Endophthalmitis ; etiology ; Humans ; Metals ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects

Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Risk Assessment ; methods

Air ; analysis ; Chlorpyrifos ; analysis ; Chromatography, Gas ; methods ; Workplace

Adipates ; analysis ; Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Esters ; analysis ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Phthalic Acids ; analysis ; Workplace

OBJECTIVEbenzene; Air pollution; Risk assessment in the air of workshop and validate the methods.

METHODSExpert-reference, BAYES statistics and expert-measurement were separately used to estimate benzene concentration in a slurry-applying workshop and modeling workshop of a rubber factory. The estimations were compared with current newly monitored data.

RESULTSThe estimated averages of expert-reference, BAYES statistics and expert-measurement were 100.0, 16.9, 33.2 mg/m3 respectively for the slurry-applying workshop and 100, 156, 115 mg/m3 for the modeling workshop. No significant difference was observed between the estimations and validating sample except to that of the expert-reference for the former.

CONCLUSIONBAYES statistics and expert-measurement were precise and expert-reference was candidate if no measurements in spite of its subjectivity.

Air Pollution, Indoor ; analysis ; Benzene ; analysis ; Risk Assessment ; Workplace

OBJECTIVETo identify the potential determinants of return to work (RTW) following work-related injury.

METHODSA historical cohort of workers with occupational injury in a state-owned locomotive vehicle company in central China was followed up for RTW. Demographic, employment and medical information was retrieved from the company archival documents; and post-injury information was interviewed by questionnaires. Univariate analysis and Cox Regression Model were used to examine the associations between potential determinants and outcomes of RTW.

RESULTSThree hundred of the 323 included cases (92.9%) eventually returned to work after the median absence of 43 days (average of 49.2 days). Factors from socio-demographic, clinical, economic and psychological domains were found affecting RTW in the univariate analyses. The multivariate analysis indicated that age, injury severity, injury locus, injury nature, pain in the injury locus, self-reported health status and pre-injury monthly salary were significant determinants of RTW.

CONCLUSIONSThere are multidimensional factors affecting RTW after occupational injury. Proper clinical treatment and rehabilitation, as well as economic and social support to facilitate workers' RTW would be the priorities for intervention. Future studies should be conducted in a larger representative sample to confirm the findings and to develop a multidisciplinary intervention strategy towards promoting RTW.

Adult ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Health ; statistics & numerical data ; Occupational Injuries ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Sick Leave ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Work

Objective To explore the sero-prevalence and risk factors for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) infection and unprotected sexual behavior in an ethnically diverse population of HIVinfected subjects in a county of Yunnan province. Methods HIV-infected individuals attending for routine follow-up by local Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were recruited to participate in the study under 'informed consent'. A face-to-face questionnaire interview was administered to each participant. Blood was drawn for HSV-2 testing by HerpeSelect HSV-2 ELISA (Focus Diagnostics) and CD4+ T counting. Results A total of 300 HIV-infected individuals participated in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 37.6 years with 76.7% as males. Ethnically, Han, Dai and Jingpo accounted for 44.3%, 37.3% and 16.0% of the sample, respectively. Half of the subjects reported HIV acquisition through injection drug use. The sero-prevalence of HSV-2 was 35.0%. Results from multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals who acquired HIV through heterosexual contact were more likely to be HSV-2 positive than those who acquired HIV through injection drug use (OR=4.244,95%CI: 1.924-9.364),whereas Dai (OR=0.300,95% CI: 0.152-0.593) and Jingpo (OR=0.376, 95% CI: 0.167-0.850) were less likely to be HSV-2 positive than the Hans. Among 105 people who were co-infected with HIV/HSV-2, 60 had sexual intercourses in the past 3 months and 41.7% of them reported no or inconsistent use of condoms. Most unprotected sexual contacts occurred within married couples. Conclusion HSV-2 infection was highly prevalent among HIV-infected individuals in this county, and a significant proportion of HIV/HSV-2 co-infected subjects engaged in unprotected sex. HSV-2 testing, behavioral and biomedical interventions among HIV-infected individuals and their sexual partners should be involved in the local HIV prevention and control programs.

OBJECTIVETo explore interaction proteins affect functions of connexin 30 (Cx30) by screening and identification interaction proteins of Cx30.

METHODSThe fusion expression vecto of CX30-C-terminal functional domain-pGEX-4T-2-GST was constructed, and then, fusion protein and GST were purified. They were incubated with the proteins of the foetus brain tissue disruption to pull down interaction proteins. The interaction proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE. Differential straps were cut to enzymolysis to prepare for mass chromatographic analysis, and then to index and screen interaction proteins in NCBInr database. The interaction proteins were identified by immunolocalization.

RESULTSThe four interaction proteins of Cx30 were screened in the foetus brain tissue, as follow, Keratin 16, Camk2b, Tubulin beta-3 and alpha-tubulin. Cx30 was proved to coexist with Keratin 16 and Tubulin beta-3.

CONCLUSIONSKeratin 16, Camk2b, Tubulin beta-3 and alpha-tubulin are the interaction proteins of Cx30. The interaction proteins affect the assembly, intracellular transport, and channel switch of Cx30.

Connexin 30 ; Connexins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Glutathione Transferase ; Humans ; Mutagenicity Tests ; Protein Interaction Mapping ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) expression has been observed on numerous cell types. However, little is known about the functional expression of PAR-2 in human mast cells. In the current study, the actions of a PAR-2 agonist trans-cinnamoyl-Leu-Ile-Gly-Arg-Leu-Orn-amide (tc-LIGRLO) on tryptase release from dispersed human colonic mast cells were examined. The results showed that tc-LIGRLO was able to induce a fold increase in tryptase release over the basal level following a 15 min incubation of colonic mast cells, whereas tc-OLRGIL did not have any effect on tryptase release. The potency of tc-LIGRLO appeared greater than that of anti-IgE and calcium ionophore A23187 (CI) in induction of tryptase release. Extending the incubation time to 30 min had no significant effect on the actions of tc-LIGRLO or anti-IgE. In the time course study, it was observed that the tryptase release from mast cells induced by tc-LIGRLO started at 1 min and peaked at 3 min following incubation. The above-mentioned results indicate that tc-LIGRLO is a potent stimulus of tryptase release from human mast cells, which strongly suggests that PAR-2s are expressed in human mast cells.
Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Mast Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Receptor, PAR-2 ; agonists ; Tryptases ; metabolism

AIMTo examine the ability of calcium ionophore (CI) to induce tryptase and histamine release from human mast cells and its mechanisms.

METHODSEnzymatically dispersed cells from human colons were challenged with CI, and the cell supernatants after challenge were collected. Tryptase release was determined with a sandwich ELISA procedure and histamine release was measured using a glass fibre-based fluorometric assay.

RESULTSCI was able to induce a concentration dependent release of histamine and tryptase from human colon mast cells following 15 min incubation. The maximum of induced histamine and tryptase release were approximately 5.3 and 2.8 fold more than the levels of spontaneous release, respectively. CI at the concentrations higher than 1.0 micromol/L was able to induce significantly more histamine than tryptase release from mast cells. The time course revealed that the action of CI on mast cells started from 10 s, peaked at 6 min and lasted at least 15 min following incubation. Pertussis toxin and metabolic inhibitors were able to inhibit mast cell response to CI.

CONCLUSIONHuman colon mast cells were able to release tryptase and histamine in response to CI. The process seemed to be associated with the activation of a G-protein coupled receptor on the membrane of mast cells and requires cell energy supply.

Calcium Ionophores ; pharmacology ; Cells, Cultured ; Colon ; cytology ; Histamine ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mast Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; secretion ; Tryptases ; metabolism