Recent developments in synthesis of attapulgite composite materials for refractory organic wastewater treatment: a review.

Attapulgite clay, due to its unique crystalline hydrated magnesium-aluminium silicate composition and layer-chain structure, possesses exceptional adsorption and catalytic properties, which enable it or its composites to be utilized as adsorbents and catalysts for wastewater treatment. But the drawbacks of attapulgite are also very obvious, such as relatively low specific surface area (compared to traditional adsorbents such as activated carbon and activated alumina), easy aggregation, and difficulty in dispersion. In order to fully utilize and improve the performance of attapulgite, researchers have conducted extensive research on its modification, but few specialized works have comprehensively evaluated the synthesis, applications and challenges for attapulgite-based composite materials in refractory organic wastewater treatments. This paper provides a comprehensive review of controllable preparation strategies, characterization methods and mechanisms of attapulgite-based composite materials, as well as the research progress of these materials in refractory organic wastewater treatment. Based on this review, constructive recommendations, such as deep mechanism analysis from molecular level multi-functional attapulgite-based material developments, and using biodegradable materials in attapulgite-based composites, were proposed.

Associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic liver diseases: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study in Europeans and East Asians.

Objective: Multiple observational studies have demonstrated an association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic liver diseases (CLDs). However, the causality of T2DM on CLDs remained unknown in various ethnic groups. Methods: We obtained instrumental variables for T2DM and conducted a two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study to examine the causal effect on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), viral hepatitis, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection risk in Europeans and East Asians. The primary analysis utilized the inverse variance weighting (IVW) technique to evaluate the causal relationship between T2DM and CLDs. In addition, we conducted a series of rigorous analyses to bolster the reliability of our MR results. Results: In Europeans, we found that genetic liability to T2DM has been linked with increased risk of NAFLD (IVW : OR =1.3654, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2250-1.5219, p=1.85e-8), viral hepatitis (IVW : OR =1.1173, 95%CI, 1.0271-1.2154, p=0.0098), and a suggestive positive association between T2DM and HCC (IVW : OR=1.2671, 95%CI, 1.0471-1.5333, p=0.0150), HBV (IVW : OR=1.1908, 95% CI, 1.0368-1.3677, p=0.0134). No causal association between T2DM and HCV was discovered. Among East Asians, however, there was a significant inverse association between T2DM and the proxies of NAFLD (ALT: IVW OR=0.9752, 95%CI 0.9597-0.9909, p=0.0021; AST: IVW OR=0.9673, 95%CI, 0.9528-0.9821, p=1.67e-5), and HCV (IVW: OR=0.9289, 95%CI, 0.8852-0.9747, p=0.0027). Notably, no causal association was found between T2DM and HCC, viral hepatitis, or HBV. Conclusion: Our MR analysis revealed varying causal associations between T2DM and CLDs in East Asians and Europeans. Further research is required to investigate the potential mechanisms in various ethnic groups, which could yield new insights into early screening and prevention strategies for CLDs in T2DM patients.

Sensitivity of Sniffer Dogs for a Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

BACKGROUND: The diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease (PD) remain complex, which is especially problematic for nonmovement disorder experts. A test is required to establish a diagnosis of PD with improved accuracy and reproducibility. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of tests using sniffer dogs to diagnose PD. METHODS: A prospective, diagnostic case-control study was conducted in four tertiary medical centers in China to evaluate the accuracy of sniffer dogs to distinguish between 109 clinically established medicated patients with PD, 654 subjects without PD, 37 drug-naïve patients with PD, and 185 non-PD controls. The primary outcomes were sensitivity and specificity of sniffer dog's identification. RESULTS: In the study with patients who were medicated, when two or all three sniffer dogs yielded positive detection results in a sample tested, the index test sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were 91% (95% CI: 84%-96%), 95% (95% CI: 93%-97%), and 19.16 (95% CI: 13.52-27.16) and 0.10 (95% CI: 0.05-0.17), respectively. The corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios in patients who were drug-naïve were 89% (95% CI: 75%-96%), 86% (95% CI: 81%-91%), and 6.6 (95% CI: 4.51-9.66) and 0.13 (95% CI: 0.05-0.32), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Tests using sniffer dogs may be a useful, noninvasive, fast, and cost-effective method to identify patients with PD in community screening and health prevention checkups as well as in neurological practice. © 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

A Practical Assessment of the Disinfectant Efficacy of UV Light with and without Ozone Using a Novel Transfer Hatch in a Research Animal Facility.

Most in vivo animal research and breeding using mice and rats in China takes place in facilities under barrier conditions. Items being moved across the barrier are typically disinfected using UV radiation in a transfer hatch. However, the time periods necessary for this disinfection technique are inefficient, and disinfection is frequently incomplete, especially if concealed surfaces are present. The current study used a newly developed transfer hatch incorporating both UV and ozone disinfection to examine disinfection efficacy against 4 bacteria species (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii). Disinfection trials used UV and ozone, applied separately and in combination, for up to 30 min. Separate and combined treatments were also tested with a UV barrier. We found that if UV radiation has direct contact with surfaces, it is an efficient disinfection method. However, where surfaces are concealed by a UV barrier, UV radiation performs relatively poorly. The results of this study indicate that a combination of UV and ozone produces the most effective disinfection and is markedly quicker than current disinfection times for UV applied on its own. This novel transfer hatch design therefore allows more complete and efficient disinfection, improves workflow, and reduces barrier breaches by pathogens that may affect animal health and welfare and compromise research outcomes.

Effectiveness of treatment of bedding and feces of laboratory animal with ozone.

BACKGROUND: The incineration and burying of the soiled bedding of laboratory animals, as well as using detergents to treat their feces, is hazardous to the environment. This highlights the need for an alternative, environmentally friendly solution for the treatment of the waste of laboratory animal facilities. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of ozone disinfection of the soiled bedding and feces of laboratory animals. METHODS: Two grams of soiled beddings were randomly sampled from the cages of mice and rats. These samples were mixed in a beaker with 40ml saline. Ozone was piped into the beaker at a concentration of 500mg/h. Samples were taken from the beaker at time 0min, 30min, 45min and 60min after ozone treatment for microbiological culturing in an incubator for 48h. Colony form unit of each plate (CFU/plate) at each time point were counted, the mean CFU/plate at each time point after ozone treatment were compared with that present at time zero. Feces of rabbits and dogs were treated and pathogens were counted the similar way as that of bedding of the mice and rats; samples being taken at 0min, 15min, 30min, 45min and 60min. RESULTS: Pathogens were observed in beddings of both mice and rats as well as in feces of rabbits and dogs. Ozone treatment for 30min killed more than 93% of pathogens in the bedding of the two rodent species and 60min of treatment killed over 99% of pathogens. Treatment of rabbit and dog feces for 30min killed over 96% pathogens present, and 60min's treatment killed nearly all the pathogens. Both Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens were sensitive to ozone treatment. CONCLUSION: Ozone treatment of bedding and feces is an effective and environment friendly way to deal with the waste of animal facilities, saving energy and potentially enabling their reuse as fertilizer.

Development and Validation of a Novel Scoring System for Severity of Plantar Fasciitis.

OBJECTIVES: Plantar fasciitis (PF) is the most common cause of heel pain. Though PF is self-limited, it can develop into chronic pain and thus treatment is needed. Early and accurate prognostic assessment of patients with PF is critically important for selecting the optimal treatment pathway. Nevertheless, there is no scoring system to determine the severity of PF and no prognostic model in choosing between conservative or surgical treatment. The study aimed to develop a novel scoring system to evaluate the severity of plantar fasciitis and predict the prognosis of conservative treatment. METHODS: Data of consecutive patients treated from 2014 to 2018 were retrospectively collected. One hundred and eighty patients were eligible for the study. The demographics and clinical characteristics served as independent variables. The least follow-up time was 6 months. A minimal reduction of 60% in the visual analog scale (VAS) score from baseline was considered as minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Those factors significantly associated with achieving MCID in univariate analyses were further analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. A novel scoring system was developed using the best available literature and expert-opinion consensus. Inter-observer reliability and intra-observer reproducibility were evaluated. The appropriate cut-off points for the novel score system were obtained using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: The system score = VAS (0-3 point = 1; 3.1-7 point = 3; 7.1-10 point = 5) + duration of symptoms (<6 months = 1; ≥1 6 months = 2) + ability to walk without pain (>1 h = 1; ≤1 h = 4) + heel spur in X-ray (No = 0; Yes = 2) + high intensity zone (HIZ) in MRI (No = 0; Yes = 2). The total score was divided in four categories of severity: mild (2-4 points), moderate (5-8 points), severe (9-12 points), and critical (13-15 points). Inter-observer agreement with a value of 0.84 was considered as perfect reliability. Intra-observer reproducibility with a value of 0.92 was considered as perfect reproducibility. The optimum cut-off value was 10 points. The sensitivity of predictive factors was 86.37%, 84.21%, 91.22%, 84.12%, and 89.32%, respectively; the specificity was 64.21%, 53.27%, 67.76%, 62.37%, and 79.58%, respectively; the area under curve was 0.75, 0.71, 0.72, 0.87, and 0.77, respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed a good fitting of the score system with an overall accuracy of 90.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on prognostic factors, the present study establishes a novel scoring system which is highly comprehensible, reliable, and reproducible. This score system can be used to identify the severity of plantar fasciitis and predict the prognosis of conservative treatment accurately. The application of this scoring system in clinical settings can significantly improve the decision-making process.

Portable pulsed xenon ultraviolet light disinfection in a teaching hospital animal laboratory in China.

An animal laboratory in a teaching hospital is a possible cause of cross infection. We aimed to assess the infection control in our animal laboratory and evaluate the disinfectant effects of a portable pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) machine. Samples were taken from the surface of research tables, other high touch places, such as doorknobs, weighing scales, and handles of trolleys, and from air in the barrier system pre- and post-manual cleaning and post-PX-UV disinfection. The bacteria types were identified. We found that routine manual cleaning significantly reduced bacterial colony form unit (CFU)/cm2 (P = .02), and the median of CFU/cm2 reduced from 0.5 pre-cleaning to zero post-cleaning. PX-UV disinfection also significantly reduced residual bacterial counts (P = .002), with the highest counts 10 pre-PX-UV disinfection and 1 afterwards. Without manual cleaning, PX-UV disinfected surfaces significantly (P < .001), median count 6 pre-PX-UV disinfection and zero afterwards. PX-UV significantly reduced bacterial colony counts in the air with the median count falling from 6 to zero (P < .001). Some of the 21 species of pathogens we identified in the current study are pathogenic, resistant to antibiotics, and able to cause nosocomial infections and zoonosis. PX-UV reduced counts of most of the pathogens. PX-UV is an effective agent against these pathogens.

Pulsed xenon ultraviolet and non-thermal atmospheric plasma treatments are effective for the disinfection of air in hospital blood sampling rooms.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Non-thermal atmospheric plasma treatment and pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) treatment are widely used in disinfection of hospital environments. However, their effectiveness has not been evaluated against a comparator. The objective of this study is to evaluate their effectiveness in the disinfection of pathogens in the air in hospital blood sampling rooms. METHODS: Samples were taken from the air before and after disinfection with PX-UV and non-thermal atmospheric plasma. We counted bacterial colonies and identified the types of bacteria. RESULTS: Non-thermal plasma treatment significantly reduced bacterial counts in the air, the median reduced from 1 before treatment to zero afterwards (p = 0.03). PX-UV treatment also significantly reduced bacterial counts in the air (p = 0.01), the median reduced from 1.5 before treatment to zero afterwards. Pathogens identified in the current study include nosocomial bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and yeast. CONCLUSION: Disinfection of blood sampling sites is essential in a health service department. The efficiency of PX-UV and non-thermal atmospheric plasma treatment are comparable in air disinfection.