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Vascular complications are commonly associated with COVID-19 infection. Increasing reports suggest a close relationship between COVID-19 and venous thromboembolic diseases, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Furthermore, COVID-19 has been linked to various aortic diseases such as aortic valve stenosis, aortic thrombosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection, and limb ischemia. Consequently, understanding the causes and treatment of these vascular complications has become a critical aspect of comprehensive COVID-19 management. This article provides a review of aortic diseases and venous thromboembolic diseases that may be associated with COVID-19, aiming to explore potential mechanisms underlying the development of these vascular conditions and discuss strategies for preventing thrombosis in COVID-19 patients.

This study aimed to explore the genetic basis of muscle development in goats. The transcriptome dataset for differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of goat muscle at different developmental stages were obtained using RNA-Seq. A total of 447,806,481 and 587,559,465 clean reads in the longissimus dorsi muscle of Dazu black goats between 75d embryonic stage and 1d after birth were generated through Illumina paired-end sequencing, and their mapping rates were 89.82 and 90.99%, respectively. Moreover, 4517 DEGs and 648 DELs were identified, and 4784 lncRNA-mRNA targeting relationships were predicted. Gene function annotation results showed that 4101 DEGs were significantly enriched to 1098 GO terms, and 2014 DEGs were significantly enriched to 40 KEGG pathways, including many GO terms and pathways related to muscle development, such as cell differentiation and Wnt signaling pathway. Then, 10 DELs and 20 DEGs were randomly selected for RT-qPCR verification, and the agreement rate between the verification and RNA-Seq results was 90%, indicating the high reliability of the RNA-Seq data analysis. In conclusion, this study obtained several mRNAs and lncRNAs related to the muscle development of Dazu black goats and identified several targeted regulatory pairs of lncRNA-mRNA. This study may serve as a reference to understand the genetic basis and molecular mechanism of muscle development in goats.

Polycomb group RING finger protein 6 (PCGF6) plays an important role as a regulator of transcription in a variety of cellular processes, including tumorigenesis. However, the function and expression of PCGF6 in papillary RCC (pRCC) remain unclear. In the present study, we found that PCGF6 expression was significantly elevated in pRCC tissues, and high expression of PCGF6 was associated with poor survival of patients with pRCC. The overexpression of PCGF6 promoted while depletion of PCGF6 depressed the proliferation of pRCC cells in vitro. Interestingly, myc-related zinc finger protein (MAZ), a downstream molecular of PCGF6, was upregulated in pRCC with hypomethylation promoter. Mechanically, PCGF6 promoted MAZ expression by interacting with MAX and KDM5D to form a complex, and MAX recruited PCGF6 and KDM5D to the CpG island of the MAZ promoter and facilitated H3K4 histone demethylation. Furthermore, CDK4 was a downstream molecule of MAZ that participated in PCGF6/MAZ-regulated progression of pRCC. These results indicated that the upregulation of PCGF6 facilitated MAZ/CDK4 axis expression and pRCC progression by hypomethylation of the MAZ promoter. The PCGF6/MAZ/CDK4 regulatory axis may be a potential target for the treatment of ccRCC., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Chinese medicinal materials are the precious resources of China and favored by patients at home and abroad because of their natural sources and curative effects. Pesticides are often used to prevent and control diseases and insect pests and regulate the growth of Chinese medicinal plants, so as to improve the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal materials. Most of the pesticides can play a role in pest control through systemic action, stomach toxicity, contact, fumigation and other ways, especially the systemic pesticides can kill hidden pests by entering the Chinese medicinal plants. Despite the good pest control effect, it is difficult to remove the systemic pesticides by simple cleaning, which poses a great risk to the safety of Chinese medicinal materials. At the same time, excessive or non-standard use of pesticides leads to serious pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials, which affects not only the quality and efficacy of the materials and harm human health but also the international development of Chinese medicinal materials industry. Pesticide residues have become a bottleneck affecting the industry development and hindering the export of Chinese medicinal materials. Therefore, it is of great significance to study how to quickly, sensitively, and accurately detect and remove pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials. We reviewed the common pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials in recent years in terms of characteristics, harm, and detection and removal techniques, and discussed the future development of the detection and removal deve-lopment. With this review, we aimed to provide a reference for the quality control of Chinese medicinal materials and promote the healthy development of Chinese medicine industry.

Objective: To investigate the anti-oxidative effect of ethyl pyruvate (EP) and taurine (TAU) on the quality of red blood cells stored at 4±2 ℃, hemolysis, energy metabolism and lipid peroxidation of the red blood cells in the preservation solution were studied at different intervals., Methods: At 4±2 ℃, the deleukocyte red blood cells were stored in the citrate-phosphate-dextrosesaline-adenine-1 (CPDA-1) preservation (control group), preservation solution with EP (EP-AS), and TAU (TAU-AS) for long-term preservation. The enzyme-linked immunoassay and automatic blood cell analyzer were used to detect hemolysis and erythrocyte parameters. Adenine nucleoside triphosphate (ATP), glycerol 2,3-diphosphate (2,3-DPG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) kits were used to test the ATP, 2,3-DPG and MDA concentration., Results: During the preservation, the rate of red blood cell hemolysis in EP-AS and TAU-AS groups were significantly lower than that in CPDA-1 group (P<0.01). The MCV of EP-AS group was increased with the preservation time (r=0.71), while the MCV of the TAU-AS group was significantly lower than that in the other two groups (P<0.05). The concentration of ATP and MDA in EP-AS and TAU-AS groups were significantly higher than that in CPDA-1 group at the 14th day (P<0.01). The concentrations of 2,3-DPG in the EP-AS and TAU-AS groups were significantly higher than that in the CPDA-1 group from the 7th day (P<0.01)., Conclusion: EP and TAU can significantly reduce the red blood cell hemolysis rate, inhibit the lipid peroxidation level of red blood cells, and improve the energy metabolism of red blood cells during storage. The mechanism of EP and TAU may be related to their antioxidation and membrane protection effect, so as to improve the red blood cell quality and extend the preservation time.

Zinc-finger protein 304 (ZNF304) plays a critical role in silencing genes through transcription, regulating cell survival, proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation during development. However, the roles of transcription factor ZNF304 and its clinical significance in clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) remain unclear. In this study, we found that the expression of ZNF304 was downregulated in ccRCC tissues. Lower levels of ZNF304 were correlated with poor survival. Downregulation of ZNF304 promoted ccRCC cell growth in vitro , whereas overexpression of ZNF304 inhibited growth. Our results indicated that miR-183-5p/FOXO4 mediated ZNF304 regulation of cell growth. Interestingly, we revealed that ZNF304 promoted FOXO4 expression in ccRCC cells. Mechanistically, ZNF304 binds to miR-183 promoter and inhibits miR-183-5p transcription. Furthermore, the expression of miR-183-5p wes increased in ccRCC tissues, and the upregulation of miR-183-5p was related to the poor prognosis of ccRCC patients. miR-183-5p upregulation repressed the expression of FOXO4 and promoted ccRCC progression. These results demonstrated that ZNF304/miR-183-5p/FOXO4 axis played essential role in promoting ccRCC progression, which suggests that disruption of this axis may be a potential therapeutic target in ccRCC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Ren, Zeng, Zhu, Zhao, Shi, Zhang, Wang, Gu and Yang.)

Background: The dysfunction of myc-related zinc finger protein (MAZ) has been proven to contribute to tumorigenesis and development of multiple cancer types. However, the biological roles and clinical significance of MAZ in clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) remain unclear., Methods: MAZ expression was examined in ccRCC and normal kidney tissue by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot. Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the clinical correlation between MAZ expression and clinicopathological characteristics to determine the relationship between MAZ expression and the survival of ccRCC patients. The biological roles of MAZ in cells were investigated in vitro using MTT and colony assays. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) were used to investigate the relationship between MAZ and its potential downstream signaling molecules., Results: MAZ expression is elevated in ccRCC tissues, and higher levels of MAZ were correlated with poor survival of patients with ccRCC. MAZ upregulation elevates the proliferation ability of ccRCC cells in vitro, whereas silencing MAZ represses this ability. Our results further reveal that MAZ promotes cell growth, which is dependent on ERK signaling. Importantly, we found that MAZ positively regulates MAP2K2 expression in ccRCC cells. Mechanistically, MAZ binds to the MAP2K2 promoter and increases MAP2K2 transcription. Furthermore, MAP2K2 levels were shown to be increased in ccRCC tissues and to be associated with a poor prognosis of ccRCC patients. MAP2K2 upregulation activates the ERK signaling pathway and promotes ccRCC progression., Conclusion: These results reveal that the MAZ/MAP2K2/ERK signaling axis plays a crucial role in promoting ccRCC progression, which suggests the potential therapeutic utility of MAZ in ccRCC.

Objective: To estimate the safety and efficacy of remimazolam tosilate used for moderate-to-deep sedation in fiberoptic bronchoscopy with its 50% effective dosage (ED50) and 95% effective dosage (ED95) calculated. Methods: A total of 50 patients aged from 18 to 65 years and classified as Class Ⅰ or Ⅱ according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Classification who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy in Hainan Cancer Hospital from April to August of 2020 were included in this study. For each patient, bronchoscopy was only started when the eyelash reflex disappeared and MOAA/S score was<1 after a trial dose of remimazolam tosilate combined with 0.1 μg/kg sufentanil was intravenously given. The dosage of remimazolam tosilate for the first patient was 0.18 mg/kg, based on which the dosages for the following patients were increased or decreased by 1∶1 times for one another, forming an equal ratio sequence. A maintenance dose of remimazolam tosilate was pumped intravenously in a rate of 1 mg/(kg·h) during the bronchoscopic examination and treatment. The result of the sequential trial, the time to achieve proper sedation, the analepsia time and the adverse effects were recorded. Results: All the 50 patients went through bronchoscopy completely. The regression function of the sequential trial was Y =12.589+16.593 X , the ED50 and the ED95 of remimazolam tosilate were 0.174 (95% CI : 0.162-0.186) mg/kg and 0.219 (95% CI : 0.199-0.312) mg/kg, respectively. The time to achieve proper sedation was (50±11) s and the mean analepsia time after the use of flumazenil was (56±16) s. There was one patient with respiratory inhibition, one with headache and dizziness, one with fatigue among the 50 patients. Conclusions: The strategy of moderate-to-deep sedation based on remimazolam tosilate is safe and effective in bronchoscopic examination and treatment. When combined with 0.1 μg/kg sufentanil, the ED50 and the ED95 of remimazolam tosilate are 0.174 mg/kg and 0.219 mg/kg, respectively.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a frequent and incurable joint disease, inducing significant pain and seriously threatening to human health. It has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles on cancers and inflammatory diseases via cooperating with genes. However, the effect of miR-374a-3p/Wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5B (WNT5B) pair in OA remains to be explored., Methods: GSE105027 and GSE55457 datasets were obtained to reveal the expression of miR-374a-3p and WNT5B in OA cartilages using log-scale. The OA cell model was established by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) stimulation in CHON-001 cells and the functional role of miR-374a-3p on OA was investigated by analyzing cell proliferation, cell apoptosis and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bax and Bim). Through bioinformatics prediction, WNT5B, the target gene of miR-374a-3p, was predicted and the association between miR-374a-3p and WNT5B was further explored by luciferase reporter assay. Functional experiments in vitro were conducted to assess whether WNT5B was involved in the regulation of miR-374a-3p to LPS-stimulated CHON-001. Finally, the expression of JNK/ERK/MAPK pathway-related proteins was detected to explore the underlying molecular mechanism., Results: The data set showed that miR-374a-3p was decreased in OA cartilages and the consistent expressional pattern was observed in LPS-stimulated CHON-001 cells. Overexpression of miR-374a-3p significantly alleviated LPS-induced damage in CHON-001 cells, whereas miR-374a-3p inhibitor aggravated LPS-stimulated injury. Further experiments demonstrated that WNT5B was a target of miR-374a-3p and its expression was decreased by miR-374a-3p. WNT5B expression was increased in OA cartilages. Silencing WNT5B prevented CHON-001 cells from LPS-induced damage. Down-regulation of WNT5B strengthened the protective effect of miR-374a-3p on LPS-stimulated CHON-001 cells. Moreover, miR-374a-3p cooperated with WNT5B to affect cell behaviors of LPS-stimulated CHON-001 cells via mediating the JNK/ERK/MAPK pathway., Conclusion: These results indicated that overexpression of miR-374a-3p protects CHON-001 cells against LPS challenge by modulating WNT5B and inhibiting the JNK/ERK/MAPK pathway., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite the success and prospects of the robotic catheter system for the cardiovascular access, loss of vision, and haptics have limited its global adoption. A direct implication is the great difficulty posed when trying to eliminate the backlash in catheters during vascular cannulations. As a result, physicians and patients end up been exposed to high radiation for a long period of time. Existing control systems proposed for such interventional robots have not fully consider the hysteretic (backlash) behavior. In this study, a novel robotic catheter system is designed for accessing the human cardiac area through the radial vasculature, while single factor descriptive analysis is employed to characterize the backlash behavior during axial motions of the interventional robot. Based on the descriptive analysis, an adaptive system is proposed for the backlash compensation during the cardiovascular access. The adaptive system consists of a neuro-fuzzy module that predicts a backlash gap based on bounded motion signals, and contact force modulated from a modified error-based force control model. The proposed system is implemented in MATLAB and visual C++. Finally, an in vitro experiment with a human tubular model, shows that the proposed adaptive compensation system can minimize the backlash occurrence during cardiovascular access.

Snake-like robots are a typical serial-link manipulator newly adopted to assist human experts during medical procedures. Of the several prototypes that have been proposed for surgical repair of abdominal organs and delivery of radiation doses, only a very few attained FDA clearance and commercialization for clinical usage. This can be ascribed to complexities inherent with teleoperation of the redundant robots when controlled via single-ports or interactions with other organs both along the surgical path and the operation area. In this study, translated frame-based approach is adapted for forward kinematics of snake-like robots that have orthogonal joints. This is realized by modifying the conventional standard DH approach commonly used for frame translation in serial robots. The adapted method is validated with model of a newly proposed radiosurgical snake-like robot. Validation results show that adapted method requires reduced execution times for both workspace generation and inverse kinematics of the snake robot.

Watermelon fertilization in main planting regions of Jiangsu Province was investigated in order to evaluate the characteristics of efficient fertilization and improve the yield and quality of watermelon. The investigation was performed in Dongtai, Dafeng, Sihong, Pizhou and Donghai. The results showed that the average yield of watermelon in Jiangsu Province was 48325 kg·hm -2 , and the highest yield was 97500 kg·hm -2 . The watermelon yield was improved by straw return of 14-15 t·hm -2 . The watermelon yield was increased with the increase of organic manure application under the quantity of 30 t·hm -2 , while it trended to decrease when the manure application exceeded 30 t·hm -2 . The peasant households of efficient high yield and inefficient high yield on organic manure were 16.5% and 29.1%, respectively. The peasant households of efficient high yield and inefficient high yield on total nitrogen fertilizer were 14.9% and 26.3%, while those on chemical nitrogen fertilizer were 19.6% and 22.4%, respectively. The peasant households of efficient high yield and inefficient high yield on total phosphorus fertilizer were 20.9% and 21.8%, while those on chemical phosphorus fertilizer were 13.7% and 29.5%, respectively. The peasant households of efficient high yield and inefficient high yield on total potassium fertilizer were 14.9% and 26.3%, while those on chemical potassium fertilizer were 29.6% and 12.2%, respectively. Compared to basic application, basic and top application combination enhanced the watermelon yield, so did the foliar fertilization. It was suggested that the peasant households of inefficient high yield and inefficient low yield should decrease the fertilization quantity to improve fertilizer efficiency, while those of efficient low yield should regulate nutrient components and fertilization stage.

In order to determine the effects of nutrient inputs on changes of phosphorus forms and phytoplankton growth in large shallow lakes, an enrichment bioassay was conducted using surface lake water collected from the Meiliang Bay of Taihu Lake in spring. The concentration of different phosphorus forms, phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a) and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) was analyzed after the addition of different concentrations of inorganic nutrients. The results showed that the phytoplankton biomass increased significantly with the addition of phosphorus (P), but with no primary effect from nitrogen (N), which suggested the phytoplankton growth was mainly limited by P. The maximum growth rate and the highest concentration of chlorophyll both occurred in the SRP 0.015 mg x L(-1) treatment. Nitrate addition could improve the bioavailability of phosphorus, accelerate the phosphorus cycling process and promote the growth of APA. There was an induction-repression mechanism resulting in a negative relationship between APA and orthophosphate concentration. The APA was obviously stimulated under PO4(3-) -P ≤ 0.025 mg x L(-1). This paper researches the transformation and cycling process of phosphorus in water and the induction-repression mechanism between the APA and orthophosphate concentration. The result can help to reveal the compensation path of nutrients in algae growth process and provide a theoretical basis for the further reveal of the mechanism of algae outbreaks.

Organic polymers have been found widespread commercial applications due to their easy processing and attractive mechanical properties. Concurrently, inorganic polyoxometalates (POMs), a class of metal-oxygen anionic and nanosized clusters of early transition metals, have a wide range of attractive functions and are used in industrial catalysis. In this communication, we report a new approach to creating the first linear poly(polyoxometalate)s that combine the advantages of polymers and POM clusters. In the experiment, a POM-containing norbornene monomer was first synthesized by linking a Wells-Dawson-type POM with a norbornene derivative. The monomer was polymerized in the presence of a Grubbs catalyst under mild conditions with yields nearly 100% in a living and controllable manner. The resulting poly(polyoxometalate)s have controllable molecular weights and a well-defined hybrid structure of an organic polynorbornene backbone with large pendant groups of the nanosized POM clusters. Thus, they form good films and have a good catalytic performance. Our findings not only pave the way for incorporating the POM clusters into polymers with well-defined structures and high molecular weights, but also offer a competitive strategy for developing more novel catalytic systems by introducing the poly(polyoxometalate)s.

Background Context: Either an anterior approach or a posterior approach, which aims to decompress the spinal cord and restore the sagittal alignment, has been adopted to treat multilevel cervical degenerative myelopathy (CDM) associated with kyphosis. However, there is controversy on the optimal surgical strategy for the treatment of multilevel CDM with kyphotic deformity because of the complications of each surgical approach., Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the surgical efficacy of enlarged laminectomy (removing the inside edge of facet joints and decompressing the nerve foramina) and lateral mass screw fixation for the treatment of multilevel CDM associated with kyphosis., Study Design: A retrospective radiographic and clinical study to access the efficacy of enlarged laminectomy with lateral mass screw fixation in the treatment of multilevel CDM related to kyphosis., Patient Sample: A total of 43 patients (28 men and 15 women; average age, 59.6 years) with multilevel CDM correlated to kyphosis were obtained in the study., Outcome Measures: All radiological data were recorded on computer-based measurement from preoperative or postoperative X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography. All neurological parameters were accessed in each patient., Methods: Analysis consisted of: Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, recovery rate, curvature index (CI), the expansion degree and drift-back distance of the spinal cord, axial symptom severity, and C5 root palsy. The recovery rate based on the JOA score was calculated for each patient. Cervical CI as well as the expansion degree and drift-back distance of the spinal cord was measured using MRI. Axial symptom severity was quantified by a visual analog scale (VAS). Statistical analysis was performed using paired t test with significance set at p<.05., Results: Enlarged laminectomy was performed over a mean of 3.97 levels (range, 3-5 levels). Follow-up information was obtained at a mean of 2.8 years (range, 1.5-5 years) after surgery. Analysis of the final follow-up data showed significant differences before and after surgery in the JOA score (t=24.17, p<.001), CI improvement (t=21.89, p<.001), the anteroposterior diameter at the level of maximum compression of the spinal cord (t=9.54, p<.001), and VAS score (t=13.30, p<.001). The mean spinal cord posterior shift was 4.72±1.10 mm (range, 0-6.71 mm). X-rays confirmed that bone grafts were completely fused at a mean of 3 months after surgery. During the follow-up period, only two patients (4.7%) did not obtain complete recovery, four patients (9.3%) experienced axial symptoms; there were no C5 root palsy and instrument failures noted in this series., Conclusion: Enlarged laminectomy with fixation for the management of multilevel CDM is demonstrated to be an effective strategy for improving neurological function, restoring the normal cervical lordosis, and decreasing the incidence of axial symptoms and C5 root palsy, but there is a need for randomized controlled studies with long-term follow-up to confirm and clarify these results., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the significance and safety of flexible bronchoscopy and balloon dilatation in the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases in children., Methods: A total of 438 children (236 males and 202 females) with respiratory diseases who were aged from 17 days to 15 years, were examined and/or treated by bronchoscopy (including bronchoscopic intervention) under local anesthesia., Results: Of the 438 children, 311 were diagnosed with pulmonary infection, 68 with atelectasis, 36 with recurrent cough and asthma, 6 with hemoptysis of unknown origin, 6 with bronchial foreign body, 5 with congenital bronchopulmonary dysplasia, 2 with bronchiectasis, 1 with ciliary dyskinesia syndrome, 1 with lung tumor, and 2 with congenital immunodeficiency disease. After bronchoscopic examination, local flushing or bronchoalveolar lavage, and foreign body extraction, marked response was seen in 379 cases and response was seen in 46 cases. High-pressure balloon dilatation under bronchoscopy was performed in 5 cases with inflammatory stricture and achieved satisfying clinical effect. No severe complications were found in bronchoscopy., Conclusions: Bronchoscopy and balloon dilatation under local anesthesia is safe and effective for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases in children.

Objective: To study surgical strategies for ankle and foot deformities secondary to spina bifida and treatment methods for different types of deformities., Methods: From January 1990 and July 2009, 107 patients with ankle and foot deformities secondary to spina bifida were retrospectively analyzed. There were 44 males and 63 females, with an average age of 17.7 years (rangd from 1.3 to 52 years). Among the patients, 58 patients had double ankle deformities, 49 patients had unilateral deformities (22 cases on the left side, 27 cases on the right). Ninety-nine patients with equinus deformities were treated by achilles tendon lengthening and tendon transfering; 25 patients with talipes were treated by release of anterior tendon of ankle and tendon transfer; 17 patients with valgus and varus deformities were treated by tendon transfer and calcaneal osteotomy; 15 patients with flail deformities were managed treated by bone fusion between calcaneus and talus and shortening of achilles tendon; 9 patients with claw toe deformities were treated by bone fusion of interphalangeal joint or Ilizarovs distraction. AOFAS (American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society) comprehensive scoring system was used to evaluate subjective pain and objective functional., Results: Seventy-nine (127 feet) of 107 patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 48 to 180 months (averaged, 64 months). According to AOFAS scoring system, the results were rated as excellent in 89 feet, good in 26 feet, moderate in 9 feet and poor in 3 feet., Conclusion: Treatment strategies for ankle-foot deformities mainly included four principles, deformity correction, muscular balance, joint stability and reservation of foot elasticity. Different combined procedure was applied for different foot deformities and received good therapeutic effects.

Objective: To study the imaging findings outcome of the percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) and evaluate the middle-term safety and efficacy of PLDD., Methods: The imaging data of 22 cases suffered cervical spondylosis or lumbar spondylosis and treated by PLDD more than 3 years were retrospectively reviewed. To observe the intervertebral space of the invasive disc and the intervertebral disc hernia before and after the operation on the lateral projection of X-ray and the axial view of the MRI. To make a statistical analysis of the data., Results: There was no obvious change of disc height involving the anterior disc height, the intermediate disc height and the posterior disc height after the PLDD at the final follow-up (P > 0.05). At last time follow-up, the Sagittal Index (SI) are 0.10 - 0.54 and 0.06 - 0.39 before and after the PLDD in the treatment of cervical vertebra. The statistical difference were significant (P < 0.05). In lumbar vertebra, the SI is 0 - 0.71 and 0 - 0.48 disc before and after the PLDD. The statistical difference were very significant (P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The PLDD will not destroy the intervertebral space of the cervical and lumbar vertebra obviously; moreover, it can effectively reduce the disk hernia. The PLDD is a safe and effective Mini-invasive surgery for cervical vertebra and lumbar vertebra diseases.

Objective: To investigate an approach of posterior cervical spinal canal decompression and re-establishing the insertion of extensor, aim at the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) involved in C(2)., Methods: From 2002 to 2006, 10 patients with OPLL involved in C(2) underwent open-door laminoplasty, with the posterior cervical ligamentous complex and the insertion of extensor reconstructed on C(2), were reviewed retrospectively. The range of decompression was from C(2) to C(7). The sagittal diameter of C(2) vertebral canal, alignment of the cervical spine (C(2)-C(7) angle), and JOA score before and after operation were contrasted respectively., Results: All patients were followed up, average 14 months. Before the operation, the average sagittal diameter of C(2) vertebral canal was 5.6 mm (4 - 8.8 mm), JOA score was 9.6 scores (6 - 12 scores), C(2)-C(7) angle was 6.5 degrees (-2 degrees - 12 degrees ). After the operation, the average sagittal diameter of C(2) vertebral canal was 13.4 mm (10 - 18.2 mm, P < 0.01), JOA score was 10.9 scores (8 - 14 scores) and the C(2)-C(7) angle was 7.4 degrees (3 degrees - 14 degrees ) in earlier. Finally, the JOA score was 13.2 scores (10 - 17 scores, P < 0.05), and the C(2)-C(7) angle was 7.0 degrees (2 degrees - 15 degrees , P > 0.05) at last., Conclusions: The open-door laminoplasty, with an approach of the posterior cervical ligamentous complex and the insertion of extensor reconstructed, is an appropriate method for treating OPLL involved in C(2). This process keeps the cervical curve in a better way, and decompresses the spinal canal effectively.

The interaction between 2-p-toluidinylnaphthalene-6-sulfonate (TNS) and ciliate Euplotes Octocarinatus centrin (Cen) has been studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding constants of TNS with Cen were measured at different temperature in the 0.01M Hepes, pH 7.4. The binding process is exothermic and involves a positive entropy change. The negative value of enthalpy predominately contributes to the negative free energy of binding between TNS and Cen. The salt (KCl) increases the association constant of TNS and Cen. These results and resonance light scattering experiment suggest that the binding force between TNS and Cen is hydrophobic. The distance (r) between TNS and tryptophan of mutant G115W, which sheds more insight into the binding of TNS to Cen, was determined as 4.85nm based on Förster non-radiative energy transfer theory.

A total synthetic route for two natural dihydrostilbenes with significant cytotoxicity toward human cancer cell lines, (3-(2-(7-methoxybenzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)ethyl)phenol 1a and 6-(3-hydroxyphenethyl)benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-4-ol 1b), which were isolated from Bulbophyllum odoratissimum Lindl, was developed via Wittig-Horner reaction. The natural products 1a and 1b were obtained in 28% and 20% overall yield, respectively. Additionally, nine analogues, 1c-1k, of the two natural dihydrostilbenes were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-proliferative activity against human SGC-7901, KB and HT-1080 cell lines by MTT assay. The activities of 1c and 1d were in the same range as those of the natural products 1a and 1b.

In 10 mM N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N-2-ethanesulfonic acid (Hepes), pH 7.4, 25 degrees C, the conformational change of the truncated form of ciliate Euplotes Octocarinatus centrin (P23) induced by metal ions were investigated using 2-p-toluidinylnaphthalene-6-sulfonate (TNS) as a probe. The results show that upon metal ions binding, P23 undergo a conformational change and the contributions to the conformational change from the two EF-hands are different, and Tb3+ has more larger influence than Ca2+ with the same concentration metal ions, which provide possible the evidence that the different EF-hands play distinct biological functions. Meanwhile, the conditional binding constants of TNS and Ca2-loaded or Tb2-loaded P23 were obtained, K (Ca2-P23+TNS)=(7.49+/-0.88)x10(5) mol-1 L, K (Tb2-P23+TNS)=(8.24+/-0.49)x10(5) mol-1 L.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sarsasapogenin from Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge (Liliaceae) on two experimental models of depression in rats. After a two-week treatment, sarsasapogenin markedly shortened the immobility time in the forced swimming test and decreased the number of escape deficits in the learned helplessness paradigm, however, locomotor activity was not affected.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sarsasapogenin from Anemarrhena asphodeloides BUNGE (Liliaceae) on the forced swimming test, and the central noradrenergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic activities in mice. Our results showed that sarsasapogenin treatment at 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg (p.o.) for 14 d significantly reduced the duration of immobility in the forced swimming test. These doses that affected the immobile response did not affect locomotor activity. In addition, the neurochemical assays showed that sarsasapogenin produced a marked increase of noradrenaline and serotonin levels at 50 mg/kg in both the hypothalamus and the hippocampus. Moreover, sarsasapogenin showed a monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity in the mouse brain. These findings suggest that the antidepressant activity of sarsasapogenin may involve the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems.

Objective: To explore the mechanism and feasibility of the supinator syndrome evoked embitterment test from anatomy and clinic., Methods: 25 cases of The supinator syndrome were reviewed. 18 of them were male and 7 were female. Drop finger deformation were apparent in 25 cases and The supinator syndrome evoked embitterment test was positive for All patients. Operative neurolysis was done in 8 cases, conservation treatment 17 cases; 92 cadaver upper extremities were dissected for a study the relationship between supinator tunnel and posterior interosseous nerve., Results: 22 cases had been followed up for an average of 9 months. 16 cases had a full recovery and 6 cases, a partial recovery. the anatomical study shows that The posterior interosseous nerve was compressed by Forhse arcade and the distal border of the supinator muscle during passive pronation forearm., Conclusion: The supinator syndrome evoked embitterment test was a new test for the diagnosis of supinator syndrome, it was found to be more sensitive and specific than the others test.