Influence of hydrotherapy combined with breathing training on lung function and activity ability of patients with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury / 中国综合临床

Objective:To explore the effect of hydrotherapy combined with breathing training on lung function and mobility of patients with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury.Methods:A total of 80 patients with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury admitted to Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from April 2018 to March 2020 were selected as observation objects.A prospective cohort study was conducted and randomly divided into observation group and control group with 40 cases in each group.The control group was given routine rehabilitation therapy combined with respiratory training.On the basis of the control group, the observation group was treated with water therapy.The indexes of lung function, motor function, lower limb muscle tension, function evaluation and activities of daily living were compared between the two groups.Results:After intervention, the observation group′s forced vital capacity (FVC) was (3.86±0.82) L, the forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was (3.76±0.68) L, the maximum ventilation (MVV) was (102.34±10.38) L/min, the maximum suction pressure (MIP) is (50.36±4.62) cmH 2O; the control group FVC was (3.41±0.76) L, and FEV1 was ( 3.35±0.63) L, MVV was (90.67±11.68) L/min, MIP was (44.38±4.85) cmH 2O, the difference between the two groups is statistically significant ( t=2.546, 2.797, 4.723, 5.646, respectively, all P<0.05). After the intervention, the motor function score of the american spinal injury association (ASIA) of the observation group was (58.62±7.56) points, and the modified ashworth scale (MAS) score was (2.74±0.89) points; The ASIA motor function score of the control group was (42.24±6.40) points, and the MAS score was (3.36±0.94) points.The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t=10.459 and -3.029, respectively, all P<0.05). After intervention, the observation group′s spinal cord independence measure (SCIM III) score was (75.33±10.72) points, and the modified barthel index (MBI) was (66.64±6.34) points; the SCIM III score of the control group was (68.34±9.55) points, and the MBI score was (57.52±6.77) points, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t=3.079 and 6.219, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusion:Hydrotherapy combined with breathing training can significantly improve lung function and respiratory muscle strength in patients with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury, and improve motor function and ability of daily living.

Application of Demirjian's and Cameriere's Method in Dental Age Estimation of 8-16 Year Old Adolescents from Hunan Han Nationality / 法医学杂志

Objective To apply Demirjian's and Cameriere's method for dental age estimation of adolescents from Hunan Han nationality, and compare the accuracy of the two methods. Methods A total of 480 orthopantomograms of?8-16 year?old adolescents from Hunan Han nationality?with no special diseases and good nutritional status were collected?by Xiangya Stomatological Hospital of Central South University from January, 2016 to July, 2017, among them 236 males and 244 females. The dental age of each adolescent was determined by Demirjian's method and Cameriere's method, respectively, and the paired t-test of the estimated dental age and the chronological age determined by the two methods was conducted by SPSS 20.0 software to compare the difference between estimated dental age and chronological age. Results Mean chronological age of males and females was 11.91 and 11.88 years, respectively. The estimated dental age determined by Demirjian's method showed an underestimate of chronological age by an average of 0.11 years （males） and 0.15 years （females）, while the estimated dental age determined by Cameriere's method showed an underestimate of chronological age by an average of 0.83 years （males） and 0.72 years （females）. Conclusion Demirjian's method is more accurate than Cameriere's method in dental age estimation of adolescents from Hunan Han nationality, therefore more suitable for dental age estimation of adolescents in this region.

Development of a propidium monoazide-polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of viable Lactobacillus brevis in beer

ABSTRACT The spoilage of beer by bacteria is of great concern to the brewer as this can lead to turbidity and abnormal flavors. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for detection of beer-spoilage bacteria is highly specific and provides results much faster than traditional microbiology techniques. However, one of the drawbacks is the inability to differentiate between live and dead cells. In this paper, the combination of propidium monoazide (PMA) pretreatment and conventional PCR had been described. The established PMA-PCR identified beer spoilage Lactobacillus brevis based not on their identity, but on the presence of horA gene which we show to be highly correlated with the ability of beer spoilage LAB to grow in beer. The results suggested that the use of 30 µg/mL or less of PMA did not inhibit the PCR amplification of DNA derived from viable L. brevis cells. The minimum amount of PMA to completely inhibit the PCR amplification of DNA derived from dead L. brevis cells was 2.0 µg/mL. The detection limit of PMA-PCR assay described here was found to be 10 colony forming units (CFU)/reaction for the horA gene. Moreover, the horA-specific PMA-PCR assays were subjected to 18 reference isolates, representing 100% specificity with no false positive amplification observed. Overall the use of horA-specific PMA-PCR allows for a substantial reduction in the time required for detection of potential beer spoilage L. brevis and efficiently differentiates between viable and nonviable cells.

"Double ""T"" tube drainage in hepatic echinococcosis which ruptured into the common bile duct" / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective To investigate the double T tube drainage method in the treatment of hepatic echinococcosis which ruptured into the common bile duct.Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 86 patients who were treated surgically for hepatic echinococcosis which had ruptured into the common bile duct at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from June 2012 to December 2014.The average postoperative hospitalization,postoperative complications (residual cavity bile leakage and residual cavity effusion,residual cavity infection) and biliary complications of biliary tract infection were analyzed.Results Significant differences were found on the postoperative residual cavity complications in group A:(2,7.1％) when compared with Group B:(9,15.5 ％),and also on the postoperative hospitalization between the double T tube drainage group [group A:(7.1 ± 1.3) d] and the traditional T type tube decompression group [B group:(8.2 ± 1.5) d] (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The doubleT tube drainage in the treatment of hepatic echinococcosis which had ruptured into the common bile duct was simple,safe and effective.This treatment could completely cure residual cavity bile leakage,and it had the advantage of avoiding occurrence of common bile duct related complications caused by the traditional suture method for bile leakage.

Relationship between preoperative renal cortical thickness and glomerular filtration rate before and after minimally invasive surgery in patients with unilateral upper urinary tract obstruction / 中国内镜杂志

Objective To investigate the relationship between preoperative renal cortical thickness and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) before and after minimally invasive surgery in patients with unilateral upper urinary tract obstruction. Methods 63 patients with upper urinary tract obstruction from July 2015 to June 2016 were enrolled in the study, including 34 males and 29 females, age ranged from 22 to 73 years old (52.21 ± 11.56). Their operation methods included 24 cases of ureteroscopic lithotripsy and lithotomy, 21 cases with one-stage percutaneous nephrostomy + two-stage percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), 18 cases of PCNL. The abdominal enhanced CT and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were measured to RCT and GFR. Then all cases were divided into group A (moderate renal impairment, 15.0 ml/min ≤ GFR < 30 ml/min), group B (severe renal damage, 7.5 ml/min ≤ GFR <15.0 ml/min) and group C (extremely severe renal injury, GFR < 7.5 ml/min) according to preoperative renal GFR, and changes of GFR before and after surgery were compared among three groups. Simple linear correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between preoperative RCT and other indexes in group A and B. Results 9 patients were not measured RCT because of serious hydronephrosis, 54 patients included 20 cases of RCT >10 mm, 23 cases of 5 ～ 7 mm and 11 cases of <5 mm, and the average value was (10.75 ± 4.91) mm. The preoperative RCT in group A was significantly higher than that in group B (P < 0.05). GFR at 1 and 9 months after operation in three groups were significantly higher than that before operation in the same group (P < 0.05). GFR at 1 and 9 months after operation in group A were significantly higher than that the other two groups, and GFR at 9 months after operation in group B was significantly higher than that in group C (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in GFR at 1 month after operation between group B and C (P > 0.05). GFR recovery value at 1 month after operation in group B was significantly lower than that in other two groups (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in GFR at 9 months after operation among three groups (P > 0.05). Preoperative RCT was positively correlated with preoperative GFR (r = 0.613), GFR at 1 month after operation (r = 0.697) and the recovery value (r = 0.552), GFR at 9 months after operation ((r = 0.589) and recovery values (r = 0.488), and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion Removal of upper urinary tract obstruction could recover the renal function to varying degrees, even for patients with extremely severe renal injury, who could retrieve their kidney. Preoperative RCT could be helpful in judging the renal function during operation, especially for the postoperative recovery of renal function.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification assays for screening of bacterial integrons

BACKGROUND: The occurrence and prevalence of integrons in clinical microorganisms and their role played in antimicrobial resistance have been well studied recently. As screening and detection of integrons are concerned, current diagnostic methodologies are restricted by significant drawbacks and novel methods are required for integrons detection. RESULTS: In this study, three loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays targeting on class 1, 2 and 3 integrons were implemented and evaluated. Optimization of these detection assays were performed, including studing on the reaction temperature, volume, time, sensitivity and specificity (both primers and targets). Application of the established LAMP assays were further verified on a total of 1082 isolates (previously identified to be 397 integron-positive and 685 integron-negative strains). According to the results, the indispensability of each primer had been confirmed and the optimal reaction temperature, volume and time were found to be 65°C, 45 min and 25 µL, respectively. As application was concerned, 361, 28 and 8 isolates carrying intI1, intI2 and intI3 yielded positive amplicons, respectively. Other 685 integron-negative bacteria were negative for the integron-screening LAMP assays, totaling the detection rate and specificity to be 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The intI1-, intI2- and intI3-LAMP assays established in this study were demonstrated to be the valid and rapid detection methodologies for the screening of bacterial integrons.