Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Military Populations with Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.

Background: Due to the limited role of chronic pain medication in military personnel and the distress caused to the military population, mindfulness-based therapy has been considered for the follow-up treatment of military personnel with chronic pain. The purpose of this review is to explore the effect and the implementation of mindfulness-based therapy for the military population with chronic pain. Methods: The keywords for the search included "mindfulness" AND ("pain" OR "chronic pain") AND ("military" OR "veteran"). The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was used to independently assess the risk of bias of the included randomized controlled trials, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to independently assess the risk of bias of the included case-control studies. Results: A total of 175 papers were identified; 65 duplicates were excluded, and 59 papers that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded after reading the titles and abstracts. The remaining 51 papers were read in full, 42 of which did not meet the inclusion criteria. Nine papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. The nine studies included 507 veterans and 56 active-duty female military personnel. All pain interventions were mindfulness-based therapy, and all of them were integrated into or adapted from standard mindfulness courses. The results all showed that after mindfulness-based therapy, the relevant indicators improved. Conclusions: Mindfulness-based therapy is an effective treatment method for the military population with chronic pain. The review indicates that future research should focus on the best setting for mindfulness-based therapy, including the course content and time.

Dexmedetomidine versus midazolam as intranasal premedication for intravenous deep sedation in pediatric dental treatment.

Background/purpose: Optimal sedation management for pediatric dental treatment demands special focus as it's tubeless and shares a same oral space. The study was to evaluate dexmedetomidine compared to midazolam for intranasal premedication in pediatric dental treatment under intravenous deep sedation. Materials and methods: A hundred children aged 3-7 years scheduled for elective dental treatment under intravenous deep sedation anesthesia were enrolled, of whom 50 children (Group D) were intranasally premedicated with 2.0 µg/kg dexmedetomidine and the remaining 50 children (Group M) received traditional 0.2 mg/kg midazolam. Acceptance rate of venipuncture was regarded as the primary endpoint. Results: The acceptance rate of venipuncture in Group D and Group M were 76% versus 52%, respectively (P = 0.021). More children in Group M complained about bitter/sour taste than Group D (62% vs. 8%, P < 0.001). Intraoperatively, children in Group M were found to have more choking cough than Group D (30% vs. 9%, P = 0.003), and patients in Group M required more suction (18 [36%] in Group M vs. 4 [8%] in Group D, P = 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups in the incidences of temporal hypoxemia (SpO2 ≤ 90%), however, two children in Group M experienced hypoxemia over 10 s. Conclusion: Compared to the 0.2 mg/kg midazolam, children premedicated with 2.0 µg/kg intranasal dexmedetomidine showed superior venipuncture acceptance, had less intraoperative choking cough and required fewer suction. It seems to be a good alternative to midazolam as premedication for deep sedation in pediatric dental treatment.

Laparoscopic hepatectomy is superior to open procedures for hepatic hemangioma.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) has become increasingly popular for liver neoplasms, but its safety and effectiveness remain controversial. Hepatic hemangiomas are the most common benign liver neoplasm; the main approaches to hepatic hemangiomas include open hepatectomy (OH) and LH. In this study, we compared early outcomes between patients undergoing OH and those with LH. METHODS: Patients underwent OH or LH in our hospital for hepatic hemangiomas between December 2013 and December 2017 were enrolled. All patients underwent comprehensive preoperative evaluations. The clinicopathological index and risk factors of hemangioma resection were assessed. RESULTS: In total, 41 patients underwent OH while 53 underwent LH. There was no significant difference in any preoperative clinical variables, including liver function, prothrombin time, or platelet count. Hepatic portal occlusion time and operative time were 39.74 vs. 38.35 minutes (P = 0.717) and 197.20 vs. 203.68 minutes (P = 0.652) in the OH and LH groups, respectively. No mortality nor significant perioperative complications were observed between the two groups. In LH group, two cases were converted to OH, one for an oversized tumor and the other for hemorrhage. Compared with OH patients, those with LH had less blood loss (361.69 vs. 437.81 mL, P = 0.024), shorter postoperative hospital stay (7.98 vs. 11.07 days, P = 0.001), and lower postoperative C-reactive protein (43.63 vs. 58.21 mg/L, P = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: LH is superior to OH in terms of postoperative recovery and blood loss for selected patients with hepatic hemangioma.

Functional follow-up after endoscopic calcaneoplasty for Haglund's deformity using the biodex isokinetic muscle testing system: A case series.

Isokinetic muscle strength test implemented by the Biodex system is a method used for evaluating muscle function that has been applied clinically in the field of sports and rehabilitation medicine. However, information on its application on Haglund's deformity remain insufficient. Therefore, the present study examined the effectiveness of the muscle strength test using the Biodex system in evaluating the recovery of athletic capacity in patients with Haglund's deformity following endoscopic surgery. In total, 34 patients treated by the authors from June 2012 to November 2018 at Peking University Third Hospital (Beijing, China) were included. To compare muscle strength before surgery, then 3 and 6 months after surgery, using the uninjured side as the control, the Biodex system test was conducted in parallel to the collection of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Score values and visual analog scale scores. The Biodex system test results showed that Haglund's deformity mainly hinders plantar flexion strength. Patients recovered daily living capacity within 3 months and athletic capacity within 6 months following surgery, which matched the AOFAS values, VAS scores and the self-assessments of the patients. These findings suggest that the Biodex system can dynamically reflect the degree of postoperative recovery in Haglund's deformity.

Executive Function and Mental Rotation During Middle Childhood: The Effect of Age.

The authors examined the relative contributions of three aspects of executive function with two-dimensional (2D) mental rotation in children between 8 and 12 years old. Participants were given one standard 2D mental rotation measure, two working memory tasks (Corsi blocks and digit span), two inhibitory control tasks (Stroop and go/no go), and two planning ability tests (Tower of Hanoi and Tower of London). The correlational patterns between executive function and 2D mental rotation were different depending on age. More inhibitory control in younger children was associated with better performance in mental rotation, but not in older children. These results add to the understanding of the specific nature of children's executive function-mental rotation relations.

Targeting Gene-ViroTherapy for prostate cancer by DD3-driven oncolytic virus-harboring interleukin-24 gene.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western male population. Previous studies have demonstrated that differential display code 3 (DD3 or DD3(PCA3)) is one of the most PCa-specific genes; therefore, it has been used as a clinical diagnostic marker for PCa. In this study, we constructed an oncolytic adenovirus Ad.DD3-E1A by using the minimal DD3 promoter to replace the native viral promoter of E1A gene. In addition, Ad.DD3-E1A was armed with therapeutic gene IL-24 to enhance its antitumor activity. The resulting adenovirus, Ad.DD3-E1A-IL-24, demonstrated PCa specificity and excellent antitumor effect. Further analyses on its antitumor mechanism revealed that it has the capacity to induce apoptosis in PCa cells and inhibit angiogenesis. These results suggest that Ad.DD3-E1A-IL-24 is a promising antitumor agent that may be able to be used in the future as a treatment for PCa.

[Specific antitumor effect of adeno-associated virus vector carrying TRAIL gene under the control of hTERT promoter].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been widely used in tumor gene therapy. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a safe and potent anti-tumor gene which could induce apoptosis of many tumor cells. This study was to use tumor-specific promoter hTERT to construct AAV-hTERT-TRAIL, and explore its antitumor effect and mechanism in vitro. METHODS: Purified AAV-hTERT-TRAIL was obtained after co-transfection of HEK293 with pAAV-hTERT-TRAIL and two other help plasmids. After transfection of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL into three tumor cell lines, SW620, HepG2, A549 and two normal cell lines, NHLF and MRC5, the expression of TRAIL was detected by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC); the influence of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL transfection on cell proliferation was evaluated using MTT assay. Activation of caspase-3 and PARP was measured by Western blot. Cell apoptosis was assessed using ELISA and flow cytometry. RESULTS: AAV-hTERT-TRAIL was successfully packaged in HEK293 cells. After AAV-hTERT-TRAIL infection, specific expression of TRAIL was detected in three tumor cell lines, but not in two normal cell lines. Cell proliferation rates in SW620, A549, HepG2, NHLF and MRC5 cells were 41.55%, 44.29%, 49.95%, 84.59% and 87.22%, respectively after transfection of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100 for 96 h. AAV-hTERT-TRAIL activated caspase-3 apoptotic pathway and induced apoptosis in tumor cell lines, but not in normal cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: hTERT increases selectivity and safety of AAV vector. hTERT promoter controls the expression of anti-tumor genes to specifically induce death of tumor cells.

[Contamination characteristics and pollutant sources analysis on PAHs in shallow groundwater in suburb of Taihu plain].

To investigate shallow groundwater quality in Taihu plain, south of Jiangsu province, 56 samples were collected in north area (C area), north east area (W area) and east area (S area). The concentrations of priority 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed by HP 6890-GC. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and Molecular ratios were used to characterize their possible pollution sources. Concentrations of total priority 16 PAHs in shallow groundwater samples ranged from below method detection limits (< MDLs) to 32.45 microg/L with the average value of 4.42 microg/L, which were predominated by three and four-ring PAHs. High contents of PAHs were found in the vicinity of industrial areas. Ratios of specific PAH compounds including phenanthrene/anthracene (Phe/Ant), fluoranthene/pyrene (FL/Pyr), chrysene/ benzo(a)/anthracene (Chr/BaA), low-molecular-weight PAH/high-molecular-weight PAH (LPAH/HPAH) were calculated to evaluate the possible sources of PAH contamination. These ratios reflected a mixed pattern of pyrolytic and petrogenic inputs of PAHs with different proportion in shallow groundwater. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) results showed that the abnormal benzo (k) fluoranthene concentration dominated the HCA results in C area, the abnormal benzo(a)anthracene concentration dominated the HCA results in W area, and the abnormal benzo (b) fluoranthene concertration dominated the HCA results in S area. At level 0.05, FL, AcPy, Acp, Phe and Bap in C area had Pearson correlation between 0.680 and 0.712. BP, BaA and Bap in W area had Pearson correlation between 0.724 and 0.773. AcPy and Flu in S area had Pearson correlation 0.659, which meant that these PAHs listed in each areas might came from the same kind of sources.

Polypeptide from Chlamys farreri inhibits UVB-induced HaCaT cells apoptosis via inhibition CD95 pathway and reactive oxygen species.

Polypeptide from Chlamys farreri (PCF) is a novel marine active product isolated from gonochoric Chinese scallop Chlamys farreri which has recently been found to be an effective antioxidant. In this study, we assessed the effect of PCF on UVB-induced intracellular signalling of apoptosis in HaCaT cells. Pre-treatment with PCF significantly inhibited UVB-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells. PCF strongly reduced the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level followed by inhibiting the release of cytochrome c. The expression of CD95 and Fas-associating protein with death domain (FADD) was eliminated in a dose-dependent manner by PCF pre-treatment in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells, followed by inhibition of cleavage of procaspase-8, whose activation induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, pre-treatment with the ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and the caspase-8 inhibitor z-IETD-fmk was found to effectively prevent UVB-induced apoptosis, suggesting that UVB-induced HaCaT cell apoptosis was partially due to generation of ROS and activation of the caspase-8 pathway. Consequently, the protective effect of PCF against UVB irradiation in HaCaT cells is exerted by suppression of generation of ROS followed by inhibition of cytochrome c release and inactivation of Fas-FADD-caspase-8 pathway, resulting in blockage of UVB-induced apoptosis.

An armed oncolytic adenovirus system, ZD55-gene, demonstrating potent antitumoral efficacy.

ONYX-015 is an attractive therapeutic adenovirus for cancer because it can selectively replicate in tumor cells and kill them. To date, clinical trials of this adenovirus have demonstrated marked safety but not potent enough when it was used alone. In this paper, we put forward a novel concept of Gene-ViroTherapy strategy and in this way, we constructed an armed therapeutic oncolytic adenovirus system, ZD55-gene, which is not only deleted of E1B 55-kD gene similar to ONYX-015, but also armed with foreign antitumor gene. ZD55-gene exhibited similar cytopathic effects and replication kinetics to that of ONYX-015 in vitro. Importantly, the carried gene is expressed and the expression level can increase with the replication of virus. Consequently, a significant antitumoral efficacy was observed when ZD55-CD/5-FU was used as an example in nude mice with subcutaneous human SW620 colon cancer. Our data demonstrated that ZD55-gene, which utilizing the Gene-ViroTherapy strategy, is more efficacious than each individual component in vivo.