Heavy metal contamination of vegetables in China: status, causes, and impacts.

Exposure to heavy metals from vegetable consumption poses a serious health risk to the Chinese population. The lack of knowledge on the overall status of vegetable contamination at the national level hinders the development of national regulations on preventing heavy metal exposure. To address this issue, the study presents an overview of heavy metal contamination in vegetables across China based on 96 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 20 years.

Characteristic structures of liquid crystal monomers in EI-MS analysis and the potential application in suspect screening.

Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) are of emerging concern due to their ubiquitous presence in indoor and outdoor environments and their potential negative impacts on human health and ecosystems. Suspect screening approaches have been developed to monitor thousands of LCMs that could enter the environment, but an updated suspect list of LCMs is difficult to maintain given the rapid development of material innovations. To facilitate suspect screening for LCMs, in-silico mass fragmentation model and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSPR) models were applied to predict electron ionization (EI) mass spectra of LCMs.

An experimental investigation of particle and NOx emissions for a non-road diesel engine equipped with an integrated DOC + CDPF + SCR aftertreatment system during different operations.

An integrated aftertreatment system consisting of diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), catalytic diesel particulate filter (CDPF), and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is an effective way of reducing both NOx and particulate matter (PM). In this paper, the effect of DOC + CDPF + SCR on NO and particle emissions is investigated during different operations to assess applicability of this aftertreatment for meeting more rigorous non-road emissions standard. Meanwhile non-negligible issue about regeneration emission is studied.

The complete chloroplast genome of , a functional plant in East Asia.

L. is a climbing fig commonly used as an ornamental plant. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast genome of .

LncRNA MALAT1 facilitates inflammasome activation via epigenetic suppression of Nrf2 in Parkinson's disease.

The goal of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism by which long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (lncRNA MALAT1) promotes inflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD). 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) was used to induce PD development in C57BL/6 mice, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression was analysed by immunohistochemical analysis. Western blot and qPCR analyses were conducted to assess the expression of protein and mRNA levels, respectively.

LncRNA HOTAIR Promotes Neuronal Damage Through Facilitating NLRP3 Mediated-Pyroptosis Activation in Parkinson's Disease via Regulation of miR-326/ELAVL1 Axis.

Parkinson's disease (PD) seriously threatens human's health. Researches have shown a close correlation between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and PD. However, the biological function of lncRNA homeobox transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) in PD remains largely unknown.

Artificial light at night alter the impact of arsenic on microbial decomposers and leaf litter decomposition in streams.

Artificial light at night (ALAN, also known as light pollution) has been proved to be a contributor to environmental change and a biodiversity threat worldwide, yet little is known about its potential interaction with different metal pollutants, such as arsenic (As), one of the largest threats to aquatic ecosystems. To narrow this gap, an indoor microcosm study was performed using an ALAN simulation device to examine whether ALAN exposure altered the impact of arsenic on plant litter decomposition and its associated fungi. Results revealed that microbial decomposers involved in the conversion of As(III) to As(V), and ALAN exposure enhanced this effect; ALAN or arsenic only exposure altered fungal community composition and the correlations between fungi species, as well as stimulated or inhibited litter decomposition, respectively.

Artificial Light at Night Alleviates the Negative Effect of Pb on Freshwater Ecosystems.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasing phenomenon worldwide that can cause a series of biological and ecological effects, yet little is known about its potential interaction with other stressors in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we tested whether the impact of lead (Pb) on litter decomposition was altered by ALAN exposure using an indoor microcosm experiment. The results showed that ALAN exposure alone significantly increased leaf litter decomposition, decreased the lignin content of leaf litter, and altered fungal community composition and structure.

[Effects of drought, CO2 concentration and temperature increasing on photosynthesis rate, evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency of spring wheat].

The effects of drought, CO2 concentration and temperature increasing on development period, photosynthesis rate (Pn), evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency of spring wheat were investigated. The results showed that elevated CO2 concentration (550, 700 mumol.mol-1) could lengthen heading-ripening period, but high temperature (average diurnal temperature increase 4.

Effects of elevated CO2 and drought on chemical composition and decomposition of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum).

The effects of elevated CO2 concentration and drought on the chemical composition and decomposition of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) leaf litter were investigated. The results obtained were as follows: (i)decomposition of leaf litter material grown under elevated CO2 and drought (ED) was significantly reduced (P=0.