Objective To investigate the present situation of living and living quality of the elderly living in communities of Xi'an City.Methods By using quality of life(QOL) questionnaire,the elders living in two communities in Xi'an were investigated regarding their physical,psychological,social and material functions as well as overall living quality.Results Psychological and social functions scored significantly higher in both male and higher-income groups than those in the others.The scores of physical and social functions in the lower-income elderly were significantly higher than those in high-income ones.The scores of overall living quality of those elderly having spouses,living with their family members,taking an active part in social activities,having hobbies and enjoying medical insurance were significantly higher than those of the others.The well-educated elderly scored significantly higher in social function than those with lower education level;adverse events prominently decreased the quality of life of the elderly.More than 80% of the elderly were satisfied with their living environment.The highest incidence of chronic diseases in the communities was hypertension.Conclusion The quality of life of the elderly living in communities of Xi'an City is good.Health status,family environment,educational level,income and marital status are the main factors that affect the quality of life of the elderly.

Objective To find out the detection level of the blood routine test in clinical laboratories of basic medical institutions in Hefei ,and to analyze the results of inter‐laboratory comparison among township health centers and community health service cen‐ters in Hefei and explore the main factors .Methods Forty‐three township health centers and community health service centers were randomly selected to conduct field investigations and take blood routine test inter‐laboratory comparison .Results Both 41 .9% of the passing rate and the average score 72 .37 points in Inter‐laboratory comparisons were significantly lower than the An‐hui province clinical inspection center(94 .1% and 95 .97 points) ,the differences were statistically significant(P<0 .05);Comparing to the results of the Anhui province clinical inspection center ,there was statistically significant difference on parameter(WBC ,RBC , Hb ,HCT ,PLT) average pass rate of blood routine test(P<0 .05);the personnel primary education was low ,18 .80% of the staff in clinical laboratories were not professionals ;most of blood analyzers were domestic and 53 .49% of all instruments had been used for more than 5 years;the overall laboratory quality management level was low .Conclusion The blood routine test detection level in clinical laboratories of basic medical institutions in Hefei was far below than that of secondary and tertiary medical institutions .The daily laboratory internal quality control should be strengthened and the quality management system should be improved gradually .

The aim of this study was to compare the pain experience among orthodontic patients treated with self-ligating brackets SmartClip® (3M Unitek, Monrovia, California, USA) and conventional brackets Victory series® (3M Unitek, Monrovia, California, USA). We used a controlled clinical trial study design to compare 69 patients treated with self-ligating to 70 patients treated by conventional brackets. The nickel-titanium archwires 0.012-in were engaged after bonding both arches on the first day; and the visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess the pain experience of subjects for the first seven treatment days. The pre-treatment dental study models were assessed by the Little’s irregularity index to quantify the groups’ malalignment characteristics. The self-ligating brackets reported lower pain experience than the conventional group on the first five treatment days. However, the sixth day showed 1.75 mm higher visual analogue score than conventional brackets, with almost equal pain level on the seventh day. The group differences throughout the first week were neither clinically nor statistically significant. The pain experiences in both groups decreased steadily from the third treatment day to the end of the first week of treatment. Based on the study findings, the pain experience during initial alignment is not influenced by the brackets’ ligation type. The pain experience tends to decrease steadily from the third treatment day to the end of the first week of treatment irrespective of the bracket type used.
Orthodontic Brackets, Orthodontic Appliances

Objective To explore the relationship between physical growth of infants and family feeding be -havior.Methods Demographic information was collected from 516 objects.Height,weight,head circumference,chest circumference were measured and feeding behavior was evaluated using prospective observational study method . Results (1) Feeding behavior score was positively associated with infant physical development indicators ,the be-tween groups differences of infant age ,body weight,body length were statistically significant (P<0.05).(2)The re-sults of Pearson correlation analysis showed that weight , head circumference of infants at 18 months and length at 24 months were significantly correlated with feeding behavior score (P<0.05).(3)The analysis of feeding behavior factors found that food preparation was associated with weight infants at 18 months(P<0.05);behavior of infants and height,weight,head circumference,chest circumference of children in the 18 months of age were related(P<0.05);infant feeding environment in the 18-month-old was related with their height,weight,head circumference(P<0.05). Conclusion It is suggested that well family feeding pattern might be a certain stimulative role in young children ′s physical growth and development .

Objective To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome ( MS) in women who had gone through natural menopause, and to provide basic data for developing effective prevention and intervention of metabolic syndrome in Taixing area Jiangsu province. Methods A cluster sample of natural postmenopausal women aged 45 to 64 years were sampled and assessed by questionnaires, physical measurements, and biochemical tests; and analyzed according to the International Diabetes Federation ( IDF, 2005) diagnostic criteria for MS. Results The crude prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 35. 25% and the standardized prevalence rate was 31. 47% after age being adjusted. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was increased with age ( P < 0. 01). The constituent ratio of the combinations of 3, 4, and 5 components in MS was 21. 45% , 10. 73% , and 3. 07% , respectively. Conclusion The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among older women after menopause is high and increasing with aging. Public education should be strengthened to improve the quality of life in postmenopausal women and prevention and intervention should be adopted earlier as well.

Objective To develop a method for measuring serum total glycerol by isotope dilution (ID)liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(LC/MS/MS).Methods Serum samples were mixed with [13C3]-glycerol(internal standard)and treated with alcoholic potassium hydroxide to hydrolyze serum glycerides to glycerol.The natural glycerol and the internal standard were benzoylated with the Schotten-Baumann reaction and the benzoates were analyzed by LC/MS/MS.Results The correlation coefficients between the peak area ratios and glycerol concentrations were 0.999 9 and higher.The withinrun coefficients of variation(CV)for serum total glycerol analysis averaged 0.94%(ranged 0.21%～2.62%)and the total CV 1.15%(0.62%～2.00%).Results on certified reference materials(SRM 909b Level Ⅰ and LevelⅡ;GBW 09146 and GBW 09147)showed an averaged bias of 0.20%(-0.20%～1.06%).Conclusions An ID-LC/MS/MS method for serum total glycerol has been developed.The method iS highly specific and precise and may be used as a candidate reference method for serum total glycerol measurements.

Objective To study the role of interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) in reducing recurrent epilepsy after withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs (AED).Methods One hundred epilepsy pa tients with no seizure for ≥2 years were divided into IED group (n=51) and IED free group (n=49) according to the classification of epilepsy seizure developed by the International Association for the Prevention of Epilepsy in 1981.The patients were further divided into elderly group (n=21) and non-elderly group (n=79) and were followed up for at least 1 year by return visit or telephone.Results No significant difference was found in the incidence of IED in the 100 epilepsy patients with different types of seizure,such as myospasm,simple partial seizure and ≥2 seizures.However,the incidence of IED was significantly higher than that of myotonia,myospasm,absence and simple partial seizure (P＜0.05).Epilepsy recurred in 37 patients (72.5％) of IED group and in 16 patients (32.7％) of IED-free group.Logistic regression analysis showed that the course of epilepsy and IED were the risk factors for recurrent epilepsy after withdrawal of AED (OR=1.165,95％CI:1.022-1.329,P=0.022;OR=2.794,95％CI:1.040-7.509,P=0.042) and the course of epilepsy was longer in elderly group than in non-elderly group (10.10±7.55 years vs 5.97±4.04 years,P=0.001).Conclusion The seizure type and course of epilepsy are the relia ble predictors of recurrent epilepsy in patients with no seizure for a long time after withdrawal of AED,and are thus of clinical significance.

Objective To develop a new isotope dilution gas chromatography mass spectrometry method (ID/GC/MS) for the measurement of serum cholesterol.Methods Serum was mixed with an isotope labeled internal standard ([3,4-~(13)C]-cholesterol) and treated with alcoholic sodium hydroxide to hydrolyze cholesterol ester to cholesterol.Cholesterol and internal standard was extracted and derived by N, O-Bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide to trimethylsilyl ethers.The derivation products were analyzed by capillary column GC combined with electron impact MS using scan and selected ion monitor (SIM) modes. Signals of cholesterol internal standard were corrected for the contributions from cholesterol and the signal ratio of cholesterol to internal standard for the calibrators were linearly regressed against cholesterol concentrations.The resulted regression equation was used for the calculation of serum cholesterol concentrations.Results The new ID/GC/MS method showed a mean within-run coefficient variance (CV) of 0.04%-0.81%.Comparison with two levels of standard reference material (SRM1951a) of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) displayed a bias of 0.19% and 0.90% respectively.Conclusion A time-gaining ID/MS method has been established that is highly precise and accurate and can be used for the measurement of serum cholesterol.

Objective To evaluate the matrix effects in serum urea measurements of external quality assessment(EQA)materials and commercial reference materials(calibrators or controls)on enzymatic methods and to verify the trueness of the enzymatic methods.Methods The Clinical and Laboratory Stadards Institute(CLSI)EP 14-A2 protocol was used for the evaluation of matrix effect.An isotope dilution gas chromatography mass spectrometry method was used as the comparative method.Twenty five fresh patient serum samples,15 EQA materials and 13 calibrators or controls were analyzed with 7 enzymatic methods (evaluated methods)and the comparative method and results were processed according to the protocol. The trueness of the evaluated methods were also assessed by comparing the fresh sample results obtained with the evaluated and comparative methods.Results Eight of 15 EQA materials and 3 of 13 calibrators or controls showed no matrix effects on all the 7 routine methods.One processed sample showed matrix effect on all the routine methods.Method dependent matrix effects of other materials were observed on other materials.Calibration biases were also observed on some enzymatic methods.Conclusions Matrix effects and calibration bias have been observed in serum urea measurements.Continued efforts are needed for improving the accuracy and the comparability of serum urea measurements.

Objective To develop a candidate reference method for the measurement of serum glucose based on isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(ID-LC/MS/MS)Methods An internal standard [~(13)C_6]glucose was added to serum samples and equilibrated with endogenous glucose.Serum proteins were removed by a precipitation with anhydrous ethanol.Serum glucose and the internal standard were then reacted with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone and the formed derivatives were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring(MRM).The method was calibrated with bracketing calibrators and serum glucose concentrations were calculated by comparing the peak area ratios of samples with that of the calibrators.Results The within-run,between-run and total coefficients of variation averaged 0.36%,0.47%and 0.61%,respectively.The analytical recoveries ranged from 99.0% to 100.9%.Results of analyzing the certified reference material SRM 965a showed an average biases of-0.20%.Conclusions An ID-LC/MS/MS method for measuring serum glucose has been developed.The method is highly precise and accurate and may be used as a candidate reference method.