The Toxification and Detoxification Mechanisms of Aflatoxin B1 in Human: An Update

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most common carcinogen of aflatoxin, which contaminates many agricultural products in the daily diet of humans. More than 50% of patients with developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) feature AFB1 exposure due to their shared consumption of contaminated food. One of the main mechanisms of AFB1-induced liver carcinogenesis is its biological activation and its interaction with DNA to produce AFB1-E-N7-dG adduct. This product may result in the formation of DNA damage and the mutations of tumor-associated genes such as TP53 and ras. In human, several pathways involving in AFB1 detoxification, including I- and II-type detoxification, DNA repair, have been reported. This study reviewed the detoxification mechanisms of AFB1 in human as well as AFB1 occurrence and toxification. Additionally, we also discussed prevention methods for AFB1 exposure

Does High-tech Export Cause More Technology Spillover? Evidence from Contemporary China

This paper attempts to investigate whether high-tech product export causes more technology spillover compared with traditionally primary manufactured goods export.A generalized multi-sector spillover model is presented to involve the causations of export composition and technology spillover, which is based on two distinctive approaches of measuring technology spillover: “between-spillover” and “within-spillover”. The empirical estimation is conducted with a panel analysis involving 31 provinces in China over the period of 1998-2005. Although high-tech export sectors involve a higher productivity compared with other sectors, this productivity advantage in high-tech export sectors does not cause technology spillover towards both domestic sectors and other export sectors. Therefore, this paper suggests that technology spillover of export mainly takes place in traditional export sectors rather than high-tech export sectors.Export Composition; High-tech Export; Technology Spillover; Multi-sector Spillover Model

Measuring the effect of agricultural cooperatives on household income using PSM-DID : a case study of a rice-producing cooperative in China

Agricultural cooperatives in China, known as Farmers\u27 Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), are becoming popular and have been intensely promoted by the Chinese government to improve the economic welfare of small farmers. However, very few studies on Chinese agricultural cooperatives have measured the benefits to farmers who participate in FPCs after controlling for time-invariant attributes of farmers. This paper investigates the treatment effect of participation in a rice-producing cooperative in suburban China using propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) method. Estimated results show that no significant difference is observed between participants and non-participants of the cooperative in terms of net income from rice production when controlling for the difference in farmers\u27 rice incomes before the treatment. In addition, there is no significant heterogeneity of the treatment effects between large and small farmers, although the probability of participation in the cooperative is significantly higher when the size of cultivated rice farmland is greater. These results indicate that the benefits of the cooperative appear to be overestimated considering the vigorous policy supports for FPCs from the Chinese government

4-[(6-Chloro-2-pyrid­yl)meth­oxy]-3-(2,4-dichloro­phen­yl)-1-oxaspiro­[4.5]dec-3-en-2-one

In the title compound, C21H18Cl3NO3, the cyclo­hexane ring is in a chair conformation. The five-membered ring forms a dihedral angle of 69.89 (2)° with the benzene ring. The dihedral angle between the benzene and pyridine rings is 14.03 (7)°

Inhibition of hepatocelluar carcinoma MAT2A and MAT2beta gene expressions by single and dual small interfering RNA

RNA interference (RNAi) has been successfully applied in suppression of hepatic cancer genes. In hepatocelluar carcinoma cell, one methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) isozyme, MATII was found to have two catalytic subunits which were encoded by MAT2A and MAT2β respectively. During tumorigeness of hepatocelluar carcinoma, expressions of the two genes were discovered to be increased combining with a switch of MAT (form MATI to MATII), To figure out the role played by MATII in hepatic cancer, In this study, for the first time we established a dual small interfering RNA (siRNA) expression system, which could simultaneously express two different siRNA molecules specifically targeting two genes. To test the effectiveness of this system, we applied this approach to express simultaneously two different siRNA duplexes that specifically target MAT2A and MAT2β genes of hepatocelluar carcinoma respectively in HepG2 cell. Results indicated that dual siRNA could simultaneously inhibit the expression of MAT2A and MAT2β gene by 89.5% and 97.8% respectively, In addition, dual siRNA molecules were able to significantly suppress growth of hepatocelluar carcinoma cell in vitro as well as induce apoptosis which was involved in arrest cell cycle at the G1/S checkpoint and the expressions of p21, p27 and Bax

4-But­oxy-3-(2,4-dichloro­phen­yl)-1-oxaspiro­[4.5]dec-3-en-2-one

In the title compound, C19H22Cl2O3, the cyclo­hexane ring adopts a chair conformation. The furan ring plane forms dihedral angles of 81.88 (2) and 50.19 (3)°, respectively, with the benzene ring and the plane formed by the butyl C atoms. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Gentiana macrophylla Pall (Gentianaceae) extract exerts protective effects against osteoporosis in mice

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-osteoporotic effect of G. macrophylla extract in a mice model.Methods: Antioxidant activity was determined by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) for radical scavenging, nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) reducing, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays using standard biochemical procedures. The expression of some bone-related genes was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qTR-PCR).  Phytochemical analysis was carried out by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS).Results: The extract exhibited strong antioxidant activity as evident from DPPH, NBT and FRAP data, with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 275, 262 and 180 μg/ml, respectively. The antioxidant activity was concentration-dependent. The results showed that the extract restored bone characteristics by suppressing bone resorption through induction of expressions of several boneassociated genes. The results from phytochemical analyses showed the presence of loganic acid, swertiamarin, sweroside, gentiopicroside, gentesin and isogentesin.Conclusion: These results indicate that the extract may be beneficial in the treatment of osteoporosis.Keywords: Gentiana macrophylla, Osteoporosis, Bone mass, Loganic acid, Swertiamarin, Sweroside, Gentiopicroside, Gentesi