[Water Environment Characteristics and Water Quality Assessment of Typical Lakes in Inner Mongolia].

Lakes on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, located in the ecologically fragile area of the northern border of China, play a very important role in regulating the regional climate and ecological environment and maintaining biodiversity. Owing to the dual influence of natural factors and human factors, the lake water environment in Inner Mongolia is facing challenges. To clarify the overall water quality of lakes in Inner Mongolia, based on the water quality data of typical lakes in Inner Mongolia in autumn 2019(October-November) and summer 2021(July-August), the temporal and spatial variation in water quality was discussed, and the influence of different indexes on lake water quality was analyzed, and the key factors affecting lake water quality were identified. The results showed as follows:① the spatiotemporal distribution of multiple physicochemical indices of typical lakes in Inner Mongolia were different in the two seasons. On the time scale, the concentration of ammonia nitrogen(NH4+-N) and nitrite nitrogen(NO2--N) were lower in autumn than that in summer, whereas dissolved oxygen(DO) was higher in autumn than that in summer. On the spatial scale, the concentrations of total phosphorus(TP), total nitrogen(TN), chemical oxygen demand(COD), and salinity(Sal) and other indicators in the southwest lakes of Inner Mongolia were higher than those of lakes in the northeast, but the DO index showed the opposite trend. ② Dissolved total solids(TDS) was the main characteristic factor of water quality of typical lakes in Inner Mongolia. ③ The spatiotemporal distribution of lake water quality index(WQI) was significantly different. The lake water quality level decreased with the increase in TDS, and the lake water quality was better in autumn than that in summer.

Serum metabolomics analysis of biomarkers and metabolic pathways in patients with colorectal cancer associated with spleen-deficiency and qi-stagnation syndrome or damp-heat syndrome: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To profile the serum metabolites and metabolic pathways in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients associated with spleen-deficiency and qi-stagnation syndrome (SDQSS) or damp-heat syndrome (DHS). Methods: From May 2020 to January 2021, CRC patients diagnosed with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes of SDQSS or DHS were enrolled. The clinicopathological data of the SDQSS and DHS groups were compared. The serum samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The variable importance in the projection >1, fold change ≥3 or ≤0.333, and P value ≤0.05 were used to identify differential metabolites between the two groups. Furthermore, areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve > 0.9 were applied to select biomarkers with good predictive performance. The enrichment metabolic pathways were searched through the database of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Results: 60 CRC patients were included (30 SDQSS and 30 DHS). The level of alanine aminotransferase was marginally significantly higher in the DHS group than the SDQSS group (P = 0.051). The other baseline clinicopathological characteristics were all comparable between the two groups. 23 differential serum metabolites were identified, among which 16 were significantly up-regulated and 7 were significantly down-regulated in the SDQSS group compared with the DHS group. ROC curve analysis showed that (S)-3-methyl-2-oxopentanoic acid, neocembrene, 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid, 3-methyl-3-hydroxypentanedioate, and nicotine were symbolic differential metabolites with higher predictive power. The top five enrichment signalling pathways were valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; lysosome; nicotine addiction; fructose and mannose metabolism; and pertussis. Conclusion: Our study identifies the differential metabolites and characteristic metabolic pathways among CRC patients with SDQSS or DHS, offering the possibility of accurate and objective syndrome differentiation and TCM treatment for CRC patients.

Engineering of an enhanced synthetic Notch receptor by reducing ligand-independent activation.

Notch signaling is highly conserved in most animals and plays critical roles during neurogenesis as well as embryonic development. Synthetic Notch-based systems, modeled from Notch receptors, have been developed to sense and respond to a specific extracellular signal. Recent advancement of synNotch has shown promise for future use in cellular engineering to treat cancers. However, synNotch from Morsut et al. (2016) has a high level of ligand-independent activation, which limits its application. Here we show that adding an intracellular hydrophobic sequence (QHGQLWF, named as RAM7) present in native Notch, significantly reduced ligand-independent activation. Our enhanced synthetic Notch receptor (esNotch) demonstrates up to a 14.6-fold reduction in ligand-independent activation, without affecting its antigen-induced activation efficiency. Our work improves a previously reported transmembrane receptor and provides a powerful tool to develop better transmembrane signaling transduction modules for further advancement of eukaryotic synthetic biology.

The effect of adjusting the stroke value of jet dispenser on the performance of glucose biosensor with gold-plated electrode.

This study investigates the effect of dispensing glucose oxidase enzyme onto the reaction zone of a golden electrode via a jetting dispenser. Each droplet of enzyme solution dispensed onto the reaction zone of golden electrode weighs exactly the same at around 0.4 mg. This study shows that the spring and needle assembly can be controlled by adjusting the stroke value of the stroke adjustment knob to generate different jet dispensing effects, thus affecting the change of droplets of glucose oxidase enzyme solution within the reaction zone of the golden electrode. This study performs experiments using three stroke values, which are 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 mm. The experimental results show that adjusting the stroke value to change the droplet of the dispensing liquid will significantly affect the accuracy of the test strip reading value. When the stroke value is adjusted to 1.5 mm, the standard deviation of the test strip is 3.8 mg/dL and the coefficient of variation is 4.1%-6.1%. The study suggested that adjusting the stroke value can stabilize the dispensed droplet to increase the stability of test strip reading, improving the accuracy of the test strip reading. This adjustment method can also be applied to the process of other biochemical sensors.

[Analysis of Characteristics and Sources of Heavy Metals in Farmland Soils in the Xijiang River Draining of Guangxi].

In order to determine the distribution characteristics of heavy metal pollution in farmland soils and related influencing factors in the Xijiang River Basin, 2187 farmland soil samples were collected and their heavy metal contents were tested. The spatial structure and distribution characteristics of heavy metal elements were studied using a combination of geostatistics theory and GIS spatial interpolation. The potential ecological risk index was employed for risk assessment. Multivariate statistical methods, such as correlation analysis and principal component analysis, were used to analyze heavy metal sources. Results showed that farmland soils in the Basin were enriched with seven kinds of heavy metal to some extent, with Cd accumulation being the most evident. T-test independent samples results showed significant differences in heavy metal content between dry and field paddy soils (P<0.05). Cd content in paddy soils was significantly higher than in corresponding dry land soils. Cd in farmland soils in Xijiang River exhibited higher potential ecological risk. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that enrichment of Pb, Zn, As, Cd, and Cu in soil was due to anthropogenic factors such as mining activities, traffic, and sewage irrigation, while Ni and Cr were influenced by natural factors, such as soil parent material. High-content areas of As, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in the upper reaches of the basin are all distributed in the Diaojiang River basin and the Dahuanjiang River basin. Cd was most widely distributed. The most intensive sampling sites indicated that mining activities have caused some degree of heavy metal pollution in local farmland soils.

[Accumulation of Cd and Its Risks in the Soils of the Xijiang River Drainage Basin in Guangxi].

To understand the distribution and risk of soil cadmium (Cd) in the Xijiang River drainage basin in Guangxi, a total of 2512 soil samples were collected nonferrous metal mining area, farmland (paddy soils and dryland soils) and the background soils, in the Xijiang River drainage basin in Guangxi.The results showed that Cd concentration was 0.514 mg·kg-1 in background soils significantly higher than previously resulted(0.148 mg·kg-1)and that in Guangxi background soil(0.267 mg·kg-1). The geometric average concentration of Cd in dryland soils, paddysoils and mining soils was 0.559, 0.787, 5.71 mg·kg-1, respectively, which were significantly higher than background soils. The Cd concentration exceeded the background soils and baseline by 51.2% and 35.2% in dryland soil, 66.7% and 39.6% in paddy soil, 77.8% and 71.4% in mining soil, high Cd concentration occurred in the Nandan County, Dahua County, Duan County, Huanjiang County and Yizhou City, as well as Liujiang County, These regions have developed severe and even extremely serious pollution, medium-high pollution accumulation and higher-extremely high potential ecological risks. The Cd-pollution in soils in agricultural and mining soils in upstream of Xijiang River in Guangxi is serious, due to mining activities and high Cd geological background. People in the mining area and surrounding areas who live on local crops, vegetables, may expose to the Cd-pollution. It is recommended to further develop a Cd risk assessment through a soil-plant-human system, taking appropriate measures to control risk.