Objective To explore the clinical and CT characteristics of extreme lateral lumbar disc herniations and improve the diagnosis. Methods A retrospective analysis of the clinical and CT manifestations in 15 patients with extreme lateral lumbar disc herniations proved by operation was done. Results Extreme lateral lumbar disc herniation at L4/5 level is more common. Intraforaminal lumbar disc herniations combined with extraforaminal herniation were seen in most cases. The clinical findings often presented lumbar bi-root compression syndromes. Conclusion The clinical presentation combined with CT image is the key to the correct diagnosis.

Objective:To observe the fumigating insecticidal activity of 5 essential oils(asteraceae oil,rutaceae oil,mentha piperita oil,carvacryl oil and citronella oil) against Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus.Methods: Fumigating insecticidal activity was investigated by airtight fumigation in conical flask.Results: After different fumigating time,5 essential oils showed different toxity against Culex pipien quinqucfasciatus.Of 5 essential oils,rutaceae oil was the most toxic, with the LC 50 values being 0.013(0.5 h),0.055(4 h) and 0.058(24 h); asteraceae oil was the lowest toxic one, with the LC 50 values being 0.948(0.5 h),0.427(4 h) and 1.711(24 h).When LC 95 values of the 5 essential oils were used to treat Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus,the shortest fumigating time appeared in carvacryl oil(6.087 min) and the longest in citrinella oil(21.143 min).Conclusion: All the 5 essential oils have considerable insecticidal effects against Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus.Rutaceae oil and carvacryl oil are better than the others,which provides basic informations for the related field experiments.

Objective To select polyethylenimine polymer with proper molecular weight to enhance the gene expression efficiency of Adenovirus (Ad).Methods Ad was resepcitively complexed with PEI-600,PEI-1 800 and PEI 25 000 by electrostatic adsorption.Afterwards,MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was used to investigate the cytotoxicity of the complexes with a serial concentration,followed by cell transduction assay to select the best amount of PEI with fixed dose of Ad.In the further,the physicochemical characteristics of the optimized complexes,Zeta potential,and size distribution were studied.Results MTT showed the higher the PEI moderate molecular weight was,the greater the cytotoxity was.PEI-25 000 showed a greater cytotoxicity than that of PEI-600 and PEI-1 800.As compared with PEI-600 and PEI-25 000,PEI-1 800 significanlty promoted expression of Ad gene in A549 cells.PEI turned the Zeta potential of Ad from negative to positive charge.Conclusion In the three kinds of polymer/adenovirus compounds,the cytotoxicity of the compound is positively correlated with the polymer molecular weight and concentration.The greater molecular weight the polymer as well as the higher the concentration are,the higher the cytotoxicity is.

BACKGROUND: The residual root of anterior teeth are usually repaired by means of post and cores plus porcelain fused metal crown in clinic, and the retention force is mainly provided by the post because of the deletion of crown, so the retention force provided by the post is directly correlated with the long-term effect of repair.OBJECTIVE: To analyze the changes of retention of cast metal post and core restorations with different convergence angles, and investigate the influence of convergence angles on retention.DESIGN: A repeated observational measurement.SETTING: Department of Prosthodontics, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University.MATERIALS: The experiments were carried out in the building of high polymer material of Sichuan University in May 2005. Fifty-four simulated tooth roots were manufactured by the numerical control machine tools.They were divided into six groups according to the convergence angles of post being 0°, 3.93°, 5.71°, 7.48°, 11.31° and 14.71°, with nine specimens in each group.METHODS: ① Manufacture of the standard specimens: The tooth roots with the convergence angles of 0°,3.93°, 5.71°, 7.48°, 11.31° and 14.71° were prepared with the digital control precision machine. ② Manufacture of the cast post and cores: The post and core wax patterns of the specimens were made in the condition similar to the clinical practice. The post and cores were cast and tried in, necessary grinding was made to ensure the adoption of the posts and the specimens. Then the posts were luted to the specimens with ZPC after the posts and the simulated root canals having een cleaned by alcohol. The posts and the specimens were pressed until the ZPC solidified. ③ Retention Force test: After having been dipped in physiological saline for 24 hours, the bonded castings and specimens were subjected to a tensile testing at the drawing speed of 10 mm per minute.The retention force of post was the load recorded when the post was pulled out from the specimen. ④ Planar bonding strength test: We cut a PMMA stick into the same little cylinders and made angular milling on the flank of the cylinders. The angle between the milled bevel and the central axis of the cylinder was controlled to 0°, 1.9°, 3°, 6°, 9°, 12° and 15°. Afterwards we cut the brass into pieces. Eight wafers were cast with the same diameter of 8 mm and thickness of 1 mm. With the same procedure of bonding the posts to specimens, the brass pieces were bonded to the cylinder bevels and the wafers were adhered to the upside of some unmachinized cylinders.Immerged in physiological saline for 24 hours, their bonding force were tested at the speed of 10 mm per minute, and the load was recorded when the pieces and wafers were separated from the cylinders. ⑤ Calculation of the frictional and interlocking forces: As the post can be regarded as a frustum, the bonding surface area can be calculated with the formula calculating the flank area of frustum, and the area of the occlusal bonding surface is the sum of the annulus part of the root surface and the circular part of the post tip. Some regressions were made to the retention force, frictional strength, bonding strength per unit area, retention force per unit area and frictional force per unit area to convergence angles.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Bonding strength of different convergence angles; ② Influence of different convergence angles on the area and bonding strength of the post; ③ Retention force and frictional force of posts with different convergence angles; ④ The results of the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of bonding strength, retention force and frictional force per unit area.RESULTS: ① The bonding strength of different convergence angles: It was 0.309 0 N/mm2 for the occlusal plane, 0.128 3 N/mm2 for the axial plane with a convergence angle of 0°, 0.108 7 N/mm2 for the 1.9°axial plane, 0.107 2 N/mm2 for the 3°axial plane, 0.084 9 N/mm2 for the 6°axial plane, 0.056 7 N/mm2 for the 9°axial plane, 0.046 3 N/mm2 for the 12°axial plane, 0.027 4 N/mm2 for the 15°axial plane. ② Bonding strength and bonding area of posts with different convergence angles: The post with a 0°convergence angle had a total post area of 108.047 mm2 and bonding strength of 19.041 N; The most tapered post with 14.71°had a total post area of 90.245 mm2 and bonding strength of 5.131 N. ③ The retention force of cast post and the bonding strength of ZPC declined with the increasing of convergence angles of the post. For the parallel post (convergence angle=0°), the retention force was 321.60 N, the frictional force was 302.559 N, retention force per unit area was 2.976 N/mm2,frictional strength was 3.885 N/mm2; for the most tapered post (convergence angle=14.71°), the retention force was 9.93 N, frictional force was 54.799 N, retention force per unit area was 0.664 N/mm2, frictional force was 0.681 N/mm2. ④ A one-way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences in the bonding strength, retention force and frictional force per unit area among the groups (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: The retention force, frictional force and the bonding strength of ZPC decrease with the increasing of convergence angles of posts, so the convergence angles of posts should be reduced as much as possible to obtain greater retention.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effectiveness of Bushen Huoxue Decoction in improving the erectile function of male patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation.

METHODSEighty male CHD patients after PCI with stent implantation were equally assigned to receive conventional Western medicine (control group) and combination of Western medicine with Bushen Huoxue Decoction (treatment group), both for 3 months. Then we compared the pre- and post-medication IIEF-5 scores between the two groups of patients.

RESULTSCompared with pre-medication, the total IIEF-5 score was significantly increased after 3 months both in the treatment group (8.19 ± 2.87 vs 17.83 ± 4.92, P <0.05) and in the control (7.98 ± 2.96 vs 12.18 ± 3.69, P <0.05), even higher in the former than in the latter group (P <0.05), and so were the scores on the 5 specific items (all P <0.05). The total effectiveness rate was 72.5% in the treatment group, significantly higher than 47.5% in the control (P <0.05). No obvious adverse reactions and events were observed during the treatment in either of the groups.

CONCLUSIONBushen Huoxue Decoction can obviously improve the erectile function and the quality of the sexual life of CHD patients after PCI with stent implantation.

Coronary Disease ; surgery ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Penile Erection ; drug effects ; physiology ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Phytotherapy ; Stents

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the radiosensitivity of hepatic carcinoma cells and their survivin expression levels.

METHODSHepatic carcinoma cell lines HepG2 and SMMC-7721 were irradiated with various doses of 60Co gamma-rays. The cell survival rate, expression of survivin, cell cycle profile and activity of caspase-3 were respectively detected by clonogenic assay, immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry and chromatometry.

RESULTSThe surviving fraction at 2Gy (SF2) of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 were 0.43+/-0.01 vs 0.70+/-0.02, and HepG2 had higher radiosensitivity than SMMC-7721. gamma-rays radiation up-regulated the expression of survivin. SMMC-7721 had a significantly higher expression of survivin than HepG2 (t = 2.81-5.20, P < 0.05). The activity of caspase-3 was more powerful in HepG2 than in SMMC-7721 (t = 6.05-6.72, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSurvivin may play a critical role in mediating radiation resistance in SMMC-7721 through its up-regulation and caspase-3 dependent manner.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; radiotherapy ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Cycle ; radiation effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Gamma Rays ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; radiotherapy ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation

Objective To investigate the clinical value of double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (DCUS) in the macroscopic classification of rectal carcinoma. Methods Seventy-one patients with rectal carcinoma were examined by ultrasound after intrarectal infusion and intravenous bolus injection of SonoVue preoperatively. And three types were divided according to the shape of the tumor:protruding type, ulcerative type and invasive type. After surgery, DCUS and perfusion contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (PCUS) were compared with final pathologic results respectively, and the relationship between general tumor type and TN staging were analyzed.Results The accuracy of DCUS [88.7%(63/71) ] in macroscopic classification of rectal carcinoma was significantly higher than that of PCUS [73.2%(52/71) ](χ2=5.534,P<0.05). For the invasion depth into the intestinal wall, the protruding type was mainly in T1, T2 and T3 stages while ulcerative and invasive type in T2, T3 and T4 stages (χ2=12.322, P<0.05 ). For the stage of lymph node, the protruding type was mainly in N0 and N1 while ulcerative and invasive type in N1 and N2(χ2=6.733,P < 0.05 ). Conclusions DCUS, with its high accuracy, is a new valuable method for macroscopic classification of rectal carcinoma.In the aspect of intestinal wall invasion and the lymph node, protruding type is less severe than ulcerative type and invasive type.

Objective To explore the application value of high frequency ultrasound and MRI in knee osteoarthritis.Methods 94 patients with knee pain as the main clinical manifestations in our hospital from January to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent high-frequency ultrasound, MRI, and arthroscopy. The results of arthroscopy were used as the gold standard, and the signs of high-frequency ultrasound and MRI examinations were summarized and compared with the results of arthroscopy. The sensitivity and specificity between high-frequency ultrasound and MRI in the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis were compared. Results Consistency analysis showed that highfrequency ultrasound, MRI examination with arthroscopy consistent results were good (Kappa=0.63, 0.61, P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of high-frequency ultrasonography for knee osteoarthritis were 86.5％ and 85.0％, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity of MRI was 89.2％ and 75.0％, respectively.The difference between high-frequency ultrasound and MRI was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion High-frequency ultrasound and MRI have good application value in the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, and the results are consistent with that of arthroscopy.Compared with MRI, high-frequency ultrasound diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis has no difference in sensitivity and specificity, and can be used for routine screening of knee osteoarthritis.

Thermogravimetry (TG), TG-MS, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM)-energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) were adopted to investigate the pyrolysis characteristics of calamina. According to the findings of the qualitative and quantitative studies on the changes in the content of relevant elements, the whole shape, the functional groups, and the volatile components of calamina before and after being pyrolyzed, the 200-360, 580-750 degrees C were two sensitive temperature ranges related to the changes in effective component during calamina processing. Thermal weight loss was observed for ZnCO3, Zn(OH)2 and ZnCO3-2Zn(OH)2-H2O under 200-360 degrees C and for CaCO3 under 580-750 degrees C. The results of studies on chemical reaction kinetics showed good linear relations. This experiment integrated relevant methods and theories of physical chemistry and science of traditional Chinese medicine processing, and interpretes calamina processing techniques and mechanism, in order to provide a good example for modem studies on other traditional Chinese medicine processing.
Drug Combinations ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Ferric Compounds ; chemistry ; Kinetics ; Temperature ; Zinc Oxide ; chemistry

Background and purpose: The incidence of breast cancer increases as patients age, elderly patients account for a large proportion. Due to the insufifcient systemic therapy, more complications and poorly physical condition, the prognosis of elderly patients is often worse than the younger. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and tolerance with non-anthracyclin regimen as adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly breast cancer patients. Methods:From Nov. 2008 to Jan. 2012, 56 patients (≥65 years) after surgical excision were enrolled into this study. The patients were divided into two groups:TC and PC groups. Each patient received 4 or 6 cycles of chemotherapy of PC (175 and 600 mg/m2, respectively;n=21) or TC (75 and 600 mg/m2, respectively;n=35), administered intravenously every 3 weeks, as adjuvant chemotherapy. Radiation therapy (as indicated) and endocrine therapy, for patients with hormone receptor-positive disease, were administered after completion of chemotherapy. Results: In this study, 50 patients completed chemotherapy as plan, the proportion of two groups were above 90%. After a median follow-up of 33 months, the median disease-free survival(DFS) and overall survival(OS) were not reached. The relapse-free rate and survival rate were 89.5%and 100%in the PC regime group, which were 90.3%and 96.8%in the TC regime group. Major toxicities included:neutropenia, leucopenia, alopecia, nausea, vomiting and various degree of peripheral neuropathy. The incidence of gradeⅢ-Ⅳneutropenia was 76.2%in PC group vs 48.6%in TC group (P=0.044). The most common cause for withdrawing from treatment was to be unable to tolerate the adverse effects. Conclusion:Adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide is safe, tolerable and promising for elderly breast cancer patients.