[Risk factors and prognosis of acute cerebrovascular events at 1 year after hip fracture in elderly patients].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate risk factors of acute cerebrovascular events and effects on the prognosis within 1 year after hip fracture surgery. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 320 elderly patients with hip fracture treated from July 2017 to December 2020, including 111 males and 209 females, aged from 60 to 101 years old with an average of (79.05±8.48) years old. According to whether acute cerebrovascular events occurred within 1 year after surgery, patients were divided into cerebrovascular events and non-cerebrovascular events group. Clinical data of patients were collected, including age, sex, comorbidities, fracture type, white blood cell count, hemoglobin, albumin, activities of daily living (ADL) score, walking ability, type of anesthesia, type of surgery, and length of hospital stay, Univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression were used to analyze the independent risk factors of acute cerebrovascular events within 1 year after hip fracture in elderly patients. ADL, walking ability and mortality were compared between the two groups 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: Acute cerebrovascular events occurred in 38 patients (11.9%) within 1 year after surgery. In the cerebrovascular events group, there were 20 males and 18 females, aged (82.53±7.91) years. In the non-cerebrovascular event group, there were 91 males and 191 females, aged with an average of (78.59±8.46) years old . Univariate analysis showed that acute cerebrovascular events were associated with age (t=2.712, P=0.007), male (χ2=6.129, P=0.013), hypertension (χ2=8.449, P=0.004), arrhythmia (χ2=6.360, P=0.012), stroke history (χ2=34.887, P=0.000), diabetes mellitus (χ2=4.574, P=0.032) and length of hospital stay (t=2.249, P=0.025) were closely related. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed age (OR=1.068, P=0.018), male (OR=2.875, P=0.008), arrhythmia (OR=2.722, P=0.017) and stroke history (OR=7.382, P=0.000) was an independent risk factor for acute cerebrovascular events 1 year after surgery. The patients with cerebrovascular events died at 1 year after surgery (11 cases) compared with those without cerebrovascular events (41 cases), and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=5.108, P=0.024). ADL scores of patients with cerebrovascular events at 1 year after operation were (58.70±14.45) points compared with those without cerebrovascular events (67.83±10.45) points, and the difference was statistically significant(t=4.122, P=0.000). Independent walking, assisted walking and bed rest were 3, 17 and 7 cases in cerebrovascular event group, and 54, 174 and 13 cases in non-cerebrovascular event group, respectively;and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=11.030, P=0.003). CONCLUSION: Acute cerebrovascular events were common in elderly patients 1 year after hip fracture. Age, male, arrhythmia and stroke history were independent risk factors for acute stroke. The patients in the cerebrovascular event group had higher mortality and worse self-care ability and walking ability one year after operation.

[Effects of exogenous plant hormones on physiological characteristics and yield of sweet potato under drought stress]. / å¹²æ—±èƒè¿«ä¸‹å–·æ–½å¤–æºæ¤ç‰©æ¿€ç´ å¯¹ç”˜è–¯ç”Ÿç†ç‰¹æ€§å’Œäº§é‡çš„å½±å“.

To explore the alleviation effect of spraying phytohormone on physiological characteristics and yield of sweet potato under drought stress in different periods, and to determine the best period of spraying external plant hormones, the effects on endogenous hormone content, photosynthetic fluorescence characteristics and yield of sweet potato were examined by spraying 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), α-naphthylacetic acid (NAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) respectively under drought stress after transplanting for 20 days (early stage), 60 days (middle stage) and 100 days (later stage) under artificial water control. The results showed that compared with spraying water, exogenous phytohormones significantly increased the yield of sweet potato under drought stress, among which 6-BA had the highest effect, followed by NAA and ABA. The effect of spraying in early stage was better than that in middle and late stages. Exogenous phytohormones significantly increased photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of sweet potato leaves under drought stress at different stages, alleviated the decrease in eatin ribonucleoside (ZR) and auxin (IAA) caused by drought. Stepwise regression analysis showed that endogenous hormones and photosynthetic characteristics were key factors affecting yield of sweet potato. Results of path analysis showed that spraying exogenous plant hormone affected sweet potato yield by changing net photosynthetic rate (Pn), IAA, ZR, maximal photochemical efficiency and photochemical performance index under drought stress at early stage. Therefore, spraying 6-BA could regulate the content of endogenous hormones and improve photosynthetic characteristics of sweet potato at the early growth stage, and thus effectively alleviate the loss of yield caused by drought stress.

[Effects of drought stress on root development and physiological characteristics of sweet potato at seedling stage]. / å¹²æ—±èƒè¿«å¯¹ç”˜è–¯è‹—æœŸæ ¹ç³»åˆ†åŒ–å’Œç”Ÿç†ç‰¹æ€§çš„å½±å“.

The effects of drought stress on root morphology, endogenous hormones, chlorophyll fluorescence and active oxygen metabolism in three different stages of sweet potato rooting, branching and tubering stage were studied by sand culture method with 10% PEG-6000 simulating drought stress. The results showed that the biomass of sweet potato decreased significantly under drought stress in different periods, with the degree of drought stress being 10 days > 20 days > 30 days after transplantation. Drought stress significantly reduced the average diameter and root volume at the 10 days after transplantation, followed by the 20 days and 30 days. Both the main and interactive effects of different periods and drought stress significantly affected root morphological characteristics. Drought stress at different stages significantly reduced chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, resulting in blocked photosynthate formation, and inhibited root differentiation. Drought stress affected the proportion of endogenous hormones in root (with decreases of indoleacetic acid and zeatin riboside contents but increases of abscisic acid contents) and thus inhibiting root differentiation of sweet potato. The earlier the stress time, the more serious the root differentiation of sweet potato was hindered. Across different drought-tolerant varieties, the severity of root differentiation blocked in Jishu 26 was significantly lower than that in Guangshu 87. Root endogenous hormones and chlorophyll fluorescence were the key drivers for the average diameter and root volume (R1=0.936, R2=0.972). Zeatin riboside, maximal photochemical efficiency, and abscisic acid had greater direct effects on average diameter and root volume of sweet potato. Sweet potato was more sensitive to drought stress in the 10th day after transplanting. Therefore, proper irrigation should be considered in case of drought in seedling stage of sweet potato.

[Clinical observation of percutaneous coblation nucleoplasty for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effects of percutaneous coblation nucleoplasty in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and investigate its mechanism of action. METHODS: Form January 2015 to January 2017, 21 patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were treated by percutaneous coblation nucleoplasty, including 8 males and 13 females with an average age of 49.6 years old ranging from 43 to 61 years old. The course of disease was for 1 to 6 months with a median age of 4 months. Three cases were single segment, 9 cases were double segments, 7 cases were three-segment, 2 cases were four-segment. Intervertebral disc pressure, VAS were compared before and after operation. Angular displacement(AD) and horizontal displacement(HD) were measured by image data and in order to evaluate the cervical stability. Modified MacNab criteria was used to assess clinical effects. RESULTS: All the patients were followed up from 1 to 12 months with an average of 8.6 months. Preoperative intervertebral disc pressure was (32.0±5.26) cmH2O and immediately after operation was (21.0±7.18) cmH2O, there was statistical significance between before and after operation(P=0.003). Preoperative angular displacement and horizontal displacement was (3.85±1.26) ° and (1.23±0.58) mm, six months after operation was (4.18±1.31) ° and (1.69±0.46) mm, respectively. There was no statistical significance before and after operation(P>0.05). Preoperative VAS scores were 7.49±0.53, postoperative at 3 days, 3, 6 months were 3.51±0.49, 2.63±0.61, 2.56±0.71, respectively, and postoperative obtained obvious improvement(P<0.05). According to modified MacNab criteria, 6 cases obtained excellent results, 7 good, 4 fair 3 poor at 3 days;10 cases obtained excellent results, 5 good, 3 fair, 2 poor at 3 months; 12 cases obtained excellent results, 6 good, 1 fair, 1 poor at 6 months after operation. Postoperative clinical effect at 6 months was better than 3 d, and 3 months(P<0.05), and postoperative at 3 months was better than 3 d(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous coblation nucleoplasty in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy can effectively relieve the pain of neck, shoulder and upper limb and can also relieve some associated symptoms such as headache and dizziness.

Systemic tracking of diagnostic function modules for post-menopausal osteoporosis in a differential co-expression network view.

Post-menopausal osteoporosis is one of the most common bone diseases in women. The aim of the present study was to predict the diagnostic function modules from a differential co-expression gene network in order to enhance the current understanding of the biological processes and to promote the early prevention and intervention of post-menopausal osteoporosis. The diagnostic function modules were extracted from a differential co-expression network by the established protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. First, significant genes were identified from the differential co-expression network, which were regarded as seed genes. Starting from the seed genes, the sub-networks in this disease, referred to as diagnostic function modules, were exhaustively searched and prioritized through a snowball sampling strategy to identify genes to accurately predict clinical outcomes. In addition, crucial function inference was performed for each diagnostic function module. Based on the microarray and PPI data, the differential co-expression network was constructed, which contained 1,607 genes and 4,197 interactions. A total of 110 seed genes were identified, and nine diagnostic modules that accurately distinguished post-menopausal osteoporosis from healthy controls were screened out from these seed genes. The diagnostic modules may be associated with five functional pathways with emphasis on metabolism. A total of nine diagnostic functional modules screened in the present study may be considered as potential targets for predicting the clinical outcomes of post-menopausal osteoporosis, and may contribute to the early diagnosis and therapy of osteoporosis.

Unraveling the venom components of an encyrtid endoparasitoid wasp Diversinervus elegans.

The encyrtid parasitoid, Diversinervus elegans (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), is a natural enemy of the notorious scale pests belonging to the family of Coccidae. Venom containing a rich source of bioactive molecules is a key virulent factor used to regulate host physiology by parasitoids. Although knowledge regarding venom constituents accumulated from limited parasitoids has provided insights into their roles in host-parasitoid interaction, toxins involving in manipulating scale physiology remain sparsely documented. Here, a total number of 48 putative venom proteins were identified from D. elegans using an integrative transcriptomic and proteomic approach. The majority of them such as serine protease, esterase, and major royal jelly protein have been found in venom of other several parasitoid species. Several venom proteins including three novel proteins having unknown function were firstly revealed. Quantitative real time PCR analysis demonstrated that 16 venom genes displayed female-biased expression, which might be important for parasitism success. These data enrich our understanding of parasitoid venom evolution and diversity, and will undoubtedly help deciphering functional venom proteins as potential candidates for pest control.

Transcriptome profilings of female Schistosoma japonicum reveal significant differential expression of genes after pairing.

Pairing of Schistosoma japonicum initiates female development, leads to female sexual maturation, and maintains this mature state. To understand the mechanism involved in these processes, we studied parasites isolated from single- and double-sex cercariae-infected mice using deep-sequencing analysis, Solexa, to uncover pair-regulated transcriptional profiles. In this study, we report the results of high-throughput tag-sequencing (Tag-seq) analysis of the transcriptome of female worms 18 and 23 days postsingle- and double-sex infections. We sequenced over 3 million tags, obtained a total of 14,034, 27,251, 22,755, and 22,555 distinct tags corresponding to 5,773, 9,794, 8,885, and 8,870 tag-mapped genes for 23-day-old female schistosomula from double-sex infections (23DSI), 23-day-old female schistosomula from single-sex infections (23SSI), 18-day-old female schistosomula from double-sex infections (18DSI), and 18-day-old female schistosomula from single-sex infections (18SSI), respectively. Analyses of differentially expressed genes revealed similarities in the gene expression profiles between 18SSI and 18DSI as well as rational differential gene expression between 18SSI and 23SSI. However, fewer upregulated genes were found in 23DSI compared with 18DSI. Of the 3,446 differentially expressed genes between 23DSI and 23SSI, 2,913 genes were upregulated in 23SSI, whereas only 533 genes were upregulated in 23DSI. In these upregulated genes in 23DSI, phosphoglycerate mutase, superoxide dismutase, egg antigen, ribosomal proteins, ferritin-1 heavy chain, and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 were detected. Detection of these genes suggests that gene expression in 23DSI is specialized for functions such as promotion and maintenance of female sexual maturation and egg production. Quantitative real-time (RT)-PCR analysis confirmed the Solexa results, thereby supporting the reliability of the system. Our results offer new insights into the biological significance of pairing, which directs the expression of genes specific for sexual maturation and egg production.

Preparation of RGD-modified long circulating liposome loading matrine, and its in vitro anti-cancer effects.

AIM: To prepare RGD-modified long circulating liposome (LCL) loading matrine (RGD-M-LCL) to improve the tumor-targeting and efficacy of matrine. METHODS: LCL which was prepared with HSPC, cholesterol, DSPE-PEG2000 and DSPE-PEG-MAL was modified with an RGD motif confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The encapsulation efficiency of RGD-M-LCL was also detected by HPLC. MTT assay was used to examine the effects of RGD-M-LCL on the proliferation of Bcap-37, HT-29 and A375 cells. The percentage of apoptotic cells and morphological changes in Bcap-37 cells treated with RGD-M-LCL were detected by Annexin-V-FITC/PI affinity assay and observed under light microscope, respectively. RESULTS: Spherical or oval single-chamber particles of uniform sizes with little agglutination or adhesion were observed under transmission electronic microscope. The RGD motif was successfully coupled to the DSPE-PEG-MAL on liposomes, as confirmed by HPLC. An encapsulation efficiency of 83.13% was obtained when the drug-lipid molar ratio was 0.1, and the encapsulation efficiency was negatively related to the drug-lipid ratio in the range of 0.1-0.4, and to the duration of storage. We found that, compared with free matrine, RGD-M-LCL had much stronger in vitro activity, leading to anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects against cancer cells (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: RGD-M-LCL, a novel delivery system for anti-cancer drugs, was successfully prepared, and we demonstrated that the use of this material could augment the effects of matrine on cancer cells in vitro.