Scarcity makes people short-sighted? Evidence from intertemporal decision-making.

With the acceleration of the pace of society, the problem of scarcity of time resources is becoming more prominent, which may lead to short-sighted behavior. This study aimed to examine the impact of time scarcity on intertemporal choice and its underlying mechanisms through three experiments. Study 1 aimed to investigate the causal relationship between time scarcity and intertemporal choice and the mediating role of anxiety between time scarcity and intertemporal choice. The results showed that participants with a stronger perception of time scarcity were more likely to choose smaller and sooner gains, and that the mediating role of anxiety was significant. In Study 2, the control of time was introduced to explore whether the sense of control could alleviate the negative emotion caused by time scarcity. The results showed that individuals with high levels of control had significantly less anxiety under higher time-scarcity conditions than those with low levels of control. In Study 3, we manipulated time scarcity and found that the sense of control moderated the mediating effect of anxiety in time scarcity and intertemporal choice. Overall, these findings suggest that the sense of control over time is associated with less anxiety from time scarcity, which in turn fosters preferences for delayed gains.

Microplastics in the Taiwan Strait and adjacent sea: Spatial variations and lateral transport.

This study investigates the distribution, structural properties, and potential impacts of oceanic processes on microplastics (MPs) in the Taiwan Strait (TWS) and surrounding seas. With an average of 174 particles/m3, the MP abundance in surface seawater ranged from 84 to 389 particles/m3. MP abundance ranged from 16 to 382 particles/kg in sediments, with a median of 121 particles/kg. Fragment and fiber were the two most frequently detected shapes. These MPs were found to be composed primarily of carbon and oxygen elements at 70-90% levels using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Additionally, several examples had trace levels of metallic components. Black was the color that MPs saw the most often out of all the hues. The two main types of polymers are polyester and rayon, and their production is influenced by home sewage discharge and synthetic fiber production. The main routes of MP transport were land source input, riverine input, and oceanic currents. This study showed that salinity affects the distribution of MPs, with high-salinity seawater serving to saturate their presence. On the other hand, upwelling raises MP concentrations by bringing nutrients from the deep to the surface. Furthermore, it has been discovered that the dilution of the Pearl River plume increases the MP prevalence in the region. The South China Sea Warm Current had the highest lateral MPs transport flux (2.1 × 1014 particles/y), which was followed by the Taiwan Strait Current area (1.0 × 1014 particles/y) and the Guangdong coastal areas (8.6 × 1013 particles/y). In sediments, the MP prevalence was inversely correlated with particle size. Flocculation processes probably made it easier for MPs to travel down the water column and deposit themselves on the aquatic substrate. Although the relationship between MPs, total organic carbon, and total organic nitrogen was not correlated, a favorable trend showed that MPs may discreetly contribute to carbon storage in coastal sediment.

Comparative analyses of transcriptome sequencing and carcinogenic exposure toxicity of nicotine and 6-methyl nicotine in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Electronic cigarettes have become a purported safer alternative to the conventional cigarettes in recent years. Nicotine is the main component of electronic cigarettes, and other nicotinic compounds are synthesized as alternatives to nicotine. However, scientific data on the potential health effects of electronic cigarettes are scarce. Herein, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of nicotine and its analog 6-methyl nicotine (6-MN) on human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B cells) in vitro. Furthermore, we performed transcriptome sequencing to systematically assess the effects of nicotine and 6-MN on BEAS-2B cells. The cytotoxicity assay revealed that BEAS-2B cells were more sensitive to 6-MN than to nicotine. Transcriptome sequencing revealed 1208 differentially expressed cancer-related proteins (CRP) in the 6-MN groups relative to that with CRP in the control group. In addition, 6-MN had a greater negative effect on the CRP expression than nicotine. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes and proteins in the 6-MN group were significantly enriched in the cancer-related pathways, unlike those in the nicotine group. Further validations of some lung cancer-related proteins, such as NF-κB p65, EGFR, and MET, were conducted by immunoblotting and real-time PCR, which revealed that 6-MN may have a greater negative effect on tumor development and metastasis than nicotine. Taken together, our findings suggest that new electronic cigarettes with 6-MN might offer some advantages over conventional electronic cigarettes containing nicotine.

Upwelling impact and lateral transport of dissolved PAHs in the Taiwan Strait and adjacent South China Sea.

The spatial distribution and depth profile of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the western Taiwan Strait (TWS) and northeastern South China Sea (SCS) during the southwest monsoon for a comprehensive study of spatial distribution, potential sources, upwelling, and lateral PAHs transport flux to assess the impacts of oceanic processes. The concentrations of ∑14PAHs were 33 ± 14 ng L-1 and 23 ± 11 ng L-1 in western TWS and northeastern SCS, respectively. A minor difference in potential sources in different areas was shown in principle component analysis results, which illustrated mixed sources (petrogenic and pyrogenic) in western TWS and petrogenic sources in northeastern SCS. An "enrichment in surface or deep but depletion in medium water" distribution pattern of PAHs depth profile during summertime was observed in Taiwan Bank, which was potentially influenced by the upwelling. The greatest lateral ∑14PAHs transport flux was found along the Taiwan Strait Current area (43.51 g s-1), followed by those along South China Sea Warm Current and Guangdong Coastal Current areas. Though the oceanic response to PAHs varied relatively slowly, the ocean current was a less-dominant pathway for PAHs exchange between the SCS and the East China Sea (ECS).

How Does the Parent-Adolescent Relationship Affect Adolescent Internet Addiction? Parents' Distinctive Influences.

Although previous research has demonstrated that parent-adolescent relationships have a significant effect on adolescent Internet Addiction (IA), the mechanisms underlying these associations and parental differences in these effects have received insufficient attention. We investigated the mediating role of Perceived Social Support and Dual System of Self-Control (DSSC) in the relationship between Father-Adolescent Relationships/Mother-Adolescent Relationships (FAR/MAR) and adolescent IA, as well as the differences in the effects of FAR and MAR. A cross-sectional survey of 732 Chinese adolescents was conducted using the Adolescent Pathological Internet Use Scale, Parent-Adolescent Relationship Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Dual System of Self-Control Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were used. The results of structural modeling analysis showed that neither FAR nor MAR directly predicted adolescent IA. In contrast, FAR/MAR had an impact on adolescent IA mainly through the mediating effects of Perceived Social Support and Impulsive System. Furthermore, in the relationship between FAR/MAR and adolescent IA, the Impulsive System and Perceived Social Support both served as chain mediators, as did Perceived Social Support and the Reflective System. And more importantly, unlike FAR, MAR affects adolescent IA through the mediating effect of the Reflective System. Multiple linear regression showed that the regression coefficient of MAR on adolescent IA had stronger significance compared to FAR, MAR is deserving of more attention than FAR. These findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the association between FAR/MAR and adolescent IA and suggest that family relationship-focused training approaches are critical for suppressing adolescent IA. These interventions should be tailored to the unique circumstances of each family.

Fate of microplastics in deep-sea sediments and its influencing factors: Evidence from the Eastern Indian Ocean.

Although microplastics (MPs) are known to be found in global oceans, their influencing factors and abundance in the deep sea remain largely unknown. Twenty-six surface sediment samples were collected in the deep basin of the Eastern Indian Ocean (EIO). This study showed that MPs abundance ranged from 30.30 particles/kg to 701.7 particles/kg, with an average of 170.5 ± 140.2 particles/kg. The MPs found in the sediment of the EIO mainly contain fragments and fibers, which account for 47.5% and 45.6%. The MPs were measured in a size range of 44-5000 µm, and the most frequently detected MPs in size of 200-500 µm. MPs were in various compositions, but most of them were found in rayon (62.2%) and polyester (25.7%). The spatial distribution of MPs in the sediments shows a decreasing trend from nearshore to the open sea. In the Bay of Bengal (BOB) and the coast of Sri Lanka (COSL), the abundance of MPs was relatively high, indicating that the spatial distribution of MPs is affected by land source input, river input, and anthropogenic activities. Principal component analysis indicated daily commodities and packaging applications/fishing accounted for 36.9% and 12.9% of the MPs occurrence in the EIO, respectively. Average MPs diversity indices for the BOB (0.87 ± 0.38), the COSL (0.64 ± 0.56), and the Eastern Indian Ocean Basin (EIOB) (0.60 ± 0.24) revealed the BOB had the most complicated MPs sources. In addition, we found that the abundance of MPs has no significant effect on organic carbon and sediment grain size. This study is the first report of MPs detection in the deep-sea sediment in the EIO and can provide a baseline of MPs pollution in this area.

Aged microplastics decrease the bioavailability of coexisting heavy metals to microalga Chlorella vulgaris.

Environmental aging of ubiquitous microplastics (MP) occurs through the action of biotic and abiotic factors, and aged MP exhibit different physicochemical properties and environmental behavior from virgin MP. This study aimed to investigate the aged micro-sized polystyrene (mPS) and polyvinyl chloride (mPVC), and the heavy metals copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd), and examine the effects of their combined toxicities on microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Results showed that the presence of MP inhibited cell growth as compared with the control, the inhibition rate (I) decreased as concentrations of MP rose and aged MP exhibited stronger inhibition of cells than did virgin MP. The largest I was achieved in each culture with the MP concentration of 0.01 g/L, in which aged mPS with the maximal of 36.84% (Iaged mPS) followed by aged mPVC (Iaged mPVC = 30.03%), virgin mPS (Ivirgin mPS = 29.10%) and virgin mPVC (Ivirgin mPVC = 16.72%). Addition of the heavy metals Cu2+ and Cd2+ significantly inhibited cell growth, and toxicity increased with concentrations in a range of 0.5-2.0 mg/L; the maximum I values were 19.50% (ICu) and 85.14% (ICd), respectively. The combined toxicity of aged MP + Cu or aged MP + Cd was less than that of individual heavy metals. In particular, as compared with the maximal ICd of 85.14% achieved by single Cd2+, the toxicity of Cd2+ was greatly reduced when combined with aged mPS and mPVC, with the I value decreased to 27.55% (Iaged mPS) and 32.51% (Iaged mPVC), respectively. Both single and combined treatments caused cell damage to the microalga, accompanied by increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and intracellular malonaldehyde (MDA) content.

Occurrences and distribution of microplastic pollution and the control measures in China.

Microplastics (MPs) pollution has been increasingly investigated in marine and freshwater environments, even in atmosphere in China. Current literatures show that MPs contamination is highly related to human activities and geomorphology. Higher MPs occurrences were detected in freshwaters than those in seawaters in China. Furthermore, the abundance of MPs was influenced by many factors, including sampling method, unit of measurement, characteristics of sampling area, and others. Currently, investigating the condition of MPs occurrences and distribution on a broader scale and developing standardized protocol, along with basic toxicological research, will help to address crucial knowledge gaps regarding MPs pollution, their interaction with other pollutants and ecological consequences on individual, population or ecosystem levels in the environment. Meanwhile, this review calls for more efforts to be made for better and scientifically sound risk management for mitigation of MPs pollution in China.

Micro- and nano-plastics in marine environment: Source, distribution and threats - A review.

Plastic litters have become the predominant components of marine debris due to extensive consumption plastics and mismanagement of plastic wastes. As part of the problem, microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have generated special concerns due to their unique features that make them easy to transfer among oceans in the marine ecosystem, across different trophic levels inside the food web, and even across different tissues inside contaminated animals. Studies have demonstrated the almost omnipresence of MPs in the marine ecosystem, which present serious threats to the health of marine animals, causing symptoms such as malnutrition, inflammation, chemical poisoning, growth thwarting, decrease of fecundity, and death due to damages at individual, organ, tissue, cell, and molecule levels. The information on NPs in the marine ecosystem has been scarce due to the challenges in sampling and detecting these nano-scaled entities. In vitro and in vivo experiments have demonstrated that NPs have the potential to penetrate different biological barriers including the gastrointestinal barrier and the brain blood barrier and have been detected in many important organs such as brains, the circulation system and livers of sampled animals.

Aged microplastics polyvinyl chloride interact with copper and cause oxidative stress towards microalgae Chlorella vulgaris.

Microplastics (MPs) could pose potential risks to microalgae, the primary producer of marine ecosystems. Currently, few studies focus on the interaction of aged MPs with other pollutants and their toxic effects to microalgae. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate i) the aging of microplastics polyvinyl chloride (mPVC) in simulated seawater and the changes in physical and chemical properties; ii) the effects of single mPVC (virgin and aged) and copper on microalgae Chlorella vulgaris; and iii) the interaction of aged mPVC and copper and the oxidative stress towards C. vulgaris. In this study, some wrinkles, rough and fractured surface textures can be observed on the aged mPVC, accompanying with increased hydroxyl groups and aromatic carbon-carbon double bond but decreased carbon hydrogen bond. It was found that single virgin or aged mPVC at low concentration (10 mg/L) had significant inhibition on the growth of C. vulgaris but no inhibition at higher concentration (100, 1,000 mg/L), which can be reasonably explained by the aggregation and precipitation of mPVC at high concentration. The aging of mPVC inhibited the growth of C. vulgaris with the maximum growth inhibition ratio (IR) of 35.26% as compared with that of virgin mPVC (IR = 28.5%). However, the single copper could significantly inhibit the growth of C. vulgaris and the inhibitory effects increased with concentration (0.2, 0.5, 1.0 mg/L). Furthermore, both the single aged mPVC (10 mg/L) and copper (0.5 mg/L) caused serious cell damage, although the concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the intracellular malonaldehyde (MDA) increased. In contrast to single treatment, the growth of C. vulgaris can be enhanced by the combined group with copper (0.5 mg/L) and aged mPVC (10 mg/L).