Structural equation model analysis of infectious disease-specific health literacy scale in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To explore the relationship between different dimensions of infectious disease-specific health literacy scale in China. Methods: Structural equation model (SEM) was employed to assess the psychometric properties of the infectious disease-specific health literacy scale. Based on the database from a randomly selected sample of 4 499 adult residents in three provinces in China, from March to May 2015. AMOS 21.0 software was used to build the SEM for data analyses. Results: SEM analyses showed a good model fit of data, with the following satisfied parameters: goodness-of-fit index was 0.969, adjusted goodness-of-fit index was 0.962, root mean square residual was 0.038, root mean square error of approximation was 0.038, standardized root mean square residual was 0.032, Tacker-Lewis index/non-normed fit index was 0.926, comparative fit index was 0.934, normed fit index was 0.925, relative fit index was 0.915, incremental fit index was 0.934, parsimony goodness-of-fit index was 0.782, parsimony-adjusted normed fit index was 0.817, parsimony-adjusted comparative fit index was 0.825 and critical N was 702. The established SEM showed that the total influence path coefficient of "infectious disease-related knowledge and values" on the "infectious disease prevention" , "management or treatment of infectious diseases" and "identification of infection sources" were 0.771, 0.744 and 0.843, respectively. The total influence path coefficients of "identification of infection sources" , "infectious disease prevention" on "management or treatment of infectious diseases" were 0.164 and 0.535, respectively. The effect of "infectious disease-related knowledge and values" on "management or treatment of infectious diseases" appeared the greatest (55.4%), followed by "infectious disease prevention" (28.6%) and "identification of infection sources" (2.7%). Conclusion: This SEM could be optimistically used for planning and evaluation of health education and promotion programs on infectious diseases prevention.

Study on prevalence of physical activity in rural residents in four counties (districts) of Shanxi and Chongqing / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of physical activity and its influencing factors in rural residents in Shanxi and Chongqing. Methods: In four counties (districts) of Shanxi and Chongqing, local residents aged ≥18 who lived there for more than one year and had no plan to migrate to other areas in 2 years were surveyed through face to face questionnaire interviews to collect the information about their daily physical activity time, sedentary time, related knowledge and attitude, and others. Results: The physical inactivity rate of the residents was 14.9%, and 88.7% of residents never took daily physical activity. The average sedentary time was (3.91±2.06) hours. The results of multivariate analysis showed that education level, per capita monthly income and activity degree were the factors influencing physical inactivity. Conclusion: The proportion of people who never took daily physical activity in the survey area was higher than the average level in rural areas in China, so measures should be taken to improve the overall rate of physical activity. For people who have exercise willingness, but have no practice, and those who have already increased their physical activities, targeted guidance is needed on the basis of strengthened health education.

Radiation-induced expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 in cerebral endothelial cells

Background: Radiation-induced molecular changes on the endothelial surface of brain arteriovenous malformations [AVM] may be used as markers for specific vascular targeting agents. In this study, we examined the level of expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 [PECAM-1] on brain endothelial cell surface after radiation treatment, with the aim of targeting the radiation-induced PECAM-1 on the AVM endothelium with pro-thrombotic agents to selectively occlude AVM vessels. Materials and Methods: Mouse cerebral endothelial cells [bEnd.3] were irradiated with 5, 15, or 25 Gy. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and in-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] were performed to quantify the temporal gene and surface PECAM-1 protein expression up to 168 hours post-irradiation. Two-tailed unpaired t-tests were used to determine statistical significance. Results: PECAM-1 gene expression was found to be significantly elevated post-irradiation in real-time quantitative PCR, with the maximum level of gene expression being evident at 120 hours post-irradiation representing an 11-fold increase in comparison to non-irradiated controls [p<0.001]. In-cell ELISA detected a similar up-regulation for protein expression on the cell surface with delayed peak time. Conclusion: Ionising radiation can induce the up-regulation of PECAM-1 on brain endothelial cell surface. This protein may be a potential candidate for facilitating selective AVM vessel occlusion through the application of radiosurgery followed by vascular targeting

Model-based comparative prediction of transcription-factor binding motifs in anabolic responses in bone / 基因组蛋白质组与生物信息学报·英文版

Understanding the regulatory mechanism that controls the alteration of global gene expression patterns continues to be a challenging task in computational biology. We previously developed an ant algorithm, a biologically-inspired computational technique for microarray data, and predicted putative transcription-factor binding motifs (TFBMs) through mimicking interactive behaviors of natural ants. Here we extended the algorithm into a set of web-based software, Ant Modeler, and applied it to investigate the transcriptional mechanism underlying bone formation. Mechanical loading and administration of bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) are two known treatments to strengthen bone. We addressed a question: Is there any TFBM that stimulates both "anabolic responses of mechanical loading" and "BMP-mediated osteogenic signaling"? Although there is no significant overlap among genes in the two responses, a comparative model-based analysis suggests that the two independent osteogenic processes employ common TFBMs, such as a stress responsive element and a motif for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR). The post-modeling in vitro analysis using mouse osteoblast cells supported involvements of the predicted TFBMs such as PPAR, Ikaros 3, and LMO2 in response to mechanical loading. Taken together, the results would be useful to derive a set of testable hypotheses and examine the role of specific regulators in complex transcriptional control of bone formation.