Search

The shoulders with critical shoulder angle (CSA) of greater than 33-35° are associated with rotator cuff tears, whereas a CSA of less than 30° is likely to be osteoarthritic. However, anterior acromioplasty or lateral acromioplasty could not reduce high CSAs to the desired range (30-33°), with satisfactory accuracy and efficacy. Thus, we introduce a computer image-guided precise acromioplasty (CIG-PAP) technique, an individualized treatment based on three-dimensional planning. We believe that the introduction of this technique will provide an alternative approach to reduce a large CSA to the desired range (30-33°).

Background: Knotted suture bridge repair (KSBR) has been widely proven to be an effective method for rotator cuff repairs. However, the occurrence of type 2 failure after suture bridge repair remains a frequent problem because of the stress concentration and disturbance of tendon perfusion in the medial row. The authors have developed the H-loop knotless double–row repair (HLDR) to counteract these problems. Purpose: To compare the biomechanical and histological outcomes of HLDR and KSBR for rotator cuff tear in the rabbit model. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Acute bilateral supraspinatus tears were created on the shoulders of 46 New Zealand White rabbits. HLDR and KSBR were randomly performed on the left side or right side. Thirteen animals each were sacrificed at 2, 4, and 8 weeks after surgery (n = 39), with 6 rabbits used for histological evaluation and the other 7 rabbits for biomechanical testing. The remaining 7 animals from the original 46 were only used for initial biomechanical evaluation at week 0. Results: Macroscopically, all repaired tendons were connected to their footprint on the greater tuberosity without postoperative complications at 8 weeks after surgery. The HLDR group had significantly better histological bone–to–tendon integration compared with the KSBR group in terms of fibrocartilage regeneration, collagen composition, and fiber organization. The biomechanical outcomes in the HLDR group were demonstrated to be better than those of the KSBR group at time 0 and 8 weeks after surgery. Conclusion: Both repair techniques were effective for rotator cuff tears in a rabbit rotator cuff tear model; however, HLDR demonstrated more advantages in improving biomechanical properties and histological tendon–to–bone healing compared with KSBR. Clinical Relevance: This animal study suggested that HLDR might be an alternative choice for rotator cuff tears in humans to increase tendon–to–bone healing and reduce the rate of failure to heal.

Knotted suture bridge repair (KSBR) has been widely proven to be an effective method for rotator cuff repairs. However, the occurrence of type 2 failure after suture bridge repair remains a frequent problem because of the stress concentration and disturbance of tendon perfusion in the medial row. The authors have developed the H-loop knotless double-row repair (HLDR) to counteract these problems.To compare the biomechanical and histological outcomes of HLDR and KSBR for rotator cuff tear in the rabbit model.Controlled laboratory study.Acute bilateral supraspinatus tears were created on the shoulders of 46 New Zealand White rabbits. HLDR and KSBR were randomly performed on the left side or right side. Thirteen animals each were sacrificed at 2, 4, and 8 weeks after surgery (n = 39), with 6 rabbits used for histological evaluation and the other 7 rabbits for biomechanical testing. The remaining 7 animals from the original 46 were only used for initial biomechanical evaluation at week 0.Macroscopically, all repaired tendons were connected to their footprint on the greater tuberosity without postoperative complications at 8 weeks after surgery. The HLDR group had significantly better histological bone-to-tendon integration compared with the KSBR group in terms of fibrocartilage regeneration, collagen composition, and fiber organization. The biomechanical outcomes in the HLDR group were demonstrated to be better than those of the KSBR group at time 0 and 8 weeks after surgery.Both repair techniques were effective for rotator cuff tears in a rabbit rotator cuff tear model; however, HLDR demonstrated more advantages in improving biomechanical properties and histological tendon-to-bone healing compared with KSBR.This animal study suggested that HLDR might be an alternative choice for rotator cuff tears in humans to increase tendon-to-bone healing and reduce the rate of failure to heal.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a complex, severe inflammation disease with high mortality, and there is no specific and effective treatment for ALI. Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan (QFXYW) has been widely used to treat lung-related diseases for centuries.This study evaluates the potential effects and elucidates the therapeutic mechanism of QFXYW against LPS induced ALI in mice.BALB/c Mice in each group were first orally administered medicines (0.9% saline solution for the control group, 0.5 mg/kg Dexamethasone, or 1.3, 2.6, 5.2 g/kg QFXYW), after 4 h, the groups were injected LPS (1.0 mg/kg) to induce ALI, then the same medicines were administered repeatedly. The transcriptomics-based system pharmacological analyses were applied to screen the hub genes, RT-PCR, ELISA, and protein array assay was applied to verify the predicted hub genes and key pathways.QFXYW significantly decreased the number of leukocytes from (6.34 ± 0.51) × 10This study showed that QFXYW decreased the number of leukocytes and neutrophils by attenuating inflammatory response, which provides an important basis for the use of QFXYW in the treatment of ALI.

Diabetic ulcer is a challenging complication of diabetes mellitus but current treatments cannot achieve satisfactory results. In this study, the effect of Huangbai liniment (HB) and berberine on the wound healing in high fat diet/streptozotocin injection induced diabetic rats was investigated by RNA-seq technology. HB topical treatment promoted wound healing in the diabetic patients and diabetic rats, and it affected multiple processes, of which IL-17 signalling pathway was of importance. Inhibiting IL-17a by its inhibitor or antibody remarkably facilitated wound healing and HB significantly repressed the high IL-17 expression and its downstream targets, including Cxcl1, Ccl2, Mmp3, Mmp9, G-CSF, IL1B and IL6, in diabetic wounds, promoted T-AOC, SOD activity and GSH levels; decreased the levels of nitrotyrosine and 8-OHdG; enhanced angiogenesis-related CD31, PDGF-BB and ANG1 expression; inhibited cleaved caspase-3 levels and promoted TIMP1 and TGFB1. Moreover, berberine (a major component in HB) repressed the IL-17 signalling pathway, and promoted wound healing in diabetes mellitus. This study highlights the strategy of targeting IL-17a in diabetic wounds, deepens the understanding of wound healing in diabetes mellitus in a dynamic way and reveals the characteristics of HB and berberine in promoting wound healing of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Long head of the biceps tendinopathy is a common shoulder problem that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Biceps tenodesis is an effective surgical approach target for long head of the biceps tendon lesions. This article describes an all-arthroscopic proximal biceps tenodesis technique. This technique uses a high-strength suture to construct a tear-resistant loop; fixation is achieved with a suture anchor at the proximal aspect of the intertubercular groove or the greater tuberosity. This tenodesis fixation is simple, with no neurovascular injury or humeral fracture risk. In addition, our technique is cost-effective, with no need for specialty sutures.

Duzhi Wan (DZW) has been extensively used in the prevention and treatment of ischemic stroke, but the mechanisms underlying its effects remain unclear. In this study, a combination of transcriptomics, metabolomics and network analysis was applied to identify the preventive mechanism of DZW in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.The mice were divided into five groups: the sham group, I/R group, I/R + Ginaton group, I/R+DZW-L group, and I/R+DZW-H group. Neurological deficit scores and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Nissl staining results were evaluated. Transcriptomics analysis and metabolomics analysis were applied to identify the key genes and metabolites, and qRT-PCR, ELISA, and immunofluorescence were applied to verify the key targets.DZW significantly decreased the infarction size and neurological deficit scores, increased the rCBF percentage and neuronal number and improved neuronal morphology after MCAO. Transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis revealed that C3 and C5ar1 were core targets of DZW and indirectly regulated downstream purine metabolism, the pentose phosphate pathway, and glycerophospholipid metabolism-associated pathways via inflammatory cells. Moreover, ELISA, qRT-PCR, and immunofluorescence further confirmed that DZW significantly decreased the expression of C3, C5ar1, C5 and downstream inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1β and MMP-9, at the gene and protein levels, suggesting that DZW decreased neuroinflammation and inhibited related metabolic pathways.C3 and C5 play important roles in the neuroprotective and antineuroinflammatory effects of DZW in protecting against cerebral I/R. This study provides novel insights into the neuroprotective effects of DZW and its clinical application.

Cassava starch is a widely used raw material for industrial production. South Chinese cassava cultivar 8 (Manihot esculenta Crantz cv. SC8) is one of the main locally planted cultivars. In this study, an efficient transformation system for cassava SC8 mediated with Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 was presented for the first time. Cassava friable embryogenic calli (FECs) were transformed through the binary vector pCAMBIA1304 harboring GUS- and GFP-fused genes driven by the CaMV35S promoter. The transformation efficiency was increased in the conditions of Agrobacterium strain cell infection density (OD600 = 0.65), 250 µM acetosyringone induction, and agro-cultivation with wet FECs for 3 days in dark. Based on the optimized transformation protocol, approximately 120–140 independent transgenic lines per mL settled cell volume (SCV) of FECs were created by gene transformation in approximately 5 months, and 45.83% homozygous mono-allelic mutations of the MePDS gene with a YAO promoter-driven CRISPR/Cas9 system were generated. This study will open a more functional avenue for the genetic improvement of cassava SC8.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by airway inflammation, hyperresponsiveness, and bronchial smooth muscle contraction. Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan (QFXYW), a traditional Chinese formula, has been shown to exert anti-asthma effects and immune response in multiple diseases. Aim of this study In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic mechanism of QFXYW in the suppression of allergic asthma by integrating of transcriptomics and system pharmacology. Materials and methods BALB/c mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) to establish the allergic asthma model, and its success was confirmed with behavioral observations. Lung histopathological analysis, inflammatory pathology scores, transcription factors were used to evaluate the effects of QFXYW on allergic asthma. The therapeutic mechanism of QFXYW in treating allergic asthma through integrated transcriptomics and system pharmacology was then determined: hub genes were screened out by topological analysis and functional enrichment analysis were performed to identify key signaling pathway. Subsequently, quantitative RP-PCR and protein array were performed to detect the mRNA of hub genes and to predict the key pathway in OVA-induced allergic asthma, respectively. Results Our results demonstrated that QFXYW could significantly attenuate inflammatory cell infiltration, mucus secretion, and epithelial damage. The transcriptomics analysis found the six hub genes with the highest values- CXCL10, CXCL2, CXCL1, IL-6, CCL-5, and CCL-4 were screened out. Functional enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mainly enriched in the inflammatory response and cytokine signaling pathway. Moreover, the quantitative RT-PCR verification experiment found the CXCL2 and CXCL1 were significantly suppressed after treatment with QFXYW. The results of protein array showed that QFXYW inhibited the multi-cytokines of OVA-induced allergic asthma via cytokine signaling pathway. Conclusions QFXYW may have mediated OVA-induced allergic asthma mainly through the hub genes CXCL2, CXCL1, and the cytokine signaling pathway. This finding will offer a novel strategy to explore effective and safe mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula to treat allergic asthma.

Alkaline/neutral invertase (A/N-INV) is an invertase that irreversibly decomposes sucrose into fructose as well as glucose and plays a role in plant growth and development, starch synthesis, abiotic stress, and other plant-life activities. Cassava is an economically important starch crop in tropical regions. During the development of cassava tuber roots, A/N-INV activity is relatively high, which indicates that it may participate in sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis. In this study, MeNINV1 was confirmed to function as invertase to catalyze sucrose decomposition in yeast. The optimal enzymatic properties of MeNINV1 were a pH of 6.5, a reaction temperature of 40 °C, and sucrose as its specific catalytic substrate. VB6, Zn2+, and Pb2+ at low concentrations as well as EDTA, DTT, Tris, Mg2+, and fructose inhibited A/N-INV enzymic activity. In cassava, the MeNINV1 gene was mainly expressed in the fibrous roots and the tuber root phloem, and its expression decreased as the tuber root grew. MeNINV1 was confirmed to localize in chloroplasts. In Arabidopsis, MeNINV1-overexpressing Arabidopsis had higher A/N-INV activity, and the increased glucose, fructose, and starch content in the leaves promoted plant growth and delayed flowering time but did not change its resistance to abiotic stress. Our results provide new insights into the biological function of MeNINV1.

Children are more susceptible to medication errors because of differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics compared to adults. Weight changes are common with growth in children and computer systems frequently are not updated with current information, which result in inaccurate weight-based dosing and thus harm children. This study evaluated the impact of a Computerized Physician Order Entry system with standardized pediatric dosing decision support (PDDS) function on reducing pediatric dosing errors. Outpatient prescriptions were analyzed from January to March during 2010 and 2011. The total number of pediatric prescriptions was 72,431 and 80,532 prior to and after system implementation, respectively. Out of 72,431 prescriptions, 1617 (2.23%) dosing errors were retrospectively detected by the system, whereas 15 dosing errors (0.02%) were detected by pharmacists prior to system implementation. Incorporating the system into practice resulted in a total of 210 successfully blocked dosing near misses, including 14 potentially fatal and 11 serious near misses. The final dosing error rate was significantly reduced from 2.23% to 0.66% (p

Objectives Obtaining an accurate medication history upon admission to the hospital can be challenging and time-consuming. This study evaluated the efficacy of a medication reconciliation program, conducted by pharmacists, with the assistance of medication usage data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI). Characteristics of patients at high risk for drug discrepancies were also determined. Methods Patients admitted between May 2008 and September 2009 were recruited. The type and class of medication discrepancies reported by pharmacists, the medication discrepancy rate, physician acceptance rate, and time taken for the intervention were studied. The degree of harm that could have resulted from the discrepancies was independently evaluated by four pharmacists. The association between selected variables and the occurrence of drug discrepancies was analyzed. Results Among 3013 patients interviewed, the pharmacists identified 243 patients (8%) with at least one medication discrepancy between the patient's medication history and admission orders. There were 576 discrepancies identified. About 19% of the errors prevented could have potentially caused moderate to severe harm. The average time for one intervention was 18 ± 9.8 min. The number of preadmission medications, age, frequency of outpatient visits within 3 months prior to this hospital admission, and the number of specialist outpatient clinics the patient had visited within 3 months before the admission were determined to be risk factors for drug discrepancies. Conclusions This medication reconciliation program, conducted by pharmacists, was made more efficient by medication usage data from the Taiwan NHI. Pharmacists can reconcile medications more effectively by selecting patients at high risk for unintentional drug discrepancies.

Molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) are synthetic materials having specific cavities which are highly specific towards the template molecule. In this paper, diosgenin-imprinted polymer microspheres (DG-MIPs) were prepared by precipitation polymerization, using diosgenin as template, methacrylic acid as functional monomer and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. The morphology and adsorption capacity of the microspheres were evaluated by HPLC and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimal reaction conditions were as follows: 2 mM DG, 6 mM MMA, 60 mM EGDMA and 4 mM AIBN. The method developed might be used to separate and extract effective constituents from Chinese medicinal plants on a large scale.

Background The administration interval and dosage of the drugs must be adjusted properly according to patients’ renal functions to diminish adverse effects. The computerized monitoring system was established to modify drug dosing for patients with impaired renal function. The Renal Dosing Monitoring (RDM) system was officially operated in April 2007. Only one pharmacist was assigned to assess the reports and to offer the appropriate recommendations in the beginning of operation. The duties have been taken up by the individual pharmacist in each ward since January 2008. Purpose A retrospective analysis of the annual outcomes of applying the RDM system was conducted in March 2008. The goal of the study was to assess the outcome of the application of the RDM system. Method The computerized RDM system was established and applied for screening patients with renal dysfunction. Recommendations for frequency and dosage adjustments were made according to the renal function evaluated. Ranks of the drugs, physicians’ acceptance rates, and time to modify prescriptions were assessed by reviewing the documentation of pharmacy interventions. The savings of medication cost was also calculated. Results The physicians accepted 173 (86%) of the 202 recommendations provided by the pharmacists. Most of the recommendations were related to antibiotics, and gentamicin was the most frequently involved drug. The durations for the physicians to modify their prescriptions were as follows: 142 cases were accomplished within 0–1 day (82%), 26 cases were modified within 2–3 days (15%), and five cases were done after more than 3 days (3%). The total saving was US$5377. The physicians declined the pharmacists’ recommendations in 29 cases because of serious infectious conditions in 14 cases (48%), the advice of infection specialists was followed in six cases (21%), and the rest of the cases (31%) had other reasons, such as unwilling to change patients’ long-term medications. Conclusion The study showed that the RDM system could be an aid for pharmacists to evaluate the appropriateness and safety of medication more precisely and effectively.

A label-free, homogenous and sensitive one-step method for the molecular authentication of medicinal snakes has been developed by combining a rapid PCR technique with water-soluble cationic conjugated polyelectrolytes (CCPs). Three medicinal snake materials (Deinagkistrodon acutus, Zaocys dhumnades and Bungarus multicinctus; a total of 35 specimens) and 48 snake specimens with similar morphologies and textures were clearly distinguished by the naked eye by utilizing a CCP-based assay in a high-throughput manner. The identification of medicinal snakes in patented Chinese drugs was successfully performed using this detection system. In contrast to previous fluorescence-labeled oligonucleotide detection and direct DNA stain hybridization assays, this method does not require designing dye-labeled primers and unfavorable dimer fluorescence is avoided in this homogenous method.

To simply and rapid authenticate Lonicera japanica. Rapid allele-specific PCR primer was designed base on trnL-trnF 625 G/T Single nucleotide polymorphism and the PCR reaction systems including annealing temperature was optimized; optimized results were performed to authenticate L. japanica and its 9 adulterants. When 100 x SYBR Green I was added in the PCR product of 87 degrees C initial denatured 1 min; 87 degrees C denatured 5 s, 68 degrees C annealing 5 s, 30 cycle; L. japanica visualize strong green fluorescence under 365 nm UV lamp whereas adulterants without. The results indicate rapid allele-specific PCR could authenticate L. japanica and its adulterants rapidly and simply.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) is an important molecular marker in traditional Chinese medicine research, and it is widely used in TCM authentication. The present study created a new genotyping method by combining restriction endonuclease digesting with melting curve analysis, which is a stable, rapid and easy doing SNP genotyping method. The new method analyzed SNP genotyping of two chloroplast SNP which was located in or out of the endonuclease recognition site, the results showed that when attaching a 14 bp GC-clamp (cggcgggagggcgg) to 5' end of the primer and selecting suited endonuclease to digest the amplification products, the melting curve of Lonicera japonica and Atractylodes macrocephala were all of double peaks and the adulterants Shan-yin-hua and A. lancea were of single peaks. The results indicated that the method had good stability and reproducibility for identifying authentic medicines from its adulterants. It is a potential SNP genotyping method and named restriction endonuclease digest - melting curve analysis.

Transition of economic development pattern is a comprehensive harmony development process of population, resources, economy, environment and other systems, is an overall planning with people-oriented to harmonize urban and rural development, regional and national development, social economic development and opening up. It is helpful for knowledge data mining in harmony stage and trend to find harmony or disharmony reason between the two sub-systems, population structure system and economic development system. Based on the findings, suggestions on optimizing population structure are given to harmony with transition of economic development in China.