Fine structure characterization of zero-valent iron nanoparticles for decontamination of nitrites and nitrates in wastewater and groundwater

The main objectives of the present study were to investigate the chemical reduction of nitrate or nitrite species by zero-valent iron nanoparticle (ZVIN) in aqueous solution and related reaction kinetics or mechanisms using fine structure characterization. This work also exemplifies the utilization of field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) to reveal the speciation and possible reaction pathway in a very complex adsorption and redox reaction process. Experimentally, ZVIN of this study was prepared by sodium borohydride reduction method at room temperature and ambient pressure. The morphology of as-synthesized ZVIN shows that the nearly ball and ultrafine particles ranged of 20-50 nm were observed with FE-SEM or TEM analysis. The kinetic model of nitrites or nitrates reductive reaction by ZVIN is proposed as a pseudo first-order kinetic equation. The nitrite and nitrate removal efficiencies using ZVIN were found 65-83% and 51-68%, respectively, based on three different initial concentrations. Based on the XRD pattern analyses, it is found that the quantitative relationship between nitrite and Fe(III) or Fe(II) is similar to the one between nitrate and Fe( III) in the ZVIN study. The possible reason is due to the faster nitrite reduction by ZVIN. In fact, the occurrence of the relative faster nitrite reductive reaction suggested that the passivation of the ZVIN have a significant contribution to iron corrosion. The extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) or x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra show that the nitrites or nitrates reduce to N-2 or NH3 while oxidizing the ZVIN to Fe2O3 or Fe3O4 electrochemically. It is also very clear that decontamination of nitrate or nitrite species in groundwater via the in-situ remediation with a ZVIN permeable reactive barrier would be environmentally attractive

Test of the Potential of Ethanol Extracts, Simplician Medium and Forest Umbi Juice (Eleutherine bulbosa (Factory) Urb.) against Blood Glucose Levels of Rats, and Histopatology Ratkreas Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Hypercolesterolemia Model Diabetic

This study aims to examine the presence or absence of secondary metabolite compounds in ethanol extract, simplicia steeping and forest onion tuber juice, in male glucose parameters and pancreatic histopathology. Using test animals as many as 30 male white rats divided into 6 groups and each group consisted of 5 rats with group I details as normal controls, group II as negative controls given 0.5% Na-CMC suspension, group III as positive control who were given Metformin 45 mg / kg BB and IV, V, VI as the test group were given ethanol extract, simplicia extract and forest onion tuber juice with each dose of 20 g / kg BW. The results showed that there were secondary metabolites in the ethanol extract of forest onion tubers, namely flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids and tannins, giving ethanol extract of forest onion bulbs had the effect of reducing blood glucose levels in white mice with a dose of 20g / kgBW with an average of 132 and ethanol extract of forest onion bulbs at a dose of 20g / kg BB with an average of 0.5 can regenerate pancreatic tissue

Genomic sequence of temperate phage Smp131 of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia that has similar prophages in xanthomonads

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium previously named as Xanthomonas maltophilia. This organism is an important nosocomial pathogen associated with infections in immunocompromised patients. Clinical isolates of S. maltophilia are mostly resistant to multiple antibiotics and treatment of its infections is becoming problematic. Several virulent bacteriophages, but not temperate phage, of S. maltophilia have been characterized

Association between chronic viral hepatitis infection and breast cancer risk: a nationwide population-based case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Taiwan, there is a high incidence of breast cancer and a high prevalence of viral hepatitis. In this case-control study, we used a population-based insurance dataset to evaluate whether breast cancer in women is associated with chronic viral hepatitis infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From the claims data, we identified 1,958 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer during the period 2000-2008. A randomly selected, age-matched cohort of 7,832 subjects without cancer was selected for comparison. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to calculate odds ratios of breast cancer associated with viral hepatitis after adjustment for age, residential area, occupation, urbanization, and income. The age-specific (<50 years and ≥50 years) risk of breast cancer was also evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant differences in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, hepatitis B virus (HBV), or the prevalence of combined HBC/HBV infection between breast cancer patients and control subjects (<it>p </it>= 0.48). Multivariable logistic regression analysis, however, revealed that age <50 years was associated with a 2-fold greater risk of developing breast cancer (OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.23-3.34).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HCV infection, but not HBV infection, appears to be associated with early onset risk of breast cancer in areas endemic for HCV and HBV. This finding needs to be replicated in further studies.</p

Penegakan Hukum Terhadap Anggota Polri Yang Melakukan Tindak Pidana Narkoba (Studi Kasus Di Wilayah Hukum Pengadilan Negeri Karanganyar)

Abstract Police as law enforcers are given the duty to enforce the perperators of drug users. However, some of them, who u sed to be the „good example‟ for the community, are also the part of the drugs user. The process of law enforcement against members of the Police who commit a drug crime has the same process of law enforcement with the general public that commits a crime. In fact, the punishment for the member of the police department who become the perpetrators of drug user will get higher punishment that the common people, since they have to work as the agent to eliminate the drugs problem rather that become the drug user s itself. Besides, the code enforcement process is also conducted in enforcing the officers who doesn‟t behave as the law enforcers. In the constraints of law enforcement against the officers who conduct drug offenses, there are some factors such as law, l aw enforcement environment and facilities. Keywords : Police, Drugs, Law Enforcemen

Tet oncogene family member 2 gene alterations in childhood acute myeloid leukemia

Background/PurposeMutations in the tet oncogene family member 2 gene (TET2) are frequently found in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Reports of TET2 mutations in children are limited. We assessed the prevalence of TET2 mutations in Taiwanese children with AML and analyzed their prognosis.MethodsBetween 1997 and 2010, a total of 69 consecutive children with AML were enrolled at the National Taiwan University Hospital. The analysis for TET2 mutations was performed using direct sequencing. Clinical characteristics and overall survival (OS) were compared between patients with and without TET2 alterations.ResultsIntronic and missense mutations were identified. No nonsense or frameshift mutations were observed. Two putative disease-causing missense mutations (S609C and A1865G) were identified in one patient. We estimated the prevalence of TET2 mutations in the current patient population to be 1.4%. The most common polymorphism was I1762V (45%), followed by V218M (12%), P29R (6%), and F868L (6%). Patients with polymorphism I1762V had an increased 10-year survival rate compared with patients without I1762V (48.4% vs. 25.7%, p = 0.049) by Chi-square test; OS was not different when examined using the Kaplan–Meier method (p = 0.104).ConclusionThe prevalence of TET2 mutations in children with AML compared with adults with AML was lower and less complex. Patient prognosis associated with TET2 mutations in children requires further investigation

Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from adult patients with tubercular spondylitis

Background/PurposeTuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Taiwan and usually affects the lung, spinal TB accounting for 1–3% of all TB infections. The manifestations of spinal TB are different from those of pulmonary TB. The purpose of this study was to define the epidemiological molecular types of mycobacterial strains causing spinal TB.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of adult patients diagnosed with spinal TB from January 1998 to December 2007. Patients with positive culture results and/or pathological findings characteristic of TB were enrolled in this study. Spoligotyping was performed to type the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.ResultsA total of 38 patients with spinal TB were identified. Their mean age was 68 years, and their median duration of symptoms was 60 days (range 3–720 days). The lumbar and thoracic spine accounted for 76% of the sites involved. Thirteen specimens (from seven male and six female patients) were available for typing. Spoligotyping of these 13 specimens revealed three Beijing (23%) and 10 non-Beijing types (77%). The non-Beijing types included two EAI2 Manilla (15%), two H3 (15%), two unclassified (15%), and one each of BOVIS1, U, T2, and orphan type. No significant predominant strain was found in this study, and no drug-resistant Beijing strains were identified.ConclusionTB spondylitis was found to occur in older patients. Spoligotyping results showed that most of the TB spondylitis cases were caused by non-Beijing type Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Relative contribution of risk factors for early-onset myopia in young Asian children

10.1167/iovs.15-16577Clinical and Epidemiologic Research56138101-8107GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Correlation of virulence genes to clinical manifestations and outcome in patients with Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis bacteremia

Background/PurposeStreptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) is increasingly recognized as a human pathogen responsible for invasive infection and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The pathogen possesses virulence genes that resemble those found in Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS). We analyzed the association between these specific toxic genes, clinical presentations, and outcome in patients with SDSE infections.MethodsPatients (older than 18 years) with community-acquired invasive bacteremia caused by SDSE bacteremia who were undergoing treatment at China Medical University Hospital from June 2007 to December 2010 were included in this study. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was performed to identify virulence genes of the SDSE isolates. Demographic data, clinical presentations, and outcome in patients with SDSE infections were reviewed and analyzed.ResultsForty patients with 41 episodes of SDSE bacteremia were reviewed. The median age of the patients with SDSE infection was 69.7 years; 55% were female and 78% had underlying diseases. Malignancy (13, 33%) and diabetes mellitus (13, 33%) were the most common comorbidities. The 30-day mortality rate was 12%. Compared with the survivors, the non-survivors had a higher rate of diabetes mellitus (80% vs. 26%), liver cirrhosis (60% vs.11%), shock (60% vs.17%), STSS (60% vs. 8%), and a high Pittsburgh bacteremia score >4 (40% vs. 6%). Most isolates had scpA, ska, saga, and slo genes, whereas speC, speG, speH, speI, speK, smez, and ssa genes were not detected. speA gene was identified only in one patient with STSS (1/6, 17%). All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, vancomycin, and linezolid.ConclusionIn invasive SDSE infections, most isolates carry putative virulence genes, such as scpA, ska, saga, and slo. Clinical SDSE isolates in Taiwan remain susceptible to penicillin cefotaxime, and levofloxacin

Association of epilepsy, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM): a population-based cohort retrospective study, impact of AEDs on T2DM-related molecular pathway, and via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ transactivation

IntroductionA potential association between epilepsy and subsequent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has emerged in recent studies. However, the association between epilepsy, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), and the risk of T2DM development remains controversial. We aimed to conduct a nationwide, population-based, retrospective, cohort study to evaluate this relationship.MethodsWe extracted data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database of patients with new-onset epilepsy and compared it with that of a comparison cohort of patients without epilepsy. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the difference in the risk of developing T2DM between the two cohorts. Next-generation RNA sequencing was used to characterize T2DM-related molecularchanges induced by AEDs and the T2DM-associated pathways they alter. The potential of AEDs to induce peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) transactivation was also evaluated.ResultsAfter adjusting for comorbidities and confounding factors, the case group (N = 14,089) had a higher risk for T2DM than the control group (N = 14,089) [adjusted hazards ratio (aHR), 1.27]. Patients with epilepsy not treated with AEDs exhibited a significantly higher risk of T2DM (aHR, 1.70) than non-epileptic controls. In those treated with AEDs, the risk of developing T2DM was significantly lower than in those not treated (all aHR ≤ 0.60). However, an increase in the defined daily dose of phenytoin (PHE), but not of valproate (VPA), increased the risk of T2DM development (aHR, 2.28). Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes showed that compared to PHE, VPA induced multiple beneficial genes associated with glucose homeostasis. Among AEDs, VPA induced the specific transactivation of PPARγ.DiscussionOur study shows epilepsy increases the risk of T2DM development, however, some AEDs such as VPA might yield a protective effect against it. Thus, screening blood glucose levels in patients with epilepsy is required to explore the specific role and impact of AEDs in the development of T2DM. Future in depth research on the possibility to repurpose VPA for the treatment of T2DM, will offer valuable insight regarding the relationship between epilepsy and T2DM