OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effects of short-segment transpedicular fixation and vertebroplasty via paraspinal intermuscular approach in treating thoracolumbar fractures.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to January 2012,18 patients with thoracolumbar fractures without neurological symptoms were treated with short-segment transpedicular fixation and vertebroplasty via paraspinal intermuscular approach. There were 11 males and 7 females, aged from 52 to 76 years old with an average of 62.2 years. The duration from injuries to surgery ranged from 8 h to 7 d with an average of 4.2 d. According to the Denis fracture classification, 12 cases got compression fractures and 6 cases got burst fractures.

LOCATION6 vertebra with T12, 9 with L1, 6 with L2, and 3 with L3. Anterior vertebral body height, the sagittal Cobb angle, the sagittal index (SI), condition of internal fixation failure and recurrent kyphosis were observed.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up for 12-28 months with an average of 16.5 months. Operation time was from 80 to 130 min with a mean of 95 min and bleeding volume during operation ranged from 100 to 180 ml with a mean of 145 ml. Anterior vertebral body height ratios preoperation, 3 days after operation and final follow-up was 54.3 +/- 2.8, 90.9 +/- 1.5, 88.6 +/- 1.7, respectively; sagittal Cobb angle was (27.8 +/- 2.5) degrees, (5.3 +/- 0.8) degrees, (6.3 +/- 1.4) degrees, respectively; sagittal index was 52.3 +/- 3.8, 89.2 +/- 5.2, 86.4 +/- 4.5, respectively. Data obtained 3 days after operation obviously improved than preoperation, and there was no statistically significant difference between 3 days after operation and last follow-up. No internal fixation failure, neurological complications and recurrent kyphosis were found.

CONCLUSIONTreatment of thoracolumbar fractures with short-segment transpediclar screw fixation and vertebroplasty via paraspinal intermuscular approach can retain the posterior ligament complex and restore the mechanical strength of the anterocentral column,which proved an ideal method for preventing the failure of internal fixation and reduction of post-traumatic segmental kyphosis.

Aged ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Fractures ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Vertebroplasty ; methods

Endoscopy ; Humans ; Nasal Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Paranasal Sinuses ; surgery

Objective To compare the therapeutic effects of transcervical resection(TCRC) and loop electrical excision procedure(LEEP) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic cervicitis.MethodsFrom January 2003 to July 2006,totally 520 patients with moderate-to-severe chronic cervicitis were randomly divided into two groups to receive TCRC or LEEP.ResultsThe intraoperative blood loss in the TCRC group was significantly less than that in the LEEP group [(4.2?1.3) ml vs(10.1?4.5) ml,t=-20.310,P=0.000].Whereas,no significantly differences were found in the drainage and bleeding time and cure rates between the two groups [(15.9? 3.7) d vs(16.2? 3.3) d,t=-0.976,P=0.330;and 95.2%(236/248) vs 93.2%(235/252),?2=0.832,P=0.362].ConclusionsBoth TCRC and LEEP are effective for chronic cervicitis.TCRC is superior to LEEP in the surgical outcomes;however the latter is easier to perform than TCRC.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic ovarian drilling for treating clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS).Methods Laparoscopic ovarian drilling,with pelvic adhesion release and salpingoplasty,was performed in 38 cases of clomipheneresistant PCOS from March 2001 to May 2005 in this hospital.Serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone(LH),follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),androgen(T),and estradiol(E2) were measured before and after operation.Ovarian follicular development,pregnancy rate,and abortion rate were observed after operation. Results Postoperatively,there was a significant decline of levels of LH(from 22.36?3.17 U/L to 8.73?1.95 U/L;t=3.13,P

Animals ; Humans ; Iron ; adverse effects ; metabolism ; Iron Overload

Objective:To identify potentially pleiotropic genes for lean body mass ( LBM ) and age at menarche ( AAM).Methods:The discovery sample consisted of 1 692 unrelated female subjects of European ancestry.The replication sample consisted of 801 unrelated female subjects of Han Chinese ancestry.A total of 909,622 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in both samples with the Affymetrix genome-wide genotyping array SNP 6.0.Bivariate genome-wide association analyses were then performed to the appendicular LBM and AAM.Results: Two SNP rs1860547 and rs11030746 identified by the bivariate GWAS were significant at the genome-wide significance (GWS) level;their P-values were <0.05 after replications.In the upstream of rs1860547, two genes KCNA1 and KCNA5 were found to be important for both LBM and AAM.In the downstream of rs11030746, one gene KCNA4 was found.Univariate GWAS also identified both SNPs to be significant at the GWS level; their P-values were <0.05 after replications.In the upstream of rs1860547 , two genes KCNA1 and KCNA5 are found to be important for LBM.In the downstream of rs11030746 , one gene KCNA4 was found.Conclusion:KCNA1, KCNA4 and KCNA5 are likely to be pleiotropic genes closely related to both LBM and AAM in European females.

Objective: To explore the effect of case introduction and assessment approach of the team in strengthening the skills training of school nursing students. Methods:Selected 289 undergraduate nursing students from grade 2010 as experimental group, 281 students from grade 2010 as control group, the experimental group adopted case introduction and assessment approach of the team, the latter used the traditional assessment method, after the end of the training, two groups of students were operating examination and questionnaire survey. Results:The nursing students in the experimental group of operating examination results was better than the control group(P<0.05).The application of case introduction and assessment approach of the team can develop good teamwork spirit(86.30%), communication skills(71.85%), consciousness of active learning(81.11%), clinical decision-making(75.93%), and clinical adaptive-ability(87.04%). Conclusion:The model of case introduction and assessment approach of the team can improve the clinical comprehensive ability partly.

Objective To establish a quality assessment method for Ermiao Pills (EP) based on HPLC fingerprint and qualitatively analyze the chemical constituents. Methods The chromatographic column Shiseido C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) was used, acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as mobile phase with gradient elution at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and the detection wavelength was 330 nm. The standard chromatographic fingerprint was synthesized from chromatogram of the mixed standard herbs of Phellodendron Rupr. and Atractylodes DC, and the similarity evaluation of Ermiao Pills samples was carried out by the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of TCM (Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission, version 2012A). Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap Elite mass spectrometer (UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap) was used to characterize the chemical constituents of Ermiao Pills. A Thermo Scientific Syncronis C18 (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.9 μm) column and a gradient elution of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid were used for UPLC separation. The combination of ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap mass analyzer with a linear ion trap was applied for high resolution mass spectrometry and collision-induced dissociation (CID). Results The chromatographic fingerprints were generated with 10 common peaks. The similarity scores of 20 samples between each material batch and the reference fingerprint ranged from 0.869-0.992. Twenty-one components were identified via referring to reference components and literatures and analyzing MS data, they were neo-chlorogenic acid, magnocurarine, xanthoplanine, magnoflorine, 3-O-feruloylquinic acid, menisperine, demethyleneberberine, oxyberberine, columbamine, jatrorrhizine, berberubine, palmatine, berberine, syringic acid, caffeic acid, (E)-4-(3-hydroxyprop-1-en1yl)-2-methoxyphenol, atractylenolide II, acetosyringone, atractylenolide I, selina-4(14), 7(11)-dien-8-one, and atractylodin. Conclusion The established method of fingerprint is specific, combined with LC-MS qualitative analysis, can be used for the quality evaluation of Ermiao Pills, giving support to quality control comprehensively.

BACKGROUND:The physicochemical properties and bioactivity of titanium surface will degrade with time because of the aging phenomenon,affecting the efficiency of implant-bone osseointegration.Therefore,the re-activation of the implant surface physicochencical properties and bioactivity is important.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the re-activation effect of ultraviolet rays on aging titanium surface.METHODS:Sand-blasted and acid-etched titanium discs were divided into three groups randomly:Group A was new titanium surface,Group B was stored in a sealed container for 4 weeks,Group C was treated with ultraviolet rays for 15 minutes after stored in the sealed container for 4 weeks.The surface roughness,elemental composition and surface energy of the titanium surface were examined by optical profilometer,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measuring device,respectively.The bioactivity of the titanium surface was examined by cell culture experiments.MG63 osteoblast-like cells were cultured on the different titanium surfaces.After 30 minutes,1,2,4 hours of incubation,the cells were strained with Hoechst33342 fluorescence,and initial attachment of cells was evaluated by measuring the amount of cells attached to the titanium surface.The proliferation of cells was quantified in terms of cell density at 1 and 3 culture days using tetrazolium salt (MTS)-based colorimetry.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There was no obvious difference in the surface roughness of the three groups,and ultraviolet treatment did not change the surface morphology of titanium surface.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the C element content of group A and group C was lower than that of group B (P ＜ 0.05),and the content of Ti,O,N elements was significantly higher than that of group B (P ＜ 0.05).No difference in the surface element composition between group A and group C was found.Both of the surface contact angles of group A and group C were Oo,but in group B,the value was 115°.The number of initially attached cells of group A and group C was significantly higher than that of group B after incubated 30 minutes,1,2 and 4 hours (P ＜ 0.05),and no difference between group A and group C was found.The proliferation of cells of group A and group C was significantly higher than that of group B after incubated 1 and 3 days (P ＜ 0.05),but no difference between group A and group C was found.In conclusion,ultraviolet rays show good effects on the re-activation of the aging titanium surface,which can reduce hydrocarbon contamination and recover the high surface energy to increase cell adhesion and proliferation.

Objective To investigate the histopathological and ultrastructural changes of corneal epithelium induced by erlotinib in mice.Methods Totally 30 6-8 weeks old male BALB/c mice were divided into three groups:Control group (n =12),experimental group (n =12),another 6 mice did nothing as the blank control.Experimental group used erlotinib eye drops and control group used PBS in both eyes,four times per day.At 1 day,7 days and 14 days after the intervention,corneal fluorescence staining (FL) was observed by slit lamp and graded.On the fourteenth day after the intervention,the eye balls of mice were taken,and the histopathological and ultrastructural changes of corneal epithelium and epithelial cells were observed by optical microscope and electron microscope,respectively.And protein of cornea was measured by Western Blot.Results Before the intervention,there was no significant difference in FL scores between the experimental group and control group (P ＞ 0.05).At 1 day,7 days and 14 days,FL score of experimental group was significantly higher than the groups of non-intervention,the difference was statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05).While FL score of control group was not statistically significant before and after intervention (all P ＞ 0.05);Compared between two groups,there were statistical differences at 7 days,14 days in FL score (all P ＜ 0.05).In the experimental group,the histopathological changes of murine corneal epithelial cells had disorderly arrangement,increased layers of cells,and the inflammatory cells.Under electron microscope,the morphology of corneal epithelial surface cells was irregular and partially detached.The number of microvilli,desmosomes and hemidesmosomes were significantly decreased when compared to the control group.The expression of p-EGFR in experimental group was significantly less than that in control group,the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Erlotinib can damage the tissue structure of corneal epithelium and ultrastructure of corneal epithelial cells in mice.And the mechanism is probably that erlotinib influence the corneal epithelium by inhibiting the EGFR activation.