Eye movements reveal a similar Positivity Effect in Chinese and UK older adults

The “positivity effect” (PE) reflects an age-related increase in the preference for positive over negative information in attention and memory. The present experiment investigated whether Chinese and UK participants produce a similar PE. In one experiment we presented pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures simultaneously and participants decided which picture they liked or disliked on a third of trials respectively. We recorded participants’ eye movements during this task and compared time looking at, and memory for, pictures. The results suggest that older but not younger adults from both China and UK participant groups showed a preference to focus on and remember pleasant pictures, providing evidence of a PE in both cultures. Bayes Factor analysis supported these observations. These findings are consistent with the view that older people preferentially focus on positive emotional information, and that this effect is observed cross-culturall

TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION FOR WATERBORNE MERCURY REMOVAL AT THE Y12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX

The Hg-contaminated processing water produced at Y-12 facility is discharged through the storm drain system, merged at Outfall 200, and then discharged to EFPC. Most of the baseflow mercury at Outfall 200 arises from a small number of short sections of storm drain. This report discusses the waterborne mercury treatment technologies to decrease mercury loading to the surface water of EFPC at Y-12 NSC. We reviewed current available waterborne Hg treatment technologies based on the specific conditions of Y-12 and identified two possible options: SnCl2 reduction coupled with air stripping (SnCl2/air stripping) and sorption. The ORNL 2008 and 2009 field studies suggested that SnCl2/air stripping has the capability to remove waterborne mercury with efficiency higher than 90% at Outfall 200. To achieve this goal, dechlorination (i.e., removing residual chlorine from water) using dechlorinating agents such as thiosulfate has to be performed before the reduction. It is unclear whether or not SnCl2/air stripping can reduce the mercury concentration from ~1000 ng/L to 51 ng/L at a full-scale operation. Therefore, a pilot test is a logical step before a full-scale design to answer questions such as Hg removal efficiency, selection of dechlorinating agents, and so on. The major advantages of the SnCl2/air stripping system are: (1) expected low cost at high flow (e.g., the flow at Outfall 200); and (2) production of minimum secondary waste. However, there are many environmental uncertainties associated with this technology by introducing tin to EFPC ecosystem, for example tin methylation causing abiotic Hg methylation, which should be addressed before a full-scale implementation. Mercury adsorption by granular activated carbon (GAC) is a proven technology for treating Hg at Y-12. The ONRL 2010 lab sorption studies suggest that thiol-based resins hold the promise to combine with GAC to form a more cost-effective treatment system. To achieve a treatment goal of 51 ng/L at Outfall 200 (flow rate: 1300 gpm), using a single GAC system will request very large reaction vessels and cost much more than a SnCl2/air stripping system (assuming it can achieve the 51 ng/L goal). However, the treatment cost depends on the treatment goal. If the treatment goal is 200 ng/L, the cost of GAC system will be significantly reduced while the cost of SnCl2/air stripping will remain the same. In addition, a GAC coupled with thiol-based resin system may further reduce the cost. Treating the Hg-contaminated water at source area with low flow rate (e.g., 40 gpm) may be another option to reduce the treatment cost. The advantages of the sorption technology are that it has proven treatment efficiency, reliability, and no environmental uncertainties. The disadvantages include that it produces large amount of secondary wastes. Based on the information evaluated in this report, we recommend that a pilot-scale test for SnCl2/air stripping process at Outfall 200 should be carried out before a full-scale implementation to address all the engineering and environmental risk questions. We also recommend continuing the sorbent lab studies at ORNL to optimize a sorption system that may be efficient and cost-effective enough for a full-scale implementation

Coal based carbon dots: recent advances in synthesis, properties, and applications

Carbon dots are zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials with quantum confinement effects and edge effects, which have aroused great interests in many disciplines such as energy, chemistry, materials, and environmental applications. They can be prepared by chemical oxidation, electrochemical synthesis, hydrothermal preparation, arc discharge, microwave synthesis, template method, and many other methods. However, the raw materials' high cost, the complexity and environmental-unfriendly fabrication process limit their large-scale production and commercialization. Herein, we review the latest developments of coal-based carbon dots about selecting coal-derived energy resources (bituminous coal, anthracite, lignite, coal tar, coke, etc.) the developments of synthesis processes, surface modification, and doping of carbon dots. The coal-based carbon dots exhibit the advantages of unique fluorescence, efficient catalysis, excellent water solubility, low toxicity, inexpensive, good biocompatibility, and other advantages, which hold the potentiality for a wide range of applications such as environmental pollutants sensing, catalyst preparation, chemical analysis, energy storage, and medical imaging technology. This review aims to provide a guidance of finding abundant and cost-effective precursors, green, simple and sustainable production processes to prepare coal-based carbon dots, and make further efforts to exploit the application of carbon dots in broader fields

High genetic diversity and small genetic variation among populations of Magnolia wufengensis (Magnoliaceae), revealed by ISSR and SRAP markers

Background: Genetic diversity and genetic variation of 10 populations and subpopulations of Magnolia wufengensis , a new and endangered endemic species, were examined by inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) molecular markers. Compared with other endangered endemic Magnolia taxa, M. wufengensis holds a relatively high level of genetic variation. Result: Total genetic diversity was found to be 87.7% for ISSR and 88.0% for SRAP markers. For polymorphic loci (P), the effective mean number of alleles (Ae) was 1.414 for ISSR markers and 1.458 for SRAP markers, while the mean expected heterozygosity (H) was 0.256 using ISSR and 0.291 for SRAP markers. Within-population variation was estimated for P as 74.9% using ISSR and 74.6% with SRAP markers; the number of alleles Ae was 1.379 with ISSR and 1.397 for SRAP and H 0.235 with ISSR and 0.247 for SRAP markers. Conclusion: The analysis of molecular variation of both ISSR and SRAP marker systems indicated that most genetic variation is within populations,with values of 90.64% and 82.92% respectively. Mantel tests indicated a moderate association between the two marker systems and a low correlation between genetic and geographic distances. High levels of genetic diversity and low levels of population divergence suggest that genetic drift is not currently of great concern for this species. Severe habitat loss and fragmentation, predominantly ascribed to anthropogenic pressures, caused in-situ developing restriction of this species. Action for conserving this rare species for its long-term survival should be taken immediately

Using hyperhomocysteinemia and body composition to predict the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in healthcare workers

PurposeThis study investigated associations between serum homocysteine levels, body composition, and the probability of having nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese healthcare workers.Patients and MethodsA total of 4028 healthcare workers were enrolled in this study, and all underwent a physical examination. Body composition was measured using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis.ResultsThere were 1507 NAFLD patients (72.26% male, 27.74% female) and 2521 controls (39.83% male, 60.17% female). Body mass index (BMI), waistline, neck-circumference (NC), abdominal visceral fat area (AVFA), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose (Glu), homocysteinemia (hcy) were higher in the NAFLD group than controls. Additionally, the skeletal-muscle was associated with a lower risk of NAFLD, whereas BMI, waistline, NC, hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) were associated with a higher risk of NAFLD. The best NC cut-off point for NAFLD was 34.45 cm (sensitivity 83.3% and specificity 83.9%) in women with HHcy, and the best skeletal-muscle content cut-off point for NAFLD was 41.335% (sensitivity 74.2% and specificity 65.6%) in men with HHcy.ConclusionInteractions between skeletal-muscle content, NC, and HHcy may affect the incidence of NAFLD in healthcare workers. This may provide a novel approach for diagnosing NAFLD

Seismogenic structures and spatiotemporal seismicity patterns of the 2022 Ms6.0 Maerkang earthquake sequence, Sichuan, China

The 2022 Ms6.0 Maerkang earthquake sequence, Sichuan, China, occurred in an unexpected area with historically rare seismicity in the Bayan Har block. Here we relocated the earthquake sequence, inverted for the focal mechanisms of the larger events, and calculated the rupture directivity of the earthquake sequence to reveal the seismogenic structures and mechanisms of this sequence. The high-precision relocations indicate that the seismogenic structures consist of several clusters that are generally parallel to the nearby NW-trending Songgang fault, and relatively small-scale conjugate faults are also identified. The seismicity migrated from cluster one in the south to cluster two in the north during the sequence. Furthermore, the hypocenters were largely located at 5–10 km depth, thereby highlighting that the seismogenic structures are buried. The vertical fault planes of the seismogenic structures are consistent with the high-dip focal mechanism solutions from seven events. A stress field inversion based on the focal mechanisms indicates that the sequence occurred in a strike-slip environment that was controlled by a NNW–SSE-striking principal compressive stress. The different rupture directivities of the Ms5.8 (southwestward) and Ms6.0 (southeastward) events prove the existence of conjugate faults. The Ms5.8 event induced a coseismic Coulomb stress change of 1.6 MPa where the Ms6.0 event subsequently occurred, thereby highlighting that the Ms5.8 event triggered the Ms6.0 event and produced the spatiotemporal seismicity pattern of the sequence. We therefore conclude that the seismogenic structures of the 2022 Ms6.0 Maerkang earthquake sequence are previously unknown concealed conjugate structures associated with the main Songgang fault. The complex seismogenic structures and their potential to generate large earthquakes warrant the need to better understand the seismogenesis of this area and the seismic risks that may be present

Contrasting off-line segmentation decisions with on-line word segmentation during reading

In two experiments, we investigated the correspondences between off-line word segmentation and on-line segmentation processing during Chinese reading. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to read sentences which contained critical four-character strings, and then they were required to segment the same sentences into words in a later off-line word segmentation task. For each item, participants were split into 1-word segmenters (who segmented four-character strings as a single word) and 2-word segmenters (who segmented four-character strings as 2 two-character words). Thus, we split participants into two groups (1-word segmenters and 2-word segmenters) according to their off-line segmentation bias. The data analysis showed no reliable group effect on all the measures. In order to avoid the heterogeneity of participants and stimuli in Experiment 1, two groups of participants (1-word segmenters and 2-word segmenters) and three types of critical four-character string (1-word strings, ambiguous strings and 2-word strings) were identified in a norming study in Experiment 2. Participants were required to read sentences containing these critical strings. There was no reliable group effect in Experiment 2, as was the case in Experiment 1. However, in Experiment 2, participants spent less time and made fewer fixations on 1-word strings compared to ambiguous and 2-word strings. These results indicate that the off-line word segmentation preferences do not necessarily reflect on-line word segmentation processing during Chinese reading, and that Chinese readers exhibit flexibility such that word, or multiple constituent, segmentation commitments are made on-line