Harmful planktonic Microcystis and benthic Oscillatoria-induced toxicological effects on the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea): A survey on histopathology, behavior, oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation.

Cyanobacterial blooms are worldwide distributed and threaten aquatic ecosystems and public health. The current studies mainly focus on the adverse impacts of planktonic cyanobacteria or pure cyanotoxins, while the benthic cyanobacteria-induced ecotoxic effects are relatively lacking. The cyanobacterial cell-induced toxic effects on aquatic organisms might be more serious and complex than the pure cyanotoxins and crude extracts of cyanobacteria. This study explored the chronic effects of toxin-producing planktonic Microcystis aeruginosa (producing microcystin) and benthic Oscillatoria sp. (producing cylindrospermopsin) on the behaviors, tissue structures, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation of the Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) under 28-d exposure. The data showed that both M. aeruginosa and Oscillatoria sp. can decrease the behaviors associated with the feeding activity and induce tissue damage (i.e. gill and digestive gland) in clams. Furthermore, two kinds of cyanobacteria can alter the antioxidant enzyme activities and increase antioxidant, lipid oxidation product, and neurotransmitter degrading enzyme levels in clams. Moreover, two kinds of cyanobacteria can activate apoptosis-related enzyme activities and enhance the proinflammatory cytokine levels of clams. In addition, two kinds of cyanobacteria can disturb the transcript levels of genes linked with oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation. These results suggested harmful cyanobacteria can threaten the survival and health of clams, while the benthic cyanobacteria-induced adverse effects deserve more attention. Our finding also indicated that it is necessary to focus on the entire algal cell-induced ecotoxicity when concerning the ecological impacts of cyanobacterial blooms.

Expression and functional significance of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 in uveal melanoma.

Uveal melanoma (UVM), an uncommon yet potentially life-threatening ocular cancer, arises from melanocytes in the uveal tract of the eye. The exploration of novel oncotargets for UVM is of paramount importance. In this study, we show that PCK1 (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1) expression is upregulated in various UVM tissues as well as in primary UVM cells and immortalized lines. Furthermore, bioinformatics studies reveal that PCK1 overexpression in UVM correlates with advanced disease stages and poor patient survival. Genetic silencing (utilizing viral shRNA) or knockout (via CRISPR/Cas9) of PCK1 significantly curtailed cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle progression, and motility, while provoking apoptosis in primary and immortalized UVM cells. Conversely, ectopic overexpression of PCK1, achieved through a viral construct, bolstered UVM cell proliferation and migration. Gαi3 expression and Akt phosphorylation were reduced following PCK1 silencing or knockout, but increased after PCK1 overexpression in UVM cells. Restoring Akt phosphorylation through a constitutively active mutant Akt1 (S473D) ameliorated the growth inhibition, migration suppression, and apoptosis induced by PCK1 silencing in UVM cells. Additionally, ectopic expression of Gαi3 restored Akt activation and counteracted the anti-UVM cell effects by PCK1 silencing. In vivo, the growth of subcutaneous xenografts of primary human UVM cells was significantly inhibited following intratumoral injection of adeno-associated virus (aav) expressing PCK1 shRNA. PCK1 depletion, Gαi3 downregulation, Akt inhibition, proliferation arrest, and apoptosis were detected in PCK1-silenced UVM xenografts. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that PCK1 promotes UVM cell growth possibly by modulating the Gαi3-Akt signaling pathway.

Design, Synthesis, and Pharmacological Evaluation of Isoindoline Analogues as New HPK1 Inhibitors.

Hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1) is an important negative regulator in T-cell receptor signaling and as a promising key target for immunotherapy. Herein, based on the reported HPK1 inhibitor 2 featuring an isofuranone component, a structural optimization approach was conducted leading to several series of derivatives characterized by containing an isoindoline structural motif. Compound 49 was identified as a new potent HPK1 inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.9 nM, more potent than compound 2 (5.5 nM). It also has an improved IV profile in rats and enhanced aqueous solubility. It effectively inhibited pSLP76 and reinvigorated T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling, promoting T-cell function and cytokine production both in naïve and antigen-specific T cells. Furthermore, compound 49 reversed the inhibition on T-cell activity mediated by classic immunosuppressive factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME). In the murine CT-26 tumor model, this compound reinvigorated the T cell and synergistically enhanced the antitumor efficacy of anti-PD1 at a well-tolerant dosage.

Disaster response strategies of governments and social organizations: From the perspective of infrastructure damage and asymmetric resource dependence.

Natural disaster response is commonly regarded as a dynamic process that reflects intricate relationships between physical and social factors. The resilience of physical infrastructure impacts the availability of emergency resources, while asymmetric resource dependence among emergency cooperation organizations influences the effectiveness of the coordinated emergency response. This study has formulated differential game encompassing three emergency response models: autonomous participation, government-led, and collaborative response. These models have been designed to account for scenarios involving infrastructure damage and asymmetric resource dependence scenarios to compute the optimal level of emergency response efforts by both government and social organizations, the government cost-sharing ratio, the optimal level of emergency resource availability, and disaster response performance. The results indicated that, under specific conditions, government cost-sharing can motivate social organizations to actively engage in disaster response, leading to improvement in disaster response performance. The collaborative emergency response model outperformed the other models regarding optimal emergency response strategy and disaster response performance. Notably, infrastructure damage and asymmetric resource dependence lead to a reduction in the optimal level of emergency response efforts and system disaster response performance for both parties. Furthermore, the impact of infrastructure damage on disaster response performance and the optimization of emergency resource availability levels are shown to be more substantial than the effects of asymmetric resource dependence. This research provided theoretical support for strategic decision-making in natural disaster response and is more aligned with disaster response.

Macrophage/microglia polarization for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Macrophages/microglia are immune system defense and homeostatic cells that develop from bone marrow progenitor cells. According to the different phenotypes and immune responses of macrophages (Th1 and Th2), the two primary categories of polarized macrophages/microglia are those conventionally activated (M1) and alternatively activated (M2). Macrophage/microglial polarization is a key regulating factor in the development of inflammatory disorders, cancers, metabolic disturbances, and neural degeneration. Macrophage/microglial polarization is involved in inflammation, oxidative stress, pathological angiogenesis, and tissue healing processes in ocular diseases, particularly in diabetic retinopathy (DR). The functional phenotypes of macrophages/microglia affect disease progression and prognosis, and thus regulate the polarization or functional phenotype of microglia at different DR stages, which may offer new concepts for individualized therapy of DR. This review summarizes the involvement of macrophage/microglia polarization in physiological situations and in the pathological process of DR, and discusses the promising role of polarization in personalized treatment of DR.

Advances in artificial intelligence models and algorithms in the field of optometry.

The rapid development of computer science over the past few decades has led to unprecedented progress in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Its wide application in ophthalmology, especially image processing and data analysis, is particularly extensive and its performance excellent. In recent years, AI has been increasingly applied in optometry with remarkable results. This review is a summary of the application progress of different AI models and algorithms used in optometry (for problems such as myopia, strabismus, amblyopia, keratoconus, and intraocular lens) and includes a discussion of the limitations and challenges associated with its application in this field.

Evolution dynamic of intelligent construction strategy of coal mine enterprises in China.

The intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises is the fundamental strategy to prevent and curb major coal mine accidents, and the core technical support to realize the high-quality development of the coal industry. Considering the intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises enabled by emerging information technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, this paper constructs a Moran process stochastic evolutionary game model of intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises. Based on the fixed point probability of the Moran process, the probability of successful invasion of the "intelligent construction" strategy and the "traditional production" strategy in the limited coal mining enterprise group is calculated. By comparing the probability of individual fixed point and the probability of neutral mutation, the dominant condition of the strategy under strong selection and weak selection is obtained. The research shows that external stochastic factors, the number and scale of enterprises, the intensity of capacity replacement and the cost-benefit of intelligent construction are the main factors affecting the intelligent construction behavior of coal mining enterprises. When the intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises is in the cultivation period, the intelligent construction of underground coal mines dominated by stochastic factors can be effectively promoted by increasing the intensity of capacity reduction replacement. For the open-pit coal mine dominated by expected payoffs, reducing the number of mining rights and improving the concentration of open-pit coal mining industry will have a better effect on promoting its intelligent cultivation process. When the intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises is in the mature stage, with the improvement of the cost and benefits of intelligent construction, "intelligent construction" strategy will become a general consensus of coal mining enterprises. In addition, this paper analyzes the relevant parameters through specific examples to verify the effectiveness of the conclusions, which provides a scientific basis for effectively accelerating the intelligent construction of coal mining enterprises and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the coal industry.

Analysis of risk factors associated with secondary open-angle glaucoma in Posner-Schlossman syndrome: A retrospective case-control study.

Background: Posner-Schlossman syndrome (PSS) is a relatively rare cause of chronic secondary open-angle glaucoma (OAG), but the exact cause is unknown. This study aimed to determine potential risk factors for OAG secondary to PSS and to provide a basis for early intervention in the development of PSS. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Nine cases diagnosed with PSS and seven cases diagnosed with OAG secondary to PSS were selected and their aqueous humor assays at the first occurrence of PSS were collected. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, disease duration, eye laterality, baseline visual acuity, maximum IOP, corneal endothelial cell density, visual field, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, cup-to-disk ratio, keratic precipitates, anterior chamber inflammation, and aqueous humor cytokine assay results were compared between the two groups. Results: The cytomegalovirus (CMV) positivity was 55.60% in patients with PSS and 100% in patients with OAG secondary to PSS. Corneal endothelial cell density was lower in patients with CMV-positive PSS (p = 0.0116). Concentrations of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), interleukin (IL)-6, and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) in patients with PSS and IL-8, IL-6, and VCAM in patients with OAG secondary to PSS were higher than standard reference values; and IL-8 concentration was significantly higher in patients with OAG secondary to PSS (p = 0.0229). There were significant positive correlations between IL-8 and IL-6, IL-6 and VCAM (p = 0.0304, p = 0.0172) and a significant negative correlation between bFGF and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (p = 0.0497). Simultaneous increase of IL-8 and IL-6 concentration levels could be used as a cytokine indicator to predict secondary OAG in patients with PSS (p = 0.0095). Conclusion: Simultaneous increase of IL-8 and IL-6 concentrations may be an important cause of accelerated secondary OAG in patients with PSS, with IL-8 playing a more critical role. IL-8 and IL-6 may be more reliable cytokine markers for predicting secondary OAG in PSS, However, the high possibility of secondary OAG in patients with CMV-positive PSS should not be ignored. Regulation of IL-8 and IL-6 levels may be a new strategy of preventing OAG secondary to PSS.

Regulatory Effects of Reward Anticipation and Target on Attention Processing of Emotional Stimulation.

Studies suggest that reward and emotion are interdependent. However, there are discrepancies regarding the interaction between these variables. Some researchers speculate that the inconsistent findings may be due to different targets being used. Although reward and emotion both affect attention, it is not clear whether their impacts are independent. This study examined the impact of reward anticipation on emotion processing for different targets. A cue-target paradigm was used, and behavior and eye-tracking data were recorded in an emotion or sex recognition task under the conditions of reward and non-reward anticipation. The results showed that when the target was related to the emotional attribute of the stimulus, the reward promoted the processing target information, thereby generating reward-oriented attention. When the target was unrelated to the emotional attributes of the stimulus, the reward did not promote the processing target information, and at the same time, individuals had negative emotional biases toward the emotional faces. The results revealed that, in addition to affecting the attention to emotional faces independently, the target regulated the promotion of reward anticipation to emotional attention and attention bias toward negative stimuli.

Is There a Paradox of Aging: When the Negative Aging Stereotype Meets the Positivity Effect in Older Adults.

Background/Study Context: Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) states that the positivity effect is a result of older adults' emotion regulation and that older adults derive more emotional satisfaction from prioritizing positive information processing. The authors explored whether the positivity effect appeared when the negative aging stereotype was activated in older adults and also whether the effect differed between mixed and unmixed valence conditions. METHODS: Sixty younger (18-23 years of age) and 60 older (60-87 years of age) adults were randomly assigned to a control group and a priming group, in which the negative aging stereotype was activated. All the participants were asked to select 15 words that best described the elderly from a mixed-word list (positive and negative words were mixed together) and from an unmixed-word list (positive and negative words were separated). RESULTS: Older adults in the control group selected more positive words, whereas among younger adults, selection did not differ by valence in either the mixed- or unmixed-word list conditions. There were no differences between the positive and negative word choices of the younger and older adults in the priming group. We calculated the differences between the numbers of positive and negative words, and the differences in the older adults' word choices were larger than those among the younger adults; the differences were also larger in the control group than in the priming group. CONCLUSION: The positivity effect worked by choosing positive stimuli rather than avoiding negative stimuli. The role of emotion regulation in older adults was limited, and when the positivity effect faced the effect of the negative aging stereotype, the negative stereotype effect was dominant. Future research should explore the changes in the positivity effect in the face of a positive aging stereotype and what roles other factors (e.g., activation level of the stereotype, arousal level of affective words) might play.

[Effect of Berberine on the Insulin Resistance and TLR4/IKKbeta/NF-kappaB Signaling Pathways in Skeletal Muscle of Obese Rats with Insulin Resistance].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the possible mechanism of berberine improve insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of obese rats. METHODS: Forty Wistar rats were divided into normal control group (NC group, n =10) and high fat food group (HF group, n=30). After the obese model rats established successfully, the rats of NC group (n=10) and HF group (n=10) were sacrificed. The level of fasting plasma endotoxin (ET) was detected. The expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA in skeletal muscle were detected by real time quantitative PCR. The expression of TLR4, IkappaB kinase beta (IKKbeta), phospho-IKKbeta(Ser181) (p-IKKbeta(Ser181)), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), insulin receptor (IR), insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), phospho-IRS-1(Ser307) (p-IRS-1(ser307)) and the tyrosine phosphorylation of IR and IRS-1 (p-IR(Tyr) and p-IRS-1(Tyr)) protein in skeletal muscle were detected by Western blot. The twenty HF group rats were randomly divided into two group: the fat model control group (FC group, n=10) were fed with high fat diet and distilled water. The fat berberine group (FB group, n=10) were fed with high fat diet and berberine. All rats were sacrificed after effective interventions of eight weeks. The same indexes as the first part of experiment were detected. Results The results showed that the level of ET was increased. The TLR4/IKKneta/NF-kappaB signaling pathway is activated and the expression of TNF-alpha was increased of the skeletal muscle in obese rats. However, the insulin signaling pathways of the skeletal muscle in obese rats was inhibited. Berberine could reduce the level of ET of obese rats, down-regulate the TLR4/IKKbeta/NF- kappaB inflammation signaling pathway and improve insulin resistance of skeletal muscle in obese rats. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that berberine could reduce the level of ET of obese rats, down-regulate the TLR4/IKKbeta/NF-kappaB inflammation signaling pathway in skeletal muscle and berberine can improve insulin resistance of skeletal muscle through inhibiting the active of the TLR4/IKKbeta/NF-kappaB signaling pathway.

[Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Grafts for Neonatal Rats Model of HIBD: the Mechanism of PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway for umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) treating in neonatal rats with hypoxia-ischemia brain damage (HIBD). METHODS: P10 SD rats were divided into sham group, MSCs group, inhibitor (LY 294002) group (LY group) and HIBD group randomly. To establish a neonatal rat model of HIBD, UC-MSCs labeled with Brd U were transplanted into the lateral ventricle of rats. At 24 and 48 h after transplantation, the number of apoptotic cells was detected by TUNEL, while the expression of caspase3 protein and phosphorylation of Akt (P-Akt) were quantified by Western blot. RESULTS: At 24 and 48 h after transplantation, both the apoptotic cells and caspase3 protein expression in MSCs group were less than those in LY group and HIBD group (P<0. 05), while the expression of P-Akt was higher than those in LY group and HIBD group (P<0.05), and with the passage of time after transplantation, the expression of each index showed a downward trend. CONCLUSION: The apoptotic cells of brain and the expression of caspase3 protein decrease, while the expression of P-Akt increase. PI3K/Akt signaling pathway may be an important mechanism for UC-MSCs transplantation in HIBD rats.

[The risk factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia in newborn and the changes of isolated pathogens].

OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in newborn and the profiles of isolated pathogens. METHODS: The clinical data of 179 neonates in the previous group (from December 2005 to December 2008) and 331 neonates in the present group (from January 2009 to January 2012) admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and received mechanical ventilation for equal or longer than 48 hours were respectively reviewed and analyzed,and their isolated pathogen profile and drug sensitivity were also compared in two groups. RESULTS: The incidence of VAP in the previous group and the present group were 22.35% and 20.24% respectively, no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05) was observed. Gram-negative bacteria was the main pathogens (93.40%), the first 5 common pathogens in the previous group were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. However, the first 5 of isolated gram-negative pathogens in the present group were somewhat different from the previous group, which were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. The drug sensitivity test showed that these pathogens had a general decline in sensitivities to commonly used antibiotics, of which the carbapenem antibiotic drug sensitivity decreased significantly, there was statistically significant difference between the previous group and the present group (P < 0.05). The risk factors of VAP include the duration of mechanical ventilation (OR = 5.680, 95% CI: 2.867-11.253), the frequency of tracheal intubation (OR = 2.219, 95% CI: 1.037- 4.748), birth weight (OR = 2. 127, 95% CI: 1.067-4.238) and neonatal asphyxia (OR = 2.025, 95% CI: 1.079-3.799) as well as the duration of hospital stay (OR = 2.012, 95% CI: 1.215-3.967). CONCLUSIONS: According to the data in our hospital, the main pathogenic bacteria of VAP were gram-negative pathogens, which showed a general decline in sensitivities to commonly used antibiotics. The incidence of VAP was closely related to the duration of mechanical ventilation, the frequency of intubation, birth weight and the hospitalization as well as the neonatal asphyxia.

Incidence of brain injuries in premature infants with gestational age ≤ 34 weeks in ten urban hospitals in China.

BACKGROUND: There is a large number (1.5 million per year) of premature births in China. It is necessary to obtain the authentic incidences of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), the common brain injuries, in Chinese premature infants. The present multicenter study aimed to investigate the incidence of brain injuries in premature infants in ten urban hospitals in China. METHODS: The research proposal was designed by the Subspecialty Group of Neonatology of Pediatric Society of the Chinese Medical Association. Ten large-scale urban hospitals voluntarily joined the multicenter investigation. All premature infants with a gestational age ≤ 34 weeks in the ten hospitals were subjected to routine cranial ultrasound within three days after birth, and then to repeated ultrasound every 3-7 days till their discharge from the hospital from January 2005 to August 2006. A uniform data collection sheet was designed to record cases of brain injuries. RESULTS: The incidences of overall IVH and severe IVH were 19.7% (305/1551) and 4.6% (72/1551), respectively with 18.4% (56/305) for grade 1, 58.0% (177/305) for grade 2, 17.7% (54/305) for grade 3 and 5.9% (18/305) for grade 4 in nine hospitals. The incidences of overall PVL and cystic PVL were 5.0% (89/1792) and 0.8% (14/1792) respectively, with 84.3% (75/89) for grade 1, 13.5% (12/89) for grade 2, and 2.2% (2/89) for grade 3 in the ten hospitals. The statistically significant risk factors that might aggravate the severity of IVH were vaginal delivery (OR=1.883, 95% CI: 1.099-3.228, P=0.020) and mechanical ventilation (OR=4.150, 95% CI: 2.384-7.223, P=0.000). The risk factors that might result in the development of cystic PVL was vaginal delivery (OR=21.094, 95% CI: 2.650-167.895, P=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The investigative report can basically reflect the incidence of brain injuries in premature infants in major big cities of China. Since more than 60% of the Chinese population live in the rural areas of China, it is expected to undertake a further multicenter investigation covering the rural areas in the future.

Epidemiological survey on newborns born at the obstetric departments in hospitals in mid-southern region of China in 2005.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the situations at birth of newborns in the mid-southern region of China by performing a survey on the newborns born at urban hospitals. METHODS: A total of 23 hospitals in the mid-southern region of China were selected to participate in this survey. The data of 15,582 newborns who were born at the obstetric departments from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 were retrospectively investigated. RESULTS: The male to female ratio among newborns was 1.16:1. The incidence of preterm birth was 8.11%, while very low birth weight (VLBW) infants accounted for 0.73%. The rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery and cesarean section ware 57.52% and 40.82%, respectively, while the other delivery modes accounted for 1.66%. The incidence of neonatal asphyxia was 3.78% (0.75% for heavy asphyxia). The mortality of newborns was 0.55% (5.56% for preterm infants). CONCLUSIONS: The incidences of preterm birth and neonatal asphyxia are relatively high in the mid-southern region of China. The rate of cesarean section is abnormally high, which is due mainly to social factors.

[A survey of neonatal births in maternity departments in urban China in 2005].

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiology of births in urban China. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on neonates born in 2005 in the maternity departments of 72 urban hospitals from 22 provinces in China. RESULTS: A total of 45722 infants born between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 were enrolled. The male to female sex ratio was 1.13:1. Preterm births accounted for 8.1%. The incidence of very low birth weight infants was 0.7%. A total of 99.7% of mothers delivering at term had conceived naturally and 0.3% had experienced assisted reproduction. A total of 98.4% of mothers who delivered preterm had conceived naturally and 1.6% had experienced assisted reproduction. The proportion of vaginal deliveries was 50.8% compared to 49.2% delivered by cesarean sections. Many cesarean sections (38.1%) were due to social factors. Infants with an Apgar score≤7 at 1 minute accounted for 4.8%, and 1.6% of infants had an Apgar score≤7 at 5 minutes. Of all the infants included in the study, 7.14% were admitted to neonatal units for treatment. The death rate of all included infants was 0.74%. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of preterm births was higher in 2005 than in 2002-2003. The proportion of cesarean section deliveries was much higher in urban China than in most other Asian countries and America.

Epidemiologic survey on hospitalized neonates in China.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a nationwide epidemiologic survey on the neonates in urban hospitals with an attempt to understand the disease spectrum and treatment outcomes of hospitalized neonates in China. METHODS: The clinical data of 43,289 hospitalized neonates from 86 hospitals in 47 Chinese cities (22 provinces) between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The male:female ratio was 1.73:1. Premature infants accounted for 26.2% of the hospitalized neonates, which was higher than that reported in 2002 (19.7%). The top three diseases during the neonatal period were jaundice, pneumonia, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. The incidences of pneumonia, meconium aspiration syndrome, and bilirubin encephalopathy in term infants were higher than those in premature infants, while the incidences of asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome, and pulmonary hemorrhage in term infants were lower than those in premature infants. The incidences of asphyxia, small for gestational age infant, and wet lung were higher in neonates whose mother had pregnancy induced hypertension. The outcomes of these hospitalized neonates included: recovered, 63.9%; improved, 27.3%; discharged due to the family's own decisions, 7.6%, and died, 1.2%. Nearly half (46.4%) of the neonatal death occurred within 24 hrs after admission. CONCLUSION: The incidence of premature birth shows an increasing trend among hospitalized neonates. Since the neonatal deaths mainly occur within 24 hrs after admission, monitoring during this period should be enhanced.

A survey of neonatal births in the maternal departments in urban China 2005.

OBJECTIVE: The authors studied the epidemiology of births in urban China. STUDY DESIGN: The authors conducted a retrospective study using data from the perinatal dataset of women delivering live births in 2005 at the maternity departments of 72 hospitals from 47 urban areas of 22 provinces in China. RESULTS: A total of 45,722 infants born from Jan 1, 2005 to Dec 31, 2005 were enrolled. (I) Male to female ratio was 1.13:1; (II) 8.1% of infants were born preterm; (III) The incidence of very low birth weight infants was 0.7%; (IV) A total of 99.7% of women delivering at term were naturally conceived and 0.3% had experienced assisted reproduction. Whereas 1.6% in women delivering preterm had assisted reproductive; (V) The total cesarean delivery rate was 49.2% compared to 50.8% of vaginal birth. Most cesarean delivery (38.1%) were due to social factors; (VI) Overall, 4.8% of infants had an Apgar of less than 7 at 1 minute, 1.6% less than 7 at 5 minutes; (VII) Of all the infants, 7.14% were admitted to neonatal units and death rate was 0.74% in all infants. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of preterm births was still higher in 2005 than that in 2002 and total caesarian delivery rate was much higher in urban China than that in America as well as most Asia countries.

[An epidemiologic investigation of newborns from obstetric departments in the central south region of China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the birth information of newborn infants from obstetric departments in the Central South Region of China. METHODS: A retrospective investigation was carried out in 15582 newborns from obstetric departments of 23 hospitals in the Central South Region of China between January 1 and December 31 of 2005. RESULTS: The sex ratio (male/female) of neonates was 1.16∶1. The proportion of preterm infants was 8.11%. The very low birth weight infants accounted for 0.73%. The neonates born by spontaneous labor accounted for 57.52%. Cesarean sections accounted for 40.82% (social factor of cesarean section: 29.91%). The incidence of neonatal asphyxia was 3.78%, in which 0.75% of the cases were severe asphyxia. The mortality of newborn infants was 0.55%, in which the mortality of preterm infants was 5.56%. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of preterm infants and the incidence of neonatal asphyxia is high in the Central South Region of China. The proportion of births delivered by cesarean section is high, and social factors are probably responsible for the high rate.

Changes in beta(1) integrin in renal tubular epithelial cells after intrauterine asphyxia of rabbit pups.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the role of beta(1) integrin in acute renal tubular injury caused by intrauterine asphyxia of neonatal rabbits by exploring the distribution and expression changes in beta(1) integrin and its mRNA in renal tubular epithelial cells. METHODS: A catheter was used to temporarily block the abdominal aortas of New Zealand pregnant rabbits in order to set up the intrauterine asphyxia animal model. The rabbit pups were randomly divided into control, asphyxia, and calpain inhibitor intervention groups and their renal tubular tissues were examined at 2 h after asphyxia. Immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization were used to examine the expression of beta(1) integrin and its mRNA, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to show the proteolysis of beta(1) integrin. Calpain inhibitor I was used to show the protective effect of keeping beta(1) integrin from being hydrolyzed after asphyxia. RESULTS: (1) Normally, beta(1) integrin was located exclusively at the basal surface of renal tubular epithelial cells. After asphyxia a large amount of beta(1) integrin shifted from the basal surface to the cytoplasma and the lateral and apical surfaces and its expression decreased significantly, with simultaneous damage to renal tubular integrity and structure, many exfoliated cells and cell fragments obstructed the tubular lumen. (2) The mRNA of beta(1) integrin was mainly expressed in the cytoplasma. After asphyxia its expression increased significantly. (3) Proteolysis of beta(1) integrin was evident after asphyxia, but was significantly reduced in the calpain inhibitor intervention group. Calpain inhibitor I prevented the decrease and dislocation of beta(1) integrin and protected renal tubular integrity and structure. CONCLUSION: Intrauterine asphyxia caused proteolysis of beta(1) integrin, with reduced expression and depolarized distribution, leading to tubular lumen obstruction and renal tubule destruction. Damage to beta(1) integrin and the renal tubule was related to the activation of calpain, and calpain inhibitor curtailed these effects.