Overview on the identification and compensation criteria of work-related musculoskeletal disorders abroad / 中国职业医学

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) are common disorders that endanger the occupational health of workers in the world. Some foreign countries have included it in the categories of occupational diseases or compensable work-related diseases. In the lists of occupational diseases in European countries, Australia, Japan, South Korea and other countries, the inclusion of WMSDs in the occupational disease classifications, related diagnostic items and included diseases is not inconsistent. Individual countries assign WMSDs based on a causal relationship between work-related exposures and musculoskeletal disorders. Assessing the relationship between occupational risk and diseases involves two issues: the extent to which a disease can be attributed to an occupational risk, and the extent to which claimants with such occupational risk can demonstrate its existence. Compensation for WMSDs mainly includes three types: medical care expenses incurred during workers′ medical treatment, wage losses during worker′s absence from work due to the diseases(temporary and permanent), and benefits for family members whose death due to occupational diseases. Compensation is mainly paid in the form of daily allowance, retirement pension, disability pension, funeral expenses, survivor′s pension, and others, which varies from country to country. At present, our country has planned to include WMSDs in the categories of occupational diseases. It is suggested that the WMSDs diagnosis/identification and compensation standards should be formulated based on the actual situation of our country and the experience of relevant countries and regions in the world, so as to do a good job in the identification, prevention and control of WMSDs and ensure the occupational health of workers.

Occurrence pattern of musculoskeletal disorders and its influencing factors among manufacturing workers / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the occurrence pattern and its influencing factors of multi-site work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) of the main affected body sites among manufacturing workers.@*METHODS@#Musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire was adopted to investigate the prevalence of WMSDs and the influencing factors among workers from four manufacturing factories in China. The case of WMSDs was defined as the one who had symptoms such as pain, numbness, discomfort, or limitation of activities in one or more of the nine body sites, including neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, upper back, lower back, hip/thigh, knee and ankle/foot during the last year, which lasted for more than 24 hours and did not completely relieve after rest. Besides, trauma, disability, other acute injuries or sequelae were excluded. The correlation of WMSDs between different body sites was estimated by the prevalence ratio (PR) calculated by log-binominal model. The influencing factors of multi-site WMSDs of the main affected body sites were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression model.@*RESULTS@#The overall prevalence rate of WMSDs was 79.7% among the manufacturing workers. The main affected body sites were lower back, neck, shoulder and upper back, of which the prevalence rates were 62.3%, 55.7%, 45.6%, and 38.7%, respectively. The PR values of WMSDs among these sites were relatively high. The prevalence of multi-site WMSDs involving these four sites at the same time was 25.2%, and that of three to four sites was 41.4%. Multinomial Logistic regression analysis suggested that influencing factors of multi-site WMSDs in 3-4 sites of neck, shoulder, upper back and lower back involved several aspects. Among these factors, females (OR=2.86, 95%CI 2.38-3.33) and individuals with job tenure of 15-19 years (OR=1.87, 95%CI 1.49-2.34) might have higher risk of disease. Biomechanical factors, such as often bending neck forward or holding neck in a forward position for long periods (OR=2.15, 95%CI 1.86-2.48), often twisting neck or holding neck in a twisted position for long periods (OR=1.64, 95%CI 1.40-1.92) and often twisting trunk heavily (OR=1.40, 95%CI 1.20-1.64) might be risk factors. In the aspect of work organization, doing the same work every day (OR=1.73, 95%CI 1.44-2.08), shortage of workers (OR=1.50, 95%CI 1.31-1.71) and often working overtime (OR=1.38, 95%CI 1.20-1.60) might increase the risk of disease. Factors, such as often standing for long periods at work (OR=0.77, 95%CI 0.65-0.91) and feeling breaks sufficient (OR=0.51, 95%CI 0.44-0.59) were suggested to be protective factors with OR<1.@*CONCLUSION@#The pre-valence rates of WMSDs in neck, shoulder, upper back, and lower back were high among manufacturing workers in this study. The correlation of WMSDs of these four sites was close in this study, and the comorbidity rate of 3-4 sites of these sites was relatively high, suggesting that there might be a multi-site occurrence pattern of WMSDs in "neck-shoulder-upper back-lower back" among manufacturing workers. The main influencing factors of this pattern included individual factors, biomechanical factors and work organization factors.

Research on the reliability and validity of postural workload assessment method and the relation to work-related musculoskeletal disorders of workers / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To form a new assessment method to evaluate postural workload comprehensively analyzing the dynamic and static postural workload for workers during their work process to analyze the reliability and validity, and to study the relation between workers' postural workload and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs).@*METHODS@#In the study, 844 workers from electronic and railway vehicle manufacturing factories were selected as subjects investigated by using the China Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (CMQ) to form the postural workload comprehensive assessment method. The Cronbach's α, cluster analysis and factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the new assessment method. Non-conditional Logistic regression was used to analyze the relation between workers' postural workload and WMSDs.@*RESULTS@#Reliability of the assessment method for postural workload: internal consistency analysis results showed that Cronbach's α was 0.934 and the results of split-half reliability indicated that Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.881 and the correlation coefficient between the first part and the second was 0.787. Validity of the assessment method for postural workload: the results of cluster analysis indicated that square Euclidean distance between dynamic and static postural workload assessment in the same part or work posture was the shortest. The results of factor analysis showed that 2 components were extracted and the cumulative percentage of variance achieved 65.604%. The postural workload score of the different occupational workers showed significant difference (P<0.05) by covariance analysis. The results of nonconditional Logistic regression indicated that alcohol intake (OR=2.141, 95%CI 1.337-3.428) and obesity (OR=3.408, 95%CI 1.629-7.130) were risk factors for WMSDs. The risk for WMSDs would rise as workers' postural workload rose (OR=1.035, 95%CI 1.022-1.048). There was significant different risk for WMSDs in the different groups of workers distinguished by work type, gender and age. Female workers exhibited a higher prevalence for WMSDs (OR=2.626, 95%CI 1.414-4.879) and workers between 30-40 years of age (OR=1.909, 95%CI 1.237-2.946) as compared with those under 30.@*CONCLUSION@#This method for comprehensively assessing postural workload is reliable and effective when used in assembling workers, and there is certain relation between the postural workload and WMSDs.

The Effect of PCDH15 Gene Variations on the Risk of Noise-induced Hearing Loss in a Chinese Population / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a complex disease caused by interactions between environmental and genetic factors. This study investigated whether genetic variability in protocadherin related 15 (PCDH15) underlies an increased susceptibility to the development of NIHL in a Chinese population. The results showed that compared with the TT genotype of rs11004085, CT/CC genotypes were associated with an increased risk of NIHL [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.64; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-6.11, P = 0.024]. Additionally, significant interactions between the rs11004085 and rs978842 genetic variations and noise exposure were observed in the high-level exposure groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the risk haplotype TAGCC was observed when combined with higher levels of noise exposure (P < 0.05). Thus, our study confirms that genetic variations in PCDH15 modify the susceptibility to NIHL development in humans.

Diagnostic value of high-frequency ultrasonography in testing carpal canal structure in patients with occupational hand-arm vibration disease / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of high-frequency ultrasonagraphy in testing carpal canal structure in the diagnosis of patients with occupational hand-arm vibration disease( HAVD). METHODS: Eighteen patients with occupational mild HAVD( 36 wrists) were selected as the case group and 20 healthy volunteers( 40 wrists) were enrolled as the control group by using convenience sampling method. The color doppler ultrasound was used to measure the crosssectional areas( CSA) of median nerve at the level of pisiform bone,the thickness of transverse carpal ligament,and the internal diameter of median nerve and the CSA of median nerve at the level of hamate hook of the 2 groups. Fisher discriminant analysis and receiver operating characteristic( ROC) curve were performed to assess the effect of diagnosing HAVD with the CSA of median nerve at the level of pisiform bone in patients with HAVD. RESULTS: The CSA of median nerve at the level of pisiform bone in both hands was smaller than that of the control group( P < 0. 01). However,there was no statistical significance in the thickness of transverse carpal ligament of both hands,the internal diameter of median nerve and the CSA of median nerve at the level of hamate hook in the case and control groups( P > 0. 05). Through the Fisher discriminant analysis which was carried on and the distinction equation which was established meanwhile by using the CSA of median nerve at the level of pisiform bone in both hands as HAVD diagnostic criterion,the HAVD predictive accuracy rate was 78. 9%. The ROC curve was underway with the discriminant score as an indicator for distinguishing HAVD,and the result showed that the area under the curve was 0. 842,with sensitivity of 75. 00% and specificity of 88. 90%. CONCLUSION: High-frequency ultrasonography can be used to observe and quantify the imaging changes of carpal canal structure in patients with HAVD,which can provide objective and scientific diagnostic basis for the diagnosis of HAVD.

Epidemic analysis on AIDS,gonorrhea and syphilis from 1990 to 2013 in Huangpu District,Shanghai / 上海预防医学

Objective To analyze the epidemic characteristics of AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis from 1990 to 2013 in Huangpu District, Shanghai, and to evaluate the effects of prevention and control in this re-gard. Methods Ecology research method was used to analyze epidemic characteristics of sexually trans-mitted disease. Results From 1990 to 2013, the incidence of gonorrhea increased first and then de-creased in recent years, while that of syphilis had been increasing since 1994, among which latent syphilis was the most.AIDS cases occurred each year from 2006.The young male adults of 25-39 years old were the main population who had these three kinds of sexually transmitted diseases.The cases of AIDS and syphilis were mainly found in those engaged in housekeeping, housework and the unemployed, and gonor-rhea was mostly with workers. Conclusion The incidence of gonorrhea in Huangpu District has been de-creasing, while the prevention and control of AIDS and syphilis still needs to be strengthened.The inci-dence is influenced by the change of people’ s awareness and behavior.In future, we should focus on key groups like young males, housekeeping, unemployed and recurrent population.

Epidemic situation analysis on tuberculosis from 1990 to 2013 in Huangpu District of Shanghai / 上海预防医学

[Objective] To investigate epidemic characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) in Huangpu District of Shanghai, and evaluate the effects of its prevention and control. [ Methods] Ecology research method was used to analyze epidemic characteristics of TB from 1990 to 2013 in Huangpu District. [Results] In 1990-2013, the average incidence rate of TB was 37.37/105, showing a trend of gradual decline as a whole and the average death rate was 0.47/105 .The incidence rate in elderly males aged over 65 was the highest.Those with the highest morbidity were accordingly retirees, workers, housekeeping and the unemployed. [ Conclusion] The overall effect of control of TB was obvious in Huangpu District from 1990 to 2013.While public's lack of knowledge and awareness, non-standard cure, high rate of drug resistance and large numbers of floating population posed challenge for prevention and control.TB cure and control still need to be improved.

Identification of Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat (VNTR) Sequences in Acinetobacter pittii and Development of an Optimized Multiple-Locus VNTR Analysis Typing Scheme / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) assay for Acinetobacter pittii typing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Polymorphic VNTRs were searched by Tandem Repeats Finder. The distribution and polymorphism of each VNTR locus were analyzed in all the A. pittii genomes deposited in the NCBI genome database by BLAST and were evaluated with a collection of 20 well-characterized clinical A. pittii strains and one reference strain. The MLVA assay was compared with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for discriminating A. pittii isolates.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ten VNTR loci were identified upon bioinformatic screening of A. pittii genomes, but only five of them showed full amplifiability and good polymorphism. Therefore, an MLVA assay composed of five VNTR loci was developed. The typeability, reproducibility, stability, discriminatory power, and epidemiological concordance were excellent. Compared with PFGE, the new optimized MLVA typing scheme provided the same and even greater discrimination.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compared with PFGE, MLVA typing is a faster and more standardized alternative for studying the genetic relatedness of A. pittii isolates in disease surveillance and outbreak investigation.</p>

How Work Organization Affects the Prevalence of WMSDs: A Case-control Study / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>In this study, we aimed at exploring the association between work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and work organization based on a case-control study.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1938 workers who claimed to suffer from WMSDs were selected from Beijing, Henan, Hubei, and the Guangdong province. The control group consisted of 2009 workers employed in similar industries without severe disease or musculoskeletal discomforts. We used a modified version of the questionnaire developed by the NMQ and the DMQ to investigate individual and work-related factors.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 13 variables (P<0.1) were selected by the chi-square test and finally, 7 variables entered into the equation, with 6 variables reaching statistical significance (P<0.05). The odds ratios (OR) of 'work changing with season' and 'sufficient rest time' did not reach 1 (0.749 and 0.441, respectively). In addition, 'sufficient rest time' seemed to be the stronger protective factor according to its higher standardized coefficient. And 'repetitive work every minute', 'constantly repetitive work' (every day), 'shortage of site personnel', and 'often switching shifts with others' seemed to be the risk factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Work organization may have comprehensive effects on the occurrence of WMSDs. This pattern of associations suggests that further investigation into the mechanism of how work organization affects the prevalence of WMSDs is required.</p>

Application of Gail model for assessment on breast cancer risk / 上海预防医学

To discuss the application value of the Gail model in evaluation of breast cancer risk in Huangpu District , Shanghai. [Methods] Case-control study was adopted for 156 cases of breast cancer and 198 age-matched controls .From the subjects were collected information of age , history of breast disease , family history , age at menarche , age at first birth , breast biopsy and race .Gail model was used to evaluate the risk of breast cancer for these women 5 years before. [Results] A total of 72 cases and 11 controls had high risk of breast cancer within 5 years.As the evaluation results of the diagnos-tic test, the sensitivity of the Gail model was 50.3 percent and the specificity 92.0 percent.The positive predictive value was 86.7 percent and the negative predictive value 64.0 percent (The Chi square was 60. 09 and P value 0.000, The McNemar Chi square was 43.90 and P value 0.000).The Youden's index was 0.423.The total agreement was 70.7 percent. [ Conclusion] The Gail model did not achieve the de-sired results for assessment of population with high risk of breast cancer .The tool needs to be further studied as a tool for screening population with high risk of breast cancer .

Prevention against and treatment of doxorubicin-induced acute cardiotoxicity by dexrazoxane and schisandrin B / 药学学报

In this study, it is to compare the effectiveness of prevention against and treatment of doxorubicin (DOX) induced cardiotoxicity by dexrazoxane and schisandrin B (Sch B) in rats. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the following 6 groups: normal saline group, DOX group, DOX+DEX group, DOX+Sch B (80 mg x kg(-1)) group, DOX+Sch B (40 mg x kg(-1)) group and DOX+Sch B (20 mg x kg(-1)) group. The results showed that Sch B could combat the increase of myocardial enzymes in peripheral blood, decrease of the enzyme activity of myocardial tissue antioxidant enzymes and disorders of systolic and diastolic function of heart in rats intravenously injected with doxorubicin (15 mg x kg(-1)). Sch B was better than DEX in protecting rat against DOX-induced the symptoms. Sch B could protect rat against DOX-induced acute cardiomyopathy and has clinical potential applications.

Co-effect of Demand-control-support model and effort-reward imbalance model on depression risk estimation in humans: findings from Henan Province of China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the co-effect of Demand-control-support (DCS) model and Effort-reward Imbalance (ERI) model on the risk estimation of depression in humans in comparison with the effects when they are used respectively.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 3 632 males and 1 706 females from 13 factories and companies in Henan province were recruited in this cross-sectional study. Perceived job stress was evaluated with the Job Content Questionnaire and Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (Chinese version). Depressive symptoms were assessed by using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>DC (demands/job control ratio) and ERI were shown to be independently associated with depressive symptoms. The outcome of low social support and overcommitment were similar. High DC and low social support (SS), high ERI and high overcommitment, and high DC and high ERI posed greater risks of depressive symptoms than each of them did alone. ERI model and SS model seem to be effective in estimating the risk of depressive symptoms if they are used respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The DC had better performance when it was used in combination with low SS. The effect on physical demands was better than on psychological demands. The combination of DCS and ERI models could improve the risk estimate of depressive symptoms in humans.</p>

Survey on the occupational musculoskeletal disorder and its risk factors among male steelworkers / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the prevalence of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (OMSD) of male steelworkers and explore its occupational and individual risk factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>1620 male workers from a steel mill were selected as subjects through random cluster sampling in 2010. A revised Nordic Musculoskeletal disorder standard questionnaire and a questionnaire from National Institute for Occupational and Health of the Netherlands were used to ask and record the OMSD and its risk factors. The questionnaires were filled in by the workers. Annual prevalence of OMSD in different parts of the body were counted according to different age, working years and educational level, logistic regression was used to analyze its influence factors.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>OMSD in these workers primarily located in waist, neck and shoulders, annual prevalence were 51.0% (825), 48.5% (785) and 37.7% (610) respectively. Annual prevalence of other body parts were 28.0% (454) for back, 23.6% (383) for knee, 21.0% (341) for wrist, 17.9% (290) for ankle/foot, 14.1% (229) for elbow and 12.7% (205) for coxa. The annual prevalence of OMSD for each part tended to increase with age, mainly in waist and neck. Of the different age groups ≤ 24, 25 - 29, 30 - 34, 35 - 39, 40 - 44, 45 - 49, ≥ 50, the annual prevalence in waist was 26.4% (43/163), 37.8% (71/188), 52.8% (162/307), 55.6% (160/288), 53.8% (99/184), 55.9% (80/143), 61.6% (204/331) respectively (χ(2) = 72.5, P < 0.05); correspondingly, the annual prevalence in neck was 22.7% (37/163), 40.4% (76/188), 50.2% (154/307), 48.6% (140/288), 56.0% (103/184), 53.1% (76/143), 57.7% (191/331) respectively (χ(2) = 65.3, P < 0.05). The annual prevalence of OMSD increased with the working years. Of the different working years groups ≤ 4, 5 - 9, 10 - 14, 15 - 19, 20 - 24, 25 - 29, ≥ 30, the annual prevalence in waist was 30.2% (85/281), 46.2% (66/143), 56.4% (162/287), 56.8% (137/241), 50.6% (78/154), 59.2% (90/152), 60.7% (173/285) respectively (χ(2) = 71.3, P < 0.05);correspondingly, the annual prevalence in neck was 28.8% (81/281), 49.0% (70/143), 52.6% (151/287), 50.2% (121/241), 51.9% (80/154), 53.9% (82/152), 59.3% (169/285) respectively (χ(2) = 61.5, P < 0.05). The annual prevalence of OMSD decreased with education level. Of the different groups of education level (junior high school level and below, senior high school level, university level or above), the OMSD prevalence in waist was 61.5% (176/286), 61.9% (359/692), 44.2% (272/615) respectively (χ(2) = 26.0, P < 0.05);correspondingly, the annual prevalence in neck was 56.3% (161/286), 50.0% (346/692), 42.3% (260/615)respectively (χ(2) = 21.2, P < 0.05). Univariate logistic regression showed that the work load factors such as the working years ≥ 30 (OR = 3.562, 95%CI: 2.514 - 5.046), maintain substantial stoop for a long time (OR = 2.003, 95%CI: 1.612 - 2.488), often stooping with vast scale (OR = 1.897, 95%CI: 1.557 - 2.312), and torso repeating same action many times per minute (OR = 1.870, 95%CI: 1.529 - 2.288) could increase the annual prevalence of OMSD in waist most likely (P < 0.05). The working years ≥ 30 (OR = 3.597, 95%CI: 2.535 - 5.105), neck leaning forward (OR = 2.455, 95%CI: 2.010-2.99), neck leaning back (OR = 1.999, 95%CI: 1.569 - 2.546), and neck rotation (OR = 2.381, 95%CI: 1.907 - 2.972) were main risk factors causing OMSD in neck (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The most serious musculoskeletal disorders of male steelworkers were waist and neck pain. Personal factors such as age, working years, work load factors such as harmful working postures, manual heavy lifting, and labour organizational factors such as work overtime were the main risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders to the male steelworkers.</p>

The assessment of reliability and validity of musculoskeletal questionnaire / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the reliability and validity of musculoskeletal questionnaire.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A self-administered modified musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to investigate 12 098 workers from eight occupations, i.e. coal mining, petroleum, metallurgical, mechanical manufacturing, chemical, garment and railroad transportation industries and education. The Cronbach's α coefficient, analysis of covariance and multiple logistic regression were used to assess the reliability and validity of musculoskeletal questionnaire.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The consistent test between total items of Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and each factor showed that the range of Cronbach's α was 0.52 ∼ 0.92, except from vibration factor, other Cronbach's α was more than 0.7. All 55 items of Musculoskeletal Questionnaire were subjected to factor analysis, and ten latent factors were identified, which explained 55.17% of the total variance. The potentially hazardous working conditions could be categorized into seven dimensions (force, dynamic load, static load, repetitive load, climate factors, vibration exposure and environmental ergonomic factor), which consisted with the theory model. The results of covariance analysis indicated that there were significant difference among 7 dimension indices in different jobs (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The modified Musculoskeletal Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for measuring musculoskeletal workload.</p>

Study on effect of backrest thickness to lumbar muscle fatigue during computer work / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between backrest thickness and lumbar muscle fatigue so as to confirm the fitting backrest thickness.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Twenty subjects coming from university seated at a computer workstation in three backrest thicknesses: 4, 7 and 10 cm. The time that the subjects reported the lumbar muscle fatigue was collected during each trial and subjective appraise was collected at the end of the entire protocol.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The MF value decreased and lumbar muscle felt fatigue in all three backrest thickness. Subject could feel fatigue more late [(45.0 +/- 10.8) min] and subject felt more comfort at 7 cm thickness.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It is better to relive computer worker lumbar muscle fatigue when the backrest thickness was kept on 7 cm. Work break was needed because one hour work could cause muscle fatigue.</p>

Secreted protein HP1286 of Helicobacter pylori strain 26695 induces apoptosis of AGS cells / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Secreted proteins of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) interact with gastric epithelium cells and may contribute to cell damage. Considering the fact that HP0175 and hypothetical conserved protein HP1286 are included in the group and that HP0175 is a well-known apoptosis-induced factor, the present study aims to clarify whether HP1286 plays a role in bacterial pathogenicity or even functions as an apoptosis-induced factor in human stomach.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two genes encoding HP1286 and HP0175 were cloned into pET32a vector and expressed as recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli (E. coli) BL21. Signal peptide sequences were not included. The recombinant proteins were purified with His SpinTrap and desalted by using HiTrap Desalting. Immunoreactivity of the proteins was determined by Western blot. Human gastric epithelial cell AGS was challenged with these endotoxin-free proteins; and apoptosis of cells was assayed with the Cell Death ELISA kit.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Recombinant proteins and their respective products whose N-terminal his-tag were removed with thrombin were recognized by serum from the patient infected with H. pylori. Apoptotic AGS cells challenged by HP1286 of H. pylori 26695 were four times more than untreated cells. In addition, apoptosis-induced ability of HP1286 of SS1 was not as strong as that of H. pylori 26695 strain.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HP1286 of H. pylori 26695 induces apoptosis of AGS cells in a time-dependent manner, however the apoptosis-induced ability of HP1286 may differ due to variations between different strains.</p>

Effects of backrest density on lumbar load and comfort during seated work / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Seated workplaces have greatly increased in China. Many researchers have found that seated work is a risk factor in the development of low-back pain. Backrest can reduce the load on the lower back by transmitting more of the weight from the upper body to the floor via the backrest so as to prevent low-back pain. To design a suitable chair backrest for seated office work, some backrest parameters must be optimized. In this study, the role of backrest density on lumbar load and comfort were investigated. The goal of the study was to help establish criteria with which backrests that alleviate and prevent low back pain during seated office work can be designed and selected.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty volunteers (10 men and 10 women) were seated in three backrest conditions (10 kg/m(3), 25 kg/m(3), and 40 kg/m(3)). Pressure data, including contact pressure (CP), peak contact pressure (PCP) and contact area were collected during 15-minute trial. Subjective data were collected after each pressure test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Backrest density had a significant effect on backrest pressure variables. CP and PCP increased with increasing backrest density. Contact area decreased with increased density. In terms of user preference, the backrest with low density was most highly rated.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Backrest density plays an important role in lumbar load and comfort during seated work. During designing and selecting backrests, backrest density should be focused on so as to alleviate and prevent low-back pain during seated office work. Backrest density at 10 kg/m(3) got the lowest CP and PCP and largest contact area. Backrest with low density can reduce lumbar pressure and increase support contact area, which could raise comfort feeling. Backrest density at 10 kg/m(3) is better to maintain a balance between providing effective support and alleviating excess lordosis.</p>

Evaluation of a new real-time PCR assay for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in clinical specimens / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish and evaluate a real-time PCR assay to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M.pneumoniae) in clinical specimens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>By analysing the whole p1 gene sequence of 60 M.pneumoniae clinical isolates in Beijing of China, an optimized real-time PCR assay (MpP1) using p1 gene conserved region was designed. The specificity and sensitivity of this assay were evaluated and compared with other two reported assays (RepMp1 and Mp181) using 40 positive and 100 negative clinical specimens.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The detection limit of the new assay was 8.1 fg (about 1∼3CFU) M.pneumoniae DNA. The sensitivity of MpP1, RepMp1, and Mp181 assays appeared to be 100%, 100%, and 85%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MpP1 assay is suitable for the detection of M.pneumoniae in Chinese clinical specimens.</p>

Risk factors of low back pain among the Chinese occupational population: a case-control study / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the risk factors of low back pain among the Chinese occupational population in several major industries.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 7200 subjects (3600 cases and 3600 controls) were randomly sampled from a cross-sectional study, and they were investigated for individual and occupational factors of low back pain. The potential risk factors were first selected by using chi-square tests. Secondly, collinearity diagnosis proceeded by using the Kendall's rank correlation. Finally, binary logistic regression model was used for multi-factor analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Collinearity diagnosis showed that there was a severe collinearity problem among the potential risk factors of low back pain. Logistic regression model included 20 variables with statistical significance. Bending neck forward or holding neck in a forward posture for long periods (OR=1.408) was the most important risk factor inducing low back pain in this study, followed by bending heavily with the trunk (OR=1.402), carrying out identical work almost for the whole day (OR=1.340). Additionally, sufficient normal break was a protective factor of low back pain.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Low back pain among the Chinese occupational population was associated with body height, occupation, work organization, physical work, working posture, and others. All these risk factors could be regarded as the indicators of low back pain, and some relevant preventive measures should be taken to reduce low back pain risk.</p>

Percutaneous cryoablation and (125)I seed implantation combined with chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer: report of 67 cases / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the efficacy and safety of percutaneous cryoablation (PCC) and (125)I seed implantation combined with chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-seven patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (6 in stage III, 61 in stage IV) received PCC and (125)I seed implantation combined with concomitant gemcitabine hydrochloride and DDP chemotherapy. The clinical benefit response (CBR), survival rate and therapy-related complications were assessed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All patients except one were followed up over 1 year. The 6-month and 1-year survival rates were 84.8% and 33.4%, respectively. The median progression free survival were 6.3 months and 5.5 months in the group stage III and group stage IV (P > 0.05), respectively, while the overall survival was 9.1 months in the group stage III and 11.0 months in the group stage IV (P > 0.05). CR,PR and SD were achieved in 5, 8, 54 patients, respectively. Fifty-four and 50 in the 67 patients experienced a ≥ 50% reduction of pain score and analgesic consumption, respectively, 18 patients experienced a ≥ 2 kg weight gaining, and KPS was increasing from 71.2 ± 0.4 to (90.0 ± 0.3, P < 0.05), the overall benefit rate was 80.6%. No serious therapy-related complications except pancreatic fistula accompanied abdominal hemorrhage, bile leakage, acute pancreatitis and needle track seeding in 1, 1, 2 and 1 case, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Percutaneous cryoablation and (125)I seed implantation combined with chemotherapy are effective and safe for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.</p>