Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. The main characteristic of the patients with MCI is the impairment of episodic memory in which hippocampus plays an important role. Therefore, the detection of structural and functional changes of hippocampus will be the key to early diagnosis of MCI. This paper presents a brief overview of recent study about hippocampal magnetic resonance imaging of MIC.

Hepatitis B, Chronic ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 ; genetics ; Renin ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical results of early and delayed intramedullary nailing and locked plating for the treatment of multi-segments tibial fractures of type AO/ASIF-42C2.

METHODSBetween January 2010 and January 2013,45 patients with multi-segments closed tibial fractures of AO/ASIF-42C2 were treated by early primary intramedullary nailing and locked plating in 20 cases as early group and delayed in 25 cases as delayed group. In early group,20 cases included 13 males and 7 females with an average age of (37.9±14.3) years old ranging from 20 to 56 years;according to soft tissue injury Tscherne classification, 8 fractures were frade I,12 were grade II. In delayed group, 25 cases included 17 males and 8 females with an average age of (38.7±17.2) years old ranging from 24 to 55 years,4 fractures were grade I ,19 were grade II ,2 were grade III. The operative time, blood loss, hospital stay,fracture healing time and complications were recorded. At final follow-up, the Johner-Wruhs score were used to evaluate functional efficacy, and the posterior-anterior and lateral X-ray to evaluate fracture reduction and alignment.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up for (12.5±2.5) months in early group and (13.2±2.8) months in delayed group (P>0.05). No wounds infections were happened. At the last follow-up, the mean range of knee joint was 10°-0°-120°. According to Johner-Wruhs scoring,there were 15 cases in excellent,3 in good,fair in 2 in early group; 21 in excellent,2 in good,2 in fair. The average operative time,blood loss had no significant differences between two groups (P>0.05), but hospital stay in early group was significantly shorter than those in delayed group(P<0.05). Average fracture healing time of early group and delayed group were (5.3±2.6) months and (6.0±2.9) months, respectively (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONFor multi-segments tibial fractures of type AO/ASIF-42C2 with preoperative minor soft tissue injuries lighter of Tscherne grade I or II, early primary intramedullary nailing and locked plating does not significantly increase the postoperative incidence of soft tissue complications for patients. The early and delayed primary intramedullary nailing and locked plating for treatment of AO/ASIF-42C2 proximal third tibial fractures can get similar curative effect.

Adult ; Bone Plates ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tibial Fractures ; surgery

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

Objective To analyze the spatio-temporal process on 2009 influenza A (HlNl) pandemic in Changsha and the influencing factors during the diffusion process. Methods Data were from the following 5 sources, influenza A (HlNl) pandemic gathered in 2009, Geographic Information System (GIS) of Changsha, the broad range of theorems and techniques of hot spot analysis, spatio-temporal process analysis and Spearman correlation analysis. Results Hot spot areas appeared to be more in the economically developed areas, such as cities and townships. The cluster of spatial-temporal distribution of influenza A (HlNl) pandemic was most likely appearing in Liuyang city (RR=22.70,P<0.01). The secondary cluster would include districts as Yuelu (RR=6A9,P< 0.01) , Yuhua (RR=81.63, P<0.01). Xingsha township appeared as the center in the Changsha county (RR=2.90, P<0.01) while townships as Yutangping (RR=19.31, P<0.01) , Chengjiao (RR=73.14,P<0.01) and Longtian appeared as the center in the west of Ningxiang county (RR= 14.43,P<0.01) and Wushan as the center in the Wangcheng county (RR= 13.84,P<0.01). As time went on, the epidemic moved towards the eastern and more developed regions. Regarding factor analysis, population, the amount of students, geographic relationship and business activities etc. appeared to be the key elements influencing the transmission of influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. At the beginning of the epidemic, population density served as the main factor (r=0.477, P<0.05) but during the initial and fast growing stages, it was replaced by the size of students to serve as the important indicator (r=0.831, P<0.01; r=0.518, P<0.01). However, during the peak of the epidemics, the business activities played an important role (r=-0.676, P<0.01). Conclusion Groups under high risk and districts with high incidence rates were shifting, along with the temporal process of influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, suggesting that the protection measures need to be adjusted, according to the significance of influencing factors at different stages.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; genetics ; Female ; Glycine N-Methyltransferase ; deficiency ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mutation

OBJECTIVETo analyze the periodicity of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in Changsha in year 2009 and its correlation with sensitive climatic factors.

METHODSThe information of 5439 cases of influenza A (H1N1) and synchronous meteorological data during the period between May 22th and December 31st in year 2009 (223 days in total) in Changsha city were collected. The classification and regression tree (CART) was employed to screen the sensitive climatic factors on influenza A (H1N1); meanwhile, cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence analysis were applied to assess and compare the periodicity of the pandemic disease and its association with the time-lag phase features of the sensitive climatic factors.

RESULTSThe results of CART indicated that the daily minimum temperature and daily absolute humidity were the sensitive climatic factors for the popularity of influenza A (H1N1) in Changsha. The peak of the incidence of influenza A (H1N1) was in the period between October and December (Median (M) = 44.00 cases per day), simultaneously the daily minimum temperature (M = 13°C) and daily absolute humidity (M = 6.69 g/m(3)) were relatively low. The results of wavelet analysis demonstrated that a period of 16 days was found in the epidemic threshold in Changsha, while the daily minimum temperature and daily absolute humidity were the relatively sensitive climatic factors. The number of daily reported patients was statistically relevant to the daily minimum temperature and daily absolute humidity. The frequency domain was mostly in the period of (16 ± 2) days. In the initial stage of the disease (from August 9th and September 8th), a 6-day lag was found between the incidence and the daily minimum temperature. In the peak period of the disease, the daily minimum temperature and daily absolute humidity were negatively relevant to the incidence of the disease.

CONCLUSIONIn the pandemic period, the incidence of influenza A (H1N1) showed periodic features; and the sensitive climatic factors did have a "driving effect" on the incidence of influenza A (H1N1).

China ; epidemiology ; Climate ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; virology ; Regression Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Seasons ; Temperature

OBJECTIVETo explore the influence of landscape elements on the transmission of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Changsha.

METHODSA total of 327 cases of HFRS diagnosed between year 2005 - 2009 were recruited in the study. Based on the demographic data, meteorological data and the data of second national land survey during the same period, a GIS landscape elements database of HFRS at the township scale of Changsha was established. Spatial-temporal cluster analysis methods were adopted to explore the influence of landscape elements on the spatial-temporal distribution of HFRS in Changsha during the year of 2005 - 2009.

RESULTSThe annual incidences of HFRS in Changsha between year 2005 - 2009 were 1.16/100 000 (70 cases), 0.95/100 000 (58 cases), 1.40/100 000(87 cases), 0.75/100 000(47 cases) and 1.02/100 000(65 cases) respectively. The results of poisson regression model analysis of principal component showed that the incidence of HFRS was positively correlated with farmland area (M = 29.00 km2) and urban and rural area (M = 6.12 km2; incidence rate ratios (IRR) = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.27 - 1.41); but negatively correlated with forestland area (M = 39.00 km2; IRR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.55 - 0.81) and garden plot area (M = 0.99 km2; IRR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63 - 0.86). A significant cluster of the spatial-temporal distribution of HFRS cases was found in the study. The primary cluster (28.9 N, 113.37 E, radius at 22.22 km, RR = 5.23, log likelihood ratio (LLR) = 51.61, P <0.01, 67 cases of HFRS and incidence at 4.4/100 000) was found between year 2006 and 2007; and the secondary cluster (28.2 N, 113.6 E, RR = 10.77, LLR = 16.01, P < 0.01, 11 cases of HFRS and the incidence at 10.6/100 000) was found between year 2008 and 2009.

CONCLUSIONThe landscape elements were found to be closely related to the prevalence and transmission of HFRS.

China ; epidemiology ; Climate ; Geographic Information Systems ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Humans ; Regression Analysis ; Space-Time Clustering

OBJECTIVETo realize the influence of climatic changes on the transmission of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), and to explore the adoption of climatic factors in warning HFRS.

METHODSA total of 2171 cases of HFRS and the synchronous climatic data in Changsha from 2000 to 2009 were collected to a climate-based forecasting model for HFRS transmission. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was employed to explore the variation trend of the annual incidence of HFRS. Cross-correlations analysis was then adopted to assess the time-lag period between the climatic factors, including monthly average temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and Multivariate Elño-Southern Oscillation Index (MEI) and the monthly HFRS cases. Finally the time-series Poisson regression model was constructed to analyze the influence of different climatic factors on the HFRS transmission.

RESULTSThe annual incidence of HFRS in Changsha between 2000 - 2009 was 13.09/100 000 (755 cases), 9.92/100 000 (578 cases), 5.02/100 000 (294 cases), 2.55/100 000 (150 cases), 1.13/100 000 (67 cases), 1.16/100 000 (70 cases), 0.95/100 000 (58 cases), 1.40/100 000 (87 cases), 0.75/100 000 (47 cases) and 1.02/100 000 (65 cases), respectively. The incidence showed a decline during these years (Z = -5.78, P < 0.01). The results of Poisson regression model indicated that the monthly average temperature (18.00°C, r = 0.26, P < 0.01, 1-month lag period; IRR = 1.02, 95%CI: 1.00 - 1.03, P < 0.01), relative humidity (75.50%, r = 0.62, P < 0.01, 3-month lag period; IRR = 1.03, 95%CI: 1.02 - 1.04, P < 0.01), rainfall (112.40 mm, r = 0.25, P < 0.01, 6-month lag period; IRR = 1.01, 95CI: 1.01 - 1.02, P = 0.02), and MEI (r = 0.31, P < 0.01, 3-month lag period; IRR = 0.77, 95CI: 0.67 - 0.88, P < 0.01) were closely associated with monthly HFRS cases (18.10 cases).

CONCLUSIONClimate factors significantly influence the incidence of HFRS. If the influence of variable-autocorrelation, seasonality, and long-term trend were controlled, the accuracy of forecasting by the time-series Poisson regression model in Changsha would be comparatively high, and we could forecast the incidence of HFRS in advance.

China ; epidemiology ; Climate Change ; Forecasting ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Humans ; Humidity ; Incidence ; Models, Theoretical ; Seasons ; Temperature

Traditional Chinese medicinal resource survey method is time-consuming, strenuous, and having great human influence, the precision is not high enough. This paper, by using spatial information technology, carries on spatial sampling survey for wild medicinal plants resource for generous species to arrange the quadrat scientifically and estimate the suitable area, reserve precisely of medicinal plants. It not only improves the survey precision, but reduces the workload of field survey and provides scientific basis for survey method of pilot work on the fourth national traditional Chinese medicinal resource census.
Biodiversity ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Ecosystem ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; Spatial Analysis