Search

Abstract Soil Cd pollution resulting from human activities has become a serious food safety concern. This study was to investigate the impacts of eight soil amendments including a humic acid material (XZ), three organic-inorganic combined materials (FY, PX and PLY) and four inorganic materials (FS, LIME, PLL and PL) on soil Cd availability, enzyme activity, and the uptake by vegetables under incubation, greenhouse and field conditions. Results showed that soil exchangeable Cd (EX-Cd) concentrations under four amendments (FY, XZ, PX, FS) significantly decreased by 12.10–13.59% after 20d treatments, and both PX and PLY resulted in reduced soil EX-Cd fraction while increased fractions of Fe-Mn oxides (OX-Cd), organic matter (OM-Cd) and residual (Res-Cd) in the Cd-contaminated purple soil. PX significantly reduced soil EX-Cd and carbonate-bound (CB-Cd) fractions by 4.4% and 11.4%, and decreased vegetable Cd uptake by 38.8% and 49.1% in greenhouse and field experiments, respectively. Moreover, PX elevated the activities of soil catalase, urease and saccharase by 15.7%, 53.6% and 48.2% in pot soil, which were ~4, ~5 and ~14 times higher those in field soil, respectively. This research demonstrated that PX could be an effective soil amendment to reduce the Cd health and ecological riskthe 1s in the Cd-contaminated purple soil. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Eight inorganic or organic amendments were firstly applied in purple soil. • Three experiments of the incubation, greenhouse and field were used simultaneously. • Organic-inorganic combined preparations had stable and lasting effects. • Optimum amendment was selected on Cd-contaminated purple soil in southwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six different approaches are applied in the present study to apportion the sources of precipitation nitrogen making use of precipitation data of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, including NO 3 − and NH 4 + ), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and δ 15 N signatures of DIN collected at six sampling sites in the mountain region of Southwest China. These approaches include one quantitative approach running a Bayesian isotope mixing model (SIAR model) and five qualitative approaches based on in-situ survey (ISS), ratio of NH 4 + /NO 3 − (R N ), principal component analysis (PCA), canonical-correlation analysis (CCA) and stable isotope approach (SIA). Biomass burning, coal combustion and mobile exhausts in the mountain region are identified as major sources for precipitation DIN while biomass burning and volatilization sources such as animal husbandries are major ones for DON. SIAR model results suggest that mobile exhausts, biomass burning and coal combustion contributed 25.1 ± 14.0%, 26.0 ± 14.1% and 27.0 ± 12.6%, respectively, to NO 3 − on the regional scale. Higher contributions of both biomass burning and coal combustion appeared at rural and urban sites with a significant difference between Houba (rural) and the wetland site (p < 0.05). The R N method fails to properly identify sources of DIN, the ISS and SIA approach only respectively identifies DON and DIN sources, the PCA only tracks source types for precipitation N, while the CCA identify sources of both DIN and DON in precipitation. SIAR quantified the contributions of major sources to precipitation NO 3 − but failed for precipitation NH 4 + and DON. It is recommended to use ISS and SIAR in combination with one or more approaches from PCA, CCA and SIA to apportion precipitation NO 3 − sources. As for apportioning precipitation NH 4 + sources, more knowledge is needed for local 15 N databases of NH 3 and DON and 15 N fractional mechanisms among gaseous, liquid and particulate surfaces in this mountain region and similar environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We assessed the efficacy and safety of duloxetine (60 mg, once daily), compared with placebo, during a 13-week treatment period in Chinese patients with chronic pain due to osteoarthritis (OA).Design: Patients were at least 40 years old (male or female) who met American College of Rheumatology clinical and radiographic criteria for the diagnosis of OA of the knee or hip. The primary efficacy measure in this phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was assessment of pain severity by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) 24-h Average Pain rating. The clinical trial was conducted at 17 study centers. Statistical approaches included mixed-effects model repeated measures and analysis of covariance. A Fisher exact test was applied to categorical variables.Results: Of 407 patients randomized (duloxetine: N = 205; placebo: N = 202), 166 (81.0%) patients from the duloxetine group and 176 (87.1%) patients from the placebo group completed the 13-week treatment phase. The majority (76.4%) of patients was female; mean age was 60.5 years. Duloxetine-treated patients reported significant pain reduction, compared with placebo treatment, on the BPI 24-h Average Pain rating (least-squares mean (LS Mean) change from baseline to endpoint [95% confidence interval (CI)], duloxetine: -2.23; placebo: -1.73; difference = -0.50 [-0.80, -0.20]; P = 0.001). The incidence of discontinuations due to adverse events was 9.0% in duloxetine-treated patients and 4.5% in placebo-treated patients (P = 0.109).Conclusions: This study demonstrated the efficacy of duloxetine in Chinese patients with chronic pain due to OA. The safety profile of duloxetine observed in this study was consistent with that in previous duloxetine trials. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01931475). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The association between AILDs and RA, though well-documented, remains inconclusive. • We evaluated causal effects between AILDs and RA by two-sample MR analyses. • MR analyses showed that PBC was causally associated with an increased risk of RA. An association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs) was found in observational studies. However, neither the direction nor the cause-effect chain was clear. This study aimed to assess the causal associations between AILDs and RA. We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Following a strict assessment, genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets were used to select potential candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) was used as the primary analysis approach, supplemented with four sensitive analysis methods applied to assess the robustness of the results. We discovered that a genetically increased primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) risk had a positive causal effect on RA (IVW OR=1.149, 95% CI=1.063–1.241, P <0.001). According to the MR-Egger regression, horizontal pleiotropy was unlikely to impact causality (intercept = -0.028, P = 0.263). Using the leave-one-out strategy, sensitivity studies revealed that the MR analysis results were robust and reliable. Genetically determined primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) was not linked with the risk of RA (IVW OR=1.071, 95%CI=0.984–1.166, P = 0.111). The results of the MR analysis were further validated by sensitivity analyses utilizing the leave-one-out approach. In the other direction, there was no causal relationship between RA and PBC (OR=1.132, 95% CI=0.881–1.454, P = 0.333) or PSC (OR=1.067, 95% CI=0.891–1.279, P = 0.088). Using a two-sample MR analysis, we investigated the relationship between AILDs and RA and revealed first that PBC increases the risk of RA. Large-scale cross-disease GWAS are required to further illuminate the genomic landscape of AILDs and RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Anakinra, a human recombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist, is approved for the treatment of RA. In this study, 12 patients received the placebo plus MTX treatment, 38 patients received Anakinra combined with MTX treatment. Compared with the placebo plus MTX group, serum levels of IL-17, IFN-γ, IL-21 and IL-1β significantly decreased, the percentages of Th17 cells and Th1 cells were lower and the percentage of Treg cells was higher after receiving Anakinra combined with MTX treatment. The observed regulatory immune responses collectively correlated with clinical improvement in treated patients. A substantial response, ACR 20 at 24w were consistent with those at 12w, 16w and 20w, and was accompanied by a marked improvement in RA related laboratory parameters. The study reveals that the combination of Anakinra and MTX is safe and well tolerated, which induces regulatory immune responses and significantly provides greater clinical benefit than the placebo plus MTX group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: IL-21 is a type I cytokine that like IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, and IL-15 uses the common γ chain of cytokine receptor. IL-21 has been shown to regulate the function of T cells, B cells, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells in immune responses. Although activated CD4+ T cells produce IL-21, recent data suggest that novel subsets of effector T cells are the major producers in immune responses. In this study, we show that IL-21 expression correlates with the presence of Th17 cells in synovial fluid (SF) and peripheral blood in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Human CCR6+ CD4+ T cells produce high levels of both IL-21 and IL-17. Similar to mouse T cells, IL-21 auto-regulates its own production in human CD4+ T cells. IL-21 potently enhances Th17 proliferation and suppresses Foxp3 expression, leading to the expression of RORC. IL-21 is therefore an autocrine cytokine that regulates human Th17 cells in rheumatoid arthritis, and serves as a good target for treating this autoimmune disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals such as Cd is a threat to ecosystems and food safety. Our knowledge is still limited about the effectiveness of remediation process for Cd-contaminated agro-soils under atmospheric Cd deposition. In this study, eight soil amendments were used in a Cd-contaminated purple soil to investigate their impacts on soil Cd availability, microbial response, and Cd uptake by mustard and corn plants via simulating the atmospheric Cd deposition under laboratory incubation and greenhouse conditions. Results showed that the simulated atmospheric Cd deposition increased the soil high-risk Cd (HR, exchangeable and carbonate Cd) and decreased soil medium-risk Cd fraction (MR, bound to Fe/Mn oxide and organic Cd), and the largest direct effects on crop Cd uptakes were 0.94 and 0.66 for mustard and corn based on the path-coefficient analysis, respectively. Generally, Cd deposition led to decreasing soil microbial biomass carbon, populations of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes, and enzyme activities of urease, catalase, sucrase, and acid phosphatase whereas increasing soil microbial biomass nitrogen. Compared with control and lime treatments, an organic-inorganic combined preparation (OCP) appeared to be effective for remediation of the Cd-contaminated purple soil due to its potential to increase the HR-Cd and reduce both MR-Cd and crop Cd uptake, as accompanied by its neutral effects on soil bacterial alpha diversity and community structure. Results also indicated that application of nitrogen fertilizers should be considered for remediation of the Cd-contaminated soils as nitrogen inputs were demonstrated to promote soil health under elevated Cd condition. Unlabelled Image • Atmospheric Cd deposition was explored firstly in Cd-contaminated soil remediation. • Direct effects of deposited Cd on Cd uptakes of mustard and corn were quantified. • Optimum amendment was made for Cd-contaminated purple soil exposed to Cd deposition. • Different responses of soil microbiome to simulated Cd deposition. • Nitrogen fertilizer should be considered during the Cd-contaminated soil remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric deposition nitrogen (ADN) increases the N content in soil and subsequently impacts microbial activity of soil. However, the effects of ADN on paddy soil microbial activity have not been well characterized. In this study, we studied how red paddy soil microbial activity responses to different contents of ADN through a 10-months ADN simulation on well managed pot experiments. Results showed that all tested contents of ADN fluxes (27, 55, and 82 kg N ha −1 when its ratio of NH 4 + /NO 3 − -N ( R N ) was 2:1) enhanced the soil enzyme activity and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and 27 kg N ha −1 ADN had maximum effects while comparing with the fertilizer treatment. Generally, increasing of both ADN flux and R N (1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 with the ADN flux of 55 kg N ha −1 ) had similar reduced effects on microbial activity. Furthermore, both ADN flux and R N significantly reduced soil bacterial alpha diversity ( p < 0.05 ) and altered bacterial community structure (e.g., the relative abundances of genera Dyella and Rhodoblastus affiliated to Proteobacteria increased). Redundancy analysis demonstrated that ADN flux and R N were the main drivers in shaping paddy soil bacteria community. Overall, the results have indicated that increasing ADN flux and ammonium reduced soil microbial activity and changed the soil bacterial community. The finding highlights how paddy soil microbial community response to ADN and provides information for N management in paddy soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantify and compare atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition and its N isotopic ratio are critical for constraining N sources and effective reduction of reactive N emissions. In this study, a total of 223 rainwater samples were collected by wet-only auto-samplers, and wet-only deposition and isotopic composition (δ 15 N) of reduced (NH 4 + -N) and oxidized (NO 3 − -N) N were measured at three typical mountain sites, including an urban (Wanzhou, WZ), a town (Gaoyang, GY) and a rural (Dade, DD) site in Chongqing, southwestern China in 2016. The wet-only inorganic N deposition (DIN, sum of NO 3 − -N and NH 4 + -N) were 17.50, 8.63 and 12.16 kg N ha − 1 yr − 1 at WZ, GY and DD site, respectively. Annual δ 15 N-NH 4 + values of rainwaters were negative at the urban site (− 3.12 ± 3.21‰, WZ) and positive at both town and rural site (0.65 ± 12.51‰, GY; 2.16 ± 6.11‰, DD). Annual δ 15 N-NO 3 − values, on the contrary, were positive at the urban site (0.33 ± 7.87‰, WZ) and negative at both town and rural site (− 5.59 ± 2.20‰, GY; − 0.39 ± 8.89‰, DD). These results reveal the urban site was wet-only DIN hotspot and had a different N source compared with the town-rural site in the mountain area. Moreover, precipitation DIN had a potentially negative risk on both aquatic and forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of electronic devices has been putting forward requirements for higher thermal conductivity, softness, and stability of thermal interface materials. However, thermal interface materials simultaneously achieving softness, stability, and thermal conductivity is still challenging. Here, we propose a strategy of introducing free-movable polymer chains to prepare thermally conductive gels possessing high thermal conductivity (6.91 W m−1 K−1), good softness (Young's modulus ∼400 KPa, and stretchability increasing 262.4%). The high thermal conductivity is due to the high addition of microscale spherical Aluminum. The good softness is attributed to the free-movable poly (ethylene propylene diene), which reduces the interaction between polymer networks. When thermally conductive gels simulate practical applications, it shows excellent heat-dissipation ability and thermal stability after 1000 heating-cooling cycles. This work provides a simple strategy for constructing thermally conductive gels with high performance and promotes their potential applications in the thermal management of electronic devices. [Display omitted] • The flexibility and tensile properties of thermally conductive gels were improved by introducing free-movable chains. • Thermally conductive gels demonstrate both satisfying heat dissipation and reliability in applications. • Maxwell's model explains the molecular chain or intermolecular interactions of thermally conductive gels. • Young's modulus and thermal conductivity of the thermally conductive gels can be tuned to suit different scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]