Pedicle screw loosening and axial dislocation are main reasons for spinal internal fixation failure. Screw loosening and dislocation is caused by screw extraction force,and the screw withdrawl force is related to screw diameter,screw thread design,bone density,and operation skills. Withdrawl intensity is increased with screw diameter and length. Pedicle screw stability can be decreased by osteoporosis. For osteoporotic patients,it is difficult to increase screw diameter alone,so polymethyl methacrylate bone cement is used to enhance screw stability and anti-flexion intensity. However,polymerization heat may induce tissue injury,and long-term stay may produce toxicity and exhibit cancerogenesis. Novel additive materials with good biocompatibility such as hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate bone cement are gradually replacing polymethyl methacrylate bone cement. In addition,screw entrance point,direction and exact location during screw implantation can decrease pullout strength reducation caused by screw re-twisting and improve screw extraction intensity and stability.

Objective To investigate the expression of pro-irtilammatory mediator in peripheral blood of patients with severe sepsis treated by different therapeutic dose of high-volume hemofiltration (HVHF). Methods According to the standard of severe sepsis, 83 cases were randomly divided into three groups, A group [60 ml/(kg·h)], S group[80 ml/(kg·h)], C group[100 ml/(kg·h)], respectively. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-8 in plasma of patients were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before treatment and at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 h after treatment, and the grades of APACHEⅢ were evaluated at every time-point simultaneously. Results The grades of APACHEⅢ were lower after treatment than those before treatment (P<0.05), but the decreases between every group had no significant deviation (P>0.05). The levels of TNF-Ⅲ, IL-1, IL-8 in plasma of patients were all decreased gradually after treatment. Compared with those before treatment, the levels of TNF-α,IL-1 and IL-8 at 2, 4 and 6 h after HVHF were obviously decreased (P<0.05). The levels of TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-8 were lightly increases at 4 and 6 h after HVHF, but they were lower that those before treatment (P<0.05). At every time-point, the levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-8 trended to decrease following the increase, of displacement liquid volume, the mean levels of pro-inflammatory mediator in C group were markedly reduced compared with the levels in A group (P<0.05). Conclusion HVHF can decrease the levels of pro-inflammatory mediator in peripheral blood of patients with severe sepsis and the grades of APACHEⅢ, the more the therapeutic dose of HVHF, the lower the levels of pro-inflammatory mediator.

BACKGROUND: There are a lot of controversies regarding the choice of short versus long segment pedicle screw fixation for the treatment of isthmic spondylolisthesis and degenerative spondylolisthesis treatment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate clinical efficacy of short versus long segment pedicle screw fixation in treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis.METHODS: A total of 146 spondylolisthesis patients were included in this study, 36 males and 110 females, aged 22-73 years at a mean of 53 years; disease duration was from 1 to 18 years at a mean of 5 years. These patients were treated with lumbar spinal window-opened decompression or laminectomy decompression, a short or long segment pedicle screw internal fixation, transverse interbody fusion.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Among 146 involved patients, 72 cases were treated with four pedicle screw fixation (short segments), while 74 cases with six pedicle screw fixation (long segments). Interbody graft was performed in 101 cases, while intertransverse fusion given in 45 cases. Totally 134 cases were followed up for postoperative 1.5-14 years. According to clinical grading standards of Steffee system, the clinical efficacy was assayed excellent in 74 cases, good in 41 cases, mild in 13 cases and poor in 6 cases, with good rate of 85.8%. 77 cases achieved a complete reduction, including 32 cases using a short segment fixation and 45 cases using a long segment fixation. 69 cases achieved partial reduction, including 40 cases using a short segment fixation and 29 cases using a long segment fixation. Pedicle screws ruptures were found in 13 screws of eight patients undergoing short segment fixation, while no pedicle screw fracture was found in long segment fixation. Choice of short or long segment for the fixation is based on the analysis of spondylolisthesis type, severity, duration of disease, emergence of adjacent segment disc degeneration and instability.

A total of 64 patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis were enrolled from Department of Bone Surgery in the People's Hospital of Haian Province between January 2002 and December 2007, including 19 males and 45 females. They aged 26-73 years with a mean of 48.5 years. Their disease course was 1-15 years with a mean of 4 years. All patients complained about the repeated low back pain accompanied with lower limb radiating pain and intermittent claudication (50-300 m). Fifty-nine patients suffered from lumbar spondylolysis, including L3 Ⅰ degree in 3 cases, L4 Ⅰ degree in 31 cases,L4, Ⅱ degree in 13 cases, Ls Ⅰdegree in 9 cases and L5 Ⅱ degree in 3 cases. The remaining 5 cases were present with lumbar degenerative pseudo-spondylolysis. All patients were processed into whole laminectomy for decompression or vertebral canal decompression by fenestration, domestic vertebral internal fixation, reduction and interbody fusion. Fifty-five patients were followed up for an average of 3.1 years whereas 9 patients were lost. According to Steffee clinical effect grading, the curative effect was evaluated as excellent in 28 cases and good in 19 cases, the rate of excellence and good accounted for 85.5%. Within one week following bone graft, all patients were rechecked with X-ray plain film, 28 of them had shown complete reduction and 36 cases were present with part reduction. The fusion rate of interbody graft was 100%. These findings demonstrated that vertebral internal fixation system possesses a simple structure, convenient operation and solid fixation, resets the slipped vertebral body and significantly increases the fusion rate of vertebral graft.

Objective To explore the spatial distribution of schistosomiasis cases and Oncomelania snails in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi with the assistance of geographic information systems (GIS). Methods Epidemiological data of schistosomiasis in recent 20 years were collected, and the relevant GIS databases were established. The spatial autocorrelation analysis was carried out with ArcView 3\^x, S\|Plus, and Spatial Statistics software. Results Except for schistosomiasis cases in Jiangsu, the spatial distribution of schistosomiasis cases and Oncomelania snails in the three provinces were fitted to the spatial autocorrelation at a certain degree. Generally the autocorrelation coefficients (Moran′s I) in Oncomelania snails were higher than that in schistosomiasis cases. Conclusion Spatial autocorrelation analysis can be used to estimate the value of one variable in different spatial position, and it is a good way to find out the spatial cluster distribution in different stages.

China's prevention and control of parasitic diseases has made remarkable achievements. However,the prevalence and transmission of parasitic diseases is impacted by the complicated natural and social factors of environment ,natural disas-ters,population movements,and so on. Therefore,there are still the risks of the outbreak of emergency parasitic diseases af-fairs,which may affect the control effectiveness of parasitic diseases and endanger the social stability seriously. In this article , we aim at the analysis of typical cases of emergency parasitic disease affairs and their impacts on public health security in China in recently years,and we also elaborate the disposal characteristics of emergency parasitic disease affairs,and propose the estab-lishment of response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs in China,including the organizational structure and response flow path,and in addition,point out that,in the future,we should strengthen the system construction and measures of the re-sponse system to emergency parasitic disease affairs,so as to control the risk and harm of parasitic disease spread as much as possible and to realize the early intervention and proper disposal of emergency parasitic disease affairs.

Objective To explore and integrate the key techniques used in the surveillance and forecast of schistosomiasis in the water regions along the Yangtze River,so as to provide technical support for identifying rapidly the risk of schistosomiasis transmission and implementing control measures targeting the risk. Methods According to the distribution of water systems and water regions along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province,the demonstration sites for surveillance and forecast of schistoso? miasis were set across the province,where the integration and demonstration of the techniques regarding monitoring of Schistoso?ma japonicum infection in sentinel mice,human and animal activities,release of forecast information,and emergency treat?ment of water regions at risk of infection were performed. The pattern of human and animal activities was compared with the S. ja?ponicum infection in sentinel mice in the demonstration sites,and the operability of the release of information and emergency treatment of the risk of S. japonicum infection was evaluated. Results A total of 50 demonstration sites for surveillance and forecast of schistosomiasis were set in fixed anchor points,opening of the navigation lock to the Yangtze River,freight terminal, agritainment places,ferry,large construction places,and places for guaranteeing the Youth Olympic Games in 23 counties(dis?tricts)of 5 cities,Jiangsu Province. During the period between May and September,2014,the infectivity of water body was monitored by using 5 batches of sentinel mice,with a 99.06%(4 954/5 001)gross recovery rate of mice. S. japonicum infection was detected in a demonstration site,and an infected mouse was found,with a 0.02%(1/4 933)gross positive rate of sentinel mice. The field survey showed 2 088 person?times contacting water,including 91.95%(1 920/2 088)contacting water due to the production such as capturing fish,harvesting and cultivating crops,and repairing and building boats,and 8.05%(168/2 088)contacting water due to the life activity,such as fishing,washing vegetables and playing with water. The people contacted water predominantly in August and September(49.57%). A total of 859 boats containing 1 877 boatmen were observed,68.22%(586/859)of which were fishing boats containing 1 306 fishermen(69.58%). There were 32 sheep found in 4 demonstration sites,and 3 sheep were seen in the demonstration site with infected sentinel mouse. Four blue forecasts(emergence of water con?tact)and one orange forecast(S. japonicum?infected sentinel mouse detected)were released across the province,with one fore?cast map released which showed 5 sites with fishing and one site with sheep grazing,one emergency response system initiated, mollusciciding implemented in 10 hm2 high?risk regions,120 sheep grazed in fence,and 35 fishermen given health?education materials,schistosomiasis examination and preventive therapy. In addition,no acute schistosomiasis occurred in the demonstra?tion site with S. japonicum?infected sentinel mice. Conclusions The integration and demonstration of the techniques regarding monitoring of S. japonicum infection in sentinel mice,human and animal activities,release of forecast information,and emer?gency treatment of water regions at risk of infection provides an effective approach for the large?scale surveillance and forecast of schistosomiasis.

Objective To establish the surveillance and risk assessment system of schistosomiasis in Jiangsu Province,so as to provide technical support for timely understanding of the risk of schistosomiasis transmission and implementation of target-ed control measures. Methods The surveillance sites of schistosomiasis were assigned according to the epidemic status and en-demic type of schistosomiasis as well as the characteristics of the water system,and the prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum in humans and domestic animals,and snail status were investigated. In addition,the quality control of serum detection of S. japon-icum infections was performed. The prevalence of human and animal S. japonicum infections,snail status and missing diagnosis of serum detection were analyzed and compared among regions. Results A total of 27 surveillance sites of schistosomiasis were set up in 26 counties of 10 cities,Jiangsu Province,including 14 sites in transmission-interrupted villages and 13 sites in trans-mission-controlled villages,and 15 sites in marshland and lake regions,9 sites in plain regions with water network and 3 sites in mountainous region. In the 27 surveillance sites,a total of 16 617 residents were screened for S. japonicum infection by using dipstick dye immunoassay(DDIA),and 326 were sero-positive,with a sero-prevalence of 1.96%(2.17%for men and 1.8%for women). Of the 326 individuals undergoing parasitological examination,2 positive cases were detected in the marshland and lake region,with a S. japonicum human prevalence of 0.01%. Of the 762 floating population detected,10 were positive for blood test,with a sero-prevalence of 1.31%,and no egg-positive individuals were detected. No infection was found in the 476 do-mestic animals. Of the 746 settings surveyed,a total of 240.7 hm2 snail area was detected,with a mean snail density of 0.06 snails/0.1 m2,and no infected snails were found. There were 780 quality-control sera detected in 26 surveillance sites of schisto-somiasis,and the gross coincidence rate was 95.13%,with misdiagnosis rate of 1.28%and missing diagnosis rate of 19.23%. Conclusion The surveillance sites of schistosomiasis show reasonable distribution in Jiangsu Province,and the endemic situa-tion of schistosomiasis appears a low level in the whole province.

Scopoletin is a coumarin compound with various biological activities including detumescence and analgesic, insecticidal, antibacterial and acaricidal effects. However, interference with scopolin and other components often leads to difficulties in purification of scopoletin with low extraction rates from plant resource. In this paper, heterologous expression of the gene encoding β-glucosidase An-bgl3 derived from Aspergillus niger were carried out. The expression product was purified and characterized with further structure-activity relationship between it and β-glucosidase analyzed. Subsequently, its ability for transforming scopolin from plant extract was studied. The results showed that the specific activity of the purified β-glucosidase An-bgl3 was 15.22 IU/mg, the apparent molecular weight was about 120 kDa. The optimum reaction temperature and pH were 55 ℃ and 4.0, respectively. Moreover, 10 mmol/L metal ions Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ increased the enzyme activity by 1.74-fold and 1.20-fold, respectively. A 10 mmol/L solution containing Tween-20, Tween-80 and Triton X-100 all inhibited the enzyme activity by 30%. The enzyme showed affinity towards scopolin and tolerated 10% methanol and 10% ethanol solution, respectively. The enzyme specifically hydrolyzed scopolin into scopoletin from the extract of Erycibe obtusifolia Benth with a 47.8% increase of scopoletin. This demonstrated that the β-glucosidase An-bgl3 from A. niger shows specificity on scopolin with good activities, thus providing an alternative method for increasing the extraction efficiency of scopoletin from plant material.
Aspergillus niger/genetics* ; beta-Glucosidase/chemistry* ; Scopoletin ; Polysorbates ; Coumarins

The hydrolysis of xylo-oligosaccharides catalyzed by β-xylosidase plays an important role in the degradation of lignocellulose. However, the enzyme is easily inhibited by its catalytic product xylose, which severely limits its application. Based on molecular docking, this paper studied the xylose affinity of Aspergillus niger β-xylosidase An-xyl, which was significantly differentially expressed in the fermentation medium of tea stalks, through cloning, expression and characterization. The synergistic degradation effect of this enzyme and cellulase on lignocellulose in tea stems was investigated. Molecular docking showed that the affinity of An-xyl to xylose was lower than that of Aspergillus oryzae β-xylosidase with poor xylose tolerance. The K_i value of xylose inhibition constant of recombinant-expressed An-xyl was 433.2 mmol/L, higher than that of most β-xylosidases of the GH3 family. The K_m and V_max towards pNPX were 3.6 mmol/L and 10 000 μmol/(min·mL), respectively. The optimum temperature of An-xyl was 65 ℃, the optimum pH was 4.0, 61% of the An-xyl activity could be retained upon treatment at 65 ℃ for 300 min, and 80% of the An-xyl activity could be retained upon treatment at pH 2.0-8.0 for 24 h. The hydrolysis of tea stem by An-xyl and cellulase produced 19.3% and 38.6% higher reducing sugar content at 2 h and 4 h, respectively, than that of using cellulase alone. This study showed that the An-xyl mined from differential expression exhibited high xylose tolerance and higher catalytic activity and stability, and could hydrolyze tea stem lignocellulose synergistically, which enriched the resource of β-xylosidase with high xylose tolerance, thus may facilitate the advanced experimental research and its application.
Aspergillus niger/genetics* ; Xylose/metabolism* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Xylosidases/genetics* ; Cellulases ; Tea ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Substrate Specificity