Objective To explore the protective effect of Red Sage Root on bronchopulmonary dysplasis(BPD) induced by hyperoxia in newborn rats.Methods On the 2nd postnatal day,SD newborn rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups:air and NS group(group Ⅰ),air and Red Sage Root group(group Ⅱ),hyperoxia and NS group(group Ⅲ),hyperoxia and Red Sage Root group(group Ⅳ).The rats in group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ were exposed to hyperoxia(the level of oxygen was 900-960 mL/L).The rats in group Ⅱ and group Ⅳ were injected with Red Sage Root intraperitoneally(10 mg/kg)daily.On 14 days after birth,6 rats in each group were killed.Lung histologic changes,radical alveolar counts(RAC)were monitored.Thiobarbituric acid method,nitrite method,2-nitroben zoic acid method were used to determine the concentration of malony ldialdengde(MDA),superoxidedismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) were monitored.Results 1.Group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ showed the inhibition of lung development and the evident lung fibrosis.In contrast to group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ,RAC in group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ decreased dramatically(Pa

Based on the structure and function of acupoint and in association of the definition and principle of sensor, the acupoint is the sensitive element, being sensitive to the physical stimulation with acupuncture and moxibustion and sensitively responded to the disorders; the acupoint is the sensing element, transforming the changes of the acupoint information via the complicated internet conduction, integration and regulation, so as to generate the effects on organic body; the acupoint is the conversion element, transforming every irritation into the bioelectric signal or optical signal so that the organic body could recognize it. Therefore, the acupoint is regarded as the sensor of information in the organic body.
Acupuncture Points ; Electrophysiological Phenomena ; Humans ; Meridians

Objective To explore the change of activin A(ACT A) in umbilical artery blood of newborns with fetal distress and its clinical significance.Methods Forty healthy pregnant women(control group)and 35 pregnant women with fetal distress (experimental group)were collected.The levels of ACT A of umbilical artery blood in both groups were determined by a solid quantitative biotin-avidin system enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(BAS-ELISA),umbilical artery blood gas were also measured.Results The level of ACT A of umbilical artery blood in fetal distress group was (1 235.89?178.78)ng/L,and that in control group was (627.28?75.24)ng/L,and the level of ACT A of umbilical artery blood in fetal distress group was significantly higher than that in control group(P

Mechano growth factor (MGF) is an autocrine/paracrine factor and sensitive to mechanical stimulation. MGF can be highly expressed in various soft tissues under physical stimuli, biochemistry stimuli or in damaged situation. MGF may "compensate" the stress for tissue in the processing of tissue repair. MGF can effectively accelerate the repair of the soft tissue by promoting the proliferation, migration and differentiation of cells. This paper summarizes the MGF expressions in different soft tissues and their functions in soft tissue repair. The paper also discusses current problems and challenges in using MGF to repair the soft tissue.
Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; physiology ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; Wound Healing

Vehicle emissions are a major source of air pollution in urban areas. The impact on urban air quality could be reduced if the trends of vehicle emissions are well understood. In the present study, the real-world emissions of vehicles were measured using a remote sensing system at five sites in Hangzhou, China from February 2004 to August 2005. More than 48000 valid gasoline powered vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxide (NO) were measured. The results show that petrol vehicle fleet in Hangzhou has considerably high CO emissions, with the average emission concentration of 2.71%+/-0.02%, while HC and NO emissions are relatively lower, with the average emission concentration of (153.72+/-1.16)x10(-6) and (233.53+/-1.80)x10(-6), respectively. Quintile analysis of both average emission concentration and total amount emissions by model year suggests that in-use emission differences between well maintained and badly maintained vehicles are larger than the age-dependent deterioration of emissions. In addition, relatively new high polluting vehicles are the greatest contributors to fleet emissions with, for example, 46.55% of carbon monoxide fleet emissions being produced by the top quintile high emitting vehicles from model years 2000-2004. Therefore, fleet emissions could be significantly reduced if new highly polluting vehicles were subject to effective emissions testing followed by appropriate remedial action.
Automobiles ; statistics & numerical data ; Carbon Monoxide ; analysis ; China ; Cities ; statistics & numerical data ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods ; Hydrocarbons ; analysis ; Nitric Oxide ; analysis ; Vehicle Emissions ; analysis

Objective To explore the relationship between folic acid levels of cord blood and birth weight, hyaline membrane disease in newborns. Methods Eighty-seven newborns were divided into premature infant group(42 cases) and term infant group(45 cases),intrauterine growth retardation group( 28cases) and control group (59 cases), hyaline membrane disease of premature infant group ( 13 cases) and premature infant control group(15 cases) according to the gestational age, birth weight, clinical manifestation and chest X-ray, respectively. Folic acid levels of cord blood were measured. Results The folic acid level of cord blood in premature infant group was lower than that in term infant group [(10.87 ±4.31) nmol/L vs.( 13.56 ± 5.07) nmol/L,P ＜0.05 ]. The folic acid level of cord blood in intrauterine growth retardation group was lower than that in control group [(11.01±4.29)nmol/L vs.( 14.87 ± 5.14)nmol/L,P＜0.05]. The folic acid level of cord blood in hyaline membrane disease of premature infant group was lower than that in premature infant control group [(9.15 ±4.02) nmol/L vs.(12.91±4.51) nmol/L,P＜0.05]. The positively correlation was found between the folic acid level of cord blood and birth weight in newborns (r =0.1825).Conclusion The folic acid level of cord blood is correlated with the occurrence of premature infants,intrauterine growth retardation and hyaline membrane disease in newborns.

OBJECTIVEThe main purpose of this work was to give the evidence of reasonable and feasible dust control measures which will be taken in the future by analyzing the trend of dust concentration from 1991 to 2010 and identifying working faces with the severe dust contamination in one underground iron mine.

METHODSThe data was from routine monitoring between the years 1991 and 2010, which enclosed the total dust concentrations and silica contents. China National Standard of Occupational exposure limits for hazardous agents in the workplace used to judge whether the dust concentration exceeded the National Standard.

RESULTSThe general trend of total dust concentration from 1991 to 2010 was decreased, especially maximum and average levels. The highest exceeding rate was 43.16% in 1993 and the best years were 2009 and 2010, but the exceeding rates were still over 30%. The dust exposure levels varied with different work faces. The mining and supporting were the most severe dust pollution faces which the highest ultra exceeding rates were 51.61% and 51.48% and the maximum exceeding times were 64.6 and 16.4 respectively. The next was constructing face with 40.23% exceeding rate and 24.6 times more than standard.

CONCLUSIONThe trend of total dust concentration from 1991 to 2010 was decreased, but the dust exceeding rate was still high. The strong measures should be taken to control the dust pollution in this iron mine, especially mining and supporting faces.

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Dust ; analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; Iron ; analysis ; Mining ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis

BACKGROUNDNumerous studies have shown that time spent on television (TV) viewing is positively associated with obesity. The aim of this study was to examine the potential association between excessive TV viewing and obesity, especially abdominal obesity, among children and adolescents in mainland of China.

METHODSA total of 4708 children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 years were recruited for the study. Anthropometric measures were conducted by trained personnels. A self-report questionnaire was designed to gather information on TV time, physical activity, diet habits, maternal body mass index (BMI), birth weight, and on general demographics, including age and gender, and socio-economic status.

RESULTSThe prevalence of obesity in this group was 6.5%. Linear regression analysis indicated that high TV viewing time (≥ 1.5 h/d) was significantly associated with higher BMI, waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). In addition, the high TV time group had 1.3 times the odds of obesity as compared to the low TV time group. Likewise, high TV viewing time increased the OR value 1.32 and 1.21 times higher in WC- and WHtR-defined obesity. Within the non-obesity group, high TV viewing time was also positively associated with higher WC and WHtR. All these correlations remained significant after adjustment for the confounding variables.

CONCLUSIONSExcessive TV viewing might increase the risk of obesity among Chinese youth. Reducing TV viewing time may be beneficial to improve health outcomes, both in the short- and long term. This finding should be taken into account in future designs of intervention policies to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity in China.

Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Habits ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Television ; Waist Circumference

OBJECTIVETo study the infection status of Leptospira in rodents on Heixiazi island Heilongjiang province in 2011.

METHODSA total of 356 rodents were captured by night trap on the Heixiazi island from April to October 2011. The kidney tissue samples were collected by asepsis operation and the genomic DNA were extracted from them. Leptospira strains were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) amplification of the 482 bp 23 S rDNA gene. Fifteen PCR products selected by the month were purified and sequenced by the methods of Sanger dideoxy, the sequences then compared with other Leptospira strains in Genebank, and phylogenetic analyses were drafted by software Mega 4.0.

RESULTSAmong 356 rodents, the dominant species were Clethrionomys rutilus (39.3%, 140/356) and Apodemus agrarius (36.0%, 128/356). The infection rate of Leptospira was 11.0%, with 39 rodent samples detected positive. All the rodent species were infected except for Rattus norvegicus. The infection rate was 9.4% (12/128) in Apodemus agrarius, 12.9%(18/140) in Clethrionomys rutilus, 10.8%(7/65) in Microtus fortis Buchner. No significant difference was found between the infection rate and the species of rodents by chi square test(χ(2) = 1.92, P > 0.05). Among months, the infection rate was 5.6% (4/72) in May, 8.8% (5/57) in June, 12.8% (5/39) in July, 9.8% (5/51) in August, 33.3% (11/33) in September, 22.5% (9/40) in October,but no infection in April. There was significant difference in infection in different months (χ(2) = 32.92, P < 0.05). All the Leptospira in rodents on the Heixiazi island were in the same phylogenetic branch with a high similarity of 97.1%-99.6%, close with the Australia strain U90865 by the similarity above 96.3%.

CONCLUSIONLeptospira is probably prevalent in rodents on the Heixiazi island, and the phylogene of the strains were similar. The infection rate in rodents was significantly different in months but not in hosts.

Animals ; China ; Leptospira ; isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis ; prevention & control ; Murinae ; microbiology ; Phylogeny ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo summarize the workflow, strategy and experience of prenatal genetic test for deafness based on the 6-year clinical practice.

METHODSThere were 213 families who received prenatal test from 2005 to 2011. Among the 213 families, 205 families had had one deaf child, including 204 couples with normal hearing and one couple of the deaf husband and normal wife, 8 families including 6 couples with normal hearing and 2 deaf couples, had no child before test. Genomic and mitochondrial DNA of each subject was extracted from whole blood. The etiology and recurrent risks in 212 families were confirmed by means of the genetic test of GJB2, SLC26A4 and mtDNA 12sRNA, but one family carried POU3F4 c.647G > A heterozygous mutation causing X-linked hereditary hearing impairment confirmed by pedigree study. The prenatal test was carried out during the pregnancy of all mothers from 11 to 30 weeks, and the following genetic information and counseling were supplied based on the results.

RESULTSThe recurrent risk was 25% in 209 families, including 204 families with one deaf child and 5 families without child, among which all couples were GJB2 or SLC26A4 mutation carriers and deaf children were caused by homozygous or compound GJB2/SLC26A4 mutations; The recurrent risk was 50% in 3 families, the father and his child in one family had compound SLC26A4 mutations and the mother with heterozygous SLC26A4 mutation, the wife had POU3F4 c.647G > A heterozygous mutation in another one family, and the husband with compound SLC26A4 mutations and the wife with mtDNA A1555G mutation and heterozygous SLC26A4 mutation simultaneously happened in the rest one family; The recurrent risk was 100% in one family of the deaf couple who were both found to carry homozygous or compound GJB2 mutations, and the deaf wife got pregnant by artificial insemination with the sperm from the local Human Sperm Bank. 226 times of prenatal test were applied in all 213 families that 11 families of them received prenatal test twice, and one family received three times. 46 times of prenatal testing showed that the fetuses carried parental mutations simultaneously or the same mutations with probands; while 180 times of prenatal test showed that the fetuses carried only one parental mutation or did not carry any mutation from parents. The following visit showed that all of these 180 families had given birth to babies who were all revealed to have normal hearing by new born hearing screening test.

CONCLUSIONSPrenatal diagnosis for deafness assisted by genetic test can provide efficient information about offspring's hearing condition, and the normative workflow and precise strategy highly guarantee the safe and favorable implementation of prenatal diagnosis.

Connexins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Deafness ; diagnosis ; genetics ; prevention & control ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Infant ; Pedigree ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis