Nanosized and stable chitosan-g-PEG/heparin polyelectrolyte complex micelles were produced by a self-assembly process. The polyelectrolyte complex micelles facilitated the intracellular delivery of heparin, triggered the caspase activation, and consequently promoted apoptotic death of cancer cells.

Objective To determine whether a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) intervention combined with conventional rehabilitation (CR) can improve upper limb function more than CR alone in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), we conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial.Methods Participants were randomly assigned to either the control group (CG; n=10) or experimental group (EG; n=10). The participants in the CG received 60 minutes of conventional therapy per day, 4 days per week for 4 weeks, whereas those in the EG received 30 minutes of VR training and 30 minutes of conventional therapy per day, 4 days per week for 4 weeks. The clinical outcome measures included Medical Research Council grade, the American Spinal Injury Association upper extremity motor score (ASIA-UEMS), and scores in the Hand Strength Test, Box and Block Test, Nine-Hole Peg Test, Action Research Arm Test, and Korean version of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (K-SCIM). The assessments were performed at the beginning (T0) and end of the intervention (T1).Results Grip power and K-SCIM score significantly improved in the EG after the intervention. When comparing differences between the groups, elbow extensor, wrist extensor, ASIA-UEMS, grip power, lateral pinch power, and palmar pinch power were all significantly improved.Conclusion VR training of upper limb function after SCI can provide an acceptable adjunctive rehabilitation method without significant adverse effects.

ObjectiveTo investigate the combined effect of bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) and anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) with medial meniscectomy (MM) on the development of osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsTwenty female 15-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Five rats in each group underwent bilateral OVX (OVX group), bilateral ACLT with MM (ACLT with MM group), bilateral OVX plus ACLT with MM (OVX plus ACLT with MM group), and sham surgery (SHAM group). All the rats were subjected to treadmill running for 4 weeks. The behavioral evaluation for induction of OA used the number of rears method, and this was conducted at 1, 2, and 4 weeks post-surgery. Bone mineral density (BMD) was calculated with micro-computerized tomography images and the modified Mankin's scoring was used for the histological changes.ResultsThe number of rears in the OVX plus ACLT with MM group decreased gradually and more rapidly in the ACLT with MM group. Histologically, the OVX plus ACLT with MM group had a significantly higher modified Mankin's score than the OVX group (p=0.008) and the SHAM group (p=0.008). BMDs of the OVX plus ACLT with MM group were significantly lower than the SHAM group (p=0.002), and the ACLT with MM group (p=0.003).ConclusionWe found that bilateral OVX plus ACLT with MM induced definite OA change in terms of histology and BMD compared to bilateral OVX and ACLT with MM alone. Therefore, OVX and ACLT with MM was an appropriate degenerative OA rat model.

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