A systematic review and network meta-analysis comparing various non-pharmacological treatments for older people with mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Non-pharmacological therapy appeared to alleviate Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) symptoms and signs, according to systematic studies. This network meta-analysis aimed to assess the impact of non-pharmacological therapies on improving cognition in individuals with MCI and identified the most effective intervention. METHODS: We reviewed six databases in search of potentially relevant studies of non-pharmacological therapies such as Physical exercise (PE), Multidisciplinary intervention (MI), Musical therapy (MT), Cognitive training (CT), Cognitive stimulation (CS), Cognitive rehabilitation (CR)，Art therapy (AT), general psychotherapy or interpersonal therapy (IPT), and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (such as acupuncture therapy, massage, auricular-plaster and other related systems) and others. Excluded the literature such as missing full text, missing search results, or no reporting specific values and combined with the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria in this article, the literature ultimately included in the analysis addressed the following seven non-drug therapies PE, MI, MT, CT, CS, CR, AT. Mini-mental state evaluation paired meta-analyses were undertaken by taking weighted average mean differences with confidence intervals (CI) of 95%. The network meta-analysis was conducted to compare various therapies. RESULTS: A total of 39 randomized controlled trials, including two three-arm studies, with 3157 participants were included. PE was most likely to be the most effective intervention to slow down the cognitive ability of patients (SMD = 1.34, 95%CI: 0.80, 1.89). CS and CR had no significant effect on cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS: The non-pharmacological therapy had the potential to greatly promote the cognitive ability of the adult population with MCI. PE had the best chance of being the best non-pharmacological therapy. Due to the limited sample size, substantial variability among different study designs, and the potential for bias, the results should be regarded with caution. Our findings should be confirmed by future multi-center randomized controlled, high-quality large-scale studies.

Correlates of cognitive impairment in the elderly in China: A cross-sectional study.

Background: To identify correlates of the incidence of cognitive impairment among older Chinese populations through the use of logistic regression analysis-based decision tree approaches. Methods: Correlates of cognitive impairment among older Chinese adults were identified through logistic regression analyses, with significant variables subsequently being incorporated into a decision tree analysis, with the CHAID method being employed for pre-pruning. Results: The risk score derived from the combination of logistic regression and decision tree analyses (0.237) was lower than that derived from a decision tree analysis alone (0.389). The primary factors related cognitive impairment in this patient population included age, gender, residence status, physical health status, and caring for grandchildren. Conclusion: A combination of logistic regression and decision tree analyses can lower predicted risk scores, enabling the subdivision of populations with different characteristics and providing intuitive and specific insight regarding the effects of individual variables on predictive analyses. Overall, these results suggest that older adults in rural areas of China should be the focus of further cognitive impairment screening and interventions, particularly for older women.

[Genotyping of Patients with α and ß Thalassemia in Fujian Province Area in China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the gene-carrying rate and gene mutation types of α- and ß-thalassemia in population of Fujian area and to analyze the differences in hemoglobin A2 (HbA2), mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) between different types of thalassemia, so as to provide the reference basis for screening and classification, genetic diagnosis and counseling about thalassemia. METHODS: Total 1474 samples from different areas of Fujian province were detected for α- and ß-thalassemsia genotypes by gap single PCR (GS-PCR) combined with reverse dot blot hybridization (RDB). The detection of peripheral RBC, hemoglobin and primary screening of thalassemia in each set of sample were carried out before test. RESULTS: Among the detected 1474 samples, 704 (47.76%) were diagnosed as α-thalassemia, out of them 416 (28.22%) were diagnosed as α-thalassemia, 267(18.11%) as ß-thalassemia, 21 (1.43%) as αß-thalassemia. The α-thalassemia further was divide into 3 types: silent (5.09%), minor (22.18%) and HbH disease (0.95%), and their MCV, MCH and HbA2 levels were detected. The detection results showed obvious decrease trend with significant difference (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: The gene mutation types of thalassemia display obvious heterogenity in Fujian area. The gene type in α-thalassemia mostly is --SEA/αα, the gene type in ß-thalassemia mostly is IVS-Ⅱ-654. Moreover, the sings of anemia in Hb H disease of α-thalassemia are mostly serious, which obviously are different from other types of α-thalassemia.

[Effect of atopy on serum glucocorticoid receptor levels in children with bronchiolitis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of atopy on the expression of glucocorticoid receptors in children with bronchiolitis. METHODS: ELISA was used to measure the changes in the serum levels of glucocorticoid receptor α (GRα) and glucocorticoid receptor ß (GRß) in the bronchiolitis group (77 children, including 34 children with atopy) and pneumonia group (68 children). Thirty-eight children who were prepared to undergo surgeries for non-infectious diseases and had no atopy or family history of allergic diseases were enrolled as the control group. RESULTS: The bronchiolitis group and the pneumonia group had significant increases in the serum levels of GRα and GRß compared with the control group (P<0.01), and the bronchiolitis group had significant increases in these levels compared with the pneumonia group (P<0.01). Compared with the control group and the pneumonia group, the bronchiolitis group had a significant increase in the GRα/GRß ratio (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the children with or without atopy in the bronchiolitis group had significant increases in the serum levels of GRα and GRß (P<0.01). The non-atopic children in the bronchiolitis group had a significant increase in the serum level of GRß compared with the atopic children (P<0.01). The atopic children in the bronchiolitis group had a significant increase in the GRα/GRß ratio compared with the control group and non-atopic children in the bronchiolitis group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Children with bronchiolitis have increased serum levels of GRα and GRß. The children with atopy have an increased GRα/GRß ratio, suggesting that the atopic children with bronchiolitis are highly sensitive to glucocorticoids.

[Spectroscopic analysis of the decay resistance of wood treated with extracts from the xylem of Cinnamomum Camphora with XRD and FTIR approaches].

Four kinds of extracts from the xylem of C. Camphora, ACQ and camphor were selected to make wood preservatives for laboratory toxicity test of wood preservatives for decay fungus. The results showed that the treated blocks with 4% ACQ and 10% methanol extracts could meet the demand of degree I of preservation and showed strong resistance to brown-rot fungus at tack. The wood treated with 4% camphor extracts, 10% ethyl acetate extracts, and 10% acetone extracts reached the demand of degree II and showed moderate decay resistance. The blocks treated with 10% hot water extracts and untreated samples meet the demand of degree III. Through XRD comparison, the author was found that the preservative effects of four extracts are proportional to the degree of crystallinity. Crystallization fields 2 theta diffraction angle were ordered from larger to little as 10% hot wa-ter extracts > untreated samples > 10% acetone extracts > 10% methanol extracts > 1% ethyl acetate extracts. According to FTIR analysis, the amount of degraded cellulose and hemicellulose increased with the decline of characteristic absorption peak at 1,374, 1,160, 1,106, 1,056 and 897 cm(-1), meaning that the preservative effect of corresponding preservatives were getting worse. The peak height of characterization of lignin is higher compared to the untreated wood. I1,510/I1,738, I1,510/I1,374, l51,510/ I1,160 of the treated blocks with 10% methanol extracts and 4% ACQ are the smallest in all the treated blocks, which proved that the degradation ability of brown--rot fungus to the holocellulose is the weakest, and the wood preservative is best.

[Determination and clinical significance of serum surfactant proteins A and D in children with bronchiolitis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the variation and clinical significance of serum levels of surfactant proteins A (SP-A) and D (SP-D) among children with different degrees of bronchiolitis. METHODS: Seventy children with bronchiolitis were divided into acute (n=42) and recovery phase groups (n=28). According to the severity of symptoms, the acute phase group was further divided into severe (n=12) and mild subgroups (n=30). Another 26 children who were hospitalized in the same period due to non-infectious diseases and had not undergone surgery were used as the control group. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure serum levels of SP-A and SP-D in each group. RESULTS: The acute phase group had significantly higher serum levels of SP-A and SP-D compared with the recovery phase (P<0.01) and control groups (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the recovery phase group had elevated levels of SP-A and SP-D (P<0.01). Within the acute phase group, serum levels of SP-A and SP-D in the severe subgroup were significantly higher than in the mild subgroup (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Serum levels of SP-A and SP-D are significantly elevated in children with acute bronchiolitis, and severe cases have higher serum levels of SP-A and SP-D than mild cases. Even after the relief of clinical symptoms, serum levels of SP-A and SP-D remain high. These findings suggest that serum levels of SP-A and SP-D might be useful biomarkers for evaluating the severity of bronchiolitis among children.

[Study on the distribution of vitamin D receptor gene start codon polymorphism in the Achangs and Hans].

OBJECTIVE: To detect the difference between the Chinese Achang and Han ethnic groups in Yunnan province in the distribution of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene start codon polymorphism. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, gene sequencing and genetic analysis methods were used. A restriction fragment length polymorphism in the start codon of VDR (Fok I) gene was tested in the Achangs (n=68) and the Hans (n=92). RESULTS: The frequencies of FF, Ff and ff genotypes were found to be 18%, 35% and 47% in the Achangs, and 22%, 52% and 26% in the Hans, respectively. A significant difference was seen in the frequency distribution of VDR genotype between the Achangs and the Hans(Chi2=7.716, P=0.021). CONCLUSION: The Achang and Han ethnic groups differ in the frequency distribution of VDR gene start codon polymorphism.