[Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in E-waste Disposal Residue-Soil-Vegetable].

To study the characteristics of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in waste residue-soil-vegetable in an e-waste dismantling area and the potential health risks to humans, three samples of e-waste residue were collected, and 10 and 18 samples were taken from farmland soil and vegetables (six lettuce, six green bean, and six cabbage samples), respectively, next to the waste residue. High-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect the content of PCBs in waste residue, soil, and vegetables. The results showed that the total PCBs levels were as follows:waste residue (11938 ng·g-1, dw) > soil (45.54 ng·g-1, dw) > vegetables (11.51 ng·g-1, dw). The bio-sediment/soil enrichment factor values were as follows:lettuce samples (0.18) > green bean samples (0.05) > cabbage samples (0.01). There were 37 PCB identical homologues detected in the waste residue and soil, and 33 types were detected in vegetables, all of which were within the homologues detected in the waste residue and soil. Some homologues in the soil were correlated with cabbages (P<0.05). The column chart of PCB chlorination number in waste residues, soil, and vegetables showed that low-chlorinated biphenyls from trichlorobiphenyl to pentachlorobiphenyl mass fraction accounted for the largest proportion, accounting for 77.92%, 59.73%, and 73.96%, respectively. The proportion in the soil was relatively low, with the overall proportion showing a downward trend with increasing rate of chlorine generation. The results of the health risk assessment showed that the total HQ of PCBs in the soil and vegetables exposed to adults (male/female) and children was less than 1, which was at an acceptable level. The total CR of PCBs in the soil and vegetables exposed to adults (male/female) and children all exceeded 1×10-6, which is at an unacceptable level, and the values for adults (male/female) were higher than those for children.

[Pollution Characteristics and Evaluation of Heavy Metal Pollution in Surface Soil Around a Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Power Plant].

To investigate and evaluate the pollution levels of heavy metals in the soil around a large Municipal Solid Waste Incineration power plant (MSWIPP), a total of 29 soil samples were collected around the MSWIPP and away from the power plant area. The contents of 10 selected heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Hg, and Pb) were analyzed. The results showed that the content of each heavy metal element did not exceed the values for Soil Environmental Quality of Risk Control Standard for Soil Contamination of Agricultural Land (GB15618-2018) and Development Land (GB 36600-2018). The mean contents of Mn, Cu, and As were higher than their respective background values of Anhui Province, where As was 1.03 times the background value, and Cu was 1.07 times. Compared with the control points, the contents of Cr, Ni, Cd, Cu, and As were lower than the control points, and the difference was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). The spatial distribution of Hg was more obvious in the soil around the power plant, and other heavy metals were not obvious and uniform. The content of Hg was the highest in the 500 m soil of perennial dominant downwind and sub-dominant downwind. With increasing distance from the power plant, the content gradually decreased and it was lower than the level of the control point. The pollution degree of heavy metal elements in the soil around the power plant and in the plant area was mild. The Nemero comprehensive pollution index (PI) was 1.1-1.2, and the control point had also mild pollution (PI was 1.5). The potential ecological risk was slight, and the comprehensive potential ecological risk index (RI) of various heavy metal elements was 60.2-67.7. The contribution rate of Hg and As to RI were large, and the control point had medium ecological risk (RI was 116.8). Based on the results of principal component analysis, accompanied with the content, spatial distribution characteristics, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical cluster analysis results, three groups of heavy metals with different spatial distribution were identified:①Ni, Cr, As, and Mn originated from lithological sources; ②Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, and Pb affected by both lithological and human sources (e.g. agricultural and traffic sources); ③Hg likely originated from the diffusion sedimentation of MSWI flue gas and its accumulation in the soil. The above results indicated that the unique pollution characteristics of Hg deserve serious attention in pollution monitoring in soils surrounding solid waste incinerator.

Xijiao Dihuang Decoction () and Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. protect mice against lipopolysaccharide and tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced acute liver failure.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hepatoprotective effect of Xijiao Dihuang Decoction (, XJDHD) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-induced acute liver failure (ALF) as well as the underlying mechanism of action, and to clarify the key herbs and components of XJDHD. METHODS: LPS/D-galactosamine (D-GalN) or TNF-α/D-GalN were intraperitoneally injected into C57BL/6J mice to induce ALF. Simultaneously, XJDHD or its individual herbs and components were orally administered. Survival rates, transaminase levels in serum, and hepatic histology were examined to evaluate the effects of XJDHD. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction were additionally performed to expound the mechanism underlying the anti-apoptotic activity of XJDHD. RESULTS: Oral administration of XJDHD protected mice from lethal liver failure induced by LPS and TNF-α, with notable amelioration of liver injury in histology and a significant decrease in transaminase levels in serum. XJDHD significantly inhibited apoptosis of hepatocytes and enhanced expression of the antiapoptosis genes, c-Flip, Iap1, Gadd45b and A20. In addition, Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. was identified as the key herb of XJDHD and galactose as the effective component of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. that protects against ALF. CONCLUSIONS: XJDHD inhibits TNF-α-induced apoptosis of hepatocytes by promoting the expression of nuclear factor κ B-regulated anti-apoptotic genes. Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. is the effective herb of XJDHD and galactose is an active component in this protection.

Oil source recognition technology using concentration-synchronous-matrix-fluorescence spectroscopy combined with 2D wavelet packet and probabilistic neural network.

Developing an accurate, rapid and economic oil source recognition method is essential for water recourses protection. Concentration-synchronous-matrix-fluorescence (CSMF) spectroscopy combined with 2D wavelet packet and probabilistic neural network (PNN) was proposed for source recognition of crude oil and petroleum products samples in this study. 2D wavelet packet was used to extract wavelet packet coefficients as the feature vectors from CSMF contour image and four algorithms, Back-propagation (BP) neural network, Radial based function neural network (RBFNN), Support vector Machine (SVM) and probabilistic neural network (PNN) were carried out for pattern recognition. With the introduction of interference factors such as weathering and sea water adulteration to the three samples from Bohai bay territory of China, the comparison about accuracy and recognition time of the four methods was discussed and the results showed that PNN network maintain the highest recognition accuracy and speed. These findings may offer potential application for oil spill recognition for unconventional oil.

Deletion of the transcriptional regulator GntR down regulated the expression of Genes Related to Virulence and Conferred Protection against Wild-Type Brucella Challenge in BALB/c Mice.

Brucellosis, which is caused by Brucella spp., is a zoonotic infectious disease that can cause great hazard to public health and safety. The virulence of Brucella is essential for survive and multiply in host macrophages. GntR is a transcriptional regulator in Brucella that is required for virulence in macrophages and mice, and involved in resistance to stress responses. To determine the expression levels of target genes of GntR, we detected the expression levels of the GntR target genes in Brucella infected BALB/c mice. The results showed that several genes related to virulence, including omp25, virB1, vjbR, dnaK, htrA and hfq, were regulated by GntR during infection in BALB/c mice. Moreover, the 2308ΔgntR mutant induced high protective immunity in BALB/c mice challenge with B. abortus 2308 (S2308), and elicited an anti-Brucella-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) response and induced the secretion of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). All together, these results indicated that gntR promoted the virulence of Brucella. The 2308ΔgntR was significantly attenuated in macrophages and mice and induced protective immune response during infection, suggested that 2308ΔgntR mutant is an attractive candidate for the design of a live attenuated vaccine against Brucella.

Effects of omeprazole in improving concurrent chemoradiotherapy efficacy in rectal cancer.

AIM: To explore the effects of omeprazole on chemoradiotherapy efficacy and tumor recurrence in rectal cancer. METHODS: The medical data of 125 rectal cancer patients who received the same neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery were retrospectively collected. Patients who received omeprazole (OME) orally at a dose of 20 mg at least once daily for six days and/or intravenously at 40 mg a day were recognized as eligible OME users (EOU). Otherwise, patients were regarded as non-eligible OME users (non-EOU). Moreover, a preferred OME dose cut-off of 200 mg on tumor recurrence was obtained by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Patients were divided into two groups: the effective OME group (EOG, OME ≥ 200 mg) and the non-effective OME group (non-EOG, OME < 200 mg). RESULTS: The good response rate of CRT efficacy (50.8%) in EOU was significantly increased compared with non-EOU (30.6%) (P = 0.02). The recurrence rate in the EOG was 10.3%, which was significantly lower compared with 31.3% in non-EOG (P = 0.025). The good response rate of CRT efficacy in EOG was 55.2%, which was obviously higher compared with 36.5% in non-EOG, with a significant difference (P = 0.072). Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that OME (non-EOG and EOG) was an independent and significant impact factor for DFS (P = 0.048, HR = 0.30, 95%CI: 0.09-0.99). CONCLUSION: When applied as an adjuvant drug in cancer treatment for relieving common side effects of chemotherapy, omeprazole has a synergetic effect in improving CRT efficacy and decreasing rectal cancer recurrence.

Quantification for total demethylation potential of environmental samples utilizing the EGFP reporter gene.

The demethylation potential of pollutants is arguably an innate component of their toxicity in environmental samples. A method was developed for determining the total demethylation potential of food samples (TDQ). The demethylation epigenetic toxicity was determined using the Hep G2 cell line transfected with pEGFP-C3 plasmids containing a methylated promoter of the EGFP reporter gene. The total demethylation potential of the sample extracts (the 5-AZA-CdR demethylation toxic equivalency) can be quantified within one week by using a standard curve of the 5-AZA-CdR demethylation agent. To explore the applicability of TDQ for environmental samples, 17 groundwater samples were collected from heavy polluted Kuihe river and the total demethylation potentials of the sample extracts were measured successfully. Meaningful demethylation toxic equivalencies ranging from 0.00050 to 0.01747µM were found in all groundwater sample extracts. Among 19 kinds of inorganic substance, As and Cd played important roles for individual contribution to the total demethylation epigenetic toxicity. The TDQ assay is reliable and fast for quantifying the DNA demethylation potential of environmental sample extracts, which may improve epigenetic toxicity evaluations for human risk assessment, and the consistent consuming of groundwater alongside the Kuihe river pose unexpected epigenetic health risk to the local residents.

Methyl-methanesulfonate sensitivity 19 expression is associated with metastasis and chemoradiotherapy response in esophageal cancer.

AIM: To investigate the clinical significance of methyl-methanesulfonate sensitivity 19 (MMS19) expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Between June 2008 and May 2013, specimens from 103 patients who underwent endoscopic biopsy for the diagnosis of ESCC at the endoscopy center of Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center were collected; 52 matched-normal esophageal squamous epithelium samples were biopsied as controls. MMS19 protein expression was measured by immunohistochemistry. Of the 103 cases of ESCC, 49 received radical surgery following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy consisting of concurrent radiation in a total dose of 40 Gy and two cycles of chemotherapy with vinorelbine and cisplatin. Relationships between MMS19 expression, clinicopathologic characteristics and chemoradiotherapy response were analyzed. RESULTS: The MMS19 protein could be detected in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of most specimens. High cytoplasmic expression of MMS19 was detected in 63.1% of ESCC samples, whereas high nuclear expression of MMS19 was found in 35.0%. High cytoplasmic MMS19 expression was associated with regional lymph node metastases (OR = 11.3, 95%CI: 2.3-54.7; P < 0.001) and distant metastases (OR = 13.1, 95%CI: 1.7-103.0; P = 0.002). Furthermore, high cytoplasmic MMS19 expression was associated with a response of ESCC to chemoradiotherapy (OR = 11.5, 95%CI: 3.0-44.5; P < 0.001), with a high cytoplasmic MMS19 expression rates in 79.3% and 25.0% of patients from the good chemoradiotherapy response group and poor response group, respectively. Nuclear MMS19 expression did not show any significant association with clinicopathologic characteristics or chemoradiotherapy response in ESCC. CONCLUSION: The results of our preliminary study suggest that MMS19 may be a potential new predictor of metastasis and chemoradiotherapy response in ESCC.

[Study on standard of safe application of thiamethoxam on GAP of Lonicera japonica].

The paper is aimed to establish a method of residue analysis for thiamethoxam and to study its degradation dynamic and final residue and its standard of safe application of thiamethoxam on Lonicera japonica. Samples extracted with methanol by ultrasonication were purified with dichloromethane by liquid-liquid extraction and SPE column and analysed by HPLC-UV. The results showed that average rate was 84.91%-94.44% and RSD 1.74%-4.96% with addition of thiamethoxam in respectively diverse concentration, which meets inspection requirement of pesticide residue. Two kinds of dosages of thiamethoxam were treated- varying from recommended dosage (90 g x hm(-2)) to high dosage (135 g x hm(-2)), Results of two years test showed that thiamethoxam was degraded more than 90% seven days after application and the half - life period of thiamethoxam was 1.54-1.66 d. The digestion rate of thiamethoxam was fast in the L. japonica. The recommended MRL of thiamethoxam in the L. japonica is 0.1 mg x kg(-1), the dosage of 25% thiamethoxam WDG from 90-135 g x hm(-2) is sprayed less than three times a year on L. japonica and 14 days is proposed for the safety interval of the last pesticide application's and harvest's date.

[Oil spill identification using partial surface fitting method based on concentration-synchronous-matrix-fluorescence spectra].

Oil spills occur every day worldwide. It is urgently required to develop a rapid, cost-effective, accurate, easy to use routinely fingerprinting technique which could offer decision-makers and model developers the preliminary information of spilled oils in a short period. In this paper, a species identification and concentration quantification technique using partial surface fitting method to concentration-synchronous-matrix-fluorescence (CSMF) spectra was introduced. In order to eliminate the errors due to concentration uncertainty, partial CSMF spectra in the small concentration range of the test oil spill samples were obtained, and for the oil spill candidate samples,the two-dimensional cubic convolution interpolation was used to make up the long interval of the concentration level. With the surface fitting of partial CSMF spectra of the test samples and the closely-related source crude oil samples were successfully discriminated, and the initial concentration of the test samples were also obtained. Cross validation results of the petroleum related sample set showed that the accuracy of the matching results was 92%. The parameters of this method were also discussed in detail. All results showed that this newly-developed method may become a more specifically applicable means in spilled oils identification.

[A case-crossover study on the association between heat waves and daily deaths caused by acute myocardial infarction].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of heat wave on daily deaths caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Beijing. METHODS: A case-crossover design was used to study the impact of 5 heat waves on the daily number of AMI deaths from Jan. 1, 1999 to Jun. 30, 2000. The effect of heat wave on death in different gender or age groups was also compared. The 7th day before and after death occurred was chosen as its own bi-directional self-control. The OR value and its corresponding risk period was used to reflect the impact of heat wave on daily number of AMI deaths, lag days and duration. RESULTS: There were five heat waves during the study period. The first heat wave sustained 9 days and the maximum temperature was 38.8°C with average humidity as 46.7%. The OR value for the AMI death was 1.437 (95%CI: 1.066 - 1.937). The second heat wave lasted 3 days, with the maximum temperature of 36.8°C and average humidity of 61.0%. The OR value for the AMI death was 1.846 (95%CI: 0.671 - 5.076). The third heat wave continued 7 days, with the maximum temperature of 41.5°C with average humidity of 58.5%. The OR value for the daily death counts caused by AMI was 2.427 (95%CI: 1.825 - 3.229). The fourth lasted for 3 days, with the maximum temperature of 39.6°C and average humidity as 31.9%. The OR value for the AMI deaths was 2.857 (95%CI: 1.088 - 7.506). The fifth heat wave lasted for 4 days, with the maximum temperature as 37.4°C, and average humidity as 42.0% during this period. The OR value for daily death counts caused by AMI was 1.500 (95%CI: 0.632 - 3.560). The OR value of the first heat wave for daily death counts of men and women caused by AMI were 1.153 (95%CI: 0.756 - 1.758) and 1.818 (95%CI: 1.185 - 2.790) respectively. The OR value for daily death counts of under 65 age was 1.200 (95%CI: 0.669 - 2.153), with the OR value for the older than 64 age group was 1.534 (95%CI: 1.083 - 2.173). The OR value for daily death counts of older than 64 age women was 1.818 (95%CI: 1.109 - 2.981). The OR values of the third heat wave for daily death counts of men and women caused by AMI were 2.392 (95%CI: 1.649 - 3.470) and 2.514 (95%CI: 1.613 - 3.919) respectively. The OR value for daily death counts of under 65 age group was 2.000 (95%CI: 1.149-3.482) and the OR value for the older than 64 age group was 2.623 (95%CI: 1.880 - 3.660). The OR value for daily death counts of older than 64 age group women was 2.800 (95%CI: 1.676 - 4.678). CONCLUSION: (1) Significant increase for daily death counts of AMI in Beijing was noticed during the heat wave and usually causing hysteretic effect. The lag phase was 0 - 2 days in general. (2) The increase of maximum temperature was greater at the beginning day when the heat wave occurred in the previous day, with shorter lag time and greater risk of AMI death. (3) The risk of AMI death in women was greater than in men during the heat wave period. (4) The risk of AMI death among those older than 64 age group was greater than the under 65 year olds. (5) The impact of heat wave to the elderly female was greater.

[Identification of spill oil species based on low concentration synchronous fluorescence spectra and RBF neural network].

In this paper, a new method was developed to differentiate the spill oil samples. The synchronous fluorescence spectra in the lower nonlinear concentration range of 10(-2) - 10(-1) g x L(-1) were collected to get training data base. Radial basis function artificial neural network (RBF-ANN) was used to identify the samples sets, along with principal component analysis (PCA) as the feature extraction method. The recognition rate of the closely-related oil source samples is 92%. All the results demonstrated that the proposed method could identify the crude oil samples effectively by just one synchronous spectrum of the spill oil sample. The method was supposed to be very suitable to the real-time spill oil identification, and can also be easily applied to the oil logging and the analysis of other multi-PAHs or multi-fluorescent mixtures.

[Discussion of Chinese syndrome typing in acute hepatic failure model].

OBJECTIVE: To study Chinese syndrome typing of acute hepatic failure (AHF) mice model by screening effective formulae. METHODS: Lipoplysaccharides (LPS)/D-galactosamine (D-GaIN) was intraperitoneally injected to mice to establish the AHF mice model. Yinchenhao Decoction, Huanglian Jiedu Decoction, Buzhong Yiqi Decoction, and Xijiao Dihuang Decoction were administered to model mice respectively by gastrogavage. The behavior and the survival rate were monitored. The liver function and pathological changes of liver tissues were detected. RESULTS: In all the tested classic recipes, the survival rate was elevated from 10% to 60% by administration of Xijiao Dihuang Decoction. Five h after modeling, the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was (183.95 +/- 52.00) U/L, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (235.70 +/- 34.03) U/L in Xijiao Di-huang Decoction Group, lower than those of the model control group, but with insignificant difference (ALT: 213.32 +/- 71.93 U/L; AST: 299.48 +/- 70.56 U/L, both P > 0.05). Xijiao Dihuang Decoction could obviously alleviate the liver injury. CONCLUSIONS: Xijiao Dihuang Decoction was an effective formula for LPS/D-GaIN induced AHF model. According to syndrome typing through formula effect, heat toxin and blood stasis syndrome dominated in the LPS/D-GalN induced AHF mice model.

[Health risk assessment of heavy metals in drinking water based on field measurement of exposure factors of Chinese people].

This study was carried out in Biyang County, located in the junction of Yangtze river and Huaihe river. Drinking water samples of 20 sites in urban and rural areas in this county were collected to measure 14 heavy metals by ICP/MS. About 2 500 subjects with different age and sex were selected to measure exposure factors. Time-activity of drinking water by ingestion and dermal contact of each individual subject during the last three days were kept in dairy in detail by questionnaires. Intake of drinking water from direct and indirect consumption of water and time duration of dermal contact to water in each individual subject were kept in record based on real time measurements. Human health risks were assessed and sensitivity of exposure factors and uncertainty of risks were also analyzed. The results showed that the average drinking water intake rate of male and female are 2276 mL/d, 2265 mL/d in urban adults and 2464 mL/d, 2170 mL/d in rural adults respectively. Body surface area of male and female are 1.806 m2, 1.641 m2 in urban adults and 1.747 m2, 1.617 m2 in rural adults respectively. The contents of 14 heavy metals in this study area are all below the national drinking water standards. Cancer risks from exposure to As are ranged from 2.5 x 10(-6) to 5.2 x 10(-6) through ingestion and 1.1 x 10(-7) to 2.3 x 10(-7) through dermal exposure. Non-cancer risks are ranged from 2.1 x 10(-7) to 1.7 x 10(-6) through ingestion and 1.0 x 10(-8) to 6.0 x 10(-8) through dermal exposure. Non-cancer risks in rural population are 2.1 times to 5.6 times to the risks in urban populations. However all the risks are below the acceptable level. The sensitivity of various exposure factors including drinking water intake rate, dermal exposure time and body surface area are 71.5%. This indicates that exposure factors play a very important role in health risk assessment. Health risks in this research based on real measurement of exposure factors are about 0.94 time to 6.33 times higher than the risks based on the references of the data from the exposure factors handbooks in other countries. This study showed that the accuracy of health risk assessment could be improved a lot by the real measurements of exposure factors. Attentions should be attached to exposure factor investigation to decrease uncertainty of health risk assessment.

[Fingerprint discrimination technique of spill oil based on concentration auxiliary parameter fluorescence spectra].

In the present paper, concentration as an auxiliary parameter was introduced to the synchronous fluorescence to form concentration synchronous fluorescence matrix of the oil spill samples within the concentration range of 10(-1)-10 g x L(-1). Principal component analysis was used to classify the oil spill samples of 0# diesel, 93# gasoline and 5 crude oil simples from the Shengli oilfield. Experiments show that the introducing of concentration can reflect more composition information of the PAHs. This newly method has a better discrimination than the routine method of the synchronous fluorescence spectra obtained from spill oil samples in linear concentration range. It indicates that the spill oil samples of different type and source can be discriminated precisely, even from the same oilfield. The influence of the errors caused in the samples extraction procedure can be eliminated. All the results suggest that the technique may become a more convenient, rapid and accurate means in spill oil identification.

[Time-series analysis on the association between gaseous air pollutants and daily mortality in urban residents in Tianjin].

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and daily mortality in urban population from Tianjin. METHODS: Data on daily concentration of inhalable particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, daily mean temperature and relative humidity, daily cause-specific death counts were collected. Generalized additive models was used to explore the relationship between sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and daily mortality, after adjusting the effects of long-term and seasonal trend, weather conditions, and to analyze the potential effect of particulate matter and model parameters on relative risk estimates. RESULTS: Results showed that the daily concentrations of SO(2) and NO(2) were significantly associated with daily non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality but not associated with daily respiratory mortality. An increase of 10 µg/m(3) in SO(2) was associated with 0.56% (95%CI: 0.23% - 0.89%) non-accidental morality, 0.49% (0.06% - 0.93%) cardiovascular morality, respectively. An increase of 10 µg/m(3) in NO(2) was associated with 0.94% (95%CI: 0.17% - 1.70%) non-accidental morality, 1.29% (0.29% - 2.30%) cardiovascular morality, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that exposure to SO(2) and NO(2) was significantly associated with daily cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in urban population in Tianjin.

[Time-series analysis of association between inhalable particulate matter and daily mortality among urban residents in Tianjin].

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between particulate matter less than 10 micron in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)) and daily mortality among urban population in Tianjin. METHODS: We collected data of air quality, daily mean temperature and relative humidity, and daily cause-specific death counts, and used generalized additive models to explore the relationship between ambient particulate matter and daily mortality, after adjusting the effects of long-term and seasonal trend, weather conditions and other gaseous pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. RESULTS: An increase of 10 µg/m(3) in PM(10) was associated with 0.45% (95%CI: 0.21 - 0.69) non-accidental morality, 0.60% (0.29 - 0.91) circulatory morality and 0.82% (0.04 - 1.61) respiratory morality, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that the extent of exposure to PM(10) was significantly associated with daily mortality in urban population in Tianjin, especially with the mortality rates on circulatory and respiratory diseases.

[A case-crossover study between heat waves and daily death from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impct of heat wave on the daily deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular diseases in Beijing. METHODS: A case-crossover design was used to study the impact of 5 heat waves on the daily number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular disease, from Jan. 1, 1999 to Jun. 30, 2000. We also investigated the relationship between the heat wave and acute myocardial infarction deaths. The 7th day before death was chose as the indicator of self-control. The OR value of different lengths of risk period was calculated. The highest OR value and its corresponding risk period was used to reflect the impact of heat wave on daily number of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease deaths, lag days and their durations. RESULTS: There were five heat waves during the study period. The first heat wave lasted for 9 days, with the maximum temperature as 38.8°C and average humidity as 46.7%. The OR value for the cardiovascular disease death, cerebrovascular disease death and acute myocardial infarction death were 1.384 (95%CI: 1.128 - 1.697), 1.776 (95%CI: 1.456 - 2.167) and 1.276 (95%CI: 0.905 - 1.799) respectively. The second heat wave lasted 3 days, with the maximum temperature of 36.8°C and average humidity of 61.0%. The OR value for the three causes of death were 1.385 (95%CI: 0.678 - 2.826), 1.300 (95%CI: 0.726 - 2.329) and 2.000 (95%CI: 0.684 - 5.851) respectively. The third heat wave continued for 7 days, with the maximum temperature of 41.5°C, and average humidity of 58.5%. The OR value for the daily death counts caused by cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular diseases and acute myocardial infarction were 2.613 (95%CI: 2.116 - 3.228), 2.317 (95%CI: 1.875 - 2.863) and 3.088 (95%CI: 2.098 - 4.546) respectively. The fourth wave lasted for 3 days, with the maximum temperature as 39.6°C and average humidity as 31.9%. The OR value for the deaths caused by cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular diseases and acute myocardial infarction were 1.333 (95%CI: 0.724 - 2.457), 2.429 (95%CI: 1.007 - 5.856) and 3.333 (95%CI: 0.917 - 12.112) respectively. The fifth heat wave lasted for 4 days. The maximum temperature was 37.4°C, and the average humidity was 42.0% during the period. The OR value for daily death counts caused by cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and acute myocardial infarction were 2.333 (95%CI: 1.187 - 4.588), 1.727 (95%CI: 0.822 - 3.630) and 1.800 (95%CI: 0.603 - 5.371) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: (1) There were significant increases for daily death counts of both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in Beijing during the heat wave and there appeared hysteresis effect as well. The lag phase of cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease death was generally 2 - 4 days and acute myocardial infarction death usually was 0 - 2 days. (2) The rising of maximum temperature was greater at the beginning day of heat wave than the previous day, but the lag time was shorter, and the risk of death was greater, especially for the risk of deaths from cerebrovascular disease. (3) Fluctuations of daily maximum air temperature during the heat wave could increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

[Effect of heavy metals exposure on neurobehavioral function in welders].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between heavy metals exposure and neurobehavioral function impairment in welders. METHODS: The metals exposure in 82 welders and 51 operators were investigated with blood Pb, Cd and Mn via AAS, and the nervous impairment was evaluated with neurobehavioral core test battery (NCTB). RESULTS: Pb [(115.49 +/- 79.22) microg/L] and Cd [(3.67 +/- 3.19) microg/L] in welders were significantly higher than operators [(69.32 +/- 50.79) and (0.83 +/- 0.76) microg/L respectively] (P < 0.05). Welders had worse standard scores of NCTB 13 items such as depression-dejection than non-welders (P < 0.05). Significant difference of confusion-bewilderment and forward digit span in welders only existed in different groups of Pb and Mn, respectively. A dose-effect relationship was found between forward digit span and serum Mn level in welders. General linear regression analysis indicated that Pb exposure, Mn exposure and alcohol consume had negative relation with the loss of nervous system function. CONCLUSION: The nervous impairment in welders is attributed to occupational exposure to Pb and Mn, concomitantly.

[Effects of traffic exhausts on children' s neurobehavioral functions scored by neurobehavioral evaluation methods in Quanzhou, Fujian province].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of traffic exhausts on children's neurobehavioral functions. METHODS: A field study was conducted in Quanzhou, Fujian province where two primary schools were chosen based on the numbers of automobiles passing by,and the data of ambient air pollutants from the monitoring system. School B and School A located at the high traffic exhausts pollution area and the clear area, respectively. Neurobehavioral functions of pupils in grade 2 and 3 were scored. RESULTS: School B had very similar score of Ruiwen Test with School A, while the score of Digit Eras Test was lower than that in School A with marginal significance. The scores of Digit Symbol,Aim Tracing, Sign Register and Cormect Number test were 38.5 +/- 9.96, 84.3 +/- 27.83, 37.4 +/- 11.62 and 17.1 +/- 5.88 in School B,respectively, which were significantly lower than those in School A (41.6 +/- 12.97, 95.5 +/- 35.80, 42.3 +/- 15.58 and 18.7 +/- 5.78) respectively. Scores in Digit Symbol,Aim Tracing,Sign Register and Cormect Number of pupils in School B were 2.9, 11.5, 5.6 and 1.6 lower than those in School A after adjusting on other confounding factors. CONCLUSION: It was suggested that traffic exhausts might cause damage to children's neurobehavioral functions.