Treatment of cervical spine metastasis with minimally invasive cervical spondylectomy: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND Cervical spondylectomy for the treatment of cervical tumors is traumatic,causes bleeding,and is risky.This study reports on the experience with minimally invasive cervical spondylectomy for a cervical metastasis and reviewed the literature on cervical spondylectomy.The purpose was to reduce the risk and trauma of spondylectomy.CASE SUMMARY A 60-year-old woman presented with cervical pain and radiating pain in the left upper limb for more than 2 mo.Preoperative diagnosis was C4 metastasis of thyroid cancer.Preoperative visual analogue scale score was 5.American Spinal Cord Injury Association(ASIA)grade was E.Tomita classification was 7.Weinstein-Boriani-Biagini(WBB)classification was A-D,3-9.Tomita score was 5.Modified Tokuhashi score was 9.Spinal instability neoplastic score(SINS)was 13.The patient underwent minimally invasive cervical spondylectomy on September 28,2017.The operative time was 200 min;the estimated blood loss was 1200 mL.The operation was successful,without complications.The postoperative visual analogue scale score was 0.The patient remained classified as ASIA grade E at the last follow-up.She accepted regular iodine-131 therapy postoperatively.The serum thyroglobulin(Tg)level of this patient was 299.02 ng/mL at 1 mo after the operation and was 13.57 ng/mL at the last follow-up.There was no local recurrence at the 25-mo follow-up,according to images,single-photon emission computed tomography,and serum Tg levels.Obvious ossification and solid fusion of C3-C5 were found at the last follow-up.CONCLUSION Minimally invasive cervical spondylectomy with tubular retractor could minimize soft tissue trauma,intraoperative traction injury,and paraspinal muscle injury,accelerating postoperative recovery.This technique requires a rich experience in cervical spine surgery with tubular retractors,so that surgeons can visualize the anatomical structure in a small field.

Effects of Zingiber officinalis (WILLD.)ROSC.Membranes on minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a randomized pragmatic trial

Objective:To evaluate the effects of dried ginger rhizome (DGR;Zingiber officinalis (WILLD.) ROSC.),prepared as a membrane,in minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis (miRAS)treatment and explore its mechanism of action by detecting changes in levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in saliva.Methods:Fifty-nine miRAS patients were enrolled in this study.The number of participants in the dried ginger rhizome membrane (DGRM) group was 30,and 29 were in the placebo membrane (PM) group.Sixty sealed envelopes containing either type of membrane were coded randomly.Investigators and participants were blinded to group assignments.A visual analog scale (VAS) was used for pain,follow-up information for healing time,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to measure the concentrations of EGF and TNF-α.Results:In terms of VAS,there was a significant difference between pre-and post-DGRM treatment (P <.001),but not so for the PM group (P >.05).A significant difference was observed in the healing time between the two groups (6.08 (2.712) vs.8.04 (2.142) days).The mean healing time in the DGRM group was shorter than that in the PM group (P <.05).In both groups,the salivary EGF concentration decreased significantly after treatment (P <.05),but the mean level in the DGRM group was significantly lower than that in the PM group (P <.05).The mean TNF-α level in both groups was increased significantly after treatment (P <.05),but patients who used DGRMs had a significantly lower level than that in the PM group (P <.05).Conclusion:The present study provides evidence that DGRMs are effective treatment for RAS.Dried ginger rhizome has obvious effects on pain relief,shortening of healing time,reducing the EGF level in saliva,and has an inhibitory effect on TNF-α release.

骨科植入物无机抗菌涂层的研究现状

植入物感染是骨科最常见和最严重的并发症之一,也是导致植入手术失败的重要原因。当细菌在植入物表面形成生物膜后会极难消除,并吸附更多的细菌和真菌。大量研究表明,通过采用表面改性技术可有效减少致病菌的黏附和聚积,进而预防植入物周围感染。本文首先分析了细菌生物膜在骨科植入物表面的形成过程以及金属抗菌剂的抗菌机制。然后综述了目前国内外使用最广泛的一些金属基无机抗菌涂层及其相关的制备工艺,讨论了这些涂层在应用中存在的问题和改善方法,并展望了未来无机抗菌涂层的发展方向,包括协同抗菌型涂层和促成骨型抗菌涂层等。

In vivo genome editing thrives with diversified CRISPR technologies

Prokaryotic type II adaptive immune systems have been developed into the versatile CRISPR technology, which has been widely applied in site- specific genome editing and has revolutionized biomedical research due to its superior efficiency and flexibility. Recent studies have greatly diversified CRISPR technologies by coupling it with various DNA repair mechanisms and targeting strategies. These new advances have significantly expanded the generation of genetically modified animal models, either by including species in which targeted genetic modification could not be achieved previously, or through introducing complex genetic modifications that take multiple steps and cost years to achieve using traditional methods. Herein, we review the recent developments and applications of CRISPR-based technology in generating various animal models, and discuss the everlasting impact of this new progress on biomedical research.

Epidemiological survey on prevalence and associated risk factors of bitter taste among inpatients from four Grade 3A hospitals in Beijing

Objective:To study the possible etiology of bitter taste in the mouth and its diagnostic significance by an epidemiological survey on its associated diseases and influence factors.Methods:A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted by recruiting patients from four Grade 3A hospitals in Beijing.The questionnaire incorporated five aspects i.e.general information,gustation,behavior,symptomology and past medical history.SPSS20.0 software package was used for data analysis.T-test and chi-square test were selected for evaluation.An observation of the correlation between different causative factors and the symptoms of bitter taste was analyzed by Logistic regression.Results:Smoking and excessive consumption of meat and emotional stress were the risk factors,while eating fresh fruits and vegetables were key protective elements against the manifestation of bitter taste in the mouth.The incidence of bitter taste was high in patients suffering from gastroesophageal disease,hepatic and gallbladder diseases and neurological diseases.Conclusion:Bitter taste is a common symptom in hospitalized patients,especially in patients with gastroesophageal reflux and liver and gallbladder diseases and the link to smoking,dietary and emotional stress.It is found that smoking is a sole risk factor for the manifestation of bitter taste.

Dynamics and control strategies of infectious disease under different scenarios on hierarchical geographical networks

Human settlements are embedded in traffic networks with hierarchical structures. In order to understand the spreading mechanism of infectious diseases and deploy control measures, the susceptible-infected-removed spreading process is studied with agents moving globally on the hierarchical geographic network, taking into account agents’ preference for node layers and memory of initial nodes. We investigate the spreading behavior in the case of global infection under different scenarios, including different directions of human flow, different locations of infection source, and different moving behaviors of agents between layers. Based on the above-mentioned analysis, we propose screening strategies based on layer rank and moving distance, and compare their effects on delaying epidemic spreading. We find that in the case of global infection,infection spreads faster in high layers than in low layers, and early infection in high layers and moving to high layers both accelerate epidemic spreading. Travels of high-layer and low-layer residents have different effects on accelerating epidemic spreading, and moving between high and low layers increases the peak value of new infected cases more than moving in the same layer or between adjacent layers. Infection in intermediate nodes enhances the effects of moving of low-layer residents more than the moving of high-layer residents on accelerating epidemic spreading. For screening measures, improving the success rate is more effective on delaying epidemic spreading than expanding the screening range. With the same number of moves screened, screening moves into or out of high-layer nodes combined with screening moves between subnetworks has better results than only screening moves into or out of high-layer nodes, and screening long-distance moves has the worst results when the screening range is small, but it achieves the best results in reducing the peak value of new infected cases when the screening range is large enough. This study probes into the spreading process and control measures under different scenarios on the hierarchical geographical network, and is of great significance for epidemic control in the real world.

A Preliminary Study on Spatial Spread Risk of Epidemics by Analyzing the Urban Subway Mobility Data

The prevention and treatment of epidemic is always an urgent problem faced by the human being. Due to the special space structure, huge passenger flow and great people mobility, the subway lines have become the areas with high epidemic transmission risks. However, there is no recent study related to epidemic transmission in the subway network on urban-scale. In this article, from the perspective of big data, we study the transmission risk of epidemic in Beijing subway network by using urban subway mobility data. By reintegrating and mining the urban subway mobility data, we preliminary assess the transmission risk in the subway lines from the passenger behaviors, station features, route features and individual case on the basis of subway network structure. This study has certain practical significance for the early stage of epidemic tracking and prevention.

Detection Scheme of Positive Sequence Components Based on Operation Period Delay Filter

Fast and accurate acquisition of positive sequence components of unbalanced grid voltage is an essential requirement to ensure the safety operation of the grid-connected inverter.To improve the extraction speed of positive sequence components of unbalanced voltage,this study proposes a sampling period delay filter(SPDF)to quickly separate positive and negative sequence components by delaying two sampling periods of grid voltage in dq frame.With the SPDF method,only one coordinate transformation is required and the computational burden can be reduced apparently.Then,the noise immunity performance of the proposed SPDF algorithm is investigated;and the corresponding solution,operation period delay filter(OPDF),can guarantee the desired fast response performance under the premise of limiting the amplified noise within the acceptable range.Finally,the feasibility and priority of the above two algorithms have been verified by the simulation and experimental results.

反刍动物产志贺毒素大肠杆菌的分离鉴定和致病潜力分析

产志贺毒素大肠杆菌(Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli,STEC)是重要的食源性病原,而STEC往往以正常菌群的形式存在于牛羊等反刍动物肠道。【目的】本研究对牛羊粪便样品中的STEC分离和鉴定并对分离株进行致病潜力分析。从江苏、云南和河北等地共分离到羊源STEC菌株11株,牛源STEC菌株1株,另新疆农业大学佟盼盼组馈赠牛源菌株10株。【方法】通过细菌选择培养及特异性基因stx1和stx2的检测进行分离鉴定;并通过Vero细胞毒性试验、溶血活性试验和毒力因子的检测分析STEC分离株的致病潜力。【结果】分离到羊源分离株11株,分离率17.5%(11/63);分离得到牛源分离株1株,分离率0.7%(1/134);11株羊源分离株中有5株对Vero细胞具有强的毒性,3株有溶血活性;11株牛源分离株中有5株对Vero细胞具有强的毒性,3株有溶血活性。11株羊源STEC分离株eae基因携带率为63.6%(7/11),而11株牛源STEC分离株eae基因携带率仅为9.0%(1/11)。【结论】结果表明羊源STEC菌株的分离率和致病潜力高于牛源菌株,所以,除牛外,羊作为STEC菌株宿主也应该得到更多的重视。