[Clinical application and accuracy of the genioplasty surgical templates system for osseous genioplasty]

Objective: To develop and validate a new genioplasty templates system for monoblock osseous genioplasty. Methods: Thirty-six patients with chin deformities were enrolled in this study. The chin template system included a cutting guide and a repositioning guide for a genioplasty. Chin templates were designed in a computer and fabricated using a three-dimensional printing technique. The accuracy of the genioplasty templates were assessed by comparing the actual postoperative outcomes with the virtual plan. Results: All genioplasty was successfully completed by the template system. The largest linear root-mean-square deviation(RMSD) between the planned and the postoperative chin segments was 1.16 mm and the largest angular RMSD was 3.06°. Conclusions: The results showed that the chin template system provides a reliable method for transfer of genioplasty planning. The operation precision of the genioplasty can be improved by using the surgical templates system.

Anaerobic respiration and antioxidant responses of Corythucha ciliata (Say) adults to heat-induced oxidative stress under laboratory and field conditions

High temperature often induces oxidative stress and antioxidant response in insects. This phenomenon has been well documented under controlled laboratory conditions, but whether it happens under fluctuating field conditions is largely unknown. In this study, we used an invasive lace bug (Corythucha ciliata) as a model species to compare the effects of controlled thermal treatments (2 h at 33-43 °C with 2 °C intervals in the laboratory) and naturally fluctuating thermal conditions (08:00-14:00 at 2-h intervals (29.7-37.2 °C) on a hot summer day in a field in Shanghai, China) on lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde (MDA) was the marker) and anaerobic respiration (lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was the marker), as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), and glutathione reductase (GR). The results show that MDA concentration increased significantly in response to heat stresses with similar trend in the laboratory and field. LDH activities did not significantly vary across temperatures in the laboratory-exposed individuals, but they significantly increased by rising temperature in the field. The activities or concentrations of SOD, CAT, GSH, and GR all significantly increased with increasing temperature in the two populations. These findings indicate that high temperature induces oxidative stress, resulting in high anaerobic respiration and antioxidant defenses in C. ciliata under both the laboratory and field conditions, which likely provide a defense mechanism against oxidative damage due to the accumulation of ROS.

A novel fluorescent distinguished probe for Cr (VI) in aqueous solution

Salicylaldehyde rhodamine B hydrazone (SRBH) was developed as a new spectrofluorimetric probe for the selective and sensitive detection of CrO(4)(2-) in acidic conditions. The proposed method was based on the special oxidation reaction between non-fluorescent SRBH by potassium dichromate to produce a highly fluorescent rhodamine B, as a product. Under the optimum conditions described, the fluorescence enhancement at 591 nm was good linearly related to the concentration of CrO(4)(2-) from 1.0 x 10(-8) to 3.0 x 10(-7)M (0.42-12.6 ng mL(-1)) with a correlation coefficient of R(2)=0.9989 (n=10) and a detection limit of 1.5 x 10(-9)M (0.063 ng mL(-1)). The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was 2.0% (n=6). The proposed method was also successfully applied to the determination of chromium (VI) in drinking water, river water and synthetic samples.

[Anti-complement activity of polysaccharide B3-PS2 purified from Herba Scutellariae Barbatae]

The polysaccharide B3-PS2 was extracted and purified from Herba Scutellariae Barbatae through chromatography of DEAE-cellulose and Sephacryl S-300 column. Average molecular weight of B3-PS2 was about 1,100 kD. It was composed of Glc, Gal and Ara in the ratio of 2.7:2.7:1.0, along with trace of Man, Rha, Fuc and Xyl. B3-PS2 inhibited complement activation on the classic pathways with CH50 value of (0.23 +/- 0.03) mg mL(-1). The targets of B3-PS2 upon the complement system were C1r, C1s, C3 and C4. These results suggested that anti-complementary activity of B3-PS2 was closed to its positive control heparin. It strongly suggested that the polysaccharide B3-PS2 from Herba Scutellariae Barbatae could be a potential candidate in treating those complement-associated diseases.

Probing the plateau-insulator quantum phase transition in the quantum hall regime

We report quantum Hall experiments on the plateau-insulator transition in a low mobility In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As/InP heterostructure. The data for the longitudinal resistance rho(xx) follow an exponential law and we extract a critical exponent kappa = 0.55+/-0. 05 which is slightly different from the established value kappa = 0. 42+/-0.04 for the plateau transitions. Upon correction for inhomogeneity effects, which cause the critical conductance sigma(*)(xx) to depend marginally on temperature, our data indicate that the plateau-plateau and plateau-insulator transitions are in the same universality class.