[Clinical study on a novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument for treating fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture].

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument in the treatment of fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 150 patients who underwent surgical intervention for fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture. Eighty patients were treated with the novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument (minimally invasive group) and 70 patients with traditional open surgery (traditional group). The two groups were comparable in terms of gender, age, injured side, cause of injury, the interval between injury and operation, and the distance from the fracture end to the calcaneal tuberosity ( P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, hospital stays, hospitalization expenses, and complications were recorded and compared. At 1 year after operation, the ankle joint function was evaluated by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score. Results: The minimally invasive group demonstrated significantly shorter operation time, smaller incision length, and lower intraoperative blood loss when compared with the traditional group ( P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in terms of hospital stays and hospitalization expenses between the two groups ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up 12-24 months after operation (mean, 15.5 months). In the traditional group, 6 cases of incision necrosis and 7 cases of Achilles tendon adhesion occurred, while in the minimally invasive group, all incisions healed at first intention and no Achilles tendon adhesion occurred. The differences in the incidences of the two complications between the two groups were significant ( P<0.05). At 1 year after operation, the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score in the minimally invasive group was superior to that of the traditional group ( P<0.05). Conclusion: In comparison with traditional open surgery, the use of self-designed novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument proves to be an ideal technique for treating fresh closed Achilles tendon ruptures. This approach offers the benefits of smaller incisions, fewer complications, and better postoperative functional recovery, without increasing hospital costs.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and carcinogenesis.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) has been recognized to be associated with atherosclerosis. In the past few years many studies have found that HDLC is also related to tumor development and progression. Despite some opposing views, a large number of studies support a negative association between HDLC and tumor incidence. Measuring serum HDLC concentrations may facilitate assessment of the prognosis of cancer patients and provide a biomarker for tumors. However, there is a lack of molecular mechanism studies on the link between HDLC and tumors. In this review we discuss the impact of HDLC on the incidence and prognosis of cancer in different systems, as well as prospects for the prediction and treatment of cancer in the future.

Cr-Doped Pd Metallene Endows a Practical Formaldehyde Sensor New Limit and High Selectivity.

Electrochemical sensors for detecting micromolecule organics are desirable for improving the perception of environmental quality and human health. However, currently, the electrochemical sensors for formaldehyde are substantially limited on the market due to the long-term unsolved problems of the low electrooxidation efficiency and CO poisoning issue of commercial Pd catalysts. Here, a 2D Cr-doped Pd metallene (Cr-Pdene) with few atomic layers is shown as an advanced catalyst for ultrasensitive and selective sensing of formaldehyde via a highly efficient formaldehyde electrooxidation. It is found that the doping of Cr into Pd metallene can efficiently optimize the electronic structure of Pd and weaken the interaction between Pd and CO, providing an anti-poisoning means to favor CO2 production and suppress CO adsorption. The Cr-Pdene-based electrochemical sensor exhibits one order of magnitude higher detection range and, especially, much higher anti-interference for formaldehyde than that of the conventional sensors. Most importantly, it is demonstrated that the Cr-Pdene can be integrated into commercializable wireless sensor networks or handheld instruments for promising applications relating to the environment, health, and food.

Punicic acid ameliorates obesity and liver steatosis by regulating gut microbiota composition in mice.

This study aimed to elucidate the effect of punicic acid (PUA, cis9,trans11,cis13-18 : 3) on obesity and liver steatosis in mice induced by high-fat diet (HFD), and to explore the possible mechanism. Mice were fed with either a HFD or a control diet for 8 weeks. Half of HFD-mice received daily supplementation of PUA. Supplementation with PUA ameliorated the liver steatosis and obesity in mice fed by HFD, as demonstrated by the decreased hepatic triglyceride accumulation, body weight gain and fat weight. A HFD increased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, whereas supplementation with PUA effectively restored it. PUA supplementation counteracted the upregulation in family Desulfovibrionaceae and Helicobacteraceae, and the downregulation in Muribaculaceae and Bacteroidaceae induced by HFD. Correspondingly, the family of Desulfovibrionaceae was positively related, whereas Muribaculaceae was negatively related to the amount of epididymal and perirenal fat, and the level of liver triglyceride and total cholesterol. The family Helicobacteraceae was also positively related to the amount of epididymal and perirenal fat. Moreover, PUA supplementation counteracted the increase in the population of Anaerotruncus, Faecalibaculim, Mucispirillum, and the decrease in the population of Lactobacillus, Roseburia, Oscillibacter at the genus level induced by HFD. These results demonstrated that PUA can at least in part ameliorate obesity and liver steatosis in mice induced by HFD by regulating gut microbiota composition.

Depressive symptoms and associated factors among left-behind children in China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among left-behind children (LBC) in junior and senior secondary schools and examine the significant predictors of depressive symptoms, which might provide practical intervention measures for the schools. METHODS: By using stratified random sampling, 1076 (LBC) in junior and senior secondary schools were investigated in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the depression self-rating scale (SDS). SDS raw scores 40 or higher were categorised as depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The total prevalence of depressive symptoms was 54.74% for LBC in junior and senior secondary schools, with 73.08% for grade 12 students. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that grades, family income, parental relationship, parent-child relationship and teacher-student relationship were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms are acommon health problem among LBC in junior and senior secondary schools, and LBC in grade 12 may be at high risk of depressive symptoms. The parents, teachers and schools should pay more attention to LBC, particularly those in grade 12, and provide prevention and early intervention programs such as individual counsel service to prevent depressive symptoms.

Lyotropic liquid crystal self-assembly of H2O2-hydrolyzed chitin nanocrystals.

H2O2 hydrolysis of mechanically-defibrillated chitin nanofibrils was explored as a green way of fabricating rod-like chitin nanocrystals (H2O2-hydrolyzed CHNs) that have an average length of 350 nm and width of 40 nm. We investigated the structure and morphology of CHNs as well as the rheology and lyotropic self-assembly behavior of its colloidal dispersions. The results show that although H2O2-hydrolyzed CHNs maintained the crystalline structure of α-chitin, surface charge of the nanorods was switched from positive to negative. As a consequence, the colloidal nanocrystals were well-dispersed in neutral or alkaline aqueous media, and behaved as a lyotropic liquid crystal between two critical concentrations. It is interesting that lyotropic liquid crystal transition was a spontaneously self-assembly from well-aligned nanofibers, to nanobelts, and to multi-layered lamellae. At high critical concentration, H2O2-hydrolyzed CHN colloids exhibited a sol-gel transition, which was discovered to be highly dependent on the storage time, concentration, temperature, and surface charge density. It is also suggested that nematic mesophases rather than gel could be effectively maintained by improving the surface charge density or lowering the aging temperature and colloidal concentration of CHNs.

Enhanced citric acid production by a yeast Yarrowia lipolytica over-expressing a pyruvate carboxylase gene.

In this study, after the expression of a pyruvate carboxylase gene (PYC) cloned from Meyerozyma guilliermondii in a marine-derived yeast Yarrowia lipolytica SWJ-1b, a transformant PG86 obtained had much higher PYC activity than Y. lipolytica SWJ-1b. At the same time, the PYC gene expression and citric acid (CA) production by the transformant PG86 were also greatly enhanced. When glucose concentration in the medium was 60.0 g L(-1), CA concentration formed by the transformant PG86 was 34.02 g L(-1), leading to a CA yield of 0.57 g g(-1) of glucose. During a 10-L fed-batch fermentation, the final concentration of CA was 101.0 ± 1.3 g L(-1), the yield was 0.89 g g(-1) of glucose, the productivity was 0.42 g L(-1) h(-1) and only 5.93 g L(-1) reducing sugar was left in the fermented medium within 240 h of the fed-batch fermentation. HPLC analysis showed that most of the fermentation products were CA.

Spatial Variation of Phosphorous Retention Capacity in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands: Effect of Wetland Type and Inflow Loading.

For verification of spatial distribution of phosphorous retention capacity in constructed wetlands systems(CWs), two horizontal subsurface flow(HSSF) CWs and two vertical subsurface flow(VSSF) CWs, using sand as substrate and Typha latifolia as wetland plants, were constructed and put into use for synthetic wastewater treatment. Five months later, significant spatial variations of TP and inorganic phosphorus(Ca-P, Fe-P and Al-P) were observed, which were found to be greatly affected by CWs type and hydraulic loading. The results revealed that though spatial distribution of Fe-P and Al-P displayed a similar order of substrate content as "rhizosphere" > "near-rhizosphere" > "non-rhizosphere" and "inflow section" > "outflow section" regardless of types and loading, the distribution of Ca-P was positively correlated to that of Fe-P and Al-P in HSSF CWs, while negative correlation was shown in VSSF CWs. As a result, TP spatial distribution in HSSF CWs demonstrated a greater dissimilarity than that in VSSF CWs. For HSSF CWs with low hydraulic loading, the lowest TP content was found in non-rhizosphere substrate of outflow section, while the highest one was discovered in rhizonsphere substrate of inflow section. The values in 6 parts of areas ranged from 0.138 g·kg-1 to 2.710 g·kg-1, which also were from -33.5% to 1209% compared to the control value. On contrast, spatial difference of TP content in substrates of VSSF CWs was insignificant, with a variation ranging from 0.776 g·kg-1 to 1.080 g·kg-1, that was 275% to 421% higher than the control value. In addition, when hydraulic loading was increased, TP content in VSSF CWs sharply decreased, ranging from 0.210 g·kg-1 to 0.634 g·kg-1. Meanwhile, dissimilarity of TP spatial distribution in HSSF CWs was reduced, with TP content ranging from 0.258 g·kg-1 to 2.237 g·kg-1. The results suggested that P spatial distribution should be taken into account for CWs design and operation.

Cloning and characterization of an inulinase gene from the marine yeast Candida membranifaciens subsp. flavinogenie W14-3 and its expression in Saccharomyces sp. W0 for ethanol production.

The INU1 gene encoding an exo-inulinase from the marine-derived yeast Candida membranifaciens subsp. flavinogenie W14-3 was cloned and characterized. It had an open reading frame of 1,536 bp long encoding an inulinase. The coding region of it was not interrupted by any intron. The cloned gene encoded 512 amino acid residues of a protein with a putative signal peptide of 23 amino acids and a calculated molecular mass of 57.8 kDa. The protein sequence deduced from the inulinase gene contained the inulinase consensus sequences (WMNDPNGL), (RDP), ECP FS and Q. The protein also had six conserved putative N-glycosylation sites. The deduced inulinase from the yeast strain W14-3 was found to be closely related to that from Candida kutaonensis sp. nov. KRF1, Kluyveromyces marxianus, and Cryptococcus aureus G7a. The inulinase gene with its signal peptide encoding sequence was subcloned into the pMIRSC11 expression vector and expressed in Saccharomyces sp. W0. The recombinant yeast strain W14-3-INU-112 obtained could produce 16.8 U/ml of inulinase activity and 12.5 % (v/v) ethanol from 250 g/l of inulin within 168 h. The monosaccharides were detected after the hydrolysis of inulin with the crude inulinase (the yeast culture). All the results indicated that the cloned gene and the recombinant yeast strain W14-3-INU-112 had potential applications in biotechnology.