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To investigate the remediation effects of various modified biochar materials derived from different impregnation agents on Cd- and Pb-contaminated calcareous soil, nitrogen (N-), phosphorus (P-), sulfur (S-), and iron (Fe-) modified biochar materials (NBC, PBC, SBC, FBC) were fabricated through the impregnation-pyrolysis method and employed to immobilize Pb and Cd in the calcareous soil. The characterization results showed that NBC exhibited an uneven pore size distribution and increased aromaticity, while PBC and SBC had increased pH and ash content. Pot experiments demonstrated significantly different effects of various modified biochar materials on soil immobilization and plant uptake of Cd and Pb. With regard to soil pH, FBC caused a notable decrease in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere areas, while the other materials showed an increase. NBC, PBC, and SBC effectively immobilized Cd and Pb in the soil and significantly reduced their accumulation in Chinese cabbage by 34.4 %-58.9 % for Cd and 9.2 %-53.1 % for Pb, with PBC having the best effect, attributed to complexation, precipitation, and adsorption. However, FBC had strong acidity and poor immobilization ability, which increased the available concentrations of Cd and Pb in the soil. Additionally, PBC promoted the growth, enzyme activity, and tolerance to Cd- and Pb-contaminated soil of Chinese cabbage. Overall, NBC and PBC were identified as the most effective modified biochar materials for stabilizing Cd and Pb in the soil, reducing heavy metal uptake by Chinese cabbage, and boosting enzyme activity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author(s) declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this publication. No financial, personal, or professional affiliations have influenced the content or conclusions of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Intertidal wetlands undergo dynamic water and salinity variations, creating both promising and challenging habitats for diverse organisms. Crabs respond strongly to these variations by means such as altering their movements, thereby restructuring their spatial distribution and influencing coastal ecosystem resilience. However, the movements of crabs under varying environmental conditions require further elucidation. We conducted a systematic mesocosm experiment using the ubiquitous intertidal crab species Helice tientsinensis with four amount levels and six salinity levels of sprayed water applied through a custom apparatus, with a primary focus on crab movement. Crab movement from the experimental side of the apparatus (with altered conditions) to the control side (resembling field conditions of the intertidal wetlands of China's Yellow River Delta) and vice versa was recorded. The results revealed significant differences in moving out of the experimental side and moving in among the different water and salinity conditions, both separately for the two factors and simultaneously. Decreases in water content had a more pronounced effect on crab movement, leading to an increased number of crabs moving out of the experimental side of the apparatus. Conversely, as the experimental side became wetter, crabs tended to move towards it, and this movement was intensified by increases or decreases in water salinity. A structural equation model revealed that the moving-out and moving-in played fundamental roles in determining the number of resident crabs at the end of each experiment. While crabs preferred moist sediment with lower salinity, changes in salinity alone had minimal direct effect compared to sediment water contents. Our results clarify crab movements under varying water and salinity conditions, offering valuable insights to support adaptive interventions for crab populations and inform adaptive conservation and management strategies in intertidal wetlands., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound that is generated during combustion processes, and is present in various substances such as foods, tobacco smoke, and burning emissions. BaP is extensively acknowledged as a highly carcinogenic substance to induce multiple forms of cancer, such as lung cancer, skin cancer, and stomach cancer. Recently it is shown to adversely affect the reproductive system. Nevertheless, the potential toxicity of BaP on oocyte quality remains unclear. In this study, we established a BaP exposure model via mouse oral gavage and found that BaP exposure resulted in a notable decrease in the ovarian weight, number of GV oocytes in ovarian, and oocyte maturation competence. BaP exposure caused ribosomal dysfunction, characterized by a decrease in the expression of RPS3 and HPG in oocytes. BaP exposure also caused abnormal distribution of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and induced ER stress, as indicated by increased expression of GRP78. Besides, the Golgi apparatus exhibited an abnormal localization pattern, which was confirmed by the GM130 localization. Disruption of vesicle transport processes was observed by the abnormal expression and localization of Rab10. Additionally, an enhanced lysosome and LC3 fluorescence intensity indicated the occurrence of protein degradation in oocytes. In summary, our results suggested that BaP exposure disrupted the distribution and functioning of organelles, consequently affecting the developmental competence of mouse oocytes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Diet is fundamental to maintaining and improving human health. There is ample evidence identifying the beneficial and/or harmful effects of diet on noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. However, the associations of the diet to chronic venous disease has not been fully described., Methods: Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey conducted on 1,571 community-dwelling adults in 2018. Diet intake frequency was assessed using valid food group consumption frequency questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association of diet with chronic venous disease., Results: In total, 857 participants were diagnosed with chronic venous disease. Those who ate soybean products daily and 4-6 days/week had a 51-31% lower risk of chronic venous disease compared with those who only occasionally consumed soybean food, respectively. Participants who consumed eggs and egg products 1-3 days/week versus those who only occasionally ate eggs showed a lower risk of chronic venous disease [odds ratio (OR) 0.542, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.375-0.782]. Eating fried food 4-6 days each week was associated with an increased risk of chronic venous disease (OR 3.872, 95% CI 1.263-11.599) compared with those who only occasionally ate fried foods. There is a decreasing tendency of the adjusted OR for eating soybean products daily with the severity of disease [chronic venous disease (C0-C2): OR 0.575, 95% CI 0.408-0.812; chronic venous insufficiency (C3-C6): OR 0.222, 95% CI 0.114-0.435]., Conclusions: A higher frequency in the consumption of soybean products and eggs were associated with a lower risk of chronic venous disease. High level of fried food consumption was positively associated with risk of chronic venous disease. There are certain specific trends in relation to dietary consumption and severity of disease, although these trends were less strong. These associations are largely independent of other dietary and nondietary factors., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Pyrolytic biochar is a good material for remediating soils contaminated with heavy metals; however, it exhibits strong alkalinity, which easily causes soil alkalization and fertility reduction. Herein, a series of novel biochar materials (BPBCs) were prepared by combined ball milling and phosphorus (P)-loading. The optimized BPBC were fabricated in the basis of Cd and Pb adsorption capacities of the biochar, with pyrolysis at 700 °C, ball milling for 12 h and the addition of 5% red P (BPBC700). Ball milling could effectively grind pristine biochar into submicron particles and nanoscale P particles could be uniformly loaded on BPBC700. Moreover, the oxidative conversion of red P into phosphorus oxides, phosphoric acid and (hydro)phosphates was promoted due to reactions with the carbonates, alkaline minerals and O-containing functional groups of biochar. These reactions also decreased the biochar and soil pH to nearly neutral by acid-base neutralization. Pot experiments showed that BPBC700 had better effects than the pristine or ball-milled biochar in improving soil properties (e.g., cation exchange capacity and organic carbon), increasing the concentrations of soil nutrients (e.g., N and P), promoting alkaline phosphatase, catalase and urease activities, decreasing soil mobility and plant accumulation of Cd and Pb, and alleviating Cd and Pb stress on maize plants. Thus, BPBC is a promising and ecofriendly amendment to enhance its adsorption ability on Cd and Pb, soil quality and plant productivity in contaminated soil., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: To develop and verify a risk predictive model/scoring system for pulmonary embolism (PE) among hospitalized patients with deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities (LDVT)., Methods: 776 patients with LDVT were enrolled in a case-control study between January 2016 and June 2017 from the Vascular Surgery Department of Shanxi Dayi Hospital, China. They were randomly divided into development (543 patients, 70%) and validation (233 patients, 30%) databases. Based on the results of pulmonary computed tomography arteriography, patients were divided into 2 categories; those with PE were designated as the case group, whereas those without comprised the controls. A logistic regression model and scoring system for PE in patients with LDVT was established in the development database and verified in the validation database. Scoring system (Shanxi Dayi Hospital score [SDH score]) was tabulated as follows: right lower extremity or bilateral lower extremities, 1; surgery or immobilization, 1; malignant tumor, 1; history of venous thromboembolism (VTE), 2; D-dimer >1,000 ng/mL, 2; and unprovoked, 2. Calibration and discrimination of the model were assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Wells score, the Revised Geneva score, and the SDH score for predictive value of PE by AUC in the validation database were compared., Results: 776 patients with LDVT were divided into 2 risk categories based on the scores from the risk model as follows: PE unlikely (score <3) and PE likely (score ≥3). Sensitivity, specificity, and crude agreement of the SDH score in the development database were 76.39%, 55.89%, and 61.33%, respectively. In the validation database, the logistic regression model showed good calibration and discriminative power. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test P value was >0.05, and the AUC was 0.705 (95% CI: 0.634-0.776, P < 0.001). The SDH score also showed good discriminative power, and the AUC was 0.702 (95% CI: 0.631-0.774, P < 0.001). Sensitivity, specificity, and crude agreement of the SDH score in the validation database were 67.61%, 61.73%, and 63.52%, respectively. AUC for the Wells score and the Revised Geneva score was 0.611 (95% CI: 0.533-0.688, P = 0.007) and 0.585 (95% CI: 0.503-0.666, P = 0.040), respectively. Difference of the AUC was not statistically significant between the Wells score and the SDH score (0.611 vs. 0.702, P = 0.059) but was so between the Revised Geneva score and the SDH score (0.585 vs. 0.702, P = 0.016). Sensitivity of the Wells score, Revised Geneva score, and the SDH score (64.79%, 67.61% vs. 67.61%) was not statistically significant. However, the specificity of the Wells score and Revised Geneva score was significantly lower than that of the SDH score (48.77%, 39.51% vs. 61.73%)., Conclusions: Our logistic regression model and the SDH score based on 7 risk factors as right lower extremity, bilateral lower extremities, unprovoked, surgery or immobilization, malignant tumor, history of VTE, and D-dimer>1,000 ng/mL showed good calibration and discriminative power for the assessment of PE risk in patients with LDVT. The SDH score is more specific for PE prediction in the Chinese population, compared with the Wells score and the Revised Geneva score., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ovaries (O) are specialized tissues that play critical roles in producing oocytes and hormones. The crustacean hepatopancreas (H) is a metabolic organ that plays important functions including absorption, storage of nutrients and vitellogenesis during growth and ovarian development. However, genetic information on the biological functions of the crustacean ovaries and hepatopancreas are limited. This study compared the transcriptome in the ovary and the hepatopancreas of female P. trituberculatus fed two different diets containing 0% (SL0) and 4% soybean lecithin (SL4), respectively during the growth and ovarian maturation stages by Illumina HiSeq4000 sequencer. The differences between ovary and hepatopancreas of P. trituberculatus were also compared at transcriptional level. A total of 55,667 unigenes were obtained with mean length of 962 bps across the four treatment groups (SL0&#95;O, SL4&#95;O, SL0&#95;H and SL4&#95;H). In ovary, there were 257 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between SL0&#95;O and SL4&#95;O, with 145 down- and 112 up-regulated genes in the SL4&#95;O group. Candidate genes involved in ovarian development were detected in SL4&#95;H group. In hepatopancreas, 146 DEGs were found between SL0&#95;H and SL4&#95;H, including 43 down- and 103 up-regulated genes in the SL4&#95;H group. The specific DEGs were mainly involved with lipid related metabolism pathways, including fat digestion and absorption, PPAR signaling pathway and insulin resistance. 14,725 DEGs were found in the comparison between SL0&#95;O and SL4&#95;H, including 7250 up- and 7475 down-regulated genes in the SL4&#95;H group. The specific DEGs were mainly involved with lipid (fat digestion and absorption, linoleic acid metabolism), hormone (steroid hormone biosynthesis, ovarian steroidogenesis, etc), and amino acid (phenylalanine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, tyrosine) related metabolism pathways. Crabs fed the SL4 diet exhibited higher gene expression of cryptocyanin 1 (cc1), cryptocyanin 2 (cc2) and neuroparsin 1 (np1) in hepatopancreas and ovarian than those fed the SL0 diet, however, crab fed SL4 diet showed higher gene expression of fatty acid-binding protein 1 (fabp1), vitellogenin (vtg) and Delta-6 desaturase-like protein (fadsd6) in hepatopancreas than those fed the SL0 diet. Moreover, crabs fed the SL0 diet had lower gene expression of vtg, extracellular copper‑zinc superoxide dismutase (cuznsod) and estrogen sulfotransferase (ests) in ovary compared to those fed the diet containing 4% soybean lecithin. These results might provide important clues with respect to elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of phospholipid on the gonadal development and lipid metabolism of P. trituberculatus., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)