Objective To explore the therapeutic efficacy of posterior internal fixation and anterior debride-ment with autogenous bone grafts at one stage on tuberculosis of thoracic or lumbar spine . Methods 16 cases of thoracic or lumbar spinal tuberculosis patients were treated with combined anterior (radical debridement and bone autograft) and posterior (instrumentation) surgeries in one stage between September 2003 and September 2007. The degree of the kyphosis (Cobb angle) was measured and the interbody fusion was observed preoperatively and postop-eratively. The ASIA grading system was used to assess the neurological status. Results All patients were followed up for 10 months to 36 months,on average of 12 months. All patients showed sucessful interbedy fusion,but Cobb angle was not progressed. No recurrence or wound infection was found. 6 cases all got nerve function recovery. Conclusion Thoracic or lumbar tuberculosis treated with this surgical technique can achieve stable internal fixation and a high satisfactory rate with restoring the spinal stability, arresting the disease early, providing early fusion, correcting the ky-pbosis particularly.

BACKGROUND:Bioimpedance method can be used to extract physiology and pathology information relative to the gastricmotility states,to investigate the courses of contraction,peristalsis,transmission and emptying of the stomach,to measure andevaluate gastric motility function.However,early studies mainly focused on the emptying of the stomach,and few studies onevaluation of gastric motility by extracting gastric motility information.OBJECTIVE:To understand the gastric motility from electricity-mechanism composite concept and to establish a noninvasive,convenience measurement method of gastric motility impedance.METHODS:Based on the characters of gastric motility impedance signal,a measurement method of impedance gastric motility isintroduced.Some foundation experiments about the gastric emptying measurement,the gastric motility compare between fastingand repast,the gastric motility comparison of healthy volunteers during different periods and some medicine effects on gastricmotility have carried out.The gastric motility measurement of the patients with functional dyspepsia and gastric motility evaluationfor the patients with erosive gastritis had been reported.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Using electrical bioimpedance method,according to the electrical property of the stomach tissueor the food in stomach and the change rules of the property,the physiology and pathology information relative to the gastricmotility states can be extracted,the courses of contraction,peristalsis,transmission and emptying of the stomach can beinvestigated and noninvasive measure and evaluation of gastric motility function can be realized.

Objective To studythe chemical constituents of Bridelia tomentosa leaf.Methods The constituents of B.tomentosa werg isolated and purified by silica gel,their structures were elucidated by physico-chemical properties and spearoscopic analysis.Results Seven compounds were isolated from B.tomentosa.They were identified as tricin(1),cappariloside A(2),epifriedelanol(3),friedelin(4),tamarixetin(5),β-sitosterol(6),and stigrnasterol(7).Conclusion Compound 1 and 2 were obtained from this plant for the first time.

Objective To establish the mathematical models of stature estimation for Sichuan Han female with measurement of lumbar vertebrae by X-ray to provide essential data for forensic anthropology re-search. Methods The samples, 206 Sichuan Han females, were divided into three groups including group A, B and C according to the ages. Group A(206 samples) consisted of all ages, group B(116 samples) were 20-45 years old and 90 samples over 45 years old were group C. All the samples were examined lumbar vertebrae through C Rtechnology, including the parameters of five centrums (L1-L5) as anterior border, posterior border and central heights (x1-x15), total central height of lumbar spine (x16), and the real height of every sample.The linear regression analysis was produced using the parameters to establish the mathematical models of stature estimation. Sixty-two trained subjects were tested to verify the accuracy of the mathematical models. Results The established mathematical models by hypothesis test of linear regression equation model were statistically significant (P<0.05).The standard errors of the equation were 2.982-5.004 cm, while correlation coefficients were 0.370-0.779 and multiple correlation coefficients were 0.533-0.834.The return tests of the highest correlation coefficient and multiple correlation coefficient of each group showed that the highest accuracy of the multiple regression equation, y=100.33+1.489 x3-0.548 x6+0.772 x9+0.058 x12+0.645 x15, in group Awere 80.6% (±1SE ) and 100% (±2SE ). Conclusion The established mathematical models in this study could be applied for the stature estimation for Sichuan Han females.

OBJECTIVE To observe the protective effect and underlying mechanism of total ginsenosides (TG) on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. METHODS Intratracheal instillation of bleomycin 5 mg · kg-1 was conducted to establish a pulmonary fibrosis mouse model. Kunming mice(1/2 males and 1/2 females)were randomly divided into sham-operation(Sham),model,total ginsen?osides 40,80 and 160 mg·kg-1 and prednisone acetate(5 mg·kg-1) groups. After 28 d administration,the histopathological changes in the lung were analyzed by hematoxylin eosin(HE)and Masson staining. The exprssion of alpha smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)in the lung was detected by real-time PCR. The content of hydroxyproline(HYP)and glutathione(GSH),level of total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC)and hydroxy radical(·OH),activity of myeloperoxidase(MPO)and nitric oxide synthase(NOS)in the lung were detected by corresponding kits. RESULTS Compared with the sham group,the pulmonary indexes in model group were significantly increased(P<0.01),alveolitis and pulmonary fibrosis were obvious. The mRNA expression ofα-SMA,content of HYP and · OH,activity of MPO and NOS were increased(P<0.05),but the content of GSH and T-AOC in model group was decreased(P<0.05). Compared with model group,the pulmonary indexes in TG 80 and 160 mg · kg-1 and prednisone acetate 5 mg · kg-1 groups were reduced(P<0.05),and the degree of alveolitis and pulmonary fibrosis was mitigated. The mRNA expression ofα-SMA,content of HYP and · OH, the activity of MPO and NO were decreased (P<0.05),while the content of GSH and T-AOC was increased(P<0.05). CONCLUSION TG can improve the degree of mice pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin. The mechanism may be related to the increased antioxidant capacity of organisms.

Objective:To explore the influence of rosuvastatin in the lipid levels, atherosclerosis plaque and apoptosis in the plaque of atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-knockout mouse models, and to clarify the mechanism of rosuvastatin in inhibiting atheromatous plaque and apoptosis in the plaque.Methods:Thirty healthy six-week old male mice were randomly divided into high fat diet group (n=10),rosuvastatin group (n=10)and general diet control group (n=10).The mice in first two groups were fed with high fat diet,and the mice in general diet control group were fed with general diet;4 weeks later the mice in three groups were respectively given 0.9% NaCl solution,rosuvastatin (10 mg·kg·d-1 )and 0.9% NaCl solution by gavage for 8 weeks.And then ELISA was used to detect the serum lipid levels,the area of atherosclerotic plaque was measured by HE staining, and the apoptosis in plaques was detected by TUNEL method;the expression of apoptosis-assoicated gene Bax protein was measured by immunohistochemical staining.Results:Compared with high fat diet group,the levels of total cholesterol (TC)and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)of the mice in rosuvastatin group were significantly decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01),and the 1evel of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)was significantly increased (P<0.01).The aortic atherosclerotic plaque of the mice in high fat diet group was massive with a great quantity of foam cells, cholesterol crystal, necrotic cells and inflammatory cells in the plaque;the aortic atherosclerotic plaque of the mice in rosuvastatin group was smaller with less foam cells,necrotic cells and inflammatory cells;the aortic atherosclerotic plaque area of the mice in rosuvastatin group was significantly smaller than that in high fat diet group (P<0.01);the apoptotic index in the aortic atherosclerotic plaque of the mice in rosuvastatin group was significantly lower than that in high fat diet group (P<0.01).Compared with high fat diet group,the expression of Bax protein in rosuvastatin group was significantly decreased.Conclusion:Rosuvastatin may inhibit the progression of atherosclerotic plaque and the apoptosis in plaques through mitochondrial pathway.

Three dimensional electrical impedance tomography (3D-EIT) became an important branch of EIT recently. It is important to research imaging and image quality evaluation methods for single targets of different positions and multi-targets in 3D field. Using finite element subdivision method, 3D-EIT field was dispersed into cube unit in the present study for models with single target located in the center of field, middle of field, and near to the edge, respectively. For models with two targets and four targets near to the field edge, Tikhonov-Noser algorithm was adopted in image reconstruction. Imaging error function ER and structure similarity degree function SSIM were introduced to evaluate the reconstructed images. For the models with signal target, with the movement of the target from the center to the edge of the field, the value of ER increased and SSIM decreased, and reconstruction quality decreased. For the models with multi-targets near to the field edge, ER and SSIM increased and decreased respectively with the increase of target number, mage quality also decreased. Tikhonov-Noser algorithm is an effective 3D-EIT algorithm. ER and SSIM are adaptive for the characteristic of 3D-EIT images, and it can quantitatively evaluate the 3D-EIT imaging effect from the two perspective of imaging error and structure quality.
Algorithms ; Electric Impedance ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Tomography

BACKGROUND:Human spine protector can protect human thoracic-lumbar vertebra segments against injury, and the design and development of a novel dynamic protector needs the verification of various experimental means.
OBJECTIVE:Using the three-dimensional finite element method, we evaluate the effect of spine protector and the biomechanical reaction of thoracic-lumbar vertebra under the axial loading.
METHODThe thoracic-lumbar vertebra were cut from the whole spine three-dimensional finite element model. Then the thoracic-lumbar vertebra models carrying spine protector were taken as experimental group, while the models without the protector served as control group. Al the specimens were evaluated, constrained, loaded and figured out by its properties. The results of equivalent stress and strain distribution were obtained from the data. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In both groups, the stress was distributed at axial and posterior column of L 2 when the load was applied in axial direction. According to the data obtained from the experiment, both the experimental group and the control group had achieved the maximum stress at 16 ms, 3.919 Mpa and 5.727 Mpa, respectively. The statistical analysis result showed that the stress varied significantly at T 12 and L 2 in two groups (both P<0.05). However, the stress distribution at T 11 and L 1 showed no significant difference between the two groups (both P>0.05). Experimental findings indicate that, spine protector can significantly reduce the vertical stress of the thoracic-lumbar vertebra when fal ing on the ground, and share the vertical load, which is protective to thoracic-lumbar vertebra.

Objective To investigate the level of IL-2+ IFN-γ+ TNF-α+ multifunctional Th1 cell in peripheral blood and hydro-thorax of the TB patients and its clinical significance .Methods 49 patients with tuberculosis(TB) including 14 cases of tuberculous pleurisy and 27 individuals with latent TB infection were selected and 66 healthy individuals were selected as the controls .PMA and ionomycin were adopted to stimulate mononuclear cells in whole blood and pleural effusion .The secretion status of CD4+ T cells cy-tokines was detected by using the intracellular cytokine staining and the flow cytometric analysis .Results According to the differ-ent cytokines generated by CD4+ T cells ,which were divided into 7 cell subgroups :IL-2+ IFN-γ+ TNF-α+ ,IL-2+ IFN-γ+ ,IL-2+TNF-α+ ,IFN-γ+ TNF-α+ ,IL-2+ ,TNF-α+ and IFN-γ+ cell subgroups .The proportion of peripheral blood IL-2+ IFN-γ+ TNF-α+multifunctional Th1 cells in the TB patients was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls and the individuals with latent TB infection(P<0 .01) ,the expression levels of IL-2+ IFN-γ+ cells and IFN-γ+ TNF-α+ cells were significantly lower than those in the individuals with latent TB infection and the healthy controls (P<0 .05);TNF-α+ cells was higher than that in the healthy con-trols and the individuals with latent TB infection (P<0 .05) .The other subgroups had no obvious change .The response level of IL-2+ IFN-γ+ TNF-α+ multifunctional Th1 cells in the pleural effusion mononuclear cells (PEMC) was higher than that in the peripher-al blood mononuclear cells(P<0 .05);IL-2+ cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was lower than that in PEMC (P<0 .01) .Conclusion The response of non-specific Th1 cells is related with the clinical outcome of TB infection ,IL-2+ IFN-γ+TNF-α+ multifunctional Th1 cells plays a certain role in the protective immunoreaction of TB .

Objective To investigate whether the genetic variant rs10830963 of melatonin receptor 1B(MTNR1B)gene is associated with increased risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).Methods Eighty-seven GDM subjects(GDM group)and 91 normal pregnant women (control group)were randomly recruited form Women and Children's Hospital of Quzhou,Zhejiang Province,China.The allele and genotype frequencies of the rsi0830963 in MTNR1B gene were determined in all participants with PCR amplification and DNA sequencing.The allele and genotype frequencies of rs10830963 were compared to determine their differences between GDM subjects and normal controls.In addition,multiple linear regression was conducted to investigate the association patterns of the risk allele with fasting glucose and HbAlc levels.Results Both GG genotype and G allele frequencies of the rs10830963 loci in the GDM group were significantly higher than those in the controls,and women with G allele and GG genotype were associated with increased GDM risk(OR=1.53,95％ CI:1.005-2.324,P=0.047 and OR=2.16,95％ CI:1.052-4.434,P=0.034 respectively).After adjusting for age,body mass index before pregnancy,and family history of diabetes mellitus,women carrying GG genotype still had a higher GDM risk(OR =2.07,95％ CI:1.048-4.372,P =0.022).Multiple linear regression showed that the rs10830963 G allele was positively correlated with higher levels of fasting glucose(0.068 mmol/L,P=0.015)and HbAlc(0.073％,P=0.028).Conclusions Genetic variant rs10830963 in MTNR1B gene may contribute to the susceptibility to GDM in Chinese population and the rs10830963 G allele is a risk factor for the GDM susceptibility.