The growth and pigment production of 47 strains on casein medium were studied comparatively.T4 and Neurospora crassa AS 3.1602 were selected for their capacity of producing melanin on five different culture media. Melanin produced by T4 was investigated, and T4 was identified as Proteus mirabilis primarily.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the therapeutic effects of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) with degenerative scoliosis.

METHODSFrom March 2009 to March 2014,121 patients undergoing PKP for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) with degenerative scoliosis were retrospective analyzed. There were 41 males and 80 females,ranging in age from 56 to 92 years with an average of 73.2 years. Preoperative and postoperative 3 d respectively pain visual analogue scale (visual analogue score, VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index assessed pain and functional recovery of patients and preoperative and postoperative 3 d lumbar lordosis, scoliosis Cobb angle were analyzed.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 6 to 24 months, with a mean time of 11 months. All the patients achieved success in operation without serious complications. The operation time ranged from 30 to 65 min with an average of 42.2 min. Local leakage of bone cement was not found in canal. The VAS and Oswestry Disability Index at the 3rd day after operation decreased significantly compared with those of the preoperative (P < 0.05), and the lumbar lordosis and scoliosis Cobb angle also improved significantly compared with those of the preoperative (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPercutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of thoracolumbar scoliosis osteoporotic fracture can significantly improve patients spinal deformity, pain relief, which is worth of recommending.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Fractures, Compression ; surgery ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; surgery ; Scoliosis ; surgery ; Spinal Fractures ; surgery ; Visual Analog Scale

Objective To evaluate the influential factors of iron acquisition during Francisella tularensis LVS infection of mouse macrophages.Methods F.tularensis LVS expressing green fluorescent protein was used to infect murine macrophage J774A.1 cells.Transferrin receptor 1(Tfr1)was detected with mono-antibody and visualized with a goat-anti mouse IgG conjugated to Alexa 594.The expression profile of 5 iron metabolism related genes of J774A.1 murine macrophages uninfected or infected with F.tularensis LVS was determined with real-time PCR.Immunoblot analysis was used to compare the Tfr1 expression of live Francisella infected macrophage with dead bacteria.Tfr1 knock-off in J774A.1 cells was performed with siRNA.The transfected cells were infected with Francisella for immunoblotting and microscopy and infection assay.Results It was revealed that the live vaccine strain of F.tularensis induced the expression of Tfr1 in host macrophages.Gene expression analysis indicated that F.tularensis LVS drove an active iron acquisition program with induction of Tfr1 and iron regulatory proteins(Irp1 and Irp2).It was shown by Western-blotting that the siRNA-Tfrc-1 could knock off about 75% of Tfr1 in J774A.1 cells.It was determined by infection assay that,Tfr1 was knocked off,the bacteria number at 1h infection with Francisella was not different from that of control(F=1.06,P=0.326 5),while it was decreased significantly after 24h of infection(F=24.12,P=0.000 6).Conclusions It is demonstrated that upregulation of the Tfr1 may be mediated by post-transcriptional regulation during early infection,but sustained later through increased expression of Irp 1 and Irp 2.Increased expression of Tfr1 expands the intracellular iron pool through transferrin-mediated delivery and may thus be readily available for uptaking by Francisella.Knocking off the expression of Tfr1 does not affect bacterial invasion.Francisella,however,may fail to proliferate in macrophages in which the expression of transferrin receptor has been suppressed.

A white-rot fungi Rigidoporus sp.W-1 which could produce laccase was isolated. The fermentation conditions in shaking flasks were investigated. The optimal carbon source was wheat bran and (NH 4) 2SO 4 was the optimal nitrogen source. The components of the medium were optimized by orthogonal experiment. When W-1 was cultured under the optimum conditions, the activity of laccase could get to 7.1U/mL in 7 days.A great amount of crude laccase could be obtained by adding fresh medium to the 7 days old mycelium.

Fermentation condition optimization of P. decumbens Ju-A10 for production of CMCase using three kinds of plant cellulosic wastes as carbon sources was made using RSA method. The result was that CMCase was the highest when the level of carbon source was 9. 77 % , 8. 69 % and 9. 97% , and liquid volume was 64. 7 mL, 54. 2 mL, 40. 8 mL for carbon sources of millet straw, wheat straw and paper sludge, respectively. The value of CMCase was 29. 26IU/mL, 29. 14 IU/mL, 29. 81 IU/mL, respectively, in the above cases. The value of R2 is 0. 9117 , 0. 9246, 0. 8655 , respectively. It could be concluded that the fermentation models were quite reliable. The method can be applied in optimization of fungi fermentation medium.

Adult ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; surgery ; Laser Therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Traction ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2) and arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on the apoptosis related gene expression in multiple myeloma cell line CZ-1.

METHODSTotal RNA was isolated from CZ-1 cells which had been treated with 2ME2 and As2O3 at an apoptosis-inducing concentration and reverse-transcribed into a cDNA probe labeled with Bio-16-dUTP, and then hybridized it with a microarray containing up to 96 key genes involved in apoptosis. The gene expression profile of the 2ME2 and As2O3 treated CZ-1 cells were analyzed with GEArray Analyzer software. The microarray results were confirmed by RT-PCR.

RESULTSAs2O3 treatment caused the alteration in the expression of 52 genes (54.2% of total genes on microarray). Among them, 42 (80.8%) were upregulated and 10 (19.2%) were downregulated. The upregulated genes were mainly involved in caspases family, P53 and ATM pathway, death effector domain family, TNF receptor family and CIDE family. 2ME2 treatment resulted in the alteration of 42 genes (43.8% of the total genes on microarray). Of them, 32 (76.2%) were downregulated and 10 (23.8%) were upregulated. The downregulated genes mainly belonged to bcl-2 family, inhibitor of apoptosis protein family (IAP), TRAF family, TNF ligand family, and CARD family.

CONCLUSION2ME2 and As2O3 induce the CZ-1 cells apoptosis by different pathways. As2O3 mainly induces upregulation of proapoptotic genes, and 2ME2 downregulation of anti-apoptotic genes expression.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; genetics ; Arsenicals ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Estradiol ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Multiple Myeloma ; genetics ; pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Oxides ; pharmacology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tubulin Modulators ; pharmacology

Objective:To evaluate the therapeutic effects of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of osteo-porotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) with degenerative scoliosis. Methods:From March 2009 to March 2014,121 patients undergoing PKP for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) with degenerative scoliosis were retrospective analyzed. There were 41 males and 80 females ,ranging in age from 56 to 92 years with an average of 73.2 years. Preoperative and postoperative 3 d respectively pain visual analogue scale (visual analogue score,VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index assessed pain and functional recovery of patients and preoperative and postoperative 3 d lumbar lordosis ,scol-iosis Cobb angle were analyzed. Results:All the patients were followed up,and the duration ranged from 6 to 24 months,with a mean time of 11 months. All the patients achieved success in operation without serious complications. The operation time ranged from 30 to 65 min with an average of 42.2 min. Local leakage of bone cement was not found in canal. The VAS and Os-westry Disability Index at the 3rd day after operation decreased significantly compared with those of the preoperative (P<0.05), and the lumbar lordosis and scoliosis Cobb angle also improved significantly compared with those of the preoperative (P<0.05). Conclusion:Percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP) for the treatment of thoracolumbar scoliosis osteoporotic fracture can significant-ly improve patients spinal deformity,pain relief,which is worth of recommending.

OBJECTIVETo explore the incidence of dementia among elderly people in Xi'an and its related risk factors.

METHODSSubjects that had been studied on the prevalence of dementia were follow-up, and the incidence of dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD) , and vascular dementia (VD) were counted by person-years. The clinical diagnosis on dementia,AD and VD were based upon the 3rd Edition of Diagnostic and Statistical of Manual of Mental Disorder, Revised version (DSM-III-R) and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.

RESULTS2197 subjects of non-dementia being identified in 1998, were re-surveyed in 2001. Out of them, 47 new cases of dementia including 37 cases of AD and 8 cases of VD were identified, with an annual incidence rates of dementia, AD and VD as 0.68%, 0.54% and 0.12% among those of 55 years and over and 0.89%, 0.69% and 0.17% in 65 years and over, respectively. Analysis from single factor logistic regression showed that age and education but not gender were closely related to the occurrence of AD. On the contrary, age, hypertension and stroke were closely related to the occurrence of VD.

CONCLUSIONThe incidence of dementia in the "Xi' an cohort" was similar to that being reported from other countries. AD and VD were an age-related diseases but education seemed to have had great protective effect while lack of formal education served as risk factor to AD.

Age Distribution ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Dementia ; classification ; epidemiology ; Educational Status ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Sex Distribution

OBJECTIVETo compare electrophysiological changes in treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH) with ozone by curving sheath-needle multi-direction rotating injection (CSNMRI) and conventional injection method.

METHODSFrom May 2005 to June 2009,100 patients with LDH were studied, included 68 males and 32 females, ranging in age from 25 to 58 years with an average of 44 years, in course of disease from 3 months to 8 years with an average of 8.8 months. All patients were numbered according to sequence of visit, and were completely randomly divided into group A and group B with DPS software, 50 cases in each group. All patients were injected ozone into lesion of intervertebral disc, in group A with CSNMRI and in group B with conventional method. The electrophysiologic study of all patients was performed respectively before treatment and at the 3 month after treatment. The electromyogram (EMG) of the main muscle groups of involved lower limb and the corresponding segments of sacrospinal muscle was tested; the duration and multiphase-wave rate of MUP were calculated. H-reflex of tibial nerve in both lower limbs was observed and the number of abnormal H-reflex and the H-wave latency were recorded.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the number of muscles with abnormal EMG was reduced to different degrees in each group, but there was more significant reduction in group A (P < 0.05 or 0.01); the duration and multiphase-wave rate of MUP in the two groups were both reduced and close to the normal level (P < 0.01), yet the changes in group A was more than that of group B (P < 0.05 or 0.01). There was no significant difference in the number of abnormal H-reflex before treatment between two groups, whereas was markedly lower in group A than that of group B after treatment (P < 0.05). After treatment, H-wave latency in two groups was shortened and become close to normal, but group B was more statistically significant than group B (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe neural electrophysiological abnormalities can reflect the degree of nerve root compression and damage, and is one of the objective indicators to estimate neuromuscular function. It can better meliorate abnormal electrophysiology to inject ozone to treat LDH with CSNMRI than conventional method.

Adult ; Aged ; Electrophysiological Phenomena ; Encephalocele ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; drug therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Lumbosacral Region ; abnormalities ; Male ; Meningocele ; Middle Aged ; Ozone ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult