Research Progress of Agricultural Genetically Modified Crop Safety Evaluation

The commercial cultivation of genetically modified(GM)crops has eased the global food crisis and brought considerable economic and social benefits to countries.Because of the potential safety problems,it is necessary to make clear the molecular genetic characteristics,edible safety,planting,processing,and other aspects of the safety evaluation of GM crops.The safety problems existing in the cultivation of GM crops,safety evaluation and detection of GM crops were introduced in this paper,which provided the basis for safety evaluation and effective supervision of GM crops and their products.Commercial cultivation and reasonable supervision based on safety evaluation have far-reaching significance for ensuring consumer safety,enhancing the credibility of the national political system and enhancing citizens'confidence in the safety of GM crop products for consumption.

Research on Safety of Manhuning Oral Liquid to Chicken

This study aimed to evaluate the safety of Manhuning oral liquid and to provide safety basis for clinical treatment. A total of 120 chickens of 14 days old were selected. After one week of adaptive feeding, they were evenly and randomly divided into four groups： one time the therapeutic dose （T1）, three times the therapeutic dose （T2）, five times the therapeutic dose （T3） and control （CK）. In different groups, the chickens were fed with Manhuning oral liquid according to the set doses for one week. At the beginning and at the end of the experiment, total 10 chickens were selected randomly from each group, respectively. They were weighed, and their blood was sampled for determination of routine blood indexes and examination of liver and kidney function. Organ indexes were determined, and pathological examination was conducted for the head, liver, spleen, lung and kidney of the chickens. The results showed that the body mass gain and organ indexes differed insignificantly among different groups （P〉0.05）. No significant differences were found in the routine blood indexes, serum ALT activity, albumin content, creatinine content and urea content among different groups before and after the experiment （P〉0.05）. After the administration, the head, liver, spleen, lung and kidney of the chickens showed no obvious abnormalities. In shod, Manhuning oral liquid had little impact on the physiological and biochemical indexes and had no toxic effects on the head, liver, spleen, lung and kidney of chickens, and it is a low-toxicity safe veterinary drug preparation.

Safety Evaluation of Myricetin and Crude Extract from Myrica rubra Leaves on Non-target Organisms

[ Objective] The study aimed to supply important basis for developing environment-friendly pesticides with myricetin and crude extract of Myrica rubra leaves as effective components. [ Method] According to ＂Test guidelines for environmental safety evaluation on chemical pesticides＂, the toxicity of myricetin and crude extract of M. rubra leaves on non-target organisms was determined and the safety evaluation was carried out. [Result] MyriceUn and crude extract of M. rubra leaves had low toxicity on non-target organisms, such as earthworm, silkworm and soil microbes. Myricetin showed low toxicity and the crude extract of M. rubra leaves showed middle toxicity on tadpole. The high-concentration crude extract of M. rubra leaves had some antifeedant effect on silkworm. [ Conclusion] Myricetin and crude extract of M. rubra leaves had low toxicity on non-tar- get organisms in environment and they were relatively safe.

Pre-clinical study of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for the treatment of traumatic brain injury: safety evaluation from immunogenic and oncogenic perspectives

Stem cell therapy is a promising strategy for the treatment of traumatic brain injury(TBI). However, animal experiments are needed to evaluate safety;in particular, to examine the immunogenicity and tumorigenicity of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells(hu MSCs) before clinical application. In this study, hu MSCs were harvested from human amniotic membrane and umbilical cord vascular tissue. A rat model of TBI was established using the controlled cortical impact method. Starting from the third day after injury, the rats were injected with 10 μL of 5 × 10^(6)/m L hu MSCs by cerebral stereotaxis or with 500 μL of 1 × 10^(6)/m L hu MSCs via the tail vein for 3 successive days. hu MSC transplantation decreased the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in rats with TBI and increased the serum levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines, thereby exhibiting good immunoregulatory function. The transplanted hu MSCs were distributed in the liver, lung and brain injury sites. No abnormal proliferation or tumorigenesis was found in these organs up to 12 months after transplantation. The transplanted hu MSCs negligibly proliferated in vivo, and apoptosis was gradually observed at later stages. These findings suggest that hu MSC transplantation for the treatment of traumatic brain injury displays good safety. In addition, hu MSCs exhibit good immunoregulatory function, which can help prevent and reduce secondary brain injury caused by the rapid release of inflammatory factors after TBI. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Wuhan General Hospital of PLA(approval No. 20160054) on November 1, 2016.

Agricultural GMO safety administration in China

Given the public concern over the safety of genetically modified （GM） technology and products, the article elaborated the safety regulatory and administration on agricultural GMOs in China. China has made a set of laws and regulations of GMO safety management and confirmed competent authorities with clear-cut responsibilities. According to the laws and regulations, GMO products before entering markets have to pass through safety evaluation, get production and processing permission and be labeled correctly. For the importation of GM products, China has set up an import approval system. In addition, China has established technical supportive systems, including safety evaluation specifications, trial specifications and criteria specifications. The existing regulatory system supervises and regulates all activities and work related to agri- cultural GMOs in China.

Safety evaluation for railway vehicles using an improved indirect measurement method of wheel–rail forces

The wheel-rail force measurement is of great importance to the condition monitoring and safety evaluation of railway vehicles. In this paper, an improved indirect method for wheel-rail force measurement is proposed to evaluate the running safety of railway vehicles. In this method, the equilibrium equations of a suspended wheelset are derived and the wheel-rail forces are then be obtained from measured suspension and inertia forces. This indirect method avoids structural modifications to the wheelset and is applicable to the long-term operation of railway vehicles. As the wheel-rail lateral forces at two sides of the wheelset are difficult to separate, a new derailment criterion by combined use of wheelset derailment coefficient and wheel unloading ratio is proposed. To illustrate its effectiveness, the indirect method is applied to safety evaluation of rail- way vehicles in different scenarios, such as the cross wind safety of a high-speed train and the safety of a metro vehicle with hunting motions. Then, the feasibility of using this method to identify wheel-rail forces for low-floor light rail vehicles with resilient wheels is discussed. The values identified by this method is compared with that by Simpack simulation for the same low-floor vehicle, which shows a good coincidence between them in the time domain of the wheelset lateral force and the wheel-rail vertical force. In addition, use of the method to determine the high-frequency wheel-rail interaction forces reveals that it is possible to identify the high-frequency wheel-rail forces through the accelerations on the axle box.

Evaluation on safety performance of a millimetre wave radar-based autonomous vehicle

This paper presents a method using range deception jamming to evaluate the safety performance of the autonomous vehicle with millimetre wave(MMW)radar.The working principle of this method is described.Combined with a waveform edition software,an experimental platform is developed to generate a deceptive signal that contains false distance information.According to related theories and its principle,the configuration parameters of the experimental setup are calculated and configured.The MMW radar of evaluated vehicle should identify an objective when it receives the deceptive signal from the experimental setup.Even if no obstacle,the evaluated vehicle can immediately brake in order that its braking distance is measured.The experimental results show that the proposed method can meet the requirements of the safety performance evaluation for the autonomous vehicle with MMW radar,and it also overcomes some deficiencies of previous methods.

Design and development of safety evaluation system of buildings on a seismic field based on the network platform

This paper describes a set of on-site earthquake safety evaluation systems for buildings, which were developed based on a network platform. The system embedded into the quantitative research results which were completed in accordance with the provisions from Post-earthquake Field Works, Part 2： Safety Assessment of Buildings, GB18208.2 -2001, and was further developed into an easy-to-use software platform. The system is aimed at allowing engineering professionals, civil engineeing technicists or earthquake-affected victims on site to assess damaged buildings through a network after earthquakes. The authors studied the function structure, process design of the safety evaluation module, and hierarchical analysis algorithm module of the system in depth, and developed the general architecture design, development technology and database design of the system. Technologies such as hierarchical architecture design and Java EE were used in the system development, and MySQL5 was adopted in the database development. The result is a complete evaluation process of information collection, safety evaluation, and output of damage and safety degrees, as well as query and statistical analysis of identified buildings. The system can play a positive role in sharing expert post-earthquake experience and promoting safety evaluation of buildings on a seismic field.

Safety Evaluation of Diacylglycerol Microemulsion in Rats/Mice

The objective of the present study was to evaluate potential adverse effects of diacylglycerol microemulsion （DAGM） in rats/mice. Acute safety evaluation was carried out by giving intragastrically with 20 mL 25% DAG kg-1 body weight of DAGM or water with two groups of mice. Chronic safety evaluation with 40 male and 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats was carried out by setting a control group and 3 different dose groups （n=10 male＋10 female） administered with DAGM with 6.7, 10 and 20 mL kg-1 body weight per day. Relevant parameters of liver and kidney function and biochemistry were determined by standard methods at end point. Acute toxicity study revealed the maximum tolerated dose （MTD） of DAGM was 20 mL kg-1 body weight in mice. No death was observed at the dose of 20 mL kg-1 body weight per day. Chronic safety evaluation did not show significant changes on hematological, histopathologic, clinical, and biochemical tests when administered at levels of 6.7, 10 and 20 mL kg-1 body weight per day to rats for 30 d. No significant body weight changes were observed in different dosages in both male and female rats. Our results suggested that acute and chronic adverse effects were not observed in histology and clinical parameters in both mice and rats. The results suggested that DAGM is safe at the experimental levels.

Safety evaluation system for hydraulic metal structures based on knowledge engineering

A comprehensive safety evaluation system taking the most influential factors into account has been developed to evaluate the reliability of hydraulic metal structures. Applying the techniques of AI and DB, the idea of a one-machine and three-base system is proposed. The framework of the three-base system has been designed and the structural framework constructed in turn. A practical example is given to illustrate the process of using this system and it can be used for comparison and analysis purposes. The key technology of the system is its ability to reorganize and improve the expert system＇s knowledge base by establishing the expert system. This system utilizes the computer technology inference process, making safety evaluation conclusions more reasonable and applicable to the actual situation. The system is not only advanced, but also feasible, reliable, artificially intelligent, and has the capacity to constantly grow.

Safety evaluation of replacement reinforcement quality in abutment contact zones of ultra-high arch dam in first impoundment period based on prototype monitoring

Reinforcement quality evaluation at the abutment is an important research direction. Prototype monitoring and theoretical derivation were integrated to study the replacement reinforcement quality in abutment contact zones of the Xiaowan ultra-high arch dam. The principles of monitoring layout and design are introduced in detail. Prototype monitoring shows that the increment of the interfacial compressive stress is much larger in the impoundment stage than in the regulating stage. The water pressure and time-effect are two main factors affeeting the interfacial stress. The time-effect is the key factor in the initial impoundment stage, and the water pressure is the key factor after impoundment. The contact properties are significantly improved by grouting. This study shows that there are three typical stages in the joint opening hydrographs, namely the compression stage, opening stage, and stable stage. There is a nonlinear relationship between the joint opening and temperature, which can be well described by the S-function. In conclusion, the reinforcement effect is satisfying, and the abutment is safe.

New methods of safety evaluation for rock/soil mass surrounding tunnel under earthquake

The objective of this work is to obtain the seismic safety coefficient and fracture surface and proceed with the seismic safety evaluation for the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel,and the limitation of evaluating seismic stability is considered using the pseudo-static strength reduction.By using the finite element software ANSYS and the strength reduction method,new methods of seismic safety evaluation for the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel are put forward,such as the dynamic finite element static shear strength reduction method and dynamic finite element shear strength reduction method.In order to prove the feasibility of the proposed methods,the results of numerical examples are compared with that of the pseudo-static strength reduction method.The results show that 1) the two methods are both feasible,and the plastic zone first appears near the bottom corners; 2) the safety factor of new method Ⅱ is smaller than that of new method I but generally,and the difference is very small.Therefore,in order to ensure the safety of the structure,two new methods are proposed to evaluate the seismic stability of the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel.A theoretical basis is provided for the seismic stability of the rock mass or soil mass and the lining surrounding a tunnel and also provided for the engineering application.

Research on the effect estimation of seismic safety evaluation

Seismic safety evaluation is a basic work for determining the seismic resistance requirements of major construc-tion projects. The effect, especially the economic effect of the seismic safety evaluation has been generally con-cerned. The paper gives a model for estimating the effect of seismic safety evaluation and calculates roughly the economic effect of seismic safety evaluation with some examples.

Safety Evaluation of a Potent Tetanus Vaccine (250 Lf) in Guinea Pigs (Cavia procellus)

A subacute toxicity study of a potent tetanus toxoid (250 Lf) was carried out in guinea pigs.The toxoid was injected subcutaneously at the nape of the neck at dose levels of 1.0, 1.5.and 2.0 ml in Groups Ⅱ. Ⅲ. and Ⅳ, respectively.In the controls (Group Ⅰ) 2.0 ml of aluminum phosphate suspension was given in each injection.Periodic evaluations of body weight, food/water intake, general observable behavior, hematology.and blood chemistry in toxoid-injected guinea pigs were similar to those in control guinea pigs.Thus, the toxoid did not cause any side effects up to four times the dose proposed for humans.1990 Academic Press, Inc.

Safety evaluation and whole genome sequencing for revealing the ability of Penicillium oxalicum WX-209 to safely and effectively degrade citrus segments

The microbial potential of Penicillium has received critical attention.The present research aimed to elucidate the efficacy of crude enzyme secreted from Penicillium oxalicum WX-209 in degrading citrus segments and evaluate the safety of the process.Results showed that citrus segment membranes gradually dissolved after treatment with the crude enzyme solution,indicating good degradation capability.No significant differences in body weight,food ingestion rate,hematology,blood biochemistry,and weight changes of different organs were found between the enzyme intake and control groups.Serial experiments showed that the crude enzyme had high biological safety.Moreover,the whole genome of P.oxalicum WX-209 was sequenced by PacBio and Illumina platforms.Twenty-five scaffolds were assembled to generate 36 Mbp size of genome sequence comprising 11369 predicted genes modeled with a GC content of 48.33%.A total of 592 genes were annotated to encode enzymes related to carbohydrates,and some degradation enzyme genes were identified in strain P.oxalicum WX-209.

Safety evaluation of a polyherbal formulation containing hydroalcoholic extracts of Hippophae salicifolia, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Reinwardtia indica in rodents

Dear Editor, Herbal medicines have been used for prevention and treatment of human diseases and promotion of healthy living. These medicines, often self medicated and consumed as concentrated extracts, are not strictly regulated. Considering their popular use and increasing safety concerns, thorough evaluations of their efficacy and safety are warranted to protect consumers from potential adverse effects. Toxicity tests （acute, sub- acute and chronic） using animals are widely applied to evaulate adverse effects of a drug and thereby determine its ＂No Observed Adverse Effect Level＂ （NOAEL）.

Study on mechanical characteristics and safety evaluation method of steel frame structure after fire

Mechanical characterization of steel frame structure after fire are ana- lyzed based on fire dynamics, heat transfer theory, structural mechanics, and finite element theory. We study the temperature characteristics and mechanical prop- erties of steel flame structure under different fire locations and propose a safety evaluation method. We also analyze damage level of main flame components, maximum temperature of fire, thermal characteristics of flame components, fir- ing duration, etc. to provide useful information for fire resistance design of the steel frame structure and post-disaster safety evaluation.

Expert system for evaluating the safety of pressure vessels

With more application of welding technology in important structures more attention was paid to the evaluation of the safety of welded structures, the life prediction and decision to repair the welded structures. Based on material fracture mechanism and Chinese standard of safety evaluations of pressure vessels, an expert system was developed to evaluate the safety of welded pressure vessels. The system can analyze the weld defects in a pressure vessel, convert different kinds of defects into equivalent cracks and obtain their equivalent sizes. Furthermore, the system can calculate the stress and strain in the positions of weld defects and make decision on whether the defects are tolerable or not according to the code. When it is tolerable, the system will calculate the safety margin. The fatigue life can be predicted if the defects undergo fatigue load too. Moreover, data bases are built for storing mechanical properties of material and evaluated results.

Safety Evaluation of Irradiated Foods in China: A Condensed Report

Eight trials, with 439 human volunteers who consumed irradiated foods including rice, potatoes, mushrooms, peanuts, and Chinese sausages, as well as diets composed of multiple irradiated foods (irradiated at dosages of 0.2 to 8 kGy) that accounted for 60-66％ of the entire diet, were carried out for 2-3 months according to a unified protocol. No adverse effects on body weight, blood pressure, ECG, hematology, blood enzyme activities, serum lipids, or blood or urine 17-hydroxycortisol contents and no chromosomal aberration of peripheral blood lymphocytes were found. It is especially worthwhile to note that there was no change in the polyploidy after consumption of irradiated diets. On the basis of these results and a comprehensive analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of irradiated foods, temporary hygienic standards for irradiated rice, potatoes, onions, garlic, Chinese sausages, peanuts, and mushrooms were promulgated by the Chinese Ministry of Public Health. 1989 Academic Press, Inc.

Optimization design of deep lean-ore mining and safety evaluation

In order to settle the mining optimization design and safety problem of the above 1 150 m pillar of No.1 ore-body in No.H Mining Jinchuan, the lean-ore above 1 250 m, the 1 150 m horizontal pillar and the ore-body below 1 100 m regarded as research objects based on the original design project, and nine calculation schemes on different mining sequence and different fill body strength were put forward based on cement-sand ratio of 1 ： 4, 1： 12 and 1 ： 24. Calculation parameters were got by the back analysis method of field monitoring data, and the FLAC2D program was applied to compute for these schemes, stress and displacement of ground settlement, shaft and stope roof were analyzed, and some conclusions were got. Results show that the intensity of filling body and the mining technique have very important effect on controlling settlement and stability of surrounding rock; Developing of lean ore have some influences to the 16th return air filling shaft, especially for 1 500--1 400 m of the shaft; The best project is the first project. This research supply some technique references and safety appraisals for the mining of lean-ore of No.II Mining Jinchuan.