Does China's universal two-child policy affect contraceptive use among internal migrant women in China? Evidence based on panel data.

OBJECTIVE: In 2016, China implemented the universal two-child policy to increase the birth rate. This study aimed to explore the effect of the policy on the contraception use and the type of contraception used by internal migrant women in China. STUDY DESIGN: This study used Guangdong Province data from 4 rounds of the cross-sectional China Migrants Dynamic Survey, that is, 2 rounds before (2014 and 2015) and 2 rounds after (2016 and 2017) the universal two-child policy. Migrant women aged 20 to 49 years were categorized into 3 groups according to the number of their children (0, 1, 2 or more). Multilevel logistic regression models based on inverse probability weighted data were used to examine the effect of the policy on contraceptive use. RESULTS: We included 16,438 migrant women in this study. Of these, 88.8% and 79.7% used contraception before and after the policy, respectively, while the proportion of participants using short-acting reversible contraception or other traditional contraceptive methods increased from 34.6% to 40.6%. Among migrant women with children, the policy reduced contraception use prevalence (one-child group: AOR = 0.3, 95% CI: 0.3-0.4; two-or-more-children group: AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.4-0.7). CONCLUSION: China's 2016 two child policy produced a modest reduction in contraceptive use among migrant women with only one child. IMPLICATIONS: Additional measures, such as child care, education and housing reforms, are needed to meaningfully increase the Chinese birth rate.

The protective of folic acid supplementation in different ways on lipopolysaccharide-induced teratogenesis in mice / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To explore the protective effect of folic acid supplementation in different ways on lipopolysaccharide-induced external malformations and skeletal malformations in mice.Methods The pregnant mice were divided into six groups randomly,including saline control group,FA control group,LPS group,LPS+FAig group,LPS+FAip group,and LPS+FAdw group.All dams were medicated on gestational day 8～12,and then sacrificed on gestational day 18,for each litter,the number of live fetuses,dead fetuses,resorption fetuses and external malformations of live fetuses were all counted.All fetuses were subsequently evaluated the skeletal malformations.Results A low dose of LPS injection during the second trimester resulted in external and skeletal malformations.Exencephaly and encephalomeningocele were two of the most common external malformations,skeletal malformations consisted mainly of the incompletion of supraoccipital ossification,sternal malformation and rib malformation.FA supplementation by three ways all attenuated the external and skeletal malformations.And the best protective effect was by oral administration.The incidence of external,sternal and rib malformation was all decreased.Conclusions Three ways can prevent the mice during the second trimester from the external and skeletal malformations caused by LPS injection,and the best protective effect was by intragastric administration.

Human pathogenic fungus Trichophyton schoenleinii activates the NLRP3 inflammasome

The fungus Trichophyton schoenleinii (T. schoenleinii) is the causative agent of Trichophytosis and Tinea favosa of the scalp in certain regions of Eurasia and Africa. Human innate immune system plays an important role in combating with various pathogens including fungi. The inflammasome is one of the most critical arms of host innate immunity, which is a protein complex controlling maturation of IL-1β. To clarify whether T. schoenleinii is able to activate the inflammasome, we analyzed human monocytic cell line THP-1 for IL-1β production upon infection with T. schoenleinii strain isolated from Tinea favosa patients, and rapid IL-1β secretion from THP-1 cells was observed. Moreover, applying competitive inhibitors and gene specific silencing with shRNA, we found that T. schoenleinii induced IL-1β secretion, ASC pyroptosome formation as well as caspase-1 activation were all dependent on NLRP3. Cathepsin B activity, ROS production and K⁺ efflux were required for the inflammasome activation by T. schoenleinii. Our data thus reveal that the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in host defense against T. schoenleinii, and suggest that manipulating NLRP3 signaling can be a novel approach for control of diseases caused by T. schoenleinii infection.