Search

Aims: The aims of the study were to explore the experiences of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their partners and examine the factors influencing partner involvement in GDM management, seeking to inform a targeted couple‐based intervention. Design: A descriptive qualitative study. Methods: We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 14 women with GDM and their partners. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from a tertiary hospital in Xi'an, China. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes and 12 subthemes were identified. Theme I: Women's expectations of their partner's involvement in GDM management—practical support and emotional support. Theme II: Partner involvement in GDM management—constructive involvement, unhelpful involvement with good intentions and insufficient involvement. Theme III: Factors that influence partner involvement in GDM—knowledge of GDM, GDM risk perception, health consciousness, attitudes towards the treatment plan, couple communication regarding GDM management, family roles and appraisal of GDM management responsibility. Conclusion: Women desired practical and emotional support from partners. The types of partner involvement in GDM management varied. Some partners provided constructive support, while some partners' involvement was limited, non‐existent or actively unhelpful. By combining these results with the factors influencing partner involvement, our findings may help healthcare professionals develop strategies to involve partners in GDM care and enhance women's ability to manage GDM. Implications for the Profession and Patient Care: Partner involvement in GDM care may help them understand and better attend to women's needs, thus improving their experience and potential outcomes. This study highlights novel factors that need to be considered in developing couple‐based interventions for this population. Reporting Method: The reporting follows the COREQ checklist. Patient or Public Contribution: Some patients were involved in data interpretation. There is no public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an essential approach of optimizing patient outcomes and driving progress in clinical practice. As an important reserve talent of medical staff and researchers, the clinical postgraduates are expected to become the backbones of supporting the implementation of EBP in clinical units after graduation. The assessment of their EBP learning outcomes is an important issue, yet few tools have been developed specifically in Mainland China. The purpose of this study is to adapt the Evidence-Based Practice Profile Questionnaire (EBP2Q) to Mainland China's cultural context and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese EBP2Q in clinical postgraduates. Methods: Cross-cultural modification, including translating the original EBP2Q into Chinese was implemented according to established guidelines. A pilot study was carried out in Mainland China among 30 clinical postgraduates. A subsequent validation study was conducted among 633 clinical postgraduates majoring in clinical medicine, stomatology and nursing from Mainland China. Construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis (n = 313), together with confirmatory factor analysis (n = 320). Reliability was determined by internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Results: The Chinese EBP2Q consisted of 40 items. The content validity index of the Chinese EBP2Q achieved 0.938 at an acceptable level. Principal component analysis resulted in a four-factor structure explaining 61.586% of the total variance. All fitting indices satisfied the standard based upon confirmatory factor analyses, indicating that the four-factor structure contributed to an ideal model fit. The internal consistency appeared high for the Chinese EBP2Q, reaching a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.926. Test–retest reliability was 0.868 and the split-half coefficient was 0.925. Conclusion: Chinese version of EBP2Q possesses adequate validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency. It is a promising questionnaire to be adopted by Chinese medical educators in designing their course and curriculum, or by clinical postgraduates for self-assessment of EBP learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human embryogenesis includes an integrated set of complex yet coordinated development of different organs and tissues, which is regulated by the spatiotemporal expression of many genes. Deciphering the gene regulation profile is essential for understanding the molecular basis of human embryo development. While molecular and genetic studies in mouse have served as a valuable tool to understand mammalian development, significant differences exists in human and mouse development at morphological and genomic levels. Thus it is important to carry out research directly on human embryonic development. Here we will review some recent studies on gene regulation during human embryogenesis with particular focus on the period of organogenesis, which had not been well studied previously. We will highlight a gene expression database of human embryos from the 4th to the 9th week. The analysis of gene regulation during this period reveals that genes functioning in a given developmental process tend to be coordinately regulated during human embryogenesis. This feature allows us to use this database to identify new genes important for a particular developmental process/pathway and deduce the potential function of a novel gene during organogenesis. Such a gene expression atlas should serve as an important resource for molecular study of human development and pathogenesis.

Copyright of Progress in Modern Biomedicine is the property of Publishing House of Progress in Modern Biomedicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aerobic granules (AGS) were difficult to cultivate and:the degradation kinetics of AGS at low. temperature were seldom investigated, which greatly limited the development and application of AGS. In this study, AGS possessed better settling property and higher biomass after cultivation by sodium acetate for 25 d, furthermore, AGS formation time significantly decreased for 48 d at 10°C in a sequencing batch airlift reactor (SBAR) and AGS possessed better simultaneously COD, NH4+ -N and PO43- -P removal efficiency at low temperature, and the respective removal efficiencies were 84. 5% , 91.1% and 94. 1%. Compared with the conventional cultivation of AGS, the content of total protein was as high as 10. 61 mg/g and the total proteins/total polysaccharides (m(PN)/m(PS)) ratio was 1. 57, which meant that the relative high protein content was an essential feature for AGS formation. The adsorption of organic substances by AGS was higher than that of floc sludge because of the higher contents of EPS, more channels for mass and oxygen transfer as well as the greater specific surface area of AGS. The experimental data indicated that the substances degradation kinetics generally followed Monod equation, the corresponding kinetic coefficient of k and Ks were 5. 49 d-1 and 4 760 mg/L, respectively. The degradation rate of substances was obviously influenced by the mass transfer efficiency between liquid phase and AGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate pathway and possible removal mechanisms of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in eco-pond systems (algae ponds and duckweed ponds) for wastewater treatment, all of the laboratory scale batch tests, dynamic sorption tests and continuous flow tests were conducted to study the effect of sorption and biodegradation on EE2 removal. EE2 concentrations were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The 6-day batch tests showed that the introduction of duckweed and algae into wastewater could enhance EE2 removal rate. In the 180-min dynamic sorption tests, about 25% and 80% of EE2 were sorbed by algae and duckweed respectively, which means occurrence of the swift sorption, while the mass balances indicated that only about 6% of the estrogens were bound to the biomass of algae or duckweed at the end of the 6-day tests, implying that EE2 was rapidly removed by sorption at the initial stage, while the sorbed EE2 was subsequently eliminated by biodegradation. Results of continuous flow tests revealed that even at ng/L level, EE2 couht also be removed in algae and duckweed pond systems. Sorption and biodegradation are the main removal mechanisms of EE2 in eco-pond systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model pipeline which dynamically simulates the drinking water distribution system was designed and kept running for twelve months with the tap water from Harbin. Biofilm was taken from its inner surface to isolate and identify the bacteria. Some biofilm was also taken from a real pipeline in Harbin. The results of microbiological analysis showed that there were similar dominant species both in the model and real pipeline, implying that those dominant species could grow well and form the biofilm easily under the same water quality and the same operating situation. The species vary with the length of the test period and reach a balance stage after a long test period. Some biofilm was analyzed by a scanning electron microscope for the further study of the bacterial growth. The SEM results confirmed that most of the bacterial growth on the inner surface of the pipeline were cocci and bacilli. In addition, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and agarose gel eletrophoresis were used to detect Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Biofilm samples from the model pipeline and the real distribution pipeline were analyzed by PCR. The PCR result showed that there was no Pseudomonas aeruginosa in both of the pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COD decreased obviously in normal molasses wastewater after anaerobic treatment, however, concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus were still higher in the effluent which seriously damaged the ecological balance. In this study, aerobic granules cultivated in sequencing batch airlift reactor (SBAR) were carried out for treating the effluent; phosphorus removal processes and characteristics were discussed as well. The mean diameter of aerobic granules cultivated by multiple carbon sources (acetate, propionate and butyrate) was 1.7 mm. The average phosphorus removal efficiency was 90.9% and the level of phosphorus in effluent was only 1.3 mg x L(-1); TP released per COD consumed was 0.571 and the specific rate of TP released was 5.73 mg x (g x h)(-1). NO3(-) -N usage of phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) improved during denitrifying process because the concentration of propionate and butyrate increased in multiple carbon sources which means the phosphorus uptake efficiency increased when per NO3(-) -N consumed. Phosphorus content represented a stronger correlation with magnesium, calcium and ferrum contents in aerobic granules and their extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), the phosphorus adsorption by EPS could enhance phosphorus removal. 61.9% of phosphorus accumulating organisms were denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms in aerobic granules and TP uptake per NO3(-) -N consumed was 1.14 which was higher than that of aerobic granules only cultivated by acetate.