Genome-wide analysis of cell-Free DNA methylation profiling with MeDIP-seq identified potential biomarkers for colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is the most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. This study aimed to identify potential diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer by genome-wide plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation analysis. METHODS: Peripheral blood from colorectal cancer patients and healthy controls was collected for cfDNA extraction. Genome-wide cfDNA methylation profiling, especially differential methylation profiling between colorectal cancer patients and healthy controls, was performed by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq). Logistic regression models were established, and the accuracy of this diagnostic model for colorectal cancer was verified using tissue-sourced data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) due to the lack of cfDNA methylation data in public datasets. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, 939 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) located in promoter regions were found in colorectal cancer patients; 16 of these DMRs were hypermethylated, and the remaining 923 were hypomethylated. In addition, these hypermethylated genes, mainly PRDM14, RALYL, ELMOD1, and TMEM132E, were validated and confirmed in colorectal cancer by using publicly available DNA methylation data. CONCLUSIONS: MeDIP-seq can be used as an optimal approach for analyzing cfDNA methylomes, and 12 probes of four differentially methylated genes identified by MeDIP-seq (PRDM14, RALYL, ELMOD1, and TMEM132E) could serve as potential biomarkers for clinical application in patients with colorectal cancer.

[Evaluating the effect of preventive medicine for residents living around mosquito breeding water during rest period of malaria].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of preventive medicine for residents living around mosquito breeding water during rest period of malaria by delimiting a certain range. METHOD: The study adopted the stratified cluster random sampling method to select subjects from 6 counties in the high epidemic area along and north of the Huai River since March 2007. Then the villages of 6 counties were stratified into five levels according to the case reported in year 2006, and one village was randomly selected from each level, thereby 30 villages were selected in total.300-500 subjects were interviewed in each village, and in total 12 860 subjects were recruited in the study. The five selected villages in each county were allocated to three intervention groups according to the block randomization method. The first intervention group included 9 villages, 4362 people; the second intervention group was consisted of 12 villages, 4471 people; the non-intervention group had 9 villages, 4027 people. The basic information of the subjects were collected by questionnaire to analyze the relation between malaria cases and the distribution of the mosquito breeding water, then accordingly delimited the range for preventive medicine. Group 1 received the delimiting preventive medicine treatment, group 2 received routine medicine treatment, while non-treatment group received no treatment. The morbidity, standardized morbidity, net change of morbidity (the D-value of the standardized morbidity before and after the intervention), age-specified incidence, and the protective rate (PR), effectiveness index (IE) and the capture rate of the delimited method group were then calculated. RESULTS: Group 1 had 1219 (27.9%) people taking medicine and Group 2 had 219 (4.9%) people. In 2006, before the prevention conducting, the high incidence aging group in the first, second and nonintervention group was separately people aging 50 - 59, 60 - 69 and ≥ 70 years old; whose incidence was 36.22‰ (18/497), 40.11‰ (15/374) and 34.88‰ (9/258) respectively. After the intervention, the high incidence aging groups in the first and second intervention group changed to the population over 70 years old, with incidence at 9.17‰ (3/327) and 22.01‰ (7/318) respectively; while the high incidence aging groups in the nonintervention group changed to people aging between 30-39 years old, with the rate at 24.88‰ (10/402). In 2006, the morbidity of malaria in the first, second intervention group and nonintervention group was separately 18.78‰ (83/4420), 20.27‰ (93/4587) and 14.61‰ (53/3627); while the standardized incidence was separately 18.85‰, 20.72‰ and 14.89‰. In 2007, after the prevention conducting, the morbidity in the three groups was 2.75‰ (12/4362), 11.63‰ (52/4471) and 12.17‰ (49/4027), respectively; while the standardized incidences was 2.81‰, 12.75‰ and 12.35‰, respectively. The net value of changes of morbidity in the three groups was separately 16.04%, 7.97% and 2.54%. The difference in net values of changes of morbidity between intervention group 1 and 2 had statistical significance (χ(2) = 7.74, P < 0.05). Comparing with the nonintervention group, the PR and IE in intervention group 1 was separately 84.2% and 6.31; while the capture rate was 69.2% (9/13). CONCLUSION: The delimiting preventive medicine treatment during rest period of malaria was very effective for eliminating the potential infection source of malaria and reducing the morbidity of malaria.

Chemotherapy-based control of ascariasis and hookworm in highly endemic areas of China: field observations and a modeling analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to systematically evaluate chemotherapy-based control of ascariasis and hookworm infection and make predictions of the effectiveness of repeated mass treatment at different levels of coverage in highly endemic areas of China. METHODS: Field surveys were carried out to acquire the ascariasis and hookworm prevalence and intensity (mean worm burden) at baseline, one month and one year later. We calculated model parameters based on the survey data, then incorporated them into a quantitative framework to predict the prevalence and intensity one year later. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the influence of the chemotherapy measures on prevalence and intensity, and model simulations were performed to evaluate the feasibility of achieving the proposed transmission control criteria under different chemotherapy measures. RESULTS: The predicted prevalence and intensity one year from baseline were within the 95% confidence interval of actual values. As treatment frequency or coverage increased, the prevalence and intensity decreased. Model simulations show that many rounds of treatment are needed to maintain the prevalence at a low level in highly endemic areas of China. CONCLUSION: We should select different combinations of treatment frequency, coverage and drug efficacy according to available resources and practical attainable conditions. Mathematical modeling could be used to help optimize the chemotherapeutic scheme aiming at specific parasitic species and areas, and to direct the establishment of soil-transmitted helminthiasis control criteria in China.

Decreased Adiponectin Levels Are a Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline in Spinal Cord Injury.

OBJECTIVE: Spinal cord injury (SCI) has become popular in recent years, and cognitive decline is a common complication. Adiponectin is a common protein hormone involved in the course of many diseases, but its relationship with SCI has not yet been elucidated. The purpose of our prospective study is to explore whether adiponectin can be used as a biomarker of cognitive decline in SCI. METHODS: A total of 64 healthy volunteers and 92 patients with acute SCI were recruited by us. Serum adiponectin levels, demographic data (age and gender), lifestyle (smoking and drinking), medical history (diabetes and hypertension), and clinical baseline data (low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and fasting blood glucose) were recorded. Three months after enrollment, we used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to evaluate cognitive function. Based on a quarter of the serum adiponectin levels, SCI patients were divided into 4 groups, and the differences in their MoCA scores were compared. In addition, we used multivariate linear regression to predict the risk factors of the MoCA score. RESULTS: The serum adiponectin level (6.1 ± 1.1 µg/ml) of SCI patients was significantly lower than that of the healthy control group (6.7 ± 0.9 µg/ml), and there was a significant difference between the two (p < 0.001). The group with higher serum adiponectin levels after 3 months of spinal cord injury had higher MoCA scores. Multivariate regression analysis showed that serum adiponectin level is a protective factor for cognitive function after SCI (ß = 0.210, p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: Serum adiponectin levels can be used as an independent predictor of cognitive function in patients with acute SCI.

Expression of ANGPTL4 in Nucleus Pulposus Tissues Is Associated with Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.

OBJECTIVE: Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), encoding a glycosylated secreted protein, has been reported to be closely related to many kinds of diseases, including diabetes, tumor, and some musculoskeletal pathologies, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of ANGPTL4 in intervertebral disc degeneration and analyze the association of ANGPTL4 expression with Pfirrmann grades. METHODS: A total of 162 nucleus pulposus tissues were collected from lumbar intervertebral disc herniation patients undergoing interforaminal endoscopic surgery. Real-time quantitative PCR and western blot were performed to determine the mRNA and protein expression of ANGPTL4 in nucleus pulposus samples. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the association of ANGPTL4 expression with Pfirrmann grades. RESULTS: Based on the clinical data of 162 patients, results showed that Pfirrmann grades were significantly associated with patients' age (r = 0.162, P = 0.047) and were not significantly associated with patients' gender (P > 0.05). RT-qPCR and western blot results showed that the mRNA (r = 0.287, P < 0.05) and protein (r = 0.356, P < 0.05) expressions of ANGPTL4 were both closely associated with Pfirrmann grades. The expression of ANGPTL4 was remarkably increased in the groups of high IVDD Pfirrmann grades. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that ANGPTL4 expression was positively associated with the Pfirrmann grades and the severity of intervertebral disc degeneration. ANGPTL4 may be served as a candidate biomarker for intervertebral disc degeneration.

Effectiveness of a community-based integrated strategy to control soil-transmitted helminthiasis and clonorchiasis in the People's Republic of China.

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STHs) are caused by a group of intestinal nematode infections due to poor hygiene and environments, and clonorchiasis is a food-borne trematode (FBT) infection caused by ingestion of raw freshwater fish. Both are endemic in the People's Republic of China. To explore a suitable control strategy, integrated interventions were applied between 2007 and 2009 in ten pilot counties (eight for the STHs and two for clonorchiasis). Drug administration was used for treatment and complementary efforts to improve the situation based on health education, provision of clean water and sanitation were carried out. Significant achievements were gained as reflected by a drastic decrease in prevalence these infections were demonstrated. The overall prevalence of STHs and clonorchiasis decreased from 35.9% to 7.8% and from 41.4% to 7.0%, respectively. The reduction of prevalence and high cost-effectiveness were documented supporting large-scale application of this integrated intervention in China and elsewhere.

[The accessibility for anthelmintic administration by different supply patterns in mass deworming].

Questionnairing was performed in selected fields. Data were collected including the number of people who were getting/taking medicines, reasons for not getting/taking medicines, and a comparison was made on the rates of getting/taking drugs among three patterns of medicine supply. In the mode of drug-receiving at public expense, the rates of getting drugs and taking drugs were 98.4% and 94.1% respectively in Hainan province, 93.2% and 90.9% in Guizhou province. In the mode of drug-delivery at public expense, the rates of getting drugs and taking drugs were 97.5% and 96.4% in Hainan province, 98.8% and 96.5% in Hunan province. In the mode of drug-purchase at people' s own expense, the rates of getting drugs and taking drugs were 96.8% and 95.6% in Guizhou province, 94.4% and 91.5% in Sichuan province. The reasons for not taking drugs included forgetting, drug-losing or unwell condition. Three patterns of drug supply can get satisfactory results through careful arrangement. The government can choose an appropriate pattern suited to local conditions.

[Torulopsis glabrata neomycin-resistant mutant abolishes pyruvate production with enhancement of glucose consumption rate].

To further increase the rate of glucose consumption by multi-vitamin auxotrophic yeast Torulopsis glabrata. A neomycin-resistant mutant N07, with the activity of F1-ATPase decreased roughly 35% but glucose consumed per cell was increased 38% than that of parent strain, was breed based on analysis of energy metabolic pathway. The typical inhibitors of F1F0-ATPase, DCCD, NaN3 and neomycin, depressed the F1-ATPase activity of parental strain but no effect on that of mutant strain. Strain N07 was cultured in a pyruvate fermentation medium containing 100g/L of glucose using flask. It was found that the rate of glucose consumption and pyruvate production were higher by 34% and 42.9% in the mutant than in the parent, respectively. However, the rate and yield of growth (about 24%) of the mutant was lower than that of the parent. The content of intracellular ATP of the mutant also decreased 23.7% than that of the parent. The activities of key enzymes in glycolytic pathway and electron transfer chain of the mutant and the parent were determined. Enzymatic analysis revealed that, compared with the parent strain CCTCC M202019. The activities of key enzymes, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, glyceraldyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of the mutant N07 increased 63.7%, 28.8% and 14.4%, respectively, all the key enzymes of electron transfer chain in the mutant N07 also increased roughly 10%.

[Application effect of Oncomelania hupensis snail crushers in batch detection].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application effect of Oncomelania hupensis snail crusher in batch detection. METHODS: The O. hupensis snail crushers and triangular flasks for cercariae shedding were made. The uninfected snails were divided into 4 groups with the snail number of 50, 100, 200, 300, respectively, and then they were put in 40 triangular flasks, 10 flasks each group. Three flasks in each group were randomly selected, and 12 schistosome infected O. hupensis snails were put into the flasks (1 snail per flask). The 12 flasks with infected O. hupensis snails were put back to each group and were numbered uniformly. The O. hupensis snails in each group were crushed by the O. hupensis snail crushers, and the crushing rate of snails, and average crushing time and duration were recorded. When all the O. hupensis snails were crushed, water was added into the flasks, and water films from each flask were taken and observed under microscopes, the number of cercariae was recorded and the detection rates of each group were calculated. Meanwhile, the O. hupensis snails in the field were collected and detected by the crushing method and crushing and shedding method with O. hupensis snail crushers, and the coincidence rate of the two methods was calculated. RESULTS: The crushing rate of snails in all the 4 groups were 100% , the average crushing times of groups with 50, 100, 200, 300 snails were 15.70, 23.20, 32.20, 39.20, respectively, and the average duration was 1.01, 1.70, 2.00, 3.00 min, respectively. Both the crushing time and duration were positively correlated with the number of snails detected (r = 0.68, 0.73, both P <0.01). The detection rates of cercariae in all the 4 groups were 100%. In the field application, 109 snails were detected by the crushing method, 620 ones were detected by the crushing and shedding method with O. hupensis snail crushers, and no infected snails were found, the coincidence rate of the two methods were 100%. CONCLUSION: The O. hupensis snail crusher with the advances of easy operation and labor-saving is valuable of field promotion.

[The decrease of the activity of electron transfer chain of Torulopsis glabrata enhanced pyruvate productivity].

Torulopsis glabrata CCTCC M202019 was mutated by ethidium bromide to screen for respiratory-deficient mutants. Seven mutants that produced pyruvate higher than that of the parent were subjected to the tests of the capability assimilating fermentable substrate (glucose) and non-fermentable substrates (glycerol and acetate) to characterize true respiratory-deficient mutants. Mutants RD-16, RD-17 and RD-18 were unable to assimilate acetate or glycerol and were therefore identified as respiratory-deficient mutants. Compared to the parent strain, the growth the intracellular ATP content of those mutants decreased by 21% - 29% and 15% - 21%, respectively, while the glucose consumption per cell and the pyruvate production per cell of those mutants were enhanced by 20.7% - 30.7% and 30.7% - 55.5%, respectively. Qualitative analysis of cytochromes involved in electron transfer chain showed that mutants RD-16 and RD-18 lacked both cytochrome aa3 and b, while mutant RD-17 lacked cytochrome b. Enzymes analysis indicated that the activities of ATPase, succinate-cytochrome c reductase (complex I ), complex I + III , complex II + III, and complex IV of those mutants decreased by 14.6% - 22.2%, 34% - 41%, 38.6% - 52.6%, 21% - 25%, and 150% - 630%, respectively. However, increased glucose consumption per cell was not observed in those mutants, which might be due to that the NADH generated in glycolysis can not be completely oxidized via electron transfer chain. To avoid the accumulation of NADH, 2.1 mmol/L acetaldehyde was added to the culture broth of mutant RD-17 at 26h of fermentation. Using this strategy, the amount of pyruvate produced increased by 21.6% while the fermentation time was shortened from 62h to 48h.

[Indirect hemagglutination test capabilities of personnel from institutes of schistosomiasis control at basic levels in lake areas].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the indirect hemagglutination test capabilities of personnel from the institutes of schistosomiasis control at the basic levels in lake areas. METHODS: All the contestants were grouped by the operation standard, qualitative judgment, quantitative determination, and geographical location of Hunan and Hubei provinces, and their scores were statistically analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software. RESULTS: The total scores of the contestants of the two provinces were high and there was no significant difference between them. Among the professional persons, the scores of operation standard and qualitative judgment were significantly higher than those of quantitative determination. There were no significant differences among the scores grouped by the different genders, ages, professional titles and areas (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The quantitative determination of indirect hemagglutination test of personnel from the institutes of schistosomiasis control at the basic levels is not very good. Therefore, the training of test capacity still should be strengthened.

[Relationship of schistosome infection with environment and behavioral characteristics of residents in Jingzhou area].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the relationship of schistosome infection with environment and the behavioral characteristics of residents in Jingzhou area. METHODS: The schistosomiasis patients (positive in stool examinations) were investigated with the questionnaire at home. The content of questionnaire included the hygienic and environmental situation, the behavioral characteristics of the residents, and the treatment of schistosomiasis patients. RESULTS: A total of 1 552 schistosomiasis patients were investigated, and the proportion of the patients aged from 45 to 60 years was 81.0% and the proportion of the patients aged more than 65 years was 9.7%. In Gong'an County and Jianli County, in daily life, the water contact included ditch water (0.7%), running water (43.0%), and well water (56.3%). In product activities, the water contact included farming (48.3%), fishing, and fighting flood. The peak period of water contact was from May to July. Totally 91.24% of the residents knew whether there were Oncomelania snails in their fields, and the snails could be detected in 18.6% of their fields or 10 meters around. There were 8.14% of schistosomiasis patients did not take the medicine last year, and 1 007 persons (64.88%) who took the medicine last year were re-infected in next year. CONCLUSIONS: Productive activities are the main water contact ways in the 2 counties researched. It is the key measures to change the environment and the pattern of agricultural production in rural areas for schistosomiasis control.

[Environmental distribution and disposal measures of infected Oncomelania snails in Jingzhou City].

A survey of Oncomelania snail distribution was carried out with the systematic sampling method in combination with the environmental sampling method. A questionnaire survey was performed to find out the sites where stool examination-positive patients were infected. The results showed that there were 1 721 infected snail spots in Jingzhou City. Most of infected snail spots (94.1%) were only 500 m far away from the nearest residential areas from 2004 to 2010. About 97% of patients considered that the sites where they were infected with schistosome were only 400 meters far away from their residential areas. In conclusion, the survey with a questionnaire method in patients with positive stool examinations can quickly identify the environments with infected snails.

[Comparison of fecal examinations and worm collection results in an investigation of Ascaris lumbricoides infection].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between fecal examinations and worm collection results in a community investigation of Ascaris lumbricoides infection. METHODS: A total of 1 019 residents in Zhangxi Village, Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province were investigated with the Kato-Katz technique and worm collection after deworming. RESULTS: Among 1 019 residents investigated, the actual prevalence of A. lumbricoides was 30.23%, and the egg and worm positive rates were 20.41% and 23.75%, respectively. The average burden was 2.64 worms per person, and the heavier worm burden accounted for less proportion. The heavier the worm burden, the higher the probability to got egg in the feces. If one person had 7 worms or more, the probability to got eggs in his feces was 100%. Among people of false negative fecal examination, 61.00% of them were infected with male worms only, whereas 7.00% were infected with immature female worms with or without male worms, and 32.00% were infected with mature female worms with or without male worms. Totally 32.47% of infected people were missed by fecal examination, including 22.08% without egg excreted, and 10.39% missed because of the method itself. CONCLUSION: The egg positive rate is obviously lower than the actual infection rate, and the egg detection rate is correlated with the worm burden.

Random repeated cross sectional study on breeding site characterization of Anopheles sinensis larvae in distinct villages of Yongcheng City, People's Republic of China.

BACKGROUND: Characterizing the breeding site of Anopheles sinensis is of major importance for the transition from malaria control to elimination in China. However, little information is available especially regarding the characteristics and influencing factors of breeding sites of An. sinensis in Yongcheng City, a representative region of unstable malaria transmission in the Huang-Huai River region of central China. The aims of this study were to determine the breeding site characteristics of An. sinensis and related environmental and physicochemical parameters, to find out which breeding site characteristics could best explain the presence of An. sinensis larvae, and to determine whether the breeding habit of An. sinensis has changed or not. METHODS: Random repeated cross sectional study was undertaken in six villages of the Yongcheng city characterized by different levels of the historical incidence of P. vivax malaria. The potential breeding sites of An. sinensis larvae in each village were examined twice per month both in the household courtyards and the village surroundings. The larval sampling was done by the standard dipping method. Some important breeding site characterizations were recorded and characterized. The anopheline mosquito larvae and emerged adults were identified to the species level morphologically and to sub-species by the ribosomal DNA PCR technique. Chi-square analysis and logistic regression analysis were applied to determine the importance of factors for explaining the presence or absence of An. sinensis larvae. RESULTS: According to the ribosomal DNA PCR assay, all sampled anopheline mosquito larvae and emerged adults belonged to An. sinensis. Only 3 containers that were sampled from the household courtyards were found to contain An. sinensis larvae. There were no differences in the species composition of mosquito larvae among containers that contained water in the household courtyards (P > 0.05). An. sinensis larvae were shown to be present in a total of 60 breeding sites in the village surroundings, this included 8 (13.3%) river fringes, 26 (43.3%) ponds, 23 (38.3%) puddles, and 3 (5.0%) irrigation/drainage ditches. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the breeding site type, water depth, chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen, and sulphate were found to be the key factors determining the presence of An. sinensis larvae. Approximately 94.9% of An. sinensis larvae inhabited relatively large and medium-sized water bodies, with depths between 0.5 m and 1.0 m (73.3%), COD lower than 2 mg/L (75%), ammonia nitrogen lower than 0.4 mg/L (86.7%), and sulphate lower than 150 mg/L (58.3%), respectively. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the majority of An. sinensis larval breeding sites were relatively large and medium-sized water bodies with depths between 0.5 m and 1.0 m, and containing low levels of COD, ammonia nitrogen, and sulphate, respectively. For effective An. sinensis larval control, the type of breeding site, water depth, COD, ammonia nitrogen, and sulphate should be given higher priority over other factors in areas where it is the primary vector.

[Effect of modified crushing-cercariae escaping method on detection of infected Oncomelania snails in field].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a modified crushing-cercariae escaping method on the detection of infected Oncomelania snails in the field. METHODS: A snail survey was carried out in Jingzhou City in the spring of 2011, and the villages were randomly divided into several groups, the coincidence rates, detection rates and the labour cost of the modified crushing-cercariae escaping method and crushing method were compared. RESULTS: A total of 14 snail spots were surveyed, and the coincidence rate of the two methods was 100%. In the spring snail survey, 539 villages and 3 536 spots with snails were detected by the modified crushing-cercariae escaping method, and 671 villages and 11 375 spots with snails were detected by the crushing method. The detection rates of villages with infected snails of the two methods were 25.79% and 28.46%, respectively, the difference between them was not statistically significant (chi2 = 1.079 5, P > 0.05); and those of spots with infected snails were 5.57% and 3.66%, respectively, which had no significant difference between them (chi2 = 95.464 1, P < 0.01). Compared with the crushing method, the modified crushing-cercariae escaping method reduced labour cost by 87.86%, and saved 12.95 person-days per township. CONCLUSION: The modified crushing-cercaria escaping method can identify the spots with infected snails quickly and accurately with less labour cost, therefore, it is suitable for detecting environments with infected snails in batch in endemic areas.

[Development and prospect of surveillance network of schistosomiasis in China].

The surveillance network of schistosomiasis in China can be roughly divided into three parts, namely repetitive cross-sectional sample survey, regional surveillance, and fixed longitudinal surveillance. The result of the network provides an important basis for decision-making to realize the endemic situation of schistosomiasis, to develop and evaluate the control planning and its effects in various stages. However, there still exist some problems in the surveillance network of schistosomiasis, such as relatively backward of the surveillance technology, low utilization of data, lack of an effective monitoring network evaluation system and so on. With the advances in socio-economic and technology, the surveillance network of schistosomiasis will develop from a single integrated disease surveillance towards a multi-disciplines surveillance, and gradually establish an efficient and timely surveillance system integrating early warning and multi-disciplines surveillance after the establishment and improvement of real-time reports and other basic information platform.

The abundance and host-seeking behavior of culicine species (Diptera: Culicidae) and Anopheles sinensis in Yongcheng city, People's Republic of China.

BACKGROUND: The knowledge of mosquito species diversity and the level of anthropophily exhibited by each species in a region are of great importance to the integrated vector control. Culicine species are the primary vectors of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus and filariasis in China. Anopheles sinensis plays a major role in the maintenance of Plasmodium vivax malaria transmission in China. The goal of this study was to compare the abundance and host-seeking behavior of culicine species and An. sinensis in Yongcheng city, a representative region of P. vivax malaria. Specifically, we wished to determine the relative attractiveness of different animal baits versus human bait to culicine species and An. sinensis. RESULTS: Culex tritaeniorhynchus was the most prevalent mosquito species and An. sinensis was the sole potential vector of P. vivax malaria in Yongcheng city. There were significant differences (P < 0.01) in the abundance of both An. sinensis and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus collected in distinct baited traps. The relative attractiveness of animal versus human bait was similar towards both An. sinensis and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus. The ranking derived from the mean number of mosquitoes per bait indicated that pigs, goats and calves frequently attracted more mosquitoes than the other hosts tested (dogs, humans, and chickens). These trends were similar across all capture nights at three distinct villages. The human blood index (HBI) of female An. sinensis was 2.94% when computed with mixed meals while 3.70% computed with only the single meal. 19:00~21:00 was the primary peak of host-seeking female An. sinensis while 4:00~5:00 was the smaller peak at night. There was significant correlation between the density of female An. sinensis and the average relative humidity (P < 0.05) in Wangshanzhuang village. CONCLUSIONS: Pigs, goats and calves were more attractive to An. sinensis and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus than dogs, humans, and chickens. Female An. sinensis host-seeking activity mainly occurred from 19:00 to 21:00. Thus, we propose that future vector control against An. sinensis and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus in the areas along the Huang-Huai River of central China should target the interface of human activity with domestic animals and adopt before human hosts go to bed at night.

Optimization of medium composition for the production of alkaline beta-mannanase by alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. N16-5 using response surface methodology.

In this work, a 2(2) factorial design was employed combining with response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the medium compositions for the production of alkaline beta-mannanase by alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. N16-5 isolated previously from sediment of Wudunur Soda Lake in Inner Mongolia, China. The central composite design (CCD) used for the analysis of treatment combinations showed that a second-order polynomial regression model was in good agreement with experimental results, with R (2) = 0.9829 (P < 0.05). The maximum activity was obtained at NaCl concentration (84.4 g l(-1)) and sodium glutamate (3.11 g l(-1)) and a high medium pH around 10.0. Under such conditions, the activity of alkaline beta-mannanase achieved 310.1 U/ml in the scale of 5-l fermenter, which was increased nearly twice compared with the original. Through optimization, the substrates shifted from the expensive substrates, such as locust bean gum and peptone, to the inexpensive ones such as konjac powder, soymeal, and sodium glutamate. The experiment results also suggested that the environmental conditions of high salinity and high alkalinity, as well as the inducer substrates, play very important roles in the production of the alkaline beta-mannanase by alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. N16-5.

[In-depth interviews on late stage schistosomiasis patients about factors related to prevention and treatment in the rural areas].

OBJECTIVE: To explore factors related to current prevention and treatment of Advanced cases on schistosomiasis. METHODS: In-depth interviews were introduced to the qualitative study on 61 Advenced cases of schistosomiasis in Dongting Lake regions. Sampling was accidentally and judgmentally performed. RESULTS: Related factors on prevention and treatment of Advenced cases of schistosomiasis would include: higher degree of social support for patients (61/61), excessive dependence on the past pattern of schistosomiasis control, lack of the idea that one should be responsible for his/her own health, lack of knowledge about prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis (28/61), older age (57.40 +/- 10.80), lower education (4.70 years), less family income, lack of effective medical insurance system and efficient close-to-client system. CONCLUSION: Active participation from patients, medical institutions and society was needed to control Late Stage Schistosomiasis. Health education campaign should be intensified to improve the health awareness for schistosomiasis among residents in the heavy endemic areas. Medical insurance system should be set up in epidemic areas, while public health and cure systems for important diseases should be intensified in rural areas. The ability of public health system to be responsive and the accessibility of residents to health service system should be improved in rural areas as well.