OBJECTIVETo establish suitable predictive equations of lung function for occupational population in North China.

METHODSA total of 5 002 on the job or retired healthy adults from five enterprises in North China with category of mild or moderate work intensity underwent spirometry using a Chest HI-198 spirometer and the procedures recommended by the American Thoracic Society, were a sample.

RESULTSThe data of 3 913 subjects were used. A normal distribution of our data was shown using the normality test and distribution curve. Univariate analysis showed that both age and height were significantly correlated with FVC, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC (%) and MMF. Further multiple linear stepwise regression analysis indicated that the levels of FVC, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC (%) and MMF were highly influenced by age, height, and weight rather than chest circumference. Thus, only age, height, and weight were introduced into our regression equations. Data from the studied subjects and other source were utilised to examine the validity of the equations and a high accordance rate (> 90%) was obtained. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in the predictive values between the simplified equations and equations in which more variables were included.

CONCLUSIONThe studied predictive equations for male non-smokers, female non-smokers, and male smokers were established based on data from a large occupational population. These equations should be more applicable for evaluating lung ventilatory function of occupational populations in North China.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupations ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Pulmonary Ventilation ; Reference Values ; Regression Analysis ; Reproducibility of Results ; Respiratory Function Tests ; standards ; Vital Capacity ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of composite grinding dusts on rat respiratory system.

METHODSRats were administrated with grinding dusts by intratracheal injection. After 2 weeks, the total numbers of cells, the percentage of differential cell, the survival rate of cell, and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were analyzed.

RESULTSAlong with increasing concentration of grinding dusts, the total number of cells in lavage also increased, and was more than that in quartz group. Compared with control group, the percentage of neutrophil in lavage of rats treated with grinding dust and quartz significantly increased and meanwhile that of macrophage significantly decreased[PMN: quartz group (33.83 +/- 4.54)%; grinding dusts group (26.50 +/- 3.99)%, (36.00 +/- 3.58)%, (38.00 +/- 2.10)% at 10, 25, 50 mg/ml respectively. Macrophages: quartz group (62.17 +/- 4.54)%; grinding dusts group (70.83 +/- 3.66)%, (60.83 +/- 2.14)%, (58.17 +/- 2.48)%] while those in control group were (2.83 +/- 0.75)%, (95.67 +/- 1.21)% respectively. The cell survival rate in lavage in control group was 80%, but that in grinding dust and TiO2 group significantly decreased(P < 0.01). The activity of LDH and ALP in all rats treated with dusts obviously increased, and there was significant difference compared with control group(P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was significant difference between grinding dust group and quartz group, and between grinding dust group and TiO2 group respectively.

CONCLUSIONMetal grinding dust is very harmful to rat's lung cells and may cause fibrogenesis in the lungs.

Alkaline Phosphatase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; chemistry ; cytology ; Dust ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Lung ; pathology ; Metals ; Rats

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nutrient-induced gut hormone release (eg, cholecystokinin [CCK]) and the modulation of gut motility (particularly pyloric stimulation) contribute to the regulation of acute energy intake. Non-caloric bitter compounds, including quinine, have recently been shown in cell-line and animal studies to stimulate the release of gastrointestinal hormones by activating bitter taste receptors expressed throughout the gastrointestinal tract, and thus, may potentially suppress energy intake without providing additional calories. This study aims to evaluate the effects of intraduodenally administered quinine on antropyloroduodenal pressures, plasma CCK and energy intake. METHODS: Fourteen healthy, lean men (25 ± 5 years; BMI: 22.5 ± 2.0 kg/m²) received on 4 separate occasions, in randomized, double-blind fashion, 60-minute intraduodenal infusions of quinine hydrochloride at doses totaling 37.5 mg (“Q37.5”), 75 mg (“Q75”) or 225 mg (“Q225”), or control (all 300 mOsmol). Antropyloroduodenal pressures (high-resolution manometry), plasma CCK (radioimmunoassay), and appetite perceptions/gastrointestinal symptoms (visual analog questionnaires) were measured. Ad libitum energy intake (buffet-meal) was quantified immediately post-infusion. Oral quinine taste-thresholds were assessed on a separate occasion using 3-alternative forced-choice procedure. RESULTS: All participants detected quinine orally (detection-threshold: 0.19 ± 0.07 mmol/L). Intraduodenal quinine did not affect antral, pyloric or duodenal pressures, plasma CCK (pmol/L [peak]; control: 3.6 ± 0.4, Q37.5: 3.6 ± 0.4, Q75: 3.7 ± 0.3, Q225: 3.9 ± 0.4), appetite perceptions, gastrointestinal symptoms or energy intake (kcal; control: 1088 ± 90, Q37.5: 1057 ± 69, Q75: 1029 ±70, Q225: 1077 ± 88). CONCLUSION: Quinine, administered intraduodenally over 60 minutes, even at moderately high doses, but low infusion rates, does not modulate appetite-related gastrointestinal functions or energy intake.
Animals ; Appetite ; Cholecystokinin ; Energy Intake ; Gastrointestinal Hormones ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Male ; Plasma ; Pylorus ; Quinine

OBJECTIVETo characterize the incidence, epidemiologic features, etiologic agents and sequelae of bacterial meningitis in children under 5 years of age in Nanning, Guangxi.

METHODSA population-based surveillance was conducted to evaluate children with signs and symptoms of meningitis. All hospitals, township health centers and village clinics in the surveillance area were structured to participate in the case referral and evaluation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood specimens were obtained and processed using standardized microbiologic methods.

RESULTSDuring the 26-month surveillance period, among the children under 5 years old, a total of 1272 cases who met the screening criteria of meningitis were studied. 265 of 1272 cases were identified as clinically diagnosed meningitis, with an incidence rate of 86.36 per 100 000 population. The annual incidence rate under the 38 cases of confirmed bacterial meningitis appeared to be 12.38/100 000. Staphylococcus species accounted for the largest proportion of laboratory-confirmed bacterial meningitis, followed by E. coli and S. pneumoniae. The highest attack rate occurred in neonates < 1 month, followed by children aged 1 - 12 months in the confirmed patients. Meningitis caused by Sp and Hi mainly occurred in children aged 1 - 12 months. All cases of meningitis due to Hi and Sp were children aged 1 - 24 months. 13.16% and 0.00% of the cases survived with complications and sequelae, and the case-fatality rate was 18.42%. 40 bacterial isolates were identified from 1193 blood cultures and 23 from 1211 cerebrospinal fluid samples, but no Neisseria meningitidis was found.

CONCLUSIONMeningitis due to Hi was first confirmed in Guangxi with the incidence of 0.98 per 100 000 population. The annual incidence rate of confirmed bacterial meningitis was 12.38 per 100 000, which was considered an important public health problem in children. Staphylococci was the predominant pathogen in confirmed bacterial meningitis.

Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Meningitis, Escherichia coli ; epidemiology ; Meningitis, Haemophilus ; epidemiology ; Population Surveillance ; Staphylococcal Infections ; epidemiology

We report a significantly-enhanced bioinformatics suite and database for proteomics research called Yale Protein Expression Database (YPED) that is used by investigators at more than 300 institutions worldwide. YPED meets the data management, archival, and analysis needs of a high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomics research ranging from a single laboratory, group of laboratories within and beyond an institution, to the entire proteomics com-munity. The current version is a significant improvement over the first version in that it contains new modules for liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) database search results, label and label-free quantitative proteomic analysis, and several scoring outputs for phosphopeptide site localization. In addition, we have added both peptide and protein comparative analysis tools to enable pairwise analysis of distinct peptides/proteins in each sample and of overlapping peptides/proteins between all samples in multiple datasets. We have also implemented a targeted proteomics module for automated multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)/selective reaction monitoring (SRM) assay development. We have linked YPED’s database search results and both label-based and label-free fold-change analysis to the Skyline Panorama repository for online spectra visualization. In addition, we have built enhanced functionality to curate peptide identifications into an MS/MS peptide spectral library for all of our protein database search identification results.

Humans ; Female ; Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism* ; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Estrogen Receptor alpha

Background: and Purpose Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). Results: There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. Conclusions During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT.