The concept of digital twins has great potential for transforming the existing health care system by making it more personalized. As a convergence of health care, artificial intelligence, and ...information and communication technologies, personalized health care services that are developed under the concept of digital twins raise a myriad of ethical issues. Although some of the ethical issues are known to researchers working on digital health and personalized medicine, currently, there is no comprehensive review that maps the major ethical risks of digital twins for personalized health care services.
This study aims to fill the research gap by identifying the major ethical risks of digital twins for personalized health care services. We first propose a working definition for digital twins for personalized health care services to facilitate future discussions on the ethical issues related to these emerging digital health services. We then develop a process-oriented ethical map to identify the major ethical risks in each of the different data processing phases.
We resorted to the literature on eHealth, personalized medicine, precision medicine, and information engineering to identify potential issues and developed a process-oriented ethical map to structure the inquiry in a more systematic way. The ethical map allows us to see how each of the major ethical concerns emerges during the process of transforming raw data into valuable information. Developers of a digital twin for personalized health care service may use this map to identify ethical risks during the development stage in a more systematic way and can proactively address them.
This paper provides a working definition of digital twins for personalized health care services by identifying 3 features that distinguish the new application from other eHealth services. On the basis of the working definition, this paper further layouts 10 major operational problems and the corresponding ethical risks.
It is challenging to address all the major ethical risks that a digital twin for a personalized health care service might encounter proactively without a conceptual map at hand. The process-oriented ethical map we propose here can assist the developers of digital twins for personalized health care services in analyzing ethical risks in a more systematic manner.
Heavy metal ions (HMIs) are one of the major environmental pollution problems currently faced. To monitor and control HMIs, rapid and reliable detection is required. Electrochemical analysis is one ...of the promising methods for on‐site detection and monitoring due to high sensitivity, short response time, etc. Recently, nanometal oxides with special surface physicochemical properties have been widely used as electrode modifiers to enhance sensitivity and selectivity for HMIs detection. In this work, recent advances in the electrochemical detection of HMIs using nanometal oxides, which are attributed to specific crystal facets and phases, surficial defects and vacancies, and oxidation state cycle, are comprehensively summarized and discussed in aspects of synthesis, characterization, electroanalysis application, and mechanism. Moreover, the challenges and opportunities for the development and application of nanometal oxides with functional surface physicochemical properties in electrochemical determination of HMIs are presented.
This work systematically summarizes and discusses the synthesis and application of nanometal oxides with special surface physicochemical properties, including crystal facets and crystal phases, defects and oxygen vacancies, and oxidation states cycle in electrochemical detection of heavy metal ions. The sensitive mechanism for enhancing electrochemical signals by these nanometal oxides is highlighted.
Vanadium‐based intercalation materials have attracted considerable attention for aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs). However, the sluggish interlaminar diffusion of zinc ions due to the strong ...electrostatic interaction, severely restricts their practical application. Herein, oxygen vacancy‐enriched V2O5 structures (Zn0.125V2O5·0.95H2O nanoflowers, Ov‐ZVO) with expanded interlamellar space and excellent structural stability are prepared for superior ZIBs. In situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) characterization revealed that numerous oxygen vacancies are generated at a relatively low reaction temperature because of partially escaped lattice water. In situ spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations unraveled that the existence of oxygen vacancies lowered Zn2+ diffusion barriers in Ov‐ZVO and weakened the interaction between Zn and O atoms, thus contributing to excellent electrochemical performance. The Zn||Ov‐ZVO battery displayed a remarkable capacity of 402 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and impressive energy output of 193 Wh kg−1 at 2673 W kg−1. As a proof of concept, the Zn||Ov‐ZVO pouch cell can reach a high capacity of 350 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, demonstrating its enormous potential for practical application. This study provides fundamental insights into formation of oxygen‐vacant nanostructures and generated oxygen vacancies improving electrochemical performance, directing new pathways toward defect‐functionalized advanced materials.
Road-deposited sediment and its adsorbed pollutants have been regarded as significant sources of urban diffuse pollution. In this study, the solid-phase concentrations (mg/g), surface load (mg/m2) ...and chemical fractionation of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) were determined. Geo-accumulation (Igeo) and ecological risk (RI) indexes were employed for metal risk assessment. Results show that the highest solid-phase concentrations of Zn and Cu were usually found at an industrial area. However, Cd had the highest solid-phase concentrations at a rural area, followed by a commercial area. The surface loads of Zn and Cu decreased along the city centre to city border gradient. However, Cd was distributed irregularly. In terms of chemical fractionation, the predominant components of Zn and Cd were identified in the unstable exchangeable fractions, indicating high potential ecological risks to the aquatic environments. Cu posed a comparably low risk due to the high proportions of the stable components of residual and oxidisable fractions. According to a two-dimensional hierarchical cluster analysis, Zn and Cu surface loads were dominantly influenced by the antecedent dry-weather period; Cd contents were strongly land-use type dependent. In addition, the enrichment capability was ranked as Zn > Cu > Cd determined by Igeo index. The sampling site dependent potential ecological risk was determined as rural area (R) > commercial city centre (W) > federal highway (B) > industrial area (I) > main road (S) > secondary road (A) by the RI index.
Display omitted
•Surface loads of Zn and Cu decreased along the city centre to border gradient.•Cd surface loads were distributed irregularly.•Zn and Cu surface loads were dominantly influenced by antecedent dry-weather period.•The enrichment capability was ranked as Zn > Cu > Cd determined by Igeo index.•The ecological risk was determined as sites R > W > B > I > S > A by RI index.
Eleutheroside B (EB) is the main active constituent derived from the Chinese herb Acanthopanax senticosus (AS) that has been reported to possess cardioprotective effects. In this study we ...investigated the effects of EB on cardiac electrophysiology and its suppression on atrial fibrillation (AF). Whole-cell recording was conducted in isolated rabbit atrial myocytes. The intracellular calcium (Ca
) concentration was measured using calcium indicator Fura-2/AM fluorescence. Monophasic action potential (MAP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) synchronous recordings were conducted in Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts using ECG signal sampling and analysis system. We showed that EB dose-dependently inhibited late sodium current (I
), transient sodium current (I
), and sea anemone toxin II (ATX II)-increased I
with IC
values of 167, 1582, and 181 μM, respectively. On the other hand, EB (800 μM) did not affect L-type calcium current (I
), inward rectifier potassium channel current (I
), and action potential duration (APD). Furthermore, EB (300 μM) markedly decreased ATX II-prolonged the APD at 90% repolarization (APD
) and eliminated ATX II-induced early afterdepolarizations (EADs), delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs), and triggered activities (TAs). Moreover, EB (200 μM) significantly suppressed ATX II-induced Na
-dependent Ca
overload in atrial myocytes. In the Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts, application of EB (200 μM) or TTX (2 μM) substantially decreased ATX II-induced incidences of atrial fibrillation (AF), ventricular fibrillation (VF), and heart death. These results suggest that augmented I
alone is sufficient to induce AF, and EB exerts anti-AF actions mainly via blocking I
, which put forward the basis of pharmacology for new clinical application of EB.
In this paper, we are concerned with the boundary output feedback stabilization for an anti-stable wave equation where the boundary observation is corrupted by a general disturbance. We cope with the ...disturbance by the approach of active disturbance rejection control. In contrast with the existing results, the assumptions on the derivative of the disturbance are removed. It is necessary to assume that the disturbance is Lipschitz continuous. A state observer together with a disturbance estimator is designed by using the corrupted output. Both the well-posedness and the stability of the closed-loop system are proved. The theoretical results are validated visually by some numerical simulations.
The only way to visually observe cellular viscosity, which can greatly influence biological reactions and has been linked to several human diseases, is through viscosity imaging. Imaging cellular ...viscosity has allowed the mapping of viscosity in cells, and the next frontier is targeted viscosity imaging of organelles and their microenvironments. Here we present a fluorescent molecular rotor/FLIM framework to image both organellar viscosity and membrane fluidity, using a combination of chemical targeting and organelle extraction. For demonstration, we image matrix viscosity and membrane fluidity of mitochondria, which have been linked to human diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease and Leigh's syndrome. We find that both are highly dynamic and responsive to small environmental and physiological changes, even under non-pathological conditions. This shows that neither viscosity nor fluidity can be assumed to be fixed and underlines the need for single-cell, and now even single-organelle, imaging.
Abstract
The occurrence of toxic metals in the aquatic environment is as caused by a variety of contaminations which makes difficulty in the concentration prediction. In this study, conventional ...methods of back-propagation neural network (BPNN) and nonlinear autoregressive network with exogenous inputs (NARX) were applied as benchmark models. Explanatory variables of Fe, pH, electrical conductivity, water temperature, river flow, nitrate nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen were used as different input combinations to forecast the long-term concentrations of As, Pb, and Zn. The wavelet transformation was applied to decompose the time series data, and then was integrated with conventional methods (as WNN and WNARX). The modelling performances of the hybrid models of WNN and WNARX were compared with the conventional models. All the given models were trained, validated, and tested by an 18-year data set and demonstrated based on the simulation results of a 2-year data set. Results revealed that the given models showed general good performances for the long-term prediction of the toxic metals of As, Pb, and Zn. The wavelet transform could enhance the long-term concentration predictions. However, it is not necessarily useful for each metal prediction. Therefore, different models with different inputs should be used for different metals predictions to achieve the best predictions.
Metal hydroxide nanomaterials are widely applied in the energy and environment fields. The electrochemical performance of such materials is strongly dependent on their crystal phases. However, as ...there are always multiple factors relating to the phase‐dependent electrochemistry, it is still difficult to identify the determining one. The well‐defined crystal phases of α‐ and β‐FeOOH nanorods are characterized through the transmission electron microscopy by a series of rotation toward one rod, where the cross‐section shape and the growth direction along the 001 crystalline are first verified for 1D FeOOH nanostructures. The electrosensitivity of the two materials toward Pb(II) is tested, where α‐FeOOH performs an outstanding sensitivity whilst it is only modest for β‐FeOOH. Experiments via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), etc., show that α‐FeOOH presents a larger Pb(II) adsorption capacity due to more surficial hydroxyl groups and weaker PbO bond strength. The reaction kinetics are simulated and the adsorption capacity is found to be the determining factor for the distinct Pb(II) sensitivities. Combining experiment with simulation, this work reveals the physical insights of the phase‐dependent electrochemistry for FeOOH and provides guidelines for the functional application of metal hydroxide nanomaterials.
α‐ and β‐FeOOH nanorods with diamond‐ and square‐shaped cross‐sections are synthesized. The phase‐dependent electrosensitivity toward Pb(II) on α‐FeOOH is about 17‐fold higher than β‐FeOOH. Combining kinetic simulation with analyte–material interaction studies, the kinetics in Pb(II) detection are identified, revealing that the phase‐dependent adsorption capacity is the main factor leading to distinct sensitivities on α‐ and β‐FeOOH.
PDF
