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The results indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust and privacy concern are direct predictors of patients' behavior to accept technology in availing healthcare services. In summary, this research provides an empirical contribution to the literature on effect of trust and privacy concerns on acceptance of technology in healthcare.

Radiomics analyses has been proposed to interrogate the biology of tumour as well as to predict/assess response to therapy in vivo. The objective of this work was to assess the sensitivity of radiomics features to noise, resolution, and tumour volume in the context of a co-clinical trial.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients were recruited into an ongoing co-clinical imaging trial. Sub-typed matched TNBC patient-derived tumour xenografts (PDX) were generated to investigate optimal co-clinical MR radiomic features. The MR imaging protocol included T1-weighed and T2-weighted imaging. To test the sensitivity of radiomics to resolution, PDX were imaged at three different resolutions. Multiple sets of images with varying signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were generated, and an image independent patch-based method was implemented to measure the noise levels. Forty-eight radiomic features were extracted from manually segmented 2D and 3D segmented tumours and normal tissues of T1- and T2- weighted co-clinical MR images.

Sixteen radiomics features were identified as volume dependent and corrected for volume-dependency following normalization. Features from grey-level run-length matrix (GLRLM), grey-level size zone matrix (GLSZM) were identified as most sensitive to noise. GW0742 Radiomic features Kurtosis and Run-length variance (RLV) from GLSZM were most sensitive to changes in resolution in both T1w and T2w MRI. In general, 3D radiomic features were more robust compared to 2D (single slice) measures, although the former exhibited higher variability between subjects.

Tumour volume, noise characteristics, and image resolution significantly impact radiomic analysis in co-clinical studies.

Tumour volume, noise characteristics, and image resolution significantly impact radiomic analysis in co-clinical studies.The increase of annual organic wastes generated worldwide has become a major problem for many countries since the mismanagement could bring about negative effects on the environment besides, being costly for an innocuous disposal. Recently, insect larvae have been investigated to valorize organic wastes. This entomoremediation approach is rising from the ability of the insect larvae to convert organic wastes into its biomass via assimilation process as catapulted by the natural demand to complete its lifecycle. Among the insect species, black soldier fly or Hermetia illucens is widely researched since the larvae can grow in various environments while being saprophagous in nature. Even though black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) can ingest various decay materials, some organic wastes such as sewage sludge or lignocellulosic wastes such as waste coconut endosperm are destitute of decent nutrients that could retard the BSFL growth. Hence, blending with nutrient-rich low-cost substrates such as palm kernel expeller, sr researches.In this study, coral soft tissue, skeleton and zooxanthellae, as well as their ambient sediment and seawater were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a special focus on perylene. Samples were collected from two different environments the Kharg Island, which is affected by numerous anthropogenic stressors and Larak Island, which is mainly used for recreational and fishing activities and is characterized by dense vegetation. The heaviest loadings of PAHs were observed on Kharg Island, yet higher concentrations of perylene were detected on Larak Island and it was identified as the prevailing compound in this area. Pyrogenic perylene sources were prevailing on Kharg Island, whereas the perylene on Larak Island was determined to be of natural origin. After analyzing the biological samples, higher perylene concentrations were observed in zooxanthellae than in tissue and skeleton. The lowest and the highest perylene loadings were found in the tissue and skeleton of Platygyra daedalea and Porites lutea, respectively. This applies to both reefs. We found that perylene distribution in the corals and their ambient environment follows an irregular pattern, demonstrating remarkable effects from the local inputs. The lipid content in the coral tissue and the location of the coral colony were deduced to be the main factors affecting perylene distribution in corals. On Larak Island, a significant correlation between perylene loadings in sediment and corals was observed. On Kharg Island, a strong interaction between the water column and the corals was detected. The symbiotic relationship between the corals and zooxanthellae might play the most significant role in bioconcentration and bioaccumulation of perylene. Due to the insolubility of PAHs, they could be transferred through a food chain to zooxanthellae and eventually deposited in the coral bodies.Nutrient loading is a major threat to estuaries and coastal environments worldwide, therefore, it is critical that we have good monitoring tools to detect early signs of degradation in these ecologically important and vulnerable ecosystems. Traditionally, bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates have been used for ecological health assessment but recent advances in environmental genomics mean we can now characterize less visible forms of biodiversity, offering a more holistic view of the ecosystem and potentially providing early warning signals of disturbance. We carried out a manipulative nutrient enrichment experiment (0, 150 and 600 g N fertilizer m-2) in two estuaries in New Zealand to assess the effects of nutrient loading on benthic communities. After seven months of enrichment, environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding was used to examine the response of eukaryotic (18S rRNA), diatom only (rbcL) and bacterial (16S rRNA) communities. Multivariate analyses demonstrated changes in eukaryotic, diatom and bacterial r turn-around times and lower costs.Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging pollutant found in many ecosystems including soils, where they may become toxic to organisms or alter their habitat. However, little is known about the influence of MPs on soil microorganisms and processes vital to ecosystem functioning in different soils. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the short-term effects of MPs pollution on soil microorganisms in two agricultural soils with contrasting soil organic matter content and microbial biomass as caused by farm management history (organic and conventional). Soils were amended with two kinds of raw MPs particles, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) in the size range of 200-630 μm at a rate of 1% w/w and incubated for 28 days. During incubation, microbial respiration was determined. After incubation, the microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), gene copy numbers of archaea, bacteria and fungi were quantified and extractions performed to gauge effects on C and N mineralisation. The results of this study showed no major detrimental effects of MPs on microbial activity. However, in particular PP reduced microbial biomass in both soils, with a stronger decline in the organic soil, showing lower resistance to MPs. Nevertheless, mineralisation processes remained on the same level, showing functional resistance of the microbial community to MPs addition in both soils. The microbial community composition was not significantly altered by MPs addition, even though fungi tended to decrease in the organic soil. Overall, management legacy had a stronger effect on soil microorganisms, with higher microbial biomass and activity in the organic soil. While this study does not answer whether MPs pollution has a negative impact on soil microorganisms, it highlights the need to consider potential interactive effects of environmental factors, land use and management with MPs on soil microbial communities and their functions.Hard coal is the predominant energy source in Poland. The unavoidable consequence of coal combustion is the production of huge amounts of ash which can be concentrated in radionuclides. The ashes from coal combustion are utilized or stored and may affect the quality of the environment. Therefore, the estimation of radionuclides in hard coal and by-products is of crucial importance. The analyzed samples included ashes produced in ash furnaces, power plants and individual home furnaces operating in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, Southern Poland, during the hard coal burning. This paper presents radioactivity concentrations of 228Ra, 226Ra and 40K in hard coal, bottom and fly ash samples from Polish coal-fired power plants obtained during various technological coal combustion processes and generated in individual domestic furnaces, determined using the HPGe gamma spectrometry technique. The measurements of 234,238U concentrations were performed after sample preparation using alpha-particle spectrometer. The concentrations of the obtained radionuclides differ greatly in the fly and bottom ash samples. The lowest concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 234U, 238U were observed in bottom ashes from the co-firing of hard coal and biomass in a fluidized-bed furnace, whereas the highest concentrations of 226Ra (163 ± 6 Bq/kg), 228Ra (100 ± 2 Bq/kg) isotopes were found in the ashes from individual household furnaces. This means that both the feed coal type and combustion techniques have a direct impact on the concentration of radionuclides in ash. Hard coal silt samples may be enriched in radionuclides and the radioactive equilibrium between 226Ra and 238U even in the case of coal is not always achieved. The concentrations of the analyzed isotopes in ashes are 5-7-fold higher than in feed coal. Given that combustion by-products are utilized as construction products, it should be noted that for some ash samples, the radiological hazard indices approach or exceed the maximum permitted levels.Inorganic particulate nitrate (p-NO3-), gaseous nitric acid (HNO3(g)) and nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2), as main atmospheric pollutants, have detrimental effects on human health and aquatic/terrestrial ecosystems. Referred to as the 'Third Pole' and the 'Water Tower of Asia', the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has attracted wide attention on its environmental changes. Here, we evaluated the oxidation processes of atmospheric nitrate as well as traced its potential sources by analyzing the isotopic compositions of nitrate (δ15N, δ18O, and Δ17O) in the aerosols collected from the Mt. Everest region during April to September 2018. Over the entire sampling campaigns, the average of δ15N(NO3-), δ18O(NO3-), and Δ17O(NO3-) was -5.1 ± 2.3‰, 66.7 ± 10.2‰, and 24.1 ± 3.9‰, respectively. The seasonal variation in Δ17O(NO3-) indicates the relative importance of O3 and HO2/RO2/OH in NOx oxidation processes among different seasons. A significant correlation between NO3- and Ca2+ and frequent dust storms in the Mt. Everest region indicate that initially, the atmospheric nitrate in this region might have undergone a process of settling; subsequently, it got re-suspended in the dust. Compared with the Δ17O(NO3-) values in the northern TP, our observed significantly higher values suggest that spatial variations in atmospheric Δ17O(NO3-) exist within the TP, and this might result from the spatial variations of the atmospheric O3 levels, especially the stratospheric O3, over the TP. The observed δ15N(NO3-) values predicted remarkably low δ15N values in the NOx of the sources and the N isotopic fractionation plays a crucial role in the seasonal changes of δ15N(NO3-). Combined with the results from the backward trajectory analysis of air mass, we suggest that the vehicle exhausts and agricultural activities in South Asia play a dominant role in determining the nitrate levels in the Mt. Everest region.