Supervised machine learning improves general applicability of eDNA metabarcoding for reservoir health monitoring.

Effective and standardized monitoring methodologies are vital for successful reservoir restoration and management. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding sequencing offers a promising alternative for biomonitoring and can overcome many limitations of traditional morphological bioassessment. Recent attempts have even shown that supervised machine learning (SML) can directly infer biotic indices (BI) from eDNA metabarcoding data, bypassing the cumbersome calculation process of BI regardless of the taxonomic assignment of eDNA sequences. However, questions surrounding the general applicability of this taxonomy-free approach to monitoring reservoir health remain unclear, including model stability, feature selection, algorithm choice, and multi-season biomonitoring. Here, we firstly developed a novel biological integrity index (Me-IBI) that integrates multitrophic interactions and environmental information, based on taxonomy-assigned eDNA metabarcoding data. The Me-IBI can better distinguish the actual health status of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) than physicochemical assessments and have a clear response to human activity. Then, taking this reliable Me-IBI as a supervised label, we compared the impact of selecting different numbers of features and SML algorithms on the stability and predictive performance of the model for predicting ecological conditions in multiple seasons using taxonomy-free eDNA metabarcoding data. We discovered that even with a small number of features, different SML algorithms can establish a stable model and obtain excellent predictive performance. Finally, we proposed a four-step strategy for standardized routine biomonitoring using SML tools. Our study firstly explores the general applicability problem of the taxonomy-free eDNA-SML approach and establishes a solid foundation for the large-scale and standardized biomonitoring application.

The burden of skin and subcutaneous diseases: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019.

Background: The small number of existing integrative studies on the global distribution and burden of all types of skin and subcutaneous diseases hinders relevant comparisons. Objective: This study aimed to determine the latest distribution, epidemiological differences, and factors potentially influencing each skin and subcutaneous disease and the policy implications. Methods: Data on the skin and subcutaneous diseases were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The incidence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and deaths due to skin and subcutaneous diseases in 204 countries and regions from 1990 to 2019 were analyzed and stratified by sex, age, geographical location, and sociodemographic index (SDI). The annual age-standardized rate of change in the incidence was obtained to evaluate temporal trends. Results: Of 4,859,267,654 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 4,680,693,440-5,060,498,767) new skin and subcutaneous disease cases that were identified, most were fungal (34.0%) and bacterial (23.0%) skin diseases, which accounted for 98,522 (95% UI 75,116-123,949) deaths. The burden of skin and subcutaneous diseases measured in DALYs was 42,883,695.48 (95%UI, 28,626,691.71-63,438,210.22) in 2019, 5.26% of which were years of life lost, and 94.74% of which were years lived with disability. The highest number of new cases and deaths from skin and subcutaneous diseases was in South Asia. Globally, most new cases were in the 0-4-year age group, with skin and subcutaneous disease incidence slightly higher in men than in women. Conclusion: Fungal infections are major contributors to skin and subcutaneous diseases worldwide. Low-middle SDI states had the highest burden of skin and subcutaneous diseases, and this burden has increased globally. Targeted and effective management strategies based on the distribution characteristics of each country are, thus, required to reduce the burden of skin and subcutaneous diseases.

The SLC25A47 locus controls gluconeogenesis and energy expenditure.

Mitochondria provide essential metabolites and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for the regulation of energy homeostasis. For instance, liver mitochondria are a vital source of gluconeogenic precursors under a fasted state. However, the regulatory mechanisms at the level of mitochondrial membrane transport are not fully understood. Here, we report that a liver-specific mitochondrial inner-membrane carrier SLC25A47 is required for hepatic gluconeogenesis and energy homeostasis. Genome-wide association studies found significant associations between SLC25A47 and fasting glucose, HbA1c, and cholesterol levels in humans. In mice, we demonstrated that liver-specific depletion of SLC25A47 impaired hepatic gluconeogenesis selectively from lactate, while significantly enhancing whole-body energy expenditure and the hepatic expression of FGF21. These metabolic changes were not a consequence of general liver dysfunction because acute SLC25A47 depletion in adult mice was sufficient to enhance hepatic FGF21 production, pyruvate tolerance, and insulin tolerance independent of liver damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mechanistically, SLC25A47 depletion leads to impaired hepatic pyruvate flux and malate accumulation in the mitochondria, thereby restricting hepatic gluconeogenesis. Together, the present study identified a crucial node in the liver mitochondria that regulates fasting-induced gluconeogenesis and energy homeostasis.

Risk assessment of three sheep stocking modes via identification of bacterial genomes carrying antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factor genes.

In order to protect the prairie ecological environment, intensive farming has become a prevalent method of sheep stocking. However, the link between captivity stocking mode and ecological risk of sheep feces is still poorly understood. In this study, metagenomics was used to identify the environmental risk of sheep feces among three stocking modes. Our results showed that captivity mode (C) elevated antibiotic resistance in feces, with the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (5.381 copies/cell) higher than that of half-pen stocking (Fh) (1.093 copies/cell) and grazing mode (Fr) (0.315 copies/cell) (Duncan's test, P < 0.05). Virulence factor genes (VFGs) analysis showed offensive virulence factors had the highest abundance in captivity feces (C: 3.826 copies/cell, Fh: 0.342 copies/cell, Fr: 0.163 copies/cell) (Duncan's test, P < 0.05). 15 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were identified as potential pathogenic antibiotic resistant bacteria (PARB) and revealed that Escherichia, Klebsiella may be the main host of ARGs and VFGs in sheep feces. Furthermore, the minimal inhibition concentrations (MIC) of tetracycline of E. coli in the captivity feces was 8.6 times and 4.7 times than that of grazing and half-pen stocking samples, respectively. The Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed that high stocking density leads to feces causing increased harm to the environment. Although feces from sheep raised in captivity and half-pen stocking modes are easier to collect, they are more harmful to the environment and aerobic composting should be done before their application to farmland. This work provides a guideline for better control of the environmental risk of sheep feces from different stocking modes.

Distribution, behavior, and risk assessment of chlorinated paraffins in paddy plants throughout whole growth cycle.

Paddy plants provide staple food for 3 billion people worldwide. This study explores the environmental fate and behavior of a high-volume production emerging contaminants chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in the paddy ecosystem. Very-short-, short-, medium-, and long-chain CPs (vSCCPs, SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs, respectively) were analyzed in specific tissue of paddy plants at four main growth stages and soils from the Yangtze River Delta, China throughout a full rice growing season. The total CP concentrations in the paddy roots, stalks, leaves, panicles, hulls, rice, and soils ranged from 181 to 1.74 × 103, 21.7-383, 19.6-585, 108-332, 245-470, 59.6-130, and 99.6-400 ng/g dry weight, respectively. The distribution profile indicated the translocation of SCCPs and MCCPs from soils to paddy tissue, highlighting their elevated bioaccumulative potential. The evolution of CP level/mass/pattern during the whole growth cycle suggested atmospheric CPs deposition on leaves and hulls, as well as stalk-rice transfer. CSOIL plant uptake model well predicted the level, distribution pattern, and bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of SCCPs and MCCPs in paddy shoot and recognized the soil-air-shoot pathway as the major contributor. Moreover, risk evaluation indicated that MCCPs intake and subsequent risks dominated the total exposure to CPs via rice ingestion. This is the first report on the occurrence, fate and risk assessment of all CPs classes in paddy ecosystems, and the results underline the potential health effects caused by the in-use MCCPs via rice ingestion.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Diabetic Retinopathy in an Urban Population in Northeast China.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of diabetic subjects with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and those without DR (NDR) in an urban community in Northeast China, as well as their risk factors in subjects with DR and NDR. Methods: A community-based survey involving 1,662 subjects was conducted in Fushun, China, between July 2012 and May 2013. The subjects included diabetics with DR (n = 783) and those NDR (n = 879), and questionnaires were completed to collect information about their sociodemographic and healthcare characteristics. A Chi-square test and multiple logistic analyses were performed to analyze the data. Results: Among the DR group, 21.88% had a good knowledge of DR, 94.15% had a positive attitude, and 68.07% followed good practice, whereas 20.98% of the NDR group had a good knowledge of DR, 94.18% had a positive attitude, and 66.92% followed good practice. There was no significant difference in the KAP of the two groups of subjects. In the NDR group, a good level of knowledge was associated with a high-level of education (OR = 0.1, 0.2; p < 0.05), a good attitude was associated with retirement (OR = 0.2; p < 0.05), and good practice was associated with being female, having a high-level of education, and the type of treatment (OR = 0.5, 0.4, 2.3, 3.1; p < 0.05). In the DR group, good practice was associated with older age and retirement (OR = 0.6, 0.4; p < 0.05). Conclusions: There was no significant difference between the DR and NDR subjects in the overall levels of KAP, but both groups showed a poor level of knowledge. Age, gender, education, occupation, and type of treatment were the main factors associated with the KAP scores, more risk factors in the NDR group than in the DR group. There is an urgent need for coordinated educational campaigns with a prioritized focus on the northeast region of China, especially NDR group.

Assessment of lemon juice adulteration by targeted screening using LC-UV-MS and untargeted screening using UHPLC-QTOF/MS with machine learning.

The aim of this work was to develop an approach combining LC-MS-based metabolomics and machine learning to distinguish between and predict authentic and adulterated lemon juices. A targeted screening of six major flavonoids was first conducted using ultraviolet ion trap MS. To improve the prediction accuracy, an untargeted methodology was carried out using UHPLC-QTOF/MS. Based on the acquired metabolic profiles, both PCA and PLS-DA were conducted. Results exhibited a cluster pattern and a separation potential between authentic and adulterated samples. Five machine learning models were then developed to further analyze the data. The model of support vector machine achieved the highest prediction power, with accuracy up to 96.7 ± 7.5% for the cross-validation set and 100% for the testing set. In addition, 79 characteristic m/z were tentatively identified. This work demonstrated that untargeted screening coupled with machine learning models can be a powerful tool to facilitate detection of lemon juice adulteration.

Assessment of lemon juice quality and adulteration by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry with interactive and interpretable machine learning.

A total of 81 lemon juices samples were detected using an optimized UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS method and colorimetric assays. Concentration of 3 organic acids (ascorbic acid, malic acid and citric acid), 3 saccharides (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and 6 phenolic acids (trans-p-coumaric acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid) were quantified. Their total polyphenol, antioxidant activity and Ferric reducing antioxidant power were also measured. For the prediction of authentic and adulterated lemon juices and commercially sourced lemonade beverages based on the acquired metabolic profile, machine learning models including linear discriminant analysis, Gaussian naïve Bayes, lasso-regularized logistic regression, random forest (RF) and support vector machine were developed based on training (70%)-cross-validation-testing (30%) workflow. The predicted accuracy on the testing set is 73-86% for different models. Individual conditional expectation analysis (how predicted probabilities change when the feature magnitude changes) was applied for model interpretation, which in particular revealed the close association of RF-probability prediction with nuance characteristics of the density distribution of metabolic features. Using established models, an open-source online dashboard was constructed for convenient classification prediction and interactive visualization in real practice.

Multi-air-pollutant removal by using an integrated system: Key parameters assessment and reaction mechanism.

How to cost-efficiently and cooperatively remove SO2, NO and Hg0 in flue gas is a hot topic in the field of air pollution control. This work developed an integrated system that consists of a dual-absorption system and a vapor oxidation system, in which Na2CO3 and H2O2/Na2S2O8 were used as the absorbent and oxidant. The results indicated that the efficiencies of SO2 removal and NO conversion reached 99.5% and 93% respectively. Rising the vaporization temperature and decreasing the pH of H2O2/Na2S2O8 could facilitate the NO conversion. The spent Na2CO3 after desulfurization was demonstrated to be a good absorbent for NO2 removal. The best conditions of pH and temperatures for the dual-absorber were determined as 10/8 and 60/60 °C, respectively. The presence of 1000 mg/m3 SO2 and 300 mg/m3 NO favored the Hg0 removal. TMT-15, an organic sulfur compound, was demonstrated to be useful in retaining Hg2+, with an efficiency of 92%. According to the analyses of electron spin resonance (ESR), ion chromatography (IC), atom fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), SO4- and HO were proved to be the key radicals, and the existing forms of N- and Hg- species in the product were identified as NaNO2/NaNO3 and HgCl2.

Quantity assessment of polyphenols, glycoalkaloids and saponins in Solanum scabrum berries of different genetic sources and maturity by HPLC/UV-visible/MS methods.

BACKGROUND: Solanum scabrum berries in sub-Saharan Africa are prolific but neglected as an agricultural resource. Recognition and application of such underutilized resources rely on systematic study of the relevant phytochemicals of commercial value. RESULTS: The quantities of a total of 54 phytochemicals in Solanum scabrum berries were assessed using HPLC-MS methods. Berries from eight different genetic sources were analyzed with two entries monitored across different maturation stages. There was a significant variation among mature berries in the accumulation of phenolic acids, 91.5-794 mg·100 g-1 dry weight (DW); flavonols, 76.3-897 mg·100 g-1 DW; anthocyanins, 178-4650 mg·100 g-1 DW; glycoalkaloids, 1.76-1630 mg·100 g-1 DW; and saponins, 82.2-606 mg·100 g-1 DW. Fruit development from immature to post-frost harvest featured dynamic changes in phytochemical composition and, despite remarkable differences in the absolute magnitude of content, the trend of change was generally similar in different genetic sources. CONCLUSIONS: The genotype-dependent difference in toxic glycoalkaloids in mature berries may partially explain the consumption controversy as it reflects glycoalkaloid content. The analytical methods applied in this work should serve for quality control of glycoalkaloids thereby improving the safe utilization of this berry. In addition, the selection and breeding of new genotypes with low and safe levels of glycoalkaloids and saponins in the berry could be of value in sub-Saharan Africa to increase nutrition and generate new income opportunities for growers. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Assessment of Myelopathy in Cervical Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament by Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Assisted 3-Dimensional Measurement.

BACKGROUND: Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) is a 3-dimensional (3D) disease that causes cervical myelopathy. The conventional 2-dimensional (2D) measurement of OPLL has limitations in estimating cord compression and myelopathy. In this study, we attempted to use 3D computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the 3D occupying ratio of OPLL and investigate its significance in the assessment of spinal cord myelopathy. METHODS: Three-dimensional CT and MRI were performed in 50 patients with cervical OPLL at a neutral position before surgery. MRI was done to determine the extent of spinal cord compression. The CT data were saved in DICOM format and analyzed using Mimics 17.0. Then a 3D model of OPLL was semiautomatically segmented at a specific threshold. The following data were measured: diameter of the spinal canal, thickness of the OPLL, and 3D volume of the OPLL and spinal canal. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score was used to assess the cervical spinal cord function. RESULTS: Pearson correlation analysis showed that both the occupying ratio and the 3D occupying ratio were significantly and negatively correlated with the JOA score. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that only the 3D occupying ratio showed a significantly negative correlation with the JOA score, whereas age, sex, and the occupying ratio were insignificantly associated with the JOA score. CONCLUSIONS: The 3D occupying ratio of OPLL is a reliable indicator for assessing the severity of spinal cord myelopathy. MRI provides more details about cord compression, making the measurement more accurate and objective.

Association between socio-economic status and dental caries in elderly people in Sichuan Province, China: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: As a vulnerable group, the elders' oral health gained less attention, particularly the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and dental caries. This study aimed to assess the associations and to explore the effects of confounders on the associations in elderly people. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTINGS: 3 neighbourhood committees and 3 village committees in Sichuan Province, China. PARTICIPANTS: 744 people (362 men and 382 women) aged 65-74 years were included. OUTCOME MEASURES: Oral health outcomes included the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index and its components. SES was assigned by educational level, household income and type of household. The bivariate association between the participants' characteristics and DMFT was analysed using non-parametric tests. Four logistic regression models were used to analyse the associations between SES and dental caries by regulating confounders. RESULTS: Poor oral health was observed in these participants. Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between SES and DMFT (p﹤0.05). Only adjusting gender, high educational level (adjusted (AOR)=0.34, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.66), high household income (AOR=0.47, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.77) were protective factors against dental caries, and living in agricultural families (AOR=1.86, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.63) was risk factor (p﹤0.05). After adjusting other confounders, SES was partly related to the dental caries. Moreover, an interaction existed among SES indicators. CONCLUSIONS: SES is associated with dental caries, and older people with low SES have poor oral health. The associations were explained partly by diet, behaviour and awareness. Our results provide effective evidence in targeted policy-making and intervention measures and implicate that pertinence measures, economic assistance and medical insurance funds should be provided to older people of low SES. Furthermore, a follow-up design should attempt to confirm the causal relationship between SES and dental caries and evaluate the effect of intervention.

Social distance influences the outcome evaluation of cooperation and conflict: Evidence from event-related potentials.

Previous research shows that social distance plays an important role in promoting cooperation and that subtle cues that reduce social distance increase the tendency to cooperate. However, it is unclear how social distance influences our outcome evaluation of cooperative and conflict feedback. The present study investigated the influence of social distance on cooperative and conflict behavior and the evaluation process of the cooperative and conflict outcomes, using the event-related potentials (ERPs) technique. We recorded ERPs from 14 normal adults playing a social game task against a friend and a stranger. The results showed that the FRN (Feedback Related Negativity) and P300 were affected by the opponent's choice to cooperate or aggress; however, only the P300 was affected by social distance. Specifically, when the opponent chose to cooperate, the feedback elicited a smaller FRN and a larger P300 amplitude; and compared with playing against friends, the P300 had a larger amplitude when participants gaming with strangers. Our results indicate that at the early stage of the evaluation of cooperation and conflict outcomes, individuals may initially and quickly encode the valence of outcomes, judging whether an outcome is consistent with their expectations. However, at the late stage, which involves a top-down cognitive appraisal process, some social factors, such as social distance, may moderate processing of attention resource allocation of feedback about outcomes, and of higher-level motivation/affective appraisal.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins in soil, paddy seeds (Oryza sativa) and snails (Ampullariidae) in an e-waste dismantling area in China: Homologue group pattern, spatial distribution and risk assessment.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in multi-environmental matrices are studied in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China, which is a notorious e-waste dismantling area. The investigated matrices consist of paddy field soil, paddy seeds (Oryza sativa, separated into hulls and rice unpolished) and apple snails (Ampullariidae, inhabiting the paddy fields). The sampling area covered a 65-km radius around the contamination center. C10 and C11 are the two predominant homologue groups in the area, accounting for about 35.7% and 33.0% of total SCCPs, respectively. SCCPs in snails and hulls are generally higher than in soil samples (30.4-530 ng/g dw), and SCCPs in hulls are approximate five times higher than in corresponding rice samples (4.90-55.1 ng/g dw). Homologue pattern analysis indicates that paddy seeds (both hull and rice) tend to accumulate relatively high volatile SCCP homologues, especially the ones with shorter carbon chain length, while snails tend to accumulate relatively high lipophilic homologues, especially the ones with more substituted chlorines. SCCPs in both paddy seeds and snails are linearly related to those in the soil. The e-waste dismantling area, which covers a radius of approximate 20 km, shows higher pollution levels for SCCPs according to their spatial distribution in four matrices. The preliminary assessment indicates that SCCP levels in local soils pose no significant ecological risk for soil dwelling organisms, but higher risks from dietary exposure of SCCPs are suspected for people living in e-waste dismantling area.

Learning Latent Variable Gaussian Graphical Model for Biomolecular Network with Low Sample Complexity.

Learning a Gaussian graphical model with latent variables is ill posed when there is insufficient sample complexity, thus having to be appropriately regularized. A common choice is convex ℓ1 plus nuclear norm to regularize the searching process. However, the best estimator performance is not always achieved with these additive convex regularizations, especially when the sample complexity is low. In this paper, we consider a concave additive regularization which does not require the strong irrepresentable condition. We use concave regularization to correct the intrinsic estimation biases from Lasso and nuclear penalty as well. We establish the proximity operators for our concave regularizations, respectively, which induces sparsity and low rankness. In addition, we extend our method to also allow the decomposition of fused structure-sparsity plus low rankness, providing a powerful tool for models with temporal information. Specifically, we develop a nontrivial modified alternating direction method of multipliers with at least local convergence. Finally, we use both synthetic and real data to validate the excellence of our method. In the application of reconstructing two-stage cancer networks, "the Warburg effect" can be revealed directly.

Essential Oil from Sweet Potato Vines, a Potential New Natural Preservative, and an Antioxidant on Sweet Potato Tubers: Assessment of the Activity and the Constitution.

Pathogenic fungi and oxidation are the major factors that cause the deterioration of sweet potatoes and also cause the loss of quality that makes consumption unsafe. In the present study, the in vitro results demonstrate that the essential oil from sweet potato vines exhibits significantly enhanced activity compared to that of the control. Furthermore, the essential oil can actively inhibit the growth of some common microorganisms inducing pathogenic bacteria and fungi (inhibition rates above 50% at low concentrations). A total of 31 constituents were identified using GC-MS and confirmed that linalool and p-hydroxybenzoic acid are the major active ingredients. The experiment involving actual tubers showed that the essential oil could retains its quality and effectiveness again the fungus disease. This suggests that it could be used in the food industry to increase the shelf life of stored produce (tubers) to ensure food safety without the use of additives or preservatives.

Establishment of a novel advanced oxidation process for economical and effective removal of SO2 and NO.

SO2 and NO have caused serious haze in China. For coping with the terrible problem, this paper proposed a novel advanced oxidation process of ultraviolet (UV) catalyzing vaporized H2O2 for simultaneous removal of SO2 and NO. Effects of various factors on simultaneous removal of SO2 and NO were investigated, such as the mass concentration of H2O2, the UV energy density, the UV wavelength, the H2O2 pH, the temperatures of H2O2 vaporization and UV-catalysis, the flue gas residence time, the concentrations of SO2, NO and O2, and radical scavenger. The removal efficiencies of 100% for SO2 and 87.8% for NO were obtained under the optimal conditions. The proposed approach has some superiorities, i.e. less dosage and high utilization of oxidant, short flue gas residence time and inhibiting the competition between SO2 and NO for oxidants. The results indicated that the desulfurization process was dominated by the absorption by HA-Na, whereas the denitrification was primarily affected by the H2O2 dosage, UV energy density and H2O2 pH. Interestingly, an appropriate amount of SO2 was beneficial for NO removal. The reaction mechanism was speculated based on the characterizations of removal products by XRD, FT-IR and IC.

A Population-Based Assessment of 24-Hour Ocular Perfusion Pressure Among Patients With Primary Open Angle Glaucoma: The Handan Eye Study.

PURPOSE: To compare the 24-hour ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) among patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and those with suspected POAG identified in a population-based study in China. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with POAG and 35 with suspected POAG attended the 24-hour OPP study. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and blood pressure (BP) were measured at 2, 6, and 10 AM and 2, 6, and 10 PM. Subjects were not taking any medications to lower IOP, which was measured with Goldmann applanation in an upright sitting position. Blood pressure was measured in a supine position using a digital automatic BP monitor (OMRON, model HEM-907). Mean arterial pressure was calculated as diastolic BP + 1[Fraction Slash]3 × (systolic BP - diastolic BP). Mean OPP (MOPP) was defined as 2[Fraction Slash]3 × mean arterial pressure - IOP, systolic OPP (SOPP) was defined as 2[Fraction Slash]3 × systolic BP - IOP, and diastolic OPP (DOPP) was defined as 2[Fraction Slash]3 × diastolic BP - IOP. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, and IOP, the maximum, mean, and minimum SOPP, DOPP, and MOPP were statistically significantly lower in subjects with POAG than in those with suspected POAG (P < 0.05). The minimum MOPP, SOPP, and DOPP occurred from 10 AM to 2 PM in approximately 60% of eyes with POAG and between 20% and 30% of minimum MOPP, SOPP, and DOPP occurred around 10 PM. CONCLUSIONS: Systolic OPP, DOPP, and MOPP were consistently lower in eyes with POAG than in those with suspected POAG, providing further evidence that OPP plays a role in the development of glaucoma.

Simultaneous removal of SO2, NO and Hg° through an integrative process utilizing a cost-effective complex oxidant.

A novel process of pre-oxidation combining with post-absorption to simultaneously remove SO2, NO and Hg(0) from flue gas was proposed. A vaporized complex oxidant (CO) consisted of cost-effective H2O2 and NaClO2 was prepared to oxidize Hg(0) and NO, then the oxidation products were absorbed by the Ca(OH)2 solution that was followed. For the establishment of the optimal reaction conditions, the influences of various reaction factors on the simultaneous removal of SO2, NO and Hg(0) were investigated, i.e., the molar ratio of H2O2 to NaClO2 in CO, the adding rate of CO, the pH of CO, the reaction temperature, the flue gas residence time and the coexistence gases. The experimental results indicated that the desulfurization was constant in all tests, whereas the removal of NO and Hg(0) was primarily affected by the NaClO2 addition, the adding rate of CO, the pH of CO, and the reaction temperature. Meanwhile, NO and SO2 were characterized as the promoters for the Hg(0) removal. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the best simultaneous removal efficiencies were 100% for SO2, 87% for NO and 92% for Hg(0). According to the characterizations of removal products by UV-vis, EDX, XRD, AFS and XPS, the reaction mechanism was speculated.

Integration of micro-filtration into osmotic membrane bioreactors to prevent salinity build-up.

The high salinity remains as one of major obstacles of the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR). In this study, a new pathway was explored to prevent the salinity build-up by integrating the micro-filtration (MF) membrane to the OMBR (MF-OMBR). The results indicated that the salinity characterized by conductivity in the MF-OMBR was effectively alleviated and controlled at a lower value of about 5 mS/cm, and the stable flux of forward osmosis (FO) membrane correspondingly increased to approximately 5.5L/(m(2)h). Besides, the addition of MF membrane in the OMBR could increase the total organic carbon (TOC) and ammonium nitrogen (NH3-N) removals due to the activated sludge by improving the microbial activity. The membrane fouling especially the reversible fouling in the MF-OMBR was severer compared to that in the conventional OMBR, which resulted in a lower water flux than the expectation due to the increase of filtration resistance and external concentration polarization.