Physicochemical properties dominating the behaviors of short/medium chain chlorinated paraffins in the atmosphere.

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are chlorinated alkane mixtures widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers in multiple industrial products. Systematic research on how homolog-specific properties affect their atmospheric behaviors is limited. Herein, we investigated the levels of short-chain CPs (SCCPs) and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs) in long-timescale, seasonal, and size-fractioned particles in the urban area of Dalian, a coastal city in northern China.

[Determination of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in different components of human blood using gas chromatography-electron capture negative ion-low resolution mass spectrometry].

Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) have attracted significant attention because of their persistence, biotoxicity, bioaccumulation, and long-range migration. Given their worldwide detection in a variety of environmental matrices, concerns related to the high exposure risks of SCCPs and MCCPs to humans have grown. Thus, knowledge of the contamination patterns of SCCPs and MCCPs and their distribution characteristics in the vivo exposure of humans is of great importance.

Phosphoproteomic and proteomic profiling in post-infarction chronic heart failure.

Post-infarction chronic heart failure is the most common type of heart failure. Patients with chronic heart failure show elevated morbidity and mortality with limited evidence-based therapies. Phosphoproteomic and proteomic analysis can provide insights regarding molecular mechanisms underlying post-infarction chronic heart failure and explore new therapeutic approaches.

Physiological ischemic training improves cardiac function through the attenuation of cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the activation of the vagus nerve in chronic heart failure.

Purpose: This study investigated the functional outcomes of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) after physiological ischemic training (PIT), identified the optimal PIT protocol, evaluated its cardioprotective effects and explored the underlying neural mechanisms.

Methods: Patients with CHF were randomly divided into experimental group ( = 25, PIT intervention + regular treatment) and control group ( = 25, regular treatment). The outcomes included the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and cardiopulmonary parameters.

Gas/particle partitioning of short and medium chain chlorinated paraffins from a CP production plant using passive air sampler and occupational exposure assessment.

Short and medium chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) attract increasing attentions due to their persistence, long-range transport capacity. Their gas/particle partitioning from the production emission source, the effects to the ambient environment and exposure for employees are worth revealing. Polyurethane foam based passive air samplers (PUF-PAS) was deployed to determine the environmental levels of SCCPs (63.

The Efficacy of Needle-Warming Moxibustion Combined with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Ischemic Stroke and Its Effect on Neurological Function.

Objective: To elucidate the therapeutic efficacy of needle-warming moxibustion (NWM) combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke and its effect on neurological function.

Methods: One hundred patients with ischemic stroke admitted to the Xuzhou Medical University Affiliated Hospital of Lianyungang from January 2019 to July 2021 were enrolled. Among them, 45 patients treated with NWM were set as the control group, and the rest 55 patients treated by NWM combined with HBOT were included in the research group.

Thiolated Polyethyleneimine-Based Polymer Sponge for Selective Removal of Hg from Aqueous Solution.

Polymer sponges with molecular recognition provide a facile approach to water purification and industrial separation with easy operation. Herein, a thiolated polyethyleneimine (PEI)-based polymer sponge was prepared through cryo-polymerization of PEI, followed by grafting of PEI and then post-modification of the amine functionalities present within the hyperbranched structure with methyl mercaptoacetate, which afford high density of thiol functional groups on the surface of the sponge. The developed sponge was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and element analysis, and the adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies were conducted in detail.

Identification of soybean phosphorous efficiency QTLs and genes using chlorophyll fluorescence parameters through GWAS and RNA-seq.

Soybean phosphorous efficiency QTLs were identified and candidate genes were predicted using chlorophyll fluorescence parameters through GWAS and RNA-seq. Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient element for crop growth and development, lack of P uptake seriously affects yield in various crops. Photosynthesis is the basis of crop production, while it is very sensitive to P deficiency.

Characteristics of PAHs, PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PCNs in atmospheric fine particulate matter in Dalian, China.

Organic species in fine particulate matter (PM) may exhibit significant health risks. The level, composition and sources of PM-bound organic pollutants are temporally and spatially highly variable. In this study, the pollution characteristics and health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) in PM of Dalian were investigated.

Facile Synthesis of Mixed-Mode Weak Anion-Exchange Microspheres via One-Step Pickering Emulsion Polymerization for Efficient Simultaneous Extraction of Strongly and Weakly Acidic Drugs from Reservoir Water.

Poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-divinylbenzene) (poly(DEAEMA-co-DVB)) microspheres with mixed-mode weak anion-exchange (WAX) character were successfully fabricated for the first time via facile one-step Pickering emulsion polymerization. The obtained poly(DEAEMA-co-DVB) particles had good spherical geometry, uniform particle size in the range of 30-40 µm, a large specific surface area of 575 m/g, and a pore size range of 5-30 nm, according to the SEM and nitrogen adsorption-desorption results. Using these mixed-mode WAX microspheres as packing material, a reliable and robust analytical method based on solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (SPE-HPLC-UV) was developed for simultaneous determination of six strongly and weakly acidic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, niflumic acid, diflunisal, naproxen, ketoprofen, mefenamic acid, and diclofenac) in reservoir water.

Correlation of MMP-9 and HMGB1 expression with the cognitive function in patients with epilepsy and factors affecting the prognosis.

This study was designed to investigate the expressions and roles of MMP-9 and HMGB1 in peripheral blood of patients with epilepsy and their relationship with the cognitive function and to explore factors affecting the prognosis of epilepsy patients. A total of 127 patients with epilepsy were collected in the study group and 120 healthy subjects receiving a physical examination at the same time were collected in the control group. The MMP-9 and HMGB1 expressions and their diagnostic value for epilepsy were compared between the two groups.

The effects of an enteral nutrition feeding protocol on critically ill patients: A prospective multi-center, before-after study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of an enteral nutrition (EN) feeding protocol in critically ill patients.

Methods: This was a prospective multi-center before-after study. We compared energy related and prognostic indicators between the control group (pre-implementation stage) and intervention group (post-implementation stage).

[Determination of 67 volatile organic compounds in ambient air using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry].

A method based on thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was developed for the simultaneous analysis of 67 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air. In this study, the adsorption effects of five kinds of stainless steel sorbent tubes for 78 VOCs were compared. The results revealed that a multisorbent bed with Carbograph 1TD and Tenax TA shows good adsorption effect for the 67 target compounds.

Causality of Biodiversity Loss: Climate, Vegetation, and Urbanization in China and America.

Essential for directing conservation resources is to identify threatened vertebrate regions and diagnose the underlying causalities. Through relating vertebrates and threatened vertebrates to the rainfall-runoff chain, to the food chain, and to the human impact of urbanization, the following relationships are noticed: (i) The Earth's vertebrates generally show increasing abundance and decreasing threatened species indicator (threatened species number/species abundance) for a higher Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or larger city-size. (ii) Regional vertebrates reveal a notable 'U-shape profile' ('step-like jump') of threatened species indicator occurs in the moderate (high) NDVI regions in China (America).

Monitoring gas- and particulate-phase short-chain polychlorinated paraffins in the urban air of Dalian by a self-developed passive sampler.

The concentration of short-chain polychlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in the urban air of Dalian, China was monitored from September 2016 to August 2017 with a self-developed passive sampler (PAS1) and an active high-volume sampler, simultaneously. PAS1 successfully collected the entire target SCCPs in the ambient air. Air SCCPs sampled by PAS1 were found be in the linear uptake stage during 181 days of sampling.

Urbanization and climate change: Insights from eco-hydrological diagnostics.

To quantify how urbanization induced long-term changes have altered the evolution of urban climate, a novel eco-hydrological diagnostic is introduced and applied globally, to a developing and a developed country (China and US-America). Urban areas are (i) geographically identified by remote sensing based nighttime light, (ii) physically embedded in state spaces spanned by suitable combinations of surface energy and water fluxes comprising the rainfall-runoff chain, and (iii) dynamically characterized by the time evolution of the surface fluxes at geographically fixed locations, analyzed as trajectories in state space, and interpreted by an attribution model separating anthropogenic from climate induced causes. The results describe the long term climatological settings of urban areas in a net radiation versus dryness diagram, while the attribution of change is diagnosed in a state space spanned by energy and water excess: (i) Cities in China are characterized by a bi-modal distribution separated by the boundary between water and energy-limited (northern and southern) regimes while US-American cities are assembling unimodally on this boundary, and globally the urbanized areas are also aligned along this boundary between water and energy-limited regimes.

Levels and gas-particle partitioning of hexabromocyclododecanes in the urban air of Dalian, China.

The concentrations of α-, β-, and γ-hexabromocyclododecane diastereomers (HBCDs) in gas phase and particulate phase of Dalian urban air, China, were monitored from September 2016 to August 2017 with high-volume active sampler. The total concentration of ∑HBCDs (gas phase + particulate phase) ranged from 15.47 to 43.

East Asian warm season temperature variations over the past two millennia.

East Asia has experienced strong warming since the 1960s accompanied by an increased frequency of heat waves and shrinking glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau and the Tien Shan. Here, we place the recent warmth in a long-term perspective by presenting a new spatially resolved warm-season (May-September) temperature reconstruction for the period 1-2000 CE using 59 multiproxy records from a wide range of East Asian regions. Our Bayesian Hierarchical Model (BHM) based reconstructions generally agree with earlier shorter regional temperature reconstructions but are more stable due to additional temperature sensitive proxies.

Potential suppressive effects of theophylline on human rectal cancer SW480 cells by inhibiting YKL-40 expression.

Chitinase-3-like-1 protein (YKL-40), a member of the mammalian chitinase-like glycoproteins, serves a key role in the pathogenesis of rectal cancer. The present study examined the antitumor effect of theophylline, a pan-chitinase inhibitor, in rectal cancer and investigated the mechanism by which it acted. SW480 cell lines were treated with varying theophylline concentrations (10, 10, 10 and 10 mol/l).

Concentrations and inhalation risk assessment of short-chain polychlorinated paraffins in the urban air of Dalian, China.

The concentrations of short-chain polychlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in the urban air of Dalian, China, were monitored from March to October 2010 and from September to October 2016 with active high-volume sampler. The total concentration of SCCPs (particulate phase + gas phase) ranged from 15.12 to 66.

Photocatalytic degradation of C. I. Reactive Red 24 solution with K₆SiW₁₁O₃₉Sn(II.).

Environmental friendly materials, K6SiW11O39Sn (SiWSn), was synthesized. SiWSn photocatalytic decomposition of C. I.

Effect of calcium or vitamin D supplementation on vascular outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Whether calcium or vitamin D supplementation reduces serious vascular outcomes in older people remains unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of calcium or vitamin D supplementation on the risk of major cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: We performed electronic searches in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant randomized controlled trials.

Simultaneous monitoring of PCB profiles in the urban air of Dalian, China with active and passive samplings.

The concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the urban air of Dalian, China was monitored from November 2009 to October 2010 with active high-volume sampler and semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) passive sampler. The concentration of PCBs (particle + gas) (SigmaPCBs) ranged from 18.6 to 91.