Operative treatments for osteochondral lesions of the talus in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose:This systematic review aimed to identify the available evidence regarding the comparative effectiveness and safety of various operative treatments in adult patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT).Materials and methods:The PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register of Controlled Trials were searched from their inception date to September 2019. Two reviewers selected the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs assessing the comparative effectiveness and safety of various operative treatments for OLT. The meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.3.Results:Eight studies (1 RCT and 7 non-RCTs) with 375 patients were included in this review. The difference in the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score between the cartilage repair and replacement was not significant. The cartilage regeneration with or without cartilage repair had significant superiority in improving the AOFAS score compared with the cartilage repair. The difference in the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue score between the cartilage repair and replacement and between cartilage repair and cartilage repair plus regeneration was significant.Conclusions:Cartilage regeneration and cartilage repair plus regeneration had significant superiority in improving the ankle function and radiological evaluation of OLT, although the trials included did not have high-level evidence. Moreover, which treatment between the 2 was safer could not be addressed in this review as most of the trials did not report the safety outcome. Further studies are needed to define the best surgical option for treating OLT.     

Therapeutic effects of puerarin on polycystic ovary syndrome: A randomized trial in Chinese women

Background:This study aims to assess the therapeutic effects of a well-known component (puerarin) obtained from a Chinese herb root in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Methods:Women with premature ovarian failure (POF) were assigned to the obese group (body mass index [BMI] ≥24 kg/m² and waist hip ratio [WHR] >0.85) or non-obese group (group 3, n = 21). Obese patients were further randomly assigned to the obese treatment group (group 1, n = 15) and obese control group (group 1, n = 15). All patients received standard treatment (Diane-35, 1 tablet/d, orally, plus metformin, 1.5 g/d, orally). In addition to the standard modality, patients in group 1 and group 3 also orally received 150 mg/d of puerarin tablets for 3 months. Venous blood was drawn before and after treatment. Then, the metabolic and antioxidant biomarkers were measured. The normality of distribution of the data was tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov method. The baseline characteristics were analyzed using one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post-hoc was performed using the least significance difference (LSD)-t test.Results:Significantly improved blood levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were observed in patients who received the additional treatment of puerarin, regardless of their lean or obese status, while these were not observed in patients who did not receive puerarin. Furthermore, obese patients with PCOS had significantly lower systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and testosterone blood levels, when compared with before treatment.Conclusion:The addition of puerarin to the present treatment protocol can be considered for the management of metabolic disorders and hyperandrogenism in PCOS patients.     

High Diagnostic Accuracy and Safety of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration in Malignant Lymph Nodes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Digestive Diseases and Sciences - Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is increasingly being used for diagnosing lymphadenopathy. We aim to systematically review the...     

General 2.5 power law of metallic glasses

Metallic glass (MG) is an important new category of materials, but very few rigorous laws are currently known for defining its “disordered” structure. Recently we found that under compression, the volume (V) of an MG changes precisely to the 2.5 power of its principal diffraction peak position (1/q₁). In the present study, we find that this 2.5 power law holds even through the first-order polyamorphic transition of a Ce₆₈Al₁₀Cu₂₀Co₂ MG. This transition is, in effect, the equivalent of a continuous “composition” change of 4f-localized “big Ce” to 4f-itinerant “small Ce,” indicating the 2.5 power law is general for tuning with composition. The exactness and universality imply that the 2.5 power law may be a general rule defining the structure of MGs.Metallic glasses (MGs) possess many unique and superior properties, such as extremely high strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance, etc., making them promising metallic materials with widespread applications (1, 2). Thousands of MGs with a wide range of compositions and properties have been synthesized over the past decades. However, so far the development of MGs is mainly based on tedious composition mapping in multicomponent space to pinpoint the combination of elements with optimized glass-forming ability (GFA). This method for development of MGs is a time- and resource-intensive strategy of trial and error which highlights the need for the guidance of a general theory (2, 3). Intensive research effort has been devoted to finding general rules in various MGs to understand the fundamentals and to guide the development of new MGs (4, 5). Quantitative correlations between their properties have been observed. For instance, compressive yield strength and elastic moduli of MGs are found to be intimately connected with their glass transition temperature T_g (6–10), and the ductility, fragility (11, 12), and Poisson’s ratio of MGs are closely related (13–16). The extensive correlations in properties suggest that the disordered MGs may share general rules in their structure. To clarify this scenario, detailed and accurate structural information spanning short range to long range is required. However, the current experimental probes and theories are limited to local structure in MGs (17). Therefore, understanding how the atoms efficiently fill up the 3D space and how this controls the bulk properties of MGs remains a long-standing theoretical challenge (18–23). To date, few general and exact rules regarding structure–property relationships have been established in MGs (23).Encouraging progress on understanding structure–property relationships in MGs has recently been made through the discoveries of the noncubic (2.3 or 2.5) power laws that correlate the principal diffraction peak (PDP) position q₁ with the bulk density ρ or average atomic volume, V_a, i.e., ρ∝(q₁)^D or V_a∝(1/q₁)^D, where D equals ∼2.3 with varying the composition of MGs at ambient pressure (19) or ∼2.5 for tuning the density of MGs with pressure (22, 24). Whereas composition and pressure show similar exponents in the power laws in MGs, composition and pressure are two independent variables for controlling the density (volume) of materials; they usually have dramatically different effects on MGs. For example, pressure is thought to cause only elastic densification in MGs without obvious structural change because of their already densely packed structure; the structure and properties of MGs are very sensitive to even minor compositional variations (25, 26). In addition, to achieve composition change, different samples usually have to be synthesized. And, many other variables are thought to be inevitably involved, making the compositional change complex (23). Therefore, some basic questions have been perplexing to the glass community: Why do “complex” compositional and “simple” pressure power laws show similar exponents? Is there any connection between them? These questions remain unanswered and have been the major obstacle in understanding the nature of these noncubic power laws.To address these questions, a systematic study in the 2D pressure-composition space seems to be required. However, the consistency of the data in this kind of study will be questionable. Alternatively, in the present study, we choose the polyamorphous Ce₆₈Al₁₀Cu₂₀Co₂ MG as a model system. It is well known that Ce-based MG systems show a polyamorphic transition between ∼2 GPa and ∼5 GPa caused by the pressure-induced 4f electron localized-to-itinerant transition (27, 28). During this polyamorphic transition, both the atomic size and the electronegativity of Ce are significantly changed (29). Composition tuning in MGs mainly means the variation of atomic size and electronegativity of components, which controls the formation of MGs (30). Therefore, although nothing changes in the nucleus, for MGs this pressure-induced polyamorphic transition is equivalent to a continuous “composition” change with the 4f-localized “big Ce” gradually substituted by 4f-itinerant “small Ce.” As a result, we are able to vary both pressure and composition of a MG in a well-controlled way for the first time, to our knowledge.     

N-Acetyl-l-leucine-polyethylenimine-mediated miR-34a delivery improves osteogenesis and bone formation in vitro and in vivo

Oral bone defects are difficult to treat. Recently, endogenous miR-34a was shown to be involved in bone anabolism. Clinical application of such microRNAs requires the inherent instability of microRNAs to be overcome by an efficient delivery system. In this study, we employed N-acetyl-l-leucine-modified polyethylenimine (N-Ac-l-Leu-PEI) as an miR-34a carrier and evaluated its delivery ability, transfection efficiency, cytotoxicity and whether it enhanced osteogenic differentiation and bone formation in vitro and in vivo. Stable N-Ac-l-Leu-PEI/miR-34a nanocomplexes were synthesized at a mass ratio of 4 and had a small size (190.34 nm), a low zeta potential (21.1 mV), a high transfection efficiency (69.39%) and no cytotoxicity in MG63 cells. N-Ac-l-Leu-PEI-mediated miR-34a delivery in vitro promoted ALP activity and expression of osteogenic differentiation markers, Runx2, SP7 and ColI to higher levels than those produced by Lipofectamine 2000-mediated delivery. N-Ac-l-Leu-PEI also achieved delivery of miR-34a in vivo to a local cranial bone defect area with miR-34a retaining the ability to initiate significant new bone formation 12 weeks post-implantation. This demonstrates the potential for N-Ac-l-Leu-PEI as a gene therapy vehicle for the regeneration of bone defects.

We employ N-acetyl-l-leucine-modified polyethylenimine as an miR-34a carrier and evaluate its delivery ability, transfection efficiency, cytotoxicity and whether it enhances osteogenic differentiation and bone formation in vitro and in vivo.     

中国儿童青少年代谢综合征患病率Meta分析

目的 通过Meta分析了解我国儿童青少年MS的流行现状, 为早期防治提供科学依据。 方法 检索2004-2014年在中国期刊全文数据库(CNKI)、万方数据资源系统(Wanfangdata)、维普数据库(VIP)及PubMed中收录的有关中国地区儿童青少年MS患病率研究的文献。根据加强观察性流行病学研究报告规范(STROBE)声明中横断面研究评价标准进行文献质量评价, 采用Stata 12.0软件进行数据合并估算患病率, 并对性别、体重状态等因素进行亚组分析, 采用漏斗图及Egger检验发表偏倚, 通过排除其中任意一篇文献对合并效应值的影响进行敏感性分析。 结果 共纳入19篇文献(5篇英文、14篇中文)。依据国际糖尿病联盟(IDF)标准、美国国家胆固醇教育计划成人治疗专家组Ⅲ修订(NCEPⅢ)标准、中国儿童青少年代谢综合征定义和防治建议(CHN2012)标准, 我国儿童青少年MS患病率分别为1.8%、2.6%及2.0%。按IDF标准, 男、女童MS患病率分别为2.9%、1.8%, 正常、超重、肥胖儿童中MS患病率分别为0.2%、4.7%、17.3%。NCEPⅢ标准、CHN2012标准结果均呈现男生MS患病率高于女生、肥胖组MS患病率> 超重组> 正常组。 结论 儿童青少年MS呈流行趋势, 应用不同诊断标准对MS检出率影响较大。肥胖是MS的重要危险因素, 因此应遏制肥胖, 对儿童超重、肥胖尽早识别干预, 以减少儿童MS的发生。     

武汉市330 例HIV感染者及艾滋病患者治疗的社会支持现状及影响因素研究

目的 了解武汉市进行抗病毒治疗(ART)的HIV感染者及艾滋病患者(HIV/AIDS) 社会支持现状,并探讨其影响因素。方法 应用社会支持评定量表(SSRS)评价武汉市330例进行ART的HIV/AIDS社会支持现状;采用t检验、方差分析和多元线性回归模型分析社会支持的影响因素。结果 HIV/AIDS主观支持、客观支持、对社会支持利用度以及社会支持总体得分均低于中国常模(P<0.05)。多元线性回归分析显示,未婚/离异/丧偶者客观支持(β''=-0.260)、主观支持(β''=-0.196)、社会支持总体(β''=-0.141)得分低于已婚者(P<0.05);文化程度较高者客观支持(β''=0.250)、对支持利用度(β''=0.232)得分高于文化程度低者(P<0.05);近两周没有AIDS相关症状者主观支持得分高于有相关症状者(β''=0.232,P<0.05)。结论 武汉市进行ART的HIV/AIDS社会支持状况低于正常人群,应关注未婚/离异/丧偶者、文化程度较低者和伴有HIV相关症状者,提高其社会支持水平。     

浙江省2011年新型毒品使用者艾滋病、梅毒和丙型肝炎感染状况及其危险行为特征分析

目的 了解浙江省新型毒品使用者艾滋病、梅毒和丙型肝炎(丙肝)感染水平、相关行为特征以及相互关系。方法 2011年在浙江省6个城市对戒毒人员进行匿名问卷调查,调查内容包括社会人口学、使用毒品种类、性行为、接受干预情况,并采集血液进行艾滋病、梅毒和丙肝抗体检测。利用SPSS 15.0统计软件进行数据分析。结果 共调查3 253人,其中新型毒品使用者1 298人,占39.9%,北部和中部地区、女性、≤25岁年龄组、浙江省户籍和有商业性性行为的吸毒者中使用新型毒品的比例较高。1 298例新型毒品使用者中,使用冰毒者占91.2%,HIV抗体阳性率为0.1%(95%CI:0.0%～0.2%),梅毒抗体阳性率为8.1%(95%CI:6.6%～9.6%),丙肝抗体阳性率为17.3%(95%CI:15.2%～19.4%);艾滋病知识知晓率为12.7%,有注射吸毒史者占9.2%,最近一年有商业性性行为者占29.6%。曾接受安全套发放和咨询的比例为33.4%,曾接受艾滋病检测的比例为14.0%。多因素分析表明,来自中部和南部地区的新型毒品使用者的梅毒感染、丙肝感染和有注射吸毒行为比例高于来自北部地区者;女性是梅毒感染的相关因素;曾注射吸毒和最近一年有商业性性行为与丙肝感染相互关联;曾注射吸毒行为与最近一年商业性性行为相互关联。男性、浙江省户籍及未接受过安全套发放和咨询者更有可能发生商业性性行为。结论 新型毒品使用者梅毒和丙肝感染水平高,不安全行为发生率高,接受干预服务比例低,提示需要提高对该人群的艾滋病、梅毒和丙肝感染风险的认识,设计制定针对该人群的有效干预措施,扩大干预覆盖率。