[NRD assisted Ilizarov technique in the treatment of infected bone and soft tissue defect of tibia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of NRD assisted Ilizarov technique in the treatment of infected bone and soft tissue defect of tibia. METHODS: All 48 patients with infected bone and soft tissue defect of tibia were randomly divided into study group and control group from March 2013 to December 2020. There were 34 males and 14 females, aged from 24 to 55 years old with an average of (40.54±11.64) years old. There were 25 patients in the study group, including 17 males and 8 females, aged from 31 to 55 years old with an average of (41.36±9.69) years old. The study group were treated with NRD assisted with Ilizarov bone transport technique. There were 23 patients in control group, including 17 males and 6 females, aged from 24 to 53 years old with an average of(38.61±8.76) years old. The control group were treated with traditional bone transport technique. The curative rate, recurrence rate, incidence rate of pin track infection, time of using antibiotics, time of wound healing, time of carrying external fixation, time of bone transport, time of bone healing and postoperative function were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of the two groups. RESULTS: The follow-up period was from 12 to 62 months with an average of (33.0±7.2) months. At the final follow-up, there was no significant difference in the curative rate between the two groups (P>0.05). The recurrence rate in the study group was lower than that in the control group(P<0.05). The incidence of pin track infection in the study group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The time of using antibiotics and wound healing in the study group was shorter than that in the control group(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the time of bone transport and carrying of external fixation between the two groups(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in bone healing and postoperative function between the two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: NRD assisted Ilizarov technique can achieve satisfactory results in the treatment of infected bone and soft tissue defect of tibia and shorten the treatment period and the time of using antibiotics. It is worthy of development in clinic.

Patterns and Trends of the Mortality From Bone Cancer in Pudong, Shanghai: A Population-Based Study.

Introduction: The burden of cancer-related mortality of common malignancies has been reported worldwide. However, whether bone cancer (BC), as a highly aggressive and heterogeneous group of rare cancers, followed a similar or distinct epidemiological pattern during such process remains largely unknown. We aimed to analyze the mortality and the temporal trends of BC in relation to gender, age, and premature death in Shanghai, China. Methods: We conducted a population-based analysis of the mortality data of BC in Shanghai Pudong New Area (PNA) from 2005 to 2020. The epidemiological characteristics and long-term trends in crude mortality rates (CMRs), age-standardized mortality rates worldwide (ASMRWs), and rate of years of life lost (YLL) was analyzed using the Joinpoint regression program. The demographic and non-demographic factors affecting the mortality rate were evaluated by the decomposition method. Results: There are 519 BC-specific deaths accounting for 0.15% of all 336,823 deaths and 0.49% of cancer-specific death in PNA. The CMR and ASMRW of BC were 1.15/105 person-year and 0.61/105 person-year, respectively. The YLL due to premature death from BC was 6,539.39 years, with the age group of 60-69 years having the highest YLL of 1,440.79 years. The long-term trend of CMR, ASMRW, and YLL rate significantly decreased by -5.14%, -7.64%, and -7.27%, respectively, per year (all p < 0.05) in the past 16 years. However, the proportion of BC-specific death within the total cancer-specific death dropped to a plateau without further improvement since 2016, and a remarkable gender and age disparity was noticed in the observed reduction in mortality. Specifically, the elderly benefited less but accounted for a larger percentage of BC population in the last decades. Although the overall mortality of BC decreased, there was still a significant upward trend toward an increased mortality rate caused by the aging of the BC patients. Conclusion: Our study provides novel insights on the epidemiological characteristics and longitudinal dynamics of BC in a fast urbanization and transitioning city. As a rare disease affecting all ages, the burden of BC among the elderly emerged to form an understudied and unmet medical need in an aging society.

[A case-control study of two internal fixation methods in the treatment of comminuted fracture of inferior pole of patella].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of tension band combined with patellar cerclage and memory alloy patellar concentrator fixation in the treatment of comminuted fracture of the lower pole of patella. METHODS: From July 2015 to July 2019, 60 patients with distal patellar fracture were treated and were divided into two groups according to different operation methods. In group A, 30 patients were fixed with memory alloy patellar concentrator (NiTi PC), 17 males and 13 females, aged 20 to 71 (39.4±9.9) years, including 19 cases of falling injury, 9 cases of traffic injury and 2 cases of sports injury. The time from injury to operation was 10 to 75 (33.1±7.8) hours; 30 cases in group B were fixed with tension band andcerclage, 15 males and 15 females, aged 21 to 76 (38.6±10.2) years, including 17 cases of falling injury, 12 cases of traffic injury and 1 case of smashing injury. The time from injury to operation was 10 to 91 (34.5±9.1) hours. The curative effects of two groups were observed and compared. RESULTS: All 60 patients were followed up for 9 to 30 months. There was no significant difference in intraoperative bleeding, operation time, follow-up time and fracture healing time between the two groups. Six months after operation, according to the Bostman function score of knee joint:30 cases in group A, the total score was 28.6±4.7, of which 26 cases were excellent and 4 cases were good. The total score of 30 cases in group B was 25.5±4.4, of which 20 cases were excellent, 8 cases were good and 2 cases were poor. There were significant differences in Bostman total score and curative effect evaluation between two groups (P<0.05). The score of group A was significantly better than that of group B. In group B, 1 case had Kirschner wire withdrawal, 2 cases had joint stiffness and 3 cases had internal fixation irritation. CONCLUSION: Memory alloy patellar concentrator is strong and reliable in the treatment of inferior patellar fracture. It can take early rehabilitation exercise after operation, with good recovery of joint function and range of motion and less complications.

[Spatial variability and agglomeration of soil salinity in Minjiang estuary wetland, Southeast China]. / 闽江河口湿地土壤盐分的空间分异与集聚特征.

Understanding the spatial variability and agglomeration of soil salinity is of great significance for the sustainable development of estuarine wetland. Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing image, digital elevation mode and soil surface samples of Minjiang estuary wetland of Fuzhou were used as the data sources. The correlation analysis and principal component analysis were combined to select significant environmental variables and to reduce their dimensions. We analyzed the spatial variability of soil salinity with support vector regression ordinary kriging model (SVROK) and regression kri-ging model (RK), and quantified spatial agglomeration of soil salinity by the spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results showed that three principal components (PCs) extracted by the principal component analysis could explain at least 85% of the total variance in the original dataset and reflected the comprehensive information of vegetation cover, soil properties and topography. Both soil salinity and its residuals were affected by structural factors and random factors. The SVROK model based on principal component (PCs) as input variables can more accurately reflect the spatial variability of soil salinity, with a trend of "higher in the north and lower in the south". The Moran's I of soil salinity was more than 0.5, with significant positive spatial autocorrelation and a higher spatial aggregation degree, displaying the spatial agglomeration characteristics of "high value agglomeration, high value widespread, high value surrounded by low value".

Corrigendum: Characterization of the ModABC Molybdate Transport System of Pseudomonas putida in Nicotine Degradation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03030.].

Characterization of the ModABC Molybdate Transport System of Pseudomonas putida in Nicotine Degradation.

Pseudomonas putida J5 is an efficient nicotine-degrading bacterial strain that catabolizes nicotine through the pyrrolidine pathway. In our previous study, we used Tn5 transposon mutagenesis to investigate nicotine metabolism-associated genes, and 18 nicotine degradation-deficient mutants were isolated from 16,324 Tn5-transformants. Three of the mutants were Tn5 inserts into the modABC gene cluster that encoded an ABC-type, high-affinity, molybdate transporter. In-frame deletion of the modABC genes abolished the nicotine-degrading ability of strain J5, and complementation with modABC either from P. putida or Arthrobacter oxidans restored the degrading activity of the mutant to wild-type level. Nicotine degradation of J5 was inhibited markedly by addition of tungstate, a specific antagonist of molybdate. Molybdate at a non-physiologically high concentration (100 µM) fully restored nicotine-degrading activity and recovered growth of the modABC mutant in a nicotine minimal medium. Transcriptional analysis revealed that the expression of modABC was up-regulated at low molybdate concentrations and down-regulated at high moybdate concentrations, which indicated that at least one other system was able to transport molybdate, but with lower affinity. These results suggested that the molybdate transport system was essential to nicotine metabolism in P. putida J5.

MicroRNA-29b-3p prevents Schistosoma japonicum-induced liver fibrosis by targeting COL1A1 and COL3A1.

Schistosomiasis is one of the world's major public health problems in terms of morbidity and mortality, causing granulomatous inflammation and cumulative fibrosis. This study explored in vivo and vitro effects of miR-29b-3p in granulomatous liver fibrosis by targeting COL1A1 and COL3A1 in Schistosoma japonicum infection. Thirty male Balb/c mice were assigned to normal control and model (percutaneous infection of cercariae of S. japonicum) groups. NIH-3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts were designated into blank, NC, miR-29b-3p mimic, TGF-ß1, TGF-ß1 + NC, and TGF-ß1 + miR-29b-3p mimic groups. HE and Masson staining were employed to observe the pathological changes and collagenous fibrosis. The expression of α-SMA, COL1A1, COL3A1, TIMP-1 was determined by immunohistochemistry. The RT-qPCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining were conducted to determine expression of miR-29b-3p, COL1A1, and COL3A1. CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were performed to evaluate viability and apoptosis. The relative expression of miR-29b-3p decreased in the model group. The model group showed marked fibrosis in liver tissues. The expression of α-SMA, COL1A1, COL3A1, TIMP-1 was higher in the model group than that in the normal control group. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay revealed that miR-29b-3p directly targeted COL1A1 and COL3A1. Compared with the blank, NC, TGF-ß1 and TGF-ß1 + NC groups, the miR-29b-3p mimic group exhibited up-regulated expression of miR-29b-3p and MMP-9 but down-regulated expression of TIMP-1, HSP47, α-SMA, COL1A1, and COL3A1; while lower cell viability but higher apoptosis rate showed. It indicated that miR-29b-3p prevents S. japonicum-induced liver fibrosis by inhibiting COL1A1 and COL3A1.

Mitochondrial genome of the nematode endoparasitic fungus Hirsutella vermicola reveals a high level of synteny in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae.

Ophiocordycipitaceae is a diverse fungal family comprising multiple ecologically, economically, medicinally, and culturally important fungal species; however, only four species of the family have available mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes). In this study, the complete mitogenome of the nematode endoparasitic fungus Hirsutella vermicola in Ophiocordycipitaceae was sequenced, and a comparative mitogenomic analysis of Ophiocordycipitaceae was performed. We found that the 53,793-bp circular mitogenome of H. vermicola, except for standard fungal mitochondrial genes, harbors seven introns acquired possibly through lateral transfer from other fungi and three free-standing open reading frames (ORFs) coding for hypothetical proteins. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated mitochondrial protein sequences confirmed its placement in Ophiocordycipitaceae. Comparison on five mitogenomes of Ophiocordycipitaceae revealed great variation on their sizes, from 35.2 kb in Tolypocladium ophioglossoides to 157.5 kb in Ophiocordyceps sinensis, mainly due to variable numbers of introns (from 7 to 54) as well as variable lengths of intergenic regions. The five mitogenomes, however, are highly syntenic to each other in terms of gene order, the presence of an intronic ORF encoding ribosomal protein S3 within rnl, and the nad2/nad3 joining pattern. Our study is the first report of the mitogenome of H. vermicola and has facilitated the understanding of mitogenome evolution of Ophiocordycipitaceae.

Changes of color and blood flow of the tongue in the mini-swine of immune hepatic injury.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate color and microvascular blood flow of the tongue in the mini-swine with immune hepatic injury. METHODS: Six Chinese mini-swine for experimental use, 3 males and 3 females, were randomly divided into two groups, normal group and model group, 3 swine in each group. The swine in the model group was administrated by injection of 5 mg/kg ConA into the vein of auricular back, once every other day, 3 times each week, for 2 weeks in total. The animal in the control group was administrated with equal volume of saline. At 9 o'clock in the morning of the 15th day of the experiment, each swine was anesthetized with intramuscular injection of 9 ml 2.5% pentobarbital sodium and 3 ml Maleate, and then picture of the tongue was taken, microvascular blood flow on the tongue and the liver was detected with a laser Doppler blood flowmeter; Blood was taken from the precaval vein. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (Tbil) and total protein (TP) were determined; Pathological changes of the liver and tongue tissues were investigated by means of HE staining; Serum TNF-alpha content was detected with ELISA assay. RESULTS: In the mini-swine with immune hepatic injury induced by ConA, the tongue color showed cyanotic color, microvascular perfusion in the liver and the tongue, and partial pressure of oxygen in the tongue tissue significantly decreased; and the microcirculatory perfusion of the tongue was significantly correlated with that of the liver and the HIS color spatial value of the tongue; Serum TNF-alpha content significantly increased. CONCLUSION: The mini-swine with immune hepatic injury induced by ConA conforms to pathological characteristics of immune hepatic injury. Formation of the cyanotic tongue is related with microcirculatory disturbance of the tongue, which can indirectly reflect hepatic microcirculatory state in the immune hepatic injury.

[Experimental research on application of hydrodynamic acoustic generator in extraction of Chinese medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To study the hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extraction technique for Chinese Medicine. METHOD: The content of baicalin in Radix Scutellariae extracts and total flavones in Folium Ginkgo extracts were as indexes respectively and measured by high performance liquid chromatography. We investigated the hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extraction process for the extraction of Radix Scutellariae and Folium Ginkgo respectively, and compared with refluxing method, decoction and ultrasonic extraction. With the content of the extracts as indexes, Compound prescriptions of Traditional Chinese Medicine were extracted by the hydrodynamic ultrasonic extraction and decoction extraction. RESULT: The content of baicalin of hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extracts was significant higher than other extracts. The content of Ginkgo leaves flavones in hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extracts and ultrasonic extracts had no significant difference. Compared with decocting extracts, hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extracts of TCM compound prescriptions content was higher greatly. CONCLUSION: The hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extraction process showed higher extraction rate of baicalin of radix scutellariae than traditional extraction methods. And it was beneficial to the dissolution of water-soluble constituents in compound prescriptions of TCM. The content of Ginkgo leaves flavones in the hydrodynamic ultrasonic energy extracts and ultrasonic extracts had no obvious difference.