[en] Objective: To evaluate the multislice CT-guided percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in treatment of vertebral metastases. Methods: The efficacy and complications of CT-guided PVP in 25 patients with vertebral metastases were retrospectively reviewed. Results: The percutaneous paracentesis was successful in all 30 vertebrae in 25 patients. After PVP, the pain in all patients subsided gradually. Complete remission was obtained in 18 cases out of 25, and partial remission was accomplished in the rest 7 cases in one month after the intervention. In one case, bone cement (polymethy methacrylate PMMA) leaked into vertebral disc during the procedure while the treatment remained asymptomatic eventually. Conclusion: The multislice CT-guided PVP is a simple, precise, and safe interventional procedure, which is a practical treatment to improve the life quality of patients with vertebral metastases. (authors)

[en] The distribution of uranium in the plant-microbe symbiotic system-Azolla imbircata was analyzed by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) hyphenated technique. The results showed that uranium distributed in both fern-Azolla imbricata and microbe-Anabena azollae. The content of uranium in Anabena azollae was slightly higher than that in Azolla imbricata. The fern-Azolla imbricata and microbe-Anabena azollae had a synergistic effect on the process of removing uranium from the water. (authors)

[en] In order to characterize the H isotopic compositions of individual lipid compounds from different terrestrial depositional environments, the δD values of C-bound H in individual n-alkanes from typical terrestrial source rocks of the Liaohe Basin and the Turpan Basin, China, were measured using gas chromatography-thermal conversion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-TC-IRMS). The analytical results indicate that the δD values of individual n-alkanes in the extracts of terrestrial source rocks have a large variation, ranging from -140 per mille to -250 per mille, and are obviously lighter than the δD of marine-sourced n-alkanes. Moreover, a trend of depletion in ²H(D) was observed for individual n-alkanes from different terrestrial depositional environments, from saline lacustrine to freshwater paralic lacustrine, and to swamp. For example, the δD values of n-alkanes from a stratified saline lacustrine environment vary from -140 per mille to -200 per mille, δD for n-alkanes from swamp facies range from -200 per mille to -250 per mille, while those from freshwater paralic lacustrine-lacustrine environments fall between the δD values of the end members. The shift toward lighter δD from saltwater to freshwater environments indicates that the source water δD is the major controlling factor for the H isotopic composition of individual compounds. In addition, H exchange between formation water and sedimentary organic matter may possibly be important in regard to the δD of individual n-alkanes. Therefore, other lines of geochemical evidence must be considered when depositional paleoenvironments of source rocks are reconstructed based on the H isotopic composition of individual n-alkanes