Objective: The aim of this study was to validate a novel pictorial-based Longshi Scale for evaluating a patient’s disability by healthcare professionals and non-professionals. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Rehabilitation departments from a grade A, class 3 public hospital, a grade B, class 2 public hospital, and a private hospital and seven community rehabilitation centers. Subjects: A total of 618 patients and 251 patients with functional disabilities were recruited in a two-phase study, respectively. Main measures: Outcome measure: pictorial scale of activities of daily living (ADLs, Longshi Scale). Reference measure: Barthel Index. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to analyze the validity of Longshi Scale against Barthel Index. Results: In phase 1 study, from March 2016 to August 2016, the results demonstrated that the Longshi Scale was both reliable and valid (intraclass correlation coefficient based on two-way random effect (ICC2,1) = 0.877–0.974 for intra-rater reliability; ICC2,1 = 0.928–0.979; κ = 0.679–1.000 for inter-rater reliability; intraclass correlation coefficient based on one-way random effect (ICC1,1) = 0.921–0.984 for test–retest reliability and Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.836–0.899). In the second phase, in March 2018, results further demonstrated that the Longshi Scale had good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability among healthcare professionals and non-professionals including therapists, interns, and personal care aids (ICC1,1 = 0.822–0.882 on Day 1; ICC1,1 = 0.842–0.899 on Day 7 for inter-rater reliability). In addition, the Longshi Scale decreased assessment time significantly, compared with the Barthel Index assessment ( P < 0.01). Conclusion: The Longshi Scale could potentially provide an efficient way for healthcare professionals and non-professionals who may have minimal training to assess the ADLs of functionally disabled patients.

The increasing application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been raising concerns about their potential adverse effects to human and the environment. However, the knowledge on the systemic toxicity of AgNPs in mammalian systems is still limited. The present study investigated the toxicity of PVP-coated AgNPs in rats treated with repeated oral administration, and compared that with equivalent dose of AgNO . Specifically, one hundred male and female rats were orally administrated with particulate or ionic forms of silver (Ag) separately at doses of 0.5 and 1 mg kg body weight daily for 28 days. The results reveal no significant toxic effects of AgNPs and AgNO up to 1 mg kg body weight, with respect to the body weight, organ weight, food intake, and histopathological examination. Ag distribution pattern in organs of rats treated with AgNPs was similar to that of AgNO treated rats, showing liver and kidneys are the main target organs followed by testis and spleen. The total Ag contents in organs were significantly lower in the AgNPs treated rats than those in the AgNO treated rats. However, the comparisons between AgNPs and AgNO treatments further indicated more potent of AgNPs in biochemical and hematological parameters in rats, including red blood cell count (RBC), platelet count (PLT), white blood cell count (WBC) and aspartate transaminase (AST). Results of this study suggested that particulate Ag at least partially contributed to the observed toxicity of AgNPs, and both ionic and particulate Ag should be taken into consideration in toxicological evaluation of AgNPs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 609-618, 2017.

Non-denaturing FISH (ND-FISH) technology has been widely used to study the chromosomes of Triticeae species because of its convenience. The oligo probes for ND-FISH analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) chromosomes are still limited. In this study, the whole genome shotgun assembly sequences (IWGSC WGA v0.4) and the first version of the reference sequences (IWGSC RefSeq v1.0) of Chinese Spring (T. aestivum L.) were used to find new tandem repeats. One hundred and twenty oligo probes were designed according to the new tandem repeats and used for ND-FISH analysis of chromosomes of wheat Chinese Spring. Twenty nine of the 120 oligo probes produce clear or strong signals on wheat chromosomes. Two of the 29 oligo probes can be used to conveniently distinguish wheat A-, B-, and D-genome chromosomes. Sixteen of the 29 oligo probes only produce clear or strong signals on the subtelomeric regions of 1AS, 5AS, 7AL, 4BS, 5BS, and 3DS arms, on the telomeric regions of 1AL, 5AL, 2BS, 3BL, 6DS, and 7DL arms, on the intercalary regions of 4AL and 2DL arms, and on the pericentromeric regions of 3DL and 6DS arms. Eleven of the 29 oligo probes generate distinct signal bands on several chromosomes and they are different from those previously reported. In addition, the short and long arms of 6D chromosome have been confirmed. The new oligo probes developed in this study are useful and convenient for distinguishing wheat chromosomes or specific segments of wheat chromosomes.

Objective We investigated factors affecting the disability assessment Longshi scale, and differences between the Longshi and Barthel scales, as well as modified Rankin scale (mRS), to determine whether the Longshi scale is superior to the other scales. Methods This cross-sectional study included 721 participants with disability. We performed the t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation test, and multiple linear regression to analyze group differences and define explanatory variables. Results The Longshi scale had a strong positive correlation with the Barthel scale (r = 0.868) but a weak negative correlation with the mRS (r = –0.185). Scores obtained among seven study hospitals in two provinces of southeast China were significantly different (F = 8.034). Social activities of participants with disability can be positively predicted using the Longshi (β = 0.251) and Barthel scales (β = 0.276). However, age has a weak negative correlation with the Longshi scale (r = –0.163). Conclusion Training did not cause significant variations in assessment using the Longshi scale. However, the results differed among different regions. The Longshi scale showed a strong correlation with the Barthel scale but a weak correlation with the mRS. Assessment time was shorter using the Longshi scale and the scale can be used to predict the social activities of individuals with disability.

Sericin is a natural protein component of silks of silkworm and has potential utility in multiple areas such as pharmacological, cosmetics, and biotechnological industries. However, the understanding of its toxicological safety is still limited. This study evaluated the safety of water-extract sericin from silkworm (Bombyx mori) cocoons using different model approaches, including three genotoxicity studies (the bacterial reverse mutation test, the mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test, and the mouse spermatogonia chromosomal aberration test) and a 90-day subchronic toxicity study in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The results of this study showed that water-extract sericin was nonmutagenic and nongenotoxic both in vitro and in vivo. Sericin did not induce significant changes in the body and organ weight, food intake, blood hematology and serum biochemistry, urine index, and histopathology in rats. The NOAEL of sericin was determined to be 1 g/kg/day for male and female rats. These results indicated that water-extract sericin was of low toxicity in the experimental conditions of the current study and had the potential for application in food-related products.