Clinical Study Ultrasonography-Guided Lumbar Periradicular Injections for Unilateral Radicular Pain

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy and efficacy of sonographically guided lumbar periradicular injections through in-plane or out-of-plane approach techniques for patients with unilateral lower lumbar radicular pain. The feasibility and accuracy of these techniques were studied by means of computed tomography (CT). Methods. A total of 46 patients with chronic unilateral lumbar radicular pain were recruited and randomly assigned to either the in-plane or out-of-plane injection group. A mixture of 3 mL 1% lidocaine and 7 mg betamethasone was injected. The visual analog scale (VAS) was used to assess pain before and after treatment. Results. The pain intensity, as measured by VAS, significantly decreased in both in-plane and out-of-plane injection groups. Conclusions. The sonographically guided periradicular injections are feasible and effective in treating lumbar unilateral radicular pain

DNA methylation-mediated Rbpjk suppression protects against fracture nonunion caused by systemic inflammation

Challenging skeletal repairs are frequently seen in patients experiencing systemic inflammation. To tackle the complexity and heterogeneity of the skeletal repair process, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing and revealed that progenitor cells were one of the major lineages responsive to elevated inflammation and this response adversely affected progenitor differentiation by upregulation of Rbpjk in fracture nonunion. We then validated the interplay between inflammation (via constitutive activation of Ikk2, Ikk2ca) and Rbpjk specifically in progenitors by using genetic animal models. Focusing on epigenetic regulation, we identified Rbpjk as a direct target of Dnmt3b. Mechanistically, inflammation decreased Dnmt3b expression in progenitor cells, consequently leading to Rbpjk upregulation via hypomethylation within its promoter region. We also showed that Dnmt3b loss-of-function mice phenotypically recapitulated the fracture repair defects observed in Ikk2ca-transgenic mice, whereas Dnmt3b-transgenic mice alleviated fracture repair defects induced by Ikk2ca. Moreover, Rbpjk ablation restored fracture repair in both Ikk2ca mice and Dnmt3b loss-of-function mice. Altogether, this work elucidates a common mechanism involving a NF-κB/Dnmt3b/Rbpjk axis within the context of inflamed bone regeneration. Building on this mechanistic insight, we applied local treatment with epigenetically modified progenitor cells in a previously established mouse model of inflammation-mediated fracture nonunion and showed a functional restoration of bone regeneration under inflammatory conditions through an increase in progenitor differentiation potential

Chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy can benefit more unresectable HCC patients with portal and/or hepatic vein invasion: a retrospective analysis of the SEER database

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on the prognosis of unresectable HCC patients with portal and/or hepatic vein invasion.MethodsA retrospective analysis of unresectable HCC patients with portal and/or hepatic vein invasion registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, End Results (SEER) database was performed. The propensity score-matching (PSM) method was used to balance differences between groups. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were the interesting endpoints. OS was calculated from the date of diagnosis to the date of death caused by any cause or the last follow-up. CSS was defined as the interval between the date of diagnosis and date of death due only to HCC or last follow-up. OS and CSS were analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox proportional hazards model, and Fine-Gray competing-risk model.ResultsA total of 2,614 patients were included. 50.2% patients received chemotherapy or radiotherapy and 7.5% patients received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Compared to the untreated group, chemotherapy or radiotherapy (COR) (HR = 0.538, 95% CI 0.495-0.585, p < 0.001) and chemotherapy and radiotherapy (CAR) (HR = 0.371, 95% CI 0.316-0.436, p < 0.001) showed better OS. In the COR group, Cox analysis results showed AFP, tumor size, N stage and M stage were independent risk factor of OS. Competing-risk analysis results showed AFP, tumor size and M stage were independent risk factor of CSS. In the CAR group, AFP and M stage were independent risk factors of OS. Competing-risk analysis results showed M stage were independent risk factor of CSS. Kaplan Meier analysis showed chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy significantly improves OS (10.0 vs. 5.0 months, p < 0.001) and CSS (10.0 vs. 6.0 months, p = 0.006) than monotherapy.ConclusionAFP positive and distant metastasis are the main risk factors affecting OS and CSS of unresectable HCC patients with portal and/or hepatic vein invasion. Chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy significantly improves OS and CSS of unresectable HCC patients with portal and/or hepatic vein invasion

Secondary Flow Effects on Deposition of Cohesive Sediment in a Meandering Reach of Yangtze River

Few researches focus on secondary flow effects on bed deformation caused by cohesive sediment deposition in meandering channels of field mega scale. A 2D depth-averaged model is improved by incorporating three submodels to consider different effects of secondary flow and a module for cohesive sediment transport. These models are applied to a meandering reach of Yangtze River to investigate secondary flow effects on cohesive sediment deposition, and a preferable submodel is selected based on the flow simulation results. Sediment simulation results indicate that the improved model predictions are in better agreement with the measurements in planar distribution of deposition, as the increased sediment deposits caused by secondary current on the convex bank have been well predicted. Secondary flow effects on the predicted amount of deposition become more obvious during the period when the sediment load is low and velocity redistribution induced by the bed topography is evident. Such effects vary with the settling velocity and critical shear stress for deposition of cohesive sediment. The bed topography effects can be reflected by the secondary flow submodels and play an important role in velocity and sediment deposition predictions

Identifying Multi-Scale Gravity and Magnetic Anomalies Using Statistical Empirical Mode Decomposition: A Case Study from the Eastern Tianshan Orogenic Belt

Identifying multi-scale anomalies that have simple forms and geological significance is critical for enhancing the interpretability of gravity and magnetic survey data. In recent years, empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which was developed as a significant data-driven approach for analyzing complex signals, has been widely used in identifying gravity and magnetic anomalies due to its advantages of adaptability to nonlinear and nonstationary data. Nevertheless, the traditional EMD method is usually sensitive to outliers and irregularly spaced data because of the interpolation process in the construction of envelopes. In this regard, an extended algorithm called statistical EMD (SEMD) has been proposed based on the smoothing technique. In this study, for validation purposes, the novel SEMD method has been employed to identify multi-scale gravity and magnetic anomalies. The sensitivities of local polynomial and cubic spline smoothing methods in SEMD to combination and arrangement patterns of field sources including the size, depth, and distance in gravity and magnetic anomaly identification were investigated and compared by forward modeling under the same conditions. The results demonstrated that the local polynomial smoothing method performed better than the cubic spline smoothing method. Thus, in the case study, the SEMD method using the local polynomial smoothing technique was employed for identifying multi-scale gravity and magnetic anomalies in the eastern Tianshan orogenic belt, northwestern China. It has illustrated that the SEMD method provides a novel and useful data-driven method for extracting gravity and magnetic anomalies

Bacterial diversity and community structure of supragingival plaques in adults with dental health or caries revealed by 16S pyrosequencing

Dental caries has a polymicrobial etiology within the complex oral microbial ecosystem. However, the overall diversity and structure of supragingival plaque microbiota in adult dental health and caries are not well understood. Here, 160 supragingival plaque samples from patients with dental health and different severities of dental caries were collected for bacterial genomic DNA extraction, pyrosequencing by amplification of the 16S rDNA V1–V3 hypervariable regions, and bioinformatic analysis. High-quality sequences (2,261,700) clustered into 10,365 operational taxonomic units (OTUs; 97% identity), representing 453 independent species belonging to 122 genera, 66 families, 34 orders, 21 classes, and 12 phyla. All groups shared 7522 OTUs, indicating the presence of a core plaque microbiome. Smooth rarefaction curves were suggestive of plaque microbial diversity. α diversity analysis showed that healthy plaque microbial diversity exceeded that of dental caries, with the diversity decreasing gradually with the severity of caries. The dominant phyla of plaque microbiota included Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, and TM7. The dominant genera included Capnocytophaga, Prevotella, Actinomyces, Corynebacterium, Neisseria, Streptococcus, Rothia, and Leptotrichia. β diversity analysis showed that the plaque microbial community structure was similar in all groups and that group members were relatively constant, only showing differences in abundance. Analysis of composition differences identified 10 health-related and 21 caries-related genera. Key genera (27) that potentially contributed to plaque microbiota distributions between groups were identified. Finally, co-occurrence network analysis and function prediction were performed. Treatment strategies directed toward modulating microbial interactions and their functional output should be further developed

Efficacy of macrophyte dominated wastewater inclosure as post-treatment alternative in domestic wastewater quality polishing for eradication of faecal pathogenic bacteria pollution

Variation in microbial strains and pathogenicity within wetland ecosystem is a topic that needs more considerable attention due to the rising climate change and in human population. Despite many current studies focusing on wetlands ecology, there is still inadequate documentation that are specific to the relationship between bacterial abundance, diversity and pathogenicity, as well as the principles and roles of aquatic plants in wastewater polishing. To provide an understanding on the fate and virulence of members of Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcaceae in a winter tolerant macrophyte dominated artificial wetland system, this study evaluated the efficacy of macrophyte dominated Wastewater Polishing Pond Inclosures (WPPIs) in influencing the abundance, survival and pathogenicity of faecal bacterial pathogens. The study reveals that WPPIs provides more than 95% reduction of pathogenic forms of Escherichia coli as well as Enterococcusfaecalis and Enterococcusfaesium. WPPIs provides a good sustainable and environment friendly alternative approach in wastewater polishing and the efficiency is a factor of macrophytes percentage cover. Therefore, the application of WPPIs in domestic wastewater polishing is recommended for sufficient pollution control on aquatic ecosystems that receive enormous effluents from a highly populated urban set up with huge domestic wastewater generation. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers

Vertical distribution of Fe and Fe(III)-reducing bacteria in the sediments of Lake Donghu, China

In lake sediments, iron (Fe) is the most versatile element, and the redox cycling of Fe has a wide influence on the biogeochemical cycling of organic and inorganic substances. The aim of the present study was to analyze the vertical distribution of Fe and Fe(III)-reducing bacteria (FeRB) in the surface sediment (30 cm) of Lake Donghu, China. At the 3 sites we surveyed, FeRB and Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) coexisted in anoxic sediments. Geobacter-related FeRB accounted for 5%-31% of the total Bacteria, while Gallionella-related FeOB accounted for only 0.1%-1.3%. A significant correlation between the relative abundance of poorly crystalline Fe and Geobacter spp. suggested that poorly crystalline Fe favored microbial Fe(III) reduction. Poorly crystalline Fe and Geobacter spp. were significantly associated with solid-phase Fe(II) and total inorganic phosphorus levels. Pore water Fe(II) concentrations negatively correlated with NO3- at all sites. We concluded that Geobacter spp. were abundant in the sediments of Lake Donghu, and the redox of Fe might participate in the cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments. These observations provided insight into the roles of microbial Fe cycling in lake sediments