Three dimensional numerical modeling of mixing at river confluences

River confluences are key sites in river systems where, when the difference in depth between the two incoming streams can give rise to a distortion of the mixing layer and to upwelling of the deeper channel fluid in the shallower channel. This has been shown to enhance mixing between the two rivers. In the present study, the relation between the confluence bed geometry and the mixing characteristics is studied using a three-dimensional numerical model (PHOENICS software). Curvilinear coordinates and modified k-f closure model are used to investigate the flow structure for a laboratory confluence model and a field stream confluence. A scalar tracer with different concentrations was introduced in the main and the tributary channels of the simulated numerical model to examine the mixing rates in the region downstream of the junction. The tracer is subject to both convection and turbulent diffusion. The results displayed the enhanced mixing due to the amplified secondary flow pattern triggered by the effect of bed discordance. Numerical simulations at two flow conditions of the natural confluence with a similar bed discordance in the tributary also confirmed that a rapid mixing occurs due to the effect of bed discordanc

Intravenous lipid emulsion therapy for cardiac arrest and refractory ventricular tachycardia due to multiple herb intoxication

Herbal products have been used for therapeutic purposes for a long time. However, many herbs can be toxic and even life-threatening. If refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT) is caused by herbal products and shows no response to conventional therapy, intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) therapy can be considered. We report a case of herbal intoxication leading to refractory VT, which was successfully treated with ILE therapy. A 36-year-old woman with aplastic anemia presented with mental changes. She had taken an unknown herbal decoction three days before visiting the hospital. Soon after coming to the hospital, she went into cardiac arrest. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, and return of spontaneous circulation with VT was achieved. Synchronized cardioversion was then performed and amiodarone was administered. However, VT with pulse continued, so ILE therapy was attempted, which led to the resolution of VT

Diagnostic markers of serious bacterial infections in infants aged 29 to 90 days

Objectives: The diagnosis of serious bacterial infection (SBI) is difficult due to a lack of clinical evidence. The purpose of this study was to determine which inflammatory markers can be used to detect SBI in febrile infants. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included infants aged 29 to 90 days who visited a tertiary hospital emergency department in Korea between July 2016 and June 2018. The diagnostic characteristics of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC) count, and absolute neutrophil cell (ANC) count for detecting SBI were described. Their cutoff values were calculated based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Among 528 infants, 199 were finally enrolled. SBI was detected in 68 (34.2%) of these infants. The median values of all investigated diagnostic markers were significantly higher in infants with SBI than the values in those without: WBC (12.72 vs. 9.91 k/μL), ANC (6.28 vs. 3.14 k/μL), CRP (26.6 vs. 2.8 mg/L), NLR (1.29 vs. 0.78), and PCT (0.5 vs. 0 ng/mL). The areas under the ROC curves for discriminating SBI were: 0.705 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.629-0.781), 0.793 (95% CI, 0.731-0.856), 0.832 (95% CI, 0.775-0.889), 0.722 (95% CI, 0.651-0.792), and 0.695 (95% CI, 0.611-0.780) for WBC, ANC, CRP, NLR, and PCT, respectively. Using a cutoff value of 0.67 for NLR, the negative predictive value was 90.8% for identifying SBI. Conclusions: CRP was the best single discriminatory marker of SBI, while NLR was the best parameter for considering discharge

Uptake of be(Ii) by cement in degradation stage i: Wet-chemistry and molecular dynamics studies

The uptake of beryllium by hardened cement paste (HCP, with CEM I 42,5 N BV/SR/LA type) in degradation stage I was investigated with a series of batch sorption experiments with 10$^{-6}$ M ≤ [Be(II)]0 ≤ 10$^{-2.5}$ M and 2 g·L$^{-1}$ ≤ [S/L] ≤ 50 g·L$^{-1}$. All experiments were performed under Ar atmosphere at T = (22 ± 2) °C. Solubility limits calculated for α-Be(OH)$_{2}$(cr) in the conditions of the cement pore water were used to define the experimental window in the sorption experiments. Beryllium sorbs strongly on HCP under all of the investigated conditions, with log Rd ≈ 5.5 (Rd in L⋅kg$^{-1}$). Sorption isotherms show a linear behavior with a slope of ≈+1 (log [Be(II)]$_{solid}$ vs. log [Be(II)]$_{aq}$) over four orders of magnitude (10$^{-8}$ M ≤ [Be(II)]$_{aq}$ ≤ 10$^{-4}$ M), which confirm that the uptake is controlled by sorption processes and that solubility phenomena do not play any role within the considered boundary conditions. The similar uptake observed for beryllium in calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) phases supports that the C-S-H phases are the main sink of Be(II) in cement. The strong uptake observed for Be(II) agrees with the findings reported for heavier metal ions, e.g., Zn(II), Eu(III), Am(III), or Th(IV). The exceptional sorption properties of beryllium can be partially explained by its small size, which result in a charge-to-size ratio (z/d) of the same order as Eu(III) or Am(III). Kinetic experiments confirm the slow uptake of Be(II), which is characterized by a two-step process. In analogy to other strongly sorbing metal ions such as Zn(II) or Th(IV), a fast surface complexation (t < 4 days) followed by a slower incorporation of Be(II) in the C-S-H structure (t ≥ 60 days) are proposed. The surface complexation was studied in detail with molecular dynamic simulations, and the most common surface species are identified and described. This work provides the first experimental evidence supporting the strong uptake of Be(II) by HCP in degradation stage I, further extending previous findings on C-S-H phases and HCP in degradation stage II. These results overcome previous conservative estimates assuming no or only a weak uptake in cementitious systems and represent a relevant contribution for the quantitative assessment on the retention/mobilization of beryllium in the context of nuclear waste disposal

Investigation of Splicing Quantitative Trait Loci in

The alteration of alternative splicing patterns has an effect on the quantification of functional proteins, leading to phenotype variation. The splicing quantitative trait locus (sQTL) is one of the main genetic elements affecting splicing patterns. Here, we report the results of genome-wide sQTLs across 141 strains of Arabidopsis thaliana with publicly available next generation sequencing datasets. As a result, we found 1,694 candidate sQTLs in Arabidopsis thaliana at a false discovery rate of 0.01. Furthermore, among the candidate sQTLs, we found 25 sQTLs that overlapped with the list of previously examined trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In summary, this sQTL analysis provides new insight into genetic elements affecting alternative splicing patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana and the mechanism of previously reported trait-associated SNPs

Dissolution behaviors of PuO2(cr) in natural waters

PuO2(cr) dissolution in natural water was investigated at 25°C and 60°C under atmospheric conditions. The concentration of Pu in solutions [Pu], was monitored for 1 year of reaction time. PuO2(cr) dissolution in natural water reached a steady state within 2 months at 25°C. The [Pu] in groundwater and seawater at pH 8 were in the range of [Pu] = 0.9–34 and 3.4–27 nM, respectively. The [Pu] in concrete porewater (rainwater equilibrated with concrete) at pH 8.1–10.9 was in the range of 0.1–3.2 nM. The [Pu] and pH values of groundwater were similar to those of seawater samples having a high ionic strength. The measured [Pu] at equilibrium in all samples was higher than the calculated solubility curves for PuO2(am, hyd). Experimental evidence is insufficient to confirm the oxidation state of Pu in solution and solid phases. However, the results of geochemical modeling indicate that PuO2(am, hyd) and aqueous Pu(IV) species are dominant in natural water samples of this work. The dissolution behavior of PuO2(cr) in natural waters is comparable to the oxidative dissolution of PuO2(am, hyd) in the presence of PuO2(coll, hyd). The dissolution of PuO2 in groundwater decreased at higher temperatures, whereas the influence of temperature in seawater and porewater was not significant under these experimental conditions

Relationships of walking activity with depressed mood and suicidal ideation among the middle-aged Korean population: a nationwide cross-sectional study

IntroductionThe suicide rate of middle-aged adults has increased rapidly, which is a significant public health concern. A depressed mood and suicidal ideation are significant risk factors for suicide, and non-pharmacological interventions such as exercise therapy have been suggested as potential treatments. Walking is a feasible and accessible form of exercise therapy for middle-aged adults.MethodsWe conducted a study based on the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018) data of 6,886 general middle-aged adults in South Korea to investigate the relationships of walking exercise with depressed mood and suicidal ideation. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for confounding variables. Sampling weights were applied to obtain estimates for the general Korean population.ResultsParticipants who walked ≥5 days per week had a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for depressed mood [OR = 0.625, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.424–0.921, p = 0.018] and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.252, 95% CI: 0.125–0.507, p &lt; 0.001) compared to those who never walked, regardless of the duration of exercise. The same results were obtained for males after stratifying the data by sex and suicidal ideation was associated with walking in females.ConclusionRegular walking exercise was associated with diminished mental health problems in middle-aged adults. Light walks may serve as a useful starting point for patients with serious mental health issues, such as suicidal ideation

Identification of Close Relatives in the HUGO Pan-Asian SNP Database

The HUGO Pan-Asian SNP Consortium has recently released a genome-wide dataset, which consists of 1,719 DNA samples collected from 71 Asian populations. For studies of human population genetics such as genetic structure and migration history, this provided the most comprehensive large-scale survey of genetic variation to date in East and Southeast Asia. However, although considered in the analysis, close relatives were not clearly reported in the original paper. Here we performed a systematic analysis of genetic relationships among individuals from the Pan-Asian SNP (PASNP) database and identified 3 pairs of monozygotic twins or duplicate samples, 100 pairs of first-degree and 161 second-degree of relationships. Three standardized subsets with different levels of unrelated individuals were suggested here for future applications of the samples in most types of population-genetics studies (denoted by PASNP1716, PASNP1640 and PASNP1583 respectively) based on the relationships inferred in this study. In addition, we provided gender information for PASNP samples, which were not included in the original dataset, based on analysis of X chromosome data

Population Genetic Structure of Peninsular Malaysia Malay Sub-Ethnic Groups

Patterns of modern human population structure are helpful in understanding the history of human migration and admixture. We conducted a study on genetic structure of the Malay population in Malaysia, using 54,794 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism genotype data generated in four Malay sub-ethnic groups in peninsular Malaysia (Melayu Kelantan, Melayu Minang, Melayu Jawa and Melayu Bugis). To the best of our knowledge this is the first study conducted on these four Malay sub-ethnic groups and the analysis of genotype data of these four groups were compiled together with 11 other populations' genotype data from Indonesia, China, India, Africa and indigenous populations in Peninsular Malaysia obtained from the Pan-Asian SNP database. The phylogeny of populations showed that all of the four Malay sub-ethnic groups are separated into at least three different clusters. The Melayu Jawa, Melayu Bugis and Melayu Minang have a very close genetic relationship with Indonesian populations indicating a common ancestral history, while the Melayu Kelantan formed a distinct group on the tree indicating that they are genetically different from the other Malay sub-ethnic groups. We have detected genetic structuring among the Malay populations and this could possibly be accounted for by their different historical origins. Our results provide information of the genetic differentiation between these populations and a valuable insight into the origins of the Malay sub-ethnic groups in Peninsular Malaysia