123 results about "Laboratory rat" patented technology

A method for inhibiting formation of adhesions following abdominal surgery which involves application of an anti-static fatty acid ethoxylated amide (Cocamide DEA) in a matrix that is placed in the peritoneal cavity at the conclusion of an abdominal surgery and which releases this anti-adhesive chemical over a predetermined time in a range from about five to seven days. Tests conducted on laboratory rats established that the method reduced the incidences of adhesions from 100 percent (100%) in a test model to near zero percent (0%) in the treated animals. In an alternative embodiment, Andrographalide was delivered through a drug pump with similar results. In still another embodiment, an effective amount of Rapamune was delivered, via a pump, into the abdominal cavity, again with similar results.

The invention discloses application of whey protein peptide in the preparation of a medicament, a health-care food or a food for accelerating the growth and development and increasing bone density. The whey protein peptide has the characteristics of easy absorption, quick absorption, low viscosity, good water solubility and the like, can promote the increasing of body length and weight of a laboratory rat and increase the bone density of near sections of thigh bones and bone mineral content of the rat, and has the functions of accelerating growth and development and increasing bone density. The whey protein peptide has important scientific value and economic benefit when applied to the preparation of the medicament, the health-care food or the food for accelerating growth and development and increasing bone density and provides a new approach for accelerating the growth and development of an organism through diet.

The invention relates to antrodia cinnamomea extract liquor for reducing blood alcohol concentration. The antrodia cinnamomea extract liquor comprises maleic imide compounds extracted from oil in a cracked cell wall of antrodia cinnamomea mycelium as an effective ingredient, and mixed with a certain amount of edible oil to form a solution form, wherein the edible oil and the effective ingredient are mixed according to the weight ratio of (9:1) to (7:3). Therefore, the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase in the body of a small laboratory rat fed by the antrodia cinnamomea extract liquor disclosed by the invention is obviously increased by about 50-60% relatively, and the alcohol concentration in the blood is also obviously reduced by about 30-40% relatively.

The invention discloses a sex identification and sorting system for rats and mice. The system comprises an expelling platform for expelling the rats and mice in cages on the expelling platform, a laboratory mouse classification slideway connected with the expelling platform and used for sliding the rats and mice downwards and separating the rats and mice into independent individuals, a linear array industrial camera located below the laboratory mouse classification slideway and used for shooting abdominal images of the rats and mice, calling an image processing special algorithm to calculate the distance between genitals and anuses of the rats and mice, and judging the genders and body sizes of the rats and mice according to the distance; and a laboratory mouse pipeline connected with thelaboratory mouse classification slideway and used for feeding the rats and mice with the different genders and sizes into a laboratory mouse sorting area. According to the sex identification and sorting system, sex distinguishing can be conducted on a large batch of sexually mature experimental rats and mice, the rats and mice are sub-packaged in different areas according to different sexes, sex classification of the experimental rats is efficiently and accurately achieved, a large amount of time is saved, and pollution caused by external factors to the rats and mice is greatly reduced.

The invention relates to the field of laboratory mouse motion recognition, and discloses a laboratory mouse sniffing motion recognition method, module and system, and the method comprises the steps: collecting laboratory mouse video data; determining key points of the shape and posture of the laboratory mouse, and constructing a key point model; generating a key point identification module according to the experimental mouse video data and the key point model; and using the key point identification module to identify the sniffing action of the laboratory mouse. The identification module comprises a video acquisition sub-module, a key point model construction sub-module and a key point identification module generation sub-module. The identification system comprises a box body, a diffuse reflection plate, a lining plate, an illumination device and an identification module. According to the invention, the sniffing action of the laboratory mouse is identified based on the attitude data ofthe laboratory mouse, so that the sniffing action and attitude change of the laboratory mouse can be accurately and efficiently identified in real time; shadow-free laboratory mouse video data can becollected, accurate video data collection is guaranteed, and automatic recognition of laboratory mouse sniffing actions is achieved.

The invention discloses a resistance marker-free Apx I C gene deleted mutant strain of porcine infectious actinobacillus pleuropneumonia. The number of the vaccine candidate strain is No. SW1delta I C. The strain is preserved in China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) on August 31, 2011, with a preservation number of CCTCC M 201130. The activating gene C of the toxin Apx I is deleted by means of genetic engineering, and the size of the deleted fragment is 475bp. The gene deleted strain constructed in the invention has genetic stability, and cannot reverse to virulence. In the invention, the gene deleted strain is also utilized to prepare a gene deleted attenuated vaccine. Meanwhile, immune efficacy tests of laboratory rats and piglets prove that the vaccine can induce good immune protection.

The invention relates to the technical field of animal blood sampling equipment and particularly discloses a laboratory rat tail cutting blood sampling device. The laboratory rat tail cutting blood sampling device comprises a latex cover, a detachable glass tube, a conical groove, an air suction hole, a vacuum surrounding wall, an exhaust hole, a bottom adjusting device and a passing hole. According to the laboratory rat tail cutting blood sampling device, the vacuum principle is mainly used, air in a bottle is sucked, so that negative pressure is formed in the bottle, blood can flow out soon under the action of negative pressure, and thus the purpose of carrying out multiple times and a large amount of blood sampling on a laboratory rat is achieved; the blood sampling device is provided with the vacuum surrounding wall so that blood back jetting due to air leakage can be avoided, the height of the bottom of the blood sampling device can be adjusted according to the length of different tails through the bottom adjustor, and the blood sampling device is easy and convenient to use and capable of saving time.

The invention discloses a natural enemy mew audio induction anxiety animal model construction method. Natural enemy mew audio frequencies are broadcast within the hearing domain of an experiment mousethrough an audio player, and an anxiety animal model is induced; while the natural enemy mew audio frequencies are played or within follow-up seven days, animal behavior testing is performed on the experiment mouse to evaluate the anxiety behavior. The invention further discloses application of the anxiety animal model obtained through the construction method for screening anti-anxiety drugs. Thenatural enemy mew audio induction anxiety animal model is remarkable in effect, convenient to use and safe, the obtained experiment result is high in accuracy, and the method can be used for screening the anxiety drugs and evaluating and treating the anxiety disorder.

The invention relates to ear tag pliers for mice in an experiment. The ear tag pliers comprise a first pliers body and a second pliers body, wherein the first pliers body comprises a first pliers mouth and a first pliers handle, the second pliers body comprises a second pliers mouth and a second pliers handle, a guide groove which runs through the inner side and outer side of the first pliers mouth is formed in the first pliers mouth which is fixedly connected with an ear tag box for placing ear tags; the ear tag box includes a box body which has a first end and a second end, the first end isprovided with a first push plate and a tag sending spring which are arranged in the box body, and the second end has a first side near the guide groove and a second side opposite to the first side; atag sending mouth is formed in the first side and directly under the guide groove, a tag pushing mouth opposite to the tag sending mouth is formed in the second side, and the second side is provided with a push device which is used for pushing the ear tags away from the tag pushing mouth and sending the ear tags into the guide groove through the tag sending mouth. Through the ear tag pliers for the mice in the experiment, ear-marking operation on the experiment mice by an experiment operator is facilitated, so that the efficiency of ear marking is improved.

The invention discloses an automatic pregnant mother mouse breeding method. The automatic pregnant mother mouse breeding method comprises the steps that an RFID is arranged on each cage, an AGV carrying robot takes down the corresponding cage from a goods shelf and transports the cage to a mouse changing workbench, the cage with death of a mother mouse is processed in time, the pregnancy conditionof the mother mouse is monitored, if a baby mouse is born, an RFID reader-writer resets RFID storage information on the cage, and the cage is conveyed to a baby mouse sex identification and sorting workshop through a reproductive processing channel. The mother mouse breeding method is applied to production activities of large-scale and automatic breeding of rats and baby mice by experimental animal breeding units in a barrier environment, and the quality requirements of client groups such as scientific research institutions, colleges and universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical factories onthe experimental rats and baby mice are met. Image processing, automatic cage changing and other technologies are applied to the automatic breeding process of the pregnant mother mouse, interferencefactors in the artificial breeding process are reduced, stimulation of the outside to laboratory mouse breeding is reduced, and laboratory young mice with better quality can be bred.

The invention relates to a dynamic rat weight loss training running platform and a control system thereof. The dynamic rat weight loss training running platform comprises a treadmill, a dynamic weightloss support device and a control system, wherein the treadmill comprises a case body and an electronic runway; the electronic runway is mounted at the upper end of the case body; the case body is internally provided with a speed adjusting motor; a transmission mechanism which is driven by the speed adjusting motor to implement transmission is arranged on the outer side of the case body; the transmission mechanism is used for driving the electronic runway to move; mounting plates are arranged on both sides and at the upper end of the case body; the dynamic weight loss support device is used for providing support and position adjustment on experiment rats; and in the training process of the experiment rats, in case of gravity center fluctuation, the motor is rotated forwards or reversely along with gravity center fluctuation, and then weight loss force can be kept constant. The control system is used for implementing systematic control on the whole device. By adopting the dynamic rat weight loss training running platform and the control system thereof, a weight loss treatment method with the combination of running platform training and weight loss support can be applied to rats suffering from dyskinesia of hind legs, and experiment bases can be also provided for research on spinal cord injury.

The invention provides an automatic running wheel device used for training an experimental rat and a control method thereof. The running wheel device comprises a base and a running wheel, wherein therunning wheel is arranged in a vertical hollow shape, the experimental rat is put in the running wheel, a reward liquid feed arm is arranged in the running wheel, a reward liquid feed orifice allowingthe experimental rat to lick is arranged at the end part of the reward liquid feed arm, is adjacent to the bottom wall of the running wheel and is located at the inclined top of the advancing direction of the experimental rat, and the running wheel is in normal running fit with the base and can perform fixed-axis rotation in own axis direction; and the running wheel device further comprises a driving device, the driving device comprises a driving wheel used for propping drive or propping locking of the running wheel, and the driving wheel can move in the direction away from or close to the running wheel. According to the running wheel device, exercise intention stimulation, rehabilitation training and exercise amount quantization measurement for the experimental rate are realized, one observation platform for an exercise process of the experimental rat in a small range is provided, the functions are highly integrated, consumption of plenty of time and effort is avoided, and experimental schedule and efficiency are effectively increased.

The invention discloses an activity device used for acquiring physiological parameters of laboratory mouse movement. The device comprises a workbench, an experiment box, an adjusting assembly and a physiological parameter obtaining assembly, a box is arranged at the bottom of the workbench, a rotating shaft is arranged on the workbench, the experiment box comprises a box body, a speed adjusting motor and a running belt. Box body and rotating shaft connection, a partition plate and a weight measuring device are arranged in the box body; an electric shock head and a current adjusting switch arearranged on the side wall of the box body; a driving roller is arranged on the speed regulating motor; a driven roller is arranged in the box body; the running belt is wound on the driven roller and the driving roller, the adjusting assembly comprises a lead screw, an adjusting rotating shaft, a connecting block and an adjuster, the connecting block is clamped with the box body, the adjusting rotating shaft is connected with the connecting block, the adjuster is connected with the lead screw and used for adjusting ascending of the lead screw, and the physiological parameter obtaining assemblyis used for obtaining various movement physiological parameters of the laboratory mouse; the experimental device is reasonable in structural design, capable of researching the influence of different experimental environments on the physiological parameters of experimental mouse movement and suitable for large-scale popularization.

The invention relates to a laboratory mouse monitoring system. The laboratory mouse monitoring system comprises a box body, a body weight monitoring unit, a water drinking unit, a diet unit, a track monitoring unit, a food recovery unit and a control unit. The laboratory mouse monitoring system has the advantages that through the double arrangement of the diet unit and the food recovery unit, the diet weight of each laboratory mouse in the box body each time can be accurately measured, and measurement errors are reduced; by improving the weighing of the water drinking unit, the water drinking amount of each laboratory mouse in the box body each time can be accurately obtained without manual repeated measurement, and the water drinking amount per hour and / or every day can be conveniently counted; motion tracks of the laboratory mice are monitored through the track monitoring unit, the structure is simple, and the motion amount of each laboratory mouse in the box body is accurately obtained.

The invention belongs to the technical field of laboratory mouse trapping devices, and specifically relates to a telescopic length metal pliers, including two inlays on the left and right. A threaded hole, a fixing screw is provided in the first threaded hole, a telescopic rod is provided under the sleeve, the upper part of the telescopic rod is set in the sleeve, and a first blind hole matching the first threaded hole is provided on the upper part of the telescopic rod. There is a first groove on the edge of the upper end surface of the rod, the length of the first groove is smaller than the length of the telescopic rod, and a second threaded hole is radially provided on the lower part of the telescopic rod, and a ball plunger is arranged in the second threaded hole. A bushing is provided under the rod, a second blind hole matching the third threaded hole is provided on the upper part of the boss, a second through hole is provided on the front end of the pliers arm, and the two pliers arms are hinged together through the second through hole. The lower part of the arm is provided with a pincer head. The purpose of the utility model is to solve the problem of inconvenient adjustment of the length of the pincer arm caused by the structural defect of the existing mousetrap.

The invention discloses a full-angle adjusting and fixing device for a high-precision experiment of an ophthalmic laboratory mouse. The full-angle adjusting and fixing device comprises an X-axis sliding block, an X-axis adjusting plate, a Y-axis sliding block, a Z-axis adjusting device and an experiment table assembly which are sequentially arranged from bottom to top, wherein the Y-axis sliding block is composed of a right-angle sliding block I and a right-angle sliding block II; the right-angle sliding block I and the right-angle sliding block II are arranged on the X-axis adjusting plate and are symmetrically distributed; the Y-axis adjusting plate is further clamped between the X-axis adjusting plate and the Y-axis sliding block; the Z-axis adjusting device comprises a rhombic retractable frame, a vertical fixing rod I, a vertical fixing rod II and a horizontal fixing rod; the bottom of the rhombic retractable frame is arranged on the Y-axis adjusting plate and a fixed platform isarranged at the top of the rhombic retractable frame; the bottoms of the vertical fixing rod I and the vertical fixing rod II are arranged on the Y-axis adjusting plate; the fixed platform, the vertical fixing rod I and the vertical fixing rod II are connected through the horizontal fixing rod; and the experiment table assembly is arranged above the fixed platform.

The invention discloses a free grabbing and fixing device for a medical functional experiment mouse, and relates to the technical field of medical function. The free grabbing and fixing device specifically comprises a mouse box and a bottom cabinet, wherein the left end of the mouse box is connected with a pipeline, and the other end of the pipeline is connected with a disinfection assembly; and the disinfection assembly comprises a disinfection box, a disinfection frame and an atomizing spray head, and the disinfection frame is arranged in the disinfection box. The free grabbing and fixing device for the medical functional experiment mouse has the advantages that when the experiment mouse is sucked, a grabbing arm and an air bag in a grabbing assembly are matched, so that the air bag is inflated to clamp the experiment mouse; the air bag can be separated by a locking tooth block in the middle of the grabbing arm, so that the experiment mouse can be clamped; when the flexible air bag is used for grabbing and fixing the experiment mouse, the discomfort of the experiment mouse is reduced, so that movement of the experiment mouse is reduced, and normal operation of the experiment is guaranteed; and the size of the experiment mouse can be determined by air introduced into the air bag, so that the grabbing stability is guaranteed.

The invention discloses a rearing cage for unified injection of experimental mice. The rearing cage comprises a machine shell, wherein a driving cavity is formed in the upper portion of the machine shell, a driving mechanism is arranged in the driving cavity, an injection action cavity with an opening in the right cavity wall is formed in the middle of the machine shell, an injection action block groove communicating with the injection action cavity is formed in the injection action cavity, an injection action block is connected to the interior of the injection action block groove in a sliding mode, and an injection mechanism is arranged in the injection action block. The cage is simple in structure and convenient and fast to operate, when the cage works, an injector for injection can be placed in the cage, then the cage is started, the cage can attract laboratory mice by means of food, the laboratory mice are trapped in the container with the size fixed, then a needle sinks by 45 degrees to inject one mouse, a needle carrier is moved to the next position, the needle is replaced in the process, then the next mouse is injected, and therefore, the cage has the beneficial effects of being convenient, fast and effective.

A garbage deodorant is prepared from substances in parts by mass as follows: 10-20 parts of a plant hydrated extract, 30-50 parts of edible mushroom waste and 5-10 parts of a microbial agent. The garbage deodorant has an effective application in the aspect of deodorization of stale refuse or domestic organic garbage. The plant deodorant product is toxic-free and harmless and has no irritation. Experiments through laboratory rats and little white rabbits prove that the deodorant has no transoral toxicity or irritation to skin. The efficient compound microbial deodorant for a garbage dump is lowin cost, high in efficiency, wide in application and very practical in specific production.

The invention relates to a fixing frame for a laboratory mouse. The fixing frame comprises a base plate and a restraint net cover, wherein the mesh diameter of the restraint net cover is smaller than 5mm, the restraint net cover is hinged to one end of the base plate by a hinge, the other end of the restraint net cover and the base plate can be locked by a locking mechanism, the upper end face of the base plate is provided with grooves matched with the body of the laboratory mouse, the grooves comprise a head groove, limb grooves and a body groove, the restraint net cover is provided with an opening corresponding to the body groove in the base plate, the opening is provided with a net window of which one end is hinged to the restraint net cover by a hinge, and the other end of the net window and the restraint net cover can be locked by a locking mechanism. The fixing frame disclosed by the invention is simple in structure, solid, durable, easy to clean and maintain and convenient for experimental operation, the work load of a fixing person can be reduced, an operator is effectively prevented from being scratched, and the operation is safer.

The invention discloses a bone biopsy needle and provides an implant and a method for establishing a bacterial biofilm infected animal model. The implant is a hollow tubular object; one end of the implant is aculeated and used for piercing the skin of an animal to be molded. The invention also provides a method for establishing the bacterial biofilm infected animal model by using the implant. The implant and the method for establishing the bacterial biofilm infected animal model do not need open operations, are simple and convenient to operate, not only are suitable for larger animals like rabbit, guinea pig and rat, but also can be used for laboratory rats. Moreover, the wound surfaces are small, and the animals can recover quickly. Therefore, the bad influences of anthropogenic factors like operative procedures and the like on the experimental animals can be effectively limited; and the condition control during the establishing of models is improved.

A composition for culturing the spleen lymphocytes of laboratory rats comprises an RPMI-1640 culture medium, and concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, beta-mercaptoethanol, mannitol, sodium azide, dimethyl sulfoxide and the like are further added into the RPMI-1640 culture medium. Test results prove that the composition can achieve the purpose of maintaining in-vitro long-term proliferation of rat lymphocytes, the number of lymphocytes required by fundamental researches can be achieved through proper proliferation, and the ratio of T cells to B cells is kept unchanged.

The invention relates to a multifunctional brain stereotaxic device. The device includes a fixing mechanism, a three-dimensional location mechanism and an auxiliary mechanism; the fixing mechanism, the three-dimensional location mechanism and the auxiliary mechanism are arranged on a base plate; the three-dimensional location mechanism is arranged above the fixing mechanism; the base plate is provided with a horizontal sliding groove; and the auxiliary mechanism is slidingly arranged in the horizontal sliding groove, and can slide to the upper part of the fixing mechanism and the lower part ofthe three-dimensional location mechanism. The device is scientific and reasonable in design and convenient in using, utilizes the fixing mechanism and the three-dimensional location mechanism to realize the fixing of an experimental rat, and can precisely and effectively perform adjusting and fixing on a three-dimensional coordinate; through the arrangement of a rotary limit disc, the device canbe suitable for drill bits and micro-syringes with various specifications, so that experiment accuracy and efficiency can be effectively enhanced; the supporting on the head skin of the experimental rat can be realized through an experimental supporting unit and an auxiliary unit of the auxiliary mechanism; through the auxiliary unit, the collection of residual blood and the monitoring on the heart of the experimental rat can be realized; and therefore, the integrated multifunctional brain stereotaxic device has high application values and good actual use effect.

The invention relates to the field of laboratory mouse feed, and particularly discloses immunodeficient mouse feed. The immunodeficient mouse feed is prepared from the following raw materials in partsby weight: 80-90 parts of corn flour, 4-8 parts of bran, 5-9 parts of soybean meal, 1-2 parts of beer yeast, 5-8 parts of vegetable oil, 0.001-0.003 part of organic zinc, 0.001-0.002 part of selenoprotein, 0.2-0.5 part of methionine, 0.2-0.5 part of lysine, 0.1-0.2 part of vitamin A, 0.1-0.2 part of vitamin B6, 0.01-0.02 part of ferrous sulfate and 0.08-0.12 part of calcium bicarbonate, wherein the organic zinc is prepared as follows: iminodiacetonitrile reacts with epoxy chloropropane, then an obtained product reacts with chitosan oligosaccharide, a generated compound is hydrolyzed, and thencoordination reaction with zinc ions is conducted. The immunodeficient mouse feed has the advantage of improving the reproductive rate of immunodeficient mice. In addition, the invention further provides a preparation method of the immunodeficient mouse feed.

The invention discloses a quick-disinfection temporary cage for experimental mice, which comprises a temporary cage body and a cage door. The upper and lower sides of the front side wall of the temporary cage body are symmetrically provided with chutes, and the temporary cage body The interior of the cage is provided with a rat-repelling board, one side of the temporary cage body is equidistantly distributed with air nozzles from top to bottom, and the top of the temporary cage body is provided with a shunt pipe. In the present invention, sprinklers are equidistantly distributed on the top of the temporary cage, and through these nozzles, the disinfectant inside the liquid storage bin can be quickly and evenly sprayed into the cage, thereby completing the rapid and automatic disinfection of the temporary cage. The air nozzles distributed equidistantly from top to bottom on one side can blow the wind generated by the fan to the sterilized holding cage in the form of diffusion, thus effectively improving the air-drying efficiency. Through the combined use of these structures, not only the Automatic disinfection of temporary cages, while the disinfection process is efficient and fast, and can be put into use soon.

The invention belongs to the technical field of medical devices and particularly relates to a laboratory rat dissection device and a use method thereof. The laboratory rat dissection device comprisesa dissection table, a dissection cushion, fixing parts and binding parts, wherein the dissection cushion is detachably mounted on the dissection table; a plurality of inserting holes are uniformly distributed in the dissection cushion; and the lower parts of the fixing parts and the binding parts are detachably inserted into the inserting holes. The dissection table and the dissection cushion aredetachably connected, so that a researcher conveniently selects the proper dissection cushion according the size of body of a laboratory rat and the dissection cushion can be conveniently dismounted and disinfected. The use method of the laboratory rat dissection device is simple and convenient to operate and facilitates the dissection work of the laboratory rat by a single researcher; and all main components of the dissection device are detachably connected and mounted and are convenient to clean and disinfect.

The invention discloses a laboratory mouse subcutaneous injection fixing device. The laboratory mouse subcutaneous injection fixing device comprises: a fixing base internally provided with a cavity; a four-limb fixing mechanism which comprises four fixing rubber bands, wherein the fixing rubber bands are arranged on the fixing base and correspond to the positions of the four limbs of the mouse; and a trunk fixing mechanism which comprises a fixing sleeve, wherein a through hole communicated with the cavity is formed in the fixing base, a baffle which is in sliding connection with the cavity and can open and close the through hole is arranged at the top of the cavity, one end of the fixing sleeve is hinged to the surface of the fixing base, the other end of the fixing sleeve can be inserted into the through hole, a plurality of elastic limiting plates are arranged on the inner side face, away from the hinged end, of the fixing sleeve in the axial direction, and the limiting plates are arranged in the direction of the hinged end. By using the fixing device for the subcutaneous injection of the laboratory mouse, the limbs and the trunk of the mouse can be fixed, so that the mouse can be prevented from scratching an experimenter and struggling the body to influence the experiment effect during a subcutaneous injection experiment.

The invention provides a method for determining tissue distribution of MSC. The method comprises the following steps of (1) infusing human mesenchymal stem cells into a laboratory mouse body, sampling organs or tissues to be monitored at regular intervals, and extracting DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) samples; (2) extracting DNA from the determined number of human mesenchymal stem cells and diluting the DNA into DNA solutions with a series of concentrations; (3) carrying out real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) by taking the sequences as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO: 2 as primers and taking the DNA sample in the step (1) and the DNA solution in the step (2) as templates; and (4) making a standard curve according to the CT values of the DNA solutions with the series concentrations in the step (2), and calculating the number of the DNA samples in the step (1). According to absolute quantification of the tissue mesenchymal stem cells, the colonization rate of the mesenchymal stem cells in each tissue and the metabolism condition of the mesenchymal stem cells in each tissue along with time in the body can be detected, and a reference basis is provided for designing the administration route and dosage in a clinical scheme.