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The complete mitochondrial genome of the Asian warty newt Paramesotriton chinensis was sequenced. The complete mitogenome of P. chinensis is a circular double-stranded DNA sequence that is 16,361 bp long and was biased toward A + T content at 61.3% (33.0% A, 28.3% T, 23.9% C, and 14.7% G). The complete mitogenome of P. chinensis consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 1 ribosomal RNAs (16S rRNA), and 1 putative control region. This study presented the complete mitogenome of P. chinensis and provided essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis for genus Paramesotriton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe disease of the nervous system that causes irreparable damage and loss of function, for which no effective treatments are available to date. Engineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) carrying therapeutic molecules hold promise as an alternative SCI therapy depending on the specific functionalized EVs and the appropriate engineering strategy. In this study, we demonstrated the design of a drug delivery system of peptide CAQK-modified, siRNA-loaded EVs (C-EVs-siRNA) for SCI-targeted therapy. The peptide CAQK was anchored through a chemical modification to the membranes of EVs isolated from induced neural stem cells (iNSCs). CCL2-siRNA was then loaded into the EVs through electroporation. The modified EVs still maintained the basic properties of EVs and showed favorable targeting and therapeutic effects in vitro and in vivo . C-EVs-siRNA specifically delivered siRNA to the SCI region and was taken up by target cells. C-EVs-siRNA used the inherent anti-inflammatory and neuroreparative functions of iNSCs-derived EVs in synergy with the loaded siRNA, thus enhancing the therapeutic effect against SCI. The combination of targeted modified EVs and siRNA effectively regulated the microenvironmental disturbance after SCI, promoted the transformation of microglia/macrophages from M1 to M2 and limited the negative effects of the inflammatory response and neuronal injury on functional recovery in mice after SCI. Thus, engineered EVs are a potentially feasible and efficacious treatment for SCI, and may also be used to develop targeted treatments for other diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Asian warty newt Paramesotriton chinensis was sequenced. The complete mitogenome of P. chinensis is a circular double-stranded DNA sequence that is 16,361 bp long and was biased toward A + T content at 61.3% (33.0% A, 28.3% T, 23.9% C, and 14.7% G). The complete mitogenome of P. chinensis consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 1 ribosomal RNAs (16S rRNA), and 1 putative control region. This study presented the complete mitogenome of P. chinensis and provided essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis for genus Paramesotriton ., (© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

This study aimed to introduce a novel mini-open pedicle screw fixation technique via Wiltse approach, and compared it with the traditional posterior open method. A total of 72 cases of single-segment thoracolumbar fractures without neurologic injury underwent pedicle screw fixation via two different approaches. Among them, 37 patients were treated using posterior open surgery, and 35 patients received mini-open operation via Wiltse approach. Crew placement accuracy rate, operative time, blood loss, postoperative drainage, postoperative hospitalization time, radiation exposure time, postoperative improvement in R value, Cobb's angle and visual analog scale (VAS) scores of the two methods were compared. There were no significant differences in the accuracy rate of pedicle screw placement, radiation exposure and postoperative R value and Cobb's angle improvement between the two groups. However, the mini-open method had obvious advantages over the conventional open method in operative time, blood loss, postoperative drainage, postoperative hospitalization time, and postoperative improvement in VAS. The mini-open pedicle screw technique could be applied in treatment of single-segment thoracolumbar fracture without neurologic injury and had advantages of less tissue trauma, short operative and rehabilitative time on the premise of guaranteed accuracy rate and no increased radiation exposure.

We sought to compare the safety and accuracy of a new free-hand pedicle screw placement technique to that of the conventional technique. One hundred fifty-three consecutive adult patients with simple fracture in the thoracic or/and lumbar spine were alternately assigned to either the new free-hand or the conventional group. In the new free-hand technique group, preoperative computerized tomography (CT) images were used to calculate the targeted medial-lateral angle of each pedicle trajectory and the pedicle screw was inserted perpendicular to the correspond-ing supraspinal ligament. In the conventional technique group, the medial-lateral and cranial-caudal angle of each pedicle trajectory was determined by intraoperatively under fluoroscopic guidance. The accuracy rate of pedicle screw placement, the time of intraoperative fluoroscopy, the operating time and the amount of blood loss during operation were respectively compared. All screws were analyzed by using intraoperative radiographs, intraoperative triggered electromyography (EMG) monitoring data, postoperative CT data and clinical outcomes. The accuracy rate of pedicle screw placement in the new free-hand technique group and the conventional technique group was 96.3% and 94.2% (P < 0.05), respectively. The intraoperative fluoroscopy time of the new technique group was less than that of the conventional technique group (5.37 seconds vs. 8.79 seconds, P < 0.05). However, there was no statistical difference in the operating time and the amount of blood loss during operation (P > 0.05). Pedicle screw placement with the free-hand technique which keeps the screw perpendicular to the supraspinal ligament is an accurate, reliable and safe technique to treat simple fracture in the thoracic or lumbar spine.