Obesity has become a global epidemic and contributes to the increasing burden of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, some types of cancer, and premature death worldwide. Obesity is highly heritable and arises from the interactions of multiple genes, environmental factors, and behavior. In this paper, the authors reviewed recent developments in genetic epidemiologic research, focusing particularly on several promising genomic regions and obesity-related genes. Gene-gene and gene-environment interactions of obesity were also discussed. Published studies were accessed through the MEDLINE database. The authors also searched the Obesity Gene Map Database (http://obesitygene.pbrc.edu/) and conducted a manual search using references cited in relevant papers. Heritabilities for obesity-related phenotypes varied from 6% to 85% among various populations. As of October 2005, 253 quantitative trait loci for obesity-related phenotypes have been localized in 61 genome-wide linkage scans, and genetic variants in 127 biologic candidate genes have been reported to be associated with obesity-related phenotypes from 426 positive findings. Gene-gene interactions were also observed in several genes, and some genes were found to influence the effect of dietary intake and physical activity on obesity-related phenotypes. Integration of genetic epidemiology with functional genomics and proteomics studies will be required to fully understand the role of genetic variants in the etiology and prevention of obesity.

Based on the results of this study the Chinese version of the ERI questionnaire is considered a reliable and valid instrument for measuring psychosocial stress at work. It is applicable to Chinese working populations and, in particular, to the healthcare sector.

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To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese (mainland) version of Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), this validation study was conducted in university hospitals among 193 men and 581 women health care workers. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for decision latitude, psychological job demands and social support ranged from 0.56 to 0.82, which indicated that psychological job demands had lower internal consistency. The decision latitude displayed a negative correlation with psychological job demands and a positive correlation with social support. Exploratory factor analysis showed 3 meaningful factors that could explain the 3 theoretical dimensions of job strain model. Apart from some uncertainty over psychological job demands particularly, it is concluded that the Chinese (mainland) version of JCQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring job stressors, and is applicable to Chinese working population.

Abstract-The heritability of blood pressure responses to dietary intervention has not been well studied. We examined the heritability of blood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium intake in a family feeding study among 1906 study participants living in rural North China. The dietary intervention included a 7-day low-sodium feeding (51.3 mmol per day), a 7-day high-sodium feeding (307.8 mmol per day), and a 7-day high-sodium plus potassium supplementation (60 mmol per day). Blood pressure was measured 9 times during the 3-day baseline period preceding the intervention and also during the last 3 days of each intervention phase using a random-zero sphygmomanometer. Heritability was computed using maximum likelihood methods under a variance components model as implemented in the computer program SOLAR. The heritabilities of baseline blood pressure were 0.31 for systolic, 0.32 for diastolic, and 0.34 for mean arterial pressure. The heritabilities increased significantly under dietary intervention and were 0.49, 0.49, and 0.51 during low sodium; 0.47, 0.49, and 0.51 during high sodium; and 0.51, 0.52, and 0.53 during potassium supplementation for systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure, respectively. The heritabilities for percentage of blood pressure responses to low sodium were 0.20, 0.21, and 0.23; to high-sodium were 0.22, 0.33, and 0.33; and to potassium supplementation were 0.24, 0.21, and 0.25 for systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure, respectively. Our study indicated that the heritabilities of blood pressure under controlled dietary sodium and potassium intake were significantly higher than those under a usual diet. In addition, the heritabilities of blood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium intake were moderate in this study population.

In clinics, dentists should pay more attention to this aesthetic problem for the relative high prevalence of black tooth stain in primary dentition. Also, the related factors can be explained to parents for the prevention of black tooth stain in children.

True anatomical TMs that take into account the flow through side branches are feasible for accurate hemodynamic and biomechanical calculations. Traditional SCMs underestimate Pd/Pa and are inaccurate for regional SS estimation. Implementation of TMs might improve the accuracy of SS and virtual fractional flow reserve calculations, thus improving the consistency of biomechanical studies.

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