Research Progress on Neurodevelopmental Toxicity in Offspring after Indirect Exposure to PFASs in Early Life.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread environmental pollutants. There is increasing evidence that PFASs have various adverse health effects, including renal toxicity, metabolic dysfunction, endocrine disruption, and developmental toxicity. PFASs have been found to accumulate in the placenta, and some PFASs can cross the placental barrier and subsequently accumulate in the fetus via the maternal-fetal circulation.

Three new chromones from the whole plants of and their anti-rotavirus activities.

() is a perennial herb of leguminosae, which increasingly being grown as a forage in China. In our search for original bioactive metabolites from plants, the phytochemical reinvestigation of the was carried out, which led to the isolation of three new (-) and six known (-) chromones. Their structures were confirmed by spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques.

Arsenic transfer along the soil-sclerotium-stroma chain in Chinese cordyceps and the related health risk assessment.

Background: Chinese cordyceps (Lepidoptera: )is a larval-fungus complex. The concentration and distribution of arsenic (As) may vary during the stroma (ST) germination process and between the sclerotium (SC) and the ST. The soil-to-Chinese cordyceps system is an environmental arsenic exposure pathway for humans.

Evaluation of the Diagnostic Efficacy of Xpert CT/NG for and .

Background: (CT) and (NG) are widely spread across the world. Asymptomatic or inconspicuous CT/NG infections are difficult to diagnose and treat. Traditional methods have the disadvantages of low detection rate, inaccurate results, and long detection time.

Dynamic lipid profile of hyperlipidemia mice.

Biomarkers of serum fatty acids in hyperlipidemia need to be elucidated. 90 SPF KM male mice were randomly divided into 18 groups (n=5/group), control groups, and high fat diet (HFD) groups at 9 time points. On day 7, 10, 15, 18, 21, 24, 28, 31, and 35, the mice were sacrificed; blood was collected into tubes from the eyes, serum samples for clinical biochemistry assays and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy were attained after centrifugation, and the contents of serum fatty acids were detected with GC-MS.

Natural persistence of the coastal plant Glehnia littoralis along temperate sandy coasts.

We studied germination behaviors and persistence mechanism of wild Glehnia littoralis, a typical coastal species at temperate sandy coasts of the North Pacific Ocean, and tested the hypothesis that the coastal plants may have evolved special seeds adapting to the coasts, by which they recruit and persist easily, occupying the coasts as ideal habitats. In the Shandong Peninsula, China, we investigated temperature and moisture conditions of coast sand in relation to germination and evaluated effects of sand burial, seawater immersion and sowing time on germination. When germination began, daily dawn temperatures of sand were about 10 °C and daily noon temperatures were about 25 °C; the temperatures were not different in the sand <8 cm deep.

Ursolic acid-mediated apoptosis of K562 cells involves Stat5/Akt pathway inhibition through the induction of Gfi-1.

Ursolic acid (UA) is a promising natural compound for cancer prevention and therapy. We previously reported that UA induced apoptosis in CML-derived K562 cells. Here we show that the apoptotic process is accompanied by down-regulation of Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 expression and dephosphorylation of Bad.

Investigation of associations between ten polymorphisms and the risk of coronary artery disease in Southern Han Chinese.

A large-scale meta-analysis of 14 genome-wide association studies has identified and replicated a series of susceptibility polymorphisms for coronary artery disease (CAD) in European ancestry populations, but evidences for the associations of these loci with CAD in other ethnicities remain lacking. Herein we investigated the associations between ten (rs579459, rs12413409, rs964184, rs4773144, rs2895811, rs3825807, rs216172, rs12936587, rs46522 and rs3798220) of these loci and CAD in Southern Han Chinese (CHS). Genotyping was performed in 1716 CAD patients and 1572 controls using mass spectrography.

Common Variants in Promoter of ADTRP Associate with Early-Onset Coronary Artery Disease in a Southern Han Chinese Population.

The first genome-wide association study for coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Han Chinese population, we reported recently, had identified rs6903956 in gene ADTRP on chromosome 6p24.1 as a novel susceptibility locus for CAD. The risk allele of rs6903956 was associated with decreased mRNA expression of ADTRP.

One-process fabrication of metal hierarchical nanostructures with rich nanogaps for highly-sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

One-process fabrication of highly active and reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates via ion beam deposition is reported. The fabricated metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) hierarchical nanostructure possesses rich nanogaps and a tunable resonant cavity. Raman scattering signals of analytes are dramatically strengthened due to the strong near-field coupling of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) and the strong interaction of LSPRs of metal NPs with surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on the underlying metal film by crossing over the dielectric spacer.

3.0T MR-CAD: Clinical Value in Diagnosis of Breast Tumor Compared with Conventional MRI.

Purpose: to explore the clinical value of 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging compared with computer-aided MR diagnosis (MR-CAD) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors.

Materials And Methods: MRI method and MR-CAD method was used in the diagnosis of a total of 93 breast lesions of 78 patients, based on the morphological and time-intensity-curve (TIC) analysis.

Near-unity transparency of a continuous metal film via cooperative effects of double plasmonic arrays.

Metal structures with high optical transparency and conductivity are of great importance for practical applications in optoelectronic devices. Here we investigate the transparency response of a continuous metal film sandwiched by double plasmonic nanoparticle arrays. The upper nanoparticle array shows efficient light trapping of the incident field, acting as a light input coupler, and the lower nanoparticle array shows a light release gate opening at the other side, acting as the light output coupler.

Pentamidine sensitizes chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis.

Pentamidine (PMD) is an anti-protozoa drug with potential anticancer activity. Here we show that PMD at clinically achievable plasma drug concentrations slightly inhibited the growth of human leukemia cell lines. PMD close to its therapeutic doses sensitized TRAIL-resistant K562 cells to the cytokine and potentiated TRAIL-induced apoptosis through activation of caspase-8 and -3.

[The suppression of c-fos in neuron apoptosis induced by heroin].

Objective: To explore the changes of c-fos in apoptosis of cerebellar granular neuron of neonatal SD rats induced by heroin and the mechanisms of neuronal injury caused by heroin.

Methods: Primary cerebellar granular neuron were cultured in vitro, the model of apoptosis induced by heroin was established. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were adopted to investigate the changes of c-fos in cell models.

In vitro anti-tumour activities of quinolizidine alkaloids derived from Sophora flavescens Ait.

The dry root of Sophora flavescens Ait. (SF) has long been used in a variety of Chinese herbal formulations to treat patients with cancer. Alkaloids are commonly known to present in SF as main active constituents.

Gossypol inhibits phosphorylation of Bcl-2 in human leukemia HL-60 cells.

Gossypol is an attractive therapeutic anti-tumor agent as an apoptosis inducer and is being evaluated in preclinical tests. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying apoptosis induction by gossypol in malignant cells have not been completely enunciated. Here we investigate the alterations of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 protein levels and Bcl-2 phosphorylation in gossypol-induced apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 cells.

Growth-inhibiting effects of arsenic trioxide plus epigenetic therapeutic agents on leukemia cell lines.

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is an effective therapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and other hematopoietic malignancies. We found that ATO down-regulated the global DNA methylation level in HL-60 cells with high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) assay. Using combination index method of Chou and Talalay, interactions between ATO and epigenetic therapeutic agents were analyzed in three human leukemia cell lines (HL-60, U937, and K562).

Effects of malathion on the insect succession and the development of Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in the field and implications for estimating postmortem interval.

A field study on the effects of malathion on insect succession and the development of carrion flies on corpses, and its quantitative determination from the larvae on decomposing rabbit carrion was conducted. The rabbits were treated with malathion at concentrations of lethal, half-lethal and fourth-lethal doses. Malathion altered decomposition rates and species diversity: Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was the most abundant adult species in all the experiments; third instar larvae of Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) were not found on the toxic carcasses but were collected from the control; the appearance of beetles on the treated carcass was later by 1 to 3 days than on the control carcass.

Lycorine induces apoptosis and down-regulation of Mcl-1 in human leukemia cells.

Lycorine is an alkaloid isolated from the bulb of the Amaryllidaceae Lycoris. Here, we report that treatment with lycorine resulted in survival inhibition and apoptosis induction in human leukemia cell lines. Lycorine induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells via intrinsic mitochondria pathway and caused a rapid-turnover of protein level of Mcl-1 which occurred before caspases activation.

[Enhancing effect of matrine on the tumor-inhibition by TIM2 gene-modified hepatocarcinoma H22 cells in mice].

Objective: To investigate the effects of matrine on the anti-tumor efficiency of TIM2 gene-modified murine hepatocarcinoma H22 cells.

Methods: A combined eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2-EGFP-TIM2 was constructed and transfected into H22 cells by lipofectamin. The monoclone of positive H22-TIM2 cells and negative control H22-EGFP cells transfected with pIRES2-EGFP vector were selected by G418 pressure and limited dilution method in turn and were inoculated to establish the tumor-bearing mouse model.

[Effects of matrine on oncogenicity of H22 cells modified by TIM2 gene in vivo].

Objective: To investigate the effects of matrine on the anti-tumor efficiency of H22 murine hepatocarcinoma cell-based vaccine modified by TIM2 gene in vivo.

Method: The combinant eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2-EGFP-TIM2 was constructed and transfected into H22 cells by lipofectamin. The monoclone of the positive H22-TIM2 cells and negative control H22-EGFP cells were selected by G418 pressure and limited dilution method in turn.

[The effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ of rat myocardium].

Objective: To observe the effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ in rat myocardium.

Methods: The effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ were observed in cultured neonatal rat myocardium by measuring intracellular free Ca2+ concentration using calcium fluorescent probe Flou-3/AM and laser scanning confocal microscope.

Results: Different doses and concentrations of heroin appeared to have different effects on intracellular free Ca2+ concentrations, with a dosage dependent short linear increase in the fluorescence intensity (i.

[Effects of serum from crush injury rats on vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and their potential mechanism].

Objective: To investigate the effects of serum from crush injury rats on vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and their potential mechanism.

Methods: Bovine aorta endothelial cells were cultured in vitro and the effects of serum from crush injury rats on cell apoptosis and intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) were observed. Meanwhile, the levels of rat blood plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) and atrial natriuretic peptide(ANP) were measured.

Induction of apoptosis and regulation of the MAPK pathway by ursolic acid in human leukemia K562 cells.

Ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic triterpene acid naturally occurring in a number of foods and medicinal plants. It is one of the most promising chemopreventive agents and has been reported to induce apoptosis in many cancer cells. Here, we report that treatment with UA induces apoptosis in human leukemia K562 cells and down-regulates protein levels of bcl-xL.

[Application of virtopsy in forensic science].

Virtopsy is a non-invasive technique to reconstruct 3 dimensional (3-D) images of human organs and tissues using digitized radiographic imaging and may provide clues for forensic identification of the cause and manner of death. Because of its nature of minimally invasive, objective, and accurate, virtopsy has recently been a research focus of forensic pathology in developed countries. In this review article, the authors will discuss the principle, advantage, disadvantage, and recent proceeding of virtopsy as well as its potential application in forensic practice in China.