Roles of Ear Injury, Infestation, and Vector Activity by Ostrinia furnacalis (Asian Corn Borer) and Conogethes punctiferalis (Yellow Peach Moth) in Fusarium verticillioides Infection and Kernel Fumonisin Level.

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the roles of two corn borers, Asian corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis and yellow peach moth (YPM), Conogethes punctiferalis, in Fusarium verticillioides infection using green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a marker. Effects of insect injury, manual injury, and insecticide application on fumonisin production also were assessed. In this study, third instars of ACB and YPM significantly increased GFP-tagged F. verticillioides infection compared with the control, regardless of the fungal inoculation method. Besides acquiring F. verticillioides spores from leaf surfaces and transmitting them to ears, larvae of the ACB and YPM also injure maize ears, which allows F. verticillioides from leaves or silk to infect ears more easily. This suggests that ACB and YPM larvae are vectors of F. verticillioides, which can increase the occurrence of ear rot. Manual injuries significantly increased GFP-tagged F. verticillioides infection of ears, while effective insect control significantly reduced F. verticillioides infection of ears. Insecticide control of borers also significantly reduced fumonisin content in kernels. Larval infestations significantly increased fumonisins in kernels to levels higher than or very close to the European Union threshold (4,000 µg kg-1). Significant and high correlations among corn borer attack, F. verticillioides severity, and kernel fumonisin levels were discovered, confirming the important role of ACB and YPM activity in F. verticillioides infection and kernel fumonisin production.

Successful percutaneous coronary intervention with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with acute inferior wall myocardial infarction complicated by electrical storm, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac arrest: a case report.

BACKGROUND: High-risk patients with coronary heart disease who develop acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have severe coronary lesions. If severe complications occur, such as malignant ventricular arrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac arrest, implementation of emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be hindered, leading to a higher perioperative mortality rate. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can pave the way for rapid myocardial reperfusion therapy. When cardiac arrest occurs, hemodynamic support with ECMO can facilitate revascularization with PCI, which can increase the time available for further salvage and treatment and reduce intraoperative risk during PCI. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we report a case of a 61-year-old man with AMI who suffered electrical storm of sustained malignant ventricular fibrillation, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac arrest and was successfully treated with PCI with ECMO support. During PCI, repeated aspiration and removal of the right coronary artery thrombus were performed, and blood flow was restored after right coronary artery balloon dilation. One episode of defibrillation was delivered to restore sinus rhythm. Then, stents were implanted in the distal and proximal right coronary artery lesions to achieve revascularization. After PCI with ECMO support, irreversible malignant arrhythmia returned to sinus rhythm through coronary perfusion, which prevented death following unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After applying active treatments, including anti-shock, mechanical ventilation, anti-inflammation, and organ support, the patient was discharged after his condition and vital signs stabilized. The patient was followed up once a week after hospital discharge, and his cardiopulmonary function recovered well. CONCLUSIONS: With ECMO support, PCI should be performed immediately in patients with inferior wall AMI complicated by electrical storm of sustained ventricular fibrillation, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac arrest to facilitate stent placement, achieve complete revascularization, restore coronary perfusion, and avoid death.

Asian Corn Borer (Ostrinia furnacalis) Infestation Increases Fusarium verticillioides Infection and Fumonisin Contamination in Maize and Reduces the Yield.

Field trials based on manual infestation of the Asian corn borer (ACB) (Ostrinia furnacalis [Guenée]) and Fusarium verticillioides (Nirenberg) atomization were conducted on four maize hybrids to investigate the relationship between ACB infestation and F. verticillioides infection, yield loss, and fumonisin contamination in maize. Analysis of fumonisins B1 and B2 was carried out using an LC-MS/MS system. In this study, manual ACB infestation significantly promoted F. verticillioides infection (both symptomatic and symptomless) and grain fumonisin levels. Ear rot incidence and severity, symptomless kernel infection, and fumonisin contamination were significantly correlated to each other and to ACB damage severity. Manual ACB infestation increased fumonisin levels from 580 to 4,418 µg/kg in 2018; 6,059 to 10,681 µg/kg in 2019 spring-sown maize (2019A); and 2,042 to 5,060 µg/kg in 2019 summer-sown maize (2019B), with the threshold of the European Union (EU) being 4,000 µg/kg. The threshold was exceeded in spring of 2019 in untreated controls. Regarding yield, significant negative correlation between ACB damage and ear weight was observed in three seasons. These results indicated that ACB infestation can lead to severe quality degradation and yield loss of maize. Kernel fumonisin levels may exceed the concentration threshold of the EU in certain conditions, threatening the health of livestock and humans. Measures should be taken to reduce ACB infestation to ensure food and feed security.

Multicolor visual screening of total dithiocarbamate pesticides in foods based on sulfydryl-mediated growth of gold nanobipyramids.

Dithiocarbamates (DTCs) pesticides were extensively used as fungicides in a variety of crops during their growth, storage and shipment. The DTCs residue in foods will seriously harm human health. In this study, a novel multicolor colorimetric sensor was developed for visual screening of total DTCs (total of ziram, thiram and zineb) based on sulfhydryl-mediated growth of gold nanobipyramids (AuNBPs). We demonstrated that DTCs can absorb on AuNBPs seed's surface via the formation of Au-S bonds and thus impede the 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ)-promoted AuNBPs growth, which generates DTCs concentration-corresponding color changes. The developed sensor has vivid color changes, short analysis time, higher sensitivity and excellent specificity. It can be used to detect as low as 50 nM of total DTCs by bare eye observation and 17-18 nM of total DTCs by UV-visible spectrometry. By using the multicolor sensor, we have successfully screened total DTCs in apple and black tea by bare eye observation, and detected total DTCs in apple and black tea by UV-visible spectrometry with a recovery of 90%-104% and a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 5) < 5%. The results obtained with our method consisted well with those obtained with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), verifying that our method had good accuracy and reliability. Especially, the visual detection limit of our method is much lower than the maximum residue limit of total DTCs in vegetable and fruits. All above features make our sensor a promising method for rapid on-site screening of total DTCs in vegetable and fruits by only bare eye observation.

Applying WCACG modified process is beneficial on reduced door-to-balloon time of acute STEMI patients.

BACKGROUND: Various systems have employed with the objective to reduce the time from emergency medical services contact to balloon inflammation for ST-elevation myocardial infraction (STEMI) patients. The WCACG message system was used to an alternative communication platform to improve confirmation of the diagnosis and movement to treatment, resulted in shorten the door-to-balloon (D-to-B) time for STEMI patients. METHODS: We collected 366 STEMI patients admitted at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, Department of Cardiology, during the period from June 2013 to October 2015. The patients were divided into two groups one underwent the current GC processes and the other group was handled using WCACG system. We compared between two groups with several indicators including D-to-B time, duration of hospitalization, associated costs, and incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. RESULTS: The results show that the new method with WCACG system significantly reduced the average D-to-B time (from 100.42 ± 25.14 mins to 79.81 ± 20.51 mins, P < 0.05) compared to the GC processes, and also reduced the duration, costs and undesirable cardiac incidence during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: The modified WCACG process is an applicable system to save pieces of time and efficiently integrate the opinions of experts in emergency.