Twenty-three patients with pain from osteoporotic vertebral fractures,aged 65-90 yr,weighing 51-78 kg,received an image intensifier-assisted nerve-root block with a 6-8 ml mixture of 0.5 ％ lidocaine,mecobalamine 0.5 mg and betamethasone sodium phosphate injection 5.26 mg in a prone or lateral position.The VAS scores before operation,at 0,1 week,1 and 3 months after operation were 8.6 ± 0.9,1.5 ± 0.7,2.8 ± 0.9,1.6 ± 0.5 and 2.5 ± 0.7,respectively.VAS scores were significantly lower at each time pint after operation than before operation (P ＜ 0.05).According to modified MacNab standard,the effectiveness of treatment was rated as excellent/good in 87％ of the patients.No complication such as bleeding,hematoma,infection,pneumothorax,hemopneumothorax,headache was found during or after operation.Selective nerve-root block is effective in the treatment of pain resulting from osteoporotic vertebral fractures in patients.

Objective To develop a simple,multi-dimensional self-screening questionnaire for som-atoform symptoms(SQSS). Methods Based on theoretical framework,the study developed the items of the questionnaire. The first draft of the questionnaire was screened through the expert evaluation method. Four groups of 359 subjects were selected to test the reliability and validity of questionnaire. Results The explor-atory factor analysis showed that the four factors(somatic symptoms,negative perception,illness behavior and social function) were extracted and the interpretable percentage of variance was 61. 165%. The correlation between the subscales and the total scales was 0. 740-0. 887,and the correlation coefficient between the sub-scales was 0. 503-0. 625. The Crobanch's α coefficient of the questionnaire was 0. 926,and the Spearman-Brown score of the questionnaire was 0. 868. The retest correlation coefficient of the total scale was 0. 876. A cutoff of 23 points in the SQSS was identified for screening somatoform disorders, and the sensitivity was 0. 880 and the specificity was 0. 606. Conclusion SQSS has good reliability and validity,and can be prelim-inarily used as a self-screening tool for patients with somatoform symptoms or disorders in clinical settings.

Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) had been widely used in lung diseases on account of direct pulmonary delivery, good drug stability and satisfactory patient compliance. However, an indistinct understanding of pulmonary delivery processes (PDPs) hindered the development of DPIs. Most current evaluation methods explored the PDPs with over-simplified models, leading to uncompleted investigations of the whole or partial PDPs. In the present research, an innovative modular process analysis platform (MPAP) was applied to investigate the detailed mechanisms of each PDP of DPIs with different carrier particle sizes (CPS). The MPAP was composed of a laser particle size analyzer, an inhaler device, an artificial throat and a pre-separator, to investigate the fluidization and dispersion, transportation, detachment and deposition process of DPIs. The release profiles of drug, drug aggregation and carrier were monitored in real-time. The influence of CPS on PDPs and corresponding mechanisms were explored. The powder properties of the carriers were investigated by the optical profiler and Freeman Technology four powder rheometer. The next generation impactor was employed to explore the aerosolization performance of DPIs. The novel MPAP was successfully applied in exploring the comprehensive mechanism of PDPs, which had enormous potential to be used to investigate and develop DPIs.