[Characteristics, Meteorological Influences, and Transport Source of Ozone Pollution in Zhengzhou City].

Based on online monitoring data of air quality and meteorological parameters, the long-term variations, spatial differences, and meteorological influencing factors of ground-level ozone (O3) pollution in Zhengzhou were studied. In addition, the transport pathways and potential source regions of O3 were investigated. The results show that surface O3 concentrations at the city station in Zhengzhou City increased significantly during the period 2014-2018 (P<0.05) with a growth rate of 15.50 µg·(m3·a)-1, and the timespan of exceeding pollutant standards was extended. The monthly O3 variations showed an "M" pattern with the seasonal maximum in summer. The diurnal O3 variations showed a "single-peak" pattern with a diurnal concentrations peak at 15:00-16:00, while the diurnal peak at the rural station was relatively high (130.94 µg·m-3). At the urban station, the exceedance probability of O3 concentrations was relative high when hourly temperature (T) exceeded 23℃, relative humidity (RH) was less than 65%, wind speed (WS) ranged 2.0-4.0 m·s-1, and wind direction was southeast or northeast. Based on the multivariate linear fitting of impact factors on O3, the main controlling factors at the city and industrial sites were also identified as T and RH compared to T and WS at the traffic and suburb sites. Back trajectory analysis and potential sources of O3 during different seasons were significantly different, with the dominant transport trajectories during spring and summer being short-distance and slow-moving airflows from the south and northeast; autumn and winter were characterized by long-distance and quick-moving airflows from the northwest. The high O3 concentrations observed in summer were mainly affected by local photochemical formation and regional transport from Hebei, Shandong, and Anhui Provinces.

Roles of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in polymyositis: Inflammation and regeneration.

Objective To elucidate the clinical significance of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) serum concentration in patients with polymyositis. Methods Thirty-six patients with polymyositis were enrolled. Serum samples were obtained and stored to detect MIF and interleukin (IL)-6 using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The relationships between these cytokines and clinical data were analyzed. Results The serum MIF concentration was significantly lower in patients in remission (34.74 ± 17.75) and in healthy controls (38.87 ± 9.30 ng/ml) than that in patients with active polymyositis (50.04 ± 23.84 ng/ml). There were no significant differences between healthy controls and patients in remission. The serum IL-6 concentration in patients with active polymyositis (19.67 ± 7.16 pg/ml) was significantly higher than that in patients in remission (15.81 ± 4.00 pg/ml) and controls (8.14 ± 3.71 pg/ml). The serum IL-6 concentration was negatively correlated with the serum MIF concentration (r = -0.283). No relationship was found between the serum MIF concentration and glucocorticoid dose. The MIF concentration peaked twice during treatment when the creatine kinase concentration was decreasing. Conclusion MIF and IL-6 play important roles in the inflammation associated with polymyositis. MIF might also be involved in the early stage of regeneration in polymyositis. MIF may thus serve as a biomarker of disease activity and outcome.

Association of HLA-DQA1 (rs9272219) with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis in a Han Chinese population.

HLA-DQA1 (rs9272219) has been previously reported that it is a susceptibility locus in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of UK Caucasian population and North American; however, it has not reported in RA of Chinese population. Our study was to identify whether or not this relationship is reside between rs9272219 and RA in a Han Chinese population. 207 patients with RA and 199 control subjects were recruited. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of rs9272219 was tested in alleles and genotype frequencies and the data was analyzed by doing the statistic analysis of odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) from multivariate unconditional logistic regression analyses after pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) was estimated. Finally, the Alleles and genotype frequencies distribution of rs9272219 locus among RA patients and control subjects were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. We found significant association between rs9272219 and RA of Chinese population (OR 0.494, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.354-0.688, P = 0 and OR 2.541, 95% CI 1.695-3.808, P = 0, respectively). In this study, we found that the SNP of rs9272219 in HLA-DQA1 is a potential susceptibility locus in RA of Han Chinese population; the results suggest that HLA-DQA1 may be related to the development of RA.

The clinical significance of HRCT in evaluation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease: a report from China.

The objective of this study is to describe the interstitial lung disease (ILD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of China, and to study clinical significance of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in evaluation and treatment. One hundred and ten Chinese patients (79 women and 31 man) diagnosed with RA between December 2008 to November 2009 were analyzed. According to the HRCT, 47 (42.73%) RA patients were diagnosed as ILD. Old age, smoking and pulmonary rales were closely related to ILD (P < 0.05). The main appearances of ILD were ground-glass (39.09%), honeycombing (4.55%), reticular patterns and consolidation (1.82%). Patients with reticular patterns and honeycombing were more likely to show the respiratory symptoms. It was also common to find other abnormal changes, such as fiber cord shadow (22.73%), lung markings fuzzy disorder (30%), pulmonary nodules (11.82%), emphysema (9.09%), bronchiectasis (3.64%), subpleural nodules (11.82%) and pleural thickening (24.55%). In treatment, honeycombing and subpleural nodules were more common in patients with methotrexate (MTX) and/or leflunomide treatment than without (P < 0.05). Other abnormal changes were no statistical significance (P > 0.05). Pulmonary involvement is common in RA patients, and it is suggested that HRCT could be a sensitive and useful way in evaluating the lung of RA patients.

[Toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect of liquorice on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with Tripterygium wilfordii].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect of liquorice on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with Tripterygium wilfordii (TW). METHODS: One hundred and twenty RA patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the treated group treated with compound decoctum of TW and liquorice and the control group with TW ployglycosidium tablets both based on routine treatment. The therapeutic effect and adverse reaction were observed after 2 months of treatment. RESULTS: The total efficacy rate was 89.8% in the treated group and 79.6% in the control group with insignificant difference between the two groups; the effect was better in the treated group than that of the control group in decreasing the swollen joint index and increasing the average grip strength of both hands (P < 0.05); the total incidence of adverse reaction was obviously lower in the treated group than that of the control (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Liquorice has toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect on treatment of RA with TW.

The risk factors of nosocomial infection in severe craniocerebral trauma.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk factors of nosocomial infection in severe craniocerebral trauma and the way of prevention. METHODS: The clinical data of 387 patients with severe craniocerebral trauma were reviewed. RESULTS: The total nosocomial infection rate of this study was 22.99%. Pulmonary nosocomial infection presented most frequently. The G-bacilli were the most common infectious bacteria. The mortality rate of the infection group was 38.20%. CONCLUSIONS: Complications of nosocomial infection affect the prognosis of craniocerebral trauma patients. Nosocomial infection is related to the age of the patients, craniocerebral trauma severity, unreasonable utilization of antibiotics and invasive operations, such as tracheal cannula, mechanical ventilation, urethral catheterization and deep venous catheterization. Patients with severe craniocerebral trauma should be carefully treated and nursed to avoid nosocomial infection. In order to reduce the rate of nosocomial infection, intensive measurement should be adopted.