Asthma mortality among children and adolescents in China, 2008-2018.

BACKGROUND: Asthma mortality among children and adolescents at the national level in China was unreported. The aim of this study was to analyze the mortality of asthma among children and adolescents in China using a nationally representative database. METHODS: This was a descriptive study using data from the Disease Surveillance Points (DSPs) system. All asthma-related deaths among children and adolescents aged 0-19 years occurring in DSPs across China from 2008 to 2018 were included. Multilevel Poisson regression models were used to compute the total, age-, gender-, region- and residence-specific asthma mortality rates and to investigate the significance of trends and factors associated with asthma mortality. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics were used to estimate the national asthma deaths. RESULTS: Total asthma mortality rate among Chinese children and adolescents fluctuated between 0.020 (0.009, 0.045) and 0.059 (0.025, 0.137) per 100,000 and showed an overall downward trend (RR, 0.909; 95% CI 0.854-0.968) during the study period (2008-2018). Asthma mortality rate was higher in the western China (RR 2.356, 95% CI 1.513, 3.669) and varied over a ninefold range among DSPs in China. The estimated number of deaths decreased by 51.38% from 2008 (n = 148; 95% CI 58,379) to 2018 (n = 71; 95% CI 34, 109). CONCLUSIONS: Asthma mortality rate among children and adolescents in China was at a low level compared to rates worldwide and decreased significantly from 2008 to 2018. Compared with most countries in the world, the number of asthma deaths was higher in China.

[Responses of radial growth to climate change in Pinus massoniana at different altitudes and slopes.] / ä¸åŒæµ·æ‹”å’Œå¡å‘é©¬å°¾æ¾æ ‘è½®å®½åº¦å¯¹æ°”å€™å˜åŒ–çš„å“åº”.

With dendrochronology method, standard and residual chronologies of Pinus massoniana were established at low altitude (260 m), middle altitude (460 m), high altitude (690 m), sunny slope (270 m), and shady slope (265 m). Relationships between the tree-ring width and the climatic factors were quantified using correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA). The optimal multiple regression models for the radial growth of P. massoniana and the climatic factors were established. We analyzed the change rule of radial growth and its relationship with the climatic factors along with the altitude and slope. The results showed that the radial growth of P. massoniana was significantly affected by precipitation and temperature across the altitude gradient and the slope level, respectively. Among the 120 climatic variables, precipitation in December of last year and the extreme minimum temperature in February of current year had the most significant negative effects on the radial growth at different altitudes and slopes, respectively. This study quantitatively described the impacts of climate change on the radial growth of P. massoniana in the subtropical region, and provided a scientific basis for the planting and management of P. massoniana forest in Jiangle Country under the climate warming background.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors. METHODS: The scientific literature databases PubMed, Cochrane Library and CNKI were comprehensively searched for studies relevant to the use of CEUS technique for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian cancer. Pooled summary statistics for specificity (Spe), sensitivity (Sen), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+/LR-), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and their 95%CIs were calculated. Software for statistical analysis included STATA version 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) and Meta-Disc version 1.4 (Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain). RESULTS: Following a stringent selection process, seven high quality clinical trials were found suitable for inclusion in the present meta-analysis. The 7 studies contained a combined total of 375 ovarian cancer patients (198 malignant and 177 benign). Statistical analysis revealed that CEUS was associated with the following performance measures in differential diagnosis of ovarian tumors: pooled Sen was 0.96 (95%CI = 0.92∼0.98); the summary Spe was 0.91 (95%CI = 0.86∼0.94); the pooled LR+ was 10.63 (95%CI = 6.59∼17.17); the pooled LR- was 0.04 (95%CI = 0.02∼0.09); and the pooled DOR was 241.04 (95% CI = 92.61∼627.37). The area under the SROC curve was 0.98 (95% CI = 0.20∼1.00). Lastly, publication bias was not detected (t = -0.52, P = 0.626) in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed the high clinical value of CEUS in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors. Further, CEUS may also prove to be useful in differential diagnosis at early stages of this disease.