[Neuropsychological development of late preterm infants and early term infants at the age of 1 year: a follow-up study].

OBJECTIVE: To study the level of neuropsychological development in late preterm infants and early term infants at the age of 1 year. METHODS: A total of 1 257 children with a corrected age of 1 year were enrolled as subjects. According to gestational age at birth, they were divided into an early preterm group (28-33+6 weeks), a late preterm group (34-36+6 weeks), an early term group (37-38+6 weeks), and a full-term group (39-41+6 weeks). Gesell Developmental Schedules were used to assess the neuropsychological development of the children, and the groups were compared in terms of neuropsychological development at the age of 1 year. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the developmental quotients of the five functional areas (adaptability, gross motor, fine motor, language and social ability) between the four groups at the age of 1 year (P<0.05), and the full-term infants had the highest development quotients, followed by the early term infants, the late preterm infants, and the early preterm infants (P<0.05). The full-term infants had the lowest rate of developmental delay in each functional area, while the early preterm infants had the highest rate (P<0.05). Compared with the full-term infants, the early term infants had a higher risk of developmental delay in adaptability (OR=1.796, P<0.05), and the late preterm infants had a higher risk of developmental delay in adaptability (OR=2.651, P<0.05) and fine motor (OR=2.679, P<0.05), while the early preterm infants had a higher risk of developmental delay in adaptability (OR=4.069, P<0.05), fine motor (OR=3.710, P<0.05), and social ability (OR=3.515, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of neuropsychological developmental delay decreases with the increase in gestational age in children at the age of 1 year, with a dose-response effect. There are varying degrees of developmental delay in early term infants and late preterm infants, and health care follow-up for early term infants and late preterm infants should be taken seriously.

Effectiveness of a Kindergarten-Based Intervention for Preventing Childhood Obesity.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Interventions to prevent childhood obesity targeting school age children have mostly reported limited effectiveness, suggesting such prevention programs may need to start at an earlier age, but evidence has been scarce. We reported a pilot study aiming to demonstrate the feasibility of a multifaceted intervention for preschool children and to provide a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness. METHODS: This nonrandomized controlled trial recruited children aged 3 to 6 years from 6 kindergartens in Guangzhou, China. Based on the preference of the School and Parents Committees, 4 kindergartens (648 children) received a 3-component intervention (training of kindergarten staff, initiating healthy curriculum for children, and close collaboration between families and kindergartens) over 12 months, while the other 2 kindergartens (336 children), serving as controls, received routine health care provision. Outcome measures were the changes in BMI z score between baseline and the end of 12 months, and the prevalence of postintervention children who were overweight or obese. RESULTS: By 12 months, children within the intervention group had a smaller BMI z score increase (0.24) compared to the control (0.41), with a difference of -0.31 (95% CI -0.47 to -0.15). The prevalence of overweight or obesity was also lower among the intervention group at the end of the study (OR: 0.43, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.96), adjusted for baseline status. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated a multicomponent health behavior intervention might be effective in reducing the prevalence of obesity, but the longer term effects will need confirmation from randomized controlled trials.

The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS).

The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS) is a large-scale prospective observational study investigating the role of social, biological and environmental influences on pregnancy and child health and development in an urban setting in southern China. Pregnant women who reside in Guangzhou and who attend Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center (GWCMC) for antenatal care in early pregnancy (<20 weeks' gestation) are eligible for inclusion. Study recruitment commenced in February 2012, with an overall participation rate of 76.3%. Study recruitment will continue until December 2018 to achieve the target sample size of 30,000 mother-child pairs. At 30 April 2016, a total of 75,422 questionnaires have been collected, while 14,696 live births have occurred with planned follow-up of cohort children until age 18 years. During the same period a total of 1,053,000 biological samples have been collected from participants, including maternal, paternal and infant blood, cord blood, placenta, umbilical cord, and maternal and infant stool samples. The dataset has been enhanced by record linkage to routine health and administrative records. We plan future record linkage to school enrolment and national examination records.

Spontaneous nanoinjection with carbon nanotubes: a molecular dynamics simulation study.

Based on the interactions between the zinc finger protein (ZNF) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), we design a nanodevice for injecting ZNF spontaneously. The new injection device involves four essential components: a small-diameter SWCNT as a plunger, a large-diameter SWCNT as a tube as well as the nozzle and needle, ZNF and water solution. The injection behavior is demonstrated and analyzed using molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of the diameter, chirality and length of SWCNTs on the injection behavior are analyzed with the center of mass distance, the van der Waals interaction between ZNF and SWCNTs, the root-mean-square deviation of ZNF, and the radius of gyration for ZNF.

[Epidemiological study on the trend of accidental deaths among children under five in Guangzhou, 2001 - 2010].

OBJECTIVE: To study the trend of accidental death among children under 5 years of age. METHODS: A survey on accidental death among children was performed in Guangzhou to compare the data from the national monitoring program on the deaths under five in the same period during 2001 - 2010. Data on mortality and causes of injures were adjusted by missing reports. RESULTS: Mortality rates on injuries were decreasing annually from 2001 to 2010. Comparing with 2001, the magnitude of the drop in mortality among the 0, 1 - 4 and under 5 year groups were 72.02%, 77.17% and 74.66% respectively, with statistically significant differences (P = 0.000). During the 10 years of observation, data showed a dropping trend (P = 0.000) of the mortalities on drowning, traffic accident, suffocation and falling, especially on drowning and suffocation. The main causes of death were suffocation in the 0 year group, drowning in the 1-2-year group, traffic accident and poisoning in the 3-year group, traffic accident and falling in the 4-year group. The accidental deaths happened in 'C area' which including Huadu, Conghua, Zengcheng, Panyu and Nansha, with the total proportion of accidental death in Guangzhou as 75.69%. CONCLUSION: The mortality of accidental deaths among children under 5 years of age in Guangzhou had been decreasing during 2001 - 2010, mainly owing to the practice of intervention programs on drowning and suffocation, suggesting the necessity of integrating the health education programs on accidental injury with the healthcare management system in children in the country, focusing on the suburban and county levels where economy was relatively undeveloped or with more floating population.

[Study on the status of unintentional injuries in children under age 7 in Guangzhou].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence and distribution of unintentional injuries in children under age 7 in Guangzhou. METHODS: Data was descriptively analyzed from the Guangzhou Unintentional Injuries Surveillance System among 470 770 children under age 7 living scatter or collectively. RESULTS: The incidence rates of unintentional injuries among children in Guangzhou was 1.48%, among which the incidence rates were: living scatter as 1.11% living collectively as 1.66%, living in urban areas as 1.36% in rural as 2.52%. In order, the proportion of main causes of children's unintentional injuries were as follows: falls (70.54%), animal injuries (8.48%), burn and scald (5.75%), blunt force injuries (3.92%), and road traffic injuries (RTIs) (3.48%). The main body parts being injured were head and face (60.00%), wrist and hand (15.48%), knee and leg (11.70%), elbow and forearm (4.54%), shoulder and arm (2.99%). The degrees of children's unintentional injuries were as follows: mild impairment (85.35%), moderate impairment (9.12%), and severe impairment (0.57%). Places that the patients went were as follows: hospital outpatient department or emergency room (49.66%), inpatient department or ICU (2.06%), home and kindergarten (43.34%). CONCLUSION: The overall incidence rate of children's unintentional injuries under age 7 in Guangzhou was 1.48%, with main causes as fall, animal injuries, burn and scald, blunt force injuries, and RTIs. There were considerable differences of characteristics and distributions on age and areas among the patients.

Tea catechins induce the conversion of preformed lysozyme amyloid fibrils to amorphous aggregates.

Natural polyphenols are major constituents of plant foods and herbs. Numerous studies have demonstrated that natural polyphenols inhibited amyloid formation and destabilized the preformed amyloid fibrils. However, the molecular mechanism for the antiamyloidogenesis of polyphenols is still unclear and remains to be further explored. In the present study, the preformed lysozyme fibrils were used as an in vitro model to study the disruptive effects of tea catechins on amyloid fibrils. Results showed that tea catechins induced the conversion of lysozyme fibrils to amorphous aggregates and inhibited fibril-induced hemolysis. Hydroquinone also showed disruptive effect on the fibrils, whereas phenol and two typical antioxidants, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol, did not affect the fibrillar structure, suggesting that polyphenolic structure is essential for fibril deposition. Correlation analyses indicate that the fibril-depositing effects were related to both the antioxidative potency and hydrophobicity of tea catechins. These findings provide new evidence for comprehensive understanding of the interaction between natural polyphenols and amyloid fibrils.