The spatial distribution of the normal reference values of the activated partial thromboplastin time based on ArcGIS and GeoDA.

We explored the variation and spatial distribution of the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) reference values of healthy people at different altitudes in China in order to develop a scientific basis for a unified standard. The APTT reference values of 49,020 healthy males (41-75 years old) and 32,447 healthy females (41-75 years old) were collected from 601 work units and 546 work units in China, respectively. The relationship between the APTT reference values and altitude was tested by correlation analysis. Linear regression analysis and curve analysis were employed to predict the APTT reference values in the whole country. Trend surface analysis, the variation function, kriging interpolation, and Getis-Ord Gi* statistic were utilized to reveal the spatial characteristics of the values. The result showed a significant positive correlation between the APTT reference values and altitude. The APTT values for females were prolonged for a greater amount of time than the males in several same areas in China. The spatial contact forms of the APTT reference values of healthy Chinese were mainly "high-high" and "low-low," which was in accord with the first law of geography. The APTT reference values still showed spatial autocorrelation and regional variation. The values were higher in the western and northern areas than in the eastern and southern areas of China. The APTT reference values of people aged 41-75 in China showed regional differences. The APTT reference values in one area can be estimated by using the best prediction model or can be obtained by the geographical distribution.

The Spatial Distribution Characteristics of the Tumor Biomarker Alpha-fetoprotein: A Cross-section Study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the spatial characteristics of the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) reference value in healthy Chinese adults, and its relationship to geographical location. METHODS: A total of 9396 AFP reference values were collected from patients in 96 administrative units. A correlation analysis and support vector machine (SVM) were employed to extract dependent geographical factors and predict the reference values in the entire country, respectively. A geostatistics analysis was developed to reveal the spatial characteristics of the value. RESULTS: Under the long-term influence of geographical environment, AFP reference values show spatial autocorrelation and regional variation. The values are higher in western and northern areas than in eastern and southern areas of China. CONCLUSIONS: The AFP reference values show regional differences, and this difference should be considered in clinical practice.

The effect of geographical indices on left ventricular structure in healthy Han Chinese population.

The left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and interventricular septum thickness (IVST) are generally regarded as the functional parts of the left ventricular (LV) structure. This paper aims to examine the effects of geographical indices on healthy Han adults' LV structural indices and to offer a scientific basis for developing a unified standard for the reference values of adults' LV structural indices in China. Fifteen terrain, climate, and soil indices were examined as geographical explanatory variables. Statistical analysis was performed using correlation analysis. Moreover, a back propagation neural network (BPNN) and a support vector regression (SVR) were applied to developing models to predict the values of two indices. After the prediction models were built, distribution maps were produced. The results show that LV structural indices are characteristically associated with latitude, longitude, altitude, average temperature, average wind velocity, topsoil sand fraction, topsoil silt fraction, topsoil organic carbon, and topsoil sodicity. The model test analyses show the BPNN model possesses better simulative and predictive ability in comparison with the SVR model. The distribution maps of the LV structural indices show that, in China, the values are higher in the west and lower in the east. These results demonstrate that the reference values of the adults' LV structural indices will be different affected by different geographical environment. The reference values of LV structural indices in one region can be calculated by setting up a BPNN, which showed better applicability in this study. The distribution of the reference values of the LV structural indices can be seen clearly on the geographical distribution map.

Mutations in pre-core and basic core promoter regions of hepatitis B virus in chronic hepatitis B patients.

AIM: To investigate the frequency of mutations in pre-core (pre-C) and basic core promoter (BCP) regions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from Shanxi Province, and the association between mutations and disease related indexes. METHODS: One hundred chronic hepatitis B patients treated at Shanxi Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were included in this study. PCR-reverse dot blot hybridization and mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA)-PCR were used to detect the mutations in the HBV pre-C and BCP regions. HBV DNA content and liver function were compared between patients with mutant HBV pre-C and BCP loci and those with wild-type loci. The consistency between PCR-reverse dot blot hybridization and MAMA-PCR for detecting mutations in the HBV pre-C and BCP regions was assessed. RESULTS: Of the 100 serum samples detected, 9.38% had single mutations in the pre-C region, 29.17% had single mutations in the BCP region, 41.67% had mutations in both BCP and pre-C regions, and 19.79% had wild-type loci. The rates of BCP and pre-C mutations were 65.7% and 34.3%, respectively, in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive patients, and 84.6% and 96.2%, respectively, in HBeAg negative patients. The rate of pre-C mutations was significantly higher in HBeAg negative patients than in HBeAg positive patients (χ (2) = 26.62, P = 0.00), but there was no significant difference in the distribution of mutations in the BCP region between HBeAg positive and negative patients (χ (2) = 2.43, P = 0.12). The presence of mutations in the pre-C (Wilcoxon W = 1802.5, P = 0.00) and BCP regions (Wilcoxon W = 2906.5, P = 0.00) was more common in patients with low HBV DNA content. Both AST and GGT were significantly higher in patients with mutant pre-C and BCP loci than in those with wild-type loci (P < 0.05). PCR-reverse dot blot hybridization and MAMA-PCR for detection of mutations in the BCP and pre-C regions had good consistency, and the Kappa values obtained were 0.91 and 0.58, respectively. CONCLUSION: HBeAg negative patients tend to have HBV pre-C mutations. However, these mutations do not cause increased DNA copies, but associate with damage of liver function.

Identification of Gene and MicroRNA Signatures for Oral Cancer Developed from Oral Leukoplakia.

In clinic, oral leukoplakia (OLK) may develop into oral cancer. However, the mechanism underlying this transformation is still unclear. In this work, we present a new pipeline to identify oral cancer related genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) by integrating both gene and miRNA expression profiles. In particular, we find some network modules as well as their miRNA regulators that play important roles in the development of OLK to oral cancer. Among these network modules, 91.67% of genes and 37.5% of miRNAs have been previously reported to be related to oral cancer in literature. The promising results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed approach.

[Geographical distribution of left ventricular Tei index based on principal component analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To provide a scientific standard of left ventricular Tei index for healthy people from various region of China, and to lay a reliable foundation for the evaluation of left ventricular diastolic and systolic function. METHODS: The correlation and principal component analysis were used to explore the left ventricular Tei index, which based on the data of 3 562 samples from 50 regions of China by means of literature retrieval. Th e nine geographical factors were longitude(X1), latitude(X2), altitude(X3), annual sunshine hours (X4), the annual average temperature (X5), annual average relative humidity (X6), annual precipitation (X7), annual temperature range (X8) and annual average wind speed (X9). ArcGIS soft ware was applied to calculate the spatial distribution regularities of left ventricular Tei index. RESULTS: There is a significant correlation between the healthy people's left ventricular Tei index and geographical factors, and the correlation coefficients were -0.107 (r1), -0.301 (r2), -0.029 (r3), -0.277 (r4), -0.256(r5), -0.289(r6), -0.320(r7), -0.310 (r8) and -0.117 (r9), respectively. A linear equation between the Tei index and the geographical factor was obtained by regression analysis based on the three extracting principal components. The geographical distribution tendency chart for healthy people's left Tei index was fitted out by the ArcGIS spatial interpolation analysis. CONCLUSION: The geographical distribution for left ventricular Tei index in China follows certain pattern. The reference value in North is higher than that in South, while the value in East is higher than that in West.

Normal reference value of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of old women and geographical factors.

AIM: This paper aims at supplying a scientific basis for standardizing the normal reference value of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of Chinese old women. METHODS: The research is made to study the relationship between the normal reference value of 6707 samples of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of old women and seven geographical factors in 70 areas in China. RESULTS: It is found that the correlation between geographical factors and the normal reference value of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of old women is quite significant (F=30.137, P=0.000). According to the normal reference value of old women's whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) and geographical factors, one regression equation is inferred by using the method of enter regression analysis: Y=13.47+0.0006383X1-0.001083X2-0.1379X3-0.05098X4-0.0008578X5-0.06221X6+0.2114X7±0.55. In the above equation, Y is the reference value of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of old women (mPa·s); X1 is the altitude (m); X2 is the annual sunshine duration (h); X3 is the annual mean air temperature; X4 is the annual mean relative humidity; X5 is the annual precipitation amount; X6 is the annual range of air temperature; X7 is the annual mean wind speed (m/s); and 0.55 is the value of the residual standard deviations. CONCLUSION: If geographical values are obtained in a certain area, the normal reference value of whole blood viscosity (230s(-1)) of old women in this area can be obtained by using the regression equation. Furthermore, according to the geographical factors, China can be divided into eight regions: Northeast China Region, North China Region, Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia Region, Middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Region, Southeast China Region, Northwest China Region, Southwest China Region and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Region.