Seasonal variability, predictive modeling and health risks of N-nitrosamines in drinking water of Shanghai.

The prevalence of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines in drinking water is of significant concern. In the present study, eight N-nitrosamines from three representative drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in Shanghai, China were monitored for an entire year to evaluate their seasonal variability, probabilistic cancer risk and the resulting disease burden. The possibility of employing routinely monitored water quality parameters as predictors of N-nitrosamines was also examined.

[Determination of trichloroaldehyde in drinking water using liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography].

Objective: To establish a liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography method for the determination of trichloroacetaldehyde in drinking water.

Methods: Chromatography parameters and extraction parameters, such as extraction solvent, salting out reagents, internal standards and pH were tested and selected. Using the optimized parameters, methods validation and comparison with the national standard examination method was also conducted.

Human urinary/seminal phthalates or their metabolite levels and semen quality: A meta-analysis.

Health concerns surrounding human exposure to phthalates include diminished semen quality. Epidemiological findings remain inconsistent. We have performed a quality appraisal and meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize evidence for associations between phthalate exposures and human semen quality.

X-ray irradiation selectively kills thymocytes of different stages and impairs the maturation of donor-derived CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocytes in recipient thymus.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the sensitivity of thymocytes to X-ray radiation depends on their proliferative states and whether radiation impairs the maturation of donor-derived thymocytes in recipient thymus. We assigned 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice into three treatment groups: 1) untreated; 2) X-ray radiation; 3) X-ray radiation plus bone marrow transplantation with donor bone marrow cells from transgenic mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) on a universal promoter. After 4 weeks, the size of the thymus, the number and proliferation of thymocytes and ratios of different stage thymocytes were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.

Follicle stimulating hormone receptor G-29A, 919A>G, 2039A>G polymorphism and the risk of male infertility: a meta-analysis.

Studies of the relationship between male infertility and polymorphisms in the regions of FSHR G-29A (rs1394205), 919A>G (Thr(307)Ala, rs6165) and 2039A>G (Asn(680)Ser, rs6166) have reported inconsistent results. To assess the association between them, a meta-analysis was conducted. PubMed and CBMdisc literature search were conducted to identify all eligible studies investigating such a relationship.

[SMAD4 gene polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility of coal work's pneumoconiosis].

Objective: to explore whether 6 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within SMAD4 gene were involved in the genetic susceptibility of coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) by case-control study.

Methods: this study consisted of 438 CWP patients and 448 controls. All study subjects were Han Chinese, underground coal miners and recruited from coal mines of Xuzhou Mining Business Group Co Ltd.