OBJECTIVETo develop a new technique for assessing the risk of birth defects, which are a major cause of infant mortality and disability in many parts of the world.

METHODSThe region of interest in this study was Heshun County, the county in China with the highest rate of neural tube defects (NTDs). A hybrid particle swarm optimization/ant colony optimization (PSO/ACO) algorithm was used to quantify the probability of NTDs occurring at villages with no births. The hybrid PSO/ACO algorithm is a form of artificial intelligence adapted for hierarchical classification. It is a powerful technique for modeling complex problems involving impacts of causes.

RESULTSThe algorithm was easy to apply, with the accuracy of the results being 69.5%±7.02% at the 95% confidence level.

CONCLUSIONThe proposed method is simple to apply, has acceptable fault tolerance, and greatly enhances the accuracy of calculations.

Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; China ; epidemiology ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Models, Biological ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND:The most effective method for the treatment of acetabular fracture is open reduction and internal fixation, however, this treatment for some special types of acetabular fracture cannot get satisfactory prognosis, and is prone to complications, such as traumatic coxarthrosis and avascular necrosis of femoral head. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the curative effect of open reduction and internal fixation and total hip arthroplasty in the treatment of special acetabular fracture. METHODS:Twelve cases of acetabular fracture were included, including seven cases of traffic accident wound, three cases of crush injury, and two cases of fal ing injury. The type of bone fracture:two cases of posterior wal fracture, two cases of posterior column and posterior wal fracture, one case of T shaped fracture, five cases of transverse and posterior wal fracture, and two cases of acetabular roof sexual fracture. Complications:one case was femoral head centric dislocation, five cases were latter dislocation, and three cases were caput femoris fractures. Before injury, three cases had coxarthrosis, and two cases were avascular necrosis of femoral head. Al the cases were treated with open reduction internal fixation and total hip arthroplasty, of which nine cases were treated with biological prosthesis, and three cases were treated with bone cement prosthesis. The time from hospitalization to surgery was 3-15 days, and average was 6 days. The patients were fol owed-up once every 2 months in 1 year after replacement, and the Harris score was used to evaluate the hip function recovery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:No surgical site and deep wound infection, joint dislocation, lower limb deep vein thrombosis, and death were found in these 12 cases. Among them, 11 cases were fol owed-up for a longtime;the fol ow-up was lasted for 6-82 months. The acetabular fracture was healed at 6-16 months after reduction without prosthesis loosening and sinking. The hip function was evaluated during final fol ow-up according to the Harris score:excellent in eight cases, good in two cases, poor in one case, and the excellent and good rate was 91%. Open reduction internal fixation and one-stage total hip arthroplasty can avoid long-term bed, get out of bed as soon as possible, and reduce complications, thus reconstruct the hip joint painlessly and good functional y.

Objective To evaluate and compare the effects of surgical and endoscopic therapy for common bile duct stenosis (CBDS) induced by chronic pancreatitis (CP). Methods A historical cohort study of CBDS subjects induced by CP, who underwent endoscopic or surgical treatments at Changhai Hospital from Januraryl997 to July 2007, was performed. Results Of 514 cases of CP, CBDS occurred in 51 (9.9%), in which complete follow-up data were available in 41 survived patients with a mean follow-up period of 42.9±28. 3 months. The mean ages of first onset and hospitalization were 46. 3±14.0 and 49. 8±11.9 years, respectively. Endoscopic therapy was applied in 13 patients, including bile duct stenting in 7, 6 of whom presented with cholangitis, cholestasis and/or jaundice. Surgery was performed in 26 patients, in which 7 also underwent endoscopic therapy, and occupying lesion in pancreatic head was found in 14. The other 2 patients were treated without endoscopy or surgery. At the end of the follow-up, all symptoms including cholangitis, cholestasis and jaundice were relieved and no recurrence or choler cirrhosis was recorded.Conclusion Surgical approach is the main treatment for CBDS induced by CP. Endoscopic therapy is an alternative for patients unfit for surgery, especially for those who had jaundice, cholestasis or cholangitis.

This study aimed to construct the dual expression vectors of wide type or N187D mutant P2X7 receptor and intracellular domain of Notch1 (ICN1) linked by 2A peptide to coexpress them in leukemia cells so as to lay a foundation for further investigating the role of P2X7 in development of leukemia. Overlap PCR was used to construct the dual expression vectors encoding wide type or N187D mutant type P2X7 receptor and ICN1 linked by the self-cleaving 2A sequence. The results showed that stable expressing cell lines were obtained by retroviral infection followed by cell sorting after DNA sequence analysis. RT-PCR, Western blot, intracellular free calcium concentration analysis were used to verify the functionally successful construction of K562 cell line expressing P2X7 receptor alone or with ICN1. DNA sequence analysis revealed that all construction were right. The infection efficiency of packaged constructed virus ranged from 40% to 70% for K562 cells. Stable infected cell line was obtained by cell sorting. RT-PCR analysis revealed that P2X7 receptor and/or ICN1 could be detected at high level in their stable infected cell lines, respectively. Western blot analysis also showed that P2X7 receptor was highly expressed in cell line infected by virus with P2X7 receptor. Sustained increase in intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) could be observed in K562 cells overexpressing either type of P2X7 receptor upon stimulation with BzATP. It is concluded that the wide type or N187D mutant P2X7 receptor and ICN1 are simultaneously and functionally over-express in leukemia cells, which lay a foundation for further studying the role of P2X7 receptor in the development of leukemia.
Gene Expression ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Receptor, Notch1 ; genetics ; Receptors, Purinergic P2X7 ; genetics ; Retroviridae ; genetics

Objective To investigate the epidemiological features of back pain, spondyloarthritis (SPA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Beijing Shougang district. Methods Set up Chinese version of questionnaire about incidence of spondyloarthro-pathy. Employees and retired ones were drawn out from subfactory units by non-randomized sampling. 15 357 subjects were investigated, of which 12 125 questionnaires were taken. Suspected cases were then screened with sacroiliac joint X ray and HLA-B27 testing. 2009 assessment in ankylosing spondylitis (ASAS) criteria were used for diagnosing SpA. Results Back pain is common with total incidence of 42.7%, and the most common pattern is mechanical pain. The incidence of SpA is 0.58% and that of AS is 0.36%, while only 28.9% AS patients had been diagnosed before and received treatment. Conclusion The AS incidence in Shougang district is similar with the epidemiological data got from other districts of China. And knowledge of SpA and AS is needed in China.

AIM: To screen and identify the differentially expressed genes in lymphocytes of patients with unstable angina in order to find the molecular mechanism of unstable angina. METHODS: Suppression subtractive hybridizations (SSH) and dot blot hybridizations were performed to screen the relatively differentially expressed genes in lymphocyte RNA between the patients with unstable angina pectoris and stable angina pectoris. The obtained expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were used as probes to perform Reverse Northern blot with forward and reverse suppression products. And the positive ESTs were performed RNA slot hybridization with unstable and stable angina group. The obtained ESTs were sequenced and analyzed using BLAST (nr) at NCBI. RESULTS: Three up-regulated ESTs in the unstable angina group, and one down-regulated EST in the stable angina group were obtained. All of them are sequences of known genes. CONCLUSION: All these ESTs may be associated with the unstablization of plaque of coronary artery in patients with unstable angina.

the process of malignant transformation of esophageal epithelial cells, and jointly promoting the occurrence and development of EC.

OBJECTIVEThis study was designed to compare the short-term and long-term effects of oral rehydration salts, oral rehydration salts plus metoprolol or oral rehydration salts plus midodrine hydrochloride on the treatment of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in children.

METHODA total of 118 children with POTS were divided into oral rehydration salts group (n = 39), metoprolol group (oral rehydration salts plus metoprolol, n = 10) or midodrine hydrochloride group (oral rehydration salts plus midodrine hydrochloride, n = 69). The patients were followed up in clinics or over telephone for 3 - 18 months, with a mean of (11.7 ± 4.1) months. The symptom scores were recorded before treatment, after 3 months and at the end of the follow-up. Reduction of the score by 2 points or more was considered that the treatment was effective. The effective rate in 3 months was applied to evaluate short-term effects of 3 different therapies by chi-square test. Taking futility as events, Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to compare long-term effects of the 3 different therapies in treating POTS in children.

RESULTNo significant differences among the 3 groups were found in sex, age, body height, weight, the symptom scores before treatment or hemodynamic variables. Oral rehydration salts, metoprolol and midodrine hydrochloride improved clinical symptoms after 3 months. The symptom scores of the 3 groups before treatment and after 3 months were 2.4 ± 3.2 vs. 5.5 ± 2.9, 2.2 ± 3.0 vs. 6.1 ± 3.0 and 1.9 ± 1.6 vs. 5.9 ± 2.7, respectively. The difference was significant (P < 0.05). Descending order of the short-term effective rate was 91.3% in midodrine hydrochloride group, 80.0% in metoprolol group and 74.4% in oral rehydration salts group. The difference was significant (χ(2) = 5.85, P < 0.05). All the 3 different therapies improved clinical symptoms at the end of follow-up. The symptom scores were 2.6 ± 3.2 vs. 5.6 ± 2.9, 2.5 ± 3.1 vs. 6.1 ± 3.0 and 2.2 ± 2.1 vs. 6.0 ± 2.7, respectively. (P < 0.05). The result of the Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the long-term effect of midodrine hydrochloride was significantly superior to metoprolol group and oral rehydration salts group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the latter two groups.

CONCLUSIONOral rehydration salts plus midodrine hydrochloride or plus metoprolol improved the efficacy of drugs in children with POTS. And the efficacy of midodrine hydrochloride was superior to that of metoprolol.

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metoprolol ; therapeutic use ; Midodrine ; therapeutic use ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome ; drug therapy ; Prospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

This study was purposed to investigate the immunoregulatory effect of endothelial cells derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). The human MSC was induced to differentiate into endothelial cells for one week. The phenotypes were evaluated by flow cytometry, the cell morphologic feature was observed by invert phase-contrast microscope and analysis of capillary formation was performed by using the in vitro angiogenesis kit. The immunoregulatory effect was detected by lymphocyte transformation test. The result indicated that during the differentiation cells grew fast and there was no significant change in the phenotypes, i.e. CD73, CD105, HLA-ABC were positive and CD34, CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, CD31 were negative. Immunofluorescence analysis showed typical expression of the von Willebrand factor. Differentiated MSCs formed capillary-like structure. Endothelial cells derived from MSC also revealed immunosuppressive effect on T cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. It is concluded that endothelial cells derived from MSC also harbor immunoregulatory effect on T lymphocytes.
5'-Nucleotidase ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Child ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; von Willebrand Factor ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the development of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related influencing factors. METHODS: A total of 889 children with ASD in 10 cities of China were enrolled as subjects. The Autism Social Skills Scale was used to assess their social skills. RESULTS: The children with ASD had a lower score of each factor than the theoretical median, with the lowest score for social communication and the highest score for self-regulation. There were significant differences in the total score of social skills and the scores of social cognition and social participation between the children with ASD in different age groups (P<0.05). There were also significant differences in the total score of social skills and the scores of social orientation, social communication, social participation, and self-regulation between the ASD children with different language levels (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Children with ASD have low social skills, and their social skills are associated with age and language level.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Child ; Humans ; Social Skills