Recovery of motor function in rats with complete spinal cord injury following implantation of collagen/silk fibroin scaffold combined with human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the effect of the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds seeded with human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells on functional recovery after acute complete spinal cord injury. METHODS: The fibroin and collagen were mixed (mass ratio, 3:7), and the composite scaffolds were produced. Forty rats were randomly divided into the Sham group (without spinal cord injury), spinal cord injury group (spinal cord transection without any implantation), collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds group (spinal cord transection with implantation of the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds), and collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds + human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells group (spinal cord transection with the implantation of the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds co-cultured with human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells). Motor evoked potential, Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scale, modified Bielschowsky's silver staining, and immunofluorescence staining were performed. RESULTS: The BBB scores in the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds + human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells group were significantly higher than those in the spinal cord injury and collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds groups (p<0.05 or p<0.01). The amplitude and latency were markedly improved in the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds + human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells group compared with the spinal cord injury and collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds groups (p<0.05 or p<0.01). Meanwhile, compared to the spinal cord injury and collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds groups, more neurofilament positive nerve fiber ensheathed by myelin basic protein positive structure at the injury site were observed in the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds + human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells group (p<0.01, p<0.05). The results of Bielschowsky's silver staining indicated more nerve fibers was observed at the lesion site in the collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds + human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells group compared with the spinal cord injury and collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds groups (p<0.01, p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the transplantation of human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells on a collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds could promote nerve regeneration, and recovery of neurological function after acute spinal cord injury.

A comparative study on the construction of medical teams in public primary and secondary schools after multi-channel distribution mode in Guangzhou / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the situation of school medical staff in Guangzhou after adopting multichannel medical model, and to provide reference for school medical team construction.@*Methods@#A total of 1 099 primary and secondary schools in Guangzhou participated in this study through questionnaire survey regarding school medical personnel, basic situation of school medical personnel and work situation.@*Results@#Among the 1 099 primary and secondary schools surveyed, 638(58.05%) of them consisted of 707 full-time school doctors, the eligible rate was 28.20%. The recruitment of school doctors was still based on independent recruitment(55.87%), and 44.13% of the purchase service modes (community deployment, hospital purchase services, and school clinic custody) were deployed. Most of school medical professionals majored in nursing(56.86%), followed by clinical medicine (26.03%) and preventive medicine (9.76%); In terms of professional titles, junior, intermediate and senior certificates accounted for 52.47%, 37.34%, and 1.27%, respectively; More than 68.74% of school doctors worked for less than 5 years; On average, 68.60% of training were provided every six months. About 33.95% of the school doctor were satisfied with salary, 20.79% were not satisfied. Compared with the year 2016, no significant changes were noticed in academic qualifications, professional titles, and working conditions of school medical team, however, increased proportion of staffs with nursing certificate instead of clinical medicine certificate increased, workload and satisfaction towards salary decreased(P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#After adopting the multi-channel deployment model, the construction of school health workforce in Guangzhou has made breakthrough progress. It is proposed to improve the guidelines for the standardization of school doctors, to strengthen the professional skills training of school doctors, and to better improve the overall level of school health work in the city.

Design of a universal robot system for health monitoring and medical services / 中国医疗器械杂志

An autonomous robot system that is able to provide real time health monitoring and simple medical services is realized in this design. The system applies multiple sensors to monitor ordinary healthcare parameters, which is then transmitted via ZigBee network. In case of emergency, real time medicine delivery service is provided by the robot, applying a novel Received Signal Strength (RSS) based location method in ZigBee network. The system combines healthcare monitoring, data transmission and real time location into several portable wireless nodes, with the advantage of cost effectiveness, low power and easiness for configuration. Field tests under indoor environment have proved the stability and practicability of this design.