Clinical Detection of Peripheral Blood Natural Killer Cell Activity

Natural Killer (NK) cells are specific immune cells in human immune system. They have a quick effect and can exert a cytotoxic function without prior sensitization, and they show great application potential in cell-based immunotherapy, anti-infection in vivo. NK cell activity in peripheral blood can be used as one of the biomarkers of immune function response. It has a great positive guiding significance for the clinical prognosis of tumor patients, the prevention of cancer and anti-aging. The clinical detection strategies of NK cell activity in circulation mainly grouped into five types: methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium colorimetric, lactate dehydrogenase release, radionuclide labeling, flow cytometry and NK Vue cytokine release method. It has played an important role in different stages of clinical application development. This paper will make a comparative review of the above-mentioned detection strategies for the NK cell activity.

Frame-invariance in finite element formulations of geometrically exact rods

This article is concerned with finite element implementations of the three- dimensional geometrically exact rod. The special attention is paid to identifying the con- dition that ensures the frame invariance of the resulting discrete approximations. From the perspective of symmetry, this requirement is equivalent to the commutativity of the employed interpolation operator I with the action of the special Euclidean group SE（3）, or I is SE（3）-equivariant. This geometric criterion helps to clarify several subtle issues about the interpolation of finite rotation. It leads us to reexamine the finite element for- mulation first proposed by Simo in his work on energy-momentum conserving algorithms. That formulation is often mistakenly regarded as non-objective. However, we show that the obtained approximation is invariant under the superposed rigid body motions, and as a corollary, the objectivity of the continuum model is preserved. The key of this proof comes from the observation that since the numerical quadrature is used to compute the integrals, by storing the rotation field and its derivative at the Gauss points, the equiv- ariant conditions can be relaxed only at these points. Several numerical examples are presented to confirm the theoretical results and demonstrate the performance of this al- gorithm.

On the geometric phase in the spatial equilibria of nonlinear rods

Geometric phases have natural manifestations in large deformations of geometrically exact rods. The primary concerns of this article are the physical implications and observable consequences of geometric phases arising from the deformed patterns exhibited by a rod subjected to end moments. This mechanical problem is classical and has a long tradition dating back to Kirchhoff. However, the perspective from geometric phases seems to go more deeply into relations between local strain states and global geometry of shapes, and infuses genuinely new insights and better understanding, which enable one to describe this kind of deformation in a neat and elegant way. On the other hand, visual representations of these deformations provide beautiful illustrations of geometric phases and render the meaning of the abstract concept of holonomy more direct and transparent.

Huayu capsule enhances limb-catching capability of rats with experimental open traumatic brain injury

BACKGROUND： It is hard to cure the open traumatic brain injury （TBI）, especially for the brain functional recovery after brain injury. In this regard, traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a wide prospect. OBJECTIVE： To observe the effect of Huayu capsule on limb-catching capability of rat models of open TBI, and investigate its possible mechanism. DESIGN： Randomized and controlled study. SETTING： Grade 3 Pharmacological Laboratory of TCM, State Administration of TCM, Chengdu University of TCM. MATERIALS： This study was performed from October 2005 to January 2006. Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats of either gender, aged 3 months old, weighing from 190 to 220 g, were involved in this study. Huayu capsule was made and supplied by the Department of TCM Processing of Chengdu University of TCM, Lot No. 050121; Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid was manufactured by Jilin Aodong Yanbian Pharmaceutical Industry Co.,Ltd., Lot No. 050406. METHODS： Open right parietal lobe TBI rat models were made as described in references. The involved rat models were randomized into 5 groups according to gender and body mass： model group, high-, middle-, low-dose Huayu capsule groups and Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group, with 10 rats in each. Rats in the model group were administrated with distilled water of 5 mL/kg; Rats in the high-, middle- and low-dose Huayu capsule groups were administrated with 1.030, 0.515, 0.258 g/kg raw herbs; Rats in the Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group were administrated with Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid of 5 mL/kg, intragastrically once a day for 7 days successively for all after recovering consciousness from anesthetization. ① One hour after administration on the 6^th day, rats in each group were placed on a 100 cm fine straight iron wire paralleling to the ground and 20 cm above the operational table. The time of the rats keeping on the wire was counted and it indicated the nerve-muscle catching capability. The longer the remained time, the better the nerve-muscle catching capability.② Twenty-four hours after the administration on the 7^th day, the samples of the whole brain were carefully taken out and stained by toluidine blue for observing the morphology of cells in the injured brain tissue. ③ The nerve cells in 4 visual fields from 4 directions （upper, lower, left, right） of injured area of brain tissue were counted. The amount was the total number of the four visual fields. The nerve cells in the injured brain tissue were measured by the same way. ④ On the basis of nerve cell counting, the content of Nissl＇s body in the corresponding nerve cells was measured. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： ①Nerve-muscle catching capability. ②Histopathomorphological examination of the injured areas in brain. ③Measurement of nerve cells and macrophages in the injured areas of brain. ④Measurement of content of Nissl＇s body in the injured areas of brain. RESULTS： All the 50 rats were involved in the final analysis. ①The catching time of rats in the high- and middle-dose Huayu capsule groups as well as Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group was extended to （ 23.6 ± 10.12 ）, （ 18.6 ± 8.17 ） and （22.6 ± 9.43） s, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the model group [ （12.1 ± 4.15） s, P 〈 0.05 - 0.01 ]. ② The injured areas of brain tissue of rats in the Huayu capsule-treated groups and Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group were decreased to different extents. The nerve cells adjacent to brain injured area were increased. ③ The number of macrophages around the brain injured area of rats in the high- and middle-dose Huayu capsule groups as well as Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group was 63.9 ± 7.99, 59.7 ± 7.41 and 62.9 ± 7.37, respectively, which was significantly larger than that in the model group （49.2 ± 8.00, P 〈 0.01 ） . The number of nerve cells adjacent to brain injured area of rats in the high-, middle-, and low-dose Huayu capsule groups as well as Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group was 86.2 ± 25.93, 93.5 ± 31.79, 92.1 ± 14.54 and 125.2 ±34.25, respectively, which was significantly larger than that in the model group （62.5 ± 16.98, P 〈 0.05 -0.01 ） .④ The total area, the total and integral absorbance, the average gray degree of Nissl＇s body in the cytoplasm of nerve cells of rats in the Huayu capsule-treated groups and Xuefuzhuyu oral liquid group were all significantly increased （P 〈 0.05 - 0.01）. CONCLUSION： Huayu capsule at different doses can promote the limb-catching capability of rat models of open TBI to different extent. This promoting effect may be related to increasing macrophages in the injured area, lessening the apoptosis of nerve cells and increasing the content of Nissl＇s body in the nerve cells.