Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms increase the risk of post-stroke depression

Recent reports have shown that apolipoprotein E （APOE） polymorphisms are involved in neurodegenerative disease. However, it is unclear whether APOE affects post-stroke depression. Accordingly, we hypothesized that APOE polymorphisms modify the risk of post-stroke depression. Here, we performed a hospital-based case-control study （including 76 cerebral infarction cases with post-stroke depression, 88 cerebral infarction cases without post-stroke depression, and 109 controls without any evidence of post-stroke depression or cerebral infarction） to determine possible association between APOE rs429358 and rs7412 polymorphisms and risk of post-stroke depression. Our findings show no difference among the groups with regards genotype distribution of the rs7412 polymorphism. In contrast, APOE genotypes with rs429358-C alleles increased the risk of post-stroke depression. Further, the rs429358 polymorphism was associated with significantly decreased regional cerebral blood flow values in the left temporal lobe of post-stroke depression cases. Additionally, the rs429358 polymorphism was not only associated with depression severity, but with increasing serum levels of total cholesterol. These resuits suggest that the APOE rs429358 polymorphism is associated with increased risk of developing post-stroke depression, and that APOE rs429358-C allele genotypes may be detrimental to recovery of nerve function after stoke. Indeed, these findings provide clinical data for future post-stroke depression gene interventions.

High power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser at repetition rate of 3.2 GHz

A compact high power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser with high repetition rate is realized.Using an Nd:YVO_4 crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM) in the oscillator, the picosecond pulse output with an average power of 1.38 W, a repetition rate of 3.24 GHz, and a pulse duration of 11.4 ps is achieved. After one stage of amplification, the final output power reaches 11.34 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of about 32%. The root mean square(RMS) value of power fluctuation is demonstrated to be less than 0.6% in 24 hours,showing a superior stability with the compact configuration.

7.6-W diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGW laser

We have demonstrated a high power diode-pumped mode-locked femtosecond Yb:KGW laser with semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM). By using an output coupler with 10% transmittance, the laser delivered 160-fs pulses with average output power of 7.6 W at a repetition rate of 78 MHz, corresponding to pulse energy of 97 nJ and peak power of 606 kW.

Research progress on the effect of the combination of Jing acupoints bloodletting therapy and Sangzhi (Mori Ramulus) on shoulder-hand syndrome after stroke

Shoulder-hand syndrome(SHS)is one of the common complications of ischemic stroke.The pathogenesis is not completely clear and the therapeutic effects are not very satisfactory.As one of the Five-Shu acupoints(the general terms of acupoints that the twelve meridians are located below the elbow and knee of the body),Jing acupoints is distributed at the end of fingers and toes where the twelve meridians of the human body pass by,and has the functions of stimulating the meridians and dredging the channels and collaterals.For the effects of discharging neurons,promoting cerebral blood flow and improving the brain micro-circulation,Jing acupoints bloodletting therapy can effectively relieve the clinical symptoms of the patients with SHS after stroke.Sangzhi(Mori Ramulus),with the ability of dredging the meridian and relieving the pain,is also has certain treatment functions to the SHS.In clinical practice,the combination of Jing acupoints bloodletting and Sangzhi(Mori Ramulus)have been widely used in the treatment of various diseases,and in terms of their mechanism of action,the combined treatment has a positive effect on post-stroke SHS,but there are few reports on this.Therefore,it is worth affirming the efficacy of combined treatment of SHS after stroke.This article elaborates the theoretical basis of Jing acupoints bloodletting on SHS after stroke,and the research progress of Sangzhi(Mori Ramulus)in treating SHS after stroke,which provide the theoretical guidance for the combination.

Comparison of the effects of different growth standards on infants in Urban Shanghai: a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Background:The Shanghai growth standards are higher than World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards,which may influence the feeding practices of the caregivers and increase the risk of overweight in these infants.This study aimed to compare the effects of different growth standards on childhood obesity in Shanghai metropolitan area. Methods:This was a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in 2 downtown areas with 19 community health service centers in Shanghai from November 2013 to December 2015.Randomization was done at the level of the community.Infants (health newborns) were assessed and monitored by the Shanghai growth standards (S-group) and the 2006 WHO growth standards (W-group),respectively.Measurements were taken at 1.0,2.0,4.0,6.0,9.0 and 12.0 months of age during follow-up period.Based on the values of length and weight measurements,according to the group’s growth standards,doctors provided the caregivers with corresponding clinical consultation.Changes in weight-for-age z-score (WAZ),length-for-age z-score (LAZ),and weight-for length z-score (WLZ) between 2 groups were assessed using mixed regression models.Overweight was compared between 2 group at all follow-up measurements. Results:A total of 6509 infants (52.1% were boys) were in the W-group,and 8510 infants (51.4% were boys) were in the S-group.The overweight ratios between two groups were distinct at 9 months of age (3.4% in W-group and 4.3% in S-group) and 12 months of age (2.2% in W-group and 3.8% in S-group),and the differences were statistically significant (P= 0.020 and P<0.001,respectively).Compared to W-group,the increase in WAZ (coefficient= 0.04,P=0.004) and WLZ (coefficient= 0.09,P <0.001) were significantly greater,and the LAZ was lower (coefficient = -0.04,P = 0.047) in S-group (W-group values were used as reference in mixed regression models). Conclusion:Compared to the Shanghai growth standards,the adoption of WHO 2006 growth standards would reduce the risk of infant overweight in Shanghai metropolitan area up to 1 year of age.

Free Boundary Value Problem for the Cylindrically Symmetric Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations with a Constant Exterior Pressure

This paper is concerned with the free boundary value problem（FBVP） for the cylindrically symmetric barotropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations（CNS） with density-dependent viscosity coefficients in the case that across the free surface stress tensor is balanced by a constant exterior pressure. Under certain assumptions imposed on the initial data, the unique cylindrically symmetric strong solution is shown to exist globally in time and tend to a non-vacuum equilibrium state exponentially as time tends to infinity.

Morphology and distribution of precipitates and their effects on compression cracks in Fe-6.5Si-0.02B electrical steel

Morphology and distribution of precipitates in the Fe-6.5Si-0.02B alloy were characterized, and these effects on room- temperature compression cracks were investigated. The results showed that the precipitate in the Fe-6.5Si-0.02B alloy is FezB with body-centered tetragonal structure, and its nano-hardness is 15.0 GPa which is higher than that of the matrix （- 8.5 GPa）. In the as-cast alloys, most of the intragranular precipitates are coarse lath-like with the length of 5-15 μm and width of 2-5 μm, and the precipitates formed at the grain boundaries are of about 2-3 μm in width. After oil quenching followed by heat treatment at 1100 ℃ for more than 30 min, the precipitates inside grains are refined with a size of several hundred nanometers and the precipitates at the grain boundaries are refined with a size of 〈 1 μm. After compression test, transgranular and intergranular cracks occur in the as-cast alloys with coarse precipitates. For the quenched alloys with fine precipitates, the number of cracks decreases significantly, and no transgranular cracks happen because some cracks are blocked or the propagation direction is changed by grain boundary.

Anti-oxidative Activities of Ethanol Extracts from Both Wild Plant and Suspension Cell Cultures of Rheum franzenbachii

Objective To evaluate the content of rhaponticin and anti-oxidative activities of theethanol extracts from both the wild plants and suspension cell cultures of Rheum franzenbachii.Methods Quantitative analysis of rhaponticin was performed by HPLC.The anti-oxidative activities of the ethanol extracts were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH）scavenging assays.Results The content of rhaponticin in the roots of the wild plant was 4.36 mg/g,while the content was only 1.59 mg/g in the leaves.The content of rhaponticin in suspension cells cultured on Murashige and Skoog（MS）medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine（6-BAP）and 2.0 mg/L 2,4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid（2,4-D）was 17.64 mg/g,which increased by 4.05 times compared with the content in the roots of the wild plants.The roots of wild plants displayed the strongest anti-oxidative activity,followed by thesuspension cells 5 and 6,and the scavenging percent was 91.96%,91.23%,and 89.27%,respectively,at the concentration of 100μg/mL.The IC50 values were 2.477,15.644,and 31.415μg/mL,respectively.In particular,the DPPH scavenging activity of the ethanol extracts from the roots of the wild plant was generally comparable to the control of ascorbic acid（VC）,and the IC50 value of the extracts was lower than that of VC（2.502μg/mL）.Conclusion Rhaponticin production in the cell culture can be modulated and the accumulation can be increased.The roots of the wild plant display the strongest anti-oxidative activity.These results suggest that R.franzenbachii could hold a good potential source for human health.