To determine the hydrochemical characteristics and health risks associated with their use as drinking water, 54 river water and 44 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed in a rural area of ...Jiangjin District, Chongqing City. The concentration of solutes in river water and groundwater showed significant spatial variability in the region. A number of dissolved chemical constituents including nitrate (NO
3
−
), nitrite (NO
2
−
), aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), boron (B), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and selenium (Se) exceeded their respective recommended drinking water limits at some locations. Ternary plots of cations, anions and silica indicated that carbonate weathering was the primary source of major ions in water, followed by silicate weathering. Elevated concentrations of some chemical constituents including NO
3
−
and chloride (Cl
−
) were found in water samples in areas with the most intensive agricultural land use activities. A health risk assessment indicated that Cl
−
and NO
3
−
were the most important chemical constituents that were a non-carcinogenic health concern. A carcinogenic health risk assessment indicated that chromium (Cr) and As were the chemical constituents of most concern in water from the area that might be used as a drinking water source. The average annual carcinogenic risks for Cr in drinking water were determined to be in the range of 3.14E−05 and 7.90E−05 for adults and children, respectively. Similarly, the average annual carcinogenic risks for As in drinking water for adults and children were calculated to be in the range of 4.43E−07 and 1.11E−06, respectively. These values are within the risk values of 10
−6
to 10
−4
, which generally indicate that there are health concerns that need to be addressed in more detail. The highest values of carcinogenic risk for drinking water were mainly located in the northern part of the study area where there are industrial activities that are potential sources of arsenic and chromium in surface water and groundwater.
Sweat, as a sample that includes a lot of biochemical information, is good for non-invasive monitoring. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of studies on
monitoring of sweat. ...However, there are still some challenges for the continuous analysis of samples. As a hydrophilic, easy-to-process, environmentally friendly, inexpensive and easily accessible material, paper is an ideal substrate material for making
sweat analysis microfluidics. This review introduces the development of paper as a sweat analysis microfluidic substrate material, focusing on the advantages of the structural characteristics of paper, trench design and equipment integration applications to expand the design and research ideas for the development of
sweat detection technology.
In order to determine the spatial variation of longevity population and elements contained in the drinking water of longevity region in Jiangjin and investigate the relationship between the elements ...in drinking water and longevity, population censuses on township level and 98 drinking water samples from Jiangjin District, Chongqing City in West China were collected and analyzed. Population statistics on township level showed that the number of centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants (OC), centenarity index (CI), and number of centenarians per 10,000 over 65-year-old subjects (UC) present obvious geographic distribution properties, generally Central region > Northern region > Southern region (Kruskal-Wallis test,
p
< 0.05). Moderate hard water (150 mg/L < total hardness (TH) = 156.17 mg/L < 300 mg/L) was mainly found in drinking water from longevity township (OC > 7.5) in Jiangjin District, whereas soft water (75 mg/L < TH = 111.23 mg/L < 150 mg/L) was mostly in non-longevity township (OC < 7.5). The mean concentration of strontium (Sr) (0.73 mg/L) in drinking water from the longevity township was apparently higher than that of non-longevity township (0.44 mg/L) (Mann–Whitney
U
test,
p
= 0.019 < 0.05). The concentrations of Ba, Li, Mn, Ni, and Se in drinking water from longevity township were also higher than those of non-longevity township (Mann–Whitney
U
test,
p
< 0.05). The research indicates that exercising strict control over the concentrations of TH, Sr, Ba, Li, Mn, Ni, and Se in drinking water might be good for the health and prolong people’s life.
Abnormal spermatozoa significantly impact reproductive health, affecting fertility rates, potentially prolonging conception time, and increasing the risk of miscarriages. This study employs Mendelian ...randomization to explore their potential link with immune cells, aiming to reveal their potential causal association and wider implications for reproductive health.
We conducted forward and reverse Mendelian randomization analyses to explore the potential causal connection between 731 immune cell signatures and abnormal spermatozoa. Using publicly available genetic data, we investigated various immune signatures such as median fluorescence intensities (MFI), relative cell (RC), absolute cell (AC), and morphological parameters (MP). Robustness was ensured through comprehensive sensitivity analyses assessing consistency, heterogeneity, and potential horizontal pleiotropy. The MR study produced a statistically significant p-value of .0000684, Bonferroni-corrected for the 731 exposures.
The Mendelian randomization analysis revealed strong indications of a reciprocal relationship between immune cell pathways and sperm integrity. When examining immune cell exposure, a potential causal link with abnormal sperm was observed in 35 different types of immune cells. Conversely, the reverse Mendelian randomization results indicated that abnormal sperm might causally affect 39 types of immune cells. These outcomes suggest a potential mutual influence between alterations in immune cell functionality and the quality of spermatozoa.
This study highlights the close link between immune responses and sperm development, suggesting implications for reproductive health and immune therapies. Further research may offer crucial insights into male fertility and immune disorders.
Abstract
Ubiquitous vortical structures are considered to act as a natural source of various solar plasma phenomena, for example, a wide range of magnetohydrodynamic waves and jet excitations. This ...work aims to develop an advanced vortex detection algorithm based on the Γ method and using a separable convolution kernel technique. This method is applied to detect and analyze the photospheric vortices in 3D realistic magnetoconvection numerical and observational data. We present the advanced Γ method (AGM), and our results indicate that the AGM performs with better accuracy in comparison with the original Γ method. The AGM allows us to identify small- and large-scale vortices with no vortex interposition and without requiring the changing of the threshold. In this way, the nondetection issue is mostly prevented. It was found that the Γ method failed to identify the large and longer-lived vortices, which were detected by the AGM. The size of the detected vortical structures tends to vary over time, with most vortices shrinking toward their end. The vorticity at the center is also not constant, presenting a sharp decay as the vortex ceases to exist. Due to its capability of identifying vortices with minimum nondetection, the vortex properties—such as lifetime, geometry, and dynamics—are better captured by the AGM than by the Γ method. In this era of new high-resolution observation, the AGM can be used as a precise technique for identifying and performing statistical analysis of solar atmospheric vortices.
Organic sulfur compounds (OSCs) including thiols (especially ethanethiol) formed by back reactions of n-alkanes with TSR–H2S may have incorporated into the solid bitumens, resulting in heavier δ34S ...and more negative δ13C values in TSR- than in non-TSR-solid bitumens.
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•Solid bitumens have S/C and N/C ratios and δ34S values altered by TSR.•TSR altered solid bitumens show negative shifts in δ13C values.•Non-TSR solid bitumen has S/C, δ34S and δ13C matched with P3l source rock.
Reservoir solid bitumens from the Permian to Triassic and potential source rocks in the northeastern Sichuan Basin were measured for elemental and stable carbon (δ13C) and sulfur (δ34S) isotopic compositions to determine the chemical and isotopic composition of non-TSR and TSR-altered solid bitumen and to develop proxies to reflect the extent of bitumen alteration by TSR. Non-TSR altered reservoir bitumen samples showed S/C atomic ratios ⩽0.03 and had δ13C values closer to Longtan Formation (P3l) kerogen than to the Lower Silurian and Cambrian kerogens, and δ34S values slightly more enriched than P3l kerogens. The TSR-altered solid bitumens have incorporated significant amounts of TSR-derived H2S resulting in S/C atomic ratios (0.047–0.074) and δ34S values (13.4–24.0‰) being significantly higher than those of the solid bitumen not altered by TSR (S/C: 0.013–0.030; δ34S: 5.8–9.6‰) and the potential source rock kerogen. The incorporation has produced a decrease in N/C ratio and negative shift of −2.7‰ in δ13C values that resulted from increasing TSR-H2S back reactions with 12C-rich n-alkanes from the gas phase, soluble solid bitumen or paleo-oil to generate organic sulfur compounds such as ethanethiol that were incorporated into the solid bitumens, which is followed by further aromatization and polymerization. The solid bitumens show positive relationships of S/C ratios and δ34S values to the associated gas H2S/(H2S+ΣC1–6) or TSR extents, and thus the S/C ratios and δ34S values can be used as proxies to reflect TSR extents.
Abstract
Pool boiling is a common phenomenon and widely utilized to realize the heat transfer process in different fields. In advanced nuclear power plant such as the AP1000 passive safety system, ...pool boiling is also used to fulfil the residual heat removal function through the Passive Residual Heat Removal Heat Exchanger (PRHR HX). The onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) point is one of the key points during heat transfer mechanism changing process. The judgement and predicted method of the ONB under tube outside pool boiling condition is still a difficulty and needs further investigation. In this paper, the heat transfer characteristic of the ONB point is experimentally studied by combining with high speed camera technology. Base on the observing and calculating results, the ONB point is judged. The applicabilities of different ONB point predicting correlations are estimated and an empirical correlation predicting wall superheat degree more accurately is developed.
Abstract
To meet the requirement of energy conservation and optimize the design of helical coils in laminar flow, the pitch, the coil radius and the average inlet velocity were selected as design ...parameters to obtain the tendency of the heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics of the helical coils. Heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop per unit length of helical coils were taken as the optimization objective functions. A multi-objective optimization model was established, three candidate points A, B and C were obtained based on Non-dominated Sorted Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II). The results showed that heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop per unit length increase with the pitch and inlet velocity whilst them decrease with coil radius, among which the influence of inlet velocity is the most obvious and the pitch is the least. It was found that the coil radius of most points in Pareto front was relatively concentrated. The comprehensive performance of candidate points A, B, C had been improved significantly by 16.3%, 28.3% and 19.6% respectively.
The heat transfer, flow resistance and entropy generation characteristics of micro-fin helical coil tubes (MFHCTs) are investigated numerically. MFHCT with different fin numbers (2≤N≤6), coil pitches ...(150mm≤P≤450mm), coil diameters (600mm≤D≤1200mm) and Reynolds numbers (10945≤Re≤30845) are examined. The effects of these geometric parameters on the Nusselt number (Nu), friction factor (f) and improved entropy generation number (Ns′) are discussed. The performance of MFHCT is then compared to that of a smooth helical coil tube (SHCT). The results show that MFCHT always performs better than SHCT, especially in the lower Reynolds number region. Moreover, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are established to predict Nu, f and Ns′, which are trained by simulation data. This model fits the simulation results better than the multiple linear regression, and the maximum error is no greater than 8%. With the prediction of the network, the micro-fin helical coil tubes are optimized by the entropy minimization method and NSGA-III algorithm. Through optimization, the distribution of design variables is examined. The results demonstrate that a higher Reynolds number and a larger coil diameter and coil pitch lead to a better performance. Additionally, the optimal Pareto points can be utilized to guide the design and operation conditions of micro-fin helical coil tubes.
•A micro-fin helical coil tube structure is proposed.•Different micro-fin helical coil tubes are numerically investigated to study the flow characteristics.•An artificial neural network model is constructed to predict the flow characteristics.•The micro-fin helical coil tubes are optimized based on entropy generation theory with prediction.•The optimization of discrete design variables is realized.
Elastic modulus of rock mass is an important mechanics index in critical project. Due to the influence joint fissure characteristics, it can only be get from complicated in situ test or from indirect ...empirical formula. Basing on qualitative and quantitative data got from in situ investigation, utilizing the neural net’s ability of fault tolerance, adaptivity and self-learning, here gives a full set of technological process for rock mass elastic modulus prediction, which can cover the shortages of in situ test and empirical formula method.
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