The Neural Mechanisms of Utility and Ethic in the Management Moral Decision Making

The study aimed at investigating the neural mechanism of business moral decision-making. 15 participants were presented with a set of 96 dilemmas in business situation. Participants were required to decide between option 1 (more utilitarian decision for self benefit) and 2 (ethical decision for fairness or institution). ERPs were recorded to a slide displaying the letter 1 and 2 when subjects were deciding between options. The selection rate was calculated after the experiment as the behavior data. The business moral dilemmas prompted more ethical option. A larger P260 component was elicited in the left frontal lobe area when participants were deciding to act ethically. On the other hand, decisions on utilitarian aroused weaker emotional experience, as supported by the shorter LPC and smaller P260 amplitude.

Co-occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their composite impacts on microbial consortium in soil: A field study

This is the first study to report the co-occurrence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFASs),heavy metals,and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)and their impacts on the native microbial consortium in soil due to the long-term exposure.The PFASs,heavy metals,and PAHs were detected in soil samples collected at 2–6 m below the ground surface at different sampling locations in a steel-making factory.The total concentrations of PFASs varied from 6.55 to 19.79 ng g^(-1),with perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS),perfluorobutane sulfonate,and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate(alternative of PFOS)being the predominant PFASs.The concentrations of arsenic,cadmium,and lead were detected in the ranges of 4.40–1270.00,0.01–8.67,and 18.00–647.00 mg kg^(-1),respectively,and the concentration of total PAHs was detected in the range of 1.02–131.60 mg kg^(-1).The long-term exposure to mixed contaminants of PFASs,heavy metals,and PAHs led to lower richness and diversity of microbial communities in soil.The soil bacterial communities were mainly composed of Pseudomonas,norank_p_GAL15,Leptothrix,norank_o_Rokubacteriales,and Acinetobacter.Correlations between soil environmental factors and microbial communities indicated that cation exchange capacity and total phosphorus were two key factors in shaping the composition of native microbial communities.Furthermore,Arthrobacter,Leptothrix,and Sphingobium were found to be significantly positively correlated with PFAS concentrations,indicating that these genera could tolerate the stress exerted by PFASs,along with the stress imposed due to the presence of heavy metals or/and PAHs.

Real time monitoring of nucleic acids ligation based on molecular beacon

A novel method has been developed to monitor the nucleic acids ligation process. Molecular beacon was employed here to convert the ligation information into fluo-rescence signal quickly and quantitatively. This method pro-vides effective and original approach to researching the dy-namic ligation process and the interactions between nucleic acids and ligase. An analytical method for T4 DNA ligase based on this way has been built up with a linear detection range from 2.3×10-4 U/mL to 0.23 U/mL. It is rapid and sensitive to detect 2.8×10-5 U T4 DNA ligase in 10 min.