Analysis of a Community-based Intervention to Reduce Heat-related Illness during Heat Waves in Licheng, China: a Quasi-experimental Study.

Objective: To reduce health-related threats of heat waves, interventions have been implemented in many parts of the world. However, there is a lack of higher-level evidence concerning the intervention efficacy. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of an intervention to reduce the number of heat-related illnesses.

Distributed lag effects and vulnerable groups of floods on bacillary dysentery in Huaihua, China.

Understanding the potential links between floods and bacillary dysentery in China is important to develop appropriate intervention programs after floods. This study aimed to explore the distributed lag effects of floods on bacillary dysentery and to identify the vulnerable groups in Huaihua, China. Weekly number of bacillary dysentery cases from 2005-2011 were obtained during flood season.

Citreoviridin Enhances Atherogenesis in Hypercholesterolemic ApoE-Deficient Mice via Upregulating Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction.

Vascular endothelial dysfunction and inflammatory response are early events during initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. In vitro studies have described that CIT markedly upregulates expressions of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 of endothelial cells, which result from NF-κB activation induced by CIT. In order to determine whether it plays a role in atherogenesis in vivo, we conducted the study to investigate the effects of CIT on atherosclerotic plaque development and inflammatory response in apolipoprotein E deficient (apoE-/-) mice.

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 gene polymorphisms and autoimmune thyroid diseases: an updated systematic review and cumulative meta-analysis.

The association of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) gene and susceptibility to autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) has been studied extensively. However, the results were not the same in different ethnic groups. We updated the meta-analysis of association of CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms with AITDs and summarized the results in specific ethnicity.

Higher expression of circulating miR-182 as a novel biomarker for breast cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), present in the serum in a stable and reproducible manner, may be used as biomarkers for various diseases. Few studies have previously investigated circulating miRNAs in the peripheral blood of breast cancer (BC) patients. To identify the role of serum miR-182 levels in BC, the present study detected miR-182 levels in the serum of 46 BC patients and 58 controls, by quantitative PCR.

The associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in miR-146a, miR-196a and miR-499 with breast cancer susceptibility.

Background: Previous studies have investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in microRNAs (miRNAs) and breast cancer susceptibility; however, because of their limited statistical power, many discrepancies are revealed in these studies. The meta-analysis presented here aimed to identify and characterize the roles of miRNA SNPs in breast cancer risk, and evaluate the associations of polymorphisms in miR-146a rs2910164, miR-196a rs11614913 and miR-499 rs3746444 with breast cancer susceptibility, respectively.

Methodology/principal Findings: The PubMed and Embases databases were searched updated to 31(st) December, 2012.

[Analysis of clinical features and early warning indicators of death from hand, foot and mouth disease in Shandong province].

Objective: To understand the clinical features of death from hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and to explore the early warning index of HFMD death.

Methods: A total of 41 HFMD death cases were collected as case group in Shandong province between 2009 and 2011, and another 123 serious HFMD cases were selected as control group according to the similar gender, place of origin and hospital level, with the ratio at 1:3. We investigated the general situation, clinical treatment, past medical history, clinical symptoms and signs of the ill children, and applied the conditional logistic regression to explore early warning index of HFMD death.

[Research progress on ebola virus glycoprotein].

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes outbreaks of a highly lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans and there are no effective therapeutic or prophylactic treatments available. The glycoprotein (GP) of EBOV is a transmembrane envelope protein known to play multiple functions including virus attachment and entry, cell rounding and cytotoxicity, down-regulation of host surface proteins, and enhancement of virus assembly and budding. GP is the primary target of protective immunity and the key target for developing neutralizing antibodies.

[Time between the onset and diagnosis of dengue fever and related influencing factors in China].

Objective: To study the time between the onset and diagnosis of Dengue fever and its influencing factors in China.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Infectious Disease Surveillance System (IDSS). Descriptive analysis was performed for the time interval while nonparametric tests and logistic regression analysis were used to study the related influencing factors.

Characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi strains isolated in Shandong Province, China by immunofluorescence and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses.

In order to identify the characteristics of the Sta56 gene of the 23 isolates of Orientia (O.) tsutsugamushi isolated in Shandong Province, indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) was used to identify the gene type of 23 strains O. tsutsugamushi isolated from scrub typhus patients, chigger mites, and rodents.

[A case-control study on the risk factors of central nervous system congenital malformations].

Objective: To determine the risk factors in the development of central nervous system (CNS) congenital malformations.

Methods: A hospital-based 1:2 matched case-control study was conducted. Each case was matched with two normal controls on sex and residential area, date of birth, within half a year.