气候变化和经济发展对肾综合征出血热发生的影响

肾综合征出血热(hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, HFRS)是一种啮齿动物传播的自然疫源性疾病, 危害严重, 已成为全球重要的公共卫生问题。本研究采用数理统计模型及小波分析方法, 对陕西省西安市鄠邑区1984-2016年HFRS的发生与鼠类、气候和经济因素的关系进行分析, 探讨气候和经济因素对HFRS发生的影响。小波分析结果表明, 该地区的HFRS暴发史可能分为两个时期, 推测每个时期具有不同的主要宿主, 在2002年褐家鼠(Rattus norvegicus)可能取代黑线姬鼠(Apodemus agrarius)成为HFRS疫源地的主要宿主。广义可加模型模拟结果表明, HFRS的发生与1984-2001年黑线姬鼠密度间存在极显著非线性效应(F_2.06,9.02 = 102.415, P < 0.01), 两者间显现为正相关; 与2002-2016年的褐家鼠密度间呈正相关(F_1.67,9.02 = 73.929, P < 0.01); HFRS主要宿主的这种变化可能与当地气候变化和经济发展有关: HFRS的发生与年平均温度存在极显著的非线性效应(F_2.93,9.02 = 12.164, P < 0.01), 两者间呈负相关; 同样, HFRS的发生与上一年的国内生产总值(GDP)也存在显著非线性效应(F_1.70,9.02 = 2.917, P < 0.05), 两者间也呈负相关。结构方程模型通过直接和间接的影响途径证明了这种转移机制, 发现温度对HFRS发生有显著的直接负向影响以及通过褐家鼠的间接正向影响; GDP对HFRS发生有直接的负向影响。本研究表明HFRS的发生与气候变化和经济发展相关, 两者均能影响HFRS的暴发, 该结论有助于今后更好地对HFRS疾病进行预防和控制。     

Identifying Neural Patterns of Functional Dyspepsia Using Multivariate Pattern Analysis: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Background

Previous imaging studies on functional dyspepsia (FD) have focused on abnormal brain functions during special tasks, while few studies concentrated on the resting-state abnormalities of FD patients, which might be potentially valuable to provide us with direct information about the neural basis of FD. The main purpose of the current study was thereby to characterize the distinct patterns of resting-state function between FD patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Methodology/Principal Findings

Thirty FD patients and thirty HCs were enrolled and experienced 5-mintue resting-state scanning. Based on the support vector machine (SVM), we applied multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to investigate the differences of resting-state function mapped by regional homogeneity (ReHo). A classifier was designed by using the principal component analysis and the linear SVM. Permutation test was then employed to identify the significant contribution to the final discrimination. The results displayed that the mean classifier accuracy was 86.67%, and highly discriminative brain regions mainly included the prefrontal cortex (PFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), supplementary motor area (SMA), temporal pole (TP), insula, anterior/middle cingulate cortex (ACC/MCC), thalamus, hippocampus (HIPP)/parahippocamus (ParaHIPP) and cerebellum. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between ReHo values in certain regions of interest (ROI) and the FD symptom severity and/or duration, including the positive correlations between the dmPFC, pACC and the symptom severity; whereas, the positive correlations between the MCC, OFC, insula, TP and FD duration.

Conclusions

These findings indicated that significantly distinct patterns existed between FD patients and HCs during the resting-state, which could expand our understanding of the neural basis of FD. Meanwhile, our results possibly showed potential feasibility of functional magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic assay for FD.     

Whole-Brain Functional Connectivity Identification of Functional Dyspepsia

Recent neuroimaging studies have shown local brain aberrations in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients, yet little attention has been paid to the whole-brain resting-state functional network abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether FD disrupts the patterns of whole-brain networks and the abnormal functional connectivity could reflect the severity of the disease. The dysfunctional interactions between brain regions at rest were investigated in FD patients as compared with 40 age- and gender- matched healthy controls. Multivariate pattern analysis was used to evaluate the discriminative power of our results for classifying patients from controls. In our findings, the abnormal brain functional connections were mainly situated within or across the limbic/paralimbic system, the prefrontal cortex, the tempo-parietal areas and the visual cortex. About 96% of the subjects among the original dataset were correctly classified by a leave one-out cross-validation approach, and 88% accuracy was also validated in a replication dataset. The classification features were significantly associated with the patients’ dyspepsia symptoms, the self-rating depression scale and self-rating anxiety scale, but it was not correlated with duration of FD patients (p>0.05). Our results may indicate the effectiveness of the altered brain functional connections reflecting the disease pathophysiology underling FD. These dysfunctional connections may be the epiphenomena or causative agents of FD, which may be affected by clinical severity and its related emotional dimension of the disease rather than the clinical course.     

Regional Brain Structural Abnormality in Meal-Related Functional Dyspepsia Patients: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

Background and Aims

Brain dysfunction in functional dyspepsia (FD) has been identified by multiple neuroimaging studies. This study aims to investigate the regional gray matter density (GMD) changes in meal-related FD patients and their correlations with clinical variables, and to explore the possible influence of the emotional state on FD patients’s brain structures.

Methods

Fifty meal-related FD patients and forty healthy subjects (HS) were included and underwent a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was employed to identify the cerebral structure alterations in meal-related FD patients. Regional GMD changes'' correlations with the symptoms and their durations, respectively, have been analyzed.

Results

Compared to the HS, the meal-related FD patients showed a decreased GMD in the bilateral precentral gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and midcingulate cortex (MCC), left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and right insula (p<0.05, FWE Corrected, Cluster size>50). After controlling for anxiety and depression, the meal-related FD patients showed a decreased GMD in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left MCC, right precentral gyrus and insula (p<0.05, FWE Corrected, Cluster size>50). Before controlling psychological factors, the GMD decreases in the ACC were negatively associated with the symptom scores of the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) (r = −0.354, p = 0.048, Bonferroni correction) and the duration of FD (r = −0.398, p = 0.02, Bonferroni correction) respectively.

Conclusions

The regional GMD of meal-related FD patients, especially in the regions of the homeostatic afferent processing network significantly differed from that of the HS, and the psychological factors might be one of the essential factors significantly affecting the regional brain structure of meal-related FD patients.     

Quantitative Analysis of Burden of Infectious Diarrhea Associated with Floods in Northwest of Anhui Province,China: A Mixed Method Evaluation

Background

Persistent and heavy rainfall in the upper and middle Huaihe River of China brought about severe floods during the end of June and July 2007. However, there has been no assessment on the association between the floods and infectious diarrhea. This study aimed to quantify the impact of the floods in 2007 on the burden of disease due to infectious diarrhea in northwest of Anhui Province.

Methods

A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was firstly conducted to examine the relationship between daily cases of infectious diarrhea and the 2007 floods in Fuyang and Bozhou of Anhui Province. Odds ratios (ORs) of the flood risk were quantified by conditional logistic regression. The years lived with disability (YLDs) of infectious diarrhea attributable to floods were then estimated based on the WHO framework of the calculating potential impact fraction in the Burden of Disease study.

Results

A total of 197 infectious diarrheas were notified during the exposure and control periods in the two study areas. The strongest effect was shown with a 2-day lag in Fuyang and a 5-day lag in Bozhou. Multivariable analysis showed that floods were significantly associated with an increased risk of the number cases of infectious diarrhea (OR = 3.175, 95%CI: 1.126–8.954 in Fuyang; OR = 6.754, 95%CI: 1.954–23.344 in Bozhou). Attributable YLD per 1000 of infectious diarrhea resulting from the floods was 0.0081 in Fuyang and 0.0209 in Bozhou.

Conclusions

Our findings confirm that floods have significantly increased the risks of infectious diarrhea in the study areas. In addition, prolonged moderate flood may cause more burdens of infectious diarrheas than severe flood with a shorter duration. More attention should be paid to particular vulnerable groups, including younger children and elderly, in developing public health preparation and intervention programs. Findings have significant implications for developing strategies to prevent and reduce health impact of floods.     

Genetic differentiation of Arthrobacter population from heavy metal-contaminated environment

Six samples containing extremely high concentration of Pb, Zn, and Cd were obtained from the layers of 5–10 cm and 25–30 cm three tailing piles, with ages of about 10, 20 and more than 80 years, respectively. Then, 48 bacterial strains were obtained from these samples, and subsequently their phylogenetic positions were determined by analysis on the partial sequence of 16S rRNA gene (fragment length ranging from 474 to 708 bp). These isolates were members of the Arthrobacter genus, phylogenetically close to A. keyseri and A. ureafaciens, with sequence ranging from 99.1% to 100%. Furthermore, genetic variation between subpopulations from different samples was revealed by analysis on their randomly amplified polymorphic DNA profile. Nei genetic distance showed that the greatest differentiation occurred between subpopulation A and C. Notably, either genetic distance between subpopulations from the layers of 5–10 cm and 25–30 cm of each tailing pile or between same layers of different tailing pile increased with the history of tailings. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that soluble Pb has a significantly negative relationship with Nei’ gene diversity of subpopulation. It was assumed that soluble Pb may be responsible for the reduced genetic diversity of the Arthrobacter population. Our data provided evidence that genetic differentiation of microbial populations was consistent with the changes of environmental factors, particularly heavy metals. Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2005, 25(10): 2569–2573 [译自: 生态学报]     

中国水韭属两个四倍体新种

水韭属(Iso&#235;tes)是起源最为古老的水生维管植物,全属物种均被列为国家一级重点保护植物。通过对全国水韭属植物的调查和研究发现,不同产地的四倍体植株在形态上存在显著差异。基于形态学、孢粉学和细胞学证据,将分布于中国湖南省长沙地区和怀化地区的四倍体居群分别命名为隆平水韭(Iso&#235;tes longpingii)和湘妃水韭(I. xiangfei),并详细描述了其形态特征。隆平水韭形态上与中华水韭(I. sinensis)相似,不同之处在于其大孢子具小的瘤状或冠状纹饰,叶细长而柔弱,长达60 cm; 该种也与六倍体东方水韭(I. orientalis)相似,不同之处在于其染色体44条,大孢子具瘤状或冠状纹饰。湘妃水韭的大孢子纹饰虽与二倍体云贵水韭(I. yunguiensis)相似,但在小孢子纹饰、孢子囊形状和染色体数目方面却不同。隆平水韭仅少数植株生长于湖南省宁乡市一处池塘,完全沉水生长,而湘妃水韭则分布于怀化市通道县和会同县的湿地。由于这两个新种的分布区狭窄,野生居群数量和个体数较少,栖息地环境受到人为干扰,因此根据IUCN红色名录评估标准,将隆平水韭评为极危(CR)等级,湘妃水韭评为易危(VU)等级。所编制的中国已知水韭属物种的分种检索表,为本属物种的鉴定和保护工作提供了重要参考。     

Meteorological factors are associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Jiaonan County,China, 2006–2011

This study examined the effect of meteorological factors on the occurrence of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) using a generalized additive model with penalized smoothing splines in Jiaonan, China, from 2006 to 2011. The dose–response relationship was first examined, and then the association between daily meteorological variables and HFRS occurrence was investigated according to the dose–response curves. There were two linear segments in the temperature–HFRS relationship curve. When daily temperature was lower than 17 °C, a positive association was found [with excessive risk (ER) for 1 °C increase on the current day being 2.56 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.36 % to 4.80 %]. An inverse association was found when daily temperature was higher than 17 °C [ER for 1 °C increase on the current day was ?12.82 % (95 % CI: ?17.51 % to ?7.85 %)]. Inverse associations were observed for relative humidity [ER for 1 % increase on lag day 4 was ?1.21 % (95 % CI: ?1.63 % to ?0.79 %)] and rainfall [ER for 1 mm increase on lag day 1 was ?2.20 % (95 % CI: ?3.56 % to ?0.82 %)]. Meteorological factors might be important predictor of HFRS epidemics in Jiaonan County.     

中国"三江并流"纵谷地蚤类丰富度与区系沿纬度梯度的水平分布格局

为探讨横断山区蚤类物种丰富度与区系沿纬度梯度变化的基本规律以及影响它们分布的主要生态因子,作者就云南西部横断山区21o-28oN的8个纬度梯度带目前所知分布的9科45属153种(亚种)蚤类的水平分布资料进行了综合整理和统计分析。结果表明:(1)这一区域蚤类科、属、种丰富度,特有种丰富度和特有度,以及东洋界和古北界区系成分物种丰富度沿纬度梯度的变化,都呈现了随纬度增加先增高后降低的单峰分布格局,最大峰值出现在25o-27oN之间,研究认为,形成物种密度高峰的主要因素是两大区系分界线和交错区的边缘效应;(2)东洋和古北两大区系成分构成比的水平分布格局截然不同,前者随纬度的增加递减,后者则随纬度的增加呈递增的趋势,两区系成分过渡或交错区的跨度在23o-29oN之间,并在25o-27oN形成交汇和分异的中心;(3)聚类分析结果表明,横断山8个纬度梯度带的蚤类总体上归为3个主要地域区系类型,反映出纬度、地理气候环境等因素对蚤类区系及物种分布的影响,以及蚤类区系和物种组成沿纬度梯度的水平分布格局与地理和气候环境的统一性;(4)蚤类的属、种β多样性沿纬度梯度的水平分布基本呈现双峰格局,峰值反映出蚤类的组成及分布在不同纬度梯度、气候带之间的过渡与转变,说明β多样性的水平分布格局与纬度梯度的气候、环境变化程度的关系密切,以及过渡区的边缘效应对两区系物种丰富度高峰的形成具有重要影响;(5)横断山区蚤类物种丰富度与区系的水平分布与垂直分布的规律和格局基本相同,显示了具有同源性的水平地带性与垂直地带性对蚤类空间分布格局所产生的类似影响,证实了横断山区蚤类物种丰富度与区系的水平分布格局理应出现近似于它们垂直分布的一般规律与格局的推论;(6)横断山25o-27oN的区域形成了两大区系物种交汇和分异的中心,由于边缘效应和复杂的地理景观,这里蚤类科、属、种、特有种都具有较高多样性,据此作者推断,这里可能是我国横断山区多物种保存、分布和分化的核心区。     

Molecular phylogenetic relationships of China Seas groupers based on cytochrome <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis> gene fragment sequences

The classification and evolutionary relationships are important issues in the study of the groupers. Cytochrome b gene fragment of twenty-eight grouper species within six genera of subfamily Epinephelinae was amplified using PCR techniques and the sequences were analyzed to derive the phylogenetic relationships of the groupers from the China Seas. Genetic information indexes, including Kimura-2 parameter genetic distance and T _S/T _V ratios, were generated by using a variety of biology softwares. With Niphon spinosus, Pagrus major and Pagrus auriga as the designated outgroups, phylogenetic trees, which invoke additional homologous sequences of other Epinephelus fishes from GenBank, were constructed based on the neighbor-joining (NJ), maximum-parsimony (MP), maximum-likelihood (ML) and minimum-evolution (ME) methods. Several conclusions were drawn from the DNA sequences analysis: (1) genus Plectropomus, which was early diverged, is the most primitive group in the subfamily Epinephelinae; (2) genus Variola is more closely related to genus Cephalopolis than the other four genera; (3) genus Cephalopolis is a monophyletic group and more primitive than genus Epinephelus; (4) Promicrops lanceolatus and Cromileptes altivelis should be included in genus Epinephelus; (5) there exist two sister groups in genus Epinephelus.