Short-term effects of ambient particulate matter on blood pressure among children and adolescents:A cross-sectional study in a city of Yangtze River delta, China.

Several studies have demonstrated associations between short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) and blood pressure (BP) among various adults groups, but evidence in children and adolescents is still rare. In 2016, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 194 104 participants aged 6-17 years in Suzhou, China. Daily concentrations of particulate matters with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤10 µg/m3 (PM10) and aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µg/m3 (PM2.5) on 0-6 days preceding BP examination were collected from nearby air monitoring stations. Using generalized linear mixed-effects models, short-term effects of PM on personal BP were estimated. A 10 µg/m3 increment in the 0-6 day mean of PM2.5 was significantly associated with elevation of 0.20 mmHg [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.16-0.23] in systolic BP (SBP), 0.49 mmHg (95% CI 0.45-0.53) in diastolic BP (DBP), respectively. Similarly, 0.14 mmHg (95% CI 0.12-0.16) higher SBP and 0.32 mmHg (95% CI 0.30-0.34) higher DBP were found for each 10 µg/m3 increase in 0-6 day mean of PM10. More apparent associations were observed in females than in males. Odds ratio (95%CI) of for PM2.5 exposure at 0-6 d mean was 1.06 (1.03-1.08) in females, while it was 1.01 (0.99-1.03) in males. Participants with young ages, underweight and obesity were also associated with increased susceptibility to PM-induced BP effects. Short-term exposure in PM was significantly associated with elevated BP in children, indicating a need to control PM levels and protect children from PM exposure in China.

Prevalence of high blood pressure and high normal blood pressure among 7- to 17-year-old children and adolescents in developed regions, China from 2014 to 2017: using new national blood pressure reference for Chinese children and adolescents.

As the first blood pressure (BP) reference considering influence of height in China, national blood pressure reference for Chinese han children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years (CCBP) was issued in 2017. The current study aimed to observe the short-term trends in BP and prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) and high normal blood pressure (HNBP) using this CCBP reference in Suzhou, China. Data of children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years were collected from 2014 to 2017. Total population of 2014 to 2017 were 617,383, 684,453, 695,302, and 774,605, respectively, and proportions of males were 54.1%, 54.0%, 53.9%, and 53.8%, respectively. P-trend tests were conducted to examine the trends of BP among different age, region, body mass index, and socioeconomic status groups for each gender. Multivariate logistic regression analyses found secular decreases in prevalence of HBP and HNBP, after adjustment for potential confounders. Compared with that in 2014, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for total study population were 0.936 (0.928, 0.944) in 2015, 0.879 (0.872, 0.887) in 2016, and 0.934 (0.926, 0.941) in 2017. In conclusion, prevalence of HBP and HNBP decreased among children and adolescents in developed regions of China from 2014 to 2017, and a slight rise were found in 2017.

The short-term effects of outdoor temperature on blood pressure among children and adolescents: finding from a large sample cross-sectional study in Suzhou, China.

Although several studies have demonstrated a short-term association between outdoor temperature and blood pressure (BP) among various adult groups, evidence among children and adolescents is lacking. One hundred ninety-four thousand one hundred four participants from 2016 Health Promotion Program for Children and Adolescents (HPPCA) were analyzed through generalized linear mixed-effects models to estimate the short-term effects of two outdoor temperature variables (average and minimum temperature) on participants' BP. Decreasing outdoor temperature was associated with significant increases in systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and prevalence of hypertension during lag 0 through lag 6. Additionally, daily minimum temperature showed a more apparent association with participants' BP. The estimated increases (95% confidence interval) in SBP and DBP at lag 0 were 0.82 (0.72, 0.92) mmHg and 2.28 (2.20, 2.35) mmHg for a 1 °C decrease in daily minimum temperature, while those values were 0.11 (0.10, 0.12) mmHg and 0.25 (0.24, 0.26) mmHg for a 1 °C decrease in daily average temperature, respectively. The effects of temperature on BP were stronger among female, as well as those with young age and low body mass index. It demonstrated that short-term decreases in outdoor temperature were significantly associated with rises in BP among children and adolescents. This founding has some implications for clinical management and research of BP. Meanwhile, public health intervention should be designed to reduce the exposure to cold temperature for protecting children and adolescents' BP.

[The Research and Application of Transient Temperature Test Based on Apodized-Chirped FBG].

In order to quickly and accurately obtain the transient temperature field information of the barrel when the gun is firing, the transient temperature measurement system was designed with apodized-chirped fiber Bragg grating (FBG) probe. In the system, chirped fiber grating was used to modulate the bandwidth of echo light. The bandwidth of echo light had been greatly improved. So the number of apodized-chirped FBGs in one fiber could be greatly increased, and the energy of echo light was increased too. The performances of five common apodization functions were analyzed, and the super-Gaussian function was used to process the echo signals in the system. This function effectively suppressed sidelobe increases and spectral dispersion caused by chirp modulation, which indicated that it could meet the design requirements of the transient temperature measurement. 50 apodized-chirped FBGs, which evenly wound on the barrel, were used in the experiments, and they modulation range was from 1 532.0 to 1 548.0 nm. Transient temperature of a certain type of gun barrel was tested when it fired, and test data from the system were compared to WRP-130S high-speed temperature detector. Experimental results show that the two methods are similar ones with average error of less than 2%, and better than 1% in the region of temperature steady drop. 1 ℃ can cause 0.041 3 nm wavelength shift in temperature-wavelength data. Transient temperatures of 50 independent positions can be obtained in an acquisition, so the efficiency of the barrel temperature field reconstruction is greatly improving.

[Longitudinal surveillance of intestinal nematodiasis in Yinghu Village of Wujiang City].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the epidemic dynamics of intestinal nematodiasis in Wujiang City. METHOD: The residents of Yinghu Village of Wujiang City were investigated with Kato-Katz technique for the infections of intestinal nematodes, and the persons with the infections were administered with anthelmintics and they also received the health education. RESULTS: Of the 5 757 residents, 147 persons were infected with intestinal nematodes, with the average infection rate of 2.55%. The infection rates of hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides and Tricuris trichiura were 1.96%, 0.49% and 0.24%, respectively. The repeated infection rate was 20.30%, that was 10.36 times higher than the new infection rate (1.96%). CONCLUSIONS: There are still regions and populations with high infection rates of intestinal nematodes in Wujiang City where the intestinal nematodiasis has been controlled. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring, prevention and control work.

[Effect of Chinese herbal medicine in the natural cycle of frozen embryo transfer].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Chinese herbal medicine on the clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate of frozen embryo transfer (FET) in a natural cycle. METHODS: Women with frozen embryos planned to receive FET and had spontaneous ovulation in a natural cycle were chosen for observation. They were assigned to the treated group and the control group, both were treated with conventional medicine in the very month of FET, but to the treated group, Chinese herbal medicine was given additionally. The clinical pregnant rate, implantation rate, endometrial thickness during transferring, as well as the levels of estrogen and progesterone 2 weeks after transfer in the two groups were observed and compared. RESULTS: The clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate in the treated group were significant higher than those in the control group, 47.37% (36/76 cases) vs 32.14% (54/168 cases) and 22.38% (47/210 embryos) vs 16.09% (74/460 embryos), respectively (all P <0.05). Difference between the two groups in endometrial thickness, levels of estrogen and progesterone showed no statistical significance (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Chinese herbal medicine could enhance the clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate in the natural cycle of FET to certain extent.

Effect of Gutai Decoction on the abortion rate of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Chinese herbal medicine Gutai Decoction (GTD) on the abortion rate of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). METHODS: Observed were two hundred and forty-seven women having received IVF-ET and with beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG) > 25 IU/L on the 14th day after transferring. All were treated conventionally with progesterone 20 - 80 mg per day after transferring and if necessary the treatment was supplemented with Progynova 2 - 4 mg per day, with the medication withdrawn gradually from the 9th week of pregnancy till stopped completely. Among them 131 cases received GTD medication additionally, for 109 cases of whom the medication started from the 2nd day of transferring (taken as Group A) and for the other 22 cases from the 14th day after transferring (taken as Group B), the other 116 cases with no additional GTD treatment given were taken as the control group, with the medication lasting to the 12th week. The abortion rate in them was observed. RESULTS: The abortion rate in Group A, Group B and the control group was 12.84%, 13.64% and 23.28%, respectively, the difference between the GTD treated groups and the control group was significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Chinese medicine GTD could reduce abortion rate in women receiving IVF-ET.