Lung cancer mortality in a cohort of UK cotton workers: an extended follow-up

Background:

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that occupational exposure to endotoxins protects against lung cancer. To explore this hypothesis further, the follow-up of mortality of a cohort of 3551 workers, who were employed in the British cotton industry during 1966–1971, was extended by 23 years.

Methods:

Subjects had originally been recruited to a survey of respiratory disease, which collected information about occupation and smoking habits. Cumulative exposures to endotoxins were estimated from data on endotoxin levels by work areas in cotton mills. Risks of lung cancer were estimated using survival modelling.

Results:

During follow-up, 2018 deaths were recorded before the age of 90 years, including 128 deaths from lung cancer. After adjustment for smoking, hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for cumulative endotoxin exposures of ⩽30 000, >30 000 and ⩽200 000, >200 000 and ⩽400 000, >400 000 and ⩽600 000 and >600 000 endotoxin units (EU) m⁻³ years were 1, 0.8 (0.5–1.6), 0.7 (0.4–1.3), 0.6 (0.3–1.0) and 0.5 (0.3–0.9), respectively (P for trend=0.005).

Conclusion:

Our findings strengthen the evidence that occupational exposure to endotoxins protects against lung cancer, and suggest that the effect depends on cumulative dose and persists after exposure ceases.     

高效毛细管电泳法测定新疆南疆棉籽仁中棉酚的含量

目的 建立了棉籽仁中棉酚的高效毛细管电泳检测方法.方法 使用长度为58.5 cm、内径75 μm的毛细管柱,分离电压20 kv,进样量0.5 pis×10 sec,分离温度25℃,缓冲盐溶液为0.01 mmol/L四硼酸钠-磷酸(pH=8.00)检测波长235 nm.结果 棉酚在5.0～50.0μg/ml范围内线性良好,r=0.999 8,检测限为0.08μg/ml,加样回收率为97.5%～98.4%.新疆南疆不同品种棉籽仁中棉酚含量为0.60%～1.04%.结论 本法具有良好的精密度和回收率,可作为棉籽仁中棉酚的含量测定方法.     

医院灭菌包装材料成本效益分析

目的了解国内医用包装材料使用成本效益状况,推动医用灭菌包装材料科学使用。方法采用问卷调查方法,对国内部分医院医用包装材料使用情况进行了调查。结果所调查的6所医院中,有3所医院基本淘汰了棉布包装材料,改用硬质灭菌盒。以1万台手术量计算,棉布包装材料投入费用为21.07万元,硬质灭菌盒包装材料投入费用为8.74万元,每进行一台手术可节约经费12.33元。结论硬质灭菌盒贮存有效期长,且与纯棉包布包装材料相比可大幅度节省成本费用。     

Cutaneous zygomycosis: necrotising fascitis due to Saksenaea vasiformis

Saksenaea vasiformis is an emerging human pathogen, most often associated with cutaneous or subcutaneous lesions following trauma. This is the report of a case of subcutaneous zygomycosis from which Saksenaea vasiformis was isolated on culture. As the patient developed acute interstitial nephritis, amphotericin B could not be administered in full dose. Surgical debridement was carried out, but the patient deteriorated gradually and died. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Zygomycosis due to Saksenaea vasiformis from Visakhapatnam.     

piggyBac-like elements in cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

Two piggyBac -like elements (PLEs) were identified in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera , and were designated as HaPLE1 and HaPLE2 . HaPLE1 is flanked by 16 bp inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) and the duplicated TTAA tetranucleotide, and contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1794 bp with the presumed DDD domain, indicating that this element may be an active autonomously mobile element. HaPLE2 was found with the same ITRs, but lacks the majority of an ORF-encoding transposase. Thus, this element was thought to be a non-autonomous element. Transposable element displays and distribution of the two PLEs in individuals from three different H .  armigera populations suggest that transmobilization of HaPLE2 by the transposase of HaPLE1 may be likely, and mobilization of HaPLE1 might occur not only within the same individual, but also among different individuals. In addition, horizontal transfer was probably involved in the evolution of PLEs between H .  armigera and Trichoplusia ni .     

Identification of candidate genes for fenvalerate resistance in Helicoverpa armigera using cDNA-AFLP

A cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphisms approach was undertaken to screen for candidate genes associated with fenvalerate resistance in the AN02 strain of Helicoverpa armigera. Larvae and adults of this strain manifest ~50-fold resistance, which is suppressible by piperonyl butoxide and controlled by the semidominant gene RFen1 previously mapped to AFLP Linkage Group 13. Two cytochrome P450s ( CYP337B1 and CYP4S1 ), one carboxylesterase-like protein and one glutathione transferase were found to be constitutively upregulated in resistant insects. Mapping of these potential detoxification genes showed that one of them, the novel P450 CYP337B1 , was tightly linked to the resistance locus. This suggests that the RFen1^R allele has a cis -acting effect on CYP337B1 expression, and possible trans -acting effects on expression of other genes.     

两种包装医疗器械的灭菌及防污染效果比较

将装针头灭菌的铝制自动启闭消毒盒改装后．用于盛装医疗器械进行脉动真空压力蒸汽灭菌。对其灭菌效果与灭菌后无菌存放期进行了检测,并与双层棉布包装者比较。结果,２种包装医疗器械灭菌合格率均为 １００％。用改装铝盒装的器械,无菌存放期达２１ｄ,双层棉布包装者 １４ｄ。     

无毒棉花籽中黄酮苷的分离与结构鉴定

目的　研究无毒棉花籽(glandlesscottonseed)中的黄酮类化学成分。方法　利用大孔树脂、聚酰胺-6、硅胶和SephadexLH-20柱色谱进行分离纯化。用UV ,MS ,¹HNMR ,¹³CNMR ,¹H-¹HCOSY ,¹H-¹³CCOSY ,HMBC和TOCSY等光谱确定化合物结构。结果　从无毒棉花籽中分离得到5个黄酮苷,经光谱鉴定化合物结构为:山奈酚-3-O-β-D-芹菜糖( 1→2 )-[α-L-鼠李糖(1→6)]-β-D-葡糖苷(I)、槲皮素-3-O-β-D-芹菜糖 ( 1→2)-[α-L-鼠李糖( 1→6)]-β-D-葡糖苷(II)、槲皮素-3-O-β-D-芹菜糖 ( 1→2 )-β-D-葡糖苷(III)、芦丁(IV)和陆地棉苷(V)。结论　I是一个新化合物,II和III为首次从该属植物中分离得到。     

Synthesis of Betaine Copolymer for Surface Modification of Cotton Fabric by Enhancing Temperature-Sensitive and Anti-Protein Specific Absorption Performance

The growth and reproduction of microorganisms on fabrics could not only affect the wearability of textiles but also cause harm to human health, and it is an important problem that should be solved to reduce the adsorption and growth of microorganisms on the surface of the fabric. A series of ω-vinyl betaine copolymers were synthesized by catalytic chain transfer polymerization (CCTP) and were modified by mercapto-vinyl click chemistry to synthesize silane-modified betaine copolymers, which were used to treat the cotton fabric. The hydrophilic–hydrophobic transition performance and anti-protein specific adhesion performance of cotton fabric with the betaine copolymer were systematically investigated. The copolymer was confirmed to be successfully finished on the cotton fabric via ¹H–NMR and FTIR. The cotton fabric, which was treated by the betaine copolymer, presented temperature response performance in the range of 30–55 °C and had excellent anti-protein adsorption performance. The treated fabric had the best temperature-sensitive and anti-protein specific absorption performance among all the specimens when the mass fraction of G06B in DMAPS was 6 wt.%.