Objective To retrospectively analyze the effect of abdominal acupuncture for the casino workers with sleep disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome and analyze the correlation between them.Method 65 patients were all from the Acupuncture Department of Health Center of the Black Sand, Macao Health Bureau, 2011 October to 2013 January, who were diagnosed with sleep disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome and in accordance with the inclusion criteria. They were received abdominal acupuncture treatment for 4 weeks. Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI) and Fatigue Assessment Instrument(FAI)were adopted to evaluate the effect before treatment 、after treatment and one month follow-up. Multiple regression analysis model was used to analyze the correlation of each factor of FAI and PSQI. Results Compared with before treatment (13.78± 3.23), the total score of PSQI after treatment(8.66 ± 4.26)and follow-up(8.26 ± 4.66) were significant decreased(P<0.05);the score of 6 dimensions(sleep quality, Time to fall asleep, sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep disorders daytime function) after treatment and follow-up were significant decreased(P<0.05),compared with those before treatment;the FAI score after treatment (92.60±14.64) and follow-up(90.75±14.75) were significant lower(P<0.05)than those before treatment (147.55±7.03) .Multiple regression analysis showed that 4 dimensions of PSQI (sleep quality, sleep time, sleep disorders, daytime function)had close relationship with FAI score(r=0.373~0.702, P<0.05). Conclusion Abdominal acupuncture can improve the casino workers' sleep disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome and is worth of further study.

OBJECTIVEOur objective is to build a model that explains the association between the exposure to trace elements in the soil and the risk of neural tube defects.

METHODSWe built a function with different parameters to describe the effects of trace elements on neural tube defects. The association between neural tube defects and trace element levels was transformed into an optimization problem using the maximum likelihood method.

RESULTSTin, lead, nickel, iron, copper, and aluminum had typical layered effects (dosage effects) on the prevalence of neural tube defects. Arsenic, selenium, zinc, strontium, and vanadium had no effect, and molybdenum had one threshold value that affected the prevalence of birth defects.

CONCLUSIONAs an exploratory research work, our model can be used to determine the direction of the effect of the trace element content of cultivated soil on the risk of neural tube defects, which shows the clues by the dosage effect of their toxicological characteristics. Based on our findings, future biogeochemical research should focus on the direct effects of trace elements on human health.

China ; epidemiology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Environmental Exposure ; Female ; Humans ; Metals ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Models, Biological ; Neural Tube Defects ; chemically induced ; epidemiology ; Pregnancy ; Prevalence ; Soil Pollutants ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Trace Elements ; chemistry ; toxicity