"管氏培元九宫"针法治疗功能性阳痿疗效观察

目的观察"管氏培元九宫"针法治疗功能性阳痿的临床疗效。方法将60例功能性阳痿患者按随机数字表法随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组30例。治疗组采用"管氏培元九宫"穴,按"洛书九宫数"施行针刺治疗;对照组口服复方玄驹胶囊。观察两组治疗前后国际勃起功能指数-5(IIEF-5)评分,并比较临床疗效。结果治疗组总有效率为80.0%,对照组为70.0%,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组治疗后IIEF-5评分高于治疗前和对照组(P<0.05)。结论"管氏培元九宫"针法对功能性阳痿具有较好临床疗效。     

99mTc-DTPA核素肾动态显像评价主动脉夹层患者术后肾功能受损研究

目的:应用99mTc-DTPA肾动脉显像评价Stanford不同分型主动脉夹层患者术后左、右侧肾功能及总体肾功能受损程度,帮助临床制定进一步的治疗方案,改善患者预后。方法:回顾性分析2018年3月8日至2019年7月19日,在本院核医学科行99mTc-DTPA肾动态显像的主动脉夹层术后患者48例,评价患者双肾血流灌注、总肾小球滤过率(GFR)和分肾的GFR,比较Stanford主动脉夹层A型(简称A型)患者和主动脉夹层B型(简称B型)患者之间总肾功能及分肾功能,血肌酐、血尿素氮及血尿酸水平的差异。结果:B型患者术后总GFR低于A型患者(67.5 vs.80.6 m L/min,P<0.05),其中以左肾功能受损为著(30.9 vs.40.3 m L/min,P<0.05),差异有统计学意义。结论:肾动态显像对主动脉夹层术后患者早期评价肾功能有重要价值。主动脉夹层B型患者GFR较A型减低,且左侧肾GFR减低更明显,临床可以早期采取干预措施,改善主动脉夹层患者预后。     

Cognitive training as a resolution for early executive function difficulties in children with intellectual disabilities

Core executive functions (EF) such as attention, and working memory have been strongly associated with academic achievement, language development and behavioral stability. In the case of children who are vulnerable to cognitive and learning problems because of an underlying intellectual disability, EF difficulties will likely exacerbate an already compromised cognitive system. The current review examines cognitive training programs that aim to improve EF, specifically focusing on the potential of this type of intervention for children who have intellectual disabilities. We conclude that despite considerable discrepancies regarding reported intervention effects, these inconsistencies can be attributed to flaws in both program and study design. We discuss the steps needed to address these limitations and to facilitate the advancement of non-pharmaceutical interventions for children with intellectual disabilities.     

丙泊酚麻醉对老龄大鼠认知功能和海马神经元γ-氨基丁酸A受体表达的影响

目的观察丙泊酚麻醉对老龄大鼠认知功能及海马神经元γ-氨基丁酸A(GABA)受体表达的影响。方法50只SD老年大鼠随机分为丙泊酚组和对照组,每组25只。丙泊酚组大鼠腹腔注射1%丙泊酚中/长链脂肪乳注射液6 mL/kg,对照组腹腔注射等体积的生理盐水。麻醉后1 d进行Morris水迷宫实验,分别采用HE染色和尼氏体染色观察海马区神经细胞及尼氏体(Nissl体)形态学变化,Western Blot检测GABA蛋白量表达。结果麻醉后,2组大鼠肛温、心率、呼吸频率、血氧饱和度比较,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。随着实验时间的延长,2组大鼠逃逸潜伏期、总里程数逐渐减小,丙泊酚组大鼠各时间点逃逸潜伏期、总里程均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。丙泊酚组大鼠穿越平台区域次数、时间小于、短于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。对照组海马区Nissl体存在于细胞浆及树突,染色较深,神经细胞排列整齐,形态规则;丙泊酚组Nissl体消失,神经细胞数量减少,细胞核破裂、丢失。丙泊酚组大鼠海马GABA蛋白表达量低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论丙泊酚对大鼠认知功能有影响,并与海马区GABA的表达相关。     

Left ventricular and atrial strain imaging with cardiac computed tomography: Validation against echocardiography

BackgroundData on left ventricular (LV) deformation imaging using CT angiography (CTA) are scarce and the feasibility of atrial deformation analysis by CT has not been addressed. We aimed to compare 2D echocardiographic and CT derived LV and left atrial (LA) global longitudinal strain (GLS) obtained by using a novel feature tracking algorithm in patients following transcatheter aortic valve implantation.MethodsTwenty-eight patients were included who underwent retrospectively-gated 256-slice CTA and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) on the same day. CT datasets in 10% increments were reconstructed throughout the cardiac cycle. LV GLS and LA global peak reservoir strain (LA GS) was measured.ResultsMedian absolute values for LV GLS were 19.9 [14.8–22.4] vs. 19.9 [16.8–24.7], as measured by CT vs STE, respectively (p = 0.017). We found good inter-modality correlation for LV GLS (ρ = 0.78, p < 0.05) with a mean bias of −1.6. Regarding atrial measurements, the median LA GS was 19.0 [13.5–27.3] for CT vs. 28.0 [17.5–32.6] for STE (p < 0.001) with a mean bias of −5.6 between CT and STE and a correlation coefficient of ρ = 0.87, p < 0.001. CT measurements were highly reproducible: intra-observer intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.96 for LV GLS and 0.95 for LA GS.ConclusionWe detected good correlation between CTA and echocardiography-based LV and LA longitudinal strain parameters. CTA provides accurate strain measurements with high reproducibility. Feature tracking-based deformation analysis could provide a clinically important addition to CT examinations by complementing anatomical information with functional data.     

P-Values and Power in Orthopedic Research: Myths and Reality

The results of statistical tests in orthopedic studies are typically reported using P-values. If a P-value is smaller than the pre-determined level of significance (eg, < .05), the null hypothesis is rejected in support of the alternative. This automaticity in interpreting statistical results without consideration of the power of the study has been denounced over the years by statisticians, since it can potentially lead to misinterpretation of the study conclusions. In this paper, we review fundamental misconceptions and misinterpretations of P-values and power, along with their connection with confidence intervals, and we provide guidelines to orthopedic researchers for evaluating and reporting study results. We provide real-world orthopedic examples to illustrate the main concepts. Please visit the following https://youtu.be/bdPU4luYmF0 for videos that explain the highlights of the paper in practical terms.     

Stitching the fabric back together: child fostering attitudes in the transition to a chronic HIV epidemic

There are an estimated 56 million orphans and vulnerable children across sub-Saharan Africa. Communities typically care for orphan children through informal caring arrangements – either within or outside of kinship networks. Within Kenya, an estimated 250,000 children live on the streets. There is less research related to fostering attitudes of this special population than orphans and vulnerable children generally. Important research over the past decade has illuminated multiple ways in which children are made more vulnerable because of HIV, including parental death and street-migration from HIV-affected households. As HIV transitions from a terminal illness to a chronic, manageable one, research is also required to establish how parents living with HIV can be an asset to children. In this study, we assess whether mothers living with HIV were very willing to foster biologically-related children, and street-involved children, how these fostering attitudes differed from mothers not living with HIV, and whether differences in fostering attitudes by reported HIV status were mediated by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Approximately 40% of mothers living with HIV were very willing to provide long-term foster care to biologically-related or street-involved children. This was less than the percentage of mothers not living with HIV, who were very willing to foster biologically-related children (61%) or street-involved children (58%). Significant portions of these differences were explained by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Multi-sectoral approaches are suggested by these findings in order to improve the child-fostering capacity of mothers living with HIV. Improving social support, family functioning and general self-rated health among HIV-infected mothers may not only provide protective benefits for the mothers and their children, but also expand the community’s capacity to care for orphan and vulnerable children.     

High-intensity interval exercise lowers postprandial glucose concentrations more in obese adults than lean adults

AimsTo compare postprandial glucose responses to high-intensity interval exercise (HIE) between obese and lean individuals.MethodsThirty healthy young adult males (15 obese, 15 lean) ate a standardised meal, then performed HIE (4 × 30-s Wingate cycling/4-min rest) or a no-exercise control trial (CON). Blood glucose was measured preprandially and up to 150 min postprandially.ResultsCompared to CON, HIE reduced postprandial glucose concentrations at 120–150 min in obese (p < 0.001) and lean men (p < 0.05), with greater reductions in obese than lean subjects at 120 (−27.0% vs. −8.3%), 135 (−31.9% vs. −15.7%), and 150 min (−21.8% vs. −10.6%). The total glucose area under the curve (AUC) for the testing period was lower with HIE than CON among obese men (p < 0.05), but not lean men (p > 0.05). We found moderate correlations between body mass and postprandial glucose changes (r = 0.39–0.44, p < 0.05), and between glucose AUC and body mass and fat free mass (r = 0.39–0.48, p < 0.05).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that HIE may act as a time-efficient lifestyle intervention strategy for improving obesity-related diabetes risk factors, and might play a role in primary diabetes prevention for the healthy but sedentary population.     

Electronic clinical records in primary care for estimating disease burden and management. An example of COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a significant health problem in developed countries. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of COPD in a single Spanish healthcare area. We also aimed to assess if there are any differences in prevalence and spirometry use among primary care services by utilizing already registered information. We designed a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of COPD and the performance of spirometries in each primary care service. A total of 8,444 patients were diagnosed with COPD, with a prevalence of 2.6% for individuals older than 39 years. The prevalence increased with age and was much higher in men. Significant heterogeneity was found in the prevalence of COPD and spirometry use among primary care services. COPD was underdiagnosed and there was wide variability in spirometry use in our area. Greater efforts are needed to diagnose COPD in order to improve its clinical outcomes and to refine registries so that they can be used as reliable sources of information