Objective To retrospectively analyse the anterior and posterior surgical approaches in treatment of unstable burst thoracolumbar fractures and compare radiographic measurement parameters of beth surgical techniques so as to provide references for surgical treatment of such kind of fracture. Methods The study selected 41 patients with unstable thoracolumbar fracture treated with either anterior neurodecomprossion and fixation (n=19) or posterior reposition and internal fixation by pedicle screw (n=22) from January 2003 to December 2005. All patients were followed up for 24-48 months ( mean 38 months) and divided into anterior approach group and posterior approach group. Sagittal alignment was assessed by the Cobb angle depending on lateral radiographs. Results The Cobb angle of the anterior approach group was average 27.3°on admission but 3.1°postoperatively and 4.6° at follow-up; while the Cobb angle of posterior approach was average 26.1° on admission, 3.0°postoperatively and 12.5°at follow-up. There was no statistical difference between Cobb angle on admission and postoperative one (P>0.05) but showed significant differences between them at follow-up ( P<0.01). Conclusion The anterior surgical approach can consistently yield better maintenance of kyphotic correction compared with the posterior surgical approach.

BACKGROUND:Macropore morphology of a composite scaffold prepared by the three-dimensional printing technique is of great importance in determining the physicochemical and biological properties of tissue engineering scaffolds.OBJECTIVE:To fabricate strontium-containing mesoporous (Sr-MBG) bioactive glass (PCL) scaffolds by the three-dimensional printing technique, and to explore the effect of these scaffolds on MC3T3-E1 proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, thereby to find out the optimal macropore morphology.METHODS: Sr-MBG/PCL composite scaffolds were fabricated by the three-dimensional printing technique. The angles between fibrous latitudes and longitudes were set to 45°, 60° and 90°. Then the proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of MC3T3-E1 cells on the scaffolds were tested.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Cell counting kit-8 results showed that MC3T3-E1 cells could proliferate on all the three kinds of scaffolds. The proliferation rate of MC3T3-E1 cells on the 45° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffolds was just slightly higher than that on the 60° and 90° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffolds at days 1 and 4 (P > 0.05), but there was a significant increase at day 7 (P < 0.05). The 45° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffolds exhibited a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity of MC3T3-E1 cells compared to the 60° and 90° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffolds at day 14 (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference among three groups at day 21 (P > 0.05). These results indicate that the 45° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffold is more suitable to promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of the MC3T3 cells than the 60° and 90° Sr-MBG/PCL scaffolds.

Objective:To learn the prevalence and correlated factors of hyperuricemia in the middle-and-old aged inhabitants of Nanjing. Methods:5 423 inhabitants in the districts of Nanjing were selected by random cluster sampling. The levels of uric acid, creatine, total cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose in the serum were measured,and the diet was also investigated. Results:The prevalence of hyperuricemia in the middle-and-old aged inhabitants was 15.0%, with 20.1% for males and 10.6% for females. The prevalence for males and females increased after 50 years old, and maintained at a high level afterwards. The concentration of uric acid, creatine, total cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose, the blood pressure and BMI in the inhabitants with hyperuricemia were higher than those in the inhabitants without hyperuricemia. The risk factors for hyperuricemia included higher BMI and hypertension, while the protective factor was favorite for hot-food. Conclusion:For the inhabitants over 45 years old in Nanjing, hyperuricemia was common among the adults over 50 years old. Higher BMI and hypertension were the risk factors, while favorite for hot food was the protective factor.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) printing technique has showed unparalleled advantages in the field of tissue engineering scaffold preparation because of its outstanding merits of convenience, efficiency, controllability and ability to construct complex shapes.OBJECTIVE: To fabricate Fe-containing mesoporous calcium-silicate (MCS) /poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) composite scaffolds using the 3D printing technique and to test the characterization and cellular biocompatibility of the composite scaffolds.METHODS: Four groups of Fe-containing MCS/PHBHHx composite scaffolds were fabricated using 3D printing technique. The molar percentage of Fe in these four groups was 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, respectively and they were marked as 0Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 5Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 10Fe-MCS/PHBHHx and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx. The scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the microstructure of the scaffolds after being soaked in the simulated body fluid.Osteoblast cell lines MC3T3-E1 were seeded on these four groups of scaffolds as well. Cell counting kit-8 method was adopted to test the cell proliferation at 1, 3, 7 days of culture. Intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity was tested at 7 and 14 days of culture.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Compared with the scaffolds with no soaking process, spherical particles were formed on the scaffolds because of mineralization after soaking 3 days in the simulated body fluid. (2) At 1 day of culture,there was no difference in cell proliferation among the four groups. At 3 days of culture, the proliferation rate of the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold was remarkably higher than that of the rest three groups (P < 0.05). At 7 days of culture,the proliferation rate was significantly higher in the 10Fe-MCS/PHBHH and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffolds than the 0Fe-MCS/PHBHH scaffold (P < 0.05), as well as significantly higher in the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold than the 10Fe-MCS/PHBHH scaffold (P < 0.05). (3) At 7 days of culture, no difference in alkaline phosphatase activity could be found among these four groups of scaffolds; however, at 14 days, the 5Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 10Fe-MCS/PHBHHx and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffolds exhibited an enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity compared with the 0Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold. Meanwhile, the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx showed the highest alkaline phosphatase activity.These findings indicate that the MCS/PHBHH scaffolds containing Fe could promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of the MC3T3-E1 cells.

At present, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease, and is often regarded as the manifestation of metabolic syndrome in the liver. There are no specific drugs for this disease at the moment, and the only therapeutic method proved effective is guiding life style to reduce body weight. Insulin resistance, oxidative stress response, inflammatory response, and apoptosis are involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Animal experiments and human studies have proved that various natural drugs have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, or insulin-sensitizing effects and thus have significant efficacy in the treatment of NAFLD. This article summarizes the research advances in 10 natural drugs commonly used for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD in recent years and treatment of NAFLD in recent years and concludes that more studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of natural drugs in NAFLD patients.

This paper designed a ventilator control system to control proportional valves and motors. It used LabVIEW to control the object mentioned above and design ,validate, evaluate arithmetic, and establish hardware in loop platform. There are two system' s hierarchies. The high layer was used to run non-real time program and the low layer was used to run real time program. The two layers communicated through TCP/IP net. The program can be divided into several modules, which can be expanded and maintained easily. And the harvest in the prototype designing can be seamlessly used to embedded products. From all above, this system was useful in employing OEM products.
Man-Machine Systems ; Software ; Software Design ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Objective To design a new method of posterior wall reconstruction for severely corn-minuted and obsolete fracture of the posterior wall of the aeetabulum. Methods (1) Biomechanical study (from two perspectives: the stability and the stress distribution on the femoral head and the acetabu-lure) : six fresh adult' s pelvis and femur specimens were collected and divided into experimental group ( consisted of the left sides) and control group ( consisted of the right sides). After the defects of the pos-terior wall were made, the defects were anatomically reconstructed with the harvested ilium by acetabular tridimentional memory fixation system (ATMFS) in the experimental group, whereas the acetabular frag-ments were repositioned to the defect sites and fixated by the plates and screws in the control group. Lon-gitudinal and latitudinal displacement, stability of the anatomically reconstructed posterior wall of the ace-tabulum, the fitness of femoral head to the acetabulum after anatomical reconstruction and mean and maxi-mum pressure of anterior wall, posterior and cupuh of the acetabuhm were analysed and compared. (2) Cinical study: The posterior wall defect on the harvested ilium piece was repaired with 3-directional loc-king of ATMFS in 10 male patients (at age of 16-50 years, mean 36.4 years) from January 2000 to June 2002. There were seven patients with flesh acetabular fractures and three with old acetabular fractures.The period from fracture to reconstruction for the patients with old fractures was 58-251 days ( 137.7 days an average). The patients were foUowed up for 5.8 years (average 5.2-7.1 years). Results (1) Biomechanical study showed no statistical difference upon stability and fitness of femoral head to acetabu-lum after reconstruction in experimental and control groups. (2) Clinical study: postoperative X-ray film showed no repeated displacement of the fracture and the patients began out-of-bed movement with weight bearing after 1.6 months (1.2-2.1 months). Heterotopic ossification was found in two patients, with no influence on the joint function. According to the elinieal ranking standard of Modified d' Aubigne and Postal, the excellence rate was 93%. Conclusions Anatomical reconstruction of posterior wall of the acetabulum by using serf ilium with ATMS has good stability and stress distribution of the femoral head and the reconstructed acetabulum in clinical application and offers a new method for treatment of severely comminuted and obsolete fracture of posterior wall of acetabulum.

Objective To explore the incidence of tibial plateau fracture with ligament injuries and the early diagnosis and management of the condition. Methods Fifty seven cases of tibial plateau fractures which had been treated operatively from Jan. 2001 to Jun.2003 and had satisfactory reduction of the articular surface were reviewed. The stability of their knee joints was analyzed. Results The follow up lasted 6 to 30 months with an average of 15 months. The incidence of knee unstability was low. The four potential reasons for the postoperative knee stability were found to be: 1) the low prevalence of ligament injury with displaced fractures of tibial plateau; 2) incomplete ligament disruption or mild ligament injury; 3) anatomic reduction and rigid internal fixation; 4) fine and detailed plan for immobilization and functional exercise. Conclusion The prevalence of complete ligament disruption is low, and nonoperative management can result in satisfactory outcomes for tibial plateau fracture with incomplete ligament injury.

Objective To discuss the therapy for acetabular comminuted fractur e combined with compressive defects. Methods From July 1997 to February 2005, 43 cases of comminuted acetabular fracture combined with compressive defect were t reated. 25 cases were obsolete, 16 fresh, and 2 malformed (90 days after injury) . 34 cases were complicated fractures with defects, and 9 simple fractures with defects. The defect volumes ranged from 3 to 9 cm3, averaging 4.5 cm3. They were treated with ATMFS (acetabular tridimensional memory fixation system) to fixate the comminuted bone fragments tridimensionally. The modified acetabular approac h, reduction of acetabular comminuted articular face, anatomical reconstruction of posterior wall of acetabulum with autogenous ilium, autogenous and artificial bone implantation and bone wax isolation were used. The follow-ups lasted from 5 to 86 months, averaging 15.7 months. Results 31 cases achieved anatomical red uction by filling up the compressive defects. 12 cases were treated by anatomica l reconstruction of posterior wall. On average, 5.3 months after operation, the injured hip joint was as good as the healthy one in 40 cases. Ischemia necrosis of femoral head occurred in 1 case, and 2 cases experienced heterotopic ossifica tion with ischemia necrosis of femoral head which led to osseous fusion of hip j oint. Conclusion The new methods for treatment of acetabular fractures with comp ressive defects elevate the reduction rate of acetabulum and femoral head, and a re effective for the functional recovery of hip joint.

Objective To analyze the causes of postoperative step off of the tibial plateau fracture and to suggest strategies to cope with them. Methods 57 cases of tibial plateau fracture who had been treated operatively in our department from January 2001 to June 2003 with satisfactory reduction of the articular surface were reviewed. Their radiograms were analyzed. Results The follow ups lasted 6 to 30 months (average 15 months). Postoperative step off rate was 28.1%in all the cases according to radiological step off criteria. (A depression of the articular surface more than 3 millimeters or malalignment of the extremity more than 5 degrees is considered as step off.). Six causes of loss of reduction were: 1) more than sixty years of age, 2) severe osteoporosis, 3) preoperative displacement and fracture fragmentation, 4) poor anti shearing strength of screw and plate, 5) loose bonegraft, and 6) premature weight bearing. Conclusions The key points to enhance the outcome include precise judgment of the type of fracture, sufficient amount of bonegraft, rigid internal fixation after anatomic reduction and an appropriate plan for performing early, loadless, functional exercise. The traumatic osteoarthritis may be avoided or deferred if the above mentioned six causes can be taken into full consideration or preventive measures can be taken.