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Chromium (Cr) exposure during gestation causes malformations in animal experiments. In this multicenter case-control study, we initially involved 130 orofacial clefts (OFCs) and 260 controls to assess the association between Cr concentration and risk for OFCs. Then, umbilical cord serum (49 vs. 119) and cord tissue (84 vs. 142) were used to validate the association between Cr and OFCs. We found that maternal serum Cr concentrations in OFC cases were significantly higher than those in controls. Compared with the lowest tertile of maternal serum Cr concentration, the highest tertile of Cr increased the risk for OFCs [OR = 2.14 (1.14-4.05)]. In the validation cohort of umbilical cord serum and tissue, higher concentrations of Cr were associated with increased risks for OFCs in a dose-dependent manner (all Ps for trends <0.05). Cr concentrations in maternal serum and cord serum showed a positive correlation. The Cr concentration in cord serum was inversely correlated with egg and milk consumption frequencies, and the Cr concentration in cord tissue was positively associated with indoor coal burning. In conclusion, prenatal Cr exposure is a risk factor for OFCs, and indoor coal burning during pregnancy may be one of the sources of Cr exposure.

The Space Radiobiological Exposure Facility (SREF) is a general experimental facility at the China Space Station for scientific research in the fields of space radiation protection, space radiation biology, biotechnology, and the origin of life. The facility provides an environment with controllable temperatures for experiments with organic molecules and model organisms such as small animals, plant seeds, and microorganisms. The cultivation of small animals can be achieved in the facility with the use of microfluidic chips and images and videos of such experiments can be captured by microscopy. SREF also includes a linear energy transfer (LET) detector, neutron detectors, and a solar ultraviolet (UV) detector to measure the LET spectrum of the charged particles, energy spectrum and dose equivalent of neutrons, and fluence of solar UV radiation, respectively. The facility is reusable, and the model organisms from the first exposure experiment were recovered in orbit and returned to the ground for further study.

For enhancing the heat storage and encapsulation performances of organic phase change materials (PCMs), a carbon foam (CF) with a continuous dual-scale pore structure (DCF) was developed. Employing the as-prepared DCF as a stearic acid (SA) support, a novel shape-stabilized SA-CF composite PCM with a continuous dual-scale interpenetrating network structure was achieved through the impregnation of SA into the DCF. DCF-900, prepared at an activation temperature of 900 °C, possesses a high loading capacity of 89.54 wt % for melted SA without leakage. The resulting SA/DCF-900 composite with a continuous dual-scale interpenetrating network structure exhibits excellent comprehensive performances with a good synergistic effect. The composite presents a thermal conductivity of 1.298 W/m·K and an encouraging compressive strength of 9.03 MPa, which increase by 2.25-fold and 3.56-fold compared with those of DCF-900, respectively. Furthermore, its melting and freezing enthalpies reach 192.8 and 192.7 J/g with a storage efficiency of about 100%, respectively; meanwhile, it displays excellent thermal cycle stability and reversibility after 600 thermal cycles with a high melting/freezing enthalpy retention rate of up to 96%. More importantly, its light-to-thermal conversion efficiency reaches 91.8% under a light intensity of 100 mW/cm2. Consequently, the SA/DCF-900 composite is a promising candidate for high-performance PCMs.