Objective To evaluate the method of measurement of total scatter calibrate factor (Sc,p). Methods To measure the Sc,p at different depths on central axis of 6?MV, 15?MV photon beams through different ways. Results It was found that the measured data of Sc,p changed with the different depths to a range of 1%～7%. Using the direct method, the Sc,p measured depth should be the same as the depth in dose normalization point of the prescription dose. If the Sc,p ( fsz, d) was measured at the other depths, it could be obtained indirectly by the calculation formula. Conclusions The Sc,p in the prescription dose can be obtained either by the direct measure method or the indirect calculation formula. But emphasis should be laid on the proper measure depth.

OBJECTIVECombined the optical principle with automatic control technology and computer real-time image detection technology to develop a non-contact system for noninvasive esophageal varices pressure measurement.

METHODSThe system included the adjustable air pump, laser device, image collection and analysis program. The feasibility and accuracy of the system were verified by in vitro experiments.

RESULTSThe bionic vascular pressure measured by this system had good correlation and repeatability with the actual pressure.

CONCLUSIONSThis system is accurate, feasible and has good application prospects.

Blood Pressure Determination ; instrumentation ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Lasers ; Software

Objective To study the role of VEGF in the development of portal hypertensive gastropathy(PHG). Methods Forty-four portal hepertensive patients were investigated according to with or without PHG. The degree and the location of PHG were recorded. The specimens were obtained to perform RT-PCR to measure VEGF mRNA. Results VEGF mRNA in severe (3.48?1.02) or moderate PHG (2.28?0.33) with portal hypertension was higher than that in control (1.40?0.23) and those (1.51?0.32) with portal hypertension without PHG( P

OBJECTIVE: To identify 14 bacteria by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene and establish the basis for clinical application in the future. METHODS: DNA samples of the 14 bacteria were extracted. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR and sequenced with common primers. The sequences of the 16S rRNA genes were aligned by online software Blastn in nucleotide database. The bacteria were identified according to the homology of their 16S rRNA genes. RESULTS: Twelve bacteria were classified to species, the other 2 bacteria were classified to genus. CONCLUSION 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis is useful in identifying pathogenic bacteria.
Bacteria ; classification ; DNA Primers ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Methods: Preoperatively, all 160 patients with OVCFs underwent pressure-pain threshold (PPT), temporal summation (TS), conditioned pain modulation (CPM), and imaging assessments. Pain intensity and pain-related disability were evaluated before and after PVP. Results: Preoperatively, patients with OVCFs had lower PPTs in both local pain and pain-free areas and lower CPM and higher TS in pain-free areas than healthy participants (p<0.05). Unlike patients with acute fractures, patients with subacute/chronic OVCFs showed higher TS with or without lower CPM in the pain-free area compared with healthy participants (p<0.05). Postoperatively, RBP occurred in 17 of 160 patients (10.6%). All preoperative covariates with significant differences between the RBP and non-RBP groups were subjected to multivariate logistic regression, showing that intravertebral vacuum cleft, posterior fascia edema, numeric rating pain scale scores for low back pain at rest, and TS were independently associated with RBP (p<0.05). Conclusions Augmented central pain processing may occur in patients with OVCFs, even in the subacute stage, and this preexisting CS may be associated with RBP. Preoperative assessment of TS in pain-free areas may provide additional information for identifying patients who may be at risk of RBP development, which may be beneficial for preventing this complication.

OBJECTIVETo identify whether there is significant changes between the cervical neutral F-waves and cervical flexion F-waves in the patients with Hirayama disease.

METHODSThis study was performed on 25 normal subjects and 22 male patients with identified Hirayama disease (age: 15 to 44 years; height: 165 to 183 cm; duration: 6 to 240 months) between May 2010 and March 2014. Both cervical flexion F-wave (cervical flexion 45 °, 30 minutes) and conventional F-waves to median nerve stimulation and to ulnar nerve stimulation were performed in all subjects bilaterally.

RESULTSwere analyzed by t-test or Fisher exact probability.

RESULTSIn the normal subjects, all measurements of the bilateral F-waves didn't have any difference between the cervical flexion position and the cervical neutral position. On the cervical neutral position, the persistence (t = 5.209, P = 0.000), average latencies (t = 4.731, P = 0.022) and minimal latencies (t = 23.843, P = 0.006) of ulnar F-wave on the symptomatic heavier side from the patients with identified Hirayama disease were significantly lower or longer than those from the normal subjects, and the repeat F-waves were found in 3 patients (13.6%). On the symptomatic lighter side, the ulnar F-waves only had lower persistence (t = 22.306, P = 0.001) along with 5 repeat F-waves. Only lower persistence were found in the median F-wave on the both side (higher side t = 23.696, P = 0.000; lighter side t = 23.998, P = 0.000), along with 5 (22.7%) repeat F-waves on the symptomatic heavier side and 6 (27.3%) ones on the symptomatic lighter side. After cervical flexion maintaining 30 minutes, the increased maximal amplitudes (t = -2.552, P = 0.019), average amplitudes (t = -3.322, P = 0.003), duration (t = -3.323, P = 0.00), persistence (t = -2.604, P = 0.017) and frequency of repeat F-waves (9/22, 41%) (P = 0.044) were found on the symptomatic heavier side of ulnar F-wave, and 5 of 10 absent ulnar F-wave on the cervical neutral position were also recover. The median F-wave on the symptomatic heavier side mainly had increased maximal amplitude (t = -3.847, P = 0.001), average amplitudes (t = -2.188, P = 0.040) and persistence (t = -2.421, P = 0.025), and 1 of 6 absent median F-wave on the cervical neutral position were also recover after cervical flexion.

CONCLUSIONThe cervical flexion F-waves have significant regular changes compared to the cervical neutral F-waves in patients with Hirayama diseases, especially maximal and average amplitudes of F-waves.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Neck ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Spinal Muscular Atrophies of Childhood ; physiopathology ; Ulnar Nerve ; Young Adult

A new device that allows noninvasive measurement of venous pressure has been invented in our laboratory and tested for its feasibility and validity. The device consists of four parts: 1. the air infusion system; 2. the pressure sensor gauge; 3. signal transducer and data processing system 4. the fixing apparatus. The correlation between noninvasive pressure and invasive pressure has been studied in vitro test on a saphenous vein model and in vitro test on dog's portal venous system. In vitro and vivo study, an excellent correlation between noninvasive pressure and invasive pressure was obtained(r = 0.99, P < 0.0005; r = 0.97, P < 0.005). These data suggest that the new device allows a noninvasive measurement of venous pressure especially for the large veins such as vena cava, venae pulmonales and esophageal varices.
Animals ; Blood Pressure Determination ; instrumentation ; Dogs ; Equipment Design ; In Vitro Techniques ; Venous Pressure ; physiology

Objective　To establish Huashan diagnostic criteria and clinical classification system for Hirayama disease.Methods　Retrospective analysis 359 cases of puberty onset,upper extremity muscle atrophy as main clinical manifestations,and complete clinical data from September 2007 to August 2018.There were 348 males and 11 females(31.6:1 male and female)in this group.The average age of onset was 16.7±2.2 years,the average age of visits was 19.2±4.5 years,and the average duration of treatment was 29.3±45.4 months.Descriptive study of the clinical manifestations,radiologic and neurophysiological findings of this group of patients,the Huashan clinical diagnostic criteria of Hirayama disease were established by including 100% of the clinical manifestations,imaging and neurophysiological findings.According to the following parameters,the clinical classification system of Hirayama disease was proposed.The parameters specifically included:the muscle atrophy involves the upper limbs,whether the quadriplegia was active or hyperactive,the Babinski sign positive and other pyramidal tract damage,whether it was accompanied by sensory dysfunction such as upper limb numbness,muscle atrophy location,and the progress of clinical symptoms or electrophysiological examination within 6 months.Thirty patients were randomly selected from the above 359 cases.Four orthopedic surgeons who were not involved in the classification system completed the clinical classification within the specified time.The Kappa value was used for the credibility evaluation.Results　The Huashan diagnostic criteria of Hirayama disease included clinical manifestations,imaging examinations and neurophysiological examinations.The main diagnostic indicators were:1)occult onset puberty,more common in men;2)localized muscle atrophy and weakness in the upper extremities;3)compared with the cervical neutral MRI,the MRI of cervical flexion showed that spinal cord was significantly shift forward and the anterior spinal cord was narrowed or disappeared.4)MRI T2 weighting of the cervical flexion showed cyst-wall separation behind the spinal cord;5)Neurophysiological examination showed that the affected muscles were neurogenic damage.6)The affected parts are limited to the middle and lower neck segment.At the same time,it was necessary to combine imaging and neurophysiological manifestations to distinguish cervical spondylosis with upper limb muscle atrophy and motor neuron disease.According to the clinical characteristics of different patients,Hirayama disease can be divided into type I-III.Type I:72.1%,one-sided upper limb or one upper limb-based hand inner muscle and forearm muscle atrophy.According to whether progress of symptoms or electrophysiological examination was seen in the past 6 months,type I can be divided into:Ia.stable period.Regular follow-up assessment was recommended.If the disease progressed,to wear a cervical collar was suggested;surgery could be done if necessary;Ib.progression period,it was recommended to use a cervical collar,and regularly evaluate,if patients could not wear cervical collar for long,it was recommended to operate.Type II:14.2%,unilateral upper limb or one upper limb-based hand inner muscle and forearm muscle atrophy with pyramidal tract injury.Surgery was recommended.Type II:13.7%,atypical Hirayama disease,including upper limb proximal muscle atrophy,symmetrical double upper limb muscle atrophy,and sensory disturbances associated with upper limb numbness.Wear a cervical collar,and follow-up and assess closely,and choose surgical treatment if necessary.The credibility evaluation showed that the average Kappa value of the classification was 0.732(0.688-0.834),which is a basic credibility.Conclusion　The Huashan diagnostic criteria of Hirayama disease was conducive to the early diagnosis.The clinical classification system of Hirayama disease has good credibility and good clinical intervention guidance value.

Ring dermoid of cornea (RDC) is an autosomal dominant disorder of cornea. The previous study identified a G185A mutation of PITX2 gene in a Chinese family with RDC. To investigate the pathological mechanism of PITX2 R62H mutation, a PITX2 prokaryotic expression plasmid were constructed and GST-PITX2 fusion protein were purified. EMSA was further conducted. The DNA-banding ability of PITX2 R62H was similar to that of the wild type PITX2 were found. The cell lines stably expressed PITX2 was also generated, and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry, and the expression of ?-catenin and Cyclin D1 were detected by quantitative Real-time PCR. The results showed that proliferating ability of cells expressing PITX2 R62H was lower than that of cells expressing PITX2 WT, as well as ?-catenin and Cyclin D1 mRNA level. These findings revealed that PITX2 R62H mutation affected the Wnt/?-catenin→PITX2 pathway, promoted the genes expressing abnormally, and led to abnormal cell proliferation and the formation of RDC, which may play an important role in pathogenesis of RDC.

Objective　To investigate the predictive value of dynamic F wave in the treatment of Hirayama disease(HD)after anterior cervical fusion and internal fixation.Methods　From February 2014 to January 2016,thirty-six patients with HD were included in this study(age:17.9±2.6 years,height:173.1±6.2 cm,disease duration:20.1±13.1 months;male to female ratio:35:1),and all of these 36 patients underwent anterior cervical autogenous iliac fusion and internal fixation.All of these patients underwent bilateral dynamic F-wave detection(The F-wave was tested on the cervical standard position and at least 30 minutes after cervical flexion)on the median nerve before operation and 3-5 days after operation.The latency and maximum amplitude of M-wave,the persistence of F-wave,the shortest latency of F-wave,the ratio of F/M and the persistence of repeated F-wave were measured.Dynamic F-wave abnormalities were defined when repeated F-wave was only found during neck flexion or the standard-flexion difference of each measurements of F-wave was more than 2 standard deviations from the normal value(the shortest latency of F-wave:0.6±0.5 ms,persistence of F-wave:7.3%±5.7%,the ratio of F/M:1.1±1.0).Furthermore,these patients with HD accepted both bilateral grip strength and hand function score(disabilities of arm,shoulder and hand,DASH)before and 1 year after operation.According to the presence of abnormal dynamic F-wave before operation,patients were divided into abnormal dynamic F-wave group and normal dynamic F-wave group.Fisher exact test was used to compare the percentage of the patient with improved DASH score in both patient groups after operation.Both DASH score and bilateral grip strength were analyzed by paired sample t test before and after operation.Results　Before operation,eleven(11/36,30.6%)patients with HD had abnormal dynamic F-wave,and there was no significant difference of age(t=-0.849,P=0.412),duration(t=1.110,P=0.282),DASH scores(t=2.002,P=0.055)and handgrips(more-symptomatic side:t=-0.673,P=0.507;symptomatic side:t=-1.729,P=0.094)between the patients with or without preoperative dynamic F-wave abnormalities.One-year follow-up demonstrated that significantly greater number of the patients presented with reduced DASH scores in the patients with preoperative dynamic F-wave abnormalities(10/11,90.9% vs 12/25,48.0%;P=0.025).Compared with the patients without preoperative dynamic F-wave abnormalities,the patients with preoperative dynamic F-wave abnormalities showed reduced DASH scores after operation(t=2.347,P=0.041).Furthermore,abnormal dynamic F-waves disappeared soon after operation in ten patients(90.9%,10/11)with preoperative dynamic F-wave abnormalities,and DASH scores reduced significantly in these ten patients after operation(4.4±3.8 vs 1.5±0.4,t=3.094,P=0.013),and the DASH score in another patient whose dynamic F wave did not disappear after operation increased significantly one year after operation(preoperative vs.postoperative:6.66 vs 9.87).Conclusion　Dynamic F-wave can be used as a preoperative evaluation method for HD to predict the recovery of upper limb function after operation.At the same time,the comparison of dynamic F-wave before and after operation is an effective and immediate method to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical treatment of HD.