Adsorption and Microfiltration Processes to Treat Dye and Coffee Wastewater.

Wastewater from coffee processing industry creates high biological and chemical oxygen demand in the surface water. In addition to coffee wastewater from coffee industry, dyes from textile industry enter surface water affecting water quality in terms of transmissivity of light. Adsorption is an economical wastewater treatment process to remove color from dye and coffee wastewater. In the current thesis, adsorption using low-cost adsorbents like peanut hull and onion peel are used to treat combined dye and coffee wastewater. Three representative dyes including acid black 48, disperse yellow 3, crystal violet certified with processed coffee is used in preparing batch adsorption samples. Using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, absorbance and transmittance of the wastewater samples are measured. After adsorbents reach adsorption capacity, the suspended solids are removed using Whatman 41 microfilters. To understand the change in organic carbon before and after treatment in the wastewater, NPOC (Non-Purgeable Organic Carbon) is compared using Shimadzu TOC analyzer. This thesis focuses on the two-stage treatment process of adsorption and microfiltration in a binary mixture of dye and coffee wastewater. Increasing Adsorbent dosage in the representative wastewater samples gives us the idea of optimum dosage required in the treatment process. The comparative study of adsorbent dosage with transmittance and NPOC gives us an understanding of the efficiency of low-cost adsorbents when compared to Powdered Activated Carbon

Abnormal flow-mediated epicardial vasomotion in human coronary arteries is improved by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition A potential role of bradykinin

AbstractOBJECTIVESThis study was performed to determine whether angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition improves endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilation in patients with atherosclerosis or its risk factors and whether this is mediated by enhanced bradykinin activity.BACKGROUNDAbnormal coronary vasomotion due to endothelial dysfunction contributes to myocardial ischemia in patients with atherosclerosis, and its reversal may have an antiischemic action. Previous studies have shown that ACE inhibition improves coronary endothelial responses to acetylcholine, but whether this is accompanied by improved responses to shear stress remains unknown.METHODSIn 19 patients with mild atherosclerosis, metabolic vasodilation was assessed during cardiac pacing. Pacing was repeated during separate intracoronary infusions of low-dose bradykinin (BK) and enalaprilat. Endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation was estimated with intracoronary BK and sodium nitroprusside respectively.RESULTSEnalaprilat did not alter either resting coronary vascular tone or dilation with sodium nitroprusside, but potentiated BK-mediated dilation. Epicardial segments that constricted abnormally with pacing (−5 ± 1%) dilated (3 ± 2%) with pacing in the presence of enalaprilat (p = 0.002). Similarly, BK at a concentration (62.5 ng/min) that did not alter resting diameter in the constricting segments also improved the abnormal response to a 6 ± 1% dilation (p < 0.001). Cardiac pacing-induced reduction in coronary vascular resistance of 27 ± 4% (p < 0.001) remained unchanged after enalaprilat.CONCLUSIONSThus ACE inhibition: A) selectively improved endothelium-dependent but not -independent dilation, and B) abolished abnormal flow-mediated epicardial vasomotion in patients with endothelial dysfunction, in part, by increasing endogenous BK activity

Applying satellite remote sensing, unmanned systems, and models for water quality analysis

Transport of soils and sediment by runoff diminish the surface water quality of lakes/reservoirs and shrink reservoir capacity. Nutrients move with transported soil and sediment due to soil erosion by floods and high wind. Nutrients from land management practices such as farming, animal feeding operations, and wastewater treatment stimulate the growth of cyanobacteria in surface water bodies. Excessive nutrient loading or eutrophication with favorable hydrodynamics result in excessive growth of cyanobacteria called Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). These cyanobacteria sometimes release microcystins which are toxic to humans when consumed. The biological decay of HABs cause ecological dead zones due to depletion of dissolved oxygen while reducing the utility of the reservoirs. From an ecosystem service provision and human health perspective, HABs represent a great water quality threat.Therefore monitoring and modeling the formation of HABs in surface water bodies is important. In freshwater reservoirs of Oklahoma and Kansas, HAB formations and occurrences have increased due to floods, agricultural practices, and rising earth temperatures due to global warming and climate change. In Oklahoma, Grand Lake O' the Cherokees (Grand Lake) had experienced a severe HAB outbreak in 2011. In Kansas, Marion reservoir experiences HAB formation almost every year. These two reservoirs provide an opportunity to study and understand HAB formation, predict them and provide warning advisories. All the in-situ data collected using unmanned systems in the freshwater reservoirs have been used to develop water quality and watershed models to understand the relationship between sediment, nutrient loadings and HAB formations

Use of bioresorbable vascular scaffold : a meta-analysis of patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND: Differences in outcomes between bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) systems and drug-eluting metal stents (DES) have not been fully evaluated. We aimed to compare clinical and angiographic outcomes in randomised studies of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), with a secondary analysis performed among registry studies. METHODS: A meta-analysis comparing outcomes between BVS and DES in patients with CAD. Overall estimates of treatment effect were calculated with random-effects model and fixed-effects model. RESULTS: In 6 randomised trials (3818 patients), BVS increased the risk of subacute stent thrombosis (ST) over and above DES (OR 2.14; CI 1.01 to 4.53; p=0.05), with a trend towards an increase in the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) (125 events in those assigned to BVS and 50 to DES; OR 1.36; CI 0.97 to 1.91; p=0.07). The risk of in-device late lumen loss (LLL) was higher with BVS than DES (mean difference 0.08 mm; CI 0.03 to 0.13; p=0.004). There was no difference in the risk of death or target vessel revascularisation (TVR) between the two devices. In 6 registry studies (1845 patients), there was no difference in the risk of death, MI, TVR or subacute ST between the two stents. Final BVS dilation pressures were higher in registry than in randomised studies (18.7±4.6 vs 15.2±3.3 atm; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with BVS had an increased risk of subacute ST and slightly higher LLL compared with those with DES, but this might be related to inadequate implantation techniques, in particular device underexpansion.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Utilization of Agro-based Adsorbents in Binary Wastewater Treatment

The application of agro-based adsorbents is growing in the tertiary stage of the wastewater treatment process during the presence of hazardous pollutants. Dye and coffee industries are among the major wastewater pollutant sources negatively affect aquatic ecosystems and human health. The current study attempts to treat a binary mixture of crystal violet (CV) and coffee wastewater using agro-based adsorbents such as peanut hull and onion peel. The performance and efficacy of low-cost adsorbents were evaluated using parameters, including transmittance and non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC). Batch adsorption studies were conducted to optimize both the adsorbent size and dosage that affect the treatment process. The experimental data obtained from the experiment were analyzed to understand whether Langmuir or Freundlich best fits the treatment process\u27s experimental data. It was observed that Langmuir isotherm seems to fit experimental data using peanut hull and Freundlich isotherm using onion peel. The kinetics of the adsorption process appears to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The regression coefficient value of onion peel was 0.91, and uptake was 58.14 mg/g. Similarly, using the peanut hull, the regression coefficient was 0.99, and uptake was 57.47 mg/g. It seems that peanut hull appears to perform better as a low-cost adsorbent compared to onion peel. The adsorption capacity increased with the increasing dosage of low-cost adsorbent (peanut hull) until the adsorbent size of 0.6-0.425 mm and steadily decreased after that

Inflammatory Burden of Cardiac Allograft Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Is Associated With Early Recurrent Cellular Rejection and Predicts a Higher Risk of Vasculopathy Progression

ObjectivesThis study was designed to investigate tissue characterization of the coronary allograft atherosclerotic plaque with virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) imaging to assess the presence and predictors of vessel wall inflammation and its significance in cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) progression.BackgroundA unique form of accelerated atherosclerosis, CAV remains the leading cause of late morbidity and mortality in heart transplant patients. The pathogenesis of CAV is not fully elucidated.MethodsA total of 86 patients with coronary allograft vasculopathy underwent VH-IVUS examination of the left anterior descending coronary artery 3.61 ± 3.04 years following cardiac transplantation. Based on the VH-IVUS plaque characteristics, coronary allograft plaque was divided on virtual histology intravascular ultrasound-derived “inflammatory” (VHD-IP) (necrotic core and dense calcium ≥30%) and “noninflammatory” plaque (VHD-NIP) (necrotic core and dense calcium <30%). Total rejection scores were calculated based on the 2004 International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation rejection grading system.ResultsIn the whole study population, the mean percentage of fibrous, fibrofatty, dense calcified, and necrotic core plaques in a mean length of 62.3 ± 17.4 mm of the left anterior descending coronary artery were 50 ± 17%, 16 ± 11%, 15 ± 11%, and 18 ± 9%, respectively. Patients with a 6-month total rejection score >0.3 had significantly higher incidence of VHD-IP than those with a 6-month total rejection score ≤0.3 (69% vs. 33%, p = 0.011). The presence of VHD-IP at baseline was associated with a significant increase in plaque volume (2.42 ± 1.78 mm3/mm vs. –0.11 ± 1.65 mm3/mm, p = 0.010), plaque index (7 ± 9% vs. 0 ± 8%, p = 0.04), and remodeling index (1.24 ± 0.44 vs. 1.09 ± 0.36, p = 0.030) during 12 months of follow-up when compared with the presence of VHD-NIP at baseline and during follow-up.ConclusionsThe presence of VHD-IP as assessed by VH-IVUS is associated with early recurrent rejection and with higher subsequent progression of CAV. A VH-IVUS assessment may add important information in the evaluation of transplant recipients

Malignant Arrhythmia in Apical Ballooning Syndrome: Risk Factors and Outcomes

Objectives: We sought to determine the frequency and outcomes with symptomatic arrhythmia in patients with apical ballooning syndrome (ABS). Methods: A retrospective review of the Mayo Clinic Angiography database was conducted to identify patients who met the Mayo criteria for ABS. Patients with documented arrhythmias formed the study group, and 31 randomly selected patients with ABS but without arrhythmia formed the control group. Results: Out of 105 patients identified with ABS, 6 (5.7%) women aged 69 +/- 9 years experienced significant arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation, asystole), 2 patients died, and 1 required permanent pacemaker implantation. When compared with controls, the study group showed no significant difference with respect to ECG characteristics (QT, QRS duration or axis) except for R-R interval variability (see comments below) (30.6±6 vs 14.5±17 p = 0.0004), QTc, and P-R interval. Patients without arrhythmia were more likely to be on beta-blocker therapy than the study population (33% vs 80.6% p = 0.02). Conclusion: Life-threatening arrhythmia is uncommon (5.7%) with ABS despite marked, structural abnormalities. When arrhythmias do occur, the outcome is poor. Prominent variability in R-R intervals appears to be predictive of significant arrhythmias in ABS. The role of beta-blocker therapy in preventing arrhythmia with ABS requires further investigation