The electrokinetic impact on heavy metals remediation of Tasik Chini iron ore mine tailings, at Pahang state, Peninsular Malaysia

The improper disposal of mining tailings is a severe threat to the surrounding environment because it comprises high concentrations of heavy metals contamination. Any precious metal extraction (mining) produces millions of tons of waste; iron ore extraction is common globally, unlike other metals extraction. The iron ore tailings contain heavy metals such as Arsenic (As), Cobalt (Co), Manganese (Mn), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), and Zinc (Zn). This study focuses on extracting hazardous metals such as As, V, and Zn from the disposed waste and improving its geotechnical properties. Nine samples were collected from Tasik Chini Iron ore mine, Pekan district, Pahang State, Malaysia. The initial data were prepared for elemental analysis by following ICP-OES analysis. The results showed that As, Co, Mn, Pb, Cu, and Zn concentrations exceeded the standard guidelines. In recent years, sustainable remediations techniques (EKR) have attracted extensive attention, including the electrokinetic remediation technique. The (EKR) method was applied to extract these metals from iron ore tailings specimens. A comprehensive approach of EKR shows an outstanding result where the highest removal efficiency of As was 68.4 %, Co 64.5%, Mn 67.8%, Pb 67.1%, and Cu was 64.1% and Zn 64.9% with the voltage gradient of 100 and 150 V for 4 and 8 hours constantly. Increasing the voltage gradient could be a cost-effective long-term solution for the remediation of iron ore tailings. The existing method was experienced as an effective and green technique for extracting heavy metals and recycling the mining waste materials

The effect of the 2019 ESC/EAS dyslipidaemia guidelines on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal achievement in patients with acute coronary syndromes: the ACS EuroPath IV project

AimsTo evaluate the effect of the ESC/EAS 2019 dyslipidaemia guidelines on patient management of lipid-lowering therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), through a survey designed to compare post-ACS patient management in 2022 with that in 2018.MethodsOnline questionnaires focused on lipid profile and medications were used to gather data from 2650 ACS patients in 6 European countries, treated between March–June 2022 (ACS EuroPath IV survey). These data were compared with data collected from 2650 patients who participated in the ACS EuroPath I survey (conducted in 2018).ResultsLipid testing was performed in 90% of patients and was done sooner after admission in 2022 versus 2018 (mean 1.4 vs 1.7 days). Increased testing for non-HDL-C, lipoprotein(a), and ApoB was observed over time. At discharge, most patients (≥90%) were receiving lipid-lowering therapy. Prescribing patterns differed, with a higher proportion of patients receiving statin plus ezetimibe combination therapy in 2022 versus 2018 (34% vs 13%). LDL-C levels were lower in 2022 versus 2018 at admission and at 1st, 2nd and 3rd post-discharge follow-up points. More patients achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals in 2022 versus 2018 at the first follow-up (average 14 vs 16 weeks since discharge; ConclusionLDL-C goal achievement has improved since the release of the 2019 guidelines, but lipid management in post-ACS patients remains suboptimal.Cardiolog

Security Challenges and Air Quality Management in india: Emissions Inventory and Forecasting Estimates

The defense and peace literature have focused mainly on the military-growth nexus, with little attention paid to the environmental sustainability agenda, which is impacted by increased global arms transfers. The supply of lead-containing ammunition generates complex gas mixtures (including CO2 emissions) and particulates that harm the healthcare sustainability agenda. Based on the significance of the subject matter, the study uses the Indian economy as a case study, with a significant rate of arms transfers associated with higher carbon emissions. The study analyzed data from more than four decades, from 1975 to 2020. Data on arms imports, military personnel, and military expenditures are used to evaluate the ‘ammunition emissions function’. It corresponds to the three research hypotheses, namely, the ‘emissions-defense burden hypothesis’ (arms transfers increase carbon emissions), the ‘emissions-cleaner hypothesis’ (arms transfers reduce carbon emissions), and the ‘emissions-asymmetric hypothesis’ (positive and negative shocks of arms transfers either support the ‘defense burden hypothesis’ or ‘cleaner hypothesis’). The non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) results confirmed the ’emissions-defense burden hypothesis‘ in the long run, as positive and negative shocks from arms imports increase carbon emissions. However, in the short run, positive arms imports increase carbon emissions while negative arms imports decrease carbon emissions. Furthermore, the findings supported the ’emissions-cleaner hypothesis‘ in the relationship between armed forces personnel and carbon emissions. The findings imply that the positive and negative shocks experienced by armed forces personnel reduce carbon emissions in the short and long run. Positive shocks to military spending support the ’emissions-defense burden hypothesis‘ in the short run; however, the results vanished when negative shocks to military spending supported the ’emissions-spillover hypothesis‘ (lowering military spending reduces carbon emissions and increases economic productivity) in the short and long run. The country’s unsustainable economic activities are viewed as a negative factor contributing to long-term carbon emissions increases. The negative shocks of armed forces personnel and positive arms imports would almost certainly have a significant long-term impact on carbon emissions. As a result, the ‘treadmill theory of destruction’ has been confirmed in a country. The study concludes that lead-free ammunition and managing ammunition safety are beneficial to a country’s environmental sustainability agenda. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2021/87), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Neratinib as Extended Adjuvant Treatment of HER2-Positive/HR-Positive Early Breast Cancer Patients in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: Interim Results of the Prospective, Observational ELEANOR Study.

Prognosis of patients diagnosed with HER2+ early breast cancer (eBC) has substantially improved, but distant recurrences impacting quality of life and survival still occur. One treatment option for extended adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2+/HR+ eBC is neratinib, available in Europe for patients who completed adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy within 1 year. The ELEANOR study is investigating the real-world use of neratinib in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Results from an interim analysis of the first 200 patients observed for ≥3 months are reported. The primary objective of this prospective, multicenter, observational study is to assess patient adherence to neratinib (defined as the percentage of patients taking neratinib on ≥75% prescribed days). Secondary objectives are patient characteristics and treatment outcomes. At cut-off (May 2, 2022), a total of 202 patients had been observed for ≥3 months, with neratinib treatment documented for 187 patients (median age: 53.0 years; 67.9% at increased risk of disease recurrence). In total, 151 (80.7%) patients had received prior neoadjuvant treatment; of these, 82 (54.3%) patients achieved a pathologically complete response. Neratinib was initiated at a median 3.6 months after trastuzumab-based treatment, with 36.4% starting at a dose <240 mg/day. Treatment is ongoing for 46.0% of patients, with median treatment duration of 11.2 (interquartile range 0.9-12.0) months. Diarrhea was the most common adverse event (78.6% any grade, 20.3% grade ≥3); pharmacologic prophylaxis was used in 85.6% of patients. The pattern of anti-HER2 pretreatment observed reflected the current treatment for HER2+/HR+ eBC in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. These interim results suggest that neratinib as an extended adjuvant is a feasible option after various anti-HER2 pretreatments and that its tolerability can be managed and improved with proactive diarrhea management

‘Our newsroom in the cloud’: Slack, virtual newsrooms and journalistic practice

Virtual newsrooms have enormous potential: enabling journalists around the world to pool their knowledge, skills and perspectives within joint projects, such as the Panama Papers. These virtual newsrooms are supported by Online Collaborative Software (OCS), the most popular of which is Slack. But although many of the world’s top news organisations now use Slack, there is no empirical research examining its impact on workplace processes or culture. This article presents the results of a year-long ethnographic study of a global digital news outlet, whose remote journalists collaborate, almost exclusively, via Slack. We found that the platform deepened relationships and enabled new creative practices across geographic regions. However, it also contributed to the erasure of the line between private and professional spheres for workers, and introduced new opportunities for management to shape newsroom culture. We argue that the concept of ‘space’ as developed by Harvey can helpfully frame the analysis of these new, important digital platforms

GATE : a simulation toolkit for PET and SPECT

Monte Carlo simulation is an essential tool in emission tomography that can assist in the design of new medical imaging devices, the optimization of acquisition protocols, and the development or assessment of image reconstruction algorithms and correction techniques. GATE, the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission, encapsulates the Geant4 libraries to achieve a modular, versatile, scripted simulation toolkit adapted to the field of nuclear medicine. In particular, GATE allows the description of time-dependent phenomena such as source or detector movement, and source decay kinetics. This feature makes it possible to simulate time curves under realistic acquisition conditions and to test dynamic reconstruction algorithms. A public release of GATE licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License can be downloaded at the address http://www-lphe.epfl.ch/GATE/

A comprehensive 1000 Genomes-based genome-wide association meta-analysis of coronary artery disease

Existing knowledge of genetic variants affecting risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) is largely based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analysis of common SNPs. Leveraging phased haplotypes from the 1000 Genomes Project, we report a GWAS meta-analysis of 185 thousand CAD cases and controls, interrogating 6.7 million common (MAF>0.05) as well as 2.7 million low frequency (0.005<MAF<0.05) variants. In addition to confirmation of most known CAD loci, we identified 10 novel loci, eight additive and two recessive, that contain candidate genes that newly implicate biological processes in vessel walls. We observed intra-locus allelic heterogeneity but little evidence of low frequency variants with larger effects and no evidence of synthetic association. Our analysis provides a comprehensive survey of the fine genetic architecture of CAD showing that genetic susceptibility to this common disease is largely determined by common SNPs of small effect siz