Heat and carbon co-activated persulfate to regenerate gentamicin-laden activated carbon: Performance, mechanism, and safety assessment.

Activated carbon enriched with high concentrations of gentamicin (ACG) was generated in the production process of gentamicin. Inappropriate handling methods for ACG not only squanders carbon resource, but also seriously hinders achieving global carbon neutrality and hazardous to human health. In the present work, thermal and carbon co-activated persulfate method (TC-PS) was developed to regenerate ACG with degrading gentamicin. The results showed that ACG was effectively regenerated by TC-PS, restoring the adsorption performance for gentamicin. When the treatment temperature was 80 °C, the persulfate dosage was 20 mM and the initial pH was 3.0, the degradation efficiency of gentamicin reached 100%. The HO• and SO4•- were the major reactive species for gentamicin degradation. The possible degradation routes of gentamicin were proposed and the safety assessment indicated that the produced intermediates during the regeneration process of ACG by TC-PS have insignificant impact on the biological and ecological environment.

Contribution of alcohol use to the global burden of cirrhosis and liver cancer from 1990 to 2019 and projections to 2044.

BACKGROUND: Identifying the temporal trends of cirrhosis and liver cancer attributable to alcohol use in both the past and the future can formulate the control strategies. METHODS: Data on cirrhosis and liver cancer attributable to alcohol use from 1990 to 2019, including mortality and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates were collected from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. To analyze the temporal trends, the average annual percentage change (AAPC) was calculated, and the Bayesian age-period-cohort model was applied. RESULT: Deaths and DALY of cirrhosis and liver cancer attributable to alcohol use increased year by years, but the age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and age-standardized DALY rate declined or remained stable from 1990 to 2019 in most regions of the world. The burden of cirrhosis attributable to alcohol increased in low-middle social-development index (SDI) regions, while the burden of liver cancer increased in high-SDI regions. Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the highest burden of cirrhosis and liver cancer caused by alcohol use. Deaths and DALYs are mainly distributed in people aged 40+ years, but there is an increasing trend in people aged under 40 years. New deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer attributable to alcohol use are predicted to increase in the next 25 years, but the ASDR of cirrhosis in males will increase slightly. CONCLUSIONS: Although the age-standardized rate of cirrhosis and liver cancer due to alcohol use have decreased, the absolute burden increased and will continue to increase. Therefore, alcohol control measures should be further strengthened and improved through effective national policies.

Identifying key areas of imbalanced supply and demand of ecosystem services at the urban agglomeration scale: A case study of the Fujian Delta in China.

The coordinated supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs) is important for ensuring regional sustainable development. However, research identifying key areas of imbalanced supply and demand of ESs at the urban agglomeration scale is limited. Therefore, in this study, using the Fujian Delta urban agglomeration of China as the research area, based on multi-source data, and analysis tools, such as ArcGIS, ENVI, and GeoDa, we constructed a research framework and indicator system for ESs supply and demand to determine the spatial change law, matching degree, and coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the ESs. On this basis, the key areas of imbalanced supply and demand of ESs were identified, and optimization strategies were proposed. The results showed that (1) there is obvious spatial heterogeneity between ESs supply and demand in the study area, and different degrees of spatial changes occurred with urbanization. Specifically, areas with large changes were concentrated in urban core areas and economic development zones. (2) The matching degree between ESs supply and demand is quite diverse and shows a trend of polarization. Under the influence of urbanization, some cities began facing ESs supply shortages. (3) Overall, the CCD between ESs supply and demand in the study area is in a state of mild incoordination, but with increasing urbanization, some cities have turned into a state of extreme incoordination. Our results indicate that the ESs supply and demand status in some cities at the urban agglomeration scale has become increasingly severe. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on certain "key areas" to formulate optimization strategies. For key areas with "low supply-high demand" and extreme incoordination, the population and land use intensity should be controlled to reduce the ESs demand level. Meanwhile, for key areas with "high supply-low demand" and extreme incoordination, the utilization efficiency of ecological resources should be improved to enhance the ESs supply capacity. The results of this study will help decision-makers optimize the relationship between ESs supply and demand in order to achieve the sustainable development of urban agglomeration.

Assessment of English language performance scores and academic performance in an English-based curriculum for pharmacy students with English as a second language.

BACKGROUND: The primary objective was to determine if there is a relationship between English language performance and graduating grade point average (GPA) in pharmacy students with English as a second language (ESL). METHODS: Students graduating from a four-year pharmacy program in 2016-2018 were invited to participate in the study. We compared pharmacy students' pre-admission ESL scores to their cumulative GPA at graduation in each of the three graduating cohorts and also determined if these results held true for both genders. Correlation of GPA to individual mathematics, chemistry, and Chinese language scores were used as points of reference to compare the degree of correlation. RESULTS: There were 148 students screened for the study with 31 students not meeting the inclusion criteria and four students declining to participate. Statistical analyses show an overall weak correlation. There was a statistically significant stronger correlation between pre-admission ESL scores and cumulative graduating GPA (r = 0.273) as compared to the correlation of GPA with mathematics (r = 0.187), chemistry (r = 0.181), or Chinese language scores (r = 0.059). The results did not change when the study population was separated by gender as English score still had the strongest correlation as compared to the other subjects. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that English language scores correlate more strongly with academic performance than mathematics, chemistry, or Chinese language scores in ESL pharmacy students. Also, this English language correlation is stronger for females than males.

General iterative methods for systems of variational inequalities with the constraints of generalized mixed equilibria and fixed point problem of pseudocontractions.

In this paper, we introduce two general iterative methods (one implicit method and one explicit method) for finding a solution of a general system of variational inequalities (GSVI) with the constraints of finitely many generalized mixed equilibrium problems and a fixed point problem of a continuous pseudocontractive mapping in a Hilbert space. Then we establish strong convergence of the proposed implicit and explicit iterative methods to a solution of the GSVI with the above constraints, which is the unique solution of a certain variational inequality. The results presented in this paper improve, extend, and develop the corresponding results in the earlier and recent literature.

Perfluoroalkyl acids in surface sediments of the East China Sea.

The occurrence of 17 target PFAA analytes was determined in surface sediments (n = 37) of the East China Sea and potential influencing factors were examined. ΣPFAAs ranged from 0.41 ng/g dw to 3.06 ng/g dw, with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as the most abundant perfluorocarboxylic acid and perfluoroalkyl sulfonate, respectively. PFAAs in the sediments were strongly influenced by terrigenous input. Analysis of the relationship between dynamic influence factors and PFAA concentrations showed that the characteristics of PFAA distribution were rather complex. ΣPFAA concentrations and TOC were positively correlated (p < 0.0001). Circumfluence also influenced the whole PFAA distribution and seasonal variation. In addition, correlation analysis suggested that log Koc values increased with increasing perfluoroalkyl chain length. Given the rapid economic development of eastern coastal cities of China, the environmental hazards of land source pollution cannot be ignored.