Heavy metals in meat products from Shandong, China and risk assessment.

In this study 13 heavy metals were analysed in representative livestock meat, poultry meat, livestock offal and poultry offal samples (20 per category) from marketplaces and retail stores in 16 cities in Shandong province, China. The investigated heavy metals were Cu, Cr, V, Ni, As, Se, Sn, Cd, Pb, Sb, Mn, Ba and Hg. Results revealed mean levels of total heavy metals in meat and offal of 1.56 mg/kg and 39.8 mg/kg, respectively. Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, Se, Ba and Pb were found in all samples (100%), followed by Hg (95.0%), V (91.3%), Sn (73.8%), Cd (51.3%), As (21.3%) and Sb (11.3%). Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) values showed that high meat intake can cause potential health risks. Thus, continuous monitoring of health risks and trends of heavy metals in meat products is needed, both for food safety and consumer's health.

Longitudinal assessment of motor function following the unilateral intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model in mice.

Introduction: Despite the widespread use of the unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion model in mice in recent years, the stability of behavioral deficits in the 6-OHDA striatal mouse model over time is not yet clear, raising concerns about using this model to evaluate a compound's long-term therapeutic effects. Materials and methods: In the current study, mice were tested at regular intervals in the cylinder test and gait analysis beginning 3 days after 6-OHDA injection of 4 and 8 µg and lasting until 56 days post-lesion. Apomorphine-induced rotational test and rotarod test were also performed on Day 23 and 43 post-lesion, respectively. Immunohistochemistry for dopaminergic neurons stained by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was also performed. Results: Our results showed that both the 4 and 8 µg 6-OHDA lesion groups exhibited forelimb use asymmetry with a preference for the ipsilateral (injection) side on Day 3 and until Day 21 post-lesion, but did not show forelimb asymmetry on Day 28 to 56 post-lesion. The 8 µg 6-OHDA lesion group still exhibited forelimb asymmetry on Day 28 and 42 post-lesion, but not on Day 56. The gait analysis showed that the contralateral front and hind step cycles increased from Day 3 to 42 post-lesion and recovered on Day 56 post-lesion. In addition, our results displayed a dose-dependent reduction in TH+ cells and TH+ fibers, as well as dose-dependent apomorphine-induced rotations. In the rotarod test, the 8 µg 6-OHDA lesion group, but not the 4 µg group, decreased the latency to fall on the rotarod on Day 43 post-lesion. Conclusion: In summary, unilateral striatal 6-OHDA injections of 4 and 8 µg induced spontaneous motor impairment in mice, which partially recovered starting on Day 28 post-lesion. Forced motor deficits were observed in the 8 g 6-OHDA lesion group, which remained stable on Day 43 post-lesion. In addition, the rotarod test and apomorphine-induced rotational test can distinguish between lesions of different extents and are useful tools for the assessment of functional recovery in studies screening novel potential therapies.

An Effective Hypoxia-Related Long Non-Coding RNAs Assessment Model for Prognosis of Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma.

Hypoxia is a significant clinical feature and regulates various tumor processes in clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC). Increasing evidence has demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely associated with the survival outcomes of ccRCC patients and regulates hypoxia-induced tumor processes. Thus, this study aimed to develop a hypoxia-related lncRNA (HRL) prognostic model for predicting the survival outcomes in ccRCC. LncRNAs in ccRCC samples were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Hypoxia-related genes were downloaded from the Molecular Signatures Database. A co-expression analysis between differentially expressed lncRNAs and hypoxia-related genes in ccRCC samples was performed to identify HRLs. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to select nine optimal lncRNAs for developing the HRL model. The prognostic model showed good performance in predicting prognosis among patients with ccRCC, and the validation sets reached consistent results. The model was also found to be related to the clinicopathologic parameters of tumor grade and tumor stage and to tumor immune infiltration. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the hypoxia-lncRNA assessment model may be useful for prognostication in ccRCC cases. Furthermore, the nine HRLs included in the model might be useful targets for investigating the tumorigenesis of ccRCC and designing individualized treatment strategies.

CO2 introduced the coagulation-flocculation of oil acidized wastewater: pollutant removal and cost analysis.

It is difficult to adjust the pH of oil acidized wastewater rich in Ca2+, thus hindering the polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculation. This study aims at accelerating the flocculation process by introducing CO2 into the water to induce the formation of CaCO3 nuclei. The order in which CO2 and NaOH were added affected the floc structures. Compared with CO2-NaOH-PAM, the flocs of NaOH-CO2-PAM were more compact and more CaCO3 crystals were formed. The aqueous Ca2+ involved in the reaction reached 20%, and CO2 utilization was enhanced. The settling time was shortened by half (from 20 to 3 min), and NaOH consumption was reduced by one-tenth (from 0.03 to 0.003 mol), hence significantly reducing the costs. Due to the higher settling rate and shorter contact time, the NaOH-CO2-PAM flocs adsorbed less so that the residual oil was 124 mg·L-1, while in the case of CO2-NaOH-PAM it was 88 mg·L-1. As a promising coagulation aid, CO2 can also be used to mineralize pollutants in wastewater.

Consensus summary report for CEPI/BC March 12-13, 2020 meeting: Assessment of risk of disease enhancement with COVID-19 vaccines.

A novel coronavirus (CoV), Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China and has since spread as a global pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines are thus urgently needed to reduce the significant morbidity and mortality of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease and ease the major economic impact. There has been an unprecedented rapid response by vaccine developers with now over one hundred vaccine candidates in development and at least six having reached clinical trials. However, a major challenge during rapid development is to avoid safety issues both by thoughtful vaccine design and by thorough evaluation in a timely manner. A syndrome of "disease enhancement" has been reported in the past for a few viral vaccines where those immunized suffered increased severity or death when they later encountered the virus or were found to have an increased frequency of infection. Animal models allowed scientists to determine the underlying mechanism for the former in the case of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine and have been utilized to design and screen new RSV vaccine candidates. Because some Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and SARS-CoV-1 vaccines have shown evidence of disease enhancement in some animal models, this is a particular concern for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. To address this challenge, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Brighton Collaboration (BC) Safety Platform for Emergency vACcines (SPEAC) convened a scientific working meeting on March 12 and 13, 2020 of experts in the field of vaccine immunology and coronaviruses to consider what vaccine designs could reduce safety concerns and how animal models and immunological assessments in early clinical trials can help to assess the risk. This report summarizes the evidence presented and provides considerations for safety assessment of COVID-19 vaccine candidates in accelerated vaccine development.

Construction of a comprehensive observer-based scale assessing aging-related health and functioning in captive rhesus macaques.

Aging-related health and functioning are difficult to quantify in humans and nonhuman primates. We constructed an observer-based scale for daily application in assessing the aging-related health and functioning of rhesus macaques. Ten items referring to an aging appearance, musculoskeletal aging and aging-related eating behavior were selected through a panel consensus. The Aging-related Health and Functioning Scale (AHFS) was constructed based on these scored items form 57 healthy rhesus macaques. High reliability of the AHFS was shown based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.877). The structure of the AHFS was validated by three exploratory factors. The largest factor, whose four components were dietary uptake, iliac muscle mass, hair condition and fragility, and sex, explained 50.5% of the variation in aging-related health and functioning scores. The second factor, involving age, tooth loss and tooth wear, explained 15.5% of the variation. The lowest-ranking factor comprised only facial redness and accounted for 10% of the variation. A hierarchical cluster analysis validated the good applicability of the scale in distinct samples. From these scale-scored results, complicated aging phenomena observed in humans, including the sex-survival paradox and the calorie-related health-survival paradox, were both demonstrated in rhesus macaques. Therefore, the AHFS provides a valuable approach for aging-related research.

Quantitative assessment of the relationship between Fas/FasL genes polymorphisms and head and neck cancer risk.

BACKGROUND: Molecular epidemiological studies have demonstrated a closer association between Fas/FasL polymorphisms and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk, and the results of these published studies were inconsistent. We therefore performed this meta-analysis to explore the associations between Fas/FasL polymorphisms and HNC risk. METHODS: Four online databases (PubMed, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang) were searched. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CIs) were calculated to assess the association between Fas -670A>G, Fas -1377G>A, and FasL -844C>T polymorphisms and HNC risk. In addition, heterogeneity, accumulative/sensitivity analysis, and publication bias were conducted to check the statistical power. RESULTS: Overall, 9 related publications (20 independent case-control studies) involving 3179 patients and 4217 controls were identified. Significant association of protective effects was observed between FasL -844C>T polymorphism and HNC risk in codominant and dominant model models (CT vs CC: OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.79-1.00, P = .05, I = 38.3%, CT+TT vs CC: OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79-0.98, P = .02, I = 35.8%). Furthermore, the similar protective effects were observed the subgroup analysis of in Asian population and population-based controls group. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis indicated that FasL -844C>T polymorphism plays a protective role against HNC development, but the Fas -670A>G and Fas -1377G>A polymorphisms maybe not associated with HNC risk.

Assessment of the internal genes of influenza A (H7N9) virus contributing to high pathogenicity in mice.

UNLABELLED: The recently identified H7N9 influenza A virus has caused severe economic losses and worldwide public concern. Genetic analysis indicates that its six internal genes all originated from H9N2 viruses. However, the H7N9 virus is more highly pathogenic in humans than H9N2, which suggests that the internal genes of H7N9 have mutated. To analyze which H7N9 virus internal genes contribute to its high pathogenicity, a series of reassortants was generated by reverse genetics, with each virus containing a single internal gene of the typical A/Anhui/1/2013 (H7N9) (AH-H7N9) virus in the genetic background of the A/chicken/Shandong/lx1023/2007 (H9N2) virus. The replication ability, polymerase activity, and pathogenicity of these viruses were then evaluated in vitro and in vivo. These recombinants displayed high genetic compatibility, and the H7N9-derived PB2, M, and NP genes were identified as the virulence genes for the reassortants in mice. Further investigation confirmed that the PB2 K627 residue is critical for the high pathogenicity of the H7N9 virus and the reassortant containing the H7N9-derived PB2 segment (H9N2-AH/PB2). Notably, the H7N9-derived PB2 gene displayed greater compatibility with the H9N2 genome than that of H7N9, endowing the H9N2-AH/PB2 reassortant with greater viability and virulence than the parental H7N9 virus. In addition, the H7N9 virus, with the exception of the H9N2 reassortants, could effectively replicate in human A549 cells. Our results indicate that PB2, M, and NP are the key virulence genes, together with the surface hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins, contributing to the high infectivity of the H7N9 virus in humans. IMPORTANCE: To date, the novel H7N9 influenza A virus has caused 437 human infections, with approximately 30% mortality. Previous work has primarily focused on the two viral surface proteins, HA and NA, but the contribution of the six internal genes to the high pathogenicity of H7N9 has not been systematically studied. Here, the H9N2 virus was used as a genetic backbone to evaluate the virulence genes of H7N9 virus in vitro and in vivo. Our data indicate that the PB2, M, and NP genes play important roles in viral infection in mice and, together with HA and NA, contribute to the high infectivity of the H7N9 virus in humans.

Assessment of the pathogenesis of Streptococcus suis type 2 infection in piglets for understanding streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome, meningitis, and sequelae.

Streptococcus suis type 2 (SS2) is an zoonotic pathogen that had caused outbreaks in 1998 and 2005 in China. It is still not very clear how the disease progresses into the streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome (STSLS) or meningitis, as well as the sequelae from the survivals. The present study used piglets as infection model to systematically investigate the pathogenesis of the infection caused by the SS2 strain 05ZYH33. The infected piglets showed joint swelling, lameness, and crouch at beginning, then developed into septic-like shock syndrome (SLSS) or prostration syndrome, at last the survivals showed physical activity impairment. The morbidity and mortality were 100% (71% for SLSS, 29% for prostration syndrome) and 29%, respectively. The pigs exhibiting SLSS had deep invasive infections in tissues and organs, and displayed more severe bacteremia and cytokine secretion in the bloodstream and organs than pigs with prostration syndrome. Moreover, the polymorphisms in the toll-like receptor 1 (TLR1) and TLR2 genes varied between the pigs affected with SLSS and prostration syndrome. Several lines of evidence indicated that SS2 infection progression into SLSS or relatively lighter prostration syndrome in pigs is closely related to the degrees of bacteremia and cytokine storm, which may be inherently determined by the diversity of innate immunity-associated genes. Furthermore, brain lesions, such as venous thrombosis, may directly contribute to the sequelae in human cases, were identified in the pigs. These results might help us to further understand the pathogenesis of SS2 in humans.

[Effects of artificial reef construction to marine ecosystem services value: a case of Yang-Meikeng artificial reef region in Shenzhen].

Based on the researches and statistic data of Yangmeikeng artificial reef region in Shenzhen in 2008 and by the method of ecosystem services value, this paper analyzed the effects of artificial reef construction in the region on the marine ecosystem services. After the artificial reef construction, the tourism service value in the region decreased from 87% to 42%, food supply service value increased from 7% to 27%, and the services value of raw material supply, climatic regulation, air quality regulation, water quality regulation, harmful organism and disease regulation, and knowledge expansion had a slight increase, as compared to the surrounding coastal areas. The total services value per unit area of Yangmeikeng artificial reef region in 2008 was 1714.7 x 10(4) yuan x km(-2), far higher than the mean services value of coastal marine ecosystem in the surrounding areas of Shenzhen and in the world. Artificial reef construction affected and altered the structure of regional marine ecosystem services value, and improved the regional ecosystem services value, being of significance for the rational exploitation and utilization of marine resources and the successful recovery of damaged marine eco-environment and fish resources. Utilizing the method of ecosystem services value to evaluate artificial reef construction region could better elucidate the benefits of artificial reef construction, effectively promote the development of our artificial reef construction, and improve the management of marine ecosystem.