Soil worms are among the most abundant and functionally diverse soil animals. However, they have been largely overlooked in studies on microplastic (MP) toxicity. MPs and plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are ubiquitous in soil due to plant litter decomposition and heavy MP contamination, inevitably interacting and exerting combined toxicity on soil organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH) is a challenging and debilitating orthopedic condition with a rising incidence in recent years. Shuanghe Decoction (SHD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has shown significant efficacy in treating SONFH, though its underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
Purpose: This study aims to elucidate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms of SHD on SONFH through in vivo experiments, combined with network pharmacology, metabolomics, and gut microbiota analysis.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising options for large-scale electrical energy storage because of their safety, affordability, and environmental friendliness. As an indispensable component of AZIBs, a current collector plays a crucial role in supporting electrode materials and collecting the accumulated electrical energy. Recently, some progress has been made in the study of current collectors for AZIBs; however, only few comprehensive reviews on this topic are available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant litter is an important input source of carbon and nitrogen in soil. While microplastics (MPs) and plant litter are ubiquitously present in soil, their combined impact on soil biogeochemical processes remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we examined the soil changes resulting from the coexistence of plant litter (Alfalfa) and polyethylene microplastics (PE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients experience significant postoperative pain after laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer. Transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) provides effective analgesia, and recent studies have also shown that erector spinae plane block (ESPB) can be used for postoperative analgesia in abdominal surgery. However, there is a lack of comparison between the two methods regarding recovery quality following laparoscopic colorectal surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are considered one of the most prospective new-generation electrochemical energy storage devices with the advantages of high specific capacity, good safety, and high economic efficiency. Nevertheless, the enduring problems of low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and inadequate cycling stability of zinc anodes, originating from dendrites, hydrogen precipitation and passivation, are closely tied to their thermodynamic instability in aqueous electrolytes, which significantly shortens the cycle life of the battery. Electrolyte additives can solve the above difficulties and are important for the advancement of affordable and reliable AZIBs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAluminum-ion batteries (AIBs) are promising electrochemical energy storage sources because of their high theoretical specific capacity, light weight, zero pollution, safety, inexpensiveness, and abundant resources. These theoretical advantages have recently made AIBs a research hotspot. However, electrolyte-related issues significantly limit their commercialization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConstructing a photocatalytic membrane and photo-Fenton reaction coupling system is a novel strategy to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the membrane and eliminate the problem of membrane contamination. Herein, a g-CN/BiMoO/PVDF photocatalytic membrane was prepared using a tannic acid-assisted in-situ deposition method. The membrane was characterized by three advantages of photocatalytic, self-cleaning, and antibacterial properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ubiquitous presence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in soil has raised concerns regarding their potential effects on terrestrial plants. The coexistence and interactions between MNPs and heavy metals altering their phytotoxicity deserves further investigation. In this study, we explored the impacts of various concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and cadmium (Cd) alone or in combination on the growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMPO) is the most familiar type of osteoporosis, a silent bone disease. Casticin, a natural flavonoid constituent, improves osteoporosis in animal model. Nevertheless, the potential mechanism remains to be further explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This cross-sectional study examined the socio-ecological factors influencing fundamental motor skills (FMS) in Chinese school-aged children.
Methods: A total of 1012 parent-child pairs were randomly sampled between March-1st and April-15th, 2022. Based on the socio-ecological model of Children's FMS, three levels of factors: individual-level (e.
Applying biochar to soil has been recognized as a promising practice of climate-smart agriculture, with considerable potential in enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. Previous studies showed that biochar-induced increases in SOC stock varied substantially among experiments, while the explanatory factors responsible for such variability are still not well assessed. Here, we conducted an integrative meta-analysis of the magnitude and efficiency of biochar-induced change in SOC stock, using a database including 476 field measurements at 101 sites across the globe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCollecting energy from the ambient environment through green and sustainable methods is highly expected to alleviate pollution and energy problems worldwide. Here, we report a facile and flexible hydrovoltaic generator capable of utilizing natural water evaporation for sustainable electricity production. The generator was fabricated by coating nano-AlO on a twistable polyethylene terephthalate film.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany elements of a modern lifestyle influence the gut microbiota but few studies have explored the effect of physical health level. This study was aimed to explore the relationship between diet, physical health and gut microbiota in Chinese college students. A total of 69 college students were recruited, including 27 college athletes (AS group) and 42 healthy controls (HC group).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA damage induced by endogenous/exogenous factors may cause various diseases, and the genomic DNA damage has become an important biomarker for clinical diagnosis and risk assessment, but it remains a great challenge to accurately quantify both clustered and isolated damage because of their random locations, large diversity, and low abundance. Herein, we demonstrate the development of bioluminescent sensors for label-free, template-free, separation-free, and sequence-independent detection of both clustered and isolated damage in genomic DNA based on the base-excision repair (BER) pathway and terminal transferase (TdT)-initiated template-free isothermal cyclic amplification. The damaged bases are cleaved by DNA glycosylase to generate a new 3'-OH terminus, and subsequently, TdT catalyzes the repeated incorporation of dTTPs into the 3'-OH terminus to produce poly-T structures which can hybridize with the signal probe to form a poly-T sequence/signal probe duplex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Osteoporosis has influenced millions of people, especially postmenopausal women, which has become a big burden to the whole world. Although the diverse roles of casticin (CAS) on different diseases were identified, whether it was implicated with osteoporosis was unknown.
Methods: A rat model of osteoporosis was established through dexamethasone (DEX) treatment and a cell model reflecting the osteogenic and osteoclast induction was constructed in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs).
Front Cell Infect Microbiol
April 2022
Probiotics play an important role against infectious pathogens their effects on the epithelium, the production of antimicrobial compounds, and competitive exclusion. Administration of probiotic supplements may reduce the risk of infectious diseases and the use of antibiotics, hence contributing to a reduction or a delay of the development of multi-resistant bacteria. Infection is a constant concern for people who experience recurrent infections, and antibiotic treatment usually fails due to antibiotic resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare workers at the frontline are facing a substantial risk of respiratory tract infection during the COVID-19 outbreak due to an extremely stressful work schedule and public health event. A well-established first-line defense on oropharyngeal microbiome could be a promising strategy to protect individuals from respiratory tract infections including COVID-19. The most thoroughly studied oropharyngeal probiotic product which creates a stable upper respiratory tract microbiota capable of preventing upper respiratory tract infections was chosen to evaluate the safety and efficacy on reducing episodes of upper respiratory tract infections for COVID-19 healthcare workers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the value of coagulation indicators D-dimer (DD), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), and fibrinogen (Fg) in predicting the severity and prognosis of COVID-19.
Methods: A total of 115 patients with confirmed COVID-19, who were admitted to Tianyou Hospital of Wuhan University of Science and Technology between January 18, 2020, and March 5, 2020, were included. The dynamic changes of DD, PT, APTT, and Fg were tested, and the correlation with CT imaging, clinical classifications, and prognosis was studied.
As a global manufacturing centre, China is transitioning from a 'Made in China' to 'Create in China' perspective. An ever-increasing number of companies are developing new competitive advantages and improving their innovation levels by acquiring external knowledge. Yet, studies rarely discuss the influence of various sources of knowledge on process and product innovation performance in China's manufacturing enterprises.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Condens Matter
July 2020
We have systematically reported the magnetic and magneto-transport properties of two-dimensional itinerant ferromagnetic compound FeGeTeat high magnetic fields of 58 T and demonstrated the correlation between its transport and magnetism. Anomalous two-steps magnetic ordering and antiferromagnetic-like transitions in zero field-cooling (ZFC) curves for∥-plane are observed. Additionally, we find that intrinsic negative magnetoresistances in bulk FeGeTesingle crystal are mainly attributed to the suppression of spin-fluctuations in low magnetic fields.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe anti-cancer effect of dehydrocostus lactone (DHL) derived from Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipech against laryngeal carcinoma was assessed. The cytotoxic activity of DHL against laryngeal carcinoma is still obscure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA lot of previous studies have recently reported that the gut microbiota influences the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) in Western countries, but the role of the gut microbiota in Chinese population must be investigated fully. The goal of this study was to determine the role of the gut microbiome in the initiation and development of CRC. We collected fecal samples of 206 Chinese individuals: 59 with (group P), 54 with (group A), 51 with (group CC), and 42 (group HC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGermacrone, a natural 10-membered monocyclic sesquiterpene with three double bonds and a ketone, was isolated from the roots of traditional Chinese medicine (SC). The pharmacological value and intrinsic mechanism of germacrone in the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are still unclear. Therefore, in this study, we further explored the internal molecular mechanism by which germacrone exerts its antiproliferation and antimigration ability against ESCC.
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