Diesel exhaust particulate matter dispersed in a phospholipid surfactant induces chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei but not 6-thioguanine-resistant gene mutation in V79 cells.

Diesel exhaust particulate material (DPM) was assayed for induction of chromosomal aberrations (CA), micronucleus (MN) formation, and 6-thioguanine-resistant (TG9 gene mutation in V79 cells as a dispersion in dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) in physiological saline, a simulated pulmonary surfactant. Filter-collected automobile DPM provided for the study was not organic solvent extracted, but was directly mixed into DPPC in saline dispersion as a model of pulmonary surfactant conditioning of a soot particle depositing in a lung alveolus. A statistically significant difference was found between treated and control groups at all concentrations tested in a CA assay.

Disease control and prevention in China in the 20(th) century and prospects for the new millennium.

In the first part of the paper, the main achievements and experience of disease control and prevention in China during last 50 years are described. Infectious diseases and parasitosis have been successfully controlled and prevented and people's health enhanced owing to the establishment of an effective system of public health, the launch of a campaign called "Patriotic Public Health", immunization planning, and the improvement of economic and environmental conditions. In the second part, the challenges to public health in China are presented.