Objective In this paper,major issues for all those who have been selected in China national treatment program for patients with chronic Keshan disease (CNTP-CKD) were uncovered through evaluation of the annually reported data from participating provinces,in order to improve the performance quality of the program.Methods The datasets 2005-2012 were merged after cleaning them,and the composition of the treated patients was statistically analyzed,including gender and age distribution,diagnosis evidence for chronic Keshan disease (ECG,cardiothoracic ratio by X-ray,heart function grade of NYHA),and proportion of cases who had received treatment more than once.Results ①A total of 2 649 patients participated in the treatment,of them 1 115 patients were males accounting for 42.1％ (1 115/2 649),1 534 patients were females accounting for 57.9％ (1 534/2 649).Age of the patients were mainly distributed in 41 to 70 years old,and 24 CKD patients under 10 years accounting for 0.9％ (24/2 649).②2 313 cases of the involved patients were diagnosed with sufficient evidence,accounting for 81.9％ (2 313/2 823) and 121 cases with full misdiagnosis,accounting for 18.1％ (121/2 823).③There were 881 patients been treated for more than once,accounting for 38.3％ (881/2 301) of the number of treatment.Conclusions ① Diagnosis for CKD remains a key problem,suggesting that medical record for each patient diagnosed by province-level doctors' needs to be built up as early as possible.The rate of patient treatment for more than once is low which is not beneficial to the patients.② Treatment period for CKD patients is highly recommended to expand to at least one year,and the disease should be enrolled in the free cost list of the new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS).

Myocardial fibrosis is a pathological process characterized by fibroblast proliferation and collagen deposition,which occurs in the normal structure of the myocardium.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous,non-coding RNA of approximately 22 nucleotides in length,regulating gene expression at posttranscriptional level by complementary pairing with the target gene mRNA.Recent studies have showed that miRNAs play an important role in the formation of myocardial fibrosis,therefore,much attention has been paid to miRNAs as they may serve as targets for prevention and treatment of myocardial fibrosis.

AIM: To investigate the effect of Thymosin ? 1 on the development and matutation of thymocytes. METHODS: The proportion of CD4+CD8+ thymocytes and the expression of smoothened (Smo) of the hedgehog (Hh)-signaling in CD4-CD8-thymocytes were examined to observe the effect of thymosin ? 1 on thymocyte development and matutation. RESULTS: Flowcytometric analysis showed that thymosin ? 1 showed activity at a low dose of 30 ?g/kg, and 30 ?g/kg thymosin ? 1 accelerated the replenishment and maturation of thymocytes according to the expression of Smo of the Hh-signaling in CD4-CD8-thymocytes, the potent negative regulator of proliferative responses. CONCLUSION: Thymosin ? 1 can accelerate thymocyte development from CD4-CD8- to CD4+CD8+.

Objective To explore the effects of earlier oral-motor exercise on swallowing and feeding capability of children with cerebral palsy. Methods 36 children accepted oral-motor exercise performed by speech-language therapist once a day for 3 months. They were assessed for oral motor and feeding before and after treatment, and compared with other 36 controls matched with age and type. Results The oral motor in treatment group improved significantly （t=2.184,P<0.05） after treatment, but merely in control. The difference of scores of oral motor before and after treatment was (9.89±4.33) in treatment group, and (3.38±1.56) in control group (t=7.423, P<0.01). Conclusion Early oral-motor exercises is effective to improve oral motor function and feeding capability.

The mitochondrial quality control system maintains mitochondrial homeostasis mainly through protein degradation, vesicle transport, and mitophagy. Mitochondrial biosynthesis, dynamics, and calcium ion play key regulative roles in mitochondrial quality control. Under normal conditions, the mitochondrial quality control system can work well. In recent years, studies have found that mitochondrial dysfunction is closely associated with the occurrence of heart failure. In order to understand mitochondrial function, this paper reviews mitochondrial quality control methods, regulatory factors and their potential therapeutic applications in heart failure.

Endemic diseases include iodine deficiency disorders,fluorosis,arsenicosis,Keshan disease and Kaschin-Beck disease,which have been well under controlled or basically eliminated so far in China thanks to the great efforts made by our governments and medical staffs over the past decades.We are entering into a new era for consolidation of the achievements.Meanwhile,unprecedented social changes are happening in the diseases affected rural areas of China,which features:first of all,younger generation left and permanent population aging;second,severely polluted natural environment and better housing conditions;third,social transformation from self-sufficient natural economy to commodity economy with improved living standard,but still leaving a certain number of poor farmers and;lastly,backward social security system.However,there are some preferential policies issued in recent years for agriculture,alleviating grass-root social conflicts.All these changes may exert positive or negative influences on combating endemic disease,at least through disease incidence,control measures and surveillance,and further investigations are needed.

Keshan disease (KD),an endemic cardiomyopathy liable to affect preschool children and young women with high disability and mortality,occurs in some rural areas of mainland China.However,the cause of KD remains unclear except for a number of plausible hypotheses proposed,which have puzzled scientists for nearly a hundred years since 1935.In this paper,we systematically reviewed KD etiological studies in@@literature,and classified them into five key historical times as follows:preliminary investigation stage (from Manchuria to the early days of new China),blossom research stage the 20th century (from the late 1950s through the 1960s),broad collaboration stage (from the 1970s through the mid-1980s),key research stage for selenium compounding factors (from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s),and radical innovation research stage (since the late 1990s).In the past century,several risk factors including unbalanced diet,selenium deficiency,enterovirus infection and mildew cereals,have been proved to be closely related to KD occurrence and development,but their etiological necessity and relationship are yet to be clarified.We highly recommend that the lack of study subjects could be overcome by referring to the major clues identified in literature,by using experimental animal models,and by establishing a core biological specimen bank of KD patients as well.

With the huge advances in rural China since 1980s,rampant Keshan disease (KD)has been fading away,and therefore we set an ultimate goal at overall elimination.In recent years,the evaluation results showed that there were still some obstacles in achieving this goal.By explaining the pathogenesis and epidemic mechanism of KD and the factors regulating the fluctuation of the disease,as a kind of local lifestyle disease induced by poverty,the author think,it will be of very low possibility in breaking out again thanks to the long-term exchange of cereal commodities and current poverty relief program.And the next move is to revise the existing criteria for KD elimination and to maintain the state of elimination primarily through health education and social economic improvement in all affected areas.

Heart activity is highly dependent on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) produced via mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Traditional therapeutics has developed drugs by repairing damaged mitochondrial DNA, reducing mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and accelerating the degradation of damaged mitochondria and recycle. In recent years, however, mitochondrial replacement therapy has taken a different strategy, and has entered the clinical trial stage. This review will summarize the research progress of cardiovascular drugs targeting mitochondria and mitochondrial replacement therapy to provide a new perspective for addressing some relevant endemic diseases in China.