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BACKGROUND: Along with the dramatic development of molecular diagnostic testing for the detection of oncogene variations, reference materials (RMs) have become increasingly important in performance evaluation of genetic testing. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we built a set of RMs for genetic testing based on next-generation sequencing (NGS). METHOD: Solid tumor tissues were selected as the samples of RMs for preparation. NGS was used to determine and validate the variants and the mutation frequency in DNA samples. Digital PCR was used to determine the copy numbers of RNA samples. The performance of the RMs was validated by six laboratories. RESULTS: Thirty common genetic alterations were designed based on these RMs. RMs consisted of a positive reference, a limit of detection reference, and a negative reference. The validation results confirmed the performance of the RMs. CONCLUSION: These RMs may be an attractive tool for the development, validation, and quality monitoring of molecular genetic testing.

The slurry phase hydrocracking was carried out in a 150 kg/d pilot plant with a change of reaction temperature and different feedstocks including vacuum residue (VR), thermal cracking residue (TCR), 58% VR + 42% DOA (VRD) and 32% VR + 27% DOA + 41% TCR (VRDT). The results demonstrated that the conversions of residue and asphaltene, and hydrogen consumption had a linear relationship with the increment of reaction temperature. The TCR, VRD and VRDT with high content of asphaltene had the characteristic of higher asphaltene conversion and coke yield, but the coke yield was still low, and less than 1.3%. In addition, the removal rate of sulfur was much higher than that of nitrogen, while that of nickel and vanadium reach above 77 and 88%, respectively. The light liquid fraction product could further transform into high value-added chemical materials or clean transport fuel, and the heavy liquid fraction product could utilized as a very good raw material for high quality products as needle coke and carbon-based materials.

Cosmetic products for hair loss prevention are often mixed with prohibited substances such as hormones, antibiotics, and forbidden pharmacologically active substances. Although drugs increase the efficacy of cosmetic products, they cause skin irritation and allergic reactions, upon long-term exposure. Given the increasing number of hair loss prevention cosmetics on the market, the need to guarantee product safety calls for efficient and reliable methods to identify illegal ingredients in these products. Chromatography combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry offers the advantages of high resolution and high throughout, thus being a powerful technique for simultaneously detecting illegal ingredients in cosmetics. In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method for detecting 19 illegal chemical components was established. Combined with the scientific database, a screening platform for hair loss prevention cosmetics was constructed. The effect of extraction solvent was investigated. The chromatographic and mass spectrometry conditions were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, separation was achieved within 20 min on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm). Acetonitrile and 2 mmol/L ammonium formate solution containing 0.05% formic acid were used as mobile phases for gradient elution. The 19 compounds were detected by positive ion electrospray ionization (ESI) in the MS

This paper proposes a two-dimensional conceptual model of inter-industry competitive pressure, which is constituted of resource competition and market competition. This paper also provides the related measurement method and some basic properties based on the perspective of input–output analysis. Empirical research in the U.S. clearly shows that these pressures obey a lognormal distribution with a power-law tail, and the proportions of the two-dimensional competitive components follow a normal distribution. This analytical framework can be used to explore the structural nature, statistical characteristics and evolutionary mechanism of the regional industrial competition system and provides some decision support for industry competition policies.

A retrospective review of 9 patients diagnosed with empyema caused by

The multi-source data collected by the power Internet of Things (IoT) provide the data foundation for the power big data analysis. Due to the limited computational capability and large amount of data collection terminals in power IoT, the traditional security mechanism has to be adapted to such an environment. In order to ensure the security of multi-source data in the power monitoring networks, a security system for multi-source big data in power monitoring networks based on the adaptive combined public key algorithm and an identity-based public key authentication protocol is proposed. Based on elliptic curve cryptography and combined public key authentication, the mapping value of user identification information is used to combine the information in a public and private key factor matrix to obtain the corresponding user key pair. The adaptive key fragment and combination method are designed so that the keys are generated while the status of terminals and key generation service is sensed. An identification-based public key authentication protocol is proposed for the power monitoring system where the authentication process is described step by step. Experiments are established to validate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed system. The results show that the proposed model demonstrates satisfying performance in key update rate, key generation quantity, data authentication time, and data security. Finally, the proposed model is experimentally implemented in a substation power IoT environment where the application architecture and security mechanism are described. The security evaluation of the experimental implementation shows that the proposed model can resist a series of attacks such as counterfeiting terminal, data eavesdropping, and tampering.

Owing to their high specific capacity and abundant reserve, Cu

In the attempt to extract key information and talk patterns from YiXi talks in China to realize “strategic reading” for readers and newcomers of the speaking field, text mining methods are used by this work. The extraction of key information is realized by keyword extraction using the TF-IDF algorithm to show key information of one talk or one category of talks. Talk pattern recognition is realized by manual labeling (100 transcripts) and rule-based automatic programs (590 transcripts). The labeling accuracy rate of “main narrative angle” recognition is the highest (70.34%), followed by “opening form” (65.25%) and “main narrative object”, and the “ending form” is around 50%, with the overall accuracy of the rule-based automatic recognition program for talk patterns at approximately 60%. The obtained results show that the proposed keyword extraction technology for transcripts can provide “strategic reading” to a certain extent. Mature speech mode can be summarized as follows: speakers tend to adopt a self-introducing opening format. They tell stories and experiences through a first-person narrative angle and express expectations and prospects for the future. This pattern is reasonable and can be referenced by new speakers.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play an important role in adaption of environmental stress by protein folding, membrane translocation, degradation of misfolded proteins and other regulatory processes. Our previous study showed oxidative stress generated from polybrominated diphenyl ether-47 (PBDE-47) could cause an acute toxicity on freshwater bivalve Anodonta Woodiana, but the effect of chronic toxicity need to be elucidated. In order to further investigate the chronic effect of PBDE-47, clams A. Woodiana were randomly divided into the PBDE-47 treated group administrated with PBDE-47 at a concentration 3.36 μg/L and control group treated with a similar volume dimethyl sulfoxide. Two complete HSP sequences were isolated from A. Woodianaa and respectively named AwHSP60 and AwHSP70. They were widely distributed in foot, gill, hepatopancreas, adductor muscle, heart, hemocytes and mantle. Administration of PBDE-47 could result in a significant up-regulation of AwHSP60 and AwHSP70 expressions in the hepatopancreas, gill and hemocytes. In the hepatopancreas, compared with that of control group, mRNA level of AwHSP60 increased more than 89.9% (P

Sequencing technologies have been rapidly developed recently, leading to the breakthrough of sequencing-based clinical diagnosis, but accurate and complete genome variation benchmark would be required for further assessment of precision medicine applications. Despite the human cell line of NA12878 has been successfully developed to be a variation benchmark, population-specific variation benchmark is still lacking. Here, we established an Asian human variation benchmark by constructing and sequencing a stabilized cell line of a Chinese Han volunteer. By using seven different sequencing strategies, we obtained ~3.88 Tb clean data from different laboratories, hoping to reach the point of high sequencing depth and accurate variation detection. Through the combination of variations identified from different sequencing strategies and different analysis pipelines, we identified 3.35 million SNVs and 348.65 thousand indels, which were well supported by our sequencing data and passed our strict quality control, thus should be high confidence variation benchmark. Besides, we also detected 5,913 high-quality SNVs which had 969 sites were novel and located in the high homologous regions supported by long-range information in both the co-barcoding single tube Long Fragment Read (stLFR) data and PacBio HiFi CCS data. Furthermore, by using the long reads data (stLFR and HiFi CCS), we were able to phase more than 99% heterozygous SNVs, which helps to improve the benchmark to be haplotype level. Our study provided comprehensive sequencing data as well as the integrated variation benchmark of an Asian derived cell line, which would be valuable for future sequencing-based clinical development.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers-47 (PBDE-47) and -209 are significant components of total PBDEs in water and can catalyze the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the organisms. Anti-oxidant enzymes play an important role in scavenging the high level of ROS. In the current study, two full-length cDNAs of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSODs) and catalase (CAT) were isolated from freshwater bivalve Anodonta woodiana by rapid amplification of cDNA ends approach and respectively named as AwSOD and AwCAT. The nucleotide sequence of AwSOD cDNA had an open reading frame (ORF) of 465 bp encoding a polypeptide of 155 amino acids in which signature 1 GKHGFHVHEFGDNT and signature 2 GNAGARSACGVI of SODs were observed. Deduced amino acid sequence of AwSOD showed a significant similarity with that of CuZnSODs. AwCAT had an ORF 1536 bp encoding a polypeptide of 512 amino acids which contains a conserved catalytic site motif, and a proximal heme-ligand signature motif of CATs. The time-course expressions of AwSOD and AwCAT in hepatopancreas were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Expressions of AwSOD and AwCAT showed a significant up-regulation in groups at a low concentration treatment of PBDE-47, a biphasic pattern in groups with a high concentration treatment. Administration of PBDE-209 could result in an up-regulation of AwSOD and AwCAT expressions with time- and dose-dependent matter. These results indicate that up-regulations of AwSOD and AwCAT expression of hepatopancreas of freshwater bivalve A. woodiana contribute to eliminate oxidative stress derived from PBDE-47 and -209 treated.

Objevtive To investigate the antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties of the different extracts Guizhencao (Herba Bidentis Bipinnatae) against liver injury in hyperlipidemia rats. Methods The rats were divided into 7 groups, with 10 rats in each. Rats were treated with high-fat diet for 18 weeks besides the normal control group, then rats in both normal control and model groups were received 5 mL/kg −1 ·day −1 of saline and those in the positive control group with 2 mg/kg −1 ·day −1 of lovastatin. Rats in the positive control group and different Guizhencao ( Herba Bidentis Bipinnatae ) extracts treatment groups (ethyl acetate extract group, n -hexane extract group, ethanol extract group, and aqueous extract group) were treated with corresponding extract at a concentration of 5 mL/kg −1 ·day −1 . After 8 weeks treatment, all rats were sacrificed and total blood samples were collected. Histological analysis of liver was underdone by hematoxylin and eosin. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glouse (GLU), cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were measured according to standard procedure using auto-analyzer. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver were ananlyzed by procedure instruction. Results The histopathological analysis implied that the administration of Guizhencao ( Herba Bidentis Bipinnatae ) extracts resulted in hepatoprotective role compared with that of the model group. In addition, the high-fat diet caused a remarkable increase of ALT, AST, GLU, TC, TG, LDL-C and MDA levels. A decline in HDL-C and SOD concentrations and a reversal of effects were observed in different Guizhencao ( Herba Bidentis Bipinnatae ) extracts groups, especially in the aqueous extract and ethanol extract groups. Conclusions The different extracts of Guizhencao ( Herba Bidentis Bipinnatae ) can play a protecting role against liver injury in hyperlipidemia rats maybe through decreasing ALT, AST, GLU, TC, TG, LDL-C and MDA levels and enhancing the liver anti-oxidative ability.

Coke oven emissions are known as human carcinogen, which is a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. In this study, we aimed to clarify the mechanism of action of coke oven emissions induced carcinogenesis and to identify biomarkers of early biological effects in a human bronchial epithelial cell line with CYP1A1 activity (HBE-CYP1A1). Particulate matter was collected in the oven area on glass filter, extracted and analyzed by GC/MS. DNA breaks and oxidative damage were evaluated by alkaline and endonucleases (FPG, hOGG1 and ENDO III)-modified comet assays. Cytotoxicity and chromosomal damage were assessed by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-Cyt) assay. The cells were treated with organic extract of coke oven emissions (OE-COE) representing 5, 10, 20, 40μg/mL extract for 24h. We found that there was a dose-effect relationship between the OE-COE and the direct DNA damage presented by tail length, tail intensity and Olive tail moment in the comet assay. The presence of lesion-specific endonucleases in the assays increased DNA migration after OE-COE treatment when compared to those without enzymes, which indicated that OE-COE produced oxidative damage at the level of pyrimidine and purine bases. The dose-dependent increase of micronuclei, nucleoplasmic bridges and nuclear buds in exposed cells was significant, indicating chromosomal and genomic damage induced by OE-COE. Based on the cytotoxic biomarkers in CBMN-Cyt assay, OE-COE may inhibit nuclear division, interfere with apoptosis, or induce cell necrosis. This study indicates that OE-COE exposure can induce DNA breaks/oxidative damage and genomic instability in HBE-CYP1A1 cells. The FPG-comet assay appears more specific for detecting oxidative DNA damage induced by complex mixtures of genotoxic substances.

Diesel engine exhaust (DEE) is a predominant contributor to urban air pollution. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified DEE as a group I carcinogen. Inflammatory response is considered to be associated with various health outcomes including carcinogenesis. However, human data linking inflammation with long-term DEE exposure are still lacking. In this study, a total of 137 diesel engine testing workers with an average exposure of 8.2 years and 108 unexposed controls were enrolled. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all subjects, and the association of DEE exposure with inflammatory biomarkers was analyzed. Overall, DEE exposed workers had a significant increase in the C-reactive protein (CRP) and a significant decrease in cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1β compared to controls after adjusting for age, BMI, smoking status, and alcohol use, and findings were highly consistent when stratified by smoking status. In addition, exposure time dependent patterns for IL-6 and CRP were also found (Ptrend = 0.006 and 0.026, respectively); however, the levels of IL-1β and MIP-1β were significantly lower in subjects with a DEE working time of less than 10 years compared with the controls and then recovered to control levels in workers exposed for >10 years. There were no significant differences in blood cell counts and major lymphocyte subsets between exposed workers and the controls. Our results provide epidemiological evidence for the relationship between DEE exposure and immunotoxicity considering the important roles of cytokines in immunological processes.

Coke oven workers are regularly exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and have a high risk for lung cancer. Limited evidence has demonstrated a direct link between exposure to PAHs and early genetic damage in exposed workers. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) cytome assay is a comprehensive system for measuring DNA damage and cytotoxicity. In the current study, we investigated different chromosomal damage endpoints including micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) and nuclear buds (NBUDs), in 141 PAH-exposed subjects and 66 unexposed controls. The frequencies of MN, NPBs and NBUDs were all significantly higher in PAH-exposed workers than in controls (2.4-, 5-, and 3-fold, respectively). We further classified the PAH-exposed workers into different PAHs exposure groups based on their work positions on the oven and their urinary 1-hydroxypyrene and found that the frequencies of NPBs and NBUDs increased with the increasing level of both external and internal PAHs exposure levels. Similar trend was not found for MN due to the reduced MN frequency in the highest PAHs exposure group compared with the second highest PAHs exposure group. Using principal component analysis, we confirmed that the frequencies of NPBs and NBUDs are more sensitive to reflect the external or internal levels of PAHs exposure. In PAH-exposed subjects, NPB and NBUD frequencies were influenced by gender and females have lower frequencies of NPB and NBUD. Taken together, our observations indicate that NPBs and NBUDs are more sensitive and reliable biomarkers for genetic damages induced by PAHs and could potentially be used for the biomonitoring of genotoxin-exposed populations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between UGTIA7 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to chromosomal damage among polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-exposed workers. Methods: Blood and urine samples of 140 PAH-exposed workers and 66 non―PAH-exposed workers were collected. The polymorphisms of UGTIA7, cytokinesisblock micronucleus (CBMN) and 1-hydroxypyrene were analyzed. Results: UGTIA7 codon 208 Arg carriers exhibited significantly higher CBMN frequencies than did the Trp/Trp (P < 0.05). Stratification analysis revealed that the significant association between CBMN frequencies and the polymorphisms of UGTIA7 Asn129Lys, Arg131Lys, and Trp208Arg was most pronounced. Moreover, higher CBMN frequencies were found among subjects with * 3 allele than those with * 1 allele (P = 0.008) in younger PAH-exposed workers. Conclusion: Polymorphisms of UGTIA7 gene may alter the severity of PAH-induced chromosomal damage among the exposed workers.

The aim was to explore the relationship between the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to cytokinesis-block micronucleus among workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Blood and urine samples of 140 PAH-exposed workers and 66 non-PAH-exposed workers were collected. Seven tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms in ATM gene were selected by pariwise r(2) method and minor allele frequency cutoff of 0.05 from Chinese genotype data in HapMap project. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to analyze the polymorphisms of ATM rs600931, rs652311, rs227060, rs227292, rs624366, rs189037 and rs228589. The results showed that ATM rs600931 AG and AG+AA genotypes exhibited significantly higher cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) frequency (11.14+/-6.91 per thousand and 10.57+/-6.82 per thousand) than did the GG genotype (7.66+/-5.69 per thousand, P=0.015 and 0.038, respectively). The subjects with rs189037 GA and GA+AA genotypes exhibited significantly higher CBMN frequency (10.99+/-6.90 per thousand and 10.51+/-6.76 per thousand) than that of the GG genotype (7.72+/-5.82 per thousand, P=0.018 and 0.035, respectively). The PAH-exposed workers with rs624366 GC and GC+CC genotypes exhibited significantly higher CBMN frequency (11.34+/-6.74 per thousand and 10.73+/-6.62 per thousand) than did the GG genotype (7.61+/-6.07 per thousand, P=0.001 and 0.003, respectively). rs227092 GT genotype exhibited significantly higher CBMN frequency (10.78+/-6.60 per thousand) than did the GG genotype (7.91+/-6.30 per thousand, P=0.025) among the PAH-exposed workers. The haplotype pairs GGGGTGC/AAACATT exhibited significantly higher CBMN frequency (12.05+/-7.40 per thousand) than did the GGGGTGC/GGGGTGC (7.51+/-6.19 per thousand, P=0.007) among the PAH-exposed group. In conclusion, it is suggested that the polymorphisms of ATM were associated with the CBMN frequencies among PAH-exposed workers.

The associations between several genetic polymorphisms of nucleotide excision repair genes (NER) and chromosome damage level were studied among 140 coke-oven workers exposed to a high level of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 66 non-exposed workers. Seven polymorphisms with functional potential in five NER genes (ERCC1, ERCC2, ERCC4, ERCC5 and ERCC6) were genotyped in the 206 study subjects. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that coke-oven workers with the ERCC1 19007 CC genotype had significantly higher cytokinesis-block micronucleus frequency (CBMN) (10.5 +/- 6.8 per thousand) than those with CT (8.1 +/- 6.6 per thousand, p = 0.01) or TT (6.6 +/- 3.7-/ per thousand p = 0.05) or CT+TT genotypes (7.5 +/- 6.3 per thousand, p = 0.004). The ERCC6 A3368G polymorphism was also associated with CBMN frequency among coke-oven workers. Subjects with the AA genotype have a significantly higher CBMN frequency (10.0 +/- 6.9 per thousand) than those with AG (6.7 +/- 4.2 per thousand, p = 0.05) or AG+GG genotypes (6.6 +/- 4.1 per thousand, p = 0.02). Stratification analysis revealed the significant associations between ERCC1 C19007T and ERCC6 A3368G, and the CBMN frequencies were only found among older workers. In addition, a significant association between ERCC2 G23591A polymorphism and CBMN frequencies was also found among older coke-oven workers. The results suggest that polymorphisms of ERCC1 C19007T, ERCC6 A3368G and ERCC2 G23591A are associated with the CBMN frequencies among coke-oven workers.

Diesel engine exhaust (DEE) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and is carcinogenic to humans. To seek early and sensitive biomarkers for prediction of adverse health effects, we analysed the components of DEE particles, and examined the genetic and oxidative damages in DEE-exposed workers.101 male diesel engine testing workers who were constantly exposed to DEE and 106 matched controls were enrolled in the present study. The components of DEE were analysed, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), element carbon (EC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Postshift urine samples were collected and analysed for 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), an internal exposure marker for DEE. Levels of DNA strand breaks and oxidised purines, defined as formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG) sites in leucocytes, were measured by medium throughput Comet assay. Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was also used to determine the level of oxidative stress.We found higher levels of PM2.5, EC, NO2, SO2 and PAHs in the diesel engine testing workshop and significantly higher urinary 1-OHP concentrations in exposed subjects (p0.001). Compared with controls, the levels of parameters in normal Comet and FPG-Comet assay were all significantly higher in DEE-exposed workers (p0.001), and in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. There were no significant differences between DEE-exposed workers and controls in regard to leucocyte FPG sensitive sites and urinary 8-OHdG levels.These findings suggest that DEE exposure mainly induces DNA damage, which might be used as an early biomarker for risk assessment of DEE exposure.

A wide variety of base damages and single-strand breaks formed by reactive oxygen species during metabolic activation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been recognized to be involved in PAH carcinogenesis. In this study, alkaline comet assay was used to detect the DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes among 143 coke-oven workers and 50 non-coke-oven workers, and the effects of genetic polymorphisms of XRCC1 and ERCC2 genes on DNA damage were evaluated. The olive tail moment was significantly higher in coke-oven workers than in non-coke-oven workers (2.6, 95% CI=2.1-3.3 versus 1.0, 95% CI=0.8-1.2, p0.01), and significant correlation between ln-transformed urinary 1-OHP and ln-transformed olive tail moment was found in total population (n=193, Pearson's r=0.393, p0.001) and in coke-oven workers (n=143, Pearson's r=0.224, p=0.007). The olive tail moment was significantly higher in coke-oven workers with GA genotype of G27466A polymorphism of XRCC1 than those with GG genotype (4.6, 95% CI=2.5-8.7 versus 2.4, 95% CI=1.9-2.9, p0.01 with adjustment for covariates). No significant associations between C26304T, G28152A and G36189A polymorphisms of XRCC1 and G23591A and A35931C polymorphisms of ERCC2 and olive tail moment were found in both groups. The study showed that the alkaline comet assay is a suitable biomarker in the detection of DNA damage among coke-oven workers and it suggested that the A allele of G27466A polymorphism of XRCC1 may be associated with decreased DNA repair capacity toward PAH-induced base damage and strand breaks.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently reclassified diesel engine exhaust (DEE) as a Group 1 carcinogen. Micronucleus (MN), nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB), and nuclear bud (NBUD) frequencies in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) are associated with cancer risk. However, the impact of DEE exposure on MN frequency has not been thoroughly elucidated due to mixed exposure and its impact on NPB and NBUD frequencies has never been explored in humans. We recruited 117 diesel engine testing workers with exclusive exposure to DEE and 112 non-DEE-exposed workers, and then we measured urinary levels of 4 mono-hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) using highperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry as well as MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies in PBLs using cytokinesis-block MN assay. The DEE-exposed workers exhibited significantly higher MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies than the non-DEE-exposed workers (P < 0.05). Among all study subjects, increasing levels of all 4 urinary OH-PAHs, on both quartile and continuous scales, were associated with increased MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies (all P < 0.05). When the associations were analyzed separately in DEE-exposed and non-DEE-exposed workers, we found that the association between increasing quartiles of urinary 9-hydroxyphenanthrene (9-OHPh) and MN frequencies persisted in DEE-exposed workers (P ¼ 0.001). The percent of MN frequencies increased, on average, by 23.99% (95% confidential interval, 9.64–39.93) per 1-unit increase in ln-transformed 9-OHPh. Our results clearly show that exposure to DEE can induce increases in MN, NPB, and NBUD frequencies in PBLs and suggest that DEE exposure level is associated with MN frequencies.

To assess the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons monohydroxy metabolites in urine of general population in China among 8 provinces, provide the baseline of the metabolites in the general population.From 2009 to 2010, 18 120 subjects of general population aged 6-60 years old were recruited from 24 areas among 8 provinces in east, west and central areas of China mainland by cluster random sampling. The information of the living environment and health condition were collected by questionnaire and spot urine samples were collected, 4 680 urine samples were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, and monohydroxy metabolites distribution in urine among groups of gender and ages were analysed.Geometric means (GM) of 2-naphthol, 1-naphthol, 3-phenanthrol and 1-hydroxypyrene concentration in urine (95%CI) were 1.85 (1.75-1.95), 1.55 (1.50-1.61), 0.57 (0.54-0.59) and 0.82 (0.78-0.85) µg/L, respectively;and median are 2.44,0.50, 0.72 and 0.90 µg/L, respectively. The concentration between male and female were significantly different (P0.01), and the concentration among the groups of population were significantly different (P0.01), the GM of 2-naphthol among the groups of population aged 6-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-30, 31-45 and 46-60 years old were 1.60, 1.56, 1.69, 2.23, 1.91 and 1.86 µg/L (χ(2) = 17.90, P0.01), the GM of 1-naphthol in the groups were 1.30, 1.16, 1.53, 1.68, 1.80 and 1.52 µg/L (χ(2) = 76.22, P0.01), the GM of 3-phenanthrol in the groups were 0.78, 0.76, 0.55, 0.42, 0.50 and 0.99 µg/L (χ(2) = 66.48, P0.01), the GM of 1-hydroxypyrene in the groups were 0.77,0.64, 1.00, 0.84, 0.84 and 0.57 µg/L (χ(2) = 51.48, P0.01), respectively.The distribution of monohydroxy metabolites levels in urine of general population were different, it provided a basic data for the further study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biomonitoring in the population.

To establish a HPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of 4 monohydroxy metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine, including 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol, 3-phenanthrol and 1-pyrenol).After being treated by enzymatic hydrolysis, urine samples were purified by liquid-liquid extraction, evaporated under nitrogen to constant volume and examined by HPLC-MS/MS. Target compounds were quantified by internal standard calibration curve.The reproducibility and precision were improved by internal standard calibration. The recovery of four target compounds were in the range of 89.7%-103.0%. The precision of intra- and inter-batch was 1.0%-4.2% and 1.8%-5.8% respectively. The limits of quantification was 0.2 microg/L for 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol and 1-pyrenol and the limits of quantification was 0.1 microg/L for 3-phenanthrol.The sensitivity, reproducibility and recovery of HPLC-MS/MS method were good for the analysis of 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol, 3-phenanthrol and 1-pyrenol in the urine of people on occupational and nonoccupational exposure to PAHs.

DNA repair is an essential mechanism for cells to maintain their genomic integrity under endogenous or exogenous assault. Reduced DNA repair capacity (DRC) is associated with increased risk for several environmentally related cancers. The micronucleus in peripheral lymphocytes has been validated as a biomarker of chromosomal damage, increasing cancer risk in human populations. We hypothesized that suboptimal DRC is associated with the increase in chromosomal damage among 94 coke-oven workers and 64 noncoke-oven controls. DRC was evaluated in isolated lymphocytes by comet assay. Chromosomal damage in peripheral lymphocytes was detected by cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. Four common coding single nucleotide polymorphisms in the XRCC1 gene were genotyped. Coke-oven workers have significantly increased urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (9.0; 6.8-11.7 μg/L versus 1.5, 1.3-1.7 μg/L; P < 0.01) and micronucleus frequency (7.4‰ ± 4.3‰ versus 3.0‰ ± 3.0‰; P < 0.01), and decreased DRC (55.9% ± 16.4% versus 63.6% ± 18.5%; P < 0.01) compared with controls. Significant correlations between DRC and micronucleus frequency were found in coke-oven workers (r = −0.32; P < 0.01; n = 94) and all study subjects (r = −0.32; P < 0.001; n = 158) but not in controls (r = −0.21; P = 0.11; n = 64). Variants of the Arg399Gln polymorphism were associated with a decreased DRC in both coke-oven workers (51.6% ± 16.1% versus 60.6% ± 15.7%; P < 0.01) and controls (59.1% ± 18.5% versus 68.4% ± 17.5%; P = 0.04). The complicated interrelationship of these multiple biomarkers was also identified by path analysis. These findings should facilitate developing a biomarker-based risk assessment model for lung cancer in this occupational population. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(3):987–93)