Halogenated aromatic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are a new group of emerging DBPs identified recently. They have been detected in disinfected drinking water, wastewater effluents, recreational ...water and oil/gas produced water, at concentrations of ng/L to μg/L in general. Previously studies have demonstrated that most of them can induce developmental toxicity and growth inhibition in aquatic organisms based on in vivo bioassays. In this study, to further understand the adverse effects of aromatic DBPs to human health, the comparative cytotoxicity of 15 halogenated aromatic DBPs belonging to four subgroups (i.e., halophenols, halonitrophenols, halohydroxybenzaldehydes and halohydroxybenzoic acids) was evaluated with mammalian Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. The results indicated that the selected aromatic DBPs exhibited an in vitro toxicity rank order of halonitrophenols > halophenols > halohydroxybenzaldehydes > halohydroxybenzoic acids. The potential toxicity mechanisms involved with the antioxidant system were investigated by using molecular docking analysis between key antioxidant enzymes (i.e., catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione S-transferase) and aromatic DBPs. Based on the observed cytotoxicity data and screening the candidate descriptors (including binding energies between the aromatic DBPs and key antioxidant enzymes as well as physical-chemical/quantum-chemical/topological descriptors), a QSAR model was developed as log (LC50) −1 = − 1.050ECAT + 0.300EHOMO − 0.238ELUMO− 0.164, indicating the importance of the interactions of aromatic DBPs towards catalase and the electrophilic/nucleophilic reactivity of aromatic DBPs in the toxicity mechanisms. In addition, the occurrence of the aromatic DBPs in tap water and finished water was studied in a mega city Shenzhen located in South China. Results showed that halogenated aromatic DBPs commonly existed in Shenzhen drinking water at ng/L levels, and three nitrogenous aromatic DBPs were detected in real drinking water for the first time. The major toxicity drivers among the target aromatic DBPs were identified through the integration of the measured concentrations and observed cytotoxicity; notably, DBPs with the highest concentrations may not contribute the highest proportions of overall toxicity.
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•Cytotoxicity of 15 aromatic DBPs was evaluated by using mammalian CHO–K1 cells.•A mechanism-based QSAR model was developed based on the toxicity data.•Binding interactions between DBPs and catalase play an important role in toxicity.•Three aromatic N-DBPs were detected in real drinking water for the first time.•The major toxicity drivers among aromatic DBPs were identified with TIC-Tox method.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) is a popular inland farmed fish species with high an economic value. Molecular selective breeding programs are urgently required to improve the growth traits of ...mandarin fish for farming industry. In this study, using 160 mandarin fish individuals, specific locus-amplified fragment sequencing and SNP genotyping, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genomic regions and candidate genes that are potentially associated with various growth traits of mandarin fish, such as body weight (BW), body thickness (BT), body height (BH) total length (TL), slaughter weight (SW), and body length (BL). Through genotyping, 5205 high-quality SNPs were found located on 24 chromosomes. A total of 11 significant and 37 suggestive SNPs related to growth traits were obtained, among which five SNPs significantly related to BW were located in the linkage group (LG) 8, 17, 21, and 23, two SNPs significantly related to TL were located in LG 7 and 17, two SNPs significantly related to BH were located on LG 17 and 23, two SNPs significantly related to BT were located on LG 14 and 19, respectively. Furthermore, LG17_937,734 and LG23_23,856,613 were growth-related traits overlap. Within 300 kb upstream and downstream of these significant SNPs, 65 candidate genes were identified within the associated QTLs, many of which were related to bone differentiation, growth and development, cell division and neurogenesis. In particular, asns, tg, mkk6, htra1, rnf213, ttn, tgfbr2, and nck2, were shown to be closely associated with growth, fat, muscle and bone formation. To our knowledge, this is the first GWAS focusing on growth traits of mandarin fish. Our findings establish a foundation for molecular marker-assisted selecting, genomic selecting, and functional analyzing the growth traits of mandarin fish.
•Using SLAF-seq technology, the whole genome association of growth traits of mandarin fish was studied for the first time.•A total of 11 significant and 37 suggestive SNPs were obtained by GWAS.•A series of candidate genes related to growth, fat, and bone differentiation were extracted near the significant SNPs.•These results will aid future molecular marker-assisted breeding and genetic research in mandarin fish.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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•The effectiveness of silane contained in low pH universal adhesives was weakened by dehydration self-condensation.•The oligomers created by self-condensation silanol would decrease ...bond strength.•For the enhancement of glass-ceramic bonding efficiency with universal adhesives, a separate ceramic primer was recommended.
Some silane-containing universal adhesives were introduced that a separate ceramic primer was unnecessary to glass-ceramic bonding because of incorporated silane. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of silane in universal adhesives with acidic media.
A functional γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MPTS) was used, and its pH value was adjusted to 2.7 by adding hydrochloric acid (HCl) or 10-methacryloxydecyl phosphate (MDP). The prepared acidic silane solutions after 2h or 10d storage were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Micro-shear bond strength (μSBS) was used to evaluate the bonding performance of glass ceramics. Two silane-containing and two silane-free universal adhesives were included. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy fractography analysis was also performed.
FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR revealed that the hydrolysis of γ-MPTS and the self-condensation reaction of silanol groups occurred over time under acidic conditions (HCl or MDP solution). This reaction formed the siloxane oligomers. For glass-ceramic bonding, the μSBS of acidic silane after 10 d storage was lower than that of silane stored for 2h storage (p<0.05), although the difference among the μSBS of the four universal adhesives were nonsignificant (p>0.05). Additionally, cohesive failure was the main fracture pattern of universal adhesive bonding.
The effectiveness of silane contained in low pH universal adhesives can be weakened by dehydration self-condensation and consequently became unstable. For the enhancement of glass-ceramic bonding efficiency with universal adhesives, a separate ceramic primer was recommended.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Existing research of non-unidirectional cleanrooms generally suggests that lower-side return air outlets provide better control effect on indoor particle concentration. As a result, there has been ...relatively less focus on return air outlets. However, installing return air outlets oriented towards operators as particle emission sources can reduce the impact on process layout and improve space utilization, while also provide less impact from upper particle emission sources on the workbench area. To investigate the characteristics of return air outlet for operators (abbreviated as H), this study compared the particle concentration distribution, non-uniformity, and purification efficiency of return air oultet H and the traditional lower-side (abbreviated as L) return air outlets by experiments and CFD simulations. Based on the theory of mass conservation, the expression of required air supply volume under equivalent cleanroom conditions was derived. Under corresponding experimental and simulation conditions, the particle concentration differences range from 2.0% to 12.7% for return air outlet H and from 12.4% to 33.2% for return air outlet L, and these differences gradually decrease with the air exchange rate (ACH) increases. The results show that ACH = 20 is sufficient for cleanliness requirements with return air outlet H when there is one person in the cleanroom, while a higher rate of ACH = 35 is needed when there are two persons. Although lower-side return air outlets have certain potential for reducing particle concentration in the cleanroom, increasing the air exchange rate remains the most effective method to control indoor particle concentration. Compared to the traditional lower-side return air outlet L, the ranges of the non-uniformity coefficients for return air outlet H and L are 0.50 to 0.67 and 0.45 to 0.53, respectively. The average non-uniformity coefficient differs by 11.9%, and there is not a significant difference in uniformity with more than 20 air changes per hour. The use of return air outlets H only requires an additional 11% of air supply volume to achieve the same cleanliness, demonstrating its effectiveness in controlling particle concentration. It is suitable for cleanrooms with higher requirements for workbenches and for cleanrooms with restricted floor usage or requiring flexible layouts. The study also explores the impact of width of return air outlet oriented towards operators as particle emission sources, the results show that the larger-sized outlets facilitate the particle discharge and control the particle distribution inside the room.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Tibetan pig is native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and has adapted to the high-altitude environmental condition such as hypoxia. However, its origin and genetic mechanisms underlying high-altitude ...adaptation still remain controversial and enigmatic. Herein, we analyze 229 genomes of wild and domestic pigs from Eurasia, including 63 Tibetan pigs, and detect 49.6 million high-quality variants. Phylogenomic and structure analyses show that Tibetan pigs have a close relationship with low-land domestic pigs in China, implying a common domestication origin. Positively selected genes in Tibetan pigs involved in high-altitude physiology, such as hypoxia, cardiovascular systems, UV damage, DNA repair. Three of loci with strong signals of selection are associated with EPAS1, CYP4F2, and THSD7A genes, related to hypoxia and circulation. We validated four non-coding mutations nearby EPAS1 and CYP4F2 showing reduced transcriptional activity in Tibetan pigs. A high-frequency missense mutation is found in THSD7A (Lys561Arg) in Tibetan pigs. The selective sweeps in Tibetan pigs was found in association with selection against non-coding variants, indicating an important role of regulatory mutations in Tibetan pig evolution. This study is important in understanding the evolution of Tibetan pigs and advancing our knowledge on animal adaptation to high-altitude environments.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV), a highly infectious and lethal pathogen of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi), has resulted in major aquaculture losses over the past few decades. ...A lack of understanding of the regulatory mechanism of viral infection has impeded the development of effective measures to control ISKNV infection. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that regulate the processes of viral infection and are involved in various physiological processes in vivo. In this study, miRNAs involved in the response of mandarin fish to ISKNV infection were identified at several time points following infection through Illumina high-throughput sequencing. A total of 434 (27 known and 407 novel) miRNAs were identified in mandarin fish; 26 (26 up-regulated), 38 (30 up-regulated, 8 down-regulated), and 18 (14 up-regulated and 4 down-regulated) differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified at 12, 24, and 48 h post-infection (hpi), respectively. The putative target genes of DEMs were all significantly enriched in host immune response or signaling pathways, such as autophagy, endocytosis, phosphatidylinositol signaling system, Salmonella infection, cell cycle, protein export, and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum pathway at 12 and 24 hpi and in vascular endothelial growth factor, phosphatidylinositol signaling system and lysosome at 48 hpi. Further analysis indicated that the targeted mRNAs of miRNAs were involved in innate immunity; autophagy and endocytosis might play an important role in immune regulation within 24 hpi with ISKNV. Although the number of DEMs was lowest at 48 hpi, they might still be involved in immunity through the above pathway. We also constructed a miRNA–mRNA targeting network. Generally, the findings of this study provide novel information that advance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of miRNA during ISKNV infection in mandarin fish as well as the development of new approaches for preventing ISKNV infection.
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•The miRNAs involved in the response of mandarin fish to ISKNV infection were identified at several time points.•A total of 434 (27 known and 407 novel) miRNAs were identified in mandarin fish.•26, 38, and 18 DEMs were identified at 12, 24, and 48 h post-infection, respectively.•The putative target genes of these DEMs were related to immunity signaling pathways.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the associated factors of depression in primiparas with hypothyroidism during pregnancy. The research subjects were 200 primiparas with hypothyroidism ...during pregnancy who were admitted to our hospital between December 2016 and December 2019. Self-rating depression scale scores were used to evaluate the depression, and the incidence of depression were examined. The data from all the subjects were collected to compare the differences between primiparas with hypothyroidism during pregnancy with and without depression. A logistic regression equation was used to analyze the influencing factors of depression in these patients. Of the 200 primiparas who took part in this study, 27 suffered from depression, accounting for 13.50%. There were differences in age, education level, economic income, sleep quality, and conjugal relations between the depressed and the nondepressed participants. When the above factors were included in the logistic regression equation, it was found that the odds ratio values for these factors were all >1, which indicated that they had an influence on maternal depression in primiparas with hypothyroidism during pregnancy. This study demonstrated that pregnancy-associated hypothyroidism in primiparas is affected by age, education level, economic income, sleep quality, and conjugal relations, all of which increase the incidence of depression. Relevant preventive measures should be provided in clinical practice to avoid the occurrence of depression.
This study aimed to retrospectively analyse the effect of the baseline luteinising hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio (bLH/FSH) on the live-birth rate per fresh-embryo transfer cycle (LBR/ET) ...in infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who received a fresh-embryo transfer. A total of 424 patients with PCOS who underwent the first cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) fresh-embryo transfer at our hospital was enrolled. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, along with curve fitting and a threshold effect analysis, were performed. Baseline LH/FSH levels were a significant (P < 0.05) independent risk factor affecting live birth. In the first IVF/ICSI antagonist treatment cycles, LBR/ET after fresh-embryo transfer was relatively flat, until bLH/FSH was 1.0; thereafter, it started to decrease by 17% for every 0.1-unit bLH/FSH increase. Considering the decline in LBR/ET, it is recommended that PCOS women with bLH/FSH > 1.0 carefully consider fresh-embryo transfer during their first IVF/ICSI.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Within a regional floristic context, DNA barcoding is more useful to manage plant diversity inventories on a large scale and develop valuable conservation strategies. However, there are no DNA ...barcode studies from tropical areas of China, which represents one of the biodiversity hotspots around the world.
A DNA barcoding database of an Asian tropical trees with high diversity was established at Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, Yunnan, southwest China using rbcL and matK as standard barcodes, as well as trnH-psbA and ITS as supplementary barcodes. The performance of tree species identification success was assessed using 2,052 accessions from four plots belonging to two vegetation types in the region by three methods: Neighbor-Joining, Maximum-Likelihood and BLAST. We corrected morphological field identification errors (9.6%) for the three plots using rbcL and matK based on Neighbor-Joining tree. The best barcode region for PCR and sequencing was rbcL (97.6%, 90.8%), followed by trnH-psbA (93.6%, 85.6%), while matK and ITS obtained relative low PCR and sequencing success rates. However, ITS performed best for both species (44.6-58.1%) and genus (72.8-76.2%) identification. With trnH-psbA slightly less effective for species identification. The two standard barcode rbcL and matK gave poor results for species identification (24.7-28.5% and 31.6-35.3%). Compared with other studies from comparable tropical forests (e.g. Cameroon, the Amazon and India), the overall performance of the four barcodes for species identification was lower for the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, possibly because of species/genus ratios and species composition between these tropical areas.
Although the core barcodes rbcL and matK were not suitable for species identification of tropical trees from Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, they could still help with identification at the family and genus level. Considering the relative sequence recovery and the species identification performance, we recommend the use of trnH-psbA and ITS in combination as the preferred barcodes for tropical tree species identification in China.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Ascomylactam A was reported for the first time as a new 13-membered-ring macrocyclic alkaloid in 2019 from the mangrove endophytic fungus
sp. CYSK-4 from the South China Sea. The aim of our study was ...to delineate the effects of ascomylactam A (AsA) on lung cancer cells and explore the antitumor molecular mechanisms underlying of AsA. In vitro, AsA markedly inhibited the cell proliferation with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC
) values from 4 to 8 μM on six lung cancer cell lines, respectively. In vivo, AsA suppressed the tumor growth of A549, NCI-H460 and NCI-H1975 xenografts significantly in mice. Furthermore, by analyses of the soft agar colony formation, 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) imaging, flow cytometry and Western blotting, AsA demonstrated the ability to induce cell cycle arrest in G1 and G1/S phases by increasing ROS generation and decreasing of Akt activity. Conversely, ROS inhibitors and overexpression of Akt could decrease cell growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest induced by AsA. Therefore, we believe that AsA blocks the cell cycle via an ROS-dependent Akt/Cyclin D1/Rb signaling pathway, which consequently leads to the observed antitumor effect both in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest a novel leading compound for antitumor drug development.
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