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This study investigated the extent of heavy metal accumulation in leaf vegetables and associated potential health risks in agricultural areas of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), South China. Total concentrations of mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As) were determined in 92 pairs of soil and leaf vegetable (flowering Chinese cabbage, lettuce, pakchoi, Chinese cabbage, loose-leaf lettuce, and Chinese leaf mustard) samples collected from seven agricultural areas (cities). The bioconcentration factors (BCF) of heavy metals from soil to vegetables were estimated, and the potential health risks of heavy metal exposure to the PRD residents through consumption of local leaf vegetables were assessed. Results showed that among the six leaf vegetables, pakchoi had the lowest capacity for heavy metal enrichment, whereas among the five heavy metals, Cd had the highest capacity for transferring from soil into vegetables, with BCF values 30-fold those of Hg and 50-fold those of Cr, Pb and As. Sewage irrigation and fertilization were likely the main sources of heavy metals accumulated in leaf vegetables grown in agricultural areas of the PRD region. Different from previous findings, soil pH had no clear effect on metal accumulation in leaf vegetables. Despite a certain degree of metal enrichment from soil to leaf vegetables, the PRD residents were not exposed to significant health risks associated with consumption of local leaf vegetables. Nevertheless, more attention should be paid to children due to their sensitivity to metal pollutants.

The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), is NASA’s latest reanalysis for the satellite era (1980 onward) using the Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5), Earth system model. MERRA-2 provides several improvements over its predecessor (MERRA-1), including aerosol assimilation for the entire period. MERRA-2 assimilates bias-corrected aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments. Additionally, MERRA-2 assimilates (non bias corrected) AOD from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer over bright surfaces and AOD from Aerosol Robotic Network sunphotometer stations. This paper, the second of a pair, summarizes the efforts to assess the quality of the MERRA-2 aerosol products. First, MERRA-2 aerosols are evaluated using independent observations. It is shown that the MERRA-2 absorption aerosol optical depth (AAOD) and ultraviolet aerosol index (AI) compare well with Ozone Monitoring Instrument observations. Next, aerosol vertical structure and surface fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are evaluated using available satellite, aircraft, and ground-based observations. While MERRA-2 generally compares well to these observations, the assimilation cannot correct for all deficiencies in the model (e.g., missing emissions). Such deficiencies can explain many of the biases with observations. Finally, a focus is placed on several major aerosol events to illustrate successes and weaknesses of the AOD assimilation: the Mount Pinatubo eruption, a Saharan dust transport episode, the California Rim Fire, and an extreme pollution event over China. The article concludes with a summary that points to best practices for using the MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis in future studies.

\"The Taiwan Voter examines the critical role ethnic and national identities play in politics, utilizing the case of Taiwan. Although elections there often raise international tensions, and have led to military demonstrations by China, no scholarly books have examined how Taiwan's voters make electoral choices in a dangerous environment. Critiquing the conventional interpretation of politics as an ideological battle between liberals and conservatives, The Taiwan Voter demonstrates in Taiwan the party system and voters' responses are shaped by one powerful determinant of national identity--the China factor. Taiwan's electoral politics draws international scholarly interest because of the prominent role of ethnic and national identification. While in most countries the many tangled strands of competing identities are daunting for scholarly analysis, in Taiwan the cleavages are powerful and limited in number, so the logic of interrelationships among issues, partisanship, and identity are particularly clear. The Taiwan Voter unites experts to investigate the ways in which social identities, policy views, and partisan preferences intersect and influence each other.These novel findings have wide applicability to other countries, and will be of interest to a broad range of social scientists interested in identity politics\"-- Provided by publisher.

Understanding the competition between superconductivity and other ordered states (such as antiferromagnetic or charge-density-wave (CDW) state) is a central issue in condensed matter physics. The recently discovered layered kagome metal A V 3 Sb 5 ( A  = K, Rb, and Cs) provides us a new playground to study the interplay of superconductivity and CDW state by involving nontrivial topology of band structures. Here, we conduct high-pressure electrical transport and magnetic susceptibility measurements to study CsV 3 Sb 5 with the highest T c of 2.7 K in A V 3 Sb 5 family. While the CDW transition is monotonically suppressed by pressure, superconductivity is enhanced with increasing pressure up to P1 ≈ 0.7 GPa, then an unexpected suppression on superconductivity happens until pressure around 1.1 GPa, after that, T c is enhanced with increasing pressure again. The CDW is completely suppressed at a critical pressure P2 ≈ 2 GPa together with a maximum T c of about 8 K. In contrast to a common dome-like behavior, the pressure-dependent T c shows an unexpected double-peak behavior. The unusual suppression of T c at P1 is concomitant with the rapidly damping of quantum oscillations, sudden enhancement of the residual resistivity and rapid decrease of magnetoresistance. Our discoveries indicate an unusual competition between superconductivity and CDW state in pressurized kagome lattice. The recently discovered kagome metal A V 3 Sb 5 is a new playground to study the interplay between superconductivity and charge-density-wave (CDW) state. Here, the authors report pressure-dependent evolution of CDW and superconductivity in CsV 3 Sb 5 , suggesting an unusual competition between the two phases.

Sperm contributes diverse RNAs to the zygote. While sperm small RNAs have been shown to impact offspring phenotypes, our knowledge of the sperm transcriptome, especially the composition of long RNAs, has been limited by the lack of sensitive, high-throughput experimental techniques that can distinguish intact RNAs from fragmented RNAs, known to abound in sperm. Here, we integrate single-molecule long-read sequencing with short-read sequencing to detect sperm intact RNAs (spiRNAs). We identify 3440 spiRNA species in mice and 4100 in humans. The spiRNA profile consists of both mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs, is evolutionarily conserved between mice and humans, and displays an enrichment in mRNAs encoding for ribosome. In sum, we characterize the landscape of intact long RNAs in sperm, paving the way for future studies on their biogenesis and functions. Our experimental and bioinformatics approaches can be applied to other tissues and organisms to detect intact transcripts. Sperm carry diverse RNAs to the zygote. Here the authors employ single molecule long-read sequencing to distinguish intact RNAs from fragmented RNAs, reporting thousands of intact sperm RNA species conserved in mouse and human sperms.

Societal Impact Statement Apples are affordable and accessible fruit with tremendous biodiversity. Among over 10,000 identified apple cultivars, only a few are commercially available. Habitual fruit consumption is correlated with the prevention of Type 2 diabetes and related complications. Particularly, (poly)phenols found in apples are major contributors to their antidiabetic properties. Here, we have screened (poly)phenol‐rich extracts of 476 apple accessions in Canada's Apple Biodiversity Collection for antidiabetic properties. The results of this work provide insights into the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes by identifying high (poly)phenol‐containing specialty apples for use in fresh fruit form or value‐added functional food ingredients. Summary The recent trend in sedentary lifestyles and nutritionally‐imbalanced diets has elevated the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in many parts of the world. Some pharmacological glycemic management can cause undesirable gastrointestinal side effects or hypoglycemia. Thus, there is a growing interest in safe glycemic management using dietary (poly)phenols. In this study, (poly)phenol‐rich extracts of 476 apple accessions from Canada's Apple Biodiversity Collection (ABC) and six major apple (poly)phenols were assessed for in vitro antidiabetic properties against the activities of α‐glucosidase, α‐amylase, and dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) and the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE). Apple (poly)phenol extracts varied in their antidiabetic activities in a dose‐dependent manner. High (poly)phenol‐containing apples demonstrated that their total phenolic contents (TPC) were inversely correlated with the IC50 values of α‐glucosidase, α‐amylase, and AGE formation, but not DPP‐4. Concentrations of major (poly)phenol compounds such as procyanidin B2, phloridzin, and epicatechin in apples were significantly inversely correlated with IC50 values of α‐glucosidase in the high (poly)phenol‐containing apples. High TPC apples are not suitable for marketing for fresh fruit consumption due to bitterness and astringency; however, these apples show potential to use in the development of value‐added functional food ingredients or nutraceuticals for blood glucose management. The high TPC apple, “S23‐03‐749,” an advanced breeding line of dessert apple, presents a novel option as a specialty apple cultivar for the dietary management of glycemia. Summary Les pommes sont des fruits abordables et accessibles avec une formidable biodiversité. Parmi plus de 10,000 cultivars de pommiers identifiés, seuls quelques‐uns sont disponibles dans le commerce. La consommation habituelle de fruits est corrélée à la prévention du diabète de type 2 et des complications associées. En particulier, les (poly)phénols présents dans les pommes sont des contributeurs majeurs à leurs propriétés antidiabétiques. Ici, nous avons examiné des extraits riches en (poly)phénols de 476 pommes de la Collection Biodiversité des pommes du Canada pour leurs propriétés antidiabétiques. Les résultats de ces travaux donnent un aperçu de la prévention et de la gestion du diabète de type 2 en identifiant des pommes de spécialité à haute teneur en (poly)phénols à utiliser sous forme de fruits frais ou d'ingrédients alimentaires fonctionnels à valeur ajoutée. Apples are affordable and accessible fruit with tremendous biodiversity. Among over 10,000 identified apple cultivars, only a few are commercially available. Habitual fruit consumption is correlated with the prevention of Type 2 diabetes and related complications. Particularly, (poly)phenols found in apples are major contributors to their antidiabetic properties. Here, we have screened (poly)phenol‐rich extracts of 476 apple accessions in Canada's Apple Biodiversity Collection for antidiabetic properties. The results of this work provide insights into the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes by identifying high (poly)phenol‐containing specialty apples for use in fresh fruit form or value‐added functional food ingredients.