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Background Gastrointestinal symptoms as a common clinical evaluation index require a universal evaluation tool, and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) has been widely applicated in domestic studies. However, the versions used are not standardized Chinese versions and their measurement performance has not been reported yet. Objective To explore the measurement performance of the Chinese version of the GSRS, in order to provide an objective basis for expanding the application of the scale. Methods From October 2021 to March 2022, patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic enteritis and chronic gastritis who attended outpatient clinics of splenogastroenterology or gastroenterology in 45 hospitals (community health service centers), including Jilin Provincial People's Hospital and Beijing Changping District Urban Community Health Service Center, etc. The Chinese version of GSRS was used to evaluate the gastrointestinal symptoms of the included patients on treatment days 0, 3, 7 and 14. Reliability and validity analyses were conducted on the Chinese version of GSRS, and the paired Wilcoxon signed rank sum test was applied to compare the changes in the scores of patients before and after treatment. Additionally, effect size (ES), standardized response mean (SRM), and score change rate (CR) were used to assess the responsiveness of the scales. Results A total of 554 patients were included and followed up, including 127 patients (22.93%) with IBS, 244 (44.04%) patientswith chronic enteritis and 183 (33.03%) patients with chronic gastritis. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the Chinese version of GSRS was 0.896, the Guttman Split-half coefficient was 0.920, the Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.926, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the two retest results was 0.589, and the Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.662. The content validity index for each item ranged from 0.78 to 1.00. The content validity index (CVI) for the scale-level universal agreement was 0.73, and the average CVI was 0.96. Exploratory factor analysis extracted a total of three common factors with eigenvalues>1, and the rate of cumulative variance contribution is 60.721%.The validation factor analysis demonstrated that the data samples did not fit the initial model M0 well, and each fit index of model M1 is within the acceptable range after correction according to the modification indicator hints in the acceptable range: χ2/df0.900. The total Chinese version of GSRS scores of patients after 14 d of treatment are lower than the total Chinese version of GSRS scores before treatment (P

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous kyphosis is improved on the basis of vertebroplasty, which can well restore the height of compressed vertebral body and reduce bone cement leakage. In recent years, it has been widely used in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. However, it is often reported that there are recurrent fractures of the enhanced vertebral body and adjacent vertebral body after surgery, and the related factors affecting the recurrent fracture are still controversial. OBJECTIVE: To identify the risk factors for the fractures secondary to percutaneous kyphoplasty for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in the elderly by meta-analysis. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted for the studies published from January 2009 to April 2019 on the risk factors for secondary fractures after percutaneous kyphoplasty in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, CBM, CNKI and Wan Fang databases and manually as well. After the relevant data were extracted, statistical analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The secondary fracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture was related to age [WMD=1.87, 95%CI (0.79, 2.95), P < 0.05], bone mineral density [WMD=-0.46, 95%CI (-0.61, -0.31 ), P < 0.05], bone cement leakage [OR=2.68, 95% Cl (2.11, 3.39), P < 0.000 01], correction of kyphosis angle after primary operation [WMD=2, 95% Cl (0.34, 3.88), P=0.02] and recovery rate of vertebral height after primary operation [WMD=5.25, 95% Cl (2.16, 8.34), P=0.000 9]. (2) The secondary fracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture was not related to sex [OR=0.83, 95% Cl (0.67, 1.02), P > 0.05], body mass index [WMD=-0.27, 95% Cl (-1.06, 0.51), P=0.49], cement volume [WMD=0.06, 95% Cl (-0.21, 0.32), P=0.68], surgical approach [OR=0.87, 95%CI (0.61, 1.25), P=0.46], primary fracture was thoracolumbar segment (T11-L.,) [OR=1.48, 95% Cl (0.93, 2.38), P=0.1]. (3) These results suggest that age, bone mineral density, bone cement leakage, correction of kyphosis angle after primary operation and recovery rate of vertebral height after primary operation may be the risk factors closely correlative to the secondary fracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty. There has not been enough evidence to support the associations between the secondary fracture and sex, body mass index, cement volume, surgical approach or thoracolumbar spine, and the above conclusions need to be studied and verified by more high quality literature in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple procedure was presented to directly synthesize ZnCdS (0⩽ x⩽1) quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution. QDs' structures and properties were characterized by TEM (transmission electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction) and fluorescence microscopy. For those as-synthesized ZnCdS QDs, when the molar ratio between Zn and Cd changed from 1 to 0, its photoluminescence (PL) emission peak shifted from 430 nm to 675 nm. PL emission quantum efficiency was up to 15%. The experiment results demonstrated that those alloyed QDs showed a good biocompatibility and could be used as labelling materials in cell biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally understood that the reduction of nitrate on the metallic Li surface aids in the formation of a solid-electrolyte interphase. LiNO 3 is, therefore, frequently used as an electrolyte additive to help suppress the polysulfide redox shuttle in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Although LiNO 3 enables cycling of cells with considerably improved Coulombic efficiency and cyclic performance, the self-discharge behavior has largely been neglected. We present in this work a basic but systematic study to assess self-discharge of Li-S batteries with electrolytes possessing LiNO 3 . Comparative electrochemical tests and interfacial analysis reveal that the redox shuttle is fast enough to cause cells to self-discharge at a relatively rapid rate with limited concentration of the LiNO 3 additive. Despite the capacity loss of a full-charged cell under rest for one day can be controlled to 2% with LiNO 3 concentration as high as 0.5 M, the development of a practically viable Li-S technology looks like a daunting challenge. Further increasing LiNO 3 would potentially cause more irreversible reduction of LiNO 3 on the cathode during the first discharge. Therefore, a possible pathway for a long shelf life and low self-discharge is offered as well by the synergic protection of the separator and stabilization of the Li anode surface. The cell using a nanosized Al 2 O 3 -coated microporous membrane and a LiNO 3 -possessing electrolyte exhibits an extremely suppressed self-discharge, providing an alternative perspective for the practical use of Li-S batteries.

Objective: To study the efficacy and safety of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) combined with dexamethasone as front line regimen in patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)., Methods: This study was a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. A total of 59 primary ITP patients were enrolled at the First Affiliated Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University from June 2013 to February 2015. All subjects were randomized into study group (30 cases) and control group (29 cases). The study group was scheduled to receive high-dose dexamethasone (40 mg intravenously d1-4) combined with rhTPO (300 U·kg(-1)·d(-1) subcutaneously d1-14). Once absolute platelet count reached >50 × 10(9)/L, rhTPO stopped. Patients in control group were just administrated with high-dose dexamethasone (40 mg intravenously d1-4). Efficacy and adverse reactions were evaluated., Results: The short-term (15 days) and mid-term (3 months) response rates in the study group were 83.3% (25/30) and 76.7% (23/30) respectively, which were both significantly better than those in the control group [51.7% (15/29) and 20.7% (6/29) respectively] (P<0.01). In the study group and control group, the median time platelet count reached 100 × 10(9)/L was 6.0 and 6.8 days respectively. In the study group, the time of TPO usage was (6.1 ± 1.7) days. The incidence of adverse reactions in both groups was comparable and slight. The most common TPO related adverse events included knee ache and fatigue, which accounted for 6.7% (2/30) in the study group., Conclusions: Recombinant human TPO combined with dexamethasone as front line treatment for primary ITP shows significant advantages in both short-term and mid-term responses with less and manageable adverse reactions. This may provide a new method to treat patients with primary ITP.

Objective: To introduce the research progress on the technique of improving cell infiltration in electrospun scaffold., Methods: The recent original articles about improving cell infiltration in electrospun scaffold were extensively reviewed and analyzed., Results: The technique includes regulation of the electrospun parameters, modification of electrospun scaffold, and dynamic culture of scaffold-cells composite etc. The effect is limited and most of them need further optimization., Conclusion: Cell infiltration in electrospun scaffold is of great significance in tissue engineering application. The relatively high compressed density and small pore size have become the bottleneck problem that prevents cell infiltration and tissue ingrowth into the scaffold. The combination of different techniques will be more effective to overcome this problem.

Objective: To explore the effect of rolling compression loading bioreactor on chondrogenesis of rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with different loading parameters., Methods: BMSCs were isolated from New Zealand rabbits, aged 2.5 months. BMSCs at passage 3 were used to prepare BMSCs-agarose gels (4 mm in diameter and height, respectively). Samples were divided into 8 groups: 10% (group A1), 20% (group A2), and 30% (group A3) compression groups (0.4 Hz, 3 h/d) and 20 minutes (group B1), 3 hours (group B2), and 12 hours (group B3) rolling time groups and static culture (control groups). The living cell rate, the collagen type II and Aggrecan gene expressions, and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content were determined, and histological staining was done at 24 hours, 7 days, 14 days, and 21 days after culture., Results: At 14 and 21 days, the living cell rates of groups A1 and A2 were significantly higher than that of group A3 (P < 0.05), groups B1 and B2 were significantly higher than group B3 (P < 0.05). Collagen type II and Aggrecan gene expressions of the experimental groups at each time point were significantly higher than those of the control groups (P < 0.05); at 14 and 21 days, collagen type II and Aggrecan gene expressions of groups A1 and A2 were significantly higher than those of group A3, and groups B1 and B2 were also significantly higher than group B3 (P < 0.05). At 14 and 21 days, the GAG contents of groups A1 and A2 were significantly higher than those of group A3 (P < 0.05); groups B1 and B2 were also significantly higher than group B3 (P < 0.05). At 21 days, toluidine blue staining showed that obvious blue-staining and even cartilage lacunae were seen in groups A2 and B2, but light and quite rare blue-staining in groups A1, A3, B1, and B3., Conclusion: The rolling compression loading bioreactor has great promotion effect on chondrogenesis of rabbit BMSCs with rolling parameters of 0.4 Hz, 3 hours, and 20% compression.

Objective: Collagen type II is a characteristic molecular of chondrocyte. With continuous subculture of chondrocytes, they progressively lose the ability to express collagen type II. To observe the effect of collagen type II on redifferentiation of dedifferentiated rabbit chondrocytes so as to lay a experimental foundation for use of chondrocytes in cartilage tissue engineering., Methods: Cartilage was harvested under sterile conditions from tibio-femoral joints of 7-month-old New Zealand white rabbit. The rabbit articular chondrocytes were subcultured in vitro to the 7th generation (named P1-P7). Dedifferentiated rabbit chondrocytes were chosen by RT-PCR, real-time PCR, and 1, 9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) assay. Then dedifferentiated rabbit chondrocytes were treated with various concentrations (0, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) of exogenous collagen type II. The redifferentiation of dedifferentiated chondrocytes was measured by RT-PCR and real-time PCR, and the glycosaminoglycan content was determined by DMMB assay., Results: The glycosaminoglycan content of P1-P7 chondrocytes were (12.20 +/- 0.17), (11.20 +/- 0.24), (11.18 +/- 0.16), (10.89 +/- 0.50), (8.73 +/- 0.19), (9.39 +/- 0.32), and (8.18 +/- 0.20) microg, respectively, showing no significant difference (P > 0.05) among P2, P3, and P4, and showing significant differences (P < 0.05) among other generations. The mRNA of collagen type I, collagen type II, and aggrecan expressed at P4-P7, showing no significant difference in the mRNA expression of collagen type I (P > 0.05) and significant differences in the mRNA expressions of collagen type II and aggrecan (P < 0.05) among P4-P7. The glycosaminoglycan content at concentrations of 0, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% were (8.20 +/- 0.16), (14.61 +/- 0.33), (13.93 +/- 0.25), and (19.59 +/- 0.46) microg, showing significant differences among different concentrations (P < 0.05). With exogenous collagen type II concentrations increased, the mRNA expressions of collagen type II and aggrecan gene were up-regulated gradually, but collagen type I gene was down-regulated, showing significant differences (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Collagen type II can promote redifferentiation and activation of dedifferentiated rabbit chondrocytes.

Objectives: To construct new type of bone graft material by combining calcium phosphate cement (CPC) with bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), and then to detect its osteogenic activity., Methods: The surface of CPC and CPC/BMP composite were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). CPC and CPC/BMP pellets were separately implanted into the thigh muscle pouches of mice. Samples obtained at different times were tested by histological analysis, SEM, organic substance detection, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) measurement to observe the induced ectopic bone formation., Results: Under SEM, the CPC and CPC/BMP composite was found to consist primarily of platy crystals, granular crystals and some small rod-like crystals with micropores about 10-50 microm in size. BMP about 1-5 microm in size was seen like micro globules distributing evenly in the micropores. Newly formed cartilage or bone was not found in the CPC group. In the CPC/BMP group, mesenchymal cells were proliferated and abundant cartilage was found in one week. Woven bone appeared at 2 weeks. New bone formation increased with bone marrow at 4 weeks. At 8 weeks, the implanted CPC/BMP became heterogeneous and a lot of collapsed granules were observed. At the end of 16 weeks, mature lamellar bone appeared and the volume of the implanted CPC/BMP became smaller. One week after implantation, the ALP increased evidently in the CPC/BMP groups and reached the highest level at the 4th week, which was about 168 U/L. The content of organic substance in specimens increased from 22% to 39% by the end of the 16th week, showing the continuous calcification and formation of new bone. SEM also showed that the CPC/BMP composite had good potentiality of ectopic bone induction, and the new bone formed accompanied by the slow degradation of the material., Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that the CPC/BMP composite could be used as material for bone graft substitute.