Application of Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera, Calliphoridae) to Postmortem Interval Estimation in Southwest China: A Case Report / 法医学杂志

Insect samples found on human corpses can provide the information important to estimating the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin). A female cadaver, found in a deserted factory in Chongqing of China, was confirmed as a homicide case after the forensic investigation and autopsy. Determining the time of death was difficult due to the inconsistent degree of decomposition in different parts of the decedent. The insect specimens found on the cadaver were identified to be Chrysomya rufifacies (C. rufifacies, Macquart) by morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. The PMImin was estimated to be 452 h, based on the developmental rate of C. rufifacies. The PMImin was estimated suc-cessfully to be almost precise, which provided an important entomological evidence for case investiga-tion and suspect prosecution. In so doing, this highlights the usefulness of entomological evidence of specific species in the geographic area for PMI accurate estimation, especially in the case of advanceddecomposed corpses.

Development of Dermestes Maculatus at a Constant Temperature and Its Larval Instar Determination / 法医学杂志

Objective To establish the basic data for estimating minimum postmortem interval （PMImin） of heavily decayed and skeletonized remains by studying the development of Dermestes maculatus DeGeer （Coleoptera: Dermestidae）. Methods The developmental stages of Dermestes maculatus were observed at four constant temperatures of 20 ℃, 24 ℃, 28 ℃ and 32 ℃, and the changes in body length were also examined as the biological indicator to estimate larval day-age and instar. Results The total developmental time from egg to adult at 20 ℃, 24 ℃, 28 ℃ and 32 ℃ were （126.7±10.6） d, （69.4±8.2） d, （50.4±8.4） d and （49.6±6.5） d, respectively. The body length increased gradually, but changed irregularly as a whole. Conclusion The study provides basic data on the development and growth of Dermestes maculatus, especially on its developmental duration as a significant value for estimating PMImin of heavily decayed and skeletonized remains. Nevertheless, the change of body length is not found to be the best biological indicator for instar determination.

Value of Red Blood Cell Distribution Width and Fibrinogen Level for Evaluation of the Therapeutic Efficacy and Prognosis in Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the value of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and fibrinogen (Fib) level for the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and prognosis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).@*METHODS@#The relationship between RDW/Fib at initial diagnosis and efficacy and the clinical outcome was retro-spectively analyzed based on the study of 105 patients with DLBCL. The patients were divided into two groups: low RDW group (≤15%) and high RDW group (>15%), low Fib group (Fib≤4 g/L) and high Fib group (Fib>4 g/L) according to the normal values of RDW and Fib. Therapeutic efficacy, overall survival (OS) time and progression free survival (PFS) time were compared between two groups. The correlation between each factors and efficacy, prognosis was analyzed by univariate and multivariate regression.@*RESULTS@#The therapeutic efficacy (P<0.001), OS time(P=0.004), and PFS time(P=0.007) were poorer in the high RDW group as compared with the low RDW group. The efficacy (P=0.015) and PFS time(P=0.04) were poorer in the high Fib group as compared with the low Fib group. Multivariate analysis showed that high RDW was the independent risk factor for efficacy of DLBCL patients (OR=3.394, 95% CI 1.093-10.539, P=0.035).@*CONCLUSION@#High RDW and high Fib associate with poor efficacy in DLBCL patients.

Limited open reduction and intramedullary fixation for the treatment of refractory femoral subtrochanteric fractures / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the surgical technique and clinical effect of limited open reduction and intramedullary fixation assisted with orthopedic traction bed for the treatment of femoral subtrochanteric fractures.@*METHODS@#From July 2015 to October 2017, 12 patients with femoral subtrochanteric fractures were treated including 9 males and 3 females with an average age of 44 years old ranging from 33 to 67 years old. Among them, 10 cases were on the left trochanter and 2 on the right, and there were 8 cases of highly fall injury and 4 cases of traffic accident injury. All patients received operation at 2 to 5 days after injury. According to the Seinsheimer classification, 8 cases were type IIIA, 2 were type IIIB and 2 were type IV, and all cases were closed injury. The patients were placed on the orthopedic traction bed for trial closed reduction to maintain proper traction before operation. Under C-arm X-ray fluoroscopy, it was advisable to take the fracture end of the main bone block without obvious shortening and shifting. Then limited incision and lengthened InterTan intramedullary nailing were performed, and the Sanders traumatic hip score was used to evaluate the postoperative efficacy.@*RESULTS@#All 12 patients were followed up from 6 to 24 months with an average of 12 months. All cases were received bone healing at 3 to 6 months with an average time of 4 months. According to the Sanders grades, the results were excellent in 9 cases, good in 2 cases and medium in 1 case. Infection, breakage of internal fixation loosening and adverse complications such as malunion were not appeared in all the cases.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Limited open reduction assisted with traction bed can be effective to solve the problem of the intraoperative reduction in the complex subtrochanteric fractures, which could save operation time and decrease bleeding. Combined with intramedullary fixation, this method could acquire good counterpoint and stability for the fracture end, and provide a method for the treatment of refractory subtrochanteric fractures.

Radiotherapy of unicentric mediastinal Castleman's disease / 癌症

Castleman's disease is a slowly progressive and rare lymphoproliferative disorder. Here, we report a 55-year-old woman with superior mediastinal Castleman's disease being misdiagnosed for a long term. We found a 4.3 cm mass localized in the superior mediastinum accompanied with severe clinical symptoms. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy, but the mass failed to be totally excised. Pathologic examination revealed a mediastinal mass of Castleman's disease. After radiotherapy of 30 Gy by 15 fractions, the patient no longer presented previous symptoms. At 3 months after radiotherapy of 60 Gy by 30 fractions, Computed tomography of the chest showed significantly smaller mass, indicating partial remission. Upon a 10-month follow-up, the patient was alive and free of symptoms.

Role of minocycline in an immature rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a model of immature rat hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) which was expected to be similar to periventricular leukomalacia in human preterm infants pathologically and neuroethologically, and to investigate the role of minocycline (MN) in this model.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Totally 192 Sprague-Dawley rats (postnatal day 2, P(2)), of either sex, were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal-group, sham operation group, HIBD-group, HIBD + MN group, each group had 48 rats. HIBD group and HIBD + MN group survived the left common carotid artery (CCA) ligation followed by 4h exposure to 8% O(2). Rats in sham operation group only survived the left CCA isolation. Rats in normal group were not treated with anything. In HIBD + MN group, the rats were treated with intraperitoneal injection of minocycline 45 mg/kg, immediately after HI and every 24 h for 2 days. Brain tissues were collected on day 3, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks after HI, for hematoxylin-eosin staining and histological scoring. Frozen sections of the brains were stained with anti-O4, anti-O1 immunohistochemistry on day 3 after HI, and MBP immunohistochemistry 2 weeks after HI. Rats in the four groups underwent neuroethologic examination 4 weeks after HI.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In the HIBD group, there were pathological changes in the periventricular white matter. The pathological changes were milder in HIBD + MN group; There was no statistically significant difference between the normal group and HIBD + MN group in the number of positively stained O4 cell (P > 0.05). The number of positively stained O4 cell in the HIBD group was significantly reduced, compared with that of normal group, sham operation group, and HIBD + MN group (23.67 ± 12.00 vs. 52.89 ± 10.68, 39.28 ± 11.78, 41.63 ± 8.41, P < 0.05). The differences in the number of positively stained O1 cell among the normal group, sham operation group, HIBD group and HIBD + MN group had no statistical significance (P = 0.093). The numbers of myelin basic protein (MBP) positively immunostained fiber bundles in the HIBD + MN group were significantly less than that of the normal group and sham operation group (P < 0.05). The numbers of MBP positively immunostained fiber bundles in the HIBD group were significantly less than that of the normal group, sham operation group, and HIBD + MN group (14.71 ± 7.42 vs. 36.67 ± 6.50, 35.50 ± 3.24, 26.33 ± 5.92, P < 0.05). The HIBD group had long-term neuroethologic abnormality. There was no statistically significant difference in the inclined plane test, hanging test and cylinder test among the HIBD + MN group, normal group, and sham operation group (P > 0.05). The scores of the HIBD group had statistical significantly among the normal group, sham operation group and HIBD + MN group (P < 0.05). In the open field test, there was no statistically significant difference between the HIBD group and HIBD + MN group (P = 0.772), but there was significant difference between these two groups and the normal group, sham operation group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Minocycline protects the pre-oligodendrocyte and has protective effects in terms of long-term neuroethology.</p>