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BACKGROUND@#The global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major public health problem and presents an unprecedented challenge. However, no specific drugs were currently proven. This study aimed to evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions in patients with COVID-19.@*METHODS@#Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/SARS-CoV. Random-effects network meta-analysis within the Bayesian framework was performed, followed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system assessing the quality of evidence. The primary outcome of interest includes mortality, cure, viral negative conversion, and overall adverse events (OAEs). Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated as the measure of effect size.@*RESULTS@#Sixty-six RCTs with 19,095 patients were included, involving standard of care (SOC), eight different antiviral agents, six different antibiotics, high and low dose chloroquine (CQ_HD, CQ_LD), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), corticosteroids (COR), and other treatments. Compared with SOC, a significant reduction of mortality was observed for TCM (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.20-0.56, moderate quality) and COR (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75-0.96, low quality) with improved cure rate (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.60-2.91, low quality for TCM; OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05-1.30, low quality for COR). However, an increased risk of mortality was found for CQ_HD vs. SOC (OR = 3.20, 95% CI: 1.18-8.73, low quality). TCM was associated with decreased risk of OAE (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.38-0.70, very low quality) but CQ_HD (OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.20-5.24) and interferons (IFN) (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.02-7.08) vs. SOC with very low quality were associated with an increased risk.@*CONCLUSIONS@#COR and TCM may reduce mortality and increase cure rate with no increased risk of OAEs compared with standard care. CQ_HD might increase the risk of mortality. CQ, IFN, and other antiviral agents could increase the risk of OAEs. The current evidence is generally uncertain with low-quality and further high-quality trials are needed.
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Humans , COVID-19 , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Network Meta-Analysis , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Drug use during pregnancy is unavoidable. Therefore, it is vitally important for medical workers to help pregnant women take drugs correctly to reduce the incidence of spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and low birth weight. In our study, drug screening model with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was used to find some improper drugs which will result in woman's abortion. With 3D culture in vitro, iPSCs can form embryoid bodies (EBs) and cerebral organoids, which simulated in vitro development of early embryos, from inner cell mass to germ-layer differentiation. In the experiment, EBs were exposed to mifepristone (RU486), and three experimental groups were divided randomly. They were control group (without RU486), low-dose group (L-RU486, 10 μg·mL-1), and high-dose group (H-RU486, 20 μg·mL-1). After mifepristone exposure, EBs were observed at days 5, 8, and 11, including size of EB, cell apoptosis, and differentiation of germ layers, by using inverted optical microscope, TUNEL assay, and immunofluorescent staining. The results showed that through 3D culture, iPSCs could develop into embryoid bodies, neural rosettes, and finally cerebral organoids. After mifepristone exposure, EBs' sizes were decreased (P < 0.01); the levels of cell apoptosis in EBs were increased after mifepristone exposure (P < 0.01); the development of EBs' germ layer was affected. Mifepristone exposure could inhibit the proliferation of embryonic stem cells, reduce the differentiation of ectoderm (P < 0.01) and promote the development of mesoderm (P < 0.05). In conclusion, iPSCs can be used as a screening model for abortion drug, and EBs’ diameter, cell apoptosis, and differentiation changes of the germ layers can serve as criteria of abortion drug screening.
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Objective@#To evaluate the effects of incretin-based therapies on body weight as the primary outcome, as well as on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) as secondary outcomes.@*Methods@#Databases including Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Standard pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis (NMA) were both carried out. The risk of bias (ROB) tool recommended by the Cochrane handbook was used to assess the quality of studies. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and quality evaluation based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) were also performed.@*Results@#A total of 292 trials were included in this study. Compared with placebo, dipeptidyl-peptidase IV inhibitors (DPP-4Is) increased weight slightly by 0.31 kg [95% confidence interval ( ): 0.05, 0.58] and had negligible effects on BMI and WC. Compared with placebo, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) lowered weight, BMI, and WC by -1.34 kg (95% : -1.60, -1.09), -1.10 kg/m (95% : -1.42, -0.78), and -1.28 cm (95% : -1.69, -0.86), respectively.@*Conclusion@#GLP-1 RAs were more effective than DPP-4Is in lowering the three indicators. Overall, the effects of GLP-1 RAs on weight, BMI, and WC were favorable.
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To investigate the effects of different habitat processing methods of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma on acute myocardial ischemia induced by pituitrin in rats. In this experiment, the tail vein injection of pituitrin was used to induce acute myocardial ischemia in rats. Electrocardiograph(ECG) heart rate and ΔST changes were recorded, and the levels of creatine kinase isoenzyme(CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA) in serum of rats were detected to comprehensively evaluate the effects of six processing methods of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma on serum biochemical indexes of rats with acute myocardial injury. The ECG results showed that the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma dried in a drying oven had a good effect on the improvement of heart rate and ΔST of electrocardiogram after ischemia, and all the other groups had some protective effects to different degrees. The results of biochemical indexes in serum of each group after ischemia showed that the activity of CK-MB decreased most significantly in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma high-dose group with drying in a drying oven after sweating and losing weight in a drying oven, high-dose group with drying in the shade and low-dose group with drying in the shade. The activity of LDH decreased most significantly in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma high-dose group with drying in the shade and low-dose group of drying in the shade. The activity of SOD increased most significantly in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma low-dose group with drying in sun, low-dose group with drying in sun after sweating and losing weight in sun, and low-dose group with drying in a drying oven. The activity of MDA decreased most significantly in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma low-dose group with drying in sun. The comprehensive scoring results showed that the highest score was obtained in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma high-dose group with drying in the shade while the scores of other treatment groups were higher than that of the model group. It could be seen that the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma dried in a drying oven had a good improvement effect on electrocardiograph indexes after acute myocardial injury, the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma dried in the shade had a good improvement effect on serum myocardial enzymes after acute myocardial injury, and the other processing methods had a certain protective effect on myocardial injury. The six processing methods evaluated by pharmacodynamics showed that the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma dried in the shade and dried in a drying oven had good efficacy.
Subject(s)
Animals , Rats , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Ecosystem , Myocardial Ischemia , Rhizome , Salvia miltiorrhizaABSTRACT
@#At present, myopia has become a public health disease worldwide, and its occurrence is mostly caused by genetic and environmental factors. Single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)are the changes in single base at the genomic level caused by DNA sequence polymorphisms. In recent years, it is reported that the change of SNPs in myopic related gene loci is closely related to the occurrence and development of myopia. The present paper reviewed the current status of the association between SNPs of myopia-related genes and the development of myopia, providing a new insight into the future research of pathogenesis of myopia.
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Objective To analyze the causes and epidemiological characteristics of injury in Hunan Province, so as provide scientific basis for the development of intervention measures of injury. Methods The Excel 2007 software and SPSS 18.0 software were used to organize and analyze the injury surveillance system data. Results A total of 107 754 effective cases were collected in three years, and the male-female ratio was 1.65:1. The top three causes of injury were falls(36.0%), motor vehicle accident (20.6%) and sharp knife injury (11.8%). The locations of injuries were mainly roads (30.9%) and homes (28.3%). The top three activities at the time of injury were leisure activities (24.7%), driving (17.6%) and work (16.4%). 93.2% of injury was unintentional injury, and the degree of injury was mainly mild injury (74.3%). Conclusions The number of injuries is increasing year by year. The number of male injuries is more than that of females. Systematic research and intervention measures should focus on falls and motor vehicle accident .
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Objective To investigate the effect of recombinant human interleukin-2 injection in the treatment of pleural effusion. Methods Retrospective analysis of 78 patients with pleural effusion in our hospital from April 2016 to August 2017 were treated with recombinant human interleukin-2 injection treatment and nursing data. Results After the treatment,patients had chest tightness, chest pain, fever, shortness of breath and other symptoms, and two cases of cardiotoxicity cases. Conclusion In the process of treatment of pleural effusion with recombinant human interleukin-2 injection, it should be combined with targeted care to reduce the incidence of clinical adverse reactions and cardiotoxicity, so as to improve the quality of life of patients.
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Objective To investigate the effect of recombinant human interleukin-2 injection in the treatment of pleural effusion. Methods Retrospective analysis of 78 patients with pleural effusion in our hospital from April 2016 to August 2017 were treated with recombinant human interleukin-2 injection treatment and nursing data. Results After the treatment,patients had chest tightness, chest pain, fever, shortness of breath and other symptoms, and two cases of cardiotoxicity cases. Conclusion In the process of treatment of pleural effusion with recombinant human interleukin-2 injection, it should be combined with targeted care to reduce the incidence of clinical adverse reactions and cardiotoxicity, so as to improve the quality of life of patients.
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Establishing the genetic transformation system of medicinal plant is important to study their functional genes. Based on the established regeneration system of Sophra alopecuroides, 6 factors of genetic transformation were optimized, that was the concentration of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the infection time, the co-cultivation time of agrobacterium tumefaciensand S.alopecuroides callus, the preculture time of S.alopecuroides callus, the adding method ofacetosyringone (AS) and the concentration of AS, respectively. The results showed that a maximum genetic transformation efficiency of 83.33% was achieved with 15d-precultured of S.alopecuroides callus, which was infected by A600=0.9 A. tumefaciens for 15 minutes and then co-cultivated for 48 hours with 200 μmol•L-1AS. The promoter sequence (1 260 bp) of upstream SaLDC was cloned from S.alopecuroides genomic DNA (gene bank accession number: KY038928). The deletion fragment of SaLDC promoter with different length (310,594,765,924,1 260 bp) were ligated with the GUS reporter gene to form five plant expression vectors named P310,P594,P765,P924,P1260, which were then transferred into S.alopecuroides callus. The GUS transient expression showed that all 5 different deletion fragment of SaLDC promoter can drive the GUS gene expression in S. alopecuroides callus. The SaLDC promoter we cloned has high promoter activity, and they may facilitate its function analysis in the future.
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?AlM:To explore the use of rigid gas permeable ( RGP ) contact lens, and its clinical effect and safety in the treatment of adult high and special type ametropia. ? METHODS: Totally 110 cases ( 185 eyes ) of Ophthalmology Center fitting of RGP from January 2010 to December 2012 were retrospective analyzed. According to the refractive error types, patients were divided into high myopia astigmatism group( 49 cases, 92 eyes), 36 cases (64 eyes) of keratoconus group, special ametropia group (25 cases, 29 eyes). Corrected visual acuity differences, adverse reactions of different temporal acuity and conventional frame in the three group were observed after wearing RGP. ?RESULTS:After wearred RGP, corrected visual acuity of high myopic astigmatism group was 4. 94 ± 0. 16, keratoconus group was 4. 98±0. 15, and special ametropia group was 4. 87±0. 19; they were significantly better than wearing frame mirror 4. 86±0. 23, 4. 79±0. 22, 4. 61±0. 27 and the differences were statistically significant (P ?CONCLUSlON: Wearring RGP can correct adult high and special type ametropia than ordinary frame glasses, which avoid the occurence of dry eye, foreign body sensation, and easy fatigue. lt is worthy of clinical application.
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<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>
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Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Young Adult , China , Epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Low Back Pain , Epidemiology , Occupations , Posture , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
<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>
Subject(s)
Humans , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Musculoskeletal Diseases , Occupational Health , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a draft questionnaire (China Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, CMQ) for evaluating of musculoskeletal workload and associated potential hazardous working conditions as well as musculoskeletal symptoms of workers in Sitting Posture.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Multi-methods, which include the reviewing references, the summarizing results of preliminary studies, the reviewing ergonomic tools, the consulting experts and occupational health workers and the interviewing or discussing with individual workers in sitting posture, were used in developing item pool. The experts and epidemiologists of occupational health scored the importance of every single item in the item pool, and then the survey and sampling were carried out in 325 workers of sitting posture who completed the questionnaire. On the basis of these data, the methods including experts scoring, item analysis, Cronbach's α analysis and factor analysis were synthetically used to select the reliable items which consisted of the formal questionnaire.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The standard of the CMQ, which consists of 34 items on musculoskeletal workload and associated potentially hazardous working conditions, can be divided into nine indices (dynamic loads, static loads, repetitive loads, forces-exertion, prolong time, climatic factors, vibration, position and ergonomic environmental factors).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The CMQ possesses good content validity, and the items of CMQ are divergent, reliable and typical. However, the reliability and validity of CMQ should be validated.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , China , Ergonomics , Musculoskeletal System , Occupational Health , Posture , Surveys and Questionnaires , WorkloadABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study neck and shoulder work-related muscle fatigue of female sewing machine operators.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>18 health female sewing machine operators without musculoskeletal disorders work in Beijing garment industry factory as volunteers in participate of this study. The maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and 20% MVC of bilateral upper trapezium and cervical erectors spinae was tested before sewing operations, then the whole 20 time windows (1 time window = 10 min) sewing machine operations was monitored and the surface electromyography (sEMG) signals simultaneously was recorded after monitoring the 20%MVC was tested. Use amplitude analysis method to reduction recorded EMG signals.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During work, the median load for the left cervical erector spinae (LCES), right cervical erector spinae (RCES), left upper trapezium (LUT) and right upper trapezium (RUT) respectively was 6.78 ± 1.05, 6.94 ± 1.12, 5.68 ± 2.56 and 6.47 ± 3.22, work load of right is higher than the left; static load analysis indicated the value of RMS(20%MVC) before work was higher than that value after work, the increase of right CES and UT RMS(20%MVC) was more; the largest 20%MVE of bilateral CES occurred at 20th time window, and that of bilateral UT happened at 16th.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The work load of female sewing machine operators is sustained "static" load, and work load of right neck-shoulder is higher than left, right neck-shoulder muscle is more fatigable and much serious once fatigued.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Young Adult , Electromyography , Muscle Fatigue , Physiology , Posture , Shoulder , Physiology , Textile Industry , WorkABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To approach the central nervous mechanism of abdominal acupuncture by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve old healthy volunteers were treated by standardized abdominal acupuncture with invigorating the kidney and nourishing marrow method and Zhongwan (CV 12), Xiawan (CV 10), Qihai (CV 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), Qixue (KI 13), Shangqu (KI 17) and Huaroumen (ST 24) were selected. They were examined by using resting-state fMRI before and after treatment of abdominal acupuncture and the brain functional connectivities were analyzed based on bilateral hippocampus chosen as seed points.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) Before acupuncture, functional connectivities were found in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, bilateral thalamus, bilateral subiculum hippocampi, bilateral insula, the cupula and declivis of right cerebellum, left superior frontal gyrus, left head of caudate nucleus, left posterior cingulate gyrus and left inferior parietal lobule (all P < 0.05). (2) After acupuncture, functional connectivities were found in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, bilateral thalamus, bilateral insula, bilateral subiculum hippocampi, bilateral inferior parietal lobule, bilateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral cingulate gyrus, right head of caudate nucleus, right middle occipital gyrus and right posterior cingulate gyrus (all P < 0.05). (3) After acupuncture, there were intensity functional connectivities greater than before acupuncture in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral superior parietal lobule, right inferior frontal gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, right precuneus and right postcentral gyrus, while the intensity of functional connectivities of left middle temporal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, left cuneus/precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule were attenuated.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Abdominal acupuncture with invigorating the kidney and nourishing marrow method can improve the allomeric function of the brain cognition network of central nervous system.</p>
Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Abdomen , Acupuncture Therapy , Methods , Brain , Physiology , Dentate Gyrus , Physiology , Hippocampus , Physiology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , MethodsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess and compare the effectiveness and safety of methylphenidate immediate-release tablets (IR-MPH), methylphenidate controlled release tablets (OROS-MPH) and atomoxetine (AHC) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Chinese children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Randomized or clinical controlled trials on the effectiveness and safety of IR-MPH, OROS-MPH and AHC for ADHD were searched in electronic databases of CNKI, VIP, CBMDISC online, PubMed, Embase and MEDLINE. Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the quality of the included literatures.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Eight trials were finally included. IR-MPH, OROS-MPH and AHC were effective for ADHD. OROS-MPH was superior to IR-MPH in the improvement of peer relationship, CGI-I score, mother satisfaction and psychosomatic problems. There were no significant differences in the effectiveness between the AHC and IR-MPH groups. The adverse events related to the therapy with IR-MPH, OROS-MPH or AHC were mild and the incidence rates of adverse events were not significantly different among the three groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The effectiveness of OROS-MPH for the treatment of ADHD is probably superior to IR-MPH, and the effectiveness between AHC and IR-MPH is similar. The three drugs demonstrate the safety and well tolerance.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Atomoxetine Hydrochloride , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity , Drug Therapy , Delayed-Action Preparations , Methylphenidate , Therapeutic Uses , Propylamines , Therapeutic Uses , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , TabletsABSTRACT
Background Whether the wearing of bifocal lenses can delay the development of myopia in school childhood is in controversy.To assess the effect of bifocal lenses using evidence-based medicine method is of important significance.Objective Present study was to compare the effect of bifocal lenses with single vision lenses in retarding myopia progression in school-aged myopic children.Methods This was a evidence-based medicine study.The systematical literature search was performed from MEDLINE(1966 to October 2010),EMBASE(1974 to October 2010),Cochrane Library,Chinese Biomedical Database(1978 to October 2010),and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry combined with hand searching of related bibliographies of journals and books were applied to collect the randomized-controlled clinical trial about bifocal lenses.Screening,evaluation and data extraction of the retrieved literature were performed by two investigators independently.Mata-analysis was used to assess the progression of refraction and axial length among included randomized clinical trials.Results Three high-quality randomized-controlled clinical trials meeting the inclusion criterion were included in this meta-analysis.The results showed that the weighted mean difference in progression of refraction was 0.22D between bifocal lenses and single vision lenses(95% CI:-0.24-0.67),and the difference was statistical insignificance(P=0.35).The weighted mean difference in progression of refraction during the follow-up durations of 6,12,18,24 and ＞30 months were 0.15(95% CI:-0.09-0.38),0.17(95% CI:-0.05-0.39),0.42(95% CI:-0.14-0.98),0.23(95% CI:-0.21-0.66) and 0.03(95% CI:-0.40-0.46),respectively without statistical significance.The weighted mean difference in elongation of axial length between two interventions was -0.17mm(95% CI:-0.26-0.08) with a statistically significance(P=0.000).Conclusion Based on currently available studies,bifocal lenses could not significantly slow the progression of myopia in myopic school-aged children in comparison with single vision lenses.Because only few high-quality studies are currently available,this conclusion need to be supported by more large-sample-size clinical trials.
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have high prevalence in sewing machine operators employed in the garment industry. Long work duration, sustained low level work and precise hand work are the main risk factors of neck-shoulder disorders for sewing machine operators. Surface electromyogram (sEMG) offers a valuable tool to determine muscle activity (internal exposure) and quantify muscular load (external exposure). During sustained and/or repetitive muscle contractions, typical changes of muscle fatigue in sEMG, as an increase in amplitude or a decrease as a shift in spectrum towards lower frequencies, can be observed. In this paper, we measured and quantified the muscle load and muscular activity patterns of neck-shoulder muscles in female sewing machine operators during sustained sewing machine operating tasks using sEMG.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 18 healthy women sewing machine operators volunteered to participate in this study. Before their daily sewing machine operating task, we measured the maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) and 20%MVC of bilateral cervical erector spinae (CES) and upper trapezius (UT) respectively, then the sEMG signals of bilateral UT and CES were monitored and recorded continuously during 200 minutes of sustained sewing machine operating simultaneously which equals to 20 time windows with 10 minutes as one time window. After 200 minutes' work, we retest 20%MVC of four neck-shoulder muscles and recorded the sEMG signals. Linear analysis, including amplitude probability distribution frequency (APDF), amplitude analysis parameters such as roof mean square (RMS) and spectrum analysis parameter as median frequency (MF), were used to calculate and indicate muscle load and muscular activity of bilateral CES and UT.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During 200 minutes of sewing machine operating, the median load for the left cervical erector spinae (LCES), right cervical erector spinae (RCES), left upper trapezius (LUT) and right upper trapezius (RUT) were 6.78%MVE, 6.94%MVE, 6.47%MVE and 5.68%MVE, respectively. Work load of right muscles are significantly higher than that of the left muscles (P < 0.05); sEMG signal analysis of isometric contractions indicated that the amplitude value before operating was significantly higher than that of after work (P < 0.01), and the spectrum value of bilateral CES and UT were significantly lower than those of after work (P < 0.01); according to the sEMG signal data of 20 time windows, with operating time pass by, the muscle activity patterns of bilateral CES and UT showed dynamic changes, the maximal amplitude of LCES, RCES, LUT occurred at the 20th time window, RUT at 16th time window, spectrum analysis showed that the lower value happened at 7th, 16th, 20th time windows.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Female sewing machine operators were exposed to high sustained static load on bilateral neck-shoulder muscles; left neck and shoulder muscles were held in more static positions; the 7th, 16th, and 20th time windows were muscle fatigue period that ergonomics intervention can protocol at these periods.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Young Adult , Electromyography , Methods , Muscle Fatigue , Physiology , Muscle, Skeletal , Physiology , Neck Muscles , Physiology , Shoulder , Physiology , Textile Industry , WorkloadABSTRACT
The scaffold protein IQGAP1 shows elevated levels in several cancer types, but its expression in hepatocellular carcinoma is unknown. We found that 58% of human hepatocellular carcinoma tissue samples had increased IQGAP1 expression compared to adjacent normal tissue. Overexpressing IQGAP1 raised the in vivo tumorigenicity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and forced overexpression of IQGAP1 in vitro stimulated cell proliferation. Cell growth was reduced by knockdown or mutation of IQGAP1, or by treatment of cells with a phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor. To determine the mechanism by which IQGAP1 overexpression affected hepatocellular carcinoma cells, we confirmed its interaction in these cells with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a serine/threonine kinase that integrates signals about nutrient and energy status with downstream effectors that influence cell division. In addition, we discovered a new interaction involving IQGAP1, mTOR and Akt, which is a downstream target of mTOR. Akt phosphorylation on Ser-473, which is catalyzed by mTOR and required for Akt activation, increased with increasing amounts of IQGAP1, and decreased with IQGAP1 mutation. We hypothesize that IQGAP1 is a scaffold that facilitates mTOR and Akt interaction.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Mice , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/enzymology , Cell Proliferation , Enzyme Activation , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Hep G2 Cells , Liver Neoplasms/enzymology , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Protein Binding , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism , TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Up-Regulation , ras GTPase-Activating Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the response of the specific brain functional areas of normal human to acupuncture at the acupoints of different Meridians at the same anatomy level.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve healthy young volunteers were enrolled in this research and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were taken randomly in a block design. During the stimulation phase, an acupuncture needle inserted in right Shenmen (HT7) or Yanglao (SI6) was twirled at an angle of 180 degrees and a frequency of about 1.5 Hz. The collected images were analyzed using SPM2 for exploring the inter-group differences in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses. RESULTS Increases in BOLD signal (group analysis, corrected, 0.05, K>or=10) were found mainly in the right ostcentral gyrus of the frontal lobe (BA2, BA1, BA43) and left inferior frontal gyrus (BA47) by acupuncture at HT7, and chiefly in the left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40) and right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45, BA 46) by acupuncture at SI6.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture of HT7 and SI6 elicits different BOLD responses in some related cerebral regions correlative with cognition.</p>