Ergonomics ; Humans ; Occupational Health

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Dust ; analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods ; Workplace

Objective To correct the high supratarsal fold after cosmetic upper blepharoplasty is a challenge because of the shortage of both upper eyelid skin and fat.Levator shortening has been a procedure of choice selected by the surgeons to correct this condition.Methods Under local anesthesia, the desired crease was marked according to the characteristics of eyelid anatomy and aesthetic consideration for Asian women.The incision was made through the marked new skin crease and the old incision with surrounding scar tissue was incised.The adhesion between the skin and the levator aponeurosis was completely released.The levator aponeurosis was then divided above the tarsal plate.It could be shortened and then reattached to the tarsal plate depending on the amount of the upper eyelid skin and the degree of the ptosis.The skin incision was then closed to form new but lowered fold.Results Between 2003 to 2015, a total of 34 Chinese women underwent bilateral levator shortening for correction of high supratarsal fold after previous unsatisfactory upper blepharoplasty by other surgeons.There were no surgical complications postoperatively in this series and 32 patients (94.1%) were satisfactory for the outcome of the proper height of the supratarsal fold with at least 1 month follow-up.Only one patient (2.9%) required surgical revision for asymmetry of supratarsal folds and one patient (2.9%) for correction of deepened supratarsal fold.Conclusions The levator shortening can be an effective procedure to correct high supratarsal fold after unsatisfactory upper blepharoplasty in Asian women.It is especially useful to correct such a condition where there is shortage of the eyelid skin combined with the eyelid ptosis.

Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of the polyglutamine tract in the N-terminal huntingtin (Htt). Htt is a substrate of caspases and calpains, the proteases involved in initiation and execution of neuronal apoptosis. Caspase- and calpain-mediated cleavage of mutant Htt results in the production of toxic Nterminal Htt fragments. Recent studies suggest that Htt cleavage may be a crucial step in the pathogenesis of HD and may be a potential molecular target for HD therapy.

OBJECTIVETo observe Smads protein expression in lung tissue of quartz exposed mice and to explore its association with pulmonary fibrosis in silicosis.

METHODSThe experimental mice were divided into control and quartz groups. 0.2 g/kg weight of quartz was injected intratracheally in quartz group. Samples were collected at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th and 28th day after injection. Immunohistochemical methods with quantitative image analysis were used to assay the protein expression of transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)), Smad 2/3, Smad 4, and Smad 7 protein levels. Protein expression level is presented by positive unit (PU).

RESULTSSmad 2/3 protein expression increased from day 3, reaching its peak level in day 14 [(42.2 +/- 2.4) PU], and decreased gradually. The elevation of Smad 4 protein level began from day 5, and the highest degree came into day 14 [(40.0 +/- 1.8) PU], decreased thereafter. The expression of Smad 7 presented a decreasing tendency at the beginning and reaching the lowest level in day 14 [(33.5 +/- 3.3) PU]. It seemed to elevate in day 28, but was still lower than the controls. There were positive correlation between Smad 2/3, Smad 4 and TGF-beta(1) (r = 0.91, r = 0.71, respectively, P < 0.05) and also between Smad 2/3 and hydroxyproline contents of lung tissue (r = 0.85, P < 0.05) except Smad 7.

CONCLUSIONSmad protein may have certain association with pulmonary fibrosis in silicosis.

Animals ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; immunology ; metabolism ; Lung ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Quartz ; toxicity ; Smad2 Protein ; Smad3 Protein ; Smad4 Protein ; Smad7 Protein ; Trans-Activators ; immunology ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo develop a gene chip for rapid detection of the "a" determinant hotpoint mutation of hepatitis B virus (HBV).

METHODSPrimers were designed in the HBV conservative region, and probes for detecting 126A, 126S, 144A, 145R, 145E, 144A+145R, and 144A+145E mutants were developed for that gene chip. PCR amplification and gene chip technology were optimized. The performance of the gene chip was evaluated by detecting the reference plasmids. Forty five samples of serum obtained from patients with chronic hepatitis B were used to compare the sensitivity of the gene chip and the direct sequencing of PCR products.

RESULTSThe oligonucleotide microarray was specific for mutant and native plasmids. The sensitivity of the gene chip was 5 x 10(3)copies/micro l with a high reproducibility. The gene chip could detect minor variants when they were more than 10% among the HBV strains. The positive rates of 126A, 126S-1, 126S-2 detected in the 45 specimens by the gene chip (46.67%, 35.56% and 24.44%, respectively) were higher than those detected by direct sequencing of PCR products (9.00%, 4.44% and 2.22%; P=0.000, P=0.000 and P=0.002, respectively). The sequencing of cloned PCR products demonstrated that the gene chip was specific for the "a" determinant hotpoint mutation detection.

CONCLUSIONHBV "a" determinant hotpoint mutations can be detected by oligonucleotide microarray with high sensitivity and specificity, providing a method for large scale screening of the mutants.

Hepatitis B ; blood ; diagnosis ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods ; Point Mutation

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the intramuscular loads of the upper limb during static postures and repetitive work by surface electromyography.

METHODSTwenty-six male college student volunteers were recruited for the experiment. The surface electromyography (SEMG) singal were recorded from the brachioradialis, biceps brachii, deltoid and trapezius of right arm during static postures including forward elevating, abducting, extending and a repetitive performance at different height of the bench, and root mean square (RMS) values were educed from the singal.

RESULTSThe SEMG amplitudes from forward elevating and abducting were in direct proportion to the angle of the elevating and abducting (r > 0.9, P < 0.01). The maximal voluntary electrical activation (MVE) of the deltoid were 6.4%, 10.1%, 12.6%, 16.2% and 20.8% while the arm elevated forward at an angle of 0 degrees , 45 degrees , 90 degrees , 135 degrees and 180 degrees respectively. The repetitive work showed that the height of the bench and the duration had more effects on deltoid and trapezius than the other muscles. The MVE% of the deltoid were 13.0%, 14.4% and 15.6% while the bench was 74, 79 and 84 cm in height respectively (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSEMG which is suitable for determining and reflecting the muscle strain during static postures and repetitive work may be a reasonable indicator for the assessment of manual workload and the ergonomic design.

Arm ; physiology ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology ; Posture ; physiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEUsing surface electromyography (SEMG) technique to evaluate repetitive lifting task-induced fatigue of back muscles.

METHODSThirteen volunteers lifted and lowered an 8 kg weight from floor to waist level for 100 times. Fatigue in the erector spinae muscles was quantified by comparing the frequency content of the EMG signal during static contractions performed before, and immediately after the 100 lifts.

RESULTSEMG average amplitude rose gradually during 100 lifts, the difference was significant at T10 right (P < 0.05) and L3 left (P < 0.01), the difference was not significant at T10 left and L3 right (P > 0.05). The median frequency intercept at T10 right, T10 left, L3 right, L3 left erector spinae muscles decreased by 2.0% (P > 0.05) 10.9% and 29.9% (P < 0.05), 27.9% (P < 0.01), respectively. The mean power frequency intercept decreased by 9% at L3 left erector spinae muscle (P < 0.05), the decrease was not statistically significant at other sites (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONRepetitive lifting may induce measurable fatigue in the erector spinae muscles. Erector spinae muscle at L3 is more easily fatigued than at T10. Using the median frequency intercept to assess muscle fatigue is more sensitive than using mean power frequency intercept.

Adult ; Back ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Lifting ; Male ; Muscle Fatigue ; physiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of heptitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and precore(PreC)/basal core promoter(BCP) mutation with interruption failure of HBV vaccination in mother-to-infant transmission.

METHODSA total number of 208 serum samples were collected from infants and mothers,including 16 infants who had become HBsAg-positive despite a complete and timely course of immunization and another 88 infants successfully protected from mother-to infant HBV transmission. HBV genotypes were determined by type-specific primers PCR method. PreC/BCP mutations were detected by direct sequencing of PCR products, and Clustal W 1.8 software was applied to analyzing the sequences.

RESULTSOf 16 mothers who were having vaccine failure infants, 15 (93.8%) were HBeAg positive and infected with genotype C (15/15, 100%). Among 88 mothers of having children being protected by vaccine, 51 (58.0%) were HBeAg positive, with 45.1% (23/51) of genotype C. The proportion of genotype C in HBeAg mothers of infants with vaccine failure, was significantly higher than that of mothers with vaccine protected infants (chi2 = 14.3, P = 0.003). However, the frequencies of T1762/A1764 mutations had no significant differences between genotype C HBeAg positive mothers with vaccine failure or protected infants (33.3% and 13.3%, respectively, P = 0.4). No A1896 mutation was found in these two groups.

CONCLUSIONHBV genotype C might contribute to the immune failure of HBV vaccination in mother-to-infant transmission, while PreC/BCP mutation might not have correlation with it.

Adult ; Female ; Genes, Viral ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B ; immunology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical ; prevention & control ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious ; immunology ; virology ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

OBJECTIVEFunctional defects in NK cells have been proposed to be responsible for the impairment of anti-tumor immune responses. However, it remained unclear whether the function of NK cells were impaired in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. To address this issue, we analyzed the frequency and function of peripheral NK cell subsets in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

METHODS35 HCC patients and 24 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in the study. Peripheral NK frequency was analyzed using flow cytometry. In addition, the capacity of NK cells to produce IFN gamma and to lyse K562 cells was evaluated.

RESULTSIn contrast with the healthy controls, the frequency of peripheral NK cells in hepatocellular carcinoma patients was decreased (12.19%+/-10.85% vs 24.01%+/-8.78%, u = 4.01, probability value less than 0.01), while the frequency of CD56(bright)CD16(neg) NK cells was increased (0.62%+/-0.39% vs 0.48%+/-0.28%, u = 1.96, probability value less than 0.05), and the frequency of CD56(dim)CD16(pos) NK cells was significantly decreased (11.59%+/-7.49% vs 22.66%+/-8.84%, u = 3.92, probability value less than 0.01). In addition, peripheral NK cells from HCC patients exhibited decreased capacity to produce IFN gamma (effective cells 13.31%) and to lyse K562 cells (mixed ratio 30:1, 10:1, 1:1, effective cells 16.72%+/-7.33% vs 26.29%+/-12.36%, u = 2.52, P less than 0.05, 8.01%+/-4.40% vs 13.09%+/-5.03%, u = 3.32, probability value less than 0.05, 3.51%+/-2.82% vs 3.42%+/-1.64%, u = 1.56, probability value more than 0.05, respectively) as compared with healthy subjects.

CONCLUSIONAnti-tumor activity of NK cells in HCC patients was impaired.

Adult ; CD56 Antigen ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; immunology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; K562 Cells ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Liver Neoplasms ; immunology ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, IgG ; immunology