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Huan-Huan Zhang, Chun-Min Zhang, Qing-Qing Xu, Chun-Hong Zhang Department of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Chun-Hong ZhangDepartment of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 247 Beiyuan Dajie Street, Jinan, 25000, People’s Republic of ChinaFax +86-531-88962544Email aliu133@163.comBackground: Uncomplicated skin abscesses are collections of pus within the skin structure and are usually caused by bacterial infections. Clinically, they are quite common and inevitably affect people of any age. The current management strategies comprise prompt initiation of antibiotics and incision and drainage. However, pain and the long healing process of skin lesions can cause distress to a lot of patients. Fire needling is a characteristic treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has proven effective in treating skin abscesses. Moreover, fire needle therapy has a more desirable cosmetic outcome in contrast to surgical debridement. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the rapid, effective, minimally invasive, and better cosmetic outcomes of fire needles in the treatment of uncomplicated skin abscesses.Methods: A total of 10 patients, aged between 1 and 45 years, with skin abscesses, were recruited. All patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria with lesions less than 4 cm in diameter were topically treated with mupirocin ointment twice a day after fire needle therapy. If the lesion was still purulent after 2 days, it was treated again with fire needle therapy. The efficacy was assessed by a 4-grade scale at 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 12 weeks post-fire needling.Results: Lesions with a diameter of less than 2 cm achieved significant remission (SR) or partial remission (PR), after 2 days post-treatment and reached complete remission (CR) or significant remission (SR) after 1 week following treatment. Meanwhile, lesions with a diameter of 2– 4 cm achieved PR after 2 days and were assessed as CR or SR 1 week after post-fire needle therapy. None of the patients had a recurrence within 12 weeks after treatment.Conclusion: Fire needle therapy is a promising treatment method for uncomplicated skin abscesses smaller than 4 cm, which warrants further in-depth and more large-scale studies.Keywords: fire needle, uncomplicated skin abscess, traditional Chinese medicine

This study investigated the effect of calcium (Ca) and phytase interaction on growth performance and bone quality in 1-42-day-old broiler chickens. A total of 624 female one-day-old Ross 308 broilers were allotted to 13 treatments with four replicates and 12 birds per replicate. A 2 × 6 factorial experiment was designed to test the combinations of 0.50% and 1.00% Ca with 0, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 FTU/kg phytase in the basal diet (0.25% non-phytate phosphorus, NPP). The control diet contained adequate Ca and phosphorus (P). Dietary Ca, phytase, and their interaction affected growth performance and bone mineralization of broilers at 1-42 days of age (p0.05). These data indicated that high doses of phytase (2,500-10,000 FTU/kg) alleviate the negative effects of Ca and P imbalance (Ca-to-NPP ratio = 4.0) on growth performance and bone mineralization of broiler chickens.

Jun Gu, Tao Xu, Qin-Hua Huang, Chu-Miao Zhang, Hai-Yan ChenDepartment of Health Check-Up Center, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor that affects women with higher incidence. High-mobility group box 3 (HMGB3) plays critical functions in DNA repair, recombination, transcription and replication. This study aimed to investigate the effects of HMGB3 silence on mammosphere formation and tumor growth of breast cancer.Methods: LV5-HMGB3 and LV3-siHMGB3 vectors were transfected into MCF10A, MDA-MB-231, HCC1937, ZR-75-1 and MCF7 cells. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to evaluate cell proliferation. Xenograft tumor mice model was established by injection of MDA-MB-231. qRT-PCR and western blot were used to examine the expression of Nanog, Sox2 and OCT-4. Mammosphere forming assay was employed to evaluate mammosphere formation both in vivo and in vitro. Dual luciferase assay was utilized to verify the interaction between HMGB3 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α). CD44+,/CD24−, was assessed with flow cytometry.Results: HMGB3 expression was higher significantly (p

This prospective randomized study compared the clinical and radiological results of primary total knee arthropasty (TKA) using a mini-subvastus approach (group I; n = 35) or a standard approach (group II; n = 33). A posterior-stabilized prosthesis was used in both groups by the same surgeon. Mean follow-up was 18 months (range 14 − 26 months). Patients in group I lost less blood and experienced less pain 1 day post-operatively. They achieved an active straight leg raise earlier and underwent less lateral retinacular releases. Functional outcome and the range of knee movements were significantly better in group I up to 9 months post-operatively, but there was no significant difference between the groups at 1 year post-operatively or at final follow-up. Reduced access and visibility in group I prolonged the operation time and resulted in five technical errors on radiographic evaluation. Based on these results, the authors currently only use the mini-subvastus approach for minimally invasive TKA in selected cases.

High Tc superconductor (HTS) technology has been used to develop an advanced high Q resonant circuit and its devices. With a HTS, a very high Q circuit can be achieved; consequently special aspects such as high voltage generation and high current control can be theoretically and practically realized. Theoretical study has been carried out, as well as a practical approach has been made for the concept verification. This paper describes the theory of this high Q resonant circuit and the operational principle of its high voltage generation and current control.

High-temperature superconductor (HTS) technology has been used to develop an advanced high Q resonant power electronic circuit and its special device. With HTS techniques, a very high Q circuit can be achieved; consequently special aspects such as high voltage generation and current control can be practically realized. Theoretical study has been carried out with regard to this HTS high Q resonant method, as well as a prototype device has been made for experimental verification of the voltage generation and current control, as details described in this paper. © 2007 IEEE.

Power electronic-controlled switch has been used with a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) to develop an advanced high Q resonant circuit. With a HTS, a very high Q circuit can be achieved; consequently special aspects such as high voltage generation can be theoretically and practically realized. Theoretical study has been carried out for this concept and method, and this paper describes the theory of this high Q resonant circuit and the operational principle. © 2006 IEEE.