It is still challenging to make accurate diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA) with sonographic gallbladder images particularly in rural area without relevant expertise. To help diagnose BA based on ...sonographic gallbladder images, an ensembled deep learning model is developed. The model yields a patient-level sensitivity 93.1% and specificity 93.9% with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.956 (95% confidence interval: 0.928-0.977) on the multi-center external validation dataset, superior to that of human experts. With the help of the model, the performances of human experts with various levels are improved. Moreover, the diagnosis based on smartphone photos of sonographic gallbladder images through a smartphone app and based on video sequences by the model still yields expert-level performances. The ensembled deep learning model in this study provides a solution to help radiologists improve the diagnosis of BA in various clinical application scenarios, particularly in rural and undeveloped regions with limited expertise.
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)‐hybrid polymers have been successfully employed as functional inorganic–organic hybrid materials for various applications due to their well‐determined ...structures. The past 6 years has witnessed growing interest in the rational design and synthetic approaches for POSS‐hybrid polymers, driven by the adoption of controlled living radial polymerization and click chemistry. This review addresses developments in the precise manipulation of POSS building blocks via atom transfer radical polymerization, reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer, and click chemistry. Not only are the structures of POSS‐hybrid polymers tunable in terms of chemical composition, molecular weight, and polydispersity, but they are also controllable in sequential and hierarchical chain topology. Finally, some representative cutting‐edge applications of POSS‐hybrid polymers, including biomedical and energy‐related materials, fabrication of nanostructures, and functional surface coating materials, are highlighted.
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)‐containing building blocks are crucial for achieving desirable structures of POSS‐hybrid polymers by properly adopting different polymerization techniques. Owing to the diversity of its hierarchical structure, POSS‐hybrid polymers present satisfying controllability in terms of self‐assembly behavior and aggregation state, which has empowered polymer chemists with the ability to prepare various POSS‐hybrid polymers for potential applications.
As reclaimed water use is increasing, its safety attracts growing attention, particularly with respect to the health risks associated with the wide range of micropollutants found in the reclaimed ...water. In this study, sophisticated analysis was conducted for water samples from a water reclamation and ecological reuse system where domestic wastewater was treated using an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic unit followed by a membrane bioreactor (A2O-MBR), and the reclaimed water was used for replenishing a landscape lake. A total of 58 organic micropollutants were detected in the system, consisting of 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 16 phenols, 3 pesticides, and 26 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). After treatment by the A2O-MBR process, effective removal of pesticides and phenols was achieved, while when the reclaimed water entered the landscape lake, PPCPs were further removed. From the physicochemical properties of micropollutants, it could be inferred that phenols and dichlorphos (the only pesticide with considerable concentration in the influent) would have been mainly removed by biodegradation and/or volatilization in the biological treatment process. Additionally, it is probable that sludge adsorption also contributed to the removal of dichlorphos. For the predominant PPCP removal in the landscape lake, various actions, such as adsorption, biodegradation, photolysis, and ecologically mediated processes (via aquatic plants and animals), would have played significant roles. However, according to their logKoc, logKow and logD (pH = 8) values, it could be concluded that adsorption by suspended solids might be an important action. Although carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks associated with all the detected micropollutants were at negligible levels, the hazard quotients (HQs) of PPCPs accounted for 92.03%–97.23% of the HQTotal. With the significant removal of PPCPs through the ecological processes in the landscape lake, the safety of reclaimed water use could be improved. Therefore, the introduction of ecological unit into the water reclamation and reuse system could be an effective measure for health risk reduction posed by micropollutants.
Display omitted
•Pesticides and phenols were effectively removed in biological treatment processes.•PPCPs accounted for >90% HQtotal was effectively removed in the landscape lake.•Actions for removal of specific pollutants in the two processes were discussed.•A good strategy for improving the safety of reclaimed water reuse was proposed.
Residual trace organic pollutants (TOPs) and associated biological effects from secondary effluent (SE) are attracting much attention because of their safety concerns. Granular activated carbon (GAC) ...adsorption, due to its low cost and high efficiency, is widely applied for further wastewater treatment, but its selective removals of TOPs and biological effects are poorly understood. In the present study, the surface physicochemical characteristics of four types of typical GACs were investigated, and their correlation with luminescent bacteria toxicity was discussed. Based on the biological effect control, shell GAC, with a great adsorption capacity and high functional group contents was selected for further study, including for the removal of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (DOM), 21 TOPs, and 3 biological effects. The shell GAC showed a promising property of removing fluorescent DOM and TOPs. The total concentration of 21 detected TOPs, including 12 pesticides and 9 pharmaceuticals, achieved 82% removal when 30 g/L shell GACs was added. Individual chemicals removal by GAC adsorption was not well described by an individual parameter (e.g., logD, molecular size, charge, functional groups), but rather by a variety of physical and chemical interactions among TOPs, DOM, and GAC. The biological effects from SE were mainly caused by TOPs and DOM. Hence, shell GACs also showed high removal efficiencies of luminescent bacteria toxicity, genotoxicity, and photosynthetic inhibition effect. The removal mechanisms of the three biological effects from SE were deeply discussed. Therefore, the GAC treatment is considered to be one of the most suitable options to ensure the ecological safety of discharged wastewater, because it can effectively control DOM, TOPs, and associated biological effects.
Display omitted
•Total amount of functional groups and SBET had correlation with toxicity removal.•Shell GAC showed a promising property of removing fluorescent DOM and TOPs.•The process of GAC adsorbing chemicals should be described by multiple parameters.•Shell GAC showed excellent properties of removing the three biological effects.
Satellite-based estimates of radiative forcing by aerosol-cloud interactions (RF
) are consistently smaller than those from global models, hampering accurate projections of future climate change. ...Here we show that the discrepancy can be substantially reduced by correcting sampling biases induced by inherent limitations of satellite measurements, which tend to artificially discard the clouds with high cloud fraction. Those missed clouds exert a stronger cooling effect, and are more sensitive to aerosol perturbations. By accounting for the sampling biases, the magnitude of RFaci (from -0.38 to -0.59 W m
) increases by 55 % globally (133 % over land and 33 % over ocean). Notably, the RF
further increases to -1.09 W m
when switching total aerosol optical depth (AOD) to fine-mode AOD that is a better proxy for CCN than AOD. In contrast to previous weak satellite-based RF
, the improved one substantially increases (especially over land), resolving a major difference with models.
Due to the merits of being time-saving, cost effective and simple operation, the luminescent bacteria toxicity assay (LBTA) has been widely used for environmental pollution monitoring. Based on ...numerous studies since 2007, this critical review aims to give an overview on the mechanisms, developments and applications of LBTA. Firstly, based on the introduction of the mechanisms of LBTA, this review shows the interferences from the characteristics of testing samples (such as inorganic nutrients, color, turbidity) and summarizes the improvements on pretreatment method, test methods and test systems in recent years. Regarding the factors that affect the toxicity prediction of single chemicals, the correlation between the toxicity index expressed as median effective concentration (EC50) and characters (such as Kow, the alkyl chain length, the anion and the cation) of known chemicals, especially the emerging ionic liquids (ILs), were given an in-depth discussion. The models for predicting the joint effect of mixtures to luminescent bacteria were also presented. For the factors that affect the toxicity of actual waters, the correlation of toxicity of actual samples to luminescent bacteria and their conventional indexes were discussed. Comparing the sensitivity of the LBTA with other bioassays could indicate the feasibility of the LBTA applied on specific samples. The summary on the application of LBTA to environmental samples has been made to find the future research direction.
•This paper shows the interferences and improvements of luminescent bacteria test.•This review indicates the future research direction for luminescent bacteria test.•The luminescent bacteria test is moving toward high automation and reproducibility.•Review shows the factors that affect the toxicity of chemicals and actual waters.•A battery of bioassays and chemical analysis are recommended for sample evaluation.
As increasing attention is paid to surface water protection, there has been demand for improvements of domestic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. This has led to the application of many ...different advanced treatment processes (ATPs). In this study, the treatability of trace organic pollutants in secondary effluent (SE) and associated biotoxicity reduction by four types of ATPs, including coagulation, granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, ultraviolet (UV) photolysis and photocatalysis, and ozonation, were investigated at the bench-scale. The ATPs showed different removal capacity for the 48 chemicals, which were classified into seven categories. EDCs, herbicides, bactericides and pharmaceuticals were readily degraded, and insecticides, flame retardants, and UV filters were relatively resistant to removal. During these processes, the efficiency of the ATPs in reducing four biological effects were investigated. Of the four biological effects, the estrogenic activity from SE was not detected using the yeast estrogen screen. In contrast with genotoxicity and photosynthesis inhibition, bacterial cytotoxicity posed by SE was the most difficult biological effect to reduce with these ATPs. GAC adsorption and ozonation were the most robust treatment processes for reducing the three detected biotoxicities. UV photolysis and photocatalysis showed comparable efficiencies for the reduction of genotoxicity and photosynthesis inhibition. However, coagulation only performed well in genotoxicity reduction. The effect-based trigger values for the four bioassays, that were derived from the existing environmental quality standards and from HC5 (hazardous concentration for 5% of aquatic organisms), were all used to select and optimize these ATPs for ecological safety. Conducting ATPs in more appropriate ways could eliminate the negative effects of WWTP effluent on receiving water bodies.
Display omitted
•Bacterial cytotoxicity was the most difficult biological effects to reduce.•Advanced treatment processes showed different treatability for the micropollutants.•Strategies for optimizing advanced treatment was proposed to control biotoxicity.
In China, especially in countries with state-owned land use rights, the loss of urban bird diversity due to rapid urbanisation can't be contained or ameliorated by equitably weighing the ecological ...and economic values of land. Climate change could further threaten urban bird biodiversity and ultimately lead to a “tragedy of the commons”. The Beijing Ecological Cultivation Area (BECA) is one such area that has suffered from low eco-efficiency due to climate change and chaotic management. There is a need to find more effective solutions for urban bird conservation to reduce the negative impacts of rapid urbanisation while avoiding wasting more conservation costs. For this purpose, the protection priorities for BECA based on 4 global future climate models (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) for the years 2041–2060, 56 species of local resident birds in the “Beijing Terrestrial Wildlife - Birds” were used as study subjects, which were identified through systematic conservation planning (scp) with combinatorial modelling (MaxEnt-Marxan). In addition, three scenarios were innovatively developed in Marxan with maximum respect for the original land use types. The eco-efficiency and eco-corridor of these three scenarios were compared and identified through ArcGis. The results of the survey show that 'Comprehensive Conservation' has the largest mean distribution area, with the results for RCP 2.6–8.5 being: 52.34%; 65.25%; 48.34%; and 45.42%. It had the highest spatial continuity, the lowest fragmentation, and the highest conservation efficiency. Moreover, We recommend a phased implementation of the conservation plans and and suggest planning options for three landform types: High-altitude mountain; Medium or Low-altitude shallow mountainous; and Water conservation areas. It is important to establish ecological corridors from the Huairou district’s northern part to the Yanqing district’s northeastern part and beyond. This paper quantifies the land costs, ecological values and human impact factors of the planning area in a comprehensive climate context with the theme of conserving urban bird diversity. This study aims to maximise the conservation benefits of urban bird diversity and to provide basic research for ecological conservation on state-owned land.
Natural sunlight is a vital environmental element and plays a significant role in the ecological storage of reclaimed water (RW), but its impacts on RW quality are poorly understood. In this study, ...sunlight-induced changes in RW with a focus on dissolved organic matter (rDOM) and 52 residual micropollutants were investigated in the field during the summer and winter seasons. The results indicated that sunlight exposure led to the dissipation of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) in the summer (55% loss) and winter (19% loss) after 14 consecutive sunny days. During open storage of RW, CDOM absorption in UVC regions was preferentially removed in the summer, while during the winter there was preferential removal of CDOM in UVA regions. The results also showed higher fluorescent DOM (FDOM) removal in summer than in winter (49% and 28%, respectively). Results in both seasons indicated that humic acid-like compounds were the most photolabile fractions and were preferentially removed under sunlight exposure. Sunlight also induced attenuation of micropollutants in the summer and winter at reductions of 66% and 24% from the initial values, respectively. Significant attenuation (>75%) was only observed for endocrine-disrupting chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and sunscreens in the summer, but they accounted for 76% of the total concentrations. Vibrio fischeri toxicity tests demonstrated that sunlight constantly decreased the luminescent bacteria acute toxicity of RW, which was estimated to be caused mainly by the sunlight-induced changes of FDOM and CDOM, while the detected micropollutants could only explain 0.02%–2% of acute toxicity. These findings have important implications regarding our understanding of the ecological storage of reclaimed water and the contribution of management strategies.
Display omitted
•Effects of sunlight on RW during open storage were assessed at different seasons.•Sunlight-induced changes of CDOM absorption and FDOM components were analyzed.•Sunlight-induced attenuation of 52 residual micropollutants in RW was explored.•Detected micropollutants explained 0.02–2% of ecotoxicity variations.•CDOM and FDOM were significant correlation with the reduction of ecotoxicity.
PARP inhibitors have been proven clinically efficacious in platinum-responsive ovarian cancer regardless of BRCA1/2 status and in breast cancers with germline BRCA1/2 mutation. However, resistance to ...PARP inhibitors may preexist or evolve during treatment in many cancer types and may be overcome by combining PARP inhibitors with other therapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, which confer durable responses and are rapidly becoming the standard of care for multiple tumor types. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of combining niraparib, a highly selective PARP1/2 inhibitor, with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors in preclinical tumor models. Our results indicate that niraparib treatment increases the activity of the type I (alpha) and type II (gamma) interferon pathways and enhances the infiltration of CD8
cells and CD4
cells in tumors. When coadministered in immunocompetent models, the combination of niraparib and anti-PD-1 demonstrated synergistic antitumor activities in both BRCA-proficient and BRCA-deficient tumors. Interestingly, mice with tumors cured by niraparib monotherapy completely rejected tumor growth upon rechallenge with the same tumor cell line, suggesting the potential establishment of immune memory in animals treated with niraparib monotherapy. Taken together, our findings uncovered immunomodulatory effects of niraparib that may sensitize tumors to immune checkpoint blockade therapies.
PDF
