Cypermethrin is a frequently used insecticide in agriculture and households but its chronic and molecular effects are poorly known are . Here we describe effects of sublethal cypermethrin exposure on the global transcriptome in the brain of honey bees determined by RNA-sequencing. Exposure for 48 h to 0.3 ng/bee cypermethrin (3 ng/mL sucrose solution) causes 38 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), of which 29 are up-regulated and 9 down-regulated. Exposure to 3 ng/bee causes differential expression of 265 DEGs (209 up-, 56 down-regulated). Among the 24 DEGs shared by both concentrations are genes encoding muscular structure, muscular processes and esterase B1. Functional analysis (GO term analysis) confirms the enrichment of muscular development, structure and function among the 89 and 35 significantly altered GO terms at the low and high concentration, respectively. Up-regulation of nine DEGs determined by RT-qPCR showed a good correlation with RNA-sequence data. Among them are genes including esterase B1, titin, twitchin, mucin-19, insulin like growth factor binding protein, golgin like protein and helix loop protein. Our study demonstrates for the first time molecular effects of cypermethrin at environmental concentrations, which include expressional induction of genes encoding muscular and cellular processes and metabolism enzymes. Further studies should demonstrate the physiological consequences in bees.

The N, S, and Fe-tridoped carbon catalysts (NSFe-Cs), Fe/ACNS1 and Fe/ACNS2, were synthesized by wet impregnation with different concentration of ammonium ferrous sulfate solution. The prepared catalysts have a similar textural structure. The N species, S species, Feᴵᴵ and Feᴵᴵᴵ were simultaneously introduced onto the surface of catalysts. Comparison with the only Fe doped catalyst, NSFe-Cs showed greater stability and higher phenol removal in catalytic wet peroxide oxidation at different reaction condition. The main intermediates including p-hydroxybenzoic acid, formic acid, and maleic acid were determined in the treated wastewater. The high catalytic activity for NSFe-C was related to the ability of H₂O₂ decomposition. NSFe-Cs have more amount of Feᴵᴵ partially due to the formation of FeS₂, which promoted the decomposition of H₂O₂ on Fe/ACNS1 and Fe/ACNS2 surface. The generation of ·OH and ·HO₂/·O₂⁻ radicals in the bulk solution was crucial to phenol degradation, and the decomposition of H₂O₂ complied with the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The highly linear relationship between decomposition kinetic constant for H₂O₂ and the amount of surface groups suggested, including Feᴵᴵ species, pyridinic N/Fe-bonded N, pyrrolic N as well as graphitic N were responsible to the high activity of NSFe-Cs.

Very little is currently known regarding the effects of estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals on embryonic and larval development in molluscs, nor the potential effects of parental (F₀) exposure on resultant F₁ offspring. In this study, we assessed the embryotoxic impacts of exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of the synthetic estrogen, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), to male and female parents (50 ng/L) and their offspring (5 and 50 ng/L) in the native Australian Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata. There were no detectable effects of parental exposure on fertilisation success, proportions of early larval (F₁) morphs and unfertilised eggs. Offspring impacts were evidenced in terms of developmental delays, with decreased percentages of D-veligers retained by 45 μm mesh, along with a reduction of swimming capabilities of larvae at 2 days post-fertilisation (dpf) when both parents had been exposed to 50 ng/L EE2. Although no significant parental effects were found on the survival of F₁ larvae at 9 dpf, retardation of shell growth was observed on F₁ larvae in treatments where both parents had been exposed to 50 ng/L EE2. Subsequent larval exposure from 2 to 9 dpf caused declines in survival and reduction of shell length in F₁ larvae at both 5 and 50 ng/L EE2 across all parental exposure treatments. Collectively, parental EE2 imparts effects on offspring in terms of retardation of larval development, and subsequent offspring exposure to EE2 further exacerbates impacts to development. Future research should aim to understand the potential mechanisms of EE2 induced toxicity and its transmission resulting in altered phenotypes of the F₁ generation.

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. In recent years, many studies have demonstrated that exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides (GHBs) was related to the decrease of serum testosterone and the decline in semen quality. However, the molecular mechanism of glyphosate-induced testosterone synthesis disorders is still unclear. In the present study, the effects of glyphosate on testosterone secretion and the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the process were investigated in TM3 cells. The effects of glyphosate at different concentrations on the viability of TM3 cells were detected by CCK8 method. The effect of glyphosate exposure on testosterone secretion was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression levels of testosterone synthases and ER stress-related proteins were detected by Western blot and Immunofluorescence stain. Results showed that exposure to glyphosate at concentrations below 200 mg/L had no effect on cell viability, while the glyphosate above 0.5 mg/L could inhibit the testosterone secretion in TM3 cells. Treatment TM3 cells with glyphosate at 5 mg/L not only reduced the protein levels of testosterone synthase StAR and CYP17A1, inhibited testosterone secretion, but also increased the protein level of ER stress molecule Bip and promoted the phosphorylation of PERK and eIF2α. Pretreatment cells with PBA, an inhibitor of ER stress, alleviated glyphosate-induced increase in Bip, p-PERK and p-eIF2α protein levels, meanwhile rescuing glyphosate-induced testosterone synthesis disorders. When pretreatment with GSK2606414, a PERK inhibitor, the glyphosate-induced phosphorylation of PERK and eIF2α was blocked, and the glyphosate-inhibited testosterone synthesis and secretion was also restored. Overall, our findings suggest that glyphosate can interfere with the expression of StAR and CYP17A1 and inhibit testosterone synthesis and secretion via ER stress-mediated the activation of PERK/eIF2α signaling pathway in Leydig cells.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is an unavoidable cereal crops contaminants and environmental pollutants, which seriously threated the health of human and animal. DON has been reported to exert significant toxicity effects on spermatogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely inconclusive. The blood-testis barrier (BTB) provides a specialized biochemical microenvironment for maintaining spermatogenesis. Thus, we hypothesized that DON could impair BTB and lead to spermatogenesis disorder. To confirm this hypothesis, sixty male mice were intragastrically administered with 0, 1.2, 2.4 and 4.8 mg/kg body weight DON for 28 days, and several important observations were obtained in present study. First, we found that DON induced spermatogenesis disorder, reflected by the declines of sperm concentration and quality, sperm ultrastructural damage as well as seminiferous tubular damage. Then, we proved that DON induced BTB disruption as well as decreased the expressions of BTB junction proteins, including Occludin, Connexin 43 and N-cadherin. Finally, the present study showed that DON induced inflammation and inhibited T biosynthesis in testis of mice. These results revealed that DON induced spermatogenesis disorder by BTB disruption associated with testosterone deficiency and inflammation in mice, which shed a new light on the potential mechanisms of reproductive toxicity induced by DON.

Breaking of biochar during compaction of amended soil in roadside biofilters or landfill cover can affect infiltration and pollutant removal capacity. It is unknown how the initial biochar size affects the biochar breaking, clogging potential, and contaminant removal capacity of the biochar-amended soil. We compacted a mixture of coarse sand and biochar with sizes smaller than, similar to, or larger than the sand in columns and applied stormwater contaminated with E. coli. Packing columns with biochar pre-coated with a dye and analyzing the dye concentration in the broken biochar particles eluted from the columns, we proved that biochar predominantly breaks under compaction by disintegration or splitting, not by abrasion. Increases in biochar size decrease the likelihood of biochar breaking. We attribute this result to the effective dissipation of compaction energy through a greater number of contact points between a large biochar particle and the adjacent particles. Most of the broken biochar particles are deposited in the pore spaces of the background geomedia, resulting in an exponential decrease in hydraulic conductivity of amended sand with an increase in suspended sediment loading. The clogging rate was higher in the columns with small biochar. The columns with small biochar also exhibited high E. coli removal capacity, partly because of an increase in bacterial straining at reduced pore size after compaction. These results are useful in selecting appropriate biochar size for its application in soils and roadside biofilters for stormwater treatment.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are commonly used in medical, cosmetics, clothing, and industrial applications for their antibacterial and catalytic properties. As AgNP become more prevalent, the doses to which humans are exposed may increase and pose health risks, particularly through incidental inhalation. This exposure was evaluated through in-vitro methods simulating lung fluids and lung epithelium, and through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods of AgNP transport. A high-dose scenario simulated a short-term inhalation of 10 μg AgNP/m³, based on an exposure limit recommended by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health for the case of a health-care worker who handles AgNP-infused wound dressings, and regularly wears AgNP-imbedded clothing. Bioaccessibility tests were followed by a Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA) and supported by CFD models of the lung alveoli, membrane, pores, and blood capillaries. Results indicate that such exposure produces an average and maximum AgNP flux of approximately 4.7 × 10⁻²¹ and 6.5 × 10⁻¹⁹ mol m⁻²·s⁻¹ through lung tissue, respectively, yielding a blood-silver accumulation of 0.46–64 mg per year, which may exceed the lowest adverse effect level of 25 mg for an adult male. Results from in-silico simulations were consistent with values estimated in vitro (within an order of magnitude), which suggest that CFD models may be used effectively to predict silver exposure from inhaled AgNP. Although the average short-term exposure concentrations are 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the reported threshold for mammalian cytotoxicity effects (observed at 5000 ppb), cumulative effects resulting from constant exposure to AgNP may pose risks to human health in the long-term, with predicted bioaccumulation reaching potential toxic effects after only five months of exposure, based on maximum flux.

Environmental chemical exposures have been implicated as risk factors for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD). Bisphenol S (BPS), widely used in multitudinous consumer products, could disrupt lipid metabolism in the liver. This study aimed at examining the hypothesis that long-term exposure to BPS promotes the development of liver fibrosis and inflammation by means of the application of a semi-static exposure experiment that exposed zebrafish to 1, 10, and 100 μg/L BPS from 3 h post fertilization to 120 day post fertilization. Results showed that the 120-d BPS exposure elevated plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities, increased triacylglycerol (TAG) and total cholesterol levels in male liver, and even induced hepatic apoptosis and fibrosis. Hepatic lipid accumulation observed in the 30-d BPS-exposed zebrafish was recovered after a 90-d depuration phase, thereby indicating that long-term BPS exposure promotes the progression of simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Furthermore, BPS exposure for 120-d promoted the synthesis of TAG and lipotoxic free fatty acids by elevating the transcription of srebp1, acc, fasn, and elovl6, induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress with increasing expression levels of unfolded protein response (UPR) genes (perk, hsp5, atf4a, and ddit3), and then stimulated the expression of two key autophagy genes (atg3 and lc3) and inflammatory genes (il1b and tnfα). It is indicated that BPS can induce the development of steatohepatitis via the activation of the PERK-ATF4a pathway of the UPR. Data gathered suggest that environmental pollutants-induced ER stress with the activation of UPR can potentially trigger the NAFLD development in males. Overall, our study provided new sights into understanding of the adverse health effects of metabolism disrupting chemicals.

Based on the panel data of 63 counties of Zhejiang Province from 2003 to 2017, this paper studied the total-factor substitution efficiency of chemical fertilizer input and its spatial-temporal evolution by using the Super-efficiency DEA(Data Envelopment Analysis) model, locational Gini coefficient and Theil index. And the driving factors of the total-factor substitution efficiency of chemical fertilizer input were analyzed by constructing the Panel Tobit model. The results showed that: the comprehensive efficiency of total-factor substitution for chemical fertilizer input in Zhejiang Province is low, and technical efficiency is the main drive for promoting comprehensive efficiency; Gini coefficient is below the warning line of 0.4, and the difference of substitution efficiency, relatively small, mainly comes from the contribution within the region, and the difference ratio of contribution by the Southwestern Zhejiang is rapidly increasing. In detail, financial investment in agriculture serve as the greatest the driving force, and government chemical fertilizer input subsidies have a significantly negative effect. Therefore, we should improve the subsidy policy system, increase government investment in agricultural infrastructure, adjust the structure of agroindustry and improve the income of rural residents under the premise of reducing the fertilizer input intensity.

Photocatalysis is a promising method to eliminate hexavalent uranium (U(Ⅵ)) and recycle it from wastewater. However, most of researched photocatalysts are metal-contained, inactive in visible light, and inconvenient to recycle, which unfortunately impedes the further utilization of photocatalytic technology in U(Ⅵ) pollution treatment. Herein, g-C₃N₄ isotype heterojunction with interpenetrated tri-s-triazine structure (ipCN) was prepared by inserting urea into the interlayer of tri-s-triazine planes of thiourea-derived g-C₃N₄ and in-site thermal treating. The synthesized nanocomposites were used to convert soluble U(Ⅵ) ions into U(Ⅳ) sediment under visible light. Experimental and characterization results reveal that ipCN possess larger BET surface area, more negative-charged surface, higher U(Ⅵ) adsorption capability, and more efficient mass diffusion and charges transfer properties. With these excellent characteristics, nearly 98% U(Ⅵ) could be removed within 20 min over ipCN₅:₁ and 92% photoreduction efficiency could also be kept after 7 cycle uses, which were equal to or even superior than most reported metal-based photocatalysts. It is also proven that the configuration of U(Ⅵ) and photogenerated ·O₂⁻ play a significant role in the photocatalytic U(Ⅵ) reduction process, with (UO₂)ₓ(OH)y²ˣ⁻ʸ are more prone to be adsorbed and the photoinduced process of ·O₂⁻ will steal electrons from photocatalysts. Furthermore, with the self-generated ·O₂⁻ and H₂O₂, a green and facile regeneration process of photocatalysts was proposed This work provides a promising scheme to extract U(Ⅵ) from the perspectives of photocatalysts exploitation, photocatalytic reduction, and photocatalysts regeneration, which is meaningful for the sustainable U(Ⅵ) resource recovery and U(Ⅵ) pollution purification.