Reducing Health Risks from Indoor Exposures in Rapidly Developing Urban China.

Background: Over the past two decades there has been a large migration of China’s population from rural to urban regions. At the same time, residences in cities have changed in character from single-story or low-rise buildings to high-rise structures constructed and furnished with many synthetic materials. As a consequence, indoor exposures (to pollutants with outdoor and indoor sources) have changed significantly. Objectives: We briefly discuss the inferred impact that urbanization and modernization have had on indoor exposures and public health in China. We argue that growing adverse health costs associated with these changes are not inevitable, and we present steps that could be taken to reduce indoor exposures to harmful pollutants. Discussion: As documented by China’s Ministry of Health, there have been significant increases in morbidity and mortality among urban residents over the past 20 years. Evidence suggests that the population’s exposure to air pollutants has contributed to increases in lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and birth defects. Whether a pollutant has an outdoor or an indoor source, most exposure to the pollutant occurs indoors. Going forward, indoor exposures can be reduced by limiting the ingress of outdoor pollutants (while providing adequate ventilation with clean air), minimizing indoor sources of pollutants, updating government policies related to indoor pollution, and addressing indoor air quality during a building’s initial design. Conclusions: Taking the suggested steps could lead to significant reductions in morbidity and mortality, greatly reducing the societal costs associated with pollutant derived ill health

Antimicrobial Resistance in Non-typhoidal Salmonella from Retail Foods Collected in 2020 in China

Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a major cause of human salmonellosis globally. Food animals are major NTS reservoirs. An increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in foodborne NTS has led to clinical treatment failures. Here, to examine the prevalence and perform characterization of foodborne NTS with AMR in China, we tested the antimicrobial susceptibility of 1,256 NTS isolates cultured from retail foods in 2020 in China. The antimicrobial susceptibility of 26 antimicrobial agents representing 12 classes was evaluated with the broth-microdilution method; the presence of ten mcr genes was screened with multi-PCR. The complete closed genomes of mcr -gene-carrying isolates were generated by hybrid assembly through whole genome sequencing on both the PacBio and Illumina platforms. Genomic features and genetic environments of the mcr-1 gene were analysed. The overall drug resistance rate was 92.28%, and the multi-drug resistance (MDR) rate was 76.53%. A total of 341 AMR profiles were determined, and resistance was highest to nalidixic acid (63.38%). Among 887 NTS isolates with MDR, 232 showed co-resistance to cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin, and 25 were resistant to ten classes of antimicrobial agents. The resistance of NTS isolated from different regions varied. Isolates from raw chicken sources most frequently showed resistance. Four NTS carried the mcr-1 gene and represented four different serotypes. Four mcr-1 gene-bearing plasmids from the four Salmonella isolates were classified into two replicon types (IncI2 and IncHI2A). Two mcr-1 genes in IncI2 type plasmids were found to be located between a PAP2 family protein-encoding gene and a relaxase-encoding gene, whereas the other two mcr-1 gene structures in IncHI2A type plasmids showed variations in the presence of insertion sequences. Our data demonstrated severe AMR among foodborne NTS isolated from food in China, thus highlighting the importance of antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance to decrease the spread of AMR, particularly to critical drugs in human medicine

Leaching Mechanism and Health Risk Assessment of As and Sb in Tailings of Typical Antimony Mines: A Case Study in Yunnan and Guizhou Province, Southwest China

The weathering and leaching of mining tailings have released large amounts of antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As), causing serious pollution in the surrounding soil, water, and sediments. To understand the leaching characteristics of Sb and As in mining tailings, Zuoxiguo and Qinglong mining tailings were collected for analysis. The average content of Sb in Zuoxiguo and Qinglong tailings was 5902.77 mg/kg and 1426.43 mg/kg, respectively, while that of As was 412.53 mg/kg and 405.26 mg/kg, respectively, which exceeded the local background value. Furthermore, the concentrations of Sb in the leachate of Zuoxiguo and Qinglong increased with time; the average Sb concentration in the leachate of Zuoxiguo and Qinglong was 1470.48 μg/L and 70.20 μg/L, respectively, while that of the As concentration was 31.20 μg/L and 6.45 μg/L, respectively. This suggests that the concentrations of Sb and As in the leachate of Zuoxiguo are both higher than those in the leachate of Qinglong and that the pH of the leachate of Zuoxiguo and Qinglong significantly changed within the first day under different initial pH conditions, and tended to be between 6 and 8, after one day. The results of the average health risk index showed that As in the leachate from Zuoxiguo and Qinglong for children was 5.67 × 10−4 and 9.13 × 10−5, respectively, and 4.43 × 10−4 and 7.16 × 10−5, respectively, for adults. As in the leachate from Zuoxiguo poses serious carcinogenic risks for residents, and in the study area, As poses a serious threat to human health. Therefore, the local government must manage As in these areas

MYC Gene Rearrangements Are Closely Associated with Poor Survival of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma with Hepatitis B Virus Infection

The aim of this study was to identify clinical adverse prognostic factors affecting overall survival (OS) of diffuse large B cell (DLBCL) patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, 30 DLBCL patients with HBV infection and 51 DLBCL patients with HBV-free were reviewed retrospectively. As of July 2016, the median follow-up period was 26.4 months (3.0~65.0 months). The median OS of patients in HBV infection group was 38.6 months, while that of patients in HBV-free group was not reached (P=0.042); the median progression-free survival (PFS) of patients in HBV infection group was worse than that in HBV-free group, 18.5 months and 38.5 months (P=0.118), respectively. The rate of MYC and BCL2 gene rearrangements in HBV infection group was significantly higher than that in HBV-free group, 20.0% versus 3.9% (P=0.019) and 23.3% versus 5.9% (P=0.021), respectively. Multivariable analysis indicated that IPI (P=0.002), chemotherapy regimens (P=0.017), and MYC gene rearrangements (P=0.004) were independent adverse prognostic factors for all DLBCL patients in this study. Results demonstrated that the poor survival of DLBCL patients with HBV infection was closely involved in chemotherapy regimens, IPI, and MYC gene rearrangements

Meta-analysis of experimental warming on soil invertase and urease activities

Soil enzymes are regulate terrestrial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, and how the activity of these enzymes are affected by soil warming duration is unclear. In the study, the effect of experimental soil warming duration (2 years) on invertase and urease activities were examined by meta-analysis. Soil warming increased invertase activity by 22% (2 years), respectively, while they increased urease by 29% and 9%. Meta-analysis of soil warming experiments found that warming by less than 1.5°C increased invertase by 22%, while warming it by more than 1.5°C increased invertase by 29%; the corresponding increases in urease were 16% and 8%. These effects of experiment warming differed among ecosystem types, with warming-induced increases being greatest in forest ecosystem. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that invertase and urease become less responsive to warming over longer periods and invertase with greater warming-responsiveness than urease activity

Novel SCCmec type XV (7A) and two pseudo-SCCmec variants in foodborne MRSA in China

BackgroundStaphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) elements are highly diverse and have been classified into 14 types. Novel SCCmec variants have been frequently detected from humans and animals but rarely from food.ObjectivesTo characterize a novel SCCmec type and two SCCmec variants identified from food-associated MRSA in China.MethodsThree MRSA (NV_1, NT_611 and NT_8) collected from retail foods in China were subjected to WGS and the SCCmec elements were determined.ResultsThe novel SCCmecXV identified in NV_1 carried the mec gene complex class A (mecI-mecR1-mecA-IS431) and the ccr gene complex 7 (ccrA1B6), and a Tn558-mediated phenicol exporter gene fexA was detected in this SCCmecXV cassette. The pseudo-SCCmec elements ΨSCCmecNT_611 and ΨSCCmecNT_8 showed a truncated SCCmec pattern, carrying the class C2 mec gene complex but missing the ccr genes. The ΨSCCmecNT_611 element shared more similarities with those of Staphylococcus haemolyticus (AB478934.1) and carried a heavy metal resistance gene cluster cadD-cadX-arsC-arsB-arsR-copA. The ΨSCCmecNT_8 MRSA exhibited a highly resistant phenotype, showing the absence of a 19.3 kb segment compared with the reference SCCmecXII element (CP019945.1). Notably, a 46 kb region containing multiple transposons encoding antimicrobial or metal resistance genes flanked by IS431 or IS256 was identified ∼30 kb downstream from the mec gene complex in ΨSCCmecNT_8, which might explain such high resistance in MRSA NT_8.ConclusionsOur finding of novel and pseudo-SCCmec elements reflected the ongoing intra/interspecies genetic rearrangements in staphylococci. Further study will be needed to investigate the biological significance and prevalence of those SCCmec variants along the food chain

Influence of Different Harvesting Stages and Cereals–Legume Mixture on Forage Biomass Yield, Nutritional Compositions, and Quality under Loess Plateau Region

One of the main problems in the animal industries currently is the constant provision of forage in sufficient amounts with acceptable nutritional content for large and small ruminants, as livestock is a significant source of income for rural people in the Loess Plateau region. Cereals and legumes are essential forage crops because of their nutritional significance, particularly the protein concentration in legumes and the fiber content in cereals. Therefore, combining cereal and legume crops may be a practical solution to the problems of inadequate forage nutrition, an insufficient amount of forage, unsustainable agricultural methods, and declining soil fertility. The current study predicts that mixed cropping of cereals and legumes at the harvesting stage of the soft dough stage and maturity stage based on the cereal growth stage will have different effects on forage biomass output, forage quality index, and nutritional value of the forage. In this study, wheat (Triticum aestivum) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) are used as cereal crops and pea (Pisum sativum), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are used as legume crops. Three sample replicates and a split-plot design with a randomized block design are used. The study is conducted in the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 cropping seasons. The experimental results show that cereal–legume mixed cropping, particularly the cereal–alfalfa combination, has a positive impact on the biomass yield and nutritional composition of the forage. However, adding peas to cereal has a negative impact on biomass yield, nutritional composition, mineral composition, and forage quality index. Among the treatments, ryegrass–alfalfa mixed cropping was shown to have higher values of WSC%, CP%, EE%, CF%, and ash% in both growing seasons. The values are WSC (15.82%), CP (10.78%), EE (2.30%), CF (32.06%), and ash (10.68%) for the 2020–2021 cropping seasons and WSC (15.03%), CP (11.68%), EE (3.30%), CF (32.92%), and ash (11.07%) for the 2021–2022 cropping seasons, respectively. On the other hand, the current study finds that cereal–alfalfa mixed cropping had a detrimental impact on NDF and ADF concentrations. All nutritional indices, including CP, WSC, EE, CF, ash, NDF, and ADF, have favorable correlations with one another. Furthermore, in both growing seasons, RA, ryegrass–alfalfa mixed cropping, has higher mineral compositions and forage quality indicators. Furthermore, harvesting times have a significant impact on the fresh biomass yield, dry matter yield, nutritional compositions, mineral compositions, and forage quality parameters (p < 0.001), with the highest values being shown when harvesting at the soft dough stage. The current study concludes that, based on chemical composition and quality analysis, the soft dough stage is the greatest harvesting period, and that the cereal–alfalfa mixed cropping is the most preferable due to its maximized quality forage production and nutritional content in livestock feedstuff in the Loess Plateau region

Manganese Slag Amendment Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Paddy Soil

Increasing crop productivity and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from paddy fields are increasingly receiving attention. Slag application not only can maximize the use of solid wastes as beneficial resources for agricultural production, but it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In order to determine the most effective slags as soil amendments for greenhouse gas emission reduction, three major slags, i.e., steel, titanium and manganese slags, were applied as soil amendments to paddy soils; correspondingly, the greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative emissions and global warming potential of the soils during one growing season were measured. It was found that applying all these three slags could reduce the methane emission rates and the cumulative methane emissions. Manganese slag significantly decreased methane emissions by 55% compared with the control. Carbon dioxide caused no significant changes among different slag treatments; however, the cumulative carbon dioxide emissions from fields treated with steel and manganese slags were lower than those from control fields. The global warming potential of paddy soil with manganese application was 63% lower than that of the control. Finally, manganese oxide was found to have a negative relation with greenhouse gas emissions. It was inferred that the electron acceptors and the photocatalysis of manganese oxide minerals might have been the main reasons for greenhouse gas reduction. This preliminary result could be further applied to utilizing solid wastes as beneficial resources and to developing carbon fixation and greenhouse gas reduction fertilizers