桡骨远端骨折背侧钢板固定与掌侧钢板固定的比较

根据四项回顾性队列研究的结论,目前尚不能推断在治疗桡骨远端骨折时,是采用背侧钢板固定有利还是采用掌侧钢板固定有利.研究认为采用背侧钢板固定更有利于掌倾角的恢复,但是,总体上两种固定方法在其他影像学表现和功能活动度评价方面没有显著性差异.     

The prevalence and outcomes of in-hospital acute myocardial infarction in the Department of Veterans Affairs Health System

BACKGROUND: Most studies of the epidemiology and treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have focused on patients who experienced onset of their symptoms in the community and then presented to the hospital. There are, however, patients whose symptoms of AMI begin after hospitalization for other medical conditions. The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of in-hospital AMI in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and to compare baseline characteristics, treatments, and outcomes according to whether individuals presented with AMI or had an in-hospital AMI. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of 7054 veterans who were hospitalized for AMI in 127 VHA medical centers between July 2003 and August 2004. The main outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Key covariates included age, body mass index, admission systolic blood pressure, heart rate, previous use of lipid-lowering drugs, elevated admission troponin value, prolonged and/or atypical chest pain on admission, and ST-segment elevation on the initial electrocardiogram. RESULTS: There were 792 patients (11.2%) who had AMI while hospitalized for other medical conditions. These patients differed substantially from those who presented to the hospital with AMI. The odds of 30-day mortality were greater in the in-hospital group (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 3.1-4.3; P<.001) and remained higher after statistical adjustment (odds ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-2.4; P<.001). CONCLUSION: Although most attention has been paid to patients with AMI admitted via the community emergency medical system or through the emergency department, AMI occurring during hospitalization for other medical problems is an important clinical problem.     

Significance of crown-down root canal preparation technique in endodontic therapy by using the hydroxylapatite sealer

AIM: To evaluate the crown-down preparation technique, and the use of hydroxylapatite based material for the definitive root canal obturation. METHODS: The investigation included 20 single-canal roots with chronic periapical inflammatory lesion. Biomechanical medicamentous canal preparation was done using the double-flared technique with balanced force, and the obturation was performed with hydroxylapatite sealer (unicone technique). Clinical and radiographic check-up performed 12 months after the treatment, used the following parameters: pain, swelling, percussion and palpation sensitivity, and the presence of fistula. RESULTS: The obtained results showed a successful treatment in 18 cases, while in the 2 cases the treatment failed. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that the crown-down preparation technique efficiently cleaned and shaped the root canal, and that the hydroxylapatite-based material created the homogenous and hermetic root canal obturation, so this methodology could be recommended for the endodontic therapy.     

Autoimmune and Inflammatory Manifestations in 247 Patients with Primary Immunodeficiency—a Report from the Slovenian National Registry

An abnormal regulation of immune responses leads to autoimmune and inflammatory manifestations in patients with primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs). The objective of our study was to evaluate the frequency of non-infectious and non-malignant manifestations in a large cohort of patients included in the Slovenian national PID registry and to assess the time of manifestation onset with respect to the time of PID diagnosis. Medical records of registered patients were reviewed. Data on autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, autoinflammation, allergies, PID diagnosis, and underlying genetic defects were collected and analyzed. The time of each manifestation onset was determined and compared with the time of PID diagnosis. As of May 2015, 247 patients with 50 different PIDs were registered in the Slovenian national PID registry (147 males, 100 females; mean age 20 years). Mean disease duration was 14 years; 78 % of patients were younger than 18 years; and 22 % of patients were adults. Diagnosis of PID was genetically confirmed in 51 % of patients. Non-infectious and non-malignant manifestations were present in 69/235 (29 %) patients, including autoimmune manifestations in 52/235 (22 %), lymphoproliferative/granulomatous in 28/235 (12 %), autoinflammatory in 12/247 (5 %), and allergic manifestations in 10/235 (4 %) of all registered patients. Autoimmune manifestations were present in all patients whose PIDs were classified as diseases of immune dysregulation, 47 % of patients with chronic granulomatous disease, and 38 % of patients with predominantly antibody immune deficiencies. A high prevalence of non-infectious and non-malignant manifestations among patients in the Slovenian national PID registry suggests common genetic factors of autoimmunity, inflammation, and immunodeficiency. Patients with PID should be routinely screened for autoimmune and inflammatory manifestations at the time of PID diagnosis and during the long-term follow up.     

Ventilatory capacity and respiratory symptoms in hemp-processing workers

The prevalence of respiratory symptoms and changes in ventilatory capacity were studied in 84 female (mills A and B) and 27 male hemp workers employed in textile mills. Forty-nine women and 30 men from a non-dusty industry served as controls. A significantly higher prevalence of almost all chronic respiratory symptoms was found in exposed female workers compared to controls. For men the differences were significant for nasal catarrh and sinusitis. A high prevalence of byssinosis was found among female workers in both mills (A = 47.8%); B = 57.9%) as well as in male workers (66.7%). Statistically significant acute across work shift reductions in ventilatory capacity were found for all measurements in female and male hemp workers (P greater than 0.01) varying from 7.1% for FEV1 to 15.1% for FEF50. Measured Monday baseline values before the work shift were significantly lower than expected for hemp workers being particularly reduced for FEF25 and FEF50. The data suggest that exposure to hemp dust is a major risk factor for the development of occupational lung disease.     

Computational prediction of methylation status in human genomic sequences

Epigenetic effects in mammals depend largely on heritable genomic methylation patterns. We describe a computational pattern recognition method that is used to predict the methylation landscape of human brain DNA. This method can be applied both to CpG islands and to non-CpG island regions. It computes the methylation propensity for an 800-bp region centered on a CpG dinucleotide based on specific sequence features within the region. We tested several classifiers for classification performance, including K means clustering, linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, and support vector machine. The best performing classifier used the support vector machine approach. Our program (called hdfinder) presently has a prediction accuracy of 86%, as validated with CpG regions for which methylation status has been experimentally determined. Using hdfinder, we have depicted the entire genomic methylation patterns for all 22 human autosomes.     

Cytotoxicity of composite materials polymerized with LED curing units

The proper intensity and illumination time of a curing light is of great importance for the complete polymerization of resin composites and long-lasting resin composite restorations. Inadequately cured resin composites can have a cytotoxic effect on pulp tissue by releasing unreacted monomers. This study determined whether there is any difference in cytotoxicity between composite materials illuminated with different curing modes of LED curing units. Thin layers of two composite materials were polymerized using three different modes of the Bluephase C8 LED curing unit: a high intensity mode (HIP-800 mW/cm2, 20 seconds), a soft-start mode (SOF-650 mW/cm2 first 5 seconds, 800 mW/cm2 next 25 seconds) and a low intensity mode (LOP-650 mW/cm2, 30 seconds). Lymphocyte cultures were treated with both polymerized and unpolymerized composites using one of the modes stated above. Cells were analyzed using the trypan blue exclusion test, the acridine orange/ethidium bromide dying technique and an alkaline comet assay. Significant cytotoxicity was observed for 120 mg of unpolymerized composites and those polymerized with the HIP polymerization mode. A significant level of DNA damage was detected for 120 mg of unpolymerized composites. However, curing via the LOP program exhibited the lowest genotoxicity. Longer curing time with lower intensity results in less cytotoxicity than shorter curing exposure using a higher intensity of light emitted from the curing light source.     

Monitoring of pulmonary ventilation function and respiratory symptoms in cotton-processing workers

A follow-up study in cotton workers (35 female and 31 male) was performed ten years after the original cross-sectional study. The prevalence of byssinosis considerably increased during the follow-up study in female (22.9%; 42.9%) and in male (25.8%; 51.6%) workers. Similarly, the prevalence of almost all respiratory symptoms was significantly higher during the follow-up study than at the time of the initial study. Significant acute reductions of FVC and FEV1 during the work shift were recorded in both surveys. The mean annual decline in ventilatory capacity was greater than expected for both female (FVC: -0.036 L/year; FEV1: -0.059 L/year) and male workers (FVC: -0.059 L/year; FEV1: -0.068 L/year). The mean total airborne dust concentration was 3.95 mg/m3 with an average respirable dust concentration of 0.97 mg/m3. Our study demonstrated an association between exposure to cotton dust and increasing prevalence of respiratory symptoms and progressive impairment of ventilatory capacity.