[Objective]To study the effects of Cable-Pin system used as a treatment alternative for patellar fractures.[Method]Thirty-five cases of patellar fracture were operated with the Cable-Pin system from October 2005 to May 2007.Their diagnosis were 19 transverse close ractures and 16 comminuted of patella.There were 21 males and 14 females.Their ages ranged from 21 to 75 years old.After open reduction,the author used a drill bit vertically through the patella in a superior direction,drilled the threaded portion of the pin across the fracture site,inserted a second Cable Pin through the second hole in a similar manner.A horizontally directed drill hole anterior to the pins was created in the superior pole of the patella.The two cables were crossed in a fighre eight over the an-terior surface of the patella.The Crimper Tensioning Handle was,the cable carefully,the handles of the crimper were squeezed until the crimp was fully crimped.[Result]The 35 patients were followed up for 12 to 18 months(mean 13.2 m).Fractures healed in all the cases without such complications as loosening of screw and cable loop,loss of reduction or irritation to soft tissue.Restoration of the knee joint motion was excellent in 32 cases and good in 3 cases according to Bostman score system.[Conclusion]Cable-Pin system as a new option for the treatment of patella fracture,can result in reliable fixation and low rate of complications.

Objective To observe the effect of laser irradiation on the level of histamine (Hm) , 5- hydroxytryptamine(5-HT), interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in serum and β- endorphin (β- EP) in brain tissue in rat model of rheumatoid arthritis. Methods A total of 60 Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups:a normal group, a model group (RA without treatment), a laser + drug treatment group (RA treated by laser and drug) and a drug treatment group (RA treated by drug alone). All the groups, except the normal one, were injected with complete Freund's adjuvant to make animal model of adjuvant arthritis. All the animals were then treated accordingly. The level of Hm, 5-HT, IL-1 and TNFα in serum and β-EP in brain tissue were measured. Results Laser downregulated the content of Hm, 5-HT, IL-1 and TNFα in serum and increased the content of β-EP in brain tissue. Conclusion Laser irradiation is an effective modality for treating the animal model of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective To investigate changes of thyroid function indices and their correlation with blood routine examination results, high-sensitivity c-reactive protein(hsCRP)levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR)in 30 inpatients with acute urticaria. Methods Thyroid function indices were retrospectively analyzed in 30 inpatients with acute urticaria (patient group)and 30 healthy controls (control group), including total triiodothyronine (TT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-thyroglobulin antibody(TG-Ab)and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody(TPO-Ab). A correlation analysis was done between thyroid function indices and blood routine examination results (white blood cell [WBC]count, neutrophil count, hemoglobin), hsCRP levels and ESR. Results Abnormal thyroid function indices were observed in 23 (23/30, 76.7%) patients with acute urticaria. Compared with the control group, the patient group showed significantly decreased levels of FT3, TT3, TT4 and hemoglobin(t = 6.39, 5.55, 3.57, 3.70, all P < 0.01), but significantly increased positive rates of thyroid autoantibodies (χ2 = 7.68, P < 0.01)as well as WBC counts, neutrophil counts, hsCRP levels and ESR (t = 3.96, 8.73, 2.51, 2.35, all P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between hemoglobin level and FT3, TT3, TT4 levels(r = 0.63, 0.59, 0.37, all P < 0.05), but a negative correlation between neutrophil count and FT3, TT3, TSH levels(r = -0.45,-0.50, -0.37, all P < 0.05), as well as between TT3 and hsCRP levels (r = -0.39, P < 0.05)in the patient group. Conclusion Patients with severe acute urticaria usually show abnormal thyroid function during attacks, which mainly manifests as low T3 syndrome and high positive rates of thyroid autoantibodies, and may be associated with decreased hemoglobin levels and infection.

Objective To determine the expression of miRNA211 (miR-211) in the development of malignant melanoma,and to investigate the correlation between miR-211 and its target molecule,matrix metalloproteinase 16 (MMP-16).Methods Cultured A375 melanoma cells were divided into 3 groups:miR-211 overexpression group and mock-vehicle group transfected with miR-211 mimics and empty vehicle respectively,and negative control group receiving no treatment.TaqMan fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to determine the expression of miR-211 in HER1 primary melanocytes,A375,C32 and G361malignant melanoma cell lines,as well as in nevus tissues (n =18) and melanoma tissues (n =41),and to evaluate changes of MMP-16 mRNA expression in A375 cells before and after the overexpression of miR-211.Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and flow cytometry were conducted to evaluate cellular proliferative activity and determine cell cycle distribution respectively,and methylcellulose assay and Transwell assay to evaluate colony formation and cell migration abilities respectively.The size of selected colonies was used to represent colony formation ability,while the ratio of the number of migrating cells to that of non-migrating cells to represent cell migration ability.Results There were significant differences in the expression level of miR-211 among the G361,C32 and A375 cells (0.09 ± 0.02 vs.0.000 52 ± 0.000 20 vs.0.000 03 ± 0.000 01,F =10 410,P ＜ 0.01).The expression of miR-21 1 was significantly decreased in melanoma tissues compared with nevus tissues (0.17 ± 0.03 vs.0.87 ± 0.08,t =9.118,P ＜ 0.01).No significant differences were observed in cellular proliferative activity or cell cycle distribution among the miR-211 overexpression group,mock-vehicle group and negative control group.Compared with the mock-vehicle group,the miR-211 overexpression group showed significantly suppressed colony formation (0.49 ± 0.05 vs.0.85 ± 0.09,t =2.19,P ＜ 0.05) and cell migration (0.49 ± 0.06 vs.0.82 ± 0.09,t =3.15,P ＜ 0.05) abilities,while no significant difference was observed between the mock-vehicle group and negative control group.Additionally,the mRNA expression of MMP-16 significantly decreased in the miR-211 overexpression group compared with the mock-vehicle group after transfeetion (24 hours:0.33 ± 0.02 vs.0.91 ± 0.03,t =11.30,P ＜ 0.01;48 hours:0.52 ± 0.01 vs.0.96 ± 0.02,t =5.02,P ＜ 0.05;72 hours:0.71 ± 0.01 vs.0.97 ± 0.03,t =3.85,P ＜ 0.05),with no significant difference between the mock-vehicle group and negative control group at the above time points.Conclusions miR-211 was lowly expressed in both malignant melanoma cells and tissues,and it could inhibit both anchorage-independent growth and migration of melanoma cells.After up-regulation of miR-211 expression,the mRNA expression of MMP-16 decreased in A375 cells,suggesting that MMP-16 may be a downstream target of miR-211,and can influence melanoma metastasis.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of intense pulsed light (IPL) on the dermatopathological manifestation in a Bama miniature pig model of steroid-induced dermatitis.MethodsFive female Bama miniature pigs aged two months were selected.The white skin areas with white hair at both sides of the neck served as the target area.Halometasone(0.05％) cream was applied to the right target area twice daily for 60 days to establish a model of steroid-induced dermatitis.Then,3 pigs were randomly selected and irradiated with IPL of 25 J/cm2 at the model area with an interval of 3 weeks for 9 weeks,the remaining 2 pigs receiving no treatment served as the natural recovery group.Finally,skin tissues were obtained from the left and right target areas and subjected to haematoxylin and eosin staining for the observation of histopathological changes.ResultsA significant increase was observed in the layer number of keratinocytes and thickness of dermal collagen fiber in the IPL-treated pigs compared with the pigs in natural recovery group (6.27 ± 1.26 vs.2.98 ±0.92,t =3.27,P＜ 0.01; 1.88 ± 0.19 mm vs.0.84 ± 0.15 mm,t =4.25,P＜ 0.01).Moreover,IPL irradiation resulted in the regression of telangiectasis in the dermis.ConclusionIPL may increase skin thickness,relieve flushing and improve skin elasticity efficiently.

ObjectiveTo study of the impact on dose distribution by electron width of energy spectrum and angular distribution using Monte Carlo simulation.MethodsThe simulated electron energy spectrum and angular distributions was as the input parameters and percentage depth dose (PDD) and offaxis curves were simulated by a modified PENELOPE code package. Results PDD and off-axis dose distribution curves are almost the same and are not sensitive to energy spectrum width and angular distribution with the exception of energy spectrum width of 2.5 MeV with obviously different curves.ConclusionsIn the situation of clinical treatment,spectrum and angular distributions can be ignored when their width are not very large.It is helpful to save about 9％ time by using monoenergy beams in treatment planning system development.

Objective To evaluate the factors influencing the reproducibility and validity of food group intakes measured by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for Chinese men. Methods A total of 214 adult men were randomly selected from the Shanghai Men Health Study (SMHS), an ongoing cohort study conducted in urban Shanghai. Each subject who had completed the first FFQ survey at recruitment took 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR) surveys which were conducted once a month for 12 consecutive months and a second FFQ at the end of the study. Two FFQs were administered approximately 1.2 years apart. The food items listed in FFQ and obtained from 24-HDR were categorized into 11 food groups. The factors influencing the reproducibility of the FFQ was assessed by comparing the Pearson correlation of intake levels from the two FFQs, while the factors influencing the validity was evaluated by comparing intake levels from the second FFQ with the multiple 24-HDRs. Results A total of 195 men completed all 12 times of 24-HDR and twice FFQ surveys. The median Pearson correlation coefficients of the food groups between the two FFQs in older vs younger age group were 0.62 vs 0.50;in higher vs lower education level group were 0.58 vs 0.50;in higher vs lower income group were 0.51 vs 0.50;in higher vs lower BMI group were 0.50 vs 0.49. The median Pearson correlation coefficients of the food groups between the second FFQ and 24-HDRs in older vs younger age group were 0.61 vs 0.45;in higher vs lower education level group were 0.49 vs 0.47;in higher vs lower income group were 0.43 vs 0.57;in higher vs lower BMI group were 0.48 vs 0.51. Conclusions Age is the main factor influencing the reproducibility of the food group intakes by a FFQ used in the SMHS, while the factors influencing the validity are age and family income.

Objective To compare the short-term efficacy of high-intensity ultraviolet B (UVB) versus 308-nm excimer laser for the treatment of vitiligo.Methods Eighty patients with vitiligo were equally divided into two groups to be treated with high-intensity UVB twice a week or 308-nm excimer laser once a week for eight weeks.Repigmentation was evaluated at the end of the treatment.Results After eight weeks of treatment,repigmentation of different degrees was observed in 83.6％ and 86.1％,and marked repigmentation in 42.1％ and 50％,of the UVB-and excimer laser-treated lesions,respectively.The response rate was significantly lower in facial lesions receiving high-intensity UVB radiation than in those receiving excimer laser radiation (49.1％ vs.68.4％,x2 =4.32,P ＜ 0.05),but similar at the other body sites between the two treatment (all P ＞ 0.05).The cumulative dosage required for initial repigmentation was similar between high-intensity UVB and 308-nm excimer laser (t =0.89,P ＞ 0.05),while the treatment sessions and cumulative dosage required for marked or better repigmentation were significantly increased in UVB-compared with excimer laser-treated lesions (both P ＜ 0.01).In addition,both high-intensity UVB and 308-nm excimer laser were suitable for childhood and active vitiligo.Conclusions Both high-intensity UVB and 308-nm excimer laser are safe and effective in the treatment of vitiligo with rapid onset of action,and the latter appears to be superior to the former in efficacy.

Objective To compare the thickness of the retina and its sublayers between young and elderly rats using a stereological method. Methods Six young(3 months old) and six elderly(2 year old) LongEvans rats were used in this study.The right eyeball was dissected from each rat and prepared as a set of serial sagittal sections and applied with HE staining.The sections and fields were sampled in the systematic random fashion and examined under a light microscope.The thickness of the whole retina and its 8 sublayers were identified and measured. Results Compared with that of the young rats,the thickness of the whole retina and most of the sublayers of the elderly rats were significantly decreased.The decrease was such so that the proportion of the thickness of each sublayer to that of the whole retina remained unchanged.Most interestingly,among the 8 sublayers of the retina,the thickness of the exterior plexus layer reduced nearly 46.2% during aging process.Conclusion Aging has a significant effect on the thickness of the rat retina.Such effect is better presented with the systematic random sampling method.

AIM:To establish a quality standard for Xiangge Zhengqi Capsule(Herba Pogostemonis,Flos Caryophylli,Cortex Magnoliae officinalis,Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae,etc.). METHODS: Xiangge Zhengqi Capsule was identified by GC.The effective components in Xiangge Zhengqi Capsule were determined by GC.The chromatographic conditions were: CP-sil 5CB capillary column(25 m?0.25 mm,0.4 ?m),FID as the detector,programmed temperature and high pure helium as carrier gas with the flow rate of 1 mL/min. RESULTS: The relevant chromatographic peak in Flos Caryophylli,Cortex Magnoliae officinalis,Herba Pogostemonis,Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae and Folium Perillae were identified by GC.The contents of eugenol,magnolol and honokiol could be determined by GC. CONCLUSION: The method is simple,feasible and repeatable.It can be used as quality supervisory control of Xiangge Zhengqi Capsule.