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Bisphenol A is a common environmental factor and endocrine disruptor that exerts a negative impact on male reproductive ability. By exploring bisphenol A-induced testicular cell death using the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mouse model, we found that a ferroptosis phenomenon may exist. Mice were divided into six groups and administered different doses of bisphenol A via intragastric gavage once daily for 45 consecutive days. Serum was then collected to determine the levels of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde. Epididymal sperm was also collected for semen analysis, and testicular tissue was collected for ferritin content determination, electron microscope observation of mitochondrial morphology, immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot analysis. Exposure to bisphenol A was found to decrease sperm quality and cause oxidative damage, iron accumulation, and mitochondrial damage in the testes of mice. In addition, bisphenol A was confirmed to affect the expression of the ferroptosis-related genes, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), and acyl-CoA synthetase 4 (ACSL4) in mouse testicular tissues. Accordingly, we speculate that bisphenol A induces oxidative stress, which leads to the ferroptosis of testicular cells. Overall, the inhibition of ferroptosis may be a potential strategy to reduce male reproductive toxicity caused by bisphenol A.

Both exotic and native plant invasions can have profound impacts on ecosystems. While many studies have examined the effects of exotic plant invasions on soil properties, relatively few have tested the effects of native plant invasions on soil microbial communities. Furthermore, we know little about the effects of native plant invasions on microbial communities in litter. In subtropical forests in southern China, we sampled litter at three decomposition stages and top soil in three forest sands representing three stages of the invasion (not invaded, moderately and heavily invaded) by the Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis (Carriere) J. Houzeau), a native species in China. We measured chemical properties (concentrations of C, N, P, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, Cu, and Zn, and concentrations of cellulose and lignin) and microbial communities in litter and/or soil. The bamboo invasion, in general, decreased the element concentrations in litter and soil and also decreased total microbial abundance and diversity. Considering bacteria and fungi separately, the bamboo invasion decreased fungal diversity in litter and soil, but had little impact on bacterial diversity, suggesting that fungi are more sensitive and vulnerable to the bamboo invasion than bacteria. We conclude that native Moso bamboo invasions into subtropical forests may lead to a complex biogeochemical process in the litter&ndash, soil system, which may threaten local forest ecosystems by affecting microbial communities and, thus, litter decomposition and nutrient cycling.

In this study, 23 typical printing enterprises were selected in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detection (GC-MS/FID), 46 sets of analysis results were obtained to quantitatively analyze the emissions characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the ozone generation potential of these printing enterprises. The results show that the emission concentrations of total VOCs (TVOCs) in exhaust funnels of the printing enterprises varied greatly, ranging from 3.3 mg·m

Electric-assisted capillary rise adsorption of polar and nonpolar solvents by cellulose and chitosan was studied by employing an electrostatic generator to assist a common capillary rise wetting by taking the anode and cathode electrodes respectively linked to a metal tube charged with samples and the probe solvent. To vary the voltage at 0, 100, 200, and 300 V, respectively, the recorded dynamic adsorption results showed that the cellulose and chitosan both kept a stable adsorption of the nonpolar hexane and diiodomethane, obviously ignoring the voltage increase. Moreover, the hexane amount adsorbed by cellulose and chitosan is similar, while the diiodomethane amount was adsorbed to a greater amount by cellulose as compared with the chitosan corresponding to these two biomaterials-based nonpolar components, for example, greater for cellulose and smaller for chitosan. Results also showed that the adsorption of polar water and formamide was gradually increased with the voltage increase, especially for chitosan, to correspond to the polar component of these materials, for example, greater for chitosan and smaller for cellulose. These adsorption behaviors suggested that the application of an extra electric field can only enhance the adsorption of polar solvent, and the molecular structure, for exmaple, the β-(1-4)-linked d-glucosamine units of chitosan, has sensitive electric field responses in polar solvent adsorption as compared with those of the β(1-4)-linked d-glucose units of cellulose. The reason for the electric adsorption behaviors was known due to the presence of an extra electric-field-induced reduction of the total surface tension of solvent and mainly the polar component.

Porous poly(L-lactide), PLLA, and poly(D-lactide), PDLA, films were fabricated by the electric breath figure (EBF) method. The pore sizes of both the PLLA and PDLA films were reduced with the increase in electric voltage; however, the former followed a non-linear fit, whereas the latter followed a linear fit. Under 0 V condition, the average diameter, da, was 15.0 ± 0.50 μm for the PLLA film and 6.66 ± 0.54 μm for the PDLA film, whereas under 3 kV condition, da was 1.65 ± 0.35 μm for the PLLA film and 0.73 ± 0.07 μm for the PDLA film. FTIR spectra analysis showed that the EBF process did not change the structure of PLLA or PDLA.

Polyaniline (PANI) microfibers were prepared by an unusual interfacial synthesis method. Experimentally, the ANI formed aqueous phase (AP) was placed at the top, and the poly( l -lactide) (PLLA) formed oil phase (OP) was placed at the bottom, while the volume of these two phases was varied by taking the ratio of AP/OP at 2/1 and 1/2, respectively. FESEM images showed that the phase volume variety-based two synthesis processes both can form rectangular PANI microfibers while a comparison found that the AP/OP at 2/1 formed microfibers with smaller diameter and longer length than that of the AP/OP at 1/2 formed samples. This suggested that the increase of the AP volume would benefit the interfacial polymerized PANI with better size.

In this work, tea polyphenol (TP) was employed as an environmentally friendly and highly efficient dopant and thermal stabilizer for polyaniline (PANI). Results from UV, XRD, conductivity, TG and solubility studies indicated that the TP was efficient doped in PANI. To compare with the pure PANI, the TP-doped PANI presented enhanced conductivity, thermal stability and solubility due to the TP doped in PANI chains enhanced the π–π* interaction and facilitated the electron delocalization.

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to determine the influence of replacing 20% of nitrate-N in nutrient solutions with 20 individual amino acids on growth, nitrate accumulation, and concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in pak-choi ( Brassica chinensis L.) shoots. When 20% of nitrate-N was replaced with arginine (Arg) compared to the full nitrate treatment, pak-choi shoot fresh and dry weights increased significantly ( P ≤ 0.05), but when 20% of nitrate-N was replaced with alanine (Ala), valine (Val), leucine (Leu), isoleucine (Ile), proline (Pro), phenylalanine (Phe), methionine (Met), aspartic acid (Asp), glutamic acid (Glu), lysine (Lys), glycine (Gly), serine (Ser), threonine (Thr), cysteine (Cys), and tyrosine (Tyr), shoot fresh and dry weights decreased significantly ( P ≤ 0.05). After replacing 20% of nitrate-N with asparagine (Asn) and glutamine (Gln), shoot fresh and dry weights were unaffected.Compared to the full nitrate treatment, amino acid replacement treatments, except for Cys, Gly, histidine (His), and Arg, significantly reduced ( P ≤ 0.05) nitrate concentrations in plant shoots. Except for Cys, Leu, Pro, and Met, total N concentrations in plant tissues of the other amino acid treatments significantly increased ( P ≤ 0.05). Amino acids also affected total P and K concentrations, but the effects differed depending on individual amino acids. To improve pak-choi shoot quality, Gln and Asn, due to their insignificant effects on pak-choi growth, their significant reduction in nitrate concentrations, and their increase in macroelement content in plants, may be used to partially replace nitrate-N.

An algorithm to retrieve Land Surface Temperature (LST) by GMS 5/VISSR thermal infrared data is developed in this paper, which is called the single time/dual channels split window algorithm. It adopts the spatial-temporal threshold criterion for cloud detection. Real-time radiosonde data are used to derive the atmospheric upward and downward radiation. The surface emissivity is derived from AVHRR-NDVI. Thus, LST in two thermal infrared channels is retrieved from the RTE (Radiation Transfer Equation). Compared with in-situ observations of surface temperature (0 centimeter) at station No. 54511 and other 43 stations in China in 2000, LSTs retrieved by the present algorithm are more accurate than other similar algorithms. Sensitivity analysis is made mainly considering of the effect from atmospheric attenuation. Based on this algorithm, diurnal cycle of LST in 4 continuous days in the middle eastern of Inner Mongolia and the spatial distribution of yearly average LST for pure clear days in East Asia are also shown.

The NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays an important role in a variety of diseases. However, the role of NLRP3 in the human intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration remains unknown. In the present study, we assessed the expression levels of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its downstream targets caspase-1 and IL-1β in 45 degenerate and seven nondegenerate IVD samples. The correlation between the degeneration scores and expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1β were also analyzed. The mRNA expression levels of the three molecules (NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1β) were higher in the degenerate IVDs group than the controls (nondegenerate IVDs group). Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression levels of all three molecules were markedly increased in the nucleus pulposus of degenerate IVDs compared with nondegenerate IVDs. There was a positive correlation between the degeneration scores and the expression levels of the NLRP3 inflammasome as well as its downstream targets caspase-1 and IL-1β. The findings suggest that excessive activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome results in overproduction of downstream IL-1β, which participates in the pathogenesis of human IVD degeneration. Therefore, the NLRP3 inflammasome might serve as a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of IVD degeneration.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are key precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in air, and the differences in the compositions of VOCs lead to their different contribution to atmospheric reaction. Cooking oil fume is one of the important sources of atmospheric VOCs, and its chemical compositions are distinct under different conditions of oil types, food types, cooking methods and heating temperatures etc. In this study, the production of cooking oil fume was simulated by heating typical pure vegetable oils (peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil and blend oil) at different temperatures in beakers to investigate the chemical compositions of VOCs. The emitted VOCs were sampled with a Tenax adsorption tube and analyzed using GC-MS after thermal desorption. According to spectral library search and map analysis, using area normalized semi-quantitative method, preliminary qualitative and quantitative tests were conducted for the specific components of VOCs under different conditions.

VOCs emission from petrochemical storage tanks is one of the important emission sources in the petrochemical industry. In order to find out the VOCs emission amount of petrochemical storage tanks, Tanks 4.0.9d model is utilized to calculate the VOCs emission from different kinds of storage tanks. VOCs emissions from a horizontal tank, a vertical fixed roof tank, an internal floating roof tank and an external floating roof tank were calculated as an example. The consideration of the site meteorological information, the sealing information, the tank content information and unit conversion by using Tanks 4.0.9d model in China was also discussed. Tanks 4.0.9d model can be used to estimate VOCs emissions from petrochemical storage tanks in China as a simple and highly accurate method.

Cooking oil fume is one of the important sources of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are the key precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in air. In this study, the production of cooking oil fume was simulated by heating typical pure vegetable oils (peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil and blend oil) at different temperatures in beakers to investigate the VOCs emission characteristics. The emitted VOCs were sampled with a Tenax adsorption tube and analyzed using GC-MS after thermal desorption. The results showed that the emission of VOCs increased with the increase of the heating temperature for all the investigated cooking oils, and at a given temperature, the blend oil emitted the lowest amount of VOCs. The VOCs emission intensity at different heating temperatures fitted well with binomial equations and ranged from 1.6-11.1 mg x (kg x min)(-1).

Background Platinum-based chemotherapy has been a standard therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but it has high toxicity. In China, Shenqi Fuzheng, a newly developed injection concocted from Chinese medicinal herbs has been reported that may increase efficacy and reduce toxicity when combined with platinum-based chemotherapy, but little is known about it outside of China. The aim of this study was to systematically review the existing clinical evidence on Shenqi Fuzheng Injection(SFI) combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC. Methods Pubmed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CNKI, and CBM search were organized for all documents published, in English and Chinese, until April 2010. The randomized controlled clinical trials were selected based on specific criteria, in which a SFI plus platinum-based chemotherapy treatment group was compared with a platinum-based chemotherapy control group for patients with advanced NSCLC. The quality of studies was assessed by modified Jadad's scale, and Revman 4.2 software was used for data syntheses and analyses. Results Twenty nine studies were included in this review based on our selection criteria. Of them, ten studies were of high quality and the rest were of low quality, according to the modified Jadad scale. The meta-analysis showed there was a statistically significant higher tumor response (RR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.32; P = 0.001) and performance status ((RR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.45 to 1.70; P < 0.00001); but lower severe toxicity for WBC (RR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.47; P < 0.00001), PLT (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.52; P < 0.00001), HB (RR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.66; P < 0.0001) and nausea and vomiting (RR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.47; P < 0.00001), when the SFI plus platinum-based chemotherapy treatment group was compared with the platinum-based chemotherapy control group. Sensitivity analysis was restricted to studies with the high quality, and the result was similar when the studies with low quality were excluded. Asymmetry was observed in a funnel plot analysis, and Egger's test also indicated an evidence of publication bias (P = 0.016). Conclusions SFI intervention appears to be useful to increase efficacy and reduce toxicity when combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC, although this result needs to be further verified by more high-quality trials.

Web page de-duplication module is an important part of search engine system, which can improve its performance and quality with filtering the web pages downloaded by crawler system of search engine and eliminating the duplicated web pages. This paper from the source of duplicated web pages--reshipment proposes a web page de-duplication method that the information including original websites and web titles are extracted to eliminate duplicated web pages based on feature codes. Experiments show that this method can achieve satisfactory results in eliminating large-scale duplicated web pages.