Dissipation and residues of imidacloprid in amaranth under greenhouse and open field cultivations.

Despite the extensive exposure to imidacloprid residues in food plants, there has been little research on imidacloprid residues in amaranth. The dissipation trend and residue behavior of imidacloprid were evaluated to provide guidelines for imidacloprid application on amaranth under open field and greenhouse. The dissipation rate of imidacloprid in amaranth conformed to the first-order kinetic equation, and the half-lives of imidacloprid in amaranth ranged from 0.29 days in open field to 1.29 days in the greenhouse. After 7 and 14 days from the application of imidacloprid (pesticide dosage, 45 or 67.5 g a.i./ha), the amaranth under the open field and greenhouse growth could be consumed safely with average residues of 0.19 and 0.38 mg/kg, respectively. This result demonstrated that the cultivation has the dominant influence on imidacloprid residue, and the residue of imidacloprid in amaranth planting on open field was much lower than that in the greenhouse, indicating a significant difference in the pesticide residues between the two cultivations with a p-value less than 0.05.

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Differences in Chromatin Remodeling and Energy Metabolism among In Vivo-Developed, In Vitro-Fertilized, and Parthenogenetically Activated Embryos from the Oocyte to 8-Cell Stages in Pigs.

In vitro-fertilized (IVF) and parthenogenetically activated (PA) embryos, key to genetic engineering, face more developmental challenges than in vivo-developed embryos (IVV). We analyzed single-cell RNA-seq data from the oocyte to eight-cell stages in IVV, IVF, and PA porcine embryos, focusing on developmental differences during early zygotic genome activation (ZGA), a vital stage for embryonic development. (1) Our findings reveal that in vitro embryos (IVF and PA) exhibit more similar developmental trajectories compared to IVV embryos, with PA embryos showing the least gene diversity at each stage. (2) Significant differences in maternal mRNA, particularly affecting mRNA splicing, energy metabolism, and chromatin remodeling, were observed. Key genes like SMARCB1 (in vivo) and SIRT1 (in vitro) played major roles, with HDAC1 (in vivo) and EZH2 (in vitro) likely central in their complexes. (3) Across different types of embryos, there was minimal overlap in gene upregulation during ZGA, with IVV embryos demonstrating more pronounced upregulation. During minor ZGA, global epigenetic modification patterns diverged and expanded further. Specifically, in IVV, genes, especially those linked to H4 acetylation and H2 ubiquitination, were more actively regulated compared to PA embryos, which showed an increase in H3 methylation. Additionally, both types displayed a distinction in DNA methylation. During major ZGA, IVV distinctively upregulated genes related to mitochondrial regulation, ATP synthesis, and oxidative phosphorylation. (4) Furthermore, disparities in mRNA degradation-related genes between in vivo and in vitro embryos were more pronounced during major ZGA. In IVV, there was significant maternal mRNA degradation. Maternal genes regulating phosphatase activity and cell junctions, highly expressed in both in vivo and in vitro embryos, were degraded in IVV in a timely manner but not in in vitro embryos. (5) Our analysis also highlighted a higher expression of many mitochondrially encoded genes in in vitro embryos, yet their nucleosome occupancy and the ATP8 expression were notably higher in IVV.

Gold Nanoparticle-Labeled CRISPR-Cas13a Assay for the Sensitive Solid-State Nanopore Molecular Counting.

A gold nanoparticle (AuNP) labeled CRISPR-Cas13a nucleic acid assay has been developed for sensitive solid-state nanopore sensing. Instead of directly detecting the translocation of RNA through a nanopore, our system utilizes non-covalent conjugates of AuNPs and RNA targets. Upon CRISPR activation, the AuNPs are liberated from the RNA, isolated, and passed through a nanopore sensor. Detection of the AuNPs can be observed as increasing ionic current in the chip. Each AuNP that is detected is enumerated as an event, leading to quantitative of molecular targets. Leveraging the high signal-to-noise ratio enabled by the AuNPs, a detection limit of 50 fM before front-end target amplification is achieved using SARS-CoV-2 RNA segments as a Cas13 target. Furthermore, a dynamic range of six orders of magnitude is demonstrated for quantitative RNA sensing. This simplified AuNP-based CRISPR assay is performed at the physiological temperature without relying on thermal cyclers. In addition, the nanopore reader is similar in size to a smartphone, making the assay system suitable for rapid and portable nucleic acid biomarker detection in either low-resource settings or hospitals.

Effect of Orthodontic Treatment on Anterior Tooth Displacement in Patients with Periodontal Disease: A Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the effect of orthodontic treatment (ODT) on anterior tooth displacement (ATD) in patients with periodontal disease. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases were electronically searched for relevant literature studies on ODT and basic treatment for ATD in patients with periodontal disease, and then the related journals and reference lists of the included studies were manually searched. The search time was set from January 2010 to May 2021. Stata 16.0 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Totally, 783 articles were retrieved, and finally, 14 studies were included. The effective rate of basic treatment combined with OTD was significantly higher than that of basic treatment alone (OR = 7.27, 95% CI: 3.76, 14.04). Specifically, the combined treatment led to lower values of periodontal pocket depth (SMD = -2.30, 95% CI: -2.94, -1.66), anterior overjet (SMD = -2.75, 95% CI: -3.72, -1.78), anterior overbite (SMD = -2.13, 95% CI: -3.16, -1.10), and periodontal bleeding index (SMD = -4.25, 95% CI: -5.48, -3.03) compared with those of basic treatment alone. CONCLUSION: Compared with basic treatment, ODT combined with basic treatment is more effective for patients with periodontal disease-caused ATD and can also improve the clinical symptoms of patients.

LAPTM4B-35 expression is associated with pathological grades and clinical stages in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies of the head and neck. The lysosome-associated protein transmembrane-4ß gene (LAPTM4B) is a novel oncogene that has been found overexpressed in a number of clinically aggressive cancers. This study aimed to investigate the expression of the LAPTM4B-35 protein in normal salivary gland and salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, a relatively indolent malignancy, and explore its clinicopathological significance in this malignancy. By immunohistochemical analysis, LAPTM4B-35 expression was evaluated in 106 cancer tissues, their adjacent non-cancerous tissues and five normal salivary glands. The correlation of LAPTM4B-35 expression with clinicopathological parameters was assessed using Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. The level of LAPTM4B-35 expression varied among different cell types of normal salivary glands. It was expressed at a fairly low level in serous and mucous acini, at low level in intercalated duct and excretory duct cells and moderately in secretory/striated ducts. In 50% of high grade tumor tissues tested, LAPTM4B-35 was markedly overexpressed. LAPTM4B-35 levels were significantly associated with histological grade and clinical stage. LAPTM4B-35 plays an important role in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and may serve as a diagnostic marker and a target for individualized therapy.

A literature review and systematic meta-analysis on XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism associating with susceptibility of oral cancer.

Oral cancer is very common, occurring on head as well as neck region with poor prognosis. The X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) gene contained in DNA repairing pathway has been investigated for its functional role in oral cancer. Nevertheless, the corresponding results are inconclusive. This study investigated the association of XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism regarding oral cancer risk. Article and literature searches were performed using Embase, Medline, PubMed, Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases with a manual search. The keywords of 'XRCC3 or X-ray repair cross complementing protein 3', 'polymorphism or SNP', 'oral cancer or oral squamous cell carcinoma' and their combinations were used to search literature. In accordance with the criteria of inclusion, we focused on only case-and-control studies with the distribution of genotypes and alleles being available to be extracted. Systematic meta-analysis was conducted via the STATA software (version 11.0). After a comprehensive literature collection and review, 1,615 oral cancer cases and 1,897 matched controls extracted from 7 articles were included for this meta-analysis. Our results show that only Met/Met (TT) genotype with the recessive model was associated with high risk of oral cancer (CC + CT vs. TT, OR=1.81, P=0.001, 95% CI=1.28-2.567). A significant relationship was identified under both homozygous and recessive model in Asians (CC vs. TT: OR=2.15, 95% CI=1.107-4.170, P=0.024; CT + CC vs. TT: OR=2.140, 95% CI=1.105-4.144, P=0.024), but not among Caucasians (P>0.05). The results indicate that XRCC3 241Met allele might be a potential factor for oral cancer risk, particularly among Asian population. A further study using a larger population and more ethnicities should be performed to confirm the findings.

Recombination in lineage 1, 3, 5 and 8 of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses in China.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most important viral swine diseases, resulting in immense economic losses in Chinese pig industry. Currently, four major lineages: lineage 1 (NADC30-like), 3 (QYYZ-like), 5.1 (VR2332-like) and 8.7 (JXA1-like) of type 2 PRRSV (North American type) have been circulating in China based on classification system, which have caused concern about the potential of virus recombination. In the present study, a novel variant of PRRSV strain named FJLIUY-2017 was isolated from abortion rate (25%) in pregnant gilts in Fujian Province in China in 2017. To further our knowledge about the novel virus strain, we characterized the complete genome of FJLIUY-2017. Comparison to PRRS sequences in GenBank confirmed the absence of close relatives (<92%), but indicated FJLIUY-2017 belonged to NADC30-like PRRSV. The full length of FJLIUY-2017 was determined to be 15017 nucleotides (nt), excluding the poly(A) tail, shared 86.2-86.6% identity with JXA1-like strains (JXA1, TJ and FJYR), 88.9-90.6% with NADC30-like PRRSVs (NADC30, FJZ03 and CHsx1401), 86.4-86.5% with VR2332-like (VR2332, RespPRRS MLV and BJ-4) and only 60.8% with LV (European type). Recombination analyses revealed genomic breakpoints in structural (ORF3, ORF4 and ORF7) and nonstructural (Nsp1, Nsp2, Nsp6, Nsp9, Nsp11 and Nsp12) regions of the genomes with evidence for recombination events between lineages 1, 3, 5.1 and 8.7. Taken altogether, the results of our study provide further confirmation that PRRSV is prone to undergo recombination events. Thus, it is critical to monitor PRRSV evolution in China and establish an effective strategy for the control of PRRS.

Detection of PCV2e strains in Southeast China.

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) has been prevalent in swine herds in China since 2002, causing severe economic loss to the pig industry. The number of live pigs in southeast China is > 20 million. Since information on the genetic variation of PCV2 in the Fujian province is limited, the objective of the present work was to investigate the epidemiological and evolutionary characteristics of PCV2 in southeast China from 2013 to 2017. Of the 685 samples collected from 90 different swine herds from 2013 to 2017, 356 samples from 84 different swine herds were positive for PCV2. PCV2a, PCV2b, PCV2d, and PCV2e co-existed in the Fujian province, with PCV2d being the predominant circulating strain in swineherds and PCV2e being reported for the first time in China. Strikingly, PCV2-FJ-water DNA comes from contaminated river water and not infected animals. Sequence comparison among all isolates indicated that 95 isolates shared approximately 78.7%-100% nucleotide identity and 74.5%-100% amino acid identity for open reading frame 2 (ORF2). Amino acid alignment showed that the Cap protein of PCV2e differed markedly from those of PCV2a, PCV2b, PCV2c, and PCV2d. These results indicated that various PCV2 genotypes exist in China, and that PCV2 is continuously evolving, leading to rapid emergence of new variant stains.

[Determination of 41 pesticide residues in vegetables by QuEChERS-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A multiresidue analytical method for the rapid determination of 41 pesticide residues in vegetables was developed by using QuEChERS-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), including recessive pesticides, banned pesticides and pesticides with restrict use, plant growth regulators and some other pesticides with high detection rates. The vegetable sample was extracted by 1% (v/v) acetic acid-acetonitrile, cleaned-up by primary secondary amine (PSA) and injected for analysis. The positive and negative ion modes and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode were used in the analysis, and the analytes were quantified by the external standard method. Under the conditions of optimized QuEChERS, chromatography and mass spectrometry, the 41 pesticides showed good linearities in the range of 1.0 µg/L to 100 µg/L, with the correlation coefficients (r2) higher than 0.999. The limits of detection of the method were 0.003 µg/kg to 1.00 µg/kg. The average recoveries of the 41 pesticides in different matrices were in the range of 74.1%-120.4% with the relative standard deviations from 2.8% to 11.9%. The method has the advantages of rapidity, simplici- ty, high sensitivity and better purification effect. It is suitable for the rapid determination of the common pesticides in vegetables, and it provides a strong guarantee for the risk assessment of the quality and safety of vegetables.

[Determination of amantadine and rimantadine residues in egg and chicken samples by dispersive solid phase extraction purification-ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A method was developed for the determination of residual amantadine and rimantadine in eggs and chickens by dispersive solid phase extraction-ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Egg and chicken samples were extracted with ammonia water-acetonitrile (2:98, v/v). The extraction solution was dried to 1 mL under nitrogen, and then purified by dispersive solid phase extraction method with C18 and NH2 sorbents. After purification, the extraction solution was filtered through a filter. The target compounds were analyzed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) on a ZORBAX C18 column using a mixture of 1 mmol/L ammonium acetate solution (containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid) and methanol as mobile phases with gradient elution. The mass spectrometer was operated under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode in positive mode. The good linearities were obtained for amantadine and rimantadine at a concentration range of 0.15-10.0 µg/L. The limits of detection for amantadine and rimantadine were all 0.05 µg/kg, and the limits of quantification were 0.20 µg/kg. The recoveries of amantadine and rimantadine in eggs and chickens at three spiked levels (0.2, 1.0 and 2.0 µg/kg) age of 89%-108% with the relative standard deviations of 5.0%-8.6%. The results demonstrated that the method is suitable for the determination of amantadine and rimantadine in eggs and chickens.

BRCA2 promoter polymorphism is associated with breast cancer prognosis in Chinese women.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer 2 (BRCA2) is an important breast cancer-susceptibility gene. Promoter polymorphisms in BRCA2 may affect its transcription and be associated with cancer prognosis. METHODS: We identified five polymorphisms of the BRCA2 promoter region by in silico searching and direct sequencing: -254A/G (rs3092989), -908A/G (rs206117), -1134A/G (rs206115), -1144C/T (rs206116), and -1260CTTAGA/- (rs3072036). The -908A/G, -1134A/G, -1144C/T, and -1260CTTAGA/- polymorphisms were genotyped by direct sequencing in 491 breast cancer patients, and the -254A/G polymorphism was genotyped by Sequenom. RESULTS: The -1144C/T polymorphism was associated with clinical outcome. Carriers of the TT genotype had longer disease-free intervals (DFIs, P = 0.029), especially among patients with sporadic unilateral breast cancer (P = 0.010). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis showed that all the five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were in LD (D' > 0.8). Carriers of haplotypes containing the -1144T allele showed longer DFIs (P = 0.049), and the result was more significant in patients with sporadic unilateral cancer (P = 0.018). There were no significant associations between the other polymorphisms and DFI. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that homozygosity for the BRCA2 T(-1144) allele is associated with a longer DFI in Chinese women with breast cancer. Further functional studies are warranted to clarify this relationship.

Association between TaqIB polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein and coronary artery disease in the Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the TaqIB polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in Chinese population, we performed a meta-analysis in this paper. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, the Science Citation Index (SCI), the China Biological Medicine database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Wanfang database for relevant articles. Data were extracted, and pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: The literature search yielded 448 studies, in which 10 case-control studies including 1694 cases and 1456 controls matched the selection criteria. The combined B1 and B2 allele frequencies were 0.587 and 0.413, respectively. The pooled OR was 1.10 (95% CI, 0.89-1.34) for comparing the B1B1 or B1B2 carriers with B2B2 carriers, and was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.09-1.49) in the B1B1 carriers versus B2B2 or B1B2 carriers. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, the TaqIB polymorphism of CETP was found to be associated with CAD in the Chinese population.

[Validity and reliability of the Demirjian distinguish software on estimating dental age].

OBJECTIVE: To study the validity and reliability of the Demirjian distinguish software on dental age estimation. METHOD: The dental age of 60 children were estimated with both the software three times and manual measures. RESULTS: The correlation coefficients of dental age estimated by the software and by manual measure was 0.974 (female) (P > 0.1) and 0.970 (male) (P > 0.05); the coefficients of interclass correlation of each dental age estimated by the software was 0.977 (female) (P > 0.1) and 0.977 (male) (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Demirjian distinguish software has high validity and reliability in estimating dental age.