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.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency disorders (VADD) is a healthy problem of children in the world, especially in the west of China and remote areas, and the nutritional intervention is needed.OBJECTIVE: To compare the improved effects of biscuits fortified with three different doses of vitamin A on the vitamin A status in children aged 3-6 years and explore ap ideal dose of vitamin A supplement for preventing VADD.DESIGN: Randomized controlled observation.SETTING: Health Surveillance Institute, Chongqing Municipal Health Bureau; Staff Room of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, College of Public Health, Chongqing University of Medical Sciences; Center for Children Nutrition, Children's Hospital, Chongqing University of Medical Sciences.PARTICIPANTS: The investigation was done between March and December 2002. 753 children aged 3-6 years from 8 kindergartens in Banan district of Chongqing city were enrolled with the agreement of their guardians. They were divided randomly into 4 groups: 30% recommended intake group, 100% recommended intake group, 20 000 international unit (IU) and 200 000 IU groups.METHODS: ① The biscuits fortified with 30% recommended intake of vitamin A (500 IU) were once given to people of the 30% recommended intake group (177 cases) every day. ②The biscuits fortified with 100% recommended intake of vitamin A (1666 IU) were once given to people of the 100% recommended intake group (173 cases) every day. ③The biscuits fortified with 20 000 IU of vitamin A were once given to people of the 20 000 IU group (209 cases) every week. ④The soft gelatin capsule with 200 000 IU of vitamin A were once given to people of the 200 000 IU group (194 cases).Height, body mass, serum retinal, prealbumin, haematoglobin and retinal binding protein of all children were measured before intervention and after intervention for 3 months. Above indexes were rechecked after supplement for 9 months in 87 children of 30% recommended intake groupMAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Prevalence rate of VADD before in-tervention and after intervention for 3 months in children of every group.② Serum retinal, serum prealbumin, serum retinal binding protein,haematoglobin, height and body mass of children before intervention and after interventional for 3 months in every group.RESULTS: Because of lose of samples and detective technology, only 580 children' examination results were got by rechecking. ①Comparison of the prevalence rate of VADD of children in every group: Three months supplementation later, the prevalence of VADD in every group all decreased sig nificantly [1.48%,1.42%,1.21%, 2.16% ;6.78%,6.54%,8.61%,8.25%(χ2=3.86-8.57, P ＜ 0.05-0.01 )]. ②Comparison of serum retinal, serum prealbumin, serum retinal binding protein, haematoglobin, height and body mass of children of every group: After supplement for 3 months, except prealbumin and haematoglobin in the 30% recommended intake group ,other indexes in each group all increased significantly (t=2.52-37.44, P＜ 0.05-0.01 ). The increase of serum vitamin A in the 20 000 IU group was larger than that in the other groups (F=4.62,P＜ 0.01 ). The increases of haematoglobin, prealbumin and height in the 30% recommended intake group were less than those in the other groups (F=5.04-7.78 ,P ＜ 0.01 ).After supplement for 9 months, the increases of haematoglobin and prealbumin in the 30% recommended intake group were larger than those in the other groups (F= 11.62,10.21 ,P ＜ 0.01). The increase of serum retinal was still lower than that in the 20 000 IU group (F=4.21 ,P ＜ 0.01 ).CONCLUSION: Supplement with biscuits fortified with 3 different doses of vitamin A and capsule with 200 000 IU of vitamin A can improve obviously the nourished status of vitamin A and the level of ferrohemoglobin, in which 30% recommended intake and 100% recommended intake have small risk, and everyday supplement can maintain stably the level of vitamin A. That may be suitable for the long-term supplement for children, and the effect of 30% recommended intake was better than that of 100% recommended intake.

The relationship between tyrosine phosphorylation (TP) and protein expression of insulin receptor (InsR) and insulin resistance (IR) in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated. The InsR expression and TP in skeleton muscle tissue were determined by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation in women with GDM (GDM group, n=22), normal pregnant women (normal pregnancy group, n=22) and normal non-pregnant women (normal non-pregnant group, n=13). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting insulin (FINS) were measured by oxidase assay and immunoradioassay. The results showed that the levels of FPG (5.61±0.78 mmol/L), FINS (15.42±5.13 mU/L) and Homeostasis model assessment-IR (HOMA-IR) (1.21±0.52) in GDM group were significantly higher than those in normal pregnancy group (4.43±0.46 mmol/L, 10.56±3.07 mU/L and 0.80±0.31 respectively) (P<0.01). The levels of FINS and HOMA-IR in normal pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in normal non-pregnant group (7.56±2.31 mU/L and 0.47±0.26 respectively) (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the InsR expression level among the three groups (P>0.05). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was significantly decreased in GDM group (0.20±0.05) as compared with normal pregnancy group (0.26±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation in normal pregnancy group was lower than that in normal non-pregnant group (0.31±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was negatively related with HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.525, P<0.01). There was no correlation between the protein expression of InsR and HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.236, P>0.05). It was suggested that there is no significant correlation between the protein expression of InsR in skeletal muscle and IR in GDM, but changes in TP of InsR are associated with IR in GDM.

Castleman's disease is a slowly progressive and rare lymphoproliferative disorder. Here, we report a 55-year-old woman with superior mediastinal Castleman's disease being misdiagnosed for a long term. We found a 4.3 cm mass localized in the superior mediastinum accompanied with severe clinical symptoms. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy, but the mass failed to be totally excised. Pathologic examination revealed a mediastinal mass of Castleman's disease. After radiotherapy of 30 Gy by 15 fractions, the patient no longer presented previous symptoms. At 3 months after radiotherapy of 60 Gy by 30 fractions, Computed tomography of the chest showed significantly smaller mass, indicating partial remission. Upon a 10-month follow-up, the patient was alive and free of symptoms.
Antigens, CD20 ; metabolism ; Castleman Disease ; diagnosis ; immunology ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mediastinal Diseases ; diagnosis ; immunology ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Mediastinum ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Multimodal Imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUNDAnomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital heart anomaly. We aimed to illustrate the clinical features and long-term prognosis of patients with ALCAPA.

METHODSTwenty three patients (13 males and 10 females, ages ranging from 2.5 months to 65 years) identified as ALCAPA in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from April 1984 to June 2009 were divided into two groups, based on the age of onset: group 1 (≤ 12 months, n = 16) and group 2 (> 12 months, n = 7).

RESULTSFifty six point three percent of patients in group 1 had been misdiagnosed as endocardial fibroelastosis (9/16), 18.8% as dilated cardiomyopathy (3/16) and 6.3% as myocardial infarction (1/16). Patients in group 2 were usually diagnosed as coronary heart disease, myocarditis, or patent ductus arteriosus. Electrocardiography in group 1 revealed abnormal Q waves with T wave inversion in leads I, avL, V(4)-V(6), especially in lead avL (deep and wide Q wave); but no specific manifestations in group 2. A higher percentage of patients in group 1 had cardiomegaly on chest radiograph (86.7% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.031), while pulmonary artery protrusion was more common in group 2 (26.7% vs. 83.3%, P = 0.046). Lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was present in group 1 than in group 2 ((48.5 ± 11.5)% vs. (65.0 ± 6.1)%, P < 0.001). Apical ventricular aneurysm (62.5% vs. 0%, P = 0.007), enhanced echogenicity of papillary muscles (87.5% vs. 28.6%, P = 0.011) and endocardial thickening (93.8% vs. 14.3%, P < 0.001) were more frequent in group 1 than in group 2. The ratio of the proximal right coronary artery (RCA) diameter to the aortic root diameter exceeded 0.14 in all cases, more prominent in group 2 (0.26 ± 0.05 vs. 0.33 ± 0.03, P = 0.009). Increased coronary artery collaterals within the interventricular septum were detected in 18 patients (78.3%) by Doppler imaging. Twenty one patients underwent cardiac surgery, including left coronary artery (LCA) ligation (1/21), LCA ligation plus coronary artery bypass grafting (1/21), Takeuchi operation (7/21), and LCA reimplantation surgery (12/21). Four patients underwent concomitant mitral valve repair and one received mitral valve replacement. Aneurysm resection was performed in 3 cases. Six patients died in hospital after surgery, and the rest of the cohort had no overt symptoms during a follow-up period of 6 to 166 months. Their abnormal Q waves gradually regressed or disappeared, and the LVEF and left ventricle size returned to normal range with alleviation of mitral insufficiency.

CONCLUSIONSThe accurate diagnosis of ALCAPA can be made with serial diagnostic methods. ALCAPA can be successfully treated with several types of cardiac surgery, and surgeries of establishing two-coronary-artery circulation are the preferred operations nowadays, with good long-term prognosis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; diagnosis ; mortality ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Artery ; abnormalities

OBJECTIVETo understand pathogen patterns of enteric infectious diseases and its impact on this pattern due to aggregation of a great deal of foreign visitors during Beijing Olympic Games.

METHODSThe diarrheal patient's rectal swabs and stool specimens were collected from Olympic stadium and hospitals of four districts, including Dongcheng, Xicheng, Haidian and Chaoyang. Enteric multiple pathogens were detected from the total 45 specimens. The culture method was used for the enteric bacteria, ELISA and RT-PCR for the enteric viruses. Molecular typing of Salmonella Enteritidis isolation was completed by PFGE.

RESULTSIt was found that 26 out of 45 cases were positive with 57.8 percent for pathogen detection, and 24 were identified as enteric pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni, two as norovirus. There were mixed infections of two pathogenic bacteria for three cases. Ten kinds of pathogens were detected from foreign cases, while five kinds from Chinese cases. A total of 5 PFGE patterns were identified in 10 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates from national and foreign diarrheal cases, which were concentrative in some extent.

CONCLUSIONVibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni were found to be the primary bacterial pathogens during the Olympic Games. Enteric virus infection existed in summer diarrhea.

Adult ; Bacterial Typing Techniques ; Campylobacter jejuni ; classification ; isolation & purification ; China ; Diarrhea ; epidemiology ; etiology ; microbiology ; virology ; Enterobacteriaceae ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Enterovirus ; isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli Infections ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Salmonella ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Shigella ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Sports ; Vibrio parahaemolyticus ; classification ; isolation & purification

Metabonomics, a new and rapid-developing technology, will be powerful means to the research of complexed theory system and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Discovery of biomarkers and analysis of common properties from the metabolome of a specific TCM syndrome will facilitate the modernized study of TCM system, promote the quantitative and scientific elucidation of TCM syndrome differentiation, provide an in-depth understanding of the TCM theory of Zang-xiang, help predict the disease on-set, and achieve a comprehensive evaluation of systemic clinical efficacy, safety and mechanism of action of the TCM combination formulas along with a better understanding of intestinal microflora ecology. The new approach with combined metabonomics and TCM methodologies will provide a new pathway and methodology for the study of complicated theory system of TCM and its modernization.
Biomarkers ; analysis ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Metabolism

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 .

The relationship between tyrosine phosphorylation (TP) and protein expression of insulin receptor (InsR) and insulin resistance (IR) in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated. The InsR expression and TP in skeleton muscle tissue were determined by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation in women with GDM (GDM group, n=22), normal pregnant women (normal pregnancy group, n=22) and normal non-pregnant women (normal non-pregnant group, n=13). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting insulin (FINS) were measured by oxidase assay and immunoradioassay. The results showed that the levels of FPG (5.61±0.78 mmol/L), FINS (15.42±5.13 mU/L) and Homeostasis model assessment-IR (HOMA-IR) (1.21±0.52) in GDM group were significantly higher than those in normal pregnancy group (4.43±0.46 mmol/L, 10.56±3.07 mU/L and 0.80±0.31 respectively) (P<0.01). The levels of FINS and HOMA-IR in normal pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in normal non-pregnant group (7.56±2.31 mU/L and 0.47±0.26 respectively) (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the InsR expression level among the three groups (P>0.05). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was significantly decreased in GDM group (0.20±0.05) as compared with normal pregnancy group (0.26±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation in normal pregnancy group was lower than that in normal non-pregnant group (0.31±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was negatively related with HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.525, P<0.01). There was no correlation between the protein expression of InsR and HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.236, P>0.05). It was suggested that there is no significant correlation between the protein expression of InsR in skeletal muscle and IR in GDM, but changes in TP of InsR are associated with IR in GDM.
Adult ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Diabetes, Gestational ; blood ; metabolism ; Fasting ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin ; blood ; Insulin Resistance ; Muscle, Skeletal ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Pregnancy ; Radioimmunoassay ; Receptor, Insulin ; metabolism ; Tyrosine ; metabolism

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Surveys and Questionnaires