The objective of this study was to understand and measure epigenetic changes associated with the occurrence of CHDs by utilizing the discordant monozygotic twin model. A unique set of monozygotic twins discordant for double-outlet right ventricles (DORVs) was used for this multiomics study. The cardiac and muscle tissue samples from the twins were subjected to whole genome sequencing, whole genome bisulfite sequencing, RNA-sequencing and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Sporadic DORV cases and control fetuses were used for validation. Global hypomethylation status was observed in heart tissue samples from the affected twins. Among 36,228 differentially methylated regions (DMRs), 1097 DMRs involving 1039 genes were located in promoter regions. A total of 419 genes, and lncRNA–mRNA pairs involved 30 genes, and 62 proteins were significantly differentially expressed. Multiple omics integrative analysis revealed that five genes, including BGN, COL1A1, COL3A1, FBLN5, and FLAN, and three pathways, including ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion and TGF-β signaling pathway, exhibited differences at all three levels. This study demonstrates a multiomics profile of discordant twins and explores the possible mechanism of DORV development. Global hypomethylation might be associated with the risk of CHDs. Specific genes and specific pathways, particularly those involving ECM–receptor interaction, focal adhesion and TGF–β signaling, might be involved in the occurrence of CHDs.

The complex sea ice conditions in Arctic waters has different impacts on the legs of the Arctic passage, and ships of specific ice classes face different navigation risks. Therefore, the quantitative analysis of the navigation risks faced in different legs has important practical significance. Based on the POLARIS introduced by IMO, the sea ice condition data from 2011 to 2020 was used to quantify the navigation risk of the Arctic Northeast passage. The risk index outcome (RIO) of the Arctic Northeast Passage were calculated. The navigable windows of the route for ice class 1A ships sailing independently under different sea ice conditions in the last decade were determined, with a navigable period of 91 days under normal sea ice conditions, approximately 175 days under light sea ice conditions and only week 40 close to navigation under severe sea ice conditions. The three critical waters affecting the safety of ships were identified. Combined with the navigable windows and critical waters, recommendations on ship's navigation and manipulation and recommendations for stakeholders were given. The method and results provided reference and support for the assessment of the navigation risk of ships in the Northeast Passage and safety navigation and operations of ships, and satisfied the needs of relevant countries and enterprises to rationally arrange shipment dates and sailing plans based on different ice classes of ships.

The isolation of male and female gametes is an effective method to study the fertilization mechanisms of higher plants. An osmotic shock method was used to rupture pollen grains of Allium tuberosum Roxb and release the pollen contents, including generative cells, which were mass collected. The pollinated styles were cut following 3 h of in vivo growth, and cultured in medium for 6–8 h, during which time pollen tubes grew out of the cut end of the style. After pollen tubes were transferred into a solution containing 6% mannitol, tubes burst and released pairs of sperm cells. Ovules of A. tuberosum were incubated in an enzyme solution for 30 min, and then dissected to remove the integuments. Following transfer to a dissecting solution free of enzymes, each nucellus was cut in the middle, and squeezed gently on the micropylar end, resulting in the liberation of the egg, zygote and proembryo from ovules at selected stages. These cells can be used to explore fertilization and embryonic development using molecular biological methods for each cell type and development stage.

An effective multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the simultaneous detection of three major pathogens, Nosema bombycis Nägeli (Microsporidia: Nosematidae), Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (Baculoviridae: genus Alphabaculovirus) (NPV), and Bombyx mori densovirus (Parvoviridae: genus Iteravirus) (DNV), in silkworms (Bombyx mori (Linnaeus); Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) was developed in this study. Polymerase chain reaction and real-time PCR tests and basic local alignment search tool searches revealed that the primers and probes used in this study had high specificities for their target species. The ability of each primer/probe set to detect pure pathogen DNA was determined using a plasmid dilution panel, in which under optimal conditions the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed high efficiency in the detection of three mixed target plasmids with a detection limit of 8.5×103 copies for N. bombycis and Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV) and 8.5×104 copies for Bombyx mori DNV (BmDNV). When the ability to detect these three pathogens was examined in artificially inoculated silkworms, our method presented a number of advantages over traditional microscopy, including specificity, sensitivity, and high-throughput capabilities. Under the optimal volume ratio for the three primer/probe sets (3:2:2=N. bombycis:BmNPV:BmDNV), the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed early detection of BmNPV and BmDNV by day 1 post inoculation using DNA templates of the three pathogens in various combinations from individually infected silkworms; the early detection of N. bombycis was possible by day 3 post inoculation using the DNA isolated from the midgut of N. bombycis-infected silkworms.

In recent years, with the increasingly frequent variety of large-scale disasters that have happened in China, the Chinese People’s Armed Police Forces (PAP) has undertaken increasingly frequent and diversified tasks, which has led to greater requirements for the construction of emergency medical rescue equipment. Therefore, as determined by the characteristics of the PAP’s tasks and based on the construction of special boxes and frame tent equipment, a new PAP mobile rescue hospital system was successfully developed, and all PAP provincial-level medical rescue teams have been equipped with this system. In the present article, we describe this mobile rescue hospital system, which is mainly composed of professional emergency vehicles, frame-type tents, and advanced medical equipment. The system has the following characteristics: significant integration, a fast response, flexibility, and practicability. The mobile rescue system is generally used as the army’s own health service support system and to provide certain emergency medical rescue services to disaster-stricken people. The successful construction and further application of this system have significance in terms of accelerating the response of rescue teams and the emergency treatment ability of the PAP’s provincial-level emergency medical rescue teams. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:455–459)

On April 25, 2015, a massive 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal at 2:11 pm (Beijing time). The 68-member-strong China International Search & Rescue Team (CISAR) left for Nepal at 6 am, April 26, to help with relief work. The CISAR was the first foreign team to rescue a survivor who was trapped beneath the rubble in the Gongabu area after the earthquake. On May 8, the team fulfilled the search-and-rescue mission and returned to Beijing. During the 2 weeks of rescue work, the team treated more than 3700 victims and cleared approximately 430 buildings. In this rescue mission, 10 experienced medical officers (including nine doctors and a nurse) from the General Hospital of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (PAP) comprised the medical team of CISAR. In this report, we focus on the medical rescues by CISAR and discuss the characteristics of the medical rescue in Nepal. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:536–538)

The relationship between hydrophobicity and the protective effect of whey protein hydrolysates (WPHs) against oxidative stress was studied. Whey protein was first hydrolysed by pepsin and trypsin to obtain WPHs. After absorbed by macroporous adsorption resin DA201-C, three fractions named as M20, M40, and M60 were eluted by various concentrations of ethanol. The hydrophobicity showed a trend of increase from M20 to M60. Antioxidant ability test in vitro indicated that all the three components of WPHs displayed reasonably good antioxidant ability. Moreover, with the increase of hydrophobicity, antioxidant ability of WPHs improved significantly. Then rat pheochromocytoma line 12 (PC12) cells oxidative model was built to evaluate the suppression of oxidative stress of three components on PC12 cells induced by H2O2. Morphological alterations, cell viability, apoptosis rate, and intracellular antioxidase system tests all indicated that WPHs exert significant protection on PC cells against H2O2-induced damage. Among them, M60 had the highest protective effect by increasing 19·3% cell survival and reducing 28·6% cell apoptosis. These results suggested hydrophobicity of WPHs was contributing to the antioxidant ability and the protective effect against oxidative damage.

In this work, the relationship between the substrate crystallinity and the on-state resistances of silicon carbide (SiC) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs) was investigated. PCSSs with different channel lengths were fabricated on semi insulating 6H–SiC having different crystal qualities. A method was introduced for determining the photoconductive capacity of the SiC PCSSs. The experimental data suggest that the photoconductive capacity decreases sharply with the degradation of the full width at half maximum of the rocking curve of the 6H–SiC substrates. It is found that increasing the carrier mobility is a key factor for reducing the on-state resistance of the 6H–SiC PCSSs. Moreover, the results in this work present reference for the selection of 6H–SiC substrates for the fabrication of PCSSs and some other photoelectric devices.

We investigated whether the hypolipidaemic effect of fenofibrate and fasting observed in most omnivorous mammals may also apply to herbivorous fish. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fed a high-fat (8 %) diet exhibited a marked increase in blood lipids and body fat after 6 weeks. They were then treated with fenofibrate (100 mg/kg body weight) in the same high-fat diet for 2 weeks, followed by fasting for 1 week. Plasma lipid concentration, body fat amount, fatty acid composition, plasma thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and some parameters related to hepatic fatty acid oxidation were measured, and liver samples were stained for histological examination. Fenofibrate treatment decreased TAG and cholesterol concentrations in plasma, total lipids of the whole body and liver, and EPA and DHA contents in tissues. Further, a mobilisation of mesenteric fat concomitant with an increase in hepatic peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation and lipid peroxidation was observed. Compared with fenofibrate treatment, fasting decreased body weight and plasma TAG, but not plasma cholesterol. It also reduced the fat content of the whole body and increased the EPA and DHA contents in the liver and other tissues. Fatty acid oxidation was stimulated by fasting in mitochondria, but not in peroxisomes. These data suggest that fenofibrate and fasting regulate the lipid metabolism in grass carp through different metabolic pathways. The grass carp is moderately responsive to a fibrate derivative in comparison with the well-known excess responsiveness of the rat model, and so it could be used for the study of lipid abnormalities as a herbivorous model.

The Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana is threatened with extinction due to anthropogenic habitat destruction. The scaling of its environmental capacity (K) with number of patches (P) has been studied and its response to the cumulative impact of anthropogenic habitat destruction has been simulated by a non-autonomous population model for single species. The results are: 1) The scaling index of environmental capacity of the Oriental White Stork to number of patches is 0.9768, i.e., K∝P0.9768. 2) By designing different scenarios to improve habitat quality, we find that it is more beneficial for the long-term persistence of the Oriental White Stork to increase average patch size than to increase the number of patches, if the total area of habitat remains the same. 3) If the Allee effect is significant, the Oriental White Stork is a ‘living dead’ species – one which is doomed to local extinction. To avoid extinction, habitat quality must be considerably improved.

High-fat diets may have favourable effects on growth of some carnivorous fish because of the protein-sparing effect of lipids, but high-fat diets also exert some negative impacts on flesh quality. The goal of the study was therefore to determine the effects of fat-enriched diets in juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) as a typical herbivorous fish on growth and possible lipid metabolism alterations. Three isonitrogenous diets containing 2, 6 or 10% of a mixture of lard, maize oil and fish oil (1:1:1, by weight) were applied to fish for 8 weeks in a recirculation system. Data show that feeding diets with increasing lipid levels resulted in lowered feed intake, decreased growth and feed efficiency, and increased mesenteric fat tissue weight. Concomitantly, alteration of lipoprotein synthesis and greater level of lipid peroxidation were apparent in blood. In liver, muscle and mesenteric fat tissue, the percentages of α-linolenic acid and DHA were significantly increased or tended to increase with higher dietary lipid levels. Biochemical activity measurements performed on liver showed that, with the increase in dietary lipid level, there was a decrease in both mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation capacities, which might contribute, at least in part, to the specific accumulation of α-linolenic acid and DHA into cells more active in membrane building. On the whole, grass carp have difficulty in energetically utilising excess dietary fat, especially when enriched in n−3 PUFA that are susceptible to peroxidation.