Urodynamic study of bladder function for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis treated by surgical decompression.

Lumbar spinal stenosis usually leads to different degrees of nerve damage, presenting with back and leg pain, and/or neurogenic bladder symptoms. To determine whether lumbar decompression improved urological function, bladder dysfunction was evaluated in this retrospective study of 26 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who had undergone lumbar decompression surgery. Urodynamic study procedures were performed pre-operatively and 6 months post-operatively. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score rating system and Oswestry Disability Index were employed for clinical evaluation. Following surgery, post-voiding residual urine, maximum cystometric capacity and maximum flow rate improved significantly. There was no statistically significant improvement in voided volume, bladder compliance, maximum detrusor pressure or upper urinary tract damage. Urodynamic study was important in the diagnosis of neurogenic bladder dysfunction, prevention of renal deterioration and assessment of post-operative effects after surgical decompression for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

B-mode ultrasonographic evaluation of the testis in relation to serum testosterone concentration in male Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) during the breeding season.

The use of ultrasonography as a noninvasive tool for assessing the reproductive status of the male Yangtze finless porpoise (YFP; Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) was validated by correlating ultrasonographically determined testicular volume (TV) and testicular parenchyma pixel intensity (PI) with serum testosterone (T) concentration. The testes of 13 free-ranging male YFPs from the Tian-e-Zhou Reserve and three captive animals from the Baiji Dolphinarium (Wuhan, China) were examined ultrasonographically during April 2008. Testis volume was determined using Lambert's formula for an ellipsoid. Testicular parenchyma PI was evaluated by analyzing testicular ultrasonograms using pixel analysis software (Image J). Serum T concentrations were determined using a single-antibody radioimmunoassay. The TV, PI, and serum T concentration were low and similar in animals with body length <133 cm, highest in those with body length >or=142 cm, and highly variable in those with body length from 133 to 141 cm. Both TV and PI were closely correlated with serum T concentration (r=0.91 and r=0.85, respectively; P<0.01), indicating a consistent association between structural and functional development of the testis. In conclusion, we inferred that puberty onset in male YFPs occurred when TV was >150 cm(3) and PI was >60 during the breeding season and that testicular ultrasonography and pixel analysis was an efficient, noninvasive, real-time tool to evaluate testicular function of live male YFPs.

Effects of the silanized mica surface on protein crystallization.

A freshly cleaved mica surface silanized by 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane is flat over a large area, displays a controlled degree of hydrophobicity and contains positive charges. In this paper, mica sheets silanized by this method have been used as crystallization surfaces for lysozyme, trichosanthin and three other proteins of unknown structure. Crystallization experiments have been carried out by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique and the results indicate that the silanized mica surface can ameliorate the protein crystallization process considerably compared with a silanized glass cover slip control. For lysozyme on the silanized mica surface, the induction time required for crystal growth decreases markedly. For trichosanthin, the crystal size is obviously larger and the number of crystals grown is much lower. For the three proteins of unknown structure, the diffraction ability of the crystals is improved considerably.

Structural genomics efforts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University.

Structural genomics efforts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University are reported in this article. The major targets for the structural genomics project are targeted proteins expressed in human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, proteins related to blood diseases and other human proteins. Up to now 328 target genes have been constructed in expression vectors. Among them, more than 50% genes have been expressed in Escherichia coli, approximately 25% of the resulting proteins are soluble, and 35 proteins have been purified. Crystallization, data collection and structure determination are continuing. Experiences accumulated during this initial stage are useful for designing and applying high-throughput approaches in structural genomics.