A comprehensive analysis and source apportionment of metals in riverine sediments of a rural-urban watershed.

Quantitative assessment of metal sources in sediments is essential for implementation of source control and remediation strategies. This study investigated metal contamination in sediments to assess potential ecological risks and quantify pollutant sources of metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni) in the Wen-Rui Tang River watershed. Total and fraction analysis indicated high pollution levels of metals. Zinc and Cd posed high ecological risk based on the risk assessment code, with the highest ecological risk found in the southwestern of the watershed. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was highly effective in predicting total metal concentrations and identified three contributing metal sources. An agricultural source (factor 1) contributed highly to Cu (74.1%) and Zn (42.5%), and was most prominent in the west and south-central portions of the watershed. Cd (93.5%) showed a high weighting with industrial sources (factor 2) with a hot spot in the southwest. Factor 3 was identified as a mixed natural and vehicle traffic source that showed large contribution to Cr (65.2%), Ni (63.9%) and Pb (50.7%). Spatial analysis indicated a consistent pattern between PMF-identified factors and suspected metal sources at the watershed scale demonstrating the efficacy of the PMF modeling approach for watershed analysis

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Eutrophication in Lake Tai as Affected by Wind

One common hypothesis is that wind can affect concentrations of nutrients (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in shallow lakes. However, the tests of this hypothesis have yet to be conclusive in existing literature. The objective of this study was to use long-term data to examine how wind direction and wind speed affect the spatiotemporal variations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and Chl-a in Lake Tai, a typical shallow lake located in east China. The results indicated that the concentrations of nutrients and Chl-a tended to decrease from the northwest to the southeast of Lake Tai, with the highest concentrations in the two leeward bays (namely Meiliang Bay and Zhushan Bay) in the northwestern part of the lake. In addition to possible artificial reasons (e.g., wastewater discharge), the prevalent southeastward winds in warm seasons (i.e., spring and summer) and northwestward winds in cool seasons (i.e., fall and winter) might be the major natural factor for such a northwest-southeast decreasing spatial pattern. For the lake as a whole, the concentrations of TN, TP and Chl-a were highest for a wind speed between 2.1 and 3.2 m·s-1, which can be attributed to the idea that the wind-induced drifting and mixing effects might be dominant in the bays while the wind-induced drifting and resuspension effects could be more important in the other parts of the lake. Given that the water depth of the bays was relatively larger than that of the other parts, the drifting and mixing effects were likely dominant in the bays, as indicated by the negative relationships between the ratios of wind speed to lake depth, which can be a surrogate for the vertical distribution of wind-induced shear stress and the TN, TP and Chl-a concentration. Moreover, the decreasing temporal trend of wind speed in combination with the ongoing anthropogenic activities will likely increase the challenge for dealing with the eutrophication problem of Lake Tai. © 2017 by the authors

Neointimal hyperplasia persists at six months after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in diabetic porcine

BACKGROUND: Observational clinical studies have shown that patients with diabetes have less favorable results after percutaneous coronary intervention compared with the non-diabetic counterparts, but its mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the changes of neointimal hyperplasia after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation in a diabetic porcine model, and to evaluate the impact of aortic inflammation on this proliferative process. METHODS: Diabetic porcine model was created with an intravenous administration of a single dose of streptozotocin in 15 Chinese Guizhou minipigs (diabetic group); each of them received 2 SES (Firebird, Microport Co, China) implanted into 2 separated major epicardial coronary arteries. Fifteen non-diabetic minipigs with SES implantation served as controls (control group). At 6 months, the degree of neointimal hyperplasia was determined by repeat coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and histological examination. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α protein level in the aortic intima was evaluated by Western blotting, and TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 mRNA levels were assayed by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The distribution of stented vessels, diameter of reference vessels, and post-procedural minimal lumen diameter were comparable between the two groups. At 6-month follow-up, the degree of in-stent restenosis (40.4 ± 24.0% vs. 20.2 ± 17.7%, p < 0.05), late lumen loss (0.33 ± 0.19 mm vs. 0.10 ± 0.09 mm, p < 0.001) by quantitative angiography, percentage of intimal hyperplasia in the stented area (26.7 ± 19.2% vs. 7.3 ± 6.1%, p < 0.001) by IVUS, and neointimal area (1.59 ± 0.76 mm(2 )vs. 0.41 ± 0.18 mm(2), p < 0.05) by histological examination were significantly exacerbated in the diabetic group than those in the controls. Significant increases in TNF-α protein and TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA levels were observed in aortic intima in the diabetic group. CONCLUSION: Neointimal hyperplasia persisted at least up to 6 months after SES implantation in diabetic porcine, which may be partly related to an exaggerated inflammatory response within the blood vessel wall. Our results provide theoretical support for potential direct beneficial effects of anti-diabetic and anti-inflammation medications in reducing the risk of restenosis after stenting

Atypical interference control in children with AD/HD with elevated theta/beta ratio

The theta/beta ratio (TBR) is a major area of interest within electroencephalogram (EEG) research in AD/HD. While researchers suggest a prognostic role for TBR in AD/HD, its relationship to behavior remains uncertain. Recent evidence suggests that elevated TBR in AD/HD may be related to atypical inhibition, particularly at an attentional level. This study aimed to examine the performance on three inhibitory tasks of children with AD/HD. Fifty-eight children with AD/HD participated, divided into an elevated TBR (ET) group and a control group (CT). A behavioral disassociation was found − compared to CT, ET showed more difficulty in inhibiting surrounding stimuli but had less day-to-day inhibitory issues measured by BRIEF. There was no significant group difference on response inhibition. The results support the prognostic value of TBR in AD/HD. Elevated TBR may be an inhibitory biomarker; further studies are needed to explore the behavioral implications in patients without elevated TBR

Recurrent chromosome reshuffling and the evolution of neo-sex chromosomes in parrots

The karyotype of most birds has remained considerably stable during more than 100 million years’ evolution, except for some groups, such as parrots. The evolutionary processes and underlying genetic mechanism of chromosomal rearrangements in parrots, however, are poorly understood. Here, using chromosome-level assemblies of four parrot genomes, we uncover frequent chromosome fusions and fissions, with most of them occurring independently among lineages. The increased activities of chromosomal rearrangements in parrots are likely associated with parrot-specific loss of two genes, ALC1 and PARP3, that have known functions in the repair of double-strand breaks and maintenance of genome stability. We further find that the fusion of the ZW sex chromosomes and chromosome 11 has created a pair of neo-sex chromosomes in the ancestor of parrots, and the chromosome 25 has been further added to the sex chromosomes in monk parakeet. Together, the combination of our genomic and cytogenetic analyses characterizes the complex evolutionary history of chromosomal rearrangements and sex chromosomes in parrots

Examining Social Equity in the Co-Management of Terrestrial Protected Areas: Perceived Fairness of Local Communities in Giant Panda National Park, China

Social equity is imperative both morally and instrumentally in the governance of protected areas, as neglecting this consideration can result in feelings of injustice and thus jeopardize conservation objectives. Despite the progressive attention paid to conservation equity, few have linked it with co-management arrangements, especially in the context of terrestrial protected areas. This study assesses the fairness perceptions in China’s Giant Panda National Park from recognitional, procedural, and distributional dimensions, to further disclose their correlations with individuals’ characteristics and participation in co-management activities. The regression analysis shows that all co-management types (instruction, consultation, agreement, and cooperation) are significantly linked with certain directions of perceived social equity. One novel finding here is that alternative types of co-management activities are influencing social equity in different ways. In addition, our research discloses the effects of education across all equity categories, and location is merely significantly related to recognitional equity. These findings suggest more inclusive and empowered co-management endeavors to strive for more equitably managed protected areas. Crucial steps to advance this include extending participative channels, co-producing better compensation plans, strengthening locals’ conservation capabilities, etc. Herein, this study appeals to a greater focus on social equity issues in co-management regimes, and tailored actions should be taken to tackle specific local problems

Examining Social Equity in the Co-Management of Terrestrial Protected Areas: Perceived Fairness of Local Communities in Giant Panda National Park, China

Social equity is imperative both morally and instrumentally in the governance of protected areas, as neglecting this consideration can result in feelings of injustice and thus jeopardize conservation objectives. Despite the progressive attention paid to conservation equity, few have linked it with co-management arrangements, especially in the context of terrestrial protected areas. This study assesses the fairness perceptions in China&rsquo;s Giant Panda National Park from recognitional, procedural, and distributional dimensions, to further disclose their correlations with individuals&rsquo; characteristics and participation in co-management activities. The regression analysis shows that all co-management types (instruction, consultation, agreement, and cooperation) are significantly linked with certain directions of perceived social equity. One novel finding here is that alternative types of co-management activities are influencing social equity in different ways. In addition, our research discloses the effects of education across all equity categories, and location is merely significantly related to recognitional equity. These findings suggest more inclusive and empowered co-management endeavors to strive for more equitably managed protected areas. Crucial steps to advance this include extending participative channels, co-producing better compensation plans, strengthening locals&rsquo; conservation capabilities, etc. Herein, this study appeals to a greater focus on social equity issues in co-management regimes, and tailored actions should be taken to tackle specific local problems

Developing Chinese EFL Learners' Generic CompetenceA Genre-based & Process Genre Approach /

XI, 204 p. 52 illus., 51 illus. in color.online r

A Differential Evolutionary Influence Maximization Algorithm Based on Network Discreteness

The influence maximization problem is designed to seek a set of nodes in a social network so that the set has the maximum information propagation capacity on the network. In response to the inefficiency of existing greedy algorithms and the low accuracy of centrality-based heuristics, we propose an improved differential evolution algorithm (IDDE) based on the network discretization in this paper. The algorithm improves the variance rule of the differential evolution algorithm, takes the discrete number and discrete granularity of the remaining network after the removal of the target node as the index to evaluate the importance of the node, and proposes a fitness function based on the robustness of the network. The method embodies symmetry in two aspects. Firstly, the global connectivity among nodes in the network decreases as the number of target nodes removed in the social network increases. Secondly, the gain of global influence range gradually becomes smaller as the number of target nodes screened by the proposed method increases. We conducted comparison experiments on four real datasets of different sizes, and the results show that the IDDE algorithm outperforms the comparison algorithm