Objective To evaluate the methylation status of RASSF2A in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues and plasma, and to explore the correlations in two kinds of samples with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods The frequency of methylation of the RASSF2A gene in tissues and corresponding plasma samples from 60 EOC patients, 20 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 10 patients with normal ovarian tissues were detected respectively. The methylation-specific PCR was used to determine the methylation status. Results The frequency of aberrant methylation of RASSF2A was 58.3% (35/60) in EOC tissues and 43.3%(26/60) in corresponding plasma samples respectively, however, such hypermethylation was not detected in the benign ovarian tumors and normal ovarian samples, and there was significant difference between them (P<0.05). Besides, RASSF2A methylation levels in serum of EOC patients correlated reasonably well with methylation status in tumor samples (r=0.739, P=0.000). No significant differences were observed between the promoter hypermethylated status of the RASSF2A and clinicopathological characteristics (P>0.05). Conclusions The promoter methylation of RASSF2A gene is an early and frequent epigenetic event in EOC. Detection of promoter hypermethylation in plasma specimens can help the early diagnosis of EOC.

Objective To investigate the current prevalent status of endemic fluorosis in the alluvial plain area of the Yellow River in Shandong Province,in order to provide a scientific basis for developing control measures against the disease.Methods Six counties were selected as survey counties by random sampling,ten improvedwater projects were selected in each survey county,for the projects,the operating effect was investigated and water fluoride content was tested;three epidemic villages were chosen as survey villages in each county,the operating condition and the fluoride level of water were investigated in the villages with water improvement projects.Dental fluorosis of children aged 8 to 12 was surveyed,the urinary fluoride and skeletal fluorosis X-ray diagnosis were checked of adults over the age of 25.Water fluoride and urinary fluoride contents were detected via the F-ion selective electrode method,and the prevalence of dental fluorosis of all children aged 8 to 12 was diagnosed based on Clinical Diagnostic Criteria of Dental Fluorosis (WS/T 208-2011),skeletal fluorosis X-ray diagnosis was done based on the National Standard for Diagnosis of Endemic Skeletal Fluorosis (WS 192-2008).Results ①In the six counties,58 improved-water defluoridation projects were investigated,all projects were operated normally,the qualified rate of water fluoride content was 44.83％ (26/58).②A total of 19 villages that had water-improving and defluoridation projects were investigated,and all projects were operated normally,the qualified rate of water fluoride content was 42.11％ (8/19).③The overall rate of dental fluorosis among children aged 8 to 12 years old was 49.28％ (480/974),with the index of dental fluorosis as 1.01 in 19 villages,the prevalence of dental fluorosis was mild.In the qualified villages of water fluoride concentration,the positive rate of dental fluomsis among children aged 8 to 12 was 33.41％ (148/443),dental fluorosis index was 0.65,and the prevalence of dental fluorosis was extremely low;in the exceeding-standard villages of water fluoride content,the positive rate of dental fluorosis among children aged 8 to 12 was 62.52％ (332/531),dental fluorosis index was 1.36,and the prevalence of dental fluorosis was mild;the detection rate of dental fluorosis among children aged 8 to 12 of the villages with qualified fluoride content was lower than the rate of the villages with excessive fluoride (x2 =81.91,P ＜ 0.01).④X-ray detection rate of skeletal fluorosis in adults over the age of 25 was 6.14％ (53/863) in 17 villages,there was no statistically significant difference between the qualified villages and the exceeding-standard villages of water fluoride concentration (x2 =1.55,P ＞ 0.05),X-ray detection rate of skeletal fluorosis in adults was 5.04％ (20/397) and 7.08％ (33/466),respectively.In the qualified villages and the exceeding-standard villages of water fluoride,urinary fluoride geometric average and the exceeding rate of urinary fluoride were 1.50 mg/L,44.16％ (170/385) and 2.09 mg/L,62.58％ (286/466),respectively.In the qualified villages of water fluoride,the exceeding rate of adult urinary fluoride was lower than that in the exceeding-standard villages (x2 =28.58,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The prevention and control measures on endemic fluorosis have had some effects in the alluvial plain area of the Yellow River in Shandong Province.But the water fluoride content of water improving defluoridation projects still exceeds the national standard seriously,and endemic fluorosis has not been effectively controlled.Prevention measures should be further strengthened.

Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human ; prevention & control

Objective To investigate the prevailing status of endemic fluorosis in the south area of Shandong province and to provide a scientific basis for formulating control measures against the disease.Methods According to the present distribution of fluorosis areas in the south area of Shandong province and the Shandong Province Technical Scheme for Endemic Disease Control,13 counties(districts) in the south area of Shandong province were selected as the survey counties in 2009.Based on the state of endemic fluorosis,the disease was classified into light,moderate and severe types in the 13 monitoring counties (districts),and one diseased village was selected from each type as the survey spots.The drinking water fluoride level,the prevalence of dental fluorosis of children aged 8-12,adult clinical skeletal fluorosis and urinary fluoride level of the children and adults were surveyed in the 39 villages selected.The content of fluoride in drinking water and urine was dctermined by F-ion selective electrode while dental fluorosis of the children aged 8-12 was diagnosed by Dean method and adults skeletal fluorosis by the national standard for Diagnosis of Endemic Skeletal Fluorosis (WS 192-2008).Results A total of 172 water samples were tested in the 39 villages(26 villages with improved water and 13 villages with unimproved water) of the 13 counties(districts),the fluoride content of the 74 water samples(51 from 13 villages with unimproved water and 23 from 6 villages with improved water) exceeded the national standard(＞ 1.0 mg/L),and the rate of exceeded the standard was 43.02％(74/172) with 24 of ＞ 2.0-4.0 mg/L and 3 of ＞ 4.0 mg/L,and the maximum value of the water fluoride was 7.76 mg/L.A total of 1118 copies of children urine samples were tested,geometric mean of urinary fluoride was 1.82 mg/L; 764 copies of adults' urine samples were tested,geometric mean of urinary fluoride was 1.98 mg/L.A total of 1908 children aged 8-12 were examined of dental fluorosis,the detection rate was 45.18％ (862/1908),tooth defection rate was 9.12％ (174/1908),and dental fluorosis index was 1.07.A total of 25 295 adults were checked of clinical skeletal fluorosis,the detection rate was 5.96％(1509/25 296) with 670 moderate or scrious cases.Conclusions In the south area of Shandong province,excessive water fluoride is still serious,mainly in the diseased villages with unimproved water(including water improvement villages discarded water improvement thereafter).Urine fluoride remains at a relatively high level,and the dental and skeletal fluorosis are still comparatively serious.High tluoride hazard still exists to a certain degree.Therefore,the scientific control measures need to be strengthened to control the prevalent of endemic fluorosis.

ObjectiveTo investigate the water fluoride level of the water improvement project and the prevalent condition of endemic fluorosis in 4 counties in Shandong province,and to provide a scientific basis for the development of control strategies to endemic fluorosis.MethodsAccording to “Shandong Province Survey Scheme of Endemic Fluorosis”,the service conditions of normal operated water improvement project and water fluoride content were investigated in Gaomi,Jiaxiang,Yuncheng and Boxing counties from May to November in 2010.The fluoride content in drinking water,the prevalence of dental fluorosis and urinary fluoride in children were investigated in nine major survey villages of the four counties.Water and urinary fluoride were determined by ion selective electrode and examination of dental fluorosis was done by using Dean method.ResultsA total of 288normal operated water improvement projects were examined in the 4 counties,the qualified rate of water fluoride (≤ 1.00 mg/L) of the projects was 51.39％(148/288),mean water fluoride was 1.35 mg/L and the maximum value was 6.27 mg/L.A total of 26 copies of drinking water samples were measured,the fluoride content ranged from 0.62mg/L to 4.36 mg/L,and mean water fluoride was 2.02 mg/L.A total of 685 children aged 8 to 12 were examined in the major investigated villages,the detection rate of dental fluorosis was 80.14％ (549/685),detectable rate of the defective dental fluorosis was 15.33％ (105/685),and dental fluorosis index was 1.56.Three hundred and seventynine copies of child urine samples were tested,the geometric mean of urinary fluoride were 0.66 - 13.28 mg/L,and the average was 3.04 mg/L.ConclusionsNearly 50％ of the water fluoride level of the water improvement project exceeds the standard ( ＞ 1.00 mg/L) in the 4 countries.The detection rate of dental fluorosis exceeds 80％ and urinary fluoride is significantly exceeds the standard in the major investigated villages.The endemic fluorosis is still serious and the situation of prevention and control of the disease is still grim.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paraquat ; poisoning ; urine ; Prognosis ; Young Adult

Objective To understand the schedule and effectiveness of water-improving defluoridation projects comprehensively of control of fluorosis in drinking-water-borne endemic fluorosis areas in Shandong Province,and to provide a scientific basis for making strategies for prevention and control of the disease.Methods In accordance with the requirements of Shandong Provincial Survey Scheme for Implementation of Prevention and Control Measures of Endemic Fluorosis,the progress of water-improving defluoridation projects was investigated in Shandong Province.The types of water source,scale and operating conditions for water-improving defluoridation projects in 17 cities of the province were investigated.Water fluoride contents of the normal operating projects were detected by F-ion selective electrode.Results ① By the end of 2012,a total of 3 539 water-improving defluoridation projects were built that covered 9 856 fluorosis villages,113 counties,17 cities in the province,and the water-improving rate was 91.01％ (9 856/10 830).The type of water source of water-improving project was mainly groundwater,accounted for 93.78％ (3 319/3 539) of the total projects.As for the scale of the water-improving projects,small centralized water supply projects were the main projects,accounted for 92.96％(3 290/3 539) of the total projects.\)Of all the water-improving defluoridation projects,normal operating projects accounted for 89.12％(3 154/3 539),intermittent and scrapped projects accounted for 3.25％(115/3 539) and 7.63％ (270/3 539),respectively.③Among normal operating projects,the number of projects with water fluoride content ≤ 1.20 mg/L was 1 925,accounted for 72.40％(1 925/2 659).The number of projects with water fluoride content ＞ 1.20 mg/L was 734,accounted for 27.60％ (734/2 659); among them water fluoride contents between 2.01-4.00 mg/L and ＞ 4.00 mg/L were 233 and 65,respectively,and the highest water fluoride value was 9.71 mg/L.Conclusions The progress of water-improving projects in some cities (counties) of Shandong Province is still slow.Some of the water-improving projects can not be operated normally or have been scrapped,and water fluoride content has exceeded the standard seriously.So the prevention and control measures need to be further strengthened,funding should be increased,and the operating conditions and water quality of the water-improving defluoridation projects in Shandong need to be further improved.

Objective To investigate the influence of electrocardiogram(ECG)-controlled dose modulation on exposure dosage and image quality of cardiac CT imaging in a cardiac phantom with simulated fluctuant heart rate.Methods The basal heart rate of the cardiac pulsating phantom was set as 60 bpm.the experimental situations were divided as 6 groups according to different heart rates.The cardiac imaging was performed on the cardiac phantom when the ECG-controlled dose modulation was firstly turned off.The exposure dosage of each scan sequence was documented.The standard deviation of the CT values of the phantom was measured on the central slice after coronal reformation of the raw data.The quality of 2D and 3D images were scored.Thell cardiac imaging was performed when ECG modulation was on and set as four groups according to different modulation parameters.All the data were documented as before.The results from the five groups with and without ECG modulation current were analyzed bv F test and comparative rank sum test using the statistical software SPSS 10.0.Results Statistical analysis showed no significant difference(P＞0.05)between the SNR of images(SD value was 27.78 and 26.30)from the groups that full mA output at wide reconstruction phase(69%～99%)when the heart rate was fluctuant(≥7.5 bpm).There was also no significant difference(P＞0.05)between the quality of the 2D and 3D images.But there was a significant difference(P＜0.01)between the SNR of images(SD value was 26.78 and 29.90)that full mA was only used at 85%reconstruction phase when the heart rate Was fluctuant(≥7.5 bpm).The exposure dosage was remarkably reduced when the ECG modulated current was on than when it Was off under fluctuant heart rate.Furthermore.there were significant difierence(P＜0.01)among the difierent ECG modulated current parameter groups.The exposure dosage can be reduced by 44.7%under the situation that the heart rate was fluctuant.Whell the fluctuation of the heart rate was≤12.5 bpm,there wag no obvious relationship between the fluctuation of the heart rate and the exposure dosage (the variation was from 0.1 to 1.1 mSv),but if the heart rate fluctuation was＞12.5 bpm,the exposure dosage would increase obviously (from 0.6 to 1.7 mSv).Conclusion For cardiac imaging with 16-slice row CT,the application of ECG modulated current can effectively reduce the exposure dosage without compromising the image quality even if heart rate was fluctuant.

Objective To study the prevalence of drinking water type of endemic fluorosis in Shandong Province,and to provide a scientific basis in making strategies for prevention and control of the disease.Methods Ten counties (cities,districts) were selected by random number table method to carry out the epidemiological study,and to study the progress and effect of water-improving and defluoridation projects.Three villages in each county (city,district) were chosen to determine fluoride content of drinking water and to check the prevalence of dental fluorosis of children 8 to 12 years old.Water fluoride content was determined with fluoride ion-selective electrode,and dental fluorosis was diagnosed by the Deans method.Results In the 10 counties (cities,districts),a total of 515 water-improving and defluoridation projects were built covering 3 207 fluorosis villages,and the waterimproving rate was 81.71％ (3 207/3 925).A total of 85 water-improving and defluoridation projects were investigated in the 10 counties (cities,districts),and all of the projects were operating normally.The number of projects that water fluoride concentration ≤ 1.20 mg/L was 51; the qualified rate of water fluoride concentration was 60.00％ (51/85),and the maximum value of water fluoride was 4.38 mg/L.A total of 29 villages that had waterimproving and defluoridation projects were investigated in the 10 counties (cities,districts),and the number of villages that mean of water fluoride ≤ 1.20 mg/L was 21,accounting for 72.41％ (21/29); ＞ 1.20 mg/L was 8,accounting for 27.59％ (8/29),and the maximum value of water fluoride was 4.02 mg/L.In the 21 qualified villages of water fluoride concentration,a total of 1 023 children aged 8 to 12 were examined; the positive rate of dental fluorosis was 38.12％ (390/1 023); dental fluorosis index was 0.67,and the prevalence of dental fluorosis was extremely low.In the 8 exceeding-standard villages of water fluoride content,a total of 449 children aged 8 to 12 were examined; the positive rate of dental fluorosis was 54.79％ (246/449); dental fluorosis index was 1.18,and the prevalence of dental fluorosis was mild.Conclusion In Shandong Province,the water fluoride content of waterimproving and defluoridation projects exceeds the national standard seriously,and the condition of children's dental fluorosis is still serious,and the measures of water-defluoridation should be further strengthened.

Objective To understand the status of endemic fluorosis in Shandong Province.Methods In accordance with the requirements of the National Surveillance Scheme of Drinking-Water-Type Endemic Fluorosis (Trial) and Shandong Provincial Surveillance Scheme of Drinking-Water-Type Endemic Fluorosis (Trial),ten counties (cities,districts) were chosen in the province,and ten water-improvement projects were selected in each county (city,district).The operating effect of water-improvement projects was investigated; one peripheral water sample of each project was collected,and water fluoride content was tested.Three epidemic villages were chosen as fixed monitoring villages in each county (city,district).In the villages that had changed water source,one peripheral water sample was collected; in unchanged water source villages,one water sample was collected following five different directions of the east,the west,the south,the north and the center of the water source location; and the water fluoride content was tested.All students aged 8 to 12 were checked for dental fluorosis in the monitoring villages.The fluoride content in drinking water was detected by fluoride ion selective electrode method,and dental fluorosis was diagnosed by Dean's method.Results ① In the 10 counties (cities,districts),a total of 85 water-improving projects were monitored,and all the projects were in normal operation; the water fluoride contents of 47 projects were qualified,and the qualified rate of water fluoride content was 55.29％(47/85),with the maximum of water fluoride content was 4.74 mg/L.② In the 30 fixed monitoring villages,27 monitored villages had water-improving projects; water fluoride contents of 19 villages were qualified,the qualified rate of water fluoride content was 70.37％ (19/27),with the maximum of water fluoride content was 4.77 mg/L.In the 3 monitored villages without water-improving projects,villages of mean water fluoride contents ≤ 1.20 mg/L and ＞ 1.20 mg/L were two and one,respectively,with the maximum of water fluoride content was 1.55 mg/L.③ In the 19 monitored villages with water-improving projects that in normal operating condition with qualified water fluoride content,the detected rates of dental fluorosis and the defect type of dental fluorosis among children aged 8 to 12 years old were 52.37％(508/970) and 6.39％(62/970),respectively,and the index of dental fluorosis was 1.02.In the 8 monitored villages with water-improving projects that in normal operating condition with water fluoride content that exceeded the national standard,the detected rates of dental fluorosis and the defect type of dental fluorosis were 62.39％ (297/476) and 8.82％ (42/476),respectively,and the index of dental fluorosis was 1.67.In the 3 monitored villages without water-improving projects,the detected rates of dental fluorosis and the defect type of dental fluorosis were 49.45％ (90/182) and 7.14％ (13/182),respectively,and the index of dental fluorosis was 1.25.Conclusions In Shandong Province,the water fluoride content of water-improving defluoridation projects exceeds the national standard seriously,and water quality of the projects still need to be further improved.The projects of water-improving defluoridation play a certain role in control of dental fluorosis condition,but the condition of children' s dental fluorosis is still very serious.So preventive and control measures for endemic fluorosis should be further strengthened.