Biorefining Waste Sludge From Water and Sewage Treatment Plants Into Eco-Construction Material

This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using different waste sludge and coal combustion residuals in eco-concrete block production. The compressive strength of the eco-concrete blocks produced by waterworks sludge, bottom and fly ashes were 36 MPa, which comply with the standard specifications for paving blocks in Hong Kong. The optimal mixing proportion (by weight) of different materials in the blocks, such as aggregates, cementitious materials, water, and fly ash was 1.1:1.0:0.5:0.22, respectively. The environmental and toxicological impacts of the final products were then evaluated according to the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). While several heavy metals (i.e., Hg, Cu, and Pb) have been identified in the specimens, the levels of these contaminants complied with Standards (US 40 CFR 268.48). Waste materials generated from water and sewage treatment processes and power plants are feasible to be used as ingredients for paving concrete block production. These products are environmentally acceptable and mechanically suitable for resource recovery of waste materials

An intelligent system for trading signal of cryptocurrency based on market tweets sentiments

The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of an online stock trading platform in enhancing the financial literacy of those with limited financial knowledge. To this end, an intelligent system is proposed which utilizes social media sentiment analysis, price tracker systems, and machine learning techniques to generate cryptocurrency trading signals. The system includes a live price visu�alization component for displaying cryptocurrency price data and a prediction function that provides both short-term and long-term trading signals based on the sentiment score of the previous day’s cryptocurrency tweets. Additionally, a method for refining the sentiment model result is outlined. The results illustrate that it is feasible to incorporate the Tweets sentiment of cryptocurrencies into the system for generating reliable trading signals

Carboxyl-terminal truncated HBx regulates a distinct microRNA transcription program in Hepatocellular carcinoma development

Background: The biological pathways and functional properties by which misexpressed microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to liver carcinogenesis have been intensively investigated. However, little is known about the upstream mechanisms that deregulate miRNA expressions in this process. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx), a transcriptional trans-activator, is frequently expressed in truncated form without carboxyl-terminus but its role in miRNA expression and HCC development is unclear. Methods: Human non-tumorigenic hepatocytes were infected with lentivirus-expressing full-length and carboxyl-terminal truncated HBx (Ct-HBx) for cell growth assay and miRNA profiling. Chromatin immunoprecipitation microarray was performed to identify the miRNA promoters directly associated with HBx. Direct transcriptional control was verified by luciferase reporter assay. The differential miRNA expressions were further validated in a cohort of HBV-associated HCC tissues using real-time PCR. Results: Hepatocytes expressing Ct-HBx grew significantly faster than the full-length HBx counterparts. Ct-HBx decreased while full-length HBx increased the expression of a set of miRNAs with growth-suppressive functions. Interestingly, Ct-HBx bound to and inhibited the transcriptional activity of some of these miRNA promoters. Notably, some of the examined repressed-miRNAs (miR-26a, -29c, -146a and -190) were also significantly down-regulated in a subset of HCC tissues with carboxyl-terminal HBx truncation compared to their matching non-tumor tissues, highlighting the clinical relevance of our data. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Ct-HBx directly regulates miRNA transcription and in turn promotes hepatocellular proliferation, thus revealing a viral contribution of miRNA deregulation during hepatocarcinogenesis. © 2011 Yip et al.published_or_final_versio

O-GlcNAc Modification of NFκB p65 Inhibits TNF-α-Induced Inflammatory Mediator Expression in Rat Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells

BACKGROUND: We have shown that glucosamine (GlcN) or O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene)amino-N-phenylcarbamate (PUGNAc) treatment augments O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) protein modification and attenuates inflammatory mediator expression, leukocyte infiltration and neointima formation in balloon injured rat carotid arteries and have identified the arterial smooth muscle cell (SMC) as the target cell in the injury response. NFκB signaling has been shown to mediate the expression of inflammatory genes and neointima formation in injured arteries. Phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NFκB is required for the transcriptional activation of NFκB. This study tested the hypothesis that GlcN or PUGNAc treatment protects vascular SMCs against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α induced inflammatory stress by enhancing O-GlcNAcylation and inhibiting TNF-α induced phosphorylation of NFκB p65, thus inhibiting NFκB signaling. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Quiescent rat aortic SMCs were pretreated with GlcN (5 mM), PUGNAc (10(-4) M) or vehicle and then stimulated with TNF-α (10 ng/ml). Both treatments inhibited TNF-α-induced expression of chemokines [cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC)-2β and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1] and adhesion molecules [vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 and P-Selectin]. Both treatments inhibited TNF-α induced NFκB p65 activation and promoter activity, increased NFκB p65 O-GlcNAcylation and inhibited NFκB p65 phosphorylation at Serine 536, thus promoting IκBα binding to NFκB p65. CONCLUSIONS: There is a reciprocal relationship between O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation of NFκB p65, such that increased NFκB p65 O-GlcNAc modification inhibits TNF-α-Induced expression of inflammatory mediators through inhibition of NFκB p65 signaling. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for our previous observations that GlcN and PUGNAc treatments inhibit inflammation and remodeling induced by acute endoluminal arterial injury

Numerical study of spin-1/2 models on the shastry sutherland lattice

Strontium copper borate SrCu2(BO3)2 is a novel material with a spin gapped ground state. Its crystal structure is topologically equivalent to the Shastry Sutherland lattice. We have studied the spin-1/2 models on the Shastry Sutherland lattice in undoped case and doped cases, by using exact diagonalization method on the 32-site lattice. In the undoped case, we study magnon (triplet) dispersions of the Heisenberg model with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions. Fine features on the first branch of magnon dispersions in SrCu2(BO3)2 can be explained by using relatively small DM interactions. We also study the effects of these anisotropic couplings on the first branch of magnon dispersions and extract their magnitudes from the experimental data. They will be useful in describing fine features on other branches of magnon dispersions. In the doped case, we study the spin and the hole properties of the t-J model on the Shastry Sutherland lattice with up to two holes. We have found that two dominant spin orders, the diagonal dimer order and the anti-ferromagnetic long range order, are enhanced at different signs of t' /t. We also argue that the effects of geometrical frustration are influenced by the doping level. However, we have not found any hole pairing across a diagonal in the diagonal dimer region at the realistic t/J value. Therefore, this is an example where doping a spin gapped system does not guarantee hole pairing

Biorefining waste sludge from water and sewage treatment plants into eco-construction material

© 2019 Cheng, Yi, Yu, Wong, Wang, Kwon and Tsang. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using different waste sludge and coal combustion residuals in eco-concrete block production. The compressive strength of the eco-concrete blocks produced by waterworks sludge, bottom and fly ashes were 36 MPa, which comply with the standard specifications for paving blocks in Hong Kong. The optimal mixing proportion (by weight) of different materials in the blocks, such as aggregates, cementitious materials, water, and fly ash was 1.1:1.0:0.5:0.22, respectively. The environmental and toxicological impacts of the final products were then evaluated according to the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). While several heavy metals (i.e., Hg, Cu, and Pb) have been identified in the specimens, the levels of these contaminants complied with Standards (US 40 CFR 268.48). Waste materials generated from water and sewage treatment processes and power plants are feasible to be used as ingredients for paving concrete block production. These products are environmentally acceptable and mechanically suitable for resource recovery of waste materials

Characteristics of particle emissions from light duty diesel vehicle fueled with ultralow sulphur diesel and biodiesel blend

This study investigates the particle emissions from a diesel vehicle fueled with ultralow sulphur diesel (B0, ULSD) and 5 % biodiesel blend (B5) by a chassis dynamometer test under three driving conditions. Elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), 30 species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and 10 species of oxygenated PAH (oxy-PAH) were analyzed to quantify the chemical compositions of the collected particulate matter (PM). The emission factors (EFs) of OC were increased with B5 by a range between 39.5 % and 113.7 %, compared with B0. Both fuel blends recorded a trace amount of EC (0.25 mg/kg or less). It was found that the B5 EFs of total PAHs were decreased by a range between 15.2 % and 50.2 % relative to B0. 2- to 3-ring species, the dominant PAHs and oxy-PAHs, were decreased substantially when using B5. However, the results showed that biodiesel blend promoted the emission of 4- and 5-ring oxy-PAHs and 5- to 7-ring PAHs. The application of B5 shifted the composition towards a higher proportion of PAHs with higher molecular weight and more oxy-PAHs. Due to the increased emissions in PAHs with higher toxic equivalent factors (TEFs), the application of B5 resulted in an increase in toxicity expressed in BAPeq range from 11.3 % to 117.0 %

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) of tracheobronchial tree presenting as lung collapse with malignant transformation after a decade

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is a rare disease caused by HPV infection. We hereby report a patient with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis of the tracheobronchial tree with no laryngeal involvement who remained clinically stable for more than 10 years but then developed malignant transformation with metastases.A 61-year-old lady with good past health presented to our department in 2010 because of chronic cough for years. Chest X-ray showed reduced left lung volume. Bronchoscopy showed multiple nodules over left main bronchus and left upper lobe progressing to involve the posterior trachea and left lower lobe. Biopsy revealed squamous papilloma with mild dysplasia. She refused surgical intervention. She remained relatively stable until November 2022 when she developed left chest pain. CT showed features of malignant transformation with local invasion and metastases. Fine needle aspiration suggested squamous cell carcinoma. She succumbed in December 2022.Bronchoscopy should be considered in the investigation of unexplained chronic cough so that this rare disease can be detected at an early stage. The disease may not require intervention if uncomplicated. Despite clinical stability for a prolonged period, close monitoring for malignant transformation is warranted indefinitely