The findings suggest that protein oxidation may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic organ damage in SLE.

Enterobacter is becoming increasingly important nosocomial pathogens. Nosocomial infection is a clinical risk factor tightly associated with multiresistance and worse outcome. More judicious use of third-generation cephalosporins may decrease the incidence of nosocomial multiresistant Enterobacter spp. in China.

Our purpose was to explore potential genetic models for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and analyze genetic epidemiologic characteristics of SLE in a Chinese population. Data for 695 patients with SLE were obtained by using a uniform questionnaire. Patients, clinical characteristics and their family history were analyzed using software. A complex segregation analysis was conducted to propose potential genetic models for SLE. The mean +/- SD age of onset were 30.2 +/- 10.5 years and mean time to progression to SLE was 32.5 +/- 44.4 months. The most frequent initial manifestations were malar rash (61.3%). During the evolution of the disease, the main clinical features were arthritis in 73.6% of our patients, followed by malar rash (68.1%), and renal involvement (56.7%). As the first symptom, the late-onset group (onset of disease beyond the age of 50 years) less often showed malar rash (45% vs. 63.4% in the early-onset group; p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in the other cumulative clinical symptoms between late-onset and early-onset group, except for a lower prevalence of malar rash, photosensitivity and alopecia and a higher prevalence of mucosal ulcers in the late-onset group. A positive family history of SLE was obtained in 50 patients (7.2%). There were no statistical differences in clinical characteristics between familial SLE and sporadic SLE patients. The heritability of SLE was 43.6%, the genetic model of SLE could be polygenetic model and major gene mode is the best fitted one. SLE could be a multifactorial disease with polygenetic model.

A significant association between variants in CD247 and SLE was demonstrated in Asian populations. Understanding the involvement of CD247 in SLE may shed new light on disease mechanisms and development of new treatment paradigms.

Objectives This study aims to explore the current status of married women in regard of their use of contraceptive methods (permanent methods versus non-permanent methods) and to find out factors that affect the use of contraceptive methods in rural areas of Anhui Province of China.Design Survey.Setting Anhui, China.Population A total of 53,652 married women aged 18-49 years.Methods A multistage probability sampling method was used to identify a representative sample of 53,652 married women aged 18-49 years. All women were asked to provide detailed information by completing detailed questionnaires.Main outcome measures Contraceptive prevalence and influence factors.Results The total birth control rate of the sample was 95.2%. Samples choosing the permanent and nonpermanent contraceptive methods have taken up 46.7 and 48.5% respectively. Female sterilisation was the first choice with a usage rate of 43.6%, followed by intrauterine device (IUD), which was used by 41.1% of samples. Single-variable analysis showed that the choice of contraceptive methods was associated with age, education level, parity, frequency of sex intercourses in a month, contraceptive knowledge, RTI symptom and the gender of the last child of rural married women.Conclusions A significant increase in contraceptive use of rural married women in Anhui Province of China. Female sterilisation and IUD still play the dominant role. Effective family planning methods should be advocated through adequate counselling on the correct use and proper management, with consideration of the background of custom and belief.