Use of autologous iliac crest graft and free anterolateral femoral skin flap in diabetic foot ulcers: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot has a great impact on the life of patients. Its treatment involves a multi-disciplinary and multi-direction approach, which requires not only soft tissue repair, but also bone reconstruction and functional repair. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old Chinese man with a three-year history of diabetes was diagnosed with ulcers in his left foot. We performed a successful procedure, and the different strategies we adopted helped to avoid serious complications during treatment. The patient was treated with debridement, bone cement, iliac crest graft, and anterolateral femoral skin flap, and recovered well. CONCLUSION: There is a dearth of reports pertaining to treatment of diabetic foot in patients with midfoot bone and soft tissue loss. In this report, we present an effective method that we used to reconstruct the loss of midfoot in a patient with diabetic foot, illustrating a successful therapeutic strategy for saving limbs in this complex medical condition.

Detection of the Content of Two Coumarins, IM and ISOIM, and Their Mechanism of Action on Colitis Rats in Angelica albicans.

Angelica albicans is being used in the cure of different, respiratory, neuromuscular, and cutaneous diseases in traditional eastern medicine. The pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of imperatorin (IM) and isoimperatorin (ISOIM), the main effective components in Angelica albicans, were investigated. The rapid, subtle, and measuring the PKs of a drug, a validated UPLC/MS/MS methodology was designed for a total of 2 furanocoumarins in 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-stimulated and untreated mice. After that, blood samples were obtained. Angelica albicans (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg) was given orally, taken regularly from the tail vein. The time it takes for colitis rats to achieve their maximal concentration (T max) imperatorin and isoimperatorin was considerably postponed. In comparison to normal rats, all furanocoumarins had lesser peak plasma concentrations (C max) and higher represent residence durations. The area below the C max time-curve or clearance half-life did not differ significantly. In normal rats, all two furanocoumarins attained maximal plasma levels between 40 and 75 minutes, demonstrating fast oral absorption. The periods to attain T max of the two furanocoumarins, on the other hand, were shorter than in earlier studies. Therefore, colitis-linked alterations in the drug-absorption stage may result in a late T max and lowered C max, which have no effect on its clearance in half-life. Hence, conclusively, as a result, more consideration should be given to the prescription and administration of Angelica albicans in colitis individuals, and more research is needed to determine whether the changed PK profile was clinically meaningful for medicinal dose.

Ibandronate sodium and zoledronate sodium in the treatment of senile osteoporosis: efficacy, impact on quality of life and cost-effectiveness analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of ibandronate sodium and zoledronate sodium in the treatment of senile osteoporosis and their impact on quality of life, and to analyze the cost-effectiveness. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 215 patients with senile osteoporosis, who were admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to June 2019. Among them, 115 cases treated with ibandronate sodium were set to group A and 100 cases treated with zoledronate sodium were set to group B. The clinical efficacy, bone mineral density (BMD) before and after treatment, bone metabolic markers (alkaline phosphatase (ALP), blood phosphorus (P), blood calcium ion (Ca2+)), quality of life, adverse reactions, cost-effectiveness indicators (length of hospitalization, cost) and complications were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Total therapeutic response rate in group A was 96.52% (111/115), which was not statistically different from that of 93.00% (93/100) in group B (P=0.242). After treatment, the BMD, ALP, BGP and Ca2+ levels of the lumbar spine L1-L4, left femoral neck and right femoral neck, as well as quality of life scores in the two groups increased (P < 0.05), while serum ALP levels decreased (P < 0.05), however, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in group A was 3.48% (4/115), which showed no statistical significance with that of 5.00% (5/100) in group B (P=0.830). The length of hospitalization, annual treatment expense, medical insurance expense and out-of-pocket payments in group A were all lower than those in group B (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the treatment of senile osteoporosis, the efficacy and adverse reactions of ibandronate sodium and zoledronate sodium are similar, both of them can effectively improve the quality of life. However, the cost-effectiveness of ibandronate sodium is better than that of zoledronate sodium.

Experimental Investigation of Ground Radiation on Dielectric and Brightness Temperature of Soil Moisture and Soil Salinity.

Soil moisture and salinity are crucial parameters of the Earth's ecosystem; how to understand the radiation properties of them is of great significance for remote sensing monitoring. In this study, the application of mixed soil dielectric models (Dobson and generalized refractive mixing dielectric model (GRMDM)) and saline soil dielectric models (Dobson-S, HQR (Qingrong Hu), and WYR (Yueru Wu)) were analyzed to select the optimal models to simulate brightness temperature based on observational data. The brightness temperature of the soil moisture and multilevel salinity was simulated by using the Q-H (parameter of polarization mixing and parameter of characterizing height) model and Holmes parameterization scheme of soil effective temperature. The results show that both the Dobson model and the GRMDM model can well reproduce the real part and imaginary part of the dielectric constant of non-saline soil, and the GRMDM model was better. With the increase of the frequency, the simulation error of the dielectric constant of the saline soil by using the Dobson-S model, HQR model, and WYR model also increased, and the simulation result of the WYR model was better in the L band. The simulated result of the brightness temperature of soil moisture between the observation value and simulation value presented a high correlation both in the horizontal polarization and vertical polarization, with R greater than 0.967 and 0.948, and the root mean square error smaller than 3.998 K and 2.766 K, respectively. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficients of the brightness temperature of the saline soil in the horizontal polarization and vertical polarization were 0.935 and 0.971, and the root mean square errors were 5.808 K and 4.65 K, respectively. The brightness temperature decreased as the soil salinity increased, and the higher the salinity content was, the quicker the brightness temperature decreased. We expect that the experimental results can be used as a reference for algorithm developers to further enhance the accuracy of soil moisture and soil salinity retrievals.

Effect of air pollution on hospitalization for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

This study aims to analyze the acute effects of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and O3 on hospitalizations for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) from 2014 to 2017 in Shenyang, China. Hospitalization records for AECOPD (17,655), stroke (276,736) and MI (26,235) and air pollutions concentration data (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and O3) were collected. A generalized additive model (GAM) was utilized to determine the impact of air pollutants on the relative risk (RR) of hospitalization for AECOPD, stroke, and MI. Stratified analysis for AECOPD was based on gender and age. It was based on gender, age, hypertension, and diabetes for stroke, and for MI it was based on gender, age, and coronary atherosclerosis. The lag effect for AECOPD in terms of gender analysis occurred at lag3-lag5. The hospitalization risk for stroke with hypertension due to SO2 and NO2 was greater than that of stroke without hypertension. The risk of hospitalization for stroke with hypertension as a comorbidity due to O3 was lower than without hypertension. The risk of hospitalization for MI combined with coronary atherosclerosis due to PM2.5, PM10, or NO2 was higher than that of hospitalizations for MI without coronary atherosclerosis. Air pollution increased the rate of hospitalization for AECOPD. SO2 and O3 appeared protective for stroke patients with coronary atherosclerosis. PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 had no influence on total hospitalization for myocardial infarction.

Risk of temperature, humidity and concentrations of air pollutants on the hospitalization of AECOPD.

AIM: To investigate the effect of temperature, humidity and the concentration of ambient air pollution on the hospitalization of AECOPD. METHOD: Hospitalization record was obtained from Shenyang Medical Insurance Bureau, concluding patient's age, gender, income hospital time, outcome hospital; Generalized additive model was used to analyze the relationship between temperature, humidity, the concentration of ambient air pollution and the hospitalization of AECOPD. RESULT: The effect of ozone on admission rate in male group was higher than that in female group. Ambient air pollution had a weak influence on age≤50 group. It was found that the optimal lag day for daily relative 40 humidity to age≤50 group, 5070 group was on lag5, lag4, lag4 and lag5, respectively. CONCLUSION: Air pollution, relative humidity and temperature can increase the risk of admission for acute exacerbation of COPD, and in this process there was a lag effect.

Garnet U-Pb and O isotopic determinations reveal a shear-zone induced hydrothermal system.

The absolute crystallization ages of minerals from hydrothermal fluids measured in situ can unravel the timing of key events leading to the formation of, for instance, ore deposits and hydrothermally derived geological terrains. In this study, a skarn iron deposit from northwest (NW) China is shown to have U-Pb garnet and U-Pb zircon ages of 254.2 ± 1.7 Ma and 255.5 ± 1.0 Ma, respectively, which are both significantly younger than magmatism and metamorphism of the region. This skarn age instead correlates with the occurrence of strike-slip and thrust faulting in the region. The water/rock mass ratio of 0.065~0.115 suggests the δ18O garnet composition is ~1‰ at temperatures ranging from 250-450 °C. The low oxygen isotopic composition indicates the role of meteoric water in the garnet formation. These measurements can be interpreted as the shear along faults circulating meteoric water ~10 km below the hanging wall of meta-volcanic sedimentary rock. Meteoric water in this hydrothermal system would leach cations from the meta-volcano-sedimentary rocks necessary for mineralization. Silica-rich hydrothermal fluid reacts with calcic-rich materials in the meta-volcano-sedimentary rocks, depositing the garnet and magnetite. Our work suggests that the shear zone is rich in ores, rendering this deposit for NW China a prospective source for future mineral resource exploration.

The effect of air pollution on hospitalization of individuals with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in Jinan, China.

To analyze the short-term effects of air pollution on the hospitalization rates of individuals with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) after adjusting for confounding factors including weather, day of the week, holidays, and long-term trends in Jinan, China.Hospitalization information was extracted based on data from the primary class 3-A hospitals in Jinan from 2013 to 2015. The concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and O3 were obtained from Jinan Environment Monitoring Center. The relative risk and 95% confidence intervals of AECOPD, stroke, and MI were estimated using generalized additive models with quasi-Poisson distribution in the mgcv package, using R software, version 1.0.136.The incremental increased concentrations of particulate pollutants including PM2.5 and PM10 were significantly associated with increased risk of hospitalization of AECOPD, stroke, and MI, and the adverse influences of PM2.5 on these diseases were generally stronger than that of PM10. The incremental increased concentrations of gaseous pollutants including SO2, NO2, and O3 were significantly associated with increased risk of hospitalization of stroke and MI in this population.Air pollution has significant adverse effects on hospitalization rates of individuals with AECOPD, stroke, and MI in Jinan, China.

Preparation and In Vivo Pharmacokinetics of the Tongshu Suppository.

Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) (used for intestinal protection) was added to formulate the Tongshu suppository to improve the pharmacokinetics of Aceclofenac, which were assessed in New Zealand rabbits using an orthogonal experimental design. The single-agent Aceclofenac was taken as the control formulation. The concentration-time and drug release curves were drawn, and T max (min), C max (µg·mL(-1)), AUC0→∞ , and MRT were compared using a pharmacokinetic systems program. The formulated Tongshu suppository had moderate hardness, a smooth surface with uniform color, and theoretical drug-loading rate of 8%. Its release rate was in accordance with the drug preparation requirements. The concentration-time curves and drug release curves revealed that the maximum concentrations (C max) were 4.18 ± 1.03 µg·mL(-1) and 3.34 ± 0.41 µg·mL(-1) for the Tongshu and Aceclofenac suppositories, respectively, showing statistically insignificant difference, while the peak times were 34.87 ± 4.69 min and 34.76 ± 6.34 min, respectively, also showing statistically insignificant difference. Compared with the Aceclofenac suppository, the relative bioavailability of the Tongshu suppository was 104.4%, and the difference between them was statistically insignificant. In this experiment, the Tongshu suppository was prepared using the hot-melt method. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies confirmed it had higher bioavailability than the Aceclofenac suppository.