore may be associated with higher risk of colorectal cancer development. However, few studies have investigated the role of IGFBP3 polymorphisms in colorectal cancer in Chinese individuals. In this study, two common polymorphisms of IGFBP3 were determined by the Taqman genotyping platform in 202 Chinese colorectal cancer cases diagnosed between 2006 and 2008 and 212 cancer-free population controls.

[The application of artificial neural networks to predict individual risk of essential hypertension].

Objective: To establish models to predict individual risk of essential hypertension and to evaluate and explore new forecasting methods.

Methods: To select data of 3054 community residents from an epidemiological survey and divided them into 4:1 (2438 cases and 616 cases) ratio in accordance with the balance of age and sex to filter variables, and to establish, test and evaluate the prediction models. Using artificial neural network (ANN) and logistic regression analysis to establish models while applying ROC to evaluate the prediction models.

[Evaluation on the highly active anti-retroviral therapy in 181 AIDS patients].

Objective: To study the clinical effect under highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in AIDS patients and for improving the curative effect and prognosis.

Methods: Epidemiological method was used from five aspects to describe the post-treatment clinical symptoms of 181 AIDS patients in Suizhou, and to evaluate the change of virus load and immune function of 79 AIDS patients. Data was doubly recorded by Epi Data and database was set up by SPSS 13.

CpG PatternFinder: a Windows-based utility program for easy and rapid identification of the CpG methylation status of DNA.

The bisulfite genomic sequencing technique is one of the most widely used techniques to study sequence-specific DNA methylation because of its unambiguous ability to reveal DNA methylation status to the order of a single nucleotide. One characteristic feature of the bisulfite genomic sequencing technique is that a number of sample sequence files will be produced from a single DNA sample. The PCR products of bisulfite-treated DNA samples cannot be sequenced directly because they are heterogeneous in nature; therefore they should be cloned into suitable plasmids and then sequenced.

Three-dimensional reconstruction from serial sections in PC-Windows platform by using 3D_Viewer.

Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction from serial sections allows identification of objects of interest in 3D and clarifies the relationship among these objects. 3D_Viewer, developed in our laboratory for this purpose, has four major functions: image alignment, movie frame production, movie viewing, and shift-overlay image generation. Color images captured from serial sections were aligned; then the contours of objects of interest were highlighted in a semi-automatic manner.

An improved stereologic method for three-dimensional estimation of particle size distribution from observations in two dimensions and its application.

Single enzyme-altered hepatocytes; altered hepatic foci (AHF); and nodular lesions have been implicated, respectively in the processes of initiation, promotion, and progression in rodent hepatocarcinogenesis. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of such lesions have been utilized both to identify and to determine the potency of initiating, promoting, and progressor agents in rodent liver. Of a number of possible parameters determined in the study of such lesions, estimation of the number of foci or nodules in the liver is very important.