Impact of polyethylene terephthalate microfibers on histopathological and molecular responses induced by cadmium in the polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis.

Heavy metals and microplastics have been found to co-exist in marine sediment environments. Nevertheless, the impact of microplastics on modifying the toxicity of heavy metals to marine benthic organisms remains poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the impact of polyethylene terephthalate microfibers (PET MFs, 100 μm in diameter, 500 items·kg·dw) on the toxicities and individual/subcellular bioaccumulation of cadmium (Cd, 1, 10 and 100 μg g·dw) in the benthic polychaete, Perinereis aibuhitensis, after 28 days of sediment exposure.

Urgent Care Center and Emergency Department Utilization for Non-Emergent Health Conditions: Analysis of Managed Care Beneficiaries.

The objective was to identify predictors of utilization for urgent care centers (UCCs), emergency departments (EDs), or for both services for non-emergent health conditions among beneficiaries from a managed care organization (MCO) who resided within a 10-mile radius of UCCs. A cross-sectional design was used to analyze 2016 administrative claims data from an MCO that contracted with a UCC with 12 locations (n = 20,107). Outcome variables were number of visits to UCC, ED, or both.