Development and validation of the EUROFORGEN NAME (North African and Middle Eastern) ancestry panel

Inference of biogeographic origin is an important factor in clinical, population and forensic genetics. The information provided by AIMs (Ancestry Informative Markers) can allow the differentiation of major continental population groups, and several AIM panels have been developed for this purpose. However, from these major population groups, Eurasia covers a wide area between two continents that is difficult to differentiate genetically. These populations display a gradual genetic cline from West Europe to South Asia in terms of allele frequency distribution. Although differences have been reported between Europe and South Asia, Middle East populations continue to be a target of further investigations due to the lack of genetic variability, therefore hampering their genetic differentiation from neighboring populations. In the present study, a custom-built ancestry panel was developed to analyze North African and Middle Eastern populations, designated the ‘NAME’ panel. The NAME panel contains 111 SNPs that have patterns of allele frequency differentiation that can distinguish individuals originating in North Africa and the Middle East when combined with a previous set of 126 Global AIM-SNPs.     

Monolayer cultures of normal human bone cells contain multiple subpopulations of alkaline phosphatase positive cells

Summary Cytochemical staining of normal human bone cells in monolayer cultures for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) indicated that the cultures contained mixed-cell populations. Time course evaluations of the cytochemical staining revealed, in addition to the ALP-negative cell population, at least two subpopulations of ALP-positive human bone cells with different levels of ALP. A cytochemical method has been developed which separates the ALP-positive cells into high and intermediate ALP subpopulations. In this method, human bone cells were stained for ALP using an azo-dye method and incubating at 4°C for 10 and 30 minutes, respectively. We defined the cell population that stained positively for ALP at 10 minutes as strong ALP-positive cells, and both strong and intermediate cells were stained at 30 minutes. The intermediate cells were determined from the difference between the values at the two time points. The intra- and interassay variations of the assay, with the same investigator in blinded investigations, were both less than 10% and the interobserver variation was approximately 25%. Analysis of the distribution of ALP levels in cells with a laser densitometer confirmed the presence of at least three cell subpopulations. 1,25(OH)₂D₃ treatment increased the proportions of both ALP-positive cell populations, whereas TGF-beta treatment increased only the intermediate ALP-positive cell population. On the contrary, fluoride increased the proportion of the strong ALP cells, and IGF-1 had no effect on the proportions of either ALP-positive subpopulation. When the ALP-specific activity was compared with the percentage of each ALP-positive subpopulations for the cells treated with effectors, the ALP-specific activity correlated with the total ALP-positive and with the strong ALP-positive populations but not with the intermediate ALP-positive subpopulation. In summary, this study represents the first evidence that normal human bone cells in monolayer cultures contained at least two subpopulations of ALP-positive cells, and that bone cell effectors could have differential effects on each cell population.     

浮膝损伤的手术治疗

目的 探讨手术治疗浮膝损伤的疗效.方法 将13例浮膝损伤,按Fraser分型方法分为4型.Ⅰ型7例,Ⅱa型3例,Ⅱb型2例,Ⅱc型1例.所有病人均行手术复位固定,术后早期功能锻炼.结果 术后随访1～3年.疗效评定采用Karlstrom和Olerud标准.优8例,良2例,可1例,差2例.结论 对浮膝损伤的手术治疗,视全身及局部情况选择适当的内固定或外固定器,其中交锁髓内钉内固定效果好.     

创伤性浮膝伴血管损伤的早期诊治

目的 探讨创伤性浮膝同时伴同侧血管损伤患者的早期诊断及救治.方法 总结1996年6月～2002年12月收治28例30个浮膝的手术固定方法、血管修复情况及术后治疗和恢复情况.结果 术后伤口一期愈合5例,17例伤口二期行植皮修复,4例胫前骨折部外露二期行皮瓣转移术,截肢2例,保肢成功率92.9%.术后26例经18个月～8年随访,骨折均愈合,下肢功能恢复优良率64.3%.结论 对浮膝损伤患者应高度重视伴有血管损伤可能,早期作出诊断,积极合理治疗,对患者预后至关重要.     

治疗时机对创伤性漂浮膝预后的影响

目的:探讨不同的手术时机对于创伤性漂浮膝术后功能恢复的影响。方法:回顾性分析42例接受手术治疗并获得随访的漂浮膝患者术后膝关节功能恢复情况,将患者按接受手术的时间分为72h内（23例）和72h后（19例）手术组,根据Karlstrom标准对两组患者术后膝关节功能恢复情况进行评定,将评定结果使用SPSS10·0软件进行统计学分析。结果:随访11个月⁶年,平均26个月,72h内接受手术者膝关节功能恢复情况优10例,良7例,中5例,差1例;72h后接受手术者优2例,良5例,中4例,差8例,两组结果差异有显著性统计学意义（P<0·01）。结论:早期手术坚强内固定、早期进行功能锻炼对于漂浮膝损伤远期功能的恢复具有重要的意义。     

一种适合正颌外科的成人个体化头影测量颅颌关系的方法

目的本研究选择在判断矢状向和垂直向颅颌关系中最常用的5项X线头影测量项目并以此为基础,运用多元回归的方法探讨并建立我国成都地区成人个体化颅颌关系浮动正常值,并探讨其应用方法.方法搜集符合纳入标准的未接受过正畸治疗的成都地区18岁至45岁正常(牙合)97例,其中男性48例,女性49例.测量各样本上颌突度(SNA),下颌突度(SNB),上颌相对颅底倾角(NL-NSL),下颌相对颅底倾角(ML-NSL),颅底角(NSBa).对测量项目进行多元统计分析并建立成都地区成人个体化头影测量颅颌关系浮动正常值.结果(1)5个测量项目之间均存在显著相关关系,其中SNB与其余4个测量项目的相关强度最大;(2)以SNB为自变量建立成都地区成人个体化头影测量颅颌关系浮动正常值.结论本研究为成人正畸患者,特别是拟进行正颌外科治疗的成人患者提供了一种辅助性的头影测量诊断方法.     

Pharmacy Fill Patterns in Young Urban Children with Persistent Asthma

Background. Medication adherence impacts healthcare utilization. Pharmacy records are useful to establish fill patterns. Objective. Use pharmacy records to establish medication patterns fill patterns for comparison to healthcare utilization. Methods. Pharmacy records of 175 children with persistent asthma were collected and compared to healthcare utilization. Results. Majority of subjects had significant healthcare utilization, low numbers of rescue medications, and poor controller medication fill rates. Those with more rescue medications had more healthcare utilization and more controller medications. Conclusions. Pharmacy fill patterns demonstrate few rescue and/or controller medication fills. Those with more rescue medications reported increased healthcare utilization despite controller medications.     

When the right to be counted doesn’t count: The politics and challenges of researching the health of asylum seekers

A fundamental prerequisite of population health research is the ability to establish an accurate denominator. This in turn requires that every individual in the study population is counted. However, this seemingly simple principle has become a point of conflict between researchers whose aim is to produce evidence of disparities in population health outcomes and governments whose policies promote (intentionally or not) inequalities that are the underlying causes of health disparities. Research into the health of asylum seekers is a case in point. There is a growing body of evidence documenting the adverse affects of recent changes in asylum-seeking legislation, including mandatory detention. However, much of this evidence has been dismissed by some governments as being unsound, biased and unscientific because, it is argued, evidence is derived from small samples or from case studies. Yet, it is the policies of governments that are the key barrier to the conduct of rigorous population health research on asylum seekers. In this paper, the authors discuss the challenges of counting asylum seekers and the limitations of data reported in some industrialized countries. They argue that the lack of accurate statistical data on asylum seekers has been an effective neo-conservative strategy for erasing the health inequalities in this vulnerable population, indeed a strategy that renders invisible this population. They describe some alternative strategies that may be used by researchers to obtain denominator data on hard-to-reach populations such as asylum seekers.