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Objective: This study aimed to identify the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of systemic lupus erythematosus with transverse myelitis (SLE-TM) in a relatively large patient series. Methods: This retrospective study considered 45 SLE-TM individuals treated as inpatients and outpatients at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 1993 and 2018. SLE-TM patients were compared with 180 controls, and SLE-TM patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) were compared to those without NMOSD. Results: Compared to controls, the SLE-TM group frequently had a fever and had a significantly higher positive rate of anticardiolipin and lupus anticoagulant. Among the 45 patients, 22 met the NMOSD criteria. Compared to non-NMOSD patients, NMOSD patients had a lower incidence of rash (p = 0.023), serositis (p = 0.042) and renal disorder (p = 0.073); a lower prevalence of decreased complement (p = 0.083); and lower rates of positive anti-dsDNA (p = 0.074) and anti-Sm (p = 0.042). Among 22 SLE-TM patients with NMOSD, 18 underwent aquaporin 4 antibody testing, with 11 showing positive results. Out of the 45 patients, 39 were given methylprednisolone pulse treatment. After treatment, 32 patients had lower-limb muscle strength recovery (recovered group), whereas 13 had no change and persistent severe neurological deficits (non-recovered group). Compared to the recovered group, the non-recovered group were younger (p = 0.002), had a higher likelihood of having a fever (p = 0.020), initial severe myelitis (p < 0.001), long spinal segment involvement (p = 0.017) and higher C-reactive protein levels (p = 0.020). Methylprednisolone pulse given within two weeks of onset was more frequent in the recovered group than in the non-recovered group (p = 0.082). Conclusions: Disease characteristics differed between SLE-TM patients with and without NMOSD. SLE and NMOSD tended to be co-morbidities. Initial severe neurological impairment, extensive spinal cord lesions, hyper-inflammation and delayed steroid impulse treatment could be predictors of poor outcome for SLE-TM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM10 and PM2.5 samples were collected simultaneously in Beijing, China, and analyzed by INAA and ICP-MS. Seasonal variations of the concentrations of ambient particles and their elemental compositions were found. The main sources of PM10 and PM2.5 in spring were the crust, coal burning and vehicle exhaust, in which the former was significant. During a strong dust storm, the concentrations of the crustal elements in PM10 and PM2.5 increased remarkably, but the concentrations of some anthropogenic elements decreased. The enrichment factors of these anthropogenic elements also decreased sharply during the dust storm, which indicated that they were mostly originated from local anthropogenic pollution and diluted by the huge amount of dust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air samples were collected at a downtown site in Beijing from January to July 2004 and analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) combined with organic solvent extraction method for the concentrations and distributions of extractable organohalogens (EOX), including extractable organochlorinated (EOCl), organobrominated (EOBr) and organoiodinated compounds (EOI). The concentrations of EOX were increasing in the order of EOCl >> EOBr ~ EOI in both gaseous and particulate phase. EOCl accounted for 75.8-100% and 83.7-100% of EOX in particulate and gaseous phase, respectively, suggesting that EOCl was the major component of the organohalogens in the atmosphere. In the plots of the logarithm of the EOX concentrations versus the reciprocal temperature, their linear relations were observed for EOCl (R = -0.9), for EOBr (R = -0.6) and EOI (R = -0.7) in gaseous phase, which indicated that the concentrations of EOCl, EOBr and EOI in gaseous phase exhibited a strong temperature dependence, i.e., their concentrations increased with increasing of temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]