Risk assessment of phthalate metabolites accumulated in fish to the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins from their largest habitat.

Food has consistently been shown to be an important source of exposure to environmental pollutants, drawing attention to the health risks of pollutants in marine mammals with high daily food intake. Here, the dietary exposure risks posed to the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins from the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), China, by fourteen phthalate metabolites (mPAEs) were evaluated for the first time. On the basis of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis, the levels of ∑14mPAEs in ten main species of prey fish (n = 120) of dolphins ranged from 103.0 to 444.5 ng/g wet weight (ww), among which Bombay duck contained a significantly higher body burden of ∑14mPAEs than other prey species. Phthalic acid (PA), monooctyl phthalate (MnOP), monononyl phthalate (MNP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), mono (5-carboxy-2-ethylpentyl) phthalate (MECPP), monobutyl phthalate (MBP), and monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP) all had a trophic magnification factor (TMF) greater than unity, indicating the biomagnification potential of these mPAEs in the marine ecosystem of the PRE. A dietary exposure assessment based on the adjusted reference dose values of phthalates (PAEs) showed that bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) may pose a high (HQ > 1) and medium (0.01 < HQ < 1) risk to the dolphin adults and juveniles, respectively. Our results highlight the potential health risks of mPAEs to marine mammals through dietary routes.

An Economical High-Throughput "FP-Tag" Assay for Screening Glycosyltransferase Inhibitors*.

O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) is involved in many cellular processes, and selective OGT inhibitors are valuable tools to investigate O-GlcNAcylation functions, and could potentially lead to therapeutics. However, high-throughput OGT assays that are suitable for large-scale HTS and can identify inhibitors targeting both acceptor, donor sites, and allosteric binding-sites are still lacking. Here, we report the development of a high-throughput "FP-Tag" OGT assay with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a low-cost and superior "FP-Tag". With this assay, 2-methyleurotinone was identified as a low-micromolar OGT inhibitor. This type of assay with BSA as "FP-Tag" would find more applications with other glycosyltransferases.

Nano-Fe3C@PGC as a novel low-cost anode electrocatalyst for superior performance microbial fuel cells.

We report a novel anode electrocatalyst, iron carbide nanoparticles dispersed in porous graphitized carbon (Nano-Fe3C@PGC), which is synthesized by facile approach involving a direct pyrolysis of ferrous gluconate and a following removal of free iron, but provides microbial fuel cells with superior performances. The physical characterizations confirm the unique configuration of iron carbide nanoparticles with porous graphitized carbon. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the as-synthesized Nano-Fe3C@PGC exhibits an outstanding electrocatalytic activity toward the charge transfer between bacteria and anode. Equipped with Nano-Fe3C@PGC, the microbial fuel cells based on a mixed bacterium culture yields a power density of 1856 mW m-2. The resulting excellent performance is attributed to the large electrochemical active area and the high electronic conductivity that porous graphitized carbon provides and the enriched electrochemically active microorganisms and enhanced activity towards the redox reactions in microorganisms by Fe3C nanoparticles.

A conserved motif within cox 2 allows broad detection of economically important fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae).

The genera Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and Rhagoletis in the family Tephritidae order Diptera are economically important, worldwide distributed and cause damage to a large number of commercially produced fruits and vegetables. China had regulated these five genera as quarantine pests, including the species Carpomya vesuviana. An accurate molecular method not depending on morphology able to detect all the quarantine fruit flies simultaneously is required for quarantine monitoring. This study contributes a comparative analysis of 146 mitochondrial genomes of Diptera species and found variable sites at the mt DNA cox2 gene only conserved in economically important fruit flies species. Degenerate primers (TephFdeg/TephR) were designed specific for the economically important fruit flies. A 603 bp fragment was amplified after testing each of the 40 selected representative species belonging to each economically important Tephritid genera, no diagnostic fragments were detected/amplified in any of the other Tephritidae and Diptera species examined. PCR sensitivity assays demonstrated the limit of detection of targeted DNA was 0.1 ng/µl. This work contributes an innovative approach for detecting all reported economically important fruit flies in a single-step PCR specific for reported fruit fly species of quarantine concern in China.

Impact of Atrial Fibrillation on Exercise Capacity and Mortality in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Insights From Cardiopulmonary Stress Testing.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been objectively associated with exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; however, its impact in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction has not been fully scrutinized. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified 1744 patients with heart failure and ejection fraction ≥50% referred for cardiopulmonary stress testing at the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH), 239 of whom had AF. We used inverse probability of treatment weighting to balance clinical characteristics between patients with and without AF. A weighted linear regression model, adjusted for unbalanced variables (age, sex, diagnosis, hypertension, and ß-blocker use), was used to compare metabolic stress parameters and 8-year total mortality (social security index) between both groups. Weighted mean ejection fraction was 58±5.9% in the entire population. After adjusting for unbalanced weighted variables, patients with AF versus those without AF had lower mean peak oxygen consumption (18.5±6.2 versus 20.3±7.1 mL/kg per minute), oxygen pulse (12.4±4.3 versus 12.9±4.7 mL/beat), and circulatory power (2877±1402 versus 3351±1788 mm Hg·mL/kg per minute) (P<0.001 for all comparisons) but similar submaximal exercise capacity (oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold, 12.0±5.1 versus 12.4±6.0mL/kg per minute; P =0.3). Both groups had similar peak heart rate, whereas mean peak systolic blood pressure was lower in the AF group (150±35 versus 160±51 mm Hg; P<0.001). Moreover, AF was associated with higher total mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest study of its kind, we demonstrate that AF is associated with peak exercise intolerance, impaired contractile reserve, and increased mortality in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Whether AF is the primary offender in these patients or merely a bystander to worse diastolic function requires further investigation.

Comparison Between the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and New York Heart Association in Assessing Functional Capacity and Clinical Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) has emerged as a patient-centered heart failure-specific health status measure. It currently lacks routine and widespread use in clinical practice and trials. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between KCCQ and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters and clinical outcomes, compared with the New York Heart Association functional classification (NYHA). METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a single-centered observational analysis of 432 patients who presented to the Heart Failure Department, completed the KCCQ, and underwent CPET. The 1-year clinical outcome assessed was a composite of mortality, heart failure hospitalization, and need for heart transplantation or left ventricular assist device. In the KCCQ, the physical limitation domain had a correlation with peak VO2 similar to NYHA (r = 0.48; P < .001; and r = -0.48; P < .001; respectively), and slightly better correlation with ventilatory threshold (r = 0.42; P < .001; and r = -0.40; P < .001; respectively). According to model validation, the KCCQ physical limitation domain and NYHA were similar predictors of peak VO2 (r2 = 0.229; and r2 = 0.227; respectively). KCCQ predicted the specified 1-year clinical outcome (hazard ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.69-0.82; P < .001) and provided incremental predictive ability when added to a model that included NYHA, with a net reclassification index of 76.1% (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: KCCQ and NYHA provide similar assessment of functional capacity. KCCQ predicts 1-year clinical outcomes, providing incremental value over NYHA. These findings support its routine use in clinical care, as well as its potential to serve as a measure in clinical trials.

[Determination of Trace Elements in Marine Cetaceans by ICP-MS and Health Risk Assessment].

The liver, kidney and muscle samples from seven cetaceans were digested by microwave digestion, and trace elements amounts of V, Cd, Cu, Zn, As, Cr, Ni, Mn, Se, Hg and Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the health risk assessment for Zn, Cu, Cd, Hg, Se in the liver was conducted. The results of international lobster hepatopancreas standard (TORT-2) showed acceptable agreement with the certified values, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of eleven kinds of trace elements were less than 3.54%, showing that the method is suitable for the determination of trace elements in cetaceans. The experimental results indicated that different tissues and organs of the dolphins had different trace elements, presenting the tissue specificity. There is a certain inter-species difference among different dolphins about the bioaccumulation ability of the trace elements. The distribution of trace elements in whales presented a certain regularity: the contents of most elements in liver, kidney were much higher than the contents of muscle tissues, Cu, Mn, Hg, Se, and Zn exhibit the higher concentrations in liver, while Cd was mainly accumulated in kidney. And according to the health risk assessment in liver, the exceeding standardrate of selenium and copper in seven kinds of whales was 100%, suggesting that these whales were suffering the contamination of trace elements. The experimental results is instructive to the study of trace elements in cetaceans, while this is the first report for the concentrations in organs of Striped dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin, Fraser's Dolphin and Risso's dolphin in China, it may provide us valuable data for the conservation of cetaceans.

In vitro assessment of environmental stress of persistent organic pollutants on the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are detected ubiquitously and are linked to range of adverse health effects. The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin inhabited the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), China, where high concentrations of POPs have been reported. This study evaluated the threats posed by POPs in the environment to the dolphin using an in vitro system. We selected BNF(ß-naphthoflavone) and four POPs (DDTs (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes), CHLs(chlorides), HCHs(hexachlorocyclohexanes) and HCB(hexachlorobenzene)) which had been accumulated in the dolphin with high concentrations to treat the cultured skin fibroblast cells (ScSF cells) of the dolphin, and investigated the expression patterns of the ecological stress biomarkers CYP1A1, AHR and HSP70 in the cell line. The results showed that CYP1A1 was up-regulated after being exposed to different concentrations of BNF, DDTs and HCHs. CHLs, HCHs and HCB promoted AHR expression. HSP70 expression was increased by high concentrations of BNF and DDTs. Moreover, comet assay experiments revealed that DDTs produced higher degree of DNA damage to ScSF cells than other POPs, implying that the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in the PRE has been threatened by POPs accumulated in the body, especially by DDTs. Our results provided important information to assess the risk of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin raised by environmental POPs in vivo.

Prognostic value of estimated functional capacity incremental to cardiac biomarkers in stable cardiac patients.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated functional capacity self-assessment tools in either prediction of future major adverse cardiac outcomes beyond all-cause mortality or direct comparisons with clinically available biomarkers. METHODS AND RESULTS: We estimated functional capacity using the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) questionnaire in 8987 sequential stable patients without acute coronary syndrome who were undergoing elective diagnostic coronary angiography with 3-year follow-up of major adverse cardiac events (death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or stroke). A low DASI score provided independent prediction of a 4.8-fold increase in future risk of incident major adverse cardiac events at 3 years (quartiles 1 versus 4 hazard ratio [95% CI] 4.76 [4.03 to 5.61], P<0.001), and a 3.8-fold increased risk after adjusting for traditional risk factors (3.77 [3.15 to 4.51], P<0.001). The prognostic value of the DASI score was evident in both primary and secondary prevention cohorts, with and without heart failure, as well as high and low C-reactive protein and B-type natriuretic peptide levels. The DASI score reclassified 15% of patients (P<0.001) beyond traditional risk factors in predicting future MACE. CONCLUSION: A simple self-assessment tool of functional capacity in stable patients undergoing elective diagnostic cardiac evaluation provides independent and incremental prognostic value for prediction of both significant coronary angiographic disease and long-term adverse clinical events.