A time-series analysis on generalized additive model for atmospheric pollen concentration and the number of visits of allergic conjunctivitis, Beijing, China.

The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation between atmospheric pollen concentration and daily visits for allergic conjunctivitis. Daily counts of outpatient visits for allergic conjunctivitis, atmospheric pollen concentration, and meteorological data during pollen season of 2018 and 2019 were collected from Beijing Shijitan Hospital, China. A time-series analysis on generalized additive model with Poisson distribution was used to estimate the relationship between pollen concentration and visits for allergic conjunctivitis, after controlling for the time trend, weather variables, day of the week, and holiday effect. The RStudio was used to generate Spearman correlation coefficients and then to plot the lag-response curves for specific and incremental cumulative effects of relative risk (RR). There was a moderate positive correlation between pollen concentration and visits for allergic conjunctivitis, and Spearman's correlation coefficient was 0.521 in 2018 and 0.515 in 2019 (P<0.01). The specific cumulative effect peak associated with per 10 grains/kmm2 increases of atmospheric pollen concentration was within 0 day, and the lag time was 8 days(2018, 2019). The incremental cumulative effect peak associated with per 10 grains/kmm2 increases of atmospheric pollen concentration occurred on lag day 10 (2018) and lag day 8 (2019), and the lag time was 14 days (2018) and 20 days (2019). Elevated concentrations of pollen increase the risk of allergic conjunctivitis with a time lag effect.

Simultaneous detection of ten kinds of insecticide residues in honey and pollen using UPLC-MS/MS with graphene and carbon nanotubes as adsorption and purification materials.

An analytical method of simultaneous detection of ten insecticide residues in honey and pollen was established. The samples were purified with QuEChERS approach using new adsorbents and analyzed with UPLC-MS/MS. The results showed that both of graphene and carbon nanotubes were highly efficient adsorbents for the dSPE clean up to eliminate coextractives in the samples, and graphene was superior to carbon nanotubes for the detection of pesticide residues in honey and pollen samples. The proposed method was used to detect pesticide residues in 25 honey samples and 30 pollen samples which were randomly collected from more than ten provinces in China. All honey samples contain 1-27 µg/kg of chlorpyrifos residues. Only 4% of the honey samples were detected containing acetamiprid and imidacloprid, while the other seven pesticides were not detected. Chlorpyrifos residues were found in all pollen samples (5-66 µg/kg), among which twenty percent exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs, 50 µg/kg, European Commission Regulation). Most of the pollen samples containing pesticide concentrations higher than MRLs were collected from rape, followed by lotus, camellia, and rose. Besides, 36.7% and 33.3% of the pollen samples had imidacloprid and flupyradifurone higher than 5 µg/kg. A total of 26.7% pollen samples were detected containing bifenthrin, while none of the other six pesticides were detected in pollen samples.

Responses of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Performance and Microbial Community to Fe3O4@SiO2 Nanoparticles in a Sequencing Batch Reactor.

The responses of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal performance and microbial community to 0-1.2 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in sequencing batch reactors were investigated. Results showed that an appropriate dose of Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs (0.3 g/L) could promote the removal efficiency of TN and TP. High-throughput sequencing results indicated that microbial richness increased, whereas microbial diversity did not vary upon exposure to 0.1-1.2 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs. The relative abundances of Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria increased from 11.75%, 3.52%, and 6.77%, respectively, at 0 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 to 27.05%, 7.21%, and 14.77%, respectively, upon exposure to 0.3 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2. At the genus level, 0.3 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs enriched norank_f_Nitrosomonadaceae, norank_f_Xanthomonadaceae, Amaricoccus, and Shinella. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction results suggested that the gene copy number of ammonium-oxidizing, nitrite-oxidizing, and denitrifying bacteria population remarkably increased, whereas the number of phosphorus-accumulating organisms slightly increased under long-term exposure to 0.3 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs. Energy-dispersive spectrum analysis showed that the phosphorus content was higher at 0.3 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2 than at 0 g/L Fe3O4@SiO2. Nitrogen removal primarily occurred through a biological mechanism, while most phosphorus in wastewater may be removed by the combination of physicochemical and biological methods.

Study on the relation between tissues pathologies and traditional chinese medicine syndromes in knee osteoarthritis: Medical image diagnostics by preoperative X-ray and surgical arthroscopy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate whether integration of traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine has advantage in achieving the improved diagnosis and treatment of knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis were selected from The Department of Minimal Invasive Joint of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from June 2013 to June 2015. They were divided into 3 groups with 30 cases per group in accordance to the syndrome differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine. The patients underwent arthroscopic surgery, and we categorized the patients having the same characterization in each group, and those having distinct difference into the three groups. Based on the arthroscopic analysis, we performed analysis of statistical data in order to analyze the relation between knee osteoarthritis under arthroscope and traditional Chinese medicine syndromes. RESULTS: There are three syndromes according to traditional Chinese medicine that can be categorized into various different groups. The synovial proliferation can be seen mostly in the syndrome of stagnation of blood stasis. The slight damage of knee joint cartilage can be seen in the syndrome of yang deficiency and cold stagnation, the severe one in the syndrome of kidney-marrow deficiency. We found that there are different pathological expressions with the various degree of the tissues damage at the knee and we categorized the knee according to their syndrome. CONCLUSION: For knee osteoarthritis, different syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine presents different tissues pathological changes at the knee joint under arthroscopy, which will provide objective basis for the diagnosis of this medical condition.

[Long-term Performance and Bacterial Community Composition Analysis of AGS-SBR Treating the Low COD/N Sewage at Low DO Concentration Condition].

This study utilized the sequencing batch activated sludge reactor (SBR) inoculated aerobic granular sludge (AGS) to treat the low COD/N ratio (<4.0) domestic wastewater under low DO (0.5-1.0 mg·L-1) concentration condition. Long-term performance of simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal and bacterial community composition of AGS-SBR were studied. The results showed that the AGS-SBR system had good and stable decontamination abilities in its 180-day operation. The average removal rates of COD, NH4+-N, TN and TP were 87.17%, 95.21%, 77.05%, and 91.11%, respectively. At the same time, the AGS showed good settling performance, and always kept its integrated and compact structure. No obvious granular sludge disintegration phenomenon occurred in 180 days. Meanwhile, by using Illumina 16S rRNA gene MiSeq sequencing, we investigated the bacterial abundance in AGS-SBR reactor. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Chlorobi, Chloroflex, and Bacteroidetes were the dominant microbial communities in the simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal reactor. Denitratisoma, Planctomycetaceae, Thauera, Comamonas, Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira were suggested to be the primary organisms responsible for the nitrogen removal. Clostridium and Anaerolinea were the main bacterial communities of phosphorus removal.

Plasma cholesterol-lowering activity of dietary dihydrocholesterol in hypercholesterolemia hamsters.

OBJECTIVE: Cholesterol analogs have been used to treat hypercholesterolemia. The present study was to examine the effect of dihydrocholesterol (DC) on plasma total cholesterol (TC) compared with that of ß-sitosterol (SI) in hamsters fed a high cholesterol diet. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-five male hamsters were randomly divided into 6 groups, fed either a non-cholesterol diet (NCD) or one of five high-cholesterol diets without addition of DC and SI (HCD) or with addition of 0.2% DC (DA), 0.3% DC (DB), 0.2% SI (SA), and 0.3% SI (SB), respectively, for 6 weeks. Results showed that DC added into diet at a dose of 0.2% could reduce plasma TC by 21%, comparable to that of SI (19%). At a higher dose of 0.3%, DC reduced plasma TC by 15%, less effective than SI (32%). Both DC and SI could increase the excretion of fecal sterols, however, DC was more effective in increasing the excretion of neutral sterols but it was less effective in increasing the excretion of acidic sterols compared with SI. Results on the incorporation of sterols in micellar solutions clearly demonstrated both DC and SI could displace the cholesterol from micelles with the former being more effective than the latter. CONCLUSION: DC was equally effective in reducing plasma cholesterol as SI at a low dose. Plasma TC-lowering activity of DC was mediated by inhibiting the cholesterol absorption and increasing the fecal sterol excretion.

[Bloodless medical and surgical procedures for retroperitoneal neoplasm resection].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the Bloodless Medical and Surgical Procedures for retroperitoneal neoplasm resection. METHODS: Retrospectively analyse the Bloodless Medical and Surgical Procedures during 36 retroperitoneal neoplasm resections from Beijing Shijitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from September 2009 to December 2010, to discuss the preoperative preparation, anesthetic induction and maintainance, intraoperative monitoring and use of vasoactive drugs related experience. RESULTS: All the patients were safe during the perioperative period, without any operative and anesthetic complication. By applying the Bloodless Medical and Surgical Procedures, the intraoperative haemodynamics maintained steady, the mean hematocrit decreased from 0.368 ± 0.095 before autologous blood collection to 0.252 ± 0.032 before the ends of operation. Majority of the patients (91.7%) stop using vasoactive drugs and extubated within 1 h after operation, and return wards. CONCLUSION: Erythrocyte-raising medicine therapy and modified preservation autologous blood transfusion are important process of Bloodless Medical and Surgical Procedures.

Dietary calcium decreases plasma cholesterol by down-regulation of intestinal Niemann-Pick C1 like 1 and microsomal triacylglycerol transport protein and up-regulation of CYP7A1 and ABCG 5/8 in hamsters.

SCOPE: It has been shown that calcium supplementation favorably modifies plasma lipoprotein profile in postmenopausal women. The present study investigated the interaction of dietary calcium with genes of transporters, receptors and enzymes involved in cholesterol metabolism. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-eight ovariectomized hamsters were fed one of the four diets containing 0, 2, 6 and 8 g calcium per kg. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerols (TG), and non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol were dose-dependently decreased, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was dose-dependently increased with the increasing dietary calcium levels. Dietary calcium had no effect on protein mass of hepatic sterol regulatory element binding protein-2 (SREBP), liver X receptor-alpha (LXR), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR), LDL receptor (LDLR) and cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). However, dietary calcium up-regulated the mRNA levels of hepatic CYP7A1 and intestinal ATP binding cassette transporters (ABCG5/8) whereas it down-regulated the intestinal Niemann-Pick C1 like 1 (NPC1L1) and microsomal triacylglycerol transport protein (MTP). In addition, dietary calcium increased the activity of intestinal acyl coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase 2, while it decreased plasma cholesteryl ester transport protein (CETP). CONCLUSION: Beneficial modification of lipoprotein profile by dietary calcium was mediated by sequestering bile acid absorption and enhancing excretion of fecal cholesterol, via up-regulation of mRNA CYP7A1 and intestinal ABCG 5/8 with down-regulation of mRNA NPC1L1 and MTP.

Hypocholesterolemic activity of onion is mediated by enhancing excretion of fecal sterols in hamsters.

Onion has been shown to favorably modify the lipoprotein profile. However, research on its underlying mechanism is lacking. The present study investigated the interaction of dietary onion powder with the protein expression of key receptors and enzymes involved in cholesterol metabolism. Thirty-six male hamsters were randomly divided into three groups and fed a high-cholesterol control diet or the two experimental diets supplemented with 1% onion powder (OP-1) or 5% onion powder (OP-5), for a period of 8 weeks. It was found that onion dose-dependently decreased plasma total cholesterol (TC) level. The change in plasma lipoprotein profile was accompanied by a greater excretion of both fecal neutral and acidic sterols. Western blot analysis revealed that onion up-regulated sterol regulatory element binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), liver X receptor alpha (LXRα) and cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) with no effect on 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) and LDL receptor (LDL-R). It was concluded that the hypocholesterolemic activity of onion powder was mediated by enhancement of fecal sterol excretion and up-regulation of LXRα and CYP7A1.

Oxidation of cholesterol and beta-sitosterol and prevention by natural antioxidants.

Consumption of cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) is a growing health concern, but little is known about the intake of beta-sitosterol oxidation products (SOPs). The present study was performed (i) to compare the oxidative stability of cholesterol with that of beta-sitosterol; (ii) to investigate the oxidative pattern of cholesterol and beta-sitosterol in lard, corn oil, and olive oil; and (iii) to examine the effectiveness of green tea catechins (GTC), alpha-tocopherol, and quercetin in prevention of cholesterol and beta-sitosterol oxidation compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Results showed both cholesterol and beta-sitosterol were thermally unstable with 75% of cholesterol and beta-sitosterol being oxidized at 180 degrees C for 2 h. The oxidation behavior of beta-sitosterol was similar to that of cholesterol in terms of oxidative rate and oxidation products. The major COPs produced were 7-ketocholesterol, 7alpha-hydroxycholesterol, 7beta-hydroxycholesterol 5,6alpha-epoxycholesterol, and 5,6beta-epoxycholesterol, whereas the major SOPs were 7-ketositosterol, 7alpha-hydroxysitosterol, 7beta-hydroxysitosterol, 5,6alpha-epoxysitosterol, and 5,6beta-epoxysitosterol. Under the same experimental conditions, both cholesterol and beta-sitosterol were oxidized more slowly in corn oil, lard, and olive oil, attributable to the unsaponified antioxidants present in these fat and oils. GTC, alpha-tocopherol, and quercetin were more effective than BHT in preventing the oxidation of cholesterol and beta-sitosterol.

Both soybean and kudzu phytoestrogens modify favorably the blood lipoprotein profile in ovariectomized and castrated hamsters.

The present study compared the hypolipidemic activity of kudzu phytoestrogens with that of soybean phytoestrogen in estrogen- and androgen-deficient hamsters. In the first experiment, ovariectomized hamsters (n = 37) were randomly divided into four groups (n = 9-10 each group). The first group was the control group, whereas the second group had the time-releasing estradiol-17beta subcutaneous (pellet) implants as a positive control. The third and fourth groups were orally administered soybean or kudzu phytoestrogen extracts (30 mg/kg of body weight) per day. In the second experiments, the first group of male hamsters (n = 9) received a sham operation, whereas the other three groups of male hamsters (n = 9 each) were castrated. The castrated control group received orally distilled water, whereas the second and third castrated groups were orally given 30 mg/kg soybean or kudzu phytoestrogen extracts. The results for the first experiment showed that the ovariectomized hamsters orally given soybean and kudzu phytoestrogen extracts had significantly decreased serum total cholesterol (TC) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) with HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) being unaffected. The data from the second experiment demonstrated that administration of soybean but not kudzu phytoestrogen extracts decreased significantly serum TC. However, administration of kudzu phytoestrogens caused redistribution of cholesterol among lipoproteins, leading to a significant decrease in the ratio of non-HDL-C to HDL-C. It was concluded that both soybean and kudzu phytoestrogens could modify favorably lipoprotein profiles in ovariectomized and castrated hamsters.

[The resource conservation and breeding of wild Hydropotes inermis in China].

There have been four larger populations of wild water deer (Hydropotes inermis) in China, but all the populations lie in the endangered status. Most of populations are very small, and their distrbution ranges have already been broken up into many isolated patches. Furthermore, their habitats have been deteriorating. So it is very necessary to enhance the protection of habitat in the first place. Some endangered and small populations of wild water deer can be saved by inflows of domestic health deer. It is a valid way between conservation and utilization.