Coupling coordination and spatio-temporal pattern evolution between ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.

The Yellow River Basin is one of the most important economic development belt and ecological management regions in China, it is of vital importance to study the coupling coordination between ecological protection and high-quality development. However, the systematic research from the perspective of ecological-production-living is still lacking. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation index system including 29 indicators is constructed from ecological, production and living dimension. To evaluate the high-quality development level and coupling coordination degree of 61 cities in the Yellow River Basin, a comprehensive measurement model and coupling coordination model are established using the entropy weight TOPSIS method. With the help of ArcGIS, the spatial characteristics of high-quality development level and coupling coordination are visually illustrated. The results showed that: (1) From 2011 to 2020, the high-quality development of 61cities in the Yellow River Basin showed an increasing trend, and the level of upper and lower reaches was higher than that of the middle reaches. (2) According to the high-quality development level of 61 cities, it was divided into three types: sustainable growth type with 44 cities, the fierce fluctuation type with 11 cities and the other 6 cities was stable type. (3) The coupling coordination degree of ecology, production and living system also showed an increasing trend, while the degree was not high. (4)About the year-on-year growth rate of coupling coordination degree for 61 cities in 2020 compared with 2011, there are 19 cities more than 30 %, and 23 cities between 20% and 30 %, 11cities was 10%-20 %, the other 8 cities was less than 10 %. (5) There is a significant spatial difference in the level of high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, while coupling coordination degree does not significant in spatial layout. Therefore, the development of different regions should adjust measures to local conditions, give full play to their advantages, and make up for their shortcomings to promote the overall development of the city.

Risk assessment of cardiotoxicity to zebrafish (Danio rerio) by environmental exposure to triclosan and its derivatives.

Triclosan (TCS) and its two derivatives (2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol) are priority pollutants that coexist in aquatic environments. Joint exposure of TCS, 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, hereafter referred to as TCS-DT, contributes severe toxicity to aquatic organisms. There is currently a paucity of data regarding TCS-DT molecular toxicity, especially on cardiac diseases. We used zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism, and evaluated the molecular-level cardiotoxicity induced by TCS-DT from embryonic to adult stages. TCS-DT exposure prominently led to phenotypic malformations, such as pericardial cysts, cardiac bleeding, increased SV-BA distance, decreased heart rate and reduced ejection fraction, as well as abnormal swimming behavior. Analyses of the GO and KEGG pathways revealed enrichment pathways related to cardiac development and screened for significantly down-regulated adrenaline signaling in cardiomyocytes. The cardiac marker genes (amhc, cmlc2, vmhc, and nkx2.5) were obtained through protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, and expressed as down-regulation by WISH. After chronic exposure to TCS-DT from 30 to 90-dpf, both body mass and heart indexes prominently increased, showing myocardial hypertrophy, abnormal heart rate and histopathological injury. Heart tissue damage included disordered and ruptured myocardial fibers, broken and dissolved myofilaments, nuclear pyknosis, mitochondrial injury and inflammatory cell infiltration. Further, abnormal changes in a series of cardiac functions-related biomarkers, including superoxide dismutase, triglyceride, lactate dehydrogenase and creatinine kinase MB, provided evidence for cardiac pathological responses. These results highlight the molecular mechanisms involving TCS-DT induced cardiac toxicity, and provide theoretical data to guide prevention and treatment of pollutant-induced cardiac diseases.

Toxicity assessment of combined fluoroquinolone and tetracycline exposure in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) and tetracyclines (TCs), the two ß-diketone antibiotics (DKAs), are two frequently detected pollutants in the environment; however, little data are available on their combined toxicity to zebrafish (Danio rerio). This study reports that toxicologic effects of combined DKA (FQs-TCs) exposure on zebrafish were comparable with or slightly less than those of TCs alone, showing that TCs played a major toxicologic role in the mixtures. The effects of FQs, TCs, and DKAs on malformation rates of zebrafish were dose dependent, with EC50 values of 481.3, 16.4, and 135.1 mg/L, respectively. According to the combined effects of DKAs on zebrafish hatching, mortality, and malformation rates, the interaction between FQs and TCs was shown to be antagonistic based on three assessment methods: Toxic Unit, Additional Index, and Mixture Toxic Index. The 1.56 mg/L TC and 9.38 mg/L DKA treatments resulted in higher zebrafish basal swimming rate compared with the control group at 120 hours postfertilization (hpf). in both light and light-to-dark photoperiod experiments. Under conditions of no obvious abnormality in cardiac development, the heart beats were decreased significantly because of DKA exposure, such as decreasing by ∼20% at 150 mg/L DKAs. Transmission electron microscopy observation of myocytes from DKA-exposed hearts displayed prominent interruptions and myofibrillar disorganization of the normal parallel alignment of thick and thin filaments, and partial edematous and dissolved membranes of cell nuclear tissues. At 90 mg/L DKAs, the transcriptional levels of the acta1a, myl7, and gle1b genes, related to heart development and skeletal muscle formation, were significantly changed. This is consistent with the swimming behavior and histopathologic results obtained by transmission electron microscopy. In summary, the toxicity of the combined DKAs to zebrafish was comparable with or less than that of TCs alone and had the ability to impair individual behaviors that are of great importance in the assessment of their ecologic fitness. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 736-750, 2016.

Toxicological assessment of trace ß-diketone antibiotic mixtures on zebrafish (Danio rerio) by proteomic analysis.

ß-Diketone antibiotics (DKAs) can produce chronic toxicity in aquatic ecosystems due to their pseudo-persistent in the environment. In this study, after long-term DKA exposure to zebrafish (Danio rerio), 47 protein spots had greater than 2-fold differential expression as compared to the control; there were 26 positive proteins with 14 up-regulated and 12 down-regulated. The main functions of the differentially expressed proteins were related to signal transduction mechanisms and the cytoskeleton. Of the 26 target genes, 11 genes were consistent between their transcriptional and translational levels. Low dose DKA exposure (4.69 and 9.38 mg/L) stimulated spontaneous movement in zebrafish. Changes in both creatine kinase activity and creatine concentration showed a similar trend to zebrafish activity. There was no obvious change in SV-BA after DKA exposure, while a reduction of heart rate was concomitant with increasing DKA concentrations. DKAs also induced severe histopathological changes in zebrafish heart tissue, such as dissolution of cristae and vacuolation of mitochondria. These results demonstrated that trace-level DKA exposure affects a variety of cellular and biological processes in zebrafish.

Toxicity assessment of zebrafish following exposure to CdTe QDs.

CdTe quantum dots (QDs) are nanocrystals of unique composition and properties that have found many new commercial applications; therefore, their potential toxicity to aquatic organisms has become a hot research topic. The lab study was performed to determine the developmental and behavioral toxicities to zebrafish under continuous exposure to low concentrations of CdTe QDs (1-400 nM) coated with thioglycolic acid (TGA). The results show: (1) the 120 h LC(50) of 185.9 nM, (2) the lower hatch rate and body length, more malformations, and less heart beat and swimming speed of the exposed zebrafish, (3) the brief burst and a higher basal swimming rate of the exposed zebrafish larvae during a rapid transition from light-to-dark, and (4) the vascular hyperplasia, vascular bifurcation, vascular crossing and turbulence of the exposed FLI-1 transgenic zebrafish larvae.