Dynamic assessment of shear connection conditions in slab-girder bridges by Kullback-Leibler distance

Author name used in this publication: Y. Xia2011-2012 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors in adults in southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The metabolic syndrome has been shown to increase the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Little information exists on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome for southern Chinese. We therefore investigate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in a southern Chinese population with 85 million residents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Guangdong Nutrition and Health Survey 2002 is a cross-sectional survey designed to assess the health and nutritional status of 85 million residents in Guangdong province located in southern China. Stratified multistage random sampling method was applied in this survey and a provincial representative sample of 6,468 residents aged 20 years or above was obtained in the present study. The participants received a full medical check-up including measurement of blood pressure, obesity indices, fasting lipids and glucose levels. Data describing socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was also collected through interview. Metabolic syndrome was defined in accordance with the International Diabetes Federation criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 7.30%, translating into a total of 4.0 million residents aged 20 years or above having the condition in this southern Chinese population. The urban population had higher prevalence of the syndrome than the rural population (10.57% vs 4.30%). Females had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than males (8.99% vs 5.27%). More than 60% of the adults had at least one component of the metabolic syndrome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that a large proportion of southern Chinese adults have the metabolic syndrome and associated risk factors. The metabolic syndrome has become an important public health problem in China. These findings emphasize the urgent need to develop population level strategies for the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular risk in China.</p

C-Type Lectin in Chlamys farreri (CfLec-1) Mediating Immune Recognition and Opsonization

Background: C-type lectins are a superfamily of Ca 2+ dependent carbohydrate-recognition proteins that play significant diverse roles in nonself-recognition and clearance of invaders. Though they are well characterized in vertebrates, the study of the potential function and mechanism of C-type lectins in invertebrate immunity is still in its infancy. Methodology: A C-type lectin (CfLec-1) from scallop Chlamys farreri, a dominant cultured mollusk species in China, was selected to investigate its mRNA expression, localization and the possible functions in innate immunity in the present study. After scallop was stimulated by three typical PAMPs, the mRNA expression of CfLec-1 in hemocytes was poles apart. It was significantly up-regulated (p,0.01) after scallops were stimulated by LPS or b-glucan, but significantly down-regulated (p,0.01) after PGN stimulation. The binding ability of recombinant CfLec-1 (designated as rCfLec-1) towards eight PAMPs was investigated subsequently by PAMPs microarray, which revealed rCfLec-1 could bind LPS, PGN and mannan in vitro, indicating CfLec-1 served as a PRR involved in the pathogen recognition. Immunofluorescence assay with polyclonal antibody specific for CfLec-1 revealed that CfLec-1 was mainly located in the mantle and gill of the scallop. CfLec-1 could bind to the surface of scallop hemocytes and recruited hemocytes to enhance their encapsulation in vitro, and this process could be specifically blocked by anti-rCfLec-1 antibody. Meanwhile, rCfLec-1 could also enhance the phagocytic activity of scallop hemocytes against Escherichia coli

Experimental bond behaviour of GFRP and masonry bricks under impulsive loading

Fibre Reinforced Polymers have become a popular material for strengthening of masonry structures. The performance of this technique is strongly dependent on the bond between the FRP and the substrate. Understanding the strain rate effect on these materials and strengthening techniques is important for proper design and proper modelling of these systems under impacts or blast loads. This work aims to study the behaviour of the bond between GFRP and brick at different strain rates. A Drop Weight Impact Machine specially developed for pull-off tests (single shear tests) is used with different masses and different heights introducing different deformation rates. The strain rate effect on the failure mode, shear capacity and effective bond length is determined from the experimental results. Empirical relations of dynamic increase factors (DIF) for these materials and techniques are also presented.This work was performed under Project CH-SECURE (PTDC/EMC/120118/2010) funded by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology – FCT. The authors acknowledge the support. The first author also acknowledges the support from his PhD FCT grant with the reference SFRH/BD/45436/2008

Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes as Determined by Glycated Haemoglobin A1c and Glucose Levels in a Developing Southern Chinese Population

BACKGROUND: The American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization have recently adopted the HbA1c measurement as one method of diagnostic criteria for diabetes. The change in diagnostic criteria has important implications for diabetes treatment and prevention. We therefore investigate diabetes using HbA1c and glucose criteria together, and assess the prevalent trend in a developing southern Chinese population with 85 million residents. METHODS: A stratified multistage random sampling method was applied and a representative sample of 3590 residents 18 years of age or above was obtained in 2010. Each participant received a full medical check-up, including measurement of fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour post-load plasma glucose, and HbA1c. Information on history of diagnosis and treatment of diabetes was collected. The prevalence of diabetes obtained from the present survey was compared with the data from the survey in 2002. RESULTS: The prevalence of diabetes based on both glucose and HbA1c measurements was 21.7% (95% CI: 17.4%-26.1%) in 2010, which suggests that more than 1 in 5 adult residents were suffering from diabetes in this developing population. Only 12.9% (95% CI: 8.3%-17.6%) of diabetic residents were aware of their condition. The prevalence of pre-diabetes was 66.3% (95% CI: 62.7%-69.8%). The prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes which met all the three diagnostic thresholds (fast plasma glucose, 2 hour post-load plasma glucose, and HbA1c) was 3.1% and 5.2%, respectively. Diabetes and pre-diabetes as determined by HbA1c measurement had higher vascular risk than those determined by glucose levels. The prevalence of diabetes increased from 2.9% (95% CI: 2.0%-3.7%) in 2002 to 13.8% (95% CI: 10.2%-17.3%) in 2010 based on the same glucose criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the diabetes epidemic is accelerating in China. The awareness of diabetes is extremely low. The glucose test and HbA1c measurement should be used together to increase detection of diabetes and pre-diabetes

Genetic Diversity and Linkage Disequilibrium in Chinese Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Revealed by SSR Markers

Two hundred and fifty bread wheat lines, mainly Chinese mini core accessions, were assayed for polymorphism and linkage disequilibrium (LD) based on 512 whole-genome microsatellite loci representing a mean marker density of 5.1 cM. A total of 6,724 alleles ranging from 1 to 49 per locus were identified in all collections. The mean PIC value was 0.650, ranging from 0 to 0.965. Population structure and principal coordinate analysis revealed that landraces and modern varieties were two relatively independent genetic sub-groups. Landraces had a higher allelic diversity than modern varieties with respect to both genomes and chromosomes in terms of total number of alleles and allelic richness. 3,833 (57.0%) and 2,788 (41.5%) rare alleles with frequencies of <5% were found in the landrace and modern variety gene pools, respectively, indicating greater numbers of rare variants, or likely new alleles, in landraces. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that A genome had the largest genetic differentiation and D genome the lowest. In contrast to genetic diversity, modern varieties displayed a wider average LD decay across the whole genome for locus pairs with r2>0.05 (P<0.001) than the landraces. Mean LD decay distance for the landraces at the whole genome level was <5 cM, while a higher LD decay distance of 5–10 cM in modern varieties. LD decay distances were also somewhat different for each of the 21 chromosomes, being higher for most of the chromosomes in modern varieties (<5∼25 cM) compared to landraces (<5∼15 cM), presumably indicating the influences of domestication and breeding. This study facilitates predicting the marker density required to effectively associate genotypes with traits in Chinese wheat genetic resources

Diversification of Schistosoma japonicum in Mainland China Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA

Despite the existing threat of schistosomiasis in some rural areas along the Yangtze River, the genetic diversity of Schistosoma japonicum has not been investigated across its wide geographical distribution in China, and such information may provide insight into the disease epidemiology and the development of its control measures. In this study, the adult parasites, obtained through infecting mice with cercariae from snails of the genus Oncomelania collected from a wide range of localities in currently endemic areas of schistosomiasis in the middle and lower (ML) reaches of the Yangtze River, and in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in the upper reaches of the river in southwest (SW) China, were sequenced individually for mitochondrial genes. In general, a relatively high degree of genetic variation was observed in populations in the ML reaches in terms of nucleotide and haplotype diversity, but a low level was observed in populations in the SW. The significant difference in genetic diversity as revealed by F-statistics, and the existence of no shared haplotypes, were observed between populations in the ML reaches and those in the SW, indicating the effect of geographical separation/isolation upon the schistosomes and probably the parasite-snail system in China

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Decrease the Risk of Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a key innate immunity receptor that initiates an inflammatory response. Growing evidence suggests that mutation of TLR4 gene may play a role in the development of cancers. This study aimed to investigate the temporal relationship of single nucleotide polymorphisms of TLR4 and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, a single center-based case-control study was conducted. METHODS: A systematic genetic analysis of sequence variants of TLR4 by evaluating ten single-nucleotide polymorphisms was performed from 216 hepatocellular carcinoma cases and 228 controls. RESULTS: Six single nucleotide polymorphisms of the TLR4 in the 5'-untranslated region and intron were associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Individuals carrying the heterozygous genotypes for the rs10759930, rs2737190, rs10116253, rs1927914, rs12377632 and rs1927911 had significantly decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (adjusted odds ratio [OR], from 0.527 to 0.578, P<0.01) comparing with those carrying wild-type homozygous genotypes. In haplotype analysis, one haplotype (GCCCTTAG) of TLR4 was associated significantly with decrease of the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (OR, 0.556, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.407-0.758, P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results suggested that the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma was associated with TLR4 sequence variation. TLR4 single nucleotide polymorphisms may play an important protective role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Mycobacterium vaccae as Adjuvant Therapy to Anti-Tuberculosis Chemotherapy in Never-Treated Tuberculosis Patients: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of heat-killed M. vaccae added to chemotherapy of never-treated tuberculosis (TB) patients. METHODS: The databases of Medline, Embase, Biosis, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, SCI, CBM, VIP and CNKI were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) and Controlled clinical trials (CCT) comparing M. vaccae with or without a placebo-control injection as adjuvant therapy in the chemotherapy of never-treated TB patients were included. Two reviewers independently performed data extraction and quality assessment. Data were analyzed using RevMan 5.0 software by The Cochrane Collaboration. RESULTS: Fifty four studies were included. At the end of the follow-up period, Pooled RR (Risk Ratio) and its 95% CI of sputum smear conversion rate were 1.07 (1.04, 1.10) in TB patients without complications, 1.17 (0.92, 1.49) in TB patients with diabetes mellitus, 1.02 (0.94, 1.10) in TB patients with hepatitis B, and 1.46 (0.21, 10.06) in TB patients with pneumosilicosis. In elderly TB patients the RR was 1.22 (1.13, 1.32). Analysis of each time point during the follow-up period showed that M. vaccae could help to improve the removal of acid-fast bacilli from the sputum, and promote improvement of radiological focal lesions and cavity closure. Compared with the control group, the differences in levels of immunological indicators of Th1 such as IL-2 and TNF-α were not statistical significant (P = 0.65 and 0.31 respectively), and neither was that of IL-6 produced by Th2 (P = 0.52). An effect of M. vaccae of prevention of liver damage was found in TB patients with hepatitis B (RR 0.20 and 95% CI (0.12, 0.33). No systemic adverse events were reported. CONCLUSION: Added to chemotherapy, M. vaccae is helpful in the treatment of never-treated TB patients in terms of improving both sputum conversion and X-ray appearances