Deoxynivalenol and its modified forms: key enzymes, inter-individual and interspecies differences in metabolism.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and its modified forms, including DON-3-glucoside (DON-3G), pose a major agricultural and food safety issue in the world. Their metabolites are relatively well-characterized; however, their metabolizing enzymes have not been fully explored. UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, 3-O-acetyltransferase, and glutathione S-transferase are involved in the formation of DON-glucuronides, 3-acetyl-DON, and DON-glutathione, respectively. There are interindividual differences in the metabolism of these toxins, including variation with respect to sex. Furthermore, interspecies differences in DON metabolism have been revealed, including differences in the major metabolites of DON, the role of de-acetylation, and the hydrolysis of DON-3G. In this review, we summarized the major enzymes involved in metabolizing DON to its modified forms, focusing on the differences in metabolism of DON and its modified forms between individuals and species. This work provides important insight into the toxicity of DON and its derivatives in humans and animals, and provides scientific basis for the development of safer and more efficient biological detoxification methods.

Immunotoxicity assessment of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in macrophages, lymphocytes and BALB/c mice.

BACKGROUND: The toxicity of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) in the environment and biological systems has become a major concern for the nanoparticle community. However, the potential toxicity of QDs on immune cells and its corresponding immune functions remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the immunotoxicity of CdSe/ZnS QDs using the in vitro in macrophages and lymphocytes and in vivo in BALB/c mice. RESULTS: Our results indicated that macrophages treated with 1.25 or 2.5 nM QDs exhibited decreased cell viability, increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), elevated apoptotic events, altered phagocytic ability, and decreased release of TNF-α and IL-6 by upon subsequent stimulation with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In contrast, lymphocytes exposed to QDs exhibited enhanced cell viability, increased release of TNF-α and IL-6 following exposure with CpG-ODN, and decreased transformation ability treatment in response to LPS. To study the in vivo effects in mice, we showed that QDs injection did not cause significant changes to body weight, hematology, organ histology, and phagocytic function of peritoneal macrophages in QDs-treated mice. In addition, the QDs formulation accumulated in major immune organs for more than 42 days. Lymphocytes from QDs-treated mice showed reduced cell viability, changed subtype proportions, increased TNF-α and IL-6 release, and reduced transformation ability in response to LPS. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results suggested that exposures to CdSe/ZnS QDs could suppress immune-defense against foreign stimuli, which in turn could result in increased susceptibility of hosts to diseases.

Deoxynivalenol induces cell senescence in RAW264.7 macrophages via HIF-1α-mediated activation of the p53/p21 pathway.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a potent mycotoxin, exhibits strong immunotoxicity and poses a significant threat to human and animal health. Cell senescence has been implicated in the immunomodulatory effects of DON; however, the potential of DON to induce cell senescence remains inadequately explored. Emerging evidence suggests that hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) serves as a crucial target of mycotoxins and is closely involved in cell senescence. To investigate this potential, we employed the RAW264.7 macrophage model and treated the cells with varying concentrations of DON (2-8 µM) for 24 h. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 2365 genes were significantly upregulation while 2405 genes were significantly decreased after exposure to DON. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated substantial enrichment in pathways associated with cellular senescence and hypoxia. Remarkably, we observed a rapid and sustained increase in HIF-1α expression following DON treatment. DON induced cell senescence through the activation of the p53/p21WAF1/CIP1 (p21) and p16INK4A (p16) pathways, while also upregulating the expression of nuclear factor-κB, leading to the secretion of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors, including IL-6, IL-8, and CCL2. Crucially, HIF-1α positively regulated the expression of p53, p21, and p16, as well as the secretion of SASP factors. Additionally, DON induced cell cycle arrest at the S phase, enhanced the activity of the senescence biomarker senescence-associated ß-galactosidase, and disrupted cell morphology, characterized by mitochondrial damage. Our study elucidates that DON induces cell senescence in RAW264.7 macrophages by modulating the HIF-1α/p53/p21 pathway. These findings provide valuable insights for the accurate prevention of DON-induced immunotoxicity and associated diseases.

Learning a Contact Potential Field for Modeling the Hand-Object Interaction.

Estimating and synthesizing the hand's manipulation of objects is central to understanding human behaviour. To accurately model the interaction between the hand and object (referred to as the "hand-object"), we must not only focus on the pose of the hand and object, but also consider the contact between them. This contact provides valuable information for generating semantically and physically plausible grasps. In this paper, we propose an explicit contact representation called Contact Potential Field (CPF). In CPF, we model the contact between a pair of hand-object vertices as a spring-mass system. This system encodes the distance of the pair, as well as a likelihood of that contact being stable. Therefore, the system of multiple extended and compressed springs forms an elastic potential field with minimal energy at the optimal grasp position. We apply CPF to two relevant tasks, namely, hand-object pose estimation and grasping pose generation. Extensive experiments on the two challenging tasks and three commonly used datasets have demonstrated that our method can achieve state-of-the-art in several reconstruction metrics, allowing us to produce more physically plausible hand-object poses even when the ground-truth exhibits severe interpenetration or disjointedness.

Observational evidence and mechanisms of aerosol effects on precipitation.

Aerosols greatly influence precipitation characteristics, thereby impacting the regional climate and human life. As an indispensable factor for cloud formation and a critical radiation budget regulator, aerosols can affect precipitation intensity, frequency, geographical distribution, area, and time. However, discrepancies exist among current studies due to aerosol properties, precipitation types, the vertical location of aerosols and meteorological conditions. The development of technology has driven advances in current research, but understanding the aerosol effects on precipitation remain complex and challenging. This paper revolves around the following topics from the two perspectives of Aerosol-Radiation Interaction (ARI) and Aerosol-Cloud Interaction (ACI): (1) the influence of different vertical locations of absorbing/scattering aerosols on the atmospheric thermal structure; (2) the fundamental theories of ARI reducing surface wind speed, redistributing water vapour and energy, and then modulating precipitation intensity; (3) different aerosol types (absorbing versus scattering) and aerosol concentrations causing different precipitation diurnal and weekly variations; (4) microphysical processes (cloud water competition, invigoration effect, and evaporation cooling) and observational evidence of different effects of aerosols on precipitation intensity, including enhancing, inhibiting, and transitional effects from enhancement to suppression; and (5) how meteorology, water vapor and dynamics influencing the effect of ACI and ARI on precipitation. In addition, this review lists the existing issues and future research directions for attaining a more comprehensive understanding of aerosol effects on precipitation. Overall, this review advances our understanding of aerosol effects on precipitation and could guide the improvement of weather and climate models to predict complex aerosol-precipitation interactions more accurately.

Effects of herbal dregs supplementation of Salvia miltiorrhiza and Isatidis Radix residues improved production performance and gut microbiota abundance in late-phase laying hens.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of a mixture of Chinese medicinal residues (CMRs) consisting of Salvia miltiorrhiza residues (SMR) and Isatidis Radix residues (IRR) on productive performance, egg quality, serum lipid and hormone levels, liver and blood antioxidant capacity, oviduct inflammation levels, and gut microbiota in the late-laying stage. A total of 288 fifty-four-week-old BaShang long-tailed hens were divided into four groups. The feed trial period was 8 weeks. The control group was fed the basic diet as a CCMR group, supplemented with 3, 4, and 6% for the experimental groups LCMR, MCMR, and HCMR. The egg production rate of the MCMR group was 8.1% higher than that of the CCMR group (p < 0.05). Serum triglyceride (TG) levels of hens of the CMR-supplemented group were significantly decreased than those of the CCMR group (p < 0.05). The group supplemented with different levels of CMR had significantly higher serum HDL-C levels compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were remarkably increased for the LCMR and MCMR groups and significantly decreased for the HCMR group compared to CCMR (p < 0.05). Serum and liver glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities were significantly increased, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly decreased in the MCMR group compared to the CCMR group (p < 0.05). The expression levels of tubal inflammatory factor markers (IL-4, IL-1ß, TNF-α) in the MCMR and HCMR groups were consistent with the pathological findings of the sections. As for cecal microbiota, supplementation with CMR affected the alpha diversity of the cecum microbiome at the genus level. The Shannon index was significantly higher in the MCMR group than in the CCMR and HCMR groups (p < 0.05). Supplementation with different levels of CMR mainly regulated the ratio of intestinal Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and the abundance of phyla such as Proteobacteria. In addition, CMR supplementation at different levels in the diet enriched lipid-metabolizing bacteria, such as Bacteroides and Ruminococcus_gnavus_group. Furthermore, according to linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis, the MCMR group showed an increase in the number of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria Romboutsia and fiber-degrading specialized bacteria Monoglobus. Therefore, supplementation of appropriate amounts of CMR to the diet of laying hens enhanced reproductive hormone levels, hepatic antioxidant capacity, and lipid metabolism, alleviated the levels of oviductal inflammatory factors, and modulated the abundance structure of bacterial flora to improve the late-laying performance and egg quality. The results of the current study showed that CMR is a beneficial feed supplement for chickens when added in moderation.

Quantitative lipidomics reveals the changes of lipids and antioxidant capacity in egg yolk from laying hens with fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.

In laying hens, fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) is a common metabolic disorder, which can affect egg production and nutritional value. However, the impact of FLHS on the lipid content in egg yolks was not clear. In this study, FLHS model was induced by using high-energy low-protein diet, and the egg quality was evaluated. Egg yolk lipids were quantitatively analyzed by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with multivariate statistical analysis. Gene expressions of the lipoprotein were determined by qRT-PCR and antioxidant capacity of the egg yolk were determined by kits. The elevated blood lipids and extensive lipid droplets observed indicated successful establishment of the FLHS model in laying hens. Measurements of egg quality showed that egg yolk weight was increased in the FLHS group. Lipidomics revealed that 1,401 lipids, comprising 27 lipid subclasses in the egg yolk. According to score plots of principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, different lipid profile was observed between the control and FLHS groups. A total of 97 different lipid species were screen out. Sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolism were identified as key pathways. Free polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) exhibited an increase in the FLHS group (P < 0.05). Notably, the form of PUFAs was changed that the FLHS group showed an increase in triacylglycerol-docosahexenoic acid and triacylglycerol-arachidonic acid in the egg yolk, while triacylglycerol-α-linolenic acid was decreased (P < 0.05). Total superoxide dismutase was decreased in the egg yolks affected by FLHS. Gene expressions of vitellogenin 2 (VTG2), VTG3, very low-density apolipoprotein II and apolipoprotein B were increased in the liver of laying hens with FLHS (P < 0.05). In conclusion, FLHS promoted the lipid transport from the liver to the yolk by upregulating lipoprotein expression, which altered lipid profile, and reduced antioxidant capacity in the yolk. This study provided a foundation for understanding the changes in lipids, lipid transport and lipid antioxidation capacity in egg yolk from laying hens with FLHS.

Mycotoxins have a potential of inducing cell senescence: A new understanding of mycotoxin immunotoxicity.

Mycotoxins result in immune dysfunction and cause immune diseases in animals and humans. However, the mechanisms of immunotoxicity involved in mycotoxins have not been fully explored, and emerging evidence suggests that these toxins may promote their immunotoxicity via cellular senescence. Mycotoxins induce cell senescence after DNA damage, and activate signaling via the NF-κB and JNK pathways to promote the secretion of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) cytokines including IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. DNA damage can also over-activate or cleave poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), increase the expression of cell cycle inhibitory proteins p21, and p53, and induce cell cycle arrest and then senescence. These senescent cells further down-regulate proliferation-related genes and overexpress inflammatory factors resulting in chronic inflammation and eventual immune exhaustion. Here we review the underlying mechanisms by which mycotoxins trigger cell senescence and the potential roles of SASP and PARP in these pathways. This work will help to further understand the mechanisms of immunotoxicity involved in mycotoxins.

AlphaPose: Whole-Body Regional Multi-Person Pose Estimation and Tracking in Real-Time.

Accurate whole-body multi-person pose estimation and tracking is an important yet challenging topic in computer vision. To capture the subtle actions of humans for complex behavior analysis, whole-body pose estimation including the face, body, hand and foot is essential over conventional body-only pose estimation. In this article, we present AlphaPose, a system that can perform accurate whole-body pose estimation and tracking jointly while running in realtime. To this end, we propose several new techniques: Symmetric Integral Keypoint Regression (SIKR) for fast and fine localization, Parametric Pose Non-Maximum-Suppression (P-NMS) for eliminating redundant human detections and Pose Aware Identity Embedding for jointly pose estimation and tracking. During training, we resort to Part-Guided Proposal Generator (PGPG) and multi-domain knowledge distillation to further improve the accuracy. Our method is able to localize whole-body keypoints accurately and tracks humans simultaneously given inaccurate bounding boxes and redundant detections. We show a significant improvement over current state-of-the-art methods in both speed and accuracy on COCO-wholebody, COCO, PoseTrack, and our proposed Halpe-FullBody pose estimation dataset. Our model, source codes and dataset are made publicly available at https://github.com/MVIG-SJTU/AlphaPose.

Efficacy and Safety Analysis of Submucosal Tunnel Endoscopic Resection for Submucosal Masses in Esophageal Muscularis Propria.

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and safety of submucosal tunnel endoscopic resection (STER) for the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria. Method: A total of 272 patients with submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria diagnosed and treated in our hospital from February 2019 to January 2022 were randomly selected for the study and then were randomly divided into the STER group (n = 136) and the endoscopic mucosal dissection (ESD) group (n = 136) according to the random number table method. Patients in the STER and ESD groups were treated with STER and ESD, respectively. The clinical data of patients from the two groups were collected and compared. The clinical effects and the changes of surgery-related indexes of patients after ESD and STER treatment were observed. The safety of ESD and STER was compared. The factors influencing the efficacy of STER treatment for submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria were analyzed. Result: There were significant differences between the STER group and the ESD group in terms of tumor size, lesion level, adhesion and surgical approaches (P < 0.05). The effective rates of ESD treatment and STER treatment were 98.53% and 88.97%, respectively. Meanwhile, the effective rates of STER treatment were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the patients in the STER group had longer operation time, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stay compared with those in the ESD group (P < 0.05). Adverse reactions occurred during ESD treatment and STER treatment included delayed bleeding, adhesion, perforation, and pleural effusion with the total incidence of adverse reactions of 4.41% and 13.97%, respectively. The adverse reactions in STER group were prominently less than these in the ESD group (P < 0.05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that independent risk factors, including tumor size, lesion level, adhesion, and surgical approaches, affected the efficacy of STER in the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria (P < 0.05). Conclusion: STER is an effective method for the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria, which can exhibit a good effect with faster postoperative recovery and higher safety, thereby being worthy of clinical application and promotion. Tumor size, lesion level, adhesion, and surgical approaches are all related factors affecting the effect of STER treatment.

Effective factors of peroral endoscopic myotomy for treatment of achalasia.

Introduction: Achalasia (AC) is an esophageal motility disorder clinically manifested as dysphagia. Aim: To investigate the effective factors of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for AC treatment. Material and methods: A total of 182 AC patients treated between August 2019 and September 2020 were enrolled to receive POEM. They were assigned to an effective group (n = 143) and an ineffective group (n = 39). Their clinical data were recorded. The biochemical indices were determined. Results: Compared with the ineffective group, the Eckardt score and incidence of reflux 1 year after the operation were lower in the effective group, and the effective rate 6 months and 1 year after the operation was higher (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed in drinking history, Eckardt score 1 year after the operation, hemoglobin (Hb), alanine aminotransferease (ALT), white blood cells (WBC), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) between the two groups (p < 0.05). The Eckardt score 1 year after the operation, WBC, IL-6 and hs-CRP were lower, while the levels of Hb and ALT were higher in the effective group than those in the ineffective group. Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that drinking history, Eckardt score at 1 year after the operation, Hb, ALT, WBC, IL-6, and hs-CRP were independent factors affecting the therapeutic effect of POEM on AC. The results were well fitted by evaluation discrimination and calibration of the nomogram model, with good consistency. Conclusions: POEM is safe, feasible and effective for AC treatment, based on factors such as drinking history, Eckardt score 1 year after the operation, Hb, ALT, WBC, IL-6, and hs-CRP.

Toxic mechanisms of the trichothecenes T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol on protein synthesis.

The toxic mechanisms of trichothecenes, including T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol (DON), are closely related with their effects on protein synthesis. Increasing lines of evidence show that T-2 toxin can reduce the levels of tight junction proteins, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) by disrupting cellular barriers and the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-protein kinase A (PKA) and Nrf2/heme oxygenase (HO)-1 pathways. Moreover, it can inhibit aggrecan synthesis, thus causing Kashin-Beck disease. Regarding type B trichothecene, DON inhibits activation marker and ß-catenin synthesis by acting on immune cells and the wingless/integrated (Wnt) pathway; it also inhibits cell proliferation and immune surveillance. In addition, DON has been shown to destroy tight junctions, glucose transport, and tumor endothelial marker 8, thus disturbing intestinal function and changing cell migration. This review summarizes the inhibitory effects of the trichothecenes T-2 toxin and DON on different protein synthesis, while discussing their underlying mechanisms. Focus is given to the effects of these toxins on tight junctions, aggrecan, activation markers, and hormones including testosterone under the influence of steroidogenic enzymes. This review can extend the current understanding of the effects of trichothecenes on protein synthesis and help to further understand their toxic mechanisms.

Accumulation capability for cesium differs among bacterial species: A comprehensive study using bacteria isolated from freshwater and coastal sediment.

The fate and behavior of radioactive cesium (Cs) in the water environment are of great concern. The involvement of bacteria regarding their accumulation capability for this element is the most fundamental factor that needs to be clarified even for exploring the interactions between many environmental factors that involve together in governing the transport and distribution of Cs. As the first systematical study that aimed to evaluate the accumulation capability of environmental bacteria for Cs, bacteria in the sediment of a freshwater reservoir and coastal water environment were isolated and multiplied for contact experiment with Cs under different temperature conditions (5, 25, and 35 °C). The accumulation concentration of Cs in bacteria from freshwater sediment varied in 3.95 × 10-6 to 5.68 × 10-4ng-Cs/cell, and that from coastal sediment in 1.52 × 10-6 to 7.41 × 10-4ng-Cs/cell, indicating obvious differences among bacterial species. Bacteria of coastal sediment possessed higher accumulation capability for Cs than bacteria from freshwater sediment, and temperature dependency was confirmed for bacteria from coastal sediment. The findings of this study have great reference value for better understanding and controlling the fate and behavior of radioactive Cs associated with bacteria in the water environment.

Integrating miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in response to heat stress-induced injury in rat small intestine.

The molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of heat stress in the small intestine remain undefined. Furthermore, little information is available concerning changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression following heat stress. The present study sought to evaluate miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the rat small intestine in response to heat stress. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 h of heat stress daily for ten consecutive days. Rats were sacrificed at specific time points immediately following heat treatment, and morphological changes in the small intestine were determined. The miRNA and mRNA expression profiles from sample of small intestine were evaluated by microarray analysis. Heat stress caused pronounced morphological damage in the rat small intestine, most severe within the jejunum after 3 days of heat treatment. A mRNA microarray analysis found 270 genes to be up-regulated and 122 genes down-regulated (P ≤ 0.01, ≥2.0-fold change) in the jejunum after heat treatment. A miRNA microarray analysis found 18 miRNAs to be up-regulated and 11 down-regulated in the jejunum after heat treatment (P ≤ 0.05). Subsequent bioinformatic analyses of the differentially expressed mRNAs and miRNAs were carried out to integrate miRNA and mRNA expression and revealed that alterations in mRNA following heat stress were negatively correlated with miRNA expression. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of heat stress-induced injury in the small intestine, specifically with regard to miRNAs.

Elimination of antibiotic resistance genes from excess activated sludge added for effective treatment of fruit and vegetable waste in a novel vermireactor.

Elimination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from excess activated sludge (EAS) mixed for effective treatment of different fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) by using a novel vermireactor consisted of substrate and bed compartments was investigated. ARGs (tet G, tet M and sul 1) and mobile genetic element gene (intl 1) were targeted and, through quantitative analysis of their abundances in both the compartments and the fresh cast of earthworms, significant reductions in substrate compartments were confirmed for the treatments for FVW added with EAS and EAS alone even if the reduction extents differed among the types of FVW. Apparent reductions were not found in the bed compartment where the final products accumulated. For the fresh cast, the relative abundances of ARGs and intl 1 against to the total bacterial 16S rDNA decreased markedly. The present study provided an insight for proper controlling of ARGs during vermicomposting of FVW and EAS.

Distribution of extracellular and intracellular antibiotic resistance genes in sludge fractionated in terms of settleability.

The widespread proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a serious environmental and human health issue. Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) are potential sources to spread ARGs to natural environment, for which, the presence state of ARGs in the sludge, as extracellular ones (eARGs) or intracellular ones (iARGs), along with the sludge settleability, are very important factors. The sludge settleability is closely associated with its floc size and density, bacterial activity, and the proportion of intact/damaged bacterial cells that aggregate together to form flocs for separation in the sedimentation process. It is reasonable to hypothesize that the distribution of eARGs and iARGs may differ with the sludge fractions of different settleability, a topic of great academic and practical significance requiring clarification. In this study, sludge samples from the aerobic contact tank of six household WWTFs were fractionated into fractions with different settling velocities: sludge of low settleability (LS), medium settleability (MS) and high settleability (HS); and the distribution of eARGs and iARGs in the obtained fractions for the widely detected tet G, tet M and sul 1 in water environment was evaluated based on the PMA-qPCR method, together with the evaluation for the well reported mobile genomic element intl 1 and total bacterial 16S rDNA. For the LS fractions, which contained more damaged bacterial cells, the distribution percentages of eARGs were generally higher than those of iARGs. For the HS fractions, which contained flocs with larger sizes formed by both intact and damaged bacterial cells, the relative abundances of ARGs and intl 1 were found apparently lower even if the presence percentages of eARGs were comparatively higher. It is thus inferable that sludge fractions of LS may possess higher transfer potential for ARGs and enhancing their settleability through optimization of the operation conditions is important for mitigating the proliferation of ARGs.

Fine particles from village air in northern China in winter: Large contribution of primary organic aerosols from residential solid fuel burning.

Rural residential emissions contribute significantly to regional air pollution in China, but our understanding on how residential solid fuel burning influences the village outdoor air quality is limited. In this study, we compared the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) composition and individual particle characteristics from 11 to 18 January 2017 at a village and an urban site in northern China. At the village site, each day was divided into four periods: cooking (07:30-10:00; 16:00-17:00), daytime (10:00-16:00), heating (17:00-24:00), and midnight (00:00-07:30) periods. The highest PM2.5 concentration occurred during the cooking period (236 ± 88 µg m-3), which was characterized by high concentrations of K+ and abundant primary OM-K particles (i.e., organic matter mixed with K-salts) emitted from residential biomass burning. The second highest PM2.5 concentration was found during the heating period (161 ± 97 µg m-3), and the PM2.5 contained abundant spherical primary OM particles (i.e., tarballs) emitted from residential coal burning. The primary emissions from residential solid fuel burning resulted in 75% of the village OM by mass consisting of primary OM and 67% of the village aerosol particles by number internally mixing with primary OM particles. The village PM2.5 composition was different from that of the urban PM2.5, with the former containing more OM (47% vs 32%) and less secondary inorganic ions (30% vs 46%). Individual primary OM-K and tarballs were abundant in the village air. These results suggest a large contribution of village residential emissions in the winter to village air pollution. Our study highlights that the residential health in villages of northern China should be paid more attention because of high PM2.5 concentrations and abundant toxic particles during the cooking and heating periods per day in winter.

Eucommia ulmoides Flavones as Potential Alternatives to Antibiotic Growth Promoters in a Low-Protein Diet Improve Growth Performance and Intestinal Health in Weaning Piglets.

Eucommia ulmoides flavones (EUF) have been demonstrated to attenuate the inflammation and oxidative stress of piglets. This study aimed to test whether EUF could be used as an alternative antibiotic growth promoter to support growth performance and maintain intestinal health in weanling piglets. Weaned piglets (n = 480) were assigned into three groups and fed with a low-protein basal diet (NC), or supplementation with antibiotics (PC) or 0.01% EUF (EUF). Blood, intestinal contents, and intestine were collected on days 15 and 35 after weaning. The results showed the PC and EUF supplementations increased (p < 0.05) body weight on day 35, average daily gain and gain: feed ratio from day 15 to day 35 and day 0 to day 35, whereas decreased (p < 0.05) the diarrhea index of weanling piglets. EUF treatment increased (p < 0.05) jejunal villus height: crypt depth ratio, jejunal and ileal villus height, and population of ileal lactic acid bacteria on day 15 but decreased (p < 0.05) the population of ileal coliform bacteria on day 15 and day 35. These findings indicated the EUF, as the potential alternative to in-feed antibiotic growth promoter, could improve growth performance and intestinal morphology, and decrease colonization of coliform bacteria and diarrhea index in weanling piglets.

Effect of excess activated sludge on vermicomposting of fruit and vegetable waste by using novel vermireactor.

This study aimed to clarify the effect of excess activated sludge (EAS) on vermicomposting of fruit and vegetable wastes (FVW). For this, a novel vermireactor consists of substrate and bed compartments was used for treating five types of FVW (banana peels, cabbage, lettuce, carrot, and potato) with and without the addition of EAS by earthworms. The EAS promoted the growth and cocoon production of earthworms, and the decomposition efficiency of FVW. The changes of dehydrogenase activity revealed that the EAS enhanced the microbial activity in all treatments except for the carrot. The organic matter content, total carbon and the C/N ratio showed a significant decrease after addition of EAS into FVW. The content of nitrogen and phosphorus was also improved in the final products after vermicomposting. This study suggested that the addition of EAS could be a feasible option to enhance the vermicomposting of FVW.

Quantum Dots-siRNA Nanoplexes for Gene Silencing in Central Nervous System Tumor Cells.

RNA interfering (RNAi) using short interfering RNA (siRNA) is becoming a promising approach for cancer gene therapy. However, owing to the lack of safe and efficient carriers, the application of RNAi for clinical use is still very limited. In this study, we have developed cadmium sulphoselenide/Zinc sulfide quantum dots (CdSSe/ZnS QDs)-based nanocarriers for in vitro gene delivery. These CdSSe/ZnS QDs are functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI) to form stable nanoplex (QD-PEI) and subsequently they are used for siRNA loading which specially targets human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). High gene transfection efficiency (>80%) was achieved on two glioblastoma cell lines, U87 and U251. The gene expression level (49.99 ± 10.23% for U87, 43.28 ± 9.66% for U251) and protein expression level (51.58 ± 7.88% for U87, 50.69 ± 7.59% for U251) of TERT is observed to decrease substantially after transfecting the tumor cells for 48 h. More importantly, the silencing of TERT gene expression significantly suppressed the proliferation of glioblastoma cells. No obvious cytotoxicity from these QD-PEI nanoplexes were observed over at 10 times of the transfected doses. Based on these results, we envision that QDs engineered here can be used as a safe and efficient gene nanocarrier for siRNA delivery and a promising tool for future cancer gene therapy applications.