Early electrical field stimulation prevents the loss of spinal cord anterior horn motoneurons and muscle atrophy following spinal cord injury

Our previous study revealed that early application of electrical field stimulation（EFS） with the anode at the lesion and the cathode distal to the lesion reduced injury potential, inhibited secondary injury and was neuroprotective in the dorsal corticospinal tract after spinal cord injury（SCI）. The objective of this study was to further evaluate the effect of EFS on protection of anterior horn motoneurons and their target musculature after SCI and its mechanism. Rats were randomized into three equal groups. The EFS group received EFS for 30 minutes immediately after injury at T_（10）. SCI group rats were only subjected to SCI and sham group rats were only subjected to laminectomy. Luxol fast blue staining demonstrated that spinal cord tissue in the injury center was better protected; cross-sectional area and perimeter of injured tissue were significantly smaller in the EFS group than in the SCI group. Immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy showed that the number of spinal cord anterior horn motoneurons was greater and the number of abnormal neurons reduced in the EFS group compared with the SCI group. Wet weight and cross-sectional area of vastus lateralis muscles were smaller in the SCI group to in the sham group. However, EFS improved muscle atrophy and behavioral examination showed that EFS significantly increased the angle in the inclined plane test and Tarlov＇s motor grading score. The above results confirm that early EFS can effectively impede spinal cord anterior horn motoneuron loss, promote motor function recovery and reduce muscle atrophy in rats after SCI.

Classification of facial wrinkles among Chinese women

It is generally recognized that Caucasians and Asians have different skin aging features. The aim of this study was to develop a facial wrinkle grading scale for Chinese women. Standard photographs were taken of 242 Chinese women. Six sets of 0 to 9 wrinkle scales with reference photographs and descriptions were selected, including grading scales for resting and hyperkinetic crow＇s feet, frontalis lines, glabellar frown lines, and nasolabial folds. To identify the scale by objective quantitative measurement, skin surface measurements from the Visioscan~ VC98 were used. To test the reliability and validity of our wrinkle scale, a multi-rater consensus method was used. A double-blind, randomized, vehicle-controlled 12-week study was conducted to use this clinical photo-score to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Centella triterpenes cream~ in treating crow＇s feet. A newly developed 10-point photographic and descriptive scale emerged from this study. The final atlas of these photographs contained a total of 6 sets with 10 pictures each. From 0 to 9, surface evaluation of smoothness （SEsm） parametric measurements decreased progressively, indicating that the scale increased inversely. Weighted kappa coefficients for intra-assessor were between 0.75-0.87. The overall Kendall＇s coefficient is 0.86 on the first rating and 0.87 on the second rating. Thirty- six volunteers were recruited and 35 subjects completed a 12-week trial. Clinical photo-score by investigator showed a significant difference （P 〈 0.05） between the treatment side and control side after 4 weeks. Use of these scales in clinical settings to evaluate facial wrinkles in Asians individuals is recommended.

A computer-based image analysis for tear ferning featuring

The present work focuses on the development of a novel computer-based approach for tear ferning(TF)featuring.The original TF images of the recently developedfive-point grading scale have been used to assign a grade for any TF image automatically.A vector characteristic(VC)representing each grade was built using the reference images.A weighted combination between features selected from textures analysis using gray level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM),power spectrum(PS)analysis and linear specificity of the image were used to build the VC of each grade.A total of 14 features from texture analysis were used.PS at di®erent frequency points and number of line segments in each image were also used.Five features from GLCM have shown significant di®erences between the recently developed grading scale images which are:angular second moment at 0
and 45
,contrast,and correlation at 0
and 45
;thesefive features were all included in the characteristic vector.Three specific power frequencies were used in the VC because of the discrimination power.Number of line segments was also chosen because of dissimilarities between images.A VC for each grade of TF reference images was constructed and was found to be significantly different from each other's.This is a basic and fundamental step toward an automatic grading for computer-based diagnosis for dry eye.

Central Place Theory and Distribution of Post Offices in Cities

The feasibility of application of the Central Place Theory in the distribution of post offices in cities is analysed, the grade scale structure and space distribution structure Shijiazhauang of post offices in city are studied, the research results prove the actual value of the Central Place Theory, and the suggestion of adjustment in the space distribution Shijiazhuang of post offices in city is put forward.