Effective assessment of biopolymer-based multifunctional sorbents for the remediation of environmentally hazardous contaminants from aqueous solutions.

Persistent contaminants in wastewater effluent pose a significant threat to aquatic life and are one of the most significant environmental concerns of our time. Although there are a variety of traditional methods available in wastewater treatment, including adsorption, coagulation, flocculation, ion exchange, membrane filtration, co-precipitation and solvent extraction, none of these have been found to be significantly cost-effective in removing toxic pollutants from the water environment. The upfront costs of these treatment methods are extremely high, and they require the use of harmful synthetic chemicals. For this reason, the development of new technologies for the treatment and recycling of wastewater is an absolute necessity. Our way of life can be made more sustainable by the synthesis of adsorbents based on biomass, making the process less harmful to the environment. Biopolymers offer a sustainable alternative to synthetic polymers, which are manufactured by joining monomer units through covalent bonding. This review presents a detailed classification of biopolymers such as pectin, alginate, chitosan, lignin, cellulose, chitin, carrageen, certain proteins, and other microbial biomass compounds and composites, with a focus on their sources, methods of synthesis, and prospective applications in wastewater treatment. A concise summary of the extensive body of knowledge on the fate of biopolymers after adsorption is also provided. Finally, consideration is given to open questions about future developments leading to environmentally friendly and economically beneficial applications of biopolymers.

Assessment of patient-reported outcomes (PROs): treatment satisfaction, medication adherence, and quality of life (QoL) and the associated factors in postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) patients in Korea.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) provide practical guides for treatment; however, studies that have evaluated PROs of women in Korea with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) are lacking. This cross-sectional, multi-center (29 nationwide hospitals) study, performed from March 2013 to July 2014, aimed to assess PROs related to treatment satisfaction, medication adherence, and quality of life (QoL) in Korean PMO women using osteoporosis medication for prevention/treatment. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, PROs, and experience using medication were collected. The 14-item Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) (score-range, 0-100; domains: effectiveness, side effects, convenience, global satisfaction), Osteoporosis-Specific Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (OS-MMAS) (score-range, 0-8), and EuroQol-5 dimensions questionnaire (index score range, - 0.22 to 1.0; EuroQol visual analog scale score range, 0-100) were used. To investigate factors associated with PROs, linear (treatment satisfaction/QoL) or logistic (medication adherence) regression analyses were conducted. A total of 1804 patients (age, 62 years) were investigated; 60.1% used bisphosphonate, with the majority (67.2%) using weekly medication, 27.8% used daily hormone replacement therapy, and 12.1% used daily selective estrogen receptor modulator. Several patients reported gastrointestinal (GI) events (31.6%) and dental visits due to problems (24.1%) while using medication. Factors associated with the highest OS-MMAS domain scores were convenience and global satisfaction. GI events were associated with non-adherence. TSQM scores for effectiveness, side effects, and GI risk factors were significantly associated with QoL. Our study elaborately assessed the factors associated with PROs of Korean PMO women. Based on our findings, appropriate treatment-related adjustments such as frequency/choice of medications and GI risk management may improve PROs.

Differential relationship between waist circumference and mortality according to age, sex, and body mass index in Korean with age of 30-90 years; a nationwide health insurance database study.

BACKGROUND: A recent concept is that obesity, assessed by body mass index (BMI), is not always a sign of poor health. Thus, in order to use obesity metrics in clinical decision making, it is important to clarify the relationship between waist circumference (WC), a proxy for abdominal obesity, and mortality. METHODS: Data were used from 8,796,759 subjects aged between 30 and 90 years, who had participated in the Korea National Health Screening Examination between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 and survived at least 1 year post screening. Data from a mean follow-up time of an additional 5.3 years (time at risk) were analyzed for the relationship between WC and mortality according to age, sex, and BMI category. RESULTS: An increased WC of more than 90 cm in men and 85 cm in women showed a definite negative influence on mortality. However, the detailed relationship between WC and mortality was J-shaped or U-shaped according to age, sex, and BMI category. In the normal BMI group, the optimal WC range with the lowest mortality was < 70 cm in men and 70-75 cm in women, whereas in obese individuals a WC between 80 and 90 cm in men and 75 and 85 cm in women showed the lowest mortality. The association between increased WC and higher mortality tended to be more obvious in normal-weight women than in normal-weight men or obese women. Furthermore, in normal-weight and obese women, the effect of increased WC on mortality was more critical for subjects aged < 60 years rather than those aged ≥ 60 years. CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal obesity, as measured by WC, showed a significant negative association on mortality, and its association with mortality was different according to age, sex, and BMI category. Therefore, WC should be considered in the assessment of obesity-related health risks, and individualized cut-off points for the definition of a healthy WC according to age, sex, and BMI category are necessary.

Vasomotor symptoms and the homeostatic model assessment of insulin-resistance in Korean postmenopausal women.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the association between vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and insulin resistance, which can be postulated by the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index. This study involved 1,547 Korean postmenopausal women (age, 45 to 65 years) attending a routine health check-up at a single institution in Korea from January 2010 to December 2012. A menopause rating scale questionnaire was used to assess the severity of VMS. The mean age of participants was 55.22±4.8 years and 885 (57.2%) reported VMS in some degree. The mean HOMA index was 1.79±0.96, and the HOMA index increased with an increase in severity of VMS (none, mild, moderate and severe) in logistic regression analysis (ß=0.068, t=2.665, P =0.008). Insulin resistance needs to be considered to understand the linkage between VMS and cardiometabolic disorders.

Occurrence and ecological hazard assessment of selected veterinary medicines in livestock wastewater treatment plants.

The occurrence of some veterinary medicines in the livestock wastewater plants (WWTPs) was investigated. This investigation represented the occurrence of veterinary medicines to treat in the livestock WWTPs or be discharged into the water system in Korea since the sampling sites were widely distributed across the nation and samples were collected from the 11 livestock WWTPs. Nine antibiotics, two analgesics, and two disinfectants occurred in the livestock wastewater plants (WWTPs). From 11 livestock WWTP influents, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, acetylsalicylic acid, and disinfectants frequently occurred with the high concentrations. Meanwhile, sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin-H2O, and trimethoprim did not occur during sampling periods. The values for log Kow of each chemical showed a high correlation with the number of hydrogen bonding acceptors and were important parameters to estimate and understand the biodegradability and toxicity of a compound in the environment. The biodegradability of each compound was proportional to the hydrophilicity of each compound and the toxicity was proportional to the number of hydrogen bonding acceptors of each compound. The expected introductory concentration (EIC), predicted exposure concentration (PEC), and hazard quotient showed that the livestock WWTP effluents were hazardous to ecosystems.

Assessment of cervical cancer screening policy in Korea for women over age 65.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cervical cancer screening (CCS) in Korean women over 65 years of age and to determine the age at which CCS becomes inefficacious, so that providers and policy makers can be more informed about when to stop screening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 999 women, who underwent CCS followed by colposcopy at the Korea University hospital from January 2007 to May 2012, were retrospectively evaluated. Age groups were classified as <21 (n=11), 21-29 (n=128), 30-65 (n=768), and >65 (n=92). To evaluate the value of CCS in women older than 65, age groups were simply divided into ≤ 65 or >65. Participants were also categorized into five strata of age groups (≤ 55 vs. >55, ≤ 60 vs. >60, ≤ 65 vs. >65, ≤ 70 vs. >70, and ≤ 75 vs. >75) that were compared to the sample to assess a cutoff-age at which to cease screening based on decreased efficacy. RESULTS: The mean age was 45.5 ± 13.7 (range 14-80). There were no differences in the pathologic results for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) values of < CIN2 vs. ≥ CIN2, or ≤ CIN3 vs. cancer among the groups. There was a significantly higher incidence of cancer compared with ≤ CIN3 in women aged >65 (13.0%) vs. ≤ 65 (6.6%), (p=0.037). To assess the cervical cancer incidence (CCI) from the larger number of cases by age, a prediction formula was calculated from a national dataset. CCI (per 100,000) continuously increased by age even for those in their 90 s. CONCLUSION: CCS is still necessary in Korean women older than 65 since there is a substantial CCI rate occurring in these women. It is time to consider new guidelines that include the appropriate age and conditions for discontinuing screening.

1-hydroxypyrene as a biomarker of PAH exposure among subjects living in two separate regions from a steel mill.

OBJECTIVE: Steel mills are known to be a source of ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and increased cancer risk has been reported among neighborhoods previously. In this study, we tried to assess the exposure to PAHs among residents nearby to a large steel mill in Korea by measuring urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP). METHODS: Two separate areas at different distances from a steel mill but on the same wind direction were chosen to evaluate the environmental exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Three-hundred and fifty children living in the vicinity of steel plant ("nearby" group) and 606 children residing much farther from the factory ("remote" group) participated. Urine was collected on three consecutive days, and questionnaires about exposure to passive smoking and food consumption as well as demographics were obtained. Routine monitoring data of ambient pollutants were obtained and particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM10) was analyzed with multiple regressions to assess the associations with urinary 1-OHP. RESULTS: The geometric mean concentration of urinary 1-OHP among nearby group (0.048+/-1.878 micromol/mol creatinine, GM+/-GSD) was approximately 1.3 times higher than that among remote group (0.036+/-2.425 micromol/mol creatinine, GM+/-GSD), and using multiple regression techniques, the difference was significant (P<0.0001) after adjusting for confounding variables. When different periods before the sampling of urine were examined, PM10 averages over 2 days, 3 days, and 1 week prior to urine sampling showed significant associations with urinary 1-OHP levels. CONCLUSION: Our findings are consistent with the interpretation that residents nearby to a steel mill are exposed to PAHs through ambient exposures.

Degradation mechanism and the toxicity assessment in TiO2 photocatalysis and photolysis of parathion.

The photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion was carried out using a circulating TiO2/UV reactor. The experimental results showed that parathion was more effectively degraded in the photocatalytic condition than the photolysis and TiO2-only condition. With photocatalysis, 10mg/l parathion was completely degraded within 60 min with a TOC decrease exceeding 90% after 150 min. The main ionic byproducts during photocatalysis were measured. The nitrogen from parathion was recovered mainly as NO3-, NO2- and NH4+, 80% of the sulfur as SO4(2-), and less than 5% of the phosphorus as PO4(3-). The organic intermediates 4-nitrophenol and paraoxon were also identified, and these were further degraded. Two different bioassays (Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia magna) were used to test the acute toxicity of solutions treated by photocatalysis and photolysis. A Microtox test using V. fischeri showed that the toxicity, expressed as the relative toxicity (%), was reduced almost completely after 90 min under photocatalysis, whereas only an 83% reduction was achieved with photolysis alone. Another toxicity test using D. magna also showed that the relative toxicity disappeared after 90 min under photocatalysis, whereas there was a 65% reduction in relative toxicity with photolysis alone. The pattern of toxicity reduction parallels the decrease in parathion and TOC concentrations.