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This paper utilizes field sampling and laboratory testing to identify potential sources of heavy metals, including rock, dust, rainfall, surface water, and groundwater, employing Pearson Correlation Coefficient—Principal Component—Sources Factors Analysis. A total of 33 surface and 22 profile soil samples were collected to investigate the migration characteristics and spatial distribution of heavy metals in the study area. Additionally, the paper discusses the comparison of soil heavy metal concentrations between sunny and shady slopes. The findings reveal that soil heavy metals in the study area primarily originate from weathering and downward migration deposition of parent rock, indicative of a geological high background area. Moreover, this has led to arsenic contamination in the soil, with an excess rate of 74.5%. It was observed that heavy metals tend to accumulate more on shady slopes than sunny slopes, with mercury and arsenic showing the most significant differences at 69.70% and 49.33% higher levels, respectively. The comprehensive impact index of agricultural soil was calculated at 53.25, indicating a sub-pollution level. Additionally, the study notes that with the increase in crop enrichment coefficient, the variation values of soil heavy metal concentrations decrease, with a correlation coefficient of 0.6077 between the two variables.

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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a non-hematopoietic stem cell population first discovered in bone marrow, are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into mature cells of several mesenchymal tissues, such as fat and bone. As common progenitor cells of adipocytes and osteoblasts, MSCs are delicately balanced for their differentiation commitment. Numerous in vitro investigations have demonstrated that fat-induction factors inhibit osteogenesis, and, conversely, bone-induction factors hinder adipogenesis. In fact, a variety of external cues contribute to the delicate balance of adipo-osteogenic differentiation of MSCs, including chemical, physical, and biological factors. These factors trigger different signaling pathways and activate various transcription factors that guide MSCs to commit to either lineage. The dysregulation of the adipo-osteogenic balance has been linked to several pathophysiologic processes, such as aging, obesity, osteopenia, osteopetrosis, and osteoporosis. Thus, the regulation of MSC differentiation has increasingly attracted great attention in recent years. Here, we review external factors and their signaling processes dictating the reciprocal regulation between adipocytes and osteoblasts during MSC differentiation and the ultimate control of the adipo-osteogenic balance.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been demonstrated to be involved in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocarcinogenesis through activation of the STAT3 pathway. The sustained activation of the IL-6/STAT3 pathway is frequently associated with repression of SOCS3, which is both a target gene and a negative regulator of STAT3. However, the silencing mechanism of SOCS3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be elucidated. Here, we showed that the repression of SOCS3 and sustained activation of IL-6/STAT3 pathway in HBV-producing HCC cells were caused by HBV-induced mitochondrial ROS accumulation. Mechanistic studies revealed that ROS-mediated DNA methylation resulted in the silencing of SOCS3. Decreased SOCS3 expression significantly promoted the proliferation of HCC cells and growth of tumor xenografts in mice. Further studies revealed that HBV-induced ROS accumulation upregulated the expression of the transcription factor, Snail, which bound to the E-boxes of SOCS3 promoter and mediated the epigenetic silencing of SOCS3 in association with DNMT1 and HDAC1. In addition, we found that the expression of Snail and SOCS3 were inversely correlated in HBV-associated HCC patients, suggesting that SOCS3 and/or Snail could be used as prognostic markers in HCC pathogenesis. Taken together, our data show that HBV-induced mitochondrial ROS production represses SOCS3 expression through Snail-mediated epigenetic silencing, leading to the sustained activation of IL-6/STAT3 pathway and ultimately contributing to hepatocarcinogenesis.

A ceramic thermocouple (CTC) was assembled using SiC as the cathode and MoSi2 as the anode for the temperature test of the aluminum electrolysis. The NiFe2O4 was sprayed on the surface of SiC cathode for increasing the corrosion resistance ability in the cryolite. The corrosion behavior of NiFe2O4 in the cryolite was investigated. The results of the corrosion tests show that the NiFe2O4 has a very low corrosion rate in the cryolite, and a corrosion layer was formed during the corrosion test. The mechanisms of the NiFe2O4 corrosion are reactive corrosion and particles flaking. The thermo emf of SiC-MoSi2 CTC was tested from 25 ºC to 1300 ºC in air. The results show that thermo emf has a linear relationship with the temperature dependence, and reached 350 mV at 1300 ºC. The CTC which consists of SiC-MoSi2 prepared in the same batch has a preferable interchangeability. By holding temperature at 1300 ºC, the deviation of thermo emf is 0.5 %, which is better than the criterion of industry thermocouple, 0.75 %. The CTC response time was also analyzed.

Surface treatment is one of the most effective ways to elongate the service life of concrete. The surface treatment agents, including organic and inorganic types, have been intensively studied. In this paper, the silica-based hybrid nanocomposite, which take advantages of both organic and inorganic treatment agents, was synthesized and used for surface treatment of hardened cement-based material. The effectiveness of organic and inorganic hybrid nanocomposite was evaluated through investigations on the gas permeability of cement-based materials. The results showed that SiO2/PMHS hybrid nanocomposite can greatly decrease the gas transport properties of hardened cement-based materials and has a great potential for surface treatment of cementitious materials.