A propensity score-matched study on relationship between maternal respiratory infection in early pregnancy and gestational age / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To explore the association between maternal respiratory infection in early pregnancy and gestational age of single live birth. Methods: A face to face questionnaire survey was conducted among child bearing aged women in 30 counties (district) of Shaanxi province selected through stratified multistage sampling. Propensity score (PS) matched (1∶1) analysis was used to match participants with respiratory infections to those without respiratory infections. A multilevel linear model was used to investigate the association between respiratory infections and gestational age. Through the control of the confounders step by step, three models were established in this study: model 1 for the variable of respiratory infections before PS matching, model 2 was adjusted for variables in model 1 plus some other individual differences of mother and baby, and model 3 for the variable of respiratory infections after PS matching. Results: Of 28 848 child bearing aged women surveyed, 3 676 (12.74%) had respiratory infections in early pregnancy. After PS matching, 2 762 pairs were matched. Analysis with model 1 indicated that a decrease of 0.111 week (P<0.001) in gestational age was associated with a respiratory infection during the first trimester. Analysis with model 2 and model 3 indicated that a decrease of 0.058 week (P=0.025) and a decrease of 0.076 week (P=0.036) were associated with respiratory infection during the first trimester, respectively. Conclusion: The respiratory infection during the first trimester was associated with the decrease of the gestational age of newborn.

One year after the implementation of 2015 Tobacco Control Regulation on persons aged 15 years and over tobacco use in Beijing / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To understand the current status of smoking and smoking cessation in persons aged 15 years and over in Beijing and evaluate the effect of 2015 Beijing Tobacco Control Regulation. Methods: In 2014 and 2016, based on the principles and methodology of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. A total of 50 communities or townships were selected from 324 communities or townships in Beijing through multistage cluster sampling, and 2 community (village) committees from each community or township were selected with the method of probability proportional to size (PPS). A total of 100 surveillance sites were set, and 100 households were selected from each surveillance site by using simple random sampling. Data were collected through face-to-face interview from the eligible family members aged 15 years and over with the assistance of a tablet computer. Statistical analyses were conducted by using complex sampling analyses module of SPSS 20.0, with weights as a combination of sampling weights, non-response weights and post- stratification weights, for the calculation of current smoking prevalence, daily smoking prevalence, smoking cessation rate, etc. Results: A total of 8 484 and 9 372 valid questionnaires were obtained, respectively, in 2014 and 2016, with the response rate of 86.5% and 96.5%. The current smoking prevalence in persons aged 15 years and over was 23.4% in 2014, and 22.3% in 2016. According to the 6(th) national census data, the current smoking population decreased by 199 000 in Beijing. The proportion of daily smokers declined from 20.7% in 2014 to 19.2% in 2016. The daily number of cigarettes consumed by current smokers increased from 14.6 in 2014 to 15.4 in 2016. The smoking cessation rate was 14.9% in 2014 and 16.8% in 2016. The proportion of current smokers who had at least one smoking cessation attempt in the past 12 months increased from 22.3% in 2014 to 23.2% in 2016, and the proportion of current smokers who planned to quit smoking increased from 11.6% to 15.5%. Among the current smokers who had visited doctors in the past 12 months, the proportion of those having smoking cessation advice was 58.9% in 2014 and 59.2% in 2016. In 2016, among the current smokers who had attempted to quit in the past 12 months, 36.8% were aware of the smoking cessation clinics, and 29.5%were aware of the quitline. Among those who were aware, only 7.7% had actually visited the cessation clinics, and 5.5% had used the quitline. Conclusions: After the implementation of 2015 Beijing Tobacco Control Regulation for 1 year, the current smoking prevalence in persons aged 15 years and over showed decreasing. It is necessary to further prompt the expansion of smoking cessation service to cover more current smokers.

Cervical cerclage for preventing preterm birth in twin pregnancies. A systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the effect of cervical cerclage on preventing preterm birth in twin pregnancies. We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials [CENTRAL], MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Controlled Trials, China Biology Medicine [CBM], Chinese National Knowlegde Infrastructure [CNKI] and VIP Chinese Journal database [VIP] from April to August 2012. All available randomized trials comparing the effects of cervical cerclage for preventing preterm birth in twin pregnancies with no cerclage were included. The study took place in the First Affiliated Hospital of ChongQing Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China. Five eligible studies with a total of 310 participants were finally included. No statistically significant differences were found between patients who received cervical cerclage and those who did not receive cervical cerclage, in terms of preterm birth [RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.78-1.18], live births [RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.87-1.01] and mode of delivery [RR 1.34, 95% CI 0.61-2.98] per randomized woman. These results of preterm birth, premature rupture of membrane, model of delivery did not change before and after sensitivity analysis. No significant difference was observed between cervical cerclage group and no cerclage group in twin pregnancies and large scale randomized controlled trials are needed to strengthen clinical usage of cervical cerclage

Hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor for treatment of desizing wastewater

Polyvinyl alcohol-containing desizing wastewater discharged within final textile wastewater has a great impact to the environment due to its poor biodegradability. An improved lab-scale hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor was developed to treat desizing wastewater. The modification was achieved by increasing the height of hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor and application of proper effluent recycle enabled to increase the ability of entrapping microbe-rich small particles in the reactor and prompted the formation of granules. The significant difficulty in hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor operation is the slow start-up procedure, which is crucial to the overall polyvinyl alcohol-containing desizing wastewater treatment. Therefore, the ability of a hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor, treating desizing wastewater, to achieve a prompt start-up was studied at lab-scale. Results showed that inoculated with anaerobic granular sludge and adoption of effluent recycle during start-up, the system demonstrated a good performance of polyvinyl alcohol removal efficiency [above 17.2%] and satisfactory stability of pH and alkalinity in effluent [range around 7.4-8.0 and 700-920 mg/L, respectively] and the sludge appeared obviously granulation. Thus, the prompt start-up was achieved after 60 days. The start-up strategy used for this process has achieved its goals by creating an active microbial population. The improved lab-scale hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor proved to be an efficient reactor configuration for the treatment of desizing wastewater, which favored the prompt start-up of hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor. The results also provide evidence to modify the design of anaerobic baffled reactor to improve reactor performance

prospective randomized trial comparing non-stented versus routine stented ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy

To determine whether post-operative ureteral stenting is necessary after ureteroscopic lithotripsy for the treatment of middle and distal ureteral calculi. The trial was carried out in the Department of Urology of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, between May 2005 and May 2006. A total of 110 patients underwent uncomplicated ureteroscopic lithotripsy. After the procedure, patients were randomized to a non-stented [n=55], or stented [n=55] group. The stent was routinely placed for 3 weeks. Outcome measures included operative time, visual analog scale, postoperative analgesic requirements, complications, and the stone-free rate. The incidence of hematuria was higher and the operative time was longer in the stented group compared to the non-stented group. At 48 hours post-operatively, the symptoms of flank pain and abdominal pain were significantly greater in the stented group. There was no statistical difference in the 2 groups, in terms of irritative symptom, analgesic use, and complications. The stone-free rate was almost 100% in both groups. Uncomplicated ureteroscopic lithotripsy can be safely performed without the placement of a ureteral stent. Patients without stents had less operative time, pain and hematuria