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Secalonic acid F (SAF) is a fungal secondary metabolite exhibited interesting pharmacological effect. In this study, a simple and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (UPLC–MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of SAF in rat plasma. Emodin was selected as the internal standard (IS), and plasma samples were prepared by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. Chromatographic separation was operated on an Agilent SB-C18 column, and the mobile phase was a mixture of 0.5% formic acid in water and methanol (V:V = 20:80) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Detection was carried out with a 6460 triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer using electrospray ionization in the multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were m/z 639.3 → 415.4 and 269.0 → 225.1 for SAF and IS, respectively. Results showed the calibration curve of SAF was linear in the range of 2–500 ng·mL−1 with the correlation coefficient > 0.99. The matrix effect, extraction recovery, dilution effect, intraday and inter-day precision and accuracy were all in acceptable limits. The analytes were also stable under different conditions. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study after oral administration in Sprague-Dawley rats at a dose of 10 mg/kg.

The problem of nosocomial infections caused by bacterial growth on material surfaces is an urgent threat to public health. Although numerous materials and methods have been explored to fight against infections, the methods are complicated and the materials are slightly toxic. It is highly desirable to develop an antibacterial strategy that kills bacteria effectively without drug resistance and cytotoxicity. Herein, we present a synergistic antibacterial polylactic acid (PLA) surface with superhydrophobic antibacterial adhesion and photodynamic bactericidal activity. Initially, the surface displayed low-adhesion superhydrophobicity and resisted most bacterial adhesion. Furthermore, completely non-toxic chlorophyll possessed excellent photodynamic bactericidal properties under non-toxic visible light, which was incorporated into micro-/nanoscale PLA surfaces. We achieved efficient antibacterial activity using completely non-toxic materials and a facile non-solvent-induced phase separation process. This non-toxic, simple, good biocompatible, and no drug-resistant strategy has great advantages in combating bacterial infections.

In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the concept of high-quality economic development, indicating that the Chinese economy has shifted from rapid growth to high-quality development. High-quality economic development is the growth mode of an innovation-driven economy, an innovative, high-efficiency, energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and high-value-added growth mode. Environmental regulation is an important means to solve economic development and environmental pollution and plays an important role in high-quality economic development. In order to explore the impact of China's environmental regulations on the high-quality economic development, this paper based on the panel data of 30 provinces (cities) in China from 2004 to 2015 uses the dynamic spatial Dubin model (DSDM) to analyze the direct and indirect effects of China's environmental regulations on high-quality economic development and regional heterogeneity. It also incorporates R&D (Research and Development) investment, government investment in environmental governance, and fiscal decentralization into the model and analyzes the direct and indirect effects of the above three factors in the process of environmental regulation affecting high-quality economic development. We found that China's high-quality economic development is spatially related between different provinces. And environmental regulations have obvious direct and indirect effects in the impact of high-quality economic development in the central and eastern regions, and this effect phenomenon is not significant in the western region. R&D investment, environmental protection investment, and fiscal decentralization have different adjustment effects on environmental regulation and high-quality economic development, and the same kind of adjustment variable also shows obvious heterogeneity among different regions. Finally, we put forward relevant policy recommendations based on the conclusions, with a view to improving China's high-quality economic development.

Longbing Ren,1,2 Yan Gao,3 Yuting Jiang,3 Gege Wang,1,2 Qi Li,1,2 Yijun Gu,1,2 Han Yu,1,2 Jue Li,1,2 Lijuan Zhang1,2 1Shanghai East Hospital, Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias, Ministry of Education, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China; 3Community Health Service Center of Anting Town Affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201805, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jue Li; Lijuan Zhang Email jueli@tongji.edu.cn; zhangxiaoyi@tongji.edu.cnBackground and Aim: Any single discrete blood pressure (BP) measurement is not enough to estimate adverse cardiovascular events. We aim to comprehensively investigate the association between BP indicators and stroke.Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted among 2888 Shanghai community-aged residents from 2014 to 2018, and a nested case-control study was designed to identify the association between BP indicators and stroke. In total 415 cases of stroke detected during the study period were selected as the case group and 415 non-stroke subjects, matched with factors of age and gender, were randomly selected from the cohort as control group.Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that systolic blood pressure (SBP) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02– 1.03), pulse pressure (PP) (AOR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02– 1.04), mean arterial pressure (MAP) (AOR1.02, 95% CI 1.01– 1.04) and pulse pressure index (PPI) (AOR 25.68, 95% CI 3.19– 206.90) increased the risk of stroke, respectively. After fitting both BP indicators and covariates, isolated abnormal SBP (AOR 2.55, 95% CI 1.74– 3.72) or PP ≥ 50 mmHg (AOR 1.66, 95% CI 1.08– 2.56) independently increased risk of stroke.Conclusion: Besides SBP, PP and multiple factors, assessment should be taken into account comprehensively for stroke prevention and management.Keywords: blood pressure; BP, stroke, nested case-control study, primary care

ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between bilirubin levels and stroke risk.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis, reported in accordance with Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines.Data sourcesThe PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Databases were searched from inception up to 27 February 2022.Eligibility criteriaCohort studies assessing the dose–response relationship between bilirubin levels and risk of stroke were eligible for inclusion. There were no language restrictions.Data extraction and synthesisAll data from eligible studies were collected and assessed by two independent investigators. We generated pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs. We used a restricted cubic spline model for the dose–response analyses. Subsequent subgroup analyses were conducted according to stroke outcomes, follow-up duration, geographical area and size of the cohort.ResultsNine articles including results from 11 cohort studies with 7835 cases of stroke and 263 596 participants met the inclusion criteria. The summarised RR of stroke comparing the highest and lowest bilirubin level was 0.85 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.99). The dose–response analysis indicated that a 15 µmol/L increment of bilirubin level was associated with an 18% lower risk of stroke (RR=0.82, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.99). For ischaemic stroke, the RR was 0.76 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.99). Significant publication bias was not detected.ConclusionsElevated bilirubin levels were associated with a decreased risk of stroke among adults.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017071497.

In recent years, the global emphasis on environmental protection issues has gradually increased. The existing literature has been divided on whether environmental regulation promotes or inhibits industrial development. Can the innovation-driven strategy proposed by China achieve a win-win situation for both? This paper attempts to investigate the technology innovation of China's three major economic zones in dual environmental regulation effect on industrial structure upgrade. The research was conducted based on Intermediary Effect Model and employing the technique of Image Analysis, panel data of 30 Chinese provincial from in 2005 to 2017 were selected and analyzed. The results demonstrate that the direct effect of formal environmental regulations (ER) on industrial upgrading is an inverted "U" shape, and it is positively affecting industrial upgrading through technological innovation strategies. However, the mediating role of technological innovation under the informal environmental regulation (IER) is negative. The effect of the innovation-driven strategy has regional heterogeneity, and marketization is conducive to industrial upgrading, but increasing dependence on foreign trade is not conducive to industrial upgrading. The research above politically suggests that China should further strengthen formal and informal environmental regulations, the informal environmental regulation system should be improved, and feedback mechanisms such as laws should be established. Meanwhile, the government should carry out innovation-driven strategies based on local conditions, improve the innovation mechanism, and enhance the diffusion of technological innovation.

3C 279 showed enhanced flux variations in Fermi-LAT {\gamma}-ray observations from January to June 2018. We present a detailed Fermi-LAT analysis to investigate the variability and spectral behaviors of 3C 279 during the {\gamma}-ray flares in 2018. In this work, we analyzed the {\gamma}-ray spectra and found that the spectra in either the flaring or quiescent states do not show any clear breaks (or cutoffs). This indicates that the dissipation region is outside the broad-line region, and the energy dissipation may be due to the inverse Compton process of scattering the dust torus infrared photons, this result is also consistent with that in Tolamatti et al. An external inverse Compton scattering of dusty torus (DT) photons is employed to calculate the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED). This model was further supported by the fact that we found flare decay timescale was consistent with the cooling time of relativistic electrons through DT photons. During the SED modeling, a relatively harder spectrum for the electron energy distribution (EED) is found and suggests these electrons may not be accelerated by the shock that happened in the dissipation region. Besides, the magnetic reconnection is also ruled out due to a low magnetization ratio. Thus, we suggest an injection of higher-energy electrons from outside the blob and raising the flare., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Modern warfare is a joint operation supported by space-based information, and space-based information is a “benefit multiplier” for joint combat effectiveness. In order to study the impact of space-based information support on joint operations, this paper improves the classical Lanchester equation [1] by introducing the space-based information support capability index, coordination index, decision-making index, etc. The Lanchester combat model was simulated and a scenario simulation was carried out. The simulation results show that the model can effectively describe the important support of space-based information for joint operations, and provides a theoretical reference for studying the winning mechanism of joint operations.

This paper attempts to solve the space pursuit and escape problems of a spacecraft with a fixed stay period. The artificial immune algorithm is used to solve the Nash equilibrium solution in the process of both parties’ pursuit and escape, which reduces the complexity of the bilateral optimal planning problem. According to the game process of the pursuit-and-escape, a mathematical model is established. Under the condition that both spacecraft are subjected to continuous thrust, the relative distance relationship between the two ends is defined as the objective function. To shorten the algorithm optimization time to ensure the calculation accuracy, the thrust pointing angle of the spacecraft is designed by integer coding, and the antigen-antibody affinity function is established accordingly. In this paper, the immune operator is designed and defined, which improves the searchability and convergence speed of the algorithm in three-dimensional space. The simulation example gives the optimal control strategy and the corresponding chasing trajectories of both parties, which effectively solves the problem of spacecraft chasing and escaping under a fixed time.

Hydrocortisone (HC), as a common steroid hormone drug, is also one of the key intermediates involved in the synthesis of multiple steroid hormone drugs. Residual HC in pharmaceutical wastewater frequently pollutes environmental water as steroid hormone contaminant and possesses great threat to human health as well as sustainable development of the ecosystem. Herein, in order to develop a highly efficient adsorbent system for selective enrichment and detection of HC in pharmaceutical wastewater, a novel amino-functionalized aluminum-based metal organic frameworks (Al-MOFs@NH

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the associations of multiple metals with chromosome damage, and further explore the mediation roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their potentials in lung cancer. Methods: We determined the urinary levels of 23 metals, lymphocytic micronucleus (MN) frequency, and ten candidate miRNAs in plasma among 365 healthy workers. Poisson and linear regression models were conducted to analyze the associations of urinary metals with MN frequency and miRNAs, respectively. The mediation effects of miRNAs on the metal-MN frequency associations were assessed by causal mediation analysis. Additionally, the levels of effective metal and miRNAs were measured in 43 pair-wised tumor and normal lung tissues. Results: The urinary level of titanium was inversely associated with MN frequency after Bonferroni correction [frequency ratio (FR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.88 (0.82, 0.94), p = 5.0 × 10−4]. A doubling in urinary titanium was associated with 14.72%–38.17% decrease in plasma miRNAs. After multiple comparison, miR-24-3p and miR-28-5p significantly mediated 24.8% (7.7%, 70.0%) and 20.4% (5.7%, 52.0%) of the association between titanium and MN frequency (pmediation = 0.002 and 0.004, respectively). Besides, a doubling in titanium was associated with a separate 53.4% and 47.2% decreased miR-24-3p and miR-28-5p expression in normal lung tissues. Lower titanium but higher levels of miR-24-3p and miR-28-5p were shown in tumor than normal tissues of lung squamous cell carcinoma patients (all p

Variability is a typical observation feature of Fermi blazars, sometimes it shows quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). In this work, we obtained 5-day binned light curves (with a time coverage of $\sim$ 12.9 yr) for S5 1044+71 based on Fermi LAT data, adopted five different methods: Date-compensated Discrete Fourier Transform (DCDFT), Jurkevich (JV), Lomb-Scargle Periodogram (LSP), a Fortran 90 program (REDFIT) and the Weighted Wavelet Z-transform (WWZ) to the $\gamma$-ray light curve, and found a possible QPO of 3.06 $\pm$ 0.43 yr at the significance level of $\sim3.6\sigma$. A binary black hole model including accretion model and dual-jets model is used to explain this quasi-periodic variability. We also estimated the Doppler factors and the apparent velocity for the two jet components. We speculate that this $\gamma$-ray quasi-periodic modulation suggest the presence of a binary supermassive black hole in S5 1044+71., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted by APJ

BACKGROUND: Operative safety and oncologic adequacy of thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy remain controversial. As such, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate evidence comparing thoracoscopy and thoracotomy in sleeve lobectomy for centrally located non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Electronic searches of PubMed and Web of Science databases were undertaken from inception to March 2020. Comparative studies about thoracoscopic and thoracotomy sleeve lobectomy, with evaluation for perioperative outcomes and oncological results were identified. The following outcomes were measured in this meta-analysis: operating time, blood loss, numbers of lymph node, postoperative hospital stay, chest drainage time, postoperative complication rate, mortality, overall survival (OS). The standardized difference (SMD), relative risk (RR) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled using Stata software. RESULTS: Six studies generating 281 thoracoscopy and 369 thoracotomy cases were finally included. There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss, number of resected lymph nodes, chest drainage time, postoperative complication rate and mortality between two groups. However, thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy was associated with longer operation time (SMD 0.59, 95% CI: 0.14 to 1.03, P=0.010). And shorter postoperative hospital stays (SMD −0.24, 95% CI: −0.51 to 0.03, P=0.078) were observed in the thoracoscopy group with marginal significance. Furthermore, sleeve lobectomy via thoracoscopy could achieve comparable OS compared to that via thoracotomy (HR 0.69, 95% CI: 0.38 to 1.00; P

Both mitoxantrone (MTX) and proteasome inhibitors efficiently trigger immunogenic cell death (ICD) in cancer cells. However, whether the combination of MTX and proteasome inhibitors can synergistically enhance ICD remains unknown. In this study, we showed that the proteasome inhibitors bortezomib (BZM) and carbobenzoxy-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-leucinal (MG132) impaired MTX-induced ICD in prostate cancer cells, as measured using ICD biomarkers and dendritic cell activation in vitro. Mice vaccinated with RM-1 mouse prostate cancer cell line treated with BZM or MG132 in combination with MTX showed enhanced tumor growth, and shortened tumor-free, and worse overall survival compared with those treated with MTX alone. In conclusion, we demonstrated that proteasome inhibitors (BZM or MG132) attenuated MTX-induced ICD, suggesting that proteasome activation was required for MTX-induced ICD.

4FGL J0935.3+0901 is a gamma-ray source detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. We have conducted detailed analysis of the LAT data for this source and multi-wavelength studies of the source field. Its gamma-ray emission can be described with a power law ($\Gamma=2.0\pm0.2$) with an exponential cutoff ($E_c=2.9\pm1.6$ GeV), while the flux shows significant long-term variations. From analysis of archival Neil Gehrels Swift X-ray Telescope data, we find only one X-ray source in the LAT's 2$\sigma$ error region. Within a 3.7" radius error circle of the X-ray source, there is only one optical object down to $r'\sim$23 mag. Time-resolved photometry of the optical object indicates a likely 2.5~hr periodic modulation, while its spectrum shows double-peaked hydrogen and helium emission lines (similar to those seen in accretion discs in low-mass X-ray binaries). Combining these results, we conclude that we have discovered a compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901, i.e., a millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary. We discuss the implication of the optical spectral features: this binary could be a transitional MSP system at a sub-luminous disc state, although the other possibility, the binary in a rotation-powered state showing the optical emission lines due to intrabinary interaction processes, can not be excluded. Further observational studies will help determine detailed properties of this candidate MSP binary and thus clarify its current state., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, to appear in MNRAS

Telomere length (TL) is an index of cellular aging and can predict the incidences of many age-related diseases. Change of TL might be affected by environmental pollution and individual's genetic background. In this cohort study, we aimed to evaluate the associations between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and longitudinal TL shortening, and investigate whether genetic variations in TERT-CLPTM1L can modify these associations. We measured the baseline concentrations of twelve urinary PAH metabolites and genotyped six variants at TERT-CLPTM1L among 1243 coke-oven workers. The relative leukocyte TL was detected in both baseline and follow-up (4 years later) visits. The TL shortening were estimated by TL decline and TL ratio. We found that the urinary level of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) had significant dose-response relationships with increased TL decline [β(95%CI) = 0.078(0.023, 0.133), P = 0.005] and TL ratio [β(95%CI) = 0.096(0.037, 0.155), P = 0.002]. Besides, urinary 1-hydroxynaphthalene (1-OHNa) was marginally dose-related with elevated TL decline [β(95%CI) = 0.053(-0.001, 0.107), P = 0.055] and TL ratio [β(95%CI) = 0.057(-0.002, 0.116), P = 0.058]. Analyses of TERT-CLPTM1L variants showed that the rs401681 and rs465498 could modify the effect of 1-OHP on increasing TL decline (Pinteraction = 0.012 and 0.035, respectively) and TL ratio (Pinteraction = 0.014 and 0.067, respectively), which were pronounced among rs401681TT and rs465498CC carriers, but not seen among rs401681TC + CC and rs465498CT + TT carriers. In conclusion, elevated exposure to PAHs can accelerate the TL shortening and this effect can be modified by TERT-CLPTM1L variants. These results may add potential evidence for gene-environment interactions on dynamic changes of telomere length. Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and uncover the underlying mechanisms.

In order to explore the influencing mechanism of entrepreneur’s religious belief on firm R&D investment, this paper constructs a model on the basis of a game between an entrepreneur and researchers over the control right of R&D projects. We take researchers’ concern on free inquiry as an intermediate variable. We find that the researcher’s attention of free inquiry has a critical impact on the relationship between entrepreneur’s religious belief and firm R&D investment. Specifically, our results show that no matter how much the entrepreneur hates risk, the firm will increase R&D investment only when the researchers pay enough attention to free inquiry. On the contrary, if researchers do not attach any importance to the academic spirit which is “free inquiry”, corporate R&D investment is decreased with the enhancing of the degree of entrepreneur’s risk aversion, namely the entrepreneurs who are religious, risk-aversive may try to reduce the R&D investment.

We search through $\gamma$-ray data obtained with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and find 24 blazars (or candidates) that have a single clear flare event in their 9.5 year long-term light curves. We define these events as loner flares since each flare stands out significantly above the relatively stable, low-flux light curve. We analyze the LAT data in detail for these 24 sources. The flares in ten of them are primarily due to a single sharp peak, for which we study by fitting with two different analytic functions. The time durations thus determined for the sharp peaks are in a range of 4-25 days. The $\gamma$-ray spectra of the 24 blazar sources can be described with a power-law or a log-parabola function. We obtain their spectral properties in the flaring and quiescent states, and find that in the flares 16 of the sources have harder emission and three have softer emission while the other five keep the same emission. We discuss a possible correlation between the differences in photon index in the quiescent and flaring states and photon indices in quiescence. In addition, the sharp peak flares seem to have a tendency of having long time durations and hard emission, possibly related to their physical origin in a blazar jet. Studies of more similar flares will help establish these possible features., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted by PASJ

Objective: Essential metals play important roles in the carcinogenic process. However, seldom longitudinal investigations have evaluated their roles in lung cancer development. We aimed to investigate the associations between multiple essential metals and lung cancer incidence and to explore the potential mechanisms. Methods: A nested case-control study of 440 incident lung cancer cases and 1:3 frequency matched 1320 healthy controls from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort was conducted. The baseline plasma concentrations of 11 essential metals (cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, rubidium, selenium, strontium, stannum, vanadium, and zinc) were measured, and their associations with lung cancer incidence were estimated. Effect of positive metal (zinc) on 4-year telomere attrition was then evaluated among an occupational cohort of 724 workers. We also assessed the transcriptional regulation effects of plasma zinc on mRNA expression profiles, and the expressions of zinc-related genes were further compared in pair-wised lung tumor and normal tissues. Results: Elevated plasma level of zinc was associated with lower incident risk of lung cancer [OR (95% CI) = 0.89 (0.79, 0.99)] and decreased 4-year telomere attrition [β (95% CI) = −0.73 (−1.27, −0.19)]. These effects were pronounced among males. In particularly, zinc could regulate the expressions of 8 cancer-related genes, including SOD1, APE, TP53BP1, WDR33, LAPTM4B, TRIT1, HUWE1, and ZNF813, which were over-expressed in lung tumor tissues. Conclusions: We propose that high plasma zinc could prevent incident lung cancer, probably by slowing down telomere attrition and regulating the expressions of cancer-related genes. These results provided a new insight into lung cancer prevention. Keywords: Essential metals, Zinc, Lung cancer, Cohort study, Telomere attrition, Gene expression

Skewed/asymmetrical data often appear in many research fields such as finance, economy, climate science, environmental science, engineering technology, social sciences and biomedicine. Little research has been carried out to establish median regression model to investigate the influence of some covariates on distributional characteristics. Since the median can capture the “medium” level of the skewed data, the main objective of this paper is to construct the median regression model for the analysis of skew-normal data. We develop an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm facilitated by Newton-Raphson algorithm to estimate the regression coefficients and parameters. The proposed methods are evaluated by some Monte Carlo simulations and are illustrated by a real data analysis.

Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) is the most common structure somatic event that related to increased risks of various diseases and mortality. Environmental pollution and genetic susceptibility were important contributors to mLOY. We aimed to explore the associations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure, as well as their joint effects with age, smoking, and genetic variants on peripheral blood mLOY. A total of 1005 male coke-oven workers were included in this study and their internal PAHs exposure levels of 10 urinary PAH metabolites and plasma benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8,t-9,c-10-tetrahydotetrol-albumin (BPDE-Alb) adducts were measured. mLOY was defined by the median log R ratio(mLRR) of 1480 probes in male-specific region of chromosome-Y from genotyping array. We found that the PAHs exposure levels were linearly associated with mLOY. A 10-fold increase in urinary 1-hydroxynaphthalene (1-OHNa), 1-hydroxyphenanthrene (1-OHPh), 2-OHPh, 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), ΣOH-PAHs, and plasma BPDE-Alb adducts could generate 0.0111, 0.0085, 0.0069, 0.0103, 0.0134, and 0.0152 decrease in mLRR-Y, respectively. Additionally, mLOY accelerated with age, smoking pack-years, and TCL1A rs1122138-C allele, and we observed the most severe mLOY among subjects carrying more than 3 of the above risk factors. Our results revealed the linear dose-effect associations between PAHs exposure and mLOY. Elder male smokers carrying rs1122138CC genotype were the most susceptible subpopulations to mLOY, who should be given protections for PAHs exposure induced chromosome-Y aberration.

Background: Thallium (Tl) is a cumulative high toxicant in the environment, but few longitudinal studies have investigated the respiratory impairment of Tl exposure. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Tl and its interaction with smoking on lung function decline, and explore the potential mechanisms. Methods: The baseline and follow-up lung functions were measured from a prospective cohort study of 1243 workers, who were followed from 2010 to 2014. Their baseline urinary levels of Tl were determined. We also measured the plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) in a randomly selected subcohort of 474 subjects. Results: The results showed that a 2-fold increase in urinary Tl was associated with 29.81 mL (95%CI: 3.83–55.80) increased decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). The effect was more pronounced among heavy-smokers (≥15 pack-years) [β(95%CI) = 56.42 mL (9.66–103.19)]. In particular, compared to never-smokers with low Tl, heavy-smokers with high Tl had a separate 158.44 mL (95%CI: 54.88–262.00) and 4.58% (95%CI: 1.40–7.76) increased declines in FEV1 and percentage of predicted (ppFEV1), respectively. There was a significant interaction between Tl and smoking intensity on ppFEV1 decline (Pint = 0.034). More importantly, the increasing level of urinary Tl was correlated with elevated CRP and 8-iso-PGF2α. Conclusion: Our prospective cohort study identified that exposure to high Tl had a deleterious effect on lung function, and this effect may be enhanced by tobacco smoking. Increased inflammation may partly contribute to the joint effects of Tl and smoking on impaired lung function, but the biological mechanisms need further explorations. Keywords: Thallium, Smoking, Lung function decline, Prospective cohort study, C-reactive protein

In this paper, we try to improve the magnetogram calibration method of the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope (SMFT). The improved calibration process fits the observed full Stokes information, using six points on the profile of Fe I 5324. 18 angstrom line, and the analytical Stokes profiles under the Milne-Eddington atmosphere model, adopting the Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares fitting algorithm. In comparison with the linear calibration methods, which employs one point, there is a large difference in the strength of longitudinal field B-l and transverse field B-t, caused by the non-linear relationship, but the discrepancy is little in the case of inclination and azimuth. We conclude that it is better to deal with the non-linear effects in the calibration of B-l and B-t using six points. Moreover, in comparison with Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), SMFT has larger stray light and acquires less magnetic field strength. For vector magnetic fields in two sunspot regions, the magnetic field strength, inclination and azimuth angles between SMFT and HMI are roughly in agreement, with the linear fitted slopes of 0.73/0.7, 0.95/1.04 and 0.99/1.1. In the case of pores and quiet regions (B-l < 600 G), the fitted slopes of the longitudinal magnetic field strength are 0.78 and 0.87, respectively.