Search

Any abnormal structures that contribute to the narrowing of the ischiofemoral space could induce ischiofemoral impingement. Bernese periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) medializes the hip center and, therefore, decreases contact stress on the cartilage in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). However, medialization of the hip center might also narrow the ischiofemoral space, which may increase the risk of postoperative ischiofemoral impingement in patients with acetabular dysplasia who are undergoing PAO. Furthermore, the dysplastic hip has less ischiofemoral space and less space for the quadratus femoris. A few studies have focused on the amount of medialization of the hip center, but the proportion of postoperative ischiofemoral impingement after PAO has not been investigated.(1) What proportion of patients develop ischiofemoral impingement after undergoing unilateral PAO for DDH? (2) What radiographic factors are associated with postoperative ischiofemoral impingement in patients who underwent PAO for DDH? (3) How much hip center medialization is safe so as to avoid postoperative ischiofemoral impingement during PAO?Between 2014 and 2016, we treated 265 adult patients who had symptomatic residual acetabular dysplasia (lateral center-edge angle less than 20°) using PAO. During that time, we generally offered PAO to patients with acetabular dysplasia when the patients had no advanced osteoarthritis (Tönnis grade2). Of those, we considered only patients who underwent primary PAO without femoral osteotomy as potentially eligible. Based on that, 65% (173 of 265) were eligible; a further 9% (24 of 265) were excluded due to leg length discrepancy, spine disorders, or joint replacement in the contralateral side, and another 6% (17 of 265) of patients were lost before the minimum study follow-up of 2 years or had incomplete datasets, leaving 50% (132 of 265) for analysis in this retrospective study at a mean of 2.70 ± 0.71 years. The diagnosis of ischiofemoral impingement was defined by symptoms, MRI, and diagnostic ischiofemoral injection. We ascertained the percentage of patients with this diagnosis to answer the first research question. To answer the second question, we divided the patients into two groups: PAO patients with ischiofemoral impingement and PAO patients without ischiofemoral impingement. The demographic data and preoperative imaging parameters of patients in both groups were compared. There were statistical differences in acetabular version, ischial angle, neck-shaft angle, the presence of positive coxa profunda sign, McKibbin index, ischiofemoral space, quadratus femoris space, anterior acetabular section angle, and the net amount of hip center medialization. To investigate potential factors associated with postoperative ischiofemoral impingement in patients who underwent PAO, these factors underwent binary logistic regression analysis. To answer the third question, the cutoff value of the net amount of hip center medialization was evaluated using receiver operator characteristic curve and the Youden index method.We found that 26% (35 of 132) of PAO dysplastic hips had postoperative ischiofemoral impingement. After controlling for confounding variables such as acetabular version, ischial angle, femoral neck version, McKibbin index, and ischiofemoral space, we found that an increasing neck-shaft angle (odds ratio 1.14 [95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.29]; p = 0.03), a positive coxa profunda sign (OR 0.13 [95% CI 0.03 to 0.58]; p0.01), and an increasing net amount of hip center medialization (OR 2.76 [95% CI 1.70 to 4.47]; p0.01) were associated with postoperative ischiofemoral impingement in patients with DDH who underwent PAO (R 2 = 0.73). The cutoff values of neck-shaft angle was 138.4°. The cutoff values of the net amount of hip center medialization was 1.9 mm.Postoperative ischiofemoral impingement could occur in patients with acetabular dysplasia who have undergone PAO after hip center medialization. An increasing neck-shaft angle, a positive coxa profunda sign on preoperative imaging, and excessive medialization of the hip center are factors associated with ischiofemoral impingement development in these patients. Therefore, we suggest that physicians measure the ischiofemoral space on a preoperative CT when patients with DDH have an increasing neck-shaft angle (138.4°) or a positive coxa profunda sign on radiological imaging. During PAO, the amount of hip center medialization should be carefully controlled to keep these patients from developing postoperative ischiofemoral impingement.Level III, therapeutic study.

Background:Subspine impingement (SSI) has been commonly managed with arthroscopic decompression. However, arthroscopic decompression is a demanding technique, as under- or over-resection of the anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS) could lead to inferior outcomes. An anterior mini-open approach has also been used in the management of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), and it could provide adequate visualization of the anterior hip joint without a long learning curve.Purpose/Hypothesis:The objective of the current study was to compare the outcomes of SSI patients with FAI who underwent arthroscopic subspine decompression and osteoplasty with a group undergoing subspine decompression and osteoplasty using a modified direct anterior mini-open approach. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference in outcomes between the groups.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:We reviewed the records of SSI patients who underwent decompression surgery (arthroscopic or mini-open) at our institution from June 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016. Both groups underwent the same postoperative rehabilitation protocol. Preoperative and 2-year postoperative patient-reported outcomes were compared using the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), International Hip Outcome Tool–33 (iHOT–33), and Hip Outcome Score—Activities of Daily Living (HOS–ADL). Major and minor complications as well as reoperation rates were recorded.Results:Included were 47 patients (49 hips) who underwent subspine decompression using an anterior mini-open approach and 35 patients (35 hips) who underwent arthroscopic subspine decompression. There were no differences in demographic and radiological parameters between the groups, and patients in both groups showed significant improvement in all outcome scores at follow-up. The pre- to postoperative improvement in outcome scores was also similar between groups (mini-open vs arthroscopy: mHHS, 26.30 vs 27.04 [ P = .783]; iHOT–33, 35.76 vs 31.77 [ P = .064]; HOS–ADL, 26.09 vs 22.77 [ P = .146]). In the mini-open group, 10 of the 47 patients had temporary meralgia paresthetica, and fat liquefaction was found in 1 female patient. There were no reoperations in the mini-open group.Conclusion:Subspine decompression using the anterior mini-open approach had similar outcomes to arthroscopic decompression in the management of SSI. The lateral femoral cutaneous nerve should be protected carefully during use of the anterior mini-open approach.

Rupturing the alumina shell (shell-breaking) is a prerequisite for releasing energy from aluminum powder. Thermal stress overload in a high-temperature environment is an important factor in the rupture of the alumina shell. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to simulate and analyze the shell-breaking response of micron-scale aluminum particles with different particle sizes at 650 °C in vacuum. The simulation results show that the thermal stability time and shell-breaking response time of 10 μm–100 μm aluminum particles are 0.15 μs–11.44 μs and 0.08 μs–3.94 μs, respectively. They also reveal the direct causes of shell breaking for aluminum particles with different particle sizes. When the particle size is less than 80 μm, the shell-breaking response is a direct result of compressive stress overload. When the particle size is between 80 μm and 100 μm, the shell-breaking response is a direct result of tensile stress overload. This article provides useful guidance for research into the energy release of aluminum powder.

Intra-articular injection of glucocorticoids (GCs) has been widely used in the management of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Nevertheless, several studies showed that GCs had toxic effects on chondrocytes as well as synovial cells. Previously we reported the protective role of autophagy in the degeneration of meniscal tissues. However, the effects of GCs on autophagy in the meniscal cells have not been fully elucidated. To investigate whether GCs can regulate autophagy in human meniscal cells, the meniscal cells were cultured in vitro and exposed in the presence of dexamethasone. The levels of apoptosis and autophagy were investigated via flow cytometry as well as western blotting analysis. The changes of the aggrecanases were measured using real-time PCR. The role of autophagy in dexamethasone-induced apoptosis was investigated using pharmacological agents and RNA interference technique. An agonist of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) was used to investigate the mechanism of dexamethasone-induced autophagy. The results showed that dexamethasone induced autophagy as well as apoptosis in normal human meniscal cells. Using RNA interference technique and pharmacological agents, our results showed that autophagy protected the meniscal cells from dexamethasone-induced apoptosis. Our results also indicated that dexamethasone increased the mRNA levels of aggrecanases. This catabolic effect of dexamethasone was enhanced by 3-MA, the autophagy inhibitor. Furthermore, our results showed that dexamethasone induced autophagy via suppressing the phosphorylation of IP3R. In summary, our results indicated that autophagy protected meniscal cells from GCs-induced apoptosis via inositol trisphosphate receptor signaling.

The electrochemical deposition process of Al metal at the tungsten electrode in the melts of Na3AlF6–Al2O3 with various LiF concentrations was investigated at 1253 K by various electrochemical techniques. With the analysis of the potentiodynamic cathodic polarization curves, it can be demonstrated that LiF has an effect of increasing the conductivity of the molten salt. From the analysis of the potentiostatic electrolysis and chronopotentiometry curves, it can be deduced that the deposition potential of Na metal is more positive with the increase of LiF concentration. Spontaneous dissolution of the cathodic products occurs for the polarized electrode which is shown by the measurements of open-circuit chronopotentiometry. These show that the scanning time taken for the potential to reach zero is prolonged and the thickness of the reduced species to be dissolved increases with the increase of LiF concentration. Furthermore, it can be deduced that the Al activity also increases with the increase of LiF concentration. On the other hand, the deposited Al is more easily dissolved into the electrolyte and the physical dissolution is more intense with the increase of LiF concentration.

Selective and efficient electrochemical methods to characterize aluminum are necessary. Current methods are based on potentiodynamic polarization, recurrent potential double pulses, chronopotentiometry, open-circuit chronopotentiometry, and potentiostatic electrolysis, but have not been used to characterize the deposition of aluminum in Na3AlF6-Al2O3-KF molten salts. The control processes of the formation of aluminum-tungsten intermetallic compounds, and the deposition of aluminum have been investigated by using steady-state potentiodynamic cathodic polarization curves. The dissolution loss rate of aluminum was determined with an increase in KF concentration by the analysis of recurrent potential double pulses. Using chronopotentiometry, it was confirmed that the deposition potential of aluminum shifted more negative as the KF concentration increased, and a higher KF concentrations induced a higher cathodic overpotential. From open-circuit potential measurements and scanning electron micrographs, it was c...

The process of aluminothermic reduction of a mixture of calcined dolomite and calcined magnesite had been developed. The mechanism of the process was studied by SEM and EDS. The reduction process was divided into three stages: 0≤η t /η f ≤0.43±0.06, 0.43±0.06≤η t /η f ≤0.9±0.02 and 0.9±0.02≤η t /η f t and η f are the reduction ratio at time t and the final reduction ratio obtained in the experiment at temperature T , respectively. The first stage included the direct reaction between calcined dolomite or calcined magnesite and Al with 12CaO·7Al 2 O 3 and MgO·Al 2 O 3 as products. The reaction rate depended on the chemical reaction. The CA phase was mainly produced in the second stage and the overall reaction rate was determined by both the diffusion of Ca 2+ with molten Al and the chemical reaction. The CA 2 phase was mainly produced in the third stage and the reaction process was controlled by the diffusion of Ca 2+ .

Laboratory-scale carbon anodes were produced by a new method of high temperature mould pressing, and their physico-chemical properties were studied. The influence of mould pressing conditions and coal pitch addition on the bulk density, crushing strength, and oxidation resistance was analyzed. The microstructure of carbon anodes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the mechanism of producing carbon anodes by high-temperature mould pressing was analyzed. The results show that when the anodes are produced by high-temperature mould pressing, coal pitch can expand into the coke particles and fill the pores inside the particles, which is beneficial for improving the quality of prebaked anodes. The bulk density of carbon anodes is 1.64–1.66 g/cm 3 , which is 0.08–0.12 g/cm 3 higher than that of industrial anodes, and the oxidation resistance of carbon anodes is also significantly improved.

Electrochemistry reaction of the Al3+ by means of cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the Al3+ was reduced to Al metal in a single step. During the electrochemical process, metal Na and Li did not deposit out on tungsten electrode. After adding LiF, the oxidation peak of Al was weakened and the oxidation quality of Al decreased. Compared with cyclic voltammetry curves at different CR ratio (CR=molar ratio of NNaF/NAlF3 in the bath), LiF is more effective in the low CR system for electrolyte. The XRD analysis shows that Li-Al alloy was soluble in the molten salt while Li + and Al3+occured alloying reaction.

The water inrush from coal mine floor is a typical catastrophic process. A catastrophic theory is applied to water bursting in pit footwall for the first time. Through the research on lost stabilization of energy in the floor system of coal mine, a cusp catastrophic model applied to forecast water bursting from coal mine floor is put forward. The formulas of the critical stress, the strain and the released energy of the floor are developed when the floor system lost stabilization. So a new theory approach is offered for the forecast of water inrush from coal mine floor.

The reduction ratio was compared between the Pidgeon process and the aluminothermic reduction process with CA2, CA, C12A7as the main production in the residue. The results of XRD show that the main phase in the reduction residue is CA2, CA, C12A7and Ca2SiO4, respectively. Consideration of the efficiency of extracting magnesium, the aluminothermic reduction process which is CA2as the main phase in the reduction residue, is the best one.

The time-dependent entropy of a single free quantum particle in the non-relativistic regime is studied in detail for the process started from a fully coherent quantum state to thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings at a finite temperature. It is shown that the entropy at the end of the process converges to a universal constant, as a result of thermal interaction.

Freightcar’s running gear springs are easily ruptured in the processes of manufacturing and using, losing the role of relaxing vehicle vibration, and resulting in accident. It is time to study the automatic recognition of springs defects based on image processing technology. Defects recognition is on the premise of accurate spring image location. An image location algorithm for the freightcar’s running gear springs is proposed in this paper, which is based on the structure characteristics of springs themselves. The algorithm mainly includes graying the image, correcting non-uniform illumination by wavelet homomographic filtering, taking binaryzation on image based on the iterative threshold method and locating springs’ boundary location, which could be obtained by image scanning column by column and feature analysis. This algorithm can achieve the automatic positioning of springs and has a good result to locate springs in the running gear images in case of different illumination; the accuracy rate has reached 96 percent. The study of this paper lays a foundation on the realization of automatic recognition of springs defects and has good application prospects.

YueF is a novel putative tumor suppressor gene that can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in hepatoma cells, but its role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unclear. Here, we examined the expression of the YueF gene in RCC tissues and the effect of YueF on cell proliferation in RCC 786-0 cells. The results showed that YueF was expressed at high levels in normal kidney tissues and cell lines but was reduced or absent in RCC tissues and 786-0 cells. Lentivirus-mediated YueF overexpression in RCC 786-0 cells caused cell-cycle arrest in the G1 phase and dramatically reduced proliferation in culture. YueF overexpression resulted in increased protein levels of p53 and p21(WAF1/Cip1), whereas the protein levels of cyclin D1 and pRb were decreased. The proliferation defects caused by YueF overexpression could be partially rescued by the expression of p21 siRNA. These findings suggest a critical role for p21 in the YueF-induced growth inhibition of 786-0 cells and provide novel insights into the mechanism underlying the tumor-suppressive action of YueF.

We present a model to study the statistics of a single structureless quantum particle freely moving in a space at a finite temperature. It is shown that the quantum particle feels the temperature and can exchange energy with its environment in the form of heat transfer. The underlying mechanism is diffraction at the edge of the wave front of its matter wave. Expressions of energy and entropy of the particle are obtained for the irreversible process., Comment: 8 pages, 2figures

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add? Forty-nine genes of the TGF-β/BMP signalling pathway were identified differentially expressed in hydronephrosis-induced fibrotic renal tissues and normal renal tissues. LEFTY, one of the lowest expressed genes in fibrotic kidney, was confirmed downregulated at both mRNA and protein levels. The findings will provide useful clues concerning the mechanism of renal fibrosis. The expression profiling of the TGF-β/BMP signalling related genes found in this article could provide useful clues concerning the mechanism of renal fibrosis. And the confirming of the downregulation of LEFTY in fibrotic kidney will further draw a hypothesis that LEFTY might enhance the recovery of tissue fibrosis through inhibiting TGF-β signaling, and could therefore represent an ideal candidate as a therapeutic target for renal fibrosis. OBJECTIVE • To compare the expressions of common fibrosis-relevant genes in hydronephrosis-induced fibrotic renal tissues and normal human renal tissues, thereby providing insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of renal fibrosis resulting from hydronephrosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS • A total of 12 extensively fibrotic renal tissue samples from patients with hydronephrosis (H-group) and six normal renal tissue samples from patients who underwent nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (N-group), along with their clinical data, were collected at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in China between October 2005 and August 2007. • These tissue samples were compared for their transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway-related gene profiles using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) microarray. • Subsequently, reverse transcriptase-PCR assays were used to validate the expression changes of left-right determination factor (LEFTY), a gene of interest, at the mRNA level. • The different expression of LEFTY at the protein level was confirmed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry assays. RESULTS • The results showed that 49 genes were differently expressed in fibrotic renal tissues relative to normal control tissues. Among these genes, 25 were up-regulated and 24 were down-regulated. • LEFTY-B, one of the most markedly altered genes, was down-regulated 13.55-fold compared with N-group tissues. • RT-PCR showed that the LEFTY-A (6.05-fold down-regulated, P

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial event for renal fibrosis that can be elicited by TGF-beta1/Smads signaling and its downstream mediator connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). As a distinct member of the TGF-beta superfamily, Lefty A has been shown to be significantly downregulated in the kidneys of patients with severe ureteral obstruction, suggesting its role in renal fibrosis induced by obstructive nephropathy. In order to determine whether Lefty A prevents TGF-beta1-induced EMT, human proximal tubule epithelial cells (HK-2) were stably transfected with Lefty A or control vectors and stimulated with 10 ng/ml TGF-beta1 for 48 h. The results show that stimulation with TGF-beta1 led to EMT including cell morphology changes, Smad2/3 signaling pathway activation, increased alpha-SMA, collagen type I, and CTGF expression, and decreased E-cadherin expression in mock-transfected HK-2 cells. Overexpression of Lefty A efficiently blocked p-Smad2/3 activation and attenuated all these EMT changes induced by TGF-beta1. This finding suggests that Lefty A may serve as a potential new therapeutic target to inhibit or even reverse EMT during the process of renal fibrosis.

Background We aimed to quantitatively assess the potential relationship between kidney stones and coronary heart disease or stroke. Methods A meta-analysis was conducted on eligibly studies published before 31 May 2016 in PubMed or Embase. The data were pooled, and the relationship was assessed by the random-effect model with inverse variance-weighted procedure. The results were expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results Eight studies of 11 cohorts (n = 11) were included in our analysis with 3,658,360 participants and 157,037 cases. We found that a history of kidney stones was associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) (RR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.14-1.36; I = 79.0%, n = 11); similar effect on myocardial infarction, a serious condition of CHD, was observed (RR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.10-1.40; I = 80.4%, n = 8). We also found that a history of kidney stones may increase the risk of stroke (RR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.06-1.38; I = 54.7%, n = 4). In subgroup analysis, the risk of coronary heart disease was higher in men (RR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.02-1.49) while the risk for stroke was higher in women (RR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.03-1.21). No obvious publications bias was detected (Egger test: P = .47). Conclusion Kidney stones are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, and the effect may differ by sex.

The Heisenberg antiferromagnetic triangular lattice with inter-layer coupling and single-ion anisotropy is investigated by employing an alternative Green function decoupling procedure. The obtained anomalies of correlation function and specific heat demonstrate that there exist two phase transitions. The spin order is proposed to be open-umbrella-like, Ising-like or paramagnetic structure in the different phases.

We have studied the energy spectrum and magnetotransport of a parabolic one-dimensional channel in the presence of periodic modulations in both magnetic field and the electrostatic potential. The periodic modulations change the sub-band energy-wave-vector relation and produce mini-gaps at specific wave-vectors. The gaps exist even if there is only modulation in the magnetic field. For the cases where the two kinds of modulation are in phase or out of phase, we give the explicit expressions for the values of the gaps. In the ballistic transport regime, the conductance is expected to remain quantized and to evolve in a simple manner as a function of the Fermi energy. Starting from linear response theory, the transport properties are studied numerically, taking into account the impurity scattering. Calculations related to magnetic field modulation show that a series of cusps in the conductance are produced, whose magnitude depends strongly on the degree of impurity scattering. The structure of these cusps can be explained in terms of the energy band structure.

To generate peripheral nerve animal model of pure motor nerve fibers/pure sensory nerve fibers, and identify them.The SPF SD rats were adopted in this study, and divided into 3 groups. In group A, we ablated L2-L4 ventral roots (VRs) to generate peripheral nerve animal model of pure sensory fibers. In group B, we ablated L2-L4 dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) to generate peripheral nerve animal model of pure motor fibers. Two time end-points were set as 2 weeks and 4 weeks. Neuron cells in lumbar spinal cords were detected by immunohistochemical staining with antibody of neuronal nuclei (NeuN). Motor neuron cells in lumbar spinal cords of pure motor fiber animal models and sensory neuron cells in lumbar spinal cords of pure sensory fiber animal models were counted respectively, and then compared to that of normal animals. Femoral nerves distal to the furcation were stained in osmium tetroxide, and then myelinated nerve fibers in the muscle branch and cutaneous branch of femoral nerve were counted respectively.The mean numbers of sensory neuron cells and motor neuron cells in normal lumbar spinal cords were 62.57 ± 1.02 and 29.73 ± 3.03 per 10 × 20 visual field respectively. For different end-points, the mean numbers of sensory neuron cells after ablating vental foots were 62.12 ± 1.77 (2 weeks), 62.15 ± 1.32 (4 weeks) per 10 × 20 visual field respectively; the mean numbers of motor neuron cells after ablating DRGs were 30.12 ± 0.44 (2 weeks), 30.00 ± 1.87 (4 weeks) per 10 × 20 visual field respectively. In group A, motor axons in muscle branch were degenerated as the sensory axons in muscle branch and cutaneous branch were not changed. The senory axons in femoral nerve for the two end-points were 1 558.17 ± 50.14 (2 weeks) and 1 544.00 ± 47.42 (4 weeks). In group B, sensory axons in muscle branch were degenerated as the motor axons were reserved. The motor axons in muscle branch for the two end-points were 387.67 ± 48.50 (2 weeks) and 393.50 ± 27.86 (4 weeks). There was no statistically significant difference in these mean numbers for the two end-points. The degenerating axons and myelin sheath had not been totally eliminated by the endpoint of 2 weeks.Peripheral nerve animal model of pure motor fibers can be generated by ablating L2-L4 DRGs; peripheral nerve animal model of pure sensory fibers can be generated by ablating L2-L4 ventral roots. The degenerating axons and myelin sheath have been totally eliminated by the end-point of 4 weeks. Ablating the ventral roots does not influence the survival of sensory neuron cells; and ablating the DRGs does not influence the survival of motor neuron cells.

To compare the effects of Bushen Jiedu Recipe (BJR) and Jianpi Jiedu Recipe (JJR) containing plasma on dendritic cells (DCs) of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients under different immune states.Recruited were 36 chronic HBV infection outpatients from First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from April 2010 to January 2011. They were assigned to the immune tolerance group (18 cases) and the immune clearance group (18 cases).Another 10 healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control group. Their anticoagulated peripheral venous blood was respectively collected. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and further extracted for incubating DCs. The DCs were intervened by BJR and JJR containing plasma. The morphology of DCs was identified. The expressions of CD1alpha, CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were detected. The level of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in the supernatant was observed by ELISA.The CD80 expression level was lower in the immune clear group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P0.05). The expression levels of CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P0.05).The IFN-alpha expression level was lower in the immune tolerance group and the immune clearance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P0.05). The expression levels of CD80, HLA-DR, and IFN-alpha were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group before intervention (P0.05). Compared with the same group before intervention, the CD80 expression significantly increased in each treatment group (P0.05). After intervention the expression levels of CD80 and HLA-DR were higher in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, and the CD86 expression level was higher in the BJR group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, showing statistical difference (P0.05).The middle dose BJR and the small dose JJR both could promote the recovery of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients. Besides, BJR showed more prominent effects on the function of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients in the immune tolerance stage.

We have given a detailed investigation of the energy spectrum and the electrical properties of a two-dimensional electron gas modulated by a general form of one-dimensional periodic magnetic field along the x direction, by generalizing the theory of Peeters and Vasilopoulos and that of Xue and Xiao on the magnetic modulation in the lowest order of approximation of Fourier transformation. The presence of the magnetic modulation lifts the degeneracy of the Landau levels, which are broadened into bands, and leads to Weiss-like oscillations in the magnetoresistance. The oscillations in (and the modulation correction ) and (and ) are out of phase, while oscillates in phase with . The amplitude of oscillation of the modulation correction is much larger than those of and . We also find the surprising result that, while the Hall resistance displays quantized plateaux, the transport across the magnetic barriers can be nearly dissipationless. The contribution of high-frequency components of Fourier transformation is obvious at high fields and is negligible at low fields.

In the present work we report the detailed study of the above-barrier electronic states in the multi-barrier structures by using the transfer matrix technique. The energy levels and the corresponding wavefunctions are calculated by solving the Schrodinger equation directly. Analytical analysis is presented confirming the formation of subband structure, similar to that determined by Kronig–Penney model. Each subband contains energy states with being the number of periods in the structure. Furthermore, our calculations demonstrate that in each subband there is one energy state whose wavefunction is always localized in the barrier regions, while others remain partly localized in general. These localized states satisfy the constructive condition in consistence with experiments, where is the wave vector in the barrier region, is the barrier width, and is an integer.

We study resonant magnetotunneling in the double-barrier heterostructure in the sequential tunneling picture. The effects arising from charge buildup in the well are considered by assuming that the quasibound energy in the well varies linearly with the applied bias. Under appropriate approximations, the tunneling current density and the corresponding differential conductance are derived analytically. The results for the peak positions in differential conductance and the threshold current position are consistent with experiments.

We study theoretically the magnetic coupling between a superconducting film and a 2DEG by generalizing the theory of Meincke and that of Rammer and Shelankov, correctly taking into account the Hall effect in the 2DEG. The induced voltages are discussed in the magnetic-field regime in which the magnetoresistance is dominated by the SdH oscillations. The results obtained are found to be in good agreement with the experiment of Kruithof et al. We find the modulation of the magnetic field in the 2DEG is larger than previously expected.

Morel-Lavallee lesion (MLL) of the peri-pelvic region is less common and various treatments have been introduced to manage the lesion. No standard treatment is recommended. We performed a systematic review of literature to (1) identify the classification of peri-pelvic MLL; (2) review the treatments of the lesion and their complications; (3) define the optimal treatment of peri-pelvic MLL.A systematic search was performed via PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Embase for English abstract articles from 1966 to 2012. We identified 21 articles detailing 153 patients with peri-pelvic MLL, most of which were level IV studies. The treatments and clinical results were reviewed.For peri-pelvic MLL patients, surgical intervention was better than conservative therapy. Sclerhodesis method is attended with good outcome in the symptomatic MLL patients without fractures. Patients with peri-pelvic fractures could be managed with local suction drainage or open debridement with dead space closure technique during fracture fixation. The delayed-diagnosis cases might be treated with mass resection when fibrosis capsule was obtained in magnetic resonance imaging.Peri-pelvic MLL can be treated with various surgical methods depending on the formation of fibrosis capsule and associated injuries. Dead space closure technique is emphasized in the treatment of MLL. Higher quality of literature is required to prove this result in future research.

To observe the functions of peripheral dendritic cells (DCs) in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients of Gan-depression Pi-deficiency syndrome (GPS) and Gan-Dan damp-heat syndrome (GDS) under different immune states, thus to study the features of the immune expressions of the two syndromes in chronic HBV infection, providing objective evidence for Chinese medicine syndrome typing.The 40 chronic HBV patients were randomly assigned to two groups according to the immune state. Of them, there were 20 chronic HBV patients (under the condition of immune clearance; consisting of 10 patients of GPS and 10 of GDS) and 20 chronic HBV carriers (under the condition of immune tolerance; consisting of 10 patients of GPS and 10 of GDS). Besides, 10 healthy graduate volunteers of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited as the healthy control group. Their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cultured in vitro. The exterior morphological features and ultrastructure were observed by inverted microscope and electron microscope. The expressions of HLA-DR, CD80, CD86, and CDIa of the DCs surface were detected. The secretory levels of IL-12 in the supernate of DCs were detected by ELISA reagent kit. The proliferation capacities of allogeneic mixed lymphocyte were detected using MTT. The function features of DCs in the chronic HBV patients of two syndrome types under different immune states were compared, thus analyzing the difference of each index between the two syndrome types.Compared with the healthy control group, the expression rates of CD86, CD80, and HLA-DR decreased in the HBV carriers group (of the two syndrome types), showing statistical difference (P0.05). The expression rate of CD80 decreased in the HBV group (of the two syndrome types), showing statistical difference (P0.05). The expression rates of CD86 and HLA-DR were lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group. The expression rate of CD80 was lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group, showing statistical difference (P0.05). The proliferation capacities of IL-12 and T lymphocytes were lower in the HBV patients group than in the healthy control group (P0.05). The proliferation capacities of IL-12 and T lymphocytes were lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group, showing statistical difference (P0.05).The functions of peripheral DCs in chronic HBV infection of patients of the GPS and the GDS under different immune states were different. The phenotype and function tests of DCs provided objective evidence for Chinese syndrome typing of chronic hepatitis B, thus reflecting the features of immune expressions of the two syndrome types and the immunology connotation.

We study the resonant tunnelling in double-barrier heterostructures via Landau levels in the sequential tunnelling approach. The effects of the space-charge formation in the electrodes and in the well together with inelastic-scattering broadening are taken into account. Under appropriate approximations, the tunnelling current and differential conductance can be written as simpler forms which analytically reproduce the main features of experiments. Then the dependences on the temperature and magnetic field are studied numerically; these are also in accordance with experiments.

High mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) is an important proinflammatory molecule in many inflammatory disorders, but little is known about its role in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Here, we investigated the relationship between the expression of HMGB1 and the disease onset and severity of ACLF patients and mice with acute liver injury/failure induced by concanavalin A (ConA). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and serum from ACLF patients were collected, and a mouse model of acute liver injury/failure was induced by ConA. HMGB1 mRNA expression in patient PBMCs or in murine livers and serum HMGB1 protein in ACLF patients and mice were assayed by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. HMGB1 translocation in hepatocytes of ConA-treated mice was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Up-regulated HMGB1 mRNA levels in PBMCs and accumulated protein in serum were both correlated with disease severity in ACLF patients. In the animal model, HMGB1 levels increased at 4 h and reached its peak value at 8–12 h after challenge with ConA, which suggests that HMGB1 is a relatively late proinflammatory cytokine compared with TNF-α. Translocation of HMGB1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in hepatocytes was correlated with the severity of liver injury in mice. While specific anti-HMGB1 antibodies and nicotine protected mice from acute liver injury/failure by reducing mortality and improving liver tissue injury, treatment with recombinant HMGB1 led to an increased mortality due to ConA challenge. Thus, the data from the present study suggest that HMGB1 plays a critical role in the systemic inflammation of ACLF and could be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of ACLF.

To analyze the characteristics and laws of road traffic accidents in Beijing, and provide some accident-prevention measures.The data from Beijing Emergency Medical Center were managed by computer,then the descriptive statistical analyses were made.(1) A total of 2 984 traffic accidents with relatively complete information were recorded in our research,in which 42 people were led to death and 2 942 injured. Most of the casualties were male. The ages of the injured segments were mainly between 18 to 59 years.(2) The number of the injured in accidents between the motor vehicles was the largest, which was 1 883; The deaths caused by accidents between the motor vehicles and pedestrians were the most, with the number of 26;Major vicious accidents were mainly caused by accidents between the motor vehicles and the number was 11.(3) In one day accidents mainly happened at 8:00-10:00 ,and 14:00-18:00.(4) The most common injuries were the head and face injuries, with the number of 921, followed by multi-site combined injuries with the number of 761, and lower limb injuries, with the number of 541.(5) Human factors were the main causes of accidents, followed by vehicle factors.The illegal driving and walking through the pedestrian lane were the main causes of car accidents. Strengthening traffic safety education of the public, especially of the floating population, rigorous training of drivers for traffic rules and regulations, enhancing the public awareness of road safety, and improving the road traffic management and control measures were the main measures to prevent and control traffic injuries.

To analyze the time distributions of traffic accidents happening in different age groups in Beijing from 2004 to 2008, and to provide information on the prevention and rescue.The traffic injury cases recorded by Beijing Emergency Medical Center from 2004 to 2008 were analyzed, and the data were separated by age: the youth (0-17 years old), the adult (18-64 years old) and the senior adult (above 65 years old). The constituent ratios of hours and months were calculated to describe the states and time distributions of all the cases.The high peaks of accidents for the youth group occurred in the periods 7:00 to 8:00 (6.77%, 39) and 16:00 to 18:00 (10.38%, 60;10.73%, 62), and for the senior adult group appeared in the period 9:00 to 11:00 (11.19%, 151; 11.04%, 149). The adult group showed a stable trend during the period 8:00 to 24:00. The amount of traffic injury happening in these three groups had the same status monthly, which turned out that most traffic accidents happened in October for all the groups (12.11%, 70; 10.38%, 1 257; 12.30%, 166), and February had the smallest number (4.15%, 24; 5.28%, 640; 5.26%, 71).The time distributions of traffic injury within these three groups do not show the same situation daily but do monthly. The emergency treatment team and traffic control personnel should pay attention to this and have special protocol for different cases to increase the efficiency of the prehospital rescue.

To identify renal clear cell carcinoma-associated marker proteins.Twelve patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were collected and processed in the Department of Urology, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, China, between January 2008 and September 2009. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) were employed to investigate differentially expressed protein spots between RCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues, then reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot were employed to confirm the proteomic results.One protein spot was upregulated, 13 were downregulated, and 22 were absent in RCC tissues. Four of the absent proteins were L-arginine-glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT), Betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (BHMT), Ketohexokinase (KHK), and Neuropolypeptide h3 (NPh3). The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated mRNA expression of AGAT, BHMT, and Nph3 was significantly decreased in 12 RCC tissues. In addition, Western blot analysis showed AGAT protein was absent in 11/12, BHMT in 9/12, and Nph3 in 5/12 RCC tissues.Absence of AGAT, BHMT, and Nph3 is common events in clear cell RCC; hence, it may be involved in the development of RCC; therefore, they have the potential to be tumor markers for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of RCC patients.

We report model calculations of the time-dependent internal energy and entropy for a single quasi-free massive quantum particle at a constant temperature. We show that the whole process started from a fully coherent quantum state to thermodynamic equilibrium can be understood, based on statistics of diffracted matter waves. As a result of thermal interaction between the particle and its surroundings, the motion of the particle shows new feature., 3 figures

The binding energy of a hydrogenic impurity placed on the axis of a cylindrical quantum-well wire is studied using a perturbation-variational expansion method to the first order in the perturbation expansion. The variations of the binding energy with the radius and barrier height of the quantum-well wire are obtained. When the radius of the wire becomes very large or the barrier height of the quantum-well is very small, the impurity behaves like a free hydrogenic atom with a ground-state energy of one effective Rydberg.

An extension of Faulkner's method for the energy levels of the shallow donor in silicon and germanium at zero field is made in order to investigate the effects of a magnetic field upon the excited states. The effective-mass Hamiltonian matrix elements of an electron bound to a donor center and subjected to a magnetic field B, which involves both the linear and quadratic terms of magnetic field, are expressed analytically and matrices are solved numerically. The photothermal ionization spectroscopy of phosphorus in ultrapure silicon for magnetic fields parallel to the [1,0,0] and [1,1,1] directions and up to 10 T is explained successfully

A theoretical study of the performance of the multiquantum well infrared photodetector is carried out in this article. We first calculate the current response and dark current as a function of bias voltage and temperature within the sequential tunneling approach. Then we discuss in detail the noise characteristics of such a detector. The influence of the background radiation is also considered. The calculated detectivity D*λ is consistent with that found in experiments. It is shown that the detector is generally background limited at temperature lower than about 80 K with a D*λ of order 1010 cm Hz1/2/W.

We report the electronic structure of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ in the wurtzite-structure iron-based semimagnetic semiconductor ${\mathrm{Cd}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Fe}}_{\mathit{x}}$S in the spectral range 10--90 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ at temperatures of 1.6 and 4.2 K. A strong spectral anisotropy is observed. All of the experimental spectra are well explained by crystal-field theory.

• To compare the expressions of common fibrosis-relevant genes in hydronephrosis-induced fibrotic renal tissues and normal human renal tissues, thereby providing insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of renal fibrosis resulting from hydronephrosis.• A total of 12 extensively fibrotic renal tissue samples from patients with hydronephrosis (H-group) and six normal renal tissue samples from patients who underwent nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (N-group), along with their clinical data, were collected at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in China between October 2005 and August 2007. • These tissue samples were compared for their transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway-related gene profiles using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) microarray. • Subsequently, reverse transcriptase-PCR assays were used to validate the expression changes of left-right determination factor (LEFTY), a gene of interest, at the mRNA level. • The different expression of LEFTY at the protein level was confirmed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry assays.• The results showed that 49 genes were differently expressed in fibrotic renal tissues relative to normal control tissues. Among these genes, 25 were up-regulated and 24 were down-regulated. • LEFTY-B, one of the most markedly altered genes, was down-regulated 13.55-fold compared with N-group tissues. • RT-PCR showed that the LEFTY-A (6.05-fold down-regulated, P0.001) and LEFTY-B (12.5-fold down-regulated, P0.001) genes, two members of the LEFTY family in human tissues, were both significantly down-regulated in H-group tissues. • Similarly, down-regulations of LEFTY-A (0.25-fold vs N-group, P0.001) and LEFTY-B (0.20-fold vs N-group, P0.001) proteins were detected by western blotting (P0.001). • Immunohistochemical staining showed different distributions of LEFTY in the two tissue samples, and quantitative image analyses confirmed that LEFTY protein expression was lower in H-group tissues than in N-group tissues (P0.001).• The gene and protein expressions of LEFTY were found to be down-regulated in extensively fibrotic renal tissues induced by hydronephrosis. • LEFTY may represent an ideal candidate for a therapeutic target for renal fibrosis.

Objectives To investigate the effect of interferon (IFN)-γ administration on renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) and intrarenal vascular resistance of diseased kidneys in a reversible unilateral ureteral obstruction (RUUO) animal model. Methods Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: RUUO with intramuscular IFN-γ treatment (400 IU/d; RUUO + IFN), RUUO with vehicle treatment, and sham operation. RUUO was induced by clamping the left ureter using a small polyethylene tube. The obstruction was reversed seven days after the operation by removing the tube. Six animals in each group were killed at days 7 and 14. The intrarenal resistive index (RI) of diseased kidneys was measured by colored Doppler flow imaging. RIF was evaluated using Masson's trichrome staining. Results The obstruction was successfully reversed in all animals. At day 7, the RIF scores were 32.1 ± 3.1 and 40.3 ± 3.1 in the RUUO + IFN group and the RUUO group, respectively. The RI increased by 87% in the RUUO group and by 64% in the RUUO + IFN group compared with sham. At day 14, the RIF scores decreased to 24.6 ± 3.9 in the RUUO + IFN group, but increased to 50.8 ± 4.4 in the RUUO group. The increase of RI was reduced to 64% in the RUUO group and to 20% in the RUUO + IFN group. Ureteral obstruction induced few lesions in the contralateral kidneys, and IFN-γ administration had no significant effect on them, although it exerted an antifibrotic effect on the obstructed kidneys. Conclusions IFN-γ administration restored or preserved renal histology and hemodynamics in an animal model of renal fibrosis after surgical reversal of hydronephrosis.

The magnetic specific heat, magnetization and low-field magnetic susceptibility of Co-based diluted magnetic semiconductors Zn 1−x Co x Se and Zn 1−x Co x S have been calculated by using a Hamiltonian which takes into account both the Heisenberg-type nearest-neighbor exchange interactions and spin-orbit interactions. A fair agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. No magnetization steps are predicted in the ranges of temperature and magnetic field considered here.

By making use of the concept of phase slippage originally proposed by Anderson, we present a theoretical study of the boundary between two contiguous two-dimensional electron systems in a strong magnetic field based on the conclusion that the number of flux quanta pertaining to a electron is the inverse Landau filling factor. The magneto-transportation is related to the superfluidity analogy of the two-dimensional electron system. It is shown that voltages on the perimeters are determined explicitly by the Landau indices of the two contiguous regions. Then we apply to systems with many region in series and obtain results which are in good agreement with experiments associated with both the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects. Finally we discuss the quantization of the source-drain two-terminal resistances.