Osteoma in the upper cervical spine with spinal cord compression

Osteoma is a common benign tumor. It occurs dominantly at the skull bone. Outside skull osteoma is rare, and primary intra-canal osteoma is extremely rare. To the author’s knowledge, only 14 cases of osteomas of the spine had been reported, in which only seven cases were in English literature. The authors reported two rare cases of intra-canal osteoma of the upper cervical spine with cord compression. Included are pertinent history, physical examination, rontgenographic evaluation before and after operation, surgical interventions, pathological study, and outcome. The available literature is also reviewed. On systemic examination and rontgenographic study, these two cases were found to have bone tumor in the upper cervical canal. Surgical interventions were performed, one with an en bloc excision, the other with a subtotal excision. The pathological study demonstrated a diagnosis of osteoma. After a follow-up with 20 and 15 months, the clinical symptoms of both cases significantly improved

Lnc-SNHG1 Activates the TGFBR2/SMAD3 and RAB11A/Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway by Sponging MiR-302/372/373/520 in Invasive Pituitary Tumors

Background/Aims: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators in various diseases including human cancer and could function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate microRNAs (miRNAs). Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression of lnc-SNHG1 and miR-302/372/373/520 in pituitary tumor tissues and cell lines. Cell proliferation was investigated using MTT and cell count assays. The mechanisms by which lnc-SNHG1 affects pituitary tumor progression were investigated using Western blot assays, transwell migration assays, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, luciferase reporter assays, tumor xenografts, and flow cytometry Results: We found that lnc-SNHG1 was overexpressed in invasive pituitary tumor tissues and cell lines. Ectopic expression of lnc-SNHG1 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), by affecting the cell cycle and cell apoptosis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Further study indicated that overexpression of lnc-SNHG1 markedly inhibited the expression of miR-302/372/373/520 (miRNA-pool) which is down-regulated in invasive pituitary tumor cells. Moreover, overexpression of lnc-SNHG1 significantly promoted the expression of TGFBR2 and RAB11A, the direct targets of miR-302/372/373/520. Finally, lnc-SNHG1 activates the TGFBR2/SMAD3 and RAB11A/Wnt/β-catenin pathways in pituitary tumor cells via sponging miR-302/372/373/520. Conclusions: Our data suggest that lnc-SNHG1 promotes the progression of pituitary tumors and is a potential therapeutic target for invasive pituitary tumor

Thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of ligamentum flavum of which fluorosis as an etiology factor

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical feature, operative method and prognosis of thoracic ossification of ligamentum flavum caused by skeletal fluorosis. METHODS: All the patients with thoracic OLF, who underwent surgical management in the authors' hospital from 1993–2003, were retrospectively studied. The diagnosis of skeletal fluorosis was made by the epidemic history, clinical symptoms, radiographic findings, and urinalysis. En bloc laminectomy decompression of the involved thoracic levels was performed in all cases. Cervical open door decompression or lumbar laminectomy decompression was performed if relevant stenosis existed. The neurological statuses were evaluated with the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring system preoperatively and at the end point of follow up. Also, the recovery rate was calculated. RESULTS: 23 cases have been enrolled in this study. Imaging study findings showed all the cases have ossification of ligamentum flavum together with ossification of many other ligaments and interosseous membranes, i.e. interosseous membranes of the forearm in 18 of 23 (78.3%), of the leg in 14 of 23 (60.1%) and of the ribs in 11 of 23 (47.8%). Urinalysis showed markedly increased urinary fluoride in 14 of 23 patients (60.9%). All the patients were followed up from 12 months to 9 years and 3 months, with an average of 4 years and 5 months. The JOA score increased significantly at the end of follow up (P = 0.0001). The recovery rate was 51.83 ± 32.36%. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the preoperative JOA score was an important predictor of surgical outcome (p = 0.0022, r = 0.60628). ANOVA analysis showed that patients with acute onset or too long duration had worse surgical result (P = 0.0003). CONCLUSION: Fluorosis can cause ossification of thoracic ligamentum flavum, as well as other ligaments. En bloc laminectomy decompression was an effective method. Preoperative JOA score was the most important predictor of surgical outcome. Patients with acute onset or too long duration had worse surgical outcome

The Fuzzy Control Method in Evaluating Internal Financial Control of Enterprise

Internal financial control is an important part of internal control in enterprise, and it is also an important part of the structure of enterprise governance. It is an important way of improving competitive power of enterprise to strengthen and consummate the internal financial control of enterprise. So a reasonable method should be used to evaluate the internal financial control of enterprise. On the basis of the evaluation index system of the internal financial control of enterprise, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is utilized to evaluate the internal financial control of enterprise synthetically which accords with the characteristic of the internal financial control of enterprise and has maneuverability

Study on thermal-mechanical coupling performance and failure mechanism of titanium alloy lattice structures in high temperature environment

Three types of lattice structure unit cell specimens of kagome, single-stage pyramidal and multistage pyramidal were designed and manufactured by using 3D printing technology, out-of-plane compression tests and numerical simulations in the room temperature environments of 25℃ and high temperature of 350℃ were carried out. The analysis clarified the influence of the three design parameters of cell number, structure form and structure level on the out-of-plane load-bearing capacity of the lattice structure, and revealed the thermal-mechanical coupling performance and failure mechanism of the lattice structures. The results show that the carrying capacity of the kagome lattice increases linearly with the number of cells, which verifies the rationality to use single cells instead of multiple cells to carry out related research. Further analysis showed that the failure mode of three lattice structures was all internal core buckling leading to the overall failure of the structure, and the structural level has the most significant impact on the mechanical properties of the lattice. Due to the addition of the secondary core, the multistage pyramidal lattice structure has a larger heat transfer surface area and load-bearing capacity: under the same weight, the internal core heat transfer surface area increased by 131.9% comparing with the single-stage lattice structure, and at 25℃ and 350℃, the ultimate load of single-stage lattice structure increased by 18.4% and 23% respectively. At the same time, due to the increase in heat transfer surface area, the bearing capacity of the multistage lattice unit cell was slightly affected by high temperature than the kagome and single-stage lattice unit cells

Spider Web-Inspired Lightweight Membrane-Type Acoustic Metamaterials for Broadband Low-Frequency Sound Isolation

Membrane-type acoustic metamaterial (MAM) has exhibited superior sound isolation properties, as well as thin and light characteristics. However, the anti-resonance modes of traditional MAMs are generated intermittently in a wide frequency range causing discontinuities in the anti-resonance modes. Achieving broadband low-frequency sound attenuation with lightweight MAM design is still a pivotal research aspect. Here, we present a strategy to realize wide sound-attenuation bands in low frequency range by introducing the design concept of bionic configuration philosophy into the MAM structures. Built by a polymeric membrane and a set of resonators, two kinds of MAM models are proposed based on the insight of a spider web topology. The sound attenuation performance and physical mechanisms are numerically and experimentally investigated. Multi-state anti-resonance modes, induced by the coupling of the bio-inspired arrangement and the host polymer film, are systematically explored. Significant sound attenuation is numerically and experimentally observed in both the lightweight bio-inspired designs. Remarkably, compared with a traditional MAM configuration, a prominent enhancement in both attenuation bandwidth and weight-reduction performance is verified. In particular, the bio-inspired MAM Model I exhibits a similar isolation performance as the reference model, but the weight is reduced by nearly half. The bio-inspired Model II broadens the sound attenuation bandwidth greatly; meanwhile, it retains a lighter weight design. The proposed bio-inspired strategies provide potential ways for designing sound isolation devices with both high functional and lightweight performance

Recent progress of antibacterial hydrogels in wound dressings

Hydrogels are essential biomaterials due to their favorable biocompatibility, mechanical properties similar to human soft tissue extracellular matrix, and tissue repair properties. In skin wound repair, hydrogels with antibacterial functions are especially suitable for dressing applications, so novel antibacterial hydrogel wound dressings have attracted widespread attention, including the design of components, optimization of preparation methods, strategies to reduce bacterial resistance, etc. In this review, we discuss the fabrication of antibacterial hydrogel wound dressings and the challenges associated with the crosslinking methods and chemistry of the materials. We have investigated the advantages and limitations (antibacterial effects and antibacterial mechanisms) of different antibacterial components in the hydrogels to achieve good antibacterial properties, and the response of hydrogels to stimuli such as light, sound, and electricity to reduce bacterial resistance. Conclusively, we provide a systematic summary of antibacterial hydrogel wound dressings findings (crosslinking methods, antibacterial components, antibacterial methods) and an outlook on long-lasting antibacterial effects, a broader antibacterial spectrum, diversified hydrogel forms, and the future development prospects of the field