OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy differences between needle-knife therapy and acupuncture-cupping for treatment of cervical spondylosis (CS) of cervical type.

METHODSSixty cases of CS were randomly divided into a needle-knife group (30 cases) and an acupuncture-cupping group (30 cases). The needle-knife therapy was applied at points among superior nuchal line of occipital bone, bilateral neck muscle, neck centerline, trapezius and medial border scapula for only once. In the acupuncture-cupping group, acupuncture was applied at Fengchi (GB 20), Fengfu (GV 16), Tianzhu (BL 10), Dazhui (GV 14), Jianjing (GB 21), Jiaji (Ex-B2, from C4 to C6), Houxi (SI 3) and Ashi point, followed by cupping on local skin, once every other day for totally six times. The score of neck stiffness and visual analogue scale (VAS) were observed before and after treatment, in follow-up of 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment in the two groups, and the efficacy was compared.

RESULTSIn the needle-knife group, 9 cases were cured, 12 cases were markedly effective, 8 cases were effective and 1 case was failed; the total effective rate was 96.7% (29/30) and the cured and markedly effective rate was 70.0% (21/30). In the acupuncture-cupping group, 8 cases were cured, 9 cases were markedly effective, 11 cases were effective and 2 cases were failed; the total effective rate was 93.3% (28/30) and the cured and markedly effective rate was 56.7% (17/30). The difference of total effective rate in the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05), but the cured and markedly effective rate of needle-knife group was significantly superior to that of acupuncture-cupping group (P < 0.05). The needle-knife therapy was significantly superior to acupuncture-cupping on improvement of neck stiffness in the follow-up of 1, 3, 6 months after treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.001); both treatments were effective on relief of neck pain, but the needle-knife group had better effects in the follow-up of 3 and 6 months after treatment compared with acupuncture-cupping group (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe needle-knife therapy has better effects on neck stiffness and pain relief than acupuncture-cupping, and it is more treatment time saving.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spondylosis ; physiopathology ; therapy

Clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) found in bacteria and archaea genome that contains multiple short repeats loci, provides acquired immunity against invading foreign DNA via RNA-guided DNA cleavage. The first inkling of this hot new genetic engineering tool turned up in 1987, when a research team observed an oddly repetitive sequence at one end of a bacterial gene. Now three types of CRISPR/Cas system have been identified: types I, II and III. In the type II CRISPR/Cas9 system, short segments of foreign DNA termed 'spacers' are integrated within the CRISPR genomic loci, transcribed and processed into short CRISPR RNA (crRNA). These crRNAs anneal to trans-activating crRNA (tracrRNA) and direct sequence-specific cleavage in that a double-strand break (DSB) is generated by Cas proteins. Based on these findings, various genetic methods, including gene targeting (Gene disruption), gene insertion, gene correction etc., are being designed to manipulate the genomes of different species at specific loci. Compared with zinc finger nucleases (ZFN) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN), CRISPR/Cas9 is simpler with higher specificity and less toxicity. This review summarizes recent progress, discusses the prospects of CRISPR/Cas9 system, with an emphasis on its structure, principle, applications and potential challenges, and provides a useful reference for researchers who are interested in this new technique.
Bacteria ; CRISPR-Cas Systems ; DNA ; Genetic Engineering ; Genomics ; RNA

Based on the research of risk assessment of medical equipment safety and operation to formulate evaluation criteria and methods of how to use the practical management work. Objective to evaluate the practical method is to use and the risk of adverse events of medical equipment in operation risk in order to find the risk, control risk, ensure safety in time, so that Improve the level of risk management of medical equipment.
Equipment Safety ; Humans ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Management

The clinical classification of metastatic spinal tumors is based on the degree of malignancy, nervous system function, osteoclasia, and prognosis of patients. The application of this classification system is relatively simple. The assessment and evaluation of patients to estimate the period of survival can guide the individualized treatment of patients. Patients with clear surgical indications can choose to undergo a palliative operation, tumor resection, or total spondylectomy. Alternatively, other patients can opt to have mini-mally invasive surgery aside from the normal surgical approach. Stereotactic radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy combined with the use of radiofrequency ablation, radiation, and other therapies can achieve local tumor control, relieve pain, and main-tain normal neurological function. Thus, the quality of life of the patient is improved. Percutaneous vertebroplasty, radiofrequency abla-tion, spinal endoscopy, and other modern forms of minimally invasive surgery will have more applications in the treatment of spinal metastatic tumors.

Vascular dementia (VaD) is one of the most common dementia types in the elderly population. Its incidence is only second to Alzheimer's disease. At present, the diagnosis of VaD mainly based on the clinical manifestations, neuroimaging and neuropsychological scales of the patients. It still lacks higher sensitive and specific metabolism indexes. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a noninvasive technique for detecting the energy of living tissues and the changes of metabolism. In recent years, it has been more and more used to patients with VaD and has achieved initial results in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and cognition-related studies of

Objective To study the effect of different dialysis modalities on pruritus in uremic patients .Methods Patients with maintenance hemodialysis who were suffered with severe cutaneous pruritus were randomly divided into hemodialysis group (HD group) ,hemodialysis combined with hemodiafiltration group (HD+ HDF group) ,hemodialysis and hemodiafiltration combined with hemoperfusion group (HD+ HDF+ HP group) .Plasma P3+ ,parathyroid hormone (PTH) and β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) were measured at pre-dialysis ,1 weeks ,4 weeks and 12 weeks after dialysis ,cutaneous pruritus was scored too .Results Compared with pre-dialysis ,the level of plasma P3+ ,PTH ,β2-MG and the scores of cutaneous pruritus were significantly lower at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after dialysis in HD+ HDF+ HP group (P<0 .05) .The were statistically significant difference in P3+ ,PTH ,β2-MG and cu-taneous pruritus scores among 3 groups after 12 weeks (P<0 .05) .Conclusion HD+ HDF+ HP is superior to HD+ HDF in effi-ciently clear P3+ ,PT H andβ2-M G ,and relief cutaneous pruritus and itching .

Translational medicine is a new term recently which aims to eliminate the barrier between preclinical and clinical medicine,to efficiendy and effectively translate basic scientific findings into drugs and medical devices that benefits patients.This article discussed the meaning of translational medicine in cultivating postgraduates of neurology.According to the preliminary attempt,it is beneficial for postgraduates to form translational medicine philosophy and be high-quality medical talents.

Multimedia teaching was not often used in pediatric surgery teaching in department of pediatrics.We used multimedia courseware to assist teaching in clinical teaching for 2007 grade seven-year-program students in Chongqing medical university.Results showed that this method improved students' learning enthusiasm,initiative and interests and laid a good foundation for the smooth development of their clinical practice.

DNA, as the material basis of all living cells, triggers innate immune responses through TLR9 and other cytosolic recognition receptors. In recent years, the research progress of TLR9 is mainly manifested by the following four aspects: (1) the determinants of TLR9 interacting with its ligands; (2) the mechanisms and the importance of TLR9 translocation from the endoplasmic reticulum to the endosome; (3) the roles of the endosomal acidification and maturation, and subsequent TLR9 cleavage in TLR9 signal transduction pathway; and (4) the possible mechanisms by which the organism distinguish self DNA from microbial DNA. Meanwhile, a series of experiments on TLR9 antagonists and TLR9 deficient mice confirmed the presence of TLR9-independent cytosolic DNA sensors. So far, three TLR9-independent DNA sensors have been found, and they are DAI, AIM2, and RNA polymerase Ⅲ.

Endocannabinoid system has several kinds of receptors, all of which have correspondence ligands and pathways of synthesis and degradation, and they belong to G-protein coupled receptors family. Recently studies show that stimulation of cannabinoid receptors has inhibitory effects on gastrointestinal motility and secretion. In this article, we introduce the compositions of the cannabinoid family members, includingtheir receptors, ligands, and antagonists, and their effects on the gastrointestinal motility and secretion. Useful information can be provided for the further study on the effects of endocannabinoid system on gastrointestinal motility and secretion, providing theoretic evidences for clinical use of cannabinoid.