Extensor-tendons reconstruction using autogenous palmaris longus tendon grafting for rheumatoid arthritis patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of the study is to retrospectively review the clinical outcome of our study population of middle-aged RA patients who had suffered extensor-tendon rupture. We reported the outcome of autogenous palmaris tendon grafting of multiple extensor tendons at wrist level in 14 middle-aged rheumatoid patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between Feb. 2000 to Feb. 2004, thirty-six ruptured wrist level extensor tendons were reconstructed in fourteen rheumatoid patients (11 women and three men) using autogenous palmaris longus tendon as a free interposition graft. In each case, the evaluation was based on both subjective and objective criteria, including the range of MCP joint flexion after surgery, the extension lag at the metacarpophalangeal joint before and after surgery, and the ability of the patient to work.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>The average of follow-up was 54.1 months (range, 40 to 72 months). The average range of MCP joint flexion after reconstruction was 66°. The extension lag at the metacarpophalangeal joint significantly improved from a preoperative mean of 38° (range, 25°–60°) to a postoperative mean of 16° (range, 0°–30°). Subjectively all patients were satisfied with the clinical results, and achieved a return to their level of ability before tendon rupture. We found good functional results in our series of interposition grafting using palmaris longus to reconstruct extensor tendon defects in the rheumatoid patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Reconstruction for multiple tendon ruptures is a salvage procedure that is often associated with extensor lag and impairment of overall function. Early aggressive treatment of extensor tendon reconstruction using autogenous palmaris longus tendon as a free interposition graft in the rheumatoid wrist is another viable option to achieve good clinical functional result.</p

Molecular events associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells in the absence of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important process in tumor metastasis. The EMT-related events associated with metastasis of NPC in the absence of EBV have not been elucidated. We established an EBV-negative NPC cell line from a bone marrow biopsy of an NPC patient. Using a Matrigel system we isolated an invasive and non-invasive sublines, designated NPC-BM29 and NPC-BM00. NPC-BM29 acquired an invasive-like phenotype characterized by EMT, marked by down-regulation of E-cadherin and β-catenin with concomitant increased expression of Ets1. NPC-BM29 cells expressed ≥ 10-fold higher of MMP-9 than NPC-BM00 cells. NPC-BM29 cells grew better in 2% serum than NPC-BM00 cells, with a population doubling-time of 26.8 h and 30.7 h, respectively. A marked reduction in colony-formation ability of NPC-BM00 cells compared to NPC-BM29 was observed. Wound-healing assay revealed that NPC-BM29 cells displayed higher motility than NPC-BM00 and the motility was further enhanced by cell treatment with TPA, a PKC activator. Cell surface markers and tumor-associated molecules, AE3, MAK6 and sialyl-Tn, were up-regulated in NPC-BM29 cells, whereas the expression of HLA-DR and CD54 was significantly increased in NPC-BM00 cells. NPC-BM29 consistently released higher levels of IL-8 and IL-10 than NPC-BM00, with low levels of IL-1α expression in both cell lines. Higher level of VEGF production was detected in NPC-BM00 than NPC-BM29 cells. These data show that EBV is not required for exhibiting multiple metastatic phenotypes associated with EMT. More studies that target right molecules/signalings associated with the EMT may offer new therapeutic intervention options for NPC invasion and metastasis

Three New Structures of Left-Handed RadA Helical Filaments: Structural Flexibility of N-Terminal Domain Is Critical for Recombinase Activity

RecA family proteins, including bacterial RecA, archaeal RadA, and eukaryotic Dmc1 and Rad51, mediate homologous recombination, a reaction essential for maintaining genome integrity. In the presence of ATP, these proteins bind a single-strand DNA to form a right-handed nucleoprotein filament, which catalyzes pairing and strand exchange with a homologous double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), by as-yet unknown mechanisms. We recently reported a structure of RadA left-handed helical filament, and here present three new structures of RadA left-handed helical filaments. Comparative structural analysis between different RadA/Rad51 helical filaments reveals that the N-terminal domain (NTD) of RadA/Rad51, implicated in dsDNA binding, is highly flexible. We identify a hinge region between NTD and polymerization motif as responsible for rigid body movement of NTD. Mutant analysis further confirms that structural flexibility of NTD is essential for RadA's recombinase activity. These results support our previous hypothesis that ATP-dependent axial rotation of RadA nucleoprotein helical filament promotes homologous recombination

Colossal Magnetoresistant Materials: The Key Role of Phase Separation

The study of the manganese oxides, widely known as manganites, that exhibit the ``Colossal'' Magnetoresistance (CMR) effect is among the main areas of research within the area of Strongly Correlated Electrons. After considerable theoretical effort in recent years, mainly guided by computational and mean-field studies of realistic models, considerable progress has been achieved in understanding the curious properties of these compounds. These recent studies suggest that the ground states of manganite models tend to be intrinsically inhomogeneous due to the presence of strong tendencies toward phase separation, typically involving ferromagnetic metallic and antiferromagnetic charge and orbital ordered insulating domains. Calculations of the resistivity versus temperature using mixed states lead to a good agreement with experiments. The mixed-phase tendencies have two origins: (i) electronic phase separation between phases with different densities that lead to nanometer scale coexisting clusters, and (ii) disorder-induced phase separation with percolative characteristics between equal-density phases, driven by disorder near first-order metal-insulator transitions. The coexisting clusters in the latter can be as large as a micrometer in size. It is argued that a large variety of experiments reviewed in detail here contain results compatible with the theoretical predictions. It is concluded that manganites reveal such a wide variety of interesting physical phenomena that their detailed study is quite important for progress in the field of Correlated Electrons.Comment: 76 pages, 21 PNG files with figures. To appear in Physics Report

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Severe Asthma in the Asian Pacific Region : data from the International Severe Asthma Registry (ISAR)

Peer reviewe

Customer satisfaction and competitiveness in the Chinese E-retailing: structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to identify the role of quality factors

This paper attempts to study the impact of customer satisfaction and the Chinese electronic retailers (E-retailers) competitiveness using quality factors. Two conceptual models based on asset-process-performance (APP) competitive theoretical framework have been proposed. The proposed models include E-retailers strategic factors such as logistics, quality and customer satisfaction equivalent to asset, process and performance entities of the APP framework. Using an empirical survey from a young population, this study, with the support of structural equation modeling (SEM) identifies reliability in service quality and purchasing experience in e-service quality as dominant customer satisfaction factors. This study uses both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and suggests that to be competitive Chinese E-retailers have to focus more on the delivery of products (logistics) compared to other intangible service quality factors. On theoretical front, this study is a novel attempt to validate the APP framework for E-retailers’ competitiveness. On the practical front, the outcome of the study would be highly beneficial to the Chinese E-retailers to fine tune their strategy to satisfy the growing demand. Furthermore, this study can supplement government policy makers to regulate the growing volatile market

Susac Syndrome Following COVID-19 Vaccination: A Case Report

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous vaccines have been developed for the disease. However, with large-scale vaccination has come the gradual emergence of immunological phenomena caused by these new vaccines. Herein, we report a 48-year-old female with a sudden onset of inferior visual field defects in the left eye following her first dose of the ChAdOx1 vaccine. Dilated fundus examination combined with optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography confirmed the diagnosis of branch retinal artery occlusion. Within 4 weeks following vaccination, symptoms associated with hearing impairment developed, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed leptomeningeal enhancement. The diagnosis of Susac syndrome (SS) was confirmed. The development of SS may be caused by endotheliopathy resulting from the molecular mimicry of the ChAdOx1 vaccine. Clinicians should be aware of the symptoms of SS, which may develop after COVID-19 vaccination. Further experimental surveillance and case–control studies are required to confirm this relationship

A Self-Powered Strain Sensor Applied to Real-Time Monitoring for Movable Structures

This study uses near-field electrospinning (NFES) technology to make a novel self-powered strain sensor and applies it to the real-time monitoring of a bending structure, so that the measurement equipment can be reduced in volume. A self-powered strain sensor consists of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) fibers, a PDMS fixed substrate, and an aluminum electrode. PVDF fibers are spun with DMSO and acetone using NFES technology, with a diameter of about 8 &mu;m, Young&rsquo;s modulus of 1.1 GPa, and piezoelectric effect of up to 230 mV. The fixed substrate is a film made of PDMS by thermal curing, then adhered to the PDMS film surface of the sheet Al metal as an Al electrode, and then combined with PVDF fiber film, to become a self-powered strain sensor. As a result, the XRD &beta; value of the self-powered strain sensor reaches 2112 and the sensitivity is increased by 20% over a traditional strain sensor. The cumulative angle algorithm can be applied to measure the angular change of the object over a unit of time or the cumulative displacement of the object over the entire period of motion. The experimental results demonstrate that the self-powered strain sensor combined with the angle accumulation algorithm may be applied to monitor the bending structure, thereby achieving continuous measurements of bending structure changes, and improving on traditional piezoelectric sensors, which can only be sensed once. In the future, self-powered strain sensors will have the ability to continuously measure in real-time, enabling the use of piezoelectric sensors for long-term monitoring of structural techniques

An Analytical Solution of Transient Wave Generation in the Wave Channel

Transient characteristics of wave generation in the wave channel can provide unique and important information in contrast to the steady and periodic motion of propagation waves. In this paper, a new analytical solution is proposed for a transient wavemaker problem in the wave channel. The mathematical model of the wavemaker problem is established based on the linear potential wave theory, and a new analytical solution for the corresponding initial and boundary-value problem is presented. The present solution methodology is motivated and developed from old methods shown in literature. The present solution can be mathematically reformulated and shown to be identical to the previous solution using different solution methodology. The present analytical solution is further compared with numerical results and experiments to validate the mathematical model. The present solution is used to calculate the steady state generated wave forms that compare very well with the steady wave theory both in wave length and wave period. The present solution is also used to study unsteady characteristics of wave heights and wave lengths of the leading waves. The present analytical solution methodology can provide an easier approach to obtain the analytical solution for transient wave generation problem in the wave channel