Efficient removal of Cr(VI) and As(V) from an aquatic system using iron oxide supported typha biochar.

The removal of Cr(VI) and As(V) from aqueous solutions has been a worldwide concern. In this study, Typha biochar (FBC) with magnetic iron oxide was prepared by impregnating Typha with FeCl3 and performing pyrolysis, and the possible mechanism of Cr(VI) and As(V) removal was investigated by combining characterization means and adsorption experiments. The results showed that the modified Typha biochar is rich in pores and has the potential to eliminate Cr and As through processes such as exchange and reduction. The single molecule uptake capacities of FBC for Cr(VI) and As(V) were 32.82 and 21.56 mg g-1, respectively. The adsorption process is spontaneous heat absorption, and the adsorption results are also consistent with the proposed secondary kinetic model. FBC still had >60% removal efficiency in the second and third reuse of Cr(VI), indicating its good recyclability. Therefore, this study confirms that FBC can effectively remove both Cr(VI) and As(V).

Serum Uric Acid Revealed a U-Shaped Relationship With All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Mortality in High Atherosclerosis Risk Patients: The ASSURE Study.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between hyperuricemia and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Framingham study confirmed that patients with high atherosclerotic risks (HARs) had worse prognoses. However, after adjusting for confounding factors, the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality remains unclear, especially for HAR patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship of SUA with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in HAR patients. Methods: This multicenter cohort study enrolled 3,047 participants, and the follow-up was 68.85 ± 11.37 months. Factors related to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were tested by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Restricted cubic splines (RCSs) with knots were used to explore the shape of the dose-response relationship with SUA and the hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause and CVD mortality. SUA transformed by RCS was added to the Cox regression model as an independent variable, and all-cause and CVD mortality scores were calculated. Survival receiver operating characteristic curves were produced using a regression model predicting the score. Results: SUA demonstrated a "U-shaped" relationship with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. SUA predicted all-cause and CVD mortality, with cutoff values of values of >370.5 µmol/L for males and >327.65 µmol/L for females and <180.5 µmol/L for males and <165.7 µmol/L for females, respectively. The survival ROC curve indicated that SUA is able to predict all-cause and CVD mortality, with areas under the curve of 0.702 and 0.711, respectively. The HRs of all-cause mortality (male and female) with hyperuricemia and hypouricemia were 2.08 and 2.01 and 2.04 and 1.98, respectively, and the HRs of CVD mortality (male and female) were 2.09 and 1.79, and 2.02 and 1.89, respectively. Conclusion: Abnormal SUA levels were significant and independent risk factors for all-cause and CVD mortality. Hyperuricemia and hypouricemia increased mortality in both males and females. Routine SUA evaluation and intensive management are needed for HAR patients. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03616769.

Measuring the Wave Height Based on Binocular Cameras.

The wave is an important hydrological element in marine research. Accurately describing the characteristics of waves is therefore significant to the study of marine power. The contents of this article are as follows: (1) a wave height measurement system using binocular cameras is proposed, and the small tank experiments are conducted to prove the efficacy of the proposed system; (2) based on the scale invariant feature transition (SIFT) algorithm, sub-pixel Harris corners are calculated in the difference-of-Gaussian (DOG) space to locate key points more accurately; and (3) a bi-directional epipolar constraint is employed to decrease the mismatch rate and computation time.

Advantages of a ClO2/NaClO combination process for controlling the disinfection by-products (DBPs) for high algae-laden water.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has been widely used in the process of preoxidation and disinfection as an excellent water treatment reagent. However, the inorganic by-products produced by ClO2, such as chlorite (ClO2-) and chlorate (ClO3-) are harmful to human health, and this has become a potential problem when using ClO2 in drinking water treatment. In this study, ClO2 alone and a ClO2/NaClO combination process were carried out to evaluate the algae removal efficiency of the treatment and the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs: chlorite, chlorate, trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) for high algae-laden water with 124.16 µg L-1 chlorophyll a (Chl.a) content. The results show that disinfection with 1.5 mg L-1 ClO2 alone results in a ClO2- concentration exceeding 0.7 mg L-1. ClO2 preoxidation/ClO2 disinfection is applicable for the control of effluent quality, but the ClO2- concentration still has an excessive risk when using 0.8 mg L-1 and 0.6 mg L-1 ClO2 for the two process, respectively. In the ClO2/NaClO combination process, the ClO2- concentration is below 0.6 mg L-1, and trihalomethane (THM) and haloacetic acid (HAA) concentrations are lower than 60% of the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Further, the formation of ClO2- is more effectively controlled by NaClO preoxidation/ClO2 disinfection than ClO2 preoxidation/NaClO disinfection.

Enhancement of bromate formation by pH depression during ozonation of bromide-containing water in the presence of hydroxylamine.

This work investigated the fate of bromate formation during ozonation in the presence of hydroxylamine (HA). Results indicated that pH depression, as a commonly feasible control strategy for bromate formation during ozonation, unexpectedly enhanced the bromate formation during ozonation in the presence of HA. A dramatically high level of bromate was observed at acidic pH in the ozone/HA process. The scavenging experiments demonstrated the essential role of OH produced in the reaction of ozone with HA in bromate formation. In the process, OH mainly oxidizes bromide to Br, which is further oxidized by ozone and eventually converts to bromate. Further investigations suggested that the unexpected enhancement on bromate formation by pH depression can be mainly ascribed to the pH-dependent ozone decay, OH exposures and formation rate of Br. As pH decreased from 7 to 5, the reduced OH scavenging capacity of HA led to higher OH exposures, which contributed to the enhancement of bromate formation. As pH decreased from 5 to 3, the enhanced formation rate of Br largely augmented the formation of bromate. In addition, the ozone decay slowed down by pH depression provided more available ozone for the oxidation of the formed Br to bromate. The enhanced effect of pH depression on bromate formation was still observed in the real water samples in the ozone/HA process. Accordingly, pH depression might be avoided to control the bromate formation during ozonation in the presence of HA.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is a valid technique for the assessment of renal microvascular perfusion dysfunction in diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats.

AIM: To evaluate the reliability of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) for the detection of renal microvascular blood perfusion in a type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat model. METHODS: Male GK and Wistar rats at the age of 4, 12 and 20 weeks (n=10, respectively) were used for the study. Real-time and haemodynamic imaging of the renal cortex was performed using CEUS with SonoVue. Outage time-intensity curves (TICs) were applied for the analysis of basic intensity, slope rates of the ascending (S1) and descending curves (S2), time to peak (TTP), half time of peak descending (HDT), peak intensity (PI), and total area under the curve (AUC). Immunohistochemical staining for endothelial cells (ECs) was performed using the CD34 monoclonal antibody for the quantification of microvessel density and distribution. RESULTS: Images of the renal cortex microvascular beds after injection of SonoVue in the rats were rapidly and clearly displayed, and it is easy to differentiate the enhanced and faded images of renal perfusion. The TICs of the GK rats were much wider than the controls; however, no significant changes in PI were found in all aged rats. Ultrasonographic quantitative analysis revealed a decrease in S1 and S2, and an increase in TTP, HDT and AUC in the 12- and 20-week-old GK rats compared with the controls (P<0.05). Moreover, the 20-week-old GK rats had much lower glomerular density and smaller distribution area of CD34-positive ECs, which was in parallel with more severe proteinuria, GBM thickening, glomerulosclerosis and interstitial vascular damages (P<0.05). Interestingly, negative correlations between AUC and glomerular microvessel density or distribution were detected, respectively (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is a valid technique for the real-time and dynamic assessment of renal cortex microvascular perfusion and haemodynamic characterization in GK rats.

Relationship of a low ankle-brachial index with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in Chinese patients with metabolic syndrome after a 6-year follow-up: a Chinese prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common clinical manifestation of the systemic atherosclerotic process, and the ankle-brachial index (ABI) is an ideal tool to diagnose PAD. Currently, there have been few long-term follow-up studies focused on the associations of the ABI with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in Chinese MetS patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ABI to predict the prognosis of CVD in hospitalized Chinese patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS: Participants from multi-center departments were followed up from November 2004 to January 2011. The study sample actually comprised 1,266 valid participants whose age was ≥35 years. Patients were separated into four groups, with an ABI ≤0.4, 0.41-0.7, 0.71-0.9 and 0.91-1.4. An ABI ≤0.9 was defined as PAD, and subjects with an ABI >1.4 were excluded because of the false negative rate. Factors related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were observed by Cox models and the log rank test. Potential confounding variables with values of p<0.10 were adjusted for the multivariate analysis. RESULTS: An abnormal ABI value was strongly, independently, and inversely correlated with the all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. After adjusting for age and other covariates, Cox models revealed that an abnormal ABI value was still correlated with the all-cause mortality (relative risk/RR/=1.82, 95% confidence interval/CI/=1.45-2.34 p<0.01), and CVD mortality (RR=1.88, 95% CI=1.51-2.90 p<0.01). CONCLUSION: An abnormal ABI value was not only a significant and independent risk factor for CVD, but also for the survival rate in Chinese MetS patients. Routine ABI evaluation could therefore be helpful for identifying high risk patients, especially MetS patients.

Effect of Acupotomy on Spasticity after Cerebral Palsy / 中国康复理论与实践

@#ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Acupotomy on spastic cerebral palsy. Methods105 cases of spastic cerebral palsy were random divided into group A (35 cases with acupotomy), group B (34 cases with physical therapy) and group C (36 cases with acupotomy and physical therapy). Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) was used to assess spasticity before and a month after therapy. ResultsEffective rate of group A was 65.71%, group B was 29.41%, group C was 77.78%, which of group B was significantly lower than those of group A of C. ConclusionAcupotomy can reduce muscular tension of spastic cerebral palsy, which seems more effective than physical therapy.