Objective To investigate the associations between normal serum uric acid (UA) levels and knee symptoms and structural changes in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).Methods A total of 205 patients with knee OA were enrolled. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 122 patients with OA were included in the study. The general condition of patients were investingated. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score was used to assess severity of the knee joint symptoms. The Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grading system was used to assess radiological severity of the knee joint. Osirix software was used to assess changes of knee structure in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Peroxidase method was used to measure the serum levels of uric acid. Patients with normal range of uric acid were included in the study.Results The patients with lower levels of UA (split at the median level, 263 μmol/L) had a higher proportion of women, lower height, weight and lower proportions of K-L grade≥2. After adjustment for sex, age and body mass index, serum UA was negatively associated with total WOMAC scores (β=-16.15, P=0.018), WOMAC pain (β=-3.15, P=0.037), and WOMAC stiffness (β=-1.65, P=0.025). However, there were no significant associations between serum UA levels and knee joint structure changes.Conclusions In OA patients with normal serum UA, serum UA is negatively associated with the severity of joint symptoms, suggesting that UA within normal range may play a protective role in OA symptoms.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of influenza virus infections in children in 2006 using the real-time PCR method.

METHODS(1) Consulting the most conserved sequence NP gene of influenza virus, after comparing with the NP gene sequences of influenza virus in GenBank, one pair of specific primers and one TaqMan probe were designed for each subtype of influenza virus by the software Primer Express. The sensitivity of influenza was evaluated by testing known positive samples which had been two-fold diluted. The specificity of real-time PCR for influenza virus detection was assessed by cross testing 60 isolates of influenza A, 16 isolates of influenza B, and by testing a variety of other respiratory viruses positive samples; (2) 281 nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were detected by real-time PCR and virus isolation; (3) the 12 301 specimens from the patients of Guangzhou Children's Hospital were tested by using the real-time PCR method. Furthermore, the real-time PCR reagent was evaluated by comparing with the result of virus isolation.

RESULTS(1) The sensitivity of real-time PCR developed in this study for influenza A detection was 1:2(22) and for influenza B was 1:2(20) in two-fold serially diluted way. (2) No positive results were found in cross testing of other viruses positive specimens. (3) Influenza virus was detected from 1687 cases (13.71%) out of the 12 301 cases, including 773 cases (45.8%) positive for subtype A and 914 cases (54.2%) positive for subtype B; 455 out of 525 (86.7%) of influenza B positive specimens and 70 out of 525 (13.3%) of influenza A (H1N1) positive specimens were from patients seen during January to April; 419 out of 1118 (37.5%) specimens positive for influenza B and 699 out of 1118 (62.5%) specimens positive for influenza A (H1N1) were from patients seen from May to August. Influenza virus could be identified from 1380 samples by the methods of virus isolation, accounting for 81.80% of the 1687 positive samples detected by real-time PCR. All the influenza virus subtype A was H1N1.

CONCLUSIONThe real-time PCR method developed in this study was sensitive and specific for detecting influenza A and B in clinical specimens. During 2006, influenza A and influenza B co-circulated. The predominant virus was influenza B from January to April, peaking in April. Influenza A (H1N1) prevailed from May to August, with the peak in June.

Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Epidemics ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; isolation & purification ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; virology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Prevalence ; RNA, Viral ; isolation & purification ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, with atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: One hundred thirty-eight CKD patients were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of L-arginine, ADMA, and SDMA were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Common carotid arteries intimae-medial thickness (CCA-IMT), cross-sectional calculated intimae-medial thickness (cIM area) and atherosclerotic plaque were detected by noninvasive high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. RESULTS: Serum levels of ADMA and SDMA were significantly increased in CKD patients (n=138) compared with age matched healthy subjects (n=42, P<0.01). ADMA and SDMA levels increased with the progression of renal dysfunction and were negatively related to creatinine clearance (Ccr) in pre-dialysis patients (r=-0.315, P<0.05; r=-0.426, P<0.01). Serum levels of ADMA and SDMA in dialysis patients (n=74) were significantly higher than those in pre-dialysis patients (P<0.05). Patients with carotid artery plaques showed significantly higher levels of ADMA compared with those without plaques. Serum levels of ADMA closely correlated with the mean IMT (r=0.471, P<0.01) and cIM area value (r=0.430, P<0.01). These correlations remained significant even after adjusting GFR, age, gender ,and other risk factors for atherosclerosis in the multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION Serum levels of ADMA increased with the progression of CKD and may play a role in the pathogenesis of accelerated atherosclerosis in CKD patients.
Adult ; Arginine ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; blood ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; blood ; complications ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Renal Dialysis

Objective To estimate the association between three B-vitamin intakes and sociodemographic factors among adults in China.Methods We derived our data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) among 12,241 individuals aged 18–64 years. Log binomial regression was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios for factors associated with the inadequate intake of B-vitamins.Results Females with low incomes and living in the north had a higher prevalence of inadequate riboflavin intake than those with high incomes and living in the south. Both males and females living in a village had a higher prevalence of inadequate riboflavin intake than adults living in a city. Adults with low income, low education, and living in the north or in a village had a higher prevalence of inadequate niacin intake than adults with a high income, high education, and living in the south or in a city.Conclusion We found that income, region, and area of residence were associated with riboflavin intake. Education, income, region, and area of residence were associated with niacin intake. Well-tailored strategies and policies are needed to improve nutritional status in China.

BACKGROUND: Youzhi artificial intelligence (AI) software is the AI-assisted decision-making system for diagnosing skin tumors. The high diagnostic accuracy of Youzhi AI software was previously validated in specific datasets. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of diagnostic capacity between Youzhi AI software and dermatologists in real-world clinical settings. METHODS: A total of 106 patients who underwent skin tumor resection in the Dermatology Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from July 2017 to June 2019 and were confirmed as skin tumors by pathological biopsy were selected. Dermoscopy and clinical images of 106 patients were diagnosed by Youzhi AI software and dermatologists at different dermoscopy diagnostic levels. The primary outcome was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the Youzhi AI software with that of dermatologists and that measured in the laboratory using specific data sets. The secondary results included the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, F-measure, and Matthews correlation coefficient of Youzhi AI software in the real-world. RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracy of Youzhi AI software in real-world clinical settings was lower than that of the laboratory data (P < 0.001). The output result of Youzhi AI software has good stability after several tests. Youzhi AI software diagnosed benign and malignant diseases by recognizing dermoscopic images and diagnosed disease types with higher diagnostic accuracy than by recognizing clinical images (P = 0.008, P = 0.016, respectively). Compared with dermatologists, Youzhi AI software was more accurate in the diagnosis of skin tumor types through the recognition of dermoscopic images (P = 0.01). By evaluating the diagnostic performance of dermatologists under different modes, the diagnostic accuracy of dermatologists in diagnosing disease types by matching dermoscopic and clinical images was significantly higher than that by identifying dermoscopic and clinical images in random sequence (P = 0.022). The diagnostic accuracy of dermatologists in the diagnosis of benign and malignant diseases by recognizing dermoscopic images was significantly higher than that by recognizing clinical images (P = 0.010). CONCLUSION The diagnostic accuracy of Youzhi AI software for skin tumors in real-world clinical settings was not as high as that of using special data sets in the laboratory. However, there was no significant difference between the diagnostic capacity of Youzhi AI software and the average diagnostic capacity of dermatologists. It can provide assistant diagnostic decisions for dermatologists in the current state.

OBJECTIVETo examine the trend in meat consumption patterns between 1991 and 2011 in Chinese children in nine provinces(autonomous region) aged 6 to 17 years.

METHODSA multistage, random cluster sampling process was used to investigate 2720, 2702, 2525, 2405, 1509, 1238, 1085, and 936 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011 respectively in 9 provinces (autonomous region) in China. Their consecutive 3 d 24 h dietary recall data were analyzed to compare meat intake pattern in children and adolescents with different characteristics and different years.

RESULTSThe consumption rate increased from 60.9% (1657/2720) in 1991 to 87.2% (816/936) in 2011 for livestock meat (χ(2) = 458.23, P < 0.01), from 9.4% (257/2720) to 33.3% (312/936) for poultry (χ(2) = 446.07, P < 0.01) and from 27.3% (743/2720) to 40.6% (380/936) for seafood (χ(2) = 89.89, P < 0.01). The median of total meat intake increased from 47.4 g/d in 1991 to 100.0 g/d in 2011 (χ(2) = 516.77, P < 0.01), poultry intake from 33.3 g/d to 60.0 g/d (χ(2) = 420.13, P < 0.01), pork intake from 26.7 g/d to 50.0 g/d (χ(2) = 380.50, P < 0.01). The percentage of children whose livestock meat and poultry intakes higher than the recommended amount increased from 32.9% (896/2720) in 1991 to 59.8% (560/936) in 2011 (χ(2) = 392.97, P < 0.01); the percentage of children whose seafood intakes meeting the recommended amount increased from 6.9% (187/2720) in 1991 to 8.8% (82/936) in 2011 (χ(2) = 21.52, P < 0.01). The consumption rates of livestock meat in urban and rural children increased from 81.2% (536/660) and 54.4% (1121/2060) in 1991 to 94.7% (234/247) (χ(2) = 38.34, P < 0.01) and 84.5% (582/689) (χ(2) = 429.26, P < 0.01) in 2011. The intakes of livestock meat in rural children increased from 16.7 g/d in 1991 to 56.7 g/d in 2011 (χ(2) = 472.46, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe overall pattern of meat consumption in Chinese children in nine provinces(autonomous region) was unreasonable between 1991 and 2011. There was a significant improvement in meat consumption in rural children over time.

Adolescent ; Child ; China ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Meat ; Nutrition Surveys

In this paper, a case of pleural amoebic empyema and its diagnosis and treatment were reported.

Objective: Dermoscopy is a useful technique for improving the diagnostic accuracy of various types of skin disorders. In China, dermoscopy has been widely accepted, and domestic researchers have made tremendous progress in the field of dermoscopy. The main purpose of this review is to summarize the current status of dermoscopy in China and identify its future directions. Data sources: Articles included in this review were obtained by searching the following databases: Wanfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, PubMed, and the Web of Science. We focused on research published before 2019 with keywords including dermoscopy, dermoscopic, dermoscope and trichoscopy. Study selection: A total of 50 studies were selected. Of these studies, 20 studies were in Chinese and 30 in English, research samples of all the studies were collected from Chinese populations. Results: Since 2000, more than 380 articles about dermoscopy have been published in domestic or foreign journals. Dermoscopy can improve the diagnostic accuracy of neoplastic diseases, evaluating the therapeutic effect of treatment, and determining the treatment endpoint, and it can also assist in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory diseases and in the assessment of the severity of the disease. In addition, researches about the applications of dermoscopy during surgical treatment have been published. Training courses aiming to improve the diagnostic ability of dermatologists, either face-to-face or online, have been offered. The Chinese Skin Image Database, launched in 2017 as a work platform for dermatologists, has promoted the development of dermoscopy in China. Computer-aided diagnostic systems based on the Chinese population are ready for use. In the future, cooperation, resource sharing, talent development, image management, and computer-aided diagnosis will be important directions for the development of dermoscopy in China. Conclusion Dermoscopy has been widely used and developed in China, however, it still needs to address more challenges in the future.