Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium species in sheep and goats in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To investigate the prevalence and molecular features of Cryptosporidium in sheep and goats from Anhui Province and neighboring provinces. Methods A total 832 and 781 fresh fecal samples were collected from seven large-scale sheep farms and ten large-scale goat farms in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces of Henan, Jiangsu and Shandong. The prevalence and species of Cryptosporidium were investigated in the fecal samples from the sheep and goats in the study areas using nested PCR assay based on the Cryptosporidium-specific SSU rDNA gene, and the subgenotypes of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum were characterized by amplification and sequencing of the 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. Results The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 5.8% (48/832) in sheep and 8.7% (68/781) in goats in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces, respectively. The SSU rDNA gene-based PCR assay identified C. xiaoi and C. ubiquitum in sheep and C. parvum in goats, and subtyping revealed that all C. ubiquitum subgenotypes belonged to XIIa subtype 2 and C. parvum subgenotypes belonged to IIdA19G1. Conclusion The identification of zoonotic C. ubiquitum XIIa subtype 2 and C. parvum subtype IIdA19G1 suggests that sheep and goats may serve as a potential source for human Cryptosporidium infections.

The prevalence and risk factors of metabolic syndrome in Chinese population based on the multi center cross-sectional survey / 中华疾病控制杂志

Objective To understand the prevalence and risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MS) among different ethnic groups. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted. Subjects were selected by multistage stratified random sampling. Physical examination and laboratory testing were performed to collect MS related indicators, and the prevalence was standardized by the 6th general survey data. Further multivariate and logarithmic linear model methods were applied to analyze the risk factors and interaction. Results The overall prevalence of MS was 19.58%. The highest prevalence of MS was in Korean, followed by Han, while the lowest was in Kazakh. The rates of MS, overweight and obesity were higher in men than those in women, and increased along with age. Multivariate analysis result showed that the odds ratio (OR) of female to male was 0.556, and aging increased the risk of MS. The OR of central obesity was 2.765, and would reach to 4.259 when the waist-to-body ratio was over 0.52. The logarithmic linear model showed that the overweight/obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia had independent effects on the risk of MS. Also, there were interactions in the four indicators. Conclusions The incidence of MS is high and the positive interaction between the overweight/obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia is observed, making MS a common crisis to clinical and public health. In order to prevent and control MS, and to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes, early screening of MS should be strengthened and lifestyle intervention should be carried out.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium species in sheep and goats in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To investigate the prevalence and molecular features of Cryptosporidium in sheep and goats from Anhui Province and neighboring provinces. Methods A total 832 and 781 fresh fecal samples were collected from seven large-scale sheep farms and ten large-scale goat farms in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces of Henan, Jiangsu and Shandong. The prevalence and species of Cryptosporidium were investigated in the fecal samples from the sheep and goats in the study areas using nested PCR assay based on the Cryptosporidium-specific SSU rDNA gene, and the subgenotypes of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum were characterized by amplification and sequencing of the 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. Results The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 5.8% (48/832) in sheep and 8.7% (68/781) in goats in Anhui Province and neighboring provinces, respectively. The SSU rDNA gene-based PCR assay identified C. xiaoi and C. ubiquitum in sheep and C. parvum in goats, and subtyping revealed that all C. ubiquitum subgenotypes belonged to XIIa subtype 2 and C. parvum subgenotypes belonged to IIdA19G1. Conclusion The identification of zoonotic C. ubiquitum XIIa subtype 2 and C. parvum subtype IIdA19G1 suggests that sheep and goats may serve as a potential source for human Cryptosporidium infections.

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infections in large - scale pig farms in north of Yangtze River in Anhui Province / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

To characterize the prevalence and species/genotypes of Cryptosporidium spp. in farmed pigs in the north of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.A total of 500 samples of pig feces were obtained from seven largescale pig farms in the north of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province. PCR and sequences analysis of the small subunit rDNA gene were used to detect and identify the Cryptosporidium species/genotypes.The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 4.8% (24/500). Additionally, Cryptosporidium prevalence was 40.0% in Qianshan and 6.3% in Chuzhou, respectively. No Cryptosporidium infection was found in other sampling areas. The DNA sequence analysis of the SSUrDNA gene revealed that all of the isolates represented C. scrofarum. The Cryptosporidium infection rate (9.1%) of pigs (> 60 days) was significantly higher than the rates of both pigs (< 30 days) and pigs (30–60 days) (both P < 0.01).C. scrofarum in the farmed pigs in the north of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province may be a source of Cryptosporidium infection and pose a potential public health threat to humans and other animals, and therefore, the status should be paid more attention to.

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Intestinal Trichomonads in Pet Dogs in East China

The trichomonad species Tritrichomonas foetus and Pentatrichomonas hominis were recently detected in the feces of dogs with diarrhea. However, little information is available on the prevalence and pathogenicity of these parasites in the canine population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and molecular characterization of trichomonads infecting pet dogs in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, east China. In total, 315 pet dogs, with or without diarrhea, from 7 pet hospitals were included in this epidemiological survey. Microscopy and PCR detected P. hominis in 19.7% (62/315) and 31.4% (99/315) of fecal samples, respectively. T. foetus infection was detected in 0% (0/315) of samples with microscopy and in 0.6% (2/315) with PCR. The prevalence of P. hominis was significantly higher in young dogs (≤12 months) than in adult dogs (>12 months), and was significantly higher in diarrheic dogs (50.6%) than in non-diarrheic dogs (24.3%; P<0.05). Infection with T. foetus did not correlate with any risk factors evaluated in this study. A sequence analysis of the P. hominis PCR products showed minor allelic variations between our sequences and those of P. hominis strains from other hosts in different parts of the world. Type CC1 was the most common strain in dogs in east China. The internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-5.8S rRNA gene sequences from the 2 T. foetus isolates detected in this study displayed 100% identity and were homologous to the sequences of other strains isolated from domestic cats in other countries.

Research on Barrier-free Home Environment System Based on Speech Recognition / 生物医学工程学杂志

The number of people with physical disabilities is increasing year by year, and the trend of population aging is more and more serious. In order to improve the quality of the life, a control system of accessible home environment for the patients with serious disabilities was developed to control the home electrical devices with the voice of the patients. The control system includes a central control platform, a speech recognition module, a terminal operation module, etc. The system combines the speech recognition control technology and wireless information transmission technology with the embedded mobile computing technology, and interconnects the lamp, electronic locks, alarms, TV and other electrical devices in the home environment as a whole system through a wireless network node. The experimental results showed that speech recognition success rate was more than 84% in the home environment.

Assessing the effectiveness of a cervical cancer screening program in a hospital-based study / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

To study the microbiological contamination of kitchen dishcloths in Chinese housholds, 1010 'in-use' kitchen dishcloths were collected from residential premises in Beijing and Shanghai, and they were sent to the laboratory for microbiological quality analysis. The aerobic plate counts for dishcloths were 10-109 cfu/cm2 in the range of 150 cfu/cm2 to 1.776×109 cfu/cm2 (Beijing) and 62.5 cfu/cm2 to 8.75×108 cfu/cm2 (Shanghai). Nineteen species of bacteria were detected in the dishcloths, most of which were conditional pathogenic bacteria. This study found a significant difference in the aerobic plate counts of dishcloths with regard to type, number of the days used, activities used for, and some family factors. The findings of the study highlight the potential for contamination of kitchen dishcloths within homes.

Age-dependent mitochondrial DNA 4977bp depletion in human skeletal muscle / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore depletion of human mitochondrial DNA 4977-bp and its relation with aging.@*METHODS@#Total DNA (nuclear and mtDNA) was extracted from 100mg muscle tissue. UV light illumination of ethidium bromide-stained PCR products was used to study the depletion of mtDNA (wild-type or mutant).@*RESULTS@#The proportions of mtDNA depletion in human skeletal muscle could be determined. The frequency of mtDNA 4977-bp depletion in different age groups (0-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-89, 90-99) was: 0%, 0%, 0.003%, 0.011%, 0.015%, 0.033%, 0.038%, 0.062%, 0.069%, and 0.091%, respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#Our findings suggest that the frequency of the mtDNA4977 depletion in human skeletal muscle increases with age. It might be useful for human age estimation.

Clinical evaluation of high-risk HPV detection by hybrid capture II in screening cervical intraepithelial neoplasma / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the value of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) detection by Hybrid Capture II (HC2) in screening cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 723 patients who had received a dual screening with thinprep cytologic test (TCT) and HC2 in our department were analyzed retrospectively. Among them, 350 patients received a triple examination with TCT, HC2, and colposcopic biopsy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 723 patients, the incidences of hrHPV infection with atypical squamous cell (ASC), low squamous intraepithelial lesion, and high squamous intraepithelial lesion were 70.7% (94/133), 88.9% (249/280), and 90.9% (90/99), respectively, significantly higher than 55.5% (117/211), the incidence of hrHPV infection with normal cytological results (P = 0.005, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). Among 350 cases who were received triple examination, the incidence of hrHPV infection with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 and CIN 2 were 88.9% (72/81) and 96.3% (52/54), significantly higher than 77.7% (153/197), the incidence of hrHPV infection with normal pathological results (P = 0.03, P = 0.002); The incidence of hrHPV infection with CIN 3 and squamous cancer were 91.7% (11/12) and 100.0% (6/6), also higher than normal cases. Among these 350 cases, the incidence of hrHPV infection with ASC was 79.3% (69/87). The incidence of CIN 2-3 with ASC and hrHPV infection was 38.0%, significantly higher than the incidence of CIN 2-3 with ASC and without hrHPV infection (5.9%) (P = 0.04).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>hrHPV infection has a close relation with CIN, and the incidence of hrHPV infection increases along with the severity of CIN.</p>

Effects of antidepressant therapy in patients with suspected "angina pectoris" and negative coronary angiogram complicating comorbid depression / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>We observed the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of different antidepressants as well as the correlation between symptomatic improvement of depression and improvement of chest pain in patients with susceptible "angina pectoris" and negative coronary angiogram complicating comorbid depression.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this double-blinded randomized study, a total of 123 eligible patients were allocated into three groups: (1) Group F: fluoxetine 20 mg QN (n = 41); (2) Group P: Placebo 1 tablet QN (n = 40); (3) Group F + O: fluoxetine 20 mg + olanzapine 2.5 mg QN for the former 2 weeks and only fluoxetine 20 mg QN for the latter 2 weeks (n = 42). The total therapy duration was 4 weeks. HAMD, HAMA and self-evaluation table of chest pain were obtained before therapy, at the end of 1 and 2 weeks after therapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Baseline HAMD and HAMA scores and self-evaluation score of chest pain were similar among 3 groups and all scores were significantly improved post various therapies in the order of group F + O > group F > group P. The rate of score decrease were seen after 1 week treatment in group F + O and after 2 week treatment in group F. There was a significant positive correlation between the rates of self-evaluation chest pain score decrease and HAMD (r = 0.867, P < 0.001) and HAMA (r = 0.854, P < 0.001) score decreases after 4 weeks therapies (P < 0.05). During the whole course of treatment, no serious adverse reaction was found in all patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In patients with suspected "angina pectoris" and negative coronary angiogram complicating comorbid depression, the antidepressants were safe and significantly improved the symptoms of depression and anxiety and chest pain. Low dose fluoxetine plus short term olanzapine regimen was superior to fluoxetine alone regimen in terms of stronger and quicker symptom improvement.</p>

A clinical intervention study among 463 essential hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of baseline risk factors in predicting the onset of diabetes among essential hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and to evaluate an ideal therapeutic regime that could reduce the risk factors and risk of onset of diabetes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A randomized parallel clinical trial in essential hypertensive patients of grade 1 or 2 was conducted. Two of the three components (1) increased waist circumference and/or BMI; (2) increased triglycerides (TG) and/or decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; (3) impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were present define the MS. The three intervention therapy groups were: indapamide + fosinopril (I + F, n = 151); atenolol + nitrendipine (A + N, n = 160); atenolol + nitrendipine + metformin (A + N + M, n = 152). Each case was followed-up monthly and the dosage of medicine taken be adjusted according to their BP level. The plasma glucose during fasting and two hours after taking 75 g glucose orally was also measured every six months. The new onset of diabetes was diagnosed according to the criteria. OGTT, insulin release test, lipid analysis, body weight and waist circumference were measured again at the last follow-up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The lowering of BP was similar among the three groups (P > 0.05). 23 new diabetes onsets occurred, being 10 in group I + F and 8 in group A + N and 5 in group A + N + M, respectively (P > 0.05); (2) Proportions of patients' risk factors decreased significantly in group A + N or A + N + M, e.g. the proportions of high TG in each group reduced by 14.7% and 9.3% respectively (P < 0.05), the central fat distribution reduced by 16.7% and 15.9% respectively (P < 0.05) and the IGT reduced by 6.6% and 29.6% respectively (P < 0.05). However no changes were found in group I + F; (3) After 1 year and 5 months' follow-up, the proportions of main risk factors (high TG, central fat distribution and IGT) in the three groups were 91%, 96%, 83% and 90%, 88%, 47%, respectively. The difference of IGT was significant between two groups (P < 0.01) and the proportions of having three risk factors were 70% and 31% in the two groups (P < 0.01); (4) I + F group was better than A + N group in reduction of TG and central fat distribution. And A + N + M group improved in all risk factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>IGT alone or combined with increased TG plus abdominal obesity are the most important risk factors in predicting a new onset of diabetes among essential hypertensive patients with MS. Metformin in combination with atenolol plus nitrendipine can significantly prevent the onset of diabetes as well as improve patients' metabolic abnormality.</p>

PMN apoptosis and its relationship with the lung injury after chest impact trauma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN), one of the most important inflammatory cells, functions throughout the initiation, progression and resolution of inflammation. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between PMN apoptosis and the lung injury after chest impact trauma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>PMNs were purified from rabbits subjected to the chest impact trauma and their apoptosis, necrosis, survival and respiratory burst were detected by flow cytometry. Meanwhile, lactate dehydrogenase and (LDH) [Ca2+]i were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The delayed apoptosis of PMNs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was observed from 2 hours to 12 hours after trauma, and viable cells increased. Respiratory burst of PMNs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was increased significantly from 2 hours with the peak at 8 hours. Meanwhile, lactate dehydrogenase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was higher than that in control (P < 0.05) from 4 hours to 24 hours, and intracellular free Ca2+ in PMN was increased temporarily.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Retention of PMN in tissues and the abnormality in apoptotic pathway inevitably generate persistent activation of PMN and excessive release of toxic substances, resulting in tissue injury. The temporary increase of intracellular free Ca2+ may be responsible for the delayed apoptosis of PMN.</p>

Evaluation on intervening efficacy of health education on accidental suffocation and drowning of children aged 0 - 4 in countryside / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The main causes of death in children aged 0 - 4 were accidental suffocation and drowning which had a significant relation with parents' lack of prevention knowledge and effective measures. By comparing parents' acknowledge and behavior in preventing accidental suffocation and drowning and the mortality rate of accidental suffocation and drowning after intervening with those before the intervening, evaluation was made on intervening efficacy of health education.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six counties in north Jiangsu were involved in the survey. Two townships drawn from each county were divided into the intervened group and the controlled group. Health education was carried out in the intervened group for one year in 2000. Twenty to 30 parents of infants and children aged 1 - 4 drawn randomly from every township in the intervened group were taken as investigation subjects before and after intervening, and a questionnaire was made for them to answer. Meanwhile, the mortality rates of accidental suffocation and drowning were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Followed by health education for a year, the parents' opinion about whether unintentional injury can be avoided or not has changed from 18.8% to 20.5% to 1.8% - 2.9%, and parents' knowledge about how to give first aid in spot has increased from 11.1% - 13.5% to 41.1% - 56.8%. The parents' behavior that not sleeping with their infants in the same beds and not tying infants in a candle with blanket, and setting up fence beside pools and rivers has increased by 75.7%, 61.5% and 61.2%, respectively, while their relative knowledge has increased by 212.7% and 194.3%. In the intervened group, the mortality rates of infants' accidental suffocation per 100,000 has fallen from 487.8 to 71.2, dropped by 85.4%; and the mortality rates of drowning in children aged 1 - 4 per 100,000 has fallen from 60.0 to 36.2, dropped by 39.7%. In comparison, in the controlled group, the mortality rates of infants' accidental suffocation per 100,000 has fallen from 344.1 to 276.4, dropped by 19.7%; and the mortality rates of drowning in children aged 1 - 4 per 100,000 has increased by 26.3%, from 51.7 to 65.3.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Health education to parents is an effective intervening measure for prevention of accidental suffocation and drowning. The goal of health education should be to change inadequate behavior and dangerous environment in which unintentional injury is easily happened. The intervening measures that not sleeping with their infants in the same beds and not tying infants in a candle with blanket, and putting up fence beside pools and rivers are feasible and practicable.</p>

Discussion of the methods for establishing embryonic stem cell lines from 129/ter. C57BL/6J mice with high efficiency / 生物工程学报

A new method for establishing ES cell lines from 129/ter. C57BL/6J mice was set up which was characterized by the murine embryonic fibroblast cell(MEF) feeder, the medium of rat heart cell-conditioned medium(RH-CM) for ES cells, and the consecutive digestion by the digestion liquid containing 1% serum. Every group of improved experiments was done with a control of routine method. The results showed that, compared with routine method, the improved way increased the ratio of ES cell lines of 129/ter mice from 11.8% to 33.3%, and of C57BL/6J from 3.7% to 13.3%. The difference is distinct. The passage culture of ES cells showed that, compared with medium added LIF, RH-CM not only inhibited the differentiation of murine ES cells, maintained its dipoild karyotype, but also promote its adherence growth. This kind of culture condition not only maintained the ES cells in an undifferentiated state and their normal dipoild karyotype, but also a series of other characteristics of totipotent embryonic stem cells during extended culture period.

Therapeutic and preventive effect of dexamethasone on endotoxin shock in rabbits and its relationship with TNF / 第三军医大学学报

Objective　To explore the effect of dexamethasone (Dex) given with the intention of prevention or treatment on endotoxin shock in rabbits and its relationship with tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Methods　Fifty-three health rabbits were divided into 4 groups, including normal control (n=13), endoxin shock group (n=16), preventive Dex group (n=12) and therapeutic Dex group (n=12). Except normal control was given with saline, the other 3 groups were administered with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion, and the preventive Dex group was treated with Dex (5 mg/kg body weight) 30 min before LPS infusion and the therapeutic Dex group 20 min after LPS infusion. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), survival rate, TNF level in circulatory blood and other parameters were detected. Results　In preventive and therapeutic Dex groups, MABP was increased and survival rate was reduced compared with the animals from endoxin shock group (P<0.05, P<0.01), and TNF activity in the circulating blood was significantly suppressed (P<0.01). In addition, dexamethasone administration could alleviate the elevation of plasma glucagon, glucose, lactic acid, and β-glucironidase (P<0.05, P<0.01) in shocked animals. It was also found that administration of dexamethasone in vitro prevented the release of TNF by Kupffer cells. Conclusion　These results indicate that the preventive and therapeutic effect of dexamethasone on endotoxin shock, which may relate to its direct inhibition of the release of TNF induced by LPS.

Therapeutic and preventive effect of dexamethasone on endotoxin shock in rabbits and its relationship with TNF / 第三军医大学学报

Objective　To explore the effect of dexamethasone (Dex) given with the intention of prevention or treatment on endotoxin shock in rabbits and its relationship with tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Methods　Fifty-three health rabbits were divided into 4 groups, including normal control (n=13), endoxin shock group (n=16), preventive Dex group (n=12) and therapeutic Dex group (n=12). Except normal control was given with saline, the other 3 groups were administered with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion, and the preventive Dex group was treated with Dex (5 mg/kg body weight) 30 min before LPS infusion and the therapeutic Dex group 20 min after LPS infusion. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), survival rate, TNF level in circulatory blood and other parameters were detected. Results　In preventive and therapeutic Dex groups, MABP was increased and survival rate was reduced compared with the animals from endoxin shock group (P<0.05, P<0.01), and TNF activity in the circulating blood was significantly suppressed (P<0.01). In addition, dexamethasone administration could alleviate the elevation of plasma glucagon, glucose, lactic acid, and β-glucironidase (P<0.05, P<0.01) in shocked animals. It was also found that administration of dexamethasone in vitro prevented the release of TNF by Kupffer cells. Conclusion　These results indicate that the preventive and therapeutic effect of dexamethasone on endotoxin shock, which may relate to its direct inhibition of the release of TNF induced by LPS.