Environmental estrogenic chemicals interrupt endocrine systems and generate reproductive abnormalities in wildlife, especially natural and synthetic estrogenic steroid hormones such as 17β-estradiol ...(E2), estrone (E1), estriol (E3), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), and diethylstilbestrol (DES). Concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs) are of particular concern since large amounts of naturally excreted estrogens are discharged into aquatic environments. This study investigated E2, E1, E3, EE2, and DES with high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass (HPLC–MS/MS) analyses along Wulo Creek in southern Taiwan, near a concentrated livestock feedlot containing 1,030,000 broiler chickens, 934,000 laying hens, 85,000 pigs, and 1500 cattle. Sampling was performed from December 2008 to May 2009, in which 54 samples were collected. Experimental results indicate that concentrations of EE2 were lower than the limit of detection (LOD), and concentrations of DES were only detected twice. Concentrations ranged from 7.4 to 1267
ng/L for E1, from not detected (ND) to 313.6
ng/L for E2, and from ND to 210
ng/L for E3. E1 had the highest average mass fraction (72.2
±
3.6%), which was significantly higher than E3 (16.2
±
1.7%) and E2 (11.5
±
2.6%). Additionally, the mean E2 equivalent quotient (EEQ) ranged from 17.3 to 137.9
ng-E2/L. Despite having a markedly lower concentration than E1, E2 more significantly contributed (52.4
±
6.0%) EEQ than E1 (19.7
±
3.5%). Moreover, the concentrations of E2, E1, and E3 upstream were significantly higher than concentrations downstream, suggesting a high attenuation effect and fast degradation in the study water. Most concentrations in winter season were higher than those of spring season due to the low dilution effect and low microbial activity in the winter season. Based on the results of this study, we recommend further treatment of the wastewater discharge from the feedlot.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Abstract
Background
The role of consolidative chemotherapy (CCT) for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-ESCC) patients treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy ...(dCCRT) is unclear. We aimed to compare the overall survival (OS) of those treated with vs without CCT via a population based approach.
Methods
Eligible LA-ESCC patients diagnosed between 2011 and 2017 were identified via the Taiwan Cancer Registry. We used propensity score (PS) weighting to balance observable potential confounders between groups. The hazard ratio (HR) of death and incidence of esophageal cancer mortality (IECM) were compared between those with vs without CCT. We also evaluated the OS in supplementary analyses via alternative approaches.
Results
Our primary analysis consisted of 368 patients in whom covariates were well balanced after PS weighting. The HR of death when CCT was compared to without was 0.67 (95% confidence interval 0.52–0.86,
P
= 0.002). The HR of IECM was 0.66 (
P
= 0.04). The HR of OS remained similarly in favor of CCT in supplementary analyses.
Conclusions
We found that CCT was associated with significantly improved OS for LA-ESCC patients treated with dCCRT. Randomized controlled trials were needed to confirm this finding.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
The role of adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (ACCRT) is unclear for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who receive esophagectomy with clean margins. We compared ...the survival of the ACCRT versus observation groups for these patients staged with positron emission tomography (PET) via a population‐based approach.
Methods
Eligible patients with locally advanced ESCC diagnosed between 2011 and 2017 were identified via the Taiwan Cancer Registry. We used propensity score (PS) weighting to balance observable potential confounders between groups. The hazard ratios (HR) of death and incidence of esophageal cancer mortality (IECM) were compared between the ACCRT and observation groups. We also evaluated overall survival (OS) in subgroups of either with or without lymph node metastases.
Results
Our primary analysis consisted of 105 patients in whom the covariates were well balanced after PS weighting. The HR for death when ACCRT was compared with observation was 0.58 (95% confidence interval 0.28–1.21, p = 0.15). The results were also not significantly different for IECM or in the subgroup analyses.
Conclusion
We found that for patients with PET‐staged ESCC who received esophagectomy with clean margins, the survival was not statistically different between ACCRT and observation. Further studies (randomized or larger sample size) are needed to clarify this issue.
We observed a trend in favor of ACCRT group (vs. observation group) for patients with PET‐staged ESCC who received esophagectomy with clean margins in this population‐based non‐randomized study.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
From 2015-2017, the atmospheric PM_(10), SO_2, NO_2, CO, and O_3 in Wuhu and Bengbu were investigated in this study. In addition, the AQI values and seasonal variations in six AQI classes and ...corresponding primary pollutants were also studied. In Wuhu, the daily AQI ranged from 23 to 298 in 2015, from 33 to 290 in 2016, and from 34 to 278 in 2017, and the corresponding mean values were 81, 80 and 90, respectively. In Bengbu, the daily AQI ranged from 23 to 288 in 2015, from 32 to 286 in 2016, and from 27 to 500 in 2017, and the corresponding mean values were 88, 89 and 97, respectively. During the three-year study, in Wuhu, the mean proportion of levels with Grade I, II, III, IV, V and VI were 9.33%, 69.3%, 18.3%, 3.00%, 0% and 0% in spring; were 35.0%, 55.0%, 7.00%, 3.00%, 0% and 0% in summer; were 13.6%, 65.0%, 18.0%, 3.33%, 0% and 0% in fall, and were 5.33%, 48.7%, 30.7%, 9.67%, 5.67% and 0% in winter. In Bengbu, the mean proportion of levels with Grade I, II, III, IV, V and VI were 3.00%, 64.0%, 30.3%, 2.67%, 0.333% and 0.333% in spring; were 19.3%, 68.7%, 11.3%, 0.667%, 0% and 0% in summer; were 20.7%, 56.3%, 17.3%, 4.67%, 1.00% and 0% in fall, and were 9.67%, 36.7%, 31.0%, 32.0%, 5.67% and 0% in winter. Generally, the air quality in the two cities were in the following order: summer ＞ fall ＞ spring ＞ winter. AQI ranged between 101-150, where in Wuhu, the primary air pollutants were PM_(2.5) and NO_2 in 2015; were PM_(2.5), NO_2 and O_3 in 2016, and were PM_(2.5), PM_(10), NO_2 and O_3 in 2017. In Bengbu, PM_(2.5), PM_(10) and O_3 were the primary air pollutants during the three years. When AQIs ranged between 151 and 200, in Wuhu, the primary air pollutant was PM_(2.5) in 2015; were PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) in 2016, and were PM_(2.5), PM_(10), and O_3 in 2017. In Bengbu, the primary air pollutant was PM_(2.5) in 2015 and 2016 and comprised PM_(2.5) and O_3 in 2017. When AQIs were between 201 and 300, in Wuhu, PM_(2.5) was the primary air pollutant in 2015-2017. In Bengbu, the primary air pollutant was PM_(2.5) in 2015 and 2016 and comprised PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) in 2017. When the AQI ranged between 301-500, which did not occur in Wuhu from 2015-2017 or in Bengbu during 2015-2016, PM_(2.5) was as the primary air pollutant in Bengbu in 2017. When the AQI can be analyzed in more detail, the control strategies for air pollution will be more precise.
In this present study, we investigated the effect of photocatalyzation on the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the aqueous phase by a photocatalyst-coated plastic optical fiber (POF). Two ...light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with low light intensity were used as the light source and TiO2 and ZnO were used as photocatalysts, which were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The para-chlorobenzoic acid (pCBA) was used as the hydroxyl radical probe for kinetic study and for the calculation of hydroxyl radical conversion rate (ROH,UV ). Experimental results show that POF coated with TiO2 exhibited higher degradation efficiency of TCE in basic solution, but POF coated with ZnO performed better in acidic solution. The increase of coating times resulted in the decrease in degradation efficiency of TCE due to increased thickness of the photocatalyst layer. The enhancement of light intensity contributed to the improvement of photocatalytic treatment efficiency. The ROH,UV for TiO2 and ZnO coated POF increased from 2 × 103 to 8 × 103 M s cm2 mJ−1 and from 8 × 102 to 2 × 103 M s cm2 mJ−1, respectively, as the pH increased from 4 to 10.
In order to characterize the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emission from steel and iron industries, this study measured the stack emission of twelve steel and iron plants in southern Taiwan ...to construct a set of source fingerprints. The study sampled the emissions by the USEPA's sampling method 5 with the modification of Graseby for the gas and particulate phase PAH and, then, used Hewlett-Packard 5890 gas chromatograph equipped with mass spectrometer detector to analyze the samples. The steel and iron industries are classified into three categories on the basis of auxiliary energy source: Category I uses coal as fuel, Category II uses heavy oil as fuel and Category III uses electric arc furnace. The pollution source profiles are obtained by averaging the ratios of individual PAH concentrations to the total concentration of 21 PAHs and total particulate matter measured in this study. Results of the study show that low molecular weight PAHs are predominant in gas plus particulate phase for all three categories. For particulate phase PAHs, however, the contribution of large molecular weight compounds increases. Two-ring PAHs account for the majority of the mass, varying from 84% to 92% with an average of 89%. The mass fractions of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-ring PAHs in Category I are found to be more than those of the other two categories. The mass of Category III is dominated by 7-ring PAHs. Large (or heavy) molecular weight PAHs (HMW PAHs) are carcinogenic. Over all categories, these compounds are less than 1% of the total-PAH mass on the average. The indicatory PAHs are benz
aanthracene, benzo
kfluoranthene, benzo
ghiperylene for Category I, benzo
apyrene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene for Category II and coronene, pyrene, benzo
bchrycene for Category III. The indicatory PAHs among categories are very different. Thus, dividing steel and iron industry into categories by auxiliary fuel is to increase the precision of estimation by a receptor model. Average total-PAH emission factors for coal, heavy oil and electric arc furnace were 4050 μg/kg-coal, 5750 μg/l-oil, 2620 μg/kW
h, respectively. Carcinogenic benzo
apyrene for gas plus particulate phase was 2.0 g/kg-coal, 2.4 μg/l-oil and 1.4 μg/kW
h for Category I, II and III, respectively.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
To characterize concentrations of atmospheric ammonia (NH sub(3)) at industrial parks in southern Taiwan, three representative industrial parks and two background locations were selected for this ...study. The sampling process for gaseous ammonia was performed in accordance with Taiwan EPA NIEA A426.71B. The results revealed that the mean NH sub(3) levels ranged from 70.5 to 153.9 ppb (mean = 100.2 ppb) in Neipu Industrial Park. Both highest mean levels in Neipu Industrial Park during 12:00-13:00 in the daytime and during 20:00-21:00 at night were about 50-150 times greater than ambient background levels. For the whole day, the mean NH sub(3) levels ranged from 43.0 to 114.6 ppb (mean = 72.8 ppb) in Pingtung Industrial Park. In Pingnan Industrial Park, the mean NH3 levels for the whole day ranged from 45.0 to 122.6 ppb (mean = 84.9 ppb). Moreover, the ratio values (Rs) were categorized according to the cover-range (from minimum ratios to maximum ratios) at different sampling periods and the minimum separated boundary lines. The results indicate that the characteristics of ratio values normalized by the background levels can be divided into three main categories in southern Taiwan: (1) R > 200; (2) R > 60; (3) R > 10. Our research data reveal obvious reasons for this clear distinction of ambient NH sub(3) levels in southern Taiwan. Significantly, the results reveal that agricultural NH sub(3) emissions influence local ambient concentrations of NH sub(3).
This study was conducted on two batch-type medical waste incinerators (MWIs), including the one with a mechanical grate (MG-MWI) and the other with a fixed grate (FG-MWI) for the disposal of general ...medical waste and special medical waste, respectively. Both incinerators shared the same air-pollution control devices which were installed in series, including one electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and one wet scrubber (WSB). In addition to the investigated emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from both types of MWIs, the PAH removal efficiencies of air-pollution control devices were also included. In this study, the GC/MS technique was used to analyze the concentrations of 21 PAH species contained in the stack flue gas, ESP fly ash, WSB effluent, and incinerating ash. Results show that total-PAHs (i.e., the sum of 21 PAH species) in stack flue gas were dominated by LM-PAHs (i.e., two- to three-ringed PAHs), but in incinerating ash, ESP fly ash and WSB effluent we found that they were dominated by MM-PAHs (i.e., four-ringed PAHs) and HM-PAHs (i.e., five- to seven-ringed PAHs) for both types of MWIs. The above results due to air-pollution control devices used in both types of MWIs had much higher removal efficiencies on both MM-PAHs and HM-PAHs (>78%) than on LM-PAHs (<5%). The emission factors of total-PAHs for MG-MWI (=252,000
μg/kg-waste) were lower than FG-MWI (=856,000
μg/kg-waste), which was probably due to more complete combustion involved in the combustion process of the former than the latter. Nevertheless, the above two emission factors were found consistently higher than the only municipal waste incinerator that was located in the same city (=871
μg/kg-waste, respectively). The above results warrant the need for seeking better technologies for disposing medical waste in the future.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
PDF
