Induction of differentiation of human stem cells : Toward large-scale platelet production.

Platelet transfusion is one of the most reliable strategies to cure patients suffering from thrombocytopenia or platelet dysfunction. With the increasing demand for transfusion, however, there is an undersupply of donors to provide the platelet source. Thus, scientists have sought to design methods for deriving clinical-scale platelets .

Follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) promotes chondrocyte expression of matrix metalloproteinase and inflammatory factors via the NF-κB pathway.

Background: The expression of follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) is closely associated with diseases of the musculoskeletal system. However, despite being a well characterized inflammatory mediator, the effects of FSTL1 on chondrocytes are not completely understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of FSTL1 on the expression of inflammatory and catabolic factors in rat chondrocytes.

A novel anti-osteoporotic agent that protects against postmenopausal bone loss by regulating bone formation and bone resorption.

Aims: Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a bone metabolism disease that is caused by an imbalance between bone-resorbing osteoclast and bone-forming osteoblast actions. Herein, we describe the role of troxerutin (TRX), a trihydroxyethylated derivative of rutin, in ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis and its effects on the regulation of osteoclasts and osteoblasts.

Main Methods: In vivo, OVX female mice were intraperitoneally injected with either saline, 50 mg/kg TRX, or 150 mg/kg TRX for 6 weeks and then sacrificed for micro-computed tomography analyses, histological analyses, and biomechanical testing.

Polarization behavior of Pb-Co powder-pressed alloy for electrowinning.

In this study, Pb-Co powder-pressed alloy was fabricated and used as a suitable anode material to replace Pb-Ca-Sn alloy in electrowinning. The Pb-Co anodes and the traditional Pb-Ca-Sn alloy on the electrochemical properties are investigated in a 160 g L HSO solution at 35 °C using galvanostatic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel test. Thereafter, the anodic oxide layer is observed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy along with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry.

Predictive factors of visual function recovery after pituitary adenoma resection: a literature review and Meta-analysis.

Aim: To determine the dominant predictive factors of postoperative visual recovery for patients with pituitary adenoma.

Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant human studies, which investigated the prediction of the postoperative visual recovery of patients with pituitary adenoma, from January 2000 to May 2017. Meta-analyses were performed on the primary outcomes.

A systematic review of undisplaced femoral neck fracture treatments for patients over 65 years of age, with a focus on union rates and avascular necrosis.

Background: It remains unclear whether conservative treatment should be used to treat the common undisplaced femoral neck fractures that develop in the elderly. Herein, we systematically review the rates of union and avascular necrosis after conservative and surgical treatment of undisplaced femoral neck fractures.

Methods: We searched the EMBASE, PubMed, OVID, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus databases for randomized controlled trials or observational studies that assessed the outcomes of conservative or surgical treatments of undisplaced femoral neck fractures.

3D Printing Surgical Implants at the clinic: A Experimental Study on Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Desktop three-dimensional (3D) printers (D3DPs) have become a popular tool for fabricating personalized consumer products, favored for low cost, easy operation, and other advantageous qualities. This study focused on the potential for using D3DPs to successfully, rapidly, and economically print customized implants at medical clinics. An experiment was conducted on a D3DP-printed anterior cruciate ligament surgical implant using a rabbit model.

Quantitative anatomic comparison of the extended pterional transtemporal transtentorial approach and the subtemporal transtentorial approach to the petroclival region.

Aim: The anatomic characters and applicability of the extended pterional transtemporal transtentorial (EPTT) approach versus the subtemporal transtentorial (ST) approach for surgical treatment of petroclival tumors were evaluated.

Material And Methods: Ten sides from five adult Chinese injected cadavers were manipulated using both two approaches. Four deep bony anatomic landmarks were specified in the skull base to create two adjoining triangles that were respectively located in the anterior and posterior petroclival region.

Nuclear factor-κB/Bcl-XL pathway is involved in the protective effect of hydrogen-rich saline on the brain following experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage in rabbits.

Early brain injury (EBI), a significant contributor to poor outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), is intimately associated with neuronal apoptosis. Recently, the protective role of hydrogen (H2 ) in the brain has been widely studied, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Numerous studies have shown nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) as a crucial survival pathway in neurons.

Hydrogen-rich saline alleviates early brain injury via reducing oxidative stress and brain edema following experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage in rabbits.

Background: Increasing experimental and clinical data indicate that early brain injury (EBI) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) largely contributes to unfavorable outcomes, and it has been proved that EBI following SAH is closely associated with oxidative stress and brain edema. The present study aimed to examine the effect of hydrogen, a mild and selective cytotoxic oxygen radical scavenger, on oxidative stress injury, brain edema and neurology outcome following experimental SAH in rabbits.

Results: The level of MDA, caspase-12/3 and brain water content increased significantly at 72 hours after experimental SAH.

Sodium valproate for prevention of early posttraumatic seizures.

Objective: To assess the preventive effect of sodium valproate on early posttraumatic seizures in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Methods: The retrospective study was based on 159 patients with TBI treated at Department of Neurosurgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Command enrolled between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. The in-hospital section of the retrospectively collected database includes information on age, sex, initial Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), results of CT scanning, operation, usage of sodium valproate, seizures in the first week after injury and outcome.

Intraoperative indocyanine green angiography in intracranial aneurysm surgery: Microsurgical clipping and revascularization.

Background: The goal of this report is to illustrate the use of intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in the surgical management of intracranial aneurysms, including microsurgical clipping and revascularization.

Methods: This study included a series of 45 patients who were surgically treated between June 2007 and May 2008 for intracranial aneurysms. Fourty-three of the patients had anterior circulation aneurysms, and 2 had posterior circulation aneurysms.

[Analysis of RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation in serum DNA of non-small cell lung cancer].

Objective: To detect the hypermethylation status of RASSF1A promoter in serum DNA of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient and evaluate its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.

Methods: Serum DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of 75 NSCLC patients and another 35 patients with benign pulmonary disease and 15 healthy donors. The methylation status of RASSF1A promoter was determined using methylation-specific PCR (MSP), and the correlation of methylation profiles with clinicopathological parameters was statistically analyzed.

[Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: a clinicopathologic study of five cases].

Objective: To study the clinical pathological features and immunophenotype of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) with discussion on its diagnostic clues to improve diagnostic level.

Methods: Five cases of FDCS were analyzed by clinical, pathologic and immunohistochemistry methods.

Results: Five cases of FDCS were located in the cervical lymph node.

[Male infertility caused by pituitary adenoma].

Pituitary adenoma is one of the important etiologies of male infertility. The early diagnosis of pituitary adenoma that caused infertility is not difficult with the help of modem incretion examination and imaging technique. The treatment focused on pituitary adenoma is no doubt the optimal choice of this kind of male infertility.

[Experimental study of dually targeting gene therapy system for pituitary adenomas].

Objective: To construct a dually targeting gene therapy system for pituitary adenomas and investigate its effect.

Methods: Promoter hGHp containing human growth hormone gene was obtained from human genome and cloned into the plasmid pcDNA3.1/His A with the promoter cut to construct the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.

The influence of subarachnoid hemorrhage on neurons: an animal model.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has considerable mortality and morbidity, but the pathophysiologic mechanism is not entirely clear. Following SAH, blood or its lysate enters the subarachnoid space. This study examined how blood lysate influences the vulnerable brain following SAH.