Objective To assess and quantitatively analyze the comprehensive benefits of improvement of drinking water quality in Hetian county of Xinjiang Methods The incidences of water borne infectious diseases(dysentery,hepatitis,typhoid and cholera) during 1992~1998 and the effects of health education were reviewed The decreases of the costs for drinking water transportation and the saving of medical expenses were analyzed quantitatively Results 95% of the total population were benefited from the improvement of drinking water quality The incidence rates of water borne infectious diseases except dysentery revealed a decreasing trend during 1992~1998 in Hetian county The benefited population presented higher levels of sanitary knowledge and good sanitary habits By the end of 2000,the accumulative investment for water improvement reached up to 45 50 million yuan,the saving of the costs for drinking water transportation and medical expenses was from 18 64 million yuan to 42 46 million yuan and 6 60 million yuan respectively,the benefit of building water plants and the development of peasant family economy was 2 91 million yuan and 35 56 million yuan respectively The totoal direct economic benefit reached from 67 31 million yuan to 87 52 million yuan Conclusion The project of improvement of drinking water quality revealed significant social and economic benefit,which had obviously exceeded the total investment

Objective To analyze the allergens and sex ,age distribution of chronic urticaria in Chengdu .Methods Totally 859 patients with chronic urticaria were tested with 13 kinds inhaled allergens and 15 kinds of food allergens by skin prick test .Re‐sults The top 5 allergens were:dermatophagoides farinae、dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ,cockroach ,shrimp and sea‐crab .The positive rate of dermatophagoides farinae was 58 .7% ,dermatophagoides pteronyssinus which was 55 .1% took second place .No difference was found between sex ,more inhaled allergens were found positive than food allergens in both sex groups .The positive rate was higher in people younger than 60 .Conclusion Dermatophagoides farinae ,dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ,cockroach , shrimp and sea‐crab are the commonest allergens in Chengdu .The skin prick test is important in the individualized treatment of chronic urticaria and health education .It may also be helpful in the management of chronic allergic skin diseases .

Objective To observe the clinical effect of digital acupoint pressure on sensory dysfunction in hemiplegic patients after stroke. Methods From March to December, 2015, 60 hemiplegic patients with sensory dysfunction after stroke were randomly divided into control group and observation group with 30 cases in each group. The control group received routine rehabilitation exercise, while the obser-vation group received digital acupoint pressure in addition. Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Sense (FMA-S), Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Motor (FMA-M) and modified Barthel index (MBI) were used to evaluate the sensory dysfunction, motor function and activities of daily living be-fore and eight weeks after treatment. Results After treatment, the scores of FMA-S, FMA-M and MBI increased in both groups (t>6.430, P<0.01), and the scores were higher in the observation group than in the control group (t>2.100, P<0.05). Conclusion Digital acupoint pressure can facilitate the recovery of sensory dysfunction, improve the motor function and the activties of daily living in hemiplegic patients after stroke.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the correlation between selenium in the body and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), so as to provide insights into CKD prevention and control. Methods: Publications pertaining to the correlation between selenium level and CKD were retrieved from electronic databases, including CNKI, WanFang Data, PubMed and Web of Science from inception until July 28, 2022. Meta-analysis was performed using the software Stata 16.0, and all measures were expressed with standardized mean difference (SMD) and its 95%CI. The source of heterogeneity was analyzed using subgroup analysis and meta-regression, and sensitivity analysis was performed using the leave-one-out method. In addition, the publication bias was evaluated with d funnel plot, Egger's test and Begg's test, and the robustness of the result was evaluated using the trim and filling method. Results: A total of 2 990 publications were screened, and 63 eligible publications were included in the final analysis, including 18 cross-sectional studies, 40 case-control studies, 2 cohort studies and 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which covered 5 099 CKD patients and 6 334 controls. Meta-analysis showed lower selenium levels in CKD patients than in controls (SMD=-1.828, 95%CI: -2.132 to -1.523, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed lower selenium levels among CKD patients than among controls from Asia, Europe and multiple continents (P<0.05), and lower selenium levels were detected in patients undergoing conservative treatment, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis than in controls (P<0.05), while the selenium levels were significantly lower in CKD patients than in controls in cross-sectional studies, case-control studies and RCTs (P<0.05). The selenium level was significantly lower among CKD patients than among controls regardless of the study year, sample size and score for quality of publications (P<0.05). Sensitivity analysis showed robustness of this meta-analysis. Publication bias was identified by funnel plot, Begg's test and Egger's test, and the robustness of the result was found using the trim-and-fill method. Conclusion There may be a possible correlation between selenium and the risk of CKD.

Objective To investigate the biological effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing molecule OdDHL on murine mast cells. Methods The molecule structure and purity of synthesized OdDHL were confirmed by mass spectrum or proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Its biological activity was checked using a quorum sensing sensor bacterial strain. The viability, apoptosis and intracellular calcium changes of P815 cell line in response to different concentration of OdDHL were determined. Results The biological active OdDHL was synthesized successfully. OdDHL inhibited proliferation of P815 cells in a dose, and time dependent manner. It also induced apoptasis and intracellular calcium release in P815 cells. Conclusion Psendomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing molecule OdDHL induces apoptosis and intracellular calcium release in murine mast cell line P815.

Objective: To evaluate the association of smoking with the risk of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) using a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Methods: A total of 16 383 186 AS-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 378 smoking initiation associated SNPs and 126 lifetime smoking score-associated SNPs were collected from three large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The association of smoking phenotypes with the risk of AS was examined using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) with AS as a outcome variable, smoking initiation and lifetime smoking score as exposure factors and SNPs with strong associations with smoking as instrumental variables, and sensitivity analyses were performed with maximum likelihood-based method, MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) test and MR-Egger regression analysis. Results: A 33.5% increased risk of AS was found among genetically predicted smokers relative to non-smokers (OR=1.335, 95%CI: 1.059-1.682), and an increase in predicted lifetime smoking by per standard deviation resulted in a 101.4% increased risk of AS (OR=2.014, 95%CI: 1.341-3.024). The maximum likelihood-based method and MR-PRESSO test showed consistent correlated effect estimations and MR-Egger regression analysis identified no evidence of pleiotropy. Conclusion It is genetically predicted that smoking is associated with an increased risk of AS.

Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) is the ectopic lymphoid tissue around the chronic inflammatory site of tumor, infection diseases, autoimmunity diseases, organ transplantation and so on. TLS is regarded as the vital niche of antitumor immune response in tumor microenvironment for abundant immune cells, and is correlated with better clinical outcomes and immunotherapy response in most solid tumors. As a typical inflammation-driven cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial with the influence of TLS on patients prognosis. In this paper, the composition, formation mechanism, recognition and clinical value of TLS in HCC were briefly reviewed.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the Protamine 1 (PRM1) gene in infertile men with teratozoospermia.

METHODSWe collected semen samples from 157 infertile men with teratozoospermia (case group) and 37 age-matched male volunteers (control group), and subjected them to morphological analysis. We extracted genome DNA, genotyped the polymorphism of the PRM1-190C- > A SNP (rs2301365) using the Sequenom MassARRAY system, compared the genotype frequencies between the case and control groups, and analyzed the sperm morphological parameters of different genotypes in the infertile males with teratozoospermia.

RESULTSThe frequencies of the genotypes CC, CA and AA were 38.9% (61), 44.6% (70) and 16.6% (26) in the case group, as compared with 45.9% (17), 51.4% (19) and 2.7% (1) in the control, with that of AA significantly higher in the patients than in the volunteers (P<0.05). The frequencies of the alleles C and A were 57.6% and 42.4% in the former, with no significant differences from 71.6% and 28.4% in the latter (P>0.05). Nor were any statistically significant differences observed in sperm morphology parameters between the genotype CC and CA, AA and CA + AA in the male patients (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe SNP of PRM1-190C- > A might be associated with teratozoospermia-induced male infertility in the Han Chinese. Although this SNP may attribute to abnormal sperm morphology, the targeted part of sperm remains unclear.

Adult ; Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; genetics ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Protamines ; genetics ; Spermatozoa ; abnormalities

Candida arthritis in patient with hematological malignancy is rare. A case of Candida tropicalis arthritis of knee occurred in a patient with acute monocytic leukemia was reported during the recovery phase of post chemotherapy myelosuppression and agranulocytosis. The patient was diagnosed as Candida tropicalis arthritis of knee according to the Candida tropicalis isolated from the synovial fluid. Itraconazole and amphotericin B were intravenously injected for therapy for 4 - 5 weeks based on the susceptibility test in vitro, which showed better efficacy. But the arthritis relapsed at 4 - 6 weeks after the drug withdrawal. The curative effect was found in patient after treatment with fluconazole injection and articular cavity douching with amphotericin B for 8 weeks. In conclusion, although Candida arthritis in patient with hematological malignancy is rare, it still occurred in the patient with hypoimmunity. The treatment emphasis showed be placed on the full dosage and full treatment course of antifungal agent.
Antifungal Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Infectious ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Candida tropicalis ; isolation & purification ; Candidiasis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; microbiology ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of the polymorphism in manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) gene in Chinese type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic retinopathy.

METHODSThe Ala(-9)Val polymorphism of the Mn-SOD gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing in 198 normal control subjects and 264 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them there were 139 non-diabetic retinopathy (NDR) subjects and 125 subjects with diabetic retinopathy (DR).

RESULTSThere was no statistic difference in the frequencies of VV genotype and V allele between the type 2 diabetic group and the control group. However, the frequencies of VV genotype and V allele were significantly higher in the DR group than that in the NDR group (chi-square (2)=5.015, P=0.025; chi(2)=10.253, P=0.001),but there was no statistic difference in the NDR group compared with the control group (P > 0.05). The presence of V allele was shown to be associated with diabetic retinopathy (OR=1.96, 95%CI: 1.29-2.97). Furthermore, the subjects carrying the VV genotype had lower serum Mn-SOD level (P=0.025) and had a tendency of higher total serum SOD activity, but this tendency had no statistic significance.

CONCLUSIONThe Ala(-9)Val polymorphism in the Mn-SOD gene may not be related to the etiology of type 2 diabetes, but it seems to contribute to the development of diabetic retinopathy in Chinese type 2 diabetic patients.

Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; DNA ; analysis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; genetics ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; etiology ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Superoxide Dismutase ; genetics