[Investigation on influencing factors of blood indexes of interventional radiology workers].

Objective: To analyze the influencing factors of blood indicators indexes of interventional radiology workers, and provide a theoretical basis for radiological occupational health monitoring, radiation protection monitoring and risk assessment. Methods: In March 2020, a total of 500 interventional radiology workers (interventional group) and 200 non-interventional radiology workers (control group) who underwent an occupational health examination in Liaoning Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2018 to 2019 were selected as the subjects. The general information, occupation related information, blood routine, fasting blood glucose and thyroid stimulating hormone test results of the subjects were collected. The differences in the levels and abnormal detection rates of blood indexes between the two groups were compared. And the influencing factors of blood indexes of the intervention riodiology workers were analyzed. Results: The lymphocyte count of interventional group[2.10 (1.70, 2.50) ×10(9)/L] was lower than that of control group[2.20 (1.80, 2.60) ×10(9)/L], the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The white blood cell count and lymphocyte count of interventional workers in the service age≤13 years were higher than those of service age≥28 years group, and fasting blood glucose was lower than those of service age ≥28 years group (P<0.05) . The detection rate of abnormal fasting blood glucose of interventional radiology workers in the service age ≤13 years group was lower than that of the service age 14-27 years and service age ≥28 years (P<0.05) . The lymphocyte count and platelet count of interventional radiology workers in annual effective dose<0.5 mSv group was higher than that of annual effective dose≥1 mSv group (P<0.05) . The results of multi-factor linear regression analysis showed that service age, annual effective dose and female gender were the influencing factors of lymphocyte count of interventional radiology workers (b=-0.008, -0.110, -0.167, P<0.05) . Conclusion: Long-term low-dose radiation exposure had certain influence on the lymphocyte count of interventional radiology workers. Service age, annual effective dose and gender are the influencing factors of lymphocyte count in interventional radiology workers. It should be reinforced to the radiological protection monitoring and risk assessment on interventional radiology workers.

[Associations of distribution of time spent in physical activity and sedentary behavior with obesity].

OBJECTIVE: To explore associations of distribution of time spent in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with obesity with taking account that time is finite during the day of adult residents in Wuhai City. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in Wuhai City, and we carried out a sampling of local residents aged 18-79 by using multiple stratified cluster sampling method. Data about social demographic characteristics, time spent in PA and SB, diet intake, controlling situation of chronic disease and other covariates were obtained by qualified investigators for face-to-face questionnaire survey. Data about height, weight, and waist circumstance, were obtained by doctors in a secondary hospital or above for body measurements. The statistical method used in our study was known as compositional data analysis, which had been used to process compositional data in many fields. Liner regression analysis with compositional data was used to synthetically analyze the associations of distribution of time spent in PA and SB with obesity,and to investigate the effect of re-allocating time from one behavior to another one whilst the remaining one was kept stable. RESULTS: The investigation revealed the special advantage of compositional data analysis in processing time-use data. The result of liner regression analysis with the compositional data showed that after controlling the potential confounding factors, the associations of distribution of time spent in PA and SB was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI, P<0.001) and the negative natural logarithm of waist to height ratio (-lnWHtR, P<0.001). Among them, in professional population, the proportion of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was negatively correlated with -lnWHtR (ß=-0.008, P=0.022), while the proportion of time spent in SB was positively correlated with BMI and -lnWHtR (ß=0.117, P=0.003; ß=0.007, P=0.005). However, in nonprofessional population, the proportion of time spent in MVPA was only negatively correlated with BMI (ß=-0.079, P=0.041). Nevertheless, the proportion of time spent in low-intensity physical activity (LIPA) was not significantly associated with BMI and -lnWHtR in both professional and nonprofessional population. In addition, the effects of MVPA replacing another behavior and of MVPA being displaced by another behavior were not symmetrical, and 10 minutes of MVPA replacing LIPA or SB had a greater influence on intervention and prevention of obesity than 10 minutes MVPA being replaced by LIPA or SB. CONCLUSION: The research has resulted in a solution of the associations of the distribution of time spent in PA, SB with health risk. Our results suggest that public health messages should target the health effects of the distribution of time of PA and SB synergistically in developing PA guidelines and health management practice, rather than simply increasing or decreasing the absolute time of PA or SB, so that we can provide scientific suggestions to make people get a profounder healthy effect.

MiR-203a functions as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer by targeting SIX4.

Increasing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) have essential roles in various biological processes, including proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle progression and apoptosis. It is considered that miRNA de-regulation contributes to tumor progression and metastasis in various cancers, and MiR-203a has been identified as a tumor suppressor in cancers, such as glioma, gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. Herein, we established that miR-203a expression is significantly lower in bladder cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues, and that low miR-203a expression is associated with poor patient outcome. The over-expression of miR-203a inhibited bladder cancer cell proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT in vitro, and its up-regulation led to bladder cancer cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This over-expression also inhibited the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Bioinformatics prediction software and luciferase reporter assay then confirmed that SIX4 is a direct target of miR-203a. We established negative correlation between SIX4 expression and miR-203a expression in bladder cancer tissues, and SIX4 silencing caused effects similar to miR-203a up-regulation Furthermore, SIX4 over-expression diminished the effects of miR-203a on bladder cancer cells in vitro. In summary, our study determined that miR-203a down-regulation is closely related to tumorigenesis in bladder cancer; thus suggesting that miR-203a is a potential prognostic marker and a potential target in bladder cancer treatment.

Mapping forested wetlands in the Great Zhan River Basin through integrating optical, radar, and topographical data classification techniques.

Knowledge of the spatial extent of forested wetlands is essential to many studies including wetland functioning assessment, greenhouse gas flux estimation, and wildlife suitable habitat identification. For discriminating forested wetlands from their adjacent land cover types, researchers have resorted to image analysis techniques applied to numerous remotely sensed data. While with some success, there is still no consensus on the optimal approaches for mapping forested wetlands. To address this problem, we examined two machine learning approaches, random forest (RF) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithms, and applied these two approaches to the framework of pixel-based and object-based classifications. The RF and KNN algorithms were constructed using predictors derived from Landsat 8 imagery, Radarsat-2 advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and topographical indices. The results show that the objected-based classifications performed better than per-pixel classifications using the same algorithm (RF) in terms of overall accuracy and the difference of their kappa coefficients are statistically significant (p<0.01). There were noticeably omissions for forested and herbaceous wetlands based on the per-pixel classifications using the RF algorithm. As for the object-based image analysis, there were also statistically significant differences (p<0.01) of Kappa coefficient between results performed based on RF and KNN algorithms. The object-based classification using RF provided a more visually adequate distribution of interested land cover types, while the object classifications based on the KNN algorithm showed noticeably commissions for forested wetlands and omissions for agriculture land. This research proves that the object-based classification with RF using optical, radar, and topographical data improved the mapping accuracy of land covers and provided a feasible approach to discriminate the forested wetlands from the other land cover types in forestry area.

Polymorphisms of rs1799983 (G>T) and rs1800780 (A>G) of the eNOS gene associated with susceptibility to essential hypertension in the Chinese Hui ethnic population.

We investigated a possible association of polymorphism of the eNOS gene and essential hypertension in the Chinese Hui population; polymorphisms of rs2070744 (T>C), rs1799983 (G>T), rs1800780 (A>G), and rs3918181 (A>G) loci of the eNOS gene were examined. We found that the genotypic frequencies at rs1799983 and rs1800780 loci differed significantly between patients with essential hypertension and control cohorts. The allelic frequency of the rs1799983 locus also differed significantly between essential hypertension patients and non-essential hypertension controls in this population. Additionally, the G allele of the rs1799983 locus was less frequent in the essential hypertension patients than in controls, with an odds ratio (OR) value of 3.851 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 2.236-6.631]. This is an indication of a protective factor of essential hypertension in Chinese Hui people. Haplotype analysis using the 4 SNPs revealed 15 haplotypes. Haplotype frequencies of CGAG, TTAG, TGGG, TTGG, and TTGA were significantly different in essential hypertension patients compared to non-essential hypertension controls. Individuals with haplotypes CGAG [χ² = 7.371, OR (95%CI) = 0.352 (0.161-0.770)] and TGGG [χ² = 6.180, OR (95%CI) = 0.600 (0.400- 0.899)] appear less likely to have essential hypertension. However, Chinese Hui with the haplotype TTAG are at risk to develop essential hypertension [χ² = 10.816, OR (95%CI) = 2.689 (1.466-4.932)]. We conclude that polymorphism of the eNOS gene is associated with susceptibility to essential hypertension in the Chinese Hui population.

LncRNA DNAJC3-AS1 functions as oncogene in renal cell carcinoma via regulation of the miR-27a-3p/PRDM14 axis.

OBJECTIVE: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common urological malignancies worldwide. Although great advances have been made in the diagnosis and management of RCC, its prognosis remains unsatisfactory. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found to be essential factors in the initiation and development of cancer. The current study aimed to measure the expression and functions of lncRNA DNAJC3-AS1 in the progression of clear cell RCC (ccRCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of lncRNA DNAJC3-AS1 was detected in 30 pairs of ccRCC tissues and in cell lines by RT-PCR, and its prognostic association with ccRCC was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of ccRCC cells were measured after silencing DNAJC3-AS1. The interaction between DNAJC3-AS1, miR-27a-3p and PRDM14 was identified by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay. The protein levels were measured by Western blotting. RESULTS: The expression of DNAJC3-AS1 was upregulated in ccRCC tissues and cell lines compared to their normal counterparts. In vitro, silencing DNAJC3-AS1 reduced the proliferation, migration and invasion of ccRCC cells. Downregulation of DNAJC3-AS1 also led to the apoptosis of ccRCC cells. Moreover, we also found that DNAJC3-AS1 acted as a sponge of miR-27a-3p and identified PRDM14 as a target of miR-27a-3p. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA DNAJC3-AS1 acts as an oncogene and plays an essential role in the tumorigenesis of ccRCC, possibly via the regulation of the miR-27a-3p/PRDM14 axis.

Maternal Obesity during Pregnancy is Associated with Lower Cortical Thickness in the Neonate Brain.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent studies have suggested that maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationships between maternal obesity during pregnancy and neonatal brain cortical development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four healthy women (28 normal-weight, 16 obese) were prospectively recruited at <10 weeks' gestation, and their healthy full-term neonates (23 boys, 21 girls) underwent brain MR imaging. All pregnant women had their body composition (fat mass percentage) measured at ∼12 weeks of pregnancy. All neonates were scanned at ∼2 weeks of age during natural sleep without sedation, and their 3D T1-weighted images were postprocessed by the new iBEAT2.0 software. Brain MR imaging segmentation and cortical surface reconstruction and parcellation were completed using age-appropriate templates. Mean cortical thickness for 34 regions in each brain hemisphere defined by the UNC Neonatal Cortical Surface Atlas was measured, compared between groups, and correlated with maternal body fat mass percentage, controlled for neonate sex and race, postmenstrual age at MR imaging, maternal age at pregnancy, and the maternal intelligence quotient and education. RESULTS: Neonates born to obese mothers showed significantly lower (P ≤ .05, false discovery rate-corrected) cortical thickness in the left pars opercularis gyrus, left pars triangularis gyrus, and left rostral middle frontal gyrus. Mean cortical thickness in these frontal lobe regions negatively correlated (R = -0.34, P = .04; R = -0.50, P = .001; and R = -0.42, P = .01; respectively) with the maternal body fat mass percentage measured at early pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with lower neonate brain cortical thickness in several frontal lobe regions important for language and executive functions.

Sampling survey on intellectual disability in 0 approximately 6-year-old children in China.

OBJECTIVES: To understand the current status of intellectually disabled children and the prevalence of intellectual disability (ID) in children aged 0 approximately 6 years and its risk factors, and to provide scientific evidence to formulate relevant policies for helping intellectually disabled children. METHODS: Multiphase, stratified, unequal proportional and cluster sampling was adopted to investigate 60 124 children aged 0 approximately 6 years. All the children investigated were screened for ID using the Denver Developmental Screening Test, and those with positive screening test would be further diagnosed by varied specialists using the Gesell Developmental Inventory. RESULTS: In total, 560 of 60 124 children were diagnosed as intellectually disabled with an overall prevalence of 0.93%. Prevalence of ID was highest in children living in medium-developed areas with a prevalence of 1.20%, higher than in those living in developed areas (0.75%) and in underdeveloped areas (0.84%). It was higher in rural areas (1.03%) than in urban areas (0.83%), and higher in boys (1.01%) than in girls (0.84%). Prevalence of ID increased with the age of children and decreased with the educational level of their parents. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggested that ID is still prevalent in the children of China, and rehabilitation for them is lagging behind current needs. Early prevention of ID in children and pre-school education for them should be strengthened.

The effects and mechanisms of a novel 2-aminosteroid on murine WEHI-3B leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo.

To evaluate the effects of a novel 2-aminosteroid, 2-(4'-methyl-1'-piperazinyl)-3alpha-hydroxyl-5alpha-androstane-17-one (KH), on in vitro murine WEHI-3B leukemia cells, semisolid colony culture, MTT assay, morphological examination, NBT reduction, NSAE test and ACP assay were used to determine proliferation and differentiation. It was found that the growth of leukemia cells in colony and liquid cultures was inhibited by KH (10(-8)-10(-4) mol/l) after treatment for 7 days. The percentages of NBT and NSAE positive cells were 71.17 and 79.25%, respectively, after treatment with KH (10(-8)-10(-6) mol/l) for 5 days. The morphology of treated leukemia cells was identified to be macrophage-like and these cells acquired significant ACP activities. It was indicated that the ACP enzyme activities were increased as high as two and three times of the control, respectively, after treatment with 10(-8) or 10(-5) mol/l KH for 6 days. It was also indicated by DNA fragmentation in gel electrophoresis that WEHI-3B cells were induced toward apoptosis by KH (10(-8)-10(-4) mol/l) when checked at day 5. The c-myc mRNA expressions in WEHI-3B cells were decreased by 58.7% after treatment with KH (10(-8) mol/l) for 5 days. Therefore, it is first reported here that KH, a novel 2-aminosteroid, could suppress proliferation and induce differentiation of WEHI-3B leukemia cells. These differentiated cells were mature macrophage-like cells and showed characteristics of functional phagocytes acquired with acid phosphatase activity. The mechanisms underlying the above effects involved the apoptosis of WEHI-3B leukemia cells and the down-regulation of c-myc oncogene expression. It is also shown that the counts of immature granulocytes and monocytes were significantly decreased in both peripheral blood and bone marrow of BALB/c leukemia mice after KH was administrated per os for 7 consecutive days with four doses (5, 10, 15 or 20 mg/kg day), respectively. It is also observed that the enlarged spleens in leukemia mice were decreased when compared with the control.

[Effects of murine bone marrow endothelial cell conditioned medium in combination with FL and TPO on the growth of HPP-CFC and CFU-GM].

In the present study, the effects of murine bone marrow endothelial cell conditioned medium (ECM) combined with flt3 ligand (FL) or/and thrombopoietin (TPO) on the proliferation of HPP-CFC and CFU-GM were investigated. Both ECM and the concentrated retentate of ECM (MW>10 kD) promoted the growth of CFU-GM and HPP-CFC, and this promoting effect was further enhanced by addition of FL or TPO. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, the expression of FL and TPO mRNA was not found in murine bone marrow endothelial cells.

[Drug susceptibility testing for M. tuberculosis with proportion method].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the feasibility of proportion method in drug susceptibility testing (DST) of M. tuberculosis(MTB). METHODS: DST was performed to 360 strains of MTB using proportion method and absolute concentration method, 30 of them using both China made and Sigma produced anti-TB drugs. MIC was detected in 19 strains whose results were different from standard ones. RESULTS: In isoniazid (INH) and ethambutol (EMB), the resistance rate and the accordance rate compared with standard results were significantly higher in proportion method than absolute concentration method (P < 0.01). But in streptomycin (SM) and rifampicin (RFP), they did not show any significant difference. The accordance rates of INH, SM, EMB and RFP between two methods were 81.1%, 92.5%, 83.6% and 98.6%. The DST results using China made and Sigma produced anti-TB drugs had no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: The main reason made proportion method differ from absolute concentration method is critical concentration of drugs. China made anti-TB drugs are also qualified for DST purpose.

[The effects of a novel aminosteroid on WEHI-3B leukemia cells].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a novel aminosteroid(KH) on WEHI-3B cells. METHODS: The effects and mechanism of KH on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of WEHI-3B cells in vitro were studied by semi-solid colony culture, MTT assay, morphologic examination, NBT reduction test, NSE assay, DNA fragmentation in gel electrophoresis and RT-PCR of c-myc oncogene. RESULTS: The growth of leukemic colony was inhibited by KH(10(-8)-10(-4) mol.L-1) after treatment of KH for 7 days. The percentages of NBT and NSE positive cells were increased from 40.38% to 71.17% and 48.25% to 79.25%, respectively as well as the typical ladders of DNA fragments in gel electrophoresis were also observed after WEHI-3B cells were treated with KH(10(-8)-10(-4) mol.L-1) for 5 days. The c-myc mRNA expression of WEHI-3B cells was decreased by 58.7% after WEHI-3B cells were treated with KH(10(-8) mol.L-1) for 5 days. CONCLUSION: KH might suppress the proliferation of WEHI-3B cells, induce the differentiation of WEHI-3B cells into macrophage-like cells and facilitate the cell apoptosis. There is relationship between the above effects and c-myc mRNA expression of WEHI-3B cells.

[Effect of a novel aminosteroid on animal model of murine myelomonocytic leukemia].

To evaluate the effect of a novel aminosteroid on murine myelomonocytic leukemia, BALB/c mice were treated by the novel aminosteroid for 7 days after receiving 1 x 10(6) WEHI-3B(myelomonocytic leukemia) cells intraperitoneally. The counts and classification of white blood cells obtained from tail blood were determined on the day before transplanting WEHI-3B cells and 7, 14, 21, 28 days after transplantation. Undifferentiated cell percentage of bone marrow and spleen weight were checked 30 days after transplantation. The results demonstrated that the above indexes of mice treated with the novel aminosteroid were decreased compared with those treated with normal saline(NS). Decrease of the indexes showed a dose-dependent relationship ranging from 5-20 mg.kg-1.d-1. It is suggested that leukemia mice could be effectively treated by the novel aminosteroid and the efficacy maybe paralleled with the dosage of the novel aminosteroid.