A Comparison of Percutaneous Vertebroplasty Versus Conservative Treatment in Terms of Treatment Effect for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fractures: A Meta-Analysis.

. Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) are common in older patients, which can cause back pain and even increase morbidity. However, the optimal therapy for patients with OVCFs remains unknown.

Effect of follicular helper T cells on the pathogenesis of asthma.

Follicular helper T (TFH) cells are considered to be a separate T helper cell subset, specifically to help memory B cell participate in humoral immunity. It has been reported that there is an association between the imbalance of TFH function and certain autoimmune diseases. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of TFH cells on the process of bronchial asthma has not been investigated.

Differential expression of miR-195-5p in collapse of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

Background: Femoral head collapse is a key reference point for determining a treatment regimen of femoral head osteonecrosis. However, there are no effective preventive measures and the efficacy of hip-preserving surgery is unsatisfactory due to the unclear mechanism of collapse. This study aimed to identify and validate miRNAs differentially expressed in collapse and non-collapse areas of the osteonecrotic femoral head, and to predict the target genes and pathways of these miRNAs.

Quasi-three-level neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser emitting at 885 nm.

We present a diode-pumped quasi-three-level neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser at 885 nm, based on the 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition, generally used for a 946 nm emission. Combined with polarization components (Nd:YAG), the electro-optical crystal KH2PO4 (KDP) formed a Lyot filter in the cavity and compressed the available gain bandwidth. With an incident pump power of 9.

Dietary resveratrol increases the expression of hepatic 7α-hydroxylase and ameliorates hypercholesterolemia in high-fat fed C57BL/6J mice.

Background: Resveratrol (RSV), a naturally occurring polyphenolic stilbenoid, is known to possess potent anti-atherogenic properties; however, the effect of RSV on hypercholesterolemia is not fully understood. We hypothesized that RSV decreases blood cholesterol levels through the activation of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1)-mediated bile acid synthetic pathway pathways in vitro and in vivo.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated body weight, serum lipid concentrations, hepatic lipid content and the size of the bile acid pool in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6 J mice that were treated with RSV.

Dynamic hybrid life cycle assessment of energy and carbon of multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic systems.

This paper advances the life cycle assessment (LCA) of photovoltaic systems by expanding the boundary of the included processes using hybrid LCA and accounting for the technology-driven dynamics of embodied energy and carbon emissions. Hybrid LCA is an extended method that combines bottom-up process-sum and top-down economic input-output (EIO) methods. In 2007, the embodied energy was 4354 MJ/m(2) and the energy payback time (EPBT) was 2.

Antibacterial activity and in vitro anti-tumor activity of the extract of the larvae of the housefly (Musca domestica).

One of the significant characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine is the use of insects, other terrestrial arthropods and their products as drugs. In the present work, the extract of housefly (Musca domestica) larvae was studied by an agar well diffusion assay and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) determination for detection of antimicrobial activity and by MTT assay method to test its in vitro anti-tumor activity. In our studies, the extract inhibited six tested bacterial pathogens and Escherichia coli Jm109, a gene-modified strain resistant to ampicillin with the MBCs ranging from 200 to 1600 microg/ml, while Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive than Gram-negative bacteria.