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The microbial community structure and diversity of Jiang-flavor Daqu (TS, WS, WM, MH and DJ) from different areas of Maotai town were analyzed by using the third-generation nanopore sequencing platform, and its physicochemical indexes and characteristic flavor substances were measured. The results showed that there were some similarities and differences between Daqu in different areas of Maotai town. In terms of microbial community structure, Bacillus, Saccharopolyspora, Weissella, Staphylococcus and Streptomyces were the common dominant bacterial genera in the five Daqu samples. Among them, Bacillus was the absolute dominant bacteria in MH and DJ. Aspergillus and Penicillium were the common dominant fungal genera, and the proportions of Lichtheimia and Saccharomycopsis in TS, WM and MH were significantly higher than those in DJ and WS. Compared with TS and WM, network correlation analysis showed that MH, DJ and WS had stronger interactions among dominant bacteria. In addition, redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that Weissella was positively correlated with esterification power, liquefaction power, saccharification power, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate and n-pentanol. Lichtheimia was positively correlated with liquefaction power, saccharification power, acetic acid, isovaleric acid, 2,3-butanediol, phenylacetaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. Saccharomycopsis was positively correlated with esterification power and ethyl acetate. Bacillus was positively correlated with 2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine, propionic acid, isovaleric acid, dibutyl phthalate, 2,3-butanediol and phenacetaldehyde.

Heavy metal contamination in soils has been a severe issue in agricultural production around the world in the past few decades because of its high health risk through soil-food chain transfer. A sudden emergence of heavy metal tainted rice from the South China market urged countermeasures to prevent heavy metal uptake and accumulation in rice from heavy metal contaminated rice paddies. To investigate and quantify the effects of combined application of biochar (BC) and nitrogen fertilizers on the growth, yield and heavy metal uptake of rice (Oryza sativa L.) on a historically multi-metal contaminated paddy soil, the pot experiments under waterlogged condition were carried out in a greenhouse and five different treatments were compared including control soil, soil only with common nitrogen fertilizer ammonium sulphate nitrate (ASN), soil only with nitrogen fertilizer ammonium sulphate nitrate with nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazolephosphate (DMPP), soil both with biochar and common nitrogen fertilizer, and soil both with biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer. Both soil and rice plant samples were collected after rice harvest. Available heavy metals of soils, roots, straws and grains of rice were analyzed. The results showed that nitrogen fertilizer with nitrification inhibitor DMPP had no significant (P>0.05) effect on rice grain yield if they were not used in combination with biochar. Biochar combined with common nitrogen fertilizer or DMPP nitrogen fertilizer could significantly (P<0.05) increased the grain yield. Compared with the single application of common nitrogen fertilizer, the grain yield of rice in the treatment with combined use of biochar and common nitrogen fertilizer was significantly (P<0.05) increased by 20.3%. Compared with the single application of DMPP nitrogen fertilizer, the grain yield of rice in the treatment with combined use of biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer was significantly (P<0.05) increased by 49.3%. Compared with the control, the concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cd in grain of in the treatment with combined use of biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer were significantly (P<0.05) decreased by 20.0%, 21.4% and 11.6%, respectively. DMPP could promote the transfer of Cu from straw to grain when biochar was not applied together, but promote the transfer of Cu and Cd from root to straw when biochar was used together. The effect of combined application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer on transfer of Cu and Cd varied with different nitrogen fertilizer. The results above indicated that combined application of biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer could promote rice growth, increase the yields of rice grain and decrease its heavy metal Cu, Zn and Cd concentrations. The results further suggested that in a multi-contaminated watterlogged paddy soil, biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer could be adopted together. This study demonstrated the application of both biochar and DMPP nitrogen fertilizer could prevent dangerous heavy metal accumulation in heavy metal contaminated paddy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the association of metals/metalloids exposure with risk of liver disfunction among occupational population in Hunan Province, and to explore the potential dose-response relationship., Methods: In 2017, a mining area in Hunan Province was chosen as the research site, and eligible workers were recruited as study subjects. General demographic characteristics, levels of 23 metals/metalloids in plasma and urine, and liver function index(total bilirubin(TBIL), alanine amino transferase(ALT), globulin(GLB) and γ-glutamyl transferase(GGT)) were obtained by questionnaire, physical examination and laboratory tests. Participants were followed up in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. Cox proportional risk model was used to evaluate the relationship between metal/metalloids exposure and risk of liver disfunction, and dose-response relationship curves were plotted by using the restricted cubic spline function., Results: A total of 891 employees were recruited in the study, 576(65.0%)were aged ≤45 years, 832(93.4%) were male and 530(59.5%) worked as smelters. After adjusting various factors such as age, gender, BMI, type of work, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, stress, medical history, exercise and tea consumption, positive correlations were found between plasma tungsten(HR=4.90, 95%CI 1.17-20.48) and urinary barium(HR=1.07, 95%CI 1.02-1.12) levels with abnormally elevated TBIL levels. Additionally, a significant association was observed between plasma thallium and the risk of elevated ALT levels(HR=11.15, 95%CI 1.97-63.29)., Conclusion: Plasma tungsten and thallium, along with barium found in urine, are risk factors for the development of abnormally elevated liver function indices in occupational groups.

Objective: To investigate the association between levels of twenty-three plasma metals/metalloids and the risk of arrhythmia among occupational population., Methods: In 2017, a total of 765 workers aged 18 and above were recruited from a non-ferrous metal factory. The general demographic characteristics were obtained by using questionnaire. Plasma metal/metalloid levels were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS). Participants were followed up in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. After the elements that may affect the incidence of arrhythmia were screened out by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO) regression, Cox regression model was used to analyze the relationship between levels of selected elements and risk of arrhythmia occurrence, Quantile g-computation model was used to analyze the effect of element mixture exposure on arrhythmia, and the dose-response curve was estimated by using restricted cubic spline(RCS) function., Results: Of all the research subjects, 386(50.5%) were ≤45 years old; 401(52.4%) had 20 years or more of work experience; 712(93.1%) subjects were male workers. The incidence of arrhythmia was 17.6%. After adjusting for age, seniority, gender, body mass index(BMI), marital status, education level, smoking, drinking, drinking tea, regular exercise, chronic diseases(hypertension, hyperlipidemia), sleep quality and psychological stress, chromium, molybdenum and antimony increased the risk of arrhythmia with HR(95%CI) values of 1.22(1.11-1.34), 1.51(1.20-1.90) and 2.38(1.03-5.49), respectively, while barium reduced the risk of arrhythmia with HR(95%CI) value of 0.98(0.95-1.00)., Conclusion: Chromium, molybdenum and antimony are the risk factors while barium is the protective factor for arrhythmia.