Current Status and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination in Tea across China.

Tea is a non-alcoholic beverage popular among Chinese people. However, due to the application of chemical and organic fertilizers in the tea planting process, the environment pollutionaround the tea plantation, and the instruments used in the processing, heavy metal elements will accumulate in the tea, which brings health risks for tea consumers. This study summarized heavy metal concentrations from 227 published papers and investigated the current contamination status of tea and tea plantation soils, and, finally, the risk of heavy metal exposure to tea consumers in China is assessed, in terms of both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk.

Investigation of water quality and aquatic ecological succession of a newly constructed river replenished by reclaimed water in Beijing.

The potential to create new ecosystems in rivers is possible through the use of reclaimed water as a replenishment source, although the long-term effects of this method are unknown. In this study, the water quality and aquatic ecological evolution of a newly constructed river replenished by reclaimed water in Beijing (the Jing River) were investigated, and the conventional water quality, phytoplankton indicators, and submerged plant growth conditions from October 2018 to December 2020 were analyzed. Spearman's correlation and redundancy analysis between possible influential environmental factors and algal indicators were conducted.

Occurrence, Distribution, and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment of the Karst Plateau Wetland of Yangtze River Basin, Southwestern China.

In this study, the occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk of 40 commonly used antibiotics, including 15 sulfonamides (SAs), 9 fluoroquinolones (FQs), 7 macrolides (MCs), 3 tetracyclines (TCs), 2 chloramphenicols (CAPs), and 4 other categories, in the aquatic environment of the karst plateau wetland Caohai of the Yangtze River basin in southwestern China are reported. In total, 27 antibiotics were detected, with the detection rate ranging from 5% to 100%. The total concentration at each site ranged from 21.

Assessment of the risks from dietary lead exposure in China.

The dietary lead (Pb) risk across China was assessed based on the margin of exposure (MOE) approach by comparing the level (1.5 μg/kg/d) based on the Pb concentrations in foodstuffs from1386 published articles. The Pb averages of the 18 foods were lower than their corresponding limits enacted by the Chinese government, ranging from 0.

[Occurrence Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Groundwater in Wuxi-Changzhou].

The concentrations of 22 endocrine disrupting chemicals, including 4 categories of sex hormones, progesterones, glucocorticoids, and phenolic hormones, in groundwater of Wuxi-Changzhou were analyzed using solid-phase extraction and ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The results indicated that 20 EDCs were detected, among which bisphenol A (BPA), estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and 17-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) were the main components with detection ratios greater than 90%, followed by estriol (E3) and methyl-prednisolonel (Meprednl), which had detection rates 67.7% and 48.

Fully automated identification and quantification of five polar pesticides in groundwater by isotope dilution-online solid phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry.

A fully automated method for identification and quantification of five polar pesticides in groundwater by isotope dilution-online solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry was developed. After one step of filtration, an aliquot of a 7.5-ml water sample was automatedly preconcentrated and purified on a turbulent Cyclone SPE column.

[Characterization of Microplastic Pollution of Sediments from Urban Lakes].

In recent years, microplastics (MPs) in the environment has become a topic of increasing concern. In this study, typical urban lakes, such as Yushan Lake and Nanhu Lake in Maanshan City, were selected to study the physical morphology and spatial distribution characteristics of MPs in sediments in spring and summer and to explore the sources of MPs in the lakes. On average, MPs in sediments occurred with a content of (0.

[Distribution of 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Dianchi Lake Surface Sediments After the Integrated Water Environment Control Project].

The external pollution of Dianchi Lake has been effectively controlled with the implementation of the integrated water environment control project. However, further attention should be paid to endogenous pollutants, such as surface sediments. To investigate the distribution of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of Dianchi Lake, PAH concentrations in 19 surface sediment samples (collected in December 2016) were quantitatively measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

High-performance solution-processed white organic light-emitting diodes based on silica-coated silver nanocubes.

Solution-processed white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) with silica-coated silver nanocubes (Ag@SiO NCs) incorporated at the interface of a hole transporting layer and emission layer are studied. The concentration of Ag@SiO NCs is varied to investigate the effect of Ag@SiO NCs on the performances of WOLEDs. Owing to the sharp edges and corners, Ag NCs greatly improve the radiative rate and emission intensity of nearby blue excitons.

Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled to Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for the Determination of Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in Water Samples.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are a new type of persistent organic pollutants. In this work, a simple and effective method involving headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOF-MS) was developed and optimized for the determination of trace SCCPs in water samples. The key parameters related to extraction and separation efficiency were systematically optimized.

Dual Detection of Procalcitonin and C-reactive Protein with an Up-converting Nanoparticle Based Lateral Flow Assay.

Procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are significant complementary inflammatory markers, and their simultaneous detection is of substantial value. In this article, a rapid, simple and cost-effective method for the dual quantitative detection of PCT and CRP in serum is discussed. Two UCNPs of similar size and morphology, but with a different emission spectrum, were prepared for the simultaneous detection of PCT and CRP by lateral flow assay (LFA) technology in a direct method.

Simultaneous Determination of 32 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives and Parent PAHs Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: Application in Groundwater Screening.

A simple, practical and precise method for the simultaneous analysis of 32 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) including 16 parent PAHs, 8 oxygenated-PAHs (oxy-PAHs), 4 chloro-PAHs, and 4 nitrogen-containing heterocyclic PACs (N-PACs), in groundwater was established via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). The obtained detection method possesses instrument detection limits (at a signal to noise of 3:1) in the range of 0.05-10 ng/mL and method detection limits in the range of 1.

Using smartphone-based virtual patients to assess the quality of primary healthcare in rural China: protocol for a prospective multicentre study.

Introduction: Valid and low-cost quality assessment tools examining care quality are not readily available. The unannounced standardised patient (USP), the gold standard for assessing quality, is costly to implement while the validity of clinical vignettes, as a low-cost alternative, has been challenged. Computerised virtual patients (VPs) create high-fidelity and interactive simulations of doctor-patient encounters which can be easily implemented via smartphone at low marginal cost.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, epidermal growth factor receptor, and c-MET overexpression and survival in biliary tract cancer: A meta-analysis.

Background: Tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors (TKGFRs) play an important role in the progression of cancer. A variety of studies have investigated the clinicopathologic correlation of these receptors and their influences on patient survival in different types of cancer. As the members of TKGFRs, the biomarkers c-MET, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) have been extensively investigated in biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Gray change detection method for damage monitoring in materials.

A gray change detection method has been proposed to monitor damage in materials. The normalized parameter C has been defined by the displacement and the gray level value, which can reflect the gray change of each pixel point in the region of interest of the image. A zero deformation experiment has been done to discuss the feature of gray change caused by many factors except the damage.