Association between Exposure of Rare Earth Elements and Outcomes of Fertilization-Embryo Transfer in Beijing.

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the impact of rare earth elements (REEs) exposure on pregnancy outcomes of fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) by analyzing samples from spouses.

Methods: A total of 141 couples were included. Blood and follicular fluid from the wives and semen plasma from the husbands, were analyzed for REEs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Parental characteristics and the risk of schizophrenia in a Chinese population: a case-control study.

Background: Genetic studies have provided convergent results indicating that schizophrenia is a polygenic disorder with a heritability estimate of ∼60-80%. The propensity for schizophrenia is ∼10 times higher in individuals with first-degree relatives with schizophrenia when compared to the general population.

Aim: To identify associations between parental characteristics and the risk of schizophrenia in a Chinese population.

Association on DISC1 SNPs with schizophrenia risk: A meta-analysis.

Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder with complex genetic, environmental, and psychological etiologies. Although DISC1 gene has been shown as a risk factor for schizophrenia in some reports, there is a lack of a consensus. We therefore performed separate meta-analyses aiming to assess the associations between DISC1 SNPs and schizophrenia risk.

Association between B vitamins and schizophrenia: A population-based case-control study.

To explore the association between schizophrenia and six types of B vitamins, including choline, biotin, riboflavin, pyridoxamine, pyridoxine and nicotinamide, based on the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column (HILIC) Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) platform. We conducted the case-control study between November 2015 and September 2016 in Weifang, Shandong Province, China. Blood samples from 128 cases of schizophrenia and 101 controls were collected, and B vitamin were measured by LC-MS coupled with HILIC.

Lower folate levels in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the association between folate level and schizophrenia in order to provide the evidence for the treatment of schizophrenia. Data were extracted from all the studies meeting our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The association between the folate level and schizophrenia was evaluated by the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

[Orthogonal Experiment for Optimization of the Sample Pretreatment Conditions for the Serum Cholesterol and Markers Determination by GC-MS].

The objective is to use orthogonal experiment to optimize the pretreatment on the determination of serum cholesterol and its markers by GC-MS. And then the method is evaluated in a methodological perspective. The methodis to Use L16(211) orthogonal experiment design to observe the influence of three key steps，althogether seven factors of pretreatment, which are saponification (KOH ethanol solution concentration, temperature and time), extraction (dose) and derivatization (temperature , time and dose).

Manifestation of the Se, Cd and Mo levels in different components of the peripheral blood of Sprague-Dawley rats poisoned via the respiratory tract.

This study aimed to explore the effects of exogenous element exposure via the respiratory tract on the Se, Cd and Mo concentrations in different components of the peripheral blood in rats as well as to determine the correlations of the three trace elements concentrations among the components. The Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group and several experimental groups treated with different doses. The rats were exposed to a mixed trace element solution through 10 days of intratracheal instillation.

Meta-Analyses of Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Activity, Gene Ala-9Val Polymorphism, and the Risk of Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a complex and disabling psychiatric disorder, and tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a severe adverse drug effect occurring in 20% to 40% of schizophrenic patients chronically treated with typical neuroleptics. Previous studies suggested that the manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) activity was associated with the development of schizophrenia. Ala-9Val polymorphism, a functional polymorphism of MnSOD gene, has been reported to be related to the risk of schizophrenia and TD.

Correlations of trace element levels in the diet, blood, urine, and feces in the Chinese male.

In order to explore the associations between trace elements in dietary intake and the other three biological media (blood, urine, or feces) and inter-element interactions among the latter, we simultaneously collected 72-h diet duplicates, whole blood, and 72-h urine and feces from 120 free-living healthy males in China. Correlations among the toxic (cadmium [Cd], lead [Pb]), and nutritionally essential (zinc [Zn], copper [Cu], iron [Fe], manganese [Mn], selenium [Se], iodine [I]) elements were evaluated using Spearman rank correlation analysis based on analytical data determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Dietary Cd intakes were highly correlated with the fecal Cd and blood Cd levels.

[Determination of trace BrO3- and Br- in Chinese patent drugs, waters and beverages by ion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry].

In the present study, a method for determination of BrO3- and Br- using ion chromatograghy coupling with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS) was developed. BrO3- and Br- were separated on a Hamilton PRP X-100 (150 x 4.1 mm, 10 microm) column guarding with a On-guard II RP (4 x 50 mm) column with 10 mmol x L(-1) NH4NO3 eluent solution at 2 mL x min(-1).

[Speciation analysis of lead and its isotopes in fine particulate matters in Beijing by ICP-MS].

Fine particulate matters (PMZ2.5) collected in Beijing during a period from September 2005 to May 2006 were studied. Sequential extraction procedures were applied to divide the total lead into three fractions, i.

GDNF augments survival and differentiation of TH-positive neurons in neural progenitor cells.

GDNF plays an important role in the survival and differentiation of primary dopaminergic neurons, but it requires multiple factors for its entire range of activities. This study investigated the effects of GDNF and its cofactors on the development of bFGF-responsive neural progenitor cells (NPCs), mesencephalic and cortical progenitor cells (MP and CP). Various factors were found to have significant inductive effects on the survival and maintenance of these cells in late developmental stages.