Vitamin D level in children with bloodstream infection / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the difference in serum 25(OH)D level between children with bloodstream infection and healthy children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A case-control study was conducted among 60 children with bloodstream infection who were hospitalized between January 2010 and December 2013 and had positive results of two blood cultures. Meanwhile, 60 aged-matched healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period of time were enrolled as the healthy control group. Chemiluminescence was applied to measure the serum 25(OH)D level, and the constituent ratios of children with different serum 25(OH)D levels were compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The bloodstream infection group had a significantly lower serum 25(OH)D level than the healthy control group (P<0.01). Compared with the healthy control group, the bloodstream group had significantly lower constituent ratios of children with normal Vitamin D level (8% vs 35%) or vitamin D insufficiency (22% vs 43%) (P<0.05). Compared with the healthy control group, the bloodstream group had significantly higher constituent ratios of children with vitamin D deficiency (42% vs 13%) or severely vitamin D deficiency (28% vs 8%) (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Vitamin D insufficiency prevails among children, and children with bloodstream infection have a significantly lower serum 25(OH)D level than healthy children.</p>

Frequency-specific alterations of large-scale functional brain networks in patients with Alzheimer's disease / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Previous studies have indicated that the cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be due to topological deteriorations of the brain network. However, whether the selection of a specific frequency band could impact the topological properties is still not clear. Our hypothesis is that the topological properties of AD patients are also frequency-specific.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 10 right-handed moderate AD patients (mean age: 64.3 years; mean mini mental state examination [MMSE]: 18.0) and 10 age and gender-matched healthy controls (mean age: 63.6 years; mean MMSE: 28.2) were enrolled in this study. The global efficiency, the clustering coefficient (CC), the characteristic path length (CpL), and "small-world" property were calculated in a wide range of thresholds and averaged within each group, at three different frequency bands (0.01-0.06 Hz, 0.06-0.11 Hz, and 0.11-0.25 Hz).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At lower-frequency bands (0.01-0.06 Hz, 0.06-0.11 Hz), the global efficiency, the CC and the "small-world" properties of AD patients decreased compared to controls. While at higher-frequency bands (0.11-0.25 Hz), the CpL was much longer, and the "small-world" property was disrupted in AD, particularly at a higher threshold. The topological properties changed with different frequency bands, suggesting the existence of disrupted global and local functional organization associated with AD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This study demonstrates that the topological alterations of large-scale functional brain networks in AD patients are frequency dependent, thus providing fundamental support for optimal frequency selection in future related research.</p>

Acute kidney injury in critically ill children infected with influenza A virus (H1N1) and enterovirus 71 / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the clinical characteristics of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill childhood patients with influenza A virus (H1N1) and enterovirus 71 (EV71), and to study the significance of the serum creatinine and urine output in diagnosis of AKI.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The clinical data of AKI in critically ill children admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) with confirmed influenza A (H1N1) or enterovirus 71 infection (EV71 group) from Oct. 2009 to Oct. 2010.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Twenty-eight critically ill children were involved in the study. In H1N1 group, there were 18 cases including 6 males and 12 females, and the average age was 5.4 years. In EV71 group, there were 10 cases including 8 males and 2 females, and the average age was 1.1 years. In H1N1 group: 4 cases developed AKI, whose average number of involved organ was 5.3. Two children were classified as first stage completely recovered after treatment; three children who were classified as third stage died. In 14 children without AKI, the average number of involved organ was 3.0, four of these children died. In EV71 group: 3 cases (first stage) developed AKI and 3 cases' serum creatinine increased to 45.0 to 47.6 percent from baseline. The average number of involved organ was 5.7. All the six children died. The other 4 cases whose serum creatinine was normal, and the average number of involved organ was 3.0, recovered.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In critically ill virus-infected children, more organs were involved in the patients who developed AKI. As to influenza A (H1N1) infected critically ill children, the prognosis was comparatively better if the children were classified as AKI stage 1 and received early effective treatment. On the contrary, the prognosis was comparatively worse for those with AKI stage 3. As to EV71 infected critically ill children, the prognosis was worse once AKI developed. As to diagnosis of AKI, the sensitivity of serum creatinine criteria seemed to be superior to the urine output criteria. However, the significance of the serum creatinine and urine output in diagnosis of AKI still needs to be investigated in the future in large scale clinical studies.</p>