Establishing Standardized Biomedical Laboratory Technician Education for the Development of Biotech no logy Research in China

Chinese scientists have been actively engaged in biotechnology research since the mid-2Oth century.However,biotechnology education,especially biomedical laboratory technology education,is relatively scarce in China.More and more cutting-edge equipment and techniques have been introduced into biomedical laboratories in China,but there is a lack of high-quality techni&ans to apply these advancements to scientific research.In addition,the traditional education and apprenticeship systems have been demonstrated little progress.To address this gap,West China Hospital of Sichuan University established a 2-year educational program for laboratory technology in 2006 based on the residency training program.The project integrates scientific methods into the research laboratory technician training in relevant disciplines,and has developed a systematic,scientific,and effective standardized training system to cultivate high-level and stable experimental technician team for the need of advanced laboratories,which has been demonstrated gready improve the efficiency of biomedical researchers and laboratory facilities.In this article,we introduce the practical experience in establishment and development of a standardized training system for biomedical laboratory technicians to ensure the sustainable development of medical researches.

Interaction between neutrophil extracellular traps and cardiomyocytes contributes to atrial fibrillation progression

Atrial fibrillation(AF)is a frequent arrhythmia associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Neutrophil extracellular traps(NETs)are DNA fragments with cytoplasm proteins released from neutrophils,which are involved in various cardiovascular diseases.To elucidate the role of NETs in AF,we investigated the effect of NETs on AF progression and the secretion of NETs in AF.Results showed that:NETs induced the autophagic apoptosis of cardiomyocytes,and NETs also led to mitochondrial injury by promoting mitochondrial depolarization and ROS production.Ongoing tachy-pacing led to the structural loss of cardiomyocytes and provided potent stimuli to induce NETs secretion from neutrophils.In the meanwhile,increased Ang II in AF facilitated NETs formation through the upregulation of AKT phosphorylation,while it could not directly initiate NETosis as the autophagy was not induced.In vivo,DNase I was administrated to abrogate NETs formation,and AF-related fibrosis was ameliorated as expected.Correspondingly,the duration of the induced AF was reduced.Our study addresses the formation mechanism of NETs in AF and demonstrates the lethal effects of NETs on cardiomyocytes through the induction of mitochondrial injury and autophagic cell death,which comprehensively describes the positive feedback comprised of NETs and stimuli secreted by cardiomyocytes that sustains the progression of AF and AF related fibrosis.

Distribution of chlorpyrifos in rice paddy environment and its potential dietary risk

Chlorpyrifos is one of the most extensively used insecticides in China. The distribution and residues of chlorpyrifos in a paddy environment were characterized under field and laboratory conditions. The half-lives of chlorpyrifos in the two conditions were 0.9–3.8 days(field) and 2.8–10.3 days(laboratory), respectively. The initial distribution of chlorpyrifos followed the increasing order of water < straw < soil, and soil was characterized as the major absorber. The ultimate residues in rice grain were below the maximum residue limit(MRL) with a harvest interval of 14 days. The chronic exposure for chlorpyrifos was rather low compared to the acceptable daily intake(ADI = 0.01 mg/kg bw) due to rice consumption. The chronic exposure risk from chlorpyrifos in rice grain was 5.90% and 1.30% ADI from field and laboratory results respectively. Concerning the acute dietary exposure,intake estimated for the highest chlorpyrifos level did not exceed the acute reference dose(ARf D = 0.1 mg/kg bw). The estimated short-term intakes(ESTIs) were 0.78% and 0.25% of the ARf D for chlorpyrifos. The results showed that the use of chlorpyrifos in rice paddies was fairly safe for consumption of rice grain by consumers.