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As a persistent pollutant, microplastics (MPs) have an impact on agro-ecosystems. Most studies on MPs pollution were carried out in the marine environment. However, there are few studies on MPs in agro-ecosystems. Nowadays, MPs pollution in agro-ecosystems has attracted more and more attention. This article reviews the sources, effects, toxicity, solutions, reuse and pollution prevention of MPs in agro-ecosystems. It mainly includes the following aspects: (1) Summarize the main sources, hazards, toxic pollution and the pollutants carried by MPs in agro-ecosystems, determining the occurrence status of MPs in agro-ecosystems; Analyze the MPs effects on soil physical and chemical properties, microorganisms, plants, soil organisms and humans, revealing the impact of MPs on agro-ecosystems; (2) Summarize the composite effects of MPs and other pollutants in agro-ecosystems; (3) According to the distribution characteristics of MPs in agro-ecosystems, degradation migration and ecological effects, pollution prevention measures and methods for MPs recycling are proposed. Furthermore, the future research emphasis of MPs in agro-ecosystem has prospected. This will lay a foundation for future research in related fields, which has important environmental significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new mechanism of enhancing oil recovery by low-salinity water-flooding, osmotic pressure has been widely studied in recent years. The injected water molecules enter the original formation water-drops wrapped by oil droplets under osmotic pressure, resulting in apparent expansion of crude oil. However, at present, the effect of osmotic pressure alone on crude oil droplets expansion is not obvious, and the research is only limited to qualitative research, lacking quantitative analysis. In this study, three kinds of nano silica are used as an oil droplet expansion displacement agents, and the water in oil ( W/0) emulsion is used to simulate the original oil-water distribution in the reservoir to observe the expansion effect of W/O emulsion droplets and quantitatively calculate droplets' expansion ratio. The experimental results show that both hydrophilic and hydrophobic nano silica can enhance the expansion ratio of oil droplets, and the expansion ratio by hydrophilic HS-40 nano silica is higher than that by other two kinds of nano silica because of its smaller particle size and higher absolute zeta potential. With the increase of HS-40 concentration, the surfactant molecules at the oil-water interface enter the oil droplets and accelerate the expansion of the droplets. The maximum expansion ratio reaches 3. 29 when the concentration of HS-40 is 0. 20%. With the continual increase of HS-40 concentration, nano silica particles will hinder the transfer of water molecules at the oil-water interface into the droplets. On the condition that there are large salinity differences between formation water and injection water, the existence of nano silica can accelerate the expansion of oil droplets, which provides a new way for low-salinity waterflooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common disease with a significant mortality, and there is no effective treatment for advanced patients. Growing evidence indicates that circRNAs are closely related to HCC progression, may be used as biomarkers and targets for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC. Recent researches have shown that circPUM1 may play an oncogene role in a variety of human cancers, but its role in HCC development has not been reported. Our study found that circPUM1 could promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro. In addition, in vivo studies showed that circPUM1 could increase the development of HCC tumours and regulate the expression of EMT‐related proteins. Furthermore, we demonstrated that circPUM1 could promote the development of HCC by up‐regulating the expression of MAP3K2 via sponging miR‐1208. Our study suggested that circPUM1 may be a potential therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown associations of fetuin-A (alpha 2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein, AHSG) with various disorders, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis. In this study, genotype and allele frequencies of the rs4918 SNP in the AHSG gene were examined in 380 patients with ischemic stroke and 350 healthy controls from a Northern Han Chinese population via the PCR-RFLP technique. Frequencies of the GG genotype and the G allele in AHSG (rs4918) were significantly higher in patients with ischemic stroke or atherosclerotic cerebral infarction than those in the control group ( P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated the significance of rs4918 in these patients, after adjustment for confounding factors ( P < 0.05). These findings suggest that rs4918 SNPs of the AHSG gene are associated with a risk for ischemic stroke in a Northern Han Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, excessive amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the environment have seriously affected the environment and human health. Due to its high removal efficiency, high flexibility and good economic and environmental benefits, biochar (BC) is a stable carbon-rich product formed by thermal decomposition of biomass such as agricultural and forestry wastes under anoxic conditions. The fine pore structure of the original material has strong adsorption capacity, low solubility, stable physical and chemical properties, rich pore structure, and large specific surface area. BC can be made from any organic material, common raw materials are rice husk, straw, animal manure, sewage sludge and some other agricultural wastes. It has received widespread attention as an adsorbent that efficiently adsorbs and removes N and P. It can not only be used to control environmental pollution, but also has a good application prospect in soil improvement and engineering treatment. If it is widely used in engineering, its expected effect will be beneficial to the overall environment. At present, the number of review articles in this area is relatively small. In order for scholars to understand the research progress in this area more conveniently and quickly, through a lot of literature review and summary, this article summarizes the research status of BC on N and P adsorption, and elaborates. The influence factors and adsorption mechanism of N and P were introduced, the application of N and P adsorbed by BC as fertilizer in soil was introduced, the application of BC in engineering treatment was introduced, and the economic and environmental benefits of BC were analyzed. After summarizing the current findings, we explore the future development of BC's adsorption of N and P and issues that need to be considered in the future development process. It is expected that this systematic review will help other interested researchers to participate in further exploration of this research area. • Reviewed the research progress on the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus by biochar. • Summarized the mechanism of removing nitrogen and phosphorus by biochar. • Analyzed the benefits of using biochar as slow-release fertilizer after adsorption. • Challenges and problems of biochar treatment of pollution were summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work was to evaluate and compare of carbon materials for the ability to eliminate Cu (II) and Zn (II) ions from water. Ammonium peroxydisulphate ((NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 )-treated carbon material (Ox-CM) was prepared from the combustion of forest branches and was compared with raw carbon material (CM). The adsorption isotherms and the influence of contact time, initial pH, and ionic strength for the adsorption of Cu (II) and Zn (II) were determined. The results of this work show that the removal ratios of Cu (II) for CM and Ox-CM after 2 h were 8.7 and 94.2%, respectively; and, those of Zn (II) for CM and Ox-CM after 2 h were 7.8 and 89.9%, respectively. The values of the parameters obtained for Cu (II) were based on the Langmuir isotherm saturated adsorption amount ( Q 0 ) and the adsorption equilibrium constant ( K L ): 27.47 mg/g and 0.4556 L/mg on Ox-CM; 3.66 mg/g and 0.2099 L/mg on CM, respectively. Those of Q 0 and K L for Zn (II) were as follows: 22.52 mg/g and 0.4978 L/mg on Ox-CM; 3.07 mg/g and 0.5560 L/mg on CM, respectively. In this work Ox-CM provided the optimal level of adsorption for Cu (II) and Zn (II) ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important messenger molecule and effector molecule. This study aimed to investigate the relation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) gene polymorphism with ischemic stroke in Han Chinese of North China. This was a case-control study. A total of 413 patients with ischemic stroke were recruited from Han Chinese of North China. There were 201 males and 212 females. In addition, 477 healthy subjects served as controls including 224 males and 253 females. Multiplex SNaPshot was employed to detect nNOS gene polymorphism (rs2293050, rs2139733, rs7308402, and rs1483757). Results showed that the rs1483757, rs2139733, and rs2293050 genotypes and allele frequencies were comparable between patients and controls. However, ischemic stroke patients had significantly reduced AG genotype and A allele frequency when compared with controls (P = 0.037, P = 0.041). After adjusting confounding factors (gender, age, smoking, history of drinking, hypertension, and diabetes), AG genotype and A allele were still related to ischemic stroke (OR = 0.572, 95% CI: 0.335-0.978, P = 0.041; OR = 0.611, 95% C: 0.378-0.985, and P = 0.041) and both were found to be protective factors. Our results showed that rs7308402 gene polymorphism of nNOS is related to ischemic stroke in Han Chinese of North China.