Description: Polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration was investigated for rhenium(VII) recovery from aqueous solutions by using polyquaternium-6 (PQ6) as a complexing agent. The effects of the operating parameters on the permeate flux ( J ) and the rhenium rejection coefficient ( R ) were studied. In the process of concentration, J declines slowly and R is about 1. The concentrated solution was used for the decomplexation. It takes 10 min to achieve the decomplexation equilibrium at a chloride ion concentration of 100 mg L –1 . The decomplexation percentage reaches 45.6 %. In the diafiltration process, rhenium is extracted effectively, and the purification of the regenerated PQ6 is satisfactory. The regenerated PQ6 was used to bind rhenium(VII). The binding capacity of the regenerated PQ6 is close to that of fresh PQ6. Polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration was originally used to achieve the recovery of rhenium from aqueous solutions with the help of polyquaternium-6. The effects of various operating parameters on the permeate flux and the rhenium rejection coefficient were investigated. The integration of four experiments including concentration, decomplexation, diafiltration and reuse of the regenerated polymer was carried out.

Description: Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive ability of paced QRS duration (pQRSd) for heart failure events among patients receiving right ventricular apical pacing (RVAP). Methods and results A total of 194 patients with complete atrioventricular block receiving pacemaker treatment were enrolled and stratified to group 1, pQRSd 〈 160 ms, n = 53; group 2, 160 ≤ pQRSd 〈 190 ms, n = 97; and group 3, pQRSd ≥ 190 ms, n = 44. Study outcomes were heart failure events, changes in pQRSd, and changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). During the 3-year follow-up, the incidence of heart failure events was 9.4, 27.8, and 56.8% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively ( P 〈 0.001). Among the patients without heart failure events, the pQRSd at 3 years remained longer than that at baseline (162.1 ± 22.6 vs. 160.9 ± 22.1 ms, P 〈 0.05), whereas among patients who experienced heart failure events, the prolonged pQRSd at 3 years seemed more pronounced as compared with baseline (184.1 ± 21.1 vs. 179.8 ± 21 ms, P 〈 0.001). Linear regression demonstrated that a decrease in LVEF was positively correlated with pQRSd over time (relative risk 0.423; P 〈 0.05). The receiver operating charactersitic curve showed that the cut-off value of pQRSd was 165 ms with a sensitivity of 0.789. Conclusion A prolonged pQRSd has a detrimental effect on long-term cardiac function during RVAP in patients with complete atrioventricular block. pQRSd could be a useful predictor to identify patients who are at risk for heart failure events during RVAP.

Description: [1]  In this paper, the essential technique of Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction is reformulated into an inverse boundary value problems (IBVPs) for Laplace's equation on a circle by introducing a Hilbert transform between the normal and tangent component of the boundary gradients. It is proved that the specified IBVPs have unique solution, given the known Dirichlet and Neumann conditions on certain arc. Even when the arc is reduced to only one point on the circle, it can be inferred logically that the unique solution still exists there on the remaining circle. New solution approach for the specified IBVP is suggested with the help of the introduced Hilbert transform. An iterated Tikhonov regularization scheme is applied to deal with the ill-posed linear operators appearing in the discretization of the new approach. Numerical experiments highlight the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method. According to linearity of the elliptic operator in GS equation, its solution can be divided into twoparts. One is solved from a semi-linear elliptic equation with an homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. The other is solved from the IBVP of Laplace's equation. It is concluded that there exists a unique solution for the so-called elliptic Cauchy problem for the essential technique of GS-reconstruction.

Description: Background Paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP) involves multiple organs, but little is known about its neurological involvement. Objectives To investigate myasthenia gravis (MG) symptoms, prognosis, profiles of associated autoantibodies and their correlations in PNP patients. Methods 58 PNP patients were assessed for myasthenic symptoms and laboratory evidence. Serum autoantibodies against acetylcholine receptor (AChR), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), titin, ryanodine receptor (RyR) and muscle specific kinase (MuSK) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV), pemphigus foliaceus (PF), connective tissue diseases (CTD), non-PNP MG (NP-MG) and healthy donors served as controls. These autoantibodies in PNP were also compared in presence or absence of dyspnea or muscle weakness. Cox regression and Log-rank test were used for survival analysis. Results 39.2% PNP experienced muscle weakness, and 35.3% were diagnosed as MG. Moreover, 35.1% had positive anti-AChR and 28.1% had anti-AChE, similarly in NP-MG (33.3% and 17.4%, respectively, P 〉0.05). However, both were negative in all PV, PF, CTD and healthy donors ( P 〈0.005). Neither anti-titin, anti-RyR nor anti-MuSK showed significant differences among all groups. Anti-AChR and anti-AChE levels were significantly increased in PNP having dyspnea, while anti-AChR, anti-titin and anti-RyR were significantly increased in PNP having muscle weakness ( P 〈0.05). Nevertheless, levels and positive rates of these autoantibodies showed no significant differences between PNP with Castleman's disease and thymoma. Although anti-AChE levels impacted survival duration ( P =0.027,OR=3.145), MG complication did not affect overall survival percentage of PNP. Conclusions MG is a complication of PNP. Anti-AChR and anti-AChE antibodies are prominent in PNP patients, especially those having dyspnea. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Background Vbeam ® and Cynergy ® are 595 nm pulsed dye laser(PDL) equipment options, both extensively used in clinical treatment of port-wine stain (PWS). However, there has been no study conducted of the differences in PWS therapeutic outcomes across both devices. Objective To compare of the efficacy and safety of Vbeam and Cynergy equipment in the treatment of PWS. Method Twenty-two PWS patients were included this study and were treated with both Vbeam and Cynergy. Patients underwent three treatment sessions. Treatment parameters used were as follows: (1) Cynergy ® , Cynosure Corp, 595 nm wavelength, radiant exposure of 11 J/cm 2 , 2 ms pulse duration, 7 mm spot size, cold-air cooling system of level three. (2) Vbeam ® , Candela Corp, 595 nm wavelength, radiant exposure of 11 J/cm 2 , 1.5 ms pulse duration, 7 mm spot size, cryogen spray cooling (30 ms of cooling with a 20 ms delay). Clinical efficacy outcomes were evaluated by chromameter and visual assessment two months posttreatment. Results All patients were treated by both Vbeam and Cynergy on adjacent sites. Chromameter evaluation showed that the average blanching rate was 21.24% for Cynergy sites and 36.42% for Vbeam sites. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.05), which suggests that PWS respond better to Vbeam compared with Cynergy at the settings used in this study. No patients developed scarring or permanent pigmentation change. Conclusion Compared with Cynergy, Vbeam may be more effective in PWS treatment. Despite using supposedly equivalent fluences in 595 nm PDLs, one cannot guarantee equivalent clinical results. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Producing optimal grain yields while reducing adverse environmental impacts of over-fertilization is essential in intensive, but sustainable, farming systems. We investigated the effects of long-term (1982–2005) application of chemical nitrogen (N), N + chemical phosphorus (P) and N + P + chemical potassium (K) on grain yield, nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) and N losses in two rice–wheat sites in subtropical China where pig manure was applied (Suining and Wuchang). Four (Suining) or five (Wuchang) treatments were examined: no-fertilizer, chemical N plus manure (NM), chemical NP plus manure (NPM), chemical NPK plus manure (NPKM) or chemical NPK plus 1.6 times manure (NPKhM, Wuchang only). Fertilizers resulted in 1.5–2.5 times higher grain yields than no-fertilizer, which led to a NRE in the range from 21.0 to 58.3%. Grain yields of rice and wheat were significantly increased by 22.6–25.9 and 34.4–37.5%, respectively, under NPM and NPKM (similar to each other) compared to NM at Suining. Yields were similar for NM, NPK, NPKM and NPKhM at Wuchang. The N accumulation and NRE among fertilizers were in the order NM 〈 NPM = NPKM at the low amount of manure-applied site (Suining), but NM = NPM = NPKM at the high amount of manure-applied site (Wuchang). The ratio of N losses to total N input was 21.4–49.1% at the studied sites. Soil total N accumulated at a rate of 0.01–0.04 g/kg/yr during 1982–2005 with fertilizers and decreased or was constant in soil without fertilizer. Application of chemical P and K fertilizers could be reduced or eliminated after long-term manure application at these two sites, while maintaining optimal grain yields and enhancing soil N accumulation.

Description: Aims Clinical and animal studies suggest that beta 1 -adrenergic and M 2 muscarinic receptor autoantibodies (beta 1 -AAbs and M 2 -AAbs) play important roles in the pathophysiological process of chronic heart failure (CHF). Removal of these autoantibodies improved haemodynamic parameters and left ventricular ejection fraction patients with CHF. The goal of this project is to evaluate whether beta 1 -AAbs and M 2 -AAbs predict prognosis and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in CHF. Methods and results A total of 2062 patients with CHF and 824 control subjects were recruited. Beta 1 -AAbs and M 2 -AAbs were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, and the correlation between these autoantibodies and the prognosis of CHF was analysed. During a median follow-up period of 36 months (0.40 ± 65 months), 379 (21.56%) cases died—164 had dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 215 had ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). Of these, SCD occurred in 69 cases (40.37%) of DCM and in 84 cases (39.07%) of ICM. Positivity for beta 1 -AAbs in DCM and ICM was significantly higher than for the controls (8.1% and 8.25% v.s 2.2%, both P 〈 0.01). However, positive M 2 -AAbs did not show any statistical difference between the three groups. Cox regression analysis revealed that positive beta 1 -AAbs were associated with higher mortality in CHF and that it predicted SCD for DCM [hazard ratio (HR) 4.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.405–8.471] and ICM (HR 3.749, 95% CI 2.389–5.884) patients, but not non-SCD (NSCD) patients. Conclusions The rates of positive beta 1 -AAbs were higher in CHF patients than in the controls. Positive beta 1 -AAbs might serve as an independent predictor for SCD in patients with CHF.

Description: Background The autocrine vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-2 loop is required to maintain the transformed phenotype of many tumors, in part, by preventing apoptotic cell death in response to many different stimuli. However, it is unclear whether constitutive VEGF/VEGFR-2 activation in hemangioma-derived endothelial cells (HemECs) can lead to a general suppression of apoptosis. Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate whether the autocrine VEGF loop promotes HemEC survival via its receptor, VEGFR-2. Methods HemECs and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were serum-starved for 12 to 48 h. Cell apoptosis was measured. The potential mechanisms of VEGF/VEGFR-2-induced HemEC survival were investigated, and the role of the autocrine VEGF/VEGFR-2 loop in preventing propranolol-induced apoptotic HemEC death was also analyzed. Results Compared with HUVECs, HemECs showed increased resistance to apoptosis induced by serum starvation. Up-regulated VEGF/VEGFR-2 signaling in HemECs induced an autocrine signaling loop, which resulted in Akt activation. Furthermore, this activation of Akt was necessary for VEGF/VEGFR-2-induced protection against serum deprivation-induced HemEC apoptosis. In addition, Bcl-2, which functions as an anti-apoptotic factor and direct downstream target of PI3K/Akt, was decreased by the inhibition of VEGF/VEGFR-2, which led to an increase in caspase-3 activity, caspase-9 activity and HemEC apoptosis. Moreover, HemECs acquired greater resistance to propranolol treatment than HUVECs, whereas inhibition of VEGF/VEGFR-2 signaling in HemECs sensitized these cells to propranolol-induced apoptosis. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that up-regulation of the autocrine VEGF/VEGFR-2 loop can induce general resistance to apoptotic stimuli in HemECs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: In order to understand the differences in the suspended sediment and total dissolved solid (TDS) yield patterns between the glacial and non-glacial catchments at the headwaters of Urumqi River, Northwestern China, water samples were collected from a glacier catchment and an empty cirque catchment within the region, during three melting seasons from 2006 to 2008. These samples were analyzed to estimate suspended sediment and TDS concentrations, fluxes and erosion rates in the two adjoining catchments. There were remarked differences in suspended sediment and TDS yield patterns between the two catchments. Suspended sediment concentrations were controlled mainly by the sediment source, whereas TDS concentrations were primarily related to the hydrologic interaction with soil minerals. Generally, the glacial catchment had much higher suspended sediment and TDS yields, together with higher denudation rates, than the non-glacial catchment. Overall, glacial catchment was mainly dominated by physical denudation process, whereas the non-glacial catchment was jointly influenced by physical and chemical denudation processes. The observed differences in material delivery patterns were mainly controlled by the runoff source and the glacial processes. The melting periods of glacier and snow were typically the most important time for the suspended sediment and TDS yields. Meanwhile, episodic precipitation events could generate disproportionately large yields. Subglacial hydrology dynamics, glaciers pluck and grind processes could affect erodibility, and the large quantities of dust stored on the glacier surface provided additional sources for suspended sediment transport in the glacial catchment. These mechanisms imply that, in response to climate change, the catchment behavior will be modified significantly in this region, in terms of material flux. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Due to its low water solubility and slow dissolution rate, genipin was micronized by an antisolvent precipitation process using ethanol as solvent and n -hexane as antisolvent. The effects of various experimental parameters on the mean particle size (MPS) of micronized genipin were investigated. By analysis of variance, only the concentration of the genipin solution has a significant effect on the MPS in genipin micronization. Under the optimum conditions, micronized genipin with an MPS of 1.8 μm was obtained. The micronized genipin was characterized by various methods, e.g., scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetry. The analysis results indicated that the chemical structure of micronized genipin was not changed, but the crystallinity was reduced. The dissolution rate and solubility of the micronized genipin were 2.08 and 1.64 times that of the raw drug. In addition, the residual amounts of n -hexane and ethanol were less than the International Conference on Harmonization limit for solvents. Micronized genipin with a mean particle size of 1.8 μm was prepared by the antisolvent precipitation process. The chemical structure of micronized genipin remained unchanged, but the crystallinity was reduced. The dissolution rate and solubility of the micronized genipin were 2.08 and 1.64 times that of the raw drug, and the amounts of residual n -hexane and ethanol were lower than the International Conference on Harmonization limit for solvents.