Search

In this paper, a new design of a dual-polarized antenna with high isolation and low cross polarization is proposed. The main radiation structures comprise two pairs of petaloid patches, which are fed by coaxial lines. Behind the patches, a U-shaped ground is placed to improve the front-to-back ratio of the antenna. Stable and symmetric radiation patterns at slanted ±45° polarization have been obtained within the frequency band 1.71--2.17 GHz. A return loss of --14 dB is achieved and measured isolation between the two input ports is over 31 dB. The 3 dB beamwidths of the two polarizations is stable (65°) and the average gain of the proposed antenna is about 9 dBi across the whole frequency band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number of young patients with degenerative lumbar spondylosis is expected to increase, and with it, the number of younger patients seeking surgical treatment is likely to rise. The goals of young patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis may differ from those of older patients, but little is known about the levels of pain and function, complication rates, or radiographic union that young patients achieve after interbody fusion., Questions/purposes: (1) How likely were patients younger than 50 years to achieve a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in improvement on any of several validated patient-reported outcomes scores after transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for degenerative spondylolisthesis at a minimum of 2 years after surgery? (2) What proportion developed complications or underwent reoperations? (3) What proportion achieved radiographic fusion or developed adjacent-segment degeneration?, Methods: Longitudinally maintained institutional registry data of patients undergoing primary, single-level, transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for degenerative spondylolisthesis at a single institution from 2006 to 2013 were studied in this retrospective case series. Of the 96 patients who met inclusion criteria, 14% (13 of 96) were missing follow-up data, leaving 83 patients younger than 50 years with complete clinical and radiological data at a minimum of 2 years (97%, 93 of 96 had sufficient data to assess complications and radiographic fusion). The mean age of the cohort was 44 ± 7 years. Radiological parameters for each patient with spondylolisthesis were recorded. Clinical outcomes such as the numeric rating scale for back pain and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and SF-36 were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively at 1, 3, 6 months and 2 years. The proportion of patients who had an improvement greater than the MCID of each outcome instrument was then calculated. The occurrence of any medical, surgical or wound complications, and reoperations for any reason were recorded. Radiographic fusion using Bridwell grading and adjacent-segment degeneration were assessed by an independent observer not involved in clinical care. The mean follow-up was 5 ± 3 years., Results: The proportions of patients younger than 50 years who achieved the MCID for the various patient-reported outcomes were 82% (68 of 83) for leg pain, 75% (62 of 83) for back pain, 87% (72 of 83) for ODI and 71% (59 of 83) for SF-36 physical component summary at 2 years. Two perioperative complications occurred, and two reoperations were performed for implant-related complications. A total of 85% (79 of 93) of young patients achieved stable fusion, 8% (seven of 93) had radiologic adjacent-segment degeneration, and one patient underwent a revision procedure., Conclusions: Young patients with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis commonly, but do not always, experience clinically meaningful gains in pain relief, function, and quality of life after transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. A low risk of complications, reoperations, nonunion and adjacent-segment degeneration were also noted in this population., Level of Evidence: Level III, therapeutic study.

Background: Although several studies have suggested that minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) may be especially beneficial in the elderly population due to lower operative morbidity and faster postoperative recovery, there are limited studies investigating the functional outcomes, quality of life, and satisfaction in elderly patients after MIS-TLIF. Furthermore, existing studies had substantial clinical, diagnostic, and surgical heterogeneity., Questions/purposes: We asked if elderly patients could experience comparable (1) patient-reported pain, disability and quality of life, (2) perioperative complications, and (3) radiological fusion rates as their younger counterparts after MIS-TLIF., Methods: Prospectively collected registry data of patients undergoing primary, single-level, MIS-TLIF for degenerative spondylolisthesis between 2012 and 2014 were reviewed. We included 168 patients, 39 of whom were at least 70 years old. Of the 129 patients younger than 70 years old, propensity-score matching was used to select 39 younger controls with adjustment for sex, BMI, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, and baseline clinical outcomes. Perioperative complications and radiologic data were compared., Results: There was no difference in back pain (mean difference -0.3 [95% confidence interval -1.0 to 0.5]; p = 0.52); leg pain (mean difference -0.1 [95% CI to 0.6-0.5]; p = 0.85); Oswestry Disability Index (mean difference -2.9 [95% CI -8.0 to 2.2]; p = 0.26); and SF-36 physical (mean difference 3.0 [95% CI -0.7 to 6.8]; p = 0.107); and mental component summary (mean difference 1.9 [95% CI -4.5 to 8.2]; p = 0.56); up to 2 years postoperatively; 85% of younger patients and 85% of elderly patients were satisfied (p > 0.99) while 87% and 80%, respectively, had fulfilled expectations (p = 0.36). Four perioperative adverse events occurred in each group. There was also no difference in the rate of fusion (87% in younger patients and 90% in elderly patients; p = 0.135)., Conclusions: When clinical and surgical heterogeneity were minimized, elderly patients undergoing minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion not only had comparable rates of perioperative complications but also experienced similar improvements in pain, function, and quality of life. A high rate of satisfaction was achieved., Level of Evidence: Level II, prognostic study.

The Chinese fire-bellied newt, Cynops orientalis, belonging to Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae is a species endemic to China. The liver, which is an important digestive gland and the largest amphibian organ, has various functions, including detoxification, glycogen storage, protein synthesis, and hormone production. However, the newt liver has rarely been studied at the molecular level. We performed histomorphology and high-throughput proteomic analysis of the Chinese fire-bellied newt liver, using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry. The H&E staining showed that the newt liver nuclei are large and round, are located in the lateral cytoplasm, and contain a large quantity of lipid droplets. Melanins were abundantly present throughout the hepatic parenchyma. The proteome analysis showed a total of 545 proteins detected in the newt liver. Furthermore, a gene ontology analysis suggested that these proteins were associated with metabolism, immune response, cellular homeostasis, etc. Among these, proteins with metabolic functions were found to be the most abundant and highly expressed. This supports the role of the liver as the metabolic center. The proteomic results provide new insights into the aspects of the liver proteomes of the Chinese fire-bellied newt. The identification of a more global liver proteome in the newt may provide a basis for characterizing and comparing the liver proteomes from other amphibian species.

Dioscorea bulbifera L. is widely distributed in pantropical regions along the equator. The taxonomic treatment of this species is ambiguous due to its extreme polymorphic morphological characters. In order to provide tools to facilitate the study of genetic diversity, population structure, patterns of gene flow, and the mating system of this species, and to assess intraspecific variability and relationships in D. bulbifera, 14 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using the dual-suppression PCR technique. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 17, with an average of 9.93. The mean observed heterozygosities were 0.7327 and 0.7223, and the mean Shannon-Wiener indices were 1.6431 and 1.811 in the Nanjing and Nanchong populations, respectively. All novel microsatellite loci showed high levels of polymorphism, indicating that these markers offer great potential significance and profound influence for future studies of this species.

Wild Brassica juncea is a widespread weed in China with increasingly great impact on the yield of many crops. This study aimed to develop microsatellite markers for assessing the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of B. juncea, and to provide basic information for biological and chemical control of the weed. The compound microsatellite marker technique was used to develop markers for investigating population genetics of wild B. juncea. Twelve loci were obtained, each of which showed high polymorphisms when tested in two populations in Sichuan and Jiangsu Provinces. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 27, with an average of 15.2 alleles per locus. The newly developed microsatellite loci will be informative for further investigations of the population genetics and evolutionary patterns of wild B. juncea.

Fallopia multiflora, locally known as Heshouwu, is one of the most important and widely used Chinese medicinal herbs. However, there is still considerable confusion concerning its different provenances. DNA barcoding is a recent aid to taxonomic identification and uses a short standardized DNA region to discriminate plant species. We assessed the applicability of 4 candidate DNA barcodes (matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH, and ITS2) to identify populations of F. multiflora. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt involving the plant kingdom to apply DNA barcoding at a level lower than species. Four DNA loci (matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH, and ITS2) of 105 samples, including the wild F. multiflora distributed in 17 provinces of China and 4 cultivated F. multiflora lines, were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The 4 loci were evaluated by PCR amplification for sequence quality, extent of genetic divergence, DNA barcoding gap, and the ability to discriminate between populations by BLAST1 and Nearest Distance. We found that psbA-trnH was the best barcode, with significant inter-population variability and best potential for identifying F. multiflora. The combination of loci gave better performance for distinguishing populations than a single locus. We recommend using matK + rbcL + psbA-trnH + ITS2 or psbA-trnH alone for this species. This research demonstrates the utility of DNA barcoding for geoherbalism identifications.

Background: Tobacco use is the chief avoidable cause of death in the United States. Physicians, however, are not routinely assessing this risk and providing counseling for risk reduction. This study examines tobacco cessation counseling practices among family practice residents and explores the determinants of residents' smoking-counseling behaviors and counseling duration., Methods: One hundred ten family practice residents (response rate = 93.2%) from four Texas residency training programs completed a survey designed to assess tobacco cessation counseling practices., Results: A high proportion of residents reported that they usually or always assessed tobacco use (59.3%) and advised their patients to quit smoking (80.9%), with a lower proportion reporting specific counseling behaviors (7.3% - 21.9%), referrals (1.8%), or follow-up visits (1.8%). Year of residency, perceived effectiveness, and the interaction between perceived effectiveness and residency year were significantly associated with number of counseling behaviors, and year of residency and perceived effectiveness were significantly associated with counseling duration., Conclusions: Faculty physicians should assist residents to implement the Public Health Service-sponsored clinical practice guideline for tobacco control. There is a need to increase behavioral skills and perceived effectiveness for assessing and counseling smokers among first-year residents.