BACKGROUND:Extensive studies have shown that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) plays a positive role in relieving the pain caused by a variety of diseases. However, its exact effect to manage pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis is stil controversial. TENS is classified into h-TENS and l-TENS, but currently its respective role in relieving the pain caused by knee osteoarthritis is not clear yet. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of h-TENS and l-TENS on pain relieving among patients with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: A computer-based search was performed on PubMed, Embase and Cochrane database for randomized controled trials on TENS for the treatment of knee pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis which were reported before February 2014. Methodology quality of the trials was criticaly assessed and relative data were extracted. These studies were selected independently by two reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.2 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 10 randomized controled trials involving 519 cases were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the h-TENS group had significant effects on pain relief in knee osteoarthritis patients in comparison to the control group [MD=-0.56, 95%CI(-0.98,-0.15),P=0.008]; the l-TENS group had no significant effect on pain relief in knee osteoarthritis patients in comparison to the control group [MD=-0.13, 95%CI(-1.63, 1.38),P=0.87]; the h-TENS group had significant effect on pain relief in knee osteoarthritis patients in comparison to the l-TENS group [MD=-0.85, 95%CI(-1.32, -0.37), P=0.000 5]. These findings indicate that h-TENS performs something positive to reduce pain in knee osteoarthritis patients that l-TENS cannot do. Owing to the limitations of this study, further work is needed to determine the role of TENS in pain management among patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To analyze the association of thrombocytosis with the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.Methods: The clinical materials of 782 patients with gastric cancer who underwent initial surgery in our hospital between January 1995 and December 1999 were retrospectively analyzed.Kaplan- Meier and Log-Rank test were used to analyze the data.Prognostic factors were analyzed by multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.Results: Thrombocytosis oc-curred in 11.4% (87/782) patients.The platelet level was not significantly different among patients of different gender, tumor stage, and histological differentiation (P>0.05).However, a significant difference was observed in the platelet level among patients with different age and surgical approach (P<0.05).The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 75.0%, 40.1% and 28.9% in patients without thrombocytosis and 52.8%, 16.9%, and 13.5% in patients with thrombocytosis (P=0.002).Univari-ate analysis showed that histological differentiation, pathological stage, surgical approach and thrombocytosis significantly affected the survival of patients.While age and gender had no significant impact on patient survival.Multivariate analysis showed that pathological stage, surgical approach, and thrombocytosis were independent prognostic factors for gastric can-cer.The relative risk of death of patients with thrombocytosis was elevated by 1.454 times (RR=1.454, 95% CI: 1.135～1.861, P=0.005).Conclusion: Thrombocytosis is an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of initially treated pa-tients with gastric cancer.

This article introduces briefly the content of the disaster backup technology which should be attached same great importance to, as the construction and application of a information system.
Automatic Data Processing ; instrumentation ; Computer Security ; Hospital Information Systems ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Risk Adjustment ; methods ; Security Measures ; Software

Objective To investigate the value of the bedside index for severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP),Ranson's,APACHE Ⅱ and computed tomography severity index (CTSI) scoring system in evaluating the severity of acute pancreatitis.Methods The clinical data of 385 patients with acute pancreatitis who were admitted to the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from 2005 to 2011 were retrospectively analyzed.The values of 4 scoring systems including BISAP,Ranson's,APACHE Ⅱ and CTSI in predicting the incidences of severe acute pancreatitis,local complications and death were investigated by Chi-square test and receiver operating characteristic curv e.Odds ratio (OR) was calculated.The differences of areas under the curves (AUC) were analyzed using the Z test.Results The incidences of severe acute pancreatitis,local complications and mortality of patients with BISAP score ≥ 3 were 64.4％ (56/87),16.1％ (14/87) and 8.0％ (7/87),which were significantly higher than 13.4％ (40/298),6.4％ (19/298) and 0.3 ％ (1/298) of patients with BISAP score ≤ 2 (x2 =93.4,8.1,19.7,P ＜ 0.05).The incidences of severe acute pancreatitis,local complications and mortality of patients with Ranson's score≥3 were 52.7％ (48/91),22.0％ (20/91) and 7.7％ (7/91),which were significantly higher than 16.3％ (48/294),4.4％ (13/294) and 0.3％ (1/294) of patients with Ranson's score ≤2 (x2 =49.2,27.3,18.5,P ＜0.05).The incidences of severe acute pancreatitis,local complications and mortality of patients with APACHE Ⅱ score ≥ 8 were 46.6％ (27/58),20.7％ (12/58) and 8.6％ (5/58),which were significantly higher than 21.1％ (69/327),6.4％ (21/327) and 0.9％ (3/327) of patients with APACHE Ⅱ score≤7 (x2 =17.0,12.8,14.4,P ＜0.05).The incidences of severe acute pancreatitis,local complications and mortality of patients with CTSI score ≥4 were 51.4％ (19/37),51.4％ (19/37),16.2％ (6/37),which were significantly higher than 22.2％ (77/347),4.0％ (14/347),0.6％ (2/347) of patients with CTSI score≤3 (x2 =15.1,95.3,40.1,P ＜ 0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values of BISAP were 58％,89％,64％,86％,respectively,and the AUC was 0.848,which were significantly higher than the other 3 systems (Z =2.02,4.22,4.78,P ＜ 0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values of CTSI were 58％,95％,51％ and 96％,respectively,and the AUC was 0.926,which was significantly higher than the other 3 systems (Z =3.99,3.24,4.06,P ＜ 0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values of BISAP were 88％,79％,8％ and 100％,respectively,and the AUC was 0.855,with no significant difference compared with the other 3 systems (Z =0.81,0.03,0.14,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The accurate rate of BISAP in predicting the severe acute pancreatitis is higher than Ranson's,APACHE Ⅱ and CTSI.The accurate rate of CTSI in predicting the incidence of local complications is higher than the other 3 systems.There is no significant difference of the 4 systems in predicting the mortality.The BISAP scoring system is helpful in early diagnosis of severe acute pancreatitis,and making the individualized treatment plan,thus improving the prognosis of patients.

OBJECTIVEA new rat model of cerebral infarction was developed to elucidate the contribution of vascular endothelial cell during focal cerebral infarction formation.

METHODSForty-eight Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the model group, sham operation group, and control group for indexes observation of triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) dyeing, neurological deficit, plasma tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) activity, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) activity, thromboxane B(2) (TXB(2)) content, and 6-keto-prostaglandin (6-keto-PGF(1alpha)) content.

RESULTS(1) The highest neurological score appeared at 6 h after operation, descending significantly at sequential time. (2) Using TTC dyeing and optical microscope technique, pathological changes in brains were observed. (3) Compared with control group and sham operation groups, there was a decrease in tPA activity of model rats at the initial 12 h after injection of sodium laurate (P < 0.05), PAI activity decreased markedly in the model group at 24 h after injection of sodium laurate. (4) In plasma TXB(2) concentration reached the highest level compared at 6 h after injection of sodium laurate, but there were not obvious differences in plasma 6-keto-PGF(1alpha) concentration among all groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONFocal cerebral infarction in rats could be induced by some sodium laurate, showing ischemic cerebrum necrosis, function disorder of vascular endothelium-platelet, fibrinolysis abnormality. This model could play an important role in researching the contribution of vascular endothelial cell during cerebral infarction development, preventing and curing by traditional Chinese medicine.

Animals ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebral Infarction ; chemically induced ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endothelial Cells ; pathology ; Lauric Acids ; administration & dosage ; Ligation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

This article introduces the SPD theory in modern quality management to statistically monitor the each link of medical equipment quality control, for the aim of heightening the service level and competitiveness.
Algorithms ; Equipment Safety ; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital ; Humans ; Materials Management, Hospital ; Models, Statistical ; Quality Control ; Software Design

AlM: To investigate the association between the degree of anterioruveitis and related factors including inflammatory markers as well as sacroiliac joint imaging in patients with ankylosing spondylitis ( AS) .
METHODS: Anterior changes evaluated by slit lamp, erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( ESR ) , C - reactive protein ( CRP ) and magnetic resonance imaging of 55 cases with AS associateduveitis were retrospectively analyzed. A modified endotoxin-induced uveitis ( ElU ) clinical standard was used for uveitis grading. SPARCC sacroiliac scoring was used to evaluate bone edema of sacroiliac joint. The correlation between the degree of uveitis and sacroiliitis was assessed.
RESULTS: ln the 55 patients with AS, ElU grading scored 2-10, and SPARCC index scored 0-22. Further analysis showed that the severity of uveitis was significantly correlated with ESR (r=0. 869, P<0. 001) and CRP (r=0. 485, P<0. 001). The degree of anterior uveitis in AS patients was not correlated with inflammation of sacroiliac joint (r=0. 237, P=0. 081).
CONCLUSlON: Local autoimmunity of uveitis and sacroiliac joint inflammation with subsequent bone formation in AS might be mutually independent processes.

BACKGROUND:Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament has become the gold-standard treatment for an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Despite the popularity of the procedure, there remains a considerable amount of controversies over whether an autograft or anal ograft should be used for primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical outcomes of al ograft and autograft in primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. METHODS:Randomized control ed trials concerning autograft versus non-irradiated al ograft for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were identified from the PubMed/Medline database conducted up to July 12, 2014. These studies were selected independently by two reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.2 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 6 randomized control ed trials consisting of 858 cases were included, 441 cases in autograft group and 417 cases in non-irradiated al ograft. The results of the meta-analysis indicate no significant difference between autografts and non-irradiated al ografts in overal IKDC [relative risk (RR)=1.02, 95%confidence interval (CI) (0.99 to 1.06), P=0.21], degree of laxity [mean difference (MD)=-0.13, 95%CI (-0.29 to-0.02), P=0.09], Lachman test [RR=1.04, 95%CI (0.95 to 1.13), P=0.37], pivot shift test [RR=1.00, 95%CI (0.95 to 1.05), P=0.96], one-leg hop test [RR=1.01, 95%CI (0.96 to 1.06), P=0.77], Lysholm score [MD=-0.64, 95%CI (-1.45 to 0.17), P=0.12], Tegner score [MD=0.16, 95%CI (-0.16 to 0.47), P=0.34] and rate of postoperative complications [RR=1.42, 95%CI (0.67 to 3.04), P=0.36]. Therefore, in the meta-analysis, there is no significant difference between autograft and non-irradiated al ograft in clinical outcomes. However due to the limitations of our study, further work is needed to determine this conclusion.

BACKGROUND:Symptomatic treatment is the main management strategy for patients with knee osteoarthritis at early metaphase. Some previous studies have demonstrated that neuromuscular electrical stimulation can al eviate pain in knee osteoarthritis patients. To date, this effectiveness, however, stil remains controversial.
OBJECTIVE:To assess the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
METHODRandomized control ed trials concerning the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis were identified from the Medline database conducted up to July 3, 2014. These studies were selected independently by two reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.2 software.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 5 randomized control ed trials consisting of 239 participants were included. The results of the meta-analysis indicate neuromuscular electrical stimulation has no significant impact on measure of pain in knee osteoarthritis patients in comparison to the blank control group [mean difference=-0.40, 95%confidence interval (-1.34-0.54), P=0.40]. Owing to the sample limitations of our study, it is hard for us to draw a conclusion that the application of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in managing pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis is of little significance. Further work based on large-sample and high-quality randomized control ed trials is needed to determine the role of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in pain in this population.

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to clone and analyze mutation in the eda-A1 gene for hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), and to construct a new recombined eukaryotic expression vector (mutant M, wild W) as a basis for further study on the genetic function.

METHODSAfter total mRNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes from the HED affect patient and control, eda-A1 gene was amplified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with a pair of specific primers containing the constriction enzyme sites of BamH I and Hind III. When the vector pcDNA3.1(-) and eda-A1 (M/W) were digested by BamH I and Hind III respectively, eda-A1 (M/W) fragment was then ligated to vector pcDNA3.1 (-) and the new vector was named as pcDNA3.1 (-)-eda-A1-M/W.

RESULTSeda-A1 gene was successfully cloned and a novel missence mutation was identified, which changes the codon 306 from glutamine to proline. PCR, restrictive endonuclease analysis and DNA sequencing were then performed to identify the recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1 (-)-eda-A1-M/W, and the results were surely confirmed.

CONCLUSIONOur result indicates that the novel missense mutation in eda is associated with the isolated tooth agenesis and provide preliminary explanation for the abnormal clinical phenotype at a molecular structural level. And also, the recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1 (-)-eda-A1-M/W was successfully constructed, which will be thereafter taken use of further study on eda gene in odontogenesis.

Ectodermal Dysplasia 1, Anhidrotic ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Mutation ; Odontogenesis ; RNA, Messenger ; Sequence Analysis, DNA