Late detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) results in an overall 5-year survival rate of less than 16%. Liquid biopsy (LB) assays based on detecting circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) might provide ...an opportunity to detect HCC early noninvasively. Increasing evidence indicates that ctDNA detection using mutation-based assays is significantly challenged by the abundance of white blood cell-derived mutations, non-tumor tissue-derived somatic mutations in plasma, and the mutational tumor heterogeneity.
Here, we employed concurrent analysis of cancer-related mutations, and their fragment length profiles to differentiate mutations from different sources. To distinguish persons with HCC (PwHCC) from healthy participants, we built a classification model using three fragmentomic features of ctDNA through deep sequencing of thirteen genes associated with HCC.
Our model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88, a sensitivity of 89%, and a specificity of 82% in the discovery cohort consisting of 55 PwHCC and 55 healthy participants. In an independent validation cohort of 54 PwHCC and 53 healthy participants, the established model achieved comparable classification performance with an AUC of 0.86 and yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 81%.
Our study provides a rationale for subsequent clinical evaluation of our assay performance in a large-scale prospective study.
Although it is unclear how Zn
2+
cooperates with Cu
2+
in synergistic antibacterial activity, a 1:10 ratio of Cu
2+
/Zn
2+
atoms and ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid and urea ligands can be used to ...form a chelation complex containing Cu
2+
and Zn
2+
. This study investigated the effects of the combination of Cu
2+
and Zn
2+
in chelation with EDTA and urea. The results were compared with the outcomes of either copper or zinc alone against gram-negative
Escherichia coli (E. coli
) and gram-positive
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus
) bacteria. The antibacterial activity was determined through MICs, disc diffusion method, and bacterial cell growth curves. In addition, bacterial destruction by this chelation complex has been observed through SEM images. The presence of copper ion and zinc ion inside the bacterial cells has been proved through EDS measurements. The obtained results allowed us to draw conclusions that the use of both Cu
2+
and Zn
2+
in a chelation complex with EDTA and urea enhances the antimicrobial activity against these bacteria. The bacterial inhibition of this complex was stronger than that of Cu
2+
alone chelated with EDTA or CuSO
4
solution by approximately 100-fold for
S. aureus
and 20-fold for
E. coli
.
This review provides focused insights into the contamination status, sources, and ecological risks associated with multiple classes of antibiotics in surface water from the East and Southeast Asia ...based on publications over the period 2007 to 2020. Antibiotics are ubiquitous in surface water of these countries with concentrations ranging from <1 ng/L to hundreds μg/L and median values from 10 to 100 ng/L. Wider ranges and higher maximum concentrations of certain antibiotics were found in surface water of the East Asian countries like China and South Korea than in the Southeast Asian nations. Environmental behavior and fate of antibiotics in surface water is discussed. The reviewed occurrence of antibiotics in their sources suggests that effluent from wastewater treatment plants, wastewater from aquaculture and livestock production activities, and untreated urban sewage are principal sources of antibiotics in surface water. Ecological risks associated with antibiotic residues were estimated for aquatic organisms and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria were reviewed. Such findings underline the need for synergistic efforts from scientists, engineers, policy makers, government managers, entrepreneurs, and communities to manage and reduce the burden of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in water bodies of East and Southeast Asian countries.
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•Antibiotic contamination status in East/Southeast Asia's surface water is reviewed.•Antibiotics are ubiquitous in surface water, especially in aquaculture and urban areas.•Antibiotic levels varied greatly from few ng/L to hundreds μg/L in surface water.•Ecological risks and prevalence of antibiotic resistance were widely observed.•Regional monitoring studies and environmental guidelines for antibiotics are needed.
This work demonstrated a simple, low-cost, rapid, and effective biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) estimation system based on a packed-bed bioreactor that can be easily self-built on-site at a ...particular wastewater treatment plant for continuous monitoring of the influent and effluent. The use of natural microbial consortium that were collected from the target wastewater and immobilized on a cheap porous carrier simply by adhesion resulted in an acceptable accuracy of over 95%. The newly developed semi-continuous operating mode with peak-type signals was shown to be able to continuously estimate BOD at a high flow rate to overcome the flow dependence of the oxygen electrode, limit clogging issues, enhance the response time, and lower the limit of detection. The resulting packed-bed bioreactors could work continuously for 22 h with a coefficient of variance (CoV) of only 1.8% or for 13 h a day for several days with a maximum CoV of 1.4% and their response was observed to be stable over 80 consecutive measurements. They exhibited stable responses at a wide pH range of 6.5–8.5, which is also the recommended range for aerobic wastewater treatment, emphasizing the greater ease of use of natural microorganisms for BOD estimation.
Dengue-associated complications, including dengue shock syndrome, severe respiratory distress, and pediatric acute liver failure (PALF), are associated with high mortality rates in patients with ...dengue. There is increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among children worldwide. Obesity may activate inflammatory mediators, leading to increased capillary permeability and plasma leakage in patients with dengue. Several studies have shown a correlation between obesity and DSS, but did not include dengue fatality or PALF. Therefore, we hypothesized possible associations between obesity and critical dengue-associated clinical outcomes among PICU-admitted children with DSS, including dengue-related mortality, mechanical ventilation (MV) requirements, and dengue-associated PALF. The nutritional status of the participants was assessed using World Health Organization growth charts. A total of 858 participants with complete nutritional data were enrolled in this study. Obesity was significantly associated with risk of severe respiratory failure and MV support (odds ratio = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.31–4.06,
P
< .01); however, it was not associated with dengue-associated mortality or acute liver failure. Obese pediatric patients with DSS should be closely monitored for severe respiratory distress and the need for high-flow oxygenation support, particularly MV, soon after hospitalization.
PM
0.1
has been believed to have adverse short- and long-term effects on human health. However, the information of PM
0.1
that is needed to fully evaluate its influence on human health and ...environment is still scarce in many developing countries. This is a comprehensive study on the levels, chemical compositions, and source apportionment of PM
0.1
conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam. Twenty-four-hour samples of PM
0.1
were collected during the dry season (November to December 2015) at a mixed site to get the information on mass concentrations and chemical compositions. Multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to investigate the simultaneous influence of meteorological factors on fluctuations in the daily levels of PM
0.1
. Multiple linear regression models could explain about 50% of the variations of PM
0.1
concentrations, in which wind speed is the most important variable. The average concentrations of organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble ions (Ca
2+
, K
+
, Mg
2+
, Na
+
, NH
4
+
, Cl
−
, NO
3
−
, SO
4
2−
, C
2
O
4
2−
), and elements (Be, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Na, Fe, Mg, K, and Ca) were 2.77 ± 0.90 μg m
−3
, 0.63 ± 0.28 μg m
−3
, 0.88 ± 0.39 μg m
−3
, and 0.05 ± 0.02 μg m
−3
, accounting for 51.23 ± 9.32%, 11.22 ± 2.10%, 16.28 ± 2.67%, and 1.11 ± 0.94%, respectively. A positive matrix factorization model revealed the contributions of five major sources to the PM
0.1
mass including traffic (gasoline and diesel emissions, 46.28%), secondary emissions (31.18%), resident/commerce (12.23%), industry (6.05%), and road/construction (2.92%).
Conjugated polymer (CP)-based photothermal materials have been widely acknowledged as a promising class of photothermal agents for biomedical applications. This is because of their light-harvesting ...ability, photothermal conversion efficiency, photostability, and favorable biocompatibility. Donor-acceptor (D-A) CPs, which are based on the evolution of CPs, have attracted considerable interest in this field because of their tunable absorption in the near-infrared biological window. This property enables their deep penetration into cancer sites, improving the efficiency of anti-cancer treatment. This review mainly focuses on the potential of D-A CP to achieve improved and efficient photothermal conversion, exploring its optimized advantages for photothermal therapy applications. Based on the general insight provided by the Jablonski diagram, the mechanism and related principles for activating photothermal conversion in CPs and D-A CP are proposed and discussed. This provides an overall understanding of the correlation between molecular CP nanomaterials and heat generation. This review presents the details of methodologies for the rational design of CP nanoparticles with efficient photothermal conversion ability, thus facilitating the use of CPs in biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Photothermal conversion mechanism of organic materials and influencing elements based on Jablonski's diagram.
Enhanced approaches for photothermal conversion of conjugated polymer nanoparticles.
Improved methodologies in photothermal conversion of donor-acceptor conjugated polymer nanoparticles.
Potential and future direction of donor-acceptor conjugated polymer development in photothermal therapy and biomedical applications.
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Since the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, antimicrobial, and antiviral chemicals have been developed and widely used to create an effective antibacterial biomaterials and textiles based ...on unique nanofibers. However, the leaching of antimicrobial agents from the nanofibers in use due to their instability ultimately remains a concern. Therefore, a full investigation of the durability of antibacterial agents is required for safe and compatible utilization. This review summarizes recent work on the combination of antimicrobial agents and nanofibers by first describing the fabrication of functionalized antimicrobial nanofibers and then addressing the durability of antimicrobial agents on these nanofibers. In particular, the intrinsic structure of antimicrobial nanofibers, the compatibility of antimicrobial agents with specific nanofibers, and the self-assembly process are described. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the nanofibers is reviewed, with a focus on factors affecting the bacterial/viral removal efficiency and their interaction mechanisms. The present review also summarizes the criteria required to ensure the stability of antimicrobial agents for nanofiber applications. Special attention is given to durable antimicrobial agents for washable antibacterial textiles. Finally, this paper reviews future directions and emerging technologies for antimicrobial nanofiber applications. This review thus highlights the importance of durability for the reuse of antibacterial nanofibers and textiles while maintaining their microbial effectiveness.
Regional climate change (CC) and land use changes (LUCs) can significantly influence the hydrological processes at watershed scale. Different studies have investigated the impact of climate change in ...the Indus Basin. However, there is a need to investigate the impact of environmental changes on the regional hydrology over a complex topographic region. This study quantitatively assesses the relative contributions of CC and LUC on runoff alterations across Gilgit watershed by using multivariable calibration approach using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Mann–Kendall (MK) and Pettitt tests are applied to identify the trends and changes in runoff and climatic variables during 1985–2013. The supervised classification is performed to acquire land use maps and other quantitative details required for the analyses. Moreover, Indicators of Hydrologic Alterations (IHA) analyses were performed for the first time in the Gilgit watershed to investigate the impact of CC and LUCs during the pre- and post-impact periods. The results demonstrated that precipitation, temperature, and runoff of the Gilgit watershed presented significant increasing trends. The change point using Pettitt test is depicted in 1999, 1995, and 1998, respectively. The mean annual increasing rate of precipitation, temperature, and runoff is 4.92 mm/year, 0.04 °C/year, and 2.60 m
3
/year, respectively. SWAT model performed well and the relative attributed contribution of CC to runoff change is 97.22% and it is 2.78% for LUC. The IHA results showed that runoff has significantly increased in post-impact (1999–2013) as compared to pre-impact (1985–1998), which was further confirmed by analyzing the IHA results using percent bias (PBIAS). Significant overestimation of runoff (higher runoff in post-impact period) was observed in the wet (maximum runoff) season. This study demonstrated that the high contribution of CC to runoff change is mainly due to the change in climate variables and global warming trends.
Prediction of water quality is a critical issue because of its significant impact on human and ecosystem health. This research aims to predict water quality index (WQI) for the free surface wetland ...using three soft computing techniques namely, adaptive neuro-fuzzy system (ANFIS), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and group method of data handling (GMDH). Seventeen wetland points for a period of 14 months were considered for monitoring water quality parameters including conductivity, suspended solid (SS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammoniacal nitrogen (AN), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, pH, phosphate nitrite, and nitrate. The sensitivity analysis performed by ANFIS indicates that the significant parameters to predict WQI are pH, COD, AN, and SS. The results indicated that ANFIS with Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE = 0.9634) and mean absolute error (MAE = 0.0219) has better performance to predict the WQI comparing with ANNs (NSE = 0.9617 and MAE = 0.0222) and GMDH (NSE = 0.9594 and MAE = 0.0245) models. However, ANNs provided a comparable prediction and the GMDH can be considered as a technique with an acceptable prediction for practical purposes. The findings of this study could be used as an effective reference for policy makers in the field of water resource management. Decreasing variables, reduction of running time, and high speed of these approaches are the most important reasons to employ them in any aquatic environment worldwide.
