SUMMARY Traffic noise pollution problem is increasingly emerging with the rapid developmentof urban traffic. Researchers have paid close attention to the health effects of traffic noise. This review has summarized the recent research progress in the health effects of traffic noise both at home and abroad. Traffic noise can have various ad-verse health effects, and most of them are extra-auditory effects. The main aspects include that traffic noise can af-fect the cardiovascular system, which is verified by the evidence that exposure to traffic noise significantly increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, and so on. In addition, traffic noise can induce adverse effects on nervous system, leading to the increasing levels of anxiety, noise annoyance, and occurrence of insomnia. Furthermore, traffic noise is significantly associated with adverse pregnant outcomes, and can affect the endocrine system and digestive system. As traffic noise and traffic related air pollutants co-exist in the traffic environment, whether there are joint effects between these two factors have become areas of research focus nowadays. Although there is sufficient evidence that traffic noise has adverse health effects, inadequacies still existe. Analysis of the shortages of current studies and the prospects of the future studies are pointed out in this review.

Objective To study the sensitivity and specificity of oligoclonal bands (OCBs) and intrathecal IgG synthesis rate (IgG Syn) for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the correlation between qualitative and quantitative indices.Methods Albumin and IgG concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from 30 patients with MS, 40 with other nervous system inflammatory diseases (NID) and 22 with nervous system noninflammatory diseases (NNID) were determined by rate nephelometry method. OCBs in the CSF were detected using isoelectric focusing combined with silver staining, and IgG Syn was calculated. The sensitivity, specificity and positive result likelihood ratio (PRLR) were analyzed.Results There were no significant difference in the abnormal rate of OCBs and IgG Syn between MS group and NID group. When MS and NID groups were compared with NNID group, the difference was extremely significant (all P

0.05). Conclusions Our study does not support a positive association between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection or reinfection and MS. Chlamydia pneumoniae may be a bystander pathogen.

Objective To investigate the relationship between the hs-c-reactive protein and the severity of coronary artery disease.Methods All the 67 patients underwent coronary angiography and measured risk factors,the Gensini score was used to determine the results of the coronary angiography.The t test,One-Way ANOVA and multiple linear regression analysis were used to predict hs-CRP.Results Coronary artery disease group hs-CRP levels were significantly higher than those in non-coronary artery disease group(P

Two hundred and fifty patients with subclinical hypothyroidism ( SCH) and 120 euthyroid volunteers were recruited for the study, SCH patients were stratified into 2 groups according to TSH levels(group A:TSH<10 mIU/ L; group B: TSH>10 mIU/ L). All subjects were examined for clinical characteristics, thyroid profile, lipid profile, and biomarkers of early atherosclerosis. Patients in group B received L-thyroxine replacement treatment to achieve euthyroidism. After 6 months of stable euthyroidism all measurements were repeated. SCH patients had higher levels of total cholesterol(TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C), asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA), carotid artery intima media thickness(CIMT), thromboxane B2(TXB2), and C-reactive protein(CRP) but with lower nitric oxide(NO) level compared with euthyroid subjects. Levels of TC, LDL-C, CIMT, TXB2, and ADMA decreased, and NO level increased significantly after 6 months of euthyroidism. TSH was positively correlated with TC, LDL-C, CIMT, ADMA, and TXB2; and negatively correlated with NO. Based on multivariate regression analysis, TSH was an independent influential factor of CIMT and NO. We conclude that raised TSH is an important risk factor of atherosclerosis in SCH.

98.95%.The results of certified reference materials were consistent with the target value,and average deviation was -0.31%～1.35%.HPLC was served as the independent variable.When ereatinine was 200 ?mol/L,Bias of Beckman LX20 system,Vitros dry chemistry system and enzymatic method were -10%～13%,-13%～14% and -20%～10%,respectively.Bias of enzymatic method results was mostly negative,when creatinine was

Nine compounds were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of 95% ethanol extract of the fruit of Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. with a combination of various chromatographic approaches, including MDS resin, silica gel, reverse phase C18 and preparative HPLC. On the basis of spectroscopic data analysis, they were elucidated as (1R, 4R, 10R)-1β, 4α-dihydroxy-11, 12, 13-trinor-5, 6-eudesmen-7-one (1), 1β, 4β-dihydroxy-11, 12, 13-trinor-8, 9-eudesmen-7-one (2), oxyphyllenone A (3), oxyphyllenone B (4), rhamnocitrin (5), staphylionoside D (6), benzyl-1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7), 2-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1S)-phenylethylene glycol (8), and (S)-1-phenylethyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (9). Among them, compound 1 is a new sesquiterpene, named as oxyphyllenone C; compounds 8 and 9 are new natural products; compounds 2 and 6 were isolated from the genus Alpinia for the first time, and compound 7 was isolated from A. oxyphylla for the first time.
1-Butanol ; Alpinia ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Sesquiterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Objective To investigate the role of annexin A1 (ANXA1) in human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) proliferation induced by hypoxia.Methods Primary cultured human PASMCs were randomly divided into 5 groups ( n =60 each):normal oxygen group (group N) and hypoxia 2,8,12 and 24 h groups(groups H1-4).Group N was treated with 21％ O2 for 24 h,and groups H1-4 was treated with 3％ O2 for 2,8,12 and 24 h respectively.ANXA1 mRNA and protein expression was determined by RT-PCR and Western blot.Proliferation of PASMCs were determined by MTT and 3 H-TdR methods.Results ANXA1 mRNA and protein expression was down-regulated,proliferation of PASMCs was enhanced in groups H1-4 as compared with group N (P ＜ 0.05).ANXA1 mRNA and protein expression was down-regulated gradually,proliferation of PASMCs was enhanced gradually in groups H1-4 ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion The expression of ANXA1 is down-regulated in human PASMCs during hypoxia treatment,which might be the mechanism of human PASMCs proliferation induced by hypoxia.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristic of acute pancreatitis with hyperlipemia.Methods 276 patients with acute pancreatitis were divided into two groups:hyperlipemia group and normal group under the diagnostic code.The etiological factor and clinical characteristic were compared between the two groups,also the scores of APACHEⅡ,Ranson and CT after control lipid were compared.Results The factor of food and drink and the rate of SAP in group HL compared with those in group normal were significantly different (P

ObjectiveTo investigate hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) levels in the tissue and serum of patients with chronic hepatitis,cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),and analyze the clinical significances of HGF for HCC.MethodSurgical specimens from 97 patients were collected during Dec.2003 to Aug.2008 in the Third Central Hospital.The patients were prospectively enrolled and categorized into four groups:normal subjects ( n =11 ),chronic hepatitis B or C ( n =6＝,cirrhosis ( n =20)and HCC ( n =60 ) including well-differentiated ( n =21 ),moderately differentiated ( n =23 ),poorly differentiated (n =16) specimens.N0 (n =24),N1 (n =21 ),N2 (n =54) and N3 (n =43) were tissues respectively removed from liver at 0,1,2 or 3 cm beyond the margin of tumor.HGF mRNA expression in liver tissues was determined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription- (RT)-PCR.Serum HGF levels in the other cases of normal subjects ( n =20),chronic hepatitis B or C ( n =20),cirrhosis ( n =20) and HCC (n =57) were measured by ELISA.The Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test was employed for survival analysis.Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors in each group.ResultsThe HGF mRNA in normal subjects,chronic hepatitis,cirrhosis,N3,N2,N1,N0 and HCC were0.99(0.78-1.66),2.15(1.06-3.40),1.78(1.18-2.73),4.59(2.67 -8.63),3.86 ( 2.25 - 6.45 ),3.12 ( 1.59 - 5.74 ),2.92 ( 0.88 - 5.99 ) and 0.48 ( 0.19 - 1.06 ) respectively.The serum concentration of HGF in the normal subjects,chronic hepatitis,cirrhosis and HCC patients were (0.31 ± 0.05 ),(0.65 ± 0.07 ),( 1.27 ± 0.30 ) and ( 2.06 ± 0.66) μg/L respectively.The highest level of HGF mRNA was found in N3,while the HGF mRNA expression in HCC was [ (2.14 ± 0.52 ) μg/L] lower than that not only in the non-tumor tissues,but also in the normal control ( U =196.50,P =0.03 ).The serum concentration of HGF was significantly higher in patients with chronic hepatitis,cirrhosis or HCC than in normal subjects.The serum HGF level of HCC was bounced after hepatectomy (t =2.70,P ＜0.01 ).On the logistic regression analysis,the tumor numbers and Child-pugh were related with the levels of the tissue HGF mRNA and serum HGF of HCC,OR were0.15 (95％CI:0.03-0.72,P＜0.05) and0.13 (95％CI:0.27 -0.89,P ＜0.05 ),respectively.Univariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model in the complication groups revealed that the levels of the tissue HGF mRNA and serum HGF were significant risk factors of death for HCC,OR were 0.02 (95％ CI:0.00 - 0.52,P ＜ 0.05 ) and 10.01 (95％ CI:1.16 -86.23,P ＜ 0.05 ),respectively.On the Log-rank analysis,no statistically difference in the cumulative survival was found between the two groups categorized by median (0.49) of tissue HGF mRNA 2 - AACT (X2 =0.13,P =0.72).While the HCC patients were dichotomized by their the median(0.69 μg/L) of serum HGF concentration,the death risk for the patients with higher levels of HGF was increased 2.84 fold than those with lower levels (95％ CI:1.03 - 7.92,P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionHGF mRNA expression is decreased in tumor tissues,while its level in tumor adjacent live and serum is significantly elevated and is in association with shortened postoperative survival of HCC patients.