OBJECTIVETo study the effect of nano-SiO2 on spatial learning and memory.

METHODSTwenty-four male rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (C group), low dose group (L group) and high dose group (H group). The rats were intragastrically administrated with nanometer particles at 25 and 100 mg/kg body weight every day for 4 weeks. After exposure, the ability of learning and memory of rats was tested by Morris water maze, and electrophysiological brain stereotactic method was used to test long-tear potentiation (LTP) in dentate gyrus (DG) of the rats.

RESULTSThe increase rate of body weight in H group was reduced significantly compared with C group ( P < 0.05). In the space exploration experiment of Morris water maze test, the escape latency of H group was longer than that of C group (P < 0.05). The rats of H group spent less time in finding the target quadrant (P < 0.05) . The rate of LP induction of H group was significantly lower than that of C group (P < 0.05). After high fre quency stimulation (HFS), The changes of amplitude of population spike (PS) of L group and H group were lower than those of C group significantly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONNano-SiO₂may result in impairment of spatial learning and memory ability by reducing the rate of LTP induction and the increase of PS in hippocampus.

Animals ; Dentate Gyrus ; drug effects ; Long-Term Potentiation ; drug effects ; Male ; Maze Learning ; drug effects ; Memory ; drug effects ; Nanoparticles ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Silicon Dioxide ; adverse effects ; Spatial Learning ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the safety and reliability of percutaneous internal fixation for pelvic ring injuries with cannulated screws.

METHODSForty-eight patients (21 male and 27 female, aged from 17 to 61 years with an average age of 38 years) with unstable pelvic ring injuries were treated with closed reduction and percutaneous cannulated screws fixation under C-arm fluoroscopic guidance. According to Tile's classification, the patients were classified into type B1 in 4 cases, B2.1 in 8, B2.2 in 10, B3 in 4, C1 in 11, C2 in 7 and C3 in 4. Among them, 39 patients were treated with anterior and posterior fixation, 4 were treated with anterior fixation, and 5 were treated with posterior fixation alone. Anteroposterior, inlet and outlet X-ray radiographs and CT scans of the pelvis were taken preoperatively to evaluate the stability and deformities, and after surgery the plain radiographs and CT scans were taken to evaluate the reduction and the location of screws.

RESULTSThe average operative time was 55 minutes (range, 15 to 95 minutes), and the average intraoperative blood loss was 60 ml (range, 15 to 150 ml), no patient accepted blood transfusion during or after operation. All 48 patients were inserted 157 cannulated screws (mean 3.3, range 2 to 8 per patient). Forty-two patients (135 screws) underwent postoperative pelvic CT scan and 91.11% (123 screws) of them was considered in optimal location; 7 screws penetrated the wall of pelvis and acetabulam because of overlength (<0.5 cm) or deviation, 5 screws interfered with the sacral canal or foramen. Fortunately, these 12 screws did not cause any symptom to the patients. The average follow-up period was 13 months (range 8 to 49 months), the displacement of injured pelvis was satisfactorily corrected in 45 patients (93.75%) and the fractures were healed at one stage. Among all patients, 40 cases (83.33%) had returned to their original works, 4 were still in the process of recovery at the last follow-up and the other 4 were unemployed as sciatic nerve injury or amputation. According to Lindahl improved standard of functional assessment of pelvic injury, the result was excellent in 35 cases, good 10 and fair 3, the average score was 78.7.

CONCLUSIONWith better understanding of the pelvic anatomy, and under C-arm fluoroscopic guidance, treatment of closed reduction and percutaneous cannulated screw internal fixation for unstable pelvic ring injuries is a safe, reliable and feasible method. The clinical outcome is satisfactory.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Pelvic Bones ; injuries

OBJECTIVETo investigate the safety and feasibility of dose dense chemotherapy in the postoperative adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

METHODSThe data of 114 breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant dose dense chemotherapy was retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS114 breast cancer patients received postoperative adjuvant dose dense chemotherapy from Jan. 2004 to March 2005. The patients were treated with different regimens according to their recurrence risk: 43 with paclitaxel + epirubicin (PE), 8 with taxotere + epirubicin (TE), 36 with cyclophosphamide + epirubicin + 5-Fu ( CEF) and 27 with epirubicin +5-Fu (EC). Totally, 111 patients except 3 completed the dose dense chemotherapy smoothly. Major toxicities severer than grade III included: neutropenia in 6.3% of the patients, nausea and vomit in 11.7%, peripheral neuropathy in 3.6%.

CONCLUSIONPostoperative adjuvant dose dense chemotherapy for breast cancer patient is feasible and safe, but the long-term outcome still needs further observation.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cyclophosphamide ; administration & dosage ; Disease-Free Survival ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Epirubicin ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; administration & dosage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Mastectomy ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; chemically induced ; Neutropenia ; chemically induced ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Taxoids ; administration & dosage

Objective To assess the value of brain protection measures in carotid angioplasty and stenting(CAS)for carotid stenosis and contralateral occlusion in reducing the perioperative cerebral isehemic events.Methods Twelve patients undergoing CAS in our department were included in this analysis.All the patients received balloon occlusion test(BOT)of the carotid artery preoperatively.Two patients who were intolerant to BOT received extracranial-intracranial vascular anastomosis,and another 2 patients relatively intolerant to BOT received CAS under general anesthesia.The brain protection measures including reduction of the cerebral blood flow occlusion time and prophylactic management of thrombosis were administered to prevent the ischemic events.The efficacy of the brain protection measures was evaluated by diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI)and observation of the clinical ischemic neurological symptoms.Results Three patients suffered transient ischemic attacks(TIAs),1 patient had temporary vision loss,and 1 had permanent ischemic neurological deficits after the operation.DWI yielded positive results in 50% of the patients after the operation,characterized mostly by small local lesions of 1-2 ram.Eight patients presented with carotid artery dilation by over 90%,and 4 by 70% to 90% after the operation.Conclusion The brain protection measures including precise preoperative evaluation of the ischemic tolerance and blood flow and reduction of cerebral blood flow occlusion time and prevention of thrombosis during the operation can effectively reduce the incidence of perioperative ischemic events in high-risk patients with carotid stenosis and contralateral occlusion.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of IL-28B variation on the response of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to therapy.

METHODSA total of 220 patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) were prospectively treated with pegilated interferon (peg-IFN) in combination with ribavirin (RBV) for 48 weeks. After completing the therapy, the patients were followed-up for 24 weeks and the therapeutic effectiveness was evaluated. The rs8099917 was identified from each cohort. The IL28B genotype was compared in hepatitis C patients to assess the effect of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on different treatment response.

RESULTThe proportion of the rs8099917 TT, TG, and GG genotypes was 71.4%, 25.0%, and 3.6% in sustained viral response (SVR) group; 15.8%, 60.5%, 23.7% in null response (NR) group; 38.1%, 52.3%, 9.6% in relapse (RP) group. There was a statistically significant difference in the genotype among SVR, NR and RP groups (P < 0.001, Chi-square test). NR vs. SVR (TG vs. TT: OR = 7.67, 95% CI: 2.91-20.56, P < 0.001). RP vs. SVR (TG vs. TT: OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.14-6.36, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe genotypes of IL-28 B (rs8099917) is closely related to the effectiveness of peg-IFN-alpha/RBV therapy, and it is an important predictive factor before treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Adult ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genetic Variation ; Hepacivirus ; drug effects ; physiology ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; genetics ; virology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Interleukins ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Ribavirin ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo design and manufacture a new custom-made artificial articular cartilage of femoral condyle based on rapid prototyping technique and explore a method to solve the necroses of allocartilage in hemi joint allotransplantation.

METHODSDesign the new custom-made artificial articular cartilage of femoral condyle. The allograft and the patient distal femurs were scanned with Picker 6000 spiral computed tomography (CT) with 1.0 slice thickness and pitch of 1.5, reconstructed the distal femurs in Voxel Q image workstation with volume rendering technique. Then downloaded the transaxial 2D image data to personal computer at 0.1 mm interval and converted it into 2D digitized contour data by using image processing software developed by our team. The 3D wire frame and solid images of femoral condyle could be reconstructed when the 2D digitized contour data were input into image processing software Surfacer 9.0 (Imageware Company, USA). Subsequently based on the clinical experience and the need of design, the 3D contour image of articular cartilage was extracted from the surrounding. Based on the extracted 3D contour image, the computer-aided design (CAD) of the custom-made artificial articular cartilage was accomplished in Surfacer software, converted the CAD model into RP data format. Standard triangularization language, imported into the LPS600 rapid prototyping machine (Hengtong Company, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China), and the resin prototype was achieved. Then the resin model was used as a positive mould to build up a silica gel negative mould, the negative mould was sent to the factory to manufacture Ti-6Al-4V alloy articular cartilage through ordinary mould-melted founding process. Finally, the whole metal cartilage was completed after melting two special cages on it. A patient was selected to clinical applying.

RESULTSA new custom-made artificial articular cartilage of femoral condyle was made. It was press-fit well to the subchondral bone of the allograft bone. The patient's one and half year follow-up result was excellent.

CONCLUSIONSWe design and manufacture a new custom-made artificial articular cartilage of femoral condyle based on rapid prototyping technique. The result shows that the manufacturing process has the advantage of rapidness and precision that are very important for individualized artificial implant manufacturing. The artificial articular cartilage is press-fit well and could be a good idea to solve the necroses of allocartilage in hemijoint allotransplantation.

Adolescent ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Bone Transplantation ; Cartilage, Articular ; Computer-Aided Design ; Femoral Neoplasms ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Prosthesis ; Male ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; surgery ; Osteosarcoma ; surgery ; Prosthesis Design ; methods ; Transplantation, Homologous

Objective To explore the suicide intention and its influential factors among primary and junior high school students in rural areas of Anhui province,in order to provide evidence for early intervention related to mental health problems.Methods All students from 3 junior high and 5 primary schools in Changfeng county of Anhui were recruited as the study subjects using the cluster sampling method.Data were collected by using Children' s Depression Inventory,the Family APGAR Index,the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire,the Children' s Self-Esteem Scale,Social Anxiety Scale for Children,and the Quality of Life Scale.Chi-square test and Logistic regression were used to analyze the suicidal ideation and its influential factors respectively.Results 8.64％ (252/2917) of the studied children had suicidal ideation.Out of them,9.80％ (166/1694) and 7.03％ (86/1223) were left-behind or non-left-behind children.There was statistically significant difference on suicide ideation between the left-behind children and non-left-behind children (P=0.015).Data from the multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that social anxiety and negative coping style were the risk factors for suicidal ideation (P ＜0.05) while better family function and quality of life were the protective factors of suicidal ideation (P＜0.05).Conclusion Suicide ideation was relatively prevalent among rural children in Anhui province.Family,school and society should carry out different kinds of preventive measures to prevent suicide related behaviors in children from this area.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether dendritic cells fused with tumor cells could elicit in vitro antitumor responses against renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells.

METHODSRenal carcinoma cells were purified from tumor tissue excised from patients with metastatic RCC through tumor cell purifying technique and cultured in RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% FCS. Monocyte-derived DCs generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cell of RCC patients were cultured in the presence of human recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and interleukin-4. Tumor cells and DCs were cocultured in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to generate cell fusion. The phenotype of tumor cells, DCs and fusion cells were detected by flow cytometry. MTT was used to measure the ability of fusion cells to stimulate T cell proliferation. T cell-mediated antitumor responses were measured by lactate dehydrogenase release (LDH) assay for lysis of autologous tumor cells.

RESULTSThe DCs expressed MHC class I, MHC class II and costimulatary molecules (CD80 and CD86), while the renal carcinoma cells expressed a high molecular glycoprotein MUC-1. The DC/tumor fusion cells coexpressed MUC-1 and the phenotype of DCs, and could stimulate T cell proliferation effectively. CTLs stimulated by the fusion vaccine showed distinct lytie activity in vitro to autologous tumor cells.

CONCLUSIONDendritic cells fused with tumor cells can elicit distinct antitumor responses in vitro against tumor cells from patients with metastatic RCC, providing a basis for further research on the clinical application of fusion vaccine in treatment for renal cancers.

B7-2 Antigen ; metabolism ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Fusion ; Cell Proliferation ; Coculture Techniques ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hybrid Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Kidney Neoplasms ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mucin-1 ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

PrME and NS1 gene were the two main immuneprotect proteins of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and they were also N-linked glycosylation proteins. To clear the effect of N-glycosylation on JEV immunity, the N-glycosylation site of prME and NS1 gene were eliminated by site-directed mutant PCR, subtituting the N to Q. And the the mutant genes were subcloned into eukaryotic expression plasmid. Four-weeks female mice were immuned with the wildtype and mutant gene by twice. The antibodies against prME were detected by ELISA and the neutralization antibodies were tested by viral neutralizing assay. The immunoprotection were determined by attack with JEV virulent strain. Compare with the wild-type gene immuned-groups, one N-glycan eliminated prME gene could induce a little higher ELISA antibody, neutralization antibody and immunoprotection, but the immunity of gene with both N-glycan absence was decreased. The similar status were observed in the wildtype and mutant NS1 groups. Thus these results show that the N-linked glycosylation in the prME and NS1 gene were correlated with the immunity, one glycan absent would enhance the immunity but both two loss would impair it.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; immunology ; Encephalitis Virus, Japanese ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Encephalitis, Japanese ; immunology ; virology ; Female ; Glycosylation ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate a drilling guide in the treatment of acromioclavicular joint dislocation with closed reduction and Kirschner fixation and explore the therapeutic effect.

METHODSFrom June 2008 to December 2009, 36 patients with acromioclavicular joint dislocation (Tossy III) were treated with closed reduction and Kirschner fixation using a self-designed drilling guide as well as percutaneous repair of acromioclavicular joint. Among the patients, 24 patients were male and 12 patients were female,ranging in age from 20 to 61 years, averaged 38.6 years. The duration from injury to operation ranged from 3.5 to 72 h,with a mean of 15.2 h. No clavicle fracture was found in all cases. The operative time, intra-operative bleeding and therapeutic effects were observed.

RESULTSThere were no complications including neurovascular problems. The mean operating time were 20 min,mean blood loss were about 10 ml. According to the observation of postoperative X-ray examination, all Kirschners in acromioclavicular joint were in place. All Kirschners were removed in 6 postoperative weeks. All the patients were followed up ranging from 2 to 26 months (averaged 14.3 months). According to the Karlsson standard,22 patients got an excellent result, 13 good and 1 poor.

CONCLUSIONThis method has following advantages: easy operation and fixation; minimum injuries to articular surface; and which would be widely used in clinical practice.

Acromioclavicular Joint ; diagnostic imaging ; injuries ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Adult ; Bone Wires ; Female ; Humans ; Joint Dislocations ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult