Objective To evaluate the prevalence of atherosclerosis in Chinese premenopausal women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and study possible associations between non-traditional risk factors with premature atherosclerosis. Methods One hundred and eleven premenopausal women with SLE and 40 healthy controls without clinical cardiovascular disease were evaluated. B-mode ultrasonography was used to measure carotid plaque and intima-media wall thickness( IMT). The relationship between the patients' clinical characteristics and carotid plaque was examined. At the same time, B-mode ultrasound was used to measure flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-mediated dilation (NMD) in the brachial artery. Using this method, the difference in endothelial function between SLE patients and controls was assessed. T-test,χ2 test and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results Carotid plaque was more frequently observed in patients with SLE (16 of 111 patients) than in control subjects (0 of 40 subjects) (P=0.007). The mean IMT (m-IMT) (0.62 mm vs 0.45 mm, P<0.01) and maximum IMT(M-IMT) (0.7 mm vs 0.6 mm, P<0.01) was significantly higher in patients than in controls. As compared with patients without plaque, patients with plaque were significantly older, had longer disease duration, higher body mass index (BMI), higher blood pressure, shorter prothrombin time, elevated C-reactive protein level, higher SLICC score, higher cumulative prednisone dose, less hydroxychloroquine accumulated dosage, higher m-IMT and M-IMT, lower FMD and NMD. In logistic regression analysis, older age (P=0.012, OR=1.137), higher BMI (P=0.051, OR=1.205) and higher SLICC score (P=0.000, OR=2.888) were independently related to the presence of plaque. Conclusion SLE patients have higher prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis plaque than healthy controls and the age at onset is younger than controls. In addition to traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, SLE itself and disease related factors play important roles in premature atherosclerosis in SLE. SLE patients have significant endothelial dysfunction. Thus, endothelial dysfunction can be regarded as one manifestation of premature atherosclerosis in SLE.

Objective To compare the effect of perineal cleansing with the potassium permanganate or sterile water on mid- stream urine culture. Methods Mid- stream specimens of urine were obtained from inpatients in our hospital between January 2002 and December 2006. All these patients may be diag-nosed as urinary tract infection. The urine specimens were divided into the potassium permanganate group (n=1572, the sterilization group) and the sterile water group (n=544). The change of positive and contami-nation rate of mid-stream urine culture from the specimens was observed. More than two kinds of germs in one urine specimen were defined as contamination. Results 830 patients with urinary tract infection had been enrolled. 2116 specimens were collected and 531 strains of causative organism were detected. The positive rate of the sterilization group and the sterile water group was 20.04% and 39.71%, respectively,and such difference was significant. The rate of identical causative organism from the same patient whose spec-imen was cultivated twice in the sterilization group was 0.012% and the rate was 0.105% in the sterile water group. The difference was significant. The rate of different or one kind of causative organism from the same patient whose specimen was cultivated twice in these two groups hadn't significant deviation. The contami-nation rate of the sterilization group (0.028%) was significantly higher than that of the sterile water group (0.007%). Conclusions Perineal cleansing with sterile water can reduce the false negative rate of mid-stream urine culture without increasing the contamination rate. Potassium permanganate sterilization is re-sponsible for the high false-negative in mid-stream urine culture.

Objective To investigate the biomechanical properties of transverse fractured femurs when fixed by TiNi shapememory alloy embracing plate (TiNi SMA), limitedcontact dynamic compression plate (LCDCP) and static interlocking intramedullary nail (SIiN), respectively, so as to provide the theoretical evidence for orthopedic surgeons in clinical application. Methods Eight pairs of cadaveric femurs were used with one side randomly fixed by TiNi SMA and SIiN and the other side fixed by LC-DCP. Then the axial compression test, threepoint bending test, and torsion test were conducted. Results For axial compression test, the strains of TiNi SMA group were greater than those of LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P<0.05), while no significant differences were found between LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P>0.05). The displacements of TiNi SMA group were greater than those of LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P<0.05) under the load of 200~600 N, and there were no significant differences between LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P>0.05). For three-point bending test, the displacements of TiNi SMA group were greater than those of LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P<0.05), while no significant differences were found between LC-DCP group and SIiN group (P>0.05). For torsion test, the torsion angels of TiNi SMA group were similar to those of SIiN group (P>0.05), but the torsion angles of LC-DCP group were smaller than those of TiNi SMA group（≥3 N•m）and SIiN group (P<0.05). Conclusions When the fractured femurs are fixed by three internal fixation devices, the stability of TiNi SMA group is weakest, SIiN group being better, and LCDCP group being best. The axial micromotion in TiNi SMA group can promote the healing of fracture.

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of transanal stapler partial rectal resection for rectocele. Methods: From January 2012 to January 2018, 90 patients with rectocele treated in Changzhi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital were divided into control group (45 cases) and observation group (45 cases) according to the operation method.The control group was treated with closed transrectal repair, while the observation group was treated with partial rectal resection with anal stapler.The operative effect, incidence of postoperative complications, recurrence rate, degree of pain after operation, length of hospital stay and cost of treatment were compared between the two groups. Results: The total effective rate of the two groups was 100.0%.The incidence of complications in the observation group was 2.2%(1/45), which was lower than that in the control group [17.8%(8/45)] (χ²=4.444, P=0.035). The recurrence rate in the observation group was 0(0/45), which was lower than that in the control group [13.3%(6/45)] (χ²=4.464, P=0.035). The hospitalization time in the observation group was shorter than that in the control group[(7.01±2.06)d vs.(11.31±2.42)d]. Compared with the control group, the treatment cost of the observation group was higher[(0.836±0.164)×10⁴CNY vs.(0.605±0.136)×10⁴CNY], and the post-operative pain score was lower[(4.24±1.33) vs.(6.45±1.17)](t=9.076, 7.273, 8.369, all P<0.001). Conclusion Transanal stapler partial rectal resection is effective in the treatment of rectocele, with less complications, lower recurrence rate and less pain after operation, but the cost of treatment is higher.