A research combined trickling filter system and active sludge aeration system was applied in the treatment of industrial wastewater from gas-generating with heavy oil. The wastewater contained both high contents of NH+4-N and mixed hydrocarbons including various PAHs. Its BOD5/COD ratio was less than 0.3 and belongs to recalcitrant, toxic wastewater. The results showed a touch-growth biofilms system was formed on the porous packing material and it played a key role in the decrease of toxicity of the influent. It could also improve the biodegradability of the wastewater.

BACKGROUNDMutations in fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) gene can lead to tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1), a relatively rare autosomal recessive disorder. To date, no molecular genetic defects of HT1 in China have been described. We investigated a Chinese family with a HT1 child to identify mutations in FAH.

METHODSDNA sequencing was used for mutations screening in FAH gene. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to determine the FAH gene expression level. To confirm the presence of degradation by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway (NMD), the fragments containing R237X mutations were analyzed by primer introduced restriction analysis-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR) and cDNA sequencing. Finally, the effects of the mutations reported in this study were predicted by online softwares.

RESULTSA boy aged 3 years and 8 months was diagnosed clinically with HT1 based on his manifestations and biochemical abnormalities. Screening of FAH gene revealed two heterozygous mutations R237X and L375P transmitted from his mother and father respectively. In this pedigree, the amount of FAH mRNA relative to a healthy control was 0.44 for the patient, 0.77 for his mother and 1.07 for his father. Moreover, both PIRA-PCR and cDNA sequencing showed significant reduction of the FAH mRNA with R237X nonsense mutation. The missense mutation of L375P was not reported previously and prediction software showed that this mutation decreased the stability of protein structure and affected protein function.

CONCLUSIONSThis is the first case of HT1 analyzed by molecular genetics in China. The R237X mutation in FAH down- regulates the FAH gene expression, and the L375P mutation perhaps interrupts the secondary structure of FAH protein.

Child, Preschool ; China ; Humans ; Hydrolases ; genetics ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Mutation, Missense ; genetics ; Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay ; genetics ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tyrosinemias ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the difference of soluble P-selectin levels in different subtype of coronary heart disease and the relationship between soluble P-selectin levels with the severity of coronary artery lesions.

METHODSEnzyme linked immuoserbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the plasma soluble P-selectin levels in 69 patients with angiocardiography documented coronary heart disease and 19 normal coronary arteries persons without angiocardiography detectable coronary artery disease (control group). The coronary artery lesions score was recorded according to single, double and triple-vessel lesions while the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association proposed type A, B, C lesion and Gensini scoring system. The relationships between plasma soluble P-selectin levels and the coronary artery score (the severity of coronary heart disease) were assessed.

RESULTS(1) The level of plasma soluble P-selectin was obviously higher in the coronary heart disease group than in the control group (180.6 +/- 60.5 ng/L vs. 145.3 +/- 21.7 ng/L, P<0.05). (2) The level of plasma soluble P-selectin was significantly higher in the acute coronary syndrome group (191.4 +/- 63.7 ng/L) than in the control group (145.3 +/- 21.7 ng/L, P< 0.01) and in the stable angina pectoris group (141.3 +/- 17.9 ng/L, P<0.01). (3) The level of plasma soluble P-selectin was high in multi-vessel coronary artery lesions group than in single-vessel group (190.1 +/- 64.2 ng/L vs. 157.2 +/- 43.4 ng/L, P < 0.05). The level of plasma soluble P-selectin was positively correlated with the Gensini score (r = 0.391, P = 0.001); the numbers of vessels lesions (rs = 0.349, P = 0.003); Type A, B and C lesions (rs = 0.358, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONThe positive correlation between the level of soluble P-selectin and the coronary artery score may indicate that soluble P-selectin levels might reflect the severity of coronary heart disease. The elevated soluble P-selectin level in acute coronary syndrome suggested the possible relation of P-selectin to the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome, which may save as a potential marker of plaque unstability.

Case-Control Studies ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; physiopathology ; Coronary Vessels ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; P-Selectin ; blood ; chemistry ; Solubility

Objective To study and discuss what part does methylated Id4 gene participate in malignant lymphoma stage Ⅳ by detecting the extent of how much Id4 gene has been methylated in afflicted children who suffer from malignant lymphoma.Methods Forty-two patients who had diagnosed with malignant lymphoma [Hodgkin's disease (HD),Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL)] were selected as study group.Their chemotherapy stages of pre-treatment,early-treatment,mid-treatment,post-treatment and clinical remissions or relapse throughout the entire treatment had been traced.At each stage the expression of methylated Id4 gene mRNA was detected by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) and compared with the control group.The control group consisted of 20 non-neoplastic hematologic disorder affected children as sample donors.Results MS-PCR detection:in pre-treatment stage,there were 27 patients who were found methylated or partially methylated Id4 genes.Methylated ratio was thus at 64.3％ (27 patients out of a total of 42 patients).Those 27 patients were actively traced down along with different stages of treatment (21 NHL patients,6 HD patients).Before NHL there was 55.6％ methylated Id4 gene (15 cases out of 27 NHL patients).During chemotherapy treatment,there was 51.9％ of methylated Id4 gene positive (14 cases out of 27 patients).In post chemotherapy treatment,there was 48.1％ of methylated Id4 gene positive (13 cases out of 27 patients).Totally there were 9 patients showed clinical recovery after chemotherapy.There was 44.4％ of traceable methylated Id4 gene after recovered chemotherapy patients (4 recovered patients still carrying positive reading of methylated Id4 gene out of totally 9 recovered patients).There were 2 patients relapsed,with traceable methylated Id4 gene re-appeared in them afterwards.Throughout different treatment stages,there was no significant correlation in the treatment result and the appearance of methylated Id4 gene in early treatment stages (all P ＞ 0.05).But in latter treatment of chemotherapy,the correlation started to emerge (P ＜ 0.05) ; The overall statistics on NHL and HD share the same statistical pattern on different stages (all P ＞ 0.05).The control group had 20 patients,none of them had methylated Id4 gene.The study group showed noticeable difference in methylated Id4 gene before and after the experiment (P ＜ 0.001).RT-PCR result showed that before chemotherapy treatment,all of those who carried methylated Id4 gene had no expression of mRNA,by comparison to the control1 group which all had expression of mRNA.Conclusions Methylated Id4 gene is closely related in affected children who suffer from malignant lymphoma and its complications.The expression of Id4 gene is depressed when it has been methylated.The state of methylated Id4 gene is changed as patient's condition changed,so the methylated Id4 gene is thus a possible indicator of early diagnostic tool for children lymphoma.

OBJECTIVETo study the influence of clinical and pathological-morphological parameters on the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

METHODSUnivariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard model were used to study the influence of clinical and pathological-morphological factors on the prognosis in 226 colorectal carcinoma cases.

RESULTSUsing univariate analysis, data showed that the factors significantly related to disease prognosis would include: the depth of direct spread, vessel invasion, perineural invasion, tumor budding, peritumoral-lymphocytic infiltration, Crohn-like reaction, number of positive lymph nodes, distant metastasis, TNM stage and urine glucose. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model showed that six factors were identified to be associated with higher relative-risk (RR), including: older age, advanced TNM stage, more severe budding, perineural invasion, less peritumoral-lymphocytic infiltration and urine glucose.

CONCLUSIONAge, TNM stage, tumor budding, perineural invasive, peritumoral-lymphocytic infiltration and urine glucose were independent predictors to the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Female ; Glycosuria ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Regression Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for patients of Uygur and Han nationality and explore the national diversity among the patients with MCI.

METHODSTwenty-five cases were divided into Han nationality group (15 cases) and Uygur nationality group (10 cases) according to patient's nationality. In either group, EA was applied to Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Xuanzhong (GB 39), Fuliu (KI 7), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Taixi (KI 3), once per day, 15 treatments made one session and there were 5 days at the interval among the sessions. Totally, 3 sessions of treatment were required. The proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to observe the changes in the ratio of N-acetylaspartate and creatine (NAA/Cr) on the left hippocampus for the patients in two groups before and after treatment as well as the changes in the results of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) separately.

RESULTSNAA/Cr in Uygur nationality group was higher than that in Han nationality group before treatment (1.659 +/- 0.418 vs 1.137 +/- 0.190, P < 0.05). After treatment, MMSE and MoCA scores all increased apparently as compared with those before treatment in two groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and NAA/Cr on the left hippocampus in either group was up-regulated as compared with that before treatment (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONEA can improve the overall cognitive function for the patients with MCI. There is the national diversity in the partial brain metabolite level between Uygur patients and Han patients with MCI.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aspartic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; China ; ethnology ; Cognition Disorders ; metabolism ; therapy ; Creatine ; analysis ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Hippocampus ; chemistry ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged

During 2009-2012, the Nam Dinh virus (NDiv) was detected from the samples of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus in Shenzhen China. In this study, cell culture,SYBR Green I based real time RT-PCR and RT-PCR were performed to analyze the cell susceptibility and other biological characteristics of the NDiV isolates. The results showed that C6/36 cell line was susceptible to four isolates of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus. The "S" type amplification curve and specific melting curve were obtained in the realtime fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR based on SYBR Green I for the detection of the NDiV from the mosquito. The target bands from the RdRp gene and partial fragment of ZmHel1 gene were observed using agarose gel electrophoresis. Both the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of four Shenzhen isolates showed more than 99.00% homology with the Vietnam representative NDiV strain (02VN178). Phylogenetic analysis showed that four Shenzhen isolates shared the same evolution branch as the Vietnam representative NDiV strain. This is the first report of NDiV in China.
Animals ; China ; Culex ; virology ; Nidovirales ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny

Objective To evaluate the value of heart rate variability (HRV ) and sympathetic skin response (SSR) in differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) .Methods We selected 36 PD ,17 essential tremor (ET) and 59 Parkinsonism-Plus (PD-plus) patients diagnosed in our department .We recorded HRV during the period of quiet breath ,deep breath and Vasaval as well as SSR incubation period of the upper limbs and lower limbs . Results ① During the period of quiet breath ,HRV decreased significantly in PD group compared with that in ET group (P< 0 .05) ,and abnormality rate of HRV in PD group was higher than that in ET group .HRV did not significantly differ between PD and PD-plus .HRV did not significantly differ among the three groups during the period of deep breath and Vasaval .② SSR incubation period showed no significant difference among PD ,PD-plus and ET groups .③ The specificity and sensibility of HRV in PD and PD-plus differential diagnosis were 22 .8% and 82 .6% , while for PD and ET differential diagnosis the values were 66 .9% and 82 .6% . The specificity and sensibility of SSR in PD and PD-plus differential diagnosis were 39 .0% and 52 .6% , 29 .4% and 52 .6% , respectively ,for PD and ET differential diagnosis .Conclusion Compared with those in ET patients ,HRV in PD patients decreases and HRV abnormality rate increases .HRV is of great value in differential diagnosis of PD and ET but not in differential diagnosis of PD and PD-plus .Determining SSR incubation period does not have much value in differential diagnosis of PD ,PD-plus and ET .

OBJECTIVESpinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disorder that results in symmetrical muscle weakness and wasting due to degeneration of the anterior horns of the spinal cord. The clinical picture of SMA is variable and childhood SMA has been classified into 3 types on the basis of the age of onset and clinical course. The survival motor neuron (SMN) gene was mapped to chromosome 5q13. The SMN1 gene has been recognized to be responsible for SMA because of homozygous deletions or intragenic mutations in SMN1 results in childhood onset of SMA. The main objective of this study was to determine the deletion frequency of SMN1 gene and to apply gene analysis in children patients with SMA.

METHODSThe SMA patients were diagnosed and clinically typed according to the international diagnostic criteria, following up cases, and gene analysis. The PCR enzyme assay was used to detect the homozygous deletion of SMN1 gene in SMA patients. A dosage assay that combined multiplexed allele-specific PCR and DHPLC was used to determine the copy numbers of the SMN1 and SMN2 and detect SMN1 heterozygous deletion.

RESULTS(1) A total of 267 patients with SMA were diagnosed from 338 suspicious cases and 143, 82, and 42 cases were typed as types I, II, and III, with the percentages of 53.6% (143/267), 30.7% (82/267) and 15.7% (42/267), respectively. (2) Results of the present study showed that 68.5% (183/267) of SMA patients had homozygous deletions of exons 7 and 8 of SMN1 gene and 12.7% (34/267) had homozygous deletions of only exon 7 of SMN1 gene. The SMN1 heterozygous deletion was confirmed in 12.4% (33/267) of SMA patients. Non-deletion SMA patients accounted for 6.4%(17/267). The homozygous deletions of only exon 8 of SMN1 gene could not be detected. (3) The rates of homozygous or heterozygous deletion in types I and II were very similar. The rate of homozygous deletion was lower in type III than that in type I or II and rate of heterozygous deletion of type III was higher than that in types I or II.

CONCLUSION(1) The frequency and pattern of deletions in the Chinese children patients with SMA are significantly different from that observed in Caucasians populations. Further gene characterization and subtle mutations within the SMN1 gene need to be studied in order to define the molecular basis of SMA in the Chinese population. (2) The gene diagnosis is a special and non invasive method as compared with other methods. A total of 80% patients can be diagnosed through the analysis of the homozygous deletion of SMN1 gene. (3) The clinical diagnosis and gene detection need to be studied in future for the SMA patients with type III.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; European Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Exons ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Spinal Muscular Atrophies of Childhood ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Survival of Motor Neuron 1 Protein ; genetics

Objective:To investigate and analyze the hospital staff and patients, awareness about anesthesiologists′ work.Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted among the hospital staff in the non-anesthesiology departments and non-operating room and the patients undergoing elective surgery at the same time in tertiary hospitals.Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors affecting the level of awareness of the respondents.Results:Sixty point three percent of the respondents had a low level of awareness about the anesthesiologists′ work.Compared with the patients, the physicians ( OR=2.866, 95%CI: 1.405-5.848) had higher level of awareness.There was no significant difference in the levels of awareness among the nurses ( OR=1.633, 95%CI: 0.815-3.273), medical technicians ( OR=1.359, 95%CI: 0.630-2.935), administrative staff ( OR=1.470, 95%CI: 0.651-3.317) and the patients.The respondents, aged 36-50 yr ( OR=1.848, 95%CI: 1.224-2.792), with master′s degree ( OR=2.068, 95%CI: 1.090-3.925) and bachelor′ s degree ( OR=3.624, 95%CI: 1.701-7.723), had higher level of awareness, and the respondents without history of anesthesia and surgery ( OR=0.574, 95%CI: 0.380-0.867) and without medicine-related education background ( OR=0.354, 95%CI: 0.145-0.865) had lower level of awareness. Conclusion:There is insufficient awareness about anesthesiologists′ work among hospital staff and patients.Hospital staff are generally better than patients in terms of the level of awareness, but there are differences among different job categories.There is no significant difference in the level of awareness among nurses, medical technicians, administrative staff and patients.The respondents who are middle-aged, with higher education level, with history of anesthesia and surgery and with medicine-related education background, have higher level of awareness.