Pollution assessment, source identification, and health risks of heavy metals: a case study in a typical wheat-maize rotation area of eastern China.

Winter-wheat-summer-maize rotations are important cropping patterns in China, and the quality of the food produced from these systems can affect human health. However, the effects of heavy metal pollution on both crops remain unclear. We analyzed soil-wheat and soil-maize samples from eastern China for their Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, and Pb contents. The concentrations of these metals in the soils analyzed were found to be lower than those recommended by the national guidelines, but the Cd, Cr, Cu, and Ni concentrations were higher than the natural soil background values in China. Quality indices showed that subpollution was predominant in wheat/maize (95.00%/81.25%) samples. Positive matrix factorization model data revealed that the contributions from natural sources, agricultural activities, and traffic to the heavy metal pollution levels were 30.40-43.07%, 34.67-26.63%, and 34.92-30.27%, respectively, in the wheat-maize rotations. Although the health hazard quotient values for wheat were higher than those for maize, there were no health risks for children or adults.

Intrathecal injection of bone marrow stromal cells attenuates neuropathic pain via inhibition of P2X4R in spinal cord microglia.

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain is one of the most debilitating of all chronic pain syndromes. Intrathecal (i.t.) bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) injections have a favorable safety profile; however, results have been inconsistent, and complete understanding of how BMSCs affect neuropathic pain remains elusive. METHODS: We evaluated the analgesic effect of BMSCs on neuropathic pain in a chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion (CCD) model. We analyzed the effect of BMSCs on microglia reactivity and expression of purinergic receptor P2X4 (P2X4R). Furthermore, we assessed the effect of BMSCs on the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), a key molecule in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain, in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. RESULTS: I.t. BMSC transiently but significantly ameliorated neuropathic pain behavior (37.6% reduction for 2 days). We found no evidence of BMSC infiltration into the spinal cord parenchyma or DRGs, and we also demonstrated that intrathecal injection of BMSC-lysates provides similar relief. These findings suggest that the analgesic effects of i.t. BMSC were largely due to the release of BMSC-derived factors into the intrathecal space. Mechanistically, we found that while i.t. BMSCs did not change TRPV4 expression in DRG neurons, there was a significant reduction of P2X4R expression in the spinal cord microglia. BMSC-lysate also reduced P2X4R expression in activated microglia in vitro. Coadministration of additional pharmacological interventions targeting P2X4R confirmed that modulation of P2X4R might be a key mechanism for the analgesic effects of i.t. BMSC. CONCLUSION: Altogether, our results suggest that i.t. BMSC is an effective and safe treatment of neuropathic pain and provides novel evidence that BMSC's analgesic effects are largely mediated by the release of BMSC-derived factors resulting in microglial P2X4R downregulation.

Investigation on the influence of the Bohai Sea Geological Environment on the submarine stratum stability based on data mining: an intelligent prediction model.

The Bohai Sea has unique characteristics of the marine geological environment, with strong water closure and weak self-purification ability. Assessment of the submarine stratum stability plays an essential part in ocean engineering construction, preventing marine geological disasters and controlling environmental pollution for the Bohai strait. Nevertheless, limited studies have investigated quantitative classification of the submarine stratum stability or the influence of Bohai Sea's engineering geological environment on the submarine stratum stability using laboratory experiments and the data mining method. Thus, this study carried out physical and mechanical experiments based on the submarine borehole soil samples from the Bohai Sea. And a database containing 60 groups of submarine soil samples' mechanical parameters was established. The physical and mechanical parameters of the Bohai sea's submarine soil, i.e., depth, water content, void ratio, density, internal friction angle, and cohesion, are the prediction indicators. And the submarine soil samples' unconfined compressive strength and elastic modulus are used for quantifying the stability grade of Bohai Sea's submarine stratum. Furthermore, the submarine stratum stability prediction model was established based on the multiple linear regression analysis method and the nonlinear regression analysis method (i.e., BPNN, normal cloud, and TOPSIS method). The testing results indicate that the submarine stratum stability prediction model obtained by the linear regression analysis does not have obvious linear characteristics and gives a poor prediction performance (MAE=0.9333, MAPE=0.3, RMSE=1.2111). In contrast, the nonlinear analysis methods presented a higher fitting version. Compared to the cloud model and the TOPSIS method, the BPNN model with the lowest testing error (MAE=0.2, MAPE=0.1, RMSE=0.4472) presented the best prediction accuracy. The proposed submarine stratum prediction model has been validated as an effective submarine stratum stability prediction method and has good prospects for further ocean engineering applications.

Effect of TRPV4-p38 MAPK Pathway on Neuropathic Pain in Rats with Chronic Compression of the Dorsal Root Ganglion.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among TRPV4, p38, and neuropathic pain in a rat model of chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion. Mechanical allodynia appeared after CCD surgery, enhanced via the intrathecal injection of 4α-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4α-PDD, an agonist of TRPV4) and anisomycin (an agonist of p38), but was suppressed by Ruthenium Red (RR, an inhibitor of TRPV4) and SB203580 (an inhibitor of p38). The protein expressions of p38 and P-p38 were upregulated by 4α-PDD and anisomycin injection but reduced by RR and SB203580. Moreover, TRPV4 was upregulated by 4α-PDD and SB203580 and downregulated by RR and anisomycin. In DRG tissues, the numbers of TRPV4- or p38-positive small neurons were significantly changed in CCD rats, increased by the agonists, and decreased by the inhibitors. The amplitudes of ectopic discharges were increased by 4α-PDD and anisomycin but decreased by RR and SB203580. Collectively, these results support the link between TRPV4 and p38 and their intermediary role for neuropathic pain in rats with chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion.