Biodegradable dust suppressants prepared from biomass-based materials: The role of viscosity and suppressed particles.

In this study, biodegradable dust suppressants were prepared using glycerol and biomass-based oily compounds, including palm oil, biodiesel, and soybean oil. The suppressing ability of the glycerol and the oily compound mixture was evaluated using wind tunnel tests, and factors affecting the suppression of the particles were determined. The replacement of sodium dodecyl sulfate with coco glucoside and lauryl glucoside significantly enhanced the biodegradability of the suppressants (2.02 vs. 9.01 and 8.54 mg/L of BOD5). The glycerol and soybean oil mixture exhibited excellent performance owing to the relatively high viscosity of the suppressants, and the optimal dilution ratio was 1:50 and 1:1000 for sand and granite-weathered soil, respectively. More than 98% of suppression was obtained under the optimal conditions. The effect of the particle properties (particularly permeability) was significant, even though the viscosity of the suppressants was responsible for the suppression of the particles. Our results suggest that the mixture of glycerol and biomass-based oily compounds could be a promising suppressant for reducing the mobility of ultrafine particles in the atmosphere.Implications: Since the early 2010s, anthropogenic fugitive dust from industrial activities has become a serious environmental issue due to its serious hazards to the environment and human health in South Korea. So far, several dust suppressants (mostly salts) were made and used for field application. However, due to their toxic effects, it is necessary to develop a new eco-friendly suppressant that can be biodegraded in the soil and that is not hazardous to human health or the environment. Previously we have developed an eco-friendly dust suppressant with low toxicity and high suppression ability using ingredients and by-products of biodiesel production, marine biomass, and commercial vegetable oils (Tsgot and Oh 2021, J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc. 71:1386-1396). However, due to the low biodegradability of surfactant, the synthesized dust suppressants showed limited biodegradability. As a follow-up to our previous study, we employed readily biodegradable surfactants as additives to enhance the biodegradability of the dust suppressants with the same excellent suppressing ability. To determine the optimal conditions, the synthesis and preparation of the dust suppressants was conducted using biodegradable surfactants, including coco glucoside and lauryl glucoside. The factors affecting the suppressing ability of the suppressants were examined via wind tunnel tests. These factors include the dilution factors, the viscosity of the suppressants, and the type of suppressed particles. Possible suppressing mechanisms were also discussed.

Long-Term Non Anesthetic Preclinical Study Available Extra-Cranial Brain Activator (ECBA) System for the Future Minimally Invasive Human Neuro Modulation.

In recent years, electroceuticals have been spotlighted as an emerging treatment for various severe chronic brain diseases, owing to their intrinsic advantage of electrical interaction with the brain, which is the most electrically active organ. However, the majority of research has verified only the short-term efficacy through acute studies in laboratory tests owing to the lack of a reliable miniaturized platform for long-term animal studies. The construction of a sufficient integrated system for such a platform is extremely difficult because it requires multi-disciplinary work using state-of-the-art technologies in a wide range of fields. In this study, we propose a complete system of an implantable platform for long-term preclinical brain studies. Our proposed system, the extra-cranial brain activator (ECBA), consists of a titanium-packaged implantable module and a helmet-type base station that powers the module wirelessly. The ECBA can also be controlled by a remote handheld device. Using the ECBA, we performed a long-term non-anesthetic study with multiple canine subjects, and the resulting PET-CT scans demonstrated remarkable enhancement in brain activity relating to memory and sensory skills. Furthermore, the histological analysis and high-temperature aging test confirmed the reliability of the system for up to 31 months. Hence, the proposed ECBA system is expected to lead a new paradigm of human neuromodulation studies in the near future.

The Research Trends of Pharmacopuncture Therapy on Cervical Pain Caused by Traffic Accidents.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to comprehensively review Korean domestic studies and investigate the research trends of pharmacopuncture therapy on cervical pain caused by traffic accidents. METHODS: Domestic studies between February 1999 and May 2020 from four Korean databases were searched with combinations of keywords 'cervical pain', 'traffic accident', 'whiplash injury', and 'pharmacopuncture'. RESULTS: 17 studies were selected for review, including 7 randomized controlled trials, 5 retrospective observational studies, 3 case reports, and 2 non-randomized controlled trials. Each study was reviewed by published year, study type, types of pharmacopuncture solutions, selected acupuncture points, dosage of pharmacopuncture solutions, frequency of treatment, concurrent treatments, outcome measurements, and the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture therapy. The results are as follows (1) It showed that the total number of published studies had increased slightly in the last 10 years compared to the previous decade. (2) The pharmacopuncture solutions used in the studies were in the following order Bee-Venom (), Jungsongouhyul (), Hwangryunhaedoktang () and Soyeom (). Frequently used acupuncture points were GB20, GV21, A-shi point, GV16, EX-B2, and SI15 in order. (3) The most commonly used total injection dosage was 1.0 cc at a time, and the frequency of treatment was twice a week. (4) Concurrent treatments such as acupuncture, herbal medication, physical therapy and Chuna manual therapy were performed in all 17 studies. (5) Pharmacopuncture therapy showed positive effects on cervical pain caused by traffic accidents in all 17 studies reviewed. CONCLUSION: Pharmacopuncture therapy was effective in cervical pain caused by traffic accidents in all 17 studies selected. Further studies will be needed using more larger scales and more objective data to confirm the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture therapy and to generalize its application.

The compact electro-acupuncture system for multi-modal feedback electro-acupuncture treatment.

The compact electro-acupuncture (EA) system is proposed for the multi-modal feedback EA treatment. It is composed of a needle, a smart patch, and an interconnecting conductive thread. The 3cm diameter compact EA patch is implemented with the EA controller integrated circuit (IC) and the small coin battery on the planar-fashionable circuit board (P-FCB) technology. It can achieve the user convenience and the low manufacturing cost at once by removing the wire connections. The EA controller IC programs the stimulation current and also monitors the electromyography (EMG) and the skin temperature during the EA stimulation. The measured data can be wirelessly transmitted to the external EA analyzer through the body channel communication with low power consumption. The external EA analyzer can check the patient's status, such as the muscle fatigue and the change of the skin temperature, and the practitioner can change the stimulation parameters for the optimal curative value. The proposed compact EA system is fully implemented and tested on the human body.

A sub-10 nA DC-balanced adaptive stimulator IC with multi-modal sensor for compact electro-acupuncture stimulation.

A compact electro-acupuncture (EA) system is proposed for a multi-modal feedback EA treatment. It is composed of a needle, a compact EA patch, and an interconnecting conductive thread. The 3 cm diameter compact EA patch is implemented with an adaptive stimulator IC and a small coin battery on the planar-fashionable circuit board (P-FCB) technology. The adaptive stimulator IC can form a closed current loop for even a single needle, and measure the electromyography (EMG) and the skin temperature to analyze the stimulation status as well as supply programmable stimulation current (40 µA-1 mA) with 5 different modes. The large time constant (LTC) sample and hold (S/H) current matching technique achieves the high-precision charge balancing ( <;10 nA) for the patient's safety. The measured data can be wirelessly transmitted to the external EA analyzer through the body channel communication (BCC) transceiver for the low power consumption. The external EA analyzer can show the patient's status, such as the muscle fatigue and the change of the skin temperature. Based on these analyses, the practitioner can adaptively change the stimulation parameters for the optimal treatment value. A 12.5 mm(2) 0.13 µm RF CMOS stimulator chip consumes 6.8 mW at 1.2 V supporting 32 different current levels. The proposed compact EA system is fully implemented and tested on the human body.