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Background Males account for a significant share of new infections among young people in China. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with risk sexual behaviours, and provide evidence of leverage for effective interventions among male college students. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2020 to December 2021 in 16 colleges, located in Sichuan Province, one of the high-risk areas in China. Overall 1640 male college students who reported sexually experienced were analyzed in this study. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to determine factors associated with risk sexual behaviours. Results The average age of included male students was 19.95 ± 1.56. Of them, 27.74% initiated sexual behavior early, and 16.52% did not use condoms at the latest sexual intercourse. Students who were older (age 20-21, AOR=0.43, 95%CI: 0.33-0.55; age≥22, AOR=0.13, 95%CI: 0.08-0.21) (versus age ≤ 19) were less likely to have early sexual debut. The likelihood of engaging in condomless sex at the latest sexual intercourse was lower among male college students who had a senior high school educated mother (vs junior high school and below, AOR=0.47, 95%CI: 0.28-0.80), were knowledgeable about sex and reproductive health (vs unknowledgeable, AOR=0.48, 95%CI: 0.27-0.85), and held a higher level of condom use efficacy confident vs unconfident, AOR=0.50, 95%CI: 0.35-0.71; very confident vs unconfident, AOR=0.26, 95%CI: 0.16-0.42). The odds of condomless sex at the latest sexual intercourse increased among participants reporting perceived risk of HIV infection (vs no, AOR=1.96, 95%CI: 1.27-3.03) and early sexual debut (vs no, AOR=1.61, 95%CI: 1.12-2.32). Conclusion Comprehensive sex education curricula might be an effective approach by emphasizing fundamental sex and reproductive information and empowering students with assertiveness and negotiation skills with regard to condom use during or before college.

Sodium metavanadate (NaVO3) exhibits important physiological effects including insulin-like, chemoprevention and anticancer activity. However, the effects of NaVO3 on breast cancer and underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, our results revealed that NaVO3 was able to inhibit proliferation of murine breast cancer cells 4T1 with IC50 value of 8.19 μM and 1.92 μM at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. The mechanisms underlying the inhibition activity were that NaVO3 could increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in a concentration-dependent way, arrest cells at G2/M phase, diminish the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), finally promote the progress of apoptosis. Furthermore, NaVO3 also exhibited a dose-dependent anticancer activity in breast cancer-bearing mice that led to the shrinkage of tumor volume (about 50%), lower microvessel density, less propagating cells and more apoptotic cells in vivo, as compared to the saline group. Therefore, NaVO3 may act as a potential chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancer treatment.

Background To identify differentially expressed miRNAs profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with silicosis and consider the potential contribution of miRNAs to silicosis. Methods miRNAs expression profiling were performed in the cell fraction of BALF samples obtained from 9 subjects (3 silicosis observation subjects, 3 stage I and stage II silicosis patients, respectively). The differential expression of two selected miRNAs hsa-miR-181c-5p and hsa-miR-29a-3p were confirmed by RT-qPCR. Furthermore, miRNAs Gene Ontology Enrichment categories and target mRNAs were determined based on miRWalk. Results We found 110 dysregulated miRNAs in silicosis samples, most of which showed a down-regulation trend. Microarray results were confirmed by RT-qPCR. With the observation group samples set as standards, stage I samples showed 123 differentially expressed miRNAs, and stage II 46. 23 miRNAs were dysregulated in both stages. Finally, functional enrichment analysis indicated that these miRNAs played an important role in various biological processes, including ECM-receptor interaction and endocytosis. Conclusions This is the first time to acquire the BALF-derived microRNAs expression profiling targeting to human silicosis. These results contribute to unravelling miRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of silicosis, and provide new tools of potential use of as biomarkers for diagnosis and/or therapeutic purposes.

To date, the combinational cancer therapy of anticancer and antiangiogenic agents represents a promising strategy to improve antitumor outcomes in clinics. However, combination therapy with drugs having distinct properties, such as solubility, limits the likelihood of simultaneous delivery. In our study, we aimed to develop a codelivery nanoparticulate system of hydrophilic doxorubicin (DOX) and hydrophobic itraconazole (ITZ) using liposomes coated with Pluronic® P123 (ITZ/DOX-PLip). The prepared ITZ/DOX-PLip exhibited a unimodal size distribution and high loading efficiency with sustained release profiles. Furthermore, cytotoxicity against 4T1 murine breast cancer cells and cellular uptake results revealed that the inhibitory effect of ITZ/DOX-Plip on tumor growth was superior to that of free DOX or DOX-loaded liposome (DOX-Lip), which was primarily attributed to the significantly higher intercellular DOX content. Cytotoxicity against HUVEC and wound healing tests confirmed that ITZ and ITZ formulations could inhibit the growth and migration of endothelial cells. In addition, in xenograft 4T1 bearing BALB/c mice, biodistribution experiments revealed that higher drug accumulation in tumors and decreased distribution in heart were observed for ITZ/DOX-PLip as compared to free DOX. Remarkably, ITZ/DOX-PLip significantly reduced tumor volume, tumor weight, liver metastasis and microvessel density in comparison with the same dose of ITZ injection or DOX-Lip. Overall, this Pluronic® P123 modified liposome-based codelivery system represents a promising nano-platform for combination therapy in cancers.

Despite increasing evidence to suggest that microRNA (miR)-146a and miR-181b are involved in the regulation of immune responses and tumor progression, their roles in silicosis remain to be fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study examined the roles of miR-146a and miR-181b in inflammatory responses, and their effect on the expression of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) inflammatory chemokines in silicon dioxide (SiO2)-induced NR8383 rat macrophages. Alterations in the expression levels of miR-146a and miR-181b in rats with silicosis have been previously investigated using miRNA arrays. In the present study, the expression levels of miR-146a and miR-181b were assessed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The NR8383 cells were transfected with miRNA-146a and miR-181b mimics or inhibitors, and the cells and culture supernatants were collected following SiO2 treatment for 12 h. The expression levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were detected using western blotting, RT-qPCR and ELISA. Analysis of variance and Student's two-tailed t-test were used to perform statistical analyses. The expression level of miR-146a was significantly increased, while the expression level of miR-181b was significantly decreased in the fibrotic lungs of the rats with silicosis, compared with the levels in the normal rats. It was observed that, following treatment of the NR8383 cells with SiO2 for 12 h, the levels of TNF-α were significantly increased following miR-181b knockdown and the levels of IL-1β were significantly increased following miR-146a knockdown, compared with the inhibitor-treated controls (P

The performance of outbreak detection could be affected by the adoption of different temporal models, and the length of baseline data and parameter values. This chapter described three studies, which compared the accuracy and timeliness of outbreak detection with different models, baseline data, and parameters. Firstly, two models, the Ratio Chart Method and Moving Percentile Method (MPM), were compared. Models using long baseline data were then compared with models using short baseline data. Finally, the impact of parameter values was evaluated using the MPM.

Effectiveness evaluation is a systematic way to improve early warning system and ensure system's effective work. On technical level, early warning system is composed of five procedures, including goal setting, information collection, data analysis, information distribution, and early warning response. This chapter shows how to evaluate these procedures: providing evaluation strategy and indicators. On the viewpoint of administration level, seven evaluation indictors are proposed, including simplicity, flexibility, acceptability, portability, stability, security, and system costs. These indictors make conducting sound and fair valuations practical and help to assess whether a set of evaluative activities are well-designed and working to their potential.

This chapter provides brief introductions to the basic models and algorithms for the early warning of infectious diseases. First, it describes several types and principles of early warning models. It then discusses several indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of early warning models.

To timely and effectively detect any potential infectious disease outbreaks or bioterrorism events for public health protection during the 41st World Expo (EXPO 2010), Pudong Syndromic Surveillance and Early-Warning System (PD-SEWS) was established in Pudong New Area, Shanghai city. Multisource prediagnosis data including the outpatients' chief complaints, absenteeism of kindergartens and schools, over-the-counter (OTC) product sales, and health-related information of hotels’ guests were collected and analyzed daily by Poisson cumulative sum (CUSUM) model automatically. During a surveillance period of 184 days from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2010, 11 infectious disease outbreaks were identified and controlled timely by PD-SEWS, effectively contributing to the security of public health during EXPO 2010.

Background Syndromic surveillance has been widely used for the early warning of infectious disease outbreaks, especially in mass gatherings, but the collection of electronic data on symptoms in hospitals is one of the fundamental challenges that must be overcome during operating a syndromic surveillance system. The objective of our study is to describe and evaluate the implementation of a symptom-clicking-module (SCM) as a part of the enhanced hospital-based syndromic surveillance during the 41st World Exposition in Shanghai, China, 2010. Methods The SCM, including 25 targeted symptoms, was embedded in the sentinels’ Hospital Information Systems (HIS). The clinicians used SCM to record these information of all the visiting patients, and data were collated and transmitted automatically in daily batches. The symptoms were categorized into seven targeted syndromes using pre-defined criteria, and statistical algorithms were applied to detect temporal aberrations in the data series. Results SCM was deployed successfully in each sentinel hospital and was operated during the 184-day surveillance period. A total of 1,730,797 patient encounters were recorded by SCM, and 6.1 % (105,352 visits) met the criteria of the seven targeted syndromes. Acute respiratory and gastrointestinal syndromes were reported most frequently, accounted for 92.1 % of reports in all syndromes, and the aggregated time-series presented an obvious day-of-week variation over the study period. In total, 191 aberration signals were triggered, and none of them were identified as outbreaks after verification and field investigation. Conclusions SCM has acted as a practical tool for recording symptoms in the hospital-based enhanced syndromic surveillance system during the 41st World Exposition in Shanghai, in the context of without a preexisting electronic tool to collect syndromic data in the HIS of the sentinel hospitals.

To explore the effect of signal strength indictor (SSI) in improving sensitivity of China Infectious Diseases Automated-alert and Response System (CIDARS).Diarrhea cases in 2007-2011 and early warning signals in 2010-2011 were selected by using random digital table method. Then, SSI and event-related ratio (ER) were calculated. The relationship between ER and SSI was analyzed, and the effect of SSI on ER was explored by using multiple logistic regression analysis.9 620 early warning signals in 2010-2011 were generated in two years. Of these, 74, or 0.77% were defined as suspected outbreak signal. The median of SSI related with suspected outbreak signal was 4.0, which was much higher than non-suspected outbreak signal (1.7). ER was significantly correlated with SSI (r=0.917). SSI classification has a good correlation between the ER, ER exceeded 20 after SSI reached 20. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed OR of SSI related with suspected outbreak signal was 2.52 (95% CI 2.04-3.12). Compared with non-epidemic season, the relationship of SSI and ER in epidemic season was much higher.SSI was closely related with ER. The relationship was much closer in large scale outbreak and epidemic season, and compared to non-epidemic,the effect of epidemic season is more obvious.

Tobacco use is a serious public health problem among low-income Chinese Americans with limited English proficiency. Chinese men are at high risk for smoking-related morbidity and mortality. We tested the feasibility of a culturally and linguistically sensitive smoking intervention program with combined counseling and pharmacological components for Chinese smokers in New York City; identified factors and techniques that enhance the administration and appropriateness of the intervention program; and examined the overall impact of this program on quit attempts, quit rates, and overall smoking reduction.We were guided by the transtheoretical model and used an adapted motivational interviewing (MI) approach. The study involved a randomized sample with pretreatment assessment and multiple follow-up measures. Eligible participants (N = 122) were randomly assigned to intervention (4 individualized counselor-led MI sessions and nicotine replacement therapy [NRT]) or control groups (4 general health education sessions, self-help materials, and NRT).Quit rate at 6 months in the intervention group was 67% versus 32% for the control group, indicating minimal relapse and a highly successful intervention program. Increase in self-efficacy and decease in pros of smoking from baseline to 6-month follow-up were positively associated with smoking cessation. The number of cigarette smoked at baseline was inversely related to smoking cessation. Results indicate that a combined intensive behavioral counseling and pharmacological intervention can reduce smoking substantially.The results of this pilot will be used as a basis for a large-scale randomized trial of an intervention with combined culturally and linguistically sensitive MI and NRT components for Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups.

To analyze the job burnout and mental health status of clinicians and the relationship of personality with job burnout and psychological stress, and to investigate the direct or indirect effects of personality on psychological stress.Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (EPQ-RSC), and Kessler 10 Scale were administered to 775 clinicians.Of all clinicians, 29.5% had mild burnout, with a score of 22.7 ± 8.18 for psychological stress risk. The effect of personality on emotional exhaustion and cynicism was greater than that on personal accomplishment. Clinicians with a personality of introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism suffered a higher risk of psychological stress. Personality had both direct and indirect effects on psychological stress. Neuroticism had the strongest effect on psychological stress, with an effect size of 0.55.Clinicians have a high level of both job burnout and mental psychological stress risk. Personality is significantly correlated with job burnout and psychological stress risk. Measures depending on personality should be taken for effective intervention.

To investigate the current status and characteristics of work-related fatigue among scientific and technical personnel and its associated factors, and to provide a scientific basis for further interventions.A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the staff from a single scientific institution, using a self-administered questionnaire. Basic information of participants, Fatigue Scale-14, and Job Content Questionnaire were collected.The prevalence of work-related fatigue among the scientific and technical personnel was 54.6%; work-related fatigue was positively correlated with occupational stress (rs = 0.384, P0.05). Significant differences in the scores, proportions, and types of fatigue were found between different types of occupational stress. The associated factors of work-related fatigue included occupational stress profiles, social support, and educational status. A higher risk of work-related fatigue was found in the staff under high stress, compared with those under low stress (OR = 8.5, 95%CI = 3.9∼18.7). Social support served as a protective factor for work-related fatigue, while a higher level of education was correlated with more severe work-related fatigue.Work-related fatigue is common and serious among scientific and technical personnel, especially in those under high stress. Effective interventions according to occupational stress are of great importance to reduce work-related fatigue.

Providing evidences for further modification of China Infectious Diseases Automated-alert and Response System (CIDARS) via analyzing the outbreak detection performance of Moving Percentile Method (MPM) by optimizing thresholds in different provinces.We collected the amount of MPM signals, response results of signals in CIDARS, cases data in nationwide Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting Information System, and outbreaks data in Public Health Emergency Reporting System of 16 infectious diseases in 31 provinces in Chinese mainland from January 2011 to October 2013. The threshold with the optimal sensitivity, the shortest time to detect outbreak and the least number of signals was considered as the best threshold of each disease in Chinese mainland and in each province.Among all the 16 diseases, the optimal thresholds of 10 diseases, including dysentery, dengue, hepatitis A, typhoid and paratyphoid, meningococcal meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, scarlet fever, leptospirosis, hepatitis, typhus in country level were the 90(th) percentile (P90), which was the same as provincial level for those diseases.For the other 6 diseases, including other infectious diarrhea, influenza, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, mumps, rubella and epidemic hemorrhagic fever, the nationwide optimal thresholds were the 80th percentile (P80), which was different from that by provinces for each disease. For these 6 diseases, the number of signals generated by MPM with the optimal threshold for each province was decreased by 23.71% (45 557), 15.59% (6 124), 14.07% (1 870), 9.44% (13 881), 8.65% (1 294) and 6.03% (313) respectively, comparing to the national optimal threshold, while the sensitivity and time to detection of CIDARS were still the same.Optimizing the threshold by different diseases and provinces for MPM in CIDARS could reduce the number of signals while maintaining the same sensitivity and time to detection.

To evaluate the performance of China's infectious disease automated alert and response system in the detection of outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth (HFM) disease.We estimated size, duration and delay in reporting HFM disease outbreaks from cases notified between 1 May 2008 and 30 April 2010 and between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2012, before and after automatic alert and response included HFM disease. Sensitivity, specificity and timeliness of detection of aberrations in the incidence of HFM disease outbreaks were estimated by comparing automated detections to observations of public health staff.The alert and response system recorded 106,005 aberrations in the incidence of HFM disease between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2012 - a mean of 5.6 aberrations per 100 days in each county that reported HFM disease. The response system had a sensitivity of 92.7% and a specificity of 95.0%. The mean delay between the reporting of the first case of an outbreak and detection of that outbreak by the response system was 2.1 days. Between the first and second study periods, the mean size of an HFM disease outbreak decreased from 19.4 to 15.8 cases and the mean interval between the onset and initial reporting of such an outbreak to the public health emergency reporting system decreased from 10.0 to 9.1 days.The automated alert and response system shows good sensitivity in the detection of HFM disease outbreaks and appears to be relatively rapid. Continued use of this system should allow more effective prevention and limitation of such outbreaks in China.Évaluer les résultats du système automatisé d'alerte et d'action pour les maladies infectieuses de la Chine en matière de détection des épidémies de maladie des mains, pieds et bouche (MMPB).Nous avons estimé la taille, la durée et le retard du signalement des épidémies de MMPB à partir des cas notifiés entre le 1er mai 2008 et le 30 avril 2010 et entre le 1er mai 2010 et le 30 avril 2012, c'est-à-dire avant et après l'intégration de la MMPB dans le système automatisé d'alerte et d'action. La sensibilité, la spécificité et la rapidité de la détection des aberrations dans l'incidence des épidémies de MMPB ont été estimées en comparant les détections automatisées aux observations du personnel des services de santé publique.Le système d'alerte et d'action a enregistré 106 005 aberrations dans l'incidence de la MMPB entre le 1er mai 2010 et le 30 avril 2012 – une moyenne de 5,6 erreurs pour 100 jours dans chaque comté qui avait signalé la MMPB. Le système d'action avait une sensibilité de 92,7% et une spécificité de 95,0%. Le retard moyen entre le signalement du premier cas d'une épidémie et la détection de cette épidémie par le système d'action était de 2,1 jours. Entre les périodes de la première et de la seconde étude, la taille moyenne d'une épidémie de MMPB a diminué de 19,4 à 15,8 cas, et l'intervalle moyen entre le début et le signalement initial d'une telle épidémie au système de notification d'urgence des services de santé publique a diminué, passant de 10,0 à 9,1 jours.Le système automatisé d'alerte et d'action présente une bonne sensibilité en matière de détection des épidémies de MMPB et semble être relativement rapide. L'utilisation continue de ce système devrait permettre de prévenir et de limiter plus efficacement ces épidémies en Chine.Evaluar el rendimiento del sistema de alerta y respuesta automática a enfermedades infecciosas de China en la detección de brotes de la enfermedad boca-mano-pie (EBMP).Calculamos la magnitud, la duración y la demora en la notificación de brotes de la enfermedad BMP a partir de casos notificados entre el 1 de mayo de 2008 y el 30 de abril de 2010, y entre el 1 de mayo de 2010 y el 30 de abril 2012, antes y después de que el sistema de alerta y respuesta automáticas incluyera la enfermedad BMP. Se estimó la sensibilidad, especificidad y oportunidad de la detección de aberraciones en la incidencia de los brotes de enfermedad BMP mediante la comparación de las detecciones automáticas con las observaciones del personal de salud pública.El sistema de alerta y respuesta registró 106 005 aberraciones en la incidencia de la EBMP entre el 1 de mayo de 2010 y el 30 de abril de 2012 - una media de 5,6 aberraciones por cada 100 días en cada condado que notificó dicha enfermedad. El sistema de respuesta tuvo una sensibilidad del 92,7 % y una especificidad del 95,0 %. La demora media entre la notificación del primer caso de un brote y la detección de ese brote por el sistema de respuesta fue de 2,1 días. Entre el primer y el segundo período de estudio, las dimensiones medias de un brote de EBMP disminuyeron de 19,4 a 15,8 casos, y el intervalo medio entre el comienzo de un brote y el primer informe en el sistema de notificación de emergencia de salud pública se redujo de 10,0 a 9,1 días.El sistema de alerta y respuesta automática muestra una buena sensibilidad en la detección de los brotes de EBMP y parece ser relativamente rápido. El uso continuado de este sistema debería permitir una prevención y limitación más eficaces de dichos brotes en China.تقييم أداء نظام الإنذار والاستجابة الآلي للأمراض المعدية في اكتشاف فاشيات مرض اليد والقدم والفم في الصين.قمنا بتقدير الحجم والمدة والتأخير في الإبلاغ عن فاشيات مرض اليد والقدم والفم من الحالات التي تم الإخطار بها بين 1 أيار/مايو 2008 و30 نيسان/أبريل 2010 وبين 1 أيار/مايو 2010 و30 نيسان/أبريل 2012، قبل إدراج داء اليد والقدم والفم في الإنذار والاستجابة الآلية وبعده. وتم تقدير حساسية اكتشاف الانحرافات ونوعيتها وتوقيتها في معدل الإصابة بفاشيات مرض اليد والقدم والفم عن طريق مقارنة الاكتشافات والملاحظات الآلية من قبل موظفي الصحة العمومية.سجل نظام الإنذار والاستجابة 106005 انحرافاً في معدل الإصابة بمرض اليد والقدم والفم بين 1 أيار/مايو 2010 و30 نيسان/أبريل2012 - المتوسط 5.6 انحرافاً لكل 100 يوم في كل مقاطعة أبلغت عن مرض اليد والقدم والفم. وكانت حساسية نظام الاستجابة 92.7 % ونوعيته 95.0 %. وكان متوسط التأخير بين الإبلاغ عن الحالة الأولى لإحدى الفاشيات واكتشاف تلك الفاشية عن طريق نظام الاستجابة 2.1 يوم. وانخفض متوسط حجم فاشية مرض اليد والقدم والفم بين الفترتين الدراسيتين الأولى والثانية من 19.4 حالة إلى 15.8 حالة وانخفض متوسط الفاصل بين بداية هذه الفاشية والإبلاغ الأولي عنها إلى نظام الإبلاغ عن حالات الطوارئ في الصحة العمومية من 10.0 إلى 9.1 يوماً.يشير نظام الإنذار والاستجابة الآلي إلى حساسية جيدة في اكتشاف فاشيات مرض اليد والقدم والفم ويبدو أنه سريع نسبياً. وينبغي أن يسمح الاستخدام المتواصل لهذا النظام بزيادة فعالية الوقاية وتقييد هذه الفاشيات في الصين.评价中国传染病自动预警与响应系统在探测手足口疾病（HFM）爆发方面的表现。我们利用2008年5月1日和2010年4月30日之间以及2010年5月1日和2012年4月30日之间（即自动预警与响应系统将手足口病纳入之前和之后）报告的病例估算了手足口病病爆发的规模、持续时间和报告延迟时间。将预警与响应系统自动探测的结果与公共卫生工作人员的观察结果进行比较，评估该系统用于探测手口足病爆发的灵敏度、特异度和及时性。在2010年5月1日至2012年4月30日期间，预警和响应系统发出了106005条预警信号，——在每个有手足口病病例报告的县，平均每100天产生5.6条手足口病预警信号。响应系统敏感度为92.7%，特异度为95.0%。从爆发的第一例病例报告至自动预警与响应系统探测到爆发之间的平均时间间隔是2.1天。在自动预警与响应系统将手足口病纳入之前和之后，手足口病爆发的平均规模从19.4例下降到15.8例，从爆发首例病例发病至向突发公共卫生事件报告系统进行报告之间的平均时间间隔从10.0天下降到9.1天。自动预警与响应系统在探测手足口病爆发方面具有良好的灵敏度和及时性。持续使用该系统应该能够更有效地预防和控制中国手足口病的爆发。Оценить эффективность автоматизированной системы оповещения и реагирования в Китае, используемой для обнаружения вспышек вирусной пузырчатки полости рта и конечностей (HFM — от англ. hand, foot and mouth disease).Размер, продолжительность вспышек и задержка сообщений о вспышках HFM оценивались на основе случаев, зарегистрированных в период с 1 мая 2008 года по 30 апреля 2010 года и в период с 1 мая 2010 года по 30 апреля 2012 года, как до, так и после начала использования системы автоматического оповещения и реагирования о данном заболевании. Чувствительность, специфичность и своевременность обнаружения отклонений в уровне заболеваемости HFM оценивались путем сравнения данных автоматизированной системы обнаружения с наблюдения специалистов общественного здравоохранения.Системой оповещения и реагирования было зарегистрировано 106 005 отклонений в уровне заболеваемости HFM в период с 1 мая 2010 года по 30 апреля 2012 года, что составило в среднем 5,6 отклонений на 100 дней в каждом округе, сообщившем о случаях заболевания HFM. Чувствительность и специфичность системы реагирования составляли 92,7% и 95,0% соответственно. Средняя задержка между сообщением о первом случае вспышки заболевания и выявлением данной вспышки системой реагирования составила 2,1 дня. Между первым и вторым периодами исследования средний размер вспышки HFM уменьшился с 19,4 до 15,8 случаев, а средний интервал между началом вспышки и первоначальным сообщением о данной вспышке в систему аварийной отчетности здравоохранения уменьшился с 10,0 до 9,1 дней.Автоматизированная система оповещения и реагирования продемонстрировала хорошую чувствительность при обнаружении вспышек вирусной пузырчатки полости рта и конечностей и относительно высокую скорость реагирования. Дальнейшее использование этой системы должно обеспечить более эффективное предотвращение и ограничение вспышек данного заболевания в Китае.

We evaluated a novel strategy to improve the performance of outbreak detection algorithms, namely setting the alerting threshold separately in each region according to the disease incidence in that region. By using data on hand, foot and mouth disease in Shandong province, China, we evaluated the impact of disease incidence on the performance of outbreak detection algorithms (EARS-C1, C2 and C3). Compared to applying the same algorithm and threshold to the whole region, setting the optimal threshold in each region according to the level of disease incidence (i.e., high, middle, and low) enhanced sensitivity (C1: from 94.4% to 99.1%, C2: from 93.5% to 95.4%, C3: from 91.7% to 95.4%) and reduced the number of alert signals (the percentage of reduction is C1∶4.3%, C2∶11.9%, C3∶10.3%). Our findings illustrate a general method for improving the accuracy of detection algorithms that is potentially applicable broadly to other diseases and regions.

A B S T R A C T Vanadium-containing products are manufactured and widely used in the modern industry. Yet the neurobehavioral toxicity due to occupational exposure to vanadium remained elusive. This crosssectional study was designed to examine the neurotoxic effects of occupational vanadium exposure. A total of 463 vanadium-exposed workers (exposed group) and 251 non-exposed workers (control group) were recruited from a Steel and Iron Group in Sichuan, China. A WHO-recommended neurobehavioral core test battery (NCTB) and event-related auditory evoked potentials test (P300) were used to assess the neurobehavioral functions of all study subjects. A general linear model was used to compare outcome scores between the two groups while controlling for possible confounders. The exposed group showed a statistically significant neurobehavioral alteration more than the control group in the NCTB tests. The exposed workers also exhibited an increased anger-hostility, depression-dejection and fatigue-inertia on the profile of mood states (p < 0.05). Performances in the simple reaction time, digit span, benton visual retention and pursuit aiming were also poorer among exposed workers as compared to unexposed control workers (p < 0.05). Some of these poor performances in tests were also significantly related to workers’ exposure duration. P300 latencies were longer in the exposed group than in the control (p < 0.05). Longer mean reaction times and more counting errors were also found in the exposed workers (p < 0.05). Given the findings of our study and the limitations of neurobehavioral workplace testing, we found evidence of altered neurobehavioral outcomes by occupational exposure to vanadium.

Xiaodan He,1 Li Li,2 Hong Su,1 Dinglun Zhou,3 Hongmei Song,4 Ling Wang,1 Xuehua Jiang1 1West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 4HitGen Ltd., Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China Background: Effective anticancer drug delivery to the tumor site without rapid body clearance is a prerequisite for successful chemotherapy. 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine-N-(methoxy[polyethyleneglycol]-2000) (DSPE-PEG2000) has been widely used in the preparation of stealth liposomes. Although PEG chains can efficiently preserve liposomes from rapid clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), its application has been hindered by poor cellular uptake and unsatisfactory therapeutic effect.Methods: To address the dilemma, we presented a facile approach to fabricate novel stealth nanoparticles generated by poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL), soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC), and cholesterol, namely LPPs (L represented lipid and PP represented PEG-b-PCL), for the delivery of anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX). LPPs were prepared using the thin film hydration method. Two PEG-b-PCL polymers with different molecular weights (MW; PEG2000-b-PCL2000, MW: 4,000 Da and PEG5000-b-PCL5000, MW: 10,000 Da) were used to fabricate stealth nanoparticles. Conventional PEGylated liposome (LDP2000, L represented lipid and DP2000 represented DSPE-PEG2000) composed of SPC, cholesterol, and DSPE-PEG2000 was used as the control. The physical properties, cellular uptake, endocytosis pathway, cytotoxicity, pharmacokinetics, tumor accumulation, and anticancer efficacy of free PTX, PTX-loaded LPPs, and LDP2000 were systemically investigated after injection into 4T1 breast tumor–bearing mice.Results: LPPs were vesicles around 100 nm in size with negative zeta potential. With enhanced stability, LPPs achieved sustainable release of cancer therapeutics. The cellular uptake level was closely related to the PEG chain length of PEG-b-PCL; a shorter PEG chain resulted in higher cellular uptake. Moreover, the cellular internalization of LPP2000 modified by PEG2000-b-PCL2000 on 4T1 cells was 2.1-fold higher than LDP2000 due to the improved stability of LPP2000. The cytotoxicity of PTX-loaded LPP2000 was also higher than that of LDP2000 and LPP5000 as observed using a WST-8 assay, while blank LPPs showed negligible toxicity. Consistent with the results of the in vitro study, in vivo experiments showed that LPPs allowed significantly improved bioavailability and prolonged T1/2ß as compared to free PTX injection. More importantly, LPPs mainly accumulated at the tumor site, probably due to the enhanced permeation and retention effect (EPR effect). As a nanomedicine, LPP2000 (tumor inhibition rate of 75.1%) significantly enhanced the therapeutic effect of PTX in 4T1 breast tumor–bearing mice by inhibiting tumor growth compared to LDP2000 and LPP5000 (tumor inhibition rates of 56.3% and 49.5%, respectively).Conclusion: Modification of liposomes with PEG2000-b-PCL2000 can simultaneously improve drug accumulation at the target tumor site and tumor cells, showing great promise for utilization as a PEG modification tool in the fabrication of stealth nanoparticles for cancer chemotherapy. Keywords: nanoparticles PEG-b-PCL, phospholipid, murine breast cancer chemotherapy, paclitaxel

Background Some experimental animal studies reported that vanadium had beneficial effects on blood total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG). However, the relationship between vanadium exposure and lipid, lipoprotein profiles in human subjects remains uncertain. This study aimed to compare the serum lipid and lipoprotein profiles of occupational vanadium exposed and non-exposed workers, and to provide human evidence on serum lipid, lipoprotein profiles and atherogenic indexes changes in relation to vanadium exposure. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited 533 vanadium exposed workers and 241 non-exposed workers from a Steel and Iron Group in Sichuan, China. Demographic characteristics and occupational information were collected through questionnaires. Serum lipid and lipoprotein levels were measured for all participants. The ratios of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to HDL-C and apoB to apoA-I were used as atherogenic indexes. A general linear model was applied to compare outcomes of the two groups while controlling possible confounders and multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the relationship between low HDL-C level, abnormal atherogenic index and vanadium exposure. Results Higher levels of HDL-C and apoA-I could be observed in the vanadium exposed group compared with the control group (P