Plos One
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To compare the clinical efficacy of titanium mesh cages and autogenous iliac bone graft to restore vertebral height through posterior approach in patients with thoracic and lumbar spinal tuberculosis. ⋯ Titanium mesh cages could obtain good clinical efficacy comparable to autogenous iliac bone graft when treating single-segment spinal tuberculosis, and may be better than autogenous iliac bone graft for treating multi-segment spinal tuberculosis.
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We evaluated effects of the interrelationship between physical disability and cognitive impairment on long-term mortality of men aged 80 years and older living in a retirement community in Taiwan. ⋯ Physical disability is a major risk factor for all-cause mortality among men aged 80 years and older, and risk increased synergistically when cognitive impairment was present. Cognitive impairment alone without physical disability did not increase mortality risk in this population.
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Recent studies have identified that the myodural bridge (MDB) between the rectus capitis posterior minor (RCPmi) and the cervical spinal dura mater in the posterior atlanto-occipital interspace in humans. And it was supposed that the MDB may play essential physiological roles. As a result, the MDB is possibly a highly conserved structure in the evolution of mammals. ⋯ At the ventral aspect of the RCDmi, the MDB directly extended through the posterior atlanto-occipital interspace and connected with the cervical spinal dura mater which was consisted of type Ⅰ collagen. In addition, the dorsal atlanto-occipital membrane was not found in the Neophocaena phocaenoides. The tendinous myodural bridge extended from the RCDmi to the spinal dura mater through the posterior atlanto-occipital interspace in the Neophocaena phocaenoides.
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Clinical Trial
Urine Concentrating Capacity, Vasopressin and Copeptin in ADPKD and IgA Nephropathy Patients with Renal Impairment.
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) patients have an impaired urine concentrating capacity. Increased circulating vasopressin (AVP) concentrations are supposed to play a role in the progression of ADPKD. We hypothesized that ADPKD patients have a more severely impaired urine concentrating capacity in comparison to other patients with chronic kidney disease at a similar level of kidney function, with consequently an enhanced AVP response to water deprivation with higher circulating AVP concentrations. ⋯ ADPKD patients have a more severely impaired maximal urine concentrating capacity with a lower maximal achieved urine urea concentration in comparison to IgAN controls with similar endogenous copeptin and AVP responses.