Discussion on Role of Forest to Control Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution in Taihu Lake Basin-Based on Source-Sink Analysis

Taihu Lake is located at the center of Changjiang delta region, the Lake and its effluent rivers are important water sources for 40 million around inhabitants and rapidly increasing industrial factories in Shanghai, Ji-angsu and Zhejiang. The pollutants originate mainly from acidy rain, home sewage of the vast number of inhabitants, livestock manure, agricultural fertilizers & pesticides applied over fields in the drainage basin, and the industrial sewage. Due to the kinds of pollutants, the Lake water is getting highly eutrophic, with frequent blooms of blue-green algae. Compared with point-source pollutants, diffuse pollution is much com-plicated and difficult to control. Thus combating non-point pollution (NPP) is paid much great attention. Based on analysis on source-sink of NPP in Taihu Lake basin, it is concluded that the function of forests on NPP control is multiple and important by both source reduction and sink expansion. The primary objective of planting trees through constructing forested wetlands and establishing riparian forest buffers is to control soil & water erosion, decrease agrochemicals application, and improve farming conditions in the region of Taihu Lake basin. Moreover forests help to intercept acidy rain, protect streambanks, uptake nutrients, hold up pollutants and provide habitat for wildlife.

Analysis of factors affecting the prognosis of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)for hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Materials and methods:The variables that may affect overall survival(OS),such as age,gender,AFP,Child Pugh classification,body mass index,HBV-DNA,Hbe Ag,tumor number,tumor diameter,BCLC stage,embolization method,ablation therapy,and targeted therapy,were analyzed by single factor and many factor COX regression.In addition,predictive factors of OS were stratified and a Kaplan-Meier survival curve was drawn.Results:Among the 136 patients,the median follow-up time was 14.5 months(range:2–72 months).HCC patients with the tumor diameter<3 cm had the highest survival rate,followed by patients with a tumor diameter of 3–5 cm;the survival rate of patients with the tumor diameter(greater than 5 cm)was the lowest.Among the BCLC stages,stage A patients had the highest survival rate,followed by stage B and stage C patients,which had the lowest survival rate.The survival rate of Child Pugh grade A patients was higher than those with Child Pugh grade B.Compared with patients who did not undergo ablation treatment,the survival rate of patients with combined ablation treatment was relatively high.The survival rate of patients receiving drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization(DEB-TACE)treatment was higher than those receiving conventional transarterial chemoembolization(c TACE)treatment.Additionally,repeated TACE treatment improved the OS rate of patients.These six factors were related to patient prognosis and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusions:Tumor diameter,BCLC stage,TACE repetition,and TACE combined with ablation were independent prognostic factors of OS.

In Situ Investigation of Dynamic Silver Crystallization Driven by Chemical Reaction and Diffusion

Rational synthesis of materials is a long-term challenging issue due to the poor understanding on the formation mechanism of material structure and the limited capability in controlling nanoscale crystallization.The emergent in situ electron microscope provides an insight to this issue.By employing an in situ scanning electron microscope,silver crystallization is investigated in real time,in which a reversible crystallization is observed.To disclose this reversible crystallization,the radicals generated by the irradiation of electron beam are calculated.It is found that the concentrations of radicals are spatiotemporally variable in the liquid cell due to the diffusion and reaction of radicals.The fluctuation of the reductive hydrated electrons and the oxidative hydroxyl radicals in the cell leads to the alternative dominance of the reduction and oxidation reactions.The reduction leads to the growth of silver crystals while the oxidation leads to their dissolution,which results in the reversible silver crystallization.A regulation of radical distribution by electron dose rates leads to the formation of diverse silver structures,confirming the dominant role of local chemical concentration in the structure evolution of materials.