SONOCHEMICAL DEGRADATION OF CARBON TETRACHLORIDE IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION AT TWO FREQUENCIES : 200KHZ AND 600KHZ, 200W ACOUSTIC POWER

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Does it match? Analyzing self-reported online dermatology match data to Charting Outcomes in the Match

Dermatology is arguably the most competitive residency (81.6% match rate for United States allopathic seniors) with significantly more applicants than available positions. To objectify this process, the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) has produced bi-annual Charting Outcomes in Match (COM) datasets, which aggregate data from the prior two application cycles and tabulate statistics to aid applicants. In parallel, online forums provide medical trainees with vast amounts of information, including residency application insights. Reddit medical school subforum compiles annual spreadsheets of anonymous, individualized applicant data to aid future applicants. We compared this data to NRMP data to show that although the data means are similar (e.g. Step 1), the Reddit dermatology spreadsheet collects more data and the individualized nature aids applicants in a personalized way unlike the mean aggregate data in NRMP. Under univariate analysis, Alpha Omega Alpha status, overall publications, and dermatology-specific publications are associated with interview invitation rates. Although limitations of the study include small data size and reporting bias, this is the first of its kind to our knowledge to compare these two often-used tools to aid dermatology applicants. Future endeavors should expand anonymous data reporting and use the data to carry out more extensive studies to investigate factors influencing the application process

The contribution of free radicals in paracetamol degradation by UV/NaClO

UV/Chlorine is an emerging advanced oxidation process which forms several reactive species including •OH, •Cl, •OCl. This study investigated the contribution of three main free radicals: •OH, •Cl, •OCl on Paracetamol degradation under different conditions. Benzoic acid (BA), Nitro benzene (NB) and DMOB were used as probe compounds. The second rate constant of •OH, •Cl, •OCl with PRC were determined: 4.19 (±0.15) ×109 M-1s-1; 3.71 1010 M-1s-1; 3.532×109 M-1s-1, respectively. The formation of free radicals depends on pH. In particular, at pH 5: the contribution of •OH and     (-•OCl, •Cl) are 45 %, 41 %, respectively, at pH 8.5, the contribution of free radicals increases up to 63 %. Keywords. Paracetamol, UV/Chlorine process, reactive species

STUDY ON APPLICABILITY OF THE CONTACT OXIDATION PROCESS IN REMOVAL OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS FROM TEXTILE WASTEWATER

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Sensitive Organophosphorus and Carbamate Pesticides Biosensor Based on Acetylcholinesterase and CdZnSe/ZnS Ternary Alloy Quantum Dots

This report presents the results of ternary alloy quantum dots (TQDs) manufacturing and its superior optical properties to fabricate the biosensor for pesticide detection. The explanation for the changes in PL intensity based on the change of electronic charges that alters the pH value of the surrounding environment, and the types of interaction on the surface of CdZnSe/ZnS TQDs were discussed. We show the decomposition process of the indicator (ATCh) with the catalysis from acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) that inhibited by organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides including Trichlorfon (TF), Cypermethrin (CH), Abamectin (AT), and Carbosulfan (CS) with concentrations from 0.05 ppm to 10 ppm

Mechanism to Detect Pesticide Residues in Tealeaves Based on CdZnSe/ZnS Ternary Alloy Quantum Dots

In this report, we present the optical properties of the biosensors fabricated from CdZnSe/ZnS quantum dots. The optical properties such as absorption and emission of the ternary quantum dots before and after coupling with the protein molecules like streptavidine (SA) and acetylcholinesterase enzymes (AChE), to form a biosensor structure, will be presented. In particular, the changes in luminescence intensity according to the pH value of the solution environment containing biosensor have been considered, before and after the presence of pesticides. The changes in luminescence intensity of the biosensor after the presence of pesticide over time from 2 seconds to 26 minutes were also surveyed. We have been carried out the tests to determine the trace amounts of commercial pesticides like Motox 5EC, containing 5% cypermethrin and Tungatin 10 EC, containing 10% abamectin, on the real samples of tealeaves. Some characteristics of the relationship between composition, structure, and special optical properties of ternary alloy quantum dots will also be presented. These studies open up the potential applications of  ternary quantum dots for agricultural production

A High-Quality Genome Assembly of Striped Catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) Based on Highly Accurate Long-Read HiFi Sequencing Data

The HiFi sequencing technology yields highly accurate long-read data with accuracies greater than 99.9% that can be used to improve results for complex applications such as genome assembly. Our study presents a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), a commercially important species cultured mainly in Vietnam, integrating HiFi reads and Hi-C data. A 788.4 Mb genome containing 381 scaffolds with an N50 length of 21.8 Mb has been obtained from HiFi reads. These scaffolds have been further ordered and clustered into 30 chromosome groups, ranging from 1.4 to 57.6 Mb, based on Hi-C data. The present updated assembly has a contig N50 of 14.7 Mb, representing a 245-fold and 4.2-fold improvement over the previous Illumina and Illumina-Nanopore-Hi-C based version, respectively. In addition, the proportion of repeat elements and BUSCO genes identified in our genome is remarkably higher than in the two previously released striped catfish genomes. These results highlight the power of using HiFi reads to assemble the highly repetitive regions and to improve the quality of genome assembly. The updated, high-quality genome assembled in this work will provide a valuable genomic resource for future population genetics, conservation biology and selective breeding studies of striped catfish

Selective breeding of saline-tolerant striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) for sustainable catfish farming in climate vulnerable Mekong Delta, Vietnam

peer reviewedStriped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), a freshwater species cultured mainly in the Mekong Delta region in Southern Vietnam, is facing a significant challenge due to salinity intrusion as a result of climatic changes. Given these evolving environmental conditions, selecting new strains with a higher salinity tolerance could make production of striped catfish economically feasible in brackish environments. In this study, we carried out a selection program aimed at developing a striped catfish strain able to survive and grow fast in a saline environment. To implement the selection program, we first collected males and females from different provinces in the Mekong delta. We next performed a factorial cross of these breeders to produce half- and full-sib families. When fish reached fry stage (47 dph), we put them in a saline environment (10 ppt) and subsequently kept 50 % of the fastest-growing fish after 143 days post hatching (dph). We repeated this mass selection procedure after 237 dph and 340 dph. We maintained in parallel a randomly selected group in saline conditions and a group of fish reared in freshwater to serve as controls. After crossing the selected individuals, we performed several tests on the next generation of fish to evaluate the effectiveness of selection after one generation in saline conditions. Average direct responses to selection were 18.0 % for growth and 11.4 % for survival rate after one generation of selection. We estimated a moderate realized heritability (0.29) for body weight. The genetic gains obtained in our study for body weight and survival rate after one generation of selection under saline conditions suggest that selection can be effective to improve ability of striped catfish to cope with saline stress. We conclude that our selection program has succeeded in developing a productive strain of striped catfish with better tolerance to salinity. © 2022 The Author

Awareness and preparedness of healthcare workers against the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey across 57 countries.

BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave. METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training. RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors. INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type

Effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine fixed-dose combination in the treatment of hypertension: a systematic review

Background: Uncontrolled blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy offers a promising approach to addressing this challenge by providing a convenient single-tablet solution that enhances the effectiveness of blood pressure control. In our systematic review, we assess the effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC in managing blood pressure.Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across four primary electronic databases, namely, PubMed, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Global Health Library (GHL), and Google Scholar, as of 8 February 2022. Additionally, we performed a manual search to find relevant articles. The quality of the selected articles was evaluated using the Study Quality Assessment Tools (SQAT) checklist from the National Institute of Health and the ROB2 tool from Cochrane.Results: Our systematic review included 17 eligible articles. The findings show that the use of perindopril/amlodipine FDC significantly lowers blood pressure and enhances the quality of blood pressure control. Compared to the comparison group, the perindopril/amlodipine combination tablet resulted in a higher rate of blood pressure response and normalization. Importantly, perindopril/amlodipine FDC contributes to improved patient adherence with minimal side effects. However, studies conducted to date have not provided assessments of the cost-effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC.Conclusion: In summary, our analysis confirms the effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC in lowering blood pressure, with combination therapy outperforming monotherapy and placebo. Although mild adverse reactions were observed in a small subset of participants, cost-effectiveness assessments for this treatment remain lacking in the literature