Background and Purpose-To examine the incidence and trends of stroke and its major subtypes during the 1990s in 3 cities in China. Methods-Stroke cases registered between 1991 to 2000 were initially identified through the stroke surveillance networks established in Beijing, Shanghai, and Changsha, and then confirmed by neurologists. Results-The age-standardized incidence rates per 100 000 person years of overall first-ever stroke were 135.0 (95% CI, 126.5 to 144.6) in Beijing, 76.1 (70.6 to 82.6) in Shanghai, and 150.0 (141.3 to 160.0) in Changsha during the 1990s. Incidence of ischemic stroke (IS) was highest in Beijing, followed by Changsha and Shanghai; for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), the highest rate was found in Changsha, followed by Beijing and Shanghai. The same order as ICH was also observed for subarachnoid hemorrhage. The age-adjusted incidence of overall stroke and ICH for individuals Ն55 years of age in our populations was generally higher than that from Western populations. During the 1990s, ICH incidence decreased significantly at a rate of 12.0% per year in Beijing, 4.4% in Shanghai, and 7.7% in Changsha; in contrast, except for Changsha, IS incidence increased in Beijing (5.0% per year) and Shanghai (7.7%). Conclusions-There is a geographic variation in the incidence of stroke and its subtypes among these 3 cities, but the incidence of overall and hemorrhagic stroke in China is generally higher than that in the Western countries. Interestingly, the decrease in ICH and increase in IS during the past decade may reflect some underlying changes of risk factors in

Studies of ␤-lactam pharmacodynamics in infected patients are sparse. In this study, classification and regression tree (CART) and logistic regression analyses were used to identify which pharmacodynamic indices and magnitudes were significant predictors of meropenem efficacy for 101 adult patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). Using demographic data, a validated population pharmacokinetic model was employed to predict pharmacokinetic parameters and free serum concentrations in the studied patients.

Atrial fibrillation is relatively common in type 2 diabetes and is associated with substantially increased risks of death and cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. This arrhythmia identifies individuals who are likely to obtain greater absolute benefits from blood pressure-lowering treatment. Atrial fibrillation in diabetic patients should be regarded as a marker of particularly adverse outcome and prompt aggressive management of all risk factors.

Meropenem is a highly potent carbapenem antibiotic against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Meropenem plasma concentration data from 99 pediatric patients (aged 0.08-17.3 years) were used to develop a population pharmacokinetic model. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using NONMEM with exponential interindividual variability and combinational residual error model. A 2-compartment model was found to fit the data best. Creatinine clearance and body weight were the most significant covariates explaining variabilities in meropenem pharmacokinetics among pediatric patients. The validated final model was used to predict meropenem plasma concentrations in 37 pediatric meningitis patients, receiving 40 mg/kg meropenem, who had minimum inhibitory concentration values of the causative pathogens and outcome available. Since the causative pathogens in all patients were eradicated, no break points for required exposure could be found. The microbiological outcomes indicate that the current clinical dosage regimen provides sufficient drug exposure to eradicate the pathogens commonly involved in pediatric meningitis.

Combined therapy with Sorafenib-RFA was associated with a lower incidence of post-RFA recurrence and better OS than RFA alone in patients with BCLC Stage 0-B1 HCC. Although these findings suggest that Sorafenib and RFA is safe and effective for the treatment of early HCC, prospective and randomized controlled trials are needed to validate them.

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The first organocatalytic diastereo-and enantioselective Michael addition reaction of 4-substituted-pyrazolin-5-ones to nitroolefins has been developed with a chiral bifunctional thiourea as organocatalyst. A wide variety of desired multi-substituted pyrazolin-5-one derivatives with contiguous quaternary and tertiary stereocenters are smoothly obtained in very good yields (up to 98%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to > 99% ee) and acceptable diastereoselectivities (up to 80:20). This experimentally simple process facilitates the access to various enantioenriched, multiply substituted pyrazolin-5-one derivatives, potential biologically active molecules, starting from readily available starting materials.

BackgroundRobust data on the contemporary management of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients in China are limited. Importantly current practice in AF management has changing dramatically in recent years. Data from a large registry study will enable us to evaluate the uptake and outcomes with different therapies in a large Chinese AF population.Methods/DesignThe Chinese Atrial Fibrillation Registry study (CAFR) aims to enroll 20,000 consecutive atrial fibrillation (AF) patients from 32 tertiary and non-tertiary hospitals in Beijing, China, and follow up these patients every 6 months until 2020. Key data collected includes basic sociodemographic information, symptoms and signs, medical history, results of physical examination and laboratory test, details of treatments and personal insurance status. For patients who consent, 5 ml of blood sample will be stored at −80 °C for future analyses of biomarkers. At each 6 month follow up visit, data relating to clinical outcomes will be collected. Data from a randomly selected 10 % of patients will be internally validated with their raw source data. Ischemic stroke events will be adjudicated by an independent endpoint committee.DiscussionCAFR will be one of the largest registries of Asian AF patients (and the largest in Chinese AF patients), as well as providing the longest follow up. This study would provide a valuable opportunity for ‘real world’ clinical epidemiology with insights into the uptake (and outcomes) of contemporary AF management.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-OCH-13003729. Registered 22 October 2013.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0308-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.