Evolution of black carbon and brown carbon during summertime in Southwestern China: An assessment of control measures during the 2023 Chengdu Summer World University Games.

The 31st FISU Summer World University Games (SWUG) was held in Chengdu, southwestern China, from July 22 to August 8, 2023. A series of control measures were carried out to ensure good air quality during the SWUG, providing an opportunity to investigate the atmospheric behaviors of light-absorbing aerosols under such a substantial disturbance caused by the control measures. To assess the impacts of emission controls on primary pollutants, a field campaign was conducted at a rural site in Chengdu to investigate the characterization of equivalent black carbon (eBC). The changes of eBC concentrations before, during, and after the SWUG were characterized. The sources of eBC were resolved, and the impacts of atmospheric processes on the absorption capacity were also investigated. During the SWUG, the eBC concentration decreased by 12.1 % and 25.3 % compared with those before and after the SWUG. A fossil fuel combustion (eBCff) and a biomass burning (eBCbb) originated eBC were resolved using the aethalometer model. Both eBCff and eBCbb decreased during the SWUG, indicating the effectiveness of control measures. After the SWUG, the influence of biomass burning emissions became more and more significant, and the contribution of brown carbon (BrC) to light absorption at 370-660 nm increased by 52, 19, 7, 6, and 17 % compared to those during the SWUG. As the biomass burning emitted aerosols aged, the absorption Ångström exponent and babs(BrC370nm) decreased gradually, which was mainly due to the photobleaching of the chromophores during the daytime. eBCff was mainly affected by strong wind, while high eBCbb concentration was mainly attributed to the gradual accumulation of biomass-burning emissions near the observation site. The results show the significant reduction of eBC with the implementation of the air pollution mitigation campaign, and provide insights on the impacts of atmospheric processes on BC optical properties during summertime.

Comparative evaluation of SPE methods for biotoxicity assessment of water and wastewater: Linkage between chemical extracting efficiency and biotoxicity outcome.

Biotoxicity assessment results of environmental waters largely depend on the sample extraction protocols that enrich pollutants to meet the effect-trigger thresholds of bioassays. However, more chemical mixture does not necessarily translate to higher combined biotoxicity. Thus, there is a need to establish the link between chemical extracting efficiency and biotoxicity outcome to standardize extraction methods for biotoxicity assessment of environmental waters. This study compares the performance of five different extraction phases in solid phase extraction (SPE), namely HLB, HLB+Coconut, C18 cartridge, C18 disk and Strata-X, and evaluated their chemical extracting efficiencies and biotoxicity outcomes. We quantitatively assessed cytotoxicity, acute toxicity, genotoxicity, estrogenic activity, and neurotoxicity of the extracts using in vitro bioassays and characterized the chemical extracting efficiencies of the SPE methods through chemical recoveries of 23 model compounds with different polarities and total organic carbon. Using Pareto ranking, we identified HLB+Coconut as the optimal SPE method, which exhibited the highest level of water sample biotoxicity and recovered the most chemicals in water samples. We found that the biotoxicity outcomes of the extracted water samples significantly and positively correlated with the chemical extracting efficiencies of the SPE methods. Moreover, we observed synchronous changing patterns in biotoxicity outcome and chemical extracting efficiencies in response to increasing sample volumes per cartridge (SVPC) during SPE. Our findings underscore that higher chemical extracting efficiency of SPE corresponds to higher biotoxicity outcome of environmental water samples, providing a scientific basis for standardization of SPE methods for adequate assessment of biotoxicities of environmental waters.

Genome-Wide Assessment of Runs of Homozygosity and Estimates of Genomic Inbreeding in a Chinese Composite Pig Breed.

The primary purpose of the current study was to assess the genetic diversity, runs of homozygosity (ROH) and ROH islands in a Chinese composite pig and explore hotspot regions for traces of selection. First, we estimated the length, number, and frequency of ROH in 262 Xidu black pigs using the Porcine SNP50 BeadChip and compared the estimates of inbreeding coefficients, which were calculated based on ROHs (FROH) and homozygosity (FHOM). Our result shows that a total of 7,248 ROH exceeding 1Mb were detected in 262 pigs. In addition, Sus scrofa chromosome (SSC) 8 and SSC10, respectively, has the highest and lowest chromosome coverage by ROH. These results suggest that inbreeding estimation based on total ROH may be a useful method, especially for crossbreed or composite populations. We also calculated an inbreeding coefficient of 0.077 from the total ROH. Eight ROH islands were found in this study. These ROH islands harbored genes associated with fat deposition, muscular development, reproduction, ear shape, and adaptation, such as TRAF7, IGFBP7, XPO1, SLC26A8, PPARD, and OR1F1. These findings may help to understand the effects of environmental and artificial selection on the genome structure of composite pigs. Our results provide a basis for subsequent genomic selection (GS), and provides a reference for the hybrid utilization of other pig breeds.

Automated Adenoid Hypertrophy Assessment with Lateral Cephalometry in Children Based on Artificial Intelligence.

Adenoid hypertrophy may lead to pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and mouth breathing. The routine screening of adenoid hypertrophy in dental practice is helpful for preventing relevant craniofacial and systemic consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop an automated assessment tool for adenoid hypertrophy based on artificial intelligence. A clinical dataset containing 581 lateral cephalograms was used to train the convolutional neural network (CNN). According to Fujioka's method for adenoid hypertrophy assessment, the regions of interest were defined with four keypoint landmarks. The adenoid ratio based on the four landmarks was used for adenoid hypertrophy assessment. Another dataset consisting of 160 patients' lateral cephalograms were used for evaluating the performance of the network. Diagnostic performance was evaluated with statistical analysis. The developed system exhibited high sensitivity (0.906, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.750-0.980), specificity (0.938, 95% CI: 0.881-0.973) and accuracy (0.919, 95% CI: 0.877-0.961) for adenoid hypertrophy assessment. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.987 (95% CI: 0.974-1.000). These results indicated the proposed assessment system is able to assess AH accurately. The CNN-incorporated system showed high accuracy and stability in the detection of adenoid hypertrophy from children' lateral cephalograms, implying the feasibility of automated adenoid hypertrophy screening utilizing a deep neural network model.

Safety assessment of astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis: Acute toxicity, genotoxicity, distribution and repeat-dose toxicity studies in gestation mice.

Natural astaxanthin is the strongest antioxidant ever discovered, with many biological functions, and it is widely used in the fields of health food and biomedical research. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the plasma concentration, distribution and safety of astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis in pregnant mice. In the acute studies, the oral LD50 of astaxanthin was greater than 20 g/kg·bw. In mouse bone marrow micronucleus test, 10 g/kg·bw astaxanthin did not cause damage to chromosomes and mitotic apparatus of pregnant mice. After treatment with a single dose of 500 mg/kg·bw astaxanthin, the concentration of astaxanthin in plasma reached the maximum at 8 h (55.7 µg/L), which was completely metabolized after 48 h. In the repeat-dose toxicity test, 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg·bw astaxanthin showed no abnormalities in terms of body and organ weight as well as hematological and biochemical parameters in clinical observation throughout the pregnancy. During pregnancy, the liver accumulated the highest content of astaxanthin, while the eye exhibited the least. The results indicated that administration of astaxanthin from H. pluvialis throughout pregnancy had no adverse effect on mice.

A lab-on-chip ultrasonic platform for real-time and nondestructive assessment of extracellular matrix stiffness.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) mechanical stiffness and its dynamic change is one of the main cues that directly affects the differentiation and proliferation of normal cells as well as the progression of disease processes such as fibrosis and cancer. Recent advancements in biomaterials have enabled a wide range of polymer matrices that could mimic the ECM of different tissues for a wide range of in vitro basic research and drug discovery. However, most of the technologies utilized to quantify the stiffness of such ECM are either destructive or expensive, and therefore are unsuitable for the in situ, long-term monitoring of variations in ECM stiffness for on-chip cell culture applications. This work demonstrates a novel noninvasive on-chip platform for characterization of ECM stiffness in vitro, by monitoring ultrasonic wave attenuation through the targeted material. The device is composed of a pair of millimeter scale ultrasonic transmitter and receiver transducers with the test medium placed in between them. The transmitter generates an ultrasonic wave that propagates through the material, triggers the piezoelectric receiver and generates a corresponding electrical signal. The characterization reveals a linear (r2 = 0.86) decrease in the output voltage of the piezoelectric receiver with an average sensitivity of -15.86 µV kPa-1 by increasing the stiffnesses of hydrogels (from 4.3 kPa to 308 kPa made with various dry-weight concentrations of agarose and gelatin). The ultrasonic stiffness sensing is also demonstrated to successfully monitor dynamic changes in a simulated in vitro tissue by gradually changing the polymerization density of an agarose gel, as a proof-of-concept towards future use for 3D cell culture and drug screening. In situ long-term ultrasonic signal stability and thermal assessment of the device demonstrates its high robust performance even after two days of continuous operation, with negligible (<0.5 °C) heating of the hydrogel in contact with the piezoelectric transducers. In vitro biocompatibility assessment of the device with mammary fibroblasts further assures that the materials used in the platform did not produce a toxic response and cells remained viable under the applied ultrasound signals in the device.

Optimal Starting Age and Baseline Level for Repeat Tests: Economic Concerns of PSA Screening for Chinese Men - 10-Year Experience of a Single Center.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the optimal age for the baseline serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and for repeat screening and its economic burden in a single center in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 35,533 men with PSA screening were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Follow-ups were conducted in 1,586 men with PSA >4 ng/mL, and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to investigate the optimal cutoffs. RESULTS: ROC analysis indicated that the optimal age for initial PSA screening was 57.5 years (AUC = 0.84), 62.5 years (AUC = 0.902), 60.5 years (AUC = 0.909), and 61.5 years (AUC = 0.890) for individuals with PSA >4 and >10 ng/mL, a diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa), and clinically significant PCa defined as the focus events, respectively. For Chinese men aged 50-59, 60-69, and >70 years, the initial PSA levels of 1.305 ng/mL (AUC = 0.699), 1.975 ng/mL (AUC = 0.711), and 2.740 ng/mL (AUC = 0.720) might have a PSA velocity >0.75 ng/mL per year during the follow-up. In addition, the total cost amounts to CNY 13,609,260 in these cases, but only 60 of the 35,533 (0.17%) men gained benefit from PSA screening. CONCLUSION: In our opinion, the optimal starting age for initial PSA testing was 57.5 years. The necessity for repeat screening should be based on the first PSA level depending on age. A cost--benefit analysis should be included in population-based screening.

The urban-rural disparity in the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension among the elderly in China-a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of hypertension and to explore the disparities of its risk factors among urban and rural elderly. METHOD: Data of hypertensive patients were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015. Stratified sample households were selected from 450 villages or communities of 150 counties from 28 provinces. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze the factors correlated with hypertension. RESULTS: Prevalence of HBP was 47.6% (95% CI [45.2%-50.1%]) in total and it was close between urban and rural population (48.6% vs 47.2%). Factors associated with HBP were different between urban and rural areas. In urban areas, hypertension was significantly associated with literacy and diabetes in both genders, high BMI level and smoke quitters in males, and physical activity and dyslipidemia in females. In rural areas, hypertension was significantly associated with older age, higher BMI level in both males and females, and dyslipidemia in males. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence are about the same among urban and rural residents, but their risk factors vary from each other. Disparity in the risk factors between urban and rural population should be taken into consideration for further intervention.

The Role of Family Environment in Depressive Symptoms among University Students: A Large Sample Survey in China.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between family environment and depressive symptoms and to evaluate the influence of hard and soft family environmental factors on depression levels in a large sample of university students in China. METHODS: A multi-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select 6,000 participants. The response rate was 88.8%, with 5,329 students completing the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Family Environment Scale Chinese Version (FES-CV), which was adapted for the Chinese population. Differences between the groups were tested for significance by the Student's t-test; ANOVA was used to test continuous variables. The relationship between soft family environmental factors and BDI were tested by Pearson correlation analysis. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to model the effects of hard environmental factors and soft environmental factors on depression in university students. RESULTS: A total of 11.8% of students scored above the threshold of moderate depression (BDI≧14). Hard family environmental factors such as parent relationship, family economic status, level of parental literacy and non-intact family structure were associated with depressive symptoms. The soft family environmental factors--conflict and control--were positively associated with depression, while cohesion was negatively related to depressive symptom after controlling for other important associates of depression. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that the soft family environment correlates more strongly with depression than the hard family environment. CONCLUSIONS: Soft family environmental factors--especially cohesion, conflict and control--appeared to play an important role in the occurrence of depressive symptoms. These findings underline the significance of the family environment as a source of risk factors for depression among university students in China and suggest that family-based interventions and improvement are very important to reduce depression among university students.

Similar mechanisms underlie the detection of horizontal and vertical disparity corrugations.

Our aim was to compare sensitivity for horizontal and vertical disparity corrugations and to resolve whether these stimuli are processed by similar or radically different underlying mechanisms. We measure global disparity sensitivity as a function of carrier spatial frequency for equi-detectable carriers and found a similar optimal carrier relationship for vertical and horizontal stimuli. Sensitivity as a function of corrugation spatial frequency for stimuli of comparable spatial summation and composed of optimal, equi-detectable narrowband carriers did not significantly differ for vertical and horizontal stimuli. A small anisotropy was revealed when fixed, high contrast broadband carriers were used. In a separate discrimination-at-threshold experiment, multiple mechanisms of similar tuning were revealed to underlie the detection of both vertical and horizontal disparity corrugations. We conclude that the processing of the horizontal and vertical disparity corrugations occurs along similar lines.