Objective To investigate the effects of mirror therapy supplemented with motor imaging training on the upper extremity functions of hemiplegic stroke patients and on their ability in the activities of daily living (ADL).Methods Forty-four stroke patients were divided into a control group and an experimental group with 22 patients in each.All were given routine rehabilitation treatment.In addition,the experimental group was given 30 minutes of mirror therapy daily supplemented with 15 minutes of motor imaging training.The control group was given routine occupational therapy.All the patients were assessed with Brunnstrom staging,the functional test for the hemiplegic upper extremity-Hong Kong (FTHUE-HK) and the Barthel index (BI) scale before therapy and after 6 weeks.Results After 6 weeks of treatment,both groups showed significant improvements in upper limb function,hand function,and ADL ability.There were significant intra-group differences and significant differences between the experimental and control groups in terms of Brunnstrom staging,FTHUE-HK scores and BI scores.Conclusions Mirror therapy supplemented with motor imaging training can benefit patients suffering hemiplegia in improving their upper limb functioning and their ADL ability.

BACKGROUND:Removing the posterior ligamentous complexes during posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) may influence motion and load bearing characteristics of the adjacent segments,contributing to the postoperative instability at the adjacent segment,which is one of the important factors for adjacent segment degeneration.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the PLIF plus screw implantation preserving posterior ligamentous complexes under microscope.METHODS:Thirty-six patients with single-level lumbar degenerative disease were enrolled,which were allotted to experimental (n=17) and control (n=1 9) groups,followed by treated with PLIF plus screw implantation preserving posterior ligamentous complexes,and traditional PLIF plus screw implnatation,respectively.The Visual Analogue Scale scores and Oswestry Dysfunction Index at baseline and postoperative 3 months were assessed.The adjacent segment degeneration was observed through radiology during follow-up.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The Visual Analogue Scale and Oswestry Dysfunction Index scores in the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (P ＜ 0.01),and the postoperative scores in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.01).The adjacent segment degeneration occurred in two cases in the experimental group and 8 cases in the control group during follow-up.Radiology revealed that the internal fixative was stable,none of screw loosening,rupture or pullout.These results suggest that PLIF plus screw implantation with posterior ligamentous complexes can effectively relieve the pain and dysfunction in the lumbar degenerative patients,and reduce the incidence of adjacent segment degeneration.

Objective To study the effect of a novel injectable scaffold material chitosan- beta-TCP combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on repairing bone defect of goat. Methods The model of the studies was 12ram diameter circular hole tibia bone defect of goat. 30 Chinese goats were raudomly divided into 5 groups: blank group: nothing was embeded in bone defect; simple material group: the material embeded in bone defect was chitosan-beta-TCP; PRP group: the material was chitesan-beta-TCP combining PRP; MSCs group: the material was chitosan-beta-TCP combining MSCs; PRP/MSCs group:the material was chitosan-beta-TCP combining MSCs and PRP. At 4,8 weeks after operation, the samples were observed, histological and image analysis were used to evaluate the effect of bone regeneration. Results At 8 weeks, the surface of bone defect zone of PRP/MSCs group were coverd by continuous new bones, like normal bone. Histological slice showed the esteoid at boundary of normal bone of MSCs/PRP group obviously increased compare to other groups at the 4th or 8th week after operation respectively. The new bone tissues of bone defect were punctiform or lamellar new bone tissues, in which the proportion of big lamellar new bone tissue obviously increased. Image analysis showed that the areas of balnk group, simple material group, PRP group, MSCs group, PRP/MSCs group were 8.79±3.63,14.49± 3.72,24.18 ± 5.38,24.42 ± 5.10,31.10 ± 3.49 at 4 weeks and 15.41 ± 4.21,25.36 ± 5.37,30.71 ± 4.39, 33.97 ± 4.45,48.60 ± 5.97 at 8 weeks respectively. The effect of bone regeneration of PRP/MSCs group was better than other groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion The injectable tissue-engineering bone constructed with chitosan-beta-TCP, MSCs and PRP possesses good ability on repairing bone defect.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze and discuss the feasibility of rabbit carotid artery treated with decellularization and photo-oxidation. METHODS: Sixty vascular slices of rabbit carotid artery were divided into a fresh group, a cryopreservation group, a glutaraldehyde group, and a decellularization plus photo-oxidation group 15 in each group. To evaluate the physical properties of all the rabbit carotid arteries by testing heat-shrinking temperature, tensile stress and the max elongation of each group. Then by buliding subcutaneous embedding model in SD rats we evaluated the biological stability and the anti-calcification function property of the above rabbit carotid arteries, and the detection means included HE stain, atomic absorption spectrometry and Von-Kossa calcium salt stain. RESULTS: The heat-shrinking temperature, tensile stress and the max elongation in the cryopreservation group were lower or shorter than those of the other groups and the difference had statistical significance (P<0.05). Although the heat-shrinking temperature and the tensile stress in the decellularization plus photo-oxidation group were lower or shorter than those in the glutaraldehyde group (P<0.05), the max elongation in the decellularization plus photo-oxidation group was much longer than that in the glutaraldehyde group (P<0.05). The rabbit carotid artery treated with decellularization plus photo-oxidation showed lower immunogenicity and better biological stability and better anti-calcification property compared with the other groups. CONCLUSION Decellularization associated with photo-oxidation is a suitable and novel protocol for small caliber artery allograft with a diameter of less than 6 mm which is unbreakable to mechanical properties and conducive to biological stability, which has a broad prospect.
Animals ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Calcinosis ; prevention & control ; Carotid Arteries ; cytology ; transplantation ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Female ; Histocytological Preparation Techniques ; Male ; Oxidants, Photochemical ; pharmacology ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Rabbits ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transplantation, Heterologous

Objective:To evaluate the oncologic outcomes of different laparoscopic radical hysterectomy.Methods:From January 2011 to December 2014, the laparoscopic operation cases of cervical cancer at stage Ⅰb1, Ⅰb2, Ⅱa1 and Ⅱa2, including the histologic subtypes of squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma, were collected in five clinical centers. The data were divided into two groups according to the surgical procedures, that is, modified laparoscopic-vaginal radical hysterectomy (mLVRH) and total laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (TLRH). The overall survival rate (OS), disease-free survival rate (DFS) at 5 years were retrospectively analyzed in this study.Results:There were 674 cases in total, including 377 cases of mLVRH, 297 cases of TLRH. (1) The OS at 5 years: the mLVRH was 96.1% and the TLRH was 92.0%, and the mLVRH was higher than that of TLRH （ P=0.010）. Stratify analysis， including stage of disease （Ⅰb1 and Ⅱa1）， histologic subtypes （squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma）， lymph node metastasis， revealed that, ① Stage of disease: in stage Ⅰb1, the OS at five years of mLVRH was higher than that in TLRH group （98.6% vs 93.6%, P=0.012）. In stage Ⅱa1, there was significant difference between the two groups, the OS at five years of mLVRH and TLRH were 93.6% and 77.6% （ P=0.007）. ② Histologic subtypes: for the OS at five years of squamous-cell carcinoma, mLVRH and TLRH were 96.1% and 92.3%, and there was significant difference （ P=0.046）； for adenocarcinoma, the OS at five years were 91.0% and 88.6%， and there was no difference between two groups （ P=0.230）. ③ Lymph node metastasis： the mLVRH and TLRH with lymph node metastasis, the OS at five years were 98.6% and 96.4%; the mLVRH and TLRH without lymph node metastasis, the OS at five years were 89.3% and 80.8%. There were no significant differences between the two groups,respectively ( P=0.156， P=0.093）. (2) The DFS at 5 years: there was no significant difference between mLVRH and TLRH (94.1% vs 90.9%, P=0.220). Stratify analysis for stage of disease, the mLVRH group was higher than that in the TLRH group in stage Ⅰb1 (97.0% vs 92.8%, P=0.039). However, for stage Ⅱa1, there was no significant difference between mLVRH and TLRH group （88.2% vs 75.8%, P=0.074）. Conclusions:The results of this retrospective study indicated that different laparoscopy surgical procedures had diverse oncologic outcomes. The OS at 5 years of the mLVRH is superior to the TLRH. The DFS at 5 years in Ⅰb1 stage, the mLVRH is higher than the TLRH. Therefore, the modified laparoscopy is still an alternative surgery for early cervical cancer patients when following the principle of no-tumor-exposure.

ObjectiveTo explore the possible mechanism of Yupingfeng Granules （玉屏风散） in preventing and treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD） from the perspective of “lung-gut axis”. MethodsThirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group，model group， roxithromycin group and Yupingfeng Granules group， with 8 rats in each group. Except for the normal group， the rat model of COPD was prepared by intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide （LPS） combined with smoking for 12 weeks. Since the fifth week of modeling，the roxithromycin group and the Yupingfeng Granules group were given 31.5 mg/（kg·d） and 1.575 g/（kg·d） of corresponding drugs respectively by gavage，and normal group and model group were given 10 ml/（kg·d） physiolo-gical saline. Sample was collected 24 hours after the last administration. The pathological changes of lung tissue were observed using HE staining； Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry （UHPLC-QTOFMS） was used to detect the differential metabolites in alveolar lavage fluid （BALF） in all groups but roxithromycin group；16S rDNA sequencing technology was used to detect the changes of intestinal flora， and the association analysis was conducted between the differential metabolites and the differential flora. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group showed an increase in goblet cells in the small bronchial wall， disappearance of the smooth muscle layer of the bronchial wall， and infiltration of inflammatory cells； compared with the model group， roxithromycin group showed slight alveolar interstital edema， and obviously reduced inflammatory cell， while no obvious alveolar interstital edema was observed in the Yupingfeng Granules group， showing a small amout of inflammatory cell infiltration. The results of the BALF differential metabolite screening showed that compared with the normal group， 12 substances were upregulated and 19 substances were downregulated in the model group； compared with the model group， 37 substances in the Yupingfeng Granules group were upregulated and 43 substances were downregulated KEGG analysis yielded a total of 2 metabolic pathways， glycerophospholipid metabolism， and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthetic metabolism； compared with the model group， choline， acetylcholine， glycerol-3-phosphate， glycerophosphate choline， palmitic acid， and arachidonic acid showed an upward trend， while stearic acid and docosahexaenoic acid showed a downward trend in Yupingfeng Granules group （P＜0.05）. The results of the intestinal flora showed that， there are 80 different species between the normal group and the model group， and 65 different species between the model group and Yupingfeng Granules group. Among the top 5 species with relative abundance levels，compared with the model group， the level of Prevotella_9，Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005，Ruminiclostridium_6 increase，and Lactobacillus，Bacteroides decrease（P＜0.05）.The results of the correlation analysis showed that， in the normal and model groups， arachidonic acid was negatively correlated with Oribacterium（r=-0.753，P＜0.01）； in the Yupingfeng Granules group and model group， stearic acid and Bacteroides（r=0.788）， Mycobacterium（r=0.826），［Eubacterium］_Ruminantium_Group（r=0.770） was positively correlated（P＜0.01）， Arachidic acid was negatively correlated with Roseiarcus（r=-0.779）， glycerol-3-phosphate was negatively correlated with Desulfovibrio（r=-0.758）， Arachidonic acid was negatively correlated with Oribacterium（r=-0.753）， and Palmitic acid was negatively correlated with Pseudolabs（r=-0.750，P＜0.01）. ConclusionYupingfeng Granules can affect the metabolism of BALF and the flora structure of intestinal microorganisms， and regulating the balance of “lung-gut axis” may be one of the mechanisms of Yupingfeng Granules in treatment of COPD.

Hemin can improve the stress resistance of plants through the heme oxygenase system. Additionally, substances contained in plants, such as secondary metabolites, can improve stress resistance. However, few studies have explored the effects of hemin on secondary metabolite content. Therefore, the effects of hemin on saponin synthesis and the mechanism of plant injury relief by hemin in

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of METHODS: Healthy male DBA/1 mice were used for CIA modeling. Twenty-five CIA mice with successful modeling and similar arthritis index (AI) scores were randomized equally into model group (CIA), methotrexate (MTX) group, and low-, medium-, and high-dose XWGD groups (0.975, 1.95, and 3.9 g/mL, respectively), with another 5 normal mice as the normal control group. The mice in normal control and CIA groups were given saline once a day, those in MTX group were given 0.1 mg/mL MTX once a week, and those in XWGD groups were treated daily via garage of XWGD containing crude drugs of different doses for 28 consecutive days. The AI score and HE staining were used to evaluate the changes in the joints of the CIA mice. The effect of XWGD on Th1, Th17, MDSC, G-MDSC and M-MDSC cells were evaluated with flow cytometry. RESULTS: Treatment with MTX and different doses of XWGD significantly decreased the AI score of the mice and relieved joint inflammation as compared with the model group ( CONCLUSIONS XWGD can improve joint inflammation in CIA mice by increasing the percentages of G-MDSC cells and decreasing the percentages of M-MDSC, Th1 and Th17 cells, and a high dose of XWGD can produce an equivalent therapeutic effect to methotrexate but with better safety.
Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental/drug therapy* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Male ; Methotrexate ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred DBA ; Th17 Cells