Catalytic oxidation activation of peroxymonosulfate over Fe-Co bimetallic oxides for flurbiprofen degradation.

In this research, FeCo2O4 nanomaterial was successfully synthesized by a typical sol-gel method and conducted as an effective agent for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to eliminate antibiotics flurbiprofen (FLU), a strong nonsteroidal drug. FeCo2O4 nanomaterial was characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, and XPS. Various characterization results proved that FeCo2O4 held stable spinel structure. The interfering factors including initial pH, PMS concentration, catalyst dosage, inorganic anions, and humic acid on FLU removal were also discussed. The conclusion was that the removal efficiency of FLU reached 98.2% within 120 min after adding FeCo2O4 (0.4 g L-1) and PMS (3 mM). The optimal pH for FLU degradation was the initial pH of 6.5; too acidic or alkaline was not conductive to the degradation. The existence of HA and Cl- restrained the degradation of FLU, and HCO3- promoted the removal, while the influence of NO3- and SO42- could not be considered. The radical scavenging experiment confirmed that •OH, O2•-, and SO4•- participated in FLU removal and SO4•- functioned a leading role. FeCo2O4 showed high efficiency for PMS activation in pH range of 3.0 to 10.0. After the fourth cycle operation, the FLU removal rate exceeded 76.9%, and the Co leaching rate was low during the catalytic reaction. This study shows that FeCo2O4 nanomaterial is an efficient and environment-friendly catalyst, which can be applied for PMS activation to remove organic pollutants in water.

Degradation of antiviral drug acyclovir by thermal activated persulfate process: Kinetics study and modeling.

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) pose a great threat to water environment security. In this study, acyclovir (ACV) was efficiently degraded by thermally activated persulfate (TAP) system. The ACV degradation increased with rising reaction temperature and persulfate dosage. With the existence of inorganic anions and humic acid, ACV removal was retarded to varying degrees. Under strong alkaline condition, it was observed that the degradation of ACV was significantly inhibited. In addition, Kintecus software was employed to simulate ACV removal and achieved a good fit with the experimental results. The contribution rates of main reactive radicals under acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions were investigated, and the contribution of hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) increased significantly under alkaline condition. The main active species were identified as sulfate radical (SO4⋅-) and ⋅OH through quenching experiment, and the second-order reaction rate constants of SO4⋅- and ∙OH reacted with ACV were calculated to be 9.17 × 109 M-1 s-1 and 2.74 × 109 M-1 s-1, respectively. The main degradation pathways included addition of free radicals, oxidation of branch chain and ring opening. The acute and chronic toxicity of intermediates to organisms predicted by ECOSAR were significantly reduced compared with that of ACV.

Effects of WeChat-based psychological interventions on the mental health of patients with suspected new coronavirus pneumonia: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Suspected patients with new coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) may suffer from unique mental health problems. However, the shortage of medical personnel and the infectiousness of the disease have challenged traditional psychological interventions. This study investigated the effects of a new WeChat-based psychological intervention on the mental health of suspected NCP patients. METHODS: This study included 48 participants (control group = 24 vs. intervention group = 24). The control group received conventional NCP nursing, and the intervention group received conventional NCP nursing and the WeChat psychological interventions. Participants completed the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS) on the day of, and the 14th day after, admission. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups (p > .05) regarding demographic characteristics, education, work status, anxiety, depression, or acute stress disorder on the day of admission (p > .05). On the 14th day after admission, the intervention group showed an improvement in anxiety (p < .05) and a significant improvement in depression and acute stress disorder compared with the control group (p < .01). CONCLUSION: The WeChat-based psychological interventions can have a positive effect on the mental health problems of suspected NCP patients.

[A Cross-sectional Study of Osteoporosis and Cardiovascular Calcification in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease at Different CKD Stages].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of osteoporosis and cardiovascular calcification in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with different stages, and analyze the correlation between the stages and markers of bone metabolism To correlation. METHODS: A total of 368 CKD patients at stage 3-5 who were treated in First Affiliated Hospital Affiliate to Chongqing Medical University and Chongqing Fuling Central Hospital from July 2017 to January 2018 were enrolled. A total of 60 healthy people who underwent physical examination in the hospital during the same period were enrolled as control group. Age, gender and body mass index (BMI) of all study objects at enrollment time were collected. The levels of estimate glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), albumin (ALB), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), procollagen Ⅰ N-terminal peptide (PINP) and ß-crosslaps (ß-CTX) were detected. The occurrence of osteoporosis, vascular calcification and heart valve calcification was detected. Pearson correlation analysis was applied to analyze correlation between eGFR, serum bone metabolism markers and osteoporosis, cardiovascular calcification. RESULTS: Compared with control group, levels of serum P, iPTH, BALP, PINP and ß-CTX were significantly increased in CKD stage 3-5 group ( P<0.05), while levels of eGFR and serum Ca were decreased ( P<0.05). With the increase of CKD staging, changes of their levels were more significant ( P<0.05). The incidence of vascular calcification and heart valve calcification in CKD stage 5 hemodialysis group was higher than that in CKD stage 3-4 group and CKD stage 5 without dialysis group ( P<0.05). eGFR was positively correlated with serum Ca in CKD patients at stage 3-5 ( P<0.05), while negatively correlated with serum P, iPTH, BALP, PINP and ß-CTX ( P<0.05). The occurrence of osteoporosis, vascular calcification and heart valve calcification was negatively correlated with increase of eGFR and serum Ca levels in CKD patients at stage 3-5 ( P<0.05), while positively correlated with increase of levels of serum P, iPTH, BALP, PINP and ß-CTX ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The levels of serum bone metabolism markers and eGFR are closely related to occurrence of osteoporosis and cardiovascular calcification in CKD patients at stage 3-5.

A study on fluorescence properties of carboxymethyl-quaternary ammonium oligochitosan and its performances as a tracing agent.

Carboxymethyl-quaternary ammonium oligochitosan (CM-QAOC) exhibited high inhibition to scaling and microbial formation and also remarkable fluorescence. In this paper its fluorescent properties and application as a fluorescent tracing chemical for industrial water treatment were studied in detail. The fluorescence intensities of CM-QAOC were in good linear agreement with its content in the concentration range of 5 to 500 mg/L and in the range of pH 7 to 9, which shows CM-QAOC can trace itself directly. The results showed the fluorescence would not be influenced by common phosphorus-containing organic and inorganic water treatment chemicals and N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethyl-benzenemethanaminium chloride. This means CM-QAOC is compatible with those chemicals. The metal ions Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe3+ and Cu2+ from raw water or corrosion products could cause obvious enhancement in fluorescence intensities and sometimes blue-shifts in the fluorescence maxima, which demonstrated CM-QAOC could also be used as tracer to monitor damages like corrosion and scaling in water systems, by varying changes of fluorescence intensities and maximum emission wavelength. The fluorescence of CM-QAOC may be influenced by NaClO, and be quenched by sunshine slightly. Its ratio of biochemical oxygen demand to chemical oxygen demand was 0.53, which indicates CM-QAOC is a biodegradable chemical. Therefore, CM-QAOC can be applied as a tracer and environmental-friendly chemical for industrial cooling water treatment.