A new point to correlate the multi-dimensional assessment for the aging process of microfibers.

Fiber, the most prevalent plastic type, can be weathered and eroded easily in the natural environment. Although a variety of techniques have been applied to characterize the aging characteristics of plastics, a comprehensive understanding was critically essential to correlate the multi-dimensional assessment of the weathering process of microfibers and their environmental behavior. Therefore, in this study, microfibers were prepared from the face masks and Pb2+ was selected as a typical metal pollutant. The weathering process was simulated by xenon aging and chemical aging, and then subjected to Pb2+adsorption to examine the effect of weathering processes. The changes in fiber property and structure were detected by using various characterization techniques, with the development of several aging indices to quantify the changes. The two-dimensional Fourier transform infrared correlation spectroscopy analysis (2D-FTIR-COS) and Raman mapping were also performed to understand the order of changes in the surface functional groups of the fiber. The results showed that both aging processes altered the surface morphology, physicochemical properties, and polypropylene chain conformations of the microfibers, with stronger effect after chemical aging. The aging process also enhanced the affinity of microfiber to Pb2+. Moreover, the changes and correlation of the aging indices were analyzed, showing that the maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) was positively related to carbonyl index (CI), oxygen-to-carbon atom (O/C) ratio and intensity ratio of the Raman peaks (I841/808), but negatively related to contact angle and the temperature at the maximum weight loss rate (Tm). The O/C ratio was more suitable to quantify the surface changes with lower aging degree while the CI value explained the chemical aging process better. Overall, this study discussed the weathering processes of microfibers based on a multi-dimensional investigation, and attempted to correlate the aging characteristics of the microfibers and their environmental behavior.

Impact of COVID-19 on HIV Prevention Access: A Multi-platform Social Media Infodemiology Study.

This study seeks to identify and characterize key barriers associated with PrEP therapy as self-reported by users on social media platforms. We used data mining and unsupervised machine learning approaches to collect and analyze COVID-19 and PrEP-related posts from three social media platforms including Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram. Predominant themes detected by unsupervised machine learning and manual annotation included users expressing uncertainty about PrEP treatment adherence due to COVID-19, challenges related to accessibility of clinics, concerns about PrEP costs and insurance coverage, perceived lower HIV risk leading to lack of adherence, and misinformation about PrEP use for COVID-19 prevention.

Longitudinal analysis of tobacco and vape retail density in California.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco retailer density may be associated with greater youth initiation and reduced success during quit attempts; however, the extent to which tobacco retailer density has changed overtime across multiple categories of retailers has not been reported. METHODS: Data on licensed tobacco retailers within California from 2015-2019 were obtained from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Store type was categorized by automated cross-referencing with Yelp. Geolocations were aggregated at county level for analyzing longitudinal trends in changes in tobacco retail density including demographic characteristics. RESULTS: The number of active CA tobacco retailer licenses increased from 19825 in 2015 to 25635 in 2019. The highest percent increase in tobacco retailer licenses (9.1%) was observed in 2017. The number of specialized tobacco stores was highest in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside counties. We observed a significant increase in the number of active licenses for non-specialized and specialized tobacco stores, both overall and after controlling for the size of populations within each region. Time was a statistically significant predictor for the number of active licenses for only non-specialized stores, after adjusting for covariates. Regional volume of retailers was positively associated with higher proportion of women, lower median household income, and higher proportion of Hispanic residents. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring the changes in tobacco retail density and associated sociodemographic factors over time can help to identify communities at higher risk for tobacco and nicotine product exposure and access, and its associated health disparities.

Can Economic Growth and Environmental Protection Achieve a "Win-Win" Situation? Empirical Evidence from China.

Achieving a "win-win" situation regarding economic growth and environmental protection has become a common goal for sustainable development in all countries around the world. As the world's largest developing country and the second largest economy, China has been striving to maintain economic growth while improving environmental quality to achieve its sustainable development goals. Applying the decoupling approach, a model widely used to quantify the relationship between the environment and the economy, this study analyzed the relationship between the economy and the environment, examining the decoupling performance of economic growth and environmental impacts in 30 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities to investigate whether economic growth and environmental protection have achieved a "win-win" situation. Nighttime light (NTL) data were used to measure the performance of economic growth. In addition, an environmental pressure index (EPI) assessment framework covering 6 primary and 11 secondary indicators was constructed to measure the environmental quality of China over time. First, NTL data proved to be a valid data source for assessing decoupling performance; second, environmental pressure at both the national and provincial levels significantly decreased during the study period; third, the relationship between the economy and the environment has been further improved, and economic growth and environmental protection have achieved a "win-win" situation. These findings offer an in-depth analysis of the decoupling of the economy and the environment in China and serve as a guide for future implementation strategies for sustainable development in various regions.

Survival outcome assessment for triple-negative breast cancer: a nomogram analysis based on integrated clinicopathological, sonographic, and mammographic characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to incorporate clinicopathological, sonographic, and mammographic characteristics to construct and validate a nomogram model for predicting disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). METHODS: Patients diagnosed with TNBC at our institution between 2011 and 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. A nomogram model was generated based on clinicopathological, sonographic, and mammographic variables that were associated with 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis in the training set. The nomogram model was validated according to the concordance index (C-index) and calibration curves in the validation set. RESULTS: A total of 636 TNBC patients were enrolled and divided into training cohort (n = 446) and validation cohort (n = 190). Clinical factors including tumor size > 2 cm, axillary dissection, presence of LVI, and sonographic features such as angular/spiculated margins, posterior acoustic shadows, and presence of suspicious lymph nodes on preoperative US showed a tendency towards worse DFS. The multivariate analysis showed that no adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 6.7, 95% CI: 2.6, 17.5, p < 0.0005), higher axillary tumor burden (HR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.0, 7.1, p = 0.045), and ≥ 3 malignant features on ultrasound (HR = 2.4, CI: 1.1, 5.0, p = 0.021) were identified as independent prognostic factors associated with poorer DFS outcomes. In the nomogram, the C-index was 0.693 for the training cohort and 0.694 for the validation cohort. The calibration plots also exhibited excellent consistency between the nomogram-predicted and actual survival probabilities in both the training and validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical variables and sonographic features were correlated with the prognosis of TNBCs. The nomogram model based on three variables including no adjuvant chemotherapy, higher axillary tumor load, and more malignant sonographic features showed good predictive performance for poor survival outcomes of TNBC. KEY POINTS: • The absence of adjuvant chemotherapy, heavy axillary tumor load, and malignant-like sonographic features can predict DFS in patients with TNBC. • Mammographic features of TNBC could not predict the survival outcomes of patients with TNBC. • The nomogram integrating clinicopathological and sonographic characteristics is a reliable predictive model for the prognostic outcome of TNBC.

Liquidity effects on oil volatility forecasting: From fintech perspective.

Fin-tech is an emerging field, inspiring revolutionary innovations in the financial field. It may initiate the evolutionary episode of the financial research, where volatility forecasting is a crucial topic in finance. For forecasting volatility, GARCH model is a prevailing model, however, further improvement of the GARCH model is still challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate how Fintech can play a part in volatility forecasting by employing a metaheuristic procedure called Genetic Programming. On the basis, we are able to develop a new volatility forecasting model, which can beat GARCH family models (including GARCH, IGARCH and TGARCH models) in a significant way. Since genetic programming is an evolutionary algorithm based on the principles of natural selection, this innovative work will be a breakthrough point in the financial area. The innovation of this paper demonstrates how GP technology can be applied in the financial field, attempting to explore the volatility forecasting area from the combination of new technology and finance, known as fintech. More importantly, when the formula of volatility forecasting is unknown as we introduce a new factor, namely, the liquidity factor, we unveil that how GP method can be helpful in determining the specific volatility forecasting model format. We thereby exhibit the liquidity effects on volatility forecasting filed from the fintech perspective.

A geospatial analysis of age disparities in resolute localities of tobacco and vaping-specific storefronts in California.

INTRODUCTION: Concomitant with the popularization of vaping, vape shops have dramatically proliferated over the past years. This study assesses whether vape storefronts in California are significantly associated with density of different age groups, and whether this differs between tobacco storefronts or non-specific tobacco retailers. METHODS: Addresses for licensed tobacco retailers were obtained from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Business names and addresses were used to obtain store categories cross-referenced from Yelp. Using a cross-sectional ecological design, stores categorized as 'Vape Shop' or 'Tobacco Shop' were geolocated and compared with age-related variables from the American Community Survey. Regression was conducted in R to determine relationships between age group concentration, in ventiles, and proportion of tracts with tobacco-specific or vape-specific stores. Geospatial visualization was conducted using ArcGIS. RESULTS: We found 848 vape shops, 820 tobacco shops, 419 categorized as both, and 20320 retailers with neither category. Overall, 1800 tobacco and/or vape shops were categorized in 1557 of California's 23194 census tracts. A positive linear association was found between ventiles of two age categories, 20-24 and 25-34 years, and proportion of tracts with vape-specific or tobacco-specific shops separately. CONCLUSIONS: Positive associations were found for ages 20-34 years but not for other ages, suggesting vape shops are strategically located in areas populated by young adults. Location-based targeting increases access, thereby increasing proportion of tobacco users, and could be a critical factor in e-cigarette uptake and use. Further study to identify additional age-related demographic characteristics among clientele of tobacco storefronts is warranted.

A novel colorimetric probe with positive correlation between toxicity and the reaction for the assessment of chromium ions.

Different valence states of chromium ions possess huge differences in toxicity. Hence, it is an innovative idea to design a reasonable probe to detect Cr according to the toxicity characteristics of different valence states. We report a novel, rapid, simple and accurate probe for the detection of Cr3+ and Cr6+ ions. As a probe, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are successfully modified using tartaric acid (TA) and 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl] ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) via a two-step modification; the probe shows an increase in the sensitivity towards Cr6+ and decreases towards Cr3+, which is consistent with their toxicity characteristics, benefiting the assessment of total Cr toxicity. The proposed probe achieves considerable two-channel (ultraviolet absorption spectrum and naked eye vision) detection of Cr3+ and Cr6+ providing wide linearity regions and low detection limits. Meanwhile, the results of the interference experiments and analysis of the real samples showed high selectivity and accuracy of the proposed method. With popularization, this method possesses great potential in environmental monitoring and control.

Quantitative shear wave elastography for noninvasive assessment of solid pancreatic masses.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of quantitative shear wave elastography (SWE) for the differential diagnosis of solid pancreatic tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 66 solid pancreatic masses were enrolled in this study and all the lesions underwent quantitative SWE. The stiffness of the masses was expressed in shear wave velocity (SWV, m/s). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to assess the diagnostic performance of quantitative SWE. The optimal cutoff value for SWV in the differentiation of benign from malignant masses was determined. RESULTS: The final diagnoses were 26 benign and 40 malignant masses. The SWVs were statistically higher for pancreatic malignant masses compared with those for benign masses (3.30±1.22 m/s versus 1.31±0.64 m/s; P < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC, 0.93) was obtained. When the best cut-off point was 1.77 m/s, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 92.4%, 90.0%, and 96.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative SWE is a novel technique that can be considered as a quantitative and objective diagnostic tool for prediction of pancreas malignancy.

Fecal DNA isolation and degradation in clam Cyclina sinensis: noninvasive DNA isolation for conservation and genetic assessment.

BACKGROUND: To avoid destructive sampling for conservation and genetic assessment, we isolated the DNA of clam Cyclina sinensis from their feces. DNA electrophoresis and PCR amplification were used to determine the quality of fecal DNA. And we analyzed the effects of different conditions on the degradation of feces and fecal DNA. RESULTS: The clear fecal DNA bands were detected by electrophoresis, and PCR amplification using clam fecal DNA as template was effective and reliable, suggesting that clam feces can be used as an ideal material for noninvasive DNA isolation. In addition, by analyzing the effects of different environmental temperatures and soaking times on the degradation of feces and fecal DNA, we found that the optimum temperature was 4 °C. In 15 days, the feces maintained good texture, and the quality of fecal DNA was good. At 28 °C, the feces degraded in 5 days, and the quality of fecal DNA was poor. CONCLUSIONS: The clam feces can be used as an ideal material for noninvasive DNA isolation. Moreover, the quality of fecal DNA is negatively correlated with environmental temperature and soaking time.

Non-point source pollution risks in a drinking water protection zone based on remote sensing data embedded within a nutrient budget model.

A simple, transparent and reliable method for evaluating non-point source pollution (NPSP) risks to drinking water source areas lacking observational data is proposed herein. The NPSP risks are assessed by using nutrient budget models for total nitrogen and total phosphorus, making the best use of remote sensing and field survey data. We demonstrate its potential using a case study of the Chaihe Reservoir in northeastern China. Fertilizer inputs and crop-uptake outputs were estimated based on normalized difference vegetation index, which is derived from remote sensing as indicators of crop growth and production. The nutrient balances for this area showed surpluses of both N and P within the soil system. Estimated imbalances per unit area were consistent with statistical relationships derived from all Chinese counties, demonstrating that the proposed method is reliable. The surplus P amounts were higher than the standard threshold for NPSP risks, indicating the existence of a potential contamination risk of P to this drinking water source.