As one of the major geriatric syndromes,frailty exerts adverse effects on life expectancy and quality of life of the elderly.Because of its importance,a number of methods and tools have been introduced for the assessment of frailty.Malnutrition,as an independent risk factor,interacts with frailty and is involved in its progression.This article reviews recent studies on frailty and malnutrition.

Effect of 8 fungal fermented filtrates on mycelial growth, encystment and germination of zoospores, appressorium formation, and penetration hyphae formation of Phytophthora infestans was investigated. Of which, the fermented filtrates from Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides showed the strongest inhibition against P. infestans. The results indicated that they are potential for controlling the diseases caused by P. infestans.

ObjectiveTo analysis the clinical characteristics and the high risk factors of children with cerebral palsy.MethodsClinical data of 100 children with cerebral palsy were retrospectively analyzed.Results51% of children were born with asphyxia, 42% were born prematurely, 39% were low birth body weight. 85.7% of children involved had mental retardation, 12% had hearing loss and 7% had visual impairment. 88% of children involved had abnormal cranial CT results and 46.1% had abnormal EEG. 50.0% of the children had abnormal brain stem auditory evoked potentials.ConclusionAsphyxia, prematurely birth and low birth body weight are high risk factors of cerebral palsy. Most of the children with cerebral palsy in this group are mental retarded.

Objective To retrospectively analyze the treatments of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (nvAF) in elderly patients aged 80 years and over,and to investigate the influencing factors for occurrence of stroke and transient ischemic attack(TIA)and relationships between antithrombotic therapy and stroke or TIA.Methods 101 elderly patients with nvAF were enrolled and grouped according to the occurrence of stroke/TIA and antithrombotic-correlated bleeding.The influencing factors were retrospectively analyzed and antithrombotic schemes were compared.Results Incidence rate of stroke/TIA was 28.7％ (29/101).Among all patients,70 cases were treated with antiplatelet therapy,19 cases were treated with anticoagulation therapy,while 12 cases received no antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulation) therapy before stroke.Both the nvAF time course and the antithrombotic strategy were significantly different between post-AF stroke/TIA group and non-postAF stroke/TIA group(both P＜0.05).The difference was reflected in ratios of antiplatelet therapy/anticoagulation therapy.The proportion of anticoagulation therapy was higher in non stroke/TIA group(x2 =5.778,P =0.016).Different antiplatelet therapy scheme significantly affected occurrence of stroke/TIA(P＜0.05).There was no significant effect of antithrombotic schemes on hemorrhagic events(x2=0.708,P =0.702).Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension,coronary heart disease,cancer,diabetes and previous stroke history,as well as nvAF duration were the independent risk factors for post-AF stroke/TIA(OR=1.351,95 ％CI:1.129-1.617).Conclusions Currently,the proportion using anticoagulation therapy is low,and single antiplatelet therapy is the main regimen in the elderly patients with nvAF.For elderly patients with nvAF,anticoagulation therapy has a protective effect against the occurrence of post-nvAF stroke/TIA,meanwhile there is no significantly increased risk of bleeding,which makes anticoagulation therapy advisable in the elderly.The nvAF time course is one of the risk factors,which is worth experts' attention in risk evaluation of thrombus in elderly patients.

Objective The nano-zirconia scaffolds we previously prepared had a good 3-dimensional ( 3D ) connectivity but did not achieve the ideal sintering rate and compressive strength .The objective of this study was to explore the enhancing effect of polyvinyl butyral ( PVB) as a dispersant on the compressive strength of 3D nano-zirconia porous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering . Methods We prepared the slurry containing different concentrations of PVB and ana-lyzed the improving effect of PVB on the mechanical properties of the scaffolds by sediment experiment , compressive strength test and scan-ning electron microscopy . Results The sediment experiment showed
no significant stratification in the slurry with 0.2wt%PVB, white suspension in the upper layer and white precipitate in the lower layer , with a significantly higher compressive strength of the scaffold ([0.324 ±0.030] MPa) than that of the scaffold prepared by adding other concentrations of PVB to the slurry (P <0.01).And the compressive strength of the scaffold constructed by adding no dispersant ([0.109 ±0.021] MPa) was remarkably lower than that of the scaffold constructed by adding PVB to the slurry (P<0.05).Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the scaffold prepared by adding 0.2wt%PVB to the slurry had a complete porous structure with the fewest and most sparsely distributed surface cracks as compared with other PVB concentration groups . Conclusion PVB can signifi-cantly improve the stability of zirconia slurry , enhance the compressive strength of the nano-zirconia porous scaffold , and make the scaf-fold more applicable to bone tissue engineering .

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Botulinum toxin-A (BTX-A) injection into detrusor to treat neurogenic detrusor overactivity in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods A total of 78 patients with SCI were treated with transurethral injection of BTX-A (300 IU dissolved in 15 ml of saline) into 30 different points of detrusor with 15 ml in every patients. Urodynamic parameters and voiding diary were assessed at baseline and 3 weeks and 3 months after the injections. Adverse events were recorded after the injection if present.Results After the first injection, 78 patients showed that the mean frequencies of incontinence decreased from 13.5 to 2.7 times per day, the mean volume of intermittent catheterization (IC) increased from 131 ml to 389 ml per time, the mean volume of incontinence decreased from 1 690 ml to 281 ml per day, the mean getting effect time was 7.6 days. 10 patients received second injection at 8.9 months after first injection, the results showed that the mean frequencies of incontinence decreased from 9.7 to 3.7 times per day, the mean IC volume increased from 108 ml to 387 ml. 6 patients received third injection at 5.8 months after second injection, the results showed that the mean frequencies of incontinence decreased from 9.2 to 3.9 times per day, the mean IC volume increased from 116 ml to 364 ml. No side effects were observed during the follow-up.Conclusion BTX-A injection into detrusor to treat neurogenic detrusor overactivity in patients with SCI seems to be an effective, safe and miniinvasive solution.

Objective To evaluate the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma. Methods A retrospective study of clinical characteristics and imaging findings of pathologically proved cystic lymphangiomas in 7 adults (2 males and 5 females;mean age,51 years) was conducted,and comparisons were made between these findings and operative and pathological results.All the patients presented no special clinical manifestation.Ultrasonography and CT scan showed smoothly margined cystic masses ranging from 6 cm?7 cm to 20 cm?21 cm;some of them had septums, and the walls and septums could be partially enhanced. Preoperative definite diagnosis was made in only 1 case by CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage of the lymphangioma; while the others were misdiagnosed as abdominal cavity cysts(2 cases)and retroperitoneal space-occupying cystic lesions(4 cases). Results Complete extirpation was performed in 6 cases,and subtotal cystectomy,in 1 case because of the liver and pancreas involvement by the tumor.Postoperatively,all the lesions were pathologically proved to be retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma.There was no recurrence during the follow-up of 9 months to 10 years,except for 1 case undergoing subtotal cystectomy who had local recurrence 5 months after operation. Conclusions Ultrasonography and CT are the most useful imaging modality for locating the site and determining the nature of lymphangioma . Surgical excision is the first choice for the treatment.

Apoptosis ; Colonic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins ; metabolism

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to measure the concentration of adiponectin (APN) in serum and induced sputum in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD during acute exacerbation (AECOPD) and at stable stage and to determine the role of APN as a marker of inflammation in the pathogenesis of COPD. METHODS: All the patients in this prospective study were enrolled from October 2008 to October 2009, including 30 male AECOPD patients from the emergency department, 30 male stable COPD patients from the department of respiratory diseases, and 30 healthy non-smoking male controls from the department of medical examination. The serum and induced sputum were collected from each patient. All of the patients had normal weight (BMI range 18.5-24.9 kg/m2). Patients with severe bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis or autoimmune disease were excluded. Cell count and classification was performed for the induced sputum. The concentrations of APN, IL-8, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA. Pulmonary function was tested among the three groups. Comparisons between the groups were conducted by Student's t test, ANOVA analysis or nonparametric test. Correlation analysis was carried out by Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient test or Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient test. RESULTS: The concentrations of APN in the serum or induced sputum in AECOPD patients were significantly higher than those in stable COPD patients or healthy non-smoking controls (P<0.01). The concentration of APN in stable COPD patients was significantly higher than that in healthy non-smoking controls (P<0.01). For the AECOPD patients, APN was positively correlated with IL-8 and TNF-α in the serum and induced sputum (r=0.739, 0.734, 0.852, 0.857 respectively, P<0.05). For the stable COPD patients, APN was also positively correlated with IL-8 and TNF-α in the serum and induced sputum (r=0.751, 0.659, 0.707, 0.867 respectively, P<0.05). In addition, for the AECOPD patients, APN was positively correlated with the percentage of neutrophils in the induced sputum (r=0.439, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: APN is involved in the process of systematic and airway inflammation of COPD. This process is related to neutrophils in the airway, IL-8 and TNF-α. APN could be used as a new marker for inflammation of COPD.

BACKGROUND: As a cytokine highly expressed in internal organs, visfatin could be used as a biomarker of systemic inflammation response for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, but few studies have reported the use of visfatin in severe pneumonia. The present study was undertaken to determine the plasma levels of visfatin in patients with severe pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 70 patients, including 40 patients with severe pneumonia (group A) and 30 patients with non severe pneumonia (group B) who had been admitted to the ICU from June 2009 to June 2010, were enrolled in this prospective study. And another 30 healthy physical examinees served as healthy controls (group C). Patients were excluded if they suffered from severe diseases of the heart, brain and kidney, cancers, autoimmune diseases, or received special treatment in the latest month. The plasma levels of visfatin, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA, while the level of CRP was determined by immuneturbidimetry, and the routine blood test was performed. Blood gas analysis and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) were performed in patients with pneumonia. Comparisons between the groups were conducted by Student's t test, ANOVA or nonparametric test. Correlation analysis was carried out by Pearson's correlation test or Spearman's rank-order correlation test. RESULTS: The plasma level of visfatin in group A was significantly higher than that in groups B and C (P<0.001), and the level of visfatin in group B was significantly higher than that in group C (P<0.001). The plasma level of visfatin was positively correlated with CRP, TNF-α, APACHE II and PMN％ in patients with severe pneumonia (rho=0.653, r=0.554, r=0.558, r=0.484, respectively, P<0.05 for all), while it was negatively correlated with PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 (rho=?0.422, r=?0.543, respectively, P<0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: Visfatin may be involved in the systematic inflammation response in patients with severe pneumonia as a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and it is valuable in assessing the severity of pneumonia..