Objective To investigate changes of surface electromyogr8phic(sEM G)signal of pelvic floor muscles in complete spinal cord injury(cSCI)patients with neurogenic bowel dysfunction.Methods Fifteen hospitalized patients with cSCI(observation group)and fifteen normal subjects(control group)were involved in this study.The root mean square(RMS)of sEMG signals were collected at pelvic floor muscles with rectal surface electrode when subjects'pelvic floor muscles were rest(10 s),fleetly contract(2 s×3),continually contract(10 s).Both groups'data of different contracting states of pelvic floor muscles were analyzed and compared.Results The max RMS and average RMS(16.61±2.83,13.52±2.22)at pelvic floor muscles'rest in observation group were higher than that in control group(8.41±5.55,3.45±1.53).There was statistical difference between two groups(P<0.01).In the subjects of observation group max RMS and average RMS(20.24±13.99,13.36±2.39)at continual contraction and average RMS(13.40±2.31)at fleet contraction were nearly the same as RMS value at pelvic floor muscles'rest.There was no statistical difference between these two states(P>0.05).Conclusion The sEMG could be a quantitative index in assessing function of pelvic floor muscles and the neurogenic bowel dysfunction after cSCI.It can supply some clinical value in framing the training of pelvic floor muscles and improving the bowel dysfunction.

Objective:To quantify any correlation between serum levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs) and post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI).Methods:The clinical data of 77 patients hospitalized after a first stroke were analyzed. The Minimum Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to divide them into impaired (PSCI) and unimpaired (non-PSCI) cohorts. The serum levels of ω3-PUFAs, α-linolenic acid (ALA), eieosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and dueosahexenoie acid (DHA) were compared between the two groups and correlated with the individuals′ MMSE scores.Results:The average ALA, EPA, DHA and total ω3-PUFAs levels of PSCI group were in most cases significantly lower than those of the non-PSCI group. Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum DHA level was a weak positive predictor of the MMSE scores (R=0.32, P≤0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that low serum DHA level was an independent risk factor for PSCI ( P≤0.01). Conclusions:Cognitively impaired stroke survivors tend to have lower serum ω3-PUFAs levels than those without cognitive impairment. There is a weak positive correlation between serum DHA levels and MMSE scores. Low serum DHA level is an independent risk factor for PSCI. The serum level of ω3-PUFAs is of high value in the auxiliary diagnosis and evaluation of PSCI.

Objective:To explore the effect of the "trinity" training mode with curriculum training as the core, lecture training as supplement and community training as reinforcement, and to improve the health education ability of higher vocational nursing students.Methods:A total of 209 nursing students were selected as the research objects by random cluster sampling, and they were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group adopted the "trinity" system to improve the health education ability of higher vocational nursing students, while the control group carried out the routine teaching. The health education ability of nursing students was evaluated by using the health education ability scale of nursing staff, and the nursing students of the experimental group were investigated by questionnaire. Statistics analysis was made by SPSS 15.0 software, the t test was conducted for analysis of measurement data, and Z test was used for counting data. Results:The health education ability of the nursing students in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group ( P < 0.001). Nursing students in the experimental group generally had high recognition of the training mode of "trinity" system. The pass rate was 98.13%. Among them, 68.87% of the nursing students thought it would be a big gain to attend the special lectures; 69.81% of the nursing students thought it would be a big gain to participate in the community activities. Conclusion:The "trinity" health education ability training model can significantly improve the health education ability of higher vocational nursing students.

Objective: To explore the safety and feasibility of transumbilical single channel laparoscopic cryptorchidopexy with conventional instruments in treatment of cryptorchidism in children. Methods: Thirty-five children with cryptorchidism were treated by transumbilical single channel laparoscopic cryptorchidopexy with conventional instruments from November 2017 to March 2018 at Department of Pediatric Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.Clinical data were recorded including the general information, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative testicular position and postoperative complications, etc. Results: All 35 patients completed the cryptorchidopexy in one operation.Among those 35 patients, 28 patients had unilateral lesions and 7 patients had bilateral lesions, with a total of 42 sides.Twenty-six patients were of groin type(33 sides), 9 patients abdominal type(9 sides). The average operation time was (40.4±8.2) min for unilateral lesion, and (62.5±15.3) min for bilateral lesions; the average intraoperative blood loss was (3.0±1.8) mL; and the average postoperative hospital stay was (6.4±2.1) h. Testis of 32 patients (40 sides) were fixed in the middle and bottoms of the scrotum, and testis of 2 patients (2 sides) were fixed on the top of the scrotum.One case had poor healing of naval incision, which was recovered in 1 week after dressing change.There were no postoperative complications such as scrotum hematoma, infection of incision, testicular epididymitis, testicular necrosis, testicular retraction or testicular atrophy, etc.No obvious visible scar was found in the abdomen review 2 weeks postoperatively, with the incidence of complications was 2.9%(1/35 cases). Conclusions Transumbilical single channel laparoscopic cryptorchidopexy with conventional instruments in treatment of cryptorchidism is characterized by small trauma, quick recovery, low complication rate and visible scar free result, which is worthy of clinical promotion, but the operation is relatively complex and the correct procedures are required.

Objective To investigate the effect of pelvic floor stabilized structure preservation (PPSS) during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP)on postoperative continence recovery.Methods From October 2017 to April 2018,86 patients with prostatic cancer who underwent traditional RARP and RARP plus PPSS were included.There were 31 patients in non-PPSS group and 55 patients in PPSS group.In non-PPSS group,patients age was (68.48 ± 7.79) years old,BMI was (24.79 ± 3.05) kg/m2,median prostate volume was 63.54 (53.00-99.36) cm3,clinic T-stage T1-T2,T3,T4 accounted for 49.39％,22.58％,6.45％ and ISUP grade 1,2,3,4,5 accounted for 22.58％,22.81％,12.90％,12.90％,19.35％ respectively.In PPSS group,patients age was (69.53 ± 6.81)years old,BMI was (23.95 ± 3.03) kg/m2,median prostate volume was 73.39 (54.88-94.23) cm3,clinic T-stage T1-T2,T3,T4 accounted for 72.73％,7.27％,3.64％ and ISUP grade 1,2,3,4,5 accounted for 21.82％,18.18％,23.64％,18.18％,10.91％ respectively.The preoperative PSA,BMI,clinical T-stage,ISUP grade,and postoperative hospital days had no significant differences (P ＞ 0.05)between the two groups.Both groups were operated via transperitoneal approach.In the non PPSS group,endo-pelvic fascia and pubic prostate ligament was cut,and dorsal vessel complex was ligated.In PPSS group,the partial endo-pelvic fascia was bluntly pushed to the pelvic wall to preserve tendon arch,and pubic prostate ligament also was preserved without suturing and ligating dorsal vascular complex.The catheter was removed 7 d after RARP.The continence recovery were compared between the two groups,including pad number on the day of I,7,14,30,90 and ICI-Q-SF scores on the day of 30 and 90 after catheter removal.Results There was no significant difference in pad numbers used between the two groups on the day of 1,7,14,30 after catheter removal.On the 90th day,the proportions of using pad ≥4 in PPSS group were significantly lower than those in non-PPSS group (1.89％ vs.20.69％,P =0.004).No significant difference was found in ICI-Q-SF scores on the 30th and 90th day between the two groups.Univariate analysis showed that PPSS group used less pads than non-PPSS group on the 90th day [OR =0.07(95％ CI 0.01-0.65),P =0.019];T3 patients used more pads than T1-T2 patients [OR =9.19 (95％ CI 1.32-63.87),P =0.025].After adjusting for age,ISUP grading,T staging,and PSA,multivariate regression analysis showed that the risk of using pad ≥ 4 in PPSS group compared with non-PPSS group was 0.46,0.34,0.27,0.25,and 0.03 on the day of 1,7,14,30 and 90 after catheter removal,respectively.The PPSS approach didn't increase the risk of positive surgical margin.Conclusions Preservation of pelvic stabilized structure in RARP is very efficient in term of continence rate after RARP,and it does not increase the risk of positive surgical margin.

Objective:To observe the effects of electroacupuncture preconditioning on the autophagy-related pathway protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in myocardial tissue of rats with myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI); To investigate the protective mechanism of "Neiguan"(PC 6) on myocardial injury.Methods:Totally 48 SD rats were randomly divided into blank group, sham-operation group, model group and Neiguan group ( n=12 in each group). The Neiguan group was applied to bilateral "Neiguan"(PC 6) by electroacupuncture for 30 min, once daily for consecutive 7 days before model replication. Except in the blank group, the MIRI model was established by ligation of the descending anterior branch of the left coronary artery in the rest groups after the intervention. The histomorphological changes in the myocardium of the rats were observed by HE staining, and the expression levels of Akt, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), mTOR and phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR) in the myocardium were measured by protein immunoblotting. The ratio of p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR was calculated. Results:In the blank group, the myocardial fibres were arranged regularly and neatly, and no inflammatory cell infiltration or haemorrhage was seen in the interstitium; in the sham-operation group, the arrangement of myocardial fibers was slightly irregular, no rupture was found, and a small amount of myocardial fiber gap was slightly enlarged; in the model group, the distribution of myocardial fibers was disordered, hypertrophic cardiomyocytes increased, some mitochondria were red and swollen or the outer membrane was ruptured, and inflammatory infiltration and hemorrhage were seen in the interstitium; the extent of myocardial lesions in the Neiguan group was less than that in the model group, with a small amount of interstitial hemorrhage and inflammatory cell infiltration. There was no statistical significance in the levels of Akt and mTOR in the myocardial tissues of the rats in each group ( P>0.05); compared with the sham-operation group, the levels of p-Akt, p-mTOR and p-Akt/Akt, p-mTOR/mTOR in the model group decreased ( P<0.01); compared with the model group, the levels of p-Akt, p-mTOR and p-Akt/Akt, p-mTOR/mTOR in the Neiguan group increased ( P<0.01). Conclusion:Electroacupuncture preconditioning may inhibit excessive autophagy by activating the Akt/mTOR pathway in cardiomyocytes of MIRI rats, thereby exerting a protective effect on the myocardium.

Objective To illustrate the clinical and pathological features of Chinese upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients and to investigate the regional difference and the possible prognostic factors.Methods A retrospective study was performed on 2 628 patients from 9 centers of three different regions (Beijing:2 centers with 1 022 cases,Shanghai:1 center with 814 cases,Sichuan:6 center with 792 cases).The median age was 68 (range 20 to 93) and the mean age was 66.3.There were 1 447 male patients (55.1％) and 1 181 female patients (44.9％).The clinical information,pathological outcomes and prognosis were collected and analyzed based on South (Shanghai and Sichuan) and North (Beijing)region.Results The distribution of Ta + T1,T2,T3 and T4 was 914 (34.8％),715 (27.2％),857(32.6％) and 142(5.4％).Patients from North were more likely to be female (55.9％ vs.38.0％,P＜0.001) and suffer from ureteral tumors (43.4％ vs.35.9％,P ＜ 0.001);while in patients from South higher tumor stage(T3 or T4,42.5％ vs.31.0％,P ＜ 0.001),high grade(72.0％ vs.34.0％,P ＜0.001) and larger tumor size [(3.73 ±2.17) cm vs.(3.36 ±2.02) cm,P＜0.001] were more prevalent.Subgroup indicated that female patients in North had obviously lower tumor stage (T3 or T4,27.2％ vs.35.9％,P =0.014),while relatively higher tumor stage were noticed in female patients in South (T3 or T4,48.2％ vs.38.9％,P =0.004).The median follow-up was 41 (1-206) months,and 963 patients (36.6％) died including 815 (31.0％) died from cancer.In North female patients had better 5-year overall survival (75.5％ vs.62.2％,P ＜0.001) and cancer-specific survival (78.3％ vs.65.0％,P＜0.001),but in South gender had no impact on overall survival (58.5％ vs.60.1％,P =0.927) or cancer-specific survival (62.0％ vs.65.8％,P =0.345).Conclusions This study demonstrated that in Chinese patients with UTUC,those from North were featured for lower tumor stage and grade,higher proportion of females and females had better survival.High age,high tumor stage and grade,large tumor diameter,and the presence of lymph node metastasis or lymphovascular invasion were risk factors for poor prognosis in Chinese UTUC patients.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of daily soft brace wearing on plantar dynamics during walking in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). MethodsA total of 52 patients with unilateral chronic ankle instability (CAI) in Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital from February, 2021 to January, 2023 were randomly divided into control group (n = 26) and experimental group (n = 26). Both groups underwent an eight-week exercise training program. The control group wore placebo brace during daily activities, while the experimental group wore soft ankle brace. Plantar dynamic parameters were measured using a pressure plate system during walking, including peak plantar pressure and plantar impulse before and after intervention. ResultsSix participants dropped out in the control group and five in the experimental group, resulting in a final inclusion of 41 participants. After intervention, there was no significant difference in peak plantar pressure and impulse on the affected side in the control group among different areas (P > 0.05). In the experimental group, the peak pressure and impulse in the heel medial, heel lateral and forefoot medial areas increased (|t| > 4.192, P < 0.001), while the peak pressure and impulse in the midfoot and lateral forefoot areas decreased (t > 2.984, P < 0.05); the peak pressure and impulse in the heel medial, heel lateral and forefoot medial areas were higher in the experimental group than in the control group (|t| > 2.126, P < 0.05), and the peak pressure and impulse were lower in the midfoot and forefoot lateral areas (t > 2.133, P < 0.05). ConclusionWearing a soft brace during daily activities may optimize the distribution of peak plantar pressure and plantar impulse on the affected side in patients with CAI, which may prevent recurrence of sprains.

As an interface between external electronic devices and internal neural nuclei, microelectrodes play an important role in many fields, such as animal robots, deep brain stimulation and neural prostheses. Aiming at the problem of high price and complicated fabrication process of microelectrode, a microelectrode twisting machine based on open source electronic prototyping platform (Arduino) and three-dimensional printing technology was proposed, and its microelectrode fabrication performance and neural stimulation performance were verified. The results show that during the fabrication of microelectrodes, the number of positive twisting turns of the electrode wire should generally be set to about 1.8 times of its length, and the number of reverse twisting rings is independent of the length, generally about 5. Moreover, compared with the traditional instrument, the device is not only inexpensive and simple to manufacture, but also has good expandability. It has a positive significance for both the personalization and popularization of microelectrode fabrication and the reduction of experimental cost.
Equipment Design ; Microelectrodes ; Printing, Three-Dimensional

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a micro-barrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells. METHODS: The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. RESULTS: Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Actins/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Glycolysis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Tripartite Motif Proteins/metabolism* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; Integrin beta Chains