Crop grey water footprints in China: The impact of pesticides on water pollution

Agricultural water pollution is a significant challenge in China, a rapidly growing economy with a large agricultural sector. The grey water footprint (WF) is a tool for evaluating freshwater pollution. It expresses pollution in volumetric units identifying the pollutant that theoretically needs most water to be diluted to accepted water quality standards. Previous agricultural grey WF studies focused on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), some studies included pesticides. This study assesses grey WFs based on N, P and 1513 pesticide combinations for twelve main crops and two crop categories in 31 Chinese provinces. Grey WFs, including the pesticide component, are far larger than estimated before, dominating total agricultural WFs (green, blue, and grey). The total grey WF of Chinese agriculture (4,900 109 m3 year-1) is determined by pesticides, while grey WFs related to N and P are 450 and 1,500 109 m3 year-1, differences of a factor of eleven and three respectively. The provinces Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong are hotspots contributing 37 % to the total grey WF. A limited number of pesticides used for maize, vegetables, fruits and potato (Mancozeb a fungicide, Acetochlor a herbicide and Cypermethrin an insecticide) dominate total grey WFs, contributing 80 % to the total grey WF. Eliminating the most polluting pesticides per category and redistributing the remaining ones with a similar function but lower grey WFs reduces national water pollution from agriculture by 64 %. Only five crops, i.e. maize, potato, soybean, rice and wheat, and the two crop categories, vegetables and fruits, contribute 94 % to this reduction. Probably grey WFs could reduce even further with a second elimination and redistribution effort. This study is the first national grey WF assessment related to pesticides in agriculture. It offers valuable insights to farmers and policymakers to enhance water quality in China and beyond.

Feasibility of Omitting Contralateral Neck Irradiation in Patients with Node-Negative Sinonasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Crossing the Midline

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

This study aims to analyze the nodal target volume in patients with node-negative SNSCC crossing the midline.

MATERIALS/METHODS

One hundred and four patients with node-negative advanced sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) crossing the midline were included. Survival rates were estimated and compared between treatment groups.

RESULTS

Sixty-four patients received contralateral ENI (contralateral ENI group), while forty patients did not (non-contralateral ENI group). The median follow-up time was 89.99 and 95.01 months in the contralateral and non-contralateral ENI groups, respectively. At 5 years, the regional relapse-free survival and contralateral regional relapse-free survival were 57.68% vs. 55.83% (p = 0.372), and 57.68% vs. 61.62% (p = 0.541), in contralateral ENI group vs. non-contralateral ENI group, respectively. Five-year overall survival, local relapse-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival were similar in the two groups (all p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In patients with node-negative SNSCC crossing the midline, omission of contralateral ENI did not affect regional control and survival outcomes on the premise of receiving ipsilateral ENI covering at least levels Ib and II.

Highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance sensor with surface modified MoSe2/ZnO composite film for non-enzymatic glucose detection

The rapid and accurate assessment of glucose concentration has been demonstrated to play a significant role in human health, such as the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, pharmaceutical research and quality monitoring in the food industry, necessitating further development of the performance for glucose sensor especially at low concentrations. However, glucose oxidase-based sensors suffer from crucial restriction in bioactivity because of their poor environmental tolerance. Recently, catalytic nanomaterials with enzyme-mimicking activity, known as nanozymes, have gained considerable interest to overcome the drawback. In this scenario, we report an inspiring surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for non-enzymatic glucose detection employing ZnO nanoparticles and MoSe2 nanosheets composite (MoSe2/ZnO) as sensing film, featuring desirable advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity, lab-free and low cost. The ZnO was used to specifically recognize and bind glucose, and further signal amplification was realized by incorporating of MoSe2 owing to its larger specific surface area and favorable bio-compatibility, as well as high electron mobility. These unique features of MoSe2/ZnO composite film result in an obvious improvement of sensitivity for glucose detection. Experimental results show that the measurement sensitivity of the proposed sensor could reach 72.17 nm/(mg/mL) and a detection limit of 4.16 μg/mL by appropriately optimizing the componential constitutions of MoSe2/ZnO composite. In addition, the favorable selectivity, repeatability and stability are demonstrated as well. This facile and cost-effective work provides a novel strategy for constructing high-performance SPR sensor for glucose detection and a prospective application in biomedicine and human health monitoring.

[IL-8 Links NF-κB and Wnt/β-Catenin Pathways in Persistent Inflammatory Response Induced by Chronic Helicobacter pylori Infection]

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection can cause persistent inflammatory response in human gastric mucosal epithelial cells, which may result in the occurrence of cancer. However, the underlying mechanism of carcinogenesis has not been elucidated yet. Herein, we established the models of chronic H. pylori infection in GES-1 cells and C57BL/6J mice. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) level was detected by ELISA. The expression of NF-κB p65, IL-8, Wnt2 and β-catenin mRNA and proteins was evaluated by real-time PCR, Western blotting, immunofluorescence staining, and immunohistochemistry. The infection of H. pylori in mice was evaluated by rapid urease test, H&E staining and Warthin-Starry silver staining. The morphological changes of gastric mucosa were observed by electron microscopy. Our results showed that in H. pylori infected gastric mucosal cells along with activation of NF-κB signaling pathway and increase of IL-8 level, the expression of Wnt2 was also increased significantly, which preliminarily indicates that IL-8 can positively regulate the expression of Wnt2. Studies in chronic H. pylori infected C57BL/6J mice models showed that there was an increased incidence of premalignant lesions in the gastric mucosa tissue. Through comparing changes of gastric mucosal cell ultrastructure and analyzing the relationship between NF-κB signaling pathway and Wnt2 expression, we found that H. pylori infection activated NF-κB signal pathways, and the massive release of IL-8 was positively correlated with the high expression of Wnt2 protein. Subsequently, the activated Wnt/β-catenin signal pathways may be involved in the malignant transformation of gastric mucosal cells. Collectively, H. pylori chronic infection may continuously lead to persistent inflammatory response: activate NF-κB pathway, promote IL-8 release and thereby activate Wnt/β-catenin pathway. IL-8 probably plays an important role of a linker in coupling these two signal pathways.

Origin of Zenneck-like waves excited by optical nanoantennas in non-plasmonic transition metals

The scattering properties of metallic optical antennas are typically examined through the lens of their plasmonic resonances. However, non-plasmonic transition metals also sustain surface waves in the visible. We experimentally investigate in this work the far-field diffraction properties of apertured optical antennas milled on non-plasmonic W films and compare the results with plasmonic references in Ag and Au. The polarization-dependent diffraction patterns and the leakage signal emerging from apertured antennas in both kinds of metals are recorded and analyzed. This thorough comparison with surface plasmon waves reveals that surface waves are launched on W and that they have the common abilities to confine the visible light at metal-dielectric interfaces offering the possibility to tailor the far-field emission. The results have been analyzed through theoretical models accounting for the propagation of a long range surface mode launched by subwavelength apertures, that is scattered in free space by the antenna. This surface mode on W can be qualitatively described as an analogy in the visible of the Zenneck wave in the radio regime. The nature of the new surface waves have been elucidated from a careful analysis of the asymptotic expansion of the electromagnetic propagators, which provides a convenient representation for explaining the Zenneck-like character of the excited waves and opens new ways to fundamental studies of surface waves at the nanoscale beyond plasmonics.

[Introduction and implications of WHO position paper: vaccines against influenza, May 2022]

On May 13, 2022, World Health Organization(WHO) Position Paper on Influenza Vaccine (2022 edition) was published. This position paper updates information on influenza epidemiology, high risk population, the impact of immunization on disease, influenza vaccines and effectiveness and safety, and propose WHO's position and recommendation that all countries should consider implementing seasonal influenza vaccine immunization programmes to prepare for an influenza pandemic. In addition, it proposes that the influenza surveillance platform can be integrated with the surveillance of other respiratory viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus. This position paper has some implications for the prevention and control of influenza and other respiratory infectious diseases in China: (1) Optimize influenza vaccine policies to facilitate the implementation of immunization services; (2) Influenza prevention and control should from the perspective of Population Medicine focus on the individual and community to integrate with "Promotion, Prevention, Diagnosis, Control, Treatment, Rehabilitation"; (3) Incorporate prevention and control of other respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza, COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus, and intelligently monitor by integrating multi-channel data to achieve the goal of co-prevention and control of multiple diseases.

Single port robotic assisted sacrocolpopexy: technique and tips

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS

Sacrocolpopexy is the most durable surgical procedure for the treatment of symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (Maher et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(4):CD004014). The single port robotic platform has recently been approved in the USA for use in urological surgery. Innovation in robotic surgery continues to evolve, minimizing abdominal wall trauma while improving instrumentation and technical feasibility. Identifying the appropriate procedures to utilize novel technology is important to understand the role of new surgical tools. Sacrocolpopexy procedure, when performed with supracervical hysterectomy, requires extension of an incision for specimen retrieval, making it ideal for single port surgery. The technique and adaptation to new instrumentation is demonstrated in this video.

METHOD

A surgical demonstration of single port robotic sacrocolpopexy is shown.

RESULTS

Sacrocolpopexy was successfully completed using the single port robotic platform.

CONCLUSIONS

Sacrocolpopexy is technically feasible with use of the single port robotic platform.

Transcriptomic Mapping of Human Parotid Gland at Single-Cell Resolution

As the largest salivary gland in oral cavity, the parotid gland plays an important role in initial digesting and lubricating food. The abnormal secretory function of the parotid gland can lead to dental caries and oral mucosal inflammation. In recent years, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has been used to explore the heterogeneity and diversity of cells in various organs and tissues. However, the transcription profile of the human parotid gland at single-cell resolution has not been reported yet. In this study, we constructed the cell atlas of human parotid gland using the 10× Genomics platform. Characteristic gene analysis identified the biological functions of serous acinar cell populations in secreting digestive enzymes and antibacterial proteins. We revealed the specificity and similarity of the parotid gland compared to other digestive glands through comparative analyses of other published scRNA-seq data sets. We also identified the cell-specific expression of hub genes for Sjögren syndrome in the human parotid gland by integrating the results of genome-wide association studies and bulk RNA-seq, which highlighted the importance of immune cell dysfunction in parotid Sjögren syndrome pathogenesis.