Mathematical modeling of multi-component aerosol droplet evaporation and growth in indoor environments.

Multi-component droplets from daily activities and production processes severely degrade indoor air quality. Their health hazards and removal efficiency depend on size and composition, significantly affected by evaporation and growth. The phase transition process is complex, involving a broad spectrum of droplet sizes with diverse heat and mass transfer characteristics. Components within the droplets experience simultaneous phase transitions at differing rates and mass transfer directions. This study aims to refine the existing evaporation model of single-component droplets in continuous flows by theoretically integrating the effects of varying droplet sizes and multiple components. A multi-component droplet evaporation/growth model that spans the entire range of droplet sizes has been developed, and predictions have been made based on this model. Utilizing MATLAB, this model accurately predicts the indoor dynamics of multi-component droplets, with deviations under 16 % from experiments. It improves accuracy by over 25 % across droplet sizes via dimensionless transfer coefficients and boosts precision by over 24 % for multi-component droplets with zero-diffusion transport. The radius of the droplet after phase change can reach 8.42 × 10-6 m and remains suspended in the air for an extended period. This study establishes a solid theoretical foundation for accurately predicting the indoor distribution of multi-component droplets.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress response modulator OsbZIP39 regulates cadmium accumulation via activating the expression of defensin-like gene OsCAL2 in rice.

Accumulation of cadmium (Cd) in rice is not only harmful to the growth of plants but also poses a threat to human health. Exposure to Cd triggers unfolded protein response (UPR) within cells, a process that is still not completely understood. The study demonstrated that the lack of OsbZIP39, an essential endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident regulator of the UPR, resulted in decreased Cd intake and reduced Cd levels in the roots, stems, and grains of rice. Upon exposure to Cd stress, GFP-OsbZIP39 translocated from ER to nucleus, initiating UPR. Further investigation revealed that Cd treatment caused changes in sphingolipid levels in the membrane, influencing the localization and activation of OsbZIP39. Yeast one-hybrid and dual-LUC assays were conducted to validate the interaction between activated OsbZIP39 and the promoter of the defensin-like gene OsCAL2, resulting in an increase in its expression. Different variations were identified in the coding region of OsbZIP39, which may explain the varying levels of Cd accumulation observed in the indica and japonica subspecies. Under Cd treatment, OsbZIP39ind exhibited a more significant enhancement in the transcription of OsCAL2 compared to OsbZIP39jap. Our data suggest that OsbZIP39 positively regulates Cd uptake in rice, offering an encouraging objective for the cultivation of low-Cd rice.

PatWRKY71 transcription factor regulates patchoulol biosynthesis and plant defense response.

Patchoulol, a valuable compound belonging to the sesquiterpenoid family, is the primary component of patchouli oil produced by Pogostemon cablin (P. cablin). It has a variety of pharmacological and biological activities and is widely used in the medical and cosmetic industries. However, despite its significance, there is a lack of research on the transcriptional modulation of patchoulol biosynthesis.Salicylic acid (SA), is a vital plant hormone that serves as a critical signal molecule and plays an essential role in plant growth and defense. However, to date, no studies have explored the modulation of patchoulol biosynthesis by SA. In our study, we discovered that the application of SA can enhance the production of patchoulol. Utilizing transcriptome analysis of SA-treated P. cablin, we identified a crucial downstream transcription factor, PatWRKY71. The transcription level of PatWRKY71 was significantly increased with the use of SA. Furthermore, our research has revealed that PatWRKY71 was capable of binding to the promoter of PatPTS, ultimately leading to an increase in its expression. When PatWRKY71 was silenced by a virus, the expression of both PatWRKY71 and PatPTS was reduced, resulting in the down-regulation of patchoulol production. Through our studies, we discovered that heterologous expression of PatWRKY71 leads to an increase in the sensitivity of Arabidopsis to salt and Cd, as well as an outbreak of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, we uncovered the regulatory role of PatWRKY71 in both patchoulol biosynthesis and plant defense response. This discovery provided a theoretical basis for the improvement of the content of patchoulol and the resistance of P. cablin through genetic engineering.

Effects of biochar application on nitrogen transformation and N2O emission in a coastal saline-alkali soil.

The application of biochar can improve soil fertility and benefit sustainable agricultural development and carbon neutrality simultaneously. To better understand the effects of biochar addition on nitrogen transformation and N2O emission in a coastal saline-alkali soil and its potential mechanisms, we conducted a 60-day laboratory incubation experiment with six treatments, i.e., ammonium sulfate (N 150 mg·kg-1), ammonium sulfate + 0.4% (weight/weight) biochar, ammonium sulfate + 0.6% biochar, ammonium sulfate + 0.8% biochar, ammonium sulfate + 1.6% biochar, and ammonium sulfate + 0.2% biochar and 0.2% organic fertilizer (based on equivalent N basis). The results showed that soil nitrogen transformation was mainly affected by biochar addition at the early stage of incubation. Biochar addition significantly increased the contents of nitrate and ammonium. Biochar addition significantly increased soil net nitrification rate, but the magnitude of such increases decreased with increasing biochar addition level. Similar temporal change patterns of N2O emissions were observed in all treatments, and the N2O emissions mainly occurred in the first 30 days of incubation. Compared with the CK, biochar addition significantly reduced the cumulative N2O emission, and the decrement increased with increasing biochar addition levels. In conclusion, the effects of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer addition on soil nitrogen transformation and N2O emission varied with the application rate. Biochar addition with a rate of 0.8% (W/W) increased soil inorganic nitrogen content and decreased soil N2O emission. It could provide theoretical basis and reference for the formulation of reasonable plans for the improvement and utilization of biochar in coastal saline-alkali soil.

[Spatial Distribution of Aerobic Bacteria, Sources and Risks of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Taihu Lake Sediments].

The release of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediments into lake water will exacerbate the eutrophication of lakes and endanger ecological safety and human health. Microorganisms are indispensable in nitrogen and phosphorus conversion, and accurate analysis of the distribution characteristics and sources of nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments as well as their relationship with microorganisms is an important prerequisite for lake eutrophication control. Taking Taihu Lake as the study area, 30 surface sediment samples were collected, and the grain size, pH, organic matter (OM), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N), and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) along with some other index contents were measured and analyzed; accordingly, spatial distribution characteristics were analyzed. While using nutrient agar (NA), the number of aerobic bacteria (AB) was determined by plate counting in the medium. Combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson correlation analysis, the spatial distribution characteristics and sources of sediments and AB in Taihu Lake were explored. The characteristics of sediment pollution in Taihu Lake were studied using the comprehensive pollution index and the organic pollution index methods. The results revealed that the average sediment indicators of the surface layer of Taihu Lake were as follows:AB was 9.25×104 CFU·g-1, average particle size (MZ) was 17.59 µm, pH was 7.62, ω(OM) was 15.05 g·kg-1, ω(DOC) was 71.60 mg·kg-1, ω(TP) was 598.13 mg·kg-1, ω(TN) was 1113.92 mg·kg-1, ω(NO3--N) was 3.22 mg·kg-1, and ω(DON) was 22.60 mg·kg-1. The comprehensive pollution index (FF) showed that 13% of the Taihu Lake was moderately polluted, while 87% was heavily polluted. Excluding the area in the center of the lake, the southern lake area, and some lakes in the western part of the East Taihu Lake, TN in the rest of the area was moderately and severely polluted. In addition to the heavy pollution of Zhushan Bay, the TP in Taihu Lake was generally at light and moderate pollution. The organic pollution index (OI) showed that the organic pollution of the sediments of Taihu Lake was relatively light, majorly caused by organic nitrogen (ON) pollution. DOC, DON, TN, and OM in Taihu Lake were primarily derived from the influence of aquatic plants, and TP And AB were primarily derived from the influence of the external input of rivers. This research will provide theoretical support for lake eutrophication treatment and also provide new ideas for further analysis of AB to remove nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from sediments.

Micro/nano-plastics cause neurobehavioral toxicity in discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus): Insight from brain-gut-microbiota axis.

Numerous studies have investigated neurobehavioral toxicity of microplastics, but no studies have illustrated mechanism via brain-gut axis. Here, juvenile discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) were exposed for 96 h to microfibers (900 µm, fiber, MFs) or nanoplastics (~88 nm, bead, NPs) with three concentrations (0, 20 and 200 µg/L). Accumulation in fish gut was independent of plastics type and concentration. MFs reduced growth performance while NPs weakened swimming and predatory performance of post-exposed discus. For brain cholinesterase activity, acetylcholinesterase was activated by NPs while NPs/MFs exposure inhibited butyrylcholinesterase. Concentrations of neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, dopamine and γ-aminobutyric acid) increased in brain but decreased in gut after NPs or MFs exposure. For gut microbiota, increased richness under MFs exposure was observed. At phylum level, Proteobacteria proportion was lower in NPs but higher in MFs. Abundance of Clostridia and Fusobacteriia (Bacillus), potentially secreting neurotransmitters, increased in NPs but decreased in MFs. Brain transcriptomics revealed seven upregulated and four downregulated genes concerning neural-activities. Pathways of neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and serotonergic synapse were enriched in both MFs and NPs, but dopaminergic synapse pathway was enriched only in MFs. These results established a novel mechanism by which microplastics might cause behavioral toxicities via brain-gut-microbiota axis.

Microplastics: A tissue-specific threat to microbial community and biomarkers of discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus).

As detriments in aquatic environments, microplastics (MPs) have been commonly studied on organisms, but tissue-scale effects of MPs were poorly understood. Discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus), herewith, were exposed to polystyrene MPs (0/20/200 µg/L) for 28 d. We found that MPs significantly inhibited growth performance. MPs were observed in skin, gill and intestine after 14/28-d exposure. MPs bioaccumulation was independent of exposure time, but increased with MPs concentrations. Microbial community diversity of fish gill, but not skin and intestine, in MPs treatments was significantly increased. Bacterial community of MP-treated skin and gill were obviously separated from control. Skin dominant phyla changed from Actinobacteriota to Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Proteobacteria gradually occupied dominance in gill after exposure. Furthermore, MPs-induced skin oxidative stress was demonstrated by the activation of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Skin malondialdehyde also increased and showed significant correlations with four bacterial phyla, e.g., Proteobacteria. Gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity decreased, strongly correlating to microbial community changes caused by MPs. Intestinal digestive enzymes activity (pepsin, lipase and α-amylase) reduced, revealing correlation with bacterial community especially Fibrobacterota. These results suggest a tissue-specific effect of MPs to microbial community and biomarkers in aquatic organism.

Towards a Clustering Guided Hierarchical Framework for Sensor-Based Activity Recognition.

Human activity recognition plays a prominent role in numerous applications like smart homes, elderly healthcare and ambient intelligence. The complexity of human behavior leads to the difficulty of developing an accurate activity recognizer, especially in situations where different activities have similar sensor readings. Accordingly, how to measure the relationships among activities and construct an activity recognizer for better distinguishing the confusing activities remains critical. To this end, we in this study propose a clustering guided hierarchical framework to discriminate on-going human activities. Specifically, we first introduce a clustering-based activity confusion index and exploit it to automatically and quantitatively measure the confusion between activities in a data-driven way instead of relying on the prior domain knowledge. Afterwards, we design a hierarchical activity recognition framework under the guidance of the confusion relationships to reduce the recognition errors between similar activities. Finally, the simulations on the benchmark datasets are evaluated and results show the superiority of the proposed model over its competitors. In addition, we experimentally evaluate the key components of the framework comprehensively, which indicates its flexibility and stability.

[Research progress of continuous manufacturing and process knowledge system of traditional Chinese medicine].

In the past few years, continuous manufacturing(CM) has been put forward by the FDA. Pharmaceutical enterprises are encouraged to promote the implementation of CM, which has become a hot research direction of pharmaceutical technology. In February 2019, the FDA issued a draft guideline for the implementation of CM, which greatly promoted the development of CM and provided reference for continuous manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). The production process of TCM is a complex system. With the innovation of production equipment and the promotion of automation and informatization of TCM production, the exis-ting policies, regulations and traditional production control capacity are difficult to meet the market demand for high-quality TCM pro-ducts. In this paper, we reviewed the new technologies and methods of quality control in accordance with the characteristics of TCM production by referring to modern manufacturing technology, information technology and quality control technology. Based on the "QbD" theory and "PAT" technology, process knowledge system(PKS), an advanced control strategy, was proposed to provide a reference for the implementation of CM in TCM production.

Research progress of continuous manufacturing and process knowledge system of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

In the past few years, continuous manufacturing(CM) has been put forward by the FDA. Pharmaceutical enterprises are encouraged to promote the implementation of CM, which has become a hot research direction of pharmaceutical technology. In February 2019, the FDA issued a draft guideline for the implementation of CM, which greatly promoted the development of CM and provided reference for continuous manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). The production process of TCM is a complex system. With the innovation of production equipment and the promotion of automation and informatization of TCM production, the exis-ting policies, regulations and traditional production control capacity are difficult to meet the market demand for high-quality TCM pro-ducts. In this paper, we reviewed the new technologies and methods of quality control in accordance with the characteristics of TCM production by referring to modern manufacturing technology, information technology and quality control technology. Based on the "QbD" theory and "PAT" technology, process knowledge system(PKS), an advanced control strategy, was proposed to provide a reference for the implementation of CM in TCM production.

[Elevational Distribution Characteristics of Soil Bacterial Community and Enzyme Activities in Mount Huangshan].

Mount Huangshan has a well-preserved ecosystem and obvious differences in vertical geography, which provide a natural laboratory for studying the altitudinal distribution patterns of soil microbial communities in a mid-subtropical forest ecosystem. The soil bacterial community structure and diversity of the samples collected every 100 m from 670 to 1870 m on the south slope of Mount Huangshan were examined using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology. The soil physicochemical properties and soil enzyme activities of the samples were also measured to explore the relationship between bacterial communities and soil properties as well as enzyme activities. The results showed that ① The contents of soil total nitrogen, available nitrogen, total potassium, and total organic carbon were significantly different across the altitudes (P<0.01) and generally increased as altitude increased. The soil sucrase activities across altitudes were significantly different (P<0.01), and generally increased as altitude increased. However, there was no significant difference in acid phosphatase and urease activities between different altitudes (P>0.05). ② The 12 elevational gradients were divided into three groups:low altitude (670-875 m), medium altitude (1080-1370 m), and high altitude (1460-1780 m). The OTUs in low altitude sites were greater than in high altitude sites but lower compared to medium altitude sites. However, the differences in OTUs across altitude sites were not significant. ③ The soil bacterial community diversity showed a unimodal pattern in a small range of altitudes from 875-1370 m, although no apparent trend was observed at the altitudes from 670-1780 m. ④ There were 7 dominant phyla and 15 dominant orders with a relative abundance of more than 3% in all soil samples. ⑤ Correlation heat map analysis between the top 15 bacterial phyla and soil physicochemical properties as well as enzyme activities showed that soil pH had the greatest effect on the differences in soil bacterial community structure across the different altitudes. Pearson correlation analysis and Partial Mantel test also showed that bacterial community α-diversity (P<0.01) and ß-diversity (Partial Mantel r=0.560, P=0.001) were mainly affected by soil pH. Consequently, soil pH was the key environmental factor determining the soil bacterial community structure and diversity across the different altitudes on Mount Huangshan.

Effects of long-term fertilization on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community in lime concretion black soil.

In agroecosystem, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have mutually beneficial symbiosis with roots of many crops. Meanwhile, this special fungal community is also affected by agricultural mana-gements such as fertilization. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term fertilization managements (no fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer combined with straw, chemical fertilizer combined with manure) on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community (AM fungal community) in lime concretion black soil, and to identify the indicator species in each fertilization regime. The most dominant arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal phyla in lime concretion black soil were Archaeosporaceae, Diversisporaceae, Gigasporaceae, Claroideoglomeraceae, Glomeraceae and Paraglomeraceae. The genus Paraglomus was strongly and significantly associated with the application of chemical fertilizer and organic fertilizer. Compared with the control, long-term application of chemical fertilizer greatly changed AM fungal community structure and resulted in the decrease of AM fungal diversity, and the addition of wheat straw further decreased the diversity, while the addition of manure could alleviate diversity loss resulted from chemical fertilization. Soil pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were the main factors affecting the changes of AM fungal community. In summary, long-term application of chemical fertilizer combined with different organic materials had different impacts on soil AM fungal community structure and diversity. The combination of chemical fertilizer and manure would be more conducive to the maintenance of AM fungal diversity.

[RITA combined with temozolomide inhibits the proliferation of human glioblastoma U87 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of RITA, a small molecule that targets p53, combined with temozolomide (TMZ) on proliferation, colony formation and apoptosis of human glioblastoma U87 cells and explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Cultured U87 cells were treated with RITA (1, 5, 10, 20 µmol/L), TMZ, or RITA+TMZ (half dose) for 24, 48 or 72 h. MTS assay were used to detect the cell proliferation, and the cell proliferation rate and inhibitory rate were calculated. The effect of combined treatments was evaluated by the q value. The expressions of p53, p21 and other apoptosis-associated genes were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting; cell apoptosis was assayed using flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI double staining; colony formation of the cells was detected with crystal violet staining. RESULTS: MTS assay showed that RITA at the 4 doses more potently inhibited U87 cell viability than TMZ at 72 h (P=0.000) with inhibitory rates of 25.94%-41.38% and 3.84%-8.20%, respectively. RITA combined with TMZ caused a more significant inhibition of U87 cells (29.21%-52.11%) than RITA (P<0.01) and TMZ (P=0.000) alone. At the doses above 5 µmol/L, the combined treatments with RITA+TMZ for 48 h resulted in q values exceeding 1.2 and showed an obvious synergistic effect of the drugs. Both RITA and TMZ, especially the latter, significantly increased the expressions of p53, p21, puma, and other apoptosis-associated genes to accelerate apoptosis and inhibit the growth and colony formation of U87 cells, and the effect was more obvious with a combined treatment. CONCLUSION: RITA inhibits the growth of human glioblastoma cells and enhance their sensitivity to TMZ by up-regulating p53 expression, and when combined, RITA and TMZ show a synergistic effect to cause a stronger cell inhibition.

RITA combined with temozolomide inhibits the proliferation of human glioblastoma U87 cells / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of RITA, a small molecule that targets p53, combined with temozolomide (TMZ) on proliferation, colony formation and apoptosis of human glioblastoma U87 cells and explore the underlying mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cultured U87 cells were treated with RITA (1, 5, 10, 20 µmol/L), TMZ, or RITA+TMZ (half dose) for 24, 48 or 72 h. MTS assay were used to detect the cell proliferation, and the cell proliferation rate and inhibitory rate were calculated. The effect of combined treatments was evaluated by the q value. The expressions of p53, p21 and other apoptosis-associated genes were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting; cell apoptosis was assayed using flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI double staining; colony formation of the cells was detected with crystal violet staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MTS assay showed that RITA at the 4 doses more potently inhibited U87 cell viability than TMZ at 72 h (P=0.000) with inhibitory rates of 25.94%-41.38% and 3.84%-8.20%, respectively. RITA combined with TMZ caused a more significant inhibition of U87 cells (29.21%-52.11%) than RITA (P<0.01) and TMZ (P=0.000) alone. At the doses above 5 µmol/L, the combined treatments with RITA+TMZ for 48 h resulted in q values exceeding 1.2 and showed an obvious synergistic effect of the drugs. Both RITA and TMZ, especially the latter, significantly increased the expressions of p53, p21, puma, and other apoptosis-associated genes to accelerate apoptosis and inhibit the growth and colony formation of U87 cells, and the effect was more obvious with a combined treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>RITA inhibits the growth of human glioblastoma cells and enhance their sensitivity to TMZ by up-regulating p53 expression, and when combined, RITA and TMZ show a synergistic effect to cause a stronger cell inhibition.</p>

Bose glass and Mott glass of quasiparticles in a doped quantum magnet.

The low-temperature states of bosonic fluids exhibit fundamental quantum effects at the macroscopic scale: the best-known examples are Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity, which have been tested experimentally in a variety of different systems. When bosons interact, disorder can destroy condensation, leading to a 'Bose glass'. This phase has been very elusive in experiments owing to the absence of any broken symmetry and to the simultaneous absence of a finite energy gap in the spectrum. Here we report the observation of a Bose glass of field-induced magnetic quasiparticles in a doped quantum magnet (bromine-doped dichloro-tetrakis-thiourea-nickel, DTN). The physics of DTN in a magnetic field is equivalent to that of a lattice gas of bosons in the grand canonical ensemble; bromine doping introduces disorder into the hopping and interaction strength of the bosons, leading to their localization into a Bose glass down to zero field, where it becomes an incompressible Mott glass. The transition from the Bose glass (corresponding to a gapless spin liquid) to the Bose-Einstein condensate (corresponding to a magnetically ordered phase) is marked by a universal exponent that governs the scaling of the critical temperature with the applied field, in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. Our study represents a quantitative experimental account of the universal features of disordered bosons in the grand canonical ensemble.

Association between green tea and colorectal cancer risk: a meta-analysis of 13 case-control studies.

OBJECTIVE: Experimental studies have suggested green tea to be a chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer, and many studies have examined possible associations. However, the conclusions were inconsistent or even contradictory, so we performed a meta-analysis based on published case-control studies to explore if green tea is indeed a protective factor. METHODS: PubMed was searched up to May 10th, 2012 for relevant studies, and references of included studies were manually searched. Finally 13 eligible studies, involving 12,636 cases and 38,419 controls were identified. After data extraction, a meta-analysis was performed using CMA v2 software. RESULTS: The results indicated there may be a weak but not statistically significant reduced risk of colorectal cancer with high dose of green tea intake (OR=0.95, 95% CI:0.81-1.11, p=0.490.69-0.98). This protective effect was also found in all subgroups, except in American and European populations. Sensitivity analysis indicated the result to be robust. Publication bias was not detected by either funnel plot or Egger tests. CONCLUSION: The results of this meta-analysis indicate a weak lower tendency for colorectal cancer development with green tea consumption, but available epidemiologic data are insufficient to conclude that green tea may protect against colorectal cancer in humans.

Intelligent postoperative morbidity prediction of heart disease using artificial intelligence techniques.

Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is an advanced minimally invasive surgical technology that is helpful for reducing patients' recovery time, postoperative morbidity and mortality. This study proposes an ensemble model to predict postoperative morbidity after EVAR. The ensemble model was developed using a training set of consecutive patients who underwent EVAR between 2000 and 2009. All data required for prediction modeling, including patient demographics, preoperative, co-morbidities, and complication as outcome variables, was collected prospectively and entered into a clinical database. A discretization approach was used to categorize numerical values into informative feature space. Then, the Bayesian network (BN), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM) were adopted as base models, and stacking combined multiple models. The research outcomes consisted of an ensemble model to predict postoperative morbidity after EVAR, the occurrence of postoperative complications prospectively recorded, and the causal effect knowledge by BNs with Markov blanket concept.

Development of a high-throughput suspension microarray technology for detection of three kinds of veterinary drug residues: chloramphenicol, clenbuterol and 17-beta-estradiol / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a novel suspension microarray technology for the detection of three kinds of veterinary drug residues: chloramphenicol, clenbuterol and 17-beta-estradiol (CAP, CL and E2).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The three conjugates that veterinary drug coupled with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were synthesized and identified by ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry and mass spectrum. The veterinary drug conjugates were immobilized on the polystyrene fluorescent microspheres/beads. There were competitive reactions between the veterinary drugs in the aqueous phase and that on the beads for combination with their specific biotinylated monoclonal antibodies. The optimum amount of the veterinary drug conjugates and the antibodies were optimized and selected. The detective standard curves were plotted. The specificity and the unknown samples were also determined by grouping according to different concentrations of the interferes and the samples. Meantime, the different microstructures of the surfaces of the beads were also observed by scanning electron microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Couplings were completed between small molecular veterinary drugs and BSA. The amounts of the three conjugates and the antibodies were optimized. The detective standard curves of the suspension array and their corresponding coefficients of determination (R2) were good (R2 > 0.99). The detection ranges of the three veterinary drugs were (40.00 - 6.25) x 10(5) ng/L, (50.00-7.81) x 10(5) ng/L and 1.00 x 10(3) - 7.29 x 10(5) ng/L respectively. Simultaneously, the specific detection of the suspension microarray was excellent and did not indicate significant cross-reactions. Errors between the found and the real are in the range of 8.09% - 17.03%. It can be considered that the relative standard deviations were relatively small. Successful couplings were also directly confirmed by the observation for microstructures of the surfaces of the beads by scanning of electron microscope and laid good foundation for the following responses.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The high-throughput suspension microarray should provide a novel method for multi-analysis of the veterinary drugs and have a wide applicative prospects with simple operation, sensitive, rapid and low cost.</p>

[Diversity of soil fauna in corn fields in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China under effects of conservation tillage].

An investigation was made on the abundance and diversity of soil fauna in the corn fields under conventional and conservation tillage in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China. The abundance and diversity of soil fauna were higher at corn maturing (September) than at its jointing stage (July), and higher at jointing stage under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage. Soil fauna mainly distributed in surface soil layer (0-10 cm), but still had a larger number in 10-20 cm layer under conservation tillage. The individuals of acari, diptera, diplura, and microdrile oligochaetes, especially those of acari, were higher under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage. At maturing stage, an obvious effect of straw-returning under conservation tillage was observed, i. e., the more the straw returned, the higher the abundance of soil fauna, among which, the individuals of collembola, acari, coleopteran, and psocoptera, especially those of collembolan, increased significantly. The abundance of collembola at both jointing and maturing stages was significantly positively correlated with the quantity of straw returned, suggesting that collembola played an important role in straw decomposition and nutrient cycling.

Oxidative damage to lung tissue and peripheral blood in endotracheal PM2.5-treated rats / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the oxidative damage to lung tissue and peripherial blood in PM2.5-treated rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>PM2.5 samples were collected using an auto-sampling instrument in summer and winter. Treated samples were endotracheally instilled into rats. Activity of reduced glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) were used as oxidative damage biomarkers of lung tissue and peripheral blood detected with the biochemical method. DNA migration length (microm) and rate of tail were used as DNA damage biomarkers of lung tissue and peripheral blood detected with the biochemical method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The activity of GSH-Px and the concentration of MDA in lung tissue significantly decreased after exposure to PM2.5 for 7-14 days. In peripheral blood, the concentration of MDA decreased, but the activity of GSH-Px increased 7 and 14 days after experiments. The two indicators had a dose-effect relation and similar changing tendency in lung tissue and peripheral blood. The DNA migration length (microm) and rate of tail in lung tissue and peripheral blood significantly increased 7 and 14 days after exposure to PM2.5. The two indicators had a dose-effect relation and similar changing tendency in lung tissue and peripheral blood.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PM2.5 has a definite oxidative effect on lung tissue and peripheral blood. The activity of GSH-Px and the concentration of MDA are valuable biomarkers of oxidative lung tissue damage induced by PM2.5. The DNA migration length (microm) and rate of tail are simple and valuable biomarkers of PM2.5-induced DNA damage in lung tissues and peripheral blood. The degree of DNA damage in peripheral blood can predict the degree of DNA damage in lung tissue.</p>