Calcium phosphate ceramics as bone graft substitutes in filling bone tumor defects

Background:

Synthetic bio-inert materials are currently used as an alternative to autogenous bone graft. Calcium hydroxyapatite (HA) and Beta tri-calcium phosphate (β-TCP), which belong to the calcium phosphate ceramics group, are biocompatible and osteo-conductive. The purpose of this study is to analyse the use of HA and β-TCP in their ceramic forms as a bone graft substitute in filling bone voids after curettage of benign bone tumors.

Materials and Methods:

Twenty-four patients in the age range of 3.5-55 years (mean 14.3 years) having benign bone tumors with bone defects were filled with bone graft substitute following curettage. In 20 patients bone defects were filled with block/granules of HA ceramic and in four with β-TCP. Fibular strut graft was packed with HA in four patients. The patients were followed up for an average of 18 months (range 12-36 months).

Results:

The functional status of the patients at follow-up was evaluated and compared with preoperative functional status. Early incorporation of graft substitutes became evident radiologically between 6 and 10 weeks (Stage I). Complete incorporation (Stage III) was observed in an average of nine months (6-18 months). Clinical healing was observed before radiological healing. The average time taken to return to preoperative function was 14 weeks. There was no recurrence of lesion or growth retardation.

Conclusion:

Calcium hydroxyapatite and β-TCP are excellent bone graft substitutes for autogenous bone graft in filling voids after curettage of benign bone tumors.     

离子对反相高效液相色谱法测定小柴胡胶囊制剂中黄芩苷的含量

目的：研究了离子对－反相高效液相色谱法测定小柴胡胶囊制剂中黄芩苷的含量。方法：用５０％甲醇作溶剂、超声波振荡法提取样品。色谱条件用μ－ＢｏｎｄｐａｋＣ１８作分析柱,ＷａｔｅｒｓＧｕａｒｄ－ＰＡＫＣ１８作保护柱,水相（取庚烷碘酸钠０．４０ｇ,磷酸二氢钠３．９０ｇ冰醛酸２０ｍｌ,加水溶解并稀释至１０００ｍｌ）＝甲醇（５６：４４）作流动相,流速１ｍｌ／ｍｉｎ,ＵＶ检测波长为２７５ｎｍ。结果：黄芩苷与 份     

The natural history of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using patellar tendon autograft

The purpose of this study was to review the results of ACL reconstruction using a patellar tendon graft placed ‘over the top’ plus a Macintosh lateral tenodesis, examining changes in knee laxity and functional status with increasing time. There were 74 patients operated on over an 11 year period, and divided into four groups for analysis according to postoperative time. There was a significant and progressive increase in side-to-side laxity difference with time, although functional status did not change significantly, indicating a lack of correlation between objective clinical tests and subjective findings. The highest Lysholm, Tegner and IKDC scores were at 4–5 years after operation, when 60% of patients were at their pre-injury level of sports activity. However, there was always a very significant difference between actual and desired Tegner activity levels for the group as a whole. While there was a significant correlation between degenerative changes and the time between injury and reconstruction, there was no correlation with postoperative time: this provides evidence that ACL reconstruction can protect the knee from later degeneration.     

Proteomic approaches to tumor marker discovery

CONTEXT: Current tumor markers for ovarian cancer still lack adequate sensitivity and specificity to be applicable in large populations. High-throughput proteomic profiling and bioinformatics tools allow for the rapid screening of a large number of potential biomarkers in serum, plasma, or other body fluids. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether protein profiles of plasma can be used to identify potential biomarkers that improve the detection of ovarian cancer. DESIGN: We analyzed plasma samples that had been collected between 1998 and 2001 from patients with sporadic ovarian serous neoplasms before tumor resection at various International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages (stage I [n = 11], stage II [n = 3], and stage III [n = 29]) and from women without known neoplastic disease (n = 38) using proteomic profiling and bioinformatics. We compared results between the patients with and without cancer and evaluated their discriminatory performance against that of the cancer antigen 125 (CA125) tumor marker. RESULTS: We selected 7 biomarkers based on their collective contribution to the separation of the 2 patient groups. Among them, we further purified and subsequently identified 3 biomarkers. Individually, the biomarkers did not perform better than CA125. However, a combination of 4 of the biomarkers significantly improved performance (P < or =.001). The new biomarkers were complementary to CA125. At a fixed specificity of 94%, an index combining 2 of the biomarkers and CA125 achieves a sensitivity of 94% (95% confidence interval, 85%-100.0%) in contrast to a sensitivity of 81% (95% confidence interval, 68%-95%) for CA125 alone. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of bioinformatics tools and proteomic profiling provides an effective approach to screen for potential tumor markers. Comparison of plasma profiles from patients with and without known ovarian cancer uncovered a panel of potential biomarkers for detection of ovarian cancer with discriminatory power complementary to that of CA125. Additional studies are required to further validate these biomarkers.     

Long Hemodialysis Duration Predicts Delayed Graft Function in Renal Transplant Recipients From Living Donor: A Single-Center Study

BackgroundThis study aims to determine the ratio of delayed graft function in renal transplant recipients from living donors and the predictive value of hemodialysis time before transplant for delayed graft function.MethodsWe conducted a study on 116 adult patients who were diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease and were treated with hemodialysis and transplanted kidneys from living donors for 2 years (from June 2018 to June 2020). Delayed graft function event was collected for each patient.ResultsThe recipients had a median age of 36.5 years old, in which 55.2% of them were men, 4.3% of them had the diabetic mellitus, and the median hemodialysis duration was 6 months. The ratio of positive panel-reactive antibody was 33.6% and vascular reconstruction of the donor's kidney was 16.4%. The ratio of delayed graft function was 12.2% (14 of 116 patients). Delayed graft function significantly related to positive panel-reactive antibody, long duration of hemodialysis before transplant, and vascular reconstruction of donor's kidney with P < .001. Duration of hemodialysis before kidney transplant had a predictive value for delayed graft function (area under the curve, 0.83; P < .001).ConclusionDelayed graft function was not rare in renal transplant recipients from living donors. Duration of hemodialysis before kidney transplant was a good predictor for delayed graft function.     

Evaluating patients with renal failure for renal artery stenosis with gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography

The incidence and prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) continues to increase, especially in the elderly population. The role of renovascular disease in contributing to ESRD is still not well defined. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in evaluating elderly patients with renal insufficiency for renal artery stenosis (RAS). A 7-month prospective study conducted in a tertiary referral center evaluated 40 consecutive patients with progressive renal insufficiency (18 men and 22 women; mean age, 70 +/- 5.6 [standard deviation] years) and high clinical suspicion for renovascular disease with Gd-enhanced MRA. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was obtained in only those patients with significant RAS detected by MRA. Twelve patients had significant RAS. Six of these patients had percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA), five patients had renal artery bypass surgery, and one patient had a stent placed after PTRA. Seventy-eight renal arteries were satisfactorily evaluated by MRA. Twenty-two renal arteries were evaluated by both MRA and DSA. Of the 12 significant stenoses detected by the MRA, 11 were confirmed by DSA and 1 was confirmed at the time of surgical revascularization. It is concluded that Gd-enhanced MRA is a useful test for the evaluation of RAS in patients with compromised renal function.     

Methylene blue adsorption mechanism of activated carbon synthesised from cashew nut shells

Activated carbon produced from agricultural products and wastes has been applied widely to remove pollutants in the field of waste water treatment. However, the cost of this adsorbent depends so much on the raw material sources. Therefore, the approach of producing activated carbon from agricultural waste is strongly recommended due to economic advantages and environmental protection. One of the potential feed-stocks for the activated carbon production is cashew nut shell (CNS) waste which could reduce the negative impacts to the environment from the cashew nut processing industry and simultaneously enhance the values of the related products. This study focused on evaluating the influences of variable factors, such as activation temperature and time, on the properties of the activated carbon obtained from CNS. Methylene blue (MB) adsorption was applied to understand the adsorption mechanism of the products. The results show that increasing the activation temperature led to a rise in the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon within the temperature range of 800 to 850 °C. Otherwise, the values were reduced when the temperature was greater than 850 °C and this was related to the thermal decomposition of carbon. The adsorption capacity also increased when the activation time was changed from 30 min to 50 min. However, in the activation time range from 50 to 70 min, there was a reduction of the adsorption capacity of CNS-based activated carbon. The results also show that the MB adsorption of the activated carbon occurred with one-site-occupancy in the first layer and then layer-by-layer adsorption formation.

Activated carbon produced from agricultural products and wastes has been applied widely to remove pollutants in the field of waste water treatment.