Application of propofol-remifentanil intravenous general anesthesia combined with regional block in pediatric ophthalmic surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to observe the anesthetic effect and safety of intravenous anesthesia without muscle relaxant with propofol-remifentanil combined with regional block under laryngeal mask airway in pediatric ophthalmologic surgery. METHODS: A total of 90 undergoing ophthalmic surgery were anesthetized with general anesthesia using the laryngeal mask airway without muscle relaxant. They were randomly divided into two groups: 45 children who received propofol-remifentanil intravenous anesthesia combined with regional block (LG group), and 45 children who received total intravenous anesthesia (G group). The peri-operative circulatory indicators, awakening time after general anesthesia, postoperative analgesic effect and the incidence of anesthesia-related adverse events were respectively compared between the two groups. RESULTS: All the children successfully underwent the surgical procedure. The awakening time after general anesthesia and removal time of laryngeal mask were significantly shorter in the LG group than in the G group (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the heart rates in the perioperative period between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of intraoperative physical response, respiratory depression, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and emergence agitation (EA) between the two groups (P > 0.05). The pain score at the postoperative hour 2 was lower in the LG group than in the G group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Propofol-remifentanil intravenous anesthesia combined with long-acting local anesthetic regional block anesthesia, combined with laryngeal mask ventilation technology without muscle relaxants, can be safely used in pediatric eye surgery to achieve rapid and smooth recovery from general anesthesia and better postoperative analgesia. This anesthesia scheme can improve the comfort and safety of children in perioperative period, and has a certain clinical popularization value.

A Single-Center Experience of Endovascular Treatment in Subtypes of Basilar Artery Occlusion: Embolization Caused by Tandem Vertebral Artery Stenosis May Be Associated with Better Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is a severe condition with high mortality. However, surgical procedures and outcomes of BAO with different pathologic subtypes have not been fully clarified. This study compared the surgical procedures and clinical outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy in different subtypes of BAO. METHODS: Eighty-six patients with acute BAO receiving endovascular treatment between October 2015 and July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed and placed in 3 groups: pure embolism (group 1), arterial-arterial embolism from steno-occlusion of the tandem vertebral artery (group 2), and in situ atherosclerotic thrombosis (group 3). Recanalization rates, procedure times, surgical characteristics, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Groups 1, 2, and 3 included 33 (38.4%), 17 (19.8%), and 36 (41.9%) patients, respectively. The overall successful recanalization rate was 95.3%, and the good outcome rate was 61.6%. The procedure time in group 1 was shorter than the time in groups 2 and 3 (P < 0.001). The clinical good outcome rate was higher in group 2 than in group 1 (88.2% vs. 54.5%; P = 0.017). Groups 1 and 3 had similar good outcome rates (54.5% vs. 55.6%; P = 0.933). Twenty-seven patients received stent angioplasty: 10 of 17 in group 2 (58.8%) and 17 of 36 in group 3 (47.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of endovascular treatment for BAO varies among patients with different pathologic mechanisms. Patients with embolism from tandem vertebral artery steno-occlusion achieved the best outcomes. Rescue treatment was more common in patients with embolic BAO with tandem vertebral artery steno-occlusion and BAO with in situ atherosclerotic thrombosis.

Mechanical Properties and Uniaxial Compression Stress-Strain Relation of Recycled Coarse Aggregate Concrete after Carbonation.

The application of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) made from waste concrete to replace natural coarse aggregate (NCA) in concrete structures can essentially reduce the excessive consumption of natural resources and environmental pollution. Similar to normal concrete structures, recycled concrete structures would also suffer from the damage of carbonation, which leads to the deterioration of durability and the reduction of service life. This paper presents the experimental results of the cubic compressive strength, the static elastic modulus and the stress-strain relation of recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC) after carbonation. The results show that the cubic compressive strength and the static elastic modulus of carbonated RAC gradually increased with the carbonation depth. The uncarbonated and fully carbonated RAC show smaller static elastic modulus than natural aggregate concrete (NAC). As the carbonation depth increased, the peak stress increased, while the peak strain decreased and the descending part of the curves gradually became steeper. As the content of RCA became larger, the peak stress decreased, while the peak strain increased and the descending part of the curves gradually became steeper. An equation for stress-strain curves of RAC after carbonation was proposed, and it was in good agreement with the test results.

Passive eye movements induced by electromagnetic force (EMF) in rats.

Accurate information on eye position in the orbit is available from visual feedback, efference copy of the oculomotor commands and proprioceptive signals from the extraocular muscles (EOM). Whereas visual feedback and oculomotor commands have been extensively studied, central processing of EOM proprioceptive signals remains to be elucidated. A challenge to the field is to develop an approach to induce passive eye movements without physically contacting the eyes. A novel method was developed to generate passive eye movements in rats. A small rare-earth magnet disk (0.7 mm diameter, 0.5 mm thickness) was attached to the surface of a rat's eyeball. A metal rod (5 mm diameter) wrapped with an electromagnetic (EM) coil was placed near the magnet (8-15 mm). By passing currents to the EM coil, electromagnetic force (EMF) was generated and acted upon the magnet and induced passive eye movements. The EMF induced well-defined passive eye movements, whose directions were dependent on current polarity and amplitudes and peak velocities were dependent on current intensity and duration. Peak velocities of the EMF-induced eye movements were linearly related to amplitudes, exhibiting main sequence relationships similar to that of saccades in awake rats and eye movements induced by electrical microstimulation of the abducens nucleus in anesthetized rats. Histological examination showed that repetitive EMF stimulations did not appear to result in damages in the EOM fibers. These results validated the EMF approach as a novel tool to investigate EOM proprioceptive signals and their roles in visual localization and gaze control.

Mechanical Thrombectomy Using Solitaire in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients with Vertebrobasilar Occlusion: A Prospective Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: The safety and effectiveness of endovascular mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute vertebrobasilar occlusion (VBO) are debatable and undergoing evaluation. We report the clinical outcome and prognostic factors in a prospective cohort of acute ischemic stroke patients with VBO. METHODS: In total, 48 consecutive patients with acute VBO underwent mechanical thrombectomy using Solitaire. We analyzed clinical and imaging data and searched for predictors of good clinical outcome (modified Rankin scale score: 0-3). RESULTS: The median prethrombectomy National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 22.0. The median duration from symptom onset to recanalization was 493.5 minutes. A total of 35.4% of the patients received rescue therapy. Recanalization (modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction: 2b-3) was successful in all patients. Clinically relevant intracranial hemorrhage was observed in 2 patients. After 90 days, good outcomes were obtained in 27 patients. The baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score (pc-ASPECTS), anesthesia type, and posterior communicating artery (PComA) patency were significantly associated with outcomes at 90 days in univariate analysis. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that high pc-ASPECTS at admission and PComA patency were independent predictors of good outcome at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: Up to 60.4% of the patients reached good outcomes after endovascular treatment and 35.4% of the patients received rescue therapy, suggesting that mechanical thrombectomy using Solitaire in patients with stroke with VBO is safe and effective and that rescue therapy is readily required and employed. High baseline pc-ASPECTS and PComA patency were associated with better outcomes after thrombectomy in these patients.

Role of CXC chemokine receptor type 7 in carcinogenesis and lymph node metastasis of colon cancer.

Upregulated expression of the CXC chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR7) promotes breast, lung and prostate cancer progression and metastasis. However, the role of CXCR7 in colon cancer has not been determined. We hypothesized that increased CXCR7 expression may contribute to human colon cancer occurrence and progression. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed on 34 malignant and 18 normal colon tissue specimens. The specimens were obtained from 19 male and 15 female patients, with a mean age of 52 years (range, 34-79 years). Of the 34 patients, 20 had lymph node metastases. None of the patients had received adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy prior to surgery. This study demonstrated that CXCR7 levels were significantly higher in colon tumors compared with those in normal colon tissue (P﹤0.01). In addition, lymph node metastatic colon tumors exhibited significantly higher CXCR7 expression compared with non-metastatic tumors (P﹤0.01); however, there were no differences in CXCR7 expression among distinct histopathological types (well-differentiated vs. moderately-to-poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, P﹥0.01). Therefore, the evidence obtained from the present study supports involvement of the upregulated CXCR7 expression in colon tumorigenesis and lymph node metastasis.

Metformin inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of HER2 positive breast cancer cells by downregulating HSP90.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects and the possible molecular mechanisms of metformin on HER2 positive breast cancer cells. METHODS: SK-BR-3 HER2 positive breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of metformin. The growth inhibitory rate of the cells was calculated by MTT assay, apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression level of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) was performed by Western blot analysis. A control group consisted of cells treated with PBS. RESULTS: With increased concentrations of metformin, cell growth inhibitory rates increased. The growth inhibitory rates with 0.5 mM, 2mM or 8mM metformin were significantly higher compared with the control group (p<0.05). Apoptosis in the metformin treated cells was also significantly higher compared with the control group (p=0.003). The expression level of HSP90 in the metformin group was significantly lower than that in the control group. CONCLUSION: Metformin can inhibit the proliferation and promote apoptosis of HER2 positive breast cancer cells,which is maybe related to inhibition of HSP90.

[A retrospective study of 129 cases with immediate breast reconstruction after skin-sparing mastectomy for breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the oncologic safety, indications and aesthetic results for skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM) and immediate breast reconstruction (IBR). METHOD: One hundred and twenty-nine breast cancer patients treated by SSM + IBR from October 1999 to May 2007 were reviewed. Reconstructive techniques included latissimus dorsi flaps (38 patients), implants only (2 patients), latissimus dorsi flaps plus implants (61 patients), pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flaps (25 patients) and deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flaps (3 patients). Aesthetic results were judged by patients' self-evaluation. RESULTS: Mean duration of hospitalization was 18.6 days. Time of first chemotherapy was 5.2 days after operation. Eleven patients (11/63, 17.5%) developed capsular contracture and 24 patients (24/99, 24.2%) developed seroma in the donor site. Nine patients (9/28, 32.1%) developed partial fat necrosis in TRAM and DIEP flaps. The satisfaction with the aesthetic results of the reconstructive breast was significantly lower in irradiated patients than non-irradiated ones. Median follow-up time was 11 months. Five patients developed local recurrence and 7 patients with metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: SSM with IBR can be used for the 0 to II a stage breast cancer patients, with surgical oncologic and aesthetic satisfaction. Radiotherapy has an adverse effect on the reconstructive breast. Delayed or delayed-immediate reconstructions are recommended for patients indicated to postoperative radiotherapy.

Changes in polyamine pattern are involved in floral initiation and development in Polianthes tuberosa.

In the day-neutral plant Polianthes tuberosa (cv. Double) putrescine and spermine in corms at the early floral initiation stage decreased by 26 and 36%, respectively, compared with that in the vegetative stage. In contrast, a sharp increase in spermidine and cadaverine titers in corms was recorded at the early floral initiation stage. However, cadaverine in corms disappeared at the flower development stage. Polyamines in the roots were generally lower than those in the leaves and corms. In no case was the change in endogenous polyamine titers in the roots and leaves associated with floral initiation and flower development in P. tuberosa. Exogenous application of spermidine at 5, 25 or 150 microg per plant at the vegetative stage did not affect flower primordium counts. However, addition of a spermidine synthase inhibitor, cyclohexylamine, at 150 or 250 microg per plant (each dose was applied two times in total at an interval of 4 days) significantly reduced flower primordium counts, indicating that spermidine is involved in floral initiation and floral development in P. tuberosa. In P. tuberosa corms at the vegetative stage arginine decarboxylase activity rises and decreases at the early floral initiation stage. In contrast, ornithine decarboxylase activity reaches the highest level at the early floral initiation stage and declines significantly at the vegetative stage. Results indicate that an increase in spermidine and a transient increase in cadaverine titers in the corms seem characteristic of early floral initiation in P. tuberosa. It is also suggested that a significant reduction in putrescine and spermine in the corms is involved in the early floral initiation in P. tuberosa.