Dynamic evolution and spatial difference of public health service supply in economically developed provinces of China: typical evidence from Guangdong Province.

OBJECTIVE: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention from all sectors of society to the level of public health services. This study aims to investigate the level of public health service supply in the four major regions of Guangdong Province, providing a basis for optimizing health resource allocation. METHODS: This article uses the entropy method and panel data of 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province from 2005 to 2021 to construct the evaluation index system of public health service supply and calculate its supply index. On this basis, the standard deviation ellipse method, kernel density estimation, and Markov chain are used to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution trend of the public health service supply level in Guangdong Province. The Dagum Gini coefficient and panel regression model are further used to analyze the relative differences and the key influencing factors of difference formation. Finally, the threshold effect model is used to explore the action mechanism of the key factors. RESULTS: Overall, the level of public health service supply in Guangdong Province is on an upward trend. Among them, polarization and gradient effects are observed in the Pearl River Delta and Eastern Guangdong regions; the balance of public health service supply in Western Guangdong and Northern Mountainous areas has improved. During the observation period, the level of public health services in Guangdong Province shifted towards a higher level with a smaller probability of leapfrogging transition, and regions with a high level of supply demonstrated a positive spillover effect. The overall difference, intra-regional difference and inter-regional difference in the level of public health service supply in Guangdong Province during the observation period showed different evolutionary trends, and spatial differences still exist. These differences are more significantly positively affected by factors such as the level of regional economic development, the degree of fiscal decentralization, and the urbanization rate. Under different economic development threshold values, the degree of fiscal decentralization and urbanization rate both have a double threshold effect on the role of public health service supply level. CONCLUSION: The overall level of public health service supply in Guangdong Province has improved, but spatial differences still exist. Key factors influencing these differences include the level of regional economic development, the degree of fiscal decentralization, and the urbanization rate, all of which exhibit threshold effects. It is suggested that, in view of the actual situation of each region, efforts should be made to build and maintain their own advantages, enhance the spatial linkage of public health service supply, and consider the threshold effects of key factors in order to optimize the allocation of health resources.

Feed Curves for Controlling Ring Rolling Stability in Large-Scale Flat Ring Rolling Process.

Due to the large wall thickness difference and serious instability in the large-scale ring rolling process, most studies on the feed curve are not suitable for a large-scale ring. The production cost of the large-scale ring is high, and if plastic instability occurs, it will cause a great waste of resources. Therefore, in this study, a staged feed strategy based on the evolution of ring instability is proposed with the objective of controlling the rolling stability of a large-scale ring. Firstly, based on the law of rolling instability evolution, the rolling stage during the rolling process is divided. Secondly, the coordination of all rolling stages is proposed as a factor to design the feed curve. The feed scheme is determined using the central composite design (CCD) method, and then the established mathematical model is applied to obtain the radial feed curves of a large-scale flat ring with a 5 m diameter for different schemes. Next, the designed feed curve was submitted to finite element method (FEM) simulation. According to the FE simulation results, a rolling map for controlling roundness error, eccentricity and vibration is established. Finally, the feed curve in the stable region is input to the FE simulation and the production trial to obtain the results of roundness error, eccentricity and vibration. A comparison of the simulation and production trial results shows that they are in good agreement, which proves the reliability of the feed curve designed based on the stable rolling region in the roll map. Moreover, the machining amount for both the simulation and production trial is below the maximum machined value.

Impact of digital economic development and environmental pollution on residents' health: an empirical analysis based on 279 prefecture-level cities in China.

BACKGROUND: The digital economy based on the internet and IT is developing rapidly in China, which makes a profound impact on urban environmental quality and residents' health activities. Thus, this study introduces environmental pollution as a mediating variable based on Grossman's health production function to explore the impact of digital economic development on the health of the population and its influence path. METHODS: Based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2017, this paper investigates the acting mechanism of digital economic development on residents' health by employing a combination of mediating effects model and spatial Durbin model. RESULTS: The development of digital economy makes direct improvement on residents' health condition, which is also obtained indirectly by means of environmental pollution mitigation. Besides, from the perspective of spatial spillover effect, the development of digital economy also has a significant promoting effect on the health of adjacent urban residents, and further analysis reveals that the promoting effect in the central and western regions of China is more pronounced than that in the eastern region. CONCLUSIONS: Digital economy can have a direct promoting effect on the health of residents, and environmental pollution has an intermediary effect between digital economy and residents' health; At the same time, there is also a regional heterogeneity among the three relationships. Therefore, this paper believes that the government should continue to formulate and implement scientific digital economy development policies at the macro and micro levels to narrow the regional digital divide, improve environmental quality and enhance the health level of residents.

Treatment duration of wrist-ankle acupuncture for relieving post-thyroidectomy pain: A randomized controlled trial / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Treatment duration of wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) is uncertain for post-thyroidectomy pain relief.@*OBJECTIVE@#This study evaluated the effect of different WAA treatment duration on post-operative pain relief and other discomforts associated with thyroidectomy.@*DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION@#This randomized controlled trial was conducted at a single research site in Guangzhou, China. A total of 132 patients receiving thyroidectomy were randomly divided into the control group (sham WAA, 30 min) and three intervention groups (group 1: WAA, 30 min; group 2: WAA, 45 min; group 3: WAA, 60 min), with group allocation ratio of 1:1:1:1. Acupuncture was administered within 1 hour of leaving the operating room.@*OUTCOMES AND MEASURES@#Primary outcome was patients' pain at the surgical site assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) at the moment after acupuncture treatment (post-intervention). Secondary outcomes included the patients' pain VAS scores at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after the thyroidectomy, the 40-item Quality of Recovery (QoR-40) score, the grade of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and the use of additional analgesic therapy.@*RESULTS@#The adjusted mean difference (AMD) in VAS scores from baseline to post-intervention in group 1 was -0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], -1.02 to -0.76). The decrease in VAS score at post-intervention was statistically significant in group 1 compared to the control group (AMD, -0.43; 95% CI, -0.58 to -0.28; P < 0.001), and in groups 2 and 3 compared to group 1 (group 2 vs group 1: AMD, -0.65; 95% CI, -0.81 to -0.48; P < 0.001; group 3 vs group 1: AMD, -0.66; 95% CI, -0.86 to -0.47; P < 0.001). The VAS scores in the four groups converged beyond 24 h after the operation. Fewer patients in group 2 and group 3 experienced PONV in the first 24 h after operation. No statistical differences were measured in QoR-40 score and the number of patients with additional analgesic therapy.@*CONCLUSION@#Compared with the 30 min intervention, WAA treatment with longer needle retention time (45 or 60 min) had an advantage in pain relief within 6 h after surgery. WAA's analgesic effect lasted for 6-12 h post-operatively. Please cite this article as: Han XR, Yue W, Chen HC, He W, Luo JH, Chen SX, Liu N, Yang M. Treatment duration of wrist-ankle acupuncture for relieving post-thyroidectomy pain: A randomized controlled trial. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(2): 168-175.

In Situ Visualizing Nascent RNA by Exploring DNA-Templated Oxidative Amination of 4-Thiouridine.

Tracking and mapping the nascent RNA molecules in cells is essential for deciphering embryonic development and neuronal differentiation. Here, we utilized 4-thiouridine (s4U) as a metabolic tag to label nascent RNA and developed a fluorescence imaging method based on the DNA-templated oxidative amination (DTOA) reaction of s4U. The DTOA reaction occurred between amine-modified DNA and s4U-containing RNA with high sequence specificity and chemical selectivity. Target nascent mRNAs in HeLa cells, including those encoding green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) and endogenous BAG-1, were thus lit up selectively by DTOA-based fluorescence in situ hybridization (DTOA FISH). We believe the DTOA conjugation chemistry shown in this study could be generally applied to investigate the spatial distribution of nascent transcription dynamics in cellular processes.

Chemical synthesis of stimuli-responsive guide RNA for conditional control of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

CRISPR-Cas9 promotes changes in identity or abundance of nucleic acids in live cells and is a programmable modality of broad biotechnological and therapeutic interest. To reduce off-target effects, tools for conditional control of CRISPR-Cas9 functions are under active research, such as stimuli-responsive guide RNA (gRNA). However, the types of physiologically relevant stimuli that can trigger gRNA are largely limited due to the lack of a versatile synthetic approach in chemistry to introduce diverse labile modifications into gRNA. In this work, we developed such a general method to prepare stimuli-responsive gRNA based on site-specific derivatization of 2'-O-methylribonucleotide phosphorothioate (PS-2'-OMe). We demonstrated CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing in human cells triggered by oxidative stress and visible light, respectively. Our study tackles the synthetic challenge and paves the way for chemically modified RNA to play more active roles in gene therapy.

Wuhutang Alleviates Respiratory Syncytial Virus-induced Asthma in Mice by Inhibiting STAT3 Protein and Regulating Dendritic Cell Autophagy / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of Wuhutang on respiratory syncytial virus （RSV）-induced asthma in mice and its influence on the expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （STAT3） in lung tissue. Method:One hundred female BALB/c mice of SPF grade were randomly divided into a normal group and an experimental group. After successful modeling via aerosol inhalation of RSV and ovalbumin （OAV）， the mice in the experimental group were further randomized into the following seven groups： model， positive control （dexamethasone， 1.82 mg·kg^-1）， STAT3 inhibitor （STATTIC， 3.75 mg·kg^-1）， STAT3 inducer （colivelin， 1.0 mg·kg^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （1.6， 3.2， and 6.4 g·kg^-1， respectively） Wuhutang groups. The corresponding drugs were administered for two weeks， followed by the detection of airway reactivity using a small animal ventilator， the pathological changes in lung tissue， mucus secretion by goblet cells and collagen deposition in airway were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE）， periodic acid-Schiff （PAS） and Masson staining， the serum levels of interleukin-6 （IL-6）， IL-10， and IL-17 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The mRNA expression levels of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ and <italic>α</italic>-SMA in lung tissue were detected by fluorescence-based real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）， autophagosomes present in lung tissue were examined by transmission electron microscopy， the protein expression levels of ATG5 and SQSTM1 in dendritic cells （DCs） and STAT3 and p-STAT3 in lung tissue were detected by Western blot. Result:The airway reactivity of the model group was enhanced in contrast to that in the model group （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， manifested as inflammatory cell infiltration around the lung tissue， excessive metaplasia of goblet cells， and extensive deposition of airway collagen， the expression levels of serum IL-6 and IL-17 were increased （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， while that of IL-10 declined （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， the mRNA expression levels of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ and <italic>α</italic>-SMA were elevated （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， the number of autophagosomes in the lung tissue increased. The protein expression levels of ATG5， STAT3， and p-STAT were up-regulated， while that of SQSTM1 was down-regulated （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）. Compared with the model group， Wuhutang and STATTIC significantly reduced the airway hyperresponsiveness of asthmatic mice （<italic>P<</italic>0.05， <italic>P<</italic>0.01）， alleviated RSV-induced pathological changes in lung tissue， reduced the contents of serum IL-6 and IL-17 （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， increased serum IL-10 and ATG5 in DCs （<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， down-regulated the mRNA expression levels of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ and <italic>α</italic>-SMA as well as the protein expression levels of SQSTM1， STAT3 and p-STAT3 （<italic>P<</italic>0.05，<italic>P<</italic>0.01）， and elevated the number of autophagosomes. Conclusion:Wuhutang relieves airway inflammation， improves airway remodeling and reduces airway hyperresponsiveness in RSV-induced asthmatic mice by inhibiting STAT3 protein and up-regulating DC autophagy in lung tissue.

Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 patients: the perspective application of serological tests in clinical practice

BackgroundWe aim to investigate the profile of acute antibody response in COVID-19 patients, and provide proposals for the usage of antibody test in clinical practice. MethodsA multi-center cross-section study (285 patients) and a single-center follow-up study (63 patients) were performed to investigate the feature of acute antibody response to SARS-CoV-2. A cohort of 52 COVID-19 suspects and 64 close contacts were enrolled to evaluate the potentiality of the antibody test. ResultsThe positive rate for IgG reached 100% around 20 days after symptoms onset. The median day of seroconversion for both lgG and IgM was 13 days after symptoms onset. Seroconversion of IgM occurred at the same time, or earlier, or later than that of IgG. IgG levels in 100% patients (19/19) entered a platform within 6 days after seroconversion. The criteria of IgG seroconversion and > 4-fold increase in the IgG titers in sequential samples together diagnosed 82.9% (34/41) of the patients. Antibody test aided to confirm 4 patients with COVID-19 from 52 suspects who failed to be confirmed by RT-PCR and 7 patients from 148 close contacts with negative RT-PCR. ConclusionIgM and IgG should be detected simultaneously at the early phase of infection. The serological diagnosis criterion of seroconversion or the >; 4-fold increase in the IgG titer is suitable for a majority of COVID-19 patients. Serologic test is helpful for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in suspects and close contacts.

Effective English writing for tables and figures in andrological papers / 中华男科学杂志

Tables and figures play a critical role in enhancing the quality of an andrological paper. As visual elements, well-presented tables and figures can reduce the length of the manuscript and meanwhile efficiently capture a large amount of information by clear and concise display of detailed results and complex relationships, patterns and trends, offer explicit statistical or graphical support to important ideas, and add to the value of the whole paper. The effectiveness of a table or figure lies not only in its well-crafted structural design, but even more in its language presentation. This article presents some essential and practical guidelines to effective English writing of the title, body and footnotes of tables and figures in andrological papers.

Heavy metals in hair of residents in an e-waste recycling area, south China: contents and assessment of bodily state.

Heavy metals were measured in hair from occupationally and nonoccupationally exposed populations in an e-waste recycling area and from residents from a control rural town. The levels of five heavy metals were in the following order of Zn > Pb, Cu > Cd > Ni, with the highest levels found in the occupationally exposed workers. The levels of Cd, Pb, and Cu were significantly higher in residents from the e-waste recycling area than in the control area. Elevated Cd, Pb, and Cu contents along with significant positive correlations between them in hair from the e-waste recycling area indicated that these metals were likely to have originated from the e-waste recycling activities. The similarity in heavy metal pattern between children and occupationally exposed workers indicated that children are particularly vulnerable to heavy metal pollution caused by e-waste recycling activities. The increased Cu exposure might be a benefit for the insufficient intake of Cu in the studied area. However, the elevated hair Cd and Pb levels implied that the residents in the e-waste area might be at high risk of toxic metal, especially for children and occupationally exposed workers.

Dechlorane Plus in human hair from an e-waste recycling area in South China: comparison with dust.

Dechlorane Plus (DP) and a dechlorination product, 1,6,7,8,9,14,15,16,17,17,18-octadeca-7,15-diene (anti-Cl(11)-DP), were measured in human hair and indoor dust collected from an e-waste recycling area and two control areas (rural and urban) in South China. DP was detected in hair and dust samples at concentrations ranging from 0.02-58.32 ng/g and 2.78-4197 ng/g, respectively. anti-Cl(11)-DP, mainly detected in human hair and dust samples from the e-waste recycling area, ranged from nd (nondetected) to 0.23 ng/g in hair and from nd to 20.22 ng/g in dust. Average values of anti-DP fractional abundance (f(anti) ratio) in hair of e-waste dismantling workers (0.55 ± 0.11) and dust from e-waste recycling workshops (0.54 ± 0.15) were significantly lower than those in other groups (0.62-0.76 means for hair and 0.66-0.76 means for dust). Significantly positive correlation between DP concentrations in dust and hair and similarity in f(anti) ratios between hair and dust suggest that ingestion of dust comprise one of the major routes for DP exposure. Significantly positive relationships were also observed between anti-Cl(11)-DP and anti-DP for both hair and dust samples with similar regression line slopes. The ratios of anti-Cl(11)-DP to anti-DP between hair and dust show no significant difference. These results suggest that anti-Cl(11)-DP in the human body is likely accumulated from the environmental matrix and not formed from biotransformation of the parent DP.

How to write an effective English title for an andrological paper? / 中华男科学杂志

The title is the epitome as well as a most important part of an article. An effective title is required to be concise, informative and sensitive to electronic retrieval. In writing an English title for an andrological paper, the Chinese author should have a good knowledge of their basic requirements, functional types, common syntactic structures and unique language features. Besides, he must be aware of the discrepancies between the Chinese and the English people in their culture-oriented ways of thinking and representation and break away from the influence of their native language so as to produce an effective and idiomatic English title.

Effect of wuhu decoction on surface co-stimulation molecule expression of peripheral dendritic cells in infants with asthma / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of Wuhu Decoction (WHD) on the expression of co-stimulation molecule of peripheral dendritic cells (DC), CD80, CD83 and CD86, in infants with asthma, in order to provide practical basis for further elucidate the action mechanism of WHD in preventing and treating infantile asthma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty infants with asthma of Fei phlegm-heat accumulation syndrome type were randomized into the treatment group treated with WHD and the control group treated with Western medicine (fluticasone propionate oral taking or inhalation). And 10 healthy infants were set as normal control. With Thomas method adopted, the DC were isolated from peripheral blood of all infants subjected. The expressions of surface co-stimulation molecules of DC, CD80, CD83 and CD86, were detected by flow cytometry. Their changes before and after treatment in different groups were analyzed and compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Expressions of CD80 and CD86 of peripheral blood DC in asthmatic infants were remarkably higher than those in the normal control (P<0.01). In the treated group, CD80 expression lowered from 18.06 +/- 4.53 before treatment to 13.18 +/- 3.02 after treatment and CD86 expression lowered from 38.61 +/- 10.54 to 29.65 +/- 8.55; while in the control group, the two expressions were lowered from 18.40 +/- 3.86 to 15.34 +/- 3.90, and from 38.29 +/- 11.67 to 35.88 +/- 13.85 respectively, the lowering in both groups were statistically significant (P<0.01 and P<0.05), but it was more significant in the treated group (P<0.05). As for CD83, no significant difference existed between groups and no change was found in either group after treatment (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>WHD can regulate the co-stimulation molecules of dendritic cells in asthma infants to reduce the expressions of CD80 and CD86.</p>

Notch1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its relation with microvascular angiogenesis / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe Notch1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and investigate its relation with microvascular angiogenesis in the tumor.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Tissue slices of 40 cases ESCC (cancer group) and 8 cases normal esophagus tissues (normal group) were obtained to analyze the expression of Notch1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) using immunohistochemistry and estimate the microvessel density (MVD) in the tumor.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Notch1 expression was significantly lower in the cancer group than in the normal group (P<0.05). In the cancer group, Notch1 expression was higher in highly differentiated than in poorly differentiated tumors (P<0.05) regardless of tumor infiltration or lymph nodes metastasis (P>0.05). VEGF expression and MVD were significantly higher in cancer group than in normal group, and showed significant differences between tumors with different differentiation degrees, infiltration and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that Notch1 expression was inversely correlated to VEGF expression.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Notch1 may be an anti-oncogene in ESCC and affects cell differentiation in early stage of the malignancy. Abnormally low expression of Notch1 in ESCC may be one of the upstream factors to induce high expression of VEGF and increased MVD. The Notch1 pathway might play a key role in microvascular angiogenesis in ESCC.</p>

Prognosis of the short-term efficacy of thymectomy for myasthenia gravis with serum protein profiles / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The extended thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (MG) is currently available, but in 20% - 40% of the patients the results were not satisfactory. There are no ideal indicators forecasting surgical results before operation. The surface enhanced laser desorption ionization-time of flight-mass spectroscopy (SELDI-TOF-MS) is a currently new technique for detection of protein profiles, and some progresses have been made in cancer diagnosis and efficacy evaluation, but there is no report on efficacy forecasting of MG surgery. This study aimed to establish an efficacy prognosis model for forecasting the efficacy of surgery for MG by analysis of serum protein profiles of MG patients before surgery.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-six MG patients 6 months after extended thymectomy were enrolled in the study. They were classified into effective or non-effective groups according to symptoms and medication. Their pre-operative blood samples were analyzed for protein profiles by the SELDI-TOF MS technique, and protein peaks were identified for establishment of the efficacy prognosis model of MG surgery. Additional 100 MG patients were subjected to model validation and their pre-operation protein profiles reviewed for post-operative results. The results were compared with those of the post-operative follow-up so as to validate the prognosis model.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For the model establishment, symptoms were improved in 33 patients and not improved in 18 patients, with an effective rate of 64.7%. Five (8.9%) patients were lost to follow-up. Within the molecular weight range of 1 000 to 20 000, 3 specific protein peaks were found to be significantly different between the effective and non-effective groups, ie M4110-76, M3394-58, and M1258-55. Using the efficacy prognosis model constructed with these data, the accuracy rate of classification was 87.9% for the effective group, and 83.3% for the non-effective group, with a total accuracy rate of 86.3%. For the model evaluation, 2 (8.9%) patients were lost to follow-up, 62 patients were effective and 36 were non- effective. By comparing with the real results of follow-up with 65 effective and 33 non-effective patients with an effective rate of 66.3%, the accuracy rate of prediction by the prognosis model was 86.2% for the effective group, and was 81.8% for the non-effective group with a total accuracy rate of 84.5%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>By protein profiles analysis of pre-operative blood samples taken from MG patients with the SELDI-TOF MS technique, protein peaks correlated with surgery efficacy in MG patients can be found for primary forecasting short-term efficacy of surgery for MG patients.</p>

English writing mechanics for andrological papers need standardization among Chinese authors / 中华男科学杂志

Mechanics play as essential a role as language presentation is the English writing of an andrological paper, and directly influence its quality and publication. They, however, frequently fail to receive due attention. In view of the typical problems among Chinese authors in English writing, and with a wide range of SCI included medical journals for reference, the author draws on his experience as an English editor for medical journals and introduces some most important and practical English writing mechanics, aiming to contribute to further standardization and improvement of Chinese authors'English writing of andrological as well as other medical papers.

Sexual physiology and psychology of male college students and their clinical significance / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the sexual physiology and psychology of male college students and to provide schools, families and the society with reference for the sexual physiological and psychological education among college students as well as for the diagnosis and treatment of their sexual psychological disorders in Jiangsu.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>An investigation was conducted by using a questionnaire on sexual physiology and psychology among randomly selected 3786 male college students from 18 universities in Jiangsu.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As regards sexual education, 5.49% of the subjects were satisfied with their schools, 78.18% wanted it to be strengthened and 68.36% obtained their sexual knowledge from the internet. Concerning sexual physiology, 68.78% experienced their first spermatorrhea at the age of 12-15. As for sexual psychology, 85.79% loved a certain female inwardly, and 70.99% experienced love affairs. With regard to sexual activity, 25.54% had sexual experience.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>College students nowadays are relatively open in sexual ideology, immature in sexual psychology and lacking in sexual knowledge, while schools are inefficient in sexual education. Their sexual health calls for joint attention from schools, families and the society, particularly schools, which need to establish special offices for research and education on sexual health.</p>

Effect of thoracic duct ligation during transthoracic esophagectomy on the prevention of post-operative chylothorax in different tumor locations / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of thoracic duct ligation during transthoracic esophagectomy on preventing post-operative chylothorax in different tumor locations.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between March 2003 and June 2007, 243 patients with thoracic esophageal carcinoma underwent esophageal resection in our hospital. All the cases were divided into five groups according to tumor localization, including cervical, upper middle, middle, lower middle and lower sections. Each was then subdivided into 2 groups: with and without intraoperative thoracic duct ligation. Statistical analysis was carried out to evaluate the relevance between ligation and non-ligation of the thoracic duct during esophagectomy and the incidence of post-operative chylothorax.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 8 cases of post-operative chylothorax was recorded and the incidence was 3.3%. Incidence with respect to tumor location was as follows: cervical section: ligation subgroup 3 cases and non-ligation subgroup 5 cases; upper middle section: no one for both ligation and non-ligation subgroups; middle section: ligation subgroup 0/26 and non-ligation subgroup 1/28 (3.6%); lower middle section: ligation subgroup 1/39 (2.6%) and non-ligation subgroup 1/35 (2.9%); lower section: ligation subgroup 1/37 (2.7%) and non-ligation subgroup 2/44 (4.5%). Logistic regression analysis revealed no significant difference between ligation and non-ligation subgroup in the prevention of post-operative chylothorax (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Thoracic duct ligation as preventive measure can not decrease the incidence of chylothorax secondary to esophagectomy.</p>

An investigation on AIDS knowledge of Chinese peacekeepers in Liberia and effects of relevant health education / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate and analyze AIDS knowledge of the Chinese peacekeepers in Liberia and to evaluate the effects of AIDS education in order to conduct more effective health education of AIDS and increase AIDS knowledge among the Chinese peacekeepers in the areas with a high incidence of AIDS.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A questionnaire was designed on the basis of that recommended by WHO to investigate the knowledge of AIDS among the 528 Chinese peacekeepers in Liberia respectively before and after relevant health education, and the results were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was an obvious deficiency in AIDS knowledge among the subjects before the education and an evident increase after it, and the difference was significant (P <0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The Chinese peacekeepers are deficient in AIDS knowledge, and the deficiency can be effectively improved by relevant health education, which is essential for the health of the Chinese peacekeepers in the areas with a high incidence of AIDS.</p>

Scavenger of reactive oxygen metabolites reverses the ROM induced inhibition of NK cell-mediated killing effect on K562 cell in vitro / 中国实验血液学杂志

To investigate the effect of a new reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) scavenger as immune adjuvant in NK cell-mediated killing effect on K562 cell, IL-2 and PHA were used to activate monocyte to produce ROM, and different concentrations of tiopronin as ROM scavenger was used in the cultivated systems with different ratio of monocytes plus NK cells and K562 cells, while histamine dihydrochloride (DHT) with different concentrations was used as positive control. The reuslts indicated that after IL-2 and PHA were supplemented in the cultivated systems mixing with NK cells and K562 cells as the E/T ratio was 10/1, the ROM production increased from 33.17 +/- 25.02 U/ml to 223.59 +/- 59.41 U/ml (P < 0.05) while K562 cell inhibition rate (KIR) increased from 65.56% to 85.89% (P < 0.05). When the monocytes as the E/MO ratios of 10/2, 10/5 and 10/10 were supplemented respectively, ROM production increased correspondingly (ROM production was 389.79 +/- 43.83 U/ml, 456.74 +/- 42.77 U/ml, 601.42 +/- 21.92 U/ml, respectively), and KIR was on the other round (KIR was 82.36%, 81.36%, 48.09% respectively). Tiopronin, DHT were used in the K562 + NK + MO + IL-2/PHA cultivated systems as the E/MO ratio was 10/2, the ROM production also decreased from 389.79 +/- 43.83 U/ml to -1.20 +/- 60.70 U/ml, 50.21 +/- 22.4 U/ml (P < 0.05), respectively, however KIR increased from 82.53% to 96.09% and 94.64% either (P < 0.05). Higher concentrations of tiopronin and DHT were used, ROM production decreased accordingly. There showed a reverse correlation between ROM production and KIR (r = -0.518). When E/MO ratio was 10/5 or 10/10, tiopronin at any testing concentration and DHT at the higher testing concentration could reduce the ROM production (P < 0.05), but did not improve KIR significantly (P > 0.05). Tiopronin was as good as DHT in ameliorating KIR (P > 0.05) and better than DHT in scavenging ROM (P < 0.05). It is concluded that (1) Monocytes are the major resources of ROM, and the ROM derived from monocytes can disable NK cells in killing neoplasm cells (K562 cells); (2) A new ROM scavenger, tiopronin, can scavenge ROM effectively, and reverse the ROM induced inhibition of NK cell-mediated killing of K562 cell in a certain extent. And tiopronin is better than DHT in scavenging ROM, and as good as DHT in up-regulating KIR. The new ROM scavenger tiopronin with less side effect may take the place of DHT as adjuvant during the adoptive immuno-therapy in leukemia.