便携式无线人体脂肪率测量仪的设计

生物电阻抗法(BIA)是一种安全非侵入式的、结果可靠有效的人体组成成分(脂肪含量)测量方法。以此为原理,设计了一款便携式无线人体脂肪率测量仪。硬件上,系统以高集成化、低功耗的阻抗测量芯片AD5933为核心,通过蓝牙实现与上位机的无线通信,大大降低了设备的复杂度。软件部分提出一种单频点小阻抗范围的增益系数校准方式,计算量小且容易实现。将新测量仪和欧姆龙体脂仪HBF-358进行对比实验,并作Bland-Altman一致性分析。结果表明,二者的相关系数为0.997。此外,该测量仪还具有易操作、小型化的特点。     

心电激励下的人体左心室力学响应分析

人体心脏通过电兴奋引起的心肌收缩实现泵血功能 ,而心肌的力学特性高度依赖于肌纤维结构。本文根据肌纤维旋向和复合材料理论以及电生理心脏模型建立了左心室的有限元机械模型 ,仿真研究了左心室在心电兴奋力作用下的力学响应。结果表明左心室的收缩过程是十分复杂的 ,包括轴向和径向的收缩及绕长轴的不同程度的旋转扭曲。从总体趋势上看 ,心尖处变形最为严重。此外 ,仿真结果还表明 ,心壁应力分布不均匀 ,从内壁到外壁有所减少 ;在心尖和心底部应力较大 ,其中内壁心尖处应力最大。这些结果说明了心脏的力学特性与心肌纤维结构、左心室的几何形状以及电兴奋刺激密切相关。作者将本文的仿真结果与医学图像及其它模型进行了对比分析 ,结果表明了该模型用于分析心肌力学功能特性的可行性     

Noise Field in the Human Chest Due to Turbulent Flow in a Larger Blood Vessel

An acoustic model of a larger human blood vessel is developed. This model takes into account the main features of the acoustic generation and propagation of noise in the human chest from the source (turbulent pressure fluctuations in blood flow) to a receiver resting on the skin, and allows the consideration of a simple stenotic narrowing in the vessel. The low Mach number turbulent wall pressure models of Corcos, Chase, Ffowcs Williams, and Smol'yakov and Tkachenko are used to describe random sources in the vessel. The relationships obtained permit one to analyse the dependence of the resultant acoustic field in the thorax on the parameters of the blood flow and the vessel, and show the possibility of finding characteristic signs of the presence of a stenosis by comparison of noise fields from intact and diseased arteries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Baicalin induces apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cell through ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway

Baicalin is extracted from a traditional Chinese herb, Scutellaria baicalensis. In this study, the anticancer activity and underlying mechanisms of baicalin towards human osteosarcoma cell (HOS) were investigated. Baicalin could inhibit HOS cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Mitochondrial membrane potential decreased obviously after treated with different concentration of baicalin by flow cytometry assay and revealed that baicalin triggered a significant generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Western blotting assay further revealed that baicalin-induced cell apoptosis by suppressing Bcl-2 level, then activating caspase-9 and caspase-3. In vivo experiment, baicalin significantly suppressed tumour growth in female BALB/C nude mice bearing HOS tumours. In addition, baicalin did show toxicity to treated animal by comparing the body weight increase and mortality. In general, the present results demonstrated that baicalin-induced apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cell via a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway. The paper indicated that baicalin is a promising candidate for the treatment of HOS.     

Stimulation of Microvascular Networks on Sulfonated Polyrotaxane Surfaces with Immobilized Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

Modulation of material properties and growth factor application are critical in constructing suitable cell culture environments to induce desired cellular functions. Sulfonated polyrotaxane (PRX) surfaces with immobilized vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are prepared to improve network formation in vascular endothelial cells. Sulfonated PRXs, whereby sulfonated α‐cyclodextrins (α‐CDs) are threaded onto a linear poly(ethylene glycol) chain capped with bulky groups at both terminals, are coated onto surfaces. The molecular mobility of sulfonated PRX surfaces is modulated by tuning the number of threading α‐CDs. VEGF is immobilized onto surfaces with varying mobility. Low mobility and VEGF‐immobilization reinforce cell proliferation, yes‐associated protein activity, and rhoA, pdgf, ang‐1, and pecam‐1 gene expression. Highly mobile surfaces and soluble VEGF weakly affect these cell responses. Network formation is strongly stimulated in vascular endothelial cells only on low‐mobility VEGF‐immobilized surfaces, suggesting that molecular mobility and VEGF immobilization synergistically control cell function.     

Development and validation of an LC‐APCI‐MS/MS method for the determination of phenethyl isothiocyanate in human plasma

Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) is a promising chemopreventive agent present in cruciferous vegetables. This paper describes the development of a method for the determination of PEITC in human plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS). Atmospheric‐pressure chemical ionization was found more suitable for ionization of PEITC than electrospray ionization. Because of the lability of PEITC, a combination of low temperature and acidification was applied to minimize the degradation during the sample collection and preparation procedure. A simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile was used for the preparation of plasma samples. The analyte and 1‐phenylpropyl isothiocyanate as internal standard (IS) were subjected to chromatographic analysis on a C₁₈ column (50 × 2.1 mm, 5 µm) using 85% methanol as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The total analysis time for each chromatograph was 3 min and the results were linear over the studied range (5.00–250 ng/mL). The intra‐ and inter‐day precision values were acceptable as per US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. This method was successfully applied in the determination of PEITC concentrations in plasma samples from healthy chinese Volunteers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GC‐FID determination and pharmacokinetic studies of oleanolic acid in human serum

Analytical interest of OA determination in human serum has increased owing to the increasing interest in pharmaceutical research by pharmaceutical properties. A simple, specific, precise and accurate GC method with flame ionization detector (FID) developed and validated for the determination of oleanolic acid (OA) in human serum (HS). To an aliquot of HS, internal standard was added and a combination of liquid–liquid extraction with a mixture of diethyl ether‐isopropyl alcohol, filtration and consecutive GC resulted in separation and quantification of OA. The organic phase was analyzed using a GC system equipped with a 30 × 0.25 mm i.d. Rtx‐65TG capillary column and FID detection. Total chromatographic time was 10 min and no interfering peaks from endogenous components in blank serum were observed. The OA/internal standard peak area ratio was linearly fitted to the OA concentration (r = 0.992) over the range 10–1500 ng/mL. The mean serum extraction recovery of OA was 96.7 ± 1.0% and the lower limit of quantification based on 5 mL of serum was 10.7 ng/mL. The intra‐day coefficient of variation ranged from 1.3 to 3.6% and inter‐day varied from 1.4 to 4.5%. The developed method was used to study the pharmacokinetics of OA after oral administration in humans. The assay was simple, sensitive, precise and accurate for the use in the study of the mechanisms of absorption and distribution of OA in humans. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal consumption and investment problem with random horizon in a BMAP model

In this paper, we consider the consumption and investment problem with random horizon in a Batch Markov Arrival Process (BMAP) model. The investor invests her wealth in a financial market consisting of a risk-free asset and a risky asset. The price processes of the riskless asset and the risky asset are modulated by a continuous-time Markov chain, which is the phase process of a BMAP. The possible consumption or investment are restricted to a sequence of random discrete time points which are determined by the same BMAP. The investor has only consumption opportunities at some of these random time points, has both consumption and investment opportunities at some other random time points, and can do nothing at the remaining random time points. The object of the investor is to select the consumption–investment strategy that maximizes the expected total discounted utility. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the consumption–investment opportunity and the economic state on the value functions and consumption–investment strategies. The general solution and the exact solution under the assumption that the consumption and the terminal wealth are evaluated by the power utility are obtained. Finally, a numerical example is presented.     

Binding of caffeic acid to human serum albumin by the retention data and frontal analysis

A new mathematical model and frontal analysis were used to characterize the binding behavior of caffeic acid to human serum albumin (HSA) based on high‐performance affinity chromatography. The experiments were carried out by injecting various mole amounts of the drug onto an immobilized HSA column. They indicated that caffeic acid has only one type of binding site to HSA on which the association constant was 2.75 × 10⁴/m . The number of the binding site involving the interaction between caffeic acid and HSA was 69 nm . The data obtained by the frontal analysis appeared to present the same results for both the association constant and the number of binding sites. This new model based on the relationship between the mole amounts of injection and capacity factors assists understanding of drug–protein interaction. The proposed model also has the advantages of ligand saving and rapid operation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.