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Background Sleep is a crucial physiological activity for the human body, and research has shown that air pollution can affect sleep quality. However, the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure, neurotoxic compounds in air pollutants, and sleep quality remains uncertain. Objective To evaluate the association of PAHs exposure with sleep quality, and to provide evidence for improving sleep quality. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design. We selected 632 workers from a coking plant of a large state-owned enterprise as the exposure group, and 477 workers from the energy and power plant of the same enterprise as the control group. All workers worked in three shifts. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect basic information including gender, years of service, age, educational level, smoking, alcohol consumption, consumption of fried foods, cooking frequency, types of cooking fuels. Worker's post-shift morning midstream urine was sampled to determine the concentrations of eight PAHs metabolites (OH-PAHs) using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Worker's sleep quality was assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A higher PSQI score indicated a lower sleep quality. Associations of urinary OH-PAHs levels with sleep quality in the workers were analyzed using linear regression, Bayesian kernel-machine regression (BKMR), and quantile g-computation. Results The median (P25, P75) concentration of total OH-PAHs in the exposure group [88.84 (46.27, 151.96) μg·L−1] was higher than that in the control group [54.33 (24.86, 97.97) μg·L−1]. Additionally, the PSQI score (\begin{document}$ \overline{x}\pm {s} $\end{document}) in the exposure group (5.16±3.84) was higher than that in the control group (4.60±3.17). The multiple linear regression revealed that an increase in the sum of the concentrations of eight OH-PAHs after natural logarithmic transformation (lnΣ8OH-PAHs) was associated with an increase of 0.3646 (95%CI: 0.1337, 0.5955) in PSQI score, and an increase in lnΣlow-ring OH-PAHs was associated with an increase of 0.2954 (95%CI: 0.0941, 0.4967) in PSQI score. The BKMR analysis demonstrated that PSQI score was gradually increased as the increasing of lnΣ8OH-PAHs concentration. The quantile g-computation analysis indicated that a quantile increase in lnΣ8OH-PAHs concentration was associated with an increase of 0.4062% (95%CI: 0.1176%, 0.6949%) in PSQI score. Conclusion Compared to the controls, the coking workers show a higher concentration of urinary OH-PAHs and report worse sleep quality. The concentration of OH-PAHs is significantly negatively associated with sleep quality.
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Background Long-term occupational polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure is an important risk factor for cognitive impairment. At the same time, it can also cause a decrease of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, it is not clear whether BDNF plays a key role in the cognitive impairment of workers caused by occupational PAHs exposure. Objective To analyze the correlation between the levels of PAHs in the plasma of coke oven workers and cognitive impairment, and to explore the possible mediating effect of plasma BDNF level on the relationship between PAHs and cognitive impairment. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out to select 138 pairs of workers from a coking plant (exposure group) and an energy plant (control group) in a large enterprise in Taiyuan, and the matching variables included age, education level and smoking status. The basic data of the workers were collected by questionnaire. The cognitive function of the workers was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale. Fasting elbow venous blood was collected, the plasma concentrations of 16 PAHs were determined by high performance gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the plasma concentration of BDNF was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between 12 PAHs levels in plasma and MoCA scores, and Bootstrap method was used to analyze the mediating effect of BDNF in the relationship between these two indicators. Results The average (\begin{document}$\bar x \pm s $\end{document}) age of workers in the two groups was (48.46±5.04) years, the length of service was (21.45±9.78) years, and 58.7% of the participants reported their education level at secondary vocational school, high school, and above. The median level (25th and 75th percentiles) [M(P25, P75)] of plasma Σ12PAHs concentration of workers in the exposure group [20.937 (9.454, 38.387) μg·L−1] was significantly higher than that of the control group [9.997 (4.952, 23.770)μg·L−1] and the MoCA score (22.82±2.38) of the exposure group was significantly lower than that of the control group (24.60±5.67) (P<0.05). The plasma BDNF showed no significant difference between the exposure group [(29.99±9.80) μg·L−1] and the control group [(31.48±9.09) μg·L−1](P>0.05). Taking plasma PAHs as independent variable and MoCA score as dependent variable, after adjusting selected covariates, the results of multiple linear regression model showed that the MoCA score changed by −0.020 (95%CI: −0.035 - −0.005) for every 1 μg·L−1 increase of plasma Σ12PAHs. Low (<P33), medium ( P33~P66) and high (>P66) dummy variables were set according to the intertertile boundaries (8.31, 23.76) μg·L−1 of the plasma level of Σ12PAH of the workers. The change of MoCA score in the high concentration group versus the low concentration group was −1.167 (95%CI: −1.866 - −0.467). The MoCA score changed by 0.066 (95%CI: 0.012 - 0.119) for each 1 μg·L−1 increase in plasma BDNF level. The results of dichotomous logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of cognitive impairment in the high concentration group was 2.635 (95% CI: 1.085 - 6.398) times higher than that in the low concentration group. The results of mediating effect analysis showed that plasma BDNF level was an intermediate variable between PAHs and cognitive impairment, and 45.50% of PAHs-induced cognitive impairment risk was mediated by reduced BDNF level. Conclusion The level of plasma PAHs in coke oven workers is negatively correlated with MoCA score, and PAHs may mediate cognitive impairment by reducing plasma BDNF level.
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Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma. Methods Seventy-four soft tissue tumors patients having underwent plain and enhanced MRI scans were selected. A retrospective case-control study was conducted to compare the demographic and MRI characteristics between 32 cases of soft tissue sarcoma and 42 cases of benign soft tissue tumor. The examined MRI characteristics included lesion location, morphology, size, signal uniformity, intratumoral sign, sign outside the tumor and intensity pattern, et al. The MRI characteristics were compared between 2 groups. Results The 32 patients with soft tissue sarcoma included 7 cases with lipoblastoma, 5 cases with pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma, 5 cases with fibrosarcoma, 5 cases with synovial sarcoma 5 cases, 4 cases with dermatofibrosarcoma protuberant, 2 cases with low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma, 2 cases with alveolar soft part sarcoma, 1 case with leiomyosarcoma, and 1 case with histiocytic sarcoma. The 42 patients with benign soft tissue tumor included 15 cases with neurilemmoma, 9 cases with angioma, 8 cases with neurofibroma, 6 cases with lipoma, and 4 cases with angiolipoma. After controlling for the potential confounding effects of sex and age, whether there was high signal on T2WI and whether the tumor boundary was clear can help for distinguishing soft tissue sarcoma and benign tumor. The occurrence of high signal on T2WI was a risk factor for soft tissue sarcomas ( OR=25.05, 95% CI 4.04 to 155.28), and tumors whose boundaries were less clear ( OR=18.84, 95% CI 2.98 to 118.99) and unclear ( OR=26.59, 95% CI 3.79 to 186.71) were more likely to be soft tissue sarcomas compared to those with clear boundaries. Conclusions The MRI characteristics of soft tissue sarcomas can be used for accurate diagnosis of the tumors before treatment.
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Objective To investigate the CT findings of primary abdominal dedifferentiated liposarcoma(DDL),and to improve the diagnostic accuracy.Methods CT images of 23 cases with primary abdominal DDL confirmed by pathologically were analyzed retrospectively,and the CT findings were compared with pathological results.Results The masses in 20 cases out of 23 cases were located in retroperitoneal region,2 in abdominal cavity and 1 in the pelvic extraperitoneal space.The mean diameter of the masses was 26.5 cm.CT showed the fatty and non-fatty regions in the masses.In 2 1 cases,the non-fatty region was manifested as a single mass and was located at the edge or on the surface of fatty region.In 2 cases,the non-fatty region was manifested as multiple well-defined masses and was located within the fatty region.In 2 1 cases,the fatty region showed misty density with strip and reticular septa.In 2 other cases,the fatty region showed slightly low density,mingled with some fat tissue density,which showed no enhancement with mild enhanced internal septa.In 20 cases,the non-fatty region showed soft tissue density,with mild to moderate heterogeneous enhancement.In 3 other cases,the density of non-fatty region varied between liquid and soft tissue with patchy enhancement on delayed phase.In addition,stippled calcification was found in 4 cases.Conclusion The primary abdominal DDL has relatively specific CT findings,which different dedifferentiated components pro-duce different CT characterizes.Finding well-differentiated fat components around non-fatty mass may help to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and reduce the misdiagnosis.
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Objective:To investigate the relationship between base level of Cyfra21-1,SCCA,TK1 and lung cancer prognosis.Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted.721 lung cancer cases who had no distant metastasis were recruited baseline population from January 2010 to January 2013.About 2 years follow-up,364 cases of death or brain (or multiple) metastasis were identified as case group, and the other 357 cases were included in the control group.The level of serum Cyfra21-1,SCCA,TK1 was detected.The relationship between base level of Cyfra21-1,SCCA,TK1 and lung cancer prognosis were analyzed.Results: The age in the case group was (59.3±10.1),and the control group was (59.0±9.9).There were obvious differences in body mass index,smoking index,pathological type,clinical stage,lymph node metastasis and with chronic diseases between case group and control group(P0.05).There were differences in the base level of Cyfra21-1,SCCA,TK1;and there were differences in Cyfra21-1,SCCA,TK1 distribution between case group and control group(P0.05) in patients with different stages of lung cancer.There were differences in the base levels of Cyfra21-1 and SCCA(P0.05) in patients with different pathological types of lung cancer.Logistic regression analysis results showed that the OR value of SCCA,TK1 with lung cancer prognosis were respective 7.235(1.674-14.613),5.009(0.973-10.778),5.816(0.879-16.235).Conclusion: The baseline level of Cyfra21-1 can reflect the prognosis of lung cancer patients,while SCCA,TK1 not.
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Objective To investigate the metabolite changes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with and without neuropsychiatric symptoms using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and explore the associations between image findings and clinical variables. Methods Twenty-two SLE patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSLE), twenty-one SLE patients without neuropsychiatric symptoms (non-NPSLE) and twenty healthy controls (HCs) underwent routine MRI scan and multivoxel magnetic reson-ance spectroscopy (MVS). The absolute metabolite concentrations were measured bilaterally in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG), dorsal thalamus (DT), lentiform nucleus (LN) and posterior paratrigonal white matter (PWM) using LCModel and SAGE software. The relationships between metabolite con-centrations and cognitive function scores were analyzed by Spearman rank correlation. Single-factor Chi-square analysis and t-test were used for analysis. Results ① Compared to control subjects, NPSLE patients had significantly lower N-acetylaspartate (NAA) values in bilateral PCG and DT, with the mean differences of -1.504 [95% confidence interval ( CI) (-2.335, -0.672), P=0.001], -1.460 [95%CI (-2.349, -0.570), P=0.002], -1.259 [95%CI (-1.894, -0.625), P=0.000] and -1.022[95%CI (-1.688, -0.356), P=0.003] for RPCG, LPCG, RDT and LDT, respectively. The concentration of total creatinine were observed to decline in RPCG and RDT, with the mean differences of-1.094 [95%CI (-1.845, -0.342), P=0.003], -0.955 [95%CI (-1.630, -0.280), P=0.006], -1.259 [95%CI (-1.894,-0.625), P=0.006] respectively. Glutamine and glutamate-values decreased significantly in RDT [mean difference=-2.586, 95%CI (-4.139, -1.033), P=0.002]. ② Compared to non-NPSLE patients, NPSLE patients had a lower NAA level in LPCG [mean difference=-1.256, 95%CI (-2.146, -0.367), P=0.006]. Positive correlations between mini-mental state examination scores [RPCG: rs=0.312, P<0.05; LPCG: rs=0.355, P<0.01], Montreal cognitive assessment scores (RPCG: rs=0.362, P<0.01; LPCG: rs=0.285, P<0.05) and NAA values in bilateral PCG were detected. Conclusion Both NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients may have metabolite dysfun-ctions in different brain regions. The cognitive disorder in SLE patients may be interpreted by neuronic damage of PCG.
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Objective:To investigatethe transdermal delivery characteristics of methylphenidate hydrochloride (MPH) in vitro. Methods: Characteristics of MPH crossing nude rats skin were studied with Franz diffusion cells. A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was established to determine the concentration of MPH crossed the skin. The permeability coefficient (P), steady state flux (J) and lag time(LT) for MPH through the skin of nude rats treated with various enhancers were compared with those of control. Results: The permeability coefficient increased with the increase of MPH concentration. The penetration of MPH through nude rats skin was obviously enhanced by 8%Azone and 5%propylene glycol (P