Effect of viscosity on the mixing efficiency in a self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor.

One special self-agitation reactor, which does not require a mechanical mixer or other equipment for mixing, has been introduced. Self-agitation is affected by variation in viscosity property. To obtain and research the effect of viscosity on mixing behavior in the self-agitation reactor, Fluent® was used to create numerical simulations and to visualize the fluid flow status. The results show that when the viscosity of the liquid is 1 mPa s, the entire self-agitation results in an almost completely mixed reactor. The substrate becomes difficult to agitate, and the diffusion of the substrate and the tracer become quite after every self-agitation, as the viscosity increases. Once the viscosity is higher than 25 mPa s, the substrate and tracer could not be mixed in the entire reactor, and the reactor is recognized as the combination of several completely mixed reactors between which little exchange of liquid occurs.

A novel radiomics-based technique for identifying vulnerable coronary plaques: a follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: Previous reports have suggested that coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-based radiomics analysis is a potentially helpful tool for assessing vulnerable plaques. We aimed to investigate whether coronary radiomic analysis of CCTA images could identify vulnerable plaques in patients with stable angina pectoris. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients initially diagnosed with stable angina pectoris. Patients were randomly divided into either the training or test dataset at an 8 : 2 ratio. Radiomics features were extracted from CCTA images. Radiomics models for predicting vulnerable plaques were developed using the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. The model performance was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC); the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated to compare the diagnostic performance using the two cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 158 patients were included in the analysis. The SVM radiomics model performed well in predicting vulnerable plaques, with AUC values of 0.977 and 0.875 for the training and test cohorts, respectively. With optimal cutoff values, the radiomics model showed accuracies of 0.91 and 0.882 in the training and test cohorts, respectively. CONCLUSION: Although further larger population studies are necessary, this novel CCTA radiomics model may identify vulnerable plaques in patients with stable angina pectoris.

Stem cell-derived exosomes in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction in preclinical animal models: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Exosomes (EXOs) derived from stem cells have become a potential new treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, their impact is still not fully understood. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to systematically review the efficacy of EXOs on AMI in preclinical animal models. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Web of Science from September 1, 1980 to September 1, 2021, to retrieve the studies reporting the therapeutic effects of EXOs on AMI animal models. Secondary endpoints include the fractional shortening (FS), infarct size (IS), fibrosis area (FA), the TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 levels, the apoptosis rate and the number of autophagic vesicles. Two authors independently screened the articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. All statistical analyses were conducted using Stata14.0. RESULTS: Ten studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Pooled analyses demonstrated that the levels of LVEF (WMD = 3.67%; 95% CI 2.28-5.07%; P = 0.000), FS (WMD = 3.69%; 95% CI 2.06-5.33%; P = 0.000), IS (WMD = -4.52%, 95% CI - 7.14 to - 1.9%; P = 0.001), and FA (WMD = -7.04%, 95% CI - 8.74 to - 5.34%; P = 0.000), TNF-α (WMD = -3.09, 95% CI - 5.47 to - 0.72; P = 0.011), TL-6 (WMD = -6.34, 95% CI - 11.2 to - 1.49; P < 0.01), TL-10 (WMD = 6.37, 95% CI 1.53-11.21; P = 0.01), the apoptosis rate (WMD = -8.23, 95% CI - 15.29 to - 1.17; P = 0.000), and the number of autophagic vesicles (WMD = -4.52, 95% CI - 7.43 to - 1.62; P = 0.000). Subgroup analysis showed that the EXOs were derived from HMSCs. Subgroup analysis showed that the EXOs derived from HMSCs, and that exosome therapy immediately after myocardial infarction can better improve the LVEF. CONCLUSIONS: EXOs therapy has the potential to improve cardiac function, fibrogenesis, and inflammatory response, as well as reducing cell apoptosis and autophagy in preclinical AMI animal models. This can inform future human clinical trials of EXOs.

[Sodium hypochlorite disinfection on effluent of MBR in municipal wastewater treatment process].

Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) used in wastewater disinfection was assessed by examining its performances in lab fed by the effluent from a MBR treatment plant. The influence of sodium hypochlorite initial concentrations (0.5-3.0 mg/L) on the presence of indicator microorganisms (total coliforms, fecal coliforms), disinfection by-products (DBPs) concentrations and the acute toxicity were evaluated. Results indicate the total coliforms and the fecal coliform were 1500-2400 and 10-40 CFU/L, which is difficult to meet the present reclaimed water quality standards. A chlorine dose of 2.0 mg/L and contact for 1 h could achieve a 3 lg indicator bacteria reduction in MBR effluent samples. THMs (trihalomethanes) analysis indicated that concentrations of THMs increase with the raise of the active chlorine dose. After adding sodium hypochlorite 1 h the concentrations of trihalomethanes (THMs) were 16.22, 7.35 microg/L respectively and chloroform (TCM) accounted for 87% of THMs, the haloacetic acids (HAAs) was involved trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) 2.01 microg/L, dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) 1.58 microg/L and under the national limits. Luminescence bacteria acute toxicity analysis showed that the chlorinated effluent has higher inhibition rate (48%) in comparison to the control with a chlorine dosage of 3.0 mg/L. The results which could provide theoretical basis to production show that NaClO disinfection not only can inactivate microbe with the DBPs and acute toxicity of the effluent under the safety limits, but also meet the requirement of health and safety.