Functional electrical stimulation can improve motor function after stroke. The mechanism may involve activity-dependent plasticity and brain remodeling. The aim of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of a patterned electrical stimulation FES mimic to gait in motor recovery among stroke survivors and to investigate possible mechanisms through brain fMRI. Forty-eight subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to a four-channel FES group (n=18), a placebo group (n=15), or a dual-channel FES group (n=15). Stimulation lasted for 30 minutes in each session for 3 weeks. All of the subjects were assessed at baseline and after weeks 1, 2, and 3. The assessments included the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients, Brunel’s Balance Assessment, the Berg Balance Scale, and the modified Barthel Index. Brain fMRI were acquired before and after the intervention. All of the motor assessment scores significantly increased week by week in all the three groups. The four-channel group showed significantly better improvement than the dual-channel group and placebo groups. fMRI showed that fractional anisotropy was significantly increased in both the four-channel and dual-channel groups compared with the placebo group and fiber bundles had increased significantly on the ipsilateral side, but not on the contralateral side in the group given four-channel stimulation. In conclusion, when four-channel FES induces cycling movement of the lower extremities based on a gait pattern, it may be more effective in promoting motor recovery and induce more plastic changes and brain remodeling than two-channel stimulation. This trial is registered with clinical trial registration unique identifier ChiCTR-TRC-11001615.

利用CODEHOP（Consensus-Degenerate Hybrid Oligonucleotide Primers）软件设计了红色红曲霉丝氨酸羧肽酶基因片段的简并引物,选取1对简并引物进行逆转录-聚合酶链式反应（RT-PCR）,得到348 bp的聚合酶链式反应产物,经pMD18-T载体克隆转化至大肠杆菌DH5α中,测序后进行BLASTX比对,发现此DNA产物与其他丝氨酸羧肽酶基因序列有相似性,推断所克隆的产物即为红色红曲霉的丝氨酸羧肽酶基因片段.

In the present work, alkali extraction technology was used to optimize the extraction of Monascus mycelium polysaccharides for the first time. The extracting parameters of alkali extracted Monascus mycelium polysaccharides were optimized by Box-Behnken design (BBD). The optimum conditions were extraction temperature 49 °C, alkali concentration 7%, solvent/material ratio 23:1 (ml/g) and extraction time 2.3 h with an enhanced yield of 10.1%, compared with the yield 4.76% of hot water extraction, indicating that alkali extraction is a more efficient way. In order to discuss the biological activity of alkali extracted polysaccharides, we compared the in vitro antioxidant activity of alkali extracted polysaccharides (AMP) with hot water extracted polysaccharides (HMP). The result showed that AMP have the similar capability of scavenging both superoxide radical and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical of HMP in vitro. Therefore, alkali extraction technology is not only a high-efficiency way to extract AMP, but also can retain the natural antioxidant activities of AMP, which can be used in pharmaceutical and food industries.

The extraction conditions for producing exopolysaccharide by Monascus purpureus MP-66 were optimized in order to enhance the extraction yield.Single-factor experiments were carried to investigate the influences of the alcohol volume fraction,the sedimentation time of alcohol,and the pH value of fermentation broth on extraction yield of Monascus exopolysaccharide.On the basis of single-factor experiments,a quadratic polynomial regression equation forecasting model was set up by designing a Box-Behnken central composite experiment involving of three factors and three levels and the method of response surface analysis,thus the optimized extraction conditions for Monascus exopolysaccharide were obtained.According to the results,alcohol sedimentation time was 16.5 h,the alcohol column fraction was 80%,and the pH value of fermentation broth was 8.05.Based on these conditions,the yield of Monascus exopolysaccharide could reach 7.40 g/L.