To examine the association between exposure to common electrical appliances in early pregnancy and congenital heart disease (CHD). A case-control study of 2339 participants was conducted in six hospitals in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China from 2014 to 2016. All infants with CHD were diagnosed according to ICD-10 classification. Selected controls consisted of newborns from the same hospital, without any birth defects, and 13 matched by birthdate. We conducted personal interviews with the mothers to gather information on any exposure to electrical appliances during pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of exposure to common electrical appliances on CHD. see more We observed that the mothers exposed to computers (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.03, 1.71), induction cookers (OR 2.79, 95% CI 2.19, 3.55), and microwave ovens (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.01, 2.31) during early pregnancy were more likely to give birth to infants with CHD. Mothers who wore radiation protection suits (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52, 0.87) during early pregnancy decreased the risk of CHD in their neonate. There was an interaction for induction cooker exposure with wore radiation protection suits on CHD (RERI - 1.44, 95% CI - 2.48, - 0.39; S 0.37, 95% CI 0.16, 0.84; AP - 0.79, 95% CI - 1.53, - 0.05). Our study confirmed that exposure to some electrical appliances was associated with a higher risk of CHD, and wearing a radiation protection suit was associated with a lower risk of CHD. Women should therefore reduce the usage of electrical appliances before and during pregnancy.Understanding the transport processes of soil moisture and heat is critical for vegetation restoration in karst rocky desertification areas where serious soil erosion and extensive exposure of carbonate rocks occur. Numerical simulation can provide an important approach to explore the transport processes of soil moisture and heat, but few studies employing this technique have been carried out in karst rocky desertification areas of southwest China. In this study, a model of coupled soil moisture and heat transport was established using HYDRUS-1D based on the high-resolution data of soil moisture, soil temperature, and meteorological parameters obtained throughout a year in a typical karst rocky desertification area in Yunnan province, southwest China. The modeling results reflect the rainfall-infiltration-evaporation processes in rocky desertification areas well. The frequently rainfall events in small intensity in the study site often induced great variations of soil moisture in the near-surface soil layer ( 10-cm depth) kept stable during light rainfall events, implying that the deep soil was only influenced by heavy rainfall events. The variations of soil temperature showed a high sinusoidal fitting trend. At the annual scale, variations of soil temperature were distinct apparent evident below the depth of 40 cm, but no evident daily variations were observed. The simulated fluxes of soil water showed that the vapor fluxes were lower than the liquid water fluxes by 3-6 orders of magnitude, suggesting the control of soil thermal gradients. Our results also indicate that the vapor flux has great significance for plant water utilization in the drought periods. The simulation errors are small for soil temperature but slightly more significant for the soil moisture in deep soil layer. This primary failure may result from the occurrence of preferential flows at the rock-soil interface, which needed to be further investigated in the future.The present study focuses on the sonochemical synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride-manganese oxide (GCN/MnO2) nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of an environmentally hazardous pharmaceutical compound, tetracycline hydrochloride (TcH). The sonochemical synthesis aided in tailoring the morphology of GCN/MnO2. The characterization results of SEM/FESEM, XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis spectra, EIS, CV, etc., revealed on the morphology, composition, crystallinity, and other photo-electro-intrinsic properties of the materials. The synergy of GCN and MnO2 results in rapid electron transfer, efficient visible-light absorption, and slower electron-hole pair recombination through its photo-responsive traits against TcH. It was noted that ~ 93% TcH (20 mg L-1) degradation was achieved for 30-mg catalyst dose under light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation (9 W, 220 V) in 135-min duration. The TcH mineralization results were well fit to pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.02 min-1 (R2 = 0.994). In addition, the composite possessed fair reusability for consequent cycles. Hence, the as-synthesized composite applied for photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis fosters a fit-for-purpose and reliable system in the decontamination of TcH in environmental samples. Graphical Abstract.The Pietra del Pertusillo freshwater reservoir is a major artificial lake of environmental, biological, and ecological importance located in the Basilicata region, southern Italy. The reservoir arch-gravity dam was completed in 1963 for producing hydroelectric energy and providing water for human use, and nearby there are potential sources of anthropogenic pollution such as urban and industrial activities. For the first time, the minero-chemistry of the lake and fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the reservoir have been evaluated to assess the environmental quality. Moreover, the composition of fluvial sediments derived from the peri-lacual zone of the reservoir and of local outcropping bedrock were also studied to understand the factors affecting the behavior of elements in the freshwater reservoir, with particular attention paid to heavy metals. In Italy, specific regulatory values concerning the element threshold concentration for lake and river sediments do not exist, and for this reason, soil threshold values are considered the standard for sediments of internal waters. The evaluation of the environmental quality of reservoir sediments has been performed using enrichment factors obtained with respect to the average composition of a reconstructed local upper continental crust. We suggest this method as an innovative standard in similar conditions worldwide. In the studied reservoir sediments, the trace elements that may be of some environmental concern are Cr, Cu, Zn, As, and Pb although, at this stage, the distribution of these elements appears to be mostly driven by geogenic processes. However, within the frame of the assessment and the preservation of the quality of aquatic environments, particular attention has to be paid to As (which shows median value of 10 ppm, reaching a maximum value of 26 ppm in Quaternary sediments), constantly enriched in the lacustrine samples and especially in the fine-grained fraction (median = 8.5 ppm).