Objective To investigate the value of clinical characteristics in diagnosis of vocal fold paralysis (VFP) and arytenoid dislocation .Methods Eighty - eight patients of VFP and 27 patients of arytenoid dislocation were studied , by comparing the causes , laryngeal morphologic characteristics and laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) .Results The causes of 88 VFP patients included surgery (45 cases) ,neck trauma(2 cases) ,idiopathic causes(16 cases) ,infection(16 cases) ,and tumor invasion - related(9 cases) .Of the 27 arytenoid dislocation pa‐tients ,24 had a history of endotracheal intubation and the others had a history of gastric tube insertion .The vocal folds were mostly fixed at the paramedian position ,followed by the abducent position and the median position .No significant differences were found in laryngeal morphologic characteristics between the two groups ,including vocal fold shape , glottis vertical symmetry , mucosal waves , supraglottic compensation , glottis closure and arytenoid movement .The LEMG of VFP patients appeared as denervation patterns ,reinnervation potentials ,or electrical si‐lence ;the recruitment patterns appeared as mix or simple patterns ;the evoked potentials were absent .Of the VFP patients ,54 cases(61 .36% % )were found synkinesis of involved posterior cricoarytenoid and two of them also in ‐volved thyroatenoid .The patients with synkinesis had lower percentage of vocal fold bowing and higher percentage of glottic vertical asymmetry compared to the ones without synkinesis .Of the VFP patients whose cause was surgery or neck trauma ,the median - position fixed vocal folds were mostly observed in the patients with duration of less than 1 month or with synkinesis .Of the 27 arytenoid dislocation patients ,20(74 .07% )showed normal LEMG pat‐terns and 7(25 .93% )showed apparent LEMG abnormality on the affected side .Conclusion The causes of vocal fold paralysis and arytenoid dislocation are different .Laryngeal morphologic characteristics have limitations in distinguis‐hing vocal fold paralysis from arytenoid dislocation .The shape and position of involved vocal folds of the VFP pa‐tients are correlated with duration ,nerve regeneration and synkinesis .

Adult ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Ilium ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Osteoma, Osteoid ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cell Line ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Fibroblasts ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Vehicle Emissions

ObjectiveTo investigate the necessary of letting the intelligent knee joint be adaptive to the road terrain and the key technology of knee moment control method. MethodsBased on data from gait analysis and the dynamic model of lower limb,the knee moments while people walking on the path of different terrain were obtained. Terrain identification method was based on the features of electromyography(EMG) signals of the thigh,and the EMG of some muscles was detected. The methods were applied to an intelligent trans-femoral prosthesis developed for tests in the laboratory.ResultsConsiderable variation of the knee moments appeared when people walking on the path of different terrain,as well as that of the features of EMG of some muscles.ConclusionIt is necessary to make the intelligent knee joint be adaptive to the road terrain,and it is possible to be achieved with satisfied motion of the leg and the trajectory of ankle joint by the intelligent transfemoral prosthesis being studied which can identify the features of EMG signals.

This study was conducted to investigate the wild and cultivated resource situation of Rheum tanguticum in main production area of China, estimate its reserves, and put forward the feasible approach for the sustainable utilization of R. tanguticum. On the basis of the literature data about R. tanguticum, conbined with interview, investigation and sampling investigation, the total reserve of resources is estimated using the route-quadrat method and the vegetation and soil-type map area method proposed by our research group. The results indicate that there is no obvious change between the present distribution ranges of the wild R. tanguticum and its historical records, but its population density has changed clearly. The reserve of the wild R. tanguticum has seriously declined in lots of place, even faced the exhaustion in some regions. According to the investigation, the resource reserve of the wild R. tanguticum is no more than 5 000 t, and the cultivated is about 1 607 t. The resource reserve of the wild R. tanguticum is nearly depleted, and this suggests that the wild R. tanguticum should be enrolled in the protection plant list, and the cultivated will become the main resource of Rhubarb in the future. So it is extremely neccessary to collect and protect the germplasm resource of R. tanguticum, establish the germplasm nursery and repository, and conduct breeding research on those bases.
China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Rheum ; growth & development

BACKGROUND: The quality of treatment for critically ill children varies widely at different hospitals. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of mortality in a pediatric emergency department (PED) at a tertiary children's hospital in Guangzhou, China and to investigate the risk factors associated with the mortality. METHODS: The mortality of pediatric patients at the hospital from 2011 to 2013 was retrospectively analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Altogether 466919 patients visited the PED during the period and 43925 of them were admitted for further observation. In 230 deaths, the ratio of boys to girls was 1.4:1, and their age ranged from 2 hours to 16 years (median, 5 months). The time from admission to death ranged from 0 to 216 hours (median, 1.5 hours). There were 92 (40％) patients who died within 24 hours after admission and 104 (45.2％) patients who died on arrival. The prominent causes of the deaths were respiratory diseases, neuromuscular disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and sepsis, most of which were ascribed to severe infection. Sixty-five deaths were associated with more than one concomitant problem. The top concomitant problems were congenital malformation, low gestational age, and severe birth asphyxia. CONCLUSIONS: In our center, 40％ of the patients in the PED died of fatal acute diseases, and pneumonia was the first leading cause of the deaths. Almost half of the deaths occurred on arrival and the rest were due to end-stage malignant diseases. This study emphasized the importance of prevention of birth deficits by reducing deaths in infants and children.

OBJECTIVETo observe effect of warming needle moxibustion on pain threshold in the patient of sciatica.

METHODSNinety cases were randomly divided into 3 groups, 30 cases in each group. The warming needle moxibustion group were treated with warming needle moxibustion at Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Huantiao (GB 30), etc; the western medicine group with oral administration of Nimeisulide; and the acupoint-injection group with injection of 654-2 into the same acupoints as those in the warming needle moxibustion group.

RESULTSThe cured rates were 56.67%, 26.67% and 20.00% in the 3 groups, and the total effective rate were 90.00%, 73.33% and 63.33%, respectively, the therapeutic effect of the warming needle moxibustion group being better than those of other two groups (both P < 0.01). The amplitude of pain threshold increase in the warming needle moxibustion group was higher than those of other two groups (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONWarming needle moxibustion can increase pain threshold, improve symptoms and raise quality of life for the patient of sciatica.

Humans ; Moxibustion ; Needles ; Pain Threshold ; Quality of Life ; Sciatica

Objective To explore repair of spinal cord injury by neural stem cells (NSCs) modified with brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene (BDNF-NSCs) in rats. Methods Neural stem cells modified with BDNF gene were transplanted into the complete transection site of spinal cord at the lumbar 4 (L4) level in rats. Motor function of rats' hind limbs was observed and HE and X-gal immunocytochemical staining, in situ hybridization, and retrograde HRP tracing were also performed. Results BDNF-NSCs survived and integrated well with host spinal cord. In the transplant group, some X-gal positive, NF-200 positive, GFAP positive, BDNF positive, and BDNF mRNA positive cells, and many NF-200 positive nerve fibers were observed in the injury site. Retrograde HRP tracing through sciatic nerve showed some HRP positive cells and nerve fibers near the rostral side of the injury one month after transplant and with time, they increased in number. Examinations on rats' motor function and behavior demonstrated that motor function of rats' hind limbs improved better in the transplant group than the injury group. Conclusion BDNF-NSCs can survive, differentiate, and partially integrate with host spinal cord, and they significantly ameliorate rats ' motor function of hind limbs, indicating their promising role in repairing spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVETo construct double gene deletions at the htrA and clpP loci on the chromosome of Streptococcus mutans (Sm) and to remove the antibiotic resistance markers with the Cre-loxP(*) site-specific recombination system.

METHODSThe htrA gene was cloned into the pGEM-T-Easy TA cloning vector and then inactivated via the insertion of a kanamycin resistance cassette (lox71-Km-lox66), yielding pGEM-T-ΔhtrA/Km for deleting the htrA gene. Using the same method, the pGEM-T-ΔclpP/Sp was constructed for deleting the clpP gene. Following the transformation of pGEM-T-ΔhtrA/Km in Sm, the homologous recombination event was selected. One such mutant was transformed with a cre expression plasmid (pCrePA). The kanamycin resistance gene was then excised. The pCrePA was then easily eliminated at nonpermissive temperatures, resulting in a mutant strain (MSΔhtrA) carrying a deletion at the htrA loci without a selectable marker. This mutant was verified by PCR and DNA sequencing. Then, the clpP and spectinomycin resistance gene were deleted from MSΔhtrA, yielding markerless mutant strain lacking clpP and htrA.

RESULTSThe deletion of htrA, clpP and antibiotic resistance markers were confirmed by PCR analysis and DNA sequencing.

CONCLUSIONSA mutant of Sm was constructed successfully which contained a deletion of the htrA and clpP gene without selectable marker. The Cre-loxP(*) system can be applied to Sm, which provides experimental evidence for generating markerless multiple gene deletion mutants.

Drug Resistance, Microbial ; genetics ; Gene Deletion ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genetic Vectors ; Integrases ; genetics ; Plasmids ; Streptococcus mutans ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo build the colony immune defence and to control the periodic epidemics of hepatitis A after a mass vaccination of live attenuated hepatitis A vaccine.

METHODSThrough yearly observing the correlation of the accumulative inoculation rates of live attenuated hepatitis A vaccine, the crowd immune standard and the morbidity of hepatitis A after administered live attenuated hepatitis A vaccine among susceptible population and surveilling anti-HAV IgG in the different epidemic areas.

RESULTS(1) The accumulative inoculation rates of live attenuated hepatitis A vaccine was 34.15% in 8 years from 1993 to 2000, among which they were 84.46%, 82.23% and 15.14% in the preschool children, primary and middle school student and 15 - 45 age groups respectively. The morbidity of hepatitis A decreased to 8.26/100,000 in 2000. (2) The crowd positive rates of anti-HAV IgG were 74.24% in 1998 and 83.68% by 2000. Among which they were 74.02%, 68.49%, 79.41%, 85.71% and 90.80% in 2 - 4, 6 - 8, 13 - 15, 20- and 30 - 39 age groups respectively. (3) The accumulative inoculation rates were 37.36%, 51.08% and 28.68% in the inspection areas of Tongtai, Binhai and Yandu respectively. The crowd positive rates of anti-HAV IgG in three inspect area were 85.71%, 85.94% and 78.63% respectively. It was noticed the correlation between the accumulative inoculation rates and the crowd positive rates of anti-HAV IgG was (r(city) = 0.91, F = 15.10, P < 0.03).

CONCLUSIONThe results showed that the crowd positive rates of anti-HAV IgG had increased to 85% while, the colony immune defence of hepatitis A was effectively built to break the periodic epidemics of hepatitis A. The morbidity of hepatitis A decreased to the lowest level in the history.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Hepatitis A ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Hepatitis A Vaccines ; immunology ; Hepatitis A Virus, Human ; immunology ; Hepatitis Antibodies ; blood ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Male ; Mass Vaccination ; statistics & numerical data ; Middle Aged ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; immunology