小儿上尿路结石286例临床分析

目的:进一步探讨新疆地区小儿泌尿系结石的临床特征.方法:对收治的286例小儿上尿路结石患儿的临床资料进行分析.其有明显的区域、族群分布和结石成分特征;均经影像学确诊;239例行开放手术取石治疗.结果:开放手术取石239例,一次取尽结石率89.0%,术后2～12年复发41(14.3%)例,术中术后未发现严重并发症.结论:影像学检查是诊断小儿泌尿系结石的主要手段,磁共振尿路成像对小儿尿路结石形态诊断,具有较好的实用性和优越性;开放手术适应证广、技术成熟,仍是目前小儿泌尿系结石的主要治疗方法.     

Mentha: A genus rich in vital nutra‐pharmaceuticals—A review

The genus Mentha comprises several aromatic species, which are cultivated world‐over due to their distinct aroma and commercial value. In addition to traditional food flavoring uses, Mentha are well recognized for their folk medicinal uses, especially to treat cold, fever, and digestive and cardiovascular disorders. A number of biological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, biopesticidal, antitumor, anticancer, antiviral, antiallergic, antiinflammatory, antihypertensive, and urease inhibitory activity have been ascribed to Mentha. The traditional pharmacological attributes of Mentha herbs can be linked to the occurrence of bioactive phytochemicals such as terpenoids, alcohols, rosmarinic acid, and antioxidant phenolics among others. A rich source of bioactives, different species of Mentha, can be explored as a promising candidate for the development of nutra‐pharmaceuticals. This review covers the nutritional, phytochemical, and traditional medicinal aspects and multiple biological activities of some commonly available species of Mentha so as to explore their potential applications for nutra‐pharmaceutical and cosmo‐nutraceutical industry. Detailed chemical profile and pharmaceutical attributes of various Mentha essential oils are also covered. Moreover, based on computational analysis, quantitative chemical component–antioxidant activity relationship model is reviewed to predict and correlate structure–activity relationship of potential bioactives in selected Mentha essential oils leading to discovery and developmenmt of novel natural drugs.     

Heavy Metal Uptake by Euplotes mutabilis and its Possible Use in Bioremediation of Industrial Wastewater

A ciliate protozoan, Euplotes mutabilis, isolated from heavy metal laden industrial wastewater, has been shown to tolerate multiple heavy metals thus suggesting its significance in bioremediation of industrial effluents. This ciliate tolerated Zn²⁺ up to 33 μg/mL, Cd²⁺ up to 22 μg/mL and Ni²⁺ up to 18 μg/mL. The ciliate could uptake 85% Zn²⁺, 84% of Cd²⁺ and 87% of Ni²⁺ after 96 h of inoculation of growth medium containing 10 μg/mL of Zn²⁺ and 5 μg/mL of Cd²⁺ and Ni²⁺, with actively growing ciliates. After 6 days of incubation the ciliate removed 87% Cd²⁺, 92% Ni²⁺, and 93% Zn²⁺ from the wastewater. The heavy metal uptake capability of Euplotes mutabilis may be employed for metal detoxification operations.     

Controlling the Wettability of ZnO Thin Films by Spray Pyrolysis for Photocatalytic Applications

Herein, we synthesized the zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films (TFs) deposited on glass substrates via spray pyrolysis (SP) to prepare self-cleaning glass. Various process parameters were used to optimize photocatalytic performance. Substrates were coated at room temperature (RT) and 250 °C with a 1 mL or 2 mL ZnO solution while maintaining a distance from the spray gun to the substrate of 20 cm or 30 cm. Several characterization techniques, i.e., XRD, SEM, AFM, and UV–Vis were used to determine the structural, morphological, and optical characteristics of the prepared samples. The wettability of the samples was evaluated using contact angle measurements. As ZnO is hydrophilic in nature, the RT deposited samples showed a hydrophilic character, whereas the ZnO TFs deposited at 250 °C demonstrated a hydrophobic character. The XRD results showed a higher degree of crystallinity for samples deposited on heated substrates. Because of this higher crystallinity, the surface energy decreased, and the contact angle increased. Moreover, by using 2 mL solution, better surface coverage and roughness were obtained for the ZnO TFs. However, by exploiting the distance of the spray to the samples size distribution and surface coverage can be controlled, the samples deposited at 30 mL showed a uniform particle size distribution from 30–40 nm. In addition, the photoactivity of the samples was tested by the degradation of rhodamine B dye. Substrates prepared with a 2 mL solution sprayed at 20 cm showed higher dye degradation than other samples, which can play a vital role in self-cleaning. Hence, by changing the said parameters, the ZnO thin film properties on glass substrates were optimized for self-cleaning diversity.     

Promoter hyper-methylation of calcium binding proteins S100A6 and S100A2 in human prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: S100A6 and S100A2 are members of the S100 family of calcium binding proteins, which are down regulated in prostate cancer, however the molecular mechanism(s) underlying their loss of expression is unknown. METHODS: The promoter and exon 1 region of the S100A6 and S100A2 genes was sequenced in bisulfite modified DNA from non-malignant, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), malignant and metastatic prostate tissues and in cell lines. Immunohistochemistry was performed to correlate S100A2 expression with methylation status. RESULTS: S100A6 methylation was absent or occurred at isolated sites in 14/14 cases of non-malignant epithelium and 5/5 cases of BPH tissues, whereas methylation was seen in 14/27 (52%) cases of prostatic cancer (P<0.0001), 2/2 cases of metastatic cancer and in the CWR22 prostatic cancer xenograft. Critical CpG sites within the S100A2 promoter were methylated in LNCaP, LNCaP-LN3, and CWR22 cells but not in Du145, PC3 or BPH45 cells. In tissues, S100A2 methylation was seen in 32/34 (94%) cases of adenocarcinoma and 5/5 cases of metastatic cancer. However, S100A2 methylation was also seen in 9/12 (75%) cases of non-malignant tissues and in 5/5 cases of BPH. Immunostaining, showed absent S100A2 expression all 41 cases of prostatic cancer, whereas staining was seen in the basal cells of non-malignant epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: Loss of S100A6 and S100A2 proteins is frequent in human prostatic cancer. A major mechanism underlying the loss of S100A6 expression appears to involve promoter hyper-methylation. However, mechanisms other than methylation of the known promoter are involved in silencing S100A2 in the prostate.     

Comparison of efficacy and safety of intralesional triamcinolone and combination of triamcinolone with 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars: Randomised control trial

The treatment of keloid and hypertrophic scar is challenging with no universally accepted mode for permanent ablation. Conventional therapies yield unpredictable results, significant complications and require elaborate hardware.

Effectiveness and safety profiling of zolpidem and acupressure in CKD associated pruritus: An interventional study

Background:Chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) contributes to poor quality of life, including reduced sleep quality and poor sleep quality is a source of patient stress and is linked to lower health-related quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of zolpidem 10 mg and acupressure therapy on foot acupoints to improve the sleep quality and overall quality of life among hemodialysis patients suffering from CKD-aP.Method:A multicenter, prospective, randomized, parallel-design, open label interventional study to estimate the effectiveness of zolpidem (10 mg) oral tablets versus acupressure on sleep quality and quality of life in patients with CKD-aP on hemodialysis. A total of 58 hemodialysis patients having sleep disturbance due to CKD-aP completed the entire 8-week follow-up. The patients were divided into a control (acupressure) group of 28 patients and an intervention (zolpidem) group of 30 patients.Results:A total of 58 patients having CKD-aP and sleep disturbance were recruited. In the control group there was a reduction in the PSQI score with a mean ± SD from 12.28 ± 3.59 to 9.25 ± 3.99, while in the intervention group the reduction in PSQI score with a mean ± SD was from 14.73 ± 4.14 to 10.03 ± 4.04 from baseline to endpoint. However, the EQ5D index score and EQ-visual analogue scale (VAS) at baseline for the control group with a mean ± SD was 0.49 ± 0.30 and 50.17 ± 8.65, respectively, while for the intervention group the values were 0.62 ± 0.26 and 47.17 ± 5.82, respectively. The mean EQ5D index score in the control group improved from 0.49 ± 0.30 to 0.53 ± 0.30, but in the intervention group there was no statistical improvement in mean EQ5D index score from 0.62 ± 0.26 to 0.62 ± 0.27 from baseline to week 8. The EQ 5D improved in both groups and the EQ-VAS score was 2.67 points higher at week 8 as compared to baseline in the control group, while in the intervention group the score was 3.33 points higher at week 8 as compared to baseline. Comparing with baseline, the PSQI scores were significantly reduced after week 4 and week 8 (P =  < .001). Furthermore, at the end of the study, the PSQI scores were significantly higher in the control as compared to the intervention group (P = .012).Conclusion:An improvement in sleep quality and quality of life among CKD-aP patients on hemodialysis has been observed in both the control and intervention groups. Zolpidem and acupressure safety profiling showed no severe adverse effect other that drowsiness, nausea and daytime sleeping already reported in literature of zolpidem.     

Increased mitochondrial function downstream from KDM5A histone demethylase rescues differentiation in pRB-deficient cells

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein pRb restricts cell growth through inhibition of cell cycle progression. Increasing evidence suggests that pRb also promotes differentiation, but the mechanisms are poorly understood, and the key question remains as to how differentiation in tumor cells can be enhanced in order to diminish their aggressive potential. Previously, we identified the histone demethylase KDM5A (lysine [K]-specific demethylase 5A), which demethylates histone H3 on Lys4 (H3K4), as a pRB-interacting protein counteracting pRB''s role in promoting differentiation. Here we show that loss of Kdm5a restores differentiation through increasing mitochondrial respiration. This metabolic effect is both necessary and sufficient to induce the expression of a network of cell type-specific signaling and structural genes. Importantly, the regulatory functions of pRB in the cell cycle and differentiation are distinct because although restoring differentiation requires intact mitochondrial function, it does not necessitate cell cycle exit. Cells lacking Rb1 exhibit defective mitochondria and decreased oxygen consumption. Kdm5a is a direct repressor of metabolic regulatory genes, thus explaining the compensatory role of Kdm5a deletion in restoring mitochondrial function and differentiation. Significantly, activation of mitochondrial function by the mitochondrial biogenesis regulator Pgc-1α (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ-coactivator 1α; also called PPARGC1A) a coactivator of the Kdm5a target genes, is sufficient to override the differentiation block. Overexpression of Pgc-1α, like KDM5A deletion, inhibits cell growth in RB-negative human cancer cell lines. The rescue of differentiation by loss of KDM5A or by activation of mitochondrial biogenesis reveals the switch to oxidative phosphorylation as an essential step in restoring differentiation and a less aggressive cancer phenotype.