To investigate the prevalence of cognitive impairment and its risk factors among Chinese elders aged over 80 years, a community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from May to June 2016 in Shanghai, China. Cognitive function was measured by using Mini-Mental Status Examination. Multiple logistic regression assessed associations between risk factors and cognitive impairment. Of 480 participants, 30% were diagnosed with cognitive impairment. Women [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–2.83], solitary life (AOR: 3.15, 1.89–5.26), monthly income less than 2000 Chinese yuan (AOR: 3.47, 1.18–10.23) were significantly associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment, compared with men, non-solitary life, and monthly income greater than 4000 Chinese yuan, respectively. Overweight (AOR: 0.59, 0.36–0.97), being physically active at least 60 minutes per day (AOR: 0.59, 0.35–0.95), antihypertensive drugs users (AOR: 0.45, 0.28–0.72), and lipid lowering drugs users (AOR: 0.21, 0.06–0.76) significantly lowered the risk of cognitive impairment, compared with normal weight, inadequate outdoor activity, and non-medication users, respectively. Accordingly, this study found that women, solitary life, lower income was associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment, while overweight, being physically active, and antihypertensive and lipid lowering drugs usage might lower the risk.

I ntravenous leiomyoma (IVL) is a rare, histologically benign smooth-muscle-cell tumor that occurs only in women. This neoplasm occupies vascular spaces from the intrauterine venules to the systemic veins, including the iliac vein and inferior vena cava (IVC), and it does not invade the tissue. The mass can extend into the right heart chambers and pulmonary arteries. 1,2 Its extrauterine involvement occurs in approximately 30% of cases, and intracardiac extension accounts for about 10%. [3][4][5] This extension of IVL into the right side of the heart is called intracardiac leiomyomatosis (ICL).The diagnosis of ICL can be overlooked. Echocardiography, abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are available for detection and diagnosis. Echocardiography is important in the initial diagnosis of ICL. To our knowledge, the literature about ICL chiefly comprises case reports, and the authors of the few case series have not in general discussed the echocardiographic characteristics and extending pathways of ICL. We retrospectively studied the cases of 7 patients with ICL who underwent successful tumor resection in our hospital. We outlined the echocardiographic characteristics of the tumors and analyzed their clinical features, confirmed the extending pathways by means of CT reports, and studied the surgical and pathologic results. We discuss the echocardiographic diagnosis of ICL and briefly review the pertinent medical literature. Patients and MethodsWe reviewed our hospital's clinical database and identified 7 women who had undergone surgical resection of ICL tumors from January 2003 through July 2012. The echocardiographic images included parasternal, apical, and subcostal views. In addition, M-mode, pulsed and continuous-wave Doppler, and color-flow Doppler images

On 26 April 1999, three persons were accidentally exposed by high dose (60)Co irradiation. They suffered from severe (one case) or moderate (two cases) hemopoietic form of acute radiation sickness (ARS). As part of the comprehensive treatment, strict reverse isolation and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) therapy were applied. All the patients recovered after an appropriate treatment for 83 days. In our experience, the correct diagnosis and effective treatment at an early stage proved to be helpful to the patients in pulling out from the critical stage of acute radiation sickness. To avoid menstruation by the female patient just in the critical stage, we modified her menstruation cycle by testosterone. In our view, GM-CSF should be given as early as possible with enough dosage for promoting early hematological reconstruction. The experience obtained from the medical management of these patients is valuable for the treatment of such patients in the future.

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AbstractsBackgroundThe leptin receptor-deficient db/db mouse is a well-established type II diabetes animal model used to investigate diabetic cardiomyopathy. Previous reports have documented diabetic cardiomyopathy is accompanied by cardiac structural and functional abnormalities. To better elucidate early or subtle changes in cardiac performance in db/db mice, we used speckle tracking echocardiography to assess systolic myocardial strain in vivo with diabetic db/db mice in order to study early changes of left ventricle contractile function in type II diabetes model.MethodsMale diabetic db/db mice and age-matched control mice from C57BL/6J strain at 8,12 and 16 weeks of age were subjected to echocardiography. At the midpapillary level in the parasternal left ventricular short-axis view, end diastolic and systolic left ventricular diameter, interventricular septal thickness and posterior wall thicknesses, ejection fraction, fractional shortening were determined by M-mode echocardiography. Using speckle-tracking based strain analysis of two-dimensional echocardiographic images acquired from the parasternal short-axis views at the mid-papillary level, systolic global radial and circumferential strain values were analyzed.ResultsThere was no significant difference in interventricular septal thickness, posterior wall thicknesses, end diastolic and systolic left ventricular diameter, ejection fraction and fractional shortening between db/db and age-matched control mice at 8,12 or 16 weeks of age (P > 0.05). At 8 and 12 weeks of age, there was no significant difference in left ventricular radial strain and circumferential strain between db/db mice and age-matched controls (P > 0.05). But at 16 weeks of age, the left ventricular radial strain and circumferential strain in db/db mice were lower than in control mice (P < 0.01).ConclusionThe present study shows that speckle tracking echocardiography can be used to evaluate cardiac functional alterations in mouse models of cardiovascular disease. Radial and circumferential strain are more sensitive and can be used for detection of early left ventricular contractile dysfunction in db/db type II diabetic mice.

Background: Air pollution has been demonstrated to be a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases worldwide. This study examines the relationship between the exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) and patient hospitalizations as a result of ischemic heart disease (IHD) during 2013–2014 in Shanghai, China. Methods: Daily IHD hospitalization data were acquired from the Shanghai Health Insurance Bureau (SHIB) from 1 January 2013 to 21 December 2014. Daily average concentrations of air pollution as well as meteorological data were obtained from the database of Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center (SEMC) during the same time period, and all data were analyzed using standard epidemiological methodology. Generalized linear model (GLM) adjusted for time trends, weather conditions, and medical insurance policy was used to estimate the immediate and delayed effects of PMs on IHD hospitalizations, and the effects of PMs were also examined based on gender, age group and seasonal variation. Results: A total of 188,198 IHD hospitalizations were recorded during 2013–2014 in Shanghai, China. During this period, the average concentrations of the fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of <10 μm (PM10) and ≤2.5 (PM2.5) were 76 µg/m3 and 56.3 µg/m3, respectively. The effect of PMs was strongest on days when a 10 μg/m3 increment increase of PM2.5 and PM10, which coincided with an increase in IHD hospitalizations by 0.25% (95% CI: 0.10%, 0.39%) and 0.57% (95% CI: 0.46%, 0.68%), respectively. Furthermore, the effect of PMs was significantly greater in males and people between 41 and 65 years old. Conclusions: Hospitalizations of IHD was strongly associated with short-term exposure to high levels of PM10 and PM2.5 during 2013–2014 in Shanghai, China.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease associated with high mortality, and traditional Chinese medicine decoctions (TCMDs) have been widely used for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in China; however, the impact of these decoctions on severe and critical COVID-19-related mortality has not been evaluated. Therefore, we aimed to address this gap. In this retrospective cohort study, we included inpatients diagnosed with severe/critical COVID-19 at the Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University and grouped them depending on the recipience of TCMDs (TCMD and non-TCMD groups). We conducted a propensity score-matched analysis to adjust the imbalanced variables and treatments and used logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. Among 282 patients with COVID-19 who were discharged or died, 186 patients (66.0%) received TCMD treatment (TCMD cohort) and 96 (34.0%) did not (non-TCMD cohort). After propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio, 94 TCMD users were matched to 94 non-users, and there were no significant differences in baseline clinical variables between the two groups of patients. The all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the TCMD group than in the non-TCMD group, and this trend remained valid even after matching (21.3% [20/94] vs. 39.4% [37/94]). Multivariable logistic regression model showed that disease severity (odds ratio: 0.010; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.037; [Formula: see text] < 0.001) was associated with increased odds of death and that TCMD treatment significantly decreased the odds of in-hospital death (odds ratio: 0.115; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.383; [Formula: see text] < 0.001), which was related to the duration of TCMD treatment. Our findings show that TCMD treatment may reduce the mortality in patients with severe/critical COVID-19.

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