Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of PRGD composite nerve conduit in the treatment of human large-diameter,critical peripheral nerve defect in upper extremity.Methods From December,2011 to August,2014,19 patients with large-diameter,critical peripheral nerve defect in upper extremity were treated with PRGD composite nerve conduit.The patients were followeded-up periodically.The sensory and motor function recovery,high frequency ultrasound,and EMG were employed to assess the efficacy.Results The patients were followed up for an average time of 12-32 months(mean 21.75 ± 6.86 months),sensory and motor function recovered excellent in 7 patients,satisfactory in 7 patients,tolerable in 3 patients and no improvement in 2 patients were obtained according to the peripheral nerve function assessment standard built by British medical research council,the rate excellent and satisfactory results was 73.7％.Conclusion It is clinically promising to use PRGD composite nerve conduit to repair large-diameter,critical peripheral nerve defect in upper extremity,thus laying a foundation for its further application in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVETo study the short-term effects of nociceptive trigeminal inhibitory tension suppression system (NTI-tss) and occlusal stabilization splint (OS) on sleep bruxism patients.

METHODSTen patients received the two splint treatments in a randomized cross-over fashion: An NTI-tss and an OS for a 1-week period, respectively. Record the bruxism episodes per hour, micro-arousals per hour of the patients before wearing the splints (baseline), the first night and 1 week after wearing the splints with polysomnography. Statistical analysis was performed with SAS 9.1 by means of mixed effect model analysis.

RESULTSThere were no differences among the micro-arousal index of the baseline, the first night and 1 week later with both types of the splints (P>0.05). The NTI-tss was associated with a significant reduction in bruxism index compared with baseline. The bruxism index of baseline, the first night and 1 week later were 7.50 +/- 1.11, 3.45 +/- 1.22, and 3.51 +/- 1.03 per hour(the first night vs baseline, t=26.52, P<0.01; 1 week vs baseline, t=26.12, P<0.01). There were also significant differences in the bruxism index after wearing the OS. The bruxism index of baseline, the first night and 1 week later were 7.44 +/- 1.23, 2.97 +/- 0.91 and 6.43 +/- 1.02 per hour(the first night vs baseline, t=16.79, P<0.01; 1 week vs baseline, t=3.79, P<0.01). Compared with the NTI-tss group, the reduction was much less, especially 1 week later.

CONCLUSIONBoth the NTI-tss and the OS splints can reduce the bruxism index, and have no affect the incidence of micro-arousal. In this short term study, the NTI-tss was more effective than the OS for the treatment of sleep bruxism.

Bruxism ; Humans ; Occlusal Splints ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Bruxism ; Splints

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect and related mechanism of all￣trans retinoic acid (atRA) exposure on osteogenic differentiation of mouse embryonic palate masenchymal cells MEPM. METHODS MEPM were cultured in osteogenic medium (OM) with atRA 0.1 and 1.0 μmol??L-1 for 1, 3,5, 7 and 9 d. MTT assay was performed to measure the cell viability. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was measured by chemical colorimetry. The cells were stained using the Von￣Kossa technique to detect the formation of mineralization nodules after 21 d of culture. RT￣PCR was performed to determine expression Runx2, osteopontin, bone morphogenetic protein receptor ( Bmpr) 1b, Bmpr2 and Smad5 mRNA. RESULTS The result of MTT on 9 d showed that, compared with normal control group, the cell viability of OM, OM+atRA 0.1 and 1.0 μmol??L-1 groups decreased significantly(P<0.01). Compared with normal control group, ALP activity of OM group increased significantly(P<0.05), while the ALP activity of OM+atRA 0.1 and 1.0 μmol??L-1 groups was lower than OM group(P<0.05). On 21 d, the Von￣Kossa stai￣ning results showed that the percentage of mineralization nodules formation of OM+atRA 1.0 μmol??L-1 group was (3.65±1.24)%, which was significantly lower than that of OM group(10.33±2.29)%(P<0. 05). On 9 d, the relative Run expression of OM group was the highest one in the four groups, while at￣RA 1.0 μmol??L-1 treatment negatively regulated 20% in comparsion with OM group(P<0.05). Compared with normal control group, the mRNA expression of osteopontin of OM, OM+atRA 0.1 and 1.0 μmol??L-1 groups increased significantly(P<0.05); BDNF mRNA expression of OM group was 2.6￣fold to normal control group, while that of OM+atRA 1.0 μmol??L-1 group was 33% to OM group(P<0.05) . The level of Smad5 mRNA of OM+atRA 1.0 μmol??L-1 group was significantly lower than that of OM group(P<0.05). CONCLUSION atRA Might inhibit osteogenic differentiation of MEPM by down￣regulated the expression of Bmpr1b.

Objective To clone the aldehyde dehydrogenase (adhA) gene from Methylovorus glucosotrophus and study its expression,purification and enzymatic characteristics.Methods The adhA gene was amplified and cloned to the expression vector pTIG.The AdhA was successfully expressed with induction in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3).The enzymatic characteristics were investigated by AHMT,and AdhA was purified by Ni+ exchange chromatography.Results AdhA accounted for more than 50% of the total cell proteins,and the purity was about 95%.With methanol as the substrate,the optimal pH of AdhA was 7.0,while the optimal temperature was 30℃.The enzymatic activity of purified AdhA remained about 60% when stored at room temperature for 6 days.Conclusion AdhA from MP688 is expressed in vitro,and methanol is the optimal substrate among all the substrates investigated.

Objective To study the value of BCSG1 on evaluating the curative effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NC) for breast cancer.Methods The expression of BCSG1 in cancer tissue was assayed by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR in 36 cases of breast cancer patients before and after receiving NC of CEF(cyclophosphamide,epirubicin and fluorouracil) regimen.The therapeutic response of NC was evaluated by morphological and pathological observation.The relationship between expression of BCSG1 and morphological response to NC was analyzed.Results Among the studied cases,the diameter of tumor significantly decreased(P

0);while the gene frequency of HLA-DQA1 * 0401 allele in children FC was 0.9 %,which was lower than that of the control group(8.5 %,P = 0.0350).Conclusion HLA-DQA1 0101 allele maybe a susceptible gene and HLA-DQA1 * 0401 allele maybe a protective gene of FC in children FC in Han nationality in Baotou.There was no correlation between HLA-DQB1 and FC.

BACKGROUND:Rapid developments in the field of bioinformatics have provided new methods for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis.Artificial neural networks have powerful data computing and classification capabilities,which have shown better performance in disease diagnosis. OBJECTIVE:To establish a new diagnostic predictive model of osteoarthritis based on artificial neural network and to verify the diagnostic value of the model in osteoarthritis with an external dataset. METHODS:The eligible osteoarthritis-related data sets were downloaded through GEO database search and divided into Train group and Test group.The gene expression matrix of the Train group was analyzed to screen the differentially expressed genes.GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed on the differentially expressed genes.Through Lasso regression model,support vector machine model and random forest tree model,the key genes of osteoarthritis were further identified from the differentially expressed genes.The R software"Neuralnet"package was then used to construct the osteoarthritis diagnosis model based on artificial neural network,and the model performance was evaluated by the five-fold cross-validation.Two independent data sets in the Test group were used to verify their diagnostic results. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 90 differentially expressed genes related to osteoarthritis were obtained by differential analysis,of which 33 were down-regulated and 57 were up-regulated.GO enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in the following biological processes,including leukocyte-mediated immunity,leukocyte migration in bone marrow and chemokine production.KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these genes were mainly enriched in rheumatoid arthritis,interleukin-17 signaling pathway and osteoclast differentiation pathway.Five key genes for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis,HMGB2,GADD45A,SLC19A2,TPPP3 and FOLR2,were identified by three machine learning methods.The artificial neural network model of five key genes in the Train group showed that the accuracy was 96.36%and the area under the curve was 0.997.The five-fold cross validation of the neural network model showed that the average area under the curve was greater than 0.9 and the model was of robustness.Two independent data sets in the Test group showed its area under the curve was 0.814 and 0.788 respectively.Therefore,the establishment of an artificial neural network model for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis has a certain diagnostic value.

BACKGROUND:Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease.It is important to study the immunological changes involved in it for diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE:To identify immune-related biomarkers associated with rheumatoid arthritis utilizing bioinformatics techniques and examine alterations in immune cell infiltration as well as the relationship between immune cells and biomarkers. METHODS:Differential expression analysis was used to identify the immune-related genes that were up-regulated in rheumatoid arthritis based on the GEO and Immport databases.Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)and gene ontology(GO)enrichment analyses were used to investigate the possible function of these elevated genes.The immunological characteristic genes associated with rheumatoid arthritis were screened using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(Lasso)and support vector machine recursive feature elimination(SVM-RFE).Independent datasets were used for difference validation,and the diagnostic performance was evaluated by plotting receiver operating characteristic curves for feature genes.Immune cell infiltration was used to analyze the differential profile of immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis and the correlation between the characterized genes and immune cells.In order to ascertain the causal relationship between monocytes and rheumatoid arthritis in immune cells,Mendelian randomization analysis was ultimately employed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There were 39 upregulated differentially expressed genes in rheumatoid arthritis.The genes were primarily enriched in chemotaxis,cytokine activity,and immune receptor activity,according to GO enrichment analysis,while kEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the genes were considerably enriched in the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway and peripheral leukocyte migration.Lasso and SVM-RFE identified five feature genes:CXCL13,SDC1,IGLC1,PLXNC1,and SLC29A3.Independent dataset validation of the feature genes found them to be similarly highly expressed in rheumatoid arthritis samples,with area under the curve values greater than 0.8 for all five feature genes in both datasets.Immune cell infiltration indicated that most immune cells,including natural killer cells and monocytes,exhibited increased levels of infiltration in rheumatoid arthritis samples.The correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between memory B cells and immature B cells and these five feature genes.Correlation analysis showed that the five feature genes were positively correlated with memory B cells and immature B cells.The inverse variance weighting method revealed that monocytes were associated with the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the genetic susceptibility of HLA-DQA1 allele to anaphylactoid purpura(AP)and its association with the clinical features in juvenile Hans residing in Inner Mongolia.

METHODSSeventy children with AP and ninety normal controls of Hans in Inner Mongolia were subjected to HLA-DQA1 genotyping with the use of polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) technique.

RESULTS(1) The gene frequency of HLA-DQA1*0301 of AP group (33.4%) was significantly higher than that (10.6%) of control group (chi square=21.899, P<0.01). On the other hand, the gene frequencies of HLA-DQA1*0302 were 6.7% and 19% in the AP group and the control group respectively; a significant difference between them was seen (chi square=9.786, P<0.01); (2)The gene frequencies of both DQA1*0301 and DQA1*0302 in the cutaneous purpura simplex cases and the controls were not significantly different (P>0.05). The gene frequencies of DQA1*0301 of the cutaneous purpura cases associated with gastrointestinal, joint and renal impairment were 26.7%, 28.5% and 29.3% respectively, which were higher than that of the control group (10.6%); the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01, 0.01, 0.01; respectively). The gene frequencies of HLA-DQA1*0302(3.9%, 5.7% and 9.6%) for the cutaneous purpura cases associated with gastrointestinal, joint and renal impairment were significantly lower than that (19%) of the controls except renal impairment(P<0.01, 0.01, respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe allele of HLA-DQA1*0301 was probably a susceptible gene while HLA-DQA1*0302 was the protective one in AP of the children who were Han inhabitants in Inner Mongolia. The results of this study also revealed that patients with the allele of HLA-DQA1*0301 tended to involve gastrointestinal, joint and renal impairment.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; complications ; genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; HLA-DQ Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DQ alpha-Chains ; Humans ; Joint Diseases ; complications ; genetics ; Male ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; complications ; genetics ; Renal Insufficiency ; complications ; genetics

Objective: The present study evaluated the clinical effects of Invisalign-aided molar distalization in the treatment of mild or moderate crowding in anterior teeth. Methods: Eleven adults with class Ⅱ dental malocclusion and a class Ⅰ skeletal pattern were selected as subjects. The patients’ molar occlusion did not exhibit an end-to-end relationship. Subjects were selected for straight profile, mild or moderate crowding in maxillary teeth and normal or mild crowding in mandibular teeth. Nonextraction and Invisalign-aided molar distalization were planned for treatment. Model measurement and cephalometric analysis were performed before and after treatment. A paired t test was used for the statistical analysis. Results: The crowding and class Ⅱ molar relationship were corrected in all 11 patients. The upper first molars were moved distally by 2.32 mm (t = 3.315, P < 0.01) and were inclined distally by 3.35° (t = 3.959, P < 0.01) on average. The central incisors were protruded by 1.72 ° (t = 3.274, P < 0.01) on average. The buccal movement of the upper first molars was 1.32 mm (t = 2.461, P < 0.05) on average. The above differences were statistically significant. Conclusion Upper molar distalization can be achieved using a class Ⅱ elastic-aided Invisalign technique. The end-to-end molar occlusion can be corrected, and front teeth with mild or moderate crowding can be aligned using our treatment protocol.