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• A simple electrostatic attraction method synthesis Z-Scheme ternary heterojunction. • Formed Schottky junction make electrons and holes can be maximal separation. • Optimized degradation performance on MB and TC under visible-light irradiation. • Discussed the path of charge transfer and the mechanism of pollutant degradation. ga1 The discharge of industrial wastewater poses serious concerns to the environment and human health. Therefore, urgent development of simple and efficient catalysts for removal of pollutants is required. In this study, a novel ternary nanocomposite Ag/g-C 3 N 4 /LaFeO 3 (A/CN/LFO) was synthesized for the degradation of dye and pharmaceutical wastewater. The catalyst was prepared by decorating Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on g-C 3 N 4 /LaFeO 3 (CN/LFO) Z-scheme heterojunction and formation of Schottky junctions with LaFeO 3 (LFO) and g-C 3 N 4 (CN). The formed hybrid structure between metal and Z-scheme heterojunction induced directional transfer of electrons or holes from the Z-scheme heterojunction to metal, providing maximum separation between electrons and holes for more efficient redox reactions. Consequently, the ternary nanocomposite displayed optimized efficiencies toward the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible-light irradiation, estimated to 98.97% (90 min) and 94.93% (120 min), respectively. These values were almost 4.81 times and 3.88 times higher than those of pristine LaFeO 3 , respectively. The charge transfer mechanism and pollutant degradation pathway were also studied. The data revealed that Ag decorated Z-scheme heterojunction showed efficient light absorption and separation of photogenerated carriers, which might be useful for large-scale practical applications related to wastewater treatment and pollution control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies have shown that added value is obtained by increasing the horizontal resolution of a regional climate model to capture additional fine-scale weather processes. However, the mechanisms leading to this added value are different over areas with complicated orographic features, such as the Tibetan Plateau (TP). To determine the role that horizontal resolution plays over the TP, a detailed comparison was made between the results from the REMO regional climate model at resolutions of 25 and 50 km for the period 1980-2007. The model was driven at the lateral boundaries by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis data. The experiments differ only in representation of topography, all other land parameters (e.g., vegetation characteristics, soil texture) are the same. The results show that the high-resolution topography affects the regional air circulation near the ground surface around the edge of the TP, which leads to a redistribution of the transport of atmospheric water vapor, especially over the Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy valleys—the main water vapor paths for the southern TP—increasing the amount of atmospheric water vapor transported onto the TP by about 5%. This, in turn, significantly decreases the temperature at 2 m by > 1.5 °C in winter in the high-resolution simulation of the southern TP. The impact of topography on the 2 m temperature over the TP is therefore by influencing the transport of atmospheric water vapor in the main water vapor paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To complement geographical presentation of remote sensing vegetation information, the authors apply Budyko's physical state space diagram to analyze functional climate relations. As an example, the authors use Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) global weather data to provide the statistics (1982-2006) of climate states in a two-dimensional state space spanned by water demand (net radiation N) versus water/energy limitation (dryness ratio D of net radiation over precipitation). Embedding remote sensing-based Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) data [normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) > 0.1] shows the following results: (i) A bimodal frequency distribution of unit areas (pixels) is aligned near D ~ 1 but separated meridionally, associated with higher and lower net radiation. (ii) Vegetation states are represented as ( N, D, NDVI) triplets that reveal temperate and tropical forests crossing the border ( D ~ 1) separating energy- and water-limited climates but unexpectedly show that they also exist in marginal regions (few pixels) of large dryness. (iii) Interannual variability of dryness is lowest where the largest climate mean NDVI values of greenness (forests) occur. The authors conclude that the combined ( N, D, NDVI) analysis based on climate means has shown that tropical and temperate forests (NDVI > 0.6) are (i) not restricted to the energy-limited domain D < 1 (extending into the water-limited surface climate regime) and (ii) associated with low interannual variability of dryness. Thus, measures of interannual variability may be included in Budyko's classical framework of geobotanic analysis of surface climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Based on daily maximum, minimum and mean surface air temperature from National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research Reanalysis (NCEP/NCAR) and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalyses, the distributions of twenty temperature indices are examined in China during 1958–2011. ECMWF includes ERA-40 for the period 1958–2001 and ERA-Interim during 2002–2011. The consistency and discrepancy of extreme indices between reanalyses and observations (303 stations) are assessed. In most cases, temperature indices between NCEP/NCAR and ECMWF have good agreements. For both reanalysis, cold days/nights have decreased, while warm days/nights have increased since 1980. Temperatures of the coldest days/nights and warmest days/nights significantly increase over the entire China, and the diurnal temperature range demonstrates slight variations; the amounts of growing season length, and summer/tropical days have increased, consistent with the decrease in numbers of frost/ice days. Furthermore, the persistence of heat wave duration and warm spell days has increased and consecutive frost days have reduced. Meanwhile, consecutive frost days, cold wave duration and cold spell days from NCEP/NCAR have decreased and consecutive frost days have increased, while these indices from ECMWF turn to the opposite directions. Compared with observations, temperature extremes from two reanalyses have small relative bias and the root mean squared errors, while correlation coefficients are positively high. These suggest that both reanalyses can reproduce the variability of temperature extremes obtained from observations, and can be applied to investigate climate extremes to some extent, although the biases exist due to the assimilation differences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Precipitation maxima in global climate model (GCM) simulations are compared with observations in terms of resolution dependence and climate change. The analysis shows the following results: (i) the observed scaling law relating precipitation maxima to duration is basically reproduced but exhibits resolution dependence, (ii) the intensity of precipitation extremes is up to one order of magnitude smaller in the model data, and (iii) the increase of precipitation maxima on short time scales in the warmer climate simulations [representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5)] vanishes for monthly time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing the evolution history of the climate systems in the Asian inland dominated by either the Westerlies or the Asian monsoon, and understanding their associated driving mechanisms are crucial for assessing future trends of climate and environmental conditions in this region, but both the evolution and mechanisms are still under debate. In this study, we present a comparative analysis of massive data from an accurately dated drill core retrieved from the Westerlies controlled western Qaidam Basin (QB), with records from the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) dominated by the East Asia summer monsoon (EASM), to track the time and frequency domain evolution patterns and dynamic changes of the QB and the CLP systems. The results infer two main conclusions. First, a critical transition in the evolution of Qaidam paleolake occurred at 0.8–0.6 Ma, characterized by striking changes in proxy variations and a system shift from periodic variations to more irregular fluctuations after 0.6 Ma. Second, a similar evolution pattern prevailed in the Qaidam paleolake region and in the EASM-dominated CLP between ∼2.7 and ∼1.2 Ma, but a divergence of both systems started at ∼1.2 Ma and fully established after 0.6 Ma, when largely fluctuating climate conditions in the QB with a distinct drying trend was accompanied by synchronous largely fluctuated EASM with an increasing trend after 0.6 Ma. We suggest that ice sheet expansion in the Northern Hemisphere, promoted by co-occurrence of low obliquity amplitudes and low eccentricity, drove both systems across a threshold at ∼1.2 Ma, and the internal forcing due to glaciation disturbed the previous response of both systems to solar insolation and led to the divergence of two systems. At ∼0.9–0.8 Ma, a node of the 1.2-Myr obliquity cycle co-occurred with an eccentricity minimum, which together with coeval decrease in atmospheric CO 2 concentration, could have facilitated a striking expansion of ice sheets. The resulting more equatorial and zonally oriented northern hemisphere westerly jet could serve as key factor leading to the final collapse of Qaidam paleolake after ∼0.6 Ma, and the divergence of the QB and the CLP systems. • We identify a possible tipping point in the evolution of Qaidam paleolake at ∼0.6 Ma. • Divergence between the Qaidam Basin and East Asian summer monsoon system since 1.2 Ma. • Ice-sheet expansion at 1.2 Ma interrupts response of two systems to solar insolation. • Co-occurrence of obliquity node and eccentricity minima causes system bifurcation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential for directing conservation resources is to identify threatened vertebrate regions and diagnose the underlying causalities. Through relating vertebrates and threatened vertebrates to the rainfall-runoff chain, to the food chain, and to the human impact of urbanization, the following relationships are noticed: (i) The Earth's vertebrates generally show increasing abundance and decreasing threatened species indicator (threatened species number/species abundance) for a higher Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or larger city-size. (ii) Regional vertebrates reveal a notable 'U-shape profile' ('step-like jump') of threatened species indicator occurs in the moderate (high) NDVI regions in China (America). (iii) Positive/green city states emerge in China and are characterized by the lowest threatened species indicators in areas of low to moderate greenness, where the greenness trend of change during the last 30 years is about three times higher in the urbanized areas than over land. (iv) Negative/brown city states emerge in America revealing high threatened species indicators for greenness exceeding NDVI > 0.2, where similar greenness trends are of both urbanized and land areas. The occurrence of green and brown city states suggests a biodiversity change pattern characterized by the threatened species indicator declining from city regimes with high to those with low indicator values for increasing ratio of the city-over-land NDVI trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization accelerates the release of anthropogenic heavy metals from local to wider water systems, posing a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems and public health. The characteristics of trace elements were investigated to evaluate the environmental status of surface water in 40 cities of China. The concentrations of 22 elements in surface water ranged from 7.00 × 10 -4 to 4.37 × 10 5  μg/L. The water quality can be classified as "excellent" except Songhuajiang. The levels of As, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Hg are all within the limits permitted by national drinking water quality standards. An obvious regional distribution characteristic was observed, with concentrations of Zn, Mn, Ni, Cu, Co, U, and Cr higher in surface water collected in the north than in the south, while the trends for Cd, Tl, and As are opposite. Notably, Tl shows significant geographical divergences, with the level of surface water collected from the south nine times higher than that from the north. The regional distribution of the mineral, industrial, or agricultural activity might be responsible for the south-to-north difference of these elements. The hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR) through oral or dermal contact with water-related heavy metals were further calculated. The average HI was 0.54 in the north and 0.29 in the south for adults, while HI for children was relatively higher. The value was 1.01 and 0.55 in the north and south, respectively. TCR in the north is 2.58 × 10 -4 and mainly contributed by Cr (88.1 %), while TCR in the south is 4.48 × 10 -5 and mainly contributed by As (98.4 %). The research results can provide essential data for effective water resources management and human health protection in China., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Post-infarction chronic heart failure is the most common type of heart failure. Patients with chronic heart failure show elevated morbidity and mortality with limited evidence-based therapies. Phosphoproteomic and proteomic analysis can provide insights regarding molecular mechanisms underlying post-infarction chronic heart failure and explore new therapeutic approaches. Methods and results: Global quantitative phosphoproteomic and proteomic analysis of left ventricular tissues from post-infarction chronic heart failure rats were performed. A total of 33 differentially expressed phosphorylated proteins (DPPs) and 129 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that DPPs were enriched mostly in nucleocytoplasmic transport and mRNA surveillance pathway. Bclaf1 Ser658 was identified after construction of Protein-Protein Interaction Network and intersection with Thanatos Apoptosis Database. Predicted Upstream Kinases of DPPs based on kinase-substrate enrichment analysis (KSEA) app showed 13 kinases enhanced in heart failure. Proteomic analysis showed marked changes in protein expression related to cardiac contractility and metabolism. Conclusion: The present study marked phosphoproteomics and proteomics changes in post-infarction chronic heart failure. Bclaf1 Ser658 might play a critical role in apoptosis in heart failure. PRKAA1, PRKACA, and PAK1 might serve as potential therapeutic targets for post-infarction chronic heart failure., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Zhu, Wang, Zhang, Hua, Liu, Zheng and Lu.)

Purpose: This study investigated the functional outcomes of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) after physiological ischemic training (PIT), identified the optimal PIT protocol, evaluated its cardioprotective effects and explored the underlying neural mechanisms., Methods: Patients with CHF were randomly divided into experimental group ( n  = 25, PIT intervention + regular treatment) and control group ( n  = 25, regular treatment). The outcomes included the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and cardiopulmonary parameters. LVEF and cardiac biomarkers in CHF rats after various PIT treatments (different in intensity, frequency, and course of treatment) were measured to identify the optimal PIT protocol. The effect of PIT on cardiomyocyte programmed cell death was investigated by western blot, flow cytometry and fluorescent staining. The neural mechanism involved in PIT-induced cardioprotective effect was assessed by stimulation of the vagus nerve and muscarinic M 2 receptor in CHF rats., Results: LVEF and VO 2 max increased while BNP decreased in patients subjected to PIT. The optimal PIT protocol in CHF rats was composed of five cycles of 5 min ischemia followed by 5 min reperfusion on remote limbs for 8 weeks. LVEF and cardiac biomarker levels were significantly improved, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis was inhibited. However, these cardioprotective effects disappeared after subjecting CHF rats to vagotomy or muscarinic M 2 receptor inhibition., Conclusion: PIT improved functional outcomes in CHF patients. The optimal PIT protocol required appropriate intensity, reasonable frequency, and adequate treatment course. Under these conditions, improvement of cardiac function in CHF was confirmed through cardiomyocyte apoptosis reduction and vagus nerve activation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhu, Wang, Cheng, Gu, Zhang, Teng, Zhang, Wang, Hua and Lu.)

Polymer sponges with molecular recognition provide a facile approach to water purification and industrial separation with easy operation. Herein, a thiolated polyethyleneimine (PEI)-based polymer sponge was prepared through cryo-polymerization of PEI, followed by grafting of PEI and then post-modification of the amine functionalities present within the hyperbranched structure with methyl mercaptoacetate, which afford high density of thiol functional groups on the surface of the sponge. The developed sponge was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and element analysis, and the adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies were conducted in detail. The sponge presents a remarkable maximum adsorption capacity of 2899.7 mg/g, which can be attributed to its high density of thiol functionalities. The sponge also shows excellent selectivity toward Hg 2+ against other metal ions and natural organic matter, indicating its great potential in removing mercury from real water bodies. In addition, the sponge can be chemically regenerated and exhibits good reusability, which decreases the economic and environmental impacts. Hence, the high removal efficiency, high selectivity toward mercury, and good reusability of the sponge material highlight it as a promising sorbent for mercury removal in water pollution treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Main Conclusion: Soybean phosphorous efficiency QTLs were identified and candidate genes were predicted using chlorophyll fluorescence parameters through GWAS and RNA-seq. Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient element for crop growth and development, lack of P uptake seriously affects yield in various crops. Photosynthesis is the basis of crop production, while it is very sensitive to P deficiency. It is of great importance to study the genetic relationship between photosynthesis and P efficiency to provide genetic insight for soybean improvement. In this study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using 292,035 SNPs and the ratios of four main chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of 219 diverse soybean accessions under P deficiency and normal P across three experiments. In total, 52 SNPs in 12 genomic regions were detected in association with the four main chlorophyll fluorescence parameters under sufficient or deficient P levels. Combined it with RNA-seq analysis, we predicted three candidate genes for the significant genomic regions. For example, the expression level of the candidate gene (Glyma.18g092900) in P deficiency tolerant accession was three times higher than that of P deficiency sensitive one under phosphorous deficiency condition. This study provides insight into genetic links between photosynthetic and phosphorous efficiency and further functional analysis will provide valuable information for understanding the underlying genetic mechanism to facilitate marker-assisted breeding in soybean., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of an enteral nutrition (EN) feeding protocol in critically ill patients., Methods: This was a prospective multi-center before-after study. We compared energy related and prognostic indicators between the control group (pre-implementation stage) and intervention group (post-implementation stage). The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients receiving EN within 7 days after ICU admission., Results: 209 patients in the control group and 230 patients in the intervention group were enrolled. The implementation of the EN protocol increased the percentage of target energy reached from day 3 to day 7, and the difference between two groups reached statistical significance in day 6 (P = .01) and day 7 (P = .002). But it had no effects on proportion of patient receiving EN (P = .65) and start time of EN (P = .90). The protocol application might be associated with better hospital survival (89.1% vs 82.8%, P = .055) and reduce the incidence of EN related adverse (P = .004). There was no difference in ICU length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU cost., Conclusion: The implementation of the enteral feeding protocol is associated with improved energy intake and a decreased incidence of enteral nutrition related adverse events for critically ill patients, but it had no statistically beneficial effects on reducing the hospital mortality rate. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02976155. Registered November 29, 2016- Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02976155., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A method based on thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was developed for the simultaneous analysis of 67 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air. In this study, the adsorption effects of five kinds of stainless steel sorbent tubes for 78 VOCs were compared. The results revealed that a multisorbent bed with Carbograph 1TD and Tenax TA shows good adsorption effect for the 67 target compounds. The breakthrough rates of all the target compounds were less than 10% when high-purity helium gas was continuously purged for 45 min at 30 mL/min. The analytes included aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons, and oxygen-containing volatile organic compounds. The thermal desorption conditions for the determination of the target substances were optimized. In the range 5-100 ng, the chromatographic response of the target compounds had a good linear relationship with their corresponding amounts, and the correlation coefficient ( r ) was between 1.0000 and 0.9977. The method detection limits (MDLs) were 0.3-2.4 ng or 0.3-2.4 μg/m 3 , as calculated by a 1 L sampling volume. The method was validated by means of recovery experiments ( n =7) with the addition of 20 ng standard samples. The recoveries of all the target compounds were in the range of 81.6%-114.9%, and their relative standard deviations (RSDs) were in the range of 1.2%-10.2%. The VOCs present in the air in a carriage were detected using this method. The 19 target compounds included esters, halogenated alkanes, halogenated olefins, and aromatic substances, whose concentrations ranged from 1.1 to 84.1 μg/m 3 . These results indicated that our method is accurate, reliable, and sensitive, and can allow for accurate quantification of the 67 target pollutants in ambient air.

The concentrations of α-, β-, and γ-hexabromocyclododecane diastereomers (HBCDs) in gas phase and particulate phase of Dalian urban air, China, were monitored from September 2016 to August 2017 with high-volume active sampler. The total concentration of ∑HBCDs (gas phase + particulate phase) ranged from 15.47 to 43.57 pg m -3 , with an average of 27.07 pg m -3 , and 73.39-96.76% of the total HBCDs were found in the particulate phase. No matter in gas phase or in particulate phase, α-HBCD was the predominant component in all, and there was a good negative correlation between the relative contribution of α-HBCD to ∑HBCDs and that of γ-HBCD to ∑HBCDs. The average ratios of the air concentration of α-HBCD to γ-HBCD were comparable with those found in decorative polystyrene, which indicated that HBCDs in outdoor air of Dalian probably came from indoor air and ventilation air from inside of buildings coupled with the already present contamination in background air. There were clear seasonal differences in the HBCD concentrations. Spearman's rank correlation analysis between the concentrations of HBCDs with meteorological parameters was conducted. The exposure risk of HBCDs was evaluated, which illustrated that the estimated exposure of HBCDs via the outdoor air in Dalian was well below the reference doses (200 ng kg -1  bw day -1 ) derived by the US National Research Council.

A high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) method was developed for the determination of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in ambient air samples. The samples were extracted by Soxhlet extractor with hexane, then purified on the composite gel column. At first, the interfering substances were rinsed with 50 mL hexane and 100 mL hexane-dichloromethane (9:1, v/v), then 180 mL hexane -dichloromethane (4:1, v/v) was used to elute the targets. The compounds were separated by gradient elution with acetonitrile-methanol-water as mobile phases on a UF-ODS column (150 mm×2.1 mm, 3.0 μm). Electrospray ionization negative ion source and selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode were adopted in MS detection. The results showed that α -HBCD, β -HBCD and γ -HBCD could be well separated, and the chromatographic peak area ratio of α -HBCD, β -HBCD and γ -HBCD to internal standard D 18 - γ -HBCD with their concentrations had a good linear relationship, with the correlation coefficients ( R ) ≥ 0.9988. The limits of detection (LODs, S/N =3) of α -HBCD, β -HBCD and γ -HBCD were 0.4, 0.5 and 0.4 μg/L, respectively. The limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N =10) were 1.4, 1.6 and 1.3 μg/L, respectively. The method detection limits (MDL) were 0.13, 0.17 and 0.13 pg/m 3 ( n =5), respectively. The recoveries of HBCDs spiked in the actual air samples were in the range of 74.8%-95.8%. It is demonstrated that the method has high sensitivity and good selectivity, and can meet the requirement of monitoring and analyzing HBCDs in air samples.