Prosthesis replacement in Mason III radial head fractures: A meta-analysis

AbstractIntroductionThis present study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of prosthesis replacement (PR) for patients with Mason III radial head fractures (RHF) compared with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF).MethodsWe retrieved the relevant trials up to September 2013 from several public databases, mainly including PubMed, Embase, Springer, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, CNKI and Wanfang database. Weighted mean difference (WMD) or odds ratio (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to compare the clinical outcomes between PR and ORIF.ResultsA total of 9 studies including 365 patients with Mason III RHF (169 patients treated with PR and 196 patients treated with ORIF) were reanalyzed in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the patients with Mason III RHF receiving PR, compared with the ORIF ones, had a significantly higher percentage of postoperative excellent and good rate (OR=3.48, 95% CI=1.98 to 6.11, P<0.0001), better Broberg and Morrey elbow scores (WMD=9.79, 95% CI=4.22 to 15.36, P=0.0006) and significantly lower postoperative complications (OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.16 to 0.69, P=0.003).ConclusionsAlthough the results of this study supported the use of PR in the treatment of Mason III RHF in Chinese population with short-term outcomes, the evidences are of low quality and further studies were required for confirming these results in the longer term on other populations.Level of evidenceLevel III. Low power meta-analysis

The major achievements of grain storage in P. R. China

During the past several decades, China has made great progress in grain storage research, which greatly improved and promoted grain storage techniques and facilities. Especially in the 1990s, modern grain storage depots were constructed, in which four new technologies of grain inspection automation, machinery aeration, grain cooling, and phosphine recirculating fumigation were popularized. The main technologies to phase out methyl bromide in national depots are under-film phosphine recirculation fumigation and mixing fumigation of phosphine and carbon dioxide. In grain storage scientific research, research programs from applied to molecular fields have been implemented in institutes and universities. The 4th national survey of stored grain insects showed 270 species including 44 natural enemies were recorded. Among these stored grain insect pests the psocid, Liposcelis bostrychophila is generally more prevalent in stored grain with high moisture content. Hence, bionomics, ecologies, control measures, and molecular biology have being conducted since 1990s, and many achievements have been obtained. Efficacy of new grain protectants such as diatomaceous earth and spinosad against the main stored grain insects were evaluated. Researches on effective concentration of phosphine, application technique, recirculation fumigation, combination phosphine with carbon dioxide, and phosphine resistance mechanism were executed. Other fumigants tested included ethyl formate, carbon disulfide, and sulfuryl fluoride against stored grain insects were evaluated, or reevaluated. The fumigation activities and mechanisms of ethyl formate to the main stored product insects were systemically studied and the results showed ethyl formate controlled Sitophilus oryzae, Tribolium castaneum, Rhyzopertha dominica and Liposcelis bostrychophila effectively in a very short time, and the fumigation efficacy at relatively low temperature was better than that at relatively higher temperature. With the rapid progress of technology and scientific research, the objectives of high quality, high nutrition, high benefit, low waste, low pollution, and low cost in grain storage will be achieved, even during prolonged storage.Keywords: Review, Grain storage, Insect pest control, Fumigants, Psocid

Ambient Aqueous Growth of Cu2Te Nanostructures with Excellent Electrocatalytic Activity toward Sulfide Redox Shuttles.

A new aqueous and scalable strategy to synthesize surfactant-free Cu2Te nanotubes and nanosheets at room temperature has been developed. In aqueous solution, Cu2E (E = O, S, Se) nanoparticles can be easily transformed into Cu2Te nanosheets and nanotubes via a simple anion exchange reaction under ambient conditions. The formation of Cu2Te nanosheets is ascribed to a novel exchange-peeling growth mechanism instead of simple Kirkendall effect; and the resultant nanosheets can be further rolled into nanotubes with assistance of stirring. The morphologies of Cu2Te nanosheets and nanotubes can be easily controlled by changing the synthesis parameters, such as the concentration of precursors, the size of nanoparticle precursor, and the amount of NaBH4, as well as the stirring speed. Thus-formed Cu2Te nanostructures exhibit excellent catalytic activity toward sulfide redox shuttles and are exploited as counter electrodes catalysts for quantum dot sensitized solar cells. The performance of Cu2Te nanostructures strongly depends on their morphology, and the solar cells made with counter electrodes from Cu2Te nanosheets show the maximum power conversion efficiency of 5.35%

Partial characterization of glutathione S-transferases from different field populations of Liposcelis bostrychophila

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) from different field populations of Liposcelis bostrychophila (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) were purified by glutathione-agarose affinity chromatography and characterized subsequently by their Michaelis-Menten kinetics toward the artificial substrates 1-chloro- 2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and reduced glutathione (GSH). The specific activity of the affinity of purified GST toward CDNB was highest in lab population, 2.7-fold higher than that of Guanghan population with the lowest value observed. GSTs of lab population exhibited higher apparent Michaelis-Menten constants (Km) and higher maximal velocity (Vmax) values than those of Jianyang and Guanghan populations, revealing that the latter two populations exhibited significantly higher affinities to the test substrates. Inhibition kinetics showed that all test compounds (ethacrynic acid, curcumin, diethyl maleate, bromosulfalein, and carbosulfan) possessed significant inhibitory effects on GSTs. Curcumin appeared to be the most effective inhibitor. Compared to the other compounds, diethyl maleate and carbosulfan exhibited their I50s (the concentration required to inhibit 50% of GSTs activity) at higher concentrations.Keywords: GSTs, purification, Psocids, Xenobiotic compounds, Field population

Fumigation activities of ethyl formate on different strains of Liposcelis bostrychophila

The psocid, Liposcelis bostrychophila is a prevalent insect pest in large grain depots in P.R. China. Our previous research proved that ethyl formate killed psocid adults of susceptible strain within 24 h, and the fumigation efficacy at relatively low temperature was better than that at relatively high temperature. In this paper, fumigation activities of ethyl formate on DDVP and PH3 resistant strains of L. bostrychophila were studied by the sealed jar fumigation method under different ethyl formate concentrations, fumigation times, and temperatures. Results showed that treatment time and concentration significantly affected fumigation effectiveness of ethyl formate against L . bostrychophila adults at 30oC. The 50% lethal concentrations (LC50) of ethyl formate against two resistant strains increased as the temperature increased from 20o to 30oC. At 27±0.5oC and 24 h fumigation, the LC50 were significantly lower for DDVP and PH3 resistant strains than that of the susceptible strains and the LC50 of DDVP resistant strains were significantly lower than that of PH3 resistant strains. Keywords: Fumigation activity, Ethyl formate, Liposcelis bostrychophila, Resistant strai

Investigation of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin E and other nutritional compounds of banana flower of two cultivars grown in China

The nutritional composition of banana flowers of two cultivars [cvs. Baxijiao (AAA) and Paradisical (AAB)] grown in Hainan of China has been studied. Flower samples were collected and extracted according to methods of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). Results showed thatbanana flowers contained abundant dietary fiber (4.96-5.74 g/100g) and proteins (1.62-2.07 g/100 g). The major amino acids are glycine, leucine, alanine, and aspartic acid. Lysine had a lowest chemical score of 64% among the essential amino acids. In both species, flowers contained a higher composition of unsaturated fatty acids (65-66%), mainly the linoleic acid, while saturated fatty acids (mainly palmitic acid) is low. The contents of vitamin E, total saponin and flavonoids were 0.87-1.07, 0.12 and 5.27&#8211;5.90mg/100 g, respectively. This study provides a fundamental nutritional data of banana flowers which can be essential in food science

Enhancement of Transition Temperature in FexSe0.5Te0.5 Film via Iron Vacancies

The effects of iron deficiency in FexSe0.5Te0.5 thin films (0.8<x<1) on superconductivity and electronic properties have been studied. A significant enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (TC) up to 21K was observed in the most Fe deficient film (x=0.8). Based on the observed and simulated structural variation results, there is a high possibility that Fe vacancies can be formed in the FexSe0.5Te0.5 films. The enhancement of TC shows a strong relationship with the lattice strain effect induced by Fe vacancies. Importantly, the presence of Fe vacancies alters the charge carrier population by introducing electron charge carriers, with the Fe deficient film showing more metallic behavior than the defect-free film. Our study provides a means to enhance the superconductivity and tune the charge carriers via Fe vacancy, with no reliance on chemical doping.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Loss of Notch3 Signaling Enhances Osteogenesis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Mandibular Torus

Mandibular torus (MT) is a common intraoral osseous outgrowth located on the lingual surface of the mandible. Histologic features include hyperplastic bone consisting of mature cortical and trabecular bone. Some theories on the etiology of MT have been postulated, such as genetic factors, masticatory hyperfunction, trauma, and continued growth, but the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the potential role of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human MT in the pathogenesis of bone outgrowth. We demonstrated that MT harbored a distinct subpopulation of MSCs, with enhanced osteogenic and decreased adipogenic differentiation capacities, as compared with their counterparts from normal jaw bone. The increased osteogenic differentiation of mandibular torus MSCs was associated with the suppression of Notch3 signaling and its downstream target genes, Jag1 and Hey1, and a reciprocal increase in the transcriptional activation of ATF4 and NFATc1 genes. Targeted knockdown of Notch3 expression by transient siRNA transfection promoted the expression of osteogenic transcription factors in normal jaw bone MSCs. Our data suggest that the loss of Notch3 signaling may contribute partly to bone outgrowth in MT, as mediated by enhanced MSC-driven osteogenic differentiation in the jaw bone. © International & American Associations for Dental Research 2016