Tacrolimus improves proteinuria remission in adults with cyclosporine A-resistant or -dependent minimal change disease.

Aims: Cyclosporin A (CsA) is considered as an effective treatment option for steroid-resistant or-dependent patients with adult-onset minimal change disease (MCD). However, CsA resistance or dependence is also observed in these patients. Tacrolimus (TAC) is a calcineurin inhibitor that is potent in cytokine suppression.

Investigation into knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding medical nutrition therapy among patients with diabetes in China: Results from a national multicenter cross-sectional study.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) associated with medical nutrition therapy (MNT) among Chinese adult patients with diabetes and prediabetes.

Methods: From May to August 2014, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 40 hospitals across China. The KAP of respondents was investigated through a pretested structured questionnaire in face-to-face interviews.

Biochar decreased microbial metabolic quotient and shifted community composition four years after a single incorporation in a slightly acid rice paddy from southwest China.

While numerous studies both in laboratory and field have showed short term impacts of biochar on soil microbial community, there have been comparatively few reports addressing its long term impacts particular in field condition. This study investigated the changes of microbial community activity and composition in a rice paddy four years after a single incorporation of biochar at 20 and 40t/ha. The results indicated that biochar amendment after four years increased soil pH, soil organic C (SOC), total N and C/N ratio and decreased bulk density, particularly for the 40t/ha treatment compared to the control (0t/ha).

[A clinical analysis of insulin antibody in type 2 diabetic patients].

This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between serum insulin levels and the production of insulin antibody (IA) in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). A total of 647 T2DM were included. Among them, 20.

Relationship between cytokine gene polymorphisms and acute rejection following liver transplantation.

Acute rejection (AR) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) is one of the major complications that leads to chronic graft dysfunction. It has been reported that the polymorphisms in some cytokine genes are associated with human liver allograft rejection. This study mainly investigated the associations between polymorphisms in the genes encoding interleukin-10 (IL10), transforming growth factor-b1 (TGFB1), and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF), and the risk of AR recurrence.

Cd immobilization in a contaminated rice paddy by inorganic stabilizers of calcium hydroxide and silicon slag and by organic stabilizer of biochar.

A field experiment was conducted in a Cd-contaminated rice paddy field to evaluate the effect of inorganic and organic metal stabilizers on Cd mobility and rice uptake. A dose of inorganic stabilizer of calcium hydroxide (CH), silicon slag (SS), and wheat straw biochar (BC) was amended respectively to topsoil before rice transplanting. Rice production was managed with the same water regime and fertilization practices consistently between treatments including a control without amendment.

Lack of association between anemia and renal disease progression in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims/introduction: Anemia has a close interaction with renal dysfunction in diabetes patients. More proof is still awaited on the relationship between anemia and the progression of renal disease in this population.

Materials And Methods: In the present longitudinal study, 1,645 Chinese type 2 diabetes patients without end-stage renal disease were included in the analysis in Nanjing, China, during January 2006 and December 2012.

Evaluation of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese communities: a cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to evaluate the glycemic levels in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to explore the factors related to the results of glycemic control. A total of 2454 T2DM patients from 11 communities were examined for glycosylated hemoglobin levels and glycemic control options. Potential factors related to the results of glycemic control were analyzed using logistic regression.

Comparison of the Effects of Contralaterally Controlled Functional Electrical Stimulation and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Upper Extremity Functions in Patients with Stroke.

Background: Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation (CCFES) is an innovative method to improve upper extremity functions after stroke.

Objective: To compare the effects of CCFES versus neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on the upper extremity functions in patients with stroke.

Methods: Sixty patients with stroke were randomly assigned into CCFES group (n=30) or NMES group (n=30).

Visual Spatial Attention Training Improve Spatial Attention and Motor Control for Unilateral Neglect Patients.

Objective: To compare the effect of visual spatial training on the spatial attention to that on motor control and to correlate the improvement of spatial attention to motor control progress after visual spatial training in subjects with unilateral spatial neglect (USN).

Method: 9 cases with USN after right cerebral stroke were randomly divided into Conventional treatment group + visual spatial attention and Conventional treatment group. The Conventional treatment group + visual spatial attention received conventional rehabilitation therapy (physical and occupational therapy) and visual spatial attention training (optokinetic stimulation and right half-field eye patching).

Does metal pollution matter with C retention by rice soil?

Soil respiration, resulting in decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC), emits CO2 to the atmosphere and increases under climate warming. However, the impact of heavy metal pollution on soil respiration in croplands is not well understood. Here we show significantly increased soil respiration and efflux of both CO2 and CH4 with a concomitant reduction in SOC storage from a metal polluted rice soil in China.

A combination of tri-modal cancer imaging and in vivo drug delivery by metal-organic framework based composite nanoparticles.

Multifunctional Fe3O4@polyacrylic acid/Au nanoclusters/zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PAA/AuNCs/ZIF-8 NPs) integrating tri-modal cancer imaging (magnetic resonance, computed X-ray tomography and fluorescence imaging) and chemotherapy into a single system were fabricated by using a facile, mild and reproducible strategy. The obtained NPs possess many merits including ultrahigh doxorubicin (DOX) loading capability (1.54 mg DOX per mg NPs), dual pH-responsive controlled drug release, tri-modal cancer imaging ability, facile magnetic separation and good biocompatibility.

Enhanced rice production but greatly reduced carbon emission following biochar amendment in a metal-polluted rice paddy.

Soil amendment of biochar (BSA) had been shown effective for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and alleviating metal stress to plants and microbes in soil. It has not yet been addressed if biochar exerts synergy effects on crop production, GHG emission, and microbial activity in metal-polluted soils. In a field experiment, biochar was amended at sequential rates at 0, 10, 20, and 40 t ha(-1), respectively, in a cadmium- and lead-contaminated rice paddy from the Tai lake Plain, China, before rice cropping in 2010.

Ultralong focal length microlens array fabricated based on SU-8 photoresist.

In this paper, a novel method to fabricate ultralong focal length microlens arrays has been proposed. The microlens arrays were fabricated based on surface tension when heating temperature is over a glass transition temperature of SU-8 photoresist. An ultralong focal length was achieved by the large radius of curvature of a photoresist surface.

The mental health of children of migrant workers in Beijing: the protective role of public school attendance.

The present study aims to understand the mental health status of an understudied group of migrant children - children of migrant workers in China. A total of 1,466 children from Beijing participated in the study that compared migrant children (n = 1,019) to their local peers (n = 447) in public and private school settings. Results showed that overall, migrant children reported more internalizing and externalizing mental health problems and lower life satisfaction than local peers.

Anthropometric parameters and their associations with cardio-metabolic risk in Chinese working population.

Background: There remains controversy regarding which of the anthropometric indicators best defines obesity. In this study, we compared the efficacy of using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in the diagnosis of obesity and assessed their associations with diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia in an urban working population in China.

Methods: Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, plasma lipids, fasting and 2-hour plasma glucose (PG) levels by a 75 gram oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were obtained from 2603 working Chinese who had no history of cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.

A comparative study on carbon footprint of rice production between household and aggregated farms from Jiangxi, China.

Quantifying the carbon footprint (CF) for crop production can help identify key options to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture. In the present study, both household and aggregated farm scales were surveyed to obtain the data of rice production and farming management practices in a typical rice cultivation area of Northern Jiangxi, China. The CFs of the different rice systems including early rice, late rice, and single rice under household and aggregated farm scale were calculated.

[Cefodizime increases peripheral blood CD4/CD8 and Th1/Th2 ratios in senile patients with bacterial pneumonia].

Objective: To explore the influence of cefodizime on CD4/CD8 and T helper 1(Th1)/Th2 cell ratios in peripheral blood of the senile patients with bacterial pneumonia.

Methods: Sixty-three senile patients with bacterial pneumonia were enrolled and divided into two groups randomly. Patients in the control group (n=31) were given intravenous infusion of ceftriaxone sodium, and patients in the observation group (n=32) were given intravenous infusion of cefodizime.

[Mechanisms of cordycepin on improving renal interstitial fibrosis via regulating eIF2α/TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway].

Objective: To investigate the effects and mechanisms of cordycepin,an effective component of cordyceps militaris, on renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) and its related eIF2α/TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.

Method: Firstly, 15 C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 3 groups,the control group (Group A), the model group (Group B) and the cordycepin-treated group (Group C). After renal interstitial fibrotic model was successfully established by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), the mice in Group C were intraperitoneally administrated with cordycepin(5 mg x kg(-1) d(-1)) and the ones in Group A and B were administrated with physiological saline for 5 days.

[Impact of nitrate continuous injection on N2O releases from bioreactor landfill].

A combined process comprised of ex-situ nitrification and in-situ denitrification in different bioreactors is an effective measure to nitrogen removal, but it will cause N2O, a strong greenhouse gas, emissions. This paper focused on the production characteristics and influencing factors of N2O by establishing 3 bioreactor landfill units by continuous injected different amount of nitrate leachate (50, 100 and 300 mg x L(-1)), with fresh MSW as material in an experimental scale. Experimental results showed that the production of N2O had the same regulation with different amount of NO3(-) -N injection,they all showed high at the initial period,then at a lower level, finnal at a higher level; The cumulative production is positively correlated with the amount of NO3(-) -N, the total quantity of N2O are 36 481, 44 241 and 86 264 μg respectively; However, the amount of N2O by consumption per nitrate nitrogen and N2O conversion ratio by denitrification is negatively correlation with the amount of NO3(-) -N, the average conversion ratio are 8.

Acetylation of TUG protein promotes the accumulation of GLUT4 glucose transporters in an insulin-responsive intracellular compartment.

Insulin causes the exocytic translocation of GLUT4 glucose transporters to stimulate glucose uptake in fat and muscle. Previous results support a model in which TUG traps GLUT4 in intracellular, insulin-responsive vesicles termed GLUT4 storage vesicles (GSVs). Insulin triggers TUG cleavage to release the GSVs; GLUT4 then recycles through endosomes during ongoing insulin exposure.

Improvements in quality of life associated with biphasic insulin aspart 30 in type 2 diabetes patients in China: results from the A1chieve® observational study.

Background: Based on the 24-week, prospective, non-interventional, observational study, A1chieve®, we investigated how health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changed, and the predictors of such changes, in Chinese people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after starting with, or switching to, biphasic insulin aspart 30 (BIAsp 30).

Methods: In total, 8,578 people with T2DM starting treatment with, or switching to, BIAsp 30 were recruited from 130 urban hospitals in China. HRQoL was assessed at baseline and 24 weeks using the EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire.

The impact of statins therapy on disease activity and inflammatory factor in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: Statin is the most widely used as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, and contributes to clinically significant vascular risk reduction. However, the role of statins in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) immunomodulation is debatable. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy of statins therapy in RA patients.

Effectiveness of Selected Fitness Exercises on Stress of Femoral Neck using Musculoskeletal Dynamics Simulations and Finite Element Model.

The purpose of the study was to establish a dynamics model and a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model to analyze loading characteristics of femoral neck during walking, squat, single-leg standing, and forward and lateral lunges. One male volunteer performed three trials of the five movements. The 3D kinematic data were captured and imported into the LifeMOD to establish a musculoskeletal dynamics model to obtain joint reaction and muscle forces of iliacus, gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, psoas major and adductor magnus.