Pulsed Corona Discharge for Oxidation of Gaseous Elemental Mercury

Positive pulsed corona discharge has been applied for the oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) from a simulated flue gas. The oxidation of Hg0 to HgO and HgCl2 can significantly enhance the mercury removal from flue gas. At a gas condition of O2 (10%), H2O (3%), and N2 (balance), Hg0 oxidation efficiency of 84% was achieved at an input energy density of 45 J/l. The presence of NO, however, hinders Hg0 oxidation due to the preferential reaction of NO with O and O3. On the contrary, SO2 shows little effect on Hg0 oxidation due to its preferential reaction with OH. It has been also observed that the HCl in gas stream can be dissociated to Cl and Cl2 and can induce additional Hg0 oxidation to HgCl2

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children and adolescents with acquired severe aplastic anemia

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening disorder for which allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the current available curative treatment. HSCT from matched sibling donors (MSDs) is the preferred therapy for children with acquired SAA. For patients who lack MSDs, immunosuppressive therapy (IST) is widely accepted as a first-line treatment before considering HCT from an unrelated donor (URD). Given the recent progress in HSCT using URDs for childhood SAA, well-matched URDs became a realistic alternative for pediatric patients who have no suitable related donors and who are refractory to IST. However, it is quite challenging to treat patients with refractory SAA who lack suitable related or URDs. Even though haploidentical HSCT from genetically mismatched family members seemed to be an attractive procedure with the amazing benefit of readily available donors for most patients, early attempts were disappointing because of refractory graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and excessively high transplant-related mortality. Recent advances with effective ex vivo depletion of T cells or unmanipulated in vivo regulation of T cells, better supportive care, and optimal conditioning regimens have significantly improved the outcome of haploidentical transplant. Besides considerable progress in the treatment of malignant diseases, recent emerging evidences for haploidentical HSCT in SAA has provided additional therapeutic options for patients with refractory diseases. Further improvements to decrease the rates of graft failure, GVHD, and infectious complications will facilitate the emergence of haploidentical HSCT as a front-line therapy for treating acquired SAA in children and adolescents who have no suitably matched donors

Chiral orbital-angular-momentum in the surface states of Bi2Se3

Locking of the spin of a quasi-particle to its momentum in split bands of on the surfaces of metals and topological insulators (TIs) is understood in terms of Rashba effect where a free electron in the surface states feels an effective magnetic field. On the other hand, the orbital part of the angular momentum (OAM) is usually neglected. We performed angle resolved photoemission experiments with circularly polarized lights and first principles density functional calculation with spin-orbit coupling on a TI, Bi2Se3, to study the local OAM of the surface states. We show from the results that OAM in the surface states of Bi2Se3 is significant and locked to the electron momentum in opposite direction to the spin, forming chiral OAM states. Our finding opens a new possibility to have strong light-induced spin-polarized current in the surface states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Does living liver donors’ underestimation about surgical outcomes impact on their health-related quality of life after donation?: a descriptive cross-sectional study

In South Korea, the number of living-donor liver transplantations in 2019 was 1,188. Living liver donors (LLDs) undergo surgery and the postoperative recovery process for altruistic purposes. This study explored LLDs’ unmet expectations about surgical outcomes and examined their impact on the donors’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This descriptive cross-sectional study utilized a self-reported survey. Data were collected at a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Among the 535 LLDs who underwent surgery for donation between January 2011 and March 2021, 124 participated in this study. The Korean version of the 12-item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) was used to measure the HRQOL of LLDs. Unmet expectations regarding surgical outcomes were measured using four items: pain, length of hospital stay, speed of recovery, and complications. Logistic regression model was applied to determine whether the unmet expectations influence HRQOL in LLDs. Odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were used. The percentage of the participants who reported that their actual experiences for pain, speed of recovery, hospital stay, and complications were worse than expected were 34.7%, 22.6%, 9.7%, and 7.3%, respectively. Unmet expectations about surgical outcomes were significantly associated with physical and mental HRQOL after controlling for age, sex, education level, income, postoperative complications, recipients’ death, time since donation, and satisfaction with the decision to donate. LLDs should be supported in obtaining more accurate and realistic information about surgical outcomes to decrease unmet expectations, which may help improve their quality of life

Prognostic factors of pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit

Background Pediatric patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) tend to have high morbidity and mortality. While, the prognostic factors of adult patients received bone marrow transplantation were already known, there is little known in pediatric pateints. This study aimed to identify the prognostic factor for pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mortality of critically ill pediatric patients with HSCT. Methods Retrospectively reviewed that the medical records of patients who received HSCT and admitted to PICU between January 2010 and December 2019. Mortality was defined a patient who expired within 28 days. Results A total of 131 patients were included. There were 63 boys (48.1%) and median age was 11 years (interquartile range, 4–15 years). The most common HSCT type was haploidentical (38.9%) and respiratory failure (44.3%) was the most common reason for PICU admission. Twenty-eight–day mortality was 22.1% (29/131). In comparison between survivors and non-survivors, the number of HSCTs received, sepsis, oncological pediatric risk of mortality-III (OPRISM-III), pediatric risk of mortality-III (PRISM-III), pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA), serum lactate, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and use of mechanical ventilator (MV) and vasoactive inotropics were significant predictors (P<0.05 for all variables). In multivariate logistic regression, the number of HSCTs received, use of MV, OPRISM-III, PRISM-III and pSOFA were independent risk factors of PICU mortality. Moreover, three scoring systems were significant prognostic factors of 28-day mortality. Conclusions The number of HSCTs received and use of MV were more accurate predictors in pediatric patients received HSCT