ABSTRACT
The increasing release of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) into water poses serious threats to human beings. In this study, a novel core-shell activated carbon (CSAC) material with a high-mechanical-strength porous ceramic shell was synthesized and tested by adsorbing sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from aqueous solutions. An activated carbon core (AC core) was synthesized from a mixture of powder AC (92%) and cassava waste splinters binder (8%). Moreover, a shell with a high thickness of 0.13 cm and compressive strength (2.92 MPa) was generated from the mixture of coal fly ash and clay at ratio of 60:40. It demonstrated high protection of the AC core. The adsorption efficiency of SMX by CSAC attained 99.0% and 97.9% at initial concentrations of 5 and 10 mg L-1, respectively. Furthermore, 77.0, 68.6 and 60.4% of SMX were adsorbed at higher concentrations of 30, 50, and 100 mg L-1, respectively. The kinetics study demonstrated that the adsorption of SMX followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Moreover, the sorption isotherm was better fitted to Freundlich isotherms. Finally, SMX adsorption on CSAC simultaneously depended on the pore texture of CSAC and the hydrophobic properties of SMX, as well as the π-π bonds and electrostatic interactions between them.
ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the axial length (AL) measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan in the patients with idiopathic macular hole and study the correlation between the difference of the two measurements and the foveal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods Twenty-seven eyes of 26 idiopathic macular hole patients (IMH group) and 27 eyes of 25 patients with mild cataract (control group) were enrolled in this study.Foveal thickness was measured with 3D OCT.The AL was measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan,and the consistency of the two measurements was determined by Bland Altman analysis.The correlation between the difference of the two measurements and foveal thickness was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Results Mean foveal thickness of IMH and control eyes were (372.85±60.02) μm and (243.44±22.50) μm,respectively.The difference between the foveal thickness of the two groups was highly significant (t=-10.490,P＜0.001).In the IMH group,the AL measured by Lenstar and contact A-Scan were (23.20± 1.12) mm and (23.18± 1.13) mm,respectively,the difference between the two measurements was not statistically significant (t =-0.549,P =0.588),whereas in the control group,the AL was (23.41 ± 0.72) mm by Lenstar and (23.33 ± 0.74) mm by contact A-Scan,the two measurements were significantly different (t=-4.832,P＜0.001).However,no correlation was found by Pearson correlation analysis between the difference of the two measurements and the foveal thickness in either IMH or control group (r=0.181,-0.141; P＞0.05).Conclusions Although there is no difference of axial length measurements using Lenstar and contact A-Scan in IMH eyes,in clinical measurements the results of two instruments should be taken into comprehensive consideration.
