Mathematical modeling for selecting center locations for medical and health supplies reserve in Hainan Province

OBJECTIVE@#To explore how to choose the center locations to build the medical and health supplies reserve among many island towns.@*METHODS@#The center locations were selected from 18 towns Hainan Province, it's maximum service range (distance) was required to reach the minimum, or to minimize.@*RESULTS@#Three scenarios were considered, the center locations included only one town, two towns, three towns. By the use of graph theory and MATLAB programming, a mathematical model was established to obtain the shortest distance and the shortest path between arbitrary two towns.@*CONCLUSIONS@#We find out the center sites under certain conditions, and determine the specific service ranges of the center sites.

Study of the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus by proton MR spectroscopy in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the characteristics of metabolic changes in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder through 1H-MRS in neuroanatomical circuit comparing with age-matches controls.@*METHODS@#Fifty patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and 50 gender-and age-matched normal controls were involved. The neurochemical abnormalities including the levels of choline (Cho)/creatine(Cr) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Cr were measured respectively in hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus with three-dimension 1H-proton spectroscopy(3D 1H-MRS).@*RESULTS@#The values of NAA/Cr ratios in hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus were significant lower in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder(1.71±0.32, left 1.58±0.29, right 1.55±0.31) than that in controls(2.24±0.41, left 1.98±0.27, right 2.02±0.36)(P<0.05), but the values of Cho/Cr in hippocampus(left 1.64±0.23, right 1.66±0.34) were no significant with that of controls (left 1.48±0.29, right 1.54±0.38). Values of Cho/Cr in cingulate gyrus were significant higher in post-traumatic stress disorder patients (1.88±0.44) than that in controls (1.37.±0.32) (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The results indicate some special neurochemical and histological structure changes in post-traumatic stress disorder patients, which might occurre earlier in anterior cingulate gyrusthe than in hippocampus.

Coccygectomy for stubborn coccydynia / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the preliminary clinical outcomes of coccygectomy in patients with coccydynia after a failure of conservative treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From May 2002 to January 2010, 31 patients with coccydynia were treated by coccygectomy in our department after conservative measures had failed to produce significant relief. A questionnaire, which included the extent of relief in the painful area, improvement in quality of life, intensity of pain in the sitting position, and pain score during daily activities, was used to evaluate the results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All patients were followed up for 1 to 6 years (mean 3.3 years). The results were excellent in 20 patients (64.5%), good in 7 patients (22.6%), moderate in 3 patients (9.7%) and poor in 1 patient (3.2%). The excellent and good rates amounted to 87.1%. All patients except one had complete resolution of their symptoms and were subjectively highly satisfied with the outcomes of the surgery. Only 2 cases of superficial infection were observed postoperatively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Coccygectomy is a feasible management option for patients with coccygodynia that has no response to conservative treatments.</p>