BACKGROUND: Properties of cancellous bone is significant for metabolic diseases, fracture and joint retrograde diseases.OBJECTIVE: To study the biomechanical properties of cancellous bone.DESIGN: Experimental observation based on femur specimens as the single sample.SETTING: Laboratory of Orthopaedic Biomechanics Ninth Affiliated Hospital Shanghai Second Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: The study was completed in the Laboratory of Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital from May to July in 2001,totally 19 male cadaveric femoral heads were selected.METHODS: Totally 19 cadeveric cancellouce bone specimens(about 30years old) from the bearing area of fresh femur head were tested by compression test.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Yield load limiting stress, limiting strain, energy value and elastic modulus of specimens.RESULTS: The compressive data of cancellous bone were measured, the average value of yield load was (410.64 ± 190.29) N , limiting stress was (8.69 ± 3.75) MPa, limiting strain was (10. 84 ±6.58)%, energy value was (2.54 ± 1.89)J, modulus of elasticity was (40.77 ± 32. 12)MPa, At the early time of loading, the cancellous bone showed elastic deformation, then CONCLUSION: The trial indicates that biomechanical properties lighten the pressure of external compression.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the antidepressant effects and mechanisms of venlafaxine and fluoxetine by metabolomic approach. METHODS: Two positive drugs were employed to intervene the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced rat depression model. The behavioral changes of rats were observed; meanwhile, urine samples were collected and subjected to GC-MS analysis to find potential biomarkers of depression. RESULTS: The behavioral data of the drug treatment groups were significantly different (P < 0.05) with the model group, showing obvious antidepressant effect. Metabolomic analysis showed that venlafaxine group located closer to the healthy controls, showing better antidepressant efficacy than fluoxetine. Fifteen potential biomarkers were identified from the loading plot between control and model group, and more perturbed metabolites were reversed by venlafaxine. CONCLUSION: Both drugs have significant antidepressant efficacy, and venlafaxine shows better effect. Metabolomic approach was applied in this study to analyze the regulation of biomarkers and compare the mechanisms of the two drugs. These results provide new methods for the evaluation of drug efficacy.

Objective To observe the dynamic serological test results of 28 patients with acute brucellosis,and to investigate the relationship between serological test results and diagnosis,curative effect and prognosis of brucellosis.Methods Twenty eight patients(infected with sheep brucellosis) with acute brucellosis in the Department of Brucellosis in Heilongjiang Provincial Land Reclamation Headquarters General Hospital were selected as research subjects,and their serological changes were tested by means of tube agglutination test (SAT)and clinical outcomes were compared before and after each stage of treatment.In addition,symptoms of fever,weakness,sweating,joint pain,swollen lymph nodes and biochemical parameters [alanine aminotransferase (ALT),lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)] were also tested 3,6 and 9 weeks after the treatment.Results Antibody titer reached the peak at the third week,1 ∶ 400(++),which accounted for 39.29％ (11/28); 2857％(8/28) of the patients became negative at the sixth week; 50.00％ (14/28) became negative at the ninth week.Before the treatment,20(71.43％) patients had the symptom of fever,8 (28.57％) patients had the symptom of hyperhidrosis,28 (100.00％) patients had the symptom of joint pain,7(25.00％) patients had the symptom of lymph node enlargement,28 (100.00％) patients' ALT was elevated,and 26(92.86％) patients' LDH was elevated.After three weeks of treatment,except the three patients (10.71％) who occasionally had fever,the rest of the patient's temperature was returned to normal.Also the numbers of patients with the symptoms of fatigue,sweating and joint pain were significantly reduced,and specifically,the conesponding number was 13(46.43％),2(7.14％),and 21 (75.00％)patients,respectively.ALT and LDH returned to normal(only one patient's ALT was out of the range).At the sixth week,all the patients' symptoms of fever and hyperhidrosis disappeared.The number of patients with the symptoms of joint pain and lymph node enlargement reduced to 12(42.86％) and 3(10.71％),respectively.The results of biochemical tests(ALT and LDT) returned to normal.At the ninth week,most patients' clinical symptoms disappeared.A few patients still had the symptoms of weakness[2(7.14％)] and joint piin[6(21.43％)].Conclusions After effective treatment,antibody titer of patients decreases rapidly,at the same time,the clinical symptoms improve quickly.There is a parallel relationship between the change of antibody titer and clinical symptoms.It is demonstrated that the appearing time of brucellosis specific antibodies,the ampfitude and speed of change of antibody titers can be used in diagnosis,therapeutic evaluation and prognosis of the disease.

Objective To observe the clinical features of brucellosis spondylitis and analyse the reasons for its misdiagnosis,and improve the level of diagnosis and differential diagnosis.Methods Forty-two clinically diagnosed patients with brucellosis spondylitis were studied retrospectively,and these patients were diagnosed and hospitalized in the General Hospital of Heilongjiang Land Reclamation Bureau.Their medical records were analyzed,which included the general information,medical history,clinical symptoms,results of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and serum tube agglutination test(SAT) and so on.Results Main clinical symptoms and signs were severe persistent neck,back and leg pain.They also had plate shape low back but without kyphosis.In addition,patients had to keep in one posture because their spinal activity was limited.Also,scoliosis or pelvic tilt and lameness may occur when standing,which were typical symptoms of nerve root compression.Thirteen cases were diagnosed as tuberculosis,accounting for 30.95％(13/42); 6 cases were diagnosed as lumbar disc herniation,accounting for 14.28％ (6/42); 2 cases were diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis,accounting for 4.76％ (2/42).Therefore,the total rate of misdiagnosis was 50％ (21/42).Abnormal MRI signal intensity can be seen in the pathological vertebrae.Specifically,T1-weighted images (T1WI) showed low signal,T2-weighted images (T2WI) showed high signal,or mixed high and low signal intensity was observed.Vertebral showed wedge deformation without collapse and sequestrum; strip and sheet abnormal signal can also be found within the intervertebral disc.Normal structure disappeared and disc space became narrow.Accordingly,the plane dural sac was compressed to form visible abscess near the spine,but psoas abscess was not found.Patients with positive SAT result accounted for 92.85％ (39/42).Conclusion Reasons for misdiagnosis include lack of detailed medical records,atypical clinical symptoms and similar imaging changes and so on.

More and more evidence from over 50 years of researches on the effects of electromagnetic radiation on male reproduction show that a certain dose of electromagnetic radiation obviously damages male reproduction, particularly the structure and function of spermatogenic cells. The mechanisms of the injury may be associated with energy dysmetabolism, lipid peroxidation, abnormal expressions of apoptosis-related genes and proteins, and DNA damage.
Animals ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; DNA Damage ; radiation effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Electromagnetic Radiation ; Energy Metabolism ; radiation effects ; Genitalia, Male ; radiation effects ; Lipid Peroxidation ; radiation effects ; Male ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Reproduction ; radiation effects

Objective To discuss a real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) wether if can be used to detect Brucella. Methods According to the BCSP31 gene sequences specific for Brucella, one pair of primers and one TaqMan probe were designed. A real-time PCR was developed with the BCSP31 fragments cloned into PMD18-T vector. The standard cure was established and the sensitivity, the species specificity and the stability of the assay were evaluated. The clinical blood specimens were detected by QT-PCR and compared with clinical diagnosis. Results The standard curve was established with the standard template and the relationship between the Ct and the DNA copy number was linear(r=0.999). The sensitivity of the real-time PCR was 5 copies/μl. The sensitivity of the common PCR was 5×102 copies/μl. The sensitivity was about 100 times higher than common PCR. Species specificity of this FQ-PCR assay evaluated using genomic DNA from 6 Bmcella strains and 5 non-Brucella strains and strong fluorescence was detected in all Brucella strains. The CV of intra-assay and inter-assay reproducibility were 0.71%,7.23%, reprectively. Twenty-four specimens from clinical brucellosis cases, 19 showed positive, the positive coincident rate was 79%(19/24). The negative results were obtained for all 31 negative control, and the negative coincident rate was 100%(31/31). Two were positive from all 30 specimens clinically suspected. Conclusions Highly specific, sensitive, repeatable and coincidental with clinic, this FQ-PCR is quite useful for rapid detection of tiny DNA of Brucella in various samples and laboratory diagnosis.

BACKGROUNDDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a noninvasive imaging technique for the assessment of the integrity of cerebral tissues. This study was undertaken to assess the changes of diffusion indices of hippocampal formation (HF) in patients with medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE).

METHODSFourteen patients with MTLE and 14 healthy subjects were evaluated. Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) from the symmetrical-voxel sampling regions of the anterior HF were calculated in all subjects. The MD and FA values were compared across the groups.

RESULTSNo significant differences of MD and FA values were noted between right and left HF in the controls. In the patient group, MD significantly increased in the HF ipsilateral to the lesioned side [(9.27 +/- 1.09) x 10(-4) mm(2)/s], compared with the values in the contralateral HF [(8.20 +/- 0.59) x 10(-4) mm(2)/s] (t = 4.479, P = 0.001) and healthy subjects [(7.58 +/- 0.51) x 10(-4) mm(2)/s] (P < 0.001), but no significant differences were found in FA. When compared with the controls, patients had a significantly higher MD in the contralateral HF (P < 0.05), but the difference in FA was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONSDTI could detect hippocampal abnormality in patients with MTLE. This technique may be helpful for preoperative evaluation of such patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anisotropy ; Child ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; pathology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; pathology ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVEPlant metabolomics combined with GC-MS was used to investigate metabolic fingerprinting of Tussilago farfara at different growth stages.

METHODDried Samples were extracted by two-phase solvent system to obtain polar and nonpolar parts, which were subjected to GC-MS analysis. Metabolites were identified by NIST data base search and comparison with the authentic standards. The data were introduced into SIMCA-P 11.0 software package for multivariate analysis after pretreatment.

RESULTFifty-four metabolites were identified, including 35 polar metabolites and 19 nonpolar compounds. The score plot for PCA showed clear separation of the different development stages of flower buds of T. farfara, showing a trend of gradual change. Samples of October, November, December were in close proximity on the plot, indicating that the metabolome of these three periods was similar, samples from September (early development) and March (after flowering) were far away, showing big chemical differences. Content comparison results of some representative metabolites reveals that, the content of proline, lysine and linoleic acid increased gradually to the highest in the medium term, but sharply decreased to the lowest after flowering; the content of malic acid and citric acid were the lowest in the medium term; sucrose content decreased gradually, and then reached the lowest level after blooming.

CONCLUSIONIt is obvious that metabolites of the early development and flowering stage were quite different with those of the traditional harvest time, suggesting that they can not be used as traditional medicine. This study will provide a research basis for harvest time determination and bioactive compounds of T. farfara.

Flowers ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics ; Tussilago ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo introduce the clinical experience in transplantation of the anterolateral femoral skin flap.

METHODSA total of 625 anterolateral femoral skin flaps in 600 patients were transplanted from 1988 to 2003. The retrospective analysis was carried out in all the cases as to the flap pedicle, the vascular variations, the surgical procedures and modifications, and the adaptation for a cutaneous-branch-absent flap.

RESULTSThe 625 flaps were transferred except 7 cancelled in the operation. Postoperatively, 17 cases encountered vascular complications, 10 of which survived completely with successful vessel exploration, 3 cases had partial necrosis, and 4 cases had complete necrosis. The survival rate was 97.8%. 545 flaps were pedicled with the descending branch or lateral branches; 45 flaps with the transverse branch or the high-site anterolateral cutaneous artery, 10 cases with the descending-transverse branch, 18 cases with other vessels. 7 cases were found cutaneous-branch-absent. The vessel variation rate of the flap was 4.06%.

CONCLUSIONSThe anterolateral femoral skin flap has less variation of its pedicle and high success rate of operation. It is an ideal choice for repair of soft tissue defects in the extremities.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Femur ; Humans ; Male ; Microsurgery ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin Transplantation ; Surgical Flaps ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the impact of microwave radiation on GC-2spd cells.

METHODSWe exposed cultured GC-2spd cells to microwave radiation at the average power densities of 0, 10 and 30 mW/cm2 for 15 minutes and, from I to 24 hours after the exposure, we observed the changes in cell proliferation, histology and ultrastructure, cell apoptosis, and cAMP content by MTIT, light microscopy, electron microscopy, flow cytometry and ELISA.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the GC-2spd cells showed a significant decrease in proliferation ability at 1 -24 hours after 10 and 30 mW/cm2 microwave radiation, except at 12 hours after 30 mW/cm2 radiation (P <0.05 or P <0.01), with reduced length and number of cell enation and increased intra cytoplasm vacuoles. The rate of cell apoptosis (%) was significantly increased in the 10 and 30 mW/cm2 groups at 6 hours (4.56 +/- 2.09 vs 14.59 +/- 1.09 and 8.48 +/- 1.73, P <0.05 or P <0.01) , with agglutination and margin translocation of chromatins and obvious dilation of endo cytoplasmic reticula. The cAMP content (nmol/g) in the GC-2spd cells was remarkably reduced in the 10 and 30 mW/cm2 groups at 6 and 24 hours (2.77 +/-0.24 vs 1.65+/- 0. 17 and 1.96+/-0.10, 3.02 +/-0.47 vs 2.13 +/-0.33 and 1.69 +/-0.27, P <0.05 or P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONMicrowave radiation at 10 and 30 mW/cm2 may cause injury to GC-2spd cells, which is manifested by decreased content of intracellular cAMP, reduced activity of cell proliferation, and increased rate of cell apoptosis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; radiation effects ; Cell Line ; radiation effects ; Cell Proliferation ; radiation effects ; Male ; Mice ; Microwaves ; adverse effects ; Spermatocytes ; radiation effects