ABSTRACT
The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of biochar on the composting process of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) under real conditions. Different doses of biochar (1%, 3%, and 5%) were mixed with compost piles to evaluate the variation of temperature, moisture content (MC), organic matter (OM), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), C/N ratio, and heavy metal (HM) contents in comparison with the control treatment (with 0% biochar addition). The results of this study showed that the compost piles combined with different doses of biochar had higher MC. The use of biochar as an additive, even at low doses (1%), was able to increase the compost quality through the reduction of N losses during the composting process. The highest reduction of OM during the composting process was observed in the control pile (without biochar addition) by 48.06%, whereas biochar affected the biodegradability of OM and prevented the reduction of nutrients during the composting process under real conditions. The contents of HMs (Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd, and Cu) showed a significant reduction in all of the compost piles combined with biochar in comparison with the control treatment. Considering that in terms of all compost quality indicators, the piles combined with biochar can regarded as high standard product, the composts obtained from combining the OFMSW with different biochar doses have desirable features to be used as an amendment agent to improve agricultural soil quality.
Subject(s)
Composting , Hemorrhoids , Metals, Heavy , Humans , Solid Waste , ForestsABSTRACT
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of α-synuclein and the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Although the molecular bases for PD development are not fully recognized, extensive evidence has suggested that the development of PD is strongly associated with neuroinflammation. It is noteworthy that while neuroinflammation might not be a primary factor in all patients with PD, it seems to be a driving force for disease progression, and therefore, exploring the role of pathways involved in neuroinflammation is of great importance. Besides, the importance of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), has been widely studied with a focus on the pathogenesis of PD. However, there is no comprehensive review regarding the role of neuroinflammation-related ncRNAs as prospective biomarkers and therapeutic targets involved in the pathogenesis of PD, even though the number of studies connecting ncRNAs to neuroinflammatory pathways and oxidative stress has markedly increased in the last few years. Hence, the present narrative review intended to describe the crosstalk between regulatory ncRNAs and neuroinflammatory targets with respect to PD to find and propose novel combining biomarkers or therapeutic targets in clinical settings.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) reflectance artifacts secondary to retinal pigment epithelial detachment (RPED). DESIGN: Retrospective review. METHODS: Four eyes from 4 subjects were included. Three presented with RPED and 1 eye was a normal control. Two eyes diagnosed with RPED and the normal eye were evaluated using en face OCTA centred at the fovea acquired using the RTVue XR Avanti (Optovue Inc). In the third eye with RPED, OCTA imaging was performed using a CIRRUS 5000 prototype modified to do OCTA imaging on a spectral domain OCT platform provided by Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. The segmented OCTA angiograms were overlaid to determine if the flow patterns seen at the edge of the RPEDs were due to reflectance from the inner retinal vessels, also known as "decorrelation tails." RESULTS: OCTA projection artifacts were noted when segmentation lines intersected with the boundary of the RPED. The overlaid segmented OCTA from the 3 RPED eyes imaged using each system revealed the same vasculature pattern at the edges of the RPED as that of the inner retina, demonstrating the "decorrelation tails" artifact, which caused the RPED to appear as a bright ring on the segmented OCTA. CONCLUSIONS: OCTA images are susceptible to various known artifacts. This series describes the impact of the projection artifact seen at the edges of an RPED that simulates appearance of flow but is actually due to reflectance of the inner retinal vasculature on the RPED.
