Effects of remediation agents on rice and soil in toxic metal(loid)s contaminated paddy fields: A global meta-analysis.

Toxic metal(loid)s contamination of paddy soil is a nonnegligible issue and threatens food safety considering that it is transmitted via the soil-plant system. Applying remediation agents could effectively inhibit the soil available toxic metal(loid)s and reduce their accumulation in rice. To comprehensively quantify how remediation agents impact the accumulation of Cd/Pb/As in rice, rice growth and yield, the accumulation of available Cd/Pb/As in paddy soil, and soil characteristics, 50 peer-reviewed publications were selected for meta-analysis.

The effects of iron-based nanomaterials (Fe NMs) on plants under stressful environments: Machine learning-assisted meta-analysis.

Mitigating the adverse effects of stressful environments on crops and promoting plant recovery in contaminated sites are critical to agricultural development and environmental remediation. Iron-based nanomaterials (Fe NMs) can be used as environmentally friendly nano-fertilizer and as a means of ecological remediation. A meta-analysis was conducted on 58 independent studies from around the world to evaluate the effects of Fe NMs on plant development and antioxidant defense systems in stressful environments.

Enhanced fertilizer utilization and heavy metals immobilization by ball-milling bentonite with NHCl: Experiments and DFT calculations.

Over-application of nitrogen fertilizer induces soil acidification, which activates heavy metals availability and poses significant challenge to crop production and food safety. In this study, we prepared a clay-based material by ball-milling bentonite with NHCl (NHCl@bentonite) and assessed its synergistic performance in enhancing nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency, immobilizing heavy metals, and improving crop yield and safety. The results showed that the optimal performance of NHCl@bentonite was achieved by milling bentonite with NHCl at a 4:1 mass ratio for 9 h.

Apoptosis of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal/stem cells via the MAPK and endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathways.

Therapy for myocardial regeneration using bone marrow stromal cells (BM-MSCs) has been applied to improve the cardiac function of subjects with acute myocardial infarction. However, the study of this therapy has encountered a bottleneck because BM-MSCs are prone to apoptosis in ischemic and anoxic environments. The goal of this study was to investigate the expression of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) (p-38, JNK and ERK) and endoplasmic reticulum stress protein (caspase-12 and CHOP) during BM-MSC apoptosis.