Prediction of water quality based on SVR by fluorescence excitation-emission matrix and UV-Vis absorption spectrum.

As a result of economic development, the pollution of freshwater resources in urban areas of China is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is urgent and necessary to develop a real-time monitoring method for the water quality of urban streams and rivers. In this study, a novel method (CFFA) Combined by peak-picking method, Fluorescence spectral indexes, Fluorescence regional integration, and Absorption spectral indexes were designed to extract wide-ranging information from the combination of the excitation-emission matrix (EEM) and absorption spectrum (Abs) of water samples. More than 600 freshwater samples were collected at 180 sections of 60 rivers in the Yangzhou urban region from April 2018 and May 2019. The CFFA inputs form was applied to establish the prediction models of water quality indexes (CODCr, CODMn, NH3-N, TP, TN, and BOD5) based on ε-Support Vector Regression (ε-SVR). To examine the performance of the prediction models, contrastive analysis among CFFA and the other three input models was carried out. Results show that CFFA input models have shorter modeling time, lower RMSE and MAPE, and higher R2 in both training and testing sets, and each constituent part of CFFA is important to the precise prediction on the basis of the ablating analysis. Our study highlights that SVR models with the CFFA input trained by numerous and various water samples could effectively predict multiple indexes for real-time water quality monitoring.

Whole-brain radiotherapy plus sequential or simultaneous integrated boost for the treatment of a limited number of brain metastases in non-small cell lung cancer: A single-institution study.

BACKGROUND: To compare the survival outcomes and neurocognitive dysfunction in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastases (BM ≤10) treated by whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) with sequential integrated boost (SEB) or simultaneous integrated boost (SIB). MATERIALS: Fifty-two NSCLC patients with a limited number of BMs were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty cases received WBRT+SEB (WBRT: 3 Gy*10 fractions and BMs: 4 Gy*3 fractions; SEB group), and 32 cases received WBRT+SIB (WBRT: 3 Gy*10 fractions and BMs: 4 Gy*10 fractions; SIB group). The survival and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The cumulative 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates in the SEB vs SIB groups were 60.0% vs 47.8%, 41.1% vs 19.1%, and 27.4% vs 0%, respectively. The median survival times in the SEB and SIB groups were 15 and 10 months, respectively. The difference in survival rate was significant (P = .046). Subgroup analysis revealed that 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates and median survival time in the SEB group were significantly superior to those of the SIB group, especially for male patients (age <60 years) with 1-2 BMs (P < .05). The MMSE score of the SEB group at 3 months after radiation was higher than that of the SIB group (P < .05). Nevertheless, WBRT+SEB required a longer treatment time and greater cost (P < .005). CONCLUSIONS: WBRT + SEB results in better survival outcomes than WBRT+SIB, especially for male patients (age <60 years) with 1-2 BMs. WBRT+SEB also appeared to induce less neurocognitive impairment than WBRT+SIB.

Resistance risk assessment for fludioxonil in Sclerotinia homoeocarpa in China.

Sclerotinia homoeocarpa causes dollar spot disease on turfgrass and is a serious problem on many species worldwide. Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, is not currently registered for dollar spot control in China. In this study, the baseline sensitivity to fludioxonil was established using an in vitro assay for 105 isolates of S. homoeocarpa collected from 10 locations in different regions of China. Results indicate that the frequency distribution of effective concentration for 50% inhibition of mycelial growth (EC50) values of the S. homoeocarpa isolates was unimodal (W = 0.9847, P = .2730). The mean EC50 value was 0.0020 ±â€¯0.0006 µg/ml with a range from 0.0003 to 0.0035 µg/ml. A total of 7 fludioxonil-resistant mutants were obtained in laboratory, the mutants were stable in fludioxonil sensitivity after the 10th transfer, with resistance factor (RF) ranging from 4.320 to >13,901.4. The mutants showed a positive cross-resistance between fludioxonil and the dicarboximide fungicide iprodione, but not propiconazole, fluazinam, and thiophanate-methyl. When mycelial growth rate, pathogenicity and osmotic sensitivity were assessed, the mutants decreased in the fitness compared with their parental isolates. Sequence alignment of the histidine kinase gene Shos1 revealed a 13-bp fragment deletion only in one mutant, no mutations were observed on Shos1 in the rest resistant mutants.

[Analysis of heavy metals distribution characteristics and pollution assessment in agricultural region soils of Huaihe basin].

By means of field sampling and laboratory analysis, the content distribution characteristics of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in agricultural region soils of Huaihe basin in Anhui province were analyzed. Assessment of heavy metal pollutions was conducted using enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index and potential ecological risk index. The results showed that the average mass fraction of Cd and Cu was 0.113 5 and 22.09 mg x kg(-1) respectively in the study area soil, which were above the background values 0.097 and 20.4 mg x kg(-1) in Anhui Province. The average mass fraction of other four heavy metals did not exceed the average values of Anhui Province. The results of the evaluations from geoaccumulation index and ecological risk assessment discovered that Cd is the strongest pollution metal among six heavy metals in the study area soil. For some samples of the study soil, Cd was slight risk for the ecosystem. The ecosystem risks caused by the other five heavy metals were not obviously for the sampling points. The entire study area soils were mid integrated potential ecological risk.