Ultrasound guidance for transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy may prevent radiation exposure: A case report.

Background: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has become a mature and mainstream minimally invasive surgical technique for treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Repeated fluoroscopy, with more than 30 shots on average, is inevitable to ensure its accuracy and safety. However, exposure to X-rays may pose a threat to human health.

Two-Step Oxidation of Refractory Gold Concentrates with Different Microbial Communities.

Bio-oxidation is an effective technology for treatment of refractory gold concentrates. However, the unsatisfactory oxidation rate and long residence time, which cause a lower cyanide leaching rate and gold recovery, are key factors that restrict the application of traditional bio-oxidation technology. In this study, the oxidation rate of refractory gold concentrates and the adaption of microorganisms were analyzed to evaluate a newly developed two-step pretreatment process, which includes a high temperature chemical oxidation step and a subsequent bio-oxidation step.

Effect of SP-A/B in lipoic acid on acute paraquat poisoning.

Background: This study was undertaken to observe the concentration of SP-A/B and the pulmonary surfactant in the lung tissue of rats with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by paraquat poisoning after the treatment of metabolic antioxidant-lipoic acid and whether its influence was related to TNF-α.

Methods: Sixty-six male Sprage-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (NS group), 6 rats; paraquat poisoning group (PQ group), 30 rats; and paraquat+lipoic acid treatment group (LA group), 30 rats. The rats in the PQ and LA groups were subdivided into 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-hour subgroups, with 6 rats in each group.