Biochar-modified constructed wetlands using Eclipta alba as a plant for sustainable rural wastewater treatment.

Constructed wetlands (CWs) provide a low-cost, effective solution for domestic wastewater treatment in developing nations compared to costly traditional wastewater systems. Biochar which is an organic material created by pyrolysis offers straightforward, affordable methods for treating wastewater and lowering carbon footprint by acting as a substrate in CWs. Batch mode biochar-amended subsurface flow (SSF) CWs planted with Eclipta alba (L) with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3 days were used for the treatment of rural domestic wastewater in the present investigation. Two control CWs, without plants (C1) and with plants (C2), and five different amendments of biochar 5% (B5), 10% (B10), 15% (B15), 20% (B20) and 25% (B25) in ratio with soil were set up to check the treatment efficiency of CWs. Removal efficiency (RE%) of the CWs for parameters namely chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), phosphate (PO42-), sulphate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-) and total Kjeldhal nitrogen (TKN) was determined using standard methods. Removal efficiency of 93%, 91%, 74% and 77% was observed for BOD, COD, nitrate and sulphate, respectively, in the B25 amendment at HRT 72 h. The highest removal of TKN (67%) was also observed in the B25 amendment at HRT of 72 h. No stable trend for the removal of phosphates was found during the study, and maximum removal was observed at HRT 48 h; afterward, phosphate was slightly inclined with the increasing HRT. The findings of one-way ANOVA using Tukey's test show significant variations (p < 0.05) in the removal efficiencies of pollutants after 72 h between two controls (C1 and C2) and various biochar amendments in CWs, indicating a significant role of the wetland plants and concentration of the biochar as substrate. Biochar shows a positive impact on the removal of organic pollutants and nitrates. Hence, biochar-amended CWs can be a sustainable way of treating rural domestic wastewater.

Lanthanum nanoparticle (La2O3)-loaded adsorbents for removal of hexavalent chromium: a kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamic study.

Nanocomposite adsorbents for wastewater treatment gained popularity in recent times. In the present study, nanoparticles prepared from lanthanum have been loaded on the powdered form of aquatic plants Salvinia molesta (S. molesta) and Typha latifolia (T. latifolia). These new adsorbents were NPS (nanoparticle-loaded S. molesta) and NPT (nanoparticle-loaded T. latifolia). The batch study was carried out to assess the effect of several factors on the adsorption of Cr(VI) by novel adsorbents NPS and NPT. XRD, SEM, FTIR, EDX, and Zeta potential were used for the characterization of nanoparticles formed and novel adsorbents. The maximal adsorption was noticed by both adsorbents at pH 1, 20 ppm of initial metal concentration, and 1 h of contact period with 150 rpm at 25 ℃. The adsorbent dose of 60 mg and 80 mg was observed as the equilibrium dose for NPS and NPT, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity observed was 27.18 mg/g for NPS and 19.85 mg/g for NPT. Freundlich isotherm was better fitted for both adsorbents. Pseudo-second-order kinetics depicts the better mechanism of adsorption with R2 = 0.9995 and 0.9982 for NPS and NPT, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters show that the adsorption process was exothermic and spontaneous.

Strategies to address barriers and improve bowel cancer screening participation in Indigenous populations, particularly in rural and remote communities: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Participation in bowel cancer screening programs is low in Indigenous1 Australian populations, particularly in rural and remote communities. There is growing evidence of strategies to increase screening rates amongst Indigenous Australians, however, there are limited strategies specific to rural and remote communities. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to identify strategies that may increase bowel cancer screening rates amongst Indigenous populations, particularly in rural and remote communities. METHODOLOGY: A literature search was undertaken which included peer-reviewed qualitative and quantitative articles of any study design, and grey literature. Evidence from New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia were included, and descriptive numerical and thematic analyses were conducted. The identified strategies were categorised using the National Cancer Policy Board's organisational framework. RESULTS: Nineteen strategies were identified from 23 included articles. The most frequently used strategies were recommendation from a general practitioner, culturally appropriate education resources, and nonresponder follow up. Four strategies were specific to rural and remote communities including alternative distribution of kits and mobile screening. Thirteen strategies aim to address the Knowledge category of the framework, four address Attitudes, four address Ability, and six address Reinforcement. So What?: Several strategies are available to increase bowel cancer screening in Indigenous populations, with very few strategies specifically relating to rural and remote communities. Multiple strategies may maximise the likelihood of participation in screening amongst Indigenous Australians. Implementation may require system-level and local-level changes.

Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients with Implanted Cardiac Devices at High Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background and Objectives: Patients with pre-existing cardiac disease have a higher prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA has been associated with an increased risk of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmia. We screened subjects with implanted pacemakers and automated implantable cardioverter defibrillators (AICD) for OSA with the Berlin Questionnaire and compared the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) firing between high and low OSA risk groups. Materials and Methods: We contacted 648 consecutive patients from our arrhythmia clinic to participate in the study and performed final analyses on 171 subjects who consented and had follow-up data. Data were abstracted from the electronic health record for the incidence of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT), ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF) and AICD firing and then compared between those at high versus low risk of OSA using the Berlin Questionnaire and multivariate negative binomial regression. Results: The average follow-up period was 24.2 ± 4.4 months. After adjusting for age, gender and history of heart failure, those subjects at high risk of OSA had a higher burden of NSVT vs. those with a low risk of OSA (33.4 ± 96.2 vs. 5.82 ± 17.1 episodes, p = 0.003). A predetermined subgroup analysis of AICD recipients also demonstrated a significantly higher burden of NSVT in the high vs. low OSA risk groups (66.2 ± 128.6 vs. 18.9 ± 36.7 episodes, p = 0.033). There were significant differences in the rates of VT, VF or AICD shock burden between the high and low OSA risk groups and in the AICD subgroup analysis. Conclusions: There was increased ventricular ectopy among pacemaker and AICD recipients at high risk of OSA, but the prevalence of VT, VF or AICD shocks was similar to those with low risk of OSA.

Evidences of the radiofrequency exposure on the antioxidant status, potentially contributing to the inflammatory response and demyelination in rat brain.

Present study exhibited the oxidative potential of microwave radiation (MWR) leading to the neurodegeneration in rats. Wistar rats were exposed at 2100 MHz frequency for 4 h/day, 5 days/week/3 months. Animals were exposed at an estimated specific absorption rate (0.453 W/kg) and power density (8.237 µW/m2). After exposure irradiated group was compared with control group. Results indicated that microwave exposure significantly increased the levels of serological triglycerides and cholesterol. Oxidative stress is observed through alteration of glutathione homeostasis followed by activated inflammatory response further confirmed by pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the exposed group. Histopathological assessments and electron microscopic observation confirmed a significant change in the myelination pattern and cellular organelles in the brain of exposed animals. Taking everything into account it can be concluded that chronic exposure of 2100-MHz frequency caused oxidative stress, which leads to neural damage and demyelination and may affect neural communication.

Biodegradation of Reactive Yellow-145 azo dye using bacterial consortium: A deterministic analysis based on degradable Metabolite, phytotoxicity and genotoxicity study.

Azo dyes are used at larger-scale as coloring agent in the textile industry. It generates a huge amount of dye containing wastewater and its toxicity threatens all kinds of life and also impacts human beings. At present, more impetus is being given to the biological treatment of dye effluent because of its azoreductase enzyme action to break down azo bond which leads to decolorization and degradation of dye. Bacterial consortium of E. asburiae and E. cloacae (1:1 ratio) was used for degradation and decolorization of Reactive Yellow-145 (RY-145) dye. The optimization of dye concentration, temperature, pH, and media has been carried out to determine the conditions required for maximum degradation and decolorization. The mixed consortium (10%) has shown 98.78% decolorization of RY-145 dye under static condition at 500 mgL-1 concentration, 35 °C and pH 7.0 at 12 h contact period. FTIR analysis showed formation of new functional groups in the treated dye, such as O-H stretch at 1361 cm-1, C-H stretch at 890 cm-1, N-H stretch at 1598 cm-1 and aromatic C-H at 671 cm-1 revealing degradation of dye. Biodegraded metabolites of RY-145 dye were identified through GC-MS analysis that includes 2-Cyclohexen-1-ol, 5-Nitroso-2, 4, 6-triaminopyrimidine, Octahydroquinoline-9-hydroxyperoxide, Tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol, 9-Octadecanoic acid, methyl ester and Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester, respectively which have industrial applications. Cyclohexane was used in gasoline and adhesive while Octahydroquinoline-9-hydroxyperoxide and 5-Nitroso-2, 4, 6-triaminopyrimidine were used in manufacturing drugs. Tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol, 9-Octadecanoic acid, methyl ester and Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester are antimicrobial and antioxidant. Phytotoxicity test also showed non-toxic effects of treated dye on germination of Cicer arietinum and Vigna radiata seeds. Similarly, genotoxicity study indicated less toxic effects of biodegraded dye products on Mitotic index (MI) and cell division of Allium cepa.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in a monolayer MoS2at carrier densities well above Mott density.

Due to the growing interest in monolayer (ML) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) in several optoelectronic applications like lasers, detectors, sensors, it is important to understand the ultrafast behavior of the excited carriers in this material. In this article, a comprehensive study of the charge carrier dynamics of a monolayer MoS2flake has been studied using transient transmission technique near A-exciton under high excitation densities well above the Mott density. Fluence dependent studies has been carried out to understand the origin of the processes which modifies its optical response under excitation. The dissociation of excitons leads to an observed fast bandgap renormalization. At later times when large number of carriers relax the remaining carriers forms excitons leading to a bleaching effect.

Patient characteristics and surgical variables associated with intraoperative reduced right ventricular function.

OBJECTIVE: Perioperative right ventricular function is a significant predictor of patient outcomes after cardiac surgery. This prospective study aimed to identify perioperative factors associated with reduced intraoperative right ventricular function. METHODS: Right ventricular function was assessed at the beginning and end of surgery by standardized transesophageal echocardiographic measurements, including tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, peak systolic longitudinal right ventricular strain, and fractional area change, in 109 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery at Cleveland Clinic. Associations between right ventricular function and 33 patient characteristics and perioperative factors were analyzed by random forest machine learning. The relative importance of each variable in predicting right ventricular function at the end of surgery was determined. RESULTS: Longer aortic clamp duration and lower baseline right ventricular function were highly important variables for predicting worse right ventricular function measured by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, right ventricular strain, and fractional area change at the end of surgery. For example, right ventricular function after longer aortic clamp times of 100-120 minutes was worse (median [Q1, Q3] tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion 1.0 [0.9, 1.1] cm) compared with right ventricular function after shorter aortic clamp times of 50 to 70 minutes (tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion 1.5 [1.3, 1.7]; P = .001). Right ventricular strain at the end of surgery was reduced in patients with worse baseline right ventricular function compared with those with higher baseline right ventricular function (end of surgery right ventricular strain in lowest quartile -13.7 [-16.6, -12.4]% vs highest quartile -17.7 [-18.6, -15.3]% of baseline right ventricular function; P = .043). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative decline in right ventricular function is associated with longer aortic clamp time and worse baseline right ventricular function. Efforts to optimize these factors, including better myocardial protection strategies, may improve perioperative right ventricular function.

Biomimetic synthesis of silver nanoparticles for treatment of N-Nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatotoxicity.

The development of bioengineered nanoparticles has attracted considerable universal attention in the field of medical science and disease treatment. Current studies were executed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Their characterization was performed by UV-Visible analysis, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Zeta analyses. In in vivo studies, albino rats (180 ± 10 g) were persuaded with model hepatic toxicant N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and subsequently cotreated with Morus multicaulis at 100 mg/kg and AgNPs at 100 µg/kg dose. NDEA administration elevates the levels of liver function test biomarkers, which were reinstated to normal by cotreatment of test drugs. The oxidative stress and concentration of drug-metabolizing enzyme increase after induction of toxicant (NDEA), these markers are restored toward normal after cotreatment of nano-drug. Treatments of M. multicaulis extract did not show such significant protection. The NDEA-treated groups showed a significant rise in the level of cytokines (interleukin [IL-6] and IL-10) and reached normal with subsequent treatment with AgNPs. Histopathological studies also exhibited the curative effect of AgNPs in the same manner. Thus current results strongly suggest that biomimetic AgNPs could be used as an effective drug against hepatic alteration.

External Validation of the Cardiac Surgery Score in a Quaternary Hospital in the United States of America.

BACKGROUND: The Cardiac Surgery Score (CASUS) was developed to assist in predicting post-cardiac surgery mortality using parameters measured in the intensive care unit. It is calculated by assigning points to ten physiologic variables and adding them to obtain a score (additive CASUS), or by logistic regression to weight the variables and estimate the probability of mortality (logistic CASUS). Both additive and logistic CASUS have been externally validated elsewhere, but not yet in the United States of America (USA). This study aims to validate CASUS in a quaternary hospital in the USA and compare the predictive performance of additive to logistic CASUS in this setting. METHODS: Additive and logistic CASUS (postoperative days 1-5) were calculated for 7098 patients at Cleveland Clinic from January 2015 to February 2017. 30-day mortality data were abstracted from institutional records and the Death Registries for Ohio State and the Centers for Disease Control. Given a low event rate, model discrimination was assessed by area under the curve (AUROC), partial AUROC (pAUC), and average precision (AP). Calibration was assessed by curves and quantified using Harrell's Emax, and Integrated Calibration Index (ICI). RESULTS: 30-day mortality rate was 1.37%. For additive CASUS, odds ratio for mortality was 1.41 (1.35-1.46, P <0.001). Additive and logistic CASUS had comparable pAUC and AUROC (all >0.83). However, additive CASUS had greater AP, especially on postoperative day 1 (0.22 vs. 0.11). Additive CASUS had better calibration curves, and lower Emax, and ICI on all days. CONCLUSIONS: Additive and logistic CASUS discriminated well for postoperative 30-day mortality in our quaternary center in the USA, however logistic CASUS under-predicted mortality in our cohort. Given its ease of calculation, and better predictive accuracy, additive CASUS may be the preferred model for postoperative use. Validation in more typical cardiac surgery centers in the USA is recommended.

Endophytic bacterium CIMAP-A7 mediated amelioration of atrazine induced phyto-toxicity in Andrographis paniculata.

The presence of atrazine, a triazine herbicide, and its residues in agriculture soil poses a serious threat to human health and environment through accumulation in edible plant parts. Hence, the present study focused on atrazine induced stress amelioration of Andrographis paniculata, an important medicinal plant, by a plant growth promoting and atrazine degrading endophytic bacterium CIMAP-A7 inoculation. Atrazine has a non-significant effect at a lower dose while at a higher dose (lower: 25 and higher: 50 mg kg-1) 22 and 36% decrease in secondary metabolite content and plant dry weight of A. paniculata was recorded, respectively. Endophyte CIMAP-A7 inoculation significantly reduced atrazine soil content, by 78 and 51% at lower and a higher doses respectively, than their respective control treatments. Inoculation of CIMAP-A7 exhibited better plant growth in terms of increased total chlorophyll, carotenoid, protein, and metabolite content with reduced atrazine content under both atrazine contaminated and un-contaminated treatments. Atrazine induced oxidative stress in A. paniculata was also ameliorated by CIMAP-A7 by reducing stress enzymes, proline, and malondialdehyde accumulation under contaminated soil conditions than un-inoculated treatments. Furthermore, the presence of atrazine metabolites deisopropylatrazine (DIA) and desethylatrazine (DEA) strongly suggests a role of CIMAP-A7 in mineralization however, the absence of these metabolites in uninoculated soil and all plant samples were recorded. These findings advocate that the amelioration of atrazine induced stress with no/least pesticide content in plant tissues by plant-endophyte co-interactions would be efficient in the remediation of atrazine contaminated soils and ensure safe crop produce.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in Ag-CdTe hybrid nanostructure: non-radiative and radiative relaxations.

In this article, we study non-radiative and radiative relaxation processes in a hybrid formed by combining Ag nanoparticle (NP) and CdTe quantum dots (QD) using transient transmission spectroscopy. The ultrafast transient transmission of hybrid, when excited at 400 nm, shows a faster recovery of hot electrons at a shorter time scale (few picoseconds) while it shows a slower recovery at longer time scale (few tens of picoseconds). Further it is found that the contribution of CdTe QD to the transient transmission is increased in the presence of Ag NP. However, the radiative relaxation in CdTe QDs get quenched in the presence of Ag NP. This work provides significant insight into the various relaxation processes that leads to the charge transport and PL quenching mechanisms in metal-semiconductor hybrids.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Identify Landmarks of the Proximal Humerus: Potential Use for Intraosseous Vascular Access.

OBJECTIVES: The inability to identify landmarks is an absolute contraindication for intraosseous access. The feasibility of landmark identification using ultrasound (US) has been demonstrated on human cadavers. We aimed to study the feasibility of point-of-care US in identifying proximal humerus landmarks in living human patients. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study conducted from May 3 to June 7, 2017, after approval from the Institutional Review Board at the Cleveland Clinic. Sixty upper extremities of 30 consenting participants across 3 distinct body mass index (BMI) groups (normal, obese, and morbidly obese) were alternately examined with a 12 L-RS linear US transducer (GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL) by 2 investigators. Six anatomic landmarks were identified: the humeral shaft, the surgical neck of the humerus, the lesser tubercle, the greater tubercle, the inter tubercular sulcus, and the target site for needle insertion on the greater tubercle. Rates of successful identification of all 6 landmarks as defined by independent agreement between the investigators were reported as estimated incidence rates with 95% bootstrap confidence interval (CI) sampling at the participant level. RESULTS: Ultrasound had an overall success rate of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78-0.95) in identifying all 6 landmarks with slight variability among various BMI groups. After excluding the surgical neck, the overall success rate improved to 0.93 (95% CI, 0.87-0.98), with minimum variability across BMI groups and no change in the ability to identify the target site. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is reliable in identifying proximal humerus intraosseous landmarks, with reasonable accuracy across various BMI groups.

Arsenic-induced differential expression of oxidative stress and secondary metabolite content in two genotypes of Andrographis paniculata.

The present study explores the differential responses of two genotypes (APwC: wild collection and APMS: mass selection line) of A. paniculata against the three application rates of arsenic (42, 126, and 200 mg kg-1). The oxidative enzymes, As accumulation in different tissues, plant growth, and content of pharmacologically important ent-labdane-related diterpenes (ent-LRDs) of the two genotypes were evaluated in the study. Results demonstrated that As uptake significantly reduced plant biomass in APwC and APMS by 5-41.5% and 9-33% in a dose-response manner, respectively. The APMS exhibited lower bioconcentration and translocation factors, higher As tolerance index, and higher content of ent-LRDs as compared to APWC. As treatment induced a decrease in the sum of four metabolite content of APMS (1.43 times) and an increase in that of APWC (1.12 times) as compared to control. Likewise, variance in the production of 5,7,2',3'-tetramethoxyflavanone, and stress enzymes was also observed between APwC and APMS. The increase in the expression of ApCPS2 suggested its involvement in channeling of metabolic flux towards the biosynthesis of ent-LRDs under As stress.

Identification of genes involved in phosphate solubilization and drought stress tolerance in chickpea symbiont Mesorhizobium ciceri Ca181.

Chickpea plant root colonizing bacteria Mesorhizobium ciceri Ca181 promotes plant growth and development through symbiotic association with root nodules. The potentially beneficial effects on plants generated due to this bacterium are mineral nutrient solubilization, abiotic stress tolerance, and nitrogen-fixation, though the molecular mechanisms underlying these probiotic capacities are still largely unknown. Hence, this study aims to describe the molecular mechanism of M. ciceri Ca181 in drought stress tolerance and phosphorus solubilization. Here we have developed the transposon inserted mutant library of strain Ca181 and further screened it to identify the phosphorous solubilization and PEG-induced drought stress tolerance defective mutants, respectively. Resultantly, a total of four and three mutants for phosphorous solubilization and drought stress tolerance were screened and identified. Consequently, Southern blot confirmation was done for the cross verification of insertions and stability in the genome. Through the sequencing of each mutant, the interrupted gene was confirmed, and the finding revealed that the production of gluconic acid is necessary for phosphorus solubilization, while otsA, Auc, and Usp genes were involved in the mechanism of drought stress tolerance in M. ciceri Ca181.

Filtering noise in time and frequency domain for ultrafast pump-probe performed using low repetition rate lasers.

Optical pump-probe spectroscopy is a powerful tool to directly probe the carrier dynamics in materials down to sub-femtosecond resolution. To perform such measurements, while keeping the pump induced perturbation to the sample as small as possible, it is essential to have a detection scheme with a high signal to noise ratio. Achieving such a high signal to noise ratio is easy with phase sensitive detection based on a lock-in-amplifier when a high repetition rate laser is used as the optical pulse source. However, such a lock-in-amplifier based method does not work well when a low repetition rate laser is used for the measurement. In this article, a sensitive detection scheme, which combines the advantages of a boxcar that rejects noise in time domain and a lock-in-amplifier that isolates the signal in the frequency domain for performing pump-probe measurements using a low-repetition rate laser system, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A theoretical model to explain the process of signal detection and a method to reduce the pulse to pulse energy fluctuation in probe pulses is presented. By performing pump-probe measurements at various detection conditions, the optimum condition required for obtaining the transient absorption signal with low noise is presented. The reported technique is not limited to pump-probe measurements and can be easily modified to suit for other sensitive measurements at low repetition rates.

Awareness, Perception, Attitude Regarding CoViD -19 and Infection Control among Indian Pediatric Dentists: A Cross Sectional Study.

AIM: The rapid and extensive spread of CoViD -19 pandemic has become a major source of concern for healthcare system including pediatric dentists. The aim of the present study was to assess the awareness, perception and attitude regarding CoViD - 19 and infection control among Indian pediatric dentists. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 1009 Indian Pediatric dentists completed questionnaire based survey on the awareness, perception and attitude regarding CoViD - 19 infection and its control. Descriptive statistics have been used in the study to analyze the findings. Mean and standard deviation and proportion have been used to estimate the results of the study. RESULTS: 65.75% Indian pediatric dentists had answered questions regarding CoViD - 19 infection correctly. The present survey found a positive perception among Indian pediatric dentist regarding CoViD - 19 and infection control. However the attitude among Pediatric dentist regarding the same was not encouraging. CONCLUSION: As the global threat of CoViD-19 continues to emerge, it is critical to improve the awareness, perceptions and attitude of pediatric dentists. Educational interventions are urgently needed to reach pediatric dentists beyond borders, and further studies are warranted.

Insight in the transcriptome data of hairy root disease-causing bacterium-Agrobacterium rhizogenes.

Agrobacterium rhizogenes induce the production of the hairy root through the transformation of plant genomes. In this article, we executed the transcriptome of A. rhizogenes through RNA-sequencing. RNA-sequencing of A. rhizogenes generated a total of 2.6 Gb raw data with a 75 bp paired-end sequence. The raw data has been submitted to the SRA database of NCBI with accession number SRR5641651. Reads were generated 2946 unigenes and all unigenes were annotated in the database. The length of transcripts ranged from 90 to 6369 bp, with a median transcript length of 968. The transcripts were annotated through the number of databases to obtain information about SSRs, SNPs, Gene Ontology, Transcription factors, and pathways analysis .