Association of residential greenness with the risk of metabolic syndrome in Chinese older adults: a longitudinal cohort study.

AIMS: We aimed to investigate the association between residential greenness and MetS in older Chinese adults. METHODS: Longitudinal data on sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle were collected from the Shenzhen Healthy Ageing Research (SHARE) cohort. Greenness exposure was assessed through satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the 250-m, 500-m, and 1250-m radius around the residential address for each participant. MetS was defined by standard guidelines for the Chinese population. RESULTS: A total of 49,893 older Chinese adults with a mean age of 70.96 (SD = 5.26) years were included in the study. In the fully adjusted models, participants who lived in the highest quartile of NDVI250-m, NDVI500-m, and NDVI1250-m had a 15% (odds ratio, OR = 0.85, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.80-0.90), 12% (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.83-0.93), and 11% (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.85-0.95) lower incidence of MetS, respectively, than those living in the lowest quartile (all p-trend < 0.01). Interactions and subgroup analyses showed that age, sex, smoking status, and drinking status were significant effect modifiers (p-interaction for all NDVI < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Residential greenness is associated with a lower risk of MetS in Chinese older adults, especially for young older adults, females, non-smokers, and non-drinkers.

Associations between residential greenness and blood lipids in Chinese elderly population.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies on residential green space were inconsistent with blood lipid levels and hyperlipidemia. Thus, our study aims to explore the relationship between urban residential greenness and the blood lipid level and hyperlipidemia of the Chinese elderly population. METHODS: A total of 59,865 older adults were collected from the Shenzhen healthy aging Research (SHARE). Blood lipid levels [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)] were measured. Participants' exposure to residential greenness was measured by the satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and logistic regression were performed to assess the associations of residential greenness with lipid levels and dyslipidemia (high TG, high TC, low HDL-C, and high LDL-C). RESULTS: Each per 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in NDVI250-m was associated with a higher HDL-C level (ß = 0.003, 95% (confidence interval, CI):0.001-0.005) and lower TG level (ß = - 0.005, 95% CI - 0.141-0.121), after fully adjusting for covariates. Each increment in per interquartile range (IQR)-unit increase in NDVI250-m was associated with lower odds of high TG (odds ratio, OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.97) and low HDL-C (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.99). The NDVI250-m has the highest protective effect on the incidence of high TG and low HDL-C, followed by NDVI500-m and NDVI1250-m. Stratified analyses showed that association between residential greenness and hyperlipidemia was modified by sex, age, BMI, household registration, and physical activity. CONCLUSION: Higher greenness exposure was beneficially associated with lipid levels and dyslipidemia among Chinese city-dwelling older adults.

Epidemiology and characteristics of the dengue outbreak in Guangdong, Southern China, in 2014.

Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease caused by the dengue virus (DENV) and has emerged as a severe public health problem around the world. Guangdong, one of the southern Chinese provinces, experienced a serious outbreak of dengue in 2014, which was believed to be the worst dengue epidemic in China over the last 20 years. To better understand the epidemic, we collected the epidemiological data of the outbreak and analyzed 14,594 clinically suspected dengue patients from 25 hospitals in Guangdong. Dengue cases were then laboratory-confirmed by the detection of DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and/or DENV RNA. Afterwards, clinical manifestations of dengue patients were analyzed and 93 laboratory-positive serum specimens were chosen for the DENV serotyping and molecular analysis. Our data showed that the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong had spread to 20 cities and more than 45 thousand people suffered from dengue fever. Of 14,594 participants, 11,387 were definitively diagnosed. Most manifested with a typical non-severe clinical course, and 1.96 % developed to severe dengue. The strains isolated successfully from the serum samples were identified as DENV-1. Genetic analyses revealed that the strains were classified into genotypes I and V of DENV-1, and the dengue epidemic of Guangdong in 2014 was caused by indigenous cases and imported cases from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore. Overall, our study is informative and significant to the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong and will provide crucial implications for dengue prevention and control in China and elsewhere.

An unusual ovarian neoplasm diagnosed in a patient with rupture of unicornuate uterus during pregnancy: a case report.

Unicornuate uterus is a rare disease characterized with reduced fertility, and ovarian tumor diagnosed during pregnancy is uncommon as well. These two diseases have been reported separately. However, patient suffering from both diseases has never been reported before. The authors herein report a case of a 32-year-old Chinese woman presenting with a unicornuate uterus with no horn, who suffered from acute abdominal pain and intra-abdominal hemorrhage at 26 weeks gestation. Incidentally, a borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) and rupture of uterus were found during an urgent exploratory laparotomy. During the follow-up, ovarian tumor recurred in the first year after the operation. The authors suggest that BOT with micropapillary patterns should be paid much more attention to, other than only assessing the histological type. Furthermore, they also suggest that a slightly increased in serum CA-125 value should not be ignored.

An evaluation comparing Californium252 neutron brachytherapy with neoadjuvant intra-arterial embolism chemotherapy assisted surgery effect for treating advanced cervical carcinoma patients.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: To compare the therapeutic and side effects of using Californium252 (252Cf) neutron brachytherapy with neoadjuvant intra-arterial embolism chemotherapy in combination with surgery for treating Stage Ib2-IIb cervical cancers (CCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two Stage Ib2-IIb CC patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups from January 2007 to April 2010 in the present Hospital. Prior to surgery within four weeks, a total of 17 cases were treated with 252Cf neutron brachytherapy (700-800 cGy doses at point A) once a week (Group A), and 15 cases were treated by neoadjuvant intra-arterial embolism chemotherapy using a combination of bleomycin, carboplatin, and cyclophosphamide twice (Group B). The clinical symptoms and signs, side effects, and relapse condition follow up until July 2013 were compared between the two groups for the perioperation. RESULTS: Reductions in tumor mass and CR+PR were not significantly different between the groups before the surgery (p > 0.05). Abdominal pain and pelvic adhesions were significantly more severe in Group B (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in surgical time, blood loss or the other side effects between Groups A and B (p > 0.05). The percentage of pelvic tumor recurrences in Group A was lower than that of the patients in Group B (11.8% vs 20.0%) although with no significant difference at present. No distant metastasis has been found in both two groups. CONCLUSION: Except for less abdominal pain and pelvic adhesions, 252Cf neutron brachytherapy has perioperative effects similar to those of neoadjuvant intra-arterial embolism chemotherapy.

Body composition of New Zealand-born term babies differs by ethnicity, gestational age and sex.

BACKGROUND: Body composition provides important information on nutrition and future metabolic risk. New Zealand has a diverse ethnic population for which there are no newborn body composition data. AIM: To determine body composition in a cohort of New Zealand-born term babies. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study. SUBJECTS: Healthy, term infants between 37+0 and 41+6 weeks' gestation in two hospitals in Auckland, New Zealand. OUTCOME MEASURES: Body composition by air displacement plethysmography and anthropometry measured within 5 days of birth. Parent-identified ethnicity was prioritised according to Ministry of Health criteria. Data were analysed using t-test, ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc tests, quantile regression and are mean(SD). RESULTS: 440 babies (54% male) were included. Pacific Island/Maori (PI/M) were heavier at birth than Asian/Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (Asian+) babies (3403(506) vs 3181(485) g, p < .05). PI/M and European (E) babies were longer with larger head and waist circumferences than Asian+ babies (all p < .05). Absolute fat mass (FM) was not different amongst ethnicities (E, 365(156), PI/M, 347(183), Asian+, 357(188) g) but PI/M babies had significantly lower FM% than Asian+ (9.8(4.3) vs 10.9(4.5) %, p < .05). Fat-free mass (FFM) was greater in PI/M (3056(400) g) than E (2952(345) g (p < .05) and both PI/M and E had greater FFM than Asian+ (2824(363) g, p < .05). Early term babies had less FFM than term and late-term babies (2732(370), 3012(352), 3173(302)g, p < .001) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Asian+ babies were the smallest babies with the least FFM yet had similar FM and the highest FM%, indicative of a thin, fat phenotype from birth.

[Clinical analysis of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after haplo- hematopoietic stem cell transplantation].

Objective: To investigate the incidence, risk factors and survival of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) in patients who had undergone haplo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) . Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 444 consecutive patients who underwent haplo-HSCT and survived at least 100 days after transplantation in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 2013 and December 2015. Results: By the end of follow-up on January 1, 2018, 25 patients (5.63%) had BOS (BOS group) . The median onset time of BOS was 448 (165-845) d post transplantation, the 1-year, 2-year and 3-year cumulative incidence of BOS was 1.6% (95%CI 1.5%-1.6%) , 4.8% (95%CI 4.7%-4.8%) and 5.8% (95%CI 5.7%-5.8%) , respectively. Among patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) , the cumulative incidence at the same intervals was 2.8% (95%CI 2.7%-2.8%) , 9.5% (95%CI 9.4%-9.5%) and 11.5% (95%CI 11.4%-11.6%) , respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors for BOS were high-risk primary disease, Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD and preceding cGVHD with other organs. The 3-year overall survival (OS) was lower among patients with than those without BOS, but the difference was not significant [71.8% (95%CI 53.9%-89.6%) vs 72.4% (95%CI 68.1%-76.7%) , P=0.400]. Overall 1-year, 3-year survival of patients with BOS from the time of diagnosis was 78.4% (95%CI 61.5%-95.3%) and 37.0% (95%CI 2.5%-71.5%) , respectively, significantly less than those without (93.9% and 89.3%, from day 448 after transplantation, respectively, P<0.001) . Furthermore, we found a significantly higher incidence of transplantation-related mortality (TRM) in patients with compared with patients without BOS (28.2% vs 10.9%, P<0.001) . The main risk factor for OS of BOS patients was the severity of pulmonary impairment at the time of diagnosis. Patients who developed severe BOS had a worse OS than those with moderate and mild BOS (P=0.049) . Conclusion: BOS is a severe pulmonary complication of haplo-HSCT. High-risk primary disease, Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD and preceding cGVHD were independent risk factors for BOS. Patients who developed BOS had a worse OS than those without BOS. The main risk factor for OS of BOS patients was the severity of pulmonary impairment.

Myeloablative conditioning regimens with combined of haploidentical and cord blood transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the strategy of haploidentical (HID) stem cell combined with a small doses of umbilical cord blood (UCB) from a third-party donor transplantation (haplo-cord transplant) for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), by comparing with identical-sibling donor (ISD) transplantation. Eighty-five patients were included between January 2012 and December 2015, with a median 40 years old. Forty-eight patients received haplo-cord transplant and 37 patients received ISD transplant. Haplograft engraftment succeeded in all haplo-cord patients. For haplo-cord and ISD transplantation, adjusted cumulative incidences of grades 2-4 acute GvHD at 100 days were 27 and 11% (P=0.059); adjusted cumulative incidences of chronic GvHD at 2 years were 22 and 34% (P=0.215). The 2-year adjusted probabilities of overall survival were 64 and 70% (P=0.518), and of relapse-free survival were 56 and 66% (P=0.306). The 2-year adjusted cumulative incidences of relapse were 12 and 14% (P=0.743), and of non-relapse mortality were 33 and 23% (P=0.291). In conclusion, haplo-cord-HSCT achieves outcomes similar to those of ISD-HSCT for MDS and the haplo-cord-HSCT may potentially improve the outcome of HID- and UCB-HSCT alone. Thus, the haplo-cord transplantation may be a better valid alternative for MDS when an ISD is not available.

[Clinical analysis of 7 patients with Epstein-Barr virus encephalitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation].

Objective: To summarize the clinical features, treatment and prognosis of patients with Epstein Barr virus (EBV) encephalitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) . Methods: The clinical data of 7 patients with EBV encephalitis who had undergone allo-HSCT in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2012 to December 2015 were reviewed. Results: The incidence of EBV encephalitis was 0.70% (7/998) , and the median time was 63 (10-136) d after allo-HSCT. Seven patients had fever and mental disorder, of whom 4 cases of brain MRI were positive. Two patients received HLA-matched unrelated transplantation, while other 5 ones received haploidentical allo-HSCT. In conditioning regimen process, 7 patients were combined with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) to prevent graft versus host disease (GVHD) , of whom 6 patients had grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ acute GVHD. All patients of EBV-DNA were negative in CSF after taking anti-virus agent Rituximab. Until the last follow-up, a total of 3 patients died, 2 died of leukemia recurrence, 1 EBV encephalitis progression. Conclusion: Once suspected EBV encephalitis after allo-HSCT, brain MRI and EBV-DNA in CSF should be detected, which could improve early diagnosis of EBV encephalitis. The usage of Rituximab was effective and well tolerated.

Effects of surface functional groups on the formation of nanoparticle-protein corona.

Herein, we examined the dependence of protein adsorption on the nanoparticle surface in the presence of functional groups. Our UV-visible spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering measurements evidently suggested that the functional groups play an important role in the formation of nanoparticle-protein corona. We found that uncoated and surfactant-free silver nanoparticles derived from a laser ablation process promoted a maximum protein (bovine serum albumin) coating due to increased changes in entropy. On the other hand, bovine serum albumin displayed a relatively lower affinity for electrostatically stabilized nanoparticles due to the constrained entropy changes.

Evidences For Charge Transfer-Induced Conformational Changes In Carbon Nanostructure-Protein Corona.

The binding of proteins to a nanostructure often alters protein secondary and tertiary structures. However, the main physical mechanisms that elicit protein conformational changes in the presence of the nanostructure have not yet been fully established. Here we performed a comprehensive spectroscopic study to probe the interactions between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and carbon-based nanostructures of graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Our results showed that the BSA "corona" acted as a weak acceptor to facilitate charge transfer from the carbon nanostructures. Notably, we observed that charge transfer occurred only in the case of SWNTs but not in graphene, resulting from the sharp and discrete electronic density of states of the former. Furthermore, the relaxation of external α-helices in BSA secondary structure increased concomitantly with the charge transfer. These results may help guide controlled nanostructure-biomolecular interactions and prove beneficial for developing novel drug delivery systems, biomedical devices and engineering of safe nanomaterials.

Image enhancement in near-field scanning optical microscopy with laser-trapped metallic particles.

A trapped-particle near-field scanning optical microscope is constructed by use of submicrometer- or micrometer-sized metallic particles (gold and silver) to increase scattering efficiency. The image contrast of the evanescent-wave interference pattern on the surface of a prism upon total internal reflection, obtained with trapped gold particles of diameter 0.1 and 2microm , is improved by a factor of approximately 2 and 1.5, respectively, compared with that obtained with trapped polystyrene particles of similar size. The use of a 2-microm gold particle leads to image contrast that is approximately three times as great as that obtained with a 0.1-microm gold particle, and interference patterns of a subwavelength period are obtained in both cases.

Characterization of trapping force on metallic mie particles.

Transverse trapping force on three types of metallic Mie particles (gold, nickel, and silver) is measured for different values of the numerical aperture of an objective used for trapping. The experimental results are compared with those calculated with a modified ray-optics model. It is found that, unlike the situation for a trapped dielectric particle, the maximum transverse trapping efficiency for a trapped metallic particle is increased with the numerical aperture of the trapping objective. After consideration of radiometric force, which is caused by the heating effect, and spherical aberration, which is induced by the refractive-index mismatch, the measured results agree well with the theoretical prediction. The magnitude of the radiometric force is approximately ten times stronger than the maximum transverse trapping force.

Liquid chromatographic determination of hypoxanthine content in fish tissue.

A liquid chromatography (LC) method for determining the hypoxanthine content in fish tissues has been developed. Hypoxanthine is extracted with 0.6M perchloric acid, and determined by LC on a reverse phase microparticulate column with UV absorbance detection. The mobile phase is 0.01M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 4.5). The percent relative standard deviation for measurements by the recommended method was less than 7% with a detection limit of 10 ng. Recoveries of hypoxanthine added to various fish tissues were better than 90%. The operational errors, interferences, and recoveries for spiked samples have been investigated and compare favorably with an established xanthine oxidase enzyme method. The described LC method is simple, rapid, and specific for measuring hypoxanthine content in various fish tissues. Some post-mortem studies have indicated the method may also be used for the determination of adenosine monophosphate, inosine monophosphate, and inosine.

[Retinal hemorrhage in newborn infants].

The fundi of the 527 infants born within one week were investigated. The results showed that 54 cases (78 eyes) had retinal hemorrhage. Among them, 23 cases (28 eyes) accompanied macular hemorrhage. The retinal hemorrhage in newborn infants was higher in vaginal delivery than in cesarean section, and the incidence of the fetal distress was higher in the newborn infants with macular hemorrhage. The essential causes of the retinal hemorrhage in newborn infants, development of infant macular and the mechanism of amblyopia induced by macular hemorrhage were discussed.