Life cycle assessment perspective on waste resource utilization and sustainable development: A case of glyphosate production.

The growing demand for pesticide manufacturing and increasing public awareness of sustainable development, have let to urgent requirements for a refined environmental management framework. It is imperative to conduct process-based life cycle assessments (LCAs) to promote clean and environment-friendly technologies. Herein, the cradle-to-gate LCA of glyphosate production was executed as an example to investigate crucial production factors (materials or energy) and multiple environmental impacts during the production processes. Results showed that methanol caused the highest environmental damage in terms of toxicity, with a normalized value of 85.7 × 10-8, followed by coal-fired electricity in 6.00 × 10-8. Furthermore, optimized schemes were proposed, including energy improvement (electricity generated by switching from coal-fired power to solar power) and wastewater targeted conversion. Regarding the normalization results before and after optimization, the latter showed more significant results with the normalized value decreasing by 21.10 × 10-8, while that of the former only decreased by 6.50 × 10-8. This study provides an integrated LCA framework for organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) from upstream control and offers an important supplement to managing the key pollution factors and control links of the OP industry. Moreover, it reveals the positive influence of optimized schemes in facilitating cleaner production technologies, thus ultimately promoting new methodologies for resource recycling.

Effect of H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath on the degradation and physicochemical properties of pectin.

The effects of H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath degradation technology on pectin were investigated. The degradation efficiency with different pectin concentrations, H2O2 concentrations, ultrasonic power, and ultrasonic time was analyzed. The results showed that pectin concentration was negatively correlated with the degradation efficiency of pectin, while, H2O2 concentration, ultrasonic power, and ultrasonic time were positive correlated with the degradation efficiency. Besides, the apparent viscosity and viscoelasticity of the degraded pectin decreased significantly. The antioxidant activity increased after the H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath treatment. The results of FTIR, NMR, laser particle size, SEM, XRD, and AFM analysis indicated that the degradation treatment did not destroy the main structure of pectin. The average particle size and crystallinity of pectin decreased. The degree of aggregation and the height of the molecular chain decreased significantly. In conclusion, the H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath degradation technique could effectively degrade pectin. This study provided a comprehensive analysis of the degradation of pectin under H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath, which will be beneficial to further develop H2O2-assisted ultrasonic bath techniques for pectin degradation.

Local anesthesia combined with intra-articular ropivacaine can provide satisfactory pain control in ankle arthroscopic surgery: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Local anesthesia (LA) is widely used in knee arthroscopic surgery but not in ankle arthroscopy. OBJECTIVE: To understand the effectiveness and safety of LA combined with ropivacaine in pain control for ankle arthroscopy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data for patients who underwent ankle arthroscopy from April 2012 to April 2017. Patients were grouped by anesthesia method: LA, LA with ropivacaine (LA+R), spinal anesthesia (SA), and SA with ropivacaine (SA+R). Intra- and postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) scores, complications, doses of supplemental pain medication, hospitalization cost and duration, and satisfaction with pain control during hospitalization were analyzed. RESULTS: The study included 276 patients (LA: 93; LA+R: 124; SA: 31; SA+R: 28). The LA and LA+R groups had significantly higher intraoperative VAS scores (LA vs. SA, p = 0.001; LA vs. SA+R, p = 0.002; LA+R vs. SA, p = 0.00; LA+R vs. SA+R, p = 0.00), but fewer complications, than the SA and SA+R groups. The LA+R and SA+R groups had significantly better outcomes for postoperative pain control (LA vs. LA+R, p = 0.01; LA vs. SA+R, p = 0.01; SA vs. SA+R, p = 0.01; SA vs. LA+R, p = 0.03) and required less supplemental pain medication. Hospitalization cost was lower and duration shorter in the LA and LA+R groups than in the SA and SA+R groups. There was no significant difference in satisfaction among the four groups. LIMITATIONS: This was a single-center retrospective and relatively short-term study. CONCLUSIONS: LA+R which could be safely applied in ankle arthroscopy provided satisfactory pain control, reduced postoperative pain intensity, fewer complications, shorter hospital stay, and good cost-effectiveness. It can be safely applied in ankle arthroscopy for the specific patients with ankle osteoarthritis.

Effects of high pressure homogenization and addition of oil on the carotenoid bioaccessibility of carrot juice.

Food processing and dietary lipids are considered as important factors for carotenoid bioaccessibility. The effects of high pressure homogenization (HPH) combined with oil or emulsion on carotenoid retention and bioaccessibility during digestion were investigated. The results illustrated that HPH decreased the area-based diameter (D[3,2]), and negative correlations were found between the total carotenoid bioaccessibility (TCB) and D[3,2] of carrot juice. The bioaccessibility of total carotenoids, ß-carotene and α-carotene of the homogenized samples was below 6%, while the addition of 2% oil, 10% oil or emulsion increased the carotenoid bioaccessibility (up to 14.08% for α-carotene). The carotenoid retention rate (CRR) of the homogenized samples was higher than that of the homogenized samples with oil or emulsion in each digestion phase. The CRR in the small intestine phase had a significant negative correlation with TCB, and therefore, a high TCB could be achieved despite a low CRR in the small intestine. Oil added as an emulsion had a slightly higher volume of free fatty acids released compared with oil added as such.

Effects of high pressure homogenization on pectin structural characteristics and carotenoid bioaccessibility of carrot juice.

Effects of high pressure homogenization (HPH) on stability, water-soluble pectin (WSP) and total carotenoid bioaccessiblity (TCB) of carrot juice were investigated to reveal the feasibility of applying HPH for improving TCB and the relationships between WSP and TCB induced by HPH. Results illustrated that HPH improved the juice stability and TCB. HPH increased the uronic acid content (UAC), and decreased the degree of methoxylation (DM) and acetylation (DAc) of WSP compared to non-homogenization. However, pressure and pass showed no significant effect on UAC, DM and DAc. HPH decreased the weight-average molar mass of WSP, signifying the degradation, which was enhanced by the increasing pressure. Emulsifying activity (EA) decreased with the increasing pass and inlet temperature. Functional relationships were found between TCB and WSP characteristics (DM and EA). Lower DM and EA contributed to higher TCB. Moreover, statistical correlations were found between TCB and indicators of WSP (UAC and DAc).

Opposite Effects of Two-Derived Antioxidants from Physalis pubescens L. on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line Malhavu.

Physalis pubescens L. (P. pubescens) is an edible plant used in folk medicine in China. There is traditional, but not scientific, evidence for the anti-tumour effects of P. pubescens. This study aimed to identify whether, or not, antioxidants rich in phenols and flavonoids from fruits and calyxes of P. pubescens can be the candidates for further development of an anti-hepatoma fraction, and if such biological effects coupled with reactive oxygen species (ROS) changes, can provide a direction for subsequent biological action. The effects of calyx-origin (or fruit-origin) total phenol and flavonoid (CTPF or FTPF) from P. pubescens on Malhavu cell viability were evaluated by using a counting-kit-8 (CCK-8) method. Morphological characterisation of cells was undertaken and the structures were photographed (200 × magnification) using Hoechst 3348 staining after exposure to different concentrations of CTPF or FTPF. Induced-apoptosis activity was determined using flow cytometry (FC) after Annexin VFITC/ PI staining. The corresponding ROS changes in Malhavu cells were observed and quantified by the uploading of 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA). Anti-oxidation was evaluated by a cellular oxidation-stress model and chemical assessments for DPPH, hydroxyl radial, super-oxide radicals, and reducing power. Result shows that CTPF led to significant anti-proliferation in a time- and dosedependent manner. However, FTPF promoted cell viability at 100-1000 µg/mL with a dose-response manner in 24 h. With the extension of exposure time to 48 h, the cell viability did not increase with the growth of FTPF. Morphological characterisation and FC assay both demonstrated that CTPF, and not FTPF possessed induced-apoptotic activity. CTPF potentially induced cell apoptosis by promoting oxidative stress. FTPF indicated pro-oxidation at a concentration of 10 µg/mL and anti-oxidation capabilities at higher concentrations. ROS scavenging assay by oxidation-stress model indicated that CTPF (10 - 400 µg/mL) had ROS inhibitory capacity (R2 = 0.5156, p < 0.0001). FTPF (10 - 100 µg/mL) boosted the level of ROS (p < 0.0001) and inhibited the generation of ROS at 100-400 µg/mL (R2 = 0.5951, p < 0.0001). CTPF is a potential candidate requiring further exploration for the development of antihepatoma ingredients. The down-regulation of cell viability was related to production and reduction of cellular ROS.