A comparison between the low back pain scales for patients with lumbar disc herniation: validity, reliability, and responsiveness.

BACKGROUND: Although the Japanese Orthopedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ), Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) has shown a preferable psychometric properties in patients with low back pain (LBP), but no study has yet determined these in conservative treatment of patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Thus the current study aimed to compare those scales in LDH patients receiving conservative treatment to select the better option to assess the severity of disease. METHODS: LDH patients were invited to complete the JOABPEQ, NPRS, ODI, RMDQ, and SF-36 twice. The internal consistency was evaluated by the Cronbach's α. Test-retest reliability was tested by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The relationships of these scales were evaluated by the Pearson correlation coefficients (r). The responsiveness was operationalised using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, as well as the comparison of smallest detectable change (SDC), minimum important change (MIC). RESULTS: A total of 353 LDH patients were enrolled. Four subscales of the Chinese JOABPEQ were over 0.70, then the ICCs for the test-retest reliability were over 0.75. For functional status, remarked negative correlations could be seen between JOABPEQ Q2-Q4 and ODI, as well as RMDQ (r = - 0.634 to - 0.752). For general health status, remarkable positive correlations could also be seen between Q5 Mental health and SF-36 PCS (r = 0.724) as well as SF-36 MCS (r = 0.736). Besides, the area under of the curves (AUC) of the JOABPEQ ranged from 0.743 to 0.827, indicating acceptale responsiveness, as well as the NPRS, ODI, and RMDQ. CONCLUSION: NPRS, and ODI or RMDQ is recommended in studies related to LDH patients, while if the quality of life also is needed to observe, the NPRS, and JOABPEQ would be more appropriate rather than SF-36.

Simple and fast approach to exploit the spectral reflection properties of liquid media.

Bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) are of importance for their wide applications. In this study, we presented a simple and fast approach to measure the spectral BRDF of both solid and liquid samples. Based on this approach, we fabricated a prototype and measured the BRDF value of some liquid samples such as water and NaCl solution at different wavelengths. According to the experimental data, we discussed the trend of the BRDF value of the NaCl solution of different concentrations. Then, the experimental data of the different NaCl solution at 637 nm were used to invert the parameters of a five-parameter model. Additionally, we fitted the parameters as a polynomial.

Responses transition in a monolayer Al-Al2O3 nanoparticle-crystal due to oxidation.

Nanoparticle is a promising candidate for large scale fabrication of metamaterial. However, optical responses for metamaterial made of abound metal like Al can be thoroughly changed due to oxidization. Especially for nanoparticle whose aspect ratio is extremely high, oxidation usually occurs. So to understand how the responses shift in a nanoparticle system due to oxidization is essential for large scale application of metamaterial. In this paper, we have concluded and quantified two general principles describing this transition in a monolayer Al-Al2O3 nanoparticle-crystal, which can be used in a thermophotovoltaic system. Square pattern, in which the unit of changing crystal is a square cell made up of Al and Al2O3 particles, is firstly demonstrated. A double oscillators model has been proposed to understand the interference between different absorption modes and their coupling. Using near-field distribution, equivalent inductor-capacitor model and dispersion relationship of surface Plasmon polariton, we have distinguished the resonance modes, concluded the transition principles in a simple case. Then the two principles are applied in a larger cell to verify its university. After detailed demonstration of symmetric square pattern, models and principles are extrapolated to more complex non-symmetric systems. The basic understanding gained here will help the design of robust large-scale metamaterial.

Nanoparticle-crystal towards an absorbing meta-coating.

In this paper, a double layer nanoparticle-crystal has been proposed, which shown incident and polarization angle, substrate independences for spectral absorptivity. Such phenomenon originates from the near-field light redistribution and excitation of internal collective oscillating. This kind of nanoparticle-crystal can be made of various types of metal with similar optical responses. A three oscillators mode has been proposed in this paper to understand the shift between global and internal collective oscillating, and verify the physical picture demonstrated. That kind of near-field redistribution result in a prototype of novel meta-coating, and facilitates the large scale application of metamaterial.

[Er3+:Yb3+ co-doped nanocrystals BaGd2ZnO5 of up-conversion optical temperature sensing].

By far, the most efficient upconversion nanocrystals luminescence materials BaGd2ZnO5: 4%Yb3+ , 1%Er3+, with stable chemical performance, were prepared by using Sol-gel method. XRD pattern shows that the sample is pure phase, belongs to the orthogonal crystals, and space group is Pbnm; SEM micrograph shows that the prepared sample of the morphology sized around 150 nm is evenly distributed. Samples with 971 nm semiconductor laser excitation produce a strong green emission, visible to the naked eye, and uponversion strength and pump energy relation n = 1.22 is two-photon for the realization of the upconversion emission. They originated from Er3+ ions 2H(11/2)--2H(11/2)-->4I(15/2) and 4S(3/2)-->4I(15/2) transition emission, Er3+ ions main excited state absorption (ESA) process is: 4I(15/2)-->4I(11/2)-->2F(7/2)-->2H(11/2), 4S(3/2), Yb3+ was added because of its large absorption cross section (10(4) cm(-1)) so that it is easy to transfer excitation energy to the E3+ ions which enhance the layout particles number and the energy state of the 1F7/2, thereby enhancing the intensity of the peaks of the spectrum. Fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) technique based on the green upconversion emission of the sample has been studied because the Er3+ ions 2H(11/2) and 4S(3/2) energy level spacing is small. The electrons at the two levels conform to the Boltzmann distribution which is a function of temperature, and thus the fluorescence intensity ratio of two levels can be used to measure the temperature of the substrate material. This method does not interfere with temperature field of the measured object, and can eliminate the uncertainty of the accuracy; the test has a wide temperature range and reasonable temperature resolution, the pump source used is simple, convenient and inexpensive, and has more commercial values. The temperature range of the samples is from 350 to 800 K, and the highest temperature measuring sensitivity can reach 0.0031 K(1). At the same time, under low excitation density, it can produce higher conversion transmission power, making it become ideal material for distance non-contact temperature measurement.

[Effects of early application of Tuina treatment on quadriceps surface myoelectricity in patients after total knee arthroplasty: a randomized controlled trial].

BACKGROUND: Total knee replacement surgery is commonly used in end-stage diseases of the knee. It is important for improving surgical efficacy and patient satisfaction by promoting early rehabilitation of patients and improving knee function. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of early application of Tuina treatment on quadriceps surface electromyography (EMG) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis having undergone total knee arthroplasty. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: The study was performed at the Orthopedic Department of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, and the Shanghai Guanghua Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from June 2010 to September 2011. A total of 66 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had undergone total knee replacement surgery were randomly divided into control group and observation group, 33 cases in each. The patients in the control group were administered with continuous passive training (CPM), and the patients in the observation group were treated with CPM combined with Tuina, from prior surgery to four weeks post-surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The knee function was evaluated using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire at baseline and 4 weeks after the surgery. Quadriceps surface EMG was also detected at the same time points. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of Tuina and comprehensive rehabilitation intervention, the WOMAC questionnaire score of the observation group was decreased compared with the control group (P<0.01); median frequency and integrated electromyography of the rectus femoris and vastus medialis muscles, which were recorded by EMG, in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Tuina can improve the recovery of patients who have undergone total knee replacement by increasing quadriceps EMG.

Imaging dynamic cell-cell junctional coupling in vivo using Trojan-LAMP.

To study the physiological regulation and function of cell-cell gap junction communication in vivo, we developed a bioconjugate of caged dye, named dextran-CANPE-HCC, for imaging cell coupling in small model organisms. In vitro, the compound was photolyzed efficiently with robust fluorescence enhancement. Dextran-CANPE-HCC delivered into Caenorhabditis elegans oocytes was retained in cells throughout development. Using local uncaging, we photolyzed dextran-CANPE-HCC to release the small HCC dye and imaged the dynamics of intercellular dye transfer through gap junction channels, a technique we named Trojan-local activation of molecular fluorescent probes (LAMP). Early during embryonic development, the pattern of cell coupling undergoes dramatic remodeling and imaging revealed that the germ cell precursors, P2, P3 and P4, were isolated from the somatic cell communication compartment. As dextran-CANPE-HCC is chemically and metabolically stable, Labeled worms showed very bright signal upon photoactivation after hatching, which allowed us to examine cell coupling in living worms noninvasively.

Chiroptical transcription of helical information through supramolecular harmonization with dynamic helices.

With biologically important "peptide bundling" as the motif, new chromophoric cyclic host 1 was designed, which consists of two zinc porphyrin units that are connected by dynamic peptide helices of nonameric aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) units. Upon inclusion of pyridine-anchored helical peptides between the zinc porphyrin units, 1 displayed an intense exciton-coupled circular dichroism (CD) band at 410-450 nm, whose sign reflected the helical sense of the guest peptides. Studies with conformationally defined dehydrophenylalanine-containing analogues indicated that the dynamic helical chains in the host are stereochemically harmonized with right- or left-handed helices of the guest peptides in a confined nano space, leading to either clockwise- or anticlockwise-twisted geometry (chiroptical output) of the connecting zinc porphyrin chromophores.