Exposure to volatile organic compounds and mortality in US adults: A population-based prospective cohort study.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are ubiquitous in both indoor and outdoor environments. Evidence on the associations of individual and joint VOC exposure with all-cause and cause-specific mortality is limited. Measurements of 15 urinary VOC metabolites were available to estimate exposure to 12 VOCs in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006 and 2011-2018. The environment risk score (ERS) was calculated using LASSO regression to reflect joint exposure to VOCs. Follow-up data on death were obtained from the NHANES Public-Use Linked Mortality File through December 31, 2019. Cox proportional hazard models and restricted cubic spline models were applied to evaluate the associations of individual and joint VOC exposures with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Population attributable fractions were calculated to assess the death burden attributable to VOC exposure. During a median follow-up of 6.17 years, 734 (8.34 %) deaths occurred among 8799 adults. Urinary metabolites of acrolein, acrylonitrile, 1,3-butadiene, and ethylbenzene/styrene were significantly associated with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease (RD), and cancer mortality in a linear dose-response manner. Linear and robust dose-response relationships were also observed between ERS and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Each 1-unit increase in ERS was associated with a 33.6 %, 39.1 %, 109.8 %, and 67.8 % increase for all-cause, CVD, RD, and cancer mortality risk, respectively. Moreover, joint exposure to VOCs contributed to 17.95 % of all-cause deaths, 13.49 % of CVD deaths, 35.65 % of RD deaths, and 33.85 % of cancer deaths. Individual and joint exposure to VOCs may enhance the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Reducing exposure to VOCs may alleviate the all-cause and cause-specific death burden.

A comparative study: Ultrasound-guided leverage reduction with internal fixation using Kirschner wires or elastic stable intramedullary nailing for severely displaced radial neck fractures in children.

Treatment of radial neck fractures (RNFs) in children, particularly those with severe displacement or angulation, remains controversial, largely due to the challenge of achieving optimal reduction without resorting to open reduction. This study aimed to assess the outcomes of ultrasonography (US)-guided percutaneous leverage reduction coupled with US-guided fixation using either elastic stable intramedullary nail (ESIN) or Kirschner wire (KW) for severely displaced Judet type III and IV RNFs in children. We hypothesized that both strategies would be effective and aimed to identify the superior approach. A total of 38 pediatric patients presenting with Judet type III and IV RNFs resulting from falls were treated surgically between January 2020 and January 2022. The cohort comprised 15 boys and 23 girls, aged on average 7.6 ± 2.3 (range: 2.8-11.3 years). The fractures were classified as type III (n = 28) and type IV (n = 10). The patients were divided into 2 treatment groups: ESIN group (n = 15; treated with US-guided percutaneous leverage reduction and ESIN fixation) and the KW group (n = 23; treated with US-guided percutaneous leverage reduction and KW fixation). Variables such as surgical time, frequency of intraoperative radiography, fracture healing time, hospitalization costs, radiographic outcomes, and functional elbow scores were analyzed. Most fractures demonstrated both clinical and radiographic evidence of complete healing within 7 weeks. Based on the Tibone and Stoltz classification (Tibone J, Stoltz M. Fractures of the radial head and neck in children. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1981;63:100-6), almost all patients had excellent or good clinical outcomes, with only one exception in the ESIN group. The KW group exhibited significantly lower hospitalization costs compared to the ESIN group [(9562.6 vs 12,043.6 + 7694.0)¥, P < .05]. Both groups required notably few intraoperative radiographic exposures (KW: 5.4 ± 2.1 times, ESIN: 4.0 ± 1.9 times, P < .05). No major complications were reported. However, one case of ESIN displacement and joint protrusion was noted. Our study suggests that US-guided percutaneous leverage reduction, combined with either ESIN or KW fixation, is an effective treatment for severely displaced radial neck fractures in children. Both treatment modalities resulted in notably few intraoperative radiographic exposures and yielded favorable clinical and radiological outcomes. The integration of US-guided leverage reduction and KW fixation is both cost-effective and safe.

Proteasome inhibitors activate autophagy involving inhibition of PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway as an anti-oxidation defense in human RPE cells.

The two major intracellular protein degradation systems, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy, work collaboratively in many biological processes including development, apoptosis, aging, and countering oxidative injuries. We report here that, in human retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE), ARPE-19 cells, proteasome inhibitors, clasto-lactacystinß-lactone (LA) or epoxomicin (Epo), at non-lethal doses, increased the protein levels of autophagy-specific genes Atg5 and Atg7 and enhanced the conversion of microtubule-associated protein light chain (LC3) from LC3-I to its lipidative form, LC3-II, which was enhanced by co-addition of the saturated concentration of Bafilomycin A1 (Baf). Detection of co-localization for LC3 staining and labeled-lysosome further confirmed autophagic flux induced by LA or Epo. LA or Epo reduced the phosphorylation of the protein kinase B (Akt), a downstream target of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3K), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in ARPE-19 cells; by contrast, the induced changes of autophagy substrate, p62, showed biphasic pattern. The autophagy inhibitor, Baf, attenuated the reduction in oxidative injury conferred by treatment with low doses of LA and Epo in ARPE-19 cells exposed to menadione (VK3) or 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE). Knockdown of Atg7 with siRNA in ARPE-19 cells reduced the protective effects of LA or Epo against VK3. Overall, our results suggest that treatment with low levels of proteasome inhibitors confers resistance to oxidative injury by a pathway involving inhibition of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway and activation of autophagy.

Development of novel chloroplast microsatellite markers for Miscanthus species (Poaceae).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: A set of novel chloroplast microsatellite markers (cpSSRs) was developed for the bioenergy crop Miscanthus, and their utility in cross-species amplification was evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-eight novel primers flanking cpSSR loci were designed from a complete chloroplast genome sequence of Saccharum officinarum, a species closely related to Miscanthus. These primers were then tested on eight Miscanthus species, among which 16 cpSSR loci were found to be polymorphic. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from two to seven, with an average 3.94 alleles. CONCLUSIONS: These cpSSR markers can be applied to all Miscanthus species and will be useful for studying Miscanthus population structure, diversity, and phylogeography.