The Immunologic Profiles of Kawasaki Disease Triggered by Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection.

Objective: We compared the immunologic characteristics of mycoplasma pneumoniae-triggered Kawasaki disease (MP-KD) with Kawasaki disease (KD) not associated with mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), with mycoplasma pneumoniae-triggered Henoch-Schönlein purpura (MP-HSP), and with healthy controls.

Methods: Complement levels, cellular and humoral immunity were assessed in KD, in MP-KD, in MP-HSP, and in healthy children.

Results: Of 622 children with KD, 74 had MP-KD.

Treatment for Thoracic Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament with Posterior Circumferential Decompression.

Objective: To report the results of the posterior approach for thoracic ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (TOPLL) by using a special "L" osteotome.

Methods: The present study enrolled 16 consecutive patients (9 men and 7 women) between May 2009 and September 2013. All patients underwent a posterior circumferential decompression osteotomy and segmental instrumentation with interbody fusion.

[Semi-quantitative risk assessment on local transmission of Dengue fever caused by introduced cases].

Objective: To assess the risk of local transmission of Dengue caused by introduced cases with semi-quantitative method in 2015 in Zhejiang Province.

Methods: Risk indexes of local transmission of Dengue caused by introduced cases were reviewed. The weights of indexes were computed by analytic hierarchy process and further used to generate absolute risk values by multiplying indexes.

Reproductive history and risk of cognitive impairment in elderly women: a cross-sectional study in eastern China.

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that proxies of higher lifetime estrogen exposure are associated with better cognitive function in postmenopausal women, but this has not been found consistently.

Objective: To determine whether reproductive history, an important modifier of estrogen exposure across the lifetime, is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women.

Methods: We analyzed the baseline data from Zhejiang Major Public Health Surveillance Program (ZPHS) including 4,796 postmenopausal women.

Association of CXCL12 levels in synovial fluid with the radiographic severity of knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: Inflammation is implicated to be involved in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). CXCL12, also known as stromal cell-derived factor, is the unique identified natural ligand of the G-protein-coupled receptor CXCR4 and exhibits both homeostatic and proinflammatory functions. This study aims to determine whether CXCL12 levels in serum and synovial fluid (SF) of patients with knee OA are correlated with the disease severity.

Association of BCL-2 polymorphism with the presence and severity of lumbar disc degeneration in the Chinese Han population.

Background: Apoptosis is involved in the mechanism of lumbar disc disease (LDD). BCL-2 has been shown to play an anti-apoptosis role. The present study aims to examine the association of -938C > A polymorphism of the BCL-2 gene with the presence and severity of LDD in the Chinese Han population.