Quantitative tracing the sources and human risk assessment of complex soil pollution in an industrial park.

Pollution in industrial parks has long been characterized by complex pollution sources and difficulties in identifying pollutant origins. This study focuses on a typical industrial park consisting of 11 factories (F1-F11) including organic pigment, inorganic pigment, and chemical factories in Hunan Province, China, here, a total of 327 sample points were surveyed. Eight pollutants (Mn, Cd, As, Co, NH3-N, l, 1,2-Trichloroethane, chlorobenzene, and petroleum hydrocarbons) were classified as contaminants of concern (COCs). This study assessed the contributions of driving factors to the distribution of COCs in the soil. Pollutant source apportionment was conducted using positive matrix factorization (PMF) and random forest (RF). The results revealed that the main factors driving pollution are groundwater migration, non-compliant emissions, leaks during production, and interactions among pollutants. The primary pollution sources were four chemical factories and an inorganic pigment factory. Source 5 demonstrates significant correlations with TCA (29.6%), CB (30%), and As (31.6%). Two chemical factories (F7 and F10) are the most significant pollution source with a risk assessment contribution rate of more than 60%. The present study sheds some light on the contamination characteristics, source apportionment and source-health risk assessment of COCs in industrial park. By utilizing the proposed research framework, decision-makers can effectively prioritize and address identified pollution sources.

Semi-Synthesis of Flavonoid Glycosides and Their Anti-Inflammatory and Antitumor Activities towards Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Flavonoid glycosides are known to possess diverse bioactivities including antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties. Hesperetin is abundant in nature and can be used to synthesize bioactive flavonoids. This has the advantages of low cost, short synthetic steps, simple operation, and good yields. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to synthesize bioactive flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides from hesperetin and evaluate the antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities of these compounds. METHODS: A series of flavonoids and their derivatives were synthesized by methoxylation, oxidative dehydrogenation, benzylation, debenzylation, and deacetylation as well as using a modified peroxyacetone method and a glycoside condensation reaction. Their anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 mouse macrophages. Their structures were characterized by HRMS, 1 H-NMR, and 13 C-NMR, and their cytotoxicity on the human triple-negative breast cancer cell (TNBC) line, SUM 149, was tested by using the MST assay. RESULTS: Most of the compounds markedly reduced NO production in LPS-stimulated murine macrophages at the tested concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. Among these, compounds 1, 7, 9, and 17 showed significant anti-inflammatory activities against NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 mouse macrophages. In addition, they could also reduce the release of TNF-α and IL-6 in a concentration-dependent manner. Most of the tested compounds showed remarkable anti-human TNBC activities. Compounds 1b-1m, 1, and 3 showed a certain degree of growth inhibition effect on the human TNBC cell lines and their IC50 values were all below 16.61 µM. In addition, compound 1l was the most cytotoxic with IC50 values of 1.38±0.31 µM, while the other compounds were inactive with inhibition rates <50 % at the highest concentration tested (20 µM). CONCLUSIONS: A novel series of flavonoids were synthesized from the natural flavonoid, hesperetin, including 17 new compounds. Screening tests indicated that most of these compounds reduced NO production in LPS-stimulated murine macrophages at concentrations of 15 to 60 µM, and the inhibition generally increased in a dose-dependent manner. Some compounds showed different degrees of cytotoxicity on the human TBNC cell lines, SUM 149.

18ß-Glycyrrhetinic acid monoglucuronide (GAMG) alleviates single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT)-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis in mice through PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have become far and wide used in a number of technical and merchant applications as a result of substantial advances in nanotechnology, therein single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are one of the most promising nanoparticles. Inhaling CNTs has been linked to a variety of health problems, including lung fibrosis. Glycyrrhetinic acid 3-O-mono-ß-D-glucuronide (GAMG), a natural sweetener, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential for GAMG to alleviate SWCNT-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis. During days 3-28 after SWCNT intratracheal administration, we observed a remarkable increase of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) on day 3 and collagen deposition on day 28. GAMG treatment remarkably ameliorated SWCNT-induced pulmonary fibrosis and attenuated SWCNT-induced inflammation and collagen deposition, and suppressed the activation of PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway in the lungs. Therefore, GAMG has a therapeutic potential for the treatment of SWCNT-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Targeting PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic approach to treat pulmonary fibrosis in mice with SWCNT.

Design, synthesis and anti-TNBC activity of Azeliragon triazole analogues.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Many studies have shown a significant increase in the marker signal of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) with the malignant progression of tumor growth, metastasis and recurrence of breast cancer, including TNBC of primary tumors and lymph node metastases. Azeliragon is a RAGE inhibitor and it has been shown to actively inhibit the TNBC cell line, SUM149 (IC50 = 5.292 ± 0.310 µM). In order to develop a new anti-TNBC agent, we designed, synthesized and screened 26 Azeliragon triazole analogues to determine their anti-TNBC activities in vitro. The most active compound was KC-10 with an IC50 value of 0.220 ± 0.034 µM.

Diversity of bacteria and archaea in the groundwater contaminated by chlorinated solvents undergoing natural attenuation.

Chlorinated solvents (CS)-contaminated groundwater poses serious risks to the environment and public health. Microorganisms play a vital role in efficient remediation of CS. In this study, the microbial community (bacterial and archaeal) composition of three CS-contaminated groundwater wells located at an abandoned chemical factory which covers three orders of magnitude in concentration (0.02-16.15 mg/L) were investigated via 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The results indicated that Proteobacteria and Thaumarchaeota were the most abundant bacterial and archaeal groups at the phylum level in groundwater, respectively. The major bacterial genera (Flavobacterium sp., Mycobacterium sp. and unclassified Parcubacteria taxa, etc.) and archaeal genera (Thaumarchaeota Group C3, Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group and Miscellaneous Euryarchaeotic Group, etc.) might be involved in the dechlorination processes. In addition, Pearson's correlation analyses showed that alpha diversity of the bacterial community was not significantly correlated with CS concentration, while alpha diversity of archaeal community greatly decreased with the increased contamination of CS. Moreover, partial Mantel test indicated that oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, temperature and methane concentration were major drivers of bacterial and archaeal community composition, whereas CS concentration had no significant impact, indicating that both indigenous bacterial and archaeal community compositions are capable of withstanding elevated CS contamination. This study improves our understanding of how the natural microbial community responds to high CS-contaminated groundwater.

Potential of Pteris vittata to Remove Tetracycline Antibiotics from Aquatic Media.

The role of combined arsenic and antibiotics pollution in the environment has recently gained more attention. In this study, a new approach to eliminate tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) from water, via the fern species Pteris vittata (L.), an arsenic hyperaccumulator, was investigated. The encouraging results showed that more than half of the TCs could be removed from the water solution (with the starting concentration of TCs about 1.0 mg kg(-1) respectively) after one day of treatment. No TCs (less than 0.01 mg kg(-1)) were detected in the solution after five days of treatment. The results showed that Pteris vittata has high ability to eliminate TCs, which makes it suitable for practical application. Further research found that TCs concentrations were very low in both the roots and the pinnae of Pteris vittata, which indicates that accumulation in the fronds is not the main removal mechanism and that degradation in the fronds might be the main cause. Present results provide a feasible method for simultaneous removal of arsenic and TCs from livestock-polluted wastewater. However, more research work should be done before any real-world application is made.

Identification and synthesis of N-(thiophen-2-yl) benzamide derivatives as BRAF(V600E) inhibitors.

The V600E BRAF kinase mutation, which activates the downstream MAPK signaling pathway, commonly occurs in about 8% of all human malignancies and about 50% of all melanomas. In this study, we employed virtual screening and chemical synthesis to identify a series of N-(thiophen-2-yl) benzamide derivatives as potent BRAF(V600E) inhibitors. Structure-activity relationship studies of these derivatives revealed that compounds b40 and b47 are the two most potent BRAF(V600E) inhibitors in this series.

Efflux pump inhibitor combined with ofloxacin decreases MRSA biofilm formation by regulating the gene expression of NorA and quorum sensing.

Carbonyl cyanide p-nitrophenylhydrazone (2e) displayed a lone or synergistic efficacy against MRSA (RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 17854). In this work, the synergistic mechanism of 2e with ofloxacin was studied. MRSA2858 had potential for biofilm formation, and the value of MBEC of 2e alone was 0.78-1.56 µM, while that of 2e + ofloxacin was 0.39-0.78 µM. 2e combined with ofloxacin showed a synergistic anti-biofilm effect against MRSA. Efflux pump inhibitor 2e can better bind to NorA protein. After MRSA2858 was treated with 2e of 1/2MIC (0.78 µM) and ofloxacin of 1/8MIC (0.097 µM), the transcript levels of efflux genes (norA) and quorum-sensing (QS) regulatory genes (agrA, sarA, icaA, hla) were substantially down-regulated, and alpha-hemolysin (Hla) was inhibited by 99.15%. 2e combined with ofloxacin was more effective than 2e alone in reducing bacterial load in vivo. All in all, efflux pump inhibitor 2e enhanced the bactericidal activities of antibiotics through regulating the gene expression of NorA and QS system.

Analysis of soil pollution characteristics and influencing factors based on ten electroplating enterprises.

The electroplating industry encompasses various processes and plating types that contribute to environmental pollution, which has led to growing public concern. To investigate related soil pollution in China, the study selected 10 sites with diverse industrial characteristics distributed across China and collected 1052 soil samples to determine the presence of industrial priority pollutants (PP) based on production process and pollutant toxicity. The factors influencing site pollution as well as proposed pollution prevention and control approaches were then evaluated. The results indicate the presence of significant pollution in the electroplating industry, with ten constituents surpassing the risk screening values (RSV). The identified PP consist of Cr(VI), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), total chromium (Cr), and petroleum hydrocarbons (C10-C40). PP contamination was primarily observed in production areas, liquid storage facilities, and solid zones. The vertical distribution of metal pollutants decreased with soil depth, whereas the reverse was true for petroleum hydrocarbons (C10-C40). Increase in site production time was strongly correlated with soil pollution, but strengthening anti-seepage measures in key areas can effectively reduce the soil exceedance standard ratio. This study serves as a foundation for conceptualizing site repair technology in the electroplating industry and offers a reference and methodology for pollution and source control in this and related sectors.

Simulation and risk assessment of arsenic by Hydrus-3D and CalTOX in a typical brownfield site.

Accurate quantification of arsenic migration and accumulation in brownfield site is critical for environmental management and soil remediation. However, the researches simulating arsenic in brownfield site in China are limited due to sparse data and complex migration behaviors. In this study, we simulated historic arsenic contamination using Hydrus-3D in an abandoned brownfield site in Hebei, China, from 1972 to 2019. Atmospheric discharge, wastewater leakage, solid waste discharge and tank leakage were calculated according to the factory processes for model simulation. Based on the results of Hydrus-3D, we assessed health risk of arsenic in this site. The results showed that total arsenic input to the soil surface from 4 pathways was 24.6 tons, the solid waste discharge was the highest contributor. The accumulation process mainly occurred in the unsaturated zone due to clay and silty clay absorbed arsenic and thus slow down the migration process. While in the saturation zone, abundant groundwater promoted migration of arsenic, resulting in widespread distribution of contaminated area. The model results represented good performance between simulated and measured values. Sensitivity analysis indicated that adsorption constant and water conductivity were the most influential parameters. Heath risk assessment showed that arsenic contamination continues to threaten resident health.

Erectile dysfunction in nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer patients before and after transurethral resection (TUR) of bladder tumor in China.

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients before and after transurethral resection (TUR) in China. Clinical data from 165 male patients with NMIBC who received adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy after TUR in Neijiang First People's Hospital (Neijiang, China) between January 2010 and June 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The sexual function of these patients was evaluated before and 1.5 years after initial TUR by the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5). An age-specific subanalysis was performed among the patients: <45 years old (Group 1, n = 19) and ≥45 years old (Group 2, n = 146). Before and 1.5 years after TUR, the incidence rates of ED in Group 1 were 15.8% and 52.6%, and those in Group 2 were 54.1% and 61.0%, respectively. The difference between groups was statistically significant at the preoperative stage (15.8% vs 54.1%, P = 0.002) but not at the postoperative stage (52.6% vs 61.0%, P = 0.562). Compared with the preoperative stage, the incidence of ED at the postoperative stage was increased significantly in Group 1 (15.8% vs 52.6%, P = 0.017) but not in Group 2 (54.1% vs 61.0%, P = 0.345). In conclusion, the incidence of ED increased in male NMIBC patients under the age of 45 years after TUR in China. These patients should be offered professional counseling during the follow-up period.

Novel benzothiazole‒urea hybrids: Design, synthesis and biological activity as potent anti-bacterial agents against MRSA.

Novel benzothiazole‒urea hybrids were designed, synthesized and evaluated their anti-bacterial activity. They only exhibited anti-bacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including clinical methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), compounds 5f, 5i, 8e, 8k and 8l exhibited potent activity (MIC = 0.39 and 0.39/0.78 µM against SA and MRSA, respectively). Crystal violet assay showed that compounds 5f, 8e and 8l not only inhibited the formation of biofilms but also eradicated preformed biofilms. Compound 8l had membrane disruption, little propensity to induce resistance, benign safety and in vivo anti-MRSA efficacy in a mouse model of abdominal infection. Therefore, our data demonstrated the potential to advance benzothiazole‒urea hybrids as a new class of antibiotics.

Antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity of diarylureas against Enterococcus faecium by suppressing the gene expression of peptidoglycan hydrolases and adherence.

Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) is a clinical multidrug-resistant pathogen causing life-threatening infection, which makes it important to discover antibacterial agents with novel scaffolds and unique mechanism. In this study, the diarylurea scaffold was found to have potent antibacterial effect on E. faecium. Diarylurea ZJ-2 with benign drug-like property exhibited potent antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity through inhibiting the genes expression of NlpC/p60 hydrolase-secreted antigen A (sagA) and autolysins (atlA), down-regulating the expression of biofilm adherence related genes aggregation substance (agg), enterococcal surface protein (esp) against E. faecium. Moreover, ZJ-2 can be docked into SagA to inhibit daughter cell separation. In a mouse model of abdominal infection, ZJ-2 decreased the bacterial load and the level of IL-6 and TNF-α in a time-dependent manner. Overall, these findings indicated that diarylurea ZJ-2 has the potential to be developed as a therapeutic agent to treat drug-resistant enterococci and biofilm-related infections.

Superamphiphilic Chitosan Cryogels for Continuous Flow Separation of Oil-In-Water Emulsions.

Chitosan is a typical hydrophilic biomass building block widely used in material science and engineering. However, its intrinsic amphiphilicity has been seldom noted so far. Herein, a series of glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan cryogels with superamphiphilicity are fabricated at moderately frozen conditions through a freezing-thawing process. The micron-sized porous cryogel samples display a 0° contact angle toward both water and oil, 0° water contact angle under oil, and over 120° oil contact angle underwater. By comparing the wetting behavior of the tablet compressed by pure chitosan powders, the superamphiphilicity of the chitosan sample is proven to be independent on crosslinkers. This special wettability endows the chitosan cryogels with high separation efficiency for various surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions under continuous flow mode driven by gravity as well as a peristaltic pump.

Dynamic interaction between melamine and cyanuric acid in artificial urine investigated by quartz crystal microbalance.

The dynamic interaction between melamine (M) and cyanuric acid (CA) in artificial urine was investigated by a flow injection analysis-quartz crystal microbalance (FIA-QCM) system. Melamine was used as the recognition element and immobilized onto the QCM gold surface. The process of M and CA interaction was recorded by FIA-QCM in real-time. The multilayer complex of M and CA was successfully formed on the crystal surface of the QCM when CA and M were introduced into the FIA-QCM system alternately. The influence of pH on the M and CA interaction indicated that the M-CA multilayer complex possesses high stability over a wide range of pH values, especially in physiological urine condition. The association and dissociation rate constants were determined under artificial urine condition and the association constant for M and CA was calculated as 10(2) L mol(-1). The M-CA complex was further characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Mechanism study suggested that the formation of the multilayer complex in artificial urine was mainly attributed to the intermolecular hydrogen bonding between M and CA. The work provides direct insight into the dynamic interaction between M and CA under physiological conditions and would be helpful for the research of kidney stones induced by melamine contamination.

[Study of EST-SSR marker system of Cordyceps].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the EST-SSR marker system for Cordyceps by using ESTs of C. bassiana and C. militaris. METHOD: The ESTs of Cordyceps were downloaded from the public database of NCBI, and the redundant ESTs with low quality were removed. The EST-SSR primers were designed by Sequece Seiner 1. 2. And the primers were screened through PAGE-Electrophoresis. RESULT: The 4 556 non-redundant ESTs which from C. bassiana with total length of 2 953 173 bp were selected. 718 EST-SSRs distributed in 616 ESTs were totally screened out, accounting for 15.8% of the non-redundant ESTs. It was discovered that the average distance of EST-SSSR was 1/4 096 bp in EST-SSRs distribution of C. bassiana. Trinucleotide repeats were the most abundant types with 419 repeated sequences. Regarding to C. militaris, totally 1 363 non-redundant ESTs were acquired, from which 1 117 EST-SSRs were screened, and rate of SSR sites in ESTs was 81.95%. The leading motif of SSR was nucleotide A. The 50 pairs of EST-SSR primers were designed according to the ESTs of C. bassiana, and preliminary test showed the 34 pairs of primers amplified clear fragments,accounting for 68% of all primers. Furthermore, the 39 of the 40 pairs of primers from the ESTs of C. militaris were found to be amplified as the clear fragments, accounting for 97.5%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that different anamorph of Cordyceps spieces were divided into four branches. CONCLUSION: The EST-SSR of Cordyceps had comparably higher utility value. The EST-SSR markers developed from ESTs of C. bassiana and C. militaris had well transferability in Cordyceps. And it was suggested that the EST-SSR markers should be an easy and effective way to assay molecular genetic structure of Cordyceps.

Study of starch aging characteristics based on Terahertz technology.

Traditional methods for the determination of starch aging indicators often have a series of shortcomings such as time-consuming, high cost, large human error, damage to samples, environmental pollution, and high requirements for inspectors. Therefore, it is meaningful to find or establish a dynamic fingerprint identification pattern that can detect the aging degree of starch during the process of processing or storage quickly and accurately. It not only provides guidance for starch food processing but also saves a lot of human, material resources, and time. Terahertz technology is an emerging molecular spectroscopy technology in the 21st century. It is with low energy and basically harmless to the human body. It can also realize nondestructive testing of samples. In the experiment, the samples were prepared by the tableting method and the samples containing 20% of 50 mg samples were prepared with polyethylene as the diluent. The thickness of the samples was 1 mm and the diameter was 13 mm. The terahertz time-domain spectrometer was used to obtain the spectral information of aging starch at different aging times. After the pretreatment of the spectrum by vector normalization, first derivative, and multiple scattering correction, the prediction models of aging days, crystallinity, and resilience of aging starch were established, respectively. The determination coefficient (R 2) of the established models is all greater than 95%, indicating that the established models are highly reliable and can be used to predict the aging days, crystallinity, and retrogradation degree of starch. And the R 2 of the prediction model based on the refractive index spectrum is greater than that of the absorption coefficient spectrum. The experimental method obtains the dynamic fingerprint identification map of starch in the aging process, realizes the real-time monitoring and detection of the starch aging process, and provides an effective means for the production and processing of starch-related industries.

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the ethyl acetate extract of Viburnum taitoense Hayata.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Viburnum taitoense Hayata has been used as folk medicine by the minority people in Southwestern China for a long history, especially in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The minority in Guangxi including Zhuang, Miao and Yao people use the ethanol extract of V. taitoense Hayata to treat the fracture, kill the pain of rheumatism because of its definite therapeutic effects. AIM OF THE STUDY: So far, the scientific investigation of V. taitoense Hayata is done very little. Here, we first prepared the ethyl acetate extract of V. taitoense (EEVt), secondly measured the contents of phenols, flavonoids, and terpenoids in EEVt, and thirdly, the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of EEVt were investigated by invitro model of RAW 264.7 cells and invivo models of inflammation and pain in rats and mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The contents of phenols, flavonoids, and terpenoids in EEVt were determined by UV spectrophotometry, respectively. The anti-inflammatory effect of EEVt (5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg/mL) in vitro was tested by determining its inhibitory effect on the nitric oxide production of RAW264.7 cells activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of EEVt in vivo were investigated in the following experimental rats and mice models: carrageenan-induced paw edema, corton-oil-induced ear edema, acetic acid writhing test, and formalin pain test. RESULTS: The contents of total phenolic, total flavonoids, and total triterpenoids in V. taitoense were measured to be 3.46 ± 0.04%, 2.38 ± 0.04%, and 14.96 ± 0.17%, respectively. In vitro test showed that EEVt at different tested dosages (5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg/mL) had no significant toxicity to RAW264.7 macrophages. At dosages of 37.5 and 75 µg/mL of EEVt significant inhibitory (p < 0.001) on the productions of nitric oxide (NO). High dosage (200 µg/mL) of EEVt displayed highly significant inhibitory (p < 0.001) on the productions of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α from the LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. EEVt showed obvious anti-inflammatory activity at different time points after carrageenan injection (p < 0.05) in vivo test, and its anti-inflammatory activity reached the strongest 4 h. Similarly, through the ear swelling test, EEVt (200 mg/kg) showed significant (p < 0.05) anti-inflammatory activity. Besides, formalin and acetic acid writhing experiments also showed that EEVt has significant (p < 0.05) analgesic activity. CONCLUSION: EEVt was confirmed to be definite anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, and the phytochemicals of EEVt was disclosed to be rich in triterpenoids, which was worthy to be further investigated.

[Analysis of urinary storage symptoms following transurethral resection of the prostate].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), especially those in the urinary storage phase, following transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), and to improve the postoperative management and patients' quality of life after TURP. METHODS: A total of 86 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) underwent TURP, and were interviewed on urinary symptoms at 1, 3, 7, 15 and 30 days after removal of the catheter. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had preoperative detrusor instability and/or compliance of the bladder (Group A) or not (Group B), and observed for the changes in IPSS scores and urinary storage symptoms after removal of the catheter. RESULTS: Complete follow-ups were achieved in 71 cases, 28 with detrusor instability and/or compliance of the bladder and the other 43 without. Their IPSS scores on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 15th and 30th day after removal of the catheter were 8.1 +/- 2.5, 7.2 +/- 3.1, 6.3 +/- 3.8, 5.3 +/- 4.2 and 2.4 +/- 3.4, respectively, with statistically significant differences between the 7th and the 1st as well as the 30th and the 15th day (P < 0.05), but not between the 1st and the3rd nor the 15th and the 7th day (P > 0.05). On the 1st day, the cardinal symptoms in the urinary storage phase were urinary frequency, urgency and incontinence; the scores on IPSS and urinary storage symptoms were 10.4 +/- 3.3 and 9.3 +/- 3.8 in Group A and 6.2 +/- 2.8 and 5.2 +/- 2.7 in Group B, with significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). After treatment with tolterodine and alpha-adrenoreceptor inhibitor, neither IPSS scores nor the scores on urinary storage symptoms showed any significant differences between Groups A and B on the 15th and 30th day (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The lower urinary tract symptoms following TURP, especially those in the urinary storage phase, are correlated with preoperative bladder function, and getting improved gradually after surgery.

The effects of heat treatment and fermentation processes on the formation of furfurals in milk-based dairy products using a QuEChERS technique followed by gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

A method based on gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) combined with QuEChERS extraction was developed to detect furfurals, including furfural, 2-acetylfuran, 5-methyl-2-furfural, and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural, in milk-based dairy products. Under the optimized conditions, good linearity was obtained with correlation coefficients (R2) above 0.999, and the recovery values from the spiked samples were 79.0%-115.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 13.1%. The limits of detection (LODS) were in the range of 0.002-0.02 mg/kg. To investigate the effects of the production process on milk-based dairy products, 55 real samples were analysed. The higher contents of furfurals were observed when higher temperatures were used during heat treatment and fermentation. In addition, the Toxtree and T.E.S.T. software programs were used to predict the risks associated with these four furfurals. Ultimately, safe dairy intake levels were determined.