The potential impacts of future climate changes on human health are having been widely paid more attention to.The direct and indirect potential impacts of future possible changes of climate on human health were reviewed in this paper.The methods for assessing the impacts of climate changes on human health were introduced also

Objective Through description of the clinical,electrophysiological,pathological and gene sequencing characteristics of a family diagnosed as paramyotonia congenita and hypokalemic periodic paralysis to broaden the understanding of skeletal muscle channel disease and provide the reference for clinical diagnosis.Methods The clinical manifestation,electromyography,muscle pathology and gene sequencing of a family diagnosed as paramyotonia congenita and hypokalemic periodic paralysis in the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University in October 2017 were collected.Results The proband represented myotonia and episodic muscle weakness,and the manifestations of different patients of the family were varied,including myotonia,episodic muscle weakness or myotonia and episodic muscle weakness.The electromyography of the proband showed myotonic potential,and the compound muscle action potential decreased by 36％ in 40 minutes after exercise in the long exercise test in cold environment (11 ℃).The gene sequencing showed α-subunit type Ⅳ of voltage gated sodium channel (SCN4A) gene p.R1448H mutation.Conclusions The proband presented with paramyotonia congenita and hypokalemic periodic paralysis.Family clinical manifestations suggested phenotypic heterogeneity.The long exercise text in cold environment (11 ℃) confirmed the diagnosis of the proband as paramyotonia congenita and hypokalemic periodic paralysis.Family gene sequencing showed that the mutation of p.R1448H in SCN4A gene was the pathogenic gene mutation site of paramyotonia congenita and hypokalemic periodic paralysis.

Objective:To investigate the role of serum hepatitis B virus RNA (HBV RNA) in predicting HBeAg serological conversion in children with chronic hepatitis B.Methods:175 children aged 1~17 years with chronic hepatitis B who received interferon α (IFNα) for 48 weeks were selected. Patients were divided into HBeAg seroconversion and non-conversion based on whether HBeAg seroconversion occurred at 48 weeks of treatment.T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare between groups; chisquare test or Fisher exact probability method was used to compare the frequency between groups of classified variables; and Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between indicators. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify influencing factors associated with HBeAg serological conversion. The predictive effect of HBV RNA, HBV DNA, and HBsAg on HBeAg serological conversion was compared and analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).Results:The seroconversion rate of HBeAg at 48 weeks was 36.0% (63/175). The reduction in HBVRNA levels from baseline to the 12th, 24th, 36th, and 48th weeks of antiviral therapy was significantly greater in the HBeAg serological conversion group than that in the non-conversion group, and the difference was statistically significant between the two groups (P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that age and a decline in HBV RNA levels at week 12 were independent predictors of HBeAg serological conversion. The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of HBV RNA decline at week 12 was 0.677(95% CI∶0.549-0.806, P = 0.012), which was significantly better than the same period of AUROC of HBV DNA (0.657, 95% CI∶0.527-0.788, P = 0.025) and HBsAg (0.660, 95% CI∶0.526-0.795, P = 0.023) decline. HBV RNA levels decreased (>1.385 log10 copies/ml) at week 12, with a positive predictive value of 53.2%, a negative predictive value of 72.2%, a sensitivity of 77.4%, and a specificity of 57.9% for HBeAg seroconversion. Conclusion:HBV RNA level lowering during the 12th week of antiviral therapy can serve as an early predictor marker for HBeAg serological conversion in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Objective:To investigate the immune characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 membrane (M) protein, especially the possibility of inducing antibody-dependent enhancement effect (ADE).Methods:Full-length SARS-CoV-2 M protein was prepared by prokaryotic expression system and purified. BALB/c mice were immunized subcutaneously three times (on day 1, day 14 and day 21) by purified M protein. Serum samples were collected before immunization and after each immunization. The specificity of immune sera against M protein was identified by Western blot, and the antibody titers were detected by ELISA and neutralization test. In the presence of anti-M protein serum, the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2 in dendritic cells, nature killer cells, T and B cells was detected in vitro. Results:The immune sera from BALB/c mice immunized with purified full-length M protein of SARS-CoV-2 specifically recognized viral M protein. The titer of anti-whole virus antibody in immune sera was about 1∶400, but the antibody could not neutralize live virus. Moreover, the antibody could not help the virus to infect and proliferate in the various types of immune cells with Fc receptor (FcR).Conclusions:Non-neutralizing antibody induced by M protein could not cause ADE through FcR pathway.

Background::Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can detect lesions hidden in inflammatory regions and find necrosis or areas of severe fibrosis within the lesion. This retrospective study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of solid pancreatic lesions using percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with or without CEUS assessment.Methods::Clinical, imaging, and pathologic data of 181 patients from January 2014 to December 2018 in Pecking Union Medical College Hospital, with solid pancreatic masses who underwent percutaneous US-FNA and ThinPrep cytologic test were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into CEUS and US groups according to whether CEUS was performed before the biopsy. According to FNA cytology diagnoses, we combined non-diagnostic, neoplastic, and negative cases into a negative category. The positive category included malignant, suspicious, and atypical cases. The final diagnosis was confirmed by pathology or clinical and radiological follow-up for at least 12 months. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of US-FNA were evaluated between the two groups.Results::This study enrolled 107 male and 74 female patients (average age: 60 years). There were 58 cases in the US group and 123 cases in the CEUS group. No statistically significant differences in age, gender, or lesion size were found between the two groups. The diagnostic accuracy of the CEUS group was 95.1% (117/123), which was higher than the 86.2% (50/58) observed in the US group ( P = 0.036). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of the CEUS group were increased by 7.5%, 16.7%, 3.4%, and 18.8%, respectively, compared with the US group. However, the differences of the two groups were not statistically significant. Conclusions::Compared with the conventional US, the use of CEUS could improve the biopsy accuracy and avoid the need for a repeat biopsy, especially for some complicated FNA cases.