The road dust found in mining areas is composed of dust from multiple sources, including wind transported mineral dust from mines and tailings as well as uncovered trucks leakage. Collectively, these ...are then distributed via wind and traffic activity, becoming an important source of particulate matter (PM) and subsequently inhaled by pedestrians. A common practice in previous road dust risk assessments has regarded them as soil, which likely led to a significant underestimation of the actual inhaled amount. To more accurately understand the inhalation risk presented by road dust in mining areas, the study applied a detailed pollution analysis and dust dispersion model to assess the inhaled amount of road dust. Road dust samples located at different distances to the mine and tailings were collected and sieved to 10 μm (RD10). Enrichment factors (EFs) of Ce, As, Cd, and Mo exceeded 20 across most sampled sites, suggesting extreme pollution. Source analysis indicated that most of the collected RD10 had greater than half of its mass originating from the mine. To assess the risk presented by inhalation exposure to local populations, we built a method using Gaussian diffusion model and two exposure scenarios for both adults and children were considered. The level of simulated particle concentrations was comparable to that described in the literature; the inhalation of potential toxic elements (PTEs) in RD10 led to health risks for both adults and children (adult and child HI > 1, with adults CR in industrial areas >10−4). Results also indicated that a ten-fold reduction of silt load resulted in a >4-fold decrease in risk. Collectively, the results suggest that fine road dust is a potential hotspot for mineral exposure in populations living around a mine and its tailings; moreover, that effective prevention measures like road cleaning and truck regulation are urgently needed.
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•Fine road dust around a mine and its tailings were seriously polluted.•More than half of fine road dust originates from mine-related sources.•Previous studies may have underestimated the amount of inhaled road dust to which local populations are exposed.•Inhalation of fine road dust may cause serious health effects dependent on dust loading.
General Secretary Xi Jinping once profoundly pointed out that “Positive Chinese traditional culture is the root and soul of the everlasting Chinese nation”.
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However, the traditional communication ...mode of positive Chinese traditional culture is facing challenges and limitations in colleges and universities in the new media era. The development of a comprehensive new media platform is an inevitable trend to strengthen the dissemination of positive Chinese traditional culture in colleges and universities. The coexistence and collision of traditional media and new media has brought opportunities and challenges to the spread of positive Chinese traditional culture. To attract young audiences, mainly college students, it is necessary to expand the effective communication paths of positive Chinese traditional culture in colleges and universities in the new media era by means of content transformation, as well as the online and offline combination from the aspects of communication mode, communication form and communication content.
China has relatively abundant rare earth elements (REEs) reserves and will continue to be one of the major producers of REEs for the world market in the foreseeable future. However, due to the large ...scale of mining and refining activities, large amounts of REEs have been released to the surrounding environment and caused harmful effects on local residents. This paper summarizes the data about the contents and translocation of REEs in soils, waters, atmosphere, and plants in REE mining areas of China and discusses the characteristics of their forms, distribution, fractionation, and influencing factors. Obviously high concentrations of REEs with active and bioavailable forms are observed in all environmental media. The mobility and bioavailability of REEs are enhanced. The distribution patterns of REEs in soils and water bodies are all in line with their parent rocks. Significant fractionation phenomenon among individual members of REEs was found in soil–plant systems. However, limited knowledge was available for REEs in atmosphere. More studies focusing on the behavior of REEs in ambient air of REE mining areas in China are highly suggested. In addition, systematic study on the translocation and circulation of REEs in various media in REEs mining areas and their health risk assessment should be carried out. Standard analytical methods of REEs in environments need to be established, and more specific guideline values of REEs in foods should also be developed.
Abstract
Preventing aggregation of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides is a promising strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and gold nanoparticles have previously been explored as a ...potential anti-Aβ therapeutics. Here we design and prepare 3.3 nm L- and D-glutathione stabilized gold nanoparticles (denoted as L3.3 and D3.3, respectively). Both chiral nanoparticles are able to inhibit aggregation of Aβ42 and cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) following intravenous administration without noticeable toxicity. D3.3 possesses a larger binding affinity to Aβ42 and higher brain biodistribution compared with its enantiomer L3.3, giving rise to stronger inhibition of Aβ42 fibrillation and better rescue of behavioral impairments in AD model mice. This conjugation of a small nanoparticle with chiral recognition moiety provides a potential therapeutic approach for AD.
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•Surface molecular imprinting on carbon microspheres (MIP-CMSs) were successfully synthesized PFOS adsorption.•Carbon-fluorine and quaternary ammonium salt structural compounds were ...employed as bi-functional monomers.•The prepared MIP-CMSs have fast and high PFOS adsorption.•The MIP-CMSs have high binding selectivity for PFOS in the presence of other contaminants with similar structures.
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant with high biological and chemical stability. It is important to develop fast and selective adsorption method for PFOS wastewater treatment. In this study, novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for PFOS adsorption was prepared. To obtain rapid adsorption kinetics, the MIP has been designed as the surface polymer using the carbon microsphere as carrier (MIP-CMSs). To ensure high adsorption selectivity to the template, two monomers with different functional structures, namely methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC) and 2-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (TFMA), were employed as bi-functional monomers. The structure and morphology of MIP-CMSs were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy with the energy dispersive spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy. Based on the adsorption experiments, it was concluded that MIP-CMSs had specific binding property for PFOS on acidic condition. The adsorption equilibrium time was 1h, while the adsorption capacity was 75.99 mg g−1 at pH 3. Coexistence with contaminants with different structures had little influence on the selectivity for PFOS. The spent MIP-CMSs could be regenerated by the methanol and acetic acid mixed solution. The electrostatic interaction and molecular size played important roles in recognizing the target compound in the adsorption process.
We introduce a design strategy to expand the range of accessible mechanical properties in covalent adaptable networks (CANs) using bottlebrush polymer building blocks. Well-defined bottlebrush ...polymers with rubbery poly(4-methylcaprolactone) side chains were cross-linked in formulations that include a bislactone and strong Lewis acid (tin ethylhexanoate). The resulting materials exhibit tunable stress-relaxation rates at elevated temperatures (160–180 °C) due to dynamic ester cross-links that undergo transesterification with residual hydroxy groups. Varying the cross-linker loading or bottlebrush backbone degree of polymerization yields predictable low-frequency shear moduli ca. 10–100 kPa, well below values typical of linear polymer CANs (1 MPa). These extensible networks can be stretched to strains as large as 350% before failure and undergo efficient self-healing to recover >85% of their original toughness upon repeated fracture and melt processing. In summary, molecular architecture creates new opportunities to tailor the mechanical properties of CANs in ways that are otherwise difficult to achieve.
Ischemic stroke (IS) was a significant public health concern and long-chain noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were gaining particular importance in stroke biology, however, the potential mechanism of lncRNAs ...in IS was not fully understood.
In this study, three diagnosed patients with IS and three controls were selected to establish the lncRNA library. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to screen key lncRNA modules associated with IS. The key lncRNAs were identified by module membership (MM) and gene significance (GS). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was used to identify the key pathways and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network method was used to identify the key genes.
A total of 3627 lncRNAs were investigated, followed by an analysis of 17 modules, and only one module was highly associated with the IS. The top 10 lncRNAs were identified based on GS and MM. KEGG pathways analysis revealed the top two pathways of the Human T cell Lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1) infection and the mTOR signaling pathway might influence the progress of IS. Further, genes meeting the top two degree (AKT1 and MAPK14) were selected as the hub genes in the PPI network.
To summarize, this study identified the key pathways and genes, which might serve as biomarkers and targets for precise diagnosis and treatment of IS in the future.
•Only greenyellow module had the highest association with IS.•The HTLV-1 infection pathway and mTOR signaling pathway are correlated with IS.•Two hub genes (AKT1 and MAPK14) might be the key genes correlated with IS.
The objective of this study was to investigate the concentration and spatial distribu- tion patterns of 9 potentially toxic heavy metal elements （As, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb, Cu, Z.n, Mn, and Ni） in road dust ...in the Bayan Obo Mining Region in Inner Mongolia, China. Contamination levels were evaluated using the geoaccumulation index and the enrichment factor. Human health risks for each heavy metal element were assessed using a human exposure model. Results showed that the dust contained significantly elevated heavy metal elements concen- trations compared with the background soil. The spatial distribution pattern of all tested met- als except for As coincided with the locations of industrial areas while the spatial distribution of As was associated with domestic sources. The contamination evaluation indicated that Cd, Pb, and Mn in road dust mainly originated from anthropogenic sources with a rating of ＂heav- ily polluted＂ to ＂extremely polluted,＂ whereas the remaining metals originated from both natural and anthropogenic sources with a level of ＂moderately polluted＂. The non-cancer health risk assessment showed that ingestion was the primary exposure route for all metals in the road dust and that Mn, Cr, Pb, and As were the main contributors to non-cancer risks in both children and adults. Higher HI values were calculated for children （H1=1.89）, indicating that children will likely experience higher health risks compared with adults （H1=0.23）. The cancer risk assessment showed that Cr was the main contributor, with cancer risks which were 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than those for other metals. Taken in concert, the non-cancer risks posed by all studied heavy metal elements and the cancer risks posed by As Co, Cr, Cd, and Ni to both children and adults in Bayan Obo Mining Region fell within the acceptable range.
Objective
To compare the antidepressant effects and tolerability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) treatments in patients with ...post‐stroke depression (PSD).
Methods
We included randomized controlled trials comparing active stimulation with sham stimulation. Primary outcomes were the depression score after treatment, presented as standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals. Response/remission and long‐term antidepressant efficacy were also examined. We estimated effect‐size using pairwise and Bayesian network meta‐analysis (NMA) with random‐effects model.
Results
We identified 33 studies (total n = 1793). In NMA, 5 of 6 treatment strategies were associated with higher effect compared with sham therapy: dual rTMS (standardized mean differences = −1.5; 95% confidence interval = −2.5 to −0.57), dual LFrTMS (−1.5, −2.4 to −0.61), dual tDCS (−1.1, −1.5 to −0.62), HFrTMS (−1.1, −1.3 to −0.85) and LFrTMS (−0.90, −1.2 to −0.6). And dual rTMS, dual LFrTMS or HFrTMS may be more effective than other interventions for achieving antidepressant effects. Regarding secondary outcomes, rTMS can promote depression remission and response, and alleviate depression for at least 1 month. rTMS and tDCS were well tolerated.
Conclusions
Bilateral rTMS and HFrTMS are considered top‐priority non‐invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) interventions for improving PSD. Dual tDCS and LFrTMS are also efficient.
Significance
The findings of this study provide evidence for considering NIBS techniques as alternative or add‐on treatments for patients with PSD. This work also emphasizes the need for future clinical trials to address the inadequacies identified in this review to optimize methodological quality.
Key points
Bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and high‐frequency rTMS are considered top‐priority non‐invasive brain stimulation interventions for improving post‐stroke depression.
Dual transcranial direct current stimulation and low‐frequency rTMS are also efficient.
Clinical trials must optimize methodological quality by addressing the inadequacies identified in this review.
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