A biomedical entity association evolution network was constructed by mining the implicit associations in PubMed-covered literature, which can help scientific researchers to form new scientific hypotheses, to analyze the topological features of associated network, to study the scientific literature-enriched knowledge structure, associa-tions, development rules, to introduce new visual angles and methods for literature-based knowledge discovery, and to improve the knowledge discovery efficiency.

Objective To investigate the change of serum cystatin C (CC) level and its clinical significance in elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS),and to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum CC for renal impairment in elderly OSAHS patients.Methods Elderly snoring subjects (age ≥60 years) undergoing sleep apnea monitoring in our sleep laboratory were recruited.Patients were divided into simple snoring group,mild OSAHS group,moderate OSAHS group and severe OSAHS group according to the diagnostic criteria of American academy of sleep medicine.Anthropometric characteristics,lipid profiles,blood glucose,creatinine,estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum CC were compared between groups after age,gender and basic diseases were adjusted.The independent risk factors associated with serum CC were analyzed by Spearman's rank correlation and stepwise linear regression.Results Totally 89 elderly patients [70males and 29 females,aged (68.4±6.3) years in average] were collected.21 subjects were grouped as simple snoring,14 subjects as mild OSAHS,21 subjects as moderate OSAHS and 33 subjects as severe OSAHS.There were no differences in age,gender,basic diseases (hypertension and diabetes),lipid profiles,creatinine and eGFR among groups.The levels of body mass index,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure and serum CC were higher in severe OSAHS group than in simple snoring group [(28.3±3.9) vs.(24.6±5.9),(136.55±16.14) mm Hgvs.(122.43±16.64) mm Hg,(89.18±11.92) mm Hgvs.(78.10±9.55) mm Hg,(0.95±0.22) mg/L vs.(0.76±0.13)mg/L,respectively,all P＜0.05].Serum CC was significantly correlated with apnea hypopnea index (AHI),oxygen desaturation index,creatinine,eGFR,high sensitive C reactive protein (r=0.397,0.347,0.275,－0.354,0.254 respectively,all P％0.05).Regression analysis showed that AHI was an independent factor for serum CC (β=0.449,P＜ 0.001).Conclusions Serum CC level is increased in elderly patients with severe OSAHS.AHI is an independent factor for the increase of serum CC.Serum CC can be as an index for the early impairment of renal function in patients with OSAHS.

Objective To investigate the infection of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in host animals and inapparent infection of HFRS in general population in Dongting Lake areas after floods. Methods The night trapping method was used to capture rodents. The immunofluorescence assays were used to detect the hantavirus (HV) antigens and antibodies in rodents lung and in the serum of general population. Nonconditional logistic regression was applied to analyze risk factors for inapparent infection with HV. Results In flood region,draw-near flood region and new migration region,rodent density was 6.95%,6.28%, and 8.67%, respectively, and the virus-carrying rate in rodents was 15.07%,9.25%, and 4.47%, respectively. The virus-carrying rat index was the highest in flood region (0.10). Apodemus agrarius was the dominant species. The standardized positive rate of HV antibody in general population from above mentioned regions was 4.49%, 3.11%, and 3.13%, respectively. There was no significant difference among different age or gender groups. The results of logistic regression analysis indicated that people who were involved in construction of water conservancy facilities in winter or practice of rat extermination at home were the principal factors related to inapparent infection with HV. Conclusion The virus-carrying rate in main host animals of HV in the 3 regions is high, whereas the positive rate of HV antibody is low in general population. Comprehensive measures should be taken to prevent and control HFRS, such as reinforcing surveillance of HFRS, strengthening deratization, and preventive inoculation.

Objective To establish a canine model with pulmonary thromboembolism(PTE) of selective lobar pulmonary artery embolization mimicking chronic thromboembolism, to assess the effects of an inhaled nitric oxide (NO) 20 ppm on vital signs, blood gas, hemodynamic parameters and neutrophils in the alveolar of the canine model. Methods Twenty canines were divided into four groups: group 1: sham group (n=5); group 2; ischemic lung group (PTE group without embolectomy, n=5); group 3; reperfusion lung group (PTE group with embolectomy, n=5); group 4: reperfusion lung group with inhaled NO (PTE group inhaled 20 ppm NO after embolectomy, n=5). And central venous pressure (CVP), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP), pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) and carbon monoxide (CO) were recorded, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was also calculated. Vital signs, blood gases were measured before embolectomy and at 2, 4, 6 hours after the operation. Albumin in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was measured by chromatometry of Coomassie brilliant blue. Lung wet to dry weight ratio(W/D) was also measured. Lung tissue pathology and alveolar PMN in the left lower lobar were observed by optical microscopy. Results MPAP increased significantly at 2 hours after reperfusion [(3. 20±0.53)kPa vs. (2. 27±0. 67)kPa,F=63,P=0.02]; At 6 hours after reperfusion as compared with baseline,HR increased significantly [(175±8) beats/min vs. (155±5) beats/min, F=38.72, P=0.01],PaO_2/FiO_2 also decreased significantly (41.70±8.04 vs. 54.71±3.78,F=48.36,P=0.03). MPAP decreased significantly in group 4 as compared with group 3 at 2 hours after reperfusion [(2.53±0.4)kPa vs. (3. 20±0. 53)kPa,F=55,P=0.04]. At 4 hours after reperfusion,PaO_2/FiO_2 raised in group 4,but there was no significant difference as compared with group 3 (49.17±7.37 vs. 39.71±7.31, F=2.36, P=0. 11). The quantities of alveolar PMN infiltration in group 4 decreased significantly as compared with group 3 (19±6/10 HPF vs. 31±11/10 HPF, F=98, P=0.01).Conclusions Lung ischemia-reperfusion injury can be induced by embolectomy from lower pulmonary artery in the PTE model embolized for one week. An inhaled NO 20 ppm can decrease the elevated pulmonary artery pressure induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury and may alleviate the injury by reducing the PMN immigration into the alveoli.

Objective To explore the relationship of pulmonary mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP) infection with acute exacerbated stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and community acquired pneumonia(CAP)in the elderly,comparing different serum concentrations of IFN -? ,IL-6,TNF-? in these patients. Methods Serologic analysis through ELISA method was used to detect MP-IgM and MP-IgG to determine the presence of MP and the serum concentrations of IFN-?、IL-6、TNF-? in 30 elderly healthy subjects,39 elderly patients with acute exacerbated stage of COPD and 40 elderly patients with CAP. PCR method was also used to determine the presence of MP from the patients ,sputum. Results (1)The positive rates of MP were much higher in the COPD patients than in the CAP and healthy ones according to PCR or MP-IgM method( P

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the infection of leptospirosa of host animals and the immune level of healthy population in flood areas. METHODS: Korth culture was used to culture leptospira for rodent kidney and oxen urine sample. The serogroups of leptospira and leptospira antibody were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). RESULTS: In flood regions, draw-near-flood region, and new migration region, rodent density was 6.95%, 6.28%, and 8.67%, respectively. The positive rates of rodent with leptospira was 4.63%, 1.35%, and 3.13%, respectively. Leptospira positive rates of oxen urine were 5.88%, 5.98%, and 1.75%, respectively. The main serogroup of leptospira was Icterhamorrhagic and Canicola serogroup. The positive rates of leptospirosa antibody in healthy population was 45.91%, 62.30%, and 58.67%in these 3 regions respectively, which was significantly higher than the average level in China. The dominant serogroups of leptospira in health population were icterhamorrhagic, autumnalis, canicola, pomona and bataviae. The positive rate of antibody had no difference among different age groups. CONCLUSION The main host animals are rodents and oxen infected with leptospira and the positive rate of leptospira antibody is high in healthy population in the study area. The dominant serogroups in host animals are similar to that in healthy population, which is mostly icterhaemorrhagic.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; urine ; Cattle ; China ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Floods ; Humans ; Leptospira interrogans ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Rats ; Seroepidemiologic Studies