While various studies have highlighted the prognostic significance of pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT), the impact of additional adjuvant therapy after pCR is ...not known.
PubMed was searched for studies with NAT for breast cancer and individual patient-level data was extracted for analysis using plot digitizer software. HRs, with 95% probability intervals (PI), measuring the association between pCR and overall survival (OS) or event-free survival (EFS), were estimated using Bayesian piece-wise exponential proportional hazards hierarchical models including pCR as predictor.
Overall, 52 of 3,209 publications met inclusion criteria, totaling 27,895 patients. Patients with a pCR after NAT had significantly better EFS (HR = 0.31; 95% PI, 0.24-0.39), particularly for triple-negative (HR = 0.18; 95% PI, 0.10-0.31) and HER2
(HR = 0.32; 95% PI, 0.21-0.47) disease. Similarly, pCR after NAT was also associated with improved survival (HR = 0.22; 95% PI, 0.15-0.30). The association of pCR with improved EFS was similar among patients who received subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 0.36; 95% PI, 0.19-0.67) and those without adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 0.36; 95% PI, 0.27-0.54), with no significant difference between the two groups (
= 0.60).
Achieving pCR following NAT is associated with significantly better EFS and OS, particularly for triple-negative and HER2
breast cancer. The similar outcomes with or without adjuvant chemotherapy in patients who attain pCR likely reflects tumor biology and systemic clearance of micrometastatic disease, highlighting the potential of escalation/deescalation strategies in the adjuvant setting based on neoadjuvant response.
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A bench-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) equipped with submerged flat-sheet microfiltration membranes was operated at psychrophilic temperature (15 °C) treating simulated and actual ...domestic wastewater (DWW). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal during simulated DWW operation averaged 92 ± 5% corresponding to an average permeate COD of 36 ± 21 mg/L. Dissolved methane in the permeate stream represented a substantial fraction (40–50%) of the total methane generated by the system due to methane solubility at psychrophilic temperatures and oversaturation relative to Henry's law. During actual DWW operation, COD removal averaged 69 ± 10%. The permeate COD and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) averaged 76 ± 10 mg/L and 24 ± 3 mg/L, respectively, indicating compliance with the U.S. EPA's standard for secondary effluent (30 mg/L BOD5). Membrane fouling was managed using biogas sparging and permeate backflushing and a flux greater than 7 LMH was maintained for 30 days. Comparative fouling experiments suggested that the combination of the two fouling control measures was more effective than either fouling prevention method alone. A UniFrac based comparison of bacterial and archaeal microbial communities in the AnMBR and three different inocula using pyrosequencing targeting 16S rRNA genes suggested that mesophilic inocula are suitable for seeding psychrophilic AnMBRs treating low strength wastewater. Overall, the research described relatively stable COD removal, acceptable flux, and the ability to seed a psychrophilic AnMBR with mesophilic inocula, indicating future potential for the technology in practice, particularly in cold and temperate climates where DWW temperatures are low during part of the year.
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► Psychrophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) can treat domestic wastewater. ► Permeate dissolved methane is a substantial portion of total methane production. ► Membrane fouling can be managed using biogas sparging and permeate backflushing. ► Combining biogas sparging and permeate backflushing is important for fouling control. ► Mesophilic inocula are suitable for psychrophilic AnMBR seeding.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This paper summarizes the development process and main characteristics of the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), a set of four new pathways developed for the climate modeling community as ...a basis for long-term and near-term modeling experiments. The four RCPs together span the range of year 2100 radiative forcing values found in the open literature, i.e. from 2.6 to 8.5 W/m
2
. The RCPs are the product of an innovative collaboration between integrated assessment modelers, climate modelers, terrestrial ecosystem modelers and emission inventory experts. The resulting product forms a comprehensive data set with high spatial and sectoral resolutions for the period extending to 2100. Land use and emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases are reported mostly at a 0.5 × 0.5 degree spatial resolution, with air pollutants also provided per sector (for well-mixed gases, a coarser resolution is used). The underlying integrated assessment model outputs for land use, atmospheric emissions and concentration data were harmonized across models and scenarios to ensure consistency with historical observations while preserving individual scenario trends. For most variables, the RCPs cover a wide range of the existing literature. The RCPs are supplemented with extensions (Extended Concentration Pathways, ECPs), which allow climate modeling experiments through the year 2300. The RCPs are an important development in climate research and provide a potential foundation for further research and assessment, including emissions mitigation and impact analysis.
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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) is endorsed by the Coupled-Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) and is designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of ...aerosols and chemically reactive gases. These are specifically near-term climate forcers (NTCFs: methane, tropospheric ozone and aerosols, and their precursors), nitrous oxide and ozone-depleting halocarbons. The aim of AerChemMIP is to answer four scientific questions. 1. How have anthropogenic emissions contributed to global radiative forcing and affected regional climate over the historical period? 2. How might future policies (on climate, air quality and land use) affect the abundances of NTCFs and their climate impacts? 3.How do uncertainties in historical NTCF emissions affect radiative forcing estimates? 4. How important are climate feedbacks to natural NTCF emissions, atmospheric composition, and radiative effects? These questions will be addressed through targeted simulations with CMIP6 climate models that include an interactive representation of tropospheric aerosols and atmospheric chemistry. These simulations build on the CMIP6 Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima (DECK) experiments, the CMIP6 historical simulations, and future projections performed elsewhere in CMIP6, allowing the contributions from aerosols and/or chemistry to be quantified. Specific diagnostics are requested as part of the CMIP6 data request to highlight the chemical composition of the atmosphere, to evaluate the performance of the models, and to understand differences in behaviour between them.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present a suite of nine scenarios of future emissions trajectories of
anthropogenic sources, a key deliverable of the ScenarioMIP experiment within
CMIP6. Integrated assessment model results for ...14 different emissions species
and 13 emissions sectors are provided for each scenario with consistent
transitions from the historical data used in CMIP6 to future trajectories using
automated harmonization before being downscaled to provide higher emissions
source spatial detail. We find that the scenarios span a wide range of
end-of-century radiative forcing values, thus making this set of scenarios ideal
for exploring a variety of warming pathways. The set of scenarios is bounded on
the low end by a 1.9 W m−2 scenario, ideal for analyzing a world with
end-of-century temperatures well below 2 ∘C, and on the high end by a 8.5 W m−2
scenario, resulting in an increase in warming of nearly 5 ∘C over pre-industrial
levels. Between these two extremes, scenarios are provided such that differences
between forcing outcomes provide statistically significant regional temperature
outcomes to maximize their usefulness for downstream experiments within CMIP6.
A wide range of scenario data products are provided for the CMIP6 scientific
community including global, regional, and gridded emissions datasets.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Since the discovery of graphene, the quest for two-dimensional (2D) materials has intensified greatly. Recently, a new family of 2D transition metal carbides and carbonitrides (MXenes) was discovered ...that is both conducting and hydrophilic, an uncommon combination. To date MXenes have been produced as powders, flakes, and colloidal solutions. Herein, we report on the fabrication of ∼1 × 1 cm2 Ti3C2 films by selective etching of Al, from sputter-deposited epitaxial Ti3AlC2 films, in aqueous HF or NH4HF2. Films that were about 19 nm thick, etched with NH4HF2, transmit ∼90% of the light in the visible-to-infrared range and exhibit metallic conductivity down to ∼100 K. Below 100 K, the films’ resistivity increases with decreasing temperature and they exhibit negative magnetoresistanceboth observations consistent with a weak localization phenomenon characteristic of many 2D defective solids. This advance opens the door for the use of MXenes in electronic, photonic, and sensing applications.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Cultivated strawberry emerged from the hybridization of two wild octoploid species, both descendants from the merger of four diploid progenitor species into a single nucleus more than 1 million years ...ago. Here we report a near-complete chromosome-scale assembly for cultivated octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) and uncovered the origin and evolutionary processes that shaped this complex allopolyploid. We identified the extant relatives of each diploid progenitor species and provide support for the North American origin of octoploid strawberry. We examined the dynamics among the four subgenomes in octoploid strawberry and uncovered the presence of a single dominant subgenome with significantly greater gene content, gene expression abundance, and biased exchanges between homoeologous chromosomes, as compared with the other subgenomes. Pathway analysis showed that certain metabolomic and disease-resistance traits are largely controlled by the dominant subgenome. These findings and the reference genome should serve as a powerful platform for future evolutionary studies and enable molecular breeding in strawberry.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Background
Older adults experience considerable muscle and bone loss that are closely interconnected. The efficacy of progressive resistance training programs to concurrently reverse/slow the ...age-related decline in muscle strength and bone mineral density (BMD) in older adults remains unclear.
Objectives
We aimed to quantify concomitant changes in lower-body muscle strength and BMD in older adults following a progressive resistance training program and to determine how these changes are influenced by mode (resistance only vs. combined resistance and weight-bearing exercises), frequency, volume, load, and program length.
Methods
MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases were searched for articles published in English before 1 June, 2021. Randomized controlled trials reporting changes in leg press or knee extension one repetition maximum and femur/hip or lumbar spine BMD following progressive resistance training in men and/or women ≥ 65 years of age were included. A random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression determined the effects of resistance training and the individual training characteristics on the percent change (∆%) in muscle strength (standardized mean difference) and BMD (mean difference). The quality of the evidence was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (version 2.0) and Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.
Results
Seven hundred and eighty studies were identified and 14 were included. Progressive resistance training increased muscle strength (∆ standardized mean difference = 1.1%; 95% confidence interval 0.73, 1.47;
p
≤ 0.001) and femur/hip BMD (∆ mean difference = 2.77%; 95% confidence interval 0.44, 5.10;
p
= 0.02), but not BMD of the lumbar spine (∆ mean difference = 1.60%; 95% confidence interval − 1.44, 4.63;
p
= 0.30). The certainty for improvement was greater for muscle strength compared with BMD, evidenced by less heterogeneity (
I
2
= 78.1% vs 98.6%) and a higher overall quality of evidence. No training characteristic significantly affected both outcomes (
p
> 0.05), although concomitant increases in strength and BMD were favored by higher training frequencies, increases in strength were favored by resistance only and higher volumes, and increases in BMD were favored by combined resistance plus weight-bearing exercises, lower volumes, and higher loads.
Conclusions
Progressive resistance training programs concomitantly increase lower-limb muscle strength and femur/hip bone mineral density in older adults, with greater certainty for strength improvement. Thus, to maximize the efficacy of progressive resistance training programs to concurrently prevent muscle and bone loss in older adults, it is recommended to incorporate training characteristics more likely to improve BMD.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
► Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) have been evaluated for domestic wastewater (DWW) treatment. ► Adequate DWW treatment in AnMBRs is achievable at low temperatures for long SRTs. ► Membrane ...fouling energy demands need to be reduced. ► Efficient permeate dissolved methane handling methods must be established. ► A quantitative environmental and economic evaluation framework is needed for AnMBRs.
Interest in increasing the sustainability of water management is leading to a reevaluation of domestic wastewater (DWW) treatment practices. A central goal is to reduce energy demands and environmental impacts while recovering resources. Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) have the ability to produce a similar quality effluent to aerobic treatment, while generating useful energy and producing substantially less residuals. This review focuses on operational considerations that require further research to allow implementation of AnMBR DWW treatment. Specific topics include membrane fouling, the lower limits of hydraulic retention time and temperature allowing for adequate treatment, complications with methane recovery, and nutrient removal options. Based on the current literature, future research efforts should focus on increasing the likelihood of net energy recovery through advancements in fouling control and development of efficient methods for dissolved methane recovery. Furthermore, assessing the sustainability of AnMBR treatment requires establishment of a quantitative environmental and economic evaluation framework.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The nighttime light (NTL) observations from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescane System (DMSP/OLS) offer great potentials to study urban dynamics from regional to global ...scales, for more than two decades. In this paper, we presented a new approach to develop spatially and temporally consistent global urban maps from 1992 to 2013, using the DMSP/OLS NTL observations. First, potential urban clusters were delineated using the NTL data and a segmentation method. Then, a quantile-based approach was used to remove rural and suburban areas sequentially in the potential urban clusters. Finally, the derived series of urban extents in the entire study period (1992–2013) were improved for temporal consistency. We found the percentage of global urban areas relative to the world's land surface area increased from 0.23% in 1992 to 0.53% in 2013. Asia is the continent with the most significant urban growth, worldwide. The time series of global urban maps were evaluated for the spatial agreement and temporal consistency using a variety of widely used independent land-cover products. This evaluation indicates that the proposed approach is robust and performs well in deriving global urban dynamics across different spatial scales, i.e., cluster, province (or state), country, and region. Moreover, this quantile-based approach is advantageous, compared with other methods used in previous studies, because it does not require additional data for enhancement or calibration. The new time series of urban maps from this study offer a new dataset for studying global urbanization during the past decades and unique information to explore potential future trajectories of urban development, which appears to be distinct for different nations/regions, globally. Such information is pre-requisite for achieving the sustainable development goals, and associated targets, during ensuing decades.
•We proposed a new approach to map global urban dynamics from nighttime lights.•We present a global view of annual dynamics of urban extent from 1992 to 2013.•The percentage of urban land increased from around 0.2% (1992) to 0.5% (2013) at the global level.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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