Objective To research a more economical and convenient test way, which uses excimer laser therapeutic apparatus eye-test of Allegretto Wave Eye-Q. Methods In testing, a film of transparent and fit thickness was coved on original test-chip to exam. Results Test paper can be reused and determines clearly of all cases. Conclusion The modified method not only raises efficiency and reduces cost, but also saves test specimen with easy operation.

Acute Disease ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; complications ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; etiology

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of suprasternal mini-thyroidectomy.Methods A total of 15 patients with nodular goiter underwent suprasternal mini-thyroidectomy(2.5-3.5 cm in incision at length) with ultrasonic scalpel.Results All operations including unilateral partial thyroidectomy(n=4),unilateral subtotal thyroidectomy(n=2) and bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy(n=9)were completed successfully.The mean operation time was 46 minutes(range,30-65 minutes).The intraoperative blood loss was less than 10 ml,except 25 ml in one patient.No complications occurred except superficial Ⅱ degree skin burn in 2 patients.The mean postoperative hospital stay was 1.8 days(range,1-3 days).All the patients were followed up for 8-10 months and no recurrence was found.Conclusions Suprasternal mini-thyroidectomy is feasible and safe with certain cosmetic effects.

Endocardial Cushion Defects ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Lung ; abnormalities ; Lung Diseases ; complications ; congenital

Objective:To investigate the changes and the adjusting effects of brain-gut peptides (BGP) on immunologic function in the rats before and after relief of biliary obstruction.Methods:One hundred Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups,including sham common bile duct ligation group (group A),common bile duct ligation group (group B),sham relief of biliary obstruction + normal saline group (group C) ,relief of biliary obstruction + normal saline group (group D) and relief of biliary obstruction + Sandostatin (group E).At 1d,7d after the operation of each group,the changes of plasma vasoactive intestional peptide (VIP),substance P(SP),serum interleukin-2(IL-2) and serum T-lymphocytic subsets (CD4 +,CD8 +)were determinded by radioimmunoassay and flowcytometry .Results:Plasma VIP and SP were increased in group B compared with group A(P

To enhance speech recognition, as well as Mandarin tone recognition in noice, we proposed a speech coding strategy called zero-crossing of fine structure in low frequency (LFFS) for cochlear implant based on low frequency non-uniform sampling (LFFS for short). In the range of frequency perceived boundary of human ear, we used zero-crossing time of the fine structure to generate the stimulus pulse sequences based on the frequency selection rule. Acoustic simulation results showed that although on quiet background the performance of LFFS was similar to continuous interleaved sampling (CIS), on the noise background the performance of LFFS in Chinese tones, words and sentences were significantly better than CIS. In addition to this, we also got better Mandarin recognition factors distribution by using the improved index distribution model. LFFS contains more tonal information which was able to effectively improve Mandarin recognition of the cochlear implant.
Acoustics ; Cochlear Implants ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Language ; Noise ; Recognition (Psychology) ; Speech Perception

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical application value of Provider-Initiated HIV Testing and Counseling (PITC) by analyzing the positive rate of HIV tests for people in need of PITC and that of routine HIV tests.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the demographic and epidemiologic data about the patients seeking PITC services or undergoing routine HIV tests in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital between January and December 2013.

RESULTSThe positive rate of initial HIV screening was 1.98% in the PITC group and 0.24% in the routine test group, while that of confirmed HIV was 0. 40% in the former and 0.07% in the latter, both with statistically significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.01). The positive rate of HIV was markedly higher in males than in females, particularly in the PITC group.

CONCLUSIONPITC has a high clinical value in HIV detection for targeted subjects and therefore deserves general application in dermatology.

Counseling ; Dermatology ; Female ; HIV Seropositivity ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Factors

OBJECTIVETo study clinical effects of short-segment fixation and injured vertebra bone grafting through injured pedicle for the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures under MAST Quadrant retractor via a paraspinal muscle approach.

METHODSThe data of 42 patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures treated from June 2009 to September 2012 were reviewed. There were 19 males and 23 females, with an average age of (55.2±11.9) years old. The mean injury time was (5.8±4.3) days. Fracture segments included T10 in 3 cases, T11 in 6 cases, T12 in 13 cases, L1 in 9 cases, L2 in 7 cases, and L3 in 4 cases. According to Denis classification, 9 patients were type A, 21 patients were type B, 5 patiens were type C, 5 patients were type D, and 2 patients were type E. All the patients were treated with short-segment pedicle screw-rod system fixation under MAST Quadrant via the paraspinal muscle approach. The operative time, blood loss, complications and the height of vertebra, kyphosis Cobb angle, VAS scores, JOA scores were measured before and after treatment.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the vertebral height and kyphosis Cobb angle were restored. Compared with preoperative results, postoperative vertebral height and kyphosis Cobb angle, VAS scores and JOA scores were all improved. But there was no statistically significance in vertebral height, kyphosis Cobb angle between postoperative at 1 week and 1 year.

CONCLUSIONInternal fixation combined with injured vertebra bone grafting through the injured pedicle for the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures via the paraspinal intermuscular approach under MAST Quadrant is a safe, minimally invasive, effective and satisfactory method.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Transplantation ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Spinal Fractures ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility of inducing human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HuMSCs) to differentiate into Leydig cells through conditioned medium derived from Leydig cells.

METHODSHuMSCs and Leydig cells were obtained by tissue blocks culture attachment and enzymatic digestion respectively. HuMSCs were induced by conditioned medium of Leydig cells as an experiment group while those before induction were cultured as a control group. The expressions of LHR, 3β-HSD and StAR in the induced HuMSCs were determined by RT-PCR after 3, 7 and 10 days of culture; those of CYP11A1, CYP17A1 and 3β-HSD measured by immunofluorescence staining after 2 weeks; and that of 3β-HSD detected by Western blot after 4 weeks.

RESULTSThe experimental group showed positively expressed LHR, 3β-HSD and StAR at 3, 7 and 10 days, CYP11A1, CYP17A1 and 3β-HSD at 2 weeks, and 3β-HSD at 4 weeks, while the control group revealed negative expressions at all the time points.

CONCLUSIONInduced with conditioned culture medium derived from Leydig cells, HuMSCs are likely to differentiate into steroidogenic cells and eventually into Leydig cells.

Cell Differentiation ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Humans ; Leydig Cells ; cytology ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology

Objective To detect the ascites CD64 index of patients with decompensated cirrhosis ,and explore the value in the di-agnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) .Methods Decompensated cirrhosis with ascites patients were divided into non-SBP group ,SBP suspected group and SBP diagnosed group .Two control groups were composed of patients with ascites culture pos-itive and non-SPB group .SBP suspected group were further grouped according to abdominal pain and the percentage of peripheral blood neutrophils .The CD64 index was detected by flow cytometry .Compared the difference of ascites CD64 index after treatment , and analyzed diagnosis performance of procalcitonin in human peripheral blood and ascites white blood cell count of SBP .Results The level of the ascites CD64 index was significantly higher in SBP diagnosed group (179 .39 ± 65 .56)and SBP suspected group (115 .49 ± 58 .42)than that of non-SBP group(26 .88 ± 26 .05)(P<0 .01) .The differences of the ascites CD64 index between SBP suspected associated with abdominal pain group and SBP suspected associated with painless group was not statistically significant (P>0 .05) .The level of the ascites CD64 index in SBP suspected with percentage of peripheral blood neutrophils elevated group was increased significantly than non-elevated group(P<0 .05) .CD64 index level in effective treatment group was significantly lower than the ineffective treatment group(P<0 .01) .The area of the ascites CD64 index under the curve was greater than procalcitonin in human peripheral blood and ascites WBC count ,and had a higher sensitivity and specificity .Conclusion The detection process of the ascites CD64 index is fast and with less influential factors ,which provides a new choice for the clinical diagnosis of SBP .