Anterolateral thigh perforator flap made by customized 3D-printing fabrication of fixed positioning guide for oromaxillofacial reconstruction:a preliminary study

Oromaxillofacial carcinomas frequently result in serious tissue defect due to enlarged resection for treating their extensive invasion, which require challenging reconstruction. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an advanced technology which has greatly promoted the progress of craniomaxillofacial reconstructive surgery. This present study aimed to investigate the advantages of anterolateral thigh (ALT) perforator flap manufactured by 3D printing fixed positioning guide template in curing oromaxillofacial defect. Twenty patients with oromaxillofacial defects resulted from severe primary malignant tumors were divided into experimental group assisted by digital technique (n=8) and controlled group conventionally aided by ultrasound (n=12). The therapeutic effectiveness, flap preparation time, amount of bleeding, deviation of perforator vessel location, aesthetic satisfaction of donor site, postoperative complications, adverse symptom of flap, and LEFS scores were compared. For experimental group, flap preparation time was significantly shorter; and it has obviously less bleeding, minor deviation of perforator vessel location, and better aesthetic satisfaction of donor site (P.05). The study suggests 3D printing template of fixed positioning guide provides a brand-new method for orienting perforated vessels of ALT flap, which is more accurate in clinical application. It can improve the operative efficacy, and increase the successful rate of operation as well

Clinical evaluation on the coaxial microincision cataract surgery in hard nuclear cataracts

AIM: To assess and compare the results of 2.2mm microincision coaxial cataract surgery(MCCS)phacoemulsification with the conventional 3.0mm MCCS in hard nuclear cataracts. METHODS: Totally 132 eyes with hard cataract(Ⅳ level and above)were randomized to two groups: 2.2mm MCCS(group 1:60 eyes)and 3.0mm MCCS(group 2:72 eyes). All patients underwent standard phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation surgery by one experienced surgeon. The average ultrasound power(AVE)was recorded during the operation. The incidences of capsule rupture and postoperative corneal edema were compared.Visual acuity, surgically induced astigmatism(SIA)and the descent rate of endothelial cell density were compared at intervals of 1 day, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. Statistic analysis was taken by Student's t test and Chi square test. RESULTS: There was no significant difference on the incidences of capsule rupture, postoperative corneal edema and AVE(P> 0.05)between the two groups(3.3%, 10.0%, 65.09±20.15)and(4.2%, 11.1%, 69.13±15.44). One day after the surgery, the 2.2mm MCCS group showed better uncorrected visual acuity as compared to the 3.0mm MCCS group(P < 0.05). There were no significant differences on best-corrected visual acuity on 1 month and 3 months after the surgery. There was no significant difference on the descent rate of endothelial cell density(16.54%±10.20%, 17.69%±10.65%)3 months after the surgery. One day, 1 month and 3 months after the surgery, SIA was 0.77±0.31,0.66±0.29, 0.52±0.25D in the 2.2mm MCCS group, and 1.41±0.73,0.98±0.61D,0.82±0.35D in the 3.0mm MCCS group, respectively. The differences were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The operative safety of the 2.2mm MCCS group were the same as 3.0mm MCCS group with the hard nuclear cataracts. The 2.2mm MCCS phacoemulsification could significantly reduce SIA and get better earlier visual rehabilitation

Separation of Normal and Premalignant Cervical Epithelial Cells Using Confocal Light Absorption and Scattering Spectroscopic Microscopy Ex Vivo

Confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic (CLASS) microscopy can detect changes in biochemicals and the morphology of cells. It is therefore used to detect high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) cells in the diagnosis of premalignant cervical lesions. Forty cervical samples from women with abnormal Pap smear test results were collected, and twenty cases were diagnosed as HSIL; the rest were normal or low-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL). The enlarged and condensed nuclei of HSIL cells as viewed under CLASS microscopy were much brighter and bigger than those of non-HSIL cells. Cytological elastic scattered light data was then collected at wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm. Between 600 nm to 800 nm, the relative elastic scattered light intensity of HSIL cells was higher than that of the non-HSIL. Relative intensity peaks occurred at 700 nm and 800 nm. CLASS sensitivity and specificity results for HSIL and non-HSIL compared to cytology diagnoses were 80% and 90%, respectively. This study demonstrated that CLASS microscopy could effectively detect cervical precancerous lesions. Further study will verify this conclusion before the method is used in clinic for early detection of cervical cancer

Solving The Flexible Job Shop Problem using Multi-Objective Optimizer with Solution Characteristic Extraction

It is difficult to find optimal scheduling solutions for abstract scheduling problems with mass parallel tasks on multiprocessors because they are NP-complete. In this paper, a solution searching strategy called solution characteristic extraction is proposed as a multi-objective optimizer for solving flexible job shop problems (FJSP). These problems are concerned with finishing assigned jobs with minimal critical machine workload, total workload, and completion times. A suitable job assignment must consider processor performance, job complexity, and job suitability for each individual processor simultaneously. To test the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method, the experiments will contain two groups of benchmarks; with, and without release time constraints. Each benchmark includes numbers of heterogeneous processors and different jobs for execution. The results indicate the proposed method can find more potential solutions, and outperform related methods

Dietary zinc addition influenced zinc and lipid deposition in the fore- and mid-intestine of juvenile yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco

AbstractThe present study explored the mechanisms of dietary Zn influencing Zn and lipid deposition in the fore- and mid- intestine in yellow catfishPelteobagrus fulvidraco, and investigated whether the mechanism was intestinal-region dependent. For this purpose, yellow catfish were fed three diets containing Zn levels of 8·83, 19·20 and 146·65 mg Zn/kg, respectively. Growth performance, intestinal TAG and Zn contents as well as activities and mRNA expression of enzymes and genes involved in Zn transport and lipid metabolism in the fore- and mid-intestine were analysed. Dietary Zn increased Zn accumulation as well as activities of Cu-, Zn-superoxide dismutase and ATPase in the fore- and mid-intestine. In the fore-intestine, dietary Zn up-regulated mRNA levels of ZnT1, ZnT5, ZnT7, metallothionein (MT) and metal response element-binding transcription factor-1 (MTF-1), but down-regulated mRNA levels of ZIP4 and ZIP5. In the mid-intestine, dietary Zn up-regulated mRNA levels of ZnT1, ZnT5, ZnT7, MT and MTF-1, but down-regulated mRNA levels of ZIP4 and ZIP5. Dietary Zn reduced TAG content, down-regulated activities of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), malic enzyme (ME) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) activities, and reduced mRNA levels of 6PGD, G6PD, FAS, PPARγand sterol-regulator element-binding protein (SREBP-1), but up-regulated mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase IA, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSLa), adipose TAG lipase (ATGL) and PPARαin the fore-intestine. In the mid-intestine, dietary Zn reduced TAG content, activities of G6PD, ME, isocitrate dehydrogenase and FAS, down-regulated mRNA levels of 6PGD, G6PD, FAS, acetyl-CoA carboxylase a, PPARγand SREBP-1, but up-regulated mRNA expression of HSLa, ATGL and PPARγ. The reduction in TAG content following Zn addition was attributable to reduced lipogenesis and increased lipolysis, and similar regulatory mechanisms were observed between the fore- and mid-intestine.</jats:p