Release characteristics and risk assessment of volatile sulfur compounds in municipal wastewater treatment plants.

In recent years, the malodorous gases generated by sewage treatment plants have gradually received widespread attention due to their sensory stimulation and health hazards. The emission concentration, sensory evaluation and health risk assessment of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) were all explored in two municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with oxidation ditch and anaerobic/oxic treatment process, respectively. The VSCs concentration showed the highest amount in the primary treatment unit in both the two WWTPs (73.3% in Plant A and 93.0% in Plant B), while the H2S took the main role in the composition of VSCs. However, H2S took a larger percentage in Plant A (84.5% âˆ¼ 87.0%) rather than Plant B (61.2% âˆ¼ 83.5%), which may be due to the different operating conditions and sludge properties in different treatment process. Besides, H2S also gained the first rank in the sensory evaluation and health risk assessment, which may cause considerable sensory irritation and health risk to workers and surrounding residents. Furthermore, the influencing factor analyses of VSCs emission showed that the temperature of water and air, ORP of sludge made the greatest effect on VSCs release. This study provides theoretical and data support for the research of VSCs emission control in WWTPs.

Development of a Health Behavioral Digital Intervention for Patients With Hypertension Based on an Intelligent Health Promotion System and WeChat: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of timely medication, physical activity (PA), a healthy diet, and blood pressure (BP) monitoring for promoting health outcomes and behavioral changes among patients with hypertension is supported by a substantial amount of literature, with "adherence" playing a pivotal role. Nevertheless, there is a lack of consistent evidence regarding whether digital interventions can improve adherence to healthy behaviors among individuals with hypertension. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to develop a health behavioral digital intervention for hypertensive patients (HBDIHP) based on an intelligent health promotion system and WeChat following the behavior change wheel (BCW) theory and digital micro-intervention care (DMIC) model and assess its efficacy in controlling BP and improving healthy behavior adherence. METHODS: A 2-arm, randomized trial design was used. We randomly assigned 68 individuals aged >60 years with hypertension in a 1:1 ratio to either the control or experimental group. The digital intervention was established through the following steps: (1) developing digital health education materials focused on adherence to exercise prescriptions, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), prescribed medication, and monitoring of BP; (2) using the BCW theory to select behavior change techniques; (3) constructing the intervention's logic following the guidelines of the DMIC model; (4) creating an intervention manual including the aforementioned elements. Prior to the experiment, participants underwent physical examinations at the community health service center's intelligent health cabin and received intelligent personalized health recommendations. The experimental group underwent a 12-week behavior intervention via WeChat, while the control group received routine health education and a self-management manual. The primary outcomes included BP and adherence indicators. Data analysis was performed using SPSS, with independent sample t tests, chi-square tests, paired t tests, and McNemar tests. A P value <.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The final analysis included 54 participants with a mean age of 67.24 (SD 4.19) years (n=23 experimental group, n=31 control group). The experimental group had improvements in systolic BP (-7.36 mm Hg, P=.002), exercise time (856.35 metabolic equivalent [MET]-min/week, P<.001), medication adherence (0.56, P=.001), BP monitoring frequency (P=.02), and learning performance (3.23, P<.001). Both groups experienced weight reduction (experimental: 1.2 kg, P=.002; control: 1.11 kg, P=.009) after the intervention. The diet types and quantities for both groups (P<.001) as well as the subendocardial viability ratio (0.16, P=.01) showed significant improvement. However, there were no statistically significant changes in other health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The observations suggest our program may have enhanced specific health outcomes and adherence to health behaviors in older adults with hypertension. However, a longer-term, larger-scale trial is necessary to validate the effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200062643; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojEN.html?proj=172782. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/46883.

Phantom study of a self-shielded X-ray bone age assessment instrument against scattered radiation in children.

Hand-wrist radiography is the most common and accurate method for evaluating children's bone age. To reduce the scattered radiation of radiosensitive organs in bone age assessment, we designed a small X-ray instrument with radioprotection function by adding metal enclosure for X-ray shielding. We used a phantom operator to compare the scattered radiation doses received by sensitive organs under three different protection scenarios (proposed instrument, radiation personal protective equipment, no protection). The proposed instrument showed greater reduction in the mean dose of a single exposure compared with radiation personal protective equipment especially on the left side which was proximal to the X-ray machine (≥80.0% in eye and thyroid, ≥99.9% in breast and gonad). The proposed instrument provides a new pathway towards more convenient and efficient radioprotection.

Release characteristics and risk assessment of volatile sulfur compounds in a municipal wastewater treatment plant with odor collection device.

Due to the malodorous effects and health risks of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) emitted from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), odor collection devices have been extensively utilized; however, their effectiveness has rarely been tested. In the present investigation, the characteristics of VSCs released in a WWTP equipped with gas collection hoods are methodically examined by gas chromatography. The obtained results indicate that the concentration of VSCs in the ambient air can be substantially reduced, and the primary treatment unit still achieves the highest concentration of VSCs. Compared to WWTPs without odor collection devices, the concentration of H2S in this WWTP is not dominant, but its sensory effects and health risks are still not negligible. Additionally, research on the emission of VSCs from sludge reveals that the total VSCs emitted from dewatering sludge reaches the highest level. Volatile organic sulfur compounds play a dominant role in the component and sensory effects of VSCs released by sludge. This study provides both data and theoretical support for analyzing the effectiveness of odor collection devices in WWTPs, as well as reducing the source of VSCs. The findings can be effectively employed to optimize these devices and improve their performance.

Efficacy assessment of superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass surgery in treating moyamoya disease from a hemodynamic perspective: a pilot study using computational modeling and perfusion imaging.

BACKGROUND: Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass is a common surgery in treating moyamoya disease (MMD) with occluded MCA. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation might provide a simple, non-invasive, and low-cost tool to evaluate the efficacy of STA-MCA surgery. AIM: We aim to quantitatively investigate the treatment efficacy of STA-MCA surgery in improving the blood flow of MMD patients using CFD simulation. METHODS: This retrospective study included 11 MMD patients with occlusion around proximal MCA who underwent STA-MCA bypass surgery. CFD simulation was performed using patient-specific blood pressure and postoperative artery geometry. The volumetric flow rates of STA and the bypass, average flow velocity in the proximal segment of transcranial bypass, transcranial pressure drop, and transcranial flow resistance were measured and compared with a postoperative increment of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in MCA territories derived from perfusion imaging. Per-branch pressure drop from model inlet to bypass branch outlet was calculated. RESULTS: The volumetric flow rates of STA and the bypass were 80.84 ± 14.54 mL/min and 46.03 ± 4.21 mL/min. Average flow velocity in proximal bypass, transcranial pressure drop, and transcranial flow resistance were 0.19 ± 0.07 m/s, 3.72 ± 3.10 mmHg, and 6.54 ± 5.65 10-8 Pa s m-3. Postoperative mean increment of CBF in MCA territories was 16.03 ± 11.72 mL·100 g-1·min-1. Per-branch pressure drop was 10.96 ± 5.59 mmHg and 7.26 ± 4.25 mmHg in branches with and without stenosis. CONCLUSIONS: CFD simulation results are consistent with CBF observation in verifying the efficacy of STA-MCA bypass, where postoperative stenosis may influence the hemodynamics.

An assessment of prognostic immunity markers in breast cancer.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and immunity gene signatures have been reported to be significantly prognostic in breast cancer but have not yet been applied for calculation of risk of recurrence in clinical assays. A compact set of 17 immunity genes was derived herein from an Affymetrix-derived gene expression dataset including 1951 patients (AFFY1951). The 17 immunity genes demonstrated significant prognostic stratification of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer patients with high proliferation gene expression. Further analysis of blood and breast cancer single-cell RNA-seq datasets revealed that the 17 immunity genes were derived from TIL that were inactive in the blood and became active in tumor tissue. Expression of the 17 immunity genes was significantly (p < 2.2E-16, n = 91) correlated with TILs percentage on H&E in triple negative breast cancer. To demonstrate the impact of tumor immunity genes on prognosis, we built a Cox model to incorporate breast cancer subtypes, proliferation score and immunity score (72 gene panel) with significant prediction of outcomes (p < 0.0001, n = 1951). The 72 gene panel and its risk evaluation model were validated in two other published gene expression datasets including Illumina beads array data METABRIC (p < 0.0001, n = 1997) and whole transcriptomic mRNA-seq data TCGA (p = 0.00019, n = 996) and in our own targeted RNA-seq data TARGETSEQ (p < 0.0001, n = 303). Further examination of the 72 gene panel in single cell RNA-seq of tumors demonstrated tumor heterogeneity with more than two subtypes observed in each tumor. In conclusion, immunity gene expression was an important parameter for prognosis and should be incorporated into current multi-gene assays to improve assessment of risk of distant metastasis in breast cancer.

Informative priors on fetal fraction increase power of the noninvasive prenatal screen.

PURPOSE: Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) sequences a mixture of the maternal and fetal cell-free DNA. Fetal trisomy can be detected by examining chromosomal dosages estimated from sequencing reads. The traditional method uses the Z-test, which compares a subject against a set of euploid controls, where the information of fetal fraction is not fully utilized. Here we present a Bayesian method that leverages informative priors on the fetal fraction. METHOD: Our Bayesian method combines the Z-test likelihood and informative priors of the fetal fraction, which are learned from the sex chromosomes, to compute Bayes factors. Bayesian framework can account for nongenetic risk factors through the prior odds, and our method can report individual positive/negative predictive values. RESULTS: Our Bayesian method has more power than the Z-test method. We analyzed 3,405 NIPS samples and spotted at least 9 (of 51) possible Z-test false positives. CONCLUSION: Bayesian NIPS is more powerful than the Z-test method, is able to account for nongenetic risk factors through prior odds, and can report individual positive/negative predictive values.

Change of water consumption and its potential influential factors in Shanghai: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Different water choices affect access to drinking water with different quality. Previous studies suggested social-economic status may affect the choice of domestic drinking water. The aim of this study is to investigate whether recent social economic changes in China affect residents' drinking water choices. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey to investigate residents' water consumption behaviour in 2011. Gender, age, education, personal income, housing condition, risk perception and personal preference of a certain type of water were selected as potential influential factors. Univariate and backward stepwise logistic regression analyses were performed to analyse the relation between these factors and different drinking water choices. Basic information was compared with that of a historical survey in the same place in 2001. Self-reported drinking-water-related diarrhoea was found correlated with different water choices and water hygiene treatment using chi-square test. RESULTS: The percentage of tap water consumption remained relatively stable and a preferred choice, with 58.99% in 2001 and 58.25% in 2011. The percentage of bottled/barrelled water consumption was 36.86% in 2001 and decreased to 25.75% in 2011. That of household filtrated water was 4.15% in 2001 and increased to 16.00% in 2011. Logistic regression model showed strong correlation between one's health belief and drinking water choices (P < 0.001). Age, personal income, education, housing condition, risk perception also played important roles (P < 0.05) in the models. Drinking-water-related diarrhoea was found in all types of water and improper water hygiene behaviours still existed among residents. CONCLUSIONS: Personal health belief, housing condition, age, personal income, education, taste and if worm ever founded in tap water affected domestic drinking water choices in Shanghai.