Analysis of 123 Cases of Forensic Psychiatry Testimony of Individuals Suspected of Road Traffic Offences / 法医学杂志

Objective To explore the characteristics of individuals with mental disorders suspected of road traffic offences and to find their differences from normal offenders, in order to regulate mental disorder patients' driving activities and prevent road traffic offences. Methods One hundred and twenty-three cases of forensic psychiatry testimony of individuals suspected of road traffic offences between 2014 and 2019 from the West China Forensic Center of Sichuan Province were collected. Fisher exact probability test was used to compare the differences between offenders with mental disorders and without mental disorders in terms of demographic characteristics, criminological characteristics, psychiatric characteristics and criminal responsibilities. Results There was no statistical significance in the differences of demographic characteristics, vehicles and kinds of alcohol between the two groups （P>0.05）. The main type of road traffic related crimes committed by offenders with mental disorders was risky driving and were mainly evaluated as partial criminal responsibility, whereas most offenders without mental disorders committed crime of causing traffic casualties and all were evaluated as full criminal responsibility. There was statistical significance in the differences of the types of crime and the criminal responsibility rating between the two groups （P<0.05）. Meanwhile, patients with mental disorders were characterized by long course of disease and irregular treatment, and individuals diagnosed as having mental disorders caused by psychoactive substances accounted for a large proportion. Conclusion There are differences in the characteristics of road traffic-related crimes between mental disorder patients and normal people. It is of great practical significance for reducing road traffic offences to evaluate whether the individuals with mental disorders are fit for driving.

A cohort study on the predictive value of factors influencing cardio-cerebro vascular death among people over 40 years of age / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the factors influencing cardio-cerebro vascular death events among people over 40 years of age in Shandong area, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Baseline survey was carried out in 1991. A total number of 11,008 adults over 40 years old had been studied in Shandong province. Data on cardiocerebro death was collected. The correlation between influencing factors and cardio-cerebro vascular death events was analyzed by Cox regression model.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally, 434 cardio-cerebro death events occurred among the 11,008 subjects during the 8-year follow-up study. Cardio-cerebro death events were related to systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, smoking, stroke history and age. Data from Cox regression analysis showed that the relative risk (RR) for cardio-cerebro vascular death events increased by 2.862 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.976-4.144] times for those people having stroke history. When systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure increased by every 10 mm Hg, the relative risk for cardio-cerebro vascular death events increased by 1.171 (95% CI: 1.033-1.328), 1.214 (95% CI: 1.044-1.413) respectively. it was found that a 1.239 (95% CI: 1.088-1.553) times higher in smokers than non-smokers on relative risk for cardio-cerebro vascular death events. However, the predictive values of the influencing factors for cardio-cerebro vascular death were different among population of different years of age. The relative risk for cardio-cerebro vascular death events increased by 1.366 (95% CI: 1.102-1.678) times for each 10 mm Hg increase of diastolic blood pressure in 40-59 years old population. However, the effect was taken place by systolic blood pressure in 60-74 years old population,with a relative risk of 1.201 (95% CI: 1.017-1.418) for each 10 mm Hg increase. Age seemed the only significant factor for cardio-cerebro vascular death events on population aged more than 75 years old. Conclusion The predictive values of the risk factors were different among age groups. The different risk factors should be taken care according to the difference of age.</p>

Improving the nutritional value of plant foods through transgenic approaches / 生物工程学报

The most nutrients required in the human diet come from plants. The nutritional quality of plant products affects the human healthy. The advance of molecular cloning and transgenic technology has provided a new way to enhance the nutritional value of plant material. Transgenic modification of plant nutritional value has progressed greatly in the following aspects: improving the quality, composition and levels of protein, starch and fatty acid in different crops; increasing the levels of antioxidants (e.g. carotenoids and flavonoids); breeding the new type of plants with medical value for human. To date, many transgenic plants with nutritional enhancement have been developed. These transgenic plant products could be directly used as human diet or as valued materials in developing the "functional food" with especial nutritional quality and healthy effects after they are approved by a series of evaluations on their safety and nutritional efficiency for human being. We designed new zinc finger transcription factors (ZFP-TFs) that can specifically down-regulate the expression of the endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene which catalyzes oleic acid to linoleic acid. Seed-specific expression of these ZFP-TFs in transgenic soybean somatic embryos repressed FAD2-1 transcription and increased significantly the levels of oleic acid, indicating that the engineered ZFP-TFs are capable of regulating fatty acid metabolism and modulating the expression of endogenous genes in plants.