Micro-to-Nano Oncolytic Microbial System Shifts from Tumor Killing to Tumor Draining Lymph Nodes Remolding for Enhanced Immunotherapy.

Because the tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) microenvironment is commonly immunosuppressive, oncolytic microbe-induced tumor antigens aren't sufficiently cross-primed tumor specific T cells through antigen-presenting cells (e.g., dendritic cells (DCs)) in TDLNs. Herein, this work develops the micro-to-nano oncolytic microbial therapeutics based on pyranose oxidase (P2 O) overexpressed Escherichia coli (EcP) which are simultaneously encapsulated by PEGylated mannose and low-concentrated photosensitizer nanoparticles (NPs). Following administration, P2 O from this system generates toxic hydrogen peroxide for tumor regression and leads to the release of tumor antigens. The "microscale" EcP is triggered, following exposure to the laser irradiation, to secrete the "nanoscale" bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). The enhanced TDLNs delivery via OMVs significantly regulates the TDLNs immunomicroenvironment, promoting the maturation of DCs to potentiate tumor antigen-specific T cells immune response. The micro-to-nano oncolytic microbe is leveraged to exert tumor killing and remold TDLNs for initiating potent activation of DCs, providing promising strategies to facilitate microbial cancer vaccination.

KIF11 as a potential cancer prognostic marker promotes tumorigenesis in children with Wilms tumor.

Emerging evidence suggests that KIF11 could play a pivotal role in cancer cell proliferation; however, its biological functions and molecular mechanisms in Wilms tumor (WT) cells are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance and therapeutic potential of KIF11 proteins in WT. KIF11 expression in WT tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues was determined using qRT-PCR, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and bioinformatics. The function of KIF11 protein was determined by its correlation with tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, and apoptosis using IHC and lentiviral vector-mediated KIF11 depletion. KIF11 expression was upregulated in WT tissues and was associated with WT clinical outcomes. Tumor KIF11 expression was significantly associated with the Ki67 proliferation index. CCK-8, flow-cytometric analysis, and Western blotting revealed that KIF11 knockdown significantly inhibited WT cell growth. Functional studies have indicated that increased KIF11 expression is significantly correlated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and intratumoral microvessel density. We further confirmed that downregulated expression of KIF11 promoted cell apoptosis and significantly increased Bcl-2 and Bax expression. Our findings demonstrate that KIF11 plays a role in promoting the development of human WT and can serve as a potential molecular marker for the treatment of WT.

[Periphyton and its application in water purification].

Periphyton widely exists in natural water bodies, with the characteristics of huge biomass generation, strong ecological function, and sensitive response to water quality. It removes the pollutants in water bodies mainly through the processes of absorption, metabolism, adsorption, and complexation, etc. Owing to its high tolerance against pollution and high removal efficiency for nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as the feasibility of recycling its cells at low cost, periphyton is a promising candidate for developing the treatment techniques of water purification. The newly-developed artificial periphyton systems, e.g., algal turf scrubbers, periphyton biofilm systems, periphyton aquaculture systems, have been successfully applied in treating livestock manure, aquaculture wastewater, and municipal sewage. However, further researches are needed to understand the growth patterns of periphyton, its physiological responses to pollutants concentration, and its molecular biological mechanisms in removing pollutants.

In vitro investigations for the QSAR mechanism of lymphocytes apoptosis induced by substituted aromatic toxicants.

The objective of this study was to assess the chemicals-induced apoptosis effects on fish lymphocytes and to use the QSAR model to interpret the relationships between apoptotic effects and chemical structures to identify the immune toxicology mechanism. By the use of a simple in vitro toxicological assay, the measured apoptotic parameter (EC50) is used in a QSAR to interpret the apoptotic effects of 25 substituted benzenes at low exposure levels. The apoptotic effects of all tested substituted aromatic chemicals with Carassius auratus lymphocytes were confirmed by DNA ladder and nucleus condensation. For both chlorobenzenes and PCBs, the EC50 values increase with increasing Cl number in the molecule, a result reflecting probably the increased p-pi conjugation of the C-Cl bonds that lowers the molecular reactivity. Furthermore, the apoptotic EC50 data were best correlated with the dipole moment (mu) and the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (ELUMO) such that: log(1/EC50)=0.325+0.222 micro-0.163(ELUMO) (with R(2)=0.879). The dependence on the electronic ELUMO factor of the established correlation suggests that during the apoptotic process the ROS (reactive oxygen substance) produced by cells acts as a Lewis base in substituted nucleophilic reactions with toxic chemicals behaving as an electron acceptor. On the basis of the test results, the present toxicological assay offers a rapid tool for assessing the toxic effects of chemicals at low exposure levels.

In situ nitrogen removal in phase-separate bioreactor landfill.

The feasibility of in situ nitrogen removal in phase-separate bioreactor landfill was investigated. In the experiment, two sets of bioreactor landfill systems, namely conventional two-phase and in situ nitrogen removal bioreactor landfills, were operated. The in situ nitrogen removal bioreactor landfill (NBL) was comprised of a fresh-refuse filled reactor (NBLF), a methanogenic reactor (NBLM) and a nitrifying reactor (NBLN), while the two-phase bioreactor landfill (BL) used as control was comprised of a fresh-refuse filled reactor (BLF) and a methanogenic reactor (BLM). Furthermore, the methanogenic and nitrifying reactors used aged refuse as bulk agents. The results showed that in situ nitrogen removal was viable by phase-separation in the bioreactor landfill. In total 75.8 and 47.5 g of nitrogen were, respectively, removed from the NBL and the BL throughout the experiment. The methanogenic reactor used the aged refuse as medium was highly effective in removing organic matter from the fresh leachate. Furthermore, the aged refuse was also suitable to use as in situ nitrification medium. The degradation of fresh refuse was accelerated by denitrification in the initial stage (namely the initial hydrolyzing stage) despite being delayed by denitrification in a long-term operation.

[Method of loss of life expectancy to quantitate and compare the health risk caused by carcinogen and non-carcinogen pollutants].

Loss of life expectancy (LLE) was used to evaluate and quantitate the health risk caused by carcinogen and non-carcinogen pollutants, and was proposed as a new method to compare the environmental health risk of different pollutants. The environmental health risks exposed by 6 major environmental pollutants in China, i.e., arsenic, DDTs, BaP, lead, cadmium and mercury, were evaluated and compared by using LLE. The LLE caused by carcinogen pollutants such as arsenic, DDTs and BaP are 3.6 d, 2.2 d and 12.1 d respectively, while the corresponding values caused by non-carcinogen pollutants such as lead,mercury and cadmium are 1.1 d, 1.7 d and 5.8 d respectively. Based on the studies published before, the rank of the health risk of the selected six environmental pollutants is BaP > cadmium > arsenic > DDTs > mercury > lead. The results reveal that the LLE can be utilized as a new index to evaluate and quantitate the health risk, and the environmental health risk caused by carcinogen and non-carcinogen pollutants can be compared within an unitive criterion by LLE.

Phosphorus interception in floodwater of paddy field during the rice-growing season in TaiHu Lake Basin.

A field experiment located in TaiHu Lake Basin in China was conducted, by application of superphosphate or a mixture of superphosphate with manure, to elucidate the interception of P export during a typical rice growing season through 'zero-drainage water management' combined with sound irrigation, rainfall forecasting and field drying. P concentrations in floodwater rapidly declined before the first event of field drying, and subsequently tended to return to the background levels. Before the first field drying TPP was the predominant P form in floodwater on fields with no P input, DRP on plots that received superphosphate only, and DOP on plots treated with the mixture of superphosphate and manure. Thereafter TPP became the major form. No P export was found from the paddy fields, but a retention of 0.65kgha(-1), mainly due to soil P sorption. The results recommend the zero-drainage water management for full-scale areas for minimizing P export.

[Performance of leachate nitrogen removal in bioreactor landfill system].

Utilizing the unique vertical aerobic-anoxic-anerobic ecological enviornment of landfills and adopting intermittent aeration at the top of landfilled refuse, this paper studied the performance of leachate nitrogen removal in the bioreactor landfill system. The results showed that intermittent aeration at the top of landfilled refuse could stimulate the growth of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. The population of denitrifying bacteria was 4 to approximately 13 orders of magnitude higher than that in conventional landfilled waste layers, and the maximal value of nitrifying bacteria population reached 10(9) cells g(-1). The bioreactor landfill system with intermittent aeration at the top of landfilled refuse increased the potential of nitrogen removal from re-circulated leachate in the landfill bioreactor. By the end of the experiment, the concentrations of leachate NH4(+) -N and total nitrogen (TN) decreased to 186 mg x L(-1) and 289 mg x L(-1), being only 18% and 26% of control, respectively. Intermittent aeration at the top of landfilled refuse also accelerated refuse decomposition, and increased the degree of waste stabilization.

[Urban greenbelt eco-service value of Hangzhou City under effects of land use change: an evaluation with CITYgreen model].

Based on the Landset TM information of land use/cover change and greenbelt distribution in Hangzhou city in 1994 and 2004, and by using CITYgreen model, this paper estimated the eco-service value of urban greenbelt in the city under the effects of land use change and economic development. The results showed that in the 10 years from 1994 to 2004, the greenbelt area in the city decreased by 20. 4% , while its eco-service value increased by 168 million yuan. The annual increment of greenbelt eco-service value and GDP was 111.92% and 5. 32% , respectively. Suitable adjustment of land use pattern in the city harmonized the relationships between urban economic development and urban eco-function, and achieved higher eco-service efficiency of land utilization.

Tissue-dependent distribution and accumulation of chlorobenzenes by vegetables in urban area.

Five seasonal vegetables from three growing sites in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang Province, were studied for the levels of four chlorobenzenes(CBs): o-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB), p-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB), m-dichlorobenzene (m-DCB), and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB). Samples of each vegetable from each site were subdivided into leaves, stems, and roots, and these subsamples were analyzed separately for the levels of accumulated CBs. Relations between the levels of CBs in vegetables with the total organic carbon (TOC) of the soil, the lipid content of the vegetable, and the physicochemical properties of CBs were established. Results showed that o-DCB, p-DCB, m-DCB, 1,2,4-TCB were present in all vegetables analyzed. For spinaches (Spinacia oleracea), Chinese cabbages (Brassica rapa var. pekinensis), and celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce), the highest level of CBs was with roots, followed by leaves. While for radishes (Raphanus sativus), and carrots (Daucus carota subsp. sativus), the highest level was with leaves, followed by stems. The accumulation of CBs was found to have a good correlation with the plant-tissue lipid content, the contaminant air-water Henry's coefficient (H), the contaminant octanol-water partition coefficient (K(ow)), and the physiological characteristics of the vegetables.

Flow cytometric analysis of fine particles in a eutrophic lake.

Fine particles play an important role, not only in aquatic biogeochemical processing but also in the distribution, transfer and transformation of pollutants in the aquatic environment. Flow cytometry, widely used in biomedical research, allows fast counting and optical analysis of individual particles. Organic autotrophic particles contain naturally fluorescing pigments, such as chlorophyll and phycoerythrin. Different populations have different sizes and pigments. They also have different ratios of pigments. In general, side angle scatter (SSC) is related to the size, shape and refractive index of particles. When a 488 nm wavelength was used to excite chlorophyll and phycoerythrin fluorescence, the pigments of organic autotrophic particles emitted red and orange light. Fine particles were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) in the southern part of a eutrophic lake in winter. We found that organic autotrophic particles belonged to three populations, which represented only 15.89% of total fine particles. Organic non-living particles and inorganic particles represented the greater part (84.11%) of total fine particles. This study also demonstrated that flow cytometry is well suited to the dynamic monitoring and analysis of natural water aquatic particles that were difficult to study with traditional methods.

Potential loss of phosphorus from a rice field in Taihu Lake basin.

Nonpoint-source pollution by phosphorus (P) poses a threat to waters in the Taihu Lake basin in China. The potential transfer of P in rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields through surface drainage and subsurface flow was investigated under simulated conventional irrigation-drainage management. Surface drainage events were conducted to avoid overflow across the plots after heavy rainfall and for rice harvest, at which time P losses were also investigated. This study was conducted in 2001 in a long-term rice field experiment. The experimental plots were treated with 0, 26, or 52 kg P ha(-1) as superphosphate or 26 kg P ha(-1) with equal parts of P supplied as superphosphate and pig manure. Phosphorus concentrations and loads in field floodwater on plots receiving P rapidly declined in a nonlinear manner before the first drainage, three weeks after fertilizer application. The combined application of fertilizer and manure P resulted in higher P transfer potential in field floodwater than with fertilizer P alone one week after P application. Phosphorus concentrations in interflow water sampled by Teflon suction cups inserted at a depth of 150 to 200 mm gradually increased within two weeks after P application, then declined. The concentration of P in interflow water was related to soil P buildup from long-term P application, as well as recently applied P. The 26 kg P ha(-1) treatment (the conventional P rate in this region) resulted in a loss of 0.74 kg total phosphorus (TP) ha(-1) and a drainage-weighted average concentration of 0.25 mg TP L(-1) from the three surface drainage events. Results indicate that avoiding overflow drainage after P input and extending the time between P application and drainage may reduce P losses from rice paddies.

[Detection of organic autotrophic particles by FCM (flow cytometry) in an oligotrophic lake].

Organic autotrophic particles were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) in an oligotrophic lake. Utilizing scattering signals and fluorescence of their natural pigments, different populations could be rapidly discriminated and enumerated. We found that they belonged to three populations. R1 were the smallest population, while R3 were the largest one. R1 contained phycoerythrin but lacked chlorophyll. On the contrary, R3 contained a large amount of chlorophyll but lacked phycoerythrin. R2 contained not only chlorophyll but also a great deal of phycoerythrin. Organic autotrophic particles account for the most proportion of the total particles that were smaller than 50 microm. They represented 70.24% of the total particles. In this study, we found that flow cytometry is particularly suited to the analysis of organic autotrophic particles that are difficult to study with traditional methods.

[Dynamics characteristic of phosphorus loss potential in subsurface runoff from rice field].

A special rice field experiment was conducted to investigate the characteristic and mechanism of phosphorus (P) loss potential in subsurface runoff from rice field. Teflon Suction Cups (TSC) were inserted into tested plots in 15-20 cm in the rice field for water sampling dynamically. The range of molybdate reactive phosphorus (MRP) in sub-surface runoff were 0.110-0.273 mg/L, 0.085-0.285 mg/L during growth seasons of early rice and later rice, respectively. The magnitude of MRP concentrations in subsurface runoff in 15-20 cm from rice field was more consistent with trend of soil P accumulation (expressed as Olsen-P) due to P application. P concentration and its expected loss loading in the subsurface runoff in 15-20 cm in the rice field were not affected by P application combined with manure.

Of pH and Eh on release of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediments of West Lake.

The effects of pH and Eh on release of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediments of West Lake under different conditions were investigated by simulation test. Results showed that the net flux of NH4(+) -N release from sediments increased with pH, but NO3(-) -N showed negative-going release at all tested pH levels. The net flux of NH4(+) -N release from sediments was higher under anaerobic or aerobic condition of the overlying water, but only under aerobic condition would net release of NO3(-) -N occur. It was also shown that phosphorus released was mainly in its inorganic form, higher pH and anaerobic conditions of overlying water greatly stimulated release of phosphorus. In situ measurement at several West Lake locations indicated that sediment resuspension induced by boat propeller stimulated nutrients release from sediment into overlying water.

[Spatial-temporal distribution and variation of atmospheric SO2 concentration in Hangzhou].

The feasibility of diffusible sampler for monitoring SO2 in cantonal Hangzhou was studied, and its correlation equation with automatic monitoring was built. The distribution and variation of SO2 concentration in Hangzhou were analyzed and mapped. Position of SO2 concentration centre was changed along with different climate condition. SO2 concentration centre moved towards south in summer with higher diffusion capability of atmosphere and enlarged in winter with thicker inversion layer. Intension and frequency of acid rain were consistent with change tendency of SO2 concentration.

[Evaluating ground water vulnerability in West Lake Watershed by using DRASTIC model].

Supported by Blackland GRASS Geographic Information System (GIS), the basic and special environmental databases of West Lake Watershed were established. The vulnerability map of ground water pollution was calculated and drawn by integrating GIS and DRASTIC model. Comparing to the present situation of land use, critical area of ground water pollution had been determined. The residential area accounted for 14.7% of the high susceptible area, and wastewater in the residential area should be piped and treated first.