?AIM: To study the association of the single nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP) rs1157699 in the calcitonin receptor-like receptor ( CRLR ) gene with primary angle closure ( PAC) in a Han Chinese population.?METHODS: All samples, involved 232 PAC cases and 306 controls, were obtained from an epidemiologic survey conducted in Funing, Jiangsu Province, China. Genotyping were carried out by TaqMan-MGB probe using the real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction system to study the relationship between SNP of rs1157699 in CRLR gene and PAC.?RESULTS: The prevalence of CRLRrs1157699 genotype was 67.4%, 30.0%, 2.6% for CC, CT, TT in cases, and 71.3%, 27.0%, 1.7% in controls respectively.There was no difference between the two groups in the distribution of genotype and allele frequencies of rs1157699 (P>0.05).?CONCLUSION:Our results do not support a significant role for rs1157699 in CRLR with PAC.

OBJECTIVEDespite progress in antibiotic therapy and intensive care, childhood bacterial meningitis (BM) remains a devastating disease. We conducted this study to investigate the changes in clinical characteristics, the etiologic agents and antimicrobial susceptibility of BM during the past 10 years in children under 14 years of age.

METHODSThese 126 patients were divided into two groups according to their date of admission. Group 1 included 64 patients admitted from January 1998 to December 2002, and group 2 included 62 cases admitted from January 2003 to December 2007. All pediatric medical charts of them were reviewed.

RESULTSThe predominant isolated bacteria from CSF were coagulase-negative staphylococcus (17/62, 27.4%) and Escherichia coli (9/62, 14.5%) in group 2. The resistance rate of staphylococcus against oxacillin (MRS) was 68.4% (13/19) in group 2, significantly higher than that of group 1 (16.7%, 2/12). Among 126 cases, 42 had seizure attack and 16 had consciousness disturbance, the proportions of them in group 2 (11/62, 17.7%; 4/62, 6.4%) were lower than those in group 1 (31/64, 48.4%; 12/64, 18.8%, P < 0.05). Cases in group 2 survived with complications [13/62 (21.0%)] and sequelae [11/62 (17.7%)] were lower than those in group 1 (24/64, 37.5%, 23/64, 35.9%, P < 0.05), but the rate of empirical therapy modification in group 2 (21/62, 33.9%) was higher than that in group 1 (7/64, 10.9%, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe predominant bacteria in children with BM are staphylococcus and Escherichia coli in recent years. The antibiotic resistance rate of bacteria has been higher year after year. The clinical patterns of pediatric BM have changed with a decrease in clinically serious cases, complications and sequelae, but an increase in modification of empirical therapy.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cross Infection ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcus epidermidis ; drug effects ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate the cognition and health education needs on child neglect among parents/carers to the preschool children in Guangdong Province.

METHODSA total of 621 parents/carers of preschool children aged 3-6 years from four cities (Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, and Foshan) in Guangdong Province completed self-designed questionnaires concerning the cognition and health education needs on child neglects.

RESULTSOnly 5.4% of the parents/carers had a good knowledge of child neglect, and 55.9% had never heard about this term. About 90.5%-90.7%of the surveyed parents/carers were willing to learn more about child neglect and 94.6%-97.4% of them agreed that education on child neglect was necessary. It was found that normal brochures, books, newspapers, and magazines were the preferred way of education for parents/carers (77.0%); also nearly half of the parents/carers welcomed courses (55.6%) or lectures (49.1%). Most of them believed that awareness raising activities should be carried out in kindergarten (70.5%), public places (61.4%) or by providing collective training for teachers in kindergarten (59.6%).

CONCLUSIONSMost parents/carers of preschool children in Guangdong Province have a poor knowledge of child neglect. Efforts should be made to strengthen awareness raising activities on this topic via appropriate pathways.

Caregivers ; Child Abuse ; Child, Preschool ; Cognition ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Health Education ; Humans ; Parents

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of denture base resin surface pretreatment with chemical etchants on microleakage and bond strength between silicone-based resilient liner and denture base resin. The initial bending strength of denture base resin after surface pretreatment was also examined.

METHODSThirty-six polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) denture base resin blocks (30 mm × 30 mm × 2 mm) were prepared and divided into three groups: group acetone, group methyl methy acrylate (MMA) and group control. Subsequently, a 2 mm silicone-based resilient liner was applied between every two blocks. After 5000 cycles in the thermal cycler (5 and 55°C), they were immersed in the (131) I solution for 24 hours and γ-ray counts were measured. Another 36 PMMA resin blocks (30 mm × 10 mm × 7.5 mm) were prepared. The blocks were divided into three groups and treated as mentioned above. A 3 mm silicone-based resilient liner was applied between every two blocks. After 5000 thermal cycles, tensile bond strength of the sample was measured in a universal testing machine. Another 18 PMMA resin blocks (65 mm × 10 mm × 3.3 mm) were prepared. They were divided into 3 groups and treated in the same way. After an adhesive was applied, the bending strength was measured with three-piont bending test.

RESULTSTwo experimental groups showed lower microleakage (520.0 ± 562.2 and 493.5 ± 447.9) and higher tensile bond strength [(1.5 ± 0.4) and (1.4 ± 0.5) MPa] than the group control [microleakage: (1369.5 ± 590.2); tensile bond strength: (0.9 ± 0.2) MPa, P < 0.05]. There was no statistically significant difference between group acetone and MMA in microleakage and tensile bond strength (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in bending strength among the three groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTreating the denture base resin surface with acetone and MMA decreased the microleakage, increased the tensile bond strength between the two materials and did not make the initial bending strength of denture base resin decline.

Dental Bonding ; Dental Cements ; Dental Materials ; Denture Bases ; Denture Liners ; Dimethylpolysiloxanes ; Humans ; Materials Testing ; Polymethyl Methacrylate ; Silicone Elastomers ; Silicones ; Surface Properties ; Tensile Strength

OBJECTIVETo study the cost-effectiveness, benefit and utility of infant hepatitis B vaccination in Shanghai from 1992 to 2001.

METHODSTo calculate the cost of hepatitis B vaccination by cost analysis method. Both the numbers of persons with HBsAg positive and patient with hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer decreased as the index of direct effect. To study the sick-time and the cost of treating hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer patients, a face to face questionnaire was used and quasi method was adopted to understand the effect of cure and the course of hepatitis B. The cost benefit analysis method was also used to calculate the cost benefit of HBV vaccine. The disability adjusted life years (DALY) was regarded as an index of utility to measure the disease burden.

RESULTSInput of 501,129.49 Yuan might have the result of reducing one liver cancer patient, ten cirrhosis patients, one hundred chronic hepatitis B patients and one thousand HBsAg positive people. The cost of hepatitis B vaccination was 0.24 hundred million Yuan during the past ten years in Shanghai, which had obtained the total benefit value of 41.22 hundred million Yuan, with a cost benefit ratio of 1:172 Yuan. It was estimated that the total disease burden of hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer patients was 59,762.55 DALY in order to reduce one DALY loss cost of 402.50 Yuan.

CONCLUSIONHBV vaccine inoculation in infants seemed to be a low-cost input and high-effect output strategy.

Adult ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; complications ; economics ; prevention & control ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunization Programs ; economics ; Infant, Newborn ; Liver Cirrhosis ; economics ; etiology ; Liver Neoplasms ; economics ; etiology ; Male ; Markov Chains ; National Health Programs ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vaccination

Objective To investigate the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors among urban population aged 50 years and above in Ftming county,Jiangsu province.Methods Survey research was conducted and randomly cluster sampling was used to select individuals aged ≥50 years for visual acuity test and eye examination in Funing county,Jiangsu province.The criteria of uncorrected refractive errors in this study was defined as an improvement of at least 0.2 log MAR (equivalent to 2 lines) in the best corrected visual acuity with the base vision ＜ 0.5 log MAR in daily life.The quantitative data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation,and t-test was used for comparison between groups,and while the count data were expressed as rate or composition ratio,and the x2 test was adopted for comparison between the groups.Logistic regression was used to examine the effect of possible factors (i.e.age and gender) on the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors.Results A total of 6145 persons aged 50 years and above were enumerated and 5947 (96.8％) participants were examined,of whom 2388 had uncorrected refractive errors,with the prevalence of 40.2％.The prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors for myopia only,hyperopia only,astigmatism,and for hyperopia and astigmatism were 84.4％,84.2％,64.1％ and 100％,respectively.Moreover,the higher prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors presented in elderly person (OR =1.07,P ＜ 0.00l) and female (OR =1.38,P ＜ 0.001),and education was a protective factor for junior high school (OR =0.74,P =0.003) and high school (OR =0.55,P ＜ 0.001).Conclusion Uncorrected refractive errors presented high prevalence in rural population aged 50 years and above in Funing county,Jiangsu province,which are the leading cause of visual impairment.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms of inflammatory factors and susceptibility to coronary heart disease(CHD) in southern Chinese Han population.

METHODSUsing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) method, the genotypes of five inflammatory factors (BRCA1-associated protein, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 8, inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor H3, interleukin-15, cyclooxygenase-2) were anaylzed in 283 CHD patients diagnosed by angiography and 176 controls.

RESULTSIn these inflammatory factors, the 270T/C and 90A/G polymorphisms of the BRAP gene showed a significant association with CHD. The allele and genotype frequencies of BRAP gene were consistent with those predicted by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (chi-square=0.878, P> 0.05; chi-square=0.776, P> 0.05, respectively). The frequencecies of 270C and 90G alleles in CHD patients was significantly higher than those of the control group (29.51% vs. 21.31%, P=0.006; 30.04% vs. 21.31%, P=0.004, respectively). Compared with 270TT and 90AA, 270CC and 90GG genotypes had a significantly increased CHD risk by Logistic regression analysis (OR=4.51, 95%CI: 1.41-14.45, P=0.011; OR=5.09, 95%CI: 1.60-16.26, P=0.006, respectively). This association was still signifcant after adjustment for the sex, age, smoke, hypertension, diabetes, plasma total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels. No evidence of association was found for other single nucleotide polymorphisms.

CONCLUSIONThe 270T/C and 90A/G polymorphisms in the BRAP gene may contribute to an increased risk of CHD among southern Chinese Han population.

Aged ; Coronary Disease ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Inflammation ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Objective To explore the role of regulatory T-lymphocytes(Treg) in the immune pathogenesis of suba-cute thyroiditis (SAT). Methods The proportion of Treg in CD4+T cells in peripheral blood of 46 SAT patients and15 controls was detected using flow cytometry. And the concentration of interleukin-10(IL-10), transforming growth factor-beta1(TGF-β1) and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) in serum of 46 SAT patients and 15 controls was measured with ELISA. In addition, the Forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) positive cells in thyroid tissue of 29 SAT patients and20 controls was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results The proportion of Treg in peripheral blood of SAT pa-tients was significantly lower than that of controls (P＜0.05). And the concentration of TGF-β1 in serum of SAT patients was apparently higher than that of controls(P＜0.05). Additionally, the positive rate of Foxp3 in thyroid tissue of SAT patients was markedly higher than that of controls(P＜0.05).Conclusions The decrease of Treg may play an important role in the immune pathogenesis of SAT.

Chronic post-hypoxic myoclonus, also known as Lance-Adams syndrome (LAS), is a rare complication of successful cardiopulmanry resuscitation often accompanied by action myoclonus and cerebellar ataxia. It is seen in patients who have undergone a cardiorespiratory arrest, regained consciousness afterwards, and then developed myoclonus days or weeks after the event. Worldwide, 122 cases have been reported in the literature so far, including 1 case of Chinese. Here we report 2 Chinese LAS patients with detailed neuroimagings. Cranial single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of patient 1, a 52-year-old woman, showed a mild hypoperfusion in her left temporal lobe, whereas patient 2, a 54-year-old woman, manifested a mild bilateral decrease of glucose metabolism in the frontal lobes and a mild to moderate decrease of the N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) peak in the bilateral hippocampi by cranial [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographic (PET) scan and cranial magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), respectively. We also review the literature on the neuroimaging, pathogenesis, and treatment of LAS.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; adverse effects ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Middle Aged ; Myoclonus ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Syndrome

A contributory role of oxidative stress and protection by antioxidant nutrients have been suspected in cataract formation. Ganoderic acid A (GAA), an effective lanostane triterpene, is widely reported as an antioxidant. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential effects of GAA on cataract formation. After lens epithelial cells (LECs) were exposed to UVB radiation for different periods, cell viability, apoptosis-related protein levels, malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were monitored. We found that cell viability, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio and SOD activity were increased, while Cleaved caspase-3 levels and MDA activity were decreased compared with those in UVB-impaired LECs after GAA treated. Furthermore, GAA activated PI3K/AKT in UVB-impaired LECs and effectively delayed the occurrence of lens opacity in vitro. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that GAA exhibited protective functions in SRA01/04 cells and rat lenses against UVB-evoked impairment through elevating cell viability and antioxidant activity, inhibiting cell apoptosis, activating the PI3K/AKT pathway and delaying lens opacity.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cataract/prevention & control* ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; Epithelial Cells/radiation effects* ; Heptanoic Acids/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Lanosterol/pharmacology* ; Lens, Crystalline/radiation effects* ; Malondialdehyde/metabolism* ; Rats ; Superoxide Dismutase/metabolism* ; Ultraviolet Rays/adverse effects*