The potential environmental impact and increased operational costs associated with the upgrading and renovation of sewage treatment plants are acknowledged. This study employs the upgrading and ...expansion project of a municipal sewage plant in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, as a case study. Utilizing the principles and methods of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a comprehensive assessment of the environmental benefits during the upgrading and renovation process of the sewage treatment plant, is conducted and targeted solutions are proposed. The research findings indicate that upgrading and renovating sewage treatment plants can significantly augment the adverse environmental effects of such facilities. Therefore, this study strategically proposes measures such as the utilization of clean energy, sludge resource utilization, and recycled water use as carbon emission reduction pathways. Through calculations, it is demonstrated that the utilization of clean energy and sludge resource can respectively reduce electricity consumption by 12.41% and 59.06%. Concurrently, recycled water use can lead to a reduction of 68.65% in carbon emissions, thereby markedly enhancing positive environmental outcomes.
This study aimed to clarify the effect of phosphorus fertilizer on the senescence and yield of Tartary buckwheat under low-nitrogen treatment. A two-year field experiment to investigate the ...characteristics was conducted on Tartary buckwheat (Qianku 5) under four phosphorus fertilizer application rates, 0(CK), 40(LP), 80(MP), and 120 kg·ha−1 (HP), in the absence of nitrogen treatment. Compared with CK, MP treatment increased the plant height, node number of main stem, branch number of main stem, root-morphology items, root activity, enzyme activity related to root nitrogen metabolism, leaf chlorophyll content, and antioxidant enzyme activity by an average of 27.82%, 36.00%, 31.76%, 70.63%, 103.16%, 45.63%, 19.42%, and 45.48%, respectively. MP treatment significantly decreased the malondialdehyde content by 23.54% compared with that of CK. Among all treatments, the HP treatment had the highest content. The grain number per plant, grain weight per plant, and yield under MP treatment were 1.54, 1.65, and 1.53 times those of CK, respectively. In summary, the appropriate phosphate fertilizer treatment (80 kg·ha−1) can delay senescence, promote the growth, and increase the yield of Tartary buckwheat at low nitrogen levels. Such treatment is recommended for use in production to jointly achieve the high yield and high nitrogen conservation of Tartary buckwheat.
This study was focused on extraction, radical scavenging activities, and chemical composition identification of total flavonoids in sunflower (
L.) receptacles (TFSR). We investigated the optimal ...extract parameters of TFSR using response surface methodology. The highest yield of TFSR was 1.04% with the ethanol concentration 58%, the material-to-liquid ratio 1:20 (
/
), the extraction time 2.6 h, and the extraction temperature 67 °C. The results of radical scavenging activities showed that ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) was the strongest by using 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzo thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and iron ion reducing analysis. The EAF had the highest flavonoids contents. Four fractions A, B, C and D were enrichment from EAF by polyamide resin. Fraction B had the highest flavonoids content. Thirteen chemical components of flavonoids in fraction B were first identified by Ultimate 3000 Nano LC System coupled to a Q Exactive HF benchtop Orbitrap mass spectrometer (UHPLC-HRMS/MS). Among of the thirteen chemical components, isoquercetin and daidzein were identified accurately by comparing with standard samples. Radical scavenging analysis showed that isoquercetin and EAF had strong activities. Therefore, sunflower receptacles can be used as a source of natural flavonoids. TFSR as a natural radical scavenger has potential applications in pharmaceutical industry.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Traditionally, research in the field of traffic safety has predominantly focused on two key areas—the identification of traffic black spots and the analysis of accident causation. However, such ...research heavily relies on historical accident records obtained from the traffic management department, which often suffer from missing or incomplete information. Moreover, these records typically offer limited insight into the various attributes associated with accidents, thereby posing challenges to comprehensive analyses. Furthermore, the collection and management of such data incur substantial costs. Consequently, there is a pressing need to explore how the features of the urban built environment can effectively facilitate the accurate identification and analysis of traffic black spots, enabling the formulation of effective management strategies to support urban development. In this study, we research the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, with a specific focus on road intersections as the fundamental unit of our analysis. We propose leveraging street view images as a valuable source of data, enabling us to depict the urban built environment comprehensively. Through the utilization of models such as random forest approaches, we conduct research on traffic black spot identification, attaining an impressive accuracy rate of 87%. To account for the impact of the built environment surrounding adjacent road intersections on traffic black spot identification outcomes, we adopt a node-based approach, treating road intersections as nodes and establishing spatial relationships between them as edges. The features characterizing the built environment at these road intersections serve as node attributes, facilitating the construction of a graph structure representation. By employing a graph-based convolutional neural network, we enhance the traffic black spot identification methodology, resulting in an improved accuracy rate of 90%. Furthermore, based on the distinctive attributes of the urban built environment, we analyze the underlying causes of traffic black spots. Our findings highlight the significant influence of buildings, sky conditions, green spaces, and billboards on the formation of traffic black spots. Remarkably, we observe a clear negative correlation between buildings, sky conditions, and green spaces, while billboards and human presence exhibit a distinct positive correlation.
In this paper, a new method named MSSE-PSO (master–slave swarms shuffling evolution algorithm based on particle swarm optimization) is proposed. Firstly, a population of points is sampled randomly ...from the feasible space, and then partitioned into several sub-swarms (one master swarm and other slave swarms). Each slave swarm independently executes PSO or its variants, including the update of particles’ position and velocity. For the master swarm, the particles enhance themselves based on the social knowledge of master swarm and that of slave swarms. At periodic stage in the evolution, the master swarm and the whole slave swarms are forced to mix, and points are then reassigned to several sub-swarms to ensure the share of information. The process is repeated until a user-defined stopping criterion is reached. The tests of numerical simulation and the case study on hydrological model show that MSSE-PSO remarkably improves the accuracy of calibration, reduces the time of computation and enhances the performance of stability. Therefore, it is an effective and efficient global optimization method.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
At present, concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is considered the standard treatment of limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). However, LS-SCLC is highly heterogeneous in the T stage, N ...stage, and prognosis. Increasing evidence has shown that individual treatment should be considered when treating LS-SCLC patients. The aim of the present study was to explore the optimal combination model of thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) and chemotherapy in N3 LS-SCLC. We retrospectively analyzed 93 N3 LS-SCLC patients treated in the Department of Oncology of Binzhou Medical University Hospital (Shandong, China) between March 2010 and October 2015. A total of 52 (52/93; 55.9%) patients received sequential CRT, and 41 (41/93; 44.1%) patients received concurrent CRT. All patients received 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy and TRT (50-60 Gy). The median follow-up time was 25.4 months (range was 6-65 months).The overall response rate was 88.5% in the sequential CRT group (9.6% complete response rate and 78.8% partial response rate) and 90.2% in the concurrent CRT group (14.6% complete response rate and 75.6% partial response rate). The PFS and OS were 15.4 months and 19.1 months in sequential CRT group, and 16.9 months and 20.5 months in concurrent CRT group. There was no significant difference in treatment response rate, PFS, and OS between sequential and concurrent CRT patients. The most common treatment-related toxicities were nausea/vomiting, neutropenia, and esophagitis. In conclusion, when concurrent CRT is performed in N3 LS-SCLC patients, tolerance to treatment should be fully considered. In our study, sequential CRT and concurrent CRT showed the same efficacy, and sequential CRT demonstrated better tolerance. However, these results require confirmation in future follow-up studies.
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Background: Episil is a bioadhesive barrier-forming oral liquid gel that can relieve mucositis caused by radiotherapy (RT) and hence relieves pain effectively.The purpose of this trial is to ...compare the efficacy and safety of Episil in improving acute radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients. Methods: Key eligibility criteria were as follows: Pathologically confirmed breast cancer; female ≥18 years of age; planning to receive postoperative radiation therapy; surgery with modified radical or breast-conserving surgery; fully healed surgical incision; intact skin in the irradiated area; KPS score ≥80; no severe endocrine or metabolic disease; voluntary participation and signed informed consent; ability to read and understand and good compliance. The primary endpoint was the grading of radiation dermatitis during treatment. Results: A total of 102 patients were included from January 2022 to December 2022. The patients were grouped in a 2:1 ratio by randomized number table method, 67 patients received Episil combined with conventional skin care and 35 patients served as the control group receiving conventional skin care only. Two patients in the Episil group dropped out halfway. According to the RTOG grading, the skin reaction rate and the degree were significantly better in the Episil group than control group (24.62%, 72.31%, 3.08, 0, 0 VS 0, 85.71%, 14.29%, 0, 0, 0) in the 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 grades respectively (P<0.001). And the pruritus score was significantly lower in the Episil group than in the control group (P<0.05). The results of the EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality of Life Questionnaire showed that the overall health (P<0.05) and overall quality of life (P<0.05) were better in the Episil group than control group after radiotherapy. Relative to the control group, the Episil group produced significantly lower rates of stress, anxiety, and depression (P<0.05) and had less impact on family life and social activities (P<0.05). Most importantly, the Episil group produced fewer pain reactions after the end of radiotherapy. Conclusions: In breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy, Episil may significantly reduce the grading of acute radiation dermatitis, reduce patient symptoms, and improve patient quality of life. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR2200059646 .
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Background: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard therapy for locally advanced unresectable esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC)，However, some patients cannot tolerate or are ...unwilling to CCRT. The aim of this phase II trial was to assess the efficacy and safety of the tirelizumab combined with radiotherapy in patients of locally advanced unresectable ESCC. Methods: Key eligibility criteria were as follows: ESCC of clinical stage Ⅱ-Ⅳa; aged 18 to 90 years; cannot tolerate or are unwilling to CCRT; ECOG performance status 0 or 1; and performed radiotherapy: Involvement field irradiation, nodal GTV (GTVn) (regional lymphatic metastasis) radiotherapy dose 60Gy, the esophageal gross tumor volume (GTVt) radiotherapy dose 50Gy, if the gastroscope pathology is completely relieved, otherwise it is 60Gy. All patients registered before radiotherapy. The patient received concurrent therapy with tirelizumab (200mg every time, 3-week cycle), until the disease progresses or clinical benefits are lost (the longest time is 12 months). The primary endpoint was the esophageal gross tumor pathological complete remission rate (pCR). Results: Between 01 August 2021 and 31 December 2022, 31 patients were enrolled, and 27 completed radiotherapy and at least two times of tirelizumab treatment. Data cutoff date was 31 January 2023, median follow-up time among survivors after radiotherapy was 9 months (range 4-20). The esophageal gross tumor pCR rate was 66.7% (95% CI, 14.3%-52.3%) and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) of low severity (grade 1-2, 48.1%; grade 3, 7.4%; grade 4-5, no). No treatment-related mortality occurred. Two (7.4%) patients had tumor recurrence and two (7.4%) patients died (Infection and heart disease). The 1-year PFS rate, median PFS and median OS had not been reached yet. For locally advanced unresectable ESCC that can't receive CCRT, the combination of tirelizumab and radiotherapy shows promising efficacy and acceptable toxicity, providing a feasible and effective choice. The research of long-term survival analysis is under way. Conclusions: Concurrent radiotherapy with tirelizumab shows promising efficacy and controllable safety for patients with locally advanced ESCC who are unable or unwilling to undergo CCRT, and warrants further evaluation in larger studies. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR2100053182 .
•Limestone and raw cement can reduce the volatilization rate of heavy metals.•Over 50% of heavy metals were transformed into residual state at 1400℃.•80% of heavy metals remained in clinker and rest ...was in kiln dust.•Only very few of heavy metals was released into the exhaust flue gas.
Cement kiln co-processing always became one of the predominate approaches to dispose hazardous solid waste containing heavy metals. The volatilization and morphology of heavy metals should be paid to more concern during the cement production due to the environmental risk of heavy metals. In this study, the volatilization characteristics and the solidification effect of heavy metals (Pb, Zn Cd and As) during cement kiln co-processing were explored by the lab and pilot scale experiments. At same experimental conditions, the volatilization rate followed as As > Pb > Cd > Zn. Both limestone and cement raw meal have been demonstrated the capability to mitigate the rates of heavy metal volatilization. Notably, cement raw meal displays a more pronounced effect compared to limestone in suppressing volatilization processes. Over 50% of heavy metals were transformed into residual state at 1400 °C, and Cd, As and Zn were easy to be solidified than Pb. A pilot scale experiment proved that more than 80% of heavy metals was solidified, and Zn reached nearly 100%. Moreover, around 80% of Cd, As and Zn were remained in clinker and the rest was distributed in kiln dust particles, only very few amount was released into the exhaust flue gas. This study provides a comprehensive and extensive understanding of the volatilization characteristics and migration patterns of heavy metals in the cement kiln environment. It offers theoretical support for the control of heavy metals during the co-processing of hazardous solid waste in cement kilns.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Several of the thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been functionally characterized in various tumors. In this study, we aimed to explore the function and possible molecular mechanism of ...lncRNA KTN1 antisense RNA 1 (KTN1-AS1) involved in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We identified a novel NSCLC-related lncRNA, KTN1 antisense RNA 1 (KTN1-AS1) which was demonstrated to be distinctly highly expressed in NSCLC. KTN1-AS1 upregulation was induced by STAT1. Clinical study also suggested that higher levels of KTN1-AS1 were associated with advanced clinical progression and a shorter five-year overall survival. Functionally, loss-of-function assays with in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that KTN1-AS1 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT progress of NSCLC cells, and suppressed apoptosis. Mechanistic studies indicated that miR-23b was a direct target of KTN1-AS1, which functioned as a ceRNA to subsequently facilitate miR-23b's target gene DEPDC1 expression in NSCLC cells. Rescue experiments confirmed that KTN1-AS1 overexpression could increase the colony formation and migration ability suppressed by miR-23b upregulation in NSCLC cells. Overall, our findings imply that STAT1-induced upregulation of KTN1-AS1 display tumor-promotive roles in NSCLC progression via regulating miR-23b/DEPDC1 axis, suggesting that KTN1-AS1 may be a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for NSCLC patients.
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