Water-dependent effects of biodegradable microplastics on arsenic fractionation in soil: Insights from enzyme degradation and synchrotron-based X-ray analysis.

The abundance of biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) is increasing in soil due to the widespread use of biodegradable plastics. However, the influence of BMPs on soil metal biogeochemistry, especially arsenic (As), under different water regimes is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of two types of BMPs (PLA-MPs and PBAT-MPs) on As fractionation in two types of soils (black soil and fluvo-aquic soil) under three water regimes including drying (Dry), flooding (FL), and alternate wetting and drying (AWD).

Inulin enhanced rifaximin-inhibited colon cancer pulmonary metastasis by flora-regulated bile acid pathway.

Inulin as a natural polysaccharide regulates intestinal microorganisms, and improves the immune and gastrointestinal function. In order to explore the effect of inulin on pulmonary metastasis of colon cancer, we set up a CT26 injected pulmonary metastatic model. The results showed that inulin used alone did not improve pulmonary metastasis of colon cancer, while inulin combined with rifaximin significantly prolonged the survival time of mice, and inhibited pulmonary metastasis compared with model and inulin groups.

Aerosol soluble proteins in Asian dust in southwestern Japan.

Aerosol proteins, as core biological components of bioaerosols, are garnering increasing attention due to their environmental significance, including their roles in atmospheric processes and associated health risks. However, observational data on the proteins are very limited, leaving their distribution and variation in the atmosphere poorly understood. To investigate the long-distance transport of proteins with Asian dust in the Northern Hemisphere middle latitude westerlies to remote downwind areas, we quantified the soluble proteins in aerosol particles, referred to as aerosol soluble proteins (ASPs), collected in the coastal city of Kumamoto, Japan, during the spring of 2023, when three dust events occurred.

Coffee leaf extract inhibits advanced glycation end products and their precursors: A mechanistic study.

Excessive accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the body is associated with diabetes and its complications. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential and mechanism of coffee leaf extract (CLE) in inhibiting the generation of AGEs and their precursors in an in vitro glycation model using bovine serum albumin and glucose (BSA-Glu) for the first time. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that CLE prepared with ultrasound pretreatment (CLE-U) contained higher levels of trigonelline, mangiferin, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and γ-aminobutyric acid than CLE without ultrasound pretreatment (CLE-NU).

Mulberry Leaf-Derived Morin Activates β-Catenin by Binding to Frizzled7 to Promote Intestinal Stem Cell Expansion upon Heat-Stable Enterotoxin b Injury.

Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) sustain epithelial renewal by dynamically altering behaviors of proliferation and differentiation in response to various nutrition and stress inputs. However, how ISCs integrate bioactive substance morin cues to protect against heat-stable enterotoxin b (STb) produced by remains an uncertain question with implications for treating bacterial diarrhea. Our recent work showed that oral mulberry leaf-derived morin improved the growth performance in STb-challenged mice.

Copper-based nanomaterials: Opportunities for sustainable agriculture.

The exponential growth of the global population has resulted in a significant surge in the demand for food worldwide. Additionally, the impact of climate change has exacerbated crop losses caused by pests and pathogens. The transportation and utilization of traditional agrochemicals in the soil are highly inefficient, resulting in significant environmental losses and causing severe pollution of both the soil and aquatic ecosystems.

Vitamin C Inhibited Pulmonary Metastasis through Activating Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway.

As an important nutritional component, vitamin C (Vc) shows good antitumor activity in a variety of cancer, but there are few studies in pulmonary metastasis. In order to verify its anticancer and antimetastatic effect, the study sets up H22 pulmonary metastasis mouse model. The results show that intraperitoneal injection of Vc inhibits pulmonary metastasis through up-regulating the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, cleaved caspases 3 and 9, and causing DNA damage and apoptosis which is similar to the pro-oxidant effect of Vc in p53 null cells (H1299 cells).

High heterogeneity and aging state of mineral particles in a slowly-moving dust plume on the southwestern coast of Japan.

Aerosol particles in two size ranges, namely 0.18-1.4 μm (fine) and larger than 1.

Applications and synergistic degradation mechanisms of nZVI-modified biochar for the remediation of organic polluted soil and water: A review.

Increasing organic pollution in soil and water has garnered considerable attention in recent years. Nano zero-valent iron-modified biochar (nZVI/BC) has been proven to remediate the contaminated environment effectively due to its abundant active sites and unique reducing properties. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the application of nZVI/BC in organic polluted environmental remediation and its mechanisms.

Preparation and Characterization of Soybean Protein Adhesives Modified with an Environmental-Friendly Tannin-Based Resin.

Soybean protein-based adhesives are limited in their application due to their poor wet bonding strength and poor water resistance. Herein, we prepared a novel, environmentally friendly soybean protein-based adhesive by adding tannin-based resin (TR) to improve the performance of water resistance and wet bonding strength. The active sites of TR reacted with the soybean protein and its functional groups and formed strong cross-linked network structures, which improved the cross-link density of the adhesives and then improved the water resistance.

Capturing What Matters with Patients' Bypass Behavior? Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study in China.

Background: In China, bypassing is becoming increasingly prevalent. Such behavior, as going directly to upper-level health-care facilities without a primary care provider (PCP) referral when facing non-critical diseases, contrasts to "expanding the role of PCPs as the first-contact of care", may cause unneglectable damage to the healthcare system and people's physical health.

Objective: To examine the relationship between patient experience in primary health-care clinics (PHCs) and their bypass behavior.

Effect of chest ultrasound compared with pericardial window for the diagnosis of occult penetrating cardiac wounds in hemodynamically stable subjects with penetrating thoracic trauma: A meta-analysis.

We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic performance of chest ultrasound compared with a pericardial window for the detection of occult penetrating cardiac wounds in patients with penetrating thoracic trauma who were hemodynamically stable. A systematic literature search up to December 2022 was performed and 567 related studies were evaluated. The chosen studies comprised 629 penetrating thoracic trauma subjects who participated in the selected studies' baseline.

Understanding the taxonomic homogenization of road-influenced plant assemblages in the Qionglai mountain range: A functional and phylogenetic perspective.

As an increasingly prevalent form of human activity, roads drive the taxonomic homogenization of mountain plant assemblages, threatening global biodiversity. However, little is known about how mountain roads impact functional and phylogenetic beta diversity and how these effects are related to taxonomic homogenization. To understand the mechanism of taxonomic homogenization triggered by mountain roads, we used species absence/presence data from 76 plots (2 m*50 m) and values for 12 traits measured on 978 species from the interior and roadside communities in the Qionglai mountain range, one of the temperate regions with the highest plant species richness in the world.

Heat stress disrupts intestinal stem cell migration and differentiation along the crypt-villus axis through FAK signaling.

During heat stress (HS), the intestinal epithelium suffers damage due to imbalance of tissue homeostasis. However, the specific mechanism by which intestinal stem cells (ISCs) migrate and differentiate along the crypt-villus axis to heal lesions upon insult is unclear. In our study, C57BL/6 mice and IPEC-J2 cells were subjected to normal ambient conditions (25 °C for 7 days in vivo and 37 °C for 18 h in vitro) or 41 °C.

Number size distribution of bacterial aerosols in terrestrial and marine airflows at a coastal site of Japan.

Size-differentiated concentration of bacterial aerosols is essential for investigating their dissemination via the atmosphere. In this study, the number size distribution of bacterial aerosols was measured at a coastal site in southwestern Japan (32.324°N, 129.

Decrease of bioaerosols in westerlies from Chinese coast to the northwestern Pacific: Case data comparisons.

The dissemination of bioaerosols in the westerly wind from the Asian continent to the northwestern Pacific constantly links the land and marine ecosystems. Several observation campaigns targeting bioaerosols were conducted in the coastal city Qingdao of China (QD), at a coast site of Kumamoto in southwestern Japan (KM), and in the northwestern Pacific (NP) between 2014 and 2016. We compared the concentration of bioaerosols in the range of 1.

Cost-Effectiveness of Evolocumab in Adult Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease from Chinese Healthcare Perspective.

Introduction: To assess the cost-effectiveness of evolocumab with statins versus placebo combined with statins in the treatment of adult patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels > 70 mg/dl after the maximum tolerable dose of statin therapy in China.

Methods: A Markov model, based on data from the FOURIER trial, claims databases, and published literature, was used to compare the health outcomes of the two therapies from the perspective of Chinese healthcare system. The time horizon in the model was a lifetime, the cycle length was a year, and the discount rate was 5%.

Assessing the effect of roads on mountain plant diversity beyond species richness.

A comprehensive understanding of the effects of mountain roads on plant diversity is critical to finding the most effective solutions for managing this particular driver. Little is known, however, about the simultaneous effects that road have on the multiple facets of biodiversity, although roads are considered to be one of the major disturbances in the Qionglai mountain range. In this study, we analyzed the impact of roads on the multiple facets of plant diversity (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) in the study area using Hill numbers by comparing plant diversity between roadside and interior plots at the landscape scale, then, we used linear mixed models to analyze the effect of mountain roads on the multiple facets of plant diversity along an elevational gradient.

Recent advances in direct air capture by adsorption.

Significant progress has been made in direct air capture (DAC) in recent years. Evidence suggests that the large-scale deployment of DAC by adsorption would be technically feasible for gigatons of CO capture annually. However, great efforts in adsorption-based DAC technologies are still required.

Development and Validation of a Nomogram Based on Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index to Predict Surgical Site Infection Among Gynecologic Oncology Patients.

Background: The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a commonly used method to assess nutritional risk for predicting potential surgical site infections (SSI) in cancer patients. This study aims to create and verify a simple nomogram and a dynamic web-based calculator for predicting the risk of SSI among gynecologic oncology patients.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation was conducted on patients who were admitted into a tertiary hospital in China with confirmed diagnosis of gynecologic cancer between 01 August 2017 and 30 November 2021.