Implication of lncRNA MSTRG.81401 in Hippocampal Pyroptosis Induced by P2X7 Receptor in Type 2 Diabetic Rats with Neuropathic Pain Combined with Depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common complication of diabetes and is often observed alongside diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) as a comorbidity in diabetic patients. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in various pathophysiological processes. The P2X7 receptor is responsible for triggering inflammatory responses, such as pyroptosis, linked to pain and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of lncRNA MSTRG.81401 on hippocampal pyroptosis induced by the P2X7 receptor in diabetic rats with DNP combined with MDD (DNP + MDD). Our results showed that the expression of lncRNA MSTRG.81401 was significantly elevated in the hippocampus of DNP + MDD rats compared with the control group. Following the administration of shRNA targeting lncRNA MSTRG.81401, a notable elevation in mechanical and thermal pain thresholds was observed in rats with comorbid DNP and MDD. Additionally, significant improvements in depression-like behaviors were evident in the open-field test (OFT), sucrose preference test (SPT), and forced swim test (FST). In the DNP + MDD rats, elevated levels in hippocampal P2X7 receptor mRNA and protein were observed, along with increased co-expression of P2X7 and the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Meanwhile, in DNP + MDD rats, the heightened mRNA expression of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), pyroptosis-related protein Gasdermin D (GSDMD), caspase-1, IL-1ß, IL-18, and TNF-α was detected, in addition to increased serum levels of IL-1ß, IL-18 and TNF-α. After shRNA treatment with lncRNA MSTRG.81401, the above abnormal changes in indicators for pyroptosis and inflammation were improved. Therefore, our study demonstrates that shRNA of lncRNA MSTRG.81401 can alleviate the pain and depression-like behaviors in diabetic rats associated with the comorbidity of DNP and MDD by inhibiting the hippocampal P2X7 receptor-mediated pyroptosis pathway and pro-inflammatory responses. This suggests that the P2X7R/NLRP3/caspase-1 implicated pyroptosis and inflammatory scenario may serve as a potential target for the management of comorbid DNP and MDD in diabetes.

The association of diabetes status and bone mineral density among US adults: evidence from NHANES 2005-2018.

BACKGROUNDS: We aimed to explore the relationship between diabetes status and bone mineral density (BMD) among adults with pre-diabetes and diabetes. METHODS: We collected and analyzed five cycles (2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2010, 2013-2014, and 2017-2018) data from NHANES. We removed the individuals containing missing values. The linear regression models were used to explore the relationship between diabetes status and bone mineral density. Finally, we performed subgroup analyzes by age, sex and race to find special populations. RESULT: Finally, 9661 participants with complete data were involved in the study. 944 were diagnosed with pre-diabetes, and 2043 were with diabetes. We found that bone mineral density in the hip, femoral neck, and lumbar spine showed an upward trend in both prediabetic and diabetic patients in the three linear regression models. Further, after subgroup analysis, we found that this trend was more prominent in whites race, women, and those over 50 years old. CONCLUSION: Using NHANES data from 2005 to 2018, we found that patients with abnormal glucose metabolism had increased bone mineral density.

Residents health risk of Pb, Cd and Cu exposure to street dust based on different particle sizes around zinc smelting plant, Northeast of China.

The residents health risk of Pb, Cd and Cu exposure to street dust with different particle sizes (<100 and <63 µm) near Huludao Zinc Plant (HZP) was investigated in this study. The average concentrations of Pb, Cd and Cu in the <100-µm and <63-µm dust were 1,559, 178.5, 917.9 and 2,099, 198.4, 1,038 mg kg(-1), respectively. It showed that smaller particles tended to contain higher element concentrations. Metals in dust around HZP decreased gradually from the zinc smelter to west and east directions. There was significantly positive correlation among Pb, Cd and Cu in street dust with different particle sizes. The contents of Pb, Cd and Cu in dust increased with decreasing pH or increasing organic matter. Non-carcinogenic health risk assessment showed that the health index (HI) for children and adult exposed to <63-µm particles were higher than exposed to <100-µm particles, which indicated that smaller particles tend to have higher non-carcinogenic health risk. Non-carcinogenic risk of Pb was the highest in both particle sizes, followed by Cd and Cu. HI for Pb and Cd in both particle sizes for children had exceeded the acceptable value, indicated that children living around HZP were experiencing the non-carcinogenic health risk from Pb and Cd exposure to street dust.

Contamination of apple orchard soils and fruit trees with copper-based fungicides: sampling aspects.

Accumulations of copper in orchard soils and fruit trees due to the application of Cu-based fungicides have become research hotspots. However, information about the sampling strategies, which can affect the accuracy of the following research results, is lacking. This study aimed to determine some sampling considerations when Cu accumulations in the soils and fruit trees of apple orchards are studied. The study was conducted in three apple orchards from different sites. Each orchard included two different histories of Cu-based fungicides usage, varying from 3 to 28 years. Soil samples were collected from different locations varying with the distances from tree trunk to the canopy drip line. Fruits and leaves from the middle heights of tree canopy at two locations (outer canopy and inner canopy) were collected. The variation in total soil Cu concentrations between orchards was much greater than the variation within orchards. Total soil Cu concentrations had a tendency to increase with the increasing history of Cu-based fungicides usage. Moreover, total soil Cu concentrations had the lowest values at the canopy drip line, while the highest values were found at the half distances between the trunk and the canopy drip line. Additionally, Cu concentrations of leaves and fruits from the outer parts of the canopy were significantly higher than from the inner parts. Depending on the findings of this study, not only the between-orchard variation but also the within-orchard variation should be taken into consideration when conducting future soil and tree samplings in apple orchards.

Heavy metals in apple orchard soils and fruits and their health risks in Liaodong Peninsula, Northeast China.

This study aimed to assess the heavy metal concentrations in soils and fruits and their possible human health risk in apple orchards of Liaodong Peninsula-a well-known fruit-producing area of China. The soil pollution index (PI) and health risk assessment methods (daily intake of metals (DIM) and health risk index (HRI)) were employed to explore the soil pollution levels and the potential health hazards of heavy metals in fruits. The results showed that all orchard soils were with low PI values (PI ≤1) for Cd and Zn, while 2.78 and 5.56% of the soil samples exceeded the allowable levels of Cr and Cu for orchard soil, respectively. The Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations for the apple flesh samples were all lower than the national maximum permissible concentrations. While 6.34% of apple peel samples for Cd, 76.5% of apple peel samples and 65.6% of apple flesh samples for Cr, and 28.1% of apple peel samples for Zn exceeded the national maximum permissible levels, respectively. Furthermore, both the DIM and the HRI values for all the apple flesh samples were within the safe limits, indicating that no health risk was found for heavy metals in the fruits of the study area. In order to protect the consumers from fruits that might cause health risks, results from this study suggested that the regular survey of heavy metal pollution levels should be conducted for the orchards of Liaodong Peninsula.

The application of functional imaging in visual field defects: a brief review.

Visual field defects (VFDs) represent a prevalent complication stemming from neurological and ophthalmic conditions. A range of factors, including tumors, brain surgery, glaucoma, and other disorders, can induce varying degrees of VFDs, significantly impacting patients' quality of life. Over recent decades, functional imaging has emerged as a pivotal field, employing imaging technology to illustrate functional changes within tissues and organs. As functional imaging continues to advance, its integration into various clinical aspects of VFDs has substantially enhanced the diagnostic, therapeutic, and management capabilities of healthcare professionals. Notably, prominent imaging techniques such as DTI, OCT, and MRI have garnered widespread adoption, yet they possess unique applications and considerations. This comprehensive review aims to meticulously examine the application and evolution of functional imaging in the context of VFDs. Our objective is to furnish neurologists and ophthalmologists with a systematic and comprehensive comprehension of this critical subject matter.

Application of image recognition technology in pathological diagnosis of blood smears.

Traditional manual blood smear diagnosis methods are time-consuming and prone to errors, often relying heavily on the experience of clinical laboratory analysts for accuracy. As breakthroughs in key technologies such as neural networks and deep learning continue to drive digital transformation in the medical field, image recognition technology is increasingly being leveraged to enhance existing medical processes. In recent years, advancements in computer technology have led to improved efficiency in the identification of blood cells in blood smears through the use of image recognition technology. This paper provides a comprehensive summary of the methods and steps involved in utilizing image recognition algorithms for diagnosing diseases in blood smears, with a focus on malaria and leukemia. Furthermore, it offers a forward-looking research direction for the development of a comprehensive blood cell pathological detection system.

Geochemistry and health risk assessment of arsenic exposure to street dust in the zinc smelting district, Northeast China.

The aim of this study was to investigate arsenic (As) accumulation in street dust and health risk of population. The investigation concentrated on: a. pollution levels of As in street dust; b. spatial distribution of As in street dust; c. physicochemical properties analysis of street dust; and d. assessment of population health risk due to As exposure to street dust. As concentration in street dust ranged from 3.33 to 185.1 mg kg(-1), with a mean of 33.10 mg kg(-1), which was higher than the background value of Liaoning soil. As contamination level of the area closing to Huludao Zinc Plant (HZP) was highest. Spatial variation showed that the pollution center was close to HZP, formed radial distribution pattern and extended to the northeast and southwest of HZP. The pH and organic matter of street dust were both higher than the background values of soil in Liaoning. There was significantly negative correlation between As concentration and the pH. The mass percentages of particles 180-100, <100-75, <75-63, and <63 µm were 29.8, 3.7, 21.3, and 4.2 %, respectively. The highest of As concentration was found in the smallest particle size (<63 µm). As loadings in the particles of grain size 180-100 and <75-63 µm were higher than other particle fractions. Results of the risk assessment indicated that the highest risk was associated with the ingestion of street dust particles. Health risk for different use scenarios to human decreased in the order of HZP > Industrial district > School > Commercial center > Residential area. Around HZP, Hazard Index (HI) for children and cancer risk of As by street dust exposure exceeded the acceptable values. It indicated that there was a potential adverse effect on children health by As exposure to the street dust of Huludao.

LSTM-Based End-to-End Framework for Biomedical Event Extraction.

Biomedical event extraction plays an important role in the extraction of biological information from large-scale scientific publications. However, most state-of-the-art systems separate this task into several steps, which leads to cascading errors. In addition, it is complicated to generate features from syntactic and dependency analysis separately. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an end-to-end model based on long short-term memory (LSTM) to optimize biomedical event extraction. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach improves the performance of biomedical event extraction. We achieve average F1-scores of 59.68, 58.23, and 57.39 percent on the BioNLP09, BioNLP11, and BioNLP13's Genia event datasets, respectively. The experimental study has shown our proposed model's potential in biomedical event extraction.

Effects of elevated CO2 concentration and nitrogen supply on biomass and active carbon of freshwater marsh after two growing seasons in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China.

An experiments were carried out with treatments differing in nitrogen supply (0, 5 and 15 g N/m2) and CO2 levels (350 and 700 micromol/mol) using OTC (open top chamber) equipment to investigate the biomass of Calamagrostis angustifolia and soil active carbon contents after two years. The results showed that elevated CO2 concentration increased the biomass of C. angustifolia and the magnitude of response varied with each growth period. Elevated CO2 concentration has increased aboveground biomass by 16.7% and 17.6% during the jointing and heading periods and only 3.5% and 9.4% during dough and maturity periods. The increases in belowground biomass due to CO2 elevation was 26.5%, 34.0% and 28.7% during the heading, dough and maturity periods, respectively. The responses of biomass to enhanced CO2 concentrations are differed in N levels. Both the increase of aboveground biomass and belowground biomass were greater under high level of N supply (15 g N/m2). Elevated CO2 concentration also increased the allocation of biomass and carbon in root. Under elevated CO2 concentration, the average values of active carbon tended to increase. The increases of soil active soil contents followed the sequence of microbial biomass carbon (10.6%) > dissolved organic carbon (7.5%) > labile oxidable carbon (6.6%) > carbohydrate carbon (4.1%). Stepwise regressions indicated there were significant correlations between the soil active carbon contents and plant biomass. Particularly, microbial biomass carbon, labile oxidable carbon and carbohydrate carbon were found to be correlated with belowground biomass, while dissolved organic carbon has correlation with aboveground biomass. Therefore, increased biomass was regarded as the main driving force for the increase in soil active organic carbon under elevated CO2 concentration.

Distribution and fate of anthropogenic nitrogen in the Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland ecosystem of Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China.

Wetlands are important for the protection of water quality of rivers and lakes, especially those adjacent to agricultural landscapes, by intercepting and removing nutrients in runoff. In this study, the 15N tracer technique was applied to study the distribution and fate of anthropogenic nitrogen (15N-fertilizer) in Calamagrostis angustifolia Kom wetland plant-soil microcosms to identify the main ecological effects of it. 15NH415NO3 solution (14.93 mg N/L, 20.28 at.%15N) was added to each microcosm of the first group, which was approximate to the current nitrogen concentration (CNC) of farm drainage, and 29.86 mg N/L 15NH415NO3 solution was added to another group, which was approximate to the double nitrogen concentration (DNC) of farm drainage, while no nitrogen (NN) was added to the third group. The results suggest that the input of anthropogenic nitrogen has positive effects on the biomass and total nitrogen content of plant, and the positive effects will be elevated as the increase of its input amount. The increase of 15N-fertilizer can also elevate its amounts and proportions in plant nitrogen. Soil nitrogen is still the main source of plant nitrogen, but its proportion will be reduced as the increase of 15N-fertilizer. The study of the fate of 15N-fertilizer indicates that, in CNC treatment, only a small proportion is water-dissolved (0.13 +/- 0.20%), a considerable proportion is soil-immobilized (17.02 +/- 8.62%), or plant-assimilated (23.70 +/- 0.92%), and most is lost by gaseous forms (59.15 +/- 8.35%). While in DNC treatment, about 0.09 +/- 0.15% is water-dissolved, 15.33 +/- 7.46% is soil-immobilized, 23.55 +/- 2.86% is plant-assimilated, and 61.01 +/- 5.59% is lost by gaseous forms. The double input of anthropogenic nitrogen can not elevate the proportions of plant-assimilation, soil-immobilization and water-dissolution, but it can enhance the gaseous losses.

Sulfur cycle in the typical meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland ecosystem in the Sanjiang plain, Northeast China.

The sulfur cycle and its compartmental distribution within an atmosphere-plant-soil system was studied using a compartment model in the typical meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland in the Sanjiang Plain Northeast China. The results showed that in the typical meadow C. angustifolia wetland ecosystem, soil was the main storage compartment and current hinge of sulfur in which 98.4% sulfur was accumulated, while only 1.6% sulfur was accumulated in the plant compartment. In the plant subsystem, roots and litters were the main storage compartment of sulfur and they remained 83.5% of the total plant sulfur. The calculations of sulfur turnover through the compartments of the typical meadow C. angustifolia wetland ecosystem demonstrated that the above-ground component took up 0.99 gS/m2 from the root, of which 0.16 gS/m2 was translocated to the roots and 0.83 gS/m2 to the litter. The roots took in 1.05 gS/m2 from the soil, subsequent translocation back to the soil accounted for 1.31 gS/m2, while there was 1.84 gS/m2 in the litter and the net transfer of sulfur to the soil was more than 0.44 gS/(m2 x a). The emission of H2S from the typical meadow C. angustifolia wetland ecosystem to the atmosphere was 1.83 mgS/(m2 x a), while carbonyl sulfide (COS) was absorbed by the typical meadow C. angustifolia wetland ecosystem from the atmosphere at the rate of 1.76 mgS/(m2 x a). The input of sulfur by the rainfall to the ecosystem was 4.85 mgS/m2 during the growing season. The difference between input and output was 4.78 mgS/m2, which indicated that sulfur was accumulated in the ecosystem and may cause wetland acidify in the future.

Nitrogen cycling of atmosphere-plant-soil system in the typical Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland in the Sanjiang Plain, northeast China.

The nitrogen (N) distribution and cycling of atmosphere-plant-soil system in the typical meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland (TMCW) and marsh meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland (MMCW) in the Sanjiang plain were studied by a compartment model. The results showed that the N wet deposition amount was 0.757 gN/(m2 x a), and total inorganic N (TIN) was the main body (0.640 gN/(m2 x a). The ammonia volatilization amounts of TMCW and MMCW soils in growing season were 0.635 and 0.687 gN/m2, and the denitrification gaseous lost amounts were 0.617 and 0.405 gN/m2, respectively. In plant subsystem, the N was mainly stored in root and litter. Soil organic N was the main N storage of the two plant-soil systems and the proportions of it were 93.98% and 92.16%, respectively. The calculation results of N turnovers among compartments of TMCW and MMCW showed that the uptake amounts of root were 23.02 and 28.18 gN/(m2 x a) and the values of aboveground were 11.31 and 6.08 gN/(m2 x a), the re-translocation amounts from aboveground to root were 5.96 and 2.70 gN/(m2 x a), the translocation amounts from aboveground living body to litter were 5.35 and 3.38 gN/(m2 x a), the translocation amounts from litter to soil were larger than 1.55 and 3.01 gN/(m2 x a), the translocation amounts from root to soil were 14.90 and 13.17 gN/(m2 x a), and the soil (0-15 cm) N net mineralization amounts were 1.94 and 0.55 gN/(m2 x a), respectively. The study of N balance indicated that the two plant-soil systems might be situated in the status of lacking N, and the status might induce the degradation of C. angustifolia wetland.

Element cycling in the dominant plant community in the Alpine tundra zone of Changbai Mountains, China.

Element cycling in the dominant plant communities including Rh. aureum, Rh. redowskianum and Vaccinium uliginosum in the Alpine tundra zone of Changbai Mountains in northeast China was studied. The results indicate that the amount of elements from litter decomposition was less than that of the plant uptake from soil, but that from plant uptake was higher than that in soil with mineralization process released. On the other hand, in the open system including precipitation input and soil leaching output, because of great number of elements from precipitation into the open system, the element cycling(except N, P) in the Alpine tundra ecosystem was in a dynamic balance. In this study, it was also found that different organ of plants had significant difference in accumulating elements. Ca, Mg, P and N were accumulated more obviously in leaves, while Fe was in roots. The degree of concentration of elements in different tissues of the same organ of the plants also was different, a higher concentration of Ca, Mg, P and N in mesophyll than in nerve but Fe was in a reversed order. The phenomenon indicates (1) a variety of biochemical functions of different elements, (2) the elements in mesophyll were with a shorter turnover period than those in nerve or fibre, but higher utilization rate for plant. Therefore, this study implies the significance of keeping element dynamic balance in the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountains.

[Contamination of Organophosphorus Pesticides Residue in Fresh Vegetables and Related Health Risk Assessment in Changchun, China].

This study aims to investigate the concentrations of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) in fresh vegetables. A total of Z14 samples from seven types of vegetables were collected from the suburb in Changchun City. The OPs were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with flame photometric detector (GC-FPD). Target hazard quotients (THQ) were applied to estimate the potential health risk to inhabitants. Results showed that OPs concentrations exceeded the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) in more than 23. 4% samples, and were not detected in only 7. 9% samples. Detection rates of OPs was as follow in the decreased order: diazinon (82. 2%) > phorate (45. 8%) > dimethoate (29. 4%) > parathion-methyl (27. 6%) > omethoate (23. 8%) > dichlorvos (22. 9%) > fenitrothion (21%) > fenthion (18. 7%) > parathion (18. 2%) > methamidophos (17. 3%) > malathion (12. 1%). The percentages above MRL for leaves were higher than for non-leafy vegetables. The order of percentages of OPs above MRL was as follows: green onion (82. 5%) > radish (37. 5%) > red pepper (17. 2%) > Chinese vegetable (14. 3%) > cucumber (3. 2%) > eggplant (2. 9%) > tomato (0%). 49. 5% vegetables samples showed more than one OP. The average target hazard quotients (ave THQ) were all less than one and the average Hazard Index (ave HI) was 0. 462, so that inhabitants who expose average OP levels may not experience adverse health effects.

The long-term nutrient accumulation with respect to anthropogenic impacts in the sediments from two freshwater marshes (Xianghai Wetlands, Northeast China).

Sediment cores, representing a range of watershed characteristics and anthropogenic impacts, were collected from two freshwater marshes at the Xianghai wetlands (Ramsar site no. 548) in order to trace the historical variation of nutrient accumulation. Cores were (210)Pb- and (137)Cs-dated, and these data were used to calculate sedimentation rates and sediment accumulation rates. Ranges of dry mass accumulation rates and sedimentation rates were 0.27-0.96 g m(-2)yr(-1) and 0.27-0.90 cm yr(-1), respectively. The effect of human activities on increased sediment accumulation rates was observed. Nutrients (TOC, N, P, and S) in sediment were analyzed and nutrient concentration and accumulation were compared in two marshes with different hydrologic regime: an "open" marsh (E-0) and a partly "closed" marsh (F-0). Differences in physical and chemical characteristics between sediments of "open" and partly "closed" marsh were also observed. The "open" marsh sequestered much higher amounts of TOC (1.82%), N (981.1 mg kg(-1)), P (212.17 mg kg(-1)), and S (759.32 mg kg(-1)) than partly "closed" marsh (TOC: 0.32%, N: 415.35 mg kg(-1), P: 139.64 mg kg(-1), and S: 624.45 mg kg(-1)), and the "open" marsh indicated a rather large historical variability of TOC, N, P, and S inputs from alluvial deposits. Nutrient inputs (2.16-251.80 g TOC m(-2) yr(-1), 0.43-20.12 g N m(-2) yr(-1), 0.39-3.03 g P m(-2) yr(-1), 1.60-15.13 g S m(-2) yr(-1)) into the Xianghai wetlands of China are in the high range compared with reported nutrient accumulation rates for freshwater marshes in USA. The vertical variation, particularly for N, P, and S indicated the input history of the nutrients of the Xianghai wetlands developed in three periods--before 1950s, 1950-1980s, and after 1980s. The ratios between anthropogenic and natural inputs showed that the relative anthropogenic inputs of TOC, N, P, and S have been severalfold (TOC: 1.68-11.21, N: 0.47-3.67, P: 0.24-1.36, and S: 1.46-2.96) greater than values of their natural inputs after 1980s. The result is probably attributable, in part, to two decades of surface coal mining activities, urban sewage, and agriculture runoff within the upstream region of the Huolin River. Our findings suggest that the degree of anthropogenic disturbance within the surrounding watershed regulates wetland sediment, TOC, N, P, and S accumulation.

Multivariate and geostatistical analyses of the spatial distribution and sources of heavy metals in agricultural soil in Dehui, Northeast China.

The characterization of the content and source of heavy metals in soils are necessary to establish quality standards on a regional level and to assess the potential threat of metals to food safety and human health. The surface horizons of 114 agricultural soils in Dehui, a representative agricultural area in the black soil region, Northeast China, were collected and the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb were analyzed. The mean values of the heavy metals were 49.7 ± 7.04, 20.8 ± 3.06, 18.9 ± 8.51, 58.9 ± 7.16, and 35.4 ± 9.18 mg kg(-1) for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb, respectively. Anthropic activities caused an enrichment of Cu and Pb in soils. However, metal concentrations in all samples did not exceed the guideline values of Chinese Environmental Quality Standard for Soils. Multivariate and geostatistical analyses suggested that soil Cr, Ni, and Zn had a lithogenic origin. Whereas, the elevated Cu concentrations in the study area were associated with industrial and agronomic practices, and the main sources of Pb were industrial fume, coal burning exhausts, and domestic waste. Source identification of heavy metals in agricultural soil is a basis for undertaking appropriate action to reduce metal inputs.

Optimal strategies for determination of free/extractable and total microcystins in lake sediment.

The optimization of analytical procedures for the quantification of free and total microcystins (MCs) in natural sediments was systematically examined based on solvent extraction and Lemieux oxidation. In this optimized analytical procedure, a sequential solvent extraction using 50% (v/v) methanol and EDTA-sodium pyrophosphate was selected as the optimal extraction solvent for free MCs analysis, after which the purified extracts and sediment residuals were applied to the optimized Lemieux oxidation for determination of total MCs in lake sediments. The optimized procedures were shown to be efficient and reliable for the routine analysis of both free and total MCs in lake sediment samples, as indicated by the minimal adverse impact of sediment organic matter on the recovery of free MCs and yield of MMPB (2-methyl-3-methoxy-4-phenylbutyric acid). Finally, the developed procedures were applied to field sediment samples collected from Lake Dianchi during a bloom season and seven of thirty samples showed positive results.

[Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen addition on the growth of Calamagrostis angustifolia in Sanjiang Plain freshwater marsh].

By using open top chamber, an experiment with two levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration (350 and 700 micromol x mol(-1)) and three levels of nitrogen supply (0, 5, and 15 g N x m(-2)) was conducted to investigate the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen supply on the growth of Calamagrostis angustifolia in the freshwater marsh of Sanjiang Plain. Under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, the phenophase of C. angustifolia advanced. Jointing stage was advanced by 1-2 d, and maturity stage was advanced by 3 d. Elevated atmospheric CO2 promoted the tillering of C. angustifolia, with the increment of tiller number under 0, 5, and 15 g x m(-2) of nitrogen supply being 8.2% (P < 0.05), 8.4% (P < 0.05), and 5.5% (P > 0.05), respectively. Elevated atmospheric CO2 also promoted the aboveground biomass at jointing and heading stages, the increment being 12.4% and 20.9% (P < 0.05), respectively, and increased the belowground biomass at later growth stages, with the increment at dough stage and maturity stage being 20.5% and 20.9% (P < 0.05), respectively. The responses of C. angustifolia biomass to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration depended on nitrogen supply level. Under sufficient nitrogen supply, the promotion effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on the biomass of C. angustifolia was higher.

[Spatial distribution and environmental risk of As and Pb from street dust in non-ferrous metals smelting areas].

ArcGIS analysis was applied to study the content level and the spatial distribution characteristics of As and Pb in street dust of Huludao city. Geoaccumulation Indexes and Potential Ecological Risk Index technique were applied to assess the ecological risk of As and Ph. The average contents of As and Pb were 33.10 mg x kg(-1) and 533.2 mg x kg(-1), which was 4 and 25 times as high as the background value respectively. The trends for Pb and As were similar with higher concentrations near Huludao Zinc Plant (HZP). The ecological risk of As and Pb contamination in street dust were serious, and the accumulation of Pb in street dust was higher than the As.