Five-day, low-level laser therapy for sports-related lower extremity periostitis in adult men: a randomized, controlled trial.

Periostitis in the lower leg caused by overexercise is a universal problem in athletes and runners. The purpose of this study was to observe the functional improvement of the lower limbs upon rehabilitation low-level laser therapy (LLLT). All medical data were gathered from enrolled adults with sports-related lower leg pain. A total of 54 patients underwent triple-phase bone scans using skeletal nuclear scintigraphy, which confirmed periostitis in their lower limbs. The patients were then randomly divided into two groups: one group received laser therapy (N = 29) and the other group (N = 25) received an equivalent placebo treatment (a drug or physical therapy). Treatment protocol commenced with rehabilitation intervention and LLLT was performed three times daily for 5 days at a dosage of 1.4 J/cm(2). A Likert-type pain scale was used to evaluate the severity of pain. Balance function, including postural stability testing (PST) and limits of stability (LOS), was also performed to evaluate the function outcome. Patients experienced a significant improvement in pain by day 2 or day 5 after starting LLLT, but here was no significant difference in pain scale between the measurements before (baseline) and after LLLT. Comparing the PST, the group differences of dynamic vs. static testings ranged from -18.54 to -50.22 (compared 12, 8, 4, 3, 2, 1 to 0, all p < 0.0001), and the PST after LLLT were 3.73 units (p = 0.0258) lower than those of before LLLT. Comparing the LOS, the group differences of dynamic vs. static testing were similar to those in PST, and the relationship between LOS and groups only varied with the direction control during dynamic testing in direction at backward/right vs. right (p < 0.0001). LLLT had a positive effect on proprioception in patients with lower limb periostitis. Larger, better controlled studies are needed to determine what specific effects LLLT has on the function of proprioception.

[Regular pattern of non-point source pollutants losses in Luxi watershed].

The losses of non-point pollutant combined with natural rainfall events were monitored at outlets of Luxi watershed and several field plots with different land use. The paper probes characteristics of the sediment and chemical losses during a single rainfall-runoff process. The impact of preceding precipitation is also discussed. The results of field experiments show that the concentration of SS in runoff dropped off obviously with the increase of antecedent rainfall. The observed data were 265.6, 145.8, 124.2mg/L respectively with precipitation of 15, 115, 161 mm in preceding 5 days. Compared to the losses of SS, nutrients and COD were not changed greatly by the preceding rainfalls. The fluctuations of pollutant concentration were less than 15%. The results from plots suggested that land use play an important role in pollutant losses. The following is the list ordered according to concentration of pollutant in runoff, from the highest to the lowest: Dry land,residential area, grassland, woodland and paddy land. Vegetation cover is effective on the reduction of soil erosion and sediment loss. About 80% SS could be cut down when the coverage changed from 50% to 90%. Losses of TN were mainly determined by the TN concentration in soil. The ratios of TN concentration in runoff to that in soil were 2.75%, 2.79%, 2.42 % respectively for the land use of dry land, grassland and woodland. Augment of vegetation overage contributed to increment of N losses,including NO3- -N and NH+ -N.

[Chinese traditional medicine yi kang ling to treat immunity infertility caused by anti-sperm antibody: the experimental research. I].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Chinese traditional medicine Yi Kang Ling (YKL) on immunity infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (AsAb). METHODS: Based on the animal model of immunity infertility, seventy-five pairs of New Zealand rabbits were divided into three groups: YKL treatment group (sub-divided into mini-, midi- and maxi-dosage groups), prednisone treatment group and non-treatment group. Five pairs of normal rabbits were used as control. The AsAb from the rabbit serum were detected on the 15th, 30th and 45th day of treatment respectively. The sperm density, activity, the mobility and AsAb of seminal plasma from the obedient rabbits were determined. RESULTS: Statistics showed that on the 45th day in mini- and maxi-YKL and prednisone treatment groups the positive serum AsAb reversing ratio reached 100%, and the seminal plasma AsAb reversing ratios were 85% in mini- and maxi-YKL group, 83% in midi-YKL and prednisone groups, while in non-treatment group the reversing ratios of the positive serum AsAb and seminal plasma AsAb were only 20% and 25% respectively. There were also remarkable differences (P < 0.05) in both serum AsAb and seminal plasma AsAb on the 45th day of treatment between YKL, prednisone treatment groups and the non-treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: YKL can effectively reverse the AsAb positive results, hence increasing sperm mobility and improving sperm quality.

[Chinese traditional medicine yi kang ling to treat immunity infertility caused by anti-sperm antibody: the experimental research II].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Chinese traditional medicine Yi Kang Ling (YKL) on immunity infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (AsAb). METHODS: With the AsAb infertile rabbit as the experimental model, seventy-five pairs of New zealand rabbits were divided into three group including YKL treatment group (sub-divided into mini-, midi- and maxi-dosage groups), prednisone treatment group and non-treatment group. Rabbits of the YKL treatment sub-groups were further divided into M+F- (male positive, female negative), M-F+, (male negative, female positive) and M+F+ (male positive, female positive) pairs according to their initial AsAb detection results. The control group consisted of five pairs of normal rabbits. When the expected AsAb reversing ratio was achieved, the rabbits were matted and observed for the number of the pregnant and the weight of the newborn. RESULTS: Statistics showed that in M+F- pairs both the midi-dosage of YKL and prednisone treatment groups had fertility, in the mini- and maxi-dosage of YKL treatment groups, 20% of the female rabbits failed to be pregnant, while in the non-treatment group, 60% female rabbits remained sterile. The sterile ratios of the M-F+ pairs in the mini-, midi- and maxi-dosage of YKL and prednisone treatment groups were 0, 20%, 25% and 25%, respectively, while the sterile ratio in the non-treatment M-F+ group was 40%. In M+F+ groups, the sterile ratios of the three YKL sub-groups, prednisone treatment and non-treatment groups were 20%, 20% and 60% respectively. In the control group the sterile ratio was 20%. The weight of the newborn rabbits were around 50 grams with no visible malformation. CONCLUSIONS: YKL can effectively reverse the AsAb positive results, and restore the fertility of female rabbits. Mini-dosage of YKL for 45 days produced the best results and maxi-dosage of YKL had no negative effects on the weight of the newborn rabbit.