Marbling score (MS) is related to beef auction price (AP) in Korea, but how these relate to marbling texture (i.e. number and distribution of marbling particles [MPs]) is not known. We examined relationships among carcass traits, carcass AP, and image analysis marbling texture traits. In experiment 1, carcass data and longissimus thoracis (LT) were obtained from Korean cattle steers reared under similar feeding conditions. MS, quality grade (QG), and AP were related (P less then 0.001) to numbers of coarse MPs and fine MPs and fineness index. In experiment 2, LT images photographed at a slaughterhouse were used in regression analysis within individual QG classes (QGs 1 [middle], 1+, and 1++ [best]). AP was related (P less then 0.001) to numbers of coarse MPs and fine MPs and fineness index in both QGs 1+ and 1++ but not in QG 1.  https://www.selleckchem.com/screening-libraries.html  Overall, several marbling texture traits were related to AP, but both MS and QG were more strongly related to AP.As an important part of biochar, surface functional group is the key interface between biochars and other phases, as well as an essential source of biochar's alkalinity and buffer abilities. However, due to the intricate organic and inorganic structures within biochars, the contribution from organic and inorganic matters to the functional groups remains unknown. In this work, the proton uptake curves were applied to study the functional groups of biochars via titration. Pine needle (PN) derived biochars with low inorganic content was selected for analyzing the organic functional groups variation under different pyrolysis temperatures. While rice straw (RS) derived biochars and the double-acid treated rice straw (DRS) derived biochars were compared for understanding the contributions from inorganic matters. The results indicate that the sorption behavior of proton onto biochars is surface adsorption, and the functional groups variation within PN biochars keeps consistent with reactions happened during pyrolysis. The inorganic matters within RS biochars contributed significantly to the buffering ability of biochars, and it is noteworthy to find that the contribution of inorganic matters of RS350, RS500, and RS700 on the total proton uptake stabilized at 67%, 84%, and 84% in the pH range of 2-8, respectively. As far as we know, this is the first report on separating the proton uptake ability of the organic and inorganic matters for biochars. The study on the interaction between biochars and proton will improve the estimation of the fate of ionizable pollutants, and the differentiation on the organic and inorganic matter contributions would benefit the understanding of biochar organic structures and inorganic structures.Despite increasing evidence of widespread plastic pollution in soil, it remains largely unknown about the fate of plastic influenced by soil animals. In this study, ingestion and biodegradation capability of expanded polystyrene (PS) foam was investigated in a globally distributed soil invertebrate, Achatina fulica. After 4-week exposure, 18.5 ± 2.9 mg polystyrene was ingested per snail, and egested microplastics (1.343 ± 0.625 mm) in feces with significant mass loss of mean 30.7%. Gel permeation chromatography analysis indicated a significant increase in weight-average molecular weight (Mw) and number-average molecular weight (Mn) of feces-residual PS, indicating limited extent depolymerization. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed the formation of functional groups of oxidized intermediates. Suppression of gut microbes with oxytetracycline did not affect the depolymerization, indicating the independence of gut microbes. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed significant shifts in the gut microbiome after ingestion of PS, with an increase of family Enterobacteriaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae, and Aeromonadaceae, suggesting that gut microorganisms were associated with PS biodegradation. These findings suggest that plastic litter can be disintegrated into microplastics and partially biodegraded by A. fulica, which highlights the significance of soil animals for the fate of plastic and its biodegradation in soil environments.With the wide use of mulch film and pesticides, mulch film-derived microplastics are very likely to produce combined effects with pesticides in agricultural soil. However, little is known about their combined toxicity on terrestrial organisms. This study aimed to investigate the combined toxicity of unused or farmland residual transparent low-density polyethylene mulch film-derived microplastics (MPs and MPs-aged, respectively) (550-1000 μm) and atrazine (ATZ; 0.02 and 2.0 mg/kg) on the earthworm (Eisenia fetida). After single and combined exposure to ATZ and microplastics for 28 d, the results showed an accumulation of reactive oxygen species, a decrease in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione-S-transferase activities, an increase in the malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine levels, and abnormal expression of annetocin, heat shock protein 70, translationally controlled tumor protein and calreticulin genes. Integrated biological response (IBR) values calculated at the biochemical level indicated that the combined exposure to ATZ and microplastics, particularly to high concentrations of ATZ, induced greater oxidative stress in E. fetida compared with that of exposure to ATZ or microplastics alone. In addition, the IBR values calculated at the gene level did not show regular changes after combined exposure to ATZ and microplastics compared with those of a single exposure. The oxidative stress and abnormal expression of genes in E. fetida induced by MPs-aged were higher than those induced by MPs; a similar trend was observed for oxidative stress induced by MPs/MPs-aged + ATZ2.0, whereas an opposite trend was observed for the abnormal expression of genes in E. fetida induced by MPs/MPs-aged + ATZ0.02/ATZ2.0. Our results suggest that mulch film-derived microplastics have the potential to enhance the toxicity of ATZ within the soil environment.Although injury is a leading cause of death worldwide, the association between ambient temperature and injury has received little research attention compared to the association of temperature with mortality and morbidity from non-external causes. With current climate change and increases in weather extremes, assessing the association between temperature and injury is important for determining public health priorities. Therefore, the present study examined the association between ambient temperature and injury risk with a focus on the intentions and mechanisms of injury. Using the national emergency database, we identified a total of 703,503 injured patients who had visited emergency departments in Seoul, South Korea from 2008 to 2016. We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study using a conditional Poisson regression model, and applied a distributed lag nonlinear model to explore possible nonlinear and delayed effects of daily mean temperature on injury risk. Injury risk was significantly associated with ambient temperature, and temperature-injury association curves markedly differed with respect to intentions and mechanisms of injury.