Deficiency and excess of groundwater iodine and their health associations

More than two billion people worldwide have suffered thyroid disorders from either iodine deficiency or excess. By creating the national map of groundwater iodine throughout China, we reveal the spatial responses of diverse health risks to iodine in continental groundwater. Greater non-carcinogenic risks relevant to lower iodine more likely occur in the areas of higher altitude, while those associated with high groundwater iodine are concentrated in the areas suffered from transgressions enhanced by land over-use and intensive anthropogenic overexploitation. The potential roles of groundwater iodine species are also explored: iodide might be associated with subclinical hypothyroidism particularly in higher iodine regions, whereas iodate impacts on thyroid risks in presence of universal salt iodization exhibit high uncertainties in lower iodine regions. This implies that accurate iodine supply depending on spatial heterogeneity and dietary iodine structure optimization are highly needed to mitigate thyroid risks in iodine-deficient and -excess areas globally

Calculation and Expression of the Urban Heat Island Indices Based on GeoSOT Grid

The urban heat island (UHI) effect accelerates the accumulation of atmospheric pollutants, which has a strong impact on the climate of cities, circulation of material, and health of citizens. Therefore, it is of great significance to conduct quantitative monitoring and accurate governance of UHI by calculating the index rapidly and expressing spatial distribution accurately. In this paper, we proposed a model that integrates UHI information with the GeoSOT (Geographic Coordinate Subdividing Grid with One-Dimension Integer Coding on 2n Tree) grid and subsequently designed the calculation method of UHI indices and expression method of UHI spatial distribution. The UHI indices were calculated on Dongcheng and Xicheng District, Beijing, in the Summer of 2014 to 2019. Experimental results showed that the proposed method has higher calculation efficiency, and achieved a more detailed description of the spatial distribution of the urban thermal environment compared with the Gaussian surface fitting method. This method can be used for large-scale and high-frequency monitoring the level of UHI and expressing complicated spatial distribution of UHI inside the city, thus supporting accurate governance of UHI

Metabolomics Characterize the Differential Metabolic Markers between Bama Xiang Pig and Debao Pig to Identify Pork

The Bama Xiang pig (BM) is a unique pig species in Guangxi Province, China. Compared to other breeds of domestic pig, such as the Debao pig (DB), it is smaller in size, better in meat quality, resistant to rough feeding and strong in stress resistance. These unique advantages of Bama Xiang pigs make them of great edible value and scientific research value. However, the differences in muscle metabolites between Bama Xiang pigs (BM) and Debao pigs (DB) are largely unexplored. Here, we identified 214 differential metabolites between these two pig breeds by LC-MS. Forty-one such metabolites are enriched into metabolic pathways, and these metabolites correspond to 11 metabolic pathways with significant differences. In Bama pigs, the abundance of various metabolites such as creatine, citric acid, L-valine and hypoxanthine is significantly higher than in Debao pigs, while the abundance of other metabolites, such as carnosine, is significantly lower. Among these, we propose six differential metabolites: L-proline, citric acid, ribose 1-phosphate, L-valine, creatine, and L-arginine, as well as four potential differential metabolites (without the KEGG pathway), alanyl-histidine, inosine 2′-phosphate, oleoylcarnitine, and histidinyl hydroxyproline, as features for evaluating the meat quality of Bama pigs and for differentiating pork from Bama pigs and Debao pigs. This study provides a proof-of-concept example of distinguishing pork from different pig breeds at the metabolite level and sheds light on elucidating the biological processes underlying meat quality differences. Our pork metabolites data are also of great value to the genomics breeding community in meat quality improvement

Novel Giomers Incorporated with Antibacterial Quaternary Ammonium Monomers to Inhibit Secondary Caries

The objective of this study was to develop novel modified giomers by incorporating the antibacterial quaternary ammonium monomers (QAMs), dimethylaminododecyl methacrylate (DMADDM) or dimethylaminohexadecyl methacrylate (DMAHDM) into a commercial giomer. The material performances including mechanical properties, surface characteristics, color data, cytotoxicity and fluoride release of the novel giomers were evaluated. Antibacterial activity against severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) saliva-derived biofilms was assessed by lactic acid production measurement, MTT assay, biofilm staining and 16S rRNA sequencing. A rat model was developed and the anti-caries effect was investigated by micro-CT scanning and modified Keyes’ scoring. The results showed that the material properties of the QAMs groups were comparable to those of the control group. The novel giomers significantly inhibited lactic acid production and biofilm viability of S-ECC saliva-derived biofilms. Furthermore, caries-related genera such as Streptococcus and Lactobacillus reduced in QAMs groups, which showed their potential to change the microbial compositions. In the rat model, lesion depth, mineral loss and scoring of the QAMs groups were significantly reduced, without side effects on oral tissues. In conclusion, the novel giomers incorporated with antibacterial QAMs could inhibit the cariogenic biofilms and help prevent secondary caries, with great potential for future application in restorative treatment

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function under Simulated Gradient Warming and Grazing

Biodiversity and ecosystem functions and their relationship with environmental response constitute a major topic of ecological research. However, the changes in and impact mechanisms of multi-dimensional biodiversity and ecosystem functions in continuously changing environmental gradients and anthropogenic activities remain poorly understood. Here, we analyze the effects of multi-gradient warming and grazing on relationships between the biodiversity of plant and soil microbial with productivity/community stability through a field experiment simulating multi-gradient warming and grazing in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. We show the following results: (i) Plant biodiversity, soil microbial diversity and community productivity in alpine grasslands show fluctuating trends with temperature gradients, and a temperature increase below approximately 1 °C is beneficial to alpine grasslands; moderate grazing only increases the fungal diversity of the soil surface layer. (ii) The warming shifted plant biomass underground in alpine grasslands to obtain more water in response to the decrease in soil moisture caused by the temperature rise. Community stability was not affected by warming or grazing. (iii) Community stability was not significantly correlated with productivity, and environmental factors, rather than biodiversity, influenced community stability and productivity

Effects of Pedicularis kansuensis Expansion on Plant Community Characteristics and Soil Nutrients in an Alpine Grassland

Pedicularis kansuensis is an indicator species of grassland degradation. Its population expansion dramatically impacts the production and service function of the grassland ecosystem, but the effects and mechanisms of the expansion are still unclear. In order to understand the ecological effects of P. kansuensis, three P. kansuensis patches of different densities were selected in an alpine grassland, and species diversity indexes, biomasses, soil physicochemical properties, and the mechanism among them were analyzed. The results showed that P. kansuensis expansion increased the richness index, the Shannon–Wiener index significantly, and the aboveground biomass ratio (ABR) of the Weed group (p < 0.05), but reduced the total biomass of the community and the ABR of the Gramineae and Cyperaceae decreased insignificantly (p > 0.05); soil moisture, soil AOC, and NO3−·N decreased significantly (p < 0.05), while soil pH and total soil nutrients did not change significantly, and available phosphorus (AP) decreased at first and then increased (p < 0.05). The structural equation model (SEM) showed that P. kansuensis expansion had a significant positive effect on the community richness index, and a significant negative effect followed on the soil AOC from the increase of the index; the increase of pH had a significant negative effect on the soil AOC, NO3−·N, and AP. It indicated that P. kansuensis expansion resulted in the increase of species richness, the ABR of the Weed group, and the community’s water demand, which promoted the over-utilization of soil available nutrients in turn, and finally caused the decline of soil quality. This study elucidated a possible mechanism of poisonous weeds expansion, and provided a scientific and theoretical basis for grassland management

Effects of nutrient addition on degraded alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A meta-analysis

International audienceClimate warming and human disturbance are supposed to have severely affected the alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), a region where the extremely harsh and fragile ecological environment has attracted great attention because of its sensitivity to global change. However, there is still no unified understanding of the degree and magnitude of grassland degradation and the effectiveness of nutrient addition in this vast landscape, since most previous studies have focused on short-term observations at a single site. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 145 published studies on degraded alpine grassland along with 90 published studies, which concerning nutrient addition (nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P], and combined N and P [NP]) to quantitatively assess the responses of plant and soil characteristics to land degradation and restoration. Our results revealed that the response ratio (RR) of above-ground biomass (AGB), below-ground biomass (BGB), soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil total N (TN) decreased significantly (−47.23 %, −43.45 %, −32.35 %, and −37.97 %, respectively) in degraded grassland compared with non-degraded grassland. The RR of AGB was correlated with mean annual precipitation (MAP), while the RR of BGB was correlated with the interaction of MAP and mean annual temperature (MAT). Severely degraded grassland required additional nutrients to aid recovery. NP addition to severely degraded sites increased plant AGB (+32.44 %), TN (+10.99 %), soil total P (+32.25 %), and soil moisture (+9.21 %), but significantly decreased species richness (−45.46 %), diversity (−30.40 % for Shannon−Wiener index) and soil pH (−3.91 %). N addition increased the RR of AGB and grass biomass significantly by 28.77 % and 36.49 %, but had no significant effect on sedge and forb biomass. MAP influenced the RR of AGB, TN, TP under NP addition, the RR of BGB and the AGB of different function groups were significantly affected by MAT. We evidenced that the QTP has endured severe vegetation and soil degradation, which cannot be completely mitigated by supplementary fertilisation. Fertilisation could yield positive effects on plant performance and soil quality, but negative effects on biodiversity. Climate warming and associated precipitation change may regulate the effects of fertiliser on plant biomass and soil nutrients

Planar Alignment of Graphene Sheets by a Rotating Magnetic Field for Full Exploitation of Graphene as a 2D Material

Planar Alignment of Graphene Sheets by a Rotating Magnetic Field for Full Exploitation of Graphene as a 2D Materia

Planar Alignment of Graphene Sheets by a Rotating Magnetic Field for Full Exploitation of Graphene as a 2D Material

Planar alignment of disc-like nanomaterials is required to transfer their superior anisotropic properties from microscopic individual structures to macroscopic collective assemblies. However, such alignment by electrical or magnetic field is challenging due to their additional degrees of orientational freedom compared to that of rod-like nanostructures. Here, the realization of planar alignment of suspended graphene sheets using a rotating magnetic field produced by a pair of small NdFeB magnets and subsequent demonstration of high optical anisotropy and potential novel device applications is reported. Compared to partially aligned sheets with a static magnetic field, planar aligned graphene suspensions exhibit a near-perfect order parameter, much higher birefringence and anisotropic absorption/transmission. A unique feature of discotic nanomaterial assemblies is that the observed order parameter and optical property can vary from isotropic to partial and complete alignment depending on the experimental configuration. By immobilizing and patterning aligned graphene in a UV-curable polymer resin, we further demonstrated an all-graphene permanent display, which exhibits wide-angle, high dark-bright contrast in either transmission or reflection mode without any polarizing optics. The ability to control and pattern graphene orientation in all three dimensions opens up new exploration and broad device applications of graphene