Childhood Wheeze, Allergic Rhinitis, and Eczema in Hong Kong ISAAC Study from 1995 to 2015.

Background: The prevalence of allergic diseases has been increasing in developing areas but has reached a plateau in many developed areas. Regular surveys are imperative to assess the disease burden for the prioritization of resource allocation.

Objectives: We examined the change in the prevalence of wheezing, allergic rhinitis (AR), and eczema in school-aged children with possible associative factors and possible health effects of school air quality.

A Systematic Review on Modeling Methods and Influential Factors for Mapping Dengue-Related Risk in Urban Settings.

Dengue fever is an acute mosquito-borne disease that mostly spreads within urban or semi-urban areas in warm climate zones. The dengue-related risk map is one of the most practical tools for executing effective control policies, breaking the transmission chain, and preventing disease outbreaks. Mapping risk at a small scale, such as at an urban level, can demonstrate the spatial heterogeneities in complicated built environments.

Characteristics and toxicological effects of commuter exposure to black carbon and metal components of fine particles (PM) in Hong Kong.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated significant associations between traffic-related air pollution and adverse health outcomes. Personal exposure to fine particles (PM) in transport microenvironments and their toxicological properties remain to be investigated. Commuter exposures were investigated in public transport systems (including the buses and Mass Transit Railway (MTR)) along two sampling routes in Hong Kong.

[Species of Iron in Size-resolved Particle Emitted from Xuanwei Coal Combustion and Their Oxidative Potential].

Many reports have claimed that high lung cancer mortality rate in Xuanwei is associated with the residential coal combustion. Considering iron is the main chemical element in the particles emitted from Xuanwei coal combustion, and especially, reactive oxygen species (ROS) could be generated by redox-active transition metals (TM) such as iron (Fe) in particles, therefore, raw coal samples from 4 coal mines in Xuanwei were sampled, and size-resolved particles emitted from the raw coal samples were collected by using of Andersen Five-stage High Volume Sampler. Species of iron in the raw coal sample, size-resolved particles and bottom ashes were analyzed by BCR sequential extraction method (community bureau of reference, BCR).

[Expression profile of miR-501-5p in lung adenocarcinoma patients from Xuanwei area].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between miR-501-5p expression and the clinicopathological factors in patients with lung adenocarcinoma in Xuanwei area.

Methods: Surgical specimens of lung adenocarcinoma and paired adjacent tissues from 24 patients with lung adenocarcinoma from Xuanwei area were examined for miR-501-5p expression using microRNA microarray technique and qPCR. Chi-square test was used to analyze the association of miR-501-5P expression with the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients.

Characterization of Somatic Mutations in Air Pollution-Related Lung Cancer.

Air pollution has been classified as Group 1 carcinogenic to humans, but the underlying tumorigenesis remains unclear. In Xuanwei City of Yunnan Province, the lung cancer incidence is among the highest in China attributed to severe air pollution generated by combustion of smoky coal, providing a unique opportunity to dissect lung carcinogenesis of air pollution. Here we analyzed the somatic mutations of 164 non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) from Xuanwei and control regions (CR) where smoky coal was not used.

Coarse particulate matter associated with increased risk of emergency hospital admissions for pneumonia in Hong Kong.

Background: Epidemiological research on the effects of coarse particles (PMc, particulate matter between 2.5 and 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter) on respiratory morbidity is sparse and inconclusive. Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of lung caused by infections, which may be triggered and exacerbated by PMc exposure.

[Relationship between high incidence of lung cancer among non-smoking women and silica in C1 bituminous coal in Xuanwei, Yunnan Province, China].

Objective: To measure the content of silica in C1 bituminous coal and its combustion products in the high-incidence area of lung cancer in Xuanwei, Yunnan Province, China and to investigate the relationship between high incidence of lung cancer among non-smoking women and silica produced naturally in C1 bituminous coal in Xuan Wei.

Methods: The C1 bituminous coal widely used in the high-incidence area of lung cancer in Xuanwei was selected as experiment group, while the C2+1, K7, and M30 bituminous coal that was mined and used in the low-incidence area of lung cancer in Xuanwei for more than 10 years were selected as control group. Fourteen paraffin-embedded cancer tissue samples from the non-smoking women with non-small cell lung cancer who were born in Xuanwei and were at least the 3rd generation of the family living there were collected from the department of pathology, the third affiliated hospital of kunming medical university (tumor hospital of yunnan province).

Single nucleotide polymorphism of rs430397 in the fifth intron of GRP78 gene and clinical relevance of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in Han Chinese: risk and prognosis.

Large number of data showed that allele variants in certain genes are markers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). GRP78 is a stress-associated protein which is a central regulator of endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis due to its multiple functional roles in the folding, maturation and transport of proteins. A case-control study was conducted on 576 HCC patients, and 539 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects to examine whether rs430397 polymorphism in the fifth intron of GRP78 gene is associated with the development and prognosis of HCC.

Methylation of protocadherin 10, a novel tumor suppressor, is associated with poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Background & Aims: By using methylation-sensitive representational difference analysis, we identified protocadherin 10 (PCDH10), a gene that encodes a protocadherin and is silenced in a tumor-specific manner. We analyzed its epigenetic inactivation, biological effects, and prognostic significance in gastric cancer.

Methods: Methylation status was evaluated by combined bisulfite restriction analysis and bisulfite sequencing.