Environmental Exposure and Genetic Predisposition as Risk Factors for Asthma in China

Asthma is the most common chronic pulmonary disease worldwide and places a considerable economic burden on society. China is the world''s largest developing country and has the largest population. China has undergone dramatic changes in the past few decades. The traditional lifestyle and living environment have changed in ways that directly affect the prevalence of asthma. The prevalence of asthma is lower in Chinese children and adults than in developed countries, but the prevalence has been on the rise during the past 30 years. The prevalence significantly varies among different parts of China. Polymorphisms of multiple genes, outdoor air pollution caused by PM2.5, PM10, SO₂, NO₂, environmental tobacco smoke, and coal, indoor pollution, and inhaled allergens, such as house dust mites, pollen, and cockroach particles, are risk factors for asthma.     

Impact of information and communication technology on child health

This article provides a general framework for understanding the use of information and communication technology in education and discusses the impact of computer usage on students' health and development. Potential beneficial and harmful effects of computer use by children are discussed. Early epidemiological and laboratory studies have indicated that children are at least of similar risk of developing musculoskeletal and vision problems as adults, and musculoskeletal and visual health problems developed in childhood are likely to persist into adulthood. This article, therefore, aims to provide a reflection on the deficits of existing policy and recommendations for child‐specific guidelines in computer use.     

染料木黄酮对乳鼠颅盖骨成骨细胞增殖分化的影响及其与白细胞介素6的关系

目的:观察染料木黄酮对成骨细胞活性的影响及其相关机制。方法:实验于2001-05/2003-05在卫生学环境医学研究所实验室完成。①成骨细胞培养:无菌条件下分离出生3d的乳鼠颅盖骨,剪碎,加入胰蛋白酶和Ⅱ型胶原酶,用含体积分数为0.1的胎牛血清的F-12培养基重悬,调整细胞浓度后接种于25mL细胞培养瓶,Ⅱ代细胞用于实验。②实验方法:实验分为染料木黄酮组、雌激素组和对照组(吐温20),染料木黄酮剂量分别为10-5,10-6、10-7mol/L,雌激素剂量分别为10-9,10-10mol/L,培养48,72h后,应用MTT和3H-TdR掺入实验观察不同剂量的染料木黄酮和雌激素对成骨细胞活性影响,免疫组化的方法测定白细胞介素6表达。结果:①A570nm值:培养48h,染料木黄酮10-5,10-6,10-7mol/L组分别比对照组增加105%,136%和143%;10-9,10-10mol/L雌激素组分别比对照组增加84%和100%;培养72h,染料木黄酮3个剂量组分别比对照组增加93%,113%和146%,各剂量组与对照组相比均有显著性差异(P<0.05)。②3H-TdR掺入量:10-5,10-6,10-7mol/L染料木黄酮组分别比对照组增加0.47,11.29,6.45倍;10-9和10-10mol/L雌激素组增加15.4倍和16.5倍(P<0.05)。③白细胞介素6表达:各组成骨细胞周围均有较强的呈棕色的阳性颗粒,但染料木黄酮组组与对照组相比无明显差别。结论:①10-5～10-7mol/L染料木黄酮和雌激素一样可促进成骨细胞增殖和DNA合成。②染料木黄酮不是通过促进白细胞介素6表达来促进成骨细胞增殖与分化。     

Trends in Australian rehabilitation: Reviving its humanitarian core

Purpose.?This paper discusses how vocational rehabilitation (VR) in Australia has been captured by economic concerns, leading to its failure to deliver promised outcomes. Both public and private sector VR in Australia have undergone significant changes over the last two decades. The demise of non-profit and socially-based rehabilitation in favour of fixed funding models (e.g., managed care or case-base funding), coupled with the growing emphasis on cost containment has placed many VR providers in an unfamiliar environment dominated by bureaucratic, legal, economic and political imperatives. Although it was expected that VR would address rising injury costs, its inability to do so has jeopardized its existence.

Conclusion.?Ironically, it is economic imperatives that are now prompting the re-invention of old concepts that appear to offer the same cost-containment possibilities rehabilitation offered in the 1990s. The most significant among these trends are self-management, coordinated care, community rehabilitation and welfare-to-work incentives. Perhaps the major challenge now, however, is to define a new dimension for rehabilitation and capture the essence of these trends to ensure that they contribute to a possible revival of a model of VR that focuses on the client's broad social context and responds to client-centred goals.     

Supporting the transition of looked-after young people to independent living: a systematic review of interventions and adult outcomes

This systematic review aimed to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of transition support services (TSSs) that are delivered towards the end of care for looked-after young people (LAYP) on their adult outcomes, including education, employment, substance misuse, criminal and offending behaviour, parenthood, housing and homelessness and health. Searches of health, social science and social care bibliographic databases were conducted and records were screened for relevance. Citation and reference list searches were conducted on included studies. Relevant studies were synthesized and critically appraised. Seven studies were identified (five retrospective and two prospective cohort studies), six of which were conducted in the USA and one in the UK. Overall, LAYP who received TSSs were more likely to complete compulsory education with formal qualifications, be in current employment, be living independently and less likely to be young parents. There was no reported effect of the impact of TSSs on crime or mental health, and mixed findings for homelessness. The range of TSS components investigated and reported varied considerably within and between studies, with limited evidence of long-term outcomes. The literature reviewed offers no reliable conclusions on the effectiveness of TSSs at this time due to variations in research quality and because few formal evaluations of existing TSSs have been conducted, resulting in mixed evidence in terms of positive, negative and neutral impact on outcomes. Further high-quality, robust research to evaluate the effectiveness of TSSs on adult outcomes for young people in the short, medium and longer term is needed to address the health inequalities experienced by this small but vulnerable group and to inform decision making about service provision.     

Natural compounds containing mouthrinses in the management of dental plaque and gingivitis: a systematic review

Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of natural compounds containing mouthrinse (NCCM) as an adjunct to unsupervised oral hygiene in the management of dental plaque and gingivitis.

Materials and methods

An electronic search for clinical studies of NCCMs was conducted in Medline-PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and EMBASE for a period spanning from the earliest available date in each database up to February 2013. Plaque index, gingival index, and gingival bleeding index were selected as primary outcomes. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed according to the “Levels of Evidence” outlined by the Center of Evidence-Based Medicine, and to the Jadad scale.

Results

The screen yielded 2,236 titles and abstracts that met the inclusion criteria. These identified 11 clinical trials testing 13 different NCCMs, and were used for data extraction. Heterogeneity and the limited number of studies on any individual NCCM precluded a formal meta-analysis. Of the 13 NCCMs tested, eight demonstrated positive results, and few reported any adverse effects or events.

Conclusions

Evidence proving the effectiveness of NCCM as an adjunct to unsupervised oral hygiene for plaque and gingivitis control is still insufficient. However, some natural products (compounds) may have oral health benefits, so further high-quality study is warranted.

Clinical relevance

This review provides an overview of the strength of clinical evidence regarding the effectiveness of natural compounds containing mouthrinses in promoting gingival health.     

A comparison of bone mineral density in oligomenorrhoeic adolescents with polycystic ovaries and normal ovaries

We evaluated whether the presence of polycystic ovaries in adolescent girls as a cause of oligomenorrhoea and amenorrhoea would pose any protective effect against osteoporosis or low bone mineral density (BMD) compared with girls having similar menstrual dysfunction but normal ovaries. A cross-sectional observational study was done in consecutive girls, aged between 16 and 19 years, presenting to the adolescent gynaecology clinic with oligomenorrhoea or amenorrhoea. All patients underwent full hormonal profile assessment, pelvic ultrasound for ovarian morphology, bio-impedance estimation of body fat, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and quantitative peripheral computed tomography scans to determine BMD in axial and appendicular skeletal sites. Polycystic ovaries were diagnosed according to ultrasound morphology. These were then compared with an age-matched eumenorrhoeic control group that had undergone the same evaluation. Of 45 patients with oligomenorrhoea or amenorrhoea, 14 (31%) were diagnosed to have polycystic ovaries, while the other 31 had normal ovaries. The control group consisted of 45 age-matched eumenorrhoeic girls. The group with normal ovaries had lower BMD at the lumbar spine and hip, as well as lower total tibial volumetric BMD, than the eumenorrhoeic controls, but there were no significant differences between the group with polycystic ovaries and eumenorrhoeic controls. We conclude that adolescents with oligomenorrhoea and amenorrhoea with normal ovaries had lower BMD than eumenorrhoeic ones, but those with polycystic ovaries had BMD values comparable to those of eumenorrhoeic controls despite their menstrual dysfunction.     

朝藿素B和朝藿素C的结构

从朝鲜淫羊藿(Epeimedium koreanum Nadai)地上部分中分离得到二个新黄酮成分:朝藿素B(epimedokoreanin B)(Ix)和朝藿素C(epimedokoreanin C)(XV),经光谱分析证明,朝藿素B(IX)的结构为5,7,3`,4`-tetrahydroxyl-8,5`,-diprenylflavone;朝藿素c(xv)的结构为5,7,31`,7`-tetrahydroxyl-8-prenyl-2｛[2`-(l-hydroxyl-l-methylethyl)-2`,3`-dihydrobenzofuran]-5`-yl｝-chromone.