Association between urinary nickel with obesity status in adults: A cross-sectional study

Objectives

The prevalence of obesity is on the rise and is connected to numerous factors. However, the relationship between obesity and nickel has never been investigated. Our study aimed to explore the association between urinary nickel and obesity Status in adults.

Methods

From the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), 1,705 participants ≥18 years of age were enrolled. To explore further the relationship among urinary nickel, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference(WC), Weighted multivariate linear regression analyses and further subgroup analyzes were conducted.

Results

Urinary nickel does not correlate with BMI level but positively correlates with WC. In the subgroup analyzed according to sex, Urinary nickel has a positive correlation with BMI and WC in males but has a negative correlation in females. Secondary stratification analysis according to sex and race, Urinary nickel positively correlates with BMI in White males. It also positively correlates with WC in both White and Black males.

Conclusions

A correlation was found between urinary nickel levels and BMI and WC in adult males. Adult men, especially those already obese, may need to reduce nickel exposure.

[Present situation and countermeasures of technical support system of occupational disease prevention and control in China]

Objective: To analyze the current situation and existing problems of the technical support system for occupational disease prevention and control in china, and to put forward development measures and suggestions. Methods: In January 2021, a cluster method was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on the relevant institutions of national occupational disease prevention and control technology support. Mainly investigate the development of occupational disease prevention and control centers (institutes) , municipal and county-level disease control centers, occupational health examination, occupational disease diagnosis and occupational health intermediary services. Data are described by number and composition ratio (%) , and descriptive analysis is made on the data. Results: As of December 2020, there were 140 occupational disease prevention and control centers (institutes) nationwide, an increase of 65 compared with 2019. There were 323 municipal and 2704 county-level centers for disease control and prevention, accounting for 97.00% (323/333) and 95.01% (2704/2846) of the total number of centers for disease control and prevention. There were 4520 occupational health examination institutions, 587 occupational disease diagnosis institutions, 1093 occupational health technical service institutions and 623 radiological health technical service institutions. Conclusion: The supporting force and ability of occupational disease prevention and control technology need to be improved, and the strength of occupational disease prevention and control hospitals (institutes) is still weak; The municipal and county-level centers for disease control and prevention need to further improve their conditions and capabilities; The number of occupational health examination, occupational disease diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation institutions was relatively insufficient.

Effect of Exercise on the Cognitive Function of Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Aging and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are important risk factors for the development of cognitive deterioration and dementia. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of an exercise intervention on cognitive function in older T2DM patients.

Methods

Eight literature databases (PubMed, EBSCO, Scopus, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Ovid, and ProQuest) were searched from inception to 20 January 2022. The researchers examined randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the impact of exercise on the cognitive performance of older T2DM patients. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (ROB 2) for RCTs was used to assess each study. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE (grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluations) approach. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Modified MMSE (3MSE), and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) were used to evaluate the cognitive outcomes. We performed a subgroup analysis with stratification according to exercise intervention modality, duration, and cognitive impairment.

Results

Five trials were eligible, with a total of 738 T2DM patients. The combined findings revealed that exercise improved global cognitive function significantly (standardized mean difference: 1.34, 95% confidence interval: 0.23–2.44, p < 0.01). The effect of exercise on global cognitive performance was not significantly influenced by intervention modality, intervention duration, or cognitive impairment in the sub-group analysis (p > 0.05). In the studies that were included, no relevant adverse events were reported.

Conclusion

Exercise is beneficial in improving global cognitive function in older adults with T2DM. Studies with bigger sample sizes and higher quality are additionally expected to draw more definite conclusions.

Systematic Review Registration

[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#recordDetails], identifier [CRD42022296049].

[Clinical application of mesenchymal stem cells in treatment of acute-on-chronic liver failure and related research advances]

Acute-on-chronic liver failure is a syndrome characterized by acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis, organ failure, and high mortality. Clinical treatment of acute-on-chronic liver failure included comprehensive medical treatment, artificial liver support system, and liver transplantation, but such methods have their own shortcomings and patients tend to have a poor prognosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), as a new type of cell therapy, have wide sources and are easy to extract and culture. Many studies have shown that MSC treatment not only helps to achieve a high survival rate, but also has good tolerability and safety; therefore, the clinical value of MSCs has become a hot research topic. This article reviews the clinical studies on acute-on-chronic liver failure, related mechanisms, and research advances, in order to provide a reference for future clinical trials and application.

The treatment of severe and multiple injuries in intensive care unit: report of 80 cases

OBJECTIVE

To summarize our case load in managing severe and multiple injuries (SMI) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The clinical data of 80 SMI patients treated in our ICU from January 2009 to June 2013 were analyzed.

RESULTS

Results of these 80 SMI patients, 60 (75%) were salvaged and 15 (18.75%) died. The causes of death included severe head injury (n=7), severe chest injury (n=3), destruction of injured abdominal organs (n=2), and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (n=3). Five patients (7.50%) gave up treatment and were discharged upon their own requests. Early application of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and enteral nutrition (EN) improved outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The key interventions during the ICU treatment of SMI include: adequate analgesia and appropriate sedation; timely management of hypoxemia; reasonable fluid resuscitation and CRRT.

Improved methane production from waste activated sludge with low organic content by alkaline pretreatment at pH 10

Sludge with low organic content always results in an unsatisfactory performance, even failure of anaerobic digestion. The alkaline pretreatment effect on anaerobic digestion of sludge with low organic content has seldom been studied although it gives many benefits for sludge with high organic content. In this study the influence of alkaline pretreatment (pH 10, an effective alkaline pH) on the solubilization and methane production from waste activated sludge (WAS) with low organic content was investigated. Results from biochemical methane potential (BMP) experiments showed that anaerobic biodegradability of WAS was greatly improved by alkaline pretreatment at pH 10. Methane production from the current WAS under conditions of pretreatment time 4 h and digestion time 15 d was 139.6 mL/g VS (volatile solids), much higher than that from the unpretreated WAS with digestion time of 20 d (75.2 mL/g VS). Also, the solubilization of WAS was significantly accelerated by alkaline pretreatment. Mechanism exploration indicated that the general activities of anaerobic microorganisms, specific activities of key enzymes and the amounts of methanogens were enhanced by alkaline pretreatment at pH 10, showing good agreement with methane production.

[Regulation of the transcription of oxidized low-density-lipoprotein receptor by angiotensin II]

AIM

To observe the effects of different concentrations Angiotensin II on the transcription of LOX1 in culture human umbilical vein endothelial cells and to explore its mechanism.

METHODS

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTS

(1) Angiotensin II cause a concentration-dependent increase of the level of LOX1 mRNA. (2) Losartan, the inhibitor of AT1 receptor subtypes, inhibited this effects.

CONCLUSION

Angiotensin II stimulated the gene expression of LOX1 by activating AT1 receptor subtype in culture human endothelial cells.

[A longitudinal study of growth and development of low birth weight infants]

In order to investigate the growth and development of low birth weight infant (LBWI), 132 low birth weight infants (BW < 2500g) born in 1983 living in Xi Hui district were followed up from birth to three years. And 49 full-term infants with normal birth weight were selected as controls. The weight, length, and head circumference of infants of two groups were measured periodically. Their development abilities were assessed by using Gesell Development Diagnosis. Results showed the weight, length, and head circumference of LBWI were obviously less than that of the controls. The developmental quotient (DQ) of LBWI were lower that that of controls, particularly in gross motor field, Therefore, it is important to reduce the rate of IBWI and to give scientific guidance on child care and early training for promoting growth and development of infants.

[Protective effect of "wei tong ling" on gastric mucosa and influence on quality of gastric ulcer healing]

The acute gastric ulcer rat models were induced by dehydrated alcohol, 0.6 N hydrochloric acid and 0.6 N sodium hydroxide, and the chronic gastric ulcer rat models were established by means of acetic acid, the protective effect of Chinese medicine "Wei Tong Ling" (WTL) on gastric mucous membrane was studied. Using histochemical mucin stain, AgNOR stain and immunohistochemical technique the regenerated mucosa of healed gastric ulcer induced by acetic acid in rats was observed quantitatively. They were compared with that of WTL. The results showed that the regenerated mucosa of healed gastric ulcer might be the morphological basis for the recurrence of gastric ulcer and be associated with canceration. WTL could not only accelerate the healing of ulcer but also raise the quality of gastric ulcerous healing which was beneficial for the prevention of ulcer recurrence and canceration. The protective effect of WTL on gastric mucosa was confirmed by various assays.

Development of early and late brainstem conduction time in normal and intrauterine growth retarded children

Development of early (I-III) and late (III-V) brainstem conduction time (BCT) in the brainstem auditory evoked responses was examined and compared in 178 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and 24 small-for-gestational-age (SGA) children from birth to 6 years of age. In AGA children, the III-V/I-III interval ratio increased with age from birth to 2 years and remained relatively steady. This indicates that the development of the early and late BCT, or probably the lower and upper brainstem is not synchronous during early childhood, with a slightly faster development of the early BCT relative to the late BCT. In SGA children, the I-V, I-III and III-V intervals showed similar developmental trends to those in AGA children. However, the III-V/I-III ratio followed a developmental course which differed remarkably from that in AGA children. The ratio decreased slightly with age up to 2 years and was consistently smaller than in normal children after 1 year, indicating that the relative development of early and late BCT deviates from normal. This finding suggests that prenatal factors responsible for intrauterine growth retardation could alter the late or long-term development of the nervous system, resulting in sub-optimal outcome.

The effect of click rate on latency and interpeak interval of the brain-stem auditory evoked potentials in children from birth to 6 years

Latency and interpeak interval of the brain-stem auditory evoked potentials at different click rates were measured in 80 healthy children from birth to 6 years, and 21 adults. Clicks were presented at 10, 30, 50, 70 and 90/sec, and 70, 40 and 20 dB HL. At high stimulus intensity (70 dB SL), all latencies of waves I, III and V and the I-V, I-III and III-V intervals showed a progressive prolongation with increasing repetition rate. The latency- and the interval-rate functions were similar for all age groups but their slopes were slightly steeper in younger than in older. As click rate increased from 10/sec to 90/sec, the latencies of waves I, III and V at different age groups were prolonged by 4-10%, 9-13% and 12-15% respectively, and the intervals of I-V, I-III and III-V were prolonged by 15-16%, 8-16% and 14-24% respectively. The mean increments of wave V latency and I-V interval in different age groups were 0.404-0.575 and 0.332-0.526 msec respectively with increasing click rate from 10 to 50/sec, and 0.697-1.009 and 0.629-0.776 msec respectively with increasing click rate from 10 to 90/sec. The younger the age the larger the absolute increments for all these BAEP parameters, but the increasing rates for a BAEP measure were similar among different age groups, exhibiting no age-dependent differences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Study of nailfold capillaries in hypertriglyceridemia (types 3 and IV hyperlipoproteinemia)

Reflected light nailfold capillaroscopy was used to discover micro-angiopathy in atherosclerotic patients with hypertriglyceridemia (types III and IV hyperlipoproteinemia). In comparison with healthy normolipemic controls, 51 of a series of 64 patients were found to have beds of dilated, congested, elongated, and tortuous capillary venular limbs and loops; and 29 of these with capillary abnormalities were found to have either fresh or old hemorrhages. Serial studies revealed that capillary hemorrhages tended to subside shortly after the hyperlipoproteinemia was controlled by a low carbohydrate diet, while the morphologic abnormalities showed little or no change for 8 to 21 months.