Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of hyper-laser irradiation combined with acupuncture for the treatment of temporomandibular joint disturbance syndrome(TMJDS).Methods Sixty TMJDS patients were equally randomized into two groups: the treatment group was given hyper-laser irradiation combined with acupuncture,and the control group given acupuncture alone.The treatment lasted 10 days.After treatment,the improvement of symptoms and signs in both groups was evaluated.Results The total effective rate was 93.3% in the treatment group and 80.0% in the control group,the therapeutic effect in the treatment group being superior to that in the control group(P

Objective To investigate effect of hypertonic-hyperoncotic solution (HHS,namely 4.5 g/ml NaCl plus 6.0 g/ml hydroxyethyl starch) on brain protection in rabbits with pulmonary trauma combined with hemorrhagic shock and the possible mechanism.Methods Thirty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into control group (Group A),lactated Ringer' s solution (LRS) treatment group (Group B) and HHS treatment group (Group C),with 10 rabbits per group.Models of pulmonary trauma with hemorrhagic shock were established in Groups B and C.Later,fluid resuscitation,including LRS at 3-fold the volume of blood loss and HHS at dose of 5 mL/kg,was respectively given for Groups B and C at 60 minutes after shock.Rabbits in each group were sacrificed at 4 hours after resuscitation for brain tissue harvest.Evan blue exudation in the parietal cortex of rabbit brain in each group was observed by fluorescence microscope.Brain water content was weighed and calculated.Neuron apoptosis was tested by TUNEL method.Expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins were detected by Western blot.Resalts Group B showed massive exudation of Evan blue,notable increase of brain water content,large apoptosis of neurons,up-regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins,but a decline of Bcl-2 to Bax ratio,as compared with Group A (P ＜ 0.01).However,Group C showed significant decrease regarding Evan blue exudation,brain water content and apoptotic neurons,and significant increase of ratio of Bcl-2 and Bax,as compared with Group B (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion HHS improves blood brain barrier,inhibits neuron apoptosis and thus protects brain function.

Objective To analyze the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of neurosyphilis. Methods Clinical data on and laboratory findings in 18 cases with neurosyphilis collected in the Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University from 2006 to 2008 were retrospectively studied.Results Among the 18 patients, 3 sufferred from asymptomatic neurosyphilis, 1 from meningeal syphilis, 7 from meningovascular syphilis, 5 from paralytic dementia, and 2 from intracranial space-occupation. Toluidine red unheated serum reagin test (TRUST) and Treponema pallidum particle agglutination test (TPPA) of sera were positive in all the patients; cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) TRUST was positive in 16 patients, and CSF TPPA in all patients. An increase was observed in CSF leukocyte count in 7 patients and in CSF protein in 13 patients.The findings on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mainly included demyelination, brain atrophy,cerebral infarction, etc. All the patients, except 2 with a TRUST titer of 1:4, experienced a 4-fold decrease in TRUST titer within a 3-month follow up. Clinical symptoms of neurosyphilis improved in all patients except 1 with paralytic dementia. Conclusions The diversity of clinical manifestations usually leads to the misdiagnosis of neurosyphilis, which should be diagnosed based on comprehensive analysis of clinical characteristics as well as laboratory and imaging findings. Early diagnosis and treatment are beneficial to its prognosis.

Segmentation is a precondition step for modeling and analysis of the cochlea. In this paper, an interactive segmentation approach with a combination of 3D (three-dimensional) narrow-band level set algorithm and visualization technology was adopted to separate the cochlea. The 3D narrow-band level set algorithm was used to separate the objective of interest from volume data, and the visualization technology was used to display the segmented result. Users could modify intermediate parameters based on the direct 3D visual feedback until getting satisfying result. The basic principle and characteristics of level set and narrow-band level set algorithms were described in detail. The 3D narrow-band level set algorithm was successfully used to separate the cochlea from spiral CT images of the temporal bone. The experimental results show that the interactive method combining the narrow-band level set algorithm with visualization technique is capable of segmenting the cochlea from the medical volume data. Compared with the method of segmenting object from image volume slice by slice, our method can save much time.
Algorithms ; Cochlea ; diagnostic imaging ; Computer Graphics ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic mechanism underlying a case with para-Bombay phenotype. METHODS: The ABO and Lewis phenotype were identified with serological methods. The coding regions of exons 6 and 7 of the ABO and FUT1 genes were amplified with PCR and directly sequenced. Haploid sequence analysis was carried out on the variant sites of the FUT1 gene. RESULTS: Serological analysis confirmed that the proband has a rare para-Bombay phenotype. Direct sequencing revealed that he was a B.01/O.01.02 heterozygote for the ABO gene, and had heterozygous deletion for the 768 and 881-882 sites of the FUT1 gene. Further haploid analysis showed that the c.881_882delTT deletion has occurred in one haploid while c.768delC was present in the other haploid. The proband was therefore determined as a FUT1*01N.13/01N.20 heterozygote, which have resulted in frameshift in polypeptide chain p.Phe294Cysfs*40 and p.Val257Phefs*23, respectively. CONCLUSION A rare bi-allelic heterozygous deletion of para-Bombay phenotype has been identified in a blood donor. The c.881_882delTT and c.768delC deletions may decrease the activity of α-1,2-fucosyltransferase.
Animals ; Male ; ABO Blood-Group System/genetics* ; Alleles ; Fucosyltransferases/genetics* ; Genotype ; Heterozygote ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Humans

Based on the latest results of international researches, combining with the experiences of our team in the simulation of acute dyspnea, Xiangya Hospital Central South University has summarized 7 characteristics, procedures and methods of debriefing, including that immediate feedback happens after simulation; feedback is provided by a trained instructor with clinical experience; feedback time is at least longer than the simulation time; various international methods of feedback can be used; the content of feedback is the learning objective; oral feedback is preferred; video can be used to review the details. The study aims to provide a theoretical basis for debriefing in domestic scenario stimulation teaching, and finally improve the effectiveness of the scenario stimulation teaching.

Objective:To summarize the experience of five hospitals in Guangdong Province on successfully transporting retained passengers by chartered flights during the outbreak of the COVID-19.Methods:We retrospectively evaluated the operation and management, cabin arrangement, isolation requirements, and personnel protection in the aspect of epidemic prevention and control.Results:In 11 charter missions, over one thousand "healthy" passengers with potential risk of infections were transported back to China. The medical delivery team and flight crew were kept free of infection, passengers maintained zero cluster infections and no unexpected adverse events during the air transport.Conclusions:Our results indicate how to carry passengers in a scientific and orderly way is crucial for avoiding the transmission risks of the epidemic of COVID-19 among working staffers and passengers during air transportation.

BACKGROUND:Increasing evidence suggests that N6-methyladenosine(m6A)regulators are closely associated with osteoarthritis and are considered to be a new direction in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis,but their specific mechanism of action is unknown. OBJECTIVE:To conduct a bioinformatics analysis of the osteoarthritis gene microarray dataset in order to explore the role of m6A in osteoarthritis and analyze the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. METHODS:The m6A regulators associated with osteoarthritis and their expression were first extracted from the GSE1919 dataset in the GEO database using R software,and then the results were analyzed by gene difference analysis and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses.Subsequently,the results of protein-protein interaction network topology analysis and machine learning results were intersected to obtain the m6A Hub regulators,which were validated by in vitro cellular experiments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 16 osteoarthritis-related m6A regulators were extracted and 11 m6A differential regulators,including ZC3H13,YTHDC1,YTHDF3 and HNRNPC,were obtained by differential analysis.GO enrichment analysis showed that osteoarthritis-related m6A differential regulators played a role in the biological processes such as mRNA transport,RNA catabolism,and regulation of insulin-like growth factor receptor signaling pathway.(3)KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the differential regulators were mainly involved in the p53,interleukin-17 and AMPK signaling pathways.The combined protein-protein interaction network topology analysis and machine learning results obtained the m6A Hub regulator-YTHDC1.(5)The results of in vitro cellular experiments showed that there was a significant difference in the expression of m6A key regulator between the control and experimental groups(P<0.05).To conclude,YTHDC1 is closely related to the development of osteoarthritis,which is expected to be a molecular target of m6A for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND:Cellular senescence is closely related to the development and progression of osteoarthritis,but the specific targets and regulatory mechanisms are not yet clear. OBJECTIVE:To mine key genes in cellular senescence-mediated osteoarthritis by integrating bioinformatics and machine learning approaches and validate them via experiments to explore the role of cellular senescence in osteoarthritis. METHODS:The osteoarthritis gene expression profiles obtained from the GEO database were intersected with cellular senescence-related genes obtained from the CellAge database and the expression of the intersected genes was extracted for differential analysis,followed by GO and KEGG analysis of the differential genes.The key osteoarthritis cellular senescence genes were then screened by protein-protein interaction network analysis and machine learning,and in vitro cellular experiments were performed.Finally,the expression of the key genes was detected by qPCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 31 osteoarthritis cell senescence differential genes were identified.GO analysis showed that these genes were mainly involved in the biological processes,such as regulation of leukocyte differentiation,monocyte differentiation,regulation of T cell differentiation and exerted roles in DNA transcription factor binding,histone deacetylase binding,chromatin DNA binding,and chemokine binding.KEGG analysis showed that osteoarthritis cell senescence differential genes were mainly activated in the JAK/STAT signaling pathway,PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and FoxO signaling pathway.MYC,a key gene for osteoarthritis cellular senescence,was identified by protein-protein interaction network topology analysis and machine learning methods.The results of the in vitro cellular assay showed that the mRNA expression of MYC was significantly lower in the experimental group(osteoarthritis group)than the control group(normal group)(P＜0.05).To conclude,MYC can be a key gene in the senescence of osteoarthritic cells and may be a new target in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis by mediating immune response,inflammatory response and transcriptional regulation.