Investigating the impact of cartilaginous endplate herniation on recovery from percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of herniation of cartilaginous endplates on postoperative pain and functional recovery in patients undergoing percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 126 patients with LDH treated with PELD at the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2021 to January 2022. Whether cartilaginous endplates had herniated was identified by analyzing these specific findings from MRI scans: posterior marginal nodes, posterior osteophytes, mid endplate irregularities, heterogeneous low signal intensity of extruded material, and Modic changes in posterior corners and mid endplates. Patients were assessed for postoperative pain using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and functional recovery using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Modified MacNab criteria. Statistical analyses compared outcomes based on the presence of herniation of cartilaginous endplates. RESULTS: Patients with herniation of cartilaginous endplates experienced higher pain scores early postoperatively but showed significant improvement in pain and functional status over the long term. The back pain VAS scores showed significant differences between the groups with and without herniation of cartilaginous endplates on postoperative day 1 and 1 month (P < 0.05). Leg pain VAS scores showed significant differences on postoperative day 1 (P < 0.05). Modic changes were significantly associated with variations in postoperative recovery, highlighting their importance in predicting patient outcomes. In patients with herniation of cartilaginous endplates, there were statistically significant differences in the back pain VAS scores at 1 month postoperatively and the ODI functional scores on postoperative day 1 between the groups with and without Modic changes (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the surgical outcomes between patients with and without these conditions regarding the Modified MacNab criteria (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Herniation of cartilaginous endplates significantly affect early postoperative pain and functional recovery in LDH patients undergoing PELD. These findings emphasize the need for clinical consideration of these imaging features in the preoperative planning and postoperative management to enhance patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Population Genetic Analyses and Trichothecene Genotype Profiling of Fusarium pseudograminearum Causing Wheat Crown Rot in Henan, China.

In China, Fusarium pseudograminearum has emerged as a major pathogen causing Fusarium crown rot (FCR) and caused significant losses. Studies on the pathogen's properties, especially its mating type and trichothecene chemotypes, are critical with respect to disease epidemiology and food/feed safety. There are currently few available reports on these issues. This study investigated the species composition, mating type idiomorphs, and trichothecene genotypes of Fusarium spp. causing FCR in Henan, China. A significant shift in F. pseudograminearum-induced FCR was found in the present study. Of the 144 purified strains, 143 were F. pseudograminearum, whereas only 1 Fusarium graminearum was identified. Moreover, a significant trichothecene-producing capability of F. pseudograminearum strains from Henan was observed in this work. Among the 143 F. pseudograminearum strains identified, F. pseudograminearum with a 15ADON genotype was found to be predominant (133 isolates), accounting for 92.36% of all strains, followed by F. pseudograminearum with a 3ADON genotype, whereas only one NIV genotype strain was detected. Overall, a relatively well-balanced 1:1 ratio of the F. pseudograminearum population was found in Henan. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the Fusarium populations responsible for FCR across the Henan wheat-growing region.

Comparison of radiological and clinical outcomes of cervical laminoplasty versus lateral mass screw fixation in patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare cervical sagittal parameters and clinical outcomes between patients undergoing cervical laminoplasty(CL) and those undergoing lateral mass screw fixation(LMS). METHODS: We retrospectively studied 67 patients with multilevel ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the cervical spine who underwent lateral mass screw fixation (LMS = 36) and cervical laminoplasty (CL = 31). We analyzed cervical sagittal parameters (C2-7 sagittal vertical axis (C2-7 SVA), C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, C7 slope (C7s), T1 slope (T1s), and spino-cranial angle (SCA)) and clinical outcomes (visual analog scale [VAS], neck disability index [NDI], Japanese Orthopaedic Association [JOA] scores, recovery rate (RR), and minimum clinically significant difference [MCID]). The cervical sagittal parameters at the last follow-up were analyzed by binary logistic regression. Finally, we analyzed the correlation between the cervical sagittal parameters and each clinical outcome at the last follow-up after surgery in both groups. RESULTS: At the follow-up after posterior decompression in both groups, the mean values of C2-C7 SVA, C7s, and T1s in the LMS group were more significant than those in the CL group (P ≤ 0.05). Compared with the preoperative period, C2-C7 SVA, T1s, and SCA gradually increased, and the C2-C7 Cobb angle gradually decreased after surgery (P < 0.05). The improvement in the JOA score and the recovery rate was similar between the two groups, while the improvement in the VAS-N score and NDI score was more significant in the CL group (P = 0.001; P = 0.043). More patients reached MCID in the CL group than in the LMS group (P = 0.036). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that SCA was independently associated with whether patients reached MCID at NDI postoperatively. SCA was positively correlated with cervical NDI and negatively correlated with cervical JOA score at postoperative follow-up in both groups (P < 0.05); C2-7 Cobb angle was negatively correlated with cervical JOA score at postoperative follow-up (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CL may be superior to LMS in treating cervical spondylotic myelopathy caused by OPLL. In addition, smaller cervical SCA after posterior decompression may suggest better postoperative outcomes.

Comparison of Cervical Sagittal Parameters among Patients with Neck Pain and Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy and Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that cervical sagittal alignment is strongly associated with cervical deformity, myelopathy, and cervical adjacent-segmental disease, and these cervical sagittal parameters are correlated with health-related quality of life. However, less attention has been paid to cervical sagittal balance in various cervical disorders. This study aimed to compare cervical sagittal parameters between patients with nonspecific neck pain (NS-NP) and patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) and cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). METHODS: We retrospectively examined 236 patients from between January 2020 and October 2022. We divided them into three groups (NS-NP, CSR, and CSM) and collected general information and cervical sagittal parameters for these patients. The variation of parameters between the size of these parameters and gender differences was analyzed. Pearson's or Spearman's correlation was applied to analyze the association of cervical sagittal parameters of all patients between the three groups. RESULTS: There were significant differences in age and sex among the three groups (p < 0.001), with the NS-NP group being the youngest and NS-NP being more common in women. The parameters of cervical sagittal position significantly differed among the three groups (p < 0.05). Pearson's or Spearman's correlation result showed that the C2-C7 Cobb angle was negatively associated with the C2-C7 sagittal vertical angle (SVA), and the C2-C7 Cobb angle and T1 slope (T1s) were negatively associated with the spino-cranial angle (SCA). There was a positive correlation between the C2-C7 Cobb angle and C7 slope (C7s), C2-C7 SVA and T1s, C2-C7 SVA and SCA, and C7s and T1s. CONCLUSION: This study showed that between the three groups, patients with nonspecific neck pain had smaller SCA, and among patients with NS-NP, women had more significant SCA. The smaller anteroposterior diameter of the thorax in women might explain this difference.

Modeling Corrosion Product Film Formation and Hydrogen Diffusion at the Crack Tip of Austenitic Stainless Steel.

Corrosion product films (CPFs) have significant effects on hydrogen permeation and the corrosion process at the crack tip. This paper established a two-dimensional calculation model to simulate the formation of CPFs at the crack tip and its effects on the crack tip stress status and hydrogen diffusion. The CPFs were simplified as a single-layer structure composed of Fe2O3, the effective CPFs boundary was modeled by the diffusion of oxygen, and the CPF-induced stress was modeled by hygroscopic expansion. The simulation was conducted with two stages; the first stage was to simulate the formation of CPFs formation and its effects on the crack tip stress status, while the second stage focused on the hydrogen diffusion with and without CPF formation under different external tensile loads. The results indicate that the highest compressive stress induced by the formation of CPFs is located at 50~60° of the crack contour and dramatically weakens the crack tip tensile stress at low-stress status. The CPFs can inhibit the hydrogen permeation into the crack tip, and the hydrostatic pressure effects on the redistribution of the permeated hydrogen are significant under larger external load conditions.

Tilmicosin/γ-Cyclodextrin complexation through supercritical carbon dioxide assistance and its pharmacokinetic and antibacterial study.

Tilmicosin, as an effective broad-spectrum antibacterial drug, has incomplete absorption and low bioavailability due to its low water solubility, which limits its veterinary clinical applications. As a non-polymeric drug carrier, γ-cyclodextrin was complexed with tilmicosin through supercritical carbon dioxide assistance for the first time, and confirmed by FTIR, X-ray diffraction, proton NMR and scanning electron microscopy. The water solubility of tilmicosin was increased 57-fold through complexation with γ-cyclodextrin, and the release and bioavailability of tilmicosin in the complex were significantly improved. The tilmicosin in complex showed better anti-Streptococcus agalactiae activity than that of tilmicosin alone in MIC, MBC and drug susceptibility studies.

Author Correction: Molecular marker assisted breeding and genome composition analysis of Zhengmai 7698, an elite winter wheat cultivar.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Molecular marker assisted breeding and genome composition analysis of Zhengmai 7698, an elite winter wheat cultivar.

Zhengmai 7698 is an elite winter wheat variety widely cultivated in the Southern regions of the Yellow-Huai River Valley of China. Here, we report the molecular markers used for breeding Zhengmai 7698 and the genome composition of this cultivar revealed using genome-wide SNPs. A total of 26 DNA markers derived from the genes controlling gluten protein quality, grain hardness, flour color, disease resistance, or pre-harvesting sprouting resistance were used during breeding. Consequently, Zhengmai 7698 had strong gluten, high grain hardness index, white flour color, and high levels of resistance to powdery mildew, stripe rust infections, and pre-harvesting sprouting. Using genome complexity reduction, 28,996 high-quality SNPs distributed on 21 wheat chromosomes were identified among Zhengmai 7698 and its three parental lines (4B269, Zhengmai 9405 and Zhoumai 16). Zhengmai 7698 shared 12,776, 14,411 and 16,085 SNPs with 4B269, Zhengmai 9405 and Zhoumai 16, respectively. Thus, the contributions of 4B269, Zhengmai 9405 and Zhoumai 16 to the genome of Zhengmai 7698 were comparable. Interestingly, Zhengmai 7698 had 307 unique SNPs that are absent in all three parents. We suggest that molecular markers facilitate selection of a wheat cultivar with multiple elite traits. Analysis of genome composition with SNPs may provide useful clues for further dissecting the genetic basis of improved wheat performance.

Physiological characteristics and metabolomics of transgenic wheat containing the maize C4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) gene under high temperature stress.

In this paper, two transgenic wheat lines, PC27 and PC51, containing the maize PEPC gene and its wild-type (WT) were used as experimental material to study the effects of high temperature on their photosynthetic physiological characteristics and metabolome. The results showed that transgenic wheat lines had higher photosynthetic rate (P n) than WT under non-stress treatment (NT) and high temperature stress treatment (HT), and more significantly under HT. The change trends of F v/F m, Ф PSII, and q P were similar to P n, whereas that of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) was the opposite. Compared with WT, no differences in chlorophyll content between the transgenic wheat and WT were observed under NT, but two transgenic lines had relatively higher contents than WT under HT. The change trends of Chlorophyll a/b radio, the decreased values of F m, Wk, and Vj, and the activity of the antioxidant enzyme were consistent with the chlorophyll content. Compared with WT, transgenic wheat lines exhibited lower rate of superoxide anion production, H2O2 and malondialdehyde content under HT, and no significant differences were observed under NT. The expression pattern of the ZmPEPC gene and wheat endogenous photosynthesis-related genes were in agreement with that of P n. Compared with WT, about 13 different metabolites including one organic acid, six amino acids, four sugars, and two polyols were identified under NT; 25 different metabolites including six organic acids, 12 amino acids, four sugars, and three polyols were identified under HT. Collectively, our results indicate that ZmPEPC gene can enhance photochemical and antioxidant enzyme activity, upregulate the expression of photosynthesis-related genes, delay degradation of chlorophyll, change contents of proline and other metabolites in wheat, and ultimately improves its heat tolerance.

Exact Weighted-FBP Algorithm for Three-Orthogonal-Circular Scanning Reconstruction.

Recently, 3D image fusion reconstruction using a FDK algorithm along three-orthogonal circular isocentric orbits has been proposed. On the other hand, we know that 3D image reconstruction based on three-orthogonal circular isocentric orbits is sufficient in the sense of Tuy data sufficiency condition. Therefore the datum obtained from three-orthogonal circular isocentric orbits can derive an exact reconstruction algorithm. In this paper, an exact weighted-FBP algorithm with three-orthogonal circular isocentric orbits is derived by means of Katsevich's equations of filtering lines based on a circle trajectory and a modified weighted form of Tuy's reconstruction scheme.