Coexistence of territorial competitor ants in fragmented boreal forest landscape.

The distribution of species in a patchy habitat may be influenced by competitive interactions. The dominant and highly competitive boreal ant species belong to the Formica rufa group. A pair of species, Formica aquilonia and Formica polyctena, require extensive territories due to their multi-nest breeding habits.

Towards zero pollution vehicles by advanced fuels and exhaust aftertreatment technologies.

Vehicular emissions deteriorate air quality in urban areas notably. The aim of this study was to conduct an in-depth characterization of gaseous and particle emissions, and their potential to form secondary aerosol emissions, of the cars meeting the most recent emission Euro 6d standards, and to investigate the impact of fuel as well as engine and aftertreatment technologies on pollutants at warm and cold ambient temperatures. Studied vehicles were a diesel car with a diesel particulate filter (DPF), two gasoline cars (with and without a gasoline particulate filter (GPF)), and a car using compressed natural gas (CNG).

Toxicological evaluation and concentration of airborne PM in high air pollution period in Guangzhou, China.

The emissions and exposure limits for airborne PM are lacking, with limited scientific data for toxicity. Therefore, we continuously monitored and calculated the number and mass concentrations of airborne PM in December 2017, January 2018 and March 2018 during the high pollution period in Guangzhou. We collected PM from the same period and analyzed their chemical components.

Emissions from modern engines induce distinct effects in human olfactory mucosa cells, depending on fuel and aftertreatment.

Ultrafine particles (UFP) with a diameter of ≤0.1 μm, are contributors to ambient air pollution and derived mainly from traffic emissions, yet their health effects remain poorly characterized. The olfactory mucosa (OM) is located at the rooftop of the nasal cavity and directly exposed to both the environment and the brain.

Previous radiotherapy improves treatment responses and causes a trend toward longer time to progression among patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor-related adverse events.

Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are frequently encountered by patients during immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment and are associated with better treatment outcomes. The sequencing of radiotherapy (RT) and ICIs is widely used in current clinical practice, but its effect on survival has remained unclear.

Methods: In a real-world multicenter study including 521 patients who received ICI treatment for metastatic or locally advanced cancer, RT schedules and timing, irAEs, time to progression, overall survival, and treatment responses were retrospectively reviewed.