The Tibetan grey wolf (Canis lupus chanco) occupies habitats on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a high altitude (>3000 m) environment where low oxygen tension exerts unique selection pressure on individuals to adapt to hypoxic conditions. To identify genes involved in hypoxia adaptation, we generated complete genome sequences of nine Chinese wolves from high and low altitude populations at an average coverage of 25× coverage. We found that, beginning about 55,000 years ago, the highland Tibetan grey wolf suffered a more substantial population decline than lowland wolves. Positively selected hypoxia-related genes in highland wolves are enriched in the HIF signaling pathway (P = 1.57E-6), ATP binding (P = 5.62E-5), and response to an oxygen-containing compound (P≤5.30E-4). Of these positively selected hypoxia-related genes, three genes (EPAS1, ANGPT1, and RYR2) had at least one specific fixed non-synonymous SNP in highland wolves based on the nine genome data. Our re-sequencing studies on a large panel of individuals showed a frequency difference greater than 58% between highland and lowland wolves for these specific fixed non-synonymous SNPs and a high degree of LD surrounding the three genes, which imply strong selection. Past studies have shown that EPAS1 and ANGPT1 are important in the response to hypoxic stress, and RYR2 is involved in heart function. These three genes also exhibited significant signals of natural selection in high altitude human populations, which suggest similar evolutionary constraints on natural selection in wolves and humans of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

BackgroundAcute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) is an important public-health problem worldwide. Previous national studies of the incidence of AGI in China were performed decades ago, and detailed information was not available. This study therefore sought to determine the magnitude, distribution, and burden of self-reported AGI in China.MethodsTwelve-month, retrospective face-to-face surveys were conducted in 20 sentinel sites from six provinces between July 2010 and July 2011.ResultsIn total, 39686 interviews were completed. The overall adjusted monthly prevalence of AGI was 4.2% (95% confidence interval, 4.0–4.4), corresponding to 0.56 episodes of AGI per person-year. Rates of AGI were highest in children aged < 5 years. Healthcare was sought by 56.1% of those reporting illness. Of the cases who visited a doctor, 32.7% submitted a stool sample. The use of antibiotics was reported by 49.7% of the cases who sought medical care and 54.0% took antidiarrhoeals. In the multivariable model, gender, age, education, household type, residence, season, province and travel were significant risk factors of being a case of AGI.ConclusionsThis first population-based study in China indicated that AGI represents a substantial burden of health. Further research into the specific pathogens is needed to better estimate the burden of AGI and foodborne disease in China.

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AS patients investigated in this study exhibited BID. There were significant relationships between the BIDQ, disease and psychological variables, and QOL. Disease status, BID, and anxiety and depression indicated a poor QOL.

BackgroundThere are limited data on the trends of incidence or prevalence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in China. To assist in future planning for the ESRD program, the trends of incidence, prevalence and health care costs were analyzed and forecasted to the year 2025 by modeling of historical data from 2004 through 2014.MethodsNanjing urban employee basic medical insurance (NJUEBMI) data were obtained from the Nanjing Medical Insurance Information System from 2004 to 2014. The time series forecasting system in SAS 9.4 was used. Each variable was independently forecasted by the fittest model, which was selected automatically or manually.ResultsThe forecasting models demonstrated mean percent errors of −2.49 to 5.62 %, relative to the observed values. The R-square values for the forecasting models ranged from 0.756 to 0.997. On the basis of trends in the historical data, the models projected that the average annual increase in the NJUEBMI population was 4.77 %, with forecasted values of 5,029,270 in 2025 (95 % CI, 4,960,423-5,098,117). The incidence and prevalence of ESRD were projected to increase by 1.19 and 1.95 % annually and were expected to reach 250.5 pmp (95 % CI, 247.7–253.3) and 1505 pmp(95 % CI, 1450–1560) by 2025. Additionally, the costs associated with ESRD were forecasted to increase at a growth rate of 5.80 % for healthcare costs and 7.25‰ for per capita medical expenses, with forecasted values of ¥600.3 million ($92.4 million) (95 % CI, 541.8–658.9) and ¥99.0 thousand ($15.2 thousand) (95 % CI, 98.6–99.3), respectively, by 2025. The incidence and prevalence of kidney transplantation were projected to decrease by 6.58 and 9.79 % annually.ConclusionsThese projections suggest that the incidence, prevalence, healthcare costs, and per capita medical expenses of ESRD would increase in the NJUEBMI population. They provide a basis for discussing the trends of ESRD in China and facing the challenges from the ESRD program.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12882-016-0269-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.