China ; Communicable Disease Control ; Disease Notification ; Humans ; Population Surveillance

Objective To discuss the effect of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) on Wnt singal pathway during the differentiation of osteoblast in vitro.Methods The osteoblasts were obtained from the new rats and cultured in vitro.The 3 passages were divided into control group and DKK-1 group.The cells were cultured in DKK-1 and normal saline for morphogical detection,ALP activity detection and osteoblasts stained at 1 st,6th,12th,21st day.The Wnt was detected by RT-PCR.Results After cultured by the DKK-1 in vitro,the ALP and mineralization of osterblasts staining were prlonged with culture time.Compared with control group,the expression of Wnt was significantly reduced at the 21st day after induction (t =0.278,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion DKK-1 can regulate the expression of Wnt during osteoblast differentiation,suggests that Wnt may be involved in osteoblast differentiation and can affect bone remodeling process.

China ; epidemiology ; Epilepsy ; complications ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo describe the epidemiologic features of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing.

METHODDatabase of the 2 521 probable cases of SARS in Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control was used.

RESULTSThe course of SARS epidemic in Beijing could be divided into five phases: import and spreading-from 1 to 31 in March, rising-from April 1 to April 15, peak-from April 16 to May 4, declining-from 5 to 18 in May, terminating-from 19 to 28 in May. The proportions of portable cases of SARS in each phase were 2.7%, 13.6%, 71.0%, 11.6% and 1.1%, respectively. Totally, 2 521 portable cases were diagnosed and verified according to the diagnostic criteria of SARS issued by the Ministry of Health. Among them, 192 died from SARS. The incidence and mortality rates of SARS were 18.57 per 100,000 and 1.41 per 100,000 with the fatality of 7.6%. The ratio of male to female with SARS was 1:0.97. The highest incidence rate of SARS was in the group of 20 - 29 years (30.85 per 100,000), and the lowest was in the group of 0 - 14 years (2.54 per 100,000). People aged 20 - 49 accounted for 72.3% of all SARS cases. The incidence rates in urban, suburb and far-suburb were 32.25/100,000, 20.57/100,000 and 8.90/100,000, respectively, decreasing according to the population density. Health care providers (17.3%), staff (12.9%), retirees (11.4%), workers (9.7%) and house-hold unemployees (8.8%) appeared to be at the five top risk populations being infected. The fatality increased significantly with age.

CONCLUSIONBeijing was the most severe epidemic region of SARS in the world, but the fatality was the lowest.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Databases as Topic ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Survival Rate ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the systemic changes of iron metabolism following manganese exposure.

METHODSNinety-seven welders and 91 workers with no history of exposure to manganese were recruited from the same factory in Beijing serving as the exposure group and the control group respectively. The welding rods used were type J422. The concentration of the manganese in the air of the work place was determined respectively with the national standard method. The serum iron and manganese, ferritin, transferrin and transferrin receptors were measured with the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry and ELISA in both groups.

RESULTSThe permissible concentration-STEL of ambient Mn in welders' breathing zone ranged from 0.53 mg/m(3) to 2.19 mg/m(3), while the permissible concentration-TWA of ambient Mn was between 0.29 mg/m(3) and 0.92 mg/m(3) in the breathing zone of the workplace. Serum Mn and Fe concentrations in welders were about 1.40 times (P < 0.0l) and 1.2 times (P < 0.01), respectively, higher than those of control subjects. At the same time, the transferrin concentrations in serum were significantly higher (about 1.2 times, P < 0.05) in welders than in controls. In contrast, transferrin receptors were significantly lower (about 1.2 times) in exposed subjects than controls (P = 0.001). There was no difference in serum ferritin between the two groups (P = 0.112). Although there was no significant trend, the serum ferritin level was increased by 18% in comparison with that of the control. The abnormal percentage of serum Fe and Serum Mn in welders were 55.67% and 67.01% respectively, higher than those of control subjects. In addition, the correlations between all indicators and the duration of employment were not observed.

CONCLUSIONThe long term exposure to the manganese can induce the disorder of the iron metabolism, which is found in the expression of increase of the serum iron and transferrin as well as the decrease of transferrin receptors.

Female ; Ferritins ; blood ; Humans ; Iron ; metabolism ; Iron Metabolism Disorders ; chemically induced ; Male ; Manganese ; adverse effects ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Receptors, Transferrin ; blood ; Transferrin ; analysis ; Welding

OBJECTIVETo study the potential risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS)-related deaths in Beijing.

METHODSEpidemiological data were collected among the confirmed SARS patients officially reported by Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (BCDC), and information was also supplemented by a follow-up case survey. Chi-square test and multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis were performed.

RESULTSOld age (over 60 years) was found to be significantly associated with SARS-related deaths in the univariate analysis. Also, history of contacting SARS patients within 2 weeks prior to the onset of illness, health occupation, and inferior hospital ranking as well as longer interval of clinic consulting (longer than 1 day) were the risk factors for SARS-related deaths. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis found four risk factors for SARS-related deaths.

CONCLUSIONOld age (over 60 years) is the major risk factor for SARS-related deaths. Moreover, hospital health workers, the designated hospitals for SARS clinical services and the interval of consulting doctors (less than 1 day) are protective factors for surviving from SARS.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; mortality

OBJECTIVETo describe the epidemiologic features of an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in urban and suburb areas in Beijing and to explore their differences between these two areas.

METHODSData of SARS cases were collected from daily notification of China Ministry of Health and a database of infectious diseases was established by the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Prevention and Control (BCDC). All the data were put into dataset files by Microsoft Excel-2000 and analyzed with SPSS version 10.0 software.

RESULTSThe respective urban incidence and mortality rate were 29.06 and 2.21 per 100,000, while the case fatality rate was 7.62%. In contrast, the respective suburb incidence and mortality rate were 10.61 and 0.78 per 100,000, and the case fatality rate was 7.32%. No significant differences were found in demographic characteristics between the urban and suburb areas.

CONCLUSIONBeijing urban area suffered a more serious SARS epidemic than the suburb area in 2003.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Cities ; Female ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Suburban Population ; Urban Population

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between polymorphism in the ACE I/D gene and blood pressure-lowering response to hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in 829 patients.

METHODSHCTZ 12.5 mg was taken once a day for six weeks. The blood pressure reduction and ratio reaching target blood pressure were compared in different ACE genotype groups.

RESULTSThe reduction in SBP of patients carrying DD was greater than that in other groups carrying II or ID (12.2 mmHg versus 5.4 mmHg, 12.2 mmHg versus 4.4 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05). The reduction in MAP of patients carrying DD was also greater than that in other groups carrying II or ID (6.9 mmHg versus 3.9 mmHg, 6.9 mmHg versus 3.6 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05). The ratio reaching target blood pressure in DD groups was significantly higher than that in II or ID groups (P<0.05). The pre-treatment SBP, DD genotype, aldosterone levels entered the multi-linear regression model significantly and might affect the reduction of SBP. The pre-treatment DBP, aldosterone levels, DD genotype entered the multi-linear regression model significantly and might affect the reduction of DBP. The pre-treatment MAP, DD genotype, aldosterone levels entered the multi-linear regression model significantly and might affect the reduction of MAP.

CONCLUSIONACE genotyping is associated with blood pressure-lowering response to HCTZ. Specific genotypes might be associated with the response to specific antihypertensive treatment.

Aged ; Alleles ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hydrochlorothiazide ; therapeutic use ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo study the condition of economic burden of disease in the countryside and to explore the related factors.

METHODSHuman capital method and two-step method were used in the calculation of economic burden of disease.

RESULTSThe total economic burden of disease among 3359 persons was 3072 225 Yuan. Noncommunicable conditions were accounted for 62.95%, while communicable disease, maternal and perinatal conditions accounted for 24.25%, and injury accounted for 9.83% respectively. The direct economic burden of disease was 1,559,619 Yuan and the indirect economic burden of disease was 1,472,606 Yuan. The economic burden of disease for each person was 914 Yuan. The equal burden of disease among patients with disability and without disability were 3070 Yuan and 680 Yuan respectively (P < 0.001). There was significant difference among different age groups. The influencing factors were found to include having noncommunicable disease, age, disability and the condition of marriage.

CONCLUSIONCorresponding policy to cope with conditions of different age groups needs to be developed to reduce the economic burden of disease in the countryside.

Absenteeism ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; economics ; epidemiology ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; economics ; epidemiology ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; economics ; epidemiology ; Communicable Diseases ; economics ; epidemiology ; Cost of Illness ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rural Health

OBJECTIVETo describe the specific features of the contact history of probable cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing.

METHODSData of SARS cases notified from the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (BCDC) and supplemented by other channels were collected. All the data were analyzed by descriptive epidemiology.

RESULTS(1) The number of probable cases with contact history was significantly higher than the excluded cases. (2) The proportion of probable cases with contact history descended with epidemic development, but this situation did not occur in health care workers (HCWs). (3) The fatality rate of probable cases with contact history was significantly higher than the cases without contact history (OR = 1.489). (4) The proportion of probable cases with contact history was 85.86% among health care workers, which was significantly higher than that of non-health care workers (85.86% v.s. 56.44%, OR=4.69).

CONCLUSIONS(1) The susceptible persons with contact history may not get infected, and the contact history is just a sufficient condition of infecting SARS; (2) There are 3 conceivable reasons for the descending trend of the proportion in probable cases with contact history; (3) The contact history is one of the risk factors of the death of SARS cases; (4) The risk of contacting with SARS among health care workers is approximately 5 times higher than that of non-HCWs.

China ; Contact Tracing ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Disease Outbreaks ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Medical History Taking ; Occupational Exposure ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission