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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.

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.

\"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.

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.

Background:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) frequently results in renal complications, significantly impacting both morbidity and mortality rates. Conventional drugs, including corticosteroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, while controlling disease activity, may lead to side effects and elevate the likelihood of severe infections. Consequently, many SLE patients also seek complementary therapies simultaneously, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) [1].Objectives:This retrospective cohort study aims to evaluate end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and mortality rates among patients with SLE utilizing Traditional Chinese Medicine.Methods:We utilized multi-institutional cohort data from the Chang Gung Research Database (CGRD) between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2020. Patients were followed until the end of 2022, occurrence of ESRD, or death. TCM users were identified as SLE patients who visited Chinese medicine clinics at least twice and received oral TCM prescriptions. Two-stage propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to create a baseline characteristics-matched (age, sex, comorbidities, conventional drugs, creatinine, C3, C4, anti-dsDNA) cohort, selecting a ratio of 1:2 for the TCM and non-TCM groups. Cox proportional hazard regression and Kaplan-Meier methods were used to assess mortality and ESRD rates.Results:PSM successfully balanced the differences between the TCM and non-TCM groups, resulting in a cohort of 5637 patients (1879 TCM users and 3758 non-TCM users). The mortality rate was 1.31 per 100 person-years for the TCM group and 2.52 for the non-TCM group. After adjusting for confounding covariates, the hazard ratio of mortality for the TCM group was 0.72 (95% CI 0.62-0.84, p<0.0001). The TCM group exhibited significantly higher survival rates (log-rank test p<0.0001; Figure 1). While ESRD rates showed no significant difference, a more stringent inclusion criterion (TCM usage ≥30 days) revealed a consistent, albeit not statistically significant, trend of reduced ESRD risk throughout the 0.5 to 4-year follow-up periods (Table 1).Conclusion:Patients with SLE using TCM demonstrated lower mortality rates, emphasizing a potential benefit of TCM in managing SLE. Additionally, a trend towards reduced ESRD risk emerged with prolonged TCM use, suggesting a possible protective effect over an extended follow-up period up to the fourth year.REFERENCES:[1] Chou CT. Alternative therapies: what role do they have in the management of lupus? Lupus. 2010 Oct;19(12):1425-9.Figure 1.The Kaplan–Meier curve for survival probability of the TCM and non-TCM groups.Table 1.End-stage renal disease risk throughout the 0.5 to 4-year follow-up periods.Follow yearNon-TCM(event/number)TCM(event/number)ESRDaHR (95% CI)p-value0.533/ 56521/ 14130.19(0.03-1.40)0.10141/ 56527/ 14130.74(0.33-1.65)0.46262/ 565213/ 14130.94(0.51-1.71)0.83383/ 565218/ 14130.97(0.58-1.62)0.904106/ 565223/ 14130.97(0.61-1.52)0.88Acknowledgements:The authors thank Po-Chuan Ko for the statistical assistance and wish to acknowledge for statistical and data analysis asistance and interpretation support by the Center for Big Data Analytics and Statistics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.

Background:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can impact multiple organs. Among the various organs affected, lupus nephritis (LN) is a common complication related to increased morbidity and mortality [1]. According to the Taiwan National Health Insurance payment guidelines, mycophenolate mofetil or mycophenolate sodium are specifically recommended for patients with LN histopathologic classification III, IV, or V as determined by kidney biopsy. However, rheumatologists may have concerns about complications or contraindications associated with kidney biopsies for some SLE patients.Objectives:To compare prognosis in SLE patients with or without kidney biopsy.Methods:We utilized the Taiwan Chang Gung Research Database (CGRD) to assess the impact of undergoing kidney biopsy on the development of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and mortality among SLE patients. A total of 10462 patients newly diagnosed with SLE between 2005 and 2020 were categorized into the biopsy and non-biopsy groups and were followed up until the end of 2022. Following propensity matching based on age, gender, and the diagnosis year of SLE, 345 and 1725 patients were included in the biopsy group and non-biopsy groups, respectively. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was employed, adjusting for factors such as age, gender, diagnosis year of SLE, comorbidities, drugs, creatinine, C3, C4, anti-dsDNA, and 24-hour proteinuria.Results:In comparison to the non-biopsy group, SLE patients who undergo kidney biopsy exhibit a non-significant increase in the risk of ESRD (adjusted HR 1.58, 95% CI 0.91-2.74, p=0.11) and mortality (adjusted HR 1.51, 95% CI 0.83-2.73, p=0.17). Nevertheless, subgroup analyses based on different initial chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages reveal that SLE patients with an initial advanced CKD stage experience a non-significant decrease in the risk of both ESRD and mortality (Table 1). The reduction in 24-hour proteinuria before and after the index date (at 6 months and 1 year) between the two groups demonstrates a statistically significant difference (both with a p-value less than 0.01; Figure 1). The pathological results predominantly demonstrate LN classification of III, IV or V (76.5%). The percentages of each pathological result are as follow: Class I: 0.87%, Class II: 3.48%, Class III/ IV: 58.26%, Class III/ IV + V: 8.41%, Class V: 9.86%, Class VI: 0.29%, other than LN: 18.84%.Conclusion:There is a non-significant increase in the risk of developing ESRD and mortality among SLE patients who undergo kidney biopsy. Conversely, the biopsy group shows a significantly higher reduction in proteinuria after kidney biopsy. The incongruent results regarding the risk of ESRD/ mortality and the decreased proteinuria warrant further investigation. In addition, SLE patients with initial advanced CKD stages who undergo kidney biopsy show a non-significant decrease in the risk of developing ESRD and mortality, suggesting a potential stricter indication for kidney biopsy in early CKD stages. The relatively small sample size after matching and unadjusted confounders such as immunosuppressant dosage may limit the interpretation of our results. Moreover, the relatively high percentage of histopathologic nephropathy other than LN may also restrict the benefits of kidney biopsy for specific drug prescriptions under insurance guidelines.REFERENCES:[1] Croca SC, et al. Assessment of a lupus nephritis cohort over a 30-year period. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011 Aug;50(8):1424-30.Table 1.Subgroup analyses based on different initial CKD stages for ESRD and mortality between the biopsy and non-biopsy groups.CKD StageNon-biopsy group(Event/number)Biopsy group(Event/number)ESRDaHR (95% CI)p-value1-260/ 169252/ 2571.41(0.69-2.88)0.353-511/ 3341/ 880.69(0.25-1.94)0.48CKD StageNon-biopsy group(Event/number)Biopsy group(Event/ number)DeathaHR (95% CI)p-value1-2202/ 169248/ 2571.66(0.82-3.34)0.163-516/ 3324/ 880.87(0.23-3.23)0.84Acknowledgements:The authors thank Po-Chuan Ko for the statistical assistance and wish to acknowledge for statistical and data analysis asistance and interpretation support by the Center for Big Data Analytics and Statistics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.