Family history and its association to curve size and treatment in 1,463 patients with idiopathic scoliosis

Purpose

To study family history in relation to curve severity, gender, age at diagnosis and treatment in idiopathic scoliosis.

Methods

A self-assessment questionnaire on family history of scoliosis was administered to 1,463 untreated, brace or surgically treated idiopathic scoliosis patients.

Results

Out of the 1,463 patients, 51 % had one or more relatives with scoliosis. There was no significant difference between females and males, nor between juvenile and adolescent study participants in this respect (p = 0.939 and 0.110, respectively). There was a significant difference in maximum curve size between patients with one or more relatives with scoliosis (median 35°, interquartile range 25) and patients without any relative with scoliosis (median 32°, interquartile range 23) (p = 0.022). When stratifying patients according to treatment (observation, brace treatment or surgery), we found that it was more common to have a relative with scoliosis among the treated patients (p = 0.011). The OR for being treated was 1.32 (95 % CI 1.06–1.64) when the patient had a relative with scoliosis, compared to not having.

Conclusions

Larger curve sizes were found in patients with a family history of scoliosis than in the ones without. No relation between family history and gender or between family history and age at onset of idiopathic scoliosis was found. Although the presence of a family history of scoliosis may not be a strong prognostic risk factor, it indicates that these patients are at higher risk of developing a more severe curve.     

胸腹腔镜联合食管癌根治术学习曲线分析

目的 探讨胸腹腔镜联合食管癌根治术的学习曲线.方法 回顾性分析2010年4月至2011年12月由同一治疗组医师完成的144例胸腹腔镜联合食管癌根治术.按照手术日期先后顺序分为A、B、C、D4组,每组36例.比较各组患者的手术时间,术中出血量,淋巴结清扫个数,中转开放手术率,并发症率,住院时间及手术频度,分析不同阶段的手术效果.结果 4组患者在年龄、性别、肿瘤侵犯深度,肿瘤位置,中转开放手术率,并发症发生率及手术后住院时间等方面差异均无统计学意义(P＞0.05).A组手术时间为(339.1 ± 56.5)min,显著长于B组(240.7±58.2)min、C组(255.4±45.7) min和D组(269.9 ±45.4) min,P＜0.05.A组的术中失血量为(218.6±142.9)min,显著多于B组(106.4±76.0)min、C组(75.5 ±48.7) min和D组(100.5±91.9) min,P＜0.05.B、C、D三组间差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).A组清扫淋巴结的个数为(10.6±5.6)个,显著少于B组(15.6±7.7)个、C组(18.3±6.9)个和D组(18.4±8.7)个,(P＜0.05).B、C、D三组间差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).手术频度由A组的3.9例/月上升到B组的14.4例/月、C组的11.1例/月、D组的10.6例/月,并趋于稳定.结论 胸腹腔镜联合食管癌根治术学习曲线大约为36例.     

疫情防控策略优化后上海市新型冠状病毒感染疫情的预测和估计

目的量化预测在不同场景下上海市新型冠状病毒(新冠病毒)感染疫情的发展规模和医疗卫生资源需求, 模拟评估新冠病毒疫苗接种情况、非药物干预措施(NPIs)、居家隔离意愿和入境情况等因素对新冠病毒感染疫情发展规模的影响。方法基于新冠病毒的自然史、上海市新冠病毒疫苗接种情况和NPIs情况构建具有年龄结构的SEIR传染病动力学模型(SEIR模型), 以2022年12月1日作为模型模拟起点的当日实际情况, 对疫情发展规模和床位需求情况进行模拟估计。结果上海市在新冠病毒疫苗接种的实际情况下, 100 d的模拟期内累计有住院需求的感染人数为18.02万。相比于新冠病毒疫苗接种的实际情况, 当人群加强针接种率达到理想情况时, 累计有住院需求的感染人数下降73.20%, 与不实施NPIs相比, 仅关闭学校、关闭学校和工作场所的措施对普通床位需求数的峰值分别降低24.04%、37.73%, 感染者居家隔离意愿的提高可降低每日新增感染人数并推迟峰值出现时间, 入境人数的变化对于疫情发展规模的影响较小。结论上海市在新冠病毒感染的流行特征和新冠病毒疫苗接种的实际情况下, 可通过提高新冠病毒疫苗接种率、尽早实施NP...     

Evaluation of the Cyclic Fatigue of Two Single Files at Body and Room Temperature with Different Radii of Curvature

Background: To compare the influence of different temperatures and curvature radii on the cyclic fatigue resistance of F6 SkyTaper (F6ST) and One Curve (OC) single file nickel-titanium rotary instruments. Methods: A total of 120 instruments of F6ST and OC #25.06 were evaluated in 5 mm and 3 mm curvature radii at two temperatures (20 °C ± 1 °C and 37 °C ± 1 °C) in 16 mm stainless steel artificial canals associated with a curvature of 60°. The cyclic fatigue of tested files was assessed by employing a customized testing apparatus and expressed as times to fracture (TtF). A statistical analysis was performed with the significance level set at 95%. Results: All instruments decreased their TtF at 37 °C except for OC in the 3 mm radius, in which no significant difference was detected between 20 °C and 37 °C. A 3 mm curvature radius negatively affected TtF of all tested instruments, except for F6ST at 20 °C. F6ST had higher TtF than OC in the 3 mm radius at 20 °C, with no significant difference between them in the other tested conditions. Conclusions: Under the limits of the present in vitro study, body temperature impaired cyclic fatigue resistance of all files, except for OC in the 3 mm curvature radius. All instruments exhibited lower times to fracture in the 3 mm radius, excluding F6ST at 20 °C.     

Influence of chitosan coating on the oral bioavailability of gold nanoparticles in rats

Gold nanoparticles are one of the most extensively investigated metallic nanoparticles for several applications. It is less toxic than other metallic nanolattices. The exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity of gold make it possible to be administered as non-invasive radiofrequency irradiation therapy that produces sufficient heat to kill tumor cells. Nanoparticles are generally administered intravenously instead of orally due to negligible oral absorption and cellular uptake. This study evaluated the oral bioavailability of gold nanoparticles coated with chitosan (C-AuNPs), a natural mucoadhesive polymer. We employed traditional method of evaluating bioavailability that involve estimation of maximum concentrations and area under the curve of 3?nm chitosan coated gold nanoparticles (C-AuNPs) in the rat plasma following intravenous and oral administrations (0.8?mg and 8?mg/kg body weight respectively). The oral bioavailability of C-AuNPs was found to be 2.46% (approximately 25 folds higher than polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated gold nanoparticles, reported earlier). These findings suggest that chitosan coating could be better than PEG coating for the enhancement of oral bioavailability of nanoparticles.     

Impact of the Martin/Hopkins modified equation for estimating LDL-C on lipid target attainment in a high risk patient population

ObjectiveTo evaluate the Martin/Hopkins equation for estimating LDL-C as target in a population composed of high cardiac risk patients.MethodsLipid profile data from patients with TG ≤ 4.52 mmol/L (<400 mg/dl) were used. The high cardiac risk group (N 4150) consisted of patients over 40 years of age that had an A1C level of 6.5% or above and patients with a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Comparisons were made between the Martin/Hopkins formula (MH-LDL-C), the Friedewald formula (F-LDL-C), Non-HDL-C and ApoB.ResultsHigher LDL-C values (0.15 mmol/L or 7.3%) were obtained using MH-LDL-C compared to the F-LDL-C. The % within target (%WT) values for F-LDL-C, MH-LDL-C, Non-HDL-C and ApoB were similar when TG levels were ≤ 1.5 mmol/L with a high degree of concordance as measured by the kappa statistic. When compared to F-LDL-C, Non-HDL-C and ApoB showed a profound decrease in the WT value as TG levels increased from normal (67.7%) to intermediate (39.1%) and high levels (20.8%). MH-LDL-C showed an attenuated decrease in the WT value as TG increased from normal (61.4%) intermediate (43.4%) and high levels (32.7%). Concordance with the alternate target parameters was higher for MH-LDL-C than for F-LDL-C when triglycerides levels were increased.ConclusionThe Martin/Hopkins modified equation for estimating LDL-C is a significant improvement on the decade’s old Friedewald formula; however it remains an imperfect tool to estimate the atherogenic load in patients with high TG levels.     

A method for estimating from thermometer sales the incidence of diseases that are symptomatically similar to influenza

Early detection and accurate characterization of disease outbreaks are important tasks of public health. Infectious diseases that present symptomatically like influenza (SLI), including influenza itself, constitute an important class of diseases that are monitored by public-health epidemiologists. Monitoring emergency department (ED) visits for presentations of SLI could provide an early indication of the presence, extent, and dynamics of such disease in the population.We investigated the use of daily over-the-counter thermometer-sales data to estimate daily ED SLI counts in Allegheny County (AC), Pennsylvania. We found that a simple linear model fits the data well in predicting daily ED SLI counts from daily counts of thermometer sales in AC. These results raise the possibility that this model could be applied, perhaps with adaptation, in other regions of the country, where commonly thermometer sales data are available, but daily ED SLI counts are not.     

人canstatin cDNA分泌型真核表达载体的表达及生物学作用研究

目的将人canstatin cDNA分泌型真核表达载体pSecTag2B/canstatin稳定转染中国仓鼠卵巢(CHO-K1)细胞并获得稳定表达canstatin蛋白产物的细胞株。再进一步研究表达产物的生物学作用。方法将人canstatin cDNA的重组1质粒pSecTag2B/canstatin稳定转染CHO-K1细胞,应用RT-PCR、western-blotting法检测表达产物,再用多种方法进一步研究canstatin的生物学作用。结果成功的将pSecTag2B/canstatin稳定转染CHO-K1细胞并鉴定出上清液中有目的蛋白的表达。该细胞培养上清液能抑制鸡胚绒毛尿囊膜中微血管的生成,抑制人脐静脉内皮细胞(HUVEC-12)的生长并诱导其凋亡。结论①成功的将pSecTag2B/canstatin稳定转染CHO-K1细胞并获得能稳定表达can-statin蛋白产物的细胞株;②证实含canstatin蛋白产物的细胞培养上清液具有抑制鸡胚绒毛尿囊膜微血管生成的活性并可在体外抑制HUVEC-12的生长和诱导其凋亡。     

医学院学生英语学习“高原现象”成因及对策分析

本文通过对我校二年级学生进行问卷调查、访谈的基础上，通过对学习曲线及其走向的研究，分析了在大学英语学习中产生“高原现象”的原因，提出了思考和应对措施，并特别强调了学习策略对克服“高原现象”的重要性。