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Territorial spatial planning could achieve the integration of various plans, resulting in a unified "multi-plan integration" map. Such planning emphasizes the efficient use of territorial spatial patterns and structures to ensure functional perfection, and serves as the spatial framework for building a modern socialist country, particularly in the areas of ecological security and ecological civilization. The past few decades have seen rapid advances in the development of landscape ecology in China. The core concept of "pattern-process-function" has gained significant progress and been widely applied in the initial phase of territorial spatial planning at various levels. We outlined the advancements in the territorial spatial planning system and the core research theories and technologies in landscape ecology. We discussed the progress and shortcomings of key theories and methods of landscape ecology in practical applications of territorial spatial planning, such as ecological security patterns, pattern and process, and scale effects. We proposed the future application of landscape ecology theories and technologies in territorial spatial planning, including overall ecological effects, scale effects, and regional ecological network optimization. Future developments in landscape ecology, especially research on the "human-place-ecology" coupling based on the latest Big Data and AI technology for sustainable development, will provide robust theoretical and methodological supports for the scientific formulation of territorial spatial planning in China.

Baiyangdian Lake is the largest shallow lake in the North China Plain. Due to the increases in upstream water consumption in recent decades, the amount of natural water entering the lake has decreased, resulting in a significant drop in the water level of Baiyangdian Lake. Severe eutrophication has occurred in Baiyangdian Lake owing to the discharge of domestic sewage around the sub-lakes. With the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area in 2017, the importance of environmental governance and protection of Baiyangdian Lake has been unprecedentedly increased. The implementation of ecological water supplement from upstream reservoirs and other basins has significantly increased water level of Baiyangdian Lake. Moreover, domestic sewage from surrounding rural areas was collected. In order to understand the current state of water quality in Baiyangdian Lake, and to evaluate the effects of the previous water replenishment and pollution control projects, we investigated water physicochemical variables and aquatic organisms of Baiyangdian Lake in August 2019. We evaluated water quality status of Baiyangdian Lake based on water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton and macrozoobenthos, by comparing with the evaluation based on the survey data in 2010. In addition, submerged macrophytes were used to evaluate the water ecological status. The results showed that the water quality state of Baiyangdian Lake in 2019 was greatly improved compared with 2010. Among them, total phosphorus concentration decreased by 88.6%, total nitrogen concentration decreased by 83.9%, chlorophyll a concentration decreased by 47.8%, and the Seechi depth increased by 43.4%. The diversity of zooplankton and macrozoobenthos were significantly increased, the density of phytoplankton was significantly reduced, the dominant species of phytoplankton changed from a general highly eutrophic type to a eutrophic type, and the distribution of the clean-type submerged macrophytes was narrowed. The evaluation methods based on submerged macrophytes species and based on zooplankton diversity were not suitable for water quality evaluation in Baiyangdian Lake. In the early stage, the pollution source of Baiyangdian Lake was concentrated in the west, which led to lower water quality. Nowadays, due to the water replenishment from the west, north and south, the hydrodynamic conditions changed significantly. In the west, pollution control projects were carried out, and the spatial distribution of water quality in Baiyangdian Lake are showing a characteristics of homogenization.

Several training programs for the pharmacy staff in the Pharmacy Department of Beijing Union Medical College Hospital were implemented over 1910's to 1942, such as apprenticeships, prior courses on pharmaceutical sciences,vocational training, study overseas, and developing the Beiping Pharmacy Evening School in collaboration with the North China Pharmaceutical Society around the 1930's. These programs explored training models for the hospital, developed practical talent with competence ensuring the needs and requirements within the hospital, established practical education on pharmacy in Beiping and therefore contributed to promoting future pharmaceutical training systems in China.

Atmospheric environment in urban built-up area is severely influenced by the surrounding landscape pattern. Understanding the relationship between air pollution and surrounding landscape pattern at small scale has great significance for mitigating air pollution from the perspective of urban construction. The annual average concentrations of NO 2 , SO 2 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 from 266 air pollution monitoring stations in 30 provincial capitals of China in 2017 were chosen as dependent variables. Ten two-dimensional and three-dimensional landscape pattern indices (number of buildings, building aggregation, building density, impervious water ratio, quantitative density of catering, building footprint area, high building ratio, floor area ratio, total building area and building type Shannon diversity index) within the 3 km area around the monitoring stations were used as independent variables. The effects of landscape pattern on the concentration of four air pollutants were analyzed using the boosted regression trees model. The results showed that the concentration of four air pollutants in the central and northern cities were significantly higher than that in the southeast coastal cities and southwest cities. The most important factor affecting the concentrations of NO 2 , SO 2 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 was the impervious ratio, with relative contribution rates of 40.7%, 36.3%, 51.0% and 51.8% respectively. The results of sub-region analysis showed that the most important influencing factor differed in different regions, including the impervious ratio in the East and Central China; the number and density of buildings in South China; the impervious ratio and diversity of building types in North China; the impervious ratio and the number of buildings in Northeast China, the density of buildings in Northwest China. Such differences were mainly caused by climate, topography, urban planning, and other factors.

Findings about the association between prenatal Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and neurobehavioral development in children are still inconsistent. In addition, whether fetal thyroid hormones (THs) mediate the reported association remains unclear. The present study aimed to examine the association between prenatal BPA exposure and risks of child behavioral problems at 2 and 4 years of age and whether the association could be explained by alteration of fetal THs as measured in cord plasma. Using the Shanghai-Minhang Birth Cohort Study (S-MBCS), BPA concentration was measured in maternal urine samples collected at 12-16 weeks of gestation. Children's neurobehavioral development was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist/1.5-5 (CBCL), at 2 and 4 years of age. Using generalized estimating equation (GEE) models, 745 mother-pairs were included to examine associations of BPA with CBCL scores, Using multiple linear regression models, 348 mother-pairs were included to evaluate the association between maternal BPA and THs in cord plasma. A mediation analysis was conducted to explore the potential mediating role of THs. After adjusting for potential confounders, prenatal BPA level was associated with increased risks of Emotionally Reactive problem, Anxious/Depressed problem, having Somatic Complaints, exhibiting Aggressive Behavior, and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: compared to the lowest tertile, the risks in the highest tertile and middle tertile, ranged between 1.55-fold (95% CI: 1.09, 2.21) and 2.59-fold (95% CI: 1.52, 4.42). The association was more pronounced among boys. None of the associations reached statistical significance among girls. An inverse association between prenatal BPA and fetal TH level was also observed. However, the observed neurotoxic effects of prenatal BPA exposure did not appear to be mediated by THs levels. The current findings suggest that prenatal exposure to BPA may disrupt fetal THs levels and may induce long-lasting behavioral alterations, especially in boys., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Non-linear changes widely occur in ecosystems, which manifest as sudden changes in system state with increasing pressure. To explain these changes, ecologists proposed the concepts of ecological threshold and regime shift, and continuously improved the theory and method system. Mechanistic and empirical studies further deepen our understanding for evolution mechanism of the complex system, which begun to be implemented into the environmental management. In recent decades, a large number of quantitative studies on stress-response in various types of ecosystems in China. Results from those studies are closely related to the theory paradigms of ecological threshold and regime shift in essence. Based on the "China Ecological Thresholds and Alternative Stable States Database", we screened and summarized the relevant ecological thresholds and explained the mechanisms underlying regime shift for 10 ecosystem types, including river, lake, wetland, forest, grassland, estuary and ocean, farmland, desert, city, and tundra. We linked case studies with theory paradigms of ecological threshold and regime shift with the aim to integrate multi-field scientific achievements and resources as the basis for ecosystem complexity research, and promote their application in ecological monitoring, ecological security early warning, and ecological standards innovation.

Background: Imported malaria has been an important challenge for China. Fatality rates from malaria increased in China, particularly in Henan Province, primarily due to malpractice and misdiagnoses in healthcare institutions, and the level of imported malaria. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the state of diagnosis and subsequent complications among imported malaria cases at healthcare institutions, based on malaria surveillance data in Henan Province from 2012 to 2017., Methods: A retrospective descriptive analysis was performed using data from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou City, the capital of Henan Province. A decision tree method was exploited to provide valuable insight into the correlation between imported malaria cases and healthcare institutions., Results: From 2012 to 2017, there were 371 imported malaria cases, mostly in males aged between 20 and 50 years, including 319 Plasmodium falciparum cases. First visits of 32.3%, 19.9% and 15.9% malaria cases for treatment were to provincial, municipal and county healthcare institutions, respectively. The time interval between onset and initial diagnosis of 284 cases (76.5%) and the time interval between initial diagnosis and final diagnosis of 197 cases (53.1%) was no more than 72 h. An apparent trend was found that there were notably fewer patients misdiagnosed at first visit to healthcare institutions of a higher administrative level; 12.5% of cases were misdiagnosed in provincial healthcare institutions compared to 98.2% in private clinics, leading to fewer complications at healthcare institutions of higher administrative level due to correct initial diagnosis. In the tree model, the rank of healthcare facilities for initial diagnosis, and number of days between onset and initial diagnosis, made a major contribution to the classification of initial diagnosis, which subsequently became the most significant factor influencing complications developed in the second tree model. The classification accuracy were 82.2 and 74.1%, respectively for the tree models of initial diagnosis and complications developed., Conclusion: Inadequate seeking medical care by imported malaria patients, and insufficient capacity to diagnose malaria by healthcare institutions of lower administrative level were identified as major factors influencing complications of imported malaria cases in Henan Province. The lack of connection between uncommon imported malaria cases and superior medical resources was found to be the crucial challenge. A web-based system combined with WeChat to target imported malaria cases was proposed to cope with the challenge.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental endocrine disruptor and is found in many consumer products. Studies suggest that BPA may perturb pubertal development, although evidence on BPA-influenced pubertal height growth is scarce., Methods: A total of 754 children aged 9-18 years from three schools (one elementary, one middle, and one high school) in Shanghai were included in this longitudinal study. Height was measured at enrolment (visit 1) and, subsequently, at 19 months after enrolment (visit 2). Age- and sex-specific Z scores for height were calculated (height Z score = [participant's height-sex- and age-specific population height mean]/sex- and age-specific population height standard deviation). Urine samples were collected at enrolment to measure BPA concentrations. We used multiple linear regression models or general estimating equation models (GEE) to estimate associations between urine BPA level and height Z score., Results: The geometric mean of urine BPA concentrations was 1.6 μg/L (95%CI: 1.4, 1.8) or 1.2 μg/g creatinine (95%CI: 1.0, 1.3). An inverse association between urine BPA level and height was observed in boys. After adjustment for potential confounders, height Z score at enrolment in boys decreased by 0.49 for the highest exposure level (above 10.9 μg/g creatinine as the 90th percentile), compared with the lowest BPA exposure (below 0.2 μg/g creatinine as the 25th percentile) (95%CI: -0.96, -0.01; p-trend = 0.024). The inverse association remained between BPA exposure and height Z score at visit 2. The GEE model showed that a 1-unit increase in log 10 -transformed BPA concentrations was associated with a 0.15-point decrease in height Z score over the follow-up (95%CI: -0.30, -0.01). BPA was not associated with height growth in girls., Conclusions: Our findings indicate an inverse association between urine BPA level and height growth in boys. These findings need to be confirmed in further studies.

Bisphenol A (BPA), an exogenous endocrine-disrupting chemical, has been shown to alter DNA methylation. However, little information is available about the effect of BPA exposure on DNA hydroxymethylation in humans. The objective of the present study was to examine whether BPA exposure was associated with DNA hydroxymethylation in human semen samples. We measured urine BPA levels and LINE-1 hydroxymethylation in 158 male factory workers selected from an occupational cohort study conducted in China between 2004 and 2008. Among them, there were 72 male workers with occupational BPA exposure (BPA-exposed group) and 86 male workers without occupational BPA exposure (unexposed group). Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine the association of exposure to BPA with LINE-1 hydroxymethylation. LINE-1 was more highly hydroxymethylated in the BPA-exposed group than in the unexposed group (median 12.97% vs. 9.68%, respectively; p < 0.05), after adjusting for the potential confounders. The medians of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) generally increased with increasing urine BPA levels: 8.79%, 12.16%, 11.53%, and 13.45%, for undetected BPA and corresponding tertiles for the detected BPA, respectively. After analysis using data at individual level, our findings indicated that BPA exposure was associated with alterations of sperm LINE-1 hydroxymethylation, which might have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying BPA-induced adverse effects on male reproductive function.

A typical forest stand on the subtropical Jinyun Mountain in China was selected to investigate water quality and interception characteristics for several important ions at different levels in the subtropical forest ecosystem. Based on field and laboratory experiments, the effect of precipitation, throughfall, litterfall, and soil percolation on water quality and ionic interception were investigated from September 2013 to August 2014. Results indicated that the rainfall on Jinyun Mountain was obviously acidic, with an average pH of 4.75. The soil and canopy can elevate the pH of rainfall, while the soil had a greater capability for adjusting pH than did the forest canopy. In addition, the concentrations of NH 4 + , SO 4 2- , PO 4 3- , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , and K + in the litterfall increased with litterfall tissue disintegration, while the other ions decreased. Moreover, functional groups and colloids in the soil can bind or neutralize many ions, such as NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , NH 4 + , PO 4 3- , K + , and Mg 2+ . However, some ions were released from the soil by erosion from acid rain over a long time. Generally, the forest ecosystem is a sink for ions found in precipitation with diverse functions for different layers, and the forest canopy has the highest interception capacity for the ions found in precipitation.

Background: Parkinson's disease is characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms with wide ranging impacts on the health-related quality of life. The 39-item Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) is the most widely used PD-specific health-related quality-of-life questionnaire. The short-form 8-item Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8) was found to produce results similar to that of the PDQ-39 cross-culturally. However, there is no evaluation of the PDQ-8 in the mainland of China., Methods: In this longitudinal study, 283 patients with Parkinson's disease were recruited. The PDQ-39, the PDQ-8 and other scales were administered. Patients attended the clinic once annually for three years to complete the scales., Results: The PDQ-8 was found to have good validity and reliability. There was a strong correlation between the summary indices of the PDQ-8 and the PDQ-39 (r=0.93, P<0.001). Results suggested that the PDQ-8 was also associated with other clinical scales of mobility, depression and cognition. The convergent validity and discriminant validity of the PDQ-8 were demonstrated by item-to-dimension correlations. There was acceptable internal consistency of the PDQ-8 (Cronbach's α: 0.80; Item-scale correlation efficient: 0.56-0.72). The PDQ-8 replicated the results of the PDQ-39 well at all follow-up time points (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.96-0.98). In addition, there was good test-retest reliability of the PDQ-8., Conclusion: The PDQ-8 is a valid and reliable instrument assessing health-related quality of life for PD patients in the mainland of China.

Background: Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 gene (LRRK2) was recognized associated with both familial and sporadic Parkinson Disease (PD). Seven missense mutations (G2019S, R1441C, R1441G, R1441H, Y1699C, I2020T, N1437H) of it have been confirmed disease- causing. They were common among Caucasian PD patients, but rarely reported in Asian, especially in Chinese Han population., Objectives: We aimed to identify the frequencies of these seven mutations of LRRK2 in Chinese early-onset PD (EOPD) patients and analyze the phenotypes., Methods: One hundred and thirty seven EOPD patients were enrolled for genetic testing. The seven disease-causing mutations of LRRK2 were carried out by target sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2000 Sequencer. The identified variants were further confirmed by Sanger sequence. The clinical materials were investigated retrospectively., Results: Only one patient (0.73%) was found carrying pathogenetic LRRK2 mutation of R1441C. The age at onset of the female patient was 44. She manifested typical motor symptoms of PD and responded well to levodopa therapy. Longitudinal evaluation showed progression of motor symptoms and depression but no cognitive impairment. The dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging via [11C]-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropan (CFT) and Positron emission computed tomography (PET) revealed typical dopamine transporter uptake reduction., Conclusions: The LRRK2 R1441C mutation was found in a Chinese EOPD patient for the first time. The manifestations of LRRK2-R1441C carriers were indistinguishable from sporadic PD patients., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present study examined the association between residential indoor remodeling and poor semen quality. Sperm donors aged 18-45 years old were recruited in Shanghai, China. Semen specimens were collected and analyzed. An in-person interview was conducted to obtain information on the history of indoor remodeling and potential confounders. A total of 70 participants with abnormal semen quality (case group) and 68 controls were examined. A total of 20 subjects reported indoor remodeling in the recent 24 months, and among them 17 subjects reported indoor remodeling in the recent 12 months. Compared with participants with no history of indoor remodeling, participants with a history of indoor remodeling in the recent 24 months were more than three times as likely to have poor sperm quality (adjusted odds ratio = 3.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-12.0) after controlling for potential confounders. The association was strengthened when the analysis was restricted to those who had indoor remodeling in the recent 12 months. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that indoor remodeling has an adverse effect on semen quality.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a suspected human endocrine disruptor which is widely used., Methods: In order to determine whether urine BPA level is associated with serum reproductive hormone levels among male adults, we carried out a cross-sectional study in China. We recruited 592 male workers and collected their urine samples for BPA measurement. We also collected blood samples and examined serum reproductive hormones. We used multiple linear regression and log-binomial model to examine associations between urine BPA level and hormone levels after controlling for age and smoking status., Results: An increased urine BPA level was associated with increased prolactin (p<0.001), estradiol (p<0.001), sex hormone-binding globulin level (p=0.001), and a reduced androstenedione (p<0.001) and free androgen index level (p=0.021). Males, whose urine BPA level was in the 2nd, 3rd and highest quartiles, had respectively 1.58, 1.33 and 3.09-fold increased prevalence of having a high prolactin level (>P75 level). The highest quartile of BPA level was associated with 1.63 and 1.50-fold increased prevalence of having a high estradiol and elevated sex hormone-binding globulin level. Males with higher quartile of BPA level had a lower inhibin B level., Conclusion: High BPA exposure is associated with increased prolactin, estradiol and sex hormone-binding globulin level in males, and may contribute to male infertility., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor with potentially harmful effects on humans. However, epigenetic mechanisms that modulate the effects of BPA remain unclear. Methylation of long interspersed nucleotide elements (LINE-1) is a marker of genome-wide methylation status. This study aims to examine whether BPA exposure was associated with LINE-1 methylation changes in men. Male factory workers in Hunan, China (N = 149) were studied, 77 with BPA exposure in workplace (BPA-exposed group) and 72 without BPA exposure in workplace (control group). Pre-shift and post-shift urine samples were collected from the BPA-exposed group and spot urine samples were collected from the control group. Urine samples were assessed for BPA. In addition, blood and semen samples were collected from both groups for LINE-1 methylation analysis. In multivariate analysis adjusted for age, education, smoking habits and alcohol consumption, sperm LINE-1 methylation level was significantly lower in BPA exposed workers (p < 0.001) compared to that in the unexposed workers. Linear regression analysis also showed that log-transformed urine BPA levels were inversely associated with sperm LINE-1 methylation (p < 0.0001), but not peripheral blood cell LINE-1 methylation. Moreover, the association between urine BPA level and semen quality was not attenuated after adjustments for LINE-1 level. In summary, the observed independent relationship between BPA exposure and LINE-1 methylation may have public health implications on reproductive health in men because of ubiquitous exposure to BPA., (© 2013 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology.)

A recent study summarized several published genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of cancer and reported two pleiotropic loci at 6p21.1 and 7p15.3 contributing to multiple cancers including lung cancer, noncardia gastric cancer (NCGC), and esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Han Chinese. However, it is not known whether such genetic variants have similar effects on the risk of gynecologic cancers, such as ovarian cancer. Hence, we explored associations between genetic variants in 6p21.1 and 7p15.3 and ovarian cancer risk in Han Chinese women. We performed an independent case-control study by genotyping the two loci (rs2494938 A > G at 6p21.1 and rs2285947 A > G at 7p15.3) in a total of 377 ovarian cancer cases and 1,034 cancer-free controls using TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. We found that rs2285947 at 7p15.3 was significantly associated with risk of ovarian cancer with per allele odds ratio (OR) of 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.64, P=0.008]. However, no significant association was observed between rs2494938 and ovarian cancer risk. Our results showed that rs2285947 at 7p15.3 may also contribute to the development of ovarian cancer in Han Chinese women, further suggesting pleiotropy of 7p15.3 in multiple cancers.

Purpose: Current health care reforms in China have an overall goal of strengthening primary care through the establishment and expansion of primary care networks based on community health centers (CHCs). Implementation in urban areas has led to the emergence of different models of ownership and management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the primary care experiences of patients in the Pearl River Delta as measured by the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) and the relationships with ownership and management in the 3 different models we describe., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on-site at CHCs in 3 cities within the Pearl River Delta, China, using a multistage cluster sampling method. A validated Mandarin Chinese version of the PCAT-Adult Edition (short version) was adopted to collect information from adult patients regarding their experiences with primary care sources. PCAT scores for individual primary care attributes and total primary care assessment scores were assessed with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, health characteristics, and health care service utilization across 3 primary care models., Results: One thousand four hundred forty (1,440) primary care patients responded to the survey, for an overall response rate of 86.1%. Respondents gave government-owned and -managed CHCs the highest overall PCAT scores when compared with CHCs either managed by hospitals (95.18 vs 90.81; P = .005) or owned by private and social entities (95.18 vs 90.69; P =.007) as a result of better first-contact care (better first-contact utilization) and coordination of care (better service coordination and information system). Factors that were positively and significantly associated with higher overall assessment scores included the presence of a chronic condition (P <.001), having medical insurance (P = .006), and a self-reported good health status (P <.001)., Conclusions: This study suggests that government-owned and -managed CHCs may be able to provide better first-contact care in terms of utilization and coordination of care, and may be better at solving the problem of underutilization of the CHCs as the first-contact point of care, one key problem facing the reforms in China.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a potential endocrine disruptor impacting metabolic processes and increasing the risk of obesity. To determine whether urine BPA level is associated with overweight/obesity in school-age children, we examined 1,326 students in grades 4-12 from three schools (one elementary, one middle, and one high school) in Shanghai. More than 98% of eligible students participated. Total urine BPA concentration was measured and anthropometric measures were taken by trained research staff. Information on risk factors for childhood obesity was collected for potential confounders. Age- and gender-specific weight greater than 90(th) percentile of the underlying population was the outcome measure. After adjustment for potential confounders, a higher urine BPA level (≥2 µg/L), at the level corresponding to the median urine BPA level in the U.S. population, was associated with more than two-fold increased risk of having weight >90(th) percentile among girls aged 9-12 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.32, 95% confidence interval: 1.15-4.65). The association showed a dose-response relationship with increasing urine BPA level associated with further increased risk of overweight (p = 0.006 for trend test). Other anthropometric measures of obesity showed similar results. The same association was not observed among boys. This gender difference of BPA effect was consistent with findings from experimental studies and previous epidemiological studies. Our study suggests that BPA could be a potential new environmental obesogen. Widespread exposure to BPA in the human population may also be contributing to the worldwide obesity epidemic.

Background: Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor with widespread human exposure. The effect of in utero BPA exposure on human offspring remains largely unknown., Methods: Anogenital distance (AGD) of sons of workers who did or did not have occupational BPA exposure during pregnancy were compared in an occupational cohort study. Parental BPA exposure level during the index pregnancy was estimated through a job-exposure matrix based on personal air sampling measurement. Maternal exposure was considered direct in utero exposure to the fetus, whereas paternal exposure was considered indirect in utero exposure., Results: A total of 153 boys were included in the final analysis, among them 56 with parental occupational exposure during pregnancy and 97 without. After controlling for the boys' ages and weights using linear regression, parental occupational exposure to BPA during pregnancy was associated with shortened AGD in male offspring. The association was stronger for maternal exposure (p < 0.01). There was also a dose-response relationship with increased BPA exposure levels in pregnancy associated with greater magnitude of shortened AGD in male offspring, with a statistically significant trend for the association (p = 0.008)., Conclusion: Our findings provide the first epidemiologic evidence that in utero BPA exposure may adversely affect male genital development., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Objective: To determine whether urine bisphenol-A (BPA) levels are associated with lower semen quality., Design: Cohort study., Setting: Four regions in China where high exposure to BPA in the workplace existed., Patient(s): 218 men with and without BPA exposure in the workplace., Intervention(s): None., Main Outcome Measure(s): Semen parameters., Result(s): After adjustment for potential confounders using linear regression, increasing urine BPA level was statistically significantly associated with [1] decreased sperm concentration, [2] decreased total sperm count, [3] decreased sperm vitality, and [4] decreased sperm motility. Compared with men who did not have detectable urine BPA levels, those with detectable urine BPA had more than three times the risk of lowered sperm concentration and lower sperm vitality, more than four times the risk of lower sperm count, and more than twice the risk of lower sperm motility. The urine BPA level was not associated with semen volume or abnormal sperm morphology. Similar dose-response associations were observed among men with environmental BPA exposure at levels comparable with those in the U.S population. Despite a markedly reduced sample size, the inverse correlation between increased urine BPA levels and decreased sperm concentration and total sperm count remained statistically significant., Conclusion(s): These results provide the first epidemiologic evidence of an adverse effect of BPA on semen quality., (Copyright © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Based on the sub-pixel analysis model, and by using 2000-2009 MODIS NDVI (250 m resolution), this paper quantitatively analyzed the spatiotemporal change characteristics and their causes of fractional vegetation coverage (FVC) in Shannxi Province. From 2000 to 2009, the FVC in the Province had a significant increasing trend, with the great magnitude of 35.0%. During that period, the vegetation coverage increased from 56.9% in 2000 to 68.9% in 2009 in the provincial scale, and the increment was much higher in northern Shannxi, being 21.6% in Yulin and 22.0% in Yan' an. Though the vegetation coverage had an overall increase, it was locally degraded in some areas. The areas with improved vegetation coverage at the significance levels of < 0.01, and < 0.05 were 37.8% and 11.9%, while those with non-improved and degraded vegetation coverage were 46.1% and 4.2%, respectively. The areas whose vegetation coverage had a change rate of 200%, 200%-100%, 100%-10%, 10%-10%, and < -10% occupied 12.2%, 13.3%, 38.8%, 29.3%, and 6.4% of the total, respectively. During the study period, the structure of vegetation coverage in the Province also improved. The areas with high and normal vegetation density increased significantly by 10% and 8.4%, respectively, while the area with low vegetation density decreased significantly by 18.4%. The improvement of the FVC in Shaanxi Province was the interactive effect of natural factors and human activities, but the main cause was the implementation of a series of ecological construction projects such as closing hill for forestation and restoring farmland into forestland and grassland.

The adverse effect of bisphenol-A (BPA) on the male reproductive system observed in animal studies has not been well examined in human populations. BPA is potentially a serious public health problem because of its widely detected presence in the human body. This study was conducted among 427 male workers in regions where high levels of BPA exposure existed. All participants provided urine samples, which were tested for BPA concentration using high-performance liquid chromatography. Male sexual dysfunction was ascertained using standard male sexual function inventories. Male sexual dysfunction was measured in 4 domains using 7 indices. After controlling for potential confounders using linear regression, increasing urine BPA level was associated with worsening male sexual function on a continuous scale. All 7 indices demonstrated this negative linear correlation. Increasing urine BPA level was associated with decreased sexual desire (P < .001), more difficulty having an erection (P < .001), lower ejaculation strength (P < .001), and lower level of overall satisfaction with sex life (P < .01). A similar negative correlation was also observed among participants exposed to BPA from only environmental sources (no occupational exposure to BPA), although the estimates in this group were less stable because of a smaller sample size. Our results reveal a correlation between a biological measure of urine BPA level and declining male sexual function. This finding may enhance the understanding of the BPA effect in human populations, and may have important public health implications given the widespread human exposure to BPA.

The objective of the study was to describe the background bisphenol A (BPA) levels in urine and serum of a Chinese population without occupational exposure and to examine the personal characteristics influencing these levels. Workers from 10 factories and their family members were recruited and their peripheral blood and spot urine samples were collected. The conjugated and free BPA of the samples was assayed with high-performance liquid chromatography. The exposure levels were checked with 2-independent-samples test, and the potential personal factors influencing exposure levels were analyzed using nonlinear correlation. Of the total of 952 subjects participating in the study, urine and blood samples were taken from 97% and 93% of them, respectively. The detectable rates were 50% for urine samples and 17% for serum samples, given the detection limit of 0.31 microg/L for urine and 0.39 microg/L for serum. The arithmetic mean (AM) and geometric mean (GM) of non-creatinine-adjusted urinary BPA level were 10.45 and 0.87 microg/L, which became 24.93 and 0.38 microg/g Cr after the creatinine level was adjusted; serum BPA levels were 2.84 microg/L (AM) and 0.18 microg/L (GM). Males and those with smoking habit had higher biological burden of BPA. The results indicated that half of the study subjects had detectable BPA in their urine samples. BPA levels were influenced by gender and smoking status. The sources of non-occupational BPA exposures should be explored.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess ambient Bisphenol A (BPA) levels in workplaces and urine BPA levels of workers., Methods: Workers in epoxy resin and BPA manufacturing factories were recruited. Personal samples for airborne BPA were taken in the workshops and spot urine samples were collected from workers before and after their shifts. The samples were assayed with high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector. TWA8 of airborne PBA in the workplaces and biological BPA burden of the workers were calculated. Correlations between the external and the internal exposure levels were sought., Results: Workers from the factories were occupationally exposed to BPA at median personal airborne levels of 6.67 microg/m3 (or at the mean of 450 microg/m3). More than 90% of the workers who were occupationally exposed to BPA had detectable BPA levels in their blood samples. The medians of creatinine-adjusted urinary BPA levels were 84.6 microg/g Cr and 111 microg/g Cr pre- and post-shift (means of 4,630 microg/g Cr and 5,400 microg/g Cr), respectively. The urinary BPA concentration post-shift was significantly associated with the urinary BPA level pre-shift and personal airborne BPA levels., Conclusions: It was indicated that workers in epoxy resin and BPA manufacturing factories are occupationally exposed to BPA at high levels. There is an urgent need to create occupational standards and take effective preventive measures to protect workers from the potential adverse effects of BPA.

Estrogen-metabolizing gene and estrogen receptor (ER) genes are the possible risk factors implicated in the initiation and development of breast through estrogen tumorigenesis pathway. We examined whether CYP1A1 MspI, ERalpha PvuII, and ERalpha XbaI genetic polymorphisms could increase the risk of breast cancer among Chinese women and gene-gene joint effect on the breast cancer risk in a subset from a population-based case-control study conducted in urban Shanghai from January 1, 1998 and November 31, 2001. PCR-RFLP method based on buccal cells was used to examine the three candidate polymorphisms in 282 breast cancer cases and 298 controls. Compared with CYP1A1 MspI m1/m1, the risk of breast cancer was doubled for genotypes CYP1A1 MspI m1/m2 [odds ratio (OR), 1.83; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.24-2.69] and CYP1A1 MspI m2/m2 (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.26-3.85). The association seemed to be stronger among cases diagnosed older than 45 years and women without a family history of breast cancer. ERalpha PvuII pp and ERalpha XbaI xx polymorphisms, which are in possible linkage disequilibrium, were both associated with a nonsignificantly elevated risk in all subjects; the associations seemed to be stronger among women with a family history of breast cancer. There seems to be a joint effect on the breast cancer risk between CYP1A1 MspI and ERalpha XbaI genotypes (m2/m2 and xx; OR, 5.87; 95% CI, 1.38-24.98), between CYP1A1 MspI and ERalpha PvuII genotypes (m2/m2 and pp; OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 0.81-7.07), and among all three genotypes (m2/m2, pp, and xx; OR, 8.07; 95% CI, 1.45-44.77). Results of this study indicate that estrogen-metabolizing genes and estrogen receptor may jointly play a role in the etiology of breast cancer.

A retrospective cohort study on the effect of the suspected teratogenic pesticide N, N'-methylene-bis-(2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole) (MATDA) on outcomes of pregnancy was conducted. The exposed group (6,173 pregnancies) was composed of childbearing women who, during their gestation, consumed rice harvested from a field where MATDA had been applied. The control I group (10,145) came from an adjacent county where MATDA had never been used; the control II group (3,326) consisted of women who had been pregnant previous to the introduction of this pesticide in the same region as the exposed group. The validity of the survey was verified by comparability and data-checking studies. After adjustment for the calendar year, maternal age, and pregnancy order, no significant differences were found in rates of spontaneous abortion, fetal death and stillbirth, birth defects, as well as in sex ratio and birth weight between the study groups. The same result was found in the comparison of individual categories of malformation. The rates of the birth defects were 23.84, 21.49, and 22.78 per 1,000 live births for the exposed, internal, and external control groups, respectively. No dose-response relationship was revealed. The results were consistent with previous reports and indicated the difference between animal experiments and human exposures. Although MATDA is teratogenic in animals, it is clear that the pesticide does not adversely effect outcomes of pregnancy in humans as currently applied.