Spa therapy (balneotherapy) relieves mental stress, sleep disorder, and general health problems in sub-healthy people.

To investigate the relieving effects of hot spring balneotherapy on mental stress, sleep disorder, general health problems, and women's health problems in sub-healthy people, we recruited 500 volunteers in sub-health in Chongqing, and 362 volunteers completed the project, including 223 in the intervention group and 139 in the control group. The intervention group underwent hot spring balneotherapy for 5 months, while the control group did not. The two groups took questionnaire investigation (general data, mental stress, emotional status, sleep quality, general health problems, as well as some women's health problems) and physical examination (height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipid, blood sugar) 5 months before and after the intervention, respectively. After intervention, sleep disorder (difficulty in falling asleep (P = 0.017); dreaminess, nightmare suffering, and restless sleep (P = 0.013); easy awakening (P = 0.003) and difficulty in falling into sleep again after awakening(P = 0.016); and mental stress (P = 0.031) and problems of general health (head pain (P = 0.026), joint pain(P = 0.009), leg or foot cramps (P = 0.001), blurred vision (P = 0.009)) were relieved significantly in the intervention group, as compared with the control group. While other indicators (fatigue, eye tiredness, limb numbness, constipation, skin allergy) and women's health problems (breast distending pain; dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation) were relieved significantly in the self-comparison of the intervention group before and after intervention (P < 0.05), but showed no statistically significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05). All indications (except bad mood, low mood, and worry or irritability) in the intervention group significantly improved, with effect size from 0.096 to 1.302. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the frequency, length, and location of balneotherapy in the intervention group were the factors influencing emotion, sleep, and health condition (P < 0.05). Relief of insomnia, fatigue, and leg or foot cramps was greater in old-age group than in young-aged group (P < 0.05). Physical examination found that waist circumferences in women of various ages under 55 years were significantly reduced in the intervention group (P < 0.05), while that in men did not significantly change (P > 0.05). Spa therapy (balneotherapy) relieves mental stress, sleep disorder, general health, and reduces women's waist circumferences in sub-healthy people.

Theoretical estimation of kinetic parameters for nucleophilic substitution reactions in solution: an application of a solution translational entropy model.

The kinetic parameters, such as activation entropy, activation enthalpy, activation free-energy, and reaction rate constant, for a series of nucleophilic substitution (SN) reactions in solution, are investigated using both a solution-phase translational entropy model and an ideal gas-phase translational entropy model. The results obtained from the solution translational entropy model are in excellent agreement with the experimental values, while the overestimation of activation free-energy from the ideal gas-phase translational entropy model is as large as 6.9 kcal mol(-1). For some of the reactions studied, such as and in methanol, and and in aqueous solution, the explicit + implicit model, namely, a cluster-continuum type model, should be employed to account for the strong solvent-solute interactions. In addition, the explicit + implicit models have also been applied to the DMSO-H2O mixtures, which would open up a door to investigate the reactions in a mixed solvent using density functional theory (DFT) methods.

Theoretical investigation on the chemoselective N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed cross-benzoin reactions.

A density functional theory study was performed to understand the detailed mechanisms of the cross-benzoin reactions catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) species. Our theoretical study predicted that the first H-transfer operates with water in solution as a mediator, and the second H-transfer undergoes a concerted mechanism rather than a stepwise one. In addition, the chemoselectivity of the reactions studied in this work has been explored. P1 was obtained as a major product mainly due to the more stable intermediate formed by reaction of NHC with reactant R1. Different steric effects resulting from the fused six-membered ring in transition state TS7 and the fused five-membered ring in transition state TS13 are the origin leading to the chemoselectivity.

The monitoring results of electromagnetic radiation of 110-kV high-voltage lines in one urban location in Chongqing P.R. China.

To understand electromagnetic radiation field strength and its influencing factors of certain 110-kV high-voltage lines in one urban area of Chongqing by measuring 110-kV high-voltage line's electromagnetic radiation level. According to the methodology as determined by the National Hygienic Standards, we selected certain adjacent residential buildings, high-voltage lines along a specific street and selected different distances around its vertical projection point as monitoring points. The levels of electromagnetic radiations were measured respectively. In this investigation within the frequency of 5-1,000 Hz both the electric field strength and magnetic field strength of each monitoring sites were lower than the public exposure standards as determined by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. However, the electrical field strength on the roof adjacent to the high-voltage lines was significantly higher than that as measured on the other floors in the same buildings (p < 0.05). The electromagnetic radiation measurements of different monitoring points, under the same high-voltage lines, showed the location which is nearer the high-voltage line maintain a consistently higher level of radiation than the more distant locations (p < 0.05). Electromagnetic radiation generated by high-voltage lines decreases proportionally to the distance from the lines. The buildings can to some extent shield (or absorb) the electric fields generated by high-voltage lines nearby. The electromagnetic radiation intensity near high-voltage lines may be mitigated or intensified by the manner in which the high-voltage lines are set up, and it merits attention for the potential impact on human health.

[Acupuncture at Ciliao (BL 32) for prevention of postpartum urinary retention in elderly parturient women: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the preventive effect of acupuncture at Ciliao (BL 32) on postpartum urinary retention as well as the time and volume of the first urination after delivery in elderly parturient women undergoing vaginal delivery. METHODS: A total of 180 elderly parturient women (≥35 years old) undergoing vaginal delivery were randomly divided into a blank control group, a conditional control group and an observation group, 60 cases in each group. The patients in the blank control group were treated with routine nursing plan; based on the treatment of the blank control group, the patients in the conditional control group were treated with additional intervention measures such as applying hot towel on the bladder and fingers pressing to stimulate urination; based on the treatment of the blank control group, the patients in the observation group were treated with acupuncture at bilateral Ciliao (BL 32) one hour after delivery for 20 min (the acupuncture was given only once). The incidence rate of postpartum urinary retention as well as the time and volume of the first urination among the women without urinary retention were observed; the satisfaction rate of the 3 groups was recorded. RESULTS: The incidence rate of postpartum urinary retention in the observation group was 5.0% (3/60), which was significantly lower than 26.7% (16/60) in the blank control group (P<0.01) and 16.7% (10/60) in the conditional control group (P<0.05); the incidence rate of postpartum urinary retention in the conditional control group was significantly lower than that in the blank control group [16.7% (10/60) vs 26.7%(16/60), P<0.05]. In the elderly women without urinary retention, the first urination time in the observation group was significantly earlier than that in the blank control group and conditional control group (P<0.01), and the first urination time in the conditional control group was earlier than that in the blank control group (P<0.01). The volume of first urination in the observation group was higher than that in the blank control group and the conditional control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The satisfaction rates in the observation group and conditional control group were higher than that in the blank control group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at Ciliao (BL 32) could effectively prevent the postpartum urinary retention, improve the time and volume of the first urination in elderly parturient women undergoing vaginal delivery.

Reactive oxygen species production and Bax/Bcl-2 regulation in honokiol-induced apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells.

We investigated possible mechanism(s) where honokiol induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells. MTT assay showed that honokiol has strong inhibition on SMMC-7721 cells in a dose-dependent manner. SMMC-7721 cells after honokiol treatment display morphological characteristics such as cell shrinkage, detachment from the culture plate, formation of apoptotic bodies, change to a round shape, and marked nuclear condensation and fragmentation after 32258 staining. Cell apoptosis was measured by Annexin-V/PI staining and alternatively, by the subG0/G1 percentage of the cell cycle analysis followed by FACS. An obvious loss of ΔΨ(m) and a quick burst of ROS was detected when honokiol reached 4µg/ml, which was coincident with the high apoptosis percentage in our previous research. Up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 were observed, suggesting that honokiol-induced apoptosis was associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and an increase of Bax/Bcl-2 ratios.

Dietary attitudes and behaviours of women in China after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in three seismically different zones.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The sudden occurrence of the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake not only devastated people's health, but also may have impacted on the psychological and dietary attitudes and behaviours of the survivors. Although the influence of natural disaster on people's health has been extensively investigated, there is a lack of information about the effects on people's dietary attitudes and behaviours. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of the Wenchuan earthquake on the dietary attitudes and behaviours of adult women from different zones of China in July 2008. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: 736 women, aged 18-55 years old, were randomly selected and interviewed after the earthquake. Women were selected from three zones: the earthquake zone (n=206), the shaking zone (n=326), and the non-seismic zone (n=204). RESULTS: Although nutrition knowledge mean scores of women in the three zones were relatively low, the women in the earthquake zone became more vigilant about the nutritional value and acceptability of food than women in the other two zones. Nevertheless, women in the earthquake zone also developed some arguably untoward, if understandable, behaviour after the disaster. They increased their consumption and tendency to stock instant food and snack items. That said, these findings were modulated by other factors such as age, residence, Body Mass Index (BMI), and nutrition knowledge itself, as were post-earthquake eating behaviours, as judged by the ordinal logistic regression analyses performed. CONCLUSIONS: The major Wenchuan earthquake was associated with differentials in dietary attitudes and behaviours among women by seismic zone.

The adsorption and dissociation of O2 on Cu low-index surfaces.

The extended LEPS of O(2)-Cu single crystal plane systems is constructed by means of 5-MP (the 5-parameter Morse potential). Both the adsorption and dissociation of O(2) on Cu low-index surfaces are investigated with extended LEPS in detail. All critical characteristics of the system that we obtain, such as adsorption geometry, binding energy, eigenvalues for vibration, etc., are in good agreement with the experimental results. Our calculated results suggest there are many differences between O(2)-Cu (110) and O(2)-Pd (110) systems. On a Cu (110) surface, O(2) adsorbs in a tilted configuration and there are two lowest energy dissociation channels along the [001] and [10] directions, respectively. We speculate that the adsorption geometry of O(2) on the metal surfaces relates to the lattice constant of metal. Meanwhile, We use the concepts of the molecular dissociation limit and the surface dissociation distance to analyze again the dissociation mechanism of the O(2) on the low-index surfaces.

Lifestyle of Chinese centenarians and their key beneficial factors in Chongqing, China.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe the lifestyle of Chinese centenarians and to identify the beneficial factors that are correlated to their longevity. METHODS: A census-based survey was conducted among centenarians in Chongqing, Southwest China, to identify the lifestyle factors affecting their health. From screening identification cards, 878 centenarians (age range 100-117, mean 102) were identified and interviewed. RESULTS: The survey indicated that 64% centenarians were able to take care of themselves. The majority of centenarians were nonsmokers (92%) and non-drinkers (83%). No significant difference was observed between urban and rural distributions (Χ2=0.939, p=0.625). Moreover, 43% centenarians maintained a regular diet, and only 33% had a sedentary lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS: A nutritious diet, adequate physical exercise, and a harmonious family environment may be the key lifestyle factors for their longevity of centenarians in Chongqing. These observations might be helpful in designing health promotion and welfare strategies for the elderly.