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Frontiers in Plant Science 2024The plant pathogenic fungus f. sp. infects wheat and reduces its yield. The policy of reducing fertilizer and biocide use in sustainable agriculture has prompted...
The plant pathogenic fungus f. sp. infects wheat and reduces its yield. The policy of reducing fertilizer and biocide use in sustainable agriculture has prompted researchers to develop more green and efficient management strategies. In this study, a novel nanoprotective membrane (kaolin-nano titanium dioxide-liquid paraffin, referred to as KTP) that could effectively prevent powdery mildew of wheat was prepared by using 1 g/L kaolin, 2 g/L nanotitanium dioxide and 8% (v/v) liquid paraffin. The prevention and control effects of KTP spraying in advance in the pot and field experiments were 98.45% and 83.04%, respectively. More importantly, the weight of 1000 grains of wheat pretreated with KTP was 2.56 g higher than that of wheat infected with powdery mildew, significantly improving wheat yield. KTP delayed the germination of powdery mildew spores on the leaf surface, and inhibited the formation of mycelia. In addition, KTP did not affect the growth of wheat or the survival of earthworms. KTP nanoprotective membrane are a green and safe prevention and control materials that are which is expected to be widely used in agriculture to control wheat powdery mildew.
PubMed: 38576782
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1369330 -
Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE Nov 2023Lung cancer is the leading cause of malignant tumor-related morbidity and mortality all over the world, and the complex tumor microenvironment has been considered the...
Lung cancer is the leading cause of malignant tumor-related morbidity and mortality all over the world, and the complex tumor microenvironment has been considered the leading cause of death in lung cancer patients. The complexity of the tumor microenvironment requires effective methods to understand cell-to-cell relationships in tumor tissues. The multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) technique has become a key tool for inferring the relationship between the expression of proteins upstream and downstream of signaling pathways in tumor tissues and developing clinical diagnoses and treatment plans. mIHC is a multi-label immunofluorescence staining method based on Tyramine Signal Amplification (TSA) technology, which can simultaneously detect multiple target molecules on the same tissue section sample to achieve different protein co-expression and co-localization analysis. In this experimental protocol, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of lung squamous carcinoma of clinical origin were subjected to multiplex immunohistochemical staining. By optimizing the experimental protocol, multiplex immunohistochemical staining of labeled target cells and proteins was achieved, solving the problem of autofluorescence and channel crosstalk in lung tissues. In addition, multiplex immunohistochemical staining is widely used in the experimental validation of tumor-related, high-throughput sequencing, including single-cell sequencing, proteomics, and tissue space sequencing, providing intuitive and visual pathology validation results.
Topics: Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lung Neoplasms; Paraffin Embedding; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Staining and Labeling; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 38078595
DOI: 10.3791/65850 -
Archives of Pathology & Laboratory... Dec 2023Pemphigus is an autoimmune blister disease that causes blisters on the skin and mucosal surfaces. Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) testing is critical for the clinical...
CONTEXT.—
Pemphigus is an autoimmune blister disease that causes blisters on the skin and mucosal surfaces. Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) testing is critical for the clinical diagnosis of pemphigus. However, it is limited to fresh tissue specimens and fluorescence microscopy.
OBJECTIVE.—
To assess the value of C3d immunohistochemistry (IHC) on paraffin-embedded skin tissue for the diagnosis of pemphigus by comparing C3d-IHC results to DIF and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing in pemphigus and other blister-related skin diseases.
DESIGN.—
C3d-IHC assays were retrospectively performed on paraffin-embedded skin tissue sections from 115 patients (63 with pemphigus and 52 controls). Both the case group and the control group underwent the same protocol, and cases with C3d position in the peripheral spinous layer were considered as positive samples.
RESULTS.—
C3d-IHC and DIF testing had similar performance for pemphigus diagnosis, with a sensitivity of 71.0% (95% CI, 51.8%-85.1%) and 77.4% (95% CI, 58.5%-89.7%), specificity of 96.4% (95% CI, 79.8%-99.8%) and 100% (95% CI, 85.0%-100%), positive predictive value of 95.7% (95% CI, 76.0%-99.8%) and 100% (95% CI, 82.8%-100%), and a negative predictive value of 75.0% (95% CI, 57.5%-87.3%) and 80.0% (95% CI, 62.5%-90.9%), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS.—
Our study indicated that C3d-IHC results for paraffin-fixed tissues were not significantly different from DIF results for the diagnosis of pemphigus. The C3d-IHC assay has the potential for routine diagnosis of pemphigus, especially in the absence of fresh-frozen tissue.
PubMed: 38149406
DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2023-0274-OA -
Scientific Reports Feb 2024Biomass combustion provides energy needs for millions of people worldwide. However, soot accumulation on the combustors' walls significantly reduces heat transfer...
Biomass combustion provides energy needs for millions of people worldwide. However, soot accumulation on the combustors' walls significantly reduces heat transfer efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate how microtextured surfaces minimize soot accumulation by enhancing soot oxidation. We investigate soot layers from the combustion of paraffin wax as a model for wood-based soot, and find that randomly microtextured glass obtained by sandblasting shows a 71% reduction in the time taken to oxidize 90% of surface soot coverage when compared to smooth glass at 530 °C. We also study grooved microtextures fabricated via laser ablation and find that grooves with widths between 15 and 50 µm enhance soot oxidation, while the expedited advantage is lost when the groove width is 85 µm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy validates the superior extent of soot removal on microtextures down to a sub-nanometer length-scale. The high density of sharp features such as peaks and edges on microtextures, and the conformality of the soot layer to the microtextures contribute to increased soot oxidation. We also demonstrate enhanced soot oxidation on microtextured stainless steel, the principal material of construction in biomass combustors. Microtextured surfaces that facilitate soot oxidation upon contact could significantly improve performance and longevity in various combustion applications.
PubMed: 38378782
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54320-5 -
Spectrochimica Acta. Part A, Molecular... Sep 2023Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers occurring in women. This is typically due to late diagnosis of the disease and difficult treatment. Infrared...
Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers occurring in women. This is typically due to late diagnosis of the disease and difficult treatment. Infrared microspectroscopy is a complementary research method that can be helpful in the diagnosis of this disease, because it allows for the analysis of the tissues biomolecular composition. In this study, archival paraffin-embedded preparations of ovarian tissues, tumours and control, were used. However, the paraffin present in such specimens is a strong absorber of infrared radiation, which makes it impossible to reliably analyse the biomolecular composition of the sample. The solution to this problem is to deparaffinize the tissue before the analysis. However, the extend to which the paraffinization and deparaffinization processes influence the biomolecular composition of the tissues is unclear. Analysed tissues in the form of cores were placed in a paraffin micromatrix and FTIR measurements were performed. Then the samples were deparaffinized and the measurements were taken again. For both sets of samples (embedded in paraffin and deparaffinized) ratios of integrated peaks and massifs within the obtained spectra were calculated. The obtained ratios were compared for different types of diseased and healthy, control tissues. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed statistically significant differences of the calculated ratios between most of the types of tissues. Random Forest models clearly showed that both samples in paraffin and deparaffinized retain enough information to classify the tissues reliably. The feature analysis revealed the most important feature for distinguishing between different types of samples, i.e. 1080 cm/1240 cm ratio and lipid saturation for the samples embedded in paraffin and deparaffinized respectively. The study showed that the deparaffinization process leads to changes in the biomolecular composition of the analysed tissues. Despite this, classification of the tissues based on FTIR measurements remains possible.
Topics: Female; Humans; Paraffin; Fourier Analysis; Ovarian Neoplasms; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
PubMed: 37080053
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122717 -
The Science of the Total Environment Aug 2023Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) involve a wide range of complex mixtures of chlorinated alkanes. The versatility of their physicochemical properties and their wide range of... (Review)
Review
Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) involve a wide range of complex mixtures of chlorinated alkanes. The versatility of their physicochemical properties and their wide range of use has turned them into ubiquitous materials. This review covers the scope of remediating CP-contaminated water bodies and soil/sediments via thermal, photolytic, photocatalytic, nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI), microbial and plant-based remediation techniques. Thermal treatments above 800 °C can lead to almost 100 % degradation of CPs by forming chlorinated polyaromatic hydrocarbons and thus should be supported with appropriate pollution control measures leading to high operational and maintenance costs. The hydrophobic nature of CPs lowers their water solubility and reduces their subsequent photolytic degradation. However, photocatalysis can have considerably higher degradation efficiency and generates mineralized end products. The NZVI also showed promising CP removal efficiency, especially at lower pH, which is challenging to achieve during field application. CPs can also be bioremediated by introducing both naturally occurring bacteria and also by engineered bacterial strains which are capable of producing specific enzymes (like LinA2 and LinB) to catalyze CP degradation. Depending on the type of CP, bioremediation can even achieve a dechlorination efficiency of >90 %. Moreover, enhanced degradation rates can be achieved through biostimulation. Phytoremediation has also exhibited CP bioaccumulation and transformation tendencies, both at lab-scale and in field-scale studies. The future research scope can include developing more definitive analytical techniques, toxicity and risk assessment studies of CPs and their degradation products, and technoeconomic and environmental assessment of different remediation approaches.
Topics: Soil; Paraffin; Environmental Monitoring; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Biodegradation, Environmental; Water
PubMed: 37149167
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163941 -
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Dec 2023The widespread contamination of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) of the soil environment has raised global concern due to their highly persistent and toxic properties....
Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in agricultural and industrial soils from Shanghai, China: surface and vertical distribution, penetration behavior, and health risk assessment.
The widespread contamination of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) of the soil environment has raised global concern due to their highly persistent and toxic properties. However, little information is available regarding these industrial toxicants' spatial-vertical distribution and penetration potentials. In this study, short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively) were analyzed in pooled surface and core soils (0-45 cm) samples collected from agricultural and industrial areas in Shanghai. ∑SCCP concentrations in agricultural and industrial surface soils ranged from 52.6 to 237.6 and 98.3 to 977.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), respectively. ∑MCCP levels were comparatively higher and ranged from 417.2 to 1690.8 and 370.9 to 10,712.7 ng/g dw in agricultural and industrial soils, respectively. CCl SCCPs and CCl MCCPs were the predominant homologues in all samples. Analysis of the soil vertical profiles revealed that MCCP concentrations decreased significantly with depth (P < 0.01). SCCPs more efficiently penetrated into the soils than MCCPs because of their higher water solubility and less octanol-water partition coefficient (K) values. A preliminary risk assessment suggested no potential health risks caused by non-dietary exposure. The daily exposure doses of CPs via ingestion were significantly (P < 0.01) higher for children (5.41 ± 2.11 × 10 and 1.68 ± 1.03 × 10 μg kg day) and adults (2.56 ± 0.99 × 10 and 7.94 ± 4.87 × 10 μg kg day) than dermal permeation exposure. Furthermore, CPs at current levels posed low ecological risks (0.1 ≤ RQ < 1) according to the risk quotient model. This study enhanced our understanding of the fates and behaviors of CPs in the terrestrial environment.
Topics: Adult; Child; Humans; Soil; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Paraffin; China; Environmental Monitoring; Risk Assessment; Water
PubMed: 37306889
DOI: 10.1007/s10653-023-01632-6 -
Molecular Biology Reports Aug 2023There are enormous formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue archives and a constantly growing number of methods for molecular analyses but, the isolation of DNA from this...
BACKGROUND
There are enormous formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue archives and a constantly growing number of methods for molecular analyses but, the isolation of DNA from this tissue is still challenging due to the damaging effect of formalin on DNA. To determine the extent to which DNA purity, yield and integrity depend on the process of fixation in formalin, and to what extent on the process of tissue paraffin embedding, we compared the quality of DNA isolated from fixed tissues and DNA isolated from tissues embedded in paraffin blocks after fixation.
METHODS AND RESULTS
Heart, liver and brain tissues obtained from healthy people who suddenly died a violent death were fixed in 10% buffered formalin as well as in 4% unbuffered formalin for 6 h, 1-7 days (every 24 h), 10, 14, 28 days and 2 months. Additionally, the same tissues were fixed in 4% unbuffered formalin embedded in a paraffin block and stored from a few months to 30 years. The yield and purity of the DNA samples isolated from these tissues were measured using spectrophotometry. PCR amplification of the hTERT gene was performed to evaluate the degree of DNA fragmentation. Although the purity of the DNA isolated from almost all tissue samples was satisfactory, the DNA yields changed significantly. There was a decrease in successful PCR amplification of the hTERT gene in DNA samples isolated from tissue fixed in buffered and unbuffered formalin for up to 2 months from 100% to 8.3%. Archiving the tissue in paraffin blocks for up to 30 years also impacts the integrity of DNA, so there was a decrease in PCR amplification of the hTERT gene from 91% success to 3%.
CONCLUSION
The largest decrease in DNA yield was observed after tissue formalin fixation after 14 days of fixation in buffered and unbuffered formalin. DNA integrity depends on the time of tissue formalin fixation, especially after 6 days for tissue fixed in unbuffered formalin, while for tissue fixed in buffered formalin the time is prolonged up to 28 days. The age of paraffin blocks also impacted DNA integrity, after 1 year and 16 years of archiving the paraffin blocks of tissues, there was a decrease in the success of PCR amplification.
Topics: Humans; Infant; Formaldehyde; Autopsy; Paraffin Embedding; Paraffin; DNA
PubMed: 37310548
DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-08491-5 -
Current Protocols Nov 2023Multi-color (or multi-marker) fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) is a well-established, valuable, complementary tool for prenatal and pathological (tumor)...
Multi-color (or multi-marker) fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) is a well-established, valuable, complementary tool for prenatal and pathological (tumor) diagnosis. A variety of chromosomal abnormalities, such as partial or total chromosomal gains, losses, inversions, or translocations, which are considered to cause genetic syndromes, can relatively easily be detected on a cell-by-cell basis. Individual cells either in suspension (e.g., in the form of a cytological specimen derived from body fluids) or within a tissue (e.g., a solid tumor specimen or biopsy) can be quantitatively evaluated with respect to the chromosomal hybridization markers of interest (e.g., a gene or centromeric region) and with due consideration of cellular heterogeneity. FISH is helpful or even essential for the (sub-)classification, stratification, and unambiguous diagnosis of a number of malignant diseases and contributes to treatment decision in many cases. Here, the diagnostic power and limitations of typical FISH and mFISH approaches (except chromosome painting and RNA hybridization) are discussed, with special emphasis on tumor and single-cell diagnostics. Well-established and novel FISH protocols, the latter addressed to accelerate and flexibilize the preparation and hybridization of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues, are provided. Moreover, guidelines and molecular aspects important for data interpretation are discussed. Finally, sophisticated multiplexed approaches and those that analyze very rare single-cell events, which are not yet implemented in diagnostic procedures, will be touched upon. © 2023 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: (m)FISH applied to formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues Basic Protocol 2: (m)FISH applied to cytological specimens.
Topics: Humans; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; Cytogenetics; Chromosome Aberrations; Chromosome Painting; Neoplasms; Formaldehyde
PubMed: 37984366
DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.942 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Sep 2023In this study, very short-, short-, medium-, and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (vSCCPs, SCCPs, MCCPs and LCCPs, respectively) were measured in 40 indoor dust samples...
In this study, very short-, short-, medium-, and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (vSCCPs, SCCPs, MCCPs and LCCPs, respectively) were measured in 40 indoor dust samples from four countries including Japan (n = 10), Australia (n = 10), Colombia (n = 10) and Thailand (n = 10). Homologues of the chemical formula CHCl ranging C and Cl were analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap-HRMS) and integrated using novel custom-built CP-Seeker software. CPs were detected in all dust samples with MCCPs the dominant homologue group in all countries. Overall median ∑SCCP, ∑MCCP and ∑LCCP (C) concentrations determined in dust samples were 30 μg/g (range; 4.0-290 μg/g), 65 μg/g (range; 6.9-540 μg/g) and 8.6 μg/g (range; <1.0-230 μg/g), respectively. Of the quantified CP classes, overall concentrations were generally highest in the samples from Thailand and Colombia, followed by Australia and Japan. vSCCPs with C were detected in dust from each country with an overall frequency of 48%, while LCCPs (C) were present in 100% of samples. Estimated daily intakes (EDIs) calculated for SCCPs and MCCPs relating to ingestion of contaminated indoor dust were considered not to represent health risks based on currently available toxicological data using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach. To the authors' knowledge, this study provides the first data on CPs in indoor dust from Japan, Colombia and Thailand, and is among the first reports of vSCCPs in indoor dust, globally. These findings indicate that further toxicological data and the availability of appropriate analytical standards are needed to evaluate the potential for negative health outcomes deriving from exposure to vSCCPs and LCCPs.
Topics: Environmental Monitoring; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Paraffin; Dust; Mass Spectrometry; China
PubMed: 37302785
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121994