A Retrospective Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Endoscopic Radiofrequency Therapy Under Direct Vision in 59 Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease from 2 Centers in Beijing, China Using the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND This retrospective study from 2 centers in Beijing, China aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of endoscopic radiofrequency therapy under direct vision in 59 patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) using the gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire (GerdQ). MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty-nine GERD patients who underwent endoscopic radiofrequency treatment were included. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the endoscopic radiofrequency therapy under direct vision group and the non-direct vision radiofrequency therapy group. Indicators such as GerdQ score, lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, DeMeester score, acid exposure time, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) use were collected before and after radiofrequency treatment. Postoperative complications were also recorded. The efficacy and safety of endoscopic radiofrequency therapy under direct vision were evaluated by comparing the indicators of patients in the 2 groups. RESULTS At 3 months after radiofrequency treatment, patients in the endoscopic radiofrequency therapy under direct vision group improved significantly in GerdQ score, decreased from 11.0 (10.0, 12.0) to 6.0 (6.0, 8.0), better than patients in the non-direct vision radiofrequency therapy group, and the better improvements remained at 12 months after the procedure (P<0.05). At 6 months after treatment, patients in the endoscopic radiofrequency therapy under direct vision group had significant improvements in LES pressure, which increased from 8.15 (3.18, 12.88) mmHg to 15.20 (10.25, 27.03) mmHg (P<0.05). There were no severe complications in our trial. CONCLUSIONS When compared with non-visualized endoscopic radiofrequency therapy, treatment under direct vision was safer and improved the GerdQ score and LES pressure at up to 12 months.

Improvement of Asia-Pacific colorectal screening score and evaluation of its use combined with fecal immunochemical test.

BACKGROUND: The Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening (APCS) score is effective to screen high-risk groups of advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN) patients but needs revising and can be combined with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT). This paper aimed to improve the APCS score and evaluate its use with the FIT in stratifying the risk of ACN. METHODS: This prospective and multicenter study enrolled 955 and 1201 asymptomatic Chinese participants to form the derivation and validation set, respectively. Participants received the risk factor questionnaire, colonoscopy and FIT. Multiple logistic regression was applied, and C-statistic, sensitivity and negative predictive values (NPVs) were used to compare the screening efficiency. RESULTS: A modified model was developed incorporating age, body mass index (BMI), family history, diabetes, smoking and drinking as risk factors, stratifying subjects into average risk (AR) or high risk (HR). In the validation set, the HR tier group had a 3.4-fold (95% CI 1.8-6.4) increased risk for ACN. The C-statistic for the modified score was 0.69 ± 0.04, and 0.67 ± 0.04 for the original score. The sensitivity of the modified APCS score combined with FIT for screening ACN high-risk cohorts was 76.7% compared with 36.7% of FIT alone and 70.0% of the modified APCS score alone. The NPVs of the modified score combined with FIT for ACN were 98.0% compared with 97.0% of FIT alone and 97.9% of the modified APCS score alone. CONCLUSIONS: The modified score and its use with the FIT are efficient in selecting the HR group from a Chinese asymptomatic population.

Ultrasonic washing for oily sludge treatment in pilot scale.

Ultrasonic technology is a promising tool for washing oily sludge to remove oil, however, little information has been provided on the pilot scale application of ultrasonic washing. In this study, the ultrasonic conditions were optimized based on the pilot trial of the effects of ultrasonic properties on oil removal from oily sludge. An ultrasonic power of 0.24 w/cm2 was necessary to overcome the energy threshold for oil washing at the frequency of 25 kHz. The removal rate was changed from 46.0% to 60.7% with oily sludge content from 25.0% to 42.0%, respectively. The addition of surfactants could improve oil recovery, and the optimizing content for sodium petroleum sulfonate and Span 80 was 0.3% and 0.03%, respectively. A series of pilot scale test indicated that the oil removal rate could be 82-90% by ultrasound assistant with surfactants (Span 80). Thin-layer chromatographic flame ionization detection showed that the removal rate by ultrasonic wash was dropped with the increase of composition polarity. However, under the assistance of surfactants (Span 80), all compositions could be effectively removed. This pilot study will greatly improve the application of ultrasonic technology in oily sludge treatment.

Prophylactic effect of glyceryl trinitrate on post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

AIM: To examine the prophylactic effect of glyceryl trinitrate on post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia. METHODS: Patients scheduled for ERCP were randomly divided into study group and placebo group. Patients in study group and placebo group were treated with 5 mg glyceryl trinitrate and 100 mg vitamin C, respectively, 5 min before endoscopic maneuvers. RESULTS: A total of 74 patients were enrolled in the final analysis. Post-ERCP pancreatitis occurred in 3 patients (7.9%) of the study group and 9 patients (25%) in the placebo group (P = 0.012). Hyperamylasemia occurred in 8 patients of the study group (21.1%) and 13 patients (36.1%) of the placebo group (P = 0.037). CONCLUSION: Glyceryl trinitrate before ERCP can effectively prevent post-ERCP and hyperamylasemia.

Treatment of 2-phenylamino-3-methyl-6-di-n-butylaminofluoran production effluent by combination of biological treatments and Fenton's oxidation.

High strength refractory organic stream is produced during the production of 2-phenylamino-3-methyl-6-di-n-butylaminofluoran (One Dye Black 2, abbr. ODB 2), a novel heat-sensitive material with a promising market. In this study, a combination of acidification-precipitation, primary biological treatment, Fenton's oxidation and another biological treatment was successfully used for the removal of COD from 18000-25000 mg/L to below 200 mg/L from the ODB 2 production wastewater in a pilot experiment. A COD removal of 70%-80% was achieved by acidification-precipitation under a pH of 2.5-3.0. The first step biodegradation permitted an average COD removal of 70% under an hydraulic residence time (HRT) of 30 h. By batch tests, the optimum conditions of Fenton's oxidation were acquired as: Fe2+ dose 6.0 mmol/L; H202 dose 3000 mg/L; and reaction time 6 h. The second step biological treatment could ensure an effluent COD below 200 mg/L under an HRT of 10 h following the Fenton's treatment.

[Comparison of hydroxyl radical production rates in H2O2 solution under homogeneous catalysis of Fe3+ or Fe2+].

The production of *OH radicals was investigated by using the electron spin resonance (ESR) method with 5,5-dimethyl-1-lpyrroline-1-oxide (DMPO) as spin trap reagent. ESR signals composed of 4 lines with a 1:2:2:1 intensity ratio indicated the formation of *OH radicals in the Fenton-like reaction. For both systems, the production rates of hydroxyl radicals in the initial stage were considerably high, and increased with increasing concentrations of H2O2 and Fe2+ or Fe3+. However, the radical production rate in Fenton reaction system was markedly higher than that in Fenton-like reaction under similar dosing conditions. The differences of radical production rates between the reaction systems remained even in the slow reaction stage. The optimum pH ranges of the production of *OH radicals in Fenton process and Fenton-like process were 2.5 to approximately 3.5 and 2.8 to approximately 3.0 respectively. The above results demonstrate that the Fenton system and Fenton-like system are possibly based on different reaction mechanisms.

[Removal of humic substances using cerium-iron adsorbent].

A rare earth metal inorganic adsorbent, cerium-iron adsorbent (CFA), was developed, and its performance for fulvic acid (FA) removal was evaluated. Experimental results show that rare earth metal adsorbent had a relatively high adsorption capacity and good kinetic property for FA ion under the pH range of 3.0-6.5, then the adsorption capacity decreased with the increase of pH. FA seriously inhibited the removal of arsenate, suggesting that the adsorption sites for As(V) and FA were similar. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of CFA before and after FA adsorption demonstrated that M-OH groups plays an important role for FA removal. The pH(icp) is 5.6 through the measure of Zeta potential.