Transitional ankle fracture management using a new joystick technique.

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility and short-term clinical efficacy of the arthrography-assisted joystick technique for the treatment of adolescent transitional ankle fracture. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in 10 adolescent transitional ankle fracture patients treated with the arthrography-assisted joystick technology. There were 7 male patients and 3 female patients with a mean age of 12.80 ± 1.81 years (range: 10-16 years). All cases were closed fractures, and the operation was performed after the failure of manual reduction [X-ray or computed tomography (CT) showed that the fracture gap was > 2 mm]. After the operation, X-ray or CT examination was performed to assess reduction of the fracture. Ankle function and fracture healing were evaluated by assessing the imaging indexes and evaluating the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle score system. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for an average period of 12.00 ± 3.40 months (range: 8-20 months). The operation time was 40.50 ± 16.90 min (range: 25-80 min), the number of intraoperative fluoroscopy sessions was 18.70 ± 5.91 (range: 10-30 sessions), and the intraoperative blood loss was 5.90 ± 3.38 ml (range: 2-10 ml). X-ray examination showed that all cases achieved bone healing. The fracture healing time was 11.00 ± 2.45 weeks (range: 8-16 weeks). Four cases showed early closure of the epiphysis. The AOFAS scoring system evaluation results of these 10 pediatric cases were excellent. CONCLUSION: The arthrography-assisted joystick technique for the treatment of adolescent transitional ankle fracture offers advantages, such as minimal trauma, simple operation, ideal reduction effect, and the recent curative effect is satisfactory.

NLRP3 mediates trophoblastic inflammasome activation and protects against Listeria monocytogenes infection during pregnancy.

Background: Intrauterine Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) infections pose a major threat during pregnancy via affecting placental immune responses. However, the underlying mechanisms of placental defense against this pathogen remain ill-defined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the function and the mechanism of inflammasomes on against L. monocytogenes infection during pregnancy. Methods: A listeriosis murine model and cell culture system was used to investigate the role of trophoblastic nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) in orchestrating innate immune responses to L. monocytogenes infection. Caspase-1 activity was determined using a caspase-1 activity colorimetric kit. NLRP3 and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) in placental tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. NLRP3 in HTR-8/SVneo cells was also detected by immunofluorescence. The expression of interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 was detected by Western blot. We characterized the NLRP3 inflammasome in trophoblast cells according to whether L. monocytogenes infection increased the activation of caspase-1 and the release of IL-1ß. For human or mouse IL-1ß in the culture supernatants and mouse tissue lysates were analyzed using ELISA Kits. Results: Trophoblast cells constitutively expressed the components of the NLRP3 inflammasome. In vitro, L. monocytogenes triggers NLRP3 inflammasome activation in trophoblast cells by inducing caspase-1 activation, increasing the NLRP3 protein levels, IL-1ß maturation and secretion in HTR-8/SVneo cells. In vivo, L. monocytogenes induces fetal resorption and IL-1ß processing in pregnant mice. In addition, NLRP3-deficient mice were more prone to fetal loss than their wild-type counterparts following infection with L. monocytogenes at a lower infective dose. Conclusions: We conclude that trophoblast cells respond to L. monocytogenes infection through the NLRP3 receptor, resulting in inflammasome activation and IL-1ß production, which prevents listeriosis during pregnancy.

[Cytogenetic and molecular characterization of partial trisomy 4q and partial monosomy 10q in a patient].

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the karyotype of a girl with moderate mental retardation and growth retardation, perform correlation analysis between chromosomal variation and phenotype, and investigate the application and superiority of array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) in clinical cytogenetic diagnosis. METHODS: G-banded chromosome analysis, array-CGH, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) were used to ascertain the karyotype of the patient and her relatives. RESULTS: G-banding analysis of the patient showed a derivative chromosome 10 with an extra fragment on its long arm terminal, both her father and grandmother had an apparently balanced translocation t(4;10)(q25;q26). Array-CGH revealed that the breakpoint on chromosome 4 was located at 4q26. In addition, a microdeletion of about 0.54 Mb del(10)(q26.3) was identified from the patient. FISH and RQ-PCR confirmed that the del(10)(q26.3) was also present in both her father and grandmother. CONCLUSION: No recognizable phenotype was associated with del(10)(q26.3). The abnormal phenotypes presented in the patient may be ascribed to the 4q26-q35.2 triplication. Further more, compared with conventional cytogenetic analysis, array-CGH is of high resolution and high accuracy.

[Synthesis of PANI/TiO3 nanorods composites by reverse micelle template and their properties].

PANI/TiO2 nano-composites with different amount of nanometer TiOz were synthesized by using reverse micelle formed from cationic surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template. The structure and properties of PANI/TiO2 nano-composites were investigated by FTIR, UV-Vis, TG, TEM and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The self-assembly mechanism of PANI/TiO2 nanorods composites in reversed micelle was discussed briefly. The results indicate that the synthesized nano-composites are PANI/TiO2 nanorods with an average diameter and length around 30-40 nm and 400 nm respectively. The infrared spectrum shows that a strong interaction exists between PANI and TiO2 nano-particles. The thermal stability of PANI/TiO2 nanorods improves with the contents of TiO2 increasing. The absorption of PANI/TiO2 nano-composites was found to be very intense in the range of violet and visible light by UV-Vis spectrum. The fluorescence of PANI/TiO2 nanorods was excited at 416 nm, and the intensity of fluorescence was strengthened greatly with increasing TiO2 concentration. The mechanism of the strengthened fluorescence quantum efficiency and fluorescence intensity of PANI/TiO2 was investigated through the charge transfer and exciton dissociation in PANI/TiO2 nanorods composites.

[Identification of a novel candidate gene KLRC1 within the putative susceptibility locus for systemic lupus erythematosus at 12p12.3-13.2 in a Chinese cohort].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the candidate genes within the putative susceptibility locus for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at 12p12.3-13.2. METHODS: KLRC1 was selected as the candidate gene according to the results of previous gene chip studies. TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR was performed for detecting KLRC1 mRNA expression in 55 SLE patients and 30 controls. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: KLRC1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the mononuclear cells and T cells of SLE patients than in the healthy controls (P<0.01), but showed no significant difference in the B cells. No obvious correlation was found between the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and KLRC1expression level, suggesting that KLRC1 can be a probable candidate gene for SLE on 12p12.3-13.2, but which is not associated with the disease activity.