Applicability of liver stiffness measurement based nomograms to the assessments of hepatitis B related significant fibrosis and cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and mildly raised alanine transaminase (ALT) activities between 1-2 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) which was near the threshold for initiating treatment. METHODS: Nomogram-Fibrosis and Nomogram-Cirrhosis were elaborated with variables independently associated with significant fibrosis and cirrhosis determined by multivariate logistic regression. Calibration, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) and decision curves were applied to comparing nomograms with aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet count (PLT) ratio index (APRI), age-AST-PLT-ALT index (FIB-4) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM). RESULTS: The Nomogram-Fibrosis was constructed with LSM, PLT, and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). Nomogram-Cirrhosis contained one more variable of age other than Nomogram-Fibrosis. The calibration demonstrated that the assessments of significant fibrosis or cirrhosis by nomograms were in line with liver biopsy. The AUROC of Nomogram-Fibrosis was 0.788, lager than APRI (0.586), FIB-4 (0.656) and LSM (0.735). The AUROC of Nomogram-Cirrhosis was 0.889, larger than APRI (0.642), FIB-4 (0.725) and LSM (0.837). Furthermore, the decision curve analysis suggested the most net benefits were provided by the nomograms. CONCLUSIONS: Nomogram-Fibrosis and Nomogram-Cirrhosis could be promising tools for recognizing significant fibrosis and cirrhosis for CHB patients with mild raised ALT activities.

Decreased miR-143 and increased miR-21 placental expression levels are associated with macrosomia.

Macrosomia, a birth weight ≥ 4,000 g, is associated with maternal and infant health problems. The dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the placenta is associated with adverse birth outcomes, yet whether aberrantly expressed placental miRNAs are associated with macrosomia remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to characterize the expression of three placental miRNAs (miR­6, ­21 and ­143) and evaluate their association with macrosomia. The miRNA expression in placental tissues from 67 macrosomic pregnancies and 64 normal pregnancies were analyzed using reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of miR­21 was observed to be elevated in macrosomic placenta compared with control samples, while miR­143 expression was significantly lower than in control placenta (P<0.05). No significant differences were identified in the miR­16 expression levels between the groups (P=0.955). Following division of miRNA expression levels by quartile, logistic regression models demonstrated that the odds of macrosomia increased with miR­21 expression quartile: Q2, odds ratio (OR)=6.67 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.39­32.05]; Q3, OR=4.10 (95% CI, 0.88­19.11); Q4, OR=16.19 (95% CI, 2.46­106.68). Conversely, higher levels of miR­143 expression were protective against macrosomia: Q2, OR=0.22 (95% CI, 0.049­0.98); Q3, OR=0.11 (95% CI, 0.024­0.55), and Q4, OR=0.16 (95% CI, 0.032­0.79). Thus, statistical analysis demonstrated that high levels of miR­21 expression and low levels of miR­143 expression predict the risk for macrosomia, indicating an interaction between the two miRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that they are likely to function in the mitogen­activated protein kinases signaling pathway to influence the risk of macrosomia. The results of the present study provide evidence that placental miR-21 and -143 are important in the formation of macrosomia.

[Community structure and time-space distribution characteristic of airborne fungi in a municipal landfill site].

In order to determine the community structure and time-space distribution characteristics of airborne fungi in waste landfill sites, supervisory points were set in sanitary landfill area, leachate treatment area and living area in a Waste Sanitary Landfill Site in Beijing. Airborne fungi were collected by Andersen six stages sampler, and the study on the community structure and distribution of airborne fungi was carried out systematically. The results show that fifteen genera of culturable fungi are identified (exclusion Non-sporing), Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Non-sporing are the dominant genera. The concentration of airborne fungi in sanitary landfill area and leachate treatment area are about 1750 CFU x m(-3), which is higher than that in living area (p < 0.05). Monthly change curve of the airborne fungi concentration shows double peak type, the peak value appears in May and September-October, which can reach at 5 000 CFU x m(-3). It indicates a trend that the concentration is higher at 09:00-11:00 than that at 15:00-16:00 from April to July, but it performs reserved trend from August to the next January. 75% of the airborne fungi distributes in stage III - V. The counted median diameters (CMD) of airborne fungi in three functional areas are 2.9 microm, 2.9 microm and 2.8 microm respectively, there are no statistical difference (p > 0.05).