BACKGROUND: Surgery is a main method to reconstruct the stability of spine after compression fracture. But the reconstruction of spinal stability for patients undergoing conventional therapy remains unclear.OBJECTIVE: To explore whether spinal stability training is effective on improving pain and motor function of patients with vertebral osteoporotic fractures.METHODS: Patients with vertebral osteoporotic fractures were divided into two groups. The study group was treated with conventional treatments and individualized spinal stabilization training, while the control group received conventional treatments alone. All the subjects were evaluated before and after treatment by numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), 3-meter timed up and go (TUG) and Oswestry functional limitation index (OFLI). The results were compared between the two groups.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 27 patients were included, including 16 patients in the study group and 11 in the control group. After 4-week treatment, TUG and OFLI in the study group decreased significantly compared with the control group (P < 0.05). But there was no statistical significance between the two groups in the level of NPRS and the amount of changes (P > 0.05). Symptoms and function of both groups were improved after treatments. Individualized spinal stability training is effective to restore the motor function and may be helpful for reducing pain for patients with vertebral osteoporotic fractures combined with conventional treatments.

BACKGROUND: Allicin has been proved to influence the proliferation and apoptosis of LM-8 cells.OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of allicin on the expression of apoptosis protein Bcl-2 and Bax in C3H mouse osteosarcoma cell line LM-8, and the correlation of the morphological changes of LM-8 cells with the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax.DESIGN: Randomized grouping, non-blind, cell level, in vitro study.SETTING: The experiment was carded out from September 2006 to May 2007 at the Center Laboratory of Union Hospital,Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology.MATERIALS: Osteosarcoma cell line LM-8 was purchased from the Animal Center of the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA. Allicin presented by Wuhan Huihai Co., was a sulphide isolated from garlic corn. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) from Dojindo Laboratories; Bcl-2 antibody, Bax antibody and SP immunohistochemistry kit from Fuzhou Maixin Biotech Co.METHODS: LM-8 cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 culture medium, then cell climbing films were made, and SP immunocyte-histochemistry was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein. Inverted microscope was performed to observe the morphologic changes of LM-8 cells before and after adding with 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg/L allicin. Serial subcultivated LM-8 cells were adjusted to 7.5× 107 L-1 in concentration, added to 96-pore culture plate, and treated with allicin at a serial concentration of 1.0, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg/L. Additionally blank culture medium pores without cells and allicin and pores without allicin were taken as control groups. The 96-pore culture plate was maintained for 24, 48 and 72 hours, and then fetched. CCK-8 was added to determine the optical density value. The inhibition rate of LM-8 cell growth was also calculated. LM-8 cells were treated with different concentrations of allicin (5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 rag/L) for 24, 48 and72 hours, and then we carried out an apoptosis analysis by flow cytometry.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein in LM-8 cells; cell morphous, cell proliferation,and cell apoptosis.RESULTS: ①Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein: Allicin could lower the expression of Bcl-2 protein and enhance the expression of Bax. The positive expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-2/Bax expression all showed significant differences compared with control group (P ＜ 0.01).②LM-8 cell morphous: LM-8 Cells treated with allicin presented typical apoptosis changes under microscope.③LM-8 cell proliferation: Allicin could inhibit the growth of osteosarcoma cell line LM-8, when concentration of allicin added from 1.0 mg/L to 15.0 mg/L, the inhibition rate of LM-8 cells at 72 hours increased from (23.87±3.26)% to (58.32±5.38)%, and 50% inhibiting concentration was 11.09 mg/L.④LM-8 cell apoptosis: After 72 hours with treatment of allicin of 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg/L in concentration, apoptosis rate of LM-8 cells revealed a dose-dependent relationship (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: ①Allicin can inhibit the proliferation of LM-8 cells in a dose-time-dependent manner.②Allicin can induce the apoptosis of LM-8 cells in a dose-dependent manner.③Allicin can inhibit LM-8 cell proliferation and induce LM-8 cell apoptosis, which is related to down-regulate Bcl-2 protein expression and up-regulate Bax protein expression.

BACKGROUND: Thermosensitive hydrogel materials present stability at human body temperature, which is necessary for its application as a medical implant, thus the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of thermosensitive hydrogel should be beyond the human body temperature by adjustment.OBJECTIVE: To prepare a thermosensitive hydrogel poly-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-hydroxymethylacrylamide P(NIPAAm-co-NHMPA) with over 37 ℃ LCST, and primarily appraise its safety as a medical implant in vivo.DESIGN: Random, non-blind, group control, animal experimental study.SETTING: Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology(HUST).MATERIALS: The experiments were carried out in the Central Laboratory, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, HUST and the Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymer Materials of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Wuhan University between January and October in 2007. NIPAAm monomer and NHMPA monomer were purchased from Aldrich Company, crosslinking agent N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide from Fluka Company, and initiator ammonium persulfate and accelerating agent tetramethyl ethylene diamine from Sigma Company.METHODS: ①Taking ammonium persulfate and tetramethyl ethylene diamine as oxidation-reduction initiation system, while N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide as cross-linking agent, P-NIPAAm-co-NHMPA was prepared with the addition of NHMPA in the reaction system. LCST was determined by shrinking tests.②A series of biocompatibility tests such as sensitization test, acute systemic toxicity test, genetic toxicity test and implantation test were conducted in several experimental animals to evaluate the safety of the implant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The erythema and edema of stimulated lesions were recorded in sensitization test; the general state of each animal in acute systemic toxicity test were recorded 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours after injection; in genetic toxicity test, mouse bone marrow polychromatic erythrocyte (PEC) micronucleus was counted six hours after injection under microscope; sections after implantation were observed under light microscope.RESULTS: ①Synthesized hydrogel showed thermosensitive character and the LCST was 38 ℃.②In sensitization test, there was no erythema and edema occurred after leaching liquor and saline were injected; acute systemic toxicity test result revealed no symptom of toxicity; the genetic toxicity test suggested no difference of PEC frequency between experimental group and negative control group; in vivo implantation test, the inflammation around the material was mild and limited.CONCLUSION:P(NIPAAm-co-NHMPA) shows good biocompatibility and can be potentially used as an implant material.

China ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Occupational Diseases ; diagnosis

Objective:To observe the effect of overdose fluoride on the expression of bFGF in rat's dental pulps.Methods:NaF at 20 mg/(kg?d) was given to each of 10 Wister rats by stomach perfusion for 8 weeks, another 10 rats were given the same volume of distilled water as the controls.After treatment,HE staining was used to observe the morphology of the teeth, immunohistochemical staining was adopted for study the expression of bFGF in the dental pulps of the rats.Results:The enamel layer and dentin layer of the incisors in NaF treated rats were thinner than those in the controls,the interglobular dentin was increased and the expression of bFGF in dental pulp and inner dentin was inhibited in the NaF treated rats(P

Objective Investigation and analysis of intelligence and psychomotor function in children born after implementingt universal salt iodization(USI). Methods Historical serious illness areas of water iodine below 10μg/L were selected as study sites, water iodine in 50 - 100 μg/L in the historical non-endemic areas were as control points in Henan, 2008. Cluster sampling was used to select children aged 6 - 15 years as observing subjects,IQ were measured with CRT- Man Test(CRT-C2). A "Tianjin Medical psychomotor test battery" (JPB) was carry out to test psychomotor function. Results In IDD regions 230 children were surveyed post-USI and 1284 children preUSI. The IQs post and pre USI were 99.3 and 99.9, respectively, and the proportion of IQ ≤69 were 2.17%(6/230) and 2.80%(36/1284), respectively. In non-IDD regions 650 children were surveyed post-USI and 2079children pre-USI. The IQs post and pre USI were 95.3 and 93.8, respectively, and the proportion of IQ ≤ 69 were 2.31%(15/650) and 3.37%(70/2079), respectively. In IDD regions, the abnormal rate of T scores and damage index post USI were 3.6%(2/56), 5.3%(3/56), respectively, significantly lower than pre USI [18.1%(29/160),18.1%(29/160), x2 = 7.54, 6.86, all P ＜ 0.01]. Conclusions USI could increase the IQs of children and decrease the positive rate of JPB, and significantly improve the quality of whole nation and persistently eliminating IDD.

Objective The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate the educational measurement indexes from the undergraduates clinical skills competition in a medical university.The rationality of the competition was discussed in the view of education survey.Methods 84 students' results which selected from the China Medical University 2nd Clinical Skills Competition were the research objects in this study.The indexes of the difficulty,discrimination,reliability and criterion-reated validity of the competition were evaluated based on the Education surveying principle.The difficulty was calculated by subjective topic difficulty computing formula,and other indexes were carried out with SPSS 18.0 except the difficulty index.Results The average difficulty of the questions of this university was 0.61,the average discrimination was 0.77 and the overall reliability was 0.926.The OSCE scores of the participating students were taken as the criterion in this study.The calculated criterion-related validity was 0.416.Conclusion The college students' clinical skills competition has good reliability,discrimination and effective criterion-related validity.For the selective competition,the difficulty can be further improved while considering the scope of the topic.

Objective To study the influence of Ivor-Lewis surgery on lung function and quality of life of elderly patients with esophageal cancer .Methods 122 elderly patients with esophageal cancer were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group ,61 cases in each group .The control group was given Sweet surgery , observation group was given Ivor-Lewis surgery.The operative time,blood loss,number of lymph node dissection , drainage and hospitalization time were observed .Postoperative lung function 3 days after operation and life quality of patients 3 months after operation were compared between the two groups .Results The operative time,blood loss, drainage,and hospital stay in the observation group were (162.4 ±30.4) min,(260.1 ±33.7) mL,(1 254.1 ± 311.2)mL,(11.2 ±3.1)d,which were significantly lower than (201.6 ±33.6)min,(315.2 ±41.3)mL,(1 928.3 ± 346.1)mL,(17.6 ±3.6)d in the control group (t=3.627,4.662,2.716,3.772,all P<0.05).The number of lymph node dissection in the observation group was more than the control group (t=9.062,P<0.05).Before treat-ment,FEV1,FVC and PEF had no significant differences (t=0.612,0.301,0.772,all P>0.05).After treatment for 3 days,FEV1 of the control group and observation group were (1.89 ±0.47)L,(2.18 ±0.42)L;FVC were (2.44 ± 0.31)L,(2.87 ±0.25)L.PEF were (4.01 ±0.26)L/s,(4.52 ±0.29)L/s.After treatment for 3 days,FEV1,FVC and PEF in the control group were significantly decreased (t=4.162,3.997,5.012,all P<0.05).In the observation group,FEV1,FVC before and postoperative 3 days had no significant differences (t=1.032,0.924,all P>0.05), 3 days after treatment,PEF of the observation group was significantly decreased (t=3.128,P<0.05).After treat-ment for 3 days,FEV1 ,FVC and PEF of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (t=5.186,3.017,3.112,P<0.05).Before surgery,scores of life quality in the control group and observation group were (5.41 ±1.83)points and (5.31 ±1.77)points.After surgery were (7.01 ±2.16)points and (8.35 ±2.27) points.Quality of life in two groups were improved after operation .Life quality of the observation group was significantly higher than the control group (t=2.864 4,P<0.05).Conclusion Ivor-Lewis surgical procedures can significantly improve lung function and quality of life in elderly patients with esophageal cancer .

AIM: To prepare and evaluate the biocompatibility of a thermosensitive hydrogel poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-hydroxymethylacrylamide) (P-NIPAAm-co-NHMPA) in vivo so as to appraise its safety as a medical implant in clinical use. METHODS: The experiments were carried out in the Central Laboratory, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology(HUST) and the Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Wuhan University between January and October in 2007. ① Preparation of thermosensitive hydrogel P-NIPAAm-co-NHMPA: Taking ammonium persulfate and tetramethyl ethylene diamine as oxidation-reduction initiation system, while N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide as cross-linking agent, P-NIPAAm-co-NHMPA was prepared with the addition of NHMPA in reaction system. Low critical solution temperature was determined by shrinking tests. ②A series of biocompatibility tests such as sensitization test, acute systemic toxicity test, genetic toxicity test and implantation test were conducted to evaluate the safety of the implant. RESULTS: ①Synthesized hydrogel showed thermosensitive character as expected, and the low critical solution temperature was 38 ℃.②In sensitization test, there was no sensitization proved in the material; in acute systemic toxicity test, the symptom of toxicity was not found; the genetic toxicity test suggested no teratogenic or mutagenic effects; in vivo implantation test showed that the inflammation around the material was mild and limited. CONCLUSION: Thermosensitive hydrogel P-NIPAAm-co-NHMPA has good biocompatibility and is a potential medical implant.

BACKGROUND: The problem of the high rate of acute restenosis at an early and advanced stage has been a hot spot, while the stent with paclitaxel (poly-L-lactide, PLLA/polyglycolic acid, PGA) degradable material will resolve it. OBJECTIVE: To seek an ideal biologic degradable material used in biologic degradable stent. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The comparative cytological study was performed at the Laboratory of Toxicology, Institute of Public Health, Jilin University (Key Laboratory of Radiobiology of Ministry of Public Health of China, Key Laboratory of Toxicology of Jilin Province) from July 2003 to July 2005. MATERIALS: Paclitaxel degradable material (PLLA/PGA) (PLLA:PGA= 9: l ) were offered by Changchun Applied Chemistry Institute of Chinese Academy of Science). Human umbilical arterial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) were purchased from Boster, Wuhan, China. METHODS: The sixth passage of SMCs were digested by 0.25% Trypsin under ambient temperature for 3 minutes, incubated in 10 mL 10% ox serum BMEM, and made into SMC suspension. The materials kept in hypothermal disinfectant Co60 were heated to 37 ℃ by waterbath after surface treatment, and then placed in a 6-well culture plate. SMC suspension was added into the middle of the materials. The density of cells was about 5×106/cm2. Cell suspension diffused around the materials gradually. At last, 10% ox serum BMEM culture solution was added into it, and cultivated in a 5% CO2 incubator at 37 ℃. The growth of cells in and surrounding the materials was observed by inverted microscope everyday. MAIN OUCOME MEASURES: The materials were obtained after culture for 3, 6, 12, 19, 26, 34 days and vacuum dehydration, and were weighed. The weight loss of materials was compared before and after culture. The average degradable rate of materials was calculated.RESULTS: Degradable material had no influence on the development of SMCs. The average degradation rate ex vivo was 0.45% per day. CONCLUSION: PLLA/PGA with good cellular compatibility could be applied to intravascular stents.