[Clipping for large paraclinoid internal carotid artery aneurysms by non-fluoroscopic occlusion via a micro-bone window frontolateral approach].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value and outcomes of technical improvement of hybrid operatical clipping for large paraclinoid internal carotid artery aneurysms. Methods: A review was conducted on 18 cases of large paraclinoid internal carotid artery aneurysm which were clipped by balloon non-fluoroscopic occlusion of the parent artery via a micro-bone window frontolateral approach in hybrid operating room at Neurosurgery Department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from June 2014 to December 2017. There were 8 males and 10 females with age of (63±4) years. There were 6 cases of unruptured aneurysm and 12 cases of ruptured aneurysm of subarachnoid hemorrhage (6 cases of grade Ⅱ, 4 cases of grade Ⅲ and 2 cases of grade Ⅳ in Hunt-Hess classification). Frontolateral approach incision (average length of about 5 cm) and bone window about 3 cm×3 cm were performed. No incision of the neck was needed to expose the internal carotid artery for temporary occlusion. In the operation, the balloon was slowly pushed to the preset position of the internal carotid artery under non-fluoroscopy. The balloon was expanded to block the blood flow of internal carotid artery. Then aneurysm was clipped. The balloon was loosened and retraced to the guiding catheter after clipping. The clipping condition was examined by cerebral angiography. If there was residual aneurysm neck or stenosis of the parent artery, the balloon was pushed under non-fluoroscopy again to temporary occlusion and the clip was adjusted until the aneurysm neck was clamped satisfactorily. Results: Eighteen aneurysms were successfully clipped in hybrid operating room. Fourteen aneurysms showed complete occlusion of the aneurysm neck and no stenosis of the parent artery. Four cases showed residual aneurysm neck after clipping by intraoperative angiography, then aneurysms were clipped satisfy by adjusting the aneurysm clip. The patients were followed up for 3 months to 1 year. Ten patients recovered well (modifed Rankin score (mRS): 0), and 3 patients had no obvious disability (mRS: 1). Two patients with Hunt-Hess grade Ⅲ were slightly disabled (mRS: 2). 1 patients with Hunt-Hess grade Ⅲ were moderately disabled (mRS: 3). 1 patients with Hunt-Hess grade Ⅳ were severely disabled (mRS: 4). One elderly patients with Hunt-Hess grade Ⅳ were seriously disabled (mRS: 5). Conclusions: Application of balloon non-fluoroscopic occlusion clipping for large paraclinoid internal carotid artery aneurysm via a micro-bone window frontolateral approach is safe, effective and minimally invasive.

Genetic diversity of Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae) species and cultivars assessed by AFLPs.

Species of the genus Aquilegia are exceptionally diverse in their floral morphology and color, commonly known as columbine. They are widely planted ornamentals and are highly attractive for hummingbirds. However, little is known about their genetic diversity. We examined the genetic diversity of the species and cultivars using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Sixteen EcoRI/MseI AFLP primer combinations produced 327 informative polymorphic bands, with a mean of 20.4 bands scored per primer. Jaccard's coefficient of similarity varied from 0.61 to 0.93, indicative of high levels of genetic variation. Cluster analysis using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean algorithm placed the 64 accessions into two main clusters, each divided into two sub-clusters. The AFLP variability was significantly associated with the geographic origins, as the Asian species and the North American species grouped into two distinct clusters. The genetic diversity found among Aquilegia demonstrated the potential value of Chinese germplasm for cultivar improvement and for widening the genetic basis of breeding programs and breeding material selection. We concluded that AFLPs are informative and can provide significant insights for genetic diversity research in columbine species.

Probing the interaction of the amino acid alanine with the surface of ZnO(1010).

The adsorption modes and stability of the amino acid alanine (NH(2)-CH(CH(3))-COOH) have been studied on the nonpolar single crystal surface of zinc oxide, ZnO(1010), experimentally by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and computationally using density functional theory (DFT). Deposition at 200 K was found to lead to the formation of multilayers identified by an XPS N1s peak at 401.7 eV assigned to the NH(3)(+) group, a fingerprint of the zwitterionic structure of alanine in the solid state. Heating to 300 K resulted in the removal of most of the multilayers with the remaining surface coverage estimated to 0.4 with respect to Zn cations. At this temperature most of the alanine molecules are found to be deprotonated (dissociated), yielding a carboxylate species (NH(2)-CH(CH(3))-COO(-) (a) + OH (s); where O is surface oxygen, (a) for adsorbed and (s) for surface species). Further heating of the surface resulted in a gradual decrease of the surface coverage and by 500 K a large fraction of adsorbed alanine molecules have desorbed from the surface. Total energy DFT computations of different adsorbate species identified two stable dissociative adsorption modes: bidentate and monodentate. The bidentate species with adsorption energy of 1.75 eV was found to be more stable than the monodentate species by about 0.7 eV.