Prevalence and risk factors for obstructive pulmonary dysfunction caused by silica dust exposure: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary dysfunction in workers exposed to silica dust and analyze its risk factors, so as to provide reference for the formulation of diagnostic criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by occupational dust. METHODS: Data collection and structured questionnaire were used to collect the data of 2064 workers exposed to silica dust who underwent health examination in Hunan Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Hospital and Yuanling Second People's Hospital from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction was analyzed and the risk factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (FEV1/FVC < 70%) was 2.3% in 2064 silica dust exposed workers. The prevalence of restrictive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (FVC/Pre < 80%) was 8.1%. The prevalence of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in the high level exposure group was higher than that in the low level exposure group, 8.2 vs0.9% (P < 0.05). The rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in female group was higher than that in male group (5.3% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.00). Workers with obstructive pulmonary dysfunction were older and worked longer than workers without obstructive pulmonary dysfunction, but there was no statistical difference. Multivariate regression analysis showed that high exposure level was a risk factor for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in silica dust exposed workers (P < 0.05). Females were the risk factors for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Silica dust exposure can cause obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction and lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. High level of exposure is a risk factor for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction. Women exposed to dust are more prone to obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction than men. Early diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by silica dust and timely intervention measures are very important to delay the decline of lung function and protect the health of workers.

Two new benzophenones from the moss Pogonatum spinulosum.

Two new benzophenone derivatives (1 and 2), named Pogonatone C and pogonatone D, were isolated from the moss Pogonatum spinulosum. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analyses. The cytotoxicity of compounds for HepG2, HCT-116, A-549 and PANC-1 cells line was also evaluated by using the MTT method. Pogonatone C (1) displays high cytotoxicity on PANC-1 cell with IC50 value of 9.2 µM.

Epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in Zhoushan City from 2004 to 2021 / 预防医学

Objective@#To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in Zhoushan City from 2004 to 2021, so as to provide insights into the prevention and control of public health emergencies. @*Methods @#Data pertaining to public health emergencies and their associated data in Zhoushan City from 2004 to 2021 were retrieved from Emergency Public Health Management Information System of Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System. The type, date of occurrence and places of public health emergencies were descriptively analyzed.@*Results@#Sixty public health emergencies were reported in Zhoushan City from 2004 to 2021, during which 1 527 cases were reported and 52 661 individuals were involved, with an attack rate of 2.90% (95%CI: 2.78%-3.02%). There were 3 Ⅲ-level (5.00%), 13 Ⅳ-level (21.67%) and 44 unclassified public health emergencies (73.33%), and no Ⅰ- or Ⅱ-level emergencies were reported. The reported public health emergencies peaked in January (9), August (6) and December (9), and there were 47 infectious disease emergencies (78.33%), 10 food poisoning emergencies (16.67%) and 3 chemical gas poisoning emergencies (5.00%), respectively. The four most common infectious disease emergencies included other infectious diarrhea (25.53%), COVID-19 (17.02%), influenza (14.89%) and chickenpox (14.89%). School and kindergarten were predominant places where public health emergencies occurred (39, 65.00%), and the three most common public health emergencies reported by schools and kindergartens included other infectious diarrhea (28.21%), influenza (17.95%) and chickenpox (17.95%).@*Conclusions@#Infectious disease emergencies were predominant public health emergencies in Zhoushan City from 2004 to 2021, and Ⅳ-level and unclassified emergencies were predominant. Public health emergencies mainly occurred in schools and kindergartens.

Effects of different early sedation levels on clinical outcomes of ICU patients with mechanical ventilation / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To investigate the current sedation level of patients with mechanical ventilation in ICU, and to explore the influence of early different sedation levels on clinical outcomes, so as to provide theoretical basis for better guidance of clinical sedation evaluation and implementation of sedation strategy management.Methods:This study was a retrospective longitudinal study. The 201 patients with invasive mechanical ventilation who underwent sedation in the Department of Intensive Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from January to December 2021 were selected by convenience sampling method. According to the results of Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale(RASS), the patients were divided into deep sedation group (98 cases) and shallow sedation group (103 cases). The influencing factors of endotracheal intubation retention time and outcome were investigated by Cox multifactor analysis.Results:In the early sedation ≤48 h after the start of mechanical ventilation, 63.2%(2 143/3 389) of patients with invasive mechanical ventilation had a RASS score of shallow sedation, 35.2%(1 194/3 389) of patients with deep sedation, and 1.5%(52/3 389) of patients with insufficient sedation. Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that age, sedation level, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and continuous renal replacement therapy were the factors influencing the indentation time of tracheal insertion ( χ2 values were 4.73 to 74.31, all P<0.05); early deep sedation was a risk factor for delayed extubation ( HR=0.499, 95% CI 0.276-0.903, P<0.05); gender, sedation level, invasive mechanical ventilation duration, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ scores, admission mode, continuous renal replacement therapywere the influencing factors of patient outcomes ( χ2 values were 4.41 to 26.20, all P<0.05). The deeper the sedation, the worse the patient outcomes ( HR=0.568, 95% CI 0.335-0.963 all P<0.05) . Conclusions:The early sedation level is related to the retention time and outcome of tracheal intubation in ICU patients with mechanical ventilation, and different sedation levels affect the clinical outcome of patients. The retention time of tracheal intubation in patients with shallow sedation was shortened, which was beneficial to the outcome of patients.Therefore, sedation evaluation should be strengthened in clinical work, and sedation methods should be selected according to the needs of patients. In the absence of contraindications, the shallow sedation strategy should be implemented as soon as possible. This study provides some reference and theoretical basis for the formulation and management of clinical sedation strategies.

Identifying COVID-19 phenotypes using cluster analysis and assessing their clinical outcomes

Multiple clinical phenotypes have been proposed for COVID-19, but few have stemmed from data-driven methods. We aimed to identify distinct phenotypes in patients admitted with COVID-19 using cluster analysis, and compare their respective characteristics and clinical outcomes. We analyzed the data from 547 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a Canadian academic hospital from January 1, 2020, to January 30, 2021. We compared four clustering algorithms: K-means, PAM (partition around medoids), divisive and agglomerative hierarchical clustering. We used imaging data and 34 clinical variables collected within the first 24 hours of admission to train our algorithm. We then conducted survival analysis to compare clinical outcomes across phenotypes and trained a classification and regression tree (CART) to facilitate phenotype interpretation and phenotype assignment. We identified three clinical phenotypes, with 61 patients (17%) in Cluster 1, 221 patients (40%) in Cluster 2 and 235 (43%) in Cluster 3. Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 were both characterized by a low-risk respiratory and inflammatory profile, but differed in terms of demographics. Compared with Cluster 3, Cluster 2 comprised older patients with more comorbidities. Cluster 1 represented the group with the most severe clinical presentation, as inferred by the highest rate of hypoxemia and the highest radiological burden. Mortality, mechanical ventilation and ICU admission risk were all significantly different across phenotypes. We conducted a phenotypic analysis of adult inpatients with COVID-19 and identified three distinct phenotypes associated with different clinical outcomes. Further research is needed to determine how to properly incorporate those phenotypes in the management of patients with COVID-19.

Research progress of long noncoding RNAs regulating human chondrocyte inflammatory signaling pathways in osteoarthritis / 中国药理学通报

Osteoarthritis is the commonest joint disease, but its etiology is still not clear.Recently the role of inflammation in its pathogenesis has been attached increasingly importance.Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) play a key role in regulating the occurrence and development of inflammation-related diseases.This artiele reviews the research progress of LncRNAs in regula ting the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis through various endochondral inflammation signaling pathways in recent years , exploring the application of LncRNAs as a potential therapeutic target in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis.

TRACKING AND PREDICTING COVID-19 RADIOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY USING DEEP LEARNING ON CHEST X-RAYS: INITIAL ACCURACY TESTING

BackgroundDecision scores and ethically mindful algorithms are being established to adjudicate mechanical ventilation in the context of potential resources shortage due to the current onslaught of COVID-19 cases. There is a need for a reproducible and objective method to provide quantitative information for those scores. PurposeTowards this goal, we present a retrospective study testing the ability of a deep learning algorithm at extracting features from chest x-rays (CXR) to track and predict radiological evolution. Materials and MethodsWe trained a repurposed deep learning algorithm on the CheXnet open dataset (224,316 chest X-ray images of 65,240 unique patients) to extract features that mapped to radiological labels. We collected CXRs of COVID-19-positive patients from two open-source datasets (last accessed on April 9, 2020)(Italian Society for Medical and Interventional Radiology and MILA). Data collected form 60 pairs of sequential CXRs from 40 COVID patients (mean age {+/-} standard deviation: 56 {+/-} 13 years; 23 men, 10 women, seven not reported) and were categorized in three categories: "Worse", "Stable", or "Improved" on the basis of radiological evolution ascertained from images and reports. Receiver operating characteristic analyses, Mann-Whitney tests were performed. ResultsOn patients from the CheXnet dataset, the area under ROC curves ranged from 0.71 to 0.93 for seven imaging features and one diagnosis. Deep learning features between "Worse" and "Improved" outcome categories were significantly different for three radiological signs and one diagnostic ("Consolidation", "Lung Lesion", "Pleural effusion" and "Pneumonia"; all P < 0.05). Features from the first CXR of each pair could correctly predict the outcome category between "Worse" and "Improved" cases with 82.7% accuracy. ConclusionCXR deep learning features show promise for classifying the disease trajectory. Once validated in studies incorporating clinical data and with larger sample sizes, this information may be considered to inform triage decisions.

Epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019（COVID-19）cases in Zhoushan / 预防医学

Objective @#To study the epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19） in Zhoushan, so as to provide reference for improving the prevention and control capability of COVID-19.@*Methods @#All the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Zhoushan, diagnosed according to China’s “COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment plan （fifth version） ” and reported from January 19 to February 17, 2020, were extracted from the infectious disease surveillance system. Data of general information, clinical characteristics, laboratory Results, transmission and detection routes were collected and analyzed. @*Results @#By February 17, Ten confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Zhoushan had been reported, including 7 males and 3 females. They were all adults, with an average age of （50.90±15.00） years. Five cases were discharged. The incubation period ranged from 2 to 12 days, with a median of 5 days. The first symptoms were fever （8 cases）, cough （7 cases） and muscle pain （2 cases）. Chest computed tomographic （CT） scans showed ground glass opacities in the lungs of all the cases. Six cases had Wuhan related exposure. SARS-CoV-2 was tested positive in the sputum specimens or throat swabs of all the cases and the faeces of 4 cases. The last suspicious exposure of 5 cases occurred before, and that of another 5 cases occurred after the onset of clinical symptoms in the confirmed maternal cases. Three cases were found in active consultation after clinical symptoms, and another 7 cases were found in the monitoring of close contacts.@*Conclusions @#The 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Zhoushan are all adults, and most have Wuhan related exposure. SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in the fecal samples, but the existence of fecal-oral transmission needs more research. SARS-CoV-2 has strong infectivity, and may also have infectivity before the onset of symptoms （at the end of incubation period）. Isolation and early detection of close contacts are conducive for early case-finding.

LI-RADS ancillary features on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography

The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) was created to standardize liver imaging in patients at high risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and it uses a diagnostic algorithm to assign categories that reflect the relative probability of HCC, non-HCC malignancies, or benign focal liver lesions. In addition to major imaging features, ancillary features (AFs) are used by radiologists to refine the categorization of liver nodules. In the present document, we discuss and explain the application of AFs currently defined within the LI-RADS guidelines. We also explore possible additional AFs visible on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS). Finally, we summarize the management of CEUS LI-RADS features, including the role of current and potential future AFs.

Comparison of international guidelines for noninvasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: 2018 update

The goal of this review is to present the similarities and differences among the latest guidelines for noninvasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS), Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), and Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center (KLCA-NCC) of Korea. In 2018, major guideline updates have been proposed by the AASLD, EASL and KLCA-NCC; AASLD newly incorporated LI-RADS into their HCC diagnostic algorithm. The AASLD and EASL guidelines now include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using hepatobiliary contrast media as a first-line diagnostic test in addition to dynamic computed tomography and MRI using extracellular contrast media and the KLCA-NCC and EASL guidelines also include contrast-enhanced ultrasound as a second-line diagnostic test. We will comprehensively review the HCC surveillance and diagnostic algorithms and compare and highlight key features for each guideline. We also address limitations of current systems for the noninvasive diagnosis of HCC.

A study on the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in Zhoushan City / 预防医学

Objective To learn the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome(SFTS)in Zhoushan City from 2011 to 2015. Methods The descriptive epidemiological analysis was used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and a case - control study was applied to analyze the risk factors. Results A total of 95 SFTS cases including 9 dead cases were reported in Zhoushan City from 2011 to 2015. All of the 4 counties had cases reported,and the county with the highest reported rate was Daishan(91. 58% ). SFTS was seasonal obviously and the epidemic peak presented from May to July. The range of age for these SFTS cases was 40 to 88 years old,and over 50 years old were accounted for 92. 53% . The sex ratio of male to female was 1∶ 1. 88,and the incidence density of SFTS in female was significantly higher than male(P ﹤ 0. 01). The main occupation were domestic unemployed(43. 16% )and farmers(35. 79% ). While using multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis to filter the influencing factors,only working in the fields/ vegetable plots(OR = 2. 542,95% CI:1. 364 - 5. 621)and the outdoor sanitation(OR = 2. 873,95%CI:1. 462 - 5. 025)entered the final model. Conclusion The incidence of SFTS was mainly sporadic in Zhoushan City from 2011 to 2015 ,having obvious regional aggregation . The popular seasons were spring and summer . Working in the fields/ vegetable plots and the poor outdoor sanitation could be the risk factors of SFTS.

Bushen Daozhuo Granules for type Ⅲ prostatitis: A multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To study the safety and efficacy of Bushen Daozhuo Granules (BDG) in the treatment of type Ⅲ prostatitis.@*METHODS@#This multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial included 478 patients with type Ⅲ prostatitis, 290 in the trial group and 188 as controls, the former treated with BDG at 200 ml bid and the latter with tamsulosin hydrochloride sustainedrelease capsules at 0.2 mg qd, both for 4 weeks. Before treatment, after 4 weeks of medication, and at 4 weeks after drug withdrawal, we obtained the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIHCPSI) scores and compared the safety and effectiveness rate between the two groups of patients.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the baseline, the NIHCPSI score was markedly decreased in the control group after 4 weeks of medication (21.42 ± 4.02 vs 15.67 ± 3.65, P 0.05), while the NIHCPSI score in the trial group was remarkably lower than the baseline both after 4 weeks of medication and at 4 weeks after drug withdrawal (10.92 ± 2.06 and 12.91 ± 2.64 vs 21.58 ± 3.67, P < 0.05). The trial group exhibited both a higher rate of total effectiveness and safety than the control (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#BDG is safe and effective for the treatment of type Ⅲ prostatitis.

A review on the epidemiologic features of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome / 中华流行病学杂志

Severe fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging hemorrhagic fever disease in the rural areas of east-central China,which is caused by SFTSV-a newly discovered bunyavirus.SFTSV is most likely transmitted by tick bites but can also be transmitted within human beings.The onset of SFTS is sudden and with rapid progress,with main clinical manifestations as fever,thrombocytopenia,leucopenia and gastrointestinal and hepatorenal dysfunctions.Some patients may die from multiple organ failure,and the case fatality rate is approximately 10％.In this paper,we use the method of literature review to summarize the recent research progress of SFTS which includes the epidemic distribution characteristics,medium of transmission,host animals,transmission routes and susceptibility in the general population.

A review on the epidemiologic features of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome / 中华流行病学杂志

Severe fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging hemorrhagic fever disease in the rural areas of east-central China,which is caused by SFTSV-a newly discovered bunyavirus.SFTSV is most likely transmitted by tick bites but can also be transmitted within human beings.The onset of SFTS is sudden and with rapid progress,with main clinical manifestations as fever,thrombocytopenia,leucopenia and gastrointestinal and hepatorenal dysfunctions.Some patients may die from multiple organ failure,and the case fatality rate is approximately 10％.In this paper,we use the method of literature review to summarize the recent research progress of SFTS which includes the epidemic distribution characteristics,medium of transmission,host animals,transmission routes and susceptibility in the general population.

Comparison of clinical features between radiological isolated syndrome and classical multiplesclerosis / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective To compare the clinical features between radiological isolated syndrome (RIS) and classical multiple sclerosis (CMS), in order to improve the understanding of the RIS. Methods All 35 patients with RIS and 32 patients with CMS were selected. The epidemiological and clinical findings, cerebrospinal fluid, neural electrophysiological examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were analyzed. Results There were no statistical differences in sex ratio and onset age between RIS patients and CMS patients (P>0.05). The main symptoms of in patients with RIS were headache (45.7%, 16/35), dizziness (40.0%, 14/35), hypomnesis (20.0%, 7/35) and psychiatric disorders (11.4%, 4/35). But the main symptoms of in patients with CMS were limb weakness (75.0%, 24/32), sensory abnormalities (68.8%, 22/32) and ocular symptoms (34.4%,11/32). The incidences of limb weakness, sensory abnormalities and ocular symptoms in patients with CMS were significantly higher than those in patients with RIS:75.0%(24/32) vs. 0, 68.8%(22/32) vs. 0 and 34.4%(11/32) vs. 0, and there were statistical differences (P0.05). The cerebrospinal fluid protein and the incidences of IgG index>0.7 in patients with RIS were significantly lower than those in patients with CMS:0.175 (0.03-0.69) g/L vs. 0.440 (0.04-1.09) g/L and 3/18 vs. 47.6%(10/21), and there were statistical differences (P0.05). On MRI, the demyelinating lesions of RIS and CMS were both mainly distributed in the periventricular, semi-oval center, infratentorial white matter, partly involving corpus callosum or cortical. The rates of demyelinating lesions in brainstem and cerebellum in patients with RIS were significantly lower than those in patients with CMS:5.7%(2/35) vs. 34.4% (11/32) and 2.9% (1/35) vs. 25.0% (8/32), and there were statistical differences (P<0.01 or <0.05). Comparison with CMS lesions, RIS lesions mainly showed patching and stippled, and there were statistical differences (P<0.01 or <0.05). The rates of lesions enhancement and spinal cord injury in patients with RIS were significantly lower than those in patients with CMS: 2/17 vs. 45.0% (9/20) and 1/14 vs. 43.5% (10/23), and there were statistical differences (P<0.05). Conclusions There are differences in clinical findings, cerebrospinal fluid, neural electrophysiological examination and MRI appearances between RIS and CMS.

Is vaginal mucosal graft the excellent substitute material for urethral reconstruction in female-to-male transsexuals?

PURPOSE: Construction of a neourethra is always considered to be a difficult part in phalloplasty, especially for the female-to-male (FTM) transsexual patients. We report our experience with prefabricated pars pendulans urethrae using vaginal mucosal graft for phalloplasty in FTM transsexuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed notes on the 22 FTM patients treated with pedicled-flap phalloplasty with prefabricated pars pendulans urethrae using vaginal mucosal graft between January 2008 and December 2012. Surgical outcome, urological function, and complications were recorded. Histological difference between normal mucosa and skin, and pathological changes of vaginal mucosal graft were also observed. RESULTS: All the reconstructive penis survived, and patients could void in a standing position finally at a median follow-up of 25.4 ± 6.0 months. Urethral fistula and urethral stricture rates were 31.8 % (7/22 patients) and 4.5 % (1/22 patients), respectively. The occurrence of the urethral stricture was remarkably low compared with previous reports. Our histological results also showed a pronounced similarity between vaginal and buccal mucosa. Morphologically, they resembled urethral epithelium more closely than the forearm skin. Following the free transfer, the vaginal mucosal graft also showed a good revascularization and the inflammatory reaction and the extent of fibrosis of the mucosa decreased to the normal level after a 6-month prefabrication. CONCLUSION: With prefabrication of vaginal mucosal graft, we reconstruct a competent phallic neourethra in these FTM transsexuals. According to its histological similarities and source character, the vaginal mucosa is the excellent substitute material for promising urethral reconstruction in FTM transsexuals.

Anti-tumor metastatic constituents from Rhodiola wallichiana / 中国中药杂志

To study the anti-tumor metastatic constituents in Rhodiola wallichiana (HK) S H Fu var Cholaensis (Praeg) S H Fu, chemical constituents were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatography (silica gel, Toyopearl HW-40C and preparative HPLC). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral data analysis. The anti-tumor metastasis assay was applied to evaluate the activities of the isolated compounds. Ten compounds (1-10) were isolated and their structures were identified by comparison of their spectral data with literature as follows: syringic acid (1), salidroside (2), tyrosol (3), scaphopetalone (4), berchemol (5), 2,6-dimethoxyacetophenone (6), rhobupcyanoside A (7), miyaginin (8), chavicol-4-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 --> 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (9), eugenyol-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 --> 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10). Compounds 4-6 and 8-10, were isolated from this genus for the first time, while compound 7 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 2, 6-8 showed positive anti-tumor metastatic activities, and compounds 2 and 8 showed significant anti-tumor metastatic activities.

Architectural properties of the neuromuscular compartments in selected forearm skeletal muscles.

The purposes f this study were to (i) explore the possibility of splitting the selected forearm muscles into separate compartments in human subjects; (ii) quantify the architectural properties of each neuromuscular compartment; and (iii) discuss the implication of these properties in split tendon transfer procedures. Twenty upper limbs from 10 fresh human cadavers were used in this study. Ten limbs of five cadavers were used for intramuscular nerve study by modified Sihler's staining technique, which confirmed the neuromuscular compartments. The other 10 limbs were included for architectural analysis of neuromuscular compartments. The architectural features of the compartments including muscle weight, muscle length, fiber length, pennation angle, and sarcomere length were determined. Physiological cross-sectional area and fiber length/muscle length ratio were calculated. Five of the selected forearm muscles were ideal candidates for splitting, including flexor carpi ulnaris, flexor carpi radials, extensor carpi radialis brevis, extensor carpi ulnaris and pronator teres. The humeral head of pronator teres contained the longest fiber length (6.23 ± 0.31 cm), and the radial compartment of extensor carpi ulnaris contained the shortest (2.90 ± 0.28 cm). The ulnar compartment of flexor carpi ulnaris had the largest physiological cross-sectional area (5.17 ± 0.59 cm(2)), and the ulnar head of pronator teres had the smallest (0.67 ± 0.06 cm(2)). Fiber length/muscle length ratios of the neuromuscular compartments were relatively low (average 0.27 ± 0.09, range 0.18-0.39) except for the ulnar head of pronator teres, which had the highest one (0.72 ± 0.05). Using modified Sihler's technique, this research demonstrated that each compartment of these selected forearm muscles has its own neurovascular supply after being split along its central tendon. Data of the architectural properties of each neuromuscular compartment provide insight into the 'design' of their functional capability. In addition to improving our understanding of muscle anatomy and function, elucidation of forearm neuromuscular compartments architecture may ultimately provide information useful for selection of muscle subdivisions used in tendon transfer.

Anti-inflammatory constituents from Inula japonica / 中国中药杂志

Chemical constituents of Inula japonica were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatographies, over silica gel, and Toyopearl HW-40, and preparative HPLC. On the basis of spectral data analysis, including NMR and MS data, the structures of the isolates were elucidated and their anti-inflammatory activities were assayed. Fifteen compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of I. japonica, and their structures were elucidated as dihydrosyringenin (1), (3S, 5R, 6S, 7E)-5,6-epoxy-3-hydroxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (2), (6R, 7E) -9-hydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one (3), arnidiol (4), taraxasterol acetate (5), 8,9,10-trihydroxythymol (6), taxifolin (7), luteolin (8), napetin (9), eupatin (10), spinacetin (11), quercetin (12), p-hydroxycinnamic acid (13), caffeic acid (14), and caffeoyl acetate (15). Compounds 1, 2, 7, 13 and 15 were isolated from the genus Inula for the first time, and compounds 3, 4, 9-11 and 14 were isolated from this plant for the first time. The anti-inflammatory activity result showed that compounds 3, 6-12 and 14 exhibited inhibition effect against leukotriene C4 (LTC4) synthesis and degranulation definitely in c-Kit Ligand (KL) induced mast cells, and compound 8 and 12 also had the suppression effect against lipopolysacharide(LPS) induced nitric oxide (NO) activity in RAW264.7 macrophages. It is firstly reported that compounds 7 and 9-11 possessed potent inhibition activities against LTC4 generation and degranulation in mast cells.