[Investigation and analysis on occupational hazard factors exposure to the female workers in Gansu province].

Objective: To investigation on the occupational hazardous factors exposed to the female workers, from 14 prefectures and municipalities in Gansu province. Methods: The survey was conducted from June to October 2015. A total of 8 538 female employees from 30 enterprises in 14 prefectures and cities of the province were selected by cluster sampling method. The occupational hazard factors were investigated and analyzed statistically. Results: The survey found that the proportion of female workers in Gansu province who are exposed to chemical and physical harmful factors at the same time is relatively large. Most female workers are exposed to 2-4 occupational hazards, and women who are exposed to 3 and 4 chemical harmful factors account for 28.8 % and 38.0 %, respectively. Women workers who were exposed to two or three physical factors at the same time accounted for 59.44 per cent, while 61.5% were exposed to two biological factors at the same time. The number of female workers exposed to two or three physical factors at the same time and the number of four and five physical factors at the same time after being tested by χ(2). The difference is statistically significant (χ(2)= 8.17, P<0.05) . The difference in the number of female workers who simultaneously exposed 3 and 4 chemical factors and simultaneously exposed 2 and 5 or more chemical factors is statistically significant (χ(2)=11.26, P<0.05) . There was no significant difference in the exposure of female workers to biological factors. Conclusion: This survey shows that the exposure of female workers in Gansu Province to occupational hazards is not optimistic. We should strengthen enterprise supervision and improve the working environment and conditions of female workers.

Purification and characterization of a potential antifungal protein from Bacillus subtilis E1R-J against Valsa mali.

In order to identify the antagonistic substances produced by Bacillus subtilis E1R-J as candidate of biocontrol agents for controlling Apple Valsa Canker, hydrochloric acid precipitation, reverse phase chromatography, gel filtration, and ion exchange chromatography were used. The purified fraction EP-2 showed a single band in native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (native-PAGE) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Fraction EP-2 was eluted from native-PAGE and showed a clear inhibition zone against V. mali 03-8. These results prove that EP-2 is one of the most important antifungal substances produced by B. subtilis E1R-J in fermentation broth. SDS-PAGE and Nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis results demonstrated that EP-2 was likely an antifungal peptide (trA0A086WXP9), with a relative molecular mass of 12.44 kDa and isoelectric point of 9.94. The examination of antagonistic mechanism under SEM and TEM showed that EP-2 appeared to inhibit Valsa mali 03-8 by causing hyphal swelling, distortion, abnormality and protoplasts extravasation. Inhibition spectrum results showed that antifungal protein EP-2 had significantly inhibition on sixteen kinds of plant pathogenic fungi. The stability test results showed that protein EP-2 was stable with antifungal activity at temperatures as high as 100 °C for 30 min and in pH values ranging from 1.0 to 8.0, or incubated with each 5 mM Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Mg(2+), or K(+). However, the antifungal activity was negatively affected by Proteinase K treatment.

Purification, characterization, and heterologous expression of an antifungal protein from the endophytic Bacillus subtilis strain Em7 and its activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

An antifungal protein exhibiting a high activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in vivo was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic chromatography, and gel filtration chromatography from the culture filtrate of the endophytic Bacillus subtilis strain Em7. The protein was characterized as a ß-1,3-1,4-glucanase according to amino acid analysis, and showed excellent properties in thermal stability and acid resistance. At the same time, the antifungal protein was cloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The recombinant protein was purified and showed similar enzymatic properties to the native protein, exhibiting strong inhibitory activity against S. sclerotiorum. This shows that the ß-1,3-1,4-glucanase may play a very important role in B. subtilis Em7 biocontrol function. In addition, many physiochemical properties of the native and purified recombinant protein were compared, including the effect of pH, temperature, metal cations, substrate specificity, and kinetic parameters. All parameters were similar between the native and recombinant purified protein, indicating that the purified recombinant protein has potential for industrial applications.

Dexmedetomidine combined with endotracheal intubation laryngeal mask in anesthesia of patients with a cervical spine injury.

OBJECTIVE: Tracheal intubation under general anesthesia is more likely to aggravate the injury of the cervical spine and spinal cord. We aim to explore the effect of dexmedetomidine combined with intubating laryngeal mask airway (ILMA) on anesthesia and stress response in patients with a cervical spine injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty patients were retrospectively allocated into the control group (midazolam + ILMA) and intervention group (dexmedetomidine + ILMA). Their hemodynamics at T1 (before anesthesia induction), T2 (1 minute after anesthesia induction), T3 (immediately after intubation), and T4 (1 min after successful intubation) were also compared. RESULTS: The heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) of patients in the observation group were lower than those in the control group from T3 to T4 (both p = 0.000). Ramsay's score in the observation group was higher than the control group from T3 to T4 (both p= 0.000). No difference was observed in PaO2, PaCO2, and pH between the 2 groups. The level of serum cortisol (COR), plasma epinephrine (E), and norepinephrine (NE) in the observation group were lower than in the control group (p < 0.05) after induction. CONCLUSIONS: Dexmedetomidine combined with ILMA could improve the first intubation success rate and tolerance in patients with cervical spine injury by maintaining stable hemodynamics and reducing the stress response of patients.

Protective effect of the new prepared Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz polysaccharide on fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in laying hens.

Fatty liver hemorrhage syndrome (FLHS) is the most common noninfectious cause of death in backyard chickens worldwide, which can cause a sudden drop in egg production in the affected flocks and cause huge losses to the laying hens breeding industry. In this study, we prepared polysaccharide from Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz (PAMK) by one-step alcohol precipitation. The structural analysis found that PAMK with a molecular weight of 2.816 × 103 Da was composed of glucose and mannose, in a molar ratio of 0.582 to 0.418. Furthermore, we investigated the hepatoprotective effects of PAMK on high-energy and low-protein (HELP) diet-induced FLHS in laying hens. The results showed that the hens' livers of the HELP diet showed yellowish-brown, greasy, and soft, whereas the supplement of PAMK (200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg) could alleviate such pathological changes. The liver index, the abdominal fat percentage, and liver injury induced by the HELP diet were reduced in PAMK (200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg). Supplementing 200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg PAMK showed improvements of the antioxidant capacity in laying hens. Furthermore, we found that the HELP diet increased the expression of hepatic lipogenesis genes and decreased the expression of fatty acid ß-oxidation genes, which could be reversed by 200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg PAMK supplementation. Nevertheless, there is no difference between the addition of 40 mg/kg PAMK and the HELP group. Collectively, these results showed that PAMK supplements could ameliorate HELP diet-induced liver injury through regulating activities of antioxidant enzymes and hepatic lipid metabolism. Therefore, PAMK could be a potential feedstuff additive to alleviate FLHS in laying hens.

[Clinical outcomes of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for aggressive peripheral T-cell lymphoma].

Objective: To evaluate clinical outcomes of autologous and allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for aggressive peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Methods: From June 2007 to June 2017, clinical data of PTCL patients who underwent PBSCT were assessed retrospectively. Results: Among 41 patients, 30 was male, 11 female, and median age was 38(13-57) years old. Seventeen patients with autologous PBSCT (auto-PBSCT) and 24 patients with allogeneic PBSCT (allo-PBSCT) were enrolled in this study. Eight patients (8/17, 47.1%) in auto-PBSCT group were ALK positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), 7 patients (7/24, 29.2%) with NK/T cell lymphoma and 9 patients (9/24, 37.5%) with PTCL-unspecified (PTCL-U) in allo-PBSCT group (P=0.035). There were 58.8% patients (10/17) in complete response (CR) status and 11.8% (2/17) in progression disease (PD) status before transplantation in auto-PBSCT group, and 8.3% (2/24) in CR status and 45.8% (11/24) in PD status before transplantation in allo-PBSCT group (P=0.026). The 2-years cumulative overall survival (OS) were (64.0±10.8)% and (53.5±9.7)% for auto-PBSCT and allo-PBSCT respectively (P=0.543). The 2-years cumulative disease-free survival (DFS) were (57.1±12.4)% and (53.5±10.6)% for auto-PBSCT and allo-PBSCT respectively (P=0.701). In patients with dead outcomes after PBSCT, 83.3% (5/6) of death cause was relapse in auto-PBSCT and 41.7% (5/12) of death cause was relapse in allo-PBSCT. Conclusion: Both auto-PBSCT and allo-PBSCT were effective for PTCL. Allo-PBSCT maybe was better than auto-PBSCT for high-risk PTCL with poor prognosis.

AML1/ETO cooperates with HIF1α to promote leukemogenesis through DNMT3a transactivation.

The mechanisms by which AML1/ETO (A/E) fusion protein induces leukemogenesis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) without mutagenic events remain elusive. Here we show that interactions between A/E and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) are sufficient to prime leukemia cells for subsequent aggressive growth. In agreement with this, HIF1α is highly expressed in A/E-positive AML patients and strongly predicts inferior outcomes, regardless of gene mutations. Co-expression of A/E and HIF1α in leukemia cells causes a higher cell proliferation rate in vitro and more serious leukemic status in mice. Mechanistically, A/E and HIF1α form a positive regulatory circuit and cooperate to transactivate DNMT3a gene leading to DNA hypermethylation. Pharmacological or genetic interventions in the A/E-HIF1α loop results in DNA hypomethylation, a re-expression of hypermethylated tumor-suppressor p15(INK4b) and the blockage of leukemia growth. Thus high HIF1α expression serves as a reliable marker, which identifies patients with a poor prognosis in an otherwise prognostically favorable AML group and represents an innovative therapeutic target in high-risk A/E-driven leukemia.

MicroRNA-193a represses c-kit expression and functions as a methylation-silenced tumor suppressor in acute myeloid leukemia.

Aberrant activation of c-kit proto-oncogene contributes to abnormal cell proliferation by altering the tyrosine kinase signaling and constitutes a crucial impetus for leukemogenesis. Epigenetic silencing of tumor-suppressive microRNAs (miRNAs) is a key oncogenic mechanism for the activation of oncogenes in tumors. In this study, several miRNAs potentially binding to the 3'-untranslated region of human c-kit mRNA were screened by luciferase reporter assays. Among these miRNAs, miR-193a was embedded in a CpG island and epigenetically repressed by promoter hypermethylation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary AML blasts, but not in normal bone marrow cells. Importantly, miR-193a levels were inversely correlated with c-kit levels measured in 9 leukemia cell lines and 27 primary AML samples. Restoring miR-193a expression in AML cells harboring c-kit mutation and/or overexpression, either by synthetic miR-193a transfection or by DNA hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine (5-aza) treatment, resulted in a significant reduction in c-kit expression at both RNA and protein levels and inhibition of cell growth. The growth-inhibitory activity of miR-193a was associated with apoptosis and granulocytic differentiation. Moreover, 5-aza-induced c-kit reduction could be partially blocked by miR-193a inhibitor, leading to a reversal of antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of 5-aza. These data reveal a critical role for methylation-repressed miR-193a in myeloid leukemogenesis and the therapeutic promise of upregulating miR-193a expression for c-kit-positive AML.