Mutagenicity of PM2.5 and Ethnic Susceptibility in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, China.

PM2.5 seriously endangers human health, and its mutagenicity is considered an important pathogenic mechanism. However, the mutagenicity of PM2.5 is mainly determined by traditional bioassays, which are limited in the large-scale identification of mutation sites. Single nucleoside polymorphisms (SNPs) can be used for the large-scale analysis of DNA mutation sites but have not yet been used on the mutagenicity of PM2.5. The Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle is one of China's four major economic circles and five major urban agglomerations, and the relationship between the mutagenicity of PM2.5 and ethnic susceptibility in this circle remains unclear. In this study, the representative samples are PM2.5 from Chengdu in summer (CDSUM), Chengdu in winter (CDWIN), Chongqing in summer (CQSUM) and Chongqing in winter (CQWIN) respectively. PM2.5 from CDWIN, CDSUM and CQSUM induce the highest levels of mutation in the regions of exon/5'Utr, upstream/splice site and downstream/3'Utr respectively. PM2.5 from CQWIN, CDWIN and CDSUM induce the highest ratio of missense, nonsense and synonymous mutation respectively. PM2.5 from CQWIN and CDWIN induce the highest transition and transversion mutations respectively. The ability of PM2.5 from the four groups to induce disruptive mutation effects is similar. For ethnic susceptibility, PM2.5 in this economic circle is more likely to induce DNA mutation in Chinese Dai from Xishuangbanna among Chinese ethnic groups. PM2.5 from CDSUM, CDWIN, CQSUM and CQWIN may particularly tend to induce Southern Han Chinese, Dai in Xishuangbanna, Dai in Xishuangbanna and Southern Han Chinese respectively. These findings may assist in the development of a new method for analyzing the mutagenicity of PM2.5. Moreover, this study not only promotes attention to ethnic susceptibility to PM2.5, but also introduces public protection policies for the susceptible population.

Exploring Spatio-Temporal Variations of Ecological Risk in the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt Based on an Improved Landscape Index Method.

Intense human activities have led to profound changes in landscape patterns and ecological processes, generating certain ecological risks that seriously threaten human wellbeing. Ecological risk assessment from a landscape perspective has become an important tool for macroecosystem landscape management. This research improves the framework and indices of the ecological risk assessment from a landscape perspective, evaluates the land use pattern and landscape ecological risk dynamics in the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt (YREEB), analyzes the spatiotemporal variation, and identifies key areas for ecological risk management. The results indicate the following: The main land use types in the region are grassland and cropland, but the area of cropland and grassland decreased during the study period, and with the accelerated urbanization, urban land is the only land use type that continued to increase over the 20-year period. The ecological risk in the YREEB tended to decrease, the area of low ecological risk zones increased, while the area of high ecological risk zones gradually decreased. Most areas are at medium risk level, but the risk in central Qinghai and Gansu is obviously higher, and there is a dispersed distribution of local high- and low-risk zones. A total of 37.7% of the study area is identified as critical area for future risk management, and the potential for increased risk in these areas is high. These results can provide a basis for sustainable development and planning of the landscape and the construction of ecological civilization in ecologically fragile areas.

Molecular mechanism of Pulmonary diseases caused by exposure to urban PM2.5 in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, China.

Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CD-CQ Economic Circle) is one of China's four major economic circles and five major urban agglomerations located in Southwest China's Sichuan Basin. The CD-CQ Economic Circle, with its strong economic development and dense population, suffers from severe PM2.5 pollution, which is known to cause chronic and acute respiratory ailments. This study examined the lung disease-related hub genes, functions, and pathways that are affected by PM2.5 in summer and winter in the two central megacities of Chengdu and Chongqing. PM2.5 frequently activates lung disease-associated hub genes, most notably the transcription factor TP53. TP53 interacts with the majority of lung disease-related genes and regulates important and commonly occurring biological functions and pathways, including gland development, aging, reactive oxygen species metabolic process, the response to oxygen levels, and fluid shear stress, among others. Thus, PM2.5 has been shown to target TP53 for regulating lung disease genes/functions/pathways, thereby influencing the occurrence and progression of lung illnesses. Notably, PM2.5 may be associated with small cell carcinoma of the lung due to the high number of lung disease genes, hub genes, critical functions, and pathways enriched in this kind of cancer. These findings shed fresh light on the molecular pathophysiology of PM2.5 pollution on the respiratory system in the CD-CQ Economic Circle and aid in the development of novel techniques for mitigating PM2.5 pollution-associated respiratory illness.

Industrial agglomeration and air pollution: A new perspective from enterprises in Atmospheric Pollution Transmission Channel Cities (APTCC) of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas, China.

Air quality in China has gradually been improving in recent years; however, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region continues to be the most polluted area in China, with the worst air quality index. BTH and its surrounding areas experience high agglomeration of heavy-polluting manufacturers that generate electric power, process petroleum and coal, and carry out smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, raw chemical materials, chemical products, and non-metallic mineral products. This study presents evidence of the air pollution impacts of industrial agglomeration using the Ellison-Glaeser index, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, and spatial autocorrelation analysis. This was based on data from 73,353 enterprises in "2+26" atmospheric pollution transmission channel cities in BTH and its surrounding areas (herein referred to as BTH "2+26" cities). The results showed that Beijing, Yangquan, Puyang, Kaifeng, Taiyuan, and Jinan had the highest Ellison-Glaeser index among the BTH "2+26" cities; this represents the highest enterprise agglomeration. Beijing, Langfang, Tianjin, Baoding, and Tangshan also showed a low Herfindahl-Hirschman index of pollutant emissions, which have a relatively high degree of industrial agglomeration in BTH "2+26" cities. There was an inverted U-shaped relationship between enterprise agglomeration and air quality in the BTH "2+26" cities. This means that air quality improved with increased industrial agglomeration up to a certain level; beyond this point, the air quality begins to deteriorate with a decrease in industrial agglomeration.

Carcinogenic assessment of cobalt-containing alloys in medical devices or cobalt in occupational settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of overall cancer risk from published epidemiologic studies.

In 2020, the European Commission up-classified pure cobalt metal to a Category 1B hazard, based primarily on data from rodent inhalation carcinogenicity studies of metallic cobalt. The European Commission review did not evaluate cobalt-containing alloys in medical devices, which have very different properties vs. pure cobalt metal and did not include a systematic epidemiologic review. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published, peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies evaluating the association between overall cancer risk and exposure to orthopedic implants containing cobalt alloys or cobalt particulates in occupational settings. Study-specific estimates were pooled using random-effects models. Analyses included 20 papers on orthopedic implants and 10 occupational cohort papers (~1 million individuals). The meta-analysis summary estimates (95% confidence intervals) for overall cancer risk were 1.00 (0.96-1.04) overall and 0.97 (0.94-1.00) among high-quality studies. Results were also similar in analyses stratified by type of exposure/data sources (occupational cohort, implant registry or database), comparators (general or implant population), cancer incidence or mortality, follow-up duration (latency period), and study precision. In conclusion, meta-analysis found no association between exposure to orthopedic implants containing cobalt alloys or cobalt particulates in occupational settings and overall cancer risk, including an analysis of studies directly comparing metal-on-metal vs. non-metal-on-metal implants.

Assessment of in vivo anti-tumor activity of human umbilical vein endothelial cell vaccines prepared by various antigen forms.

Human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) vaccine has been proved as an effective whole-cell vaccine, but the modest therapeutic anti-tumor efficiency limits its clinical use. Various antigen forms, including paraformaldehyde-fixed HUVEC, glutaraldehyde-fixed HUVEC, HUVEC lysate and live HUVEC, have been intensively used in HUVEC vaccine preparation, however, the most effective antigen form has not yet been identified. In the present study, these four commonly used antigen forms were used to prepare vaccines named Para-Fixed-EC, Glu-Fixed-EC, Lysate-EC, and Live-EC respectively, and the anti-tumor efficacy of these four vaccines was investigated. Results showed that Live-EC exhibited the most favorable anti-tumor growth and metastasis effects among the four vaccines in both H22 hepatocellular carcinoma and Lewis lung cancer models. High titer anti-HUVEC antibodies were detected in Live-EC immunized mice sera, and the immune sera of Live-EC group could significantly inhibit HUVEC proliferation and tube formation. Moreover, T cells isolated from Live-EC immunized mice exhibited strong cytotoxicity against HUVEC cells, with an increasing IFN-γ and decreasing Treg production in Live-EC immunized mice. Finally, CD31 immunohistochemical analysis of the excised tumors verified a significant reduction in vessel density after Live-EC vaccination, which was in accordance with the anti-tumor efficiency. Taken together, all the results proved that live HUVEC was the most effective antigen form to induce robust HUVEC specific antibody and CTL responses, which could lead to the significant inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis. We hope the present findings would provide a rationale for the further optimization of HUVEC vaccine.

Simulation of the spatial stresses due to territorial land development on Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve using a GIS-based assessment model.

This study aimed at assessing the stresses from land development in or around Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve (YRDNR) and identifying the impacted areas. Major land development types (reservoirs, pond, aquafarm, salt pan, road, residential land, industry land, farming land, and fishing land) in or around the YRDNR from 1995 to 2014 were identified using spatial data sets derived from remote sensing imageries. The spatial stresses were simulated by considering disturbance due to land development activities and accessibility of disturbance using a geographic information system based model. The stresses were then used to identify the impacted area by land development (IALD). The results indicated that main increasing land development types in the study area from 1995 to 2014 were salt pan and construction land. The 98.2% of expanded land development area and 93.7% of increased pump number showed a good control of reserve function zone on land development spread. The spatial stress values and percentages of IALD increased from 1995 to 2014, and IALD percentage exceeded 50% for both parts of YRDNR in 2014. The results of this study also provided the information that detailed planning of the YRDNR (2014-2020) could decrease the spatial stress and IALD percentage of the whole YRDNR on the condition that the area of land development activities increased by 24.4 km2 from 2014 to 2020. Effective measures should be taken to protect such areas from being further disturbed in order to achieve the goal of a more effective conservation of the YRDNR, and attention should be paid to the disordered land development activities in or around the natural reserves.

Integrated assessment of oxidative stress and DNA damage in earthworms (Eisenia fetida) exposed to azoxystrobin.

Azoxystrobin has been widely used in recent years. The present study investigated the oxidative stress and DNA damage effects of azoxystrobin on earthworms (Eisenia fetida). Earthworms were exposed to different azoxystrobin concentrations in an artificial soil (0, 0.1, 1, and 10mg/kg) and sampled on days 7, 14, 21, and 28. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured by an ultraviolet spectrophotometer to determine the antioxidant responses and lipid peroxidation. Single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) was used to detect DNA damage in the coelomocytes. Compared with these in the controls, earthworms exposed to azoxystrobin had excess ROS accumulation and greater SOD, POD, and GST activity while the opposite trend occurred for CAT activity. MDA content increased after 14-day exposure, and DNA damage was enhanced with an increase in the concentration of azoxystrobin. In conclusion, azoxystrobin caused oxidative stress leading to lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in earthworms.

Acellular pertussis vaccines in China.

In China, whole-cell pertussis (Pw) vaccines were produced in the early 1960s and acellular pertussis (Pa) vaccines were introduced in 1995. Pa vaccines have now almost completely replaced Pw vaccines in the national immunization program. To strengthen the regulation of vaccines used in China, a vaccine lot release system was established in 2001 and Pa vaccines have been included in the system since 2006. This paper mainly described the current status of production and the quality control measures in place for Pa vaccines; and analyses quality control test data accumulated between 2006 and 2010.