Impacts of soil and water pollution on food safety and health risks in China

Environmental pollution and food safety are two of the most important issues of our time. Soil and water pollution, in particular, have historically impacted on food safety which represents an important threat to human health. Nowhere has that situation been more complex and challenging than in China, where a combination of pollution and an increasing food safety risk have affected a large part of the population. Water scarcity, pesticide over-application, and chemical pollutants are considered to be the most important factors impacting on food safety in China. Inadequate quantity and quality of surface water resources in China have led to the long-term use of waste-water irrigation to fulfill the water requirements for agricultural production. In some regions this has caused serious agricultural land and food pollution, especially for heavy metals. It is important, therefore, that issues threatening food safety such as combined pesticide residues and heavy metal pollution are addressed to reduce risks to human health. The increasing negative effects on food safety from water and soil pollution have put more people at risk of carcinogenic diseases, potentially contributing to ‘cancer villages’ which appear to correlate strongly with the main food producing areas. Currently in China, food safety policies are not integrated with soil and water pollution management policies. Here, a comprehensive map of both soil and water pollution threats to food safety in China is presented and integrated policies addressing soil and water pollution for achieving food safety are suggested to provide a holistic approach

Spatiotemporal Uptake Characteristics of [18]F-2-Fluoro-2-Deoxy-D-Glucose in a Rat Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Model

Alterations of cerebral glucose metabolism are well anticipated during cerebral ischemia. However, detailed spatiotemporal characteristics of disturbed cerebral glucose metabolism during acute ischemia remain largely elusive. This study aims to delineate spatiotemporal distributions of [18]F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) uptake using positron emission tomography imaging, particularly at the peri-ischemic zone, and its correlation with tissue outcome

Kidney damage in COVID-19 patients with or without chronic kidney disease: Analysis of clinical characteristics and related risk factors

COVID-19 poses more risk to patients who already suffer from other diseases, particularly respiratory disorder. In this study, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and related risk factors during hospitalization of COVID-19 patients admitted with kidney damage. A total of 102 COVID-19 patients with kidney damage [irrespective of their chronic kidney disease (CKD) history] during hospitalization were included in this study. The patients were divided into a core group and a group who developed critical illness or death. Clinical data included age, gender, length of hospitalization, clinical manifestations, medical history, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs -CRP), high serum creatinine, low cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and hemoglobin. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors of patients' outcome. Among the outcomes, 75 patients (73.53%) were cured, 27 (26.47%) developed to critical illness or death, 20 (19.61%) of them died. A total of 36 (4.26%) out of 845 COVID-19 patients, developed acute kidney injury (AKI). Decreased oxygen saturation, elevated hs-CRP, elevated serum creatinine, elevated cTnI, and anemia were related factors for COVID-19 patients who developed to critical illness or death (P <0.05). Decreased oxygen saturation, elevated hs-CRP and anemia were not independent factors, but elevated serum creatinine and elevated cTnI were independent factors for COVID-19 patients who developed to critical illness or death (P <0.05). Among COVID-19 patients with or without CKD but with kidney damage during hospitalization, patients with elevated serum creatinine and elevated TnI, more likely to developed critical illness or death

Kidney damage in COVID-19 patients with or without chronic kidney disease: Analysis of clinical characteristics and related risk factors

811-817COVID-19 poses more risk to patients who already suffer from other diseases, particularly respiratory disorder. In this study, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and related risk factors during hospitalization of COVID-19 patients admitted with kidney damage. A total of 102 COVID-19 patients with kidney damage [irrespective of their chronic kidney disease (CKD) history] during hospitalization were included in this study. The patients were divided into a core group and a group who developed critical illness or death. Clinical data included age, gender, length of hospitalization, clinical manifestations, medical history, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs -CRP), high serum creatinine, low cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and hemoglobin. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors of patients' outcome. Among the outcomes, 75 patients (73.53%) were cured, 27 (26.47%) developed to critical illness or death, 20 (19.61%) of them died. A total of 36 (4.26%) out of 845 COVID-19 patients, developed acute kidney injury (AKI). Decreased oxygen saturation, elevated hs-CRP, elevated serum creatinine, elevated cTnI, and anemia were related factors for COVID-19 patients who developed to critical illness or death (P P <0.05). Among COVID-19 patients with or without CKD but with kidney damage during hospitalization, patients with elevated serum creatinine and elevated TnI, more likely to developed critical illness or death

Syntropic spin alignment at the interface between ferromagnetic and superconducting nitrides

The magnetic correlations at the superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) interfaces play a crucial role in realizing dissipation-less spin-based logic and memory technologies, such as triplet-supercurrent spin-valves and "{\pi}" Josephson junctions. Here we report the coexistence of an induced large magnetic moment and a crypto ferromagnetic state at high-quality nitride S/F interfaces. Using polarized neutron reflectometry and d. c. SQUID measurements, we quantitatively determined the magnetization profile of S/F bilayer and confirmed the induced magnetic moment in the adjacent superconductor only exists below TC. Interestingly, the direction of the induced moment in the superconductors was unexpectedly parallel to that in the ferromagnet, which contrasts with earlier findings in S/F heterostructures based on metals or oxides. The first-principles calculations verify the observed unusual interfacial spin texture is caused by the Heisenberg direct exchange coupling through d orbital overlapping and severe charge transfer across the interfaces. Our work establishes an incisive experimental probe for understanding the magnetic proximity behavior at S/F interfaces and provides a prototype epitaxial building block for superconducting spintronics.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, supplementary file with 14 figure

Forty years of reform and opening up:China’s progress toward a sustainable path

After 40 years of reform and “opening up,” China has made remarkable economic progress. Such economic prosperity, however, has been coupled with environmental degradation. We analyze diverse long-term data to determine whether China is experiencing a decoupling of economic growth and environmental impacts, and where China stands with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of reducing regional division, urban-rural gap, social inequality, and land-based impacts on oceans. The results highlight that China’s desire to achieve “ecological civilization” has resulted in a decoupling trend for major pollutants since 2015, while strong coupling remains with CO2 emissions. Progress has been made in health care provision, poverty reduction, and gender equity in education, while income disparity continues between regions and with rural-urban populations. There is a considerable way to go toward achieving delivery of the SDGs; however, China’s progress toward economic prosperity and concomitant sustainability provides important insights for other countries

Xenopus as a Model System for the Study of GOLPH2/GP73 Function: Xenopus golph2 Is Required for Pronephros Development

GOLPH2 is a highly conserved protein. It is upregulated in a number of tumors and is being considered as an emerging biomarker for related diseases. However, the function of GOLPH2 remains unknown. The Xenopus model is used to study the function of human proteins. We describe the isolation and characterization of Xenopus golph2, which dimerizes and localizes to the Golgi in a manner similar to human GOLPH2. Xenopus golph2 is expressed in the pronephros during early development. The morpholino-mediated knockdown of golph2 results in edema formation. Additionally, Nephrin expression is enhanced in the glomus, and the expression of pronephric marker genes, such as atp1b1, ClC-K, NKCC2, and NBC1, is diminished in the tubules and duct. Expression patterns of the transcription factors WT1, Pax2, Pax8, Lim1, GATA3, and HNF1β are also examined in the golph2 knockdown embryos, the expression of WT1 is increased in the glomus and expanded laterally in the pronephric region. We conclude that the deletion of golph2 causes an increase in the expression of WT1, which may promote glomus formation and inhibit pronephric tubule differentiation

Ensuring water resource security in China; the need for advances in evidence based policy to support sustainable management.

China currently faces a water resource sustainability problem which is likely to worsen into the future. The Chinese government is attempting to address this problem through legislative action, but faces severe challenges in delivering its high ambitions. The key challenges revolve around the need to balance water availability with the need to feed a growing population under a changing climate and its ambitions for increased economic development. This is further complicated by the complex and multi-layered government departments, often with overlapping jurisdictions, which are not always aligned in their policy implementation and delivery mechanisms. There remain opportunities for China to make further progress and this paper reports on the outcomes of a science-to-policy roundtable meeting involving scientists and policy-makers in China. It identifies, in an holistic manner, new opportunities for additional considerations for policy implementation, continued and new research requirements to ensure evidence-based policies are designed and implemented and identifies the needs and opportunities to effectively monitor their effectiveness. Other countries around the world can benefit from assessing this case study in China

Identification of Common Genes Refers to Colorectal Carcinogenesis with Paired Cancer and Noncancer Samples

Colorectal cancer is a malignant tumor which harmed human beings’ health. The aim of this study was to explore common biomarkers associated with colorectal carcinogenesis in paired cancer and noncancer samples. At first, fifty-nine pairs of colorectal cancer and noncancer samples from three gene expression datasets were collected and analyzed. Then, 181 upregulation and 282 downregulation common differential expression genes (DEGs) were found. Next, functional annotation was performed in the DAVID database with the DEGs. Finally, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was conducted to verify the analyses in sixteen colorectal cancer and individual-matched adjacent mucosa samples. Real-time PCR showed that MCM2, RNASEH2A, and TOP2A were upregulated in colorectal cancer compared with adjacent mucosa samples (MCM2, P<0.001; RNASEH2A, P<0.001; TOP2A, P=0.001). These suggested that 463 DEGs might contribute to colorectal carcinogenesis