Genetic and environmental factors as predictors of disease severity and extent at time of diagnosis in an inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease,Copenhagen County and City 2003–2005

Background and aimsThe etiology of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the influence of genetic, serological, and environmental factors on phenotypic presentation of IBD at diagnosis in a population-based Danish inception cohort from 2003–2005.MethodsThree-hundred-forty-seven (62%) of 562 cohort patients were genotyped. ASCA and p/c-ANCA were determined and patients answered a questionnaire concerning environmental factors with possible influence on IBD.ResultsFourteen percent of CD patients vs. 11% of controls were positive for common CARD15 mutation (ns), whereas more CD patients than healthy controls were homozygous for the OCTN-TC haplotype (p = 0.03). ASCA was more common in CD (22%) than UC (14%) (p = 0.045) and was related to age and localization of CD. p-ANCA was more frequent in UC (p = 0.00001) but was related to pure colonic CD (p = 0.0001). Sugar consumption was significantly higher in CD patients than in UC patients (p = 0.0001) and more CD patients than UC patients had undergone appendectomy prior to IBD diagnosis (p = 0.03). A possible relation between tonsillectomy and disease severity in CD, and a relation between use of oral contraception and disease localization of UC to rectum/left-sided colon were found.ConclusionsIn this cohort of unselected IBD patients we found a very low frequency of mutations in IBD susceptibility genes and observed a greater impact of ASCA and ANCA than of genetic factors on disease phenotypes. In addition, several environmental factors seemed to influence disease occurrence and disease presentation in both UC and especially CD.     

Implementing a Knowledge Translation Intervention in Long-Term Care: Feasibility Results From the Vitamin D and Osteoporosis Study (ViDOS)

ObjectivesTo evaluate the feasibility of implementing an interdisciplinary, multifaceted knowledge translation intervention within long-term care (LTC) and to identify any challenges that should be considered in designing future studies.DesignCluster randomized controlled trial.SettingForty LTC homes across the province of Ontario, Canada.ParticipantsLTC teams composed of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other staff.MeasurementsCluster-level feasibility measures, including recruitment, retention, data completion, and participation in the intervention. A process evaluation was completed by directors of care indicating which process/policy changes had been implemented.ResultsRecruitment and retention rates were 22% and 63%, respectively. Good fidelity with the intervention was achieved, including attendance at educational meetings. After ViDOS, 7 process indicators were being newly implemented by more than 50% of active intervention homes.ConclusionDespite recruitment and retention challenges, the multifaceted intervention produced a number of policy/process changes and had good intervention fidelity. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01398527.     

Increased genetic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis W-Beijing genotype that predominates in eastern China

ObjectivesTo determine the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) strains in a Chinese population predominately infected with strains of the W-Beijing family.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in three counties of eastern China. M. tuberculosis strains were collected at TB clinics, and patients were interviewed by trained physicians at the time of TB diagnosis. RD105 and RD181 were used to identify W-Beijing and modern W-Beijing strains, respectively, while seven-locus variable numbers of tandem repeat–mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (VNTR–MIRU) analysis was employed to differentiate the genotypes of these strains.ResultsOf 441 strains studied, 394 (89.3%) were identified as W-Beijing family strains; of them, 299 were modern W-Beijing strains. VNTR–MIRU identified 409 genotypes from 426 strains, including 395 unique patterns and 14 clusters. Ancestral W-Beijing strains were more likely to be clustered (OR = 1.32, 95%CI: 0.58–2.97) compared to modern W-Beijing strains. The proportions of clustered strains were 14.6%, 4.2% and 0% at sites Funing (FN), Deqing (DQ) and Yinzhou (YZ), respectively. Of the seven MIRU loci, VNTR3820 was found to have the highest discriminatory power and allelic diversity.ConclusionsVNTR–MIRU typing appears to be a reliable method for analyzing M. tuberculosis transmission in relatively closed populations. The low clustering proportions indicate that endogenous relapse may be a main source of TB cases in eastern China. Furthermore, our results indicate that migration has played may play an important role in the recent transmission of the W-Beijing family of M. tuberculosis.     

国内外医疗机构护理人员绩效评价经验和借鉴

介绍归纳了国内外护理人员绩效研究情况和评价方法。通过国外经验对比借鉴,发现目前我国绩效考评的指标具有多样化、主观化的特点,并且大多尚未真正在实践中应用,提出我国绩效考核指标需要进行信度、效度的实证研究,并重视积极有效的考核信息反馈方式等。     

Investigation of the differential transport mechanism of cinnabar and mercury containing compounds

BackgroundCinnabar has a long history of uses in Chinese traditional medicines as an ingredient in various remedies. However, the detailed mechanism of cinnabar in medication remains unclear, and the toxicity of cinnabar has been a debate due to its containing mercury sulfide. This study was designed to investigate the differential transport mechanism of cinnabar and other Hg-containing compounds HgCl₂, MeHg and HgS, and to determine if organic anion transporters OAT1 and OAT3 were involved in the differential transport mechanism.Materials and methodsThe 293T cells were employed to investigate and compare the differential transport mechanism of cinnabar and HgCl₂, MeHg and HgS. Cells were incubated with a low dose (5 μM HgCl₂ and MeHg, 200 μM HgS and cinnabar), medium dose (10 μM HgCl₂ and MeHg, 400 μM HgS and cinnabar), and high dose (20 μM HgCl₂ and MeHg, 800 μM HgS and cinnabar) of HgCl₂, MeHg, HgS and cinnabar for 24 h. Following treatment, the cells were collected and the cell viability was determined by MTT assay. The intracellular mercury content was measured at 1, 4, and 24 h after treatment with 10 μM of the tested agents by an atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer. The effect of these tested agents on mitochondrial respiration was determined in a high-resolution oxygraphyat 24 h following treatment. Furthermore, the effect of modulation of expression of transporters OAT1 and OAT3 on the transport and cytotoxicity of the tested agents was evaluated. The up and down regulation of OAT1 and OAT3 were achieved by overexpression and siRNA transfection, respectively.ResultsCompared with HgCl₂ and MeHg, the cytotoxicity of cinnabar and HgS was lower, with cell viability at the high dose cinnabar and HgS being about 65%, while MeHg and HgCl₂ were 40% and 20%, respectively. The intracellular mercury accumulation was time-dependent. At 24 h the intracellular concentrations of HgCl₂ and MeHg were about 7 and 5 times higher, respectively, than that of cinnabar. No significant difference was found in the intracellular mercury content in cells treated with cinnabar compared to HgS. The knockdown and overexpression of the transporter OAT1 resulted in significant reduction and increase, respectively, in mercury accumulation in HgCl₂ -treated cells in relative to control cells, while no significant changes were observed in cells treated with cinnabar, MeHg, and HgS. In addition, the knockdown and overexpression of the transporter OAT3 caused significant reduction and increase, respectively, in mercury accumulation in both HgCl₂ and MeHg-treated cells in relative to control cells, while no significant changes were observed in cells treated with cinnabar and HgS. Furthermore, it was found that cells transfected with siOAT1 caused significant resistance to the cytotoxicity induced by HgCl₂, while no noticeable changes in cell viability were observed in cells treated with other tested agents. Additionally, cells transfected with OAT3 did not change cell sensitivity to cytotoxicity induced by all of the four tested agents.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that differential transport and accumulation of mercury in 293T cells exists among cinnabar and the three mercury-containing compounds HgCl₂, MeHg and HgS, leading to distinct sensitivity to mercury induced cytotoxicity. The kidney organic anion transporters OAT1 and OAT3 are partially involved in the regulation of the transport of HgCl₂ and MeHg, but not in the regulation of the transport of cinnabar.     

Fatigue in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients and an Exploration of Contributing Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

ContextFatigue is a common and detrimental symptom in dialysis patients; however, our understanding of it and investigation of its contributing factors is still very limited, especially in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.ObjectivesTo assess fatigue in PD patients and identify contributing factors.MethodsOne hundred eight PD patients in a comprehensive hospital in China were recruited. The fatigue severity of the participants was assessed using the Chalder Fatigue Scale 11. Demographic factors and results of physiological tests were collected. Quality of sleep, mental health, and social support were assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Symptom Checklist 90, and Social Support Rating Scale, respectively. Multiple linear regression models were conducted with candidate variables with a P-value of less than 0.1 on univariate analysis and variables that were clinically relevant to identify contributing factors for fatigue.ResultsThe fatigue level in PD patients was significantly higher than the community population, and 78.7% of them were suffering from fatigue. The factors that were significantly associated with fatigue were quality of sleep, normalized protein nitrogen appearance, transferrin, alkaline phosphatase, and total cholesterol (adjusted R squared 0.86). Among them, quality of sleep, transferrin, alkaline phosphatase, and total cholesterol were significant contributors for physical fatigue, whereas the quality of sleep and normalized protein nitrogen appearance were contributing factors for mental fatigue.ConclusionFatigue is a common symptom in PD patients, suggesting that increased awareness of this symptom is required. The identification of correlates by extensive exploration of multidimensional factors in this study may help practitioners to identify patients at higher risk and to develop a multidimensional and targeted intervention plan.     

A Mentoring Program for the Promotion of Sexual Health Among Korean Adolescents

The purpose of this pilot study was to develop a mentoring program for the promotion of sexual health among Korean adolescents and to explore the effects of the program. A nonequivalent control group pre-test–post-test design was used. The mentoring intervention was conducted by eight nursing students who participated in the program as mentors using various methods such as formal group sessions and informal individual contacts. At the 12-week post-intervention, the interaction between time and group was statistically significant on both sexual knowledge and sexual attitude of the 17 adolescent mentees. The mentoring program demonstrated potential as a developmentally appropriate intervention for the sexual health promotion of adolescents and promises to enable nursing students to gain confidence in their professional capability.