Source analysis and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) in total suspended particulate matter (TSP) from Bengbu, China.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in total suspended particulate matter (TSP) samples collected from October, 2021 to September, 2022 were analyzed to clarify the pollution characteristics and sources of 16 PAHs in the atmospheric TSP in Bengbu City. The ρ(PAHs) concentrations ranged from 1.71 to 43.85 ng/m3 and higher concentrations were detected in winter, followed by spring, autumn, and summer. The positive matrix factorization analysis revealed that, in spring and summer, PAH pollution was caused mainly by industrial emissions, gasoline and diesel fuel combustion, whereas in autumn and winter, it was coal, biomass and natural gas combustion. The cluster and potential source factor analyses showed that long-range transport was a significant factor. During spring, autumn, and winter, the northern and northwestern regions had a significant impact, whereas the coastal area south of Bengbu had the greatest influence in summer. The health risk assessment revealed that the annual total carcinogenic equivalent concentration values for PAHs varied from 0.0159 to 7.437 ng/m3, which was classified as moderate. Furthermore, the annual incremental lifetime cancer risk values ranged from 1.431 × 10-4 to 3.671 × 10-3 for adults and from 6.823 × 10-5 to 1.749 × 10-3 for children, which were higher than the standard.

Differences in energy-saving benefits between the rich and poor: data-driven method to study equity of mandatory energy efficiency policy in Chongqing.

The equity of mandatory building energy efficiency design standards (BEEDSs) has not received sufficient attention, for there is little study emphasizing the equity between the rich and the poor from the perspective of mandatory energy policies. Therefore, this study is aimed at evaluating the heterogeneous effect of BEEDSs on the energy consumption of households with varying incomes based on household-level data (n = 1196) from Chongqing in China. The study indicates that the actual energy efficiency of the high-income group is 47%, whereas those of the middle- and low-income groups are 32% and 25%, respectively, compared to groups in the absence of BEEDSs. Furthermore, the energy-saving benefits of the rich are approximately twice that of the poor. Also, the Lorenz curve is used to describe the inequality in the distribution of energy-saving benefits, showing that the inequality coefficient is 0.25. This study provides a strong reference for the research and policy-making related to building energy efficiency.

Cost-effectiveness of tumor-treating fields plus standard therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer progressed after platinum-based therapy in the United States.

Background: Tumor treating fields (TTF) was first approved for treatment of glioblastoma. Recently, the LUNAR study demonstrated that TTF + standard therapy (ST) extended survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This primary objective of this study is to analyze the cost-effectiveness of this treatment from the United States healthcare payers' perspective. Methods: A 3-health-state Markov model was established to compare the cost-effectiveness of TTF + ST and that of ST alone. Clinical data were extracted from the LUNAR study, supplemented by additional cost and utility data obtained from publications or online sources. One-way sensitivity analysis, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and scenario analysis were conducted. The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold per quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained was set to $150,000. The main results include total costs, QALYs, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and incremental net monetary benefit (INMB). Subgroup analyses were conducted for two types of ST, including immune checkpoint inhibitor, and docetaxel. Results: During a 10-year time horizon, the costs of TTF + ST and ST alone were $431,207.0 and $128,125.9, and the QALYs were 1.809 and 1.124, respectively. The ICER of TTF + ST compared to ST was $442,732.7 per QALY, and the INMB was -$200,395.7 at the WTP threshold. The cost of TTF per month was the most influential factor in cost-effectiveness, and TTF + ST had a 0% probability of being cost-effective at the WTP threshold compared with ST alone. Conclusion: TTF + ST is not a cost-effective treatment for advanced NSCLC patients who progressed after platinum-based therapy from the perspective of the United States healthcare payers.

Multi-pathway exposure assessment of organophosphate flame retardants in a southern Chinese population: Main route identification with compound-specificity.

In this study, we conducted comprehensive organophosphorus flame retardant (PFR) exposure assessments of both dietary and non-dietary pathways in a rural population in southern China. Skin wipes were collected from 30 volunteers. Indoor and outdoor air (gas and particles), dust in the houses of these volunteers, and foodstuffs consumed by these volunteers were simultaneously collected. The total PFR concentrations in dust, gas, and PM2.5 varied from 53.8 to 5.14 × 105 ng/g, 0.528 to 4.27 ng/m3, and 0.390 to 16.5 ng/m3, respectively. The forehead (median of 1.36 × 103 ng/m2) and hand (median of 920 ng/m2) exhibited relatively high PFR concentrations, followed by the forearm (median of 440 ng/m2) and upper arm (median of 230 ng/m2). The PFR concentrations in the food samples varied from 0.0700 to 10.9 ng/g wet weight in the order of egg > roast duck/goose and vegetable > pork > chicken > fish. Tris(1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) was the main PFR in the non-diet samples, whereas the profiles of PFR individuals varied by food type. Among the multiple pathways investigated (inhalation, dermal exposure, dust ingestion, and food ingestion), dermal absorption and dust ingestion were the predominant pathways for tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and bisphenol A-bis(diphenyl phosphate) (BDP), respectively, whereas dietary exposure was the most important route for other chemicals.

Uncovering the coupling effect with energy-related carbon emissions and human development variety in Chinese provinces.

Lessening energy-related carbon emissions has become a crucial measure to achieve Chinese carbon neutrality. This study is the first to construct a Difference in Carbon pressures-adjusted Human Development Index (DCHDI) model for the purpose of exploring the coupling effect between carbon emissions and human development variety from 2000 to 2019 in Chinese provinces. We demonstrate the following. (1) The total energy-related carbon footprint of 30 provinces in China reached 10.2 billion tons in 2019, with an average annual growth rate of 6.93% over the past two decades; and the provinces with the highest carbon emissions per capita are InnerMongolia, Ningxia, and Shanxi. (2) At the provincial level, we observed that the Human Development Index (HDI), which includes life expectancy, education, and income, has been rising, while Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin entered the super-high HDI level before 2008. (3) The entire coupling effect of 30 Chinese provinces has been broadly fortified in the last 20 years, but the growth rate of DCHDI values in 2011-2019 has slowed down compared with that in 2000-2010; the clustering phenomenon demonstrated that this discovery is associated with historical peaks in total carbon emissions. (4) The coordination degree of carbon emissions per capita and HDI was verified, and 96% of the data points were found in the range of super high coupling coordination degree. Overall, this study provides the government with worthwhile guidance for decision-making and carbon reduction strategies for other countries struggling to advance human sustainable development.

Assessment of right ventricular function using cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Accurate evaluation of right ventricular (RV) function is always difficult due to its irregular shape and movement. Many indices have been proposed to assess RV function, but none have been universally accepted. This study evaluated RV function in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients using long-axis strain (LAS) and other traditional indices. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with T2DM and 39 healthy controls were prospectively enrolled. Four-chamber cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and RV short-axis cine images were obtained from all participants to measure the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), RV ejection fraction (EF), peak longitudinal strain (PLS) and four LAS indices. The inter-and intraobserver variabilities were also calculated. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, T2DM was associated with a decreased LAS (apex/lateral wall) (-17.4%±4.2% vs. control, -19.7%±3.7%, P=0.008) and LAS (apex/middle point) (-17.5%±4.5% vs. control, -19.5%±3.9%, P=0.026), but both groups had a similar LAS (RV/lateral wall) and LAS (RV/middle point) (all P>0.05). After adjustments for age and body mass index, a significant difference was observed only for LAS (apex/lateral wall) (P=0.028). There were no significant differences in the TAPSE, RVEF and PLS (all P>0.05). LAS (apex/lateral wall) correlated with the TAPSE (r=-0.723, P<0.001), RVEF (r=-0.270, P=0.008) and PLS (r=0.210, P=0.040). The inter- and intraobserver variability of the LAS (apex/lateral wall) were lower than the other three LAS indices. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with traditional RV function indices, such as the TAPSE, RVEF and PLS, LAS is easy to obtain and shows high repeatability. LAS (apex/lateral wall) may provide a more sensitive T2DM-related RV dysfunction index.

Fair and Reasonable Allocation of Trans-Boundary Water Resources Based on an Asymmetric Nash Negotiation Model from the Satisfaction Perspective: A Case Study for the Lancang-Mekong River Bain.

The issue of trans-boundary water conflict has become an important factor affecting the relations between basin countries. The key to solve the current conflict problem is to realize the fair and reasonable allocation of trans-boundary water resources. Based on the satisfaction perspective, we developed an asymmetric Nash negotiation model to obtain an optimal and feasible allocation scheme for the trans-boundary water resources. Firstly, based on the two international water laws, we analyzed the influencing factors including water demand differences, resource endowment differences, and water efficiency differences, and by combing with the flexible weight constraint, we built the fair and reasonable allocation pattern for trans-boundary water resources. Secondly, under the constraint of the allocation pattern, we determined the ideal negotiation scheme of each basin country by considering their selection preference. Thirdly, we built a satisfaction degree function and established an asymmetric Nash negotiation model. This is used to build a fair negotiation mechanism among basin countries, and the allocation scheme after negotiation is regarded as the optimal allocation scheme. Lastly, we took the Lancang-Mekong river basin as an example. For this example, the results indicate the following: (1) after considering multiple factors comprehensively, China and Thailand obtained a higher proportion of trans-boundary water resource quota under different preference scenarios, while Myanmar obtained a lower proportion of trans-boundary water resource quota; (2) taking each basin country as the negotiation agent, the optimal allocation scheme with the introduction of fair negotiation mechanism has a higher degree of satisfaction, with an average of over 87.19%, which is more stable and easy to be accepted by all basin countries; (3) from the perspective of the change rate and the average satisfaction of the basin countries, the optimal allocation scheme under the resource endowment preference scenario obtained the highest satisfaction among basin countries. This study aims to improve the practicability and acceptability of trans-boundary water resources allocation, thus providing technical support for reducing trans-boundary water resources conflicts.

Improving the Assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Advanced Age With a Novel Multi-Feature Automated Speech and Language Analysis of Verbal Fluency.

Introduction: Clinically relevant information can go uncaptured in the conventional scoring of a verbal fluency test. We hypothesize that characterizing the temporal aspects of the response through a set of time related measures will be useful in distinguishing those with MCI from cognitively intact controls. Methods: Audio recordings of an animal fluency test administered to 70 demographically matched older adults (mean age 90.4 years), 28 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 42 cognitively intact (CI) were professionally transcribed and fed into an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system to estimate the start time of each recalled word in the response. Next, we semantically cluster participant generated animal names and through a novel set of time-based measures, we characterize the semantic search strategy of subjects in retrieving words from animal name clusters. This set of time-based features along with standard count-based features (e.g., number of correctly retrieved animal names) were then used in a machine learning algorithm trained for distinguishing those with MCI from CI controls. Results: The combination of both count-based and time-based features, automatically derived from the test response, achieved 77% on AUC-ROC of the support vector machine (SVM) classifier, outperforming the model trained only on the raw test score (AUC, 65%), and well above the chance model (AUC, 50%). Conclusion: This approach supports the value of introducing time-based measures to the assessment of verbal fluency in the context of this generative task differentiating subjects with MCI from those with intact cognition.

Characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals exposure via household dust from urban area in Chengdu, China.

To investigate the characteristics of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu and Ni) in household dust in urban household environment of Chengdu, China, 90 household dust samples were collected from 6 districts of the city. The information of houses and residents were also recorded during dust sampling to identify the correlations between heavy metals in household dust and the house attributes. And also the principal component analysis and cluster analysis for sources and impactor factors. The concentrations of Pb (123mg·kg-1), Zn (675mg·kg-1), Cu (190mg·kg-1), Cr (82.7mg·kg-1), Cd (2.37mg·kg-1) and Ni (52.6mg·kg-1) in household dust are in low or moderate levels when compare with that from other counties or areas. The heavy metals of household dust samples from Chengdu is higher concentrations than that in the street dust from Chengdu, except for Cr. Statistical analysis result showed traffic sources and corrosion of alloys are important factors contributing to the rise concentrations of heavy metals in household dust. In addition, there is negative correlation (p<0.05) between the heavy metals concentrations and floor levels. The ingestion is the important pathway for Pb, Zn, Cu and Ni via household dust exposure to the residents, and the dermal contact was identified as a main route for Cr and Cd in household dust exposure to the residents. There are minor non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks from the heavy metals in household dust for the residents in Chengdu.

Assessment of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance T1 Mapping: Correlation with Left-Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction and Diabetic Duration.

PURPOSE: To quantify extracellular matrix expansion with the cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) T1 mapping technique and the derived extracellular volume fraction (ECV) in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DbCM) patients and to detect the relationship among ECV, duration of diabetes, and diastolic function. MATERIALS: Thirty-eight patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy (20 males, age 54.6 ± 8.6 years) and thirty-two matched normal controls (15 males, age 51.4 ± 13.6 years) were prospectively enrolled. All of them were scanned by T1 mapping to obtain the native and postcontrast T1 values of myocardium and blood, and ECV was calculated accordingly. All patients also underwent transthoracic echocardiographic tissue Doppler imaging to assess left-ventricular diastolic function. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in ECV between the two groups (DbCMs 30.4 ± 2.9% versus controls 27.1 ± 2.4%, P < 0.001). The duration of diabetes was positively and strongly associated with ECV (R = 0.539, P = 0.0005). There was also a significant difference in ECV (P ≤ 0.001) among four groups (A, controls; B, DbCM patients with duration of diabetes <5 years; C, 5-10 years; and D, >10 years). ECV was negatively associated with LV E'/A' (R = -0.403, P = 0.012). CONCLUSION: CMR T1 mapping can reflect myocardial extracellular matrix expansion in DbCM and can be a powerful technique for the early diagnosis of DbCM.

Pollution characteristics and risk assessment of human exposure to oral bioaccessibility of heavy metals via urban street dusts from different functional areas in Chengdu, China.

Urban street dusts were collected in commercial area (CA), traffic area (TA), educational area (EA), residential area (RA) and parks area (PA) of Chengdu, China, to investigate the concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr), and analyzed to evaluated possible sources and health risk assessment. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of Pb (82.3), Zn (296), Cu (100), Cd (1.66) and Cr (84.3) in urban street dusts were all higher than the local soil background values. The concentrations of heavy metals in each functional area could be classified as follows: CA>TA>RA>EA>PA. Principal component analysis and Cluster analysis showed mainly derived from the mixed sources of nature and traffic (51.7%). The results of health risk assessment showed no non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of the metals for inhabitants. However, higher concentrations and oral bioaccessibility of the heavy metals in the dusts from CA and TA, indicating there was more health risks to the inhabitants in than that in other functional areas.

Assessment of Left Ventricular Structural Remodelling in Patients with Diabetic Cardiomyopathy by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Background. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is always accompanied with alteration of left ventricular structure and function. The aims of this study were to assess the structural remodelling in patients with DCM by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and correlation of structural remodelling with severity of DCM. Methods. Twenty-five patients (53.8 ± 8.8 years, 52.0% males) with DCM and thirty-one normal healthy controls (51.9 ± 13.6 years, 45.2% males) were scanned by CMR cine to assess function and structure of left ventricular. Length of diabetic history and results of cardiac echocardiography (E', A', and E'/A') were also measured. Results. Compared with normal controls group, DCM group was associated with significantly increased ratio of left ventricular mass at end diastole to end-diastolic volume (MVR) (P < 0.05) and no significant difference was in mass at end diastole (P > 0.05). The ratio correlated with both length of diabetic history and echocardiographic Doppler tissue imaging E' (all P < 0.05). Conclusions. CMR can be a powerful technique to assess LV remodelling, and MVR may be considered as an imaging marker to evaluate the severity of LV remodelling in patients with DCM.

[Alternative Views of Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Assessment of Aorta Structure].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the imaging views and scanning procedure of the aorta using the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). METHODS: In accordance with the established TEE scanning process, 337 patients had their aortas scanned on four different levels, including upper, middle, lower segment of esophagus and gastric base. All parameters such as the depth of probe, imaging angle were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 330 cases of patients completed the procedure, the other 7 cases experienced the failure of TEE probe placement. Five patients received the new acoustic window for TEE imaging of large vessels anterior to the trachea by using a saline-filled endotracheal balloon, for the main structures anterior to the trachea were poorly visualized. The average time-consuming of the scanning was (15.6 ± 3.8) min. Depth of the probe, imaging angle and the aortic wall changed with the changing of imaging views. CONCLUSION: It is important to be familiar with the aorta anatomy and TEE imaging features for the purpose of overcoming the difficult in the assessment of aorta on TEE imaging.

Assessment of carbonic anhydrase IX expression and extracellular pH in B-cell lymphoma cell line models.

The expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) and its relationship to acidosis in lymphomas has not been widely studied. We investigated the protein expression of CA IX in a human B-cell lymphoma tissue microarray, and in Raji, Ramos and Granta 519 lymphoma cell lines and tumor models, while also investigating the relationship with hypoxia. An imaging method, acidoCEST magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was used to estimate lymphoma xenograft extracellular pH (pHe). Our results showed that clinical lymphoma tissues and cell line models in vitro and in vivo had moderate CA IX expression. Although in vitro studies showed that CA IX expression was induced by hypoxia, in vivo studies did not show this correlation. Untreated lymphoma xenograft tumor pHe had acidic fractions, and an acidity score was qualitatively correlated with CA IX expression. Therefore, CA IX is expressed in B-cell lymphomas and is qualitatively correlated with extracellular acidosis in xenograft tumor models.

Phthalate diesters in airborne PM(2.5) and PM(10) in a suburban area of Shanghai: seasonal distribution and risk assessment.

Concentrations of nine phthalate diesters in 24-h airborne PM2.5 and PM10 were determined from October 2011 to August 2012 in a suburban area in Shanghai, China. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DIBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BzBP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were frequently detected in airborne particulate matter at sum concentrations of these six compounds ranging from 13.3 to 186 ng/m(3), with an average value of 59.8 ng/m(3) in PM2.5, and from 10.1 to 445 ng/m(3), with an average value of 132 ng/m(3) in PM10. DEHP, DBP, and DIBP were the major phthalate diesters found in PM samples. DEHP was found predominantly in coarse (size fraction of between PM2.5 and PM10) particles, whereas DMP, DEP, DBP, DIBP, and BzBP were found predominantly in fine (PM2.5) particles. The concentrations of phthalates in PM during warm months (207 ng/m(3) for PM10 and 71.9 ng/m(3) for PM2.5, on average) were significantly higher than those during cold months (76.9 ng/m(3) for PM10 and 50.4 ng/m(3) for PM2.5). Significant positive correlations were found between concentrations of total phthalates, DEHP, and BzBP, with the total mass and organic carbon content of PM. Based on the concentrations of DEHP, incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCR) from inhalation exposure were estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation. Although the 95% probabilities for the ILCR values for the general population were below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) threshold of 10(-6), our result is an underestimate of the actual health risk because we only considered the outdoor inhalation exposure to DEHP in this study.