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The immobilization of heavy metals using microbes presents an environmentally friendly approach, utilizing local indigenous microbes for remediating heavy metal-contaminated soils and improving soil environmental quality. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), particularly through urea hydrolysis, is a typical biomineralization process in nature that has gained considerable attention. Sporosarcina pasteurii, a popular indigenous urease-producing bacterium, is especially effective in hydrolyzing urea. This study examines the effects of calcium ion (Ca2+) addition, cadmium ion (Cd2+) concentration, and curing time on the characteristics of cadmium-contaminated soil solidified by acclimatized Sporosarcina pasteurii. Various tests, including toxicity leaching, unconfined compressive strength, soil column leaching, cadmium speciation analysis, and microanalysis, were conducted to evaluate these effects. The results indicate that Ca2+ significantly affects the leaching behavior of Cd2+ in the contaminated soil after solidification. Without Ca2+, the lowest Cd2+ leaching concentration (0.42–5.64 mg·L‒1) was observed at a urea concentration of 0.5 mol·L‒1. When Ca2+ was added, the Cd2+ leaching concentration slightly increased, but optimal solidification efficiency was achieved when urea and Ca2+ concentrations were 0.5 mol·L‒1. As curing time increased, the compressive strength of the solidified soil also improved, while Cd2+ leaching concentration decreased. The presence of Ca2+ further enhanced soil solidification over time. Higher Cd2+concentrations led to reduced compressive strength and increased leaching concentration. However, the addition of Ca2+ enhanced the solidification effect on cadmium-contaminated soil. At a curing time of 28 d, for a Cd2+ concentration of 100 mg·kg‒1, the unconfined compressive strength of samples with Ca2+ reached 312 kPa, a 33.3% increase compared to 234 kPa without Ca2+. For a Cd2+ concentration of 1600 mg·kg‒1, the unconfined compressive strength with Ca2+ reached 269 kPa, representing a 57.3% increase compared to samples without Ca2+, and the leaching concentration decreased by 15.4%. After leaching tests over 15 days using a geoenvironmental osmosis system revealed that the Cd2+ concentration in the leachate from samples with Ca2+ remained consistently lower than those without Ca2+. After solidification, weak acid-extracted cadmium in the contaminated soil transformed into reducible and residual forms. The addition of Ca2+ further reduced the proportion of weak acid-extractable cadmium, thereby reducing Cd2+ mobility. The calcium carbonate generated by the MICP reaction cements adjacent soil particles, thereby improving overall soil stability. Cadmium ions in the contaminated soil are immobilized by calcium carbonate through coprecipitation, forming stable compounds that reduce Cd2+ migration and bioavailability. This effectively alleviates soil heavy metal pollution. Overall, the results of this study will offer significant theoretical insight and technical innovations, holding profound implications for ecosystems, society, and the economy.

Abstract Background Maternal stress is a potential factor affecting fetal growth, but it is unknown whether it directly affects fetal growth restriction. This study aims to investigate the association between pre-pregnancy maternal stress with small for gestational age (SGA). Methods This study used a population-based retrospective cohort analysis to examine the association between pre-pregnancy maternal stress and SGA in offspring. Data were extracted from the National Preconception Health Care Project (NPHCP), conducted between 2010 and 2012, which encompassed preconception health-related information from 572,989 individuals across various regions in China. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between pre-pregnancy maternal stress variables and the risk of SGA. In addition, Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) and Propensity Scores (PS) methods were used to enhance the model’s ability to the associations between pre-pregnancy maternal stress and SGA. Results Pre-pregnancy maternal stress was significantly associated with an increased the risk of SGA in offspring (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.51, P 0.05). Specially, individuals with lower socio-economic status that characterized by below high school education levels (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.23 to 1.70), farmer occupation (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.55, P = 0.002), rural residence (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.56, P

Abstract A novel technique that couples microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and calcium carbide residue (CCR) is proposed for immobilizing Cd2+ in contaminated soil. The properties and mechanism of CCR-enhanced MICP were investigated through a series of experimental analyses considering factors such as heavy metal concentration, curing time, and the effect of Ca2+. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) increased with increasing curing time and reached a maximum value at 28 d, and the leaching concentration of Cd2+ decreased and tended to level off with increasing curing time. The addition of CCR enhanced the immobilization performance of Cd2+ through the MICP method, resulting in UCSs that were 3.8–4.2 times those of samples without CCR and leaching concentrations of Cd2+ that were 38.9–69.2% lower at a curing time of 28 d. The addition of Ca2+ to cementation solutions further improved the immobilization effectiveness, resulting in the UCSs of the samples increasing by 18.7–49.8% and the leaching concentrations of Cd2+ decreasing by 11–40% CaCO3 and its hydration products can immobilize Cd2+ through coprecipitation, reducing its toxicity by converting weak acid-extractable cadmium into residual cadmium. Consequently, Sporosarcina pasteurii combined with CCR improved the UCS of the treated contaminated soil and greatly decreased cadmium migration.

Background. Altered maternal serum lipid metabolism is associated with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP). However, its range in pregnancy and characteristic among different subgroups of HDPs are unclear. Methods. Pregnant women with HDP who underwent antenatal care and delivered in Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University during January 2018 to August 2022 were enrolled. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), apolipoprotein (Apo)-A, B, and E, free fatty acids (FFA), and small and dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL) were measured during 4–16 weeks and 28–42 weeks of pregnancy. Results. A total of 2648 pregnant women were diagnosed with HDP, 1,880 of whom were enrolled for final analysis, including 983 (52.3%) preeclampsia (PE), 676 (36.0%) gestational hypertension (GH), and 221 (11.7%) chronic hypertension (CH). For all HDPs, serum TC, TG, LDLC, HDLC, Apo-A, Apo-B, Apo-E, and sdLDL increased significantly during pregnancy, while FFA decreased significantly. Notably, the levels of TC, LDLC, Apo-B, and sdLDL in PE group were equal to or lower than those in CH group at 4–16 weeks of pregnancy, but increased greatly during pregnancy (P

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Triptolide (TP), the primary biologically active ingredient of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF), possesses the potential to solve the shortcomings of TWHF in treating diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in the clinic.Aim of the Study: We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of TP in treating DKD and offer solid evidence for further clinical applications of TP.Materials and Methods: Eight databases (CNKI, VIP, CBM, WanFang, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane library) were electronically searched for eligible studies until October 17, 2020. We selected animal experimental studies using TP versus renin–angiotensin system inhibitors or nonfunctional liquids to treat DKD by following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two researchers independently extracted data from the included studies and assessed the risk of bias with the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation Risk of Bias tool. Fixed-effects meta-analyses, subgroup analyses, and meta-regression were conducted using RevMan 5.3 software. Inplasy registration number: INPLASY2020100042.Results: Twenty-six studies were included. Meta-analysis showed that TP significantly reduced albuminuria (14 studies; standardized mean difference SMD: −1.44 [−1.65, −1.23], I2 = 87%), urine albumin/urine creatinine ratio (UACR) (8 studies; SMD: –5.03 [–5.74, −4.33], I2 = 84%), total proteinuria (4 studies; SMD: –3.12 [–3.75, −2.49], I2 = 0%), serum creatinine (18 studies; SMD: –0.30 [–0.49, −0.12], I2 = 76%), and blood urea nitrogen (12 studies; SMD: –0.40 [–0.60, −0.20], I2 value = 55%) in DKD animals, compared to the vehicle control. However, on comparing TP to the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors in DKD treatment, there was no marked difference in ameliorating albuminuria (3 studies; SMD: –0.35 [–0.72, 0.02], I2 = 41%), serum creatinine (3 studies; SMD: –0.07 [–0.62, 0.48], I2 = 10%), and blood urea nitrogen (2 studies; SMD: –0.35 [–0.97, 0.28], I2 = 0%). Of note, TP exhibited higher capacities in reducing UACR (2 studies; SMD: –0.66 [–1.31, −0.01], I2 = 0%) and total proteinuria (2 studies; SMD: –1.18 [–1.86, −2049], I2 = 0%). Meta-regression implicated that the efficacy of TP in reducing DKD albuminuria was associated with applied dosages. In addition, publication bias has not been detected on attenuating albuminuria between TP and RAS inhibitors after the diagnosis of DKD.Systematic Review Registration:https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier INPLASY2020100042