Thoracic paravertebral nerve block combined laryngeal mask airway with preservation of spontaneous breathing can accelerate postoperative recovery.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the potential benefits of Thoracic Paravertebral Nerve Block (TPVB) coupled with Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) and the maintenance of spontaneous breathing anesthesia, in contrast to general anesthesia utilizing double-lumen endobronchial intubation, on promoting recovery following thoracoscopic surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was carried out involving sixty patients set for Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) at the Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University from February 2021 to January 2022. Patients were randomized to either the TPVB and LMA with spontaneous breathing anesthesia group (non-intubation group, NI group) or the general anesthesia with double-lumen endobronchial intubation group (Intubation group, I group). The primary outcome measured was the duration of hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included early postoperative rehabilitation indicators, postoperative complications, Visual Analogue Score (VAS), and inflammatory response markers. RESULTS: Patients in the NI group experienced significantly shorter hospital stays than those in the I group (p < 0.05). Early postoperative recovery, assessed by metrics including the first exhaust time, food intake time, first ambulation time, and duration of chest-tube placement, was superior in the NI group (p < 0.05). Postoperative complications such as nausea and vomiting, pulmonary infection, atelectasis, sore throat, and hoarseness, along with cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at the end of the operation and 24 h post-operation, and VAS values within the first 12 h post-operation, were significantly lower in the NI group (p < 0.05). However, blood loss, operation time, and VAS values at 24 h and 48 h post-surgery showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that TPVB, in conjunction with LMA and spontaneous breathing anesthesia, may expedite postoperative recovery in patients undergoing VATS.

Study on the value of the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of fetal heart malformations.

OBJECTIVE: With the development and widespread use of fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance technology in recent years, approximately 75% of fetuses are diagnosed prenatally with congenital structural malformations, a serious birth defect that endangers the life and health of the newborn. In this study, we aimed to study and analyze the value of the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of fetal heart malformations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All pregnant women who were to undergo delivery in our hospital between January 2018 and December 2021 were recruited as the first subjects in this study, and after excluding those who refused to participate in the study, a total of 3,238 cases were finally included as subjects of this study. All pregnant women were screened for fetal heart malformations using the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model. Maternal files were established for all cases of heart malformations, grading the fetuses according to their heart disease grade, observing and recording their deliveries, treatment results and follow-ups. RESULTS: After screening for heart malformations using the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model, 33 cases of heart malformations were identified, including 5 cases of Grade I (all delivered), 6 cases of Grade II (all delivered), 10 cases of Grade III (1 induced), and 12 cases of Grade IV (1 induced); 2 cases of ventricular septal defect healed spontaneously after delivery, and 18 infants were treated accordingly. The results of the later follow-up showed that 10 children had normalized their heart structure, 7 cases had slight alterations in the heart valves, and 1 case died. CONCLUSIONS: The prenatal-postnatal integrated management model is a multidisciplinary cooperation model with certain clinical value in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of fetal heart malformations, which is beneficial to comprehensively improve the ability of hospital physicians in the grading management of heart malformations, detecting fetal heart malformations early and predicting fetal changes after birth. It further reduces the incidence of serious birth defects, conforms to the development trend of the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart diseases, enables to reduce child mortality with timely treatment, effectively improves the surgical prognosis of critical and complex congenital heart diseases, with a promising application prospect.

[Treatment of palbociclib in hormone receptor positive breast cancer: a real-world study and efficacy prediction model].

Objective: To summarize the clinical use of palbociclib and evaluate its efficacy and safety in hormone-receptor (HR)-positive advanced breast cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 66 HR-positive metastatic breast cancer patients treated with palbociclib and endocrine therapy at the Department of Oncology in the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University between 2018 and 2020. We evaluated the factors affecting the efficacy of palbociclib using Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test for survival analysis and Cox regressions for multivariate analysis. Nomogram model was built for predicting prognosis among HR-positive breast cancer patients who received palbociclib. Concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve were used for internal validation to assess the predictive ability and conformity of the model. Results: Of the 66 patients treated with palbociclib, 33.3%(22), 42.4%(28) and 24.2%(16) patients were treated without endocrine therapy, first-line endocrine therapy, second-line or above endocrine therapy after recurrence, respectively. 36.4%(24) patients had hepatic metastasis, 16.7% (11) patients were sensitive to previous endocrine therapy, 27.3%(18/66) patients had primary resistance to endocrine therapy, while 56.1% (37) patients had secondary resistance to endocrine therapy. The overall response rate was 14.3% (95% CI: 6.7%, 25.4%) and clinical benefit rate was 58.7% (95% CI: 45.6%, 71.0%). Better clinical outcomes were associated with non-hepatic metastasis (P=0.001), sensitive/secondary resistant to previous endocrine therapy (P=0.004), no or only one line of chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer (P=0.004), recent pathological confirmation of immunohistochemical analysis (P=0.025). Hepatic metastasis (P=0.005) and primary resistance to endocrine therapy (P=0.016) were the independent risk factors of progression free survival. The C-index of predictive probability for the nomogram constructed from the patient clinical characteristics (whether liver metastasis, whether primary endocrine resistance, lines of chemotherapy after metastasis, lines of endocrine therapy, number of metastatic sites, and time to last immunohistochemistry) to predict the progression-free survival at 6 and 12 months for patients was 69.7% and 72.1%, respectively. The most common adverse events were hematologic toxicities. Conclusions: Our report indicates that palbociclib combined with endocrine therapy for HR-positive recurrent metastatic breast cancer is effective and safe; patients with hepatic metastases and primary resistance to endocrine therapy have worse prognoses and are independent risk factors for progression after palbociclib therapy. The constructed nomogram could help predict the survival and guide the use of palbociclib.

[A real-world study on the efficacy and safety analysis of paclitaxel liposome in advanced breast cancer].

Objective: To explore the application and efficacy of paclitaxel liposome in the treatment of advanced breast cancer among Chinese population in the real world. Methods: The clinical characteristics of patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome as salvage treatment from January 1, 2016 to August 31, 2019 in 11 hospitals were collected and retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was progression free survival (PFS), and the secondary outcome included objective response rate (ORR) and safety. The survival curve was drawn by Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox regression model were used for the multivariate analysis. Results: Among 647 patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome, the first-line treatment accounted for 43.3% (280/647), the second-line treatment accounted for 27.7% (179/647), and the third-line and above treatment accounted for 29.1% (188/647). The median dose of first-line and second-line treatment was 260 mg per cycle, and 240 mg in third line and above treatment. The median period of paclitaxel liposome alone and combined chemotherapy or targeted therapy is 4 cycles and 6 cycles, respectively. In the whole group, 167 patients (25.8%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with capecitabine±trastuzumab (TX±H), 123 patients (19.0%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome alone (T), and 119 patients (18.4%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with platinum ± trastuzumab (TP±H), 108 patients (16.7%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with trastuzumab ± pertuzumab (TH±P). The median PFS of first-line and second-line patients (5.5 and 5.5 months, respectively) were longer than that of patients treated with third line and above (4.9 months, P<0.05); The ORR of the first line, second line, third line and above patients were 46.7%, 36.8% and 28.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that event-free survival (EFS) and the number of treatment lines were independent prognostic factors for PFS. The common adverse events were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions, hand foot syndrome and abnormal liver function. Conclusion: Paclitaxel liposomes is widely used and has promising efficacy in multi-subtype advanced breast cancer.

[A descriptive analysis of tea consumption in adult twins in China].

Objective: To describe the distribution characteristics of tea consumption in adult twins recruited in the Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR) and provide clues to genetic and environmental influences on tea consumption. Methods: Enrolled in CNTR during 2010-2018, 25 264 twin pairs aged 18 years and above were included in subsequent analysis. Random effect models were used to estimate tea consumption in the population and regional distribution characteristics. The concordance rate of the behavior and difference in consumption volume of tea within pairs were also described. Results: The mean age of all subjects was (35.38±12.45) years old. The weekly tea consumers accounted for 17.0%, with an average tea consumption of (3.36±2.44) cups per day. The proportion of weekly tea consumers was higher among males, 50-59 years old, southern, urban, educated, and the first-born in the twin pair (P<0.05), and lower among unmarried individuals (P<0.001). Within-pair analysis showed that the concordance rate of tea consumption of monozygotic (MZ) twins was higher than that of dizygotic (DZ) twins and the overall heritability of tea consumption was 13.45% (11.38%-15.51%). Stratified by the characteristics mentioned above, only in males, the concordance rate of MZ showed a tendency to be greater than that of DZ (all P<0.05). The differences in consumption volume of tea within twin pairs were minor in MZ among males (P<0.05), while the differences were not significant in female twins. Conclusion: There were discrepancies in the distribution of tea consumption among twins of different demographic and regional characteristics. Tea consumption was mainly influenced by environmental factors and slightly influenced by genetic factors. The size of genetic factors varied with gender, age, and region, and gender was a potential modified factor.

[A descriptive analysis on type 2 diabetes in twins in China].

Objective: To describe the distribution characteristics of type 2 diabetes in twins in Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR), provide clues and evidence for revealing the influence of genetic and environmental factors for type 2 diabetes. Methods: Of all twins registered in the CNTR during 2010-2018, a total 18 855 twin pairs aged ≥30 years with complete registration information were included in the analysis. The random effect model was used to describe the population and area distribution characteristics and concordance of type 2 diabetes in twin pairs. Results: The mean age of the subjects was (42.8±10.2) years, the study subjects included 10 339 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and 8 516 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. The self-reported prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes was 2.2% in total population and there was no sighificant difference between MZ and DZ. Intra-twin pairs analysis showed that the concordance rate of type 2 diabetes was 38.2% in MZ twin pairs, and 16.0% in DZ twin pairs, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The concordance rate of type 2 diabetes in MZ twin parts was higher than that in DZ twin pairs in both men and women, in different age groups and in different areas (P<0.05). Further stratified analysis showed that in northern China, only MZ twin pairs less than 60 years old were found to have a higher concordance rate of type 2 diabetes compared with DZ twin pairs (P<0.05). In southern China, the co-prevalence rate in male MZ twin pairs aged ≥60 years was still higher than that in DZ twin pairs (P<0.05). Conclusion: The twin pairs in this study had a lower self-reported prevalence of type 2 diabetes than the general population. The study results suggested that genetic factors play a role in type 2 diabetes prevalence in both men and women, in different age groups and in different areas, however, the effect might vary.

[A descriptive analysis on coronary heart disease in adult twins in China].

Objective: To describe the distribution characteristics of coronary heart disease in adult twins recruited from Chinese Twin Registry (CNTR), and provide clues and evidence for the effect of genetic and environmental influences on coronary heart disease. Methods: By using the data of CNTR during 2010-2018, a total of 34 583 twin pairs aged ≥18 years who completed questionnaire survey and had related information were included in the current study to analyze the population and area distribution characteristics of coronary heart disease. Random effect models were used to compare the differences between groups. The concordane rate of coronary heart disease were calculated respectively in monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs to estimate the heritability. Results: The twin pairs included in this analysis were aged (34.2±12.4) years. The overall prevalence rate of coronary heart disease in twin pairs was 0.7%. Twin pairs who were women, older, obese and lived in northern China had higher prevalence of coronary heart disease (P<0.05). Intra-pair analysis in the same-sex twin pairs found that the concordane rate of coronary heart disease was higher in MZ twin pairs (25.3%) than in DZ twins (7.4%), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The overall heritability of coronary heart disease was 19.3% (95%CI: 11.8%-26.8%). Stratified by gender, age and area, the concordane rate was still higher in MZ twin pairs than in DZ pairs. Participants who were women, aged 18-30 years or ≥60 years and lived in northern China had a higher heritability of coronary heart disease. Conclusion: The distribution of coronary heart disease in twin pairs differed in populations and areas. The prevalence of coronary heart disease was affected by genetic factors, but the effect varied with age, gender and area.

MiR-181a promotes cell proliferation and migration through targeting KLF15 in papillary thyroid cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the predominant histological type of thyroid cancer, accounting for 80% of thyroid cancers. MiR-181a is a novel microRNA that is usually upregulated in multiple cancers. This study aims to explore the role and underlying mechanism of miR-181a in PTC. METHODS: CCK8 and Transwell assays were performed to evaluate cell viability and migration. The mRNA level of miR-181a and KLF15 was calculated by qRT-PCR. The protein level of E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin and GAPDH was evaluated by western blot. Dual luciferase assay was conducted to validate that miR-181a directly targeting the 3'-UTR of KLF15 mRNA in TPC-1 cells. RESULTS: We observed that miR-181a was overexpressed and KLF15 was low expressed in PTC tissues and cell lines. Upregulation of miR-181a or downregulation of KLF15 predicted poor outcomes in PTC patients. MiR-181a improved cell growth of PTC, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in TPC-1 cells. KLF15 was a target gene of miR-181a and its expression was mediated by miR-181a. KLF15 partially reversed the facilitating effect of miR-181a on cell proliferation and migration in TPC-1 cells. CONCLUSION: We discovered that miR-181a served as an oncogene downregulating KLF15, thereby inhibiting cell proliferation, migration and the EMT. These findings demonstrate that miR-181a plays a significant role in PTC progression and could be a therapeutic target for PTC.

[Analysis on prevention and control of some infectious diseases in the elderly aged 60 years and above in China and countermeasure recommendation].

As the progress of population aging in China, the proportion of elderly population is increasing. Both chronic diseases and infectious diseases can threaten the health of the elderly. There are many kinds of infectious diseases, including vaccine preventable infectious diseases affecting the health of adults, such as influenza, pneumococcal diseases and herpes zoster. In addition, the newly emerged COVID-19 has caused a pandemic in the world, resulting the highest proportion of deaths occurred in the elderly and posing a serious threat to the health of the elderly. This paper mainly summarizes the prevention and control of vaccine preventable diseases and COVID-19 to which the elderly are susceptible, analyzes the infectious disease problems affecting the health of elderly population, and recommends countermeasures for the prevention and control of these diseases in elderly population.

Mechanism of FGF7 gene silencing in regulating viability, apoptosis, invasion of retinoblastoma cell line HXO-Rb44 and angiogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) gene silencing in regulating viability, apoptosis, invasion of retinoblastoma (RB) cell line HXO-Rb44 and angiogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human normal retinal vascular endothelial cells ACBRI-181 was set as the normal group. The cultured RB cell lines HXO-Rb44 were divided into three groups: the blank group (without plasmid transfection), negative control group (transfection of FGF7 plasmid), and the si-FGF7 group (transfection of FGF7 siRNA plasmid). Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction and Western blot were used to measure the mRNA and protein expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in each group. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, transwell invasion assay, and flow cytometry were used, respectively, to assess cell viability, invasive capability, and cell apoptosis in each group. RESULTS: The mRNA and protein expression of FGF7, Bcl-2, VEGF, bFGF, Ang-2, and PCNA were significantly decreased, and the mRNA and protein expression of Bax were significantly increased in the si-FGF7 group than in the blank group (all p<0.05). Compared with the blank group, the si-FGF7 group had significantly decreased cells invasive capability, cell viability at 48 h and 72 h and proliferation, and significantly increased apoptosis rate (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FGF7 gene silencing can inhibit the viability and invasion of RB cells and the expression of angiogenesis-related factors and can promote RB apoptosis.

Production of alarm pheromone starts at embryo stage and is modulated by rearing conditions and farnesyl diphosphate synthase genes in the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi.

The major component of aphid alarm pheromone is (E)-ß-farnesene (EßF), but the molecular mechanisms of EßF synthesis are poorly understood. Here we established a biological model to study the modulation of EßF synthesis in the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and RNA interference. Our results showed that the rearing conditions significantly affected the weight of adult and modulated EßF synthesis in a transgenerational manner. Specifically, the quantity of EßF per milligram of aphid was significantly reduced in the individually reared adult or 1st-instar nymphs derived from 1-day-old adult reared individually, but EßF in the nymph derived from 2-day-old adult that experienced collective conditions returned to normal. Further study revealed that the production of EßF started in embryo and was extended to early nymphal stage, which was modulated by farnesyl diphosphate synthase genes (RpFPPS1 and RpFPPS2) and rearing conditions. Knockdown of RpFPPS1 and RpFPPS2 confirmed the role played by FPPS in the biosynthesis of aphid alarm pheromone. Our results suggested that the production of EßF starts at the embryo stage and is modulated by FPPS and rearing conditions in R. padi, which sheds lights on the modulatory mechanisms of EßF in the aphid.

Nitrogen utilisation and metabolism in maize (Zea mays L.) plants under different rates of biochar addition and nitrogen input conditions.

Biochar (BC) application could improve plant nitrogen (N) utilisation and potentially reduce N fertiliser requirements. However, the fate of N in crop-soil systems and the metabolic responses of crops under conditions of BC co-applied with reduced N are not well understood. The urea-15 N isotope and pot experiments with three BC rates (0%, 5% and 15%; w/w) combined with three N fertiliser levels (100% N, 85% N and 55% N) were conducted for maize. The metabolome, 15 N abundance and gene expression in plants were analysed using nuclear magnetic resonance, gas isotope mass spectrometry and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR, respectively. The results showed that recovery of N by maize ranged from 27.4% to 23.6% and decreased as the N application rate decreased (from 100% to 55%) without BC addition, but ranged from 24.6% to 29.4% when BC was added at a rate of 5% and increased as the N application rate decreased. BC addition had major effects on global metabolic profiles and metabolic networks at the metabolomics level as well as on the expression of related genes (zmGS1and zmAS1) and the content of mineral N (NO3 - , NO2 - and NH4 + ) in maize seedlings; moreover, the interaction effects of the BC application rates and N fertiliser levels were evident (P ≤ 0.001). BC addition induced a decrease in the flux toward sugar hydrolysis and maintained homeostasis in the amino acid pool, which was perturbed by reduced N levels; after which the maize plants adapted to the reduced N condition, and the N recovery efficiency ultimately improved with reduced N loss.

[Outcomes of splenectomy in relapsed/refractory autoimmune hemolytic anemia].

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of splenectomy in the treatment of relapsed/refractory autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed in 30 cases with relapsed/refractory AIHA who were treated with splenectomy in our hospital. The pre- and post-operative blood routine indexes and responses were followed up. Results: Among the 30 relapsed/refractory AIHA patients, 20 were pure AIHA (including 13 patients with warm antibody AIHA, 2 with warm-cold double antibody AIHA and 5 with Coombs negative AIHA) and 10 were Evans syndrome. The short-term response was evaluated 10-14 days after operation, and the overall response rate (ORR) of short-term response was 90% [12 cases in complete response (CR), 6 cases in partial response (PR)] in 20 therapeutic evaluable cases. Among 13 patients with long-term follow-up data, except 3 patients with Evans syndrome died (2 cases were refractory to splenectomy, 1 case relapsed after surgery), the ORR of 10 patients with relapsed/refractory pure AIHA at 6 months and 12 months were 90% (9/10) and 70% (7/10), respectively, with a median follow-up of 14 (4-156) months. At the end of follow-up, 3 cases had maintained CR for more than 3 years. Conclusion: The short-term response of splenectomy as a second-line treatment for relapsed/refractory AIHA is satisfactory, and long-term outcome of splenectomy is up to 70% at 1 year. Approximately one-third of patients could maintain sustained remission.

[A cross-sectional study on AIDS-related knowledge and demands for health education among first-grade students of senior high schools in Tianjin].

Objective: To understand the AIDS awareness and related factors as well as the demands for AIDS-related health education programs, among first-grade students from three senior high schools in Tianjin. Methods: A cross-sectional study using both stratified cluster and convenient sampling methods was conducted. Anonymous questionnaires including social demographic characteristics, AIDS-related knowledge and needs for AIDS health education were distributed to the first-grade students from two general middle schools and one vocational senior middle school in Tianjin. Results: A total of 1 082 students were responding to the questionnaires. Among them, the overall awareness rates of AIDS-related knowledge were 34.3%(371/1 082), 71.9%(778/1 082) of the students had received knowledge about AIDS and 59.4% (643/1 082) of the students had received knowledge about sexual health in the past, from the three schools. There appeared statistical differences among the two types of schools. 7.0% (76/1 082) of the students reported having had sexual behaviors. Results from the multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, in vocational senior middle school, the awareness rate of AIDS knowledge was lower (compared with general middle school, OR=0.41, 95%CI: 0.29-0.59) and in the following items, including no need in receiving safe sex health knowledge (compared with needs of safe sex health knowledge, OR=0.62, 95%CI: 0.43-0.91), no interests in reading AIDS-related health education materials (compared with attention to AIDS health education materials, OR=0.41, 95%CI: 0.30-0.56), not aware of safe sex behavior (compared with aware of safe sex behavior, OR=0.55, 95%CI: 0.39-0.77), not aware of correct condom use, compared with aware of correct condom use (OR=0.33, 95%CI: 0.24-0.46). Conclusions: The overall awareness rate of AIDS knowledge was low among the first-grade students in Tianjin. Some students reported of already having had insertive sex, sexual health knowledge has a significant impact on AIDS knowledge, suggesting that sexual health education and AIDS health education among high school students be strengthened in Tianjin.

[Mediating effect of work engagement between job stress and depressive symptoms in State Grid employees].

Objective: To explore the relationship between job stress, work engagement and depressive symptoms of State Grid workers, and to analyze the mediating effect of work engagement between job stress and depressive symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate 845 employees from a State Grid company, using the brief job stress questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) in March 2017. Results: The average score of work engagement was 4.49±1.42, the mean value of job stress was 1.15±0.33, the average score of depressive symptoms was 6.44±4.30, and the positive rate of depressive symptoms was 66.9%.There was a negative correlation between work engagement with both job stress and depressive symptoms (r=-0.193, -0.397, both P<0.01) , and job stress was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r=0.260, P<0.01) . The relationship between job stress and depressive symptoms was partly mediated by work engagement, and the mediating effect accounted for 27.2% of the total effect. Conclusion: The work engagement of State Grid staff acts as the mediator between job stress and depressive symptoms, alleviating the depressive symptoms caused by job stress.

[Association between Long Working Hours and Job Stress and Depression among Employees from a State Grid Company].

Objective: This study was to understand the current situation of long working hours and identify the association of long working hours and job stress and depression among workers from one district company of state grid. Methods: The project was done with the cross-sectional survey. All questionnaires were completed by self-administered with informed consent. Employees' weekly working hours was reported by themselves; Using the PHQ-9 scale to assess depression, the JDC Model to evaluate job stress, and SPSS software to analyze data, the single factor chi-square test and multivariate Logistic analysis were performed to identify the association between long working hours and job stress, depression. Results: there were 35.3 percent employees with over 44 hours a week. The association between increasing weekly working hours and job stress and depression was statistically significant. Compared to the reference group (≤44 h) , for those who worked more than 44 hours per week, the odds ratio of job stress was 2.02 (95%CI=1.27-3.23) times increased, and the odds ratio of depression was 1.60 (95%CI=1.01-2.55) times increased, especially for those (≥60 h) , the odds ratio was 3.69 (95%CI=1.45-9.41) and 2.76 (95%CI=1.09-7.03) respectively. Conclusion: Long working hours can significantly increase the risk of job stress and depression among workers. When their weekly working hours exceeds 60, long working hours will be the independent risk factor for both job stress and depression.

Plastic responses in the metabolome and functional traits of maize plants to temperature variations.

Environmentally inducible phenotypic plasticity is a major player in plant responses to climate change. However, metabolic responses and their role in determining the phenotypic plasticity of plants that are subjected to temperature variations remain poorly understood. The metabolomic profiles and metabolite levels in the leaves of three maize inbred lines grown in different temperature conditions were examined with a nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic technique. The relationship of functional traits to metabolome profiles and the metabolic mechanism underlying temperature variations were then explored. A comparative analysis showed that during heat and cold stress, maize plants shared common plastic responses in biomass accumulation, carbon, nitrogen, sugars, some amino acids and compatible solutes. We also found that the plastic response of maize plants to heat stress was different from that under cold stress, mainly involving biomass allocation, shikimate and its aromatic amino acid derivatives, and other non-polar metabolites. The plastic responsiveness of functional traits of maize lines to temperature variations was low, while the metabolic responsiveness in plasticity was high, indicating that functional and metabolic plasticity may play different roles in maize plant adaptation to temperature variations. A linear regression analysis revealed that the maize lines could adapt to growth temperature variations through the interrelation of plastic responses in the metabolomes and functional traits, such as biomass allocation and the status of carbon and nitrogen. We provide valuable insight into the plastic response strategy of maize plants to temperature variations that will permit the optimisation of crop cultivation in an increasingly variable environment.

Metabolic response of maize plants to multi-factorial abiotic stresses.

Clarification of the metabolic mechanisms underlying multi-stress responses in plants will allow further optimisation of crop breeding and cultivation to obtain high yields in an increasingly variable environment. Using NMR metabolomic techniques, we examined the metabolic responses of maize plants grown under different conditions: soil drought, soil salinity, heat and multiple concurrent stresses. A detailed time-course metabolic profile was also performed on maize plants sampled 1, 3 and 7 days after initiation of soil drought and heat stress. The metabolic profile of maize plants subjected to soil drought was more similar to plants exposed to salt stress than to heat-stressed plants. Drought-stressed maize plants subjected to salt or heat stress showed distinct integrated metabolic profiles compared with those exposed to either stressor individually. These differences show the considerable metabolic plasticity of maize in response to different growth conditions. Moreover, glucose, fructose, malate, citrate, proline, alanine, aspartate, asparagine, threonine and one unknown compound fluctuated obviously between maize plants grown in controlled growth cabinet and a natural regime. These changes were associated with the TCA cycle and core nitrogen metabolism, and could be related to their multiple functions during plant growth. The evident stress-induced trajectory of metabolic changes in maize indicated that the primary metabolic responses to soil drought, heat and combined drought and heat stresses occurred in a time-dependent manner. Plasticity at the metabolic level may allow maize plants to acclimatise their metabolic ranges in response to changing environmental conditions.

Cloning and spatio-temporal expression of bone morphogenetic proteins-2,-4 gene during ovarian development in New Zealand white rabbit.

In the transforming growth factor-ß(TGF-ß) superfamily, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are one of the largest subfamily, among which BMP-2 and BMP-4 are the most powerful molecules in biological activities. They have been shown to be involved in follicle development of ovary in mammals. However, whether these factors are involved in folliculogenesis in rabbit is still unknown. This study was performed to determine the relationships between ovarian development and the expression of BMP (BMP-2,-4) mRNAs in rabbit. Ovaries were removed from different development stages of rabbits (30-, 60-, 120-, 180-day age and 6-day encyesis), and method of RT-PCR was used for the cloning. The relative transcript levels of BMP-2,-4 genes were measured by real-time quantitative PCR, with GAPDH as an internal control. Known from the results, the BMP-2,-4 genes showed similar but also different expression patterns during ovarian development; they both increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the ovary on 60-day compared with 120-day and 6-day encyesis, and the expression of BMP-2 was always higher than that of BMP-4. The expression law of BMP-2,-4 genes presented in this study may lay the theoretical foundation for the study of BMPs' biological function.

Oxidative degradation of propachlor by ferrous and copper ion activated persulfate.

The process of in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) by persulfate (S(2)O(8)(2-)) can be accelerated by metal ion activation, which more effectively degrades subsurface pollutants by enhancing sulfate radical (SO(4)(-)) generation. This study compared the results of propachlor degradation by Cu(2+) and Fe(2+) activated persulfate and revealed differing degradation kinetics and mechanisms between the two types of activation system. The activation of persulfate by Fe(2+) ions generally resulted in rapid degradation in the early stage, but was accompanied by a dramatic decrease in efficiency due to the rapid depletion of Fe(2+) by the sulfate radicals generated. In contrast, the Cu(2+) activated persulfate had a longer lasting degradation effect and a proportionally greater degradation enhancement at elevated Cu(2+) concentrations. An optimal Fe(2+) concentration should be sought to activate the persulfate, as a high Fe(2+) concentration of 2.5mM or above, as was used in this study, may inhibit propachlor degradation due to the competitive consumption of sulfate radicals by the excess Fe(2+) ions. Higher temperatures (55°C compared with 30°C) resulted in enhanced metal activation, particularly with the Cu(2+) activated system. Furthermore, acidic conditions were found to be more favorable for propachlor degradation by metal activated persulfate. The ecotoxicity of degraded propachlor samples, which was indicated by average well color development (AWCD) for its microbial community activity, was confirmed to be decreased during the degradation processes with these two ions activated persulfate.