Objective To investigate the expressions of human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) mRNA and protein in pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma and their significance as diagnostic markers in predicting the biological behaviour of these tumours.Methods Expression of hTERT mRNA was determined by in situ hybridization in 45 pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas(31 benign,7 suspected malignant and 7 malignant) and 9 normal adrenal medulla samples,hTERT protein was determined by immunohistoebemistry.Results hTERT mRNA was expressed in 5/7 malignant turnouts and 5/7 suspected malignant tumours as compared with 3/31 benign tumours(P

OBJECTIVETo determine the risk factors involved in the typhoon episodes and to put forward and evaluate the intervention measures.

METHODSWe defined a confirmed injury case as: 'a person with fall,scalpel and stab, collision, drowning, injuries and trauma due to flying debris and building collapse, asphyxiation due to entrapment in collapsed buildings by typhoon from 0 am,August 12 to 6 pm, August 14 2004' and a death case as: 'a person with fall, scalpel and stab, collision, drowning, injuries and trauma due to flying debris and building collapse, asphyxiation due to entrapment in collapsed buildings by typhoon from 0 am, August 12 to 12 am, August 18 2004'. We investigated all hospitalized injured cases in ten hospitals and telephoned to those who were not hospitalized and the cases of death. We did case-control study with 1 pair versus 2 cases. 74 cases were selected in ten hospitals. The controls were neighbors of the controls matched by occupation, sex, village, and within 5 years of age without injury in this typhoon. We asked the cases and the controls on their alertness regarding typhoon and what actions taken when typhoon arrived.

RESULTSThere were 392 injury cases in all ten hospitals and 50 death cases. The attack rate of injury was 27.3 per 100 000. The fatal rate was 11.3% with the death rate 3.1 per 100 000. We investigated 209 injury cases and 31 death cases. The number of cases who were injured from 1 to 6 hours before typhoon landing accounted for 64.6% (155) of all cases. The peak of epidemic curve was 4 hours before the landing of typhoon. Data on the analysis of 74 cases and 148 controls revealed that 42% (31) of the cases were outside their homes before and during typhoon compared to 15% (22) of the controls (OR = 3.9, 95% CI: 1.9-7.7). Compared with 20% (30) control persons (OR = 17,95% CI: 4.2-68). 28% (21) cases did not receive the alert of typhoon before it arrived compared with 18% (27) control persons (OR = 3.3, 95% CI:1.3-8.6). 53% (39) of the cases did not pay attention to the alert of typhoon before typhoon arrived.

CONCLUSIONStaying outdoor, not receiving or did not take seriously about the alert of typhoon seemed to be the risk factors of injury by the typhoon episode, suggesting that the government should increase the emergency preparedness and to raise the awareness on risks associated with typhoon.

Cause of Death ; China ; epidemiology ; Cyclonic Storms ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Wounds and Injuries ; epidemiology ; mortality

BACKGROUNDRetroperitoneal sarcoma is a rare disease with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors of the disease.

METHODSBetween January 1988 and December 2003, 132 patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma were surgically treated in our hospital, 79 of them were followed up for 1 - 122 months (median: 19 months). Their clinicopathological data including tumor size, histological subtype, grade and resection margin status, were studied. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to analyze the disease-specific survival rates after the resection.

RESULTSAmong the 132 patients, 98 (74.2%) received macroscopic complete resection, 29 (22.0%) incomplete resection, and 5 (3.8%) surgical biopsy. In the 79 patients who were followed up, macroscopic clear resection of retroperitoneal sarcoma (n = 49) was associated with a significantly higher survival rate compared with unclear resection (n = 30, P < 0.001). The median survival period was 31 months (95% CI, 20.09 - 41.91; actuarial 1-year survival, 85.7%) in the patients with the tumor completely resected and 11 months (95% CI, 6.71 - 15.29; actuarial 1-year survival, 46.7%) in those with incomplete resection. Patients with high-grade sarcomas had a significantly shorter survival time (n = 39; median: 24, 95% CI: 5.71 - 42.29) than those with low-grade sarcomas (n = 40; median: 15; 95% CI: 8.80 - 21.20; P < 0.01). Moreover, compared with the patients with the tumor sized < 15 cm in diameter (n = 53), the survival rate was lower in those with a sarcoma sized > 15 cm (n = 26). (Median: 12, 95% CI: 8.26 - 15.74 vs median: 24, 95% CI: 17.25 - 30.75; P < 0.05). Furthermore, the survival of the patients with liposarcomas (n = 29, median: 29, 95% CI: 12.84 - 45.16), leiomyosarcomas (n = 14, median: 11, 95% CI: 6.11 - 15.89), and others (n = 36, median: 22, 95% CI: 14.95 - 29.05) varied significantly (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompleteness of resection, tumor volume, grade, and subtype are prognostic factors of retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcomas.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retroperitoneal Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Sarcoma ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVEGlycogen storage disease type Ib (GSDIb) is caused by a deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate translocase (G6PT) activity due to SLC37A4 gene mutations. Most GSDIb patients have recurrent infections and inflammatory bowel disease, with poor prognosis. Detection of SLC37A4 gene mutations is of great significance for the diagnosis, subtyping and outcome prediction of GSD patients. This study aims to analyze SLC37A4 gene mutations in Chinese GSDIb patients and to investigate the relationship between its genotypes and clinical manifestations.

METHODSAll exons and their flanking introns of SLC37A4 gene in 28 Chinese children with a primary diagnosis of GSDIb were screened by PCR combined with direct DNA sequencing to detect SLC37A4 gene mutations.

RESULTSFive SLC37A4 gene mutations were detected in 7 (25%) of the 28 children, i.e., p.Gly149Glu (9/13, 69%), p.Gly115Arg (1/13, 8%), p.Pro191Leu (1/13, 8%), c.959-960 insT (1/13, 8%) and c.870+5G>A (1/13, 8%).

CONCLUSIONSIn this study, c.959-960 insT is a novel mutation and p.Gly149Glu is the most common mutation. p.Gly149Glu may be associated with severe infections in children with GSDIb.

Antiporters ; genetics ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease Type I ; complications ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Monosaccharide Transport Proteins ; genetics ; Mutation ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

PURPOSEThis prospective observational study aims to evaluate the accuracy of dead-space fraction derived from the ventilator volumetric capnography (volumetric CO₂) or a prediction equation to predict the survival of mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

METHODSConsecutive VD/VT measurements were obtained based upon a prediction equation validated by Frankenfield et al for dead-space ventilation fraction: VD/VT = 0.320 + 0.0106 (PaCO₂-ETCO₂)⁺ 0.003 (RR)⁺0.0015 (age) in adult patients who had infection-related severe pneumonia and were confirmed as having ARDS. Here PaCO₂ is the arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide in mmHg; ETCO₂, the end- tidal carbon dioxide measurement in mmHg; RR, respiratory rate per minute; and age in years. Once the patient had intubation, positive end expiratory pressure was adjusted and after Phigh reached a steady state, VD/VT was measured and recorded as the data for the first day. VD/VT measurement was repeated on days 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Meanwhile we collected dead-space fraction directly from the ventilator volu- metric CO₂ and recorded it as Vd/Vt. We analyzed the changes in VD/VT and Vd/Vt over the 6-day period to determine their accuracy in predicting the survival of ARDS patients.

RESULTSOverall, 46 patients with ARDS met the inclusion criteria and 24 of them died. During the first 6 days of intubation, VD/VT was significantly higher in nonsurvivors on day 4 (0.70 ± 0.01 vs 0.57 ± 0.01), day 5 (0.73 ± 0.01 vs. 0.54 ± 0.01), and day 6 (0.73 ± 0.02 vs. 0.54 ± 0.01) (all p =0.000). Vd/Vt showed no significant difference on days 1e4 but it was much higher in nonsurvivors on day 5 (0.45 ± 0.04 vs. 0.41 ± 0.06) and day 6 (0.47 ± 0.05 vs. 0.40 ± 0.03) (both p=0.008). VD/VT on the fourth day was more accurate to predict survival than Vd/Vt. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for VD/VT and Vd/Vt in evaluating ARDS patients survival was day 4 (0.974 ± 0.093 vs. 0.701 ± 0.023, p = 0.0024) with the 95% confidence interval being 0.857-0.999 vs. 0.525-0.841.

CONCLUSIONCompared with Vd/Vt derived from ventilator volumetric CO₂, VD/VT on day 4 calculated by Frankenfield et al's equation can more accurately predict the survival of ARDS patients.

Adult ; Capnography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Dead Space ; physiology ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; mortality ; physiopathology

Animals ; Bone Marrow ; drug effects ; Catechin ; pharmacology ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; blood ; genetics ; Hematopoiesis ; drug effects ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Mice ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis

Objective To analyze the subjective well-being of the aged and to explore its influencing factors in Hangzhou City to provide evidence for improving the subjective well-being of the aged. Method A total of 60 years old and above healthy people in Hangzhou were selected as research objects. Stratified random sampling was used according to age and gender. Face to face interview was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The content of the interview included subjective well-being,behavioral habits,and demographics. Statistical methods contains Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman rank correlation. Logistic regression was used to select influencing factors of subjective well-being. Results A total of 429 samples were used in the analysis according to inclusion and exclusion criterion. The mean score of subjective well-being was 14.0±2.0,and the result of logistic regression shows that gender,marriage status,the number of people living together,whether experienced negative life events,the number of people that can provide information were important factors of subjective well-being. Conclusions The level of subjective well-being of elderly people in Hangzhou was high. The government and society should improve SWB among the aged by providing more psychological guidance and more social support.

OBJECTIVETo determine the incidence and risk factors of HCV infection among heroin addicts who were receiving methadone maintenance treatment(MMT)in Dehong prefecture, Yunnan province.

METHODSAll heroin addicts who were HCV negative at the initiation of MMT in June 2005 through March 2012, in Dehong prefecture, were included in this cohort analysis. HCV incidence was calculated and related risk factors determined by using Cox proportional hazard regression model.

RESULTSA total of 2390 MMT clinic attendants were qualified for this cohort study by March 2012. 731(30.6%) of them had never received any follow-up HCV testing so were recognized as loss to follow-up. The other 1659 (69.4%) participants had received at least one follow-up HCV testing and were observed for a total of 3509.12 person-years(py). During this period 99 new HCV infections or HCV sero-converters were identified. The overall HCV incidence was 2.82/100 py and was 3.62/100 py for 2006, 5.36/100 py for 2007, 6.71/100 py for 2008, 2.56/100 py for 2009, 1.90/100 py for 2010, and 0.44/100 py for 2011, respectively. Results from multiple regression analysis, using Cox proportional hazard model, indicated that after controlling for confounding variables, those who were unemployed, being injecting drug users(IDUs)or HIV positive at entry into the MMT program were more likely to be newly infected with HCV or HCV sero-converted during the follow-up period than those who were peasants, non-IDUs or HIV negative at entry into the MMT program(HR = 2.02, 95% CI:1.18-3.48; HR = 9.05, 95% CI:5.49-14.93; HR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.37-3.56), respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe incidence of HCV infection among MMT clinic attendants was decreasing since 2009 in Dehong prefecture. Those who were unemployed, injecting drug users and HIV positive were at higher risk of HCV infection.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Drug Users ; Female ; Hepatitis C ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Methadone ; therapeutic use ; Risk Factors ; Substance-Related Disorders ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; virology

Objective To determine the adherence to and its determinants of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) among heroin addicts in Dehong prefecture in Yunnan province from 2005 to 2009. Methods A dynamic cohort analysis was conducted with the time of treatment initiation as the time of cohort entry, to calculate the proportion of adhering to the treatment at different time points after initiation of the treatment, and to study the determinants of adherence.Results A total of 3758 had been treated. Among them, 95.8% were males, 75.8% aged between 20-39 years, 90.4% were peasants or unemployed, 57.0% were ethnic minorities, 35.0% were single and 55.5% were married with spouses, 43.9% were illiterate or educated at most primary school. The age of first using drugs averaged at 23.93 years. About 96.3% of the study subjects had used heroin and 21.7% were HIV-infected. The minimum time under MMT was less than 1 month and the maximum 61 months. The median methadone dose at first delivery was 25 ml, with the minimum 1 ml and the maximum 330 ml. By the end of the study or observation period, a total of 1798 patients had withdrawn from treatment and 1960 were still under treatment. The proportions of adherence to or still being under the treatment after 1,3,6,9, 12,24, 36,48 and 60 months treatment were 0.919,0.847,0.756, 0.690, 0.637, 0.519, 0.417, 0.360 and 0.321, respectively. Multiple regression analysis using Cox proportional hazard model indicated that withdraw from the methadone maintenance treatment was significantly associated with location of the treatment clinics, year of treatment initiation, marital status, HIV infection status, methadone dose of first delivery and the result of last urine test for heroin use. Conclusion MMT attendants in Dehong prefecture had a relatively high withdraw rate and low adherence rate. More efforts are needed to provide tailored counseling and education to MMT attendants, to provide family and community support, appropriate methadone dose at first delivery, and to better coordinate with local police department.

Objective To determine the incidence and risk factors of HIV infection among heroin addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment(MMT)in Dehong prefecture,Yunnan province.Methods All heroin addicts who were HIV negative at the initiation of MMT in June 2005 and through June 2011,in Dehong prefecture were included in the cohort analysis.HIV incidence was calculated and related risk factors determined by using Cox proportional hazard regression model.Results A total of 3154 MMT clinic attendants were qualified for this cohort study.By June 2011,1023(32.4％)of them had never received any follow-up HIV testing so were thus referred as loss to follow-up.The other 2131(67.6％)members had received at least one follow-up HIV testing and were observed for a total of 4615.86 person-years.During the period,22 new HIV infections or seroconverters were identified,making the overall HIV incidence as 0.48/100 person-years.The HIV incidence was higher among those who were unemployed,never married,self-reported being injecting drug users(IDUs)and HCV positive at entry into the MMT program.None of those who were always negative on follow-up-urine-testing of morphine was discovered as HIV newly infected during the follow-up period.Data from multiple regression analysis under Cox proportional hazard model indicated that after controlling for confounding variables,non-IDUs at the entry point for the MMT program,were less likely to be HIV newly-infected or seroconverted than IDUs(HR=0.29,95％CI:0.11-0.76).Conclusion MMT prograqm in Dehong prefecture was demonstrated to be fairly effective in reducing HIV transmission through drug use.Those HIV negative attendants at the MMT clinic who were IDUs or keep using drugs during the treatment,were at higher risk of HIV seroconvertion.More efforts were needed to improve the follow-up and HIV testing programs for the MMT clinic attendants.