[A cross-sectional survey on the allocation of nursing human resources in burn centers in China].

Objective: To investigate the allocation of nursing human resources in burn centers in China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Using a self-designed questionnaire, a survey was carried out from January to March 2022 to investigate the January to December 2021 status of 39 burn centers in China that met the inclusion criteria based on six strategic regions and other regions, including the hospital grade and the region, the number of nurses and opening beds in the burn centers and burn intensive care units (BICUs), the age, working seniority in burn specialty, educational background, professional title, personnel employment, and turnover of nurses and training of newly recruited nurses in the burn centers. Results: This survey covered 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China (excluding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan region of China). A total of 39 questionnaires were collected, all of which were valid. The 39 burn centers were located in 38 tertiary A hospitals and 1 tertiary B hospital, with 26 burn centers in strategic areas. The nurse/bed ratio of burn centers in the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao was the highest, while the nurse/bed ratio of burn centers in border ethnic minority area was the lowest. Except for the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, BICUs had been set up in burn centers in other regions. Among the 39 burn centers, the percentage of nurses aged 25 to 34 years was 51.21% (738/1 441), the percentage of nurses worked in burn specialty for less than 5 years was 31.16% (449/1 441), the percentage of nurses with bachelor's degree was 69.74% (1 005/1 441), and the percentage of nurses with nursing professional title was 44.14% (636/1 441), which were the highest. There were significant differences in the employment of nurses, the percentage of permanent nurses in burn centers in the collaborative development zone of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei was 82.48% (113/137), while the percentage of permanent nurses in burn centers in important military strategic area was only 9.42% (34/361); the turnover rate of nurses was 9.03% (143/1 584), among which the turnover rate of nurses was 18.14% (80/441) in burn centers in important military strategic area. The training for newly recruited nurses in 39 burn centers was mainly based on the guidance of senior nurses and the pre-job education+specialist training. Conclusions: The burn nursing human resources in strategic areas in China are seriously insufficient and unevenly distributed, with unstable nurse team and lack of standardized specialist training. In particular, the nursing human resources in BICUs need to be equipped and supplemented urgently.

[Baseline survey of psychosocial factors levels and their health effects in a cohort study of natural gas field workers].

Objective: To investigate the level of psychosocial factors in workplace and their health effects among workers in a natural gas field. Methods: A prospective and open cohort of natural gas field workers was established to study the level of workplace psychosocial factors and their health effects, with a follow-up every 5 years. In October 2018, a cluster sampling method was used to conduct a baseline survey of 1737 workers in a natural gas field, including a questionnaire survey on demographic characteristics, workplace psychosocial factors and mental health outcomes, physiological indicators such as height and weight, and biochemical indicators such as blood routine, urine routine, liver function and kidney function. The baseline data of the workers were statistically described and analyzed. The psychosocial factors and mental health outcomes were divided into high and low groups according to the mean score, and the physiological and biochemical indicators were divided into normal and abnormal groups according to the reference range of normal values. Results: The age of 1737 natural gas field workers was (41.8±8.0) years old, and the length of service was (21.0±9.7) years. There were 1470 male workers (84.6%). There were 773 (44.5%) high school (technical secondary school) and 827 (47.6%) college (junior college) graduates, 1490 (85.8%) married (including remarriage after divorce), 641 (36.9%) smokers and 835 (48.1%) drinkers. Among the psychosocial factors, the detection rates of high levels of resilience, self-efficacy, colleague support and positive emotion were all higher than 50%. Among the mental health outcomes evaluation indexes, the detection rates of high levels of sleep disorder, job satisfaction and daily stress were 41.82% (716/1712), 57.25% (960/1677) and 45.87% (794/1731), respectively. The detection rate of depressive symptoms was 22.77% (383/1682). The abnormal rates of body mass index (BMI), triglyceride and low density lipoprotein were 46.74% (810/1733), 36.50% (634/1737) and 27.98% (486/1737), respectively. The abnormal rates of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, uric acid, total cholesterol and blood glucose were 21.64% (375/1733), 21.41% (371/1733), 20.67% (359/1737), 20.55% (357/1737) and 19.17% (333/1737), respectively. The prevalence rates of hypertension and diabetes were 11.23% (195/1737) and 3.45% (60/1737), respectively. Conclusion: The detection rates of high level psychosocial factors in natural gas field workers are high, and their effects on physical and mental health remain to be verified. The establishment of a cohort study of the levels and health effects of psychosocial factors provides an important resource for confirming the causal relationship between workplace psychosocial factors and health.

[Effect of occupational stress on depression in gas field workers].

Objective: To explore the occurrence level of depressive symptoms and it's influencing factors among gas field workers. Methods: In October 2018, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 1726 gas field workers from a gas field by using cluster sampling method. Questionaire was used to evaluate the individual factors, depressive symptoms, occupational stress factors and stress regulatory factors. The correlation between depressive symptoms and occupational stress was analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of depressive symptoms. Results: The depressive symptoms score of gas field workers was 12.00 (7.00, 19.00) point. Correlation analysis revealed that depressive symptoms score was positively related to sleep disorders (r=0.598) , effort (r=0.186) , daily tension (r=0.478) , negative affectivity (r=0.565) , social support (r=0.446) and monotony of work (r=0.484) (P<0.01) . And it was negatively related to reward (r=-0.386) , work stability (r=-0.294) , promotion opportunities (r=-0.258) , positive affectivity (r= -0.310) , self-efficacy (r=-0.312) , contral strategy (r=-0.268) , support strategy (r=-0.209) and job satisfaction (r=-0.398) (P<0.01) . Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that sleep disorder, high negative affectivity, low support from colleagues, low support from family, high monotony of work and high daily tension were the risk factors for depressive symptoms of gas field worker (OR=3.423, 95%CI: 2.644-4.397; OR=2.847, 95%CI: 2.200-3.683; OR=1.646, 95%CI: 1.215-2.116; OR=1.496, 95%CI: 1.164-1.923; OR=1.578, 95%CI: 1.227-2.303; OR=1.903, 95%CI: 1.480-2.440; P<0.01) . High work stability, high self-efficacy and high job satisfaction were protective factors for depressive symptoms of gas field workers (OR=0.752, 95%CI: 0.591-0.958; OR=0.590, 95%CI: 0.465-0.749; OR=0.718, 95%CI: 0.516-0.999; P<0.05) . Conclusion: Occupational stress factors have a great influence on the depressive symptoms of gas field workers. Increased work stability, self-efficacy and job satisfaction could reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.

[The relationship between resting heart rate and all-cause mortality among the Chinese oldest-old aged more than 80: a prospective cohort study].

Objective: To explore the association between resting heart rate(RHR) and all-cause mortality among the Chinese oldest-old aged more than 80. Methods: Using a total of seven surveys or follow-ups data (1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). A total of 17 886 elderly over 80 years old were selected as subjects, their resting heart rate were measured though baseline survey and the survival outcome and death time of the subjects were followed up. The subjects were divided into 6 groups according to their resting heart rate. Cox regression model was used to estimate the effect of resting heart rate on mortality risk. The interaction of age, gender and resting heart rate was also analyzed by likelihood ratio test. Results: The age of subjects M (P25, P75) was 92 (86, 100) years old, including 10 531 females (58.9%) and there were 13 598 participants died, the mortality rate was 195.5 per 1 000 person-years. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that compared to the control group (60-69 pbm/min), the hazard ratio of the elderly are 1.06 (95%CI: 1.02, 1.11), 1.09 (95%CI: 1.04, 1.15), 1.23 (95%CI: 1.14, 1.34), 1.25 (95%CI: 1.08, 1.44) in the group of RHR between 70-79, 80-89, 90-99 and ≥100 pbm/min and P values are all less than 0.05. Likelihood ratio test showed that RHR and age had an interaction effect. (P for interaction=0.011). Conclusion: The risk of all-cause death increased with the increase of resting heart rate and this relationship was stronger between the 80-89 years old people.

[Correlation between social support and occupational stress among gas production workers in the field].

Objective: To investigate the level of social support and its correlation with occupational stress among gas production workers in the field. Methods: In October 2018, the cluster sampling method was used to perform a cross-sectional survey for 1726 gas production workers in the field, and related data of these workers were collected, including age, education level, marital status, level of social support, and related factors for occupational stress. A Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between social support and occupational stress, and the levels of occupational stress-related factors were compared between the groups with different social support scores. Results: The gas production workers in the field had a median (25th percentile, 75th percentile) social support score of 24.00 (19.00, 28.00) , and there was a significant difference in social support score between the workers with different posts or work shifts (P<0.01) . Social support score was positively correlated with effort, daily stress, negative emotion, and job routinization (P<0.05) and was negatively correlated with job satisfaction, reward, working stability, and promotion opportunity (P<0.05) . The group with a high social support score had significantly higher scores of effort, job routinization, sleep disorders, and daily stress than the other two groups (P<0.01) , and the group with a low social support score had significantly higher scores of reward, self-efficacy, positive affection, and job satisfaction than the other two groups (P<0.01) . Conclusion: High-level social support plays an important role in alleviating occupational stress and protecting mental health among gas production workers in the field.

[Correlation of job monotony and social support on daily hassle: a cross-sectional study based on natural gas field workers].

Objective: To explore the correlation of job monotony and social support on daily hassle. Methods: A convenient sampling survey of demographics characteristics, job monotony, social support and daily hassle was conducted on 1 466 natural gas field workers by questionnaire in October; 2018. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the correlation of job monotony and social support on daily hassle. Results: The age of 1 466 subjects was (44.47±8.0) years and the length of service was (20.46±5.77) years. There were 258(17.6%), 173(11.8%), 799(54.5%), 120(8.2%) and 116(7.9%) subjects from production and marketing department, processing plant, branch, maintenance department and emergency center respectively. There were 374(25.5%) and 1 092(74.5%) subjects with high and low level of job monotony, and 398(27.1%), 648(44.2%) and 420(28.6%) subjects with high, middle and low level of social support. There were 464(31.7%) and 1 002(68.3%) subjects with high and low daily tension respectively. Compared with the low level of job monotony, the high level of job monotony had a higher risk of daily hassle(OR=4.83,P<0.001), and compared with the high level of social support, the middle and low level of social support had a higher risk of daily hassle(OR=1.25, 2.24,P<0.05). Conclusion: Job monotony and social support were associated with daily hassle.

[Interaction of shift work and psychological capital on abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism among natural gas field workers].

Objective: To explore the interaction between shift work and psychological capital on abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism. Methods: A convenient sampling survey of demographics characteristics, shift work and psychological capital was conducted on 1 415 natural gas field workers by questionnaire in October 2018,and their physiological and biochemical indexes were measured according to standard norms. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the interaction between shift work and psychological capital on abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism. Results: For 1 415 subjectsthe prevalence of abnormal blood glucose was 21.2%, the prevalence of diabetes was 8.3%.The prevalence of abnormal total cholesterol was 40.4%, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 11.3%.The prevalence of abnormal triglyceride was 41.6%, the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia was 24.7%.The detection rate of Low-density Lipoprotein was 17.3%, the detection rate of Low-density Lipoprotein was 4.0%, and the detection rate of high-density Lipoprotein was 1.3%. Multiple logistic regression model analysis showed that shift work, the low level of self-efficacy and the low level of optimism was positively associated with abnormal blood glucose, respectively (P<0.05). Shift work was positively associated with abnormal triglyceride (P<0.05). However, there was no interaction between shift work, low self-efficacy, low hope, low resilience, and low optimism on abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism. Conclusion: Shift work was a risk factor of abnormal blood glucose and triglyceride, self-efficacy and optimism were protective factors of abnormal blood glucose. There was no multiplicative interaction between shift work and psychological capital on abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in the study population.

[Sleep quality and occupational stress relationship analysis of field gas recovery workers].

Objective: To explore the relationship between sleep quality and occupational stress in field gas recovery workers. Methods: In October 2018, cluster sampling method was adopted to conduct cross-sectional survey on 1726 field workers in a gas production oilfield. The individual characteristics, occupational stress factors, stress regulation factors, stress response and sleep quality, social support and coping strategies were evaluated by occupational stress measurement tools and job content questionnaire. Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test were used to compare sleep quality scores between the groups. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between sleep quality and occupational stress, and logistic regression analysis was used to analyze multiple factors. Results: There were significant differences in sleep quality scores among different positions, gender, marital status, age, length of service, smoking and drinking (P<0.05) . There were no significant differences in sleep quality scores between different education levels and work shift groups (P>0.05) . Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that sleep quality score was negatively correlated with job satisfaction, reward, job stability, promotion opportunity, positive emotion, respect, self-esteem, control strategy, support strategy and self-efficacy score (r(s)=-0.361, -0.311, -0.238, -0.261, -0.248, -0.212, -0.139, -0.188, -0.152, -0.226, P<0.01) , and was positively correlated with social support, giving, daily tension, negative emotion, work monotony and depression symptom (r(s)=0.312, 0.279, 0.547, 0.493, 0.429, 0.599, P<0.01) . Compared with the high sleep quality score group, the middle and low sleep quality score groups had lower giving, work monotony, daily tension, depressive symptoms, negative emotions and social support (P<0.01) , while the scores of respect, reward, job satisfaction, positive emotion, self-efficacy, job stability, promotion opportunity, control strategy and support strategy were higher (P<0.01) . Multiple depressive symptoms, high daily tension, high negative emotion and high work monotony were the risk factors for sleep disorders (OR=3.417, 2.659, 2.913, 1.543) . Conclusion: Depressive symptoms, daily tension and negative emotion have great influence on sleep quality of field gas recovery workers.

MicroRNA-221 promotes myocardial apoptosis caused by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion by down-regulating PTEN.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether microRNA-221 could promote cardiomyocyte apoptosis by down-regulating the expression of PTEN (gene of phosphate and tension homology deleted on chromosome ten), thereby participating in the development of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression levels of microRNA-221 and PTEN in human cardiomyocytes (HCM) cells treated with hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R). The expressions of myocardial injury markers, including lactic dehydrogenase enzyme (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) were determined by qRT-PCR as well. The binding relationship between microRNA-221 and PTEN was verified by the Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay. Subsequently, microRNA-221 inhibitor and si-PTEN were transfected into cells. The proliferation and apoptosis of cells were analyzed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry, respectively. In addition, the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins were determined by Western blot. RESULTS: The qRT-PCR results confirmed that the expression level of microRNA-221 in H/R treated cells was significantly up-regulated when compared with the normoxic treated group, whereas PTEN expression was markedly down-regulated. After silencing microRNA-221, the expression levels of myocardial injury markers, including LDH, MDA, GSH-PX in H/R cells were significantly decreased. However, SOD levels were remarkably increased. At the same time, down-regulation of microRNA-221 markedly increased cell proliferation, whereas decreased apoptosis. However, microRNA-221 enhanced the expression of apoptosis-related genes, including Bax and cytochrome C. Meanwhile, the expression level of anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 was significantly inhibited. The Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay showed that microRNA-221 could target bind to PTEN and inhibit its expression. Similarly, down-regulation of PTEN markedly decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis. Furthermore, PTEN down-regulation remarkably promoted protein expression of pro-apoptosis-related genes, whereas inhibited the protein expression of anti-apoptotic genes. CONCLUSIONS: MicroRNA-221 promoted myocardial apoptosis induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion by down-regulating PTEN. Therefore, microRNA-221 might be a potential therapeutic target for myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Effects of Anti-CD45RB Monoclonal Antibody for T Lymphocyte Subsets in Mice Heart Transplantation Model.

Anti-CD45RB monoclonal antibody (anti-CD45RBmAb), as a new immune tolerance inducer, may inhibit T cell proliferation and induce immune tolerance through competitive combination with CD45RB on the T cell surface, which blocks the conduction of activation signals. However, how anti-CD45RBmAb plays its role on T lymphocyte subsets during immunosuppression remains unclear. In this work, we investigate the effects of anti-CD45RBmAb on CD3(+) T lymphocyte both in vitro and in allogeneic heart transplant model in vivo. Interestingly, anti-CD45RBmAb could inhibit the proliferation of T cells, promote the transformation of T lymphocyte to Treg and Th2 cells, suppress the transformation to Th17 and Th1 cells, increase the number of Ts cells, decrease the number of Tm cells and thus play a role in immune inhibition and induction of immune tolerance.

Epidemiological characteristics and influential factors of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) reinfection in children in Anhui province.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute contagious condition caused by a spectrum of human enteroviruses. HFMD reinfection is common in the absence of cross-protection from other virus subtypes. This study focused on reinfection in children in Anhui province, China between 2008 and 2013 using surveillance system data. We classified 8960 cases as reinfected, corresponding to a rate of 2·02%. The reinfection rate was higher in boys than in girls [odds ratio (OR) 1·27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·21-1·32, P < 0·001], children aged < 3 years (OR 3·82, 95% CI 3·58-4·07, P < 0·001), and children living in rural areas (OR 1·09, 95% CI 1·04-1·14, P = 0·001). The reinfection rate in children who were originally infected with non-enterovirus A71 (non-EVA71) enteroviruses was higher than those infected with EVA71 (OR 1·36, 95% CI 1·02-1·80, P = 0·034). Influential factors of reinfection rate included annual incidence (ß coefficient = 0·715, P = 0·002) and the proportion of EVA71 in patients with mild HFMD (ß coefficient = -0·509, P = 0·018). These results demonstrate that boys aged <3 years, especially those in rural areas or regions with a lower EVA71 proportion are more prone to reinfection, and specific health education programmes should be developed to protect these susceptible populations.

Screening of polymorphisms located in the FGF20 and TMEM175 genes in North Chinese Parkinson's disease patients.

Genome-wide association studies have reported numerous susceptibility loci for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there have been few replication studies examining these loci in northern Chinese populations. To evaluate the relationships among 3 polymorphic markers located in the fibroblast growth factor 20 and transmembrane protein 175 genes and the genetic susceptibility to PD in northern Chinese subjects, 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms, and 1 insertion/deletion marker (rs591323 in FGF20; rs6599388 and rs142821586 in transmembrane protein 175 near the G-associated kinase/diacylglycerol kinase theta region) were investigated in 313 PD patients and 318 matched controls. Mismatched multiplex polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis as well as sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism assays were performed. The genotypic frequency of rs591323 differed significantly between the patient and control groups; however, neither rs6599388 nor rs142821586 was associated with PD. We corrected the Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium for rs6599388, which was previously reported to be common in 4 Asian descent populations into equilibrium status by simultaneously genotyping rs6599388 and rs142821586. In summary, we found that rs591323 was associated with PD but rs6599388 and rs142821586 were not associated with PD in a northern Chinese population.

Antepartum embolization in management of labor induction in placenta previa.

The authors present a case of a 29-year-old woman, gravid 2 para 1, who experienced complete placenta previa and underwent vaginal delivery, after performing antepartum uterine artery embolization and rivanol amniotic injection due to contraindication of obstetric surgery. In this case, treatment was successful despite thromboembolism. Hypercoagulability in pregnancy needs to be addressed.

Molecular cytogenetic characterization of the Aegilops biuncialis karyotype.

Aegilops biuncialis can be hybridized with wheat (Triticum spp) and has been used for wheat breeding and genetic studies. The A. biuncialis karyotype (U(b) U(b) M(b) M(b)) was investigated based on three A. biuncialis accessions grown in China. Two pairs of SAT chromosomes were identified as 1U(b) and 5U(b), with a karyotype formula of 2n = 4x = 28 = 14m + 10sm + 4st. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and C-banding approaches were used to analyze the A. biuncialis accession chromosomes at the mitotic stage. Based on the C-banding and FISH patterns, all U(b) and M(b) chromosomes could be discriminated simultaneously; the three A. biuncialis accessions exhibited similar patterns, suggesting a common origin. The U(b) genome from A. biuncialis resembled the U genome in the diploid species A. umbellulata, and it may be related to the tetraploid species containing the U genome. The M(b) genome had some differences compared to the M genome in the diploid species A. comosa, and it may be related to the tetraploid species possessing the M genome. A generalized ideogram was proposed for the A. biuncialis genome, which could be useful for standardized and accurate identification of the A. biuncialis karyotype and chromosomes.

Role of T and dendritic cells in mouse islet allografts treated with anti-CD45RB monoclonal antibodies.

Currently lifelong immunosuppression is required for organ transplant recipients. Anti-CD45RB monoclonal antibody (mAb) prolongs graft survival by mechanisms that are not yet clear. Therefore, we investigated the role of T and dendritic cells (DC) in islet allografts treated with anti-CD45RB mAb after transplantation of 200 allogeneic islets (BALB/c mouse) under the kidney capsules of diabetic C57BL/6 mice treated with intraperitoneal injections of 100 µg of anti-CD45RB mAb on days 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7. We observed a tilt of the ratios of Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 to Th2 and Tc2. The numbers of naïve and memory T cells were down-regulated in peripheral blood after transplantation. In addition, the maturation, endocytosis, and interleukin-12 secreted by DC derived from bone marrow cells was suppressed in recipient mice. Therefore, anti-CD45RB mAb alleviated, rejection by suppressive effects on T-lymphocyte subsets and DC.

Immune modulation of co-transplantation mesenchymal stem cells with islet on T and dendritic cells.

Allogeneic pancreatic islet transplantation theoretically represents a cure for type 1 diabetes. However, current immune suppressive therapies are often associated with undesired side effects. Given this problem, and the shortage of human islet donors, the majority of type 1 diabetes patients cannot currently be offered an islet transplant. However, it has been found that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could exert unique immunosuppressive effects both in vitro and in vivo. Herein we transplanted allogeneic 200 islets alone or in combination with MSCs (3 x 10(6) cells) under the kidney capsules of diabetic C57LB/6 mouse. We found that the ratios of T helper type 1 (Th1) to Th2 and Tc1 to Tc2 were reduced, and the numbers of naive and memory T cells were down-regulated in peripheral blood after transplantation. In addition, the maturation, endocytosis and interleukin-12 secretion of dendritic cell (DCs)-derived bone marrow cells (BMCs) from receptor mice were suppressed. Rejection reaction was alleviated by MSCs which exerted suppressive effects through T lymphocyte subsets and DCs.

Preparation of xanthated bentonite and its removal behavior for Pb(II) ions.

Xanthate was successfully grafted onto bentonite by a relatively simple solution reaction. The obtained xanthated bentonite (XBent) was characterized by FT-IR spectrophotometer, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), particle size analysis, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XBent acting as a type of environmentally friendly adsorbent was applied to remove lead ions from aqueous solutions. The optimum conditions were as follows: [Pb(2+)] = 500 mg L(-1), [XBent] = 2 g L(-1), pH = 5.0; oscillating 60 min under 200 rpm at 25 degrees C. The removal rate of lead was up to 99.9%. It was found that the lead(II) ions-XBent adsorption isotherm model fitted well to the Freundlich isotherm. The adsorption mechanism was also investigated by SEM and XRD, which concluded that lead ions were complexed or chelated with XBent. XBent appears to have potential to be used later in water treatment as a type of inorganic polymer reagent.

An epidemiological investigation of congenital Schistosoma japonicum transmission in Hubei Province, PR China.

A cohort study was conducted in Hubei Province, China, following serious flooding of the Yangtze River in the autumn of 1998 to investigate the possibility of congenital transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in humans. The cohort investigated was comprised of 205 women and their 208 infants born between 1 September and 30 December 1998. Blood and fecal samples from all the women and their infants were collected and examined for S. japonicum infection. Positive specific antibody titers were found in 14 (6.8%) of the mothers, but no fecal egg excretion was observed. All infants had negative specific antibody titers and no S. japonicum eggs were found in their feces. Hence, the present study coud not confirm congenital S. japonicum transmission in humans. Further studies are highly wanted to study the impact of prenatal exposure of S. japonicum on the offspring.

[Analyse of the site of lesion in auditory neuropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinic signs, the site of lesion and terminology of a kind of hearing loss which is characterized by speech hearing loss. METHOD: The data of 11 patients were collected and analyzed including the clinic symptoms, pure tone audiometry, acoustic impedance audiometry, auditory brainstem response (ABR), electrocochleogram(ECochG), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), CT/MRI. RESULT: All these cases had following contradictory phenomena: Pure tone audiograms were low-frequency hearing loss; ABRs were absent or seriously abnormal, and ABR response threshold was worse than pure tone threshold and click subjective threshold; ECochG could be recorded in some patients; The stapes muscle reflex was absent; DPOAEs were normal or near normal, the average amplitude of low-frequency was higher than normal hearing group, but the average amplitude of high frequency was lower than normal hearing group; The imaging examination did not show any abnormality. CONCLUSION: All data of this group show that the sites of lesion in most patients may be in lower brainstem, but the sites of lesion in some patients may be in the spiral ganglion of cochlea. The research of this disease should be continued.