Public attitudes toward medical waste: Experiences from 141 countries.

BACKGROUND: Medical Waste (MW), conceptualized as waste generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, posing massive threat to public health. Environment-friendly public attitudes promotes the shaping of pro-environmental behavior. However, the public attitudes of MW and the potential determinants remained scarce. The present study aims to reveal globally public attitudes towards MW and captured the determinants. METHODS: We integrated the crawler technology with sentiment analysis to captured the public attitudes toward MW across 141 specific countries from 3,789,764 related tweets. Multiple cross-national databases were integrated to assess characteristics including risk, resistance, environment, and development. The spatial regression model was taken to counterbalence the potential statistical bias. RESULTS: Overall, the global public attitudes towards MW were positive, and varied significantly across countries. Resilience (ß = 0.78, SD = 0.14, P < 0.01) and development (ß = 1.66, SD = 0.13, P < 0.01) posed positive influence on public attitudes towards MW, meanwhile, risk (ß = -0.1, SD = 0.12, P > 0.05) and environment (ß = 0.09, SD = 0.09, P > 0.05) were irrelated to the shaping of positive MW public attitudes. Several positive moderating influences was also captured. Additionally, the cross-national disparities of the determiants were also captured, more specific, public attitudes towards MW in extremely poor areas were more likely to be negatively affected by risks, resilience and development. CONCLUSIONS: This study focused mainly on the public attitudes as well as captured the potential determinants. Public attitudes towards MW were generally positive, but there were large cross-national disparities. Stakeholders would need to designate targeted strategies to enhance public satisfaction with MW management.

Environmental drivers of the leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry characteristics of critically endangered Acer catalpifolium.

Acer catalpifolium is a perennial deciduous broad-leaved woody plant, listed in the second-class protection program in China mainly distributed on the northwest edge of Chengdu plain. However, extensive anthropogenic disturbances and pollutants emissions (such as SO2, NH3 and NOX) in this area have created a heterogeneous habitat for this species and its impacts have not been systematically studied. In this study, we investigated the leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content of A. catalpifolium in the natural distribution areas, and a series of simulation experiments (e.g., various water and light supply regimes, different acid and N deposition levels, reintroduction management) were conducted to analyze responses of N and P stoichiometric characteristics to environmental changes. The results showed that leaf nitrogen content (LNC) was 14.49 ~ 25.44 mg g-1, leaf phosphorus content (LPC) was 1.29~3.81 mg g-1 and the N/P ratio of the leaf (L-N/P) was 4.87~13.93. As per the simulation experiments, LNC of A. catalpifolium is found to be relatively high at strong light conditions (80% of full light), high N deposition (100 and 150 kg N ha-1), low acidity rainwater, reintroduction to understory area or N fertilizer applications. A high level of LPC was found when applied with 80% of full light and moderate N deposition (100 kg N ha-1). L-N/P was high under severe shade (8% of full light), severe N deposition (200 kg N ha-1), and reintroduction to gap and undergrowth habitat; however, low L-N/P was observed at low acidity rainwater or P fertilizer application. The nutrient supply facilitates corresponding elements uptake, shade tends to induce P limitation and soil acidification shows N limitation. Our results provide theoretical guidance for field management and nutrient supply regimes for future protection, population rejuvenation of this species and provide guidelines for conservation and nutrient management strategies for the endangered species.

Morphological, Physiological and Photophysiological Responses of Critically Endangered Acer catalpifolium to Acid Stress.

Acid rain deposition (AR) has long-lasting implications for the community stability and biodiversity conservation in southwest China. Acer catalpifolium is a critically endangered species in the rain zone of Western China where AR occurs frequently. To understand the effects of AR on the morphology and physiology of A. catalpifolium, we conducted an acid stress simulation experiment for 1.5 years. The morphological, physiological, and photosynthetic responses of A. catalpifolium to the acidity, composition, and deposition pattern of acid stress was observed. The results showed that simulated acid stress can promote the growth of A. catalpifolium via the soil application mode. The growth improvement of A. catalpifolium under nitric-balanced acid rain via the soil application mode was greater than that of sulfuric-dominated acid rain via the soil application mode. On the contrary, the growth of A. catalpifolium was significantly inhibited by acid stress and the inhibition increased with the acidity of acid stress applied via leaf spraying. The inhibitory impacts of nitric-balanced acid rain via the leaf spraying of A. catalpifolium were greater than that of sulfur-dominant acid rain via leaf spraying. The observations presented in this work can be utilized for considering potential population restoration plans for A. catalpifolium, as well as the forests in southwest China.

Insights Into Comparative Analyses and Phylogenomic Implications of Acer (Sapindaceae) Inferred From Complete Chloroplast Genomes.

Acer L. (Sapindaceae) is one of the most diverse and widespread plant genera in the Northern Hemisphere. It comprises 124-156 recognized species, with approximately half being native to Asia. Owing to its numerous morphological features and hybridization, this genus is taxonomically and phylogenetically ranked as one of the most challenging plant taxa. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequences of five Acer species and compare them with those of 43 published Acer species. The chloroplast genomes were 149,103-158,458 bp in length. We conducted a sliding window analysis to find three relatively highly variable regions (psbN-rps14, rpl32-trnL, and ycf1) with a high potential for developing practical genetic markers. A total of 76-103 SSR loci were identified in 48 Acer species. The positive selection analysis of Acer species chloroplast genes showed that two genes (psaI and psbK) were positively selected, implying that light level is a selection pressure for Acer species. Using Bayes empirical Bayes methods, we also identified that 20 cp gene sites have undergone positive selection, which might result from adaptation to specific ecological niches. In phylogenetic analysis, we have reconfirmed that Acer pictum subsp. mono and A. truncatum as sister species. Our results strongly support the sister relationships between sections Platanoidea and Macrantha and between sections Trifoliata and Pentaphylla. Moreover, series Glabra and Arguta are proposed to promote to the section level. The chloroplast genomic resources provided in this study assist taxonomic and phylogenomic resolution within Acer and the Sapindaceae family.

HPLC-MS/MS method for the determination and pharmacokinetic study of six compounds against rheumatoid arthritis in rat plasma after oral administration of the extract of Caulophyllum robustum Maxim.

Caulophyllum robustum Maxim (CRM) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) mainly present in the northeast, northwest and southwest regions of China, which is belong to the family Berberidaceae. The roots and rhizomes of CRM have been used as a famous TCM for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The selective, sensitive and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method for the determination and pharmacokinetic study cauloside H, leonticin D, cauloside G, cauloside D, cauloside C and magnoflorine in rat plasma was developed and validated in this paper. Chromatographic separation was achieved by using a Waters ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm) with gradient elution using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 0.1 % formic acid in water at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The detection was performed in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode and electrospray ionization (ESI) in positive and negative modes. The linearity, precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, matrix effects and stability were assessed to validate the current high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) assay. Good linearity was achieved for each analyte with a correlation coefficient (r2) > 0.99). All the precision (RSD) data were less than 12.20 %, the accuracies ranged from -12.39 % to 10.55 %, the recovery rates from the rat plasma ranged from 85.48%-98.69 %, and the matrix effects ranged from 80.96 % to 91.35 %. The validated approach was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetic characteristics of saponins and alkaloids in plasma after administering CRME to rats, and this assay provides a platform for studying the active components of multicomponent traditional Chinese medicines and provides useful information for further clinical studies.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of Acer sutchuenense subsp. tienchuanenge (Sapindaceae).

Acer sutchuenense subsp. tienchuanenge (Sapindaceae: Acer) is an endangered deciduous arbor species and endemic to China. Being obtained by using genome Illumina pair-end sequencing data, the complete chloroplast genome of A. sutchuenense subsp. tienchuanenge had a typical quadripartite structure, with 156,063 bp long, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,772 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,117 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) (each 26,087 bp in length). A total of 136 genes were annotated, of which 113 are unique genes, including 30 tRNAs, 4 rRNAs, and 79 protein-coding genes. The overall GC content was 37.9%. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that A. sutchuenense subsp. tienchuanenge was the most closely related to A. griseum and A. triflorum. The complete chloroplast genome of A. sutchuenense subsp. tienchuanenge is valuable for assessment and conservation of genetic resources and further for phylogenetic study of Acer L.

Ionic Liquid Stabilized Niobium Oxoclusters Catalyzing Oxidation of Sulfides with Exceptional Activity.

We present here a new class of niobium oxoclusters that are stabilized effectively by carboxylate ionic liquids. These functionalized ILs are designated as [TBA][LA], [TBA][PA], and [TBA][HPA] in this work, in which TBA represents tetrabutylammonium and LA, PA, and HPA refer to lactate, propionate, 3-hydroxypropionate anions, respectively. The as-synthesized Nb oxoclusters have been characterized by use of elemental analysis, NMR, IR, XRD, TGA, HRTEM. It was found that [TBA][LA]-stabilized Nb oxoclusters (Nb-OC@[TBA][LA]) are uniformly dispersed with an average particle size of 2-3 nm and afforded exceptionally high catalytic activity for the selective oxidation of various thioethers. The turnover number with Nb-OC@[TBA][LA] catalyst was over 56 000 at catalyst loading as low as 0.0033 mol % (1 ppm). Meantime, the catalyst also showed the high activity for the epoxidation of olefins and allylic alcohols by using only 0.065 mol % of catalyst (50 ppm). The characterization of 93 Nb NMR spectra revealed that the Nb oxoclusters underwent structural transformation in the presence of H2 O2 but regenerated to their initial state at the end of the reaction. In particular, the highly dispersed Nb oxoclusters can absorb a large amount of polar organic solvents and thus were swollen greatly, which exhibited "pseudo" liquid phase behavior, and enabled the substrate molecules to be highly accessible to the catalytic center of Nb oxocluster units.

Peroxotantalate-Based Ionic Liquid Catalyzed Epoxidation of Allylic Alcohols with Hydrogen Peroxide.

The efficient and environmentally benign epoxidation of allylic alcohols has been attained by using new kinds of monomeric peroxotantalate anion-functionalized ionic liquids (ILs=[P4,4,4,n ]3 [Ta(O)3 (η-O2 )], P4,4,4,n =quaternary phosphonium cation, n=4, 8, and 14), which have been developed and their structures determined accordingly. This work revealed the parent anions of the ILs underwent structural transformation in the presence of H2 O2 . The formed active species exhibited excellent catalytic activity, with a turnover frequency for [P4,4,4,4 ]3 [Ta(O)3 (η-O2 )] of up to 285 h-1 , and satisfactory recyclability in the epoxidation of various allylic alcohols under very mild conditions by using only one equivalent of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. NMR studies showed the reaction was facilitated through a hydrogen-bonding mechanism, in which the peroxo group (O-O) of the peroxotantalate anion served as the hydrogen-bond acceptor and hydroxyl group in the allylic alcohols served as the hydrogen-bond donor. This work demonstrates that simple monomeric peroxotantalates can catalyze epoxidation of allylic alcohols efficiently.

Temperature-Responsive Ionic Liquids: Fundamental Behaviors and Catalytic Applications.

Temperature-responsive ionic liquids (ILs), their fundanmental behaviors, and catalytic applications were introduced, especially the concepts of upper critical solution temperature (UCST) and lower critical solution temperature (LCST). It is described that, during a catalytic reaction, they form a homogeneous mixture with the reactants and products at reaction temperature but separate from them afterward at ambient conditions. It is shown that this behavior offers an effective alternative approach to overcome gas/liquid-solid interface mass transfer limitations in many catalytic transformations. It should be noted that IL-based thermomorphic systems are rarely elaborated until now, especially in the field of catalytic applications. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive review about thermomorphic mixtures of an IL with H2O and/or organic compounds. Special focus is laid on their temperature dependence concerning UCST and LCST behavior, including systems with conventional ILs, metal-containing ILs, polymerized ILs, as well as the thermomorphic behavior induced via host-guest complexation. A wide range of applications using thermoregulated IL systems in chemical catalytic reactions as well as enzymatic catalysis were also demonstrated in detail. The conclusion is drawn that, due to their highly attractive behavior, thermoregulated ILs have already and will find more applications, not only in catalysis but also in other areas.

Phase Transfer of Nanoparticles Using an Amphiphilic Ionic Liquid.

The phase transfer of nanoparticles (NPs) from water to organic solvents by an amphiphilic room-temperature ionic liquid (IL) was reported. The geminal IL modified with Pluronic P123 stabilizes a variety of NPs of different size and nature, such as Pd, Au, Ag, and SiO2 NPs. Their phase transfer into a hydrophobic environment was realized by raising the temperature and adding salts (such as NaCl and KBr), both of which have a common effect of breaking the hydrogen bonds of the IL with H2O. A more straightforward method of using an organic solvent working as a hydrogen bond donor (such as butyl alcohol) was then proposed. In this case, NaCl was no longer required. To further apply this strategy to the organic solvents that are generally incapable of forming hydrogen bonds (e.g., toluene), a small quantity of benzoic acid was added to the organic phase. By forming hydrogen bonds from benzoic acid to the IL, an even more facile approach was provided. FT-IR confirmed the hydrogen bonding between them. The phase-transfer protocol does not rely on coordination bonding of ligands with a specific metal and is capable of the phase transfer of objects with large sizes and different natures. Thus, it has the potential for wide application.