COVID-19 increased microplastics (MP) contamination due to the extensive use of single-use personal protective equipment, particularly three-layer face masks. MP from face masks enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which were not designed to remove them. We utilized nitrifying-denitrifying microbial consortia and synthetic urban wastewater to evaluate the biotransformation of MP from each layer of three-layer face masks made of polypropylene (PP). The biotransformation carried out by the nitrifying-denitrifying consortia altered the surface of the outer, middle, and inner layers, as a consequence of the chemical modification of the PP-MP structure. Abiotic controls did not show changes on the physicochemical and thermal properties of PP-MP. Biotic tests showed increments in both the carbonyl and hydroxyl indices of the three layers in 42 days. The outer layer showed the greatest degree of biotransformation, which was consistent with morphological changes detected by scanning electron microscopy and in physicochemical properties such as crystallinity, evaporation, and fusion temperature. The nitrifying-denitrifying consortia, which removed 99 % of the total nitrogen from the synthetic urban wastewater, had several genera with proven capacity to biotransform MP such as Cephaloticoccus and Pseudomonas.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136161 | DOI Listing |
Med Image Anal
January 2025
School of Engineering Medicine and School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China; Key Laboratory of Big DataBased Precision Medicine (Beihang University), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, Beijing, 100191, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; National Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, Beijing, 100853, China. Electronic address:
Precise cerebrovascular segmentation in Time-of-Flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography (TOF-MRA) data is crucial for computer-aided clinical diagnosis. The sparse distribution of cerebrovascular structures within TOF-MRA images often results in high costs for manual data labeling. Leveraging unlabeled TOF-MRA data can significantly enhance model performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiol Cardiothorac Imaging
February 2025
From the Department of Biomedical Engineering (X.Z.) and Columbia Magnetic Resonance Research Center (CMRRC) (W.S.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Departments of Medicine (C.B.C., J.P.F.) and Radiology (J.P.F.), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY (M.R.P.); Department of Radiology (M.R.P., S.M.D., S.J.), Department of Medicine (M.C.B., R.G.B.), Department of Epidemiology (R.G.B.), Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics (W.S.), and Institute of Human Nutrition (W.S.), Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 632 W 168th St, PH-17, New York, NY 10032; Department of Radiology (B.A.V., J.A.C.L.) and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine (N.N.H.), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md; Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich (P.P.A.); Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wis (D.A.B.); Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (D.C.); Departments of Radiology, Medicine, and the Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa (E.A.H.); Sections on Cardiology and Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (D.W.K.); Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Allergy (J.A.K.) and Department of Radiology, College of Medicine (M.G.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill; Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (Y.J.L., J.L.), Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Allergy, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine (P.G.W.), and Cardiovascular Research Institute (P.G.W.), University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif; Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC (J.O., S.P.P.); Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Ariz (V.E.O.); Department of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (R.P.); Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn (J.D.S.); Department of Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany (J.V.C.); and BREATH, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Hannover, Germany (J.V.C.).
Purpose To assess the repeatability of real-time cine pulmonary MRI measures of metronome-paced tachypnea (MPT)-induced dynamic hyperinflation and its relationship with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity. Materials and Methods SubPopulations and InteRmediate Outcome Measures In COPD Study (SPIROMICS) (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier no.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Paediatrics, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, GBR.
Introduction This report explores patient satisfaction in a dental sedation service in primary care for paediatric patients. The study explores different behavioural management techniques and additional supportive aids as adjuncts to inhalation sedation to improve patient satisfaction. Aim and objective To determine patient satisfaction with pre-assessment, treatment and aftercare in inhalation sedation services in primary care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Neurorobot
January 2025
The College of Artificial Intelligence, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang, China.
U-Net and its variants have been widely used in the field of image segmentation. In this paper, a lightweight multi-scale Ghost U-Net (MSGU-Net) network architecture is proposed. This can efficiently and quickly process image segmentation tasks while generating high-quality object masks for each object.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep Breath
January 2025
Soroka Medical Center, Yitzhack I. Rager Blvd. 151, Be'er Sheva, Israel.
Purpose: This study aimed to validate the new DormoTech Vlab device's performance, usability, and validity as a sleep test and physiological data recorder. The novel device has been designed for patient comfort, ease of use, and home-based assessment of sleep disordered breathing and other sleep-related measurements.
Methods: Forty-seven adults (mean age = 52 years, 42% female, body mass index 29.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!