No abstract

BackgroundBrucellosis remains one of the most common zoonotic diseases globally, with more than half million human cases reported annually. Brucellosis is an emerging and re-emerging disease in China since the 1990s. An infectious reservoir constituted by domestic animals with brucellosis, especially ovine and caprine herds, poses a significant threat to public health. The seroprevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goat flocks in a national context is unavailable so far. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the overall status of brucellosis in sheep and goats in China in almost two decades.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of brucellosis in ovine and caprine flocks in China increased in 2000–2009 (1.00%; 95% CI, 0.70–1.30) to 2010–2018 (3.20%; 95% CI, 2.70–3.60). The seroprevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goat flocks was higher in Eastern China, with 7.00% of positive rate, than that in any other region, especially Shandong province (18.70%). Brucellosis is highly endemic in some local regions. The high prevalence of brucellosis in agricultural regions is suggestive of a shift of geographic distribution. The pooled prevalence of brucellosis is higher in goat flocks than in sheep flocks in China.ConclusionsThe overall data in this meta-analysis demands comprehensive intervention measures and further surveillance to facilitate the control of brucellosis in livestock. Further studies aimed at evaluating the risk factors associated with spreads of brucellosis in domestic animals unaddressed so far, and sufficient epidemiological data is important to the exploration and understanding of the prevalent status of brucellosis throughout the country and to disease control.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12917-018-1715-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundSleep deprivation is common in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU). It can result in delirium, difficulty weaning, repeated nosocomial infections, prolonged ICU length of stay and increased ICU mortality. Melatonin, a physiological sleep regulator, is well known to benefit sleep quality in certain people, but evidence for the effectiveness in ICU sleep disturbance is limited.Methods/DesignThis study has a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled, parallel-group design. Eligible patients are randomly assigned to one of the two treatment study groups, labelled the ‘melatonin group’ or the ‘placebo group’. A dose of 3 mg of oral melatonin or placebo is administered at 9:00 pm on four consecutive days. Earplugs and eye masks are made available to every participant. We plan to enrol 198 patients. The primary outcome is the objective sleep quality measured by the 24-hour polysomnography. The secondary outcomes are the subjective sleep quality assessed by the Richards Campbell Sleep Questionnaire, the anxiety level evaluated by the Visual Analogue Scale-Anxiety, the number of delirium-free days in 8 and 28 days, the number of ventilation-free days in 28 days, the number of antibiotic-free days, ICU length of stay, the overall ICU mortality in 28 days and the incidence and severity of the side effects of melatonin in ICU patients. Additionally, the body stress levels, oxidative stress levels and inflammation levels are obtained via measuring the plasma melatonin, cortisone, norepinephrine, malonaldehyde(MDA), superoxide dismutase(SOD), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8)concentrations.DiscussionThe proposed study will be the first randomized controlled study to use the polysomnography, which is the gold standard of assessing sleep quality, to evaluate the effect of melatonin on the sleep quality and circadian rhythms of ICU patients. The results may recommend a new treatment for ICU patients with sleep deprivation that is safe, effective and easily implementable in daily practice.Trial registrationThis study was registered with ClinicalTrials (NCT; registration number: ChiCTR-TRC-14004319) on 4 March 2013.

Background: Suppressor 3 of cytokine signaling (SOCS3) hypermethylation has been reported to participate in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression, but conflicting results were published. This study aimed to analyze the clinical effects of SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC and the effects of sex and age on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC.Methods: Databases were searched for relevant case-control and cohort studies on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HBV-related HCC. In vitro and in vivo studies and studies of patients with serious comorbidities were excluded. Review Manager 5.2 was used to estimate the effects of the results among the selected studies. Forest plots, sensitivity analysis, and bias analysis for the included studies were also conducted.Results: Finally, 8 relevant studies met the inclusion criteria. A significant difference in SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC was found between tumor and nontumor groups (the odds ratio [OR] = 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.48-2.73, P < .00001; P for heterogeneity = .39, I 2 = 5%). The meta-analysis suggested no significant difference in the effect of sex (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.76-1.31, P = .76; P for heterogeneity = .44, I 2 = 0%) and age on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC (OR = 1.11, 100% CI: 0.78-1.29, P = .03; P for heterogeneity = .14, I 2 = 36%). Limited publication bias was observed in this study.Conclusion: SOCS3 hypermethylation is associated with HBV-related HCC. Sex and age do not affect the association between SOCS3 hypermethylation and HCC. SOCS3 might be a treatment target for HCC.Abbreviations: CIs = confidence intervals, HBV = hepatitis B virus, HCC = hepatocellular carcinoma, NOS = Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, OR = odds ratio, SOCS = suppressors of cytokine signaling, SOCS3 = suppressor 3 of cytokine signaling.

Background Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair has recently been popularized for treating tears. In a biomechanical trial, the Mason-Allen stitch improved the fixation quality of poorly vascularized tendons. The use of this technique involving the subscapularis tendon remains rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of Mason-Allen technique repaired subscapularis tendons. Methods A retrospective research of collected data from 98 patients with subscapularis tears who had undergone arthroscopic repair between May 2015 and December 2018. There were 75 males and 23 females. The mean age was 56.4 ± 9.6 years and the mean follow-up was 12.5 ± 4.0 months. The visual analog scale (VAS), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and Constant-Murley score were used to analyze shoulder function. An MRI was performed to assess the integrity of the repair. Results Patients had significantly less pain and a better active range of motion compared with preoperative levels. VAS improved significantly from a preoperative mean of 3.42 to a postoperative mean of 1.91. ASES increased significantly from the preoperative mean of 43.6 to the postoperative mean of 74.5. Seven cases suffered from retears, which were confirmed by an MRI examination. Conclusion Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with the Mason-Allen method resulted in a decreased level of pain and satisfied function recovery.