Search

Objective To summarize the general characteristics and identification considerations of appraisal of post-traumatic epilepsy （PTE） in forensic clinical expertise. Methods Descriptive statistics were made on the general situations （age and sex）, injury sites, PTE grading, clinical manifestations and blood drug concentrations of 30 cases of PTE. Chi-square test was performed on the differences of sex composition, age group incidences, injury sites, clinical manifestations and PTE grading. Fisher’s exact probability method was used to test the differences in clinical manifestations and PTE grading of each site and the differences in PTE grading of different clinical manifestations. Results PTE occurred more frequently among 21 to 40 year olds, more in males than in females, and more frequently in the temporal lobe and frontal lobe. The clinical manifestations were mostly partial seizures and the PTE grading was mostly mild PTE. There were no statistical significance in the differences in distribution of clinical manifestations and PTE grading of injury sites （P>0.05）. The difference in the PTE grading of different clinical manifestations had no statistical significance （P>0.05）. The blood drug concentration of the three identified people did not reach the effective concentration, which affected the final identification opinion. Conclusion In the identification of PTE, in addition to strictly grasping the necessary factors of identification, such as the history of craniocerebral trauma, and epileptic seizures, it is also suggested that attention should be paid to the detection of blood drug concentration. Overall analysis and comprehensive evaluation should be made.

In this study, a facile and effective approach for the preparation of Cu2O/ZnO heterostructures on flexible carbon materials to enhance the piezoelectric performance is reported. The Cu2O/ZnO heterostructures are deposited directly on carbon fibers (CFs) by a two-step method using plasma–liquid interaction strategy. The Cu2O microparticles are first deposited on the surface of CFs, and then, the ZnO nanostructures are grown on the surface of Cu2O microparticles and CFs. The as-prepared CFs show an improved piezoelectric response of d33 = 7.95 pm/V compared to intrinsic CFs (d33 = 2.64 pm/V), which is based on the nano-heterostructures principle. This work demonstrates a simple and feasible approach to prepare flexible carbon materials with enhanced piezoelectric performance, which may provide an ecologically friendly option for the deposition of semiconductor heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Study Aim Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a common degenerative disease that mainly occurs in elder patients, leading to different degrees of neurological dysfunction. Spinal cord involvement is mainly distributed at the C3–C7 segments, but it may also involve up to the C2 level. This study aimed to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of open-door laminoplasty using a new extensor attachment-point reconstruction technique for treating CSM involving the C2 segment. Patients and Methods Fifty-nine patients with CSM involving the C2 segment and undergoing open-door laminoplasty were included in this retrospective study. Based on the titanium plate used in the operation, patients were divided into two groups, a reconstructed titanium plate fixation (RPF) group (n = 28) and a conventional titanium plate fixation (CPF) group (n = 31). Improvements in neurological function, cervical range of motion (ROM), cervical curvature index (CCI), preservation of posterior cervical muscle mass, and axial symptoms were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in operative time and intraoperative blood loss between the groups (p > 0.05). The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score significantly increased in both groups postsurgery (p < 0.05); the neurological recovery rate was similar between the two groups (64.1 ± 13.3% vs. 65.9 ± 14.7%, p > 0.05). There was no significant loss of cervical ROM in either group (p > 0.05). The anteroposterior dural sac diameter at the C2 level was significantly enlarged in both groups (p < 0.05). Alternatively, CCI was significantly reduced in the CRP group (p < 0.05) but unchanged in the RPF group (p > 0.05). The cross-sectional area of the posterior cervical muscles was also significantly reduced in the CPF group (p < 0.05) but maintained in the RPF group (p > 0.05). Finally, axial symptoms were more severe in the CPF group than in the RPF group (p < 0.05). Conclusion Laminoplasty is an effective surgical procedure for CSM involving the C2 segment. The reconstructed titanium plate achieved superior maintenance of cervical curvature and reduced both muscle atrophy and severity of axial symptoms compared with titanium conventional plates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To study the application of CE-Chirp in the evaluation of hearing impairment in forensic medicine by testing the auditory brainstem response (ABR) in adults using CE-Chirp to analyze the relationship between the V-wave response threshold of CE-Chirp ABR test and the pure tone hearing threshold., Methods: Subjects (aged 20-77 with a total of 100 ears) who underwent CE-Chirp ABR test in Changzhou De'an Hospital from January 2018 to June 2019 were selected to obtain the V-wave response threshold, and pure tone air conduction hearing threshold tests were conducted at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 kHz, respectively, to obtain pure tone listening threshold. The differences and statistical differences between the average pure tone hearing threshold and V-wave response threshold were compared in different hearing levels and different age groups. The correlation, differences and statistical differences between the two tests at each frequency were analyzed for all subjects. The linear regression equation for estimating pure tone hearing threshold for all subjects CE-Chirp ABR V-wave response threshold was established, and the feasibility of the equation was tested., Results: There was no statistical significance in the CE-Chirp ABR response threshold and pure tone hearing threshold difference between different hearing level groups and different age groups ( P> 0.05). There was a good correlation between adult CE-Chirp ABR V-wave response threshold and pure tone hearing threshold with statistical significance ( P <0.05), and linear regression analysis showed a significant linear correlation between the two ( P <0.05)., Conclusions: The use of CE-Chirp ABR V-wave response threshold can be used to evaluate subjects' pure tone hearing threshold under certain conditions, and can be used as an audiological test method for forensic hearing impairment assessment.

Objective: To study the correlation of daily living activities with location and severity of trau- matic brain injury (TBI) and to provide a theoretical basis for improving the accuracy of expert opinion., Methods: Five hundred and one cases of patients with TBI were selected. Detailed records included following: pre-injury situation, location and severity of injury, treatment and education. Daily living activi- ties scale (Barthel index) was applied to test the subjects' daily living activities. The relevance among location and severity of TBI and Barthel index was statistically analyzed., Results: In mild TBI group, there was no significant difference in Barthel index among each location (P>0.05). In moderate TBI group, there were significant differences in Barthel index between subarachnoid hemorrhage and cerebral lobe injury, also between parietal, occipital lobes injury and frontal lobe injury, parietal, occipital lobes injury and temporal lobe (P<0.05), respectively, whereas no significant difference in Barthel index between frontal lobe injury and temporal lobe injury (P>0.05). In severe TBI, there were significant differences in Barthel index between every two different locations (P<0.05)., Conclusion: There is some correlation between the location of TBI and Barthel index, which provides an important reference value for analyzing and determining daily living activities after TBI.

Diagnosis of nervous system injury is one of the most difficult issues in medical-legal practice. Nowadays, the activation of NF-kappaB has been studied by many researchers in order to find objective evidence and indicators to calculate the injury time and to diagnose the severity of brain injury for forensic practice. It was reviewed that the advances and problems of NF-kappaB and its correlation with nervous system injury and diseases, such as cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: To study the expression of cathepsin-B and -D in different time point after traumatic brain injury., Methods: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) model was established on rats, cathepsin-B and cathepsin-D immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscope analysis were performed. Positive cells were counted by confocal microscope and image analysis techniques were used to determine the morphological changes in each group., Results: Immunofluorescence staining results showed that cathepsin-B was activated 1 hour after TBI while cathepsin-D was not activated until 12hour after TBI. Both of them got to their peak during 4 to 8days, and kept a high level of activating 32days after TBI. Cathepsin-B and -D positive cells did not merge with caspase-3 positive cells until 6 h after TBI., Conclusion: Cathepsin-B and -D could be the diagnostic markers of TBI and can estimating time course of lateral TBI. They blocked caspase-3 activation at the beginning period after TBI and started to promote cell death with caspase-3 6 h after TBI.