Novel bioevaporation process for the zero-discharge treatment of highly concentrated organic wastewater

A novel process termed as bioevaporation was established to completely evaporate wastewater by metabolic heat released from the aerobic microbial degradation of the organic matters contained in the highly concentrated organic wastewater itself. By adding the glucose solution and ground food waste (FW) into the biodried sludge bed, the activity of the microorganisms in the biodried sludge was stimulated and the water in the glucose solution and FW was evaporated. As the biodegradable volatile solids (BVS) concentration in wastewater increased, more heat was produced and the water removal ratio increased. When the volatile solids (VS) concentrations of both glucose and ground FW were 120 g L⁻¹, 101.7% and 104.3% of the added water was removed, respectively, by completely consuming the glucose and FW BVS. Therefore, the complete removal of water and biodegradable organic contents was achieved simultaneously in the bioevaporation process, which accomplished zero-discharge treatment of highly concentrated organic wastewater.     

Physicochemical characterization of diclofenac sodium-loaded poloxamer gel as a rectal delivery system with fast absorption

Rectal poloxamer gel systems composed of poloxamers and bioadhesive polymers were easy to administer to the anus and were mucoadhesive to the rectal tissues without leakage after the dose. However, a poloxamer gel containing diclofenac sodium could not be developed using bioadhesive polymers, since the drug was precipitated in this preparation. To develop a poloxamer gel using sodium chloride instead of bioadhesive polymers, the physicochemical properties such as gelation temperature, gel strength, and bioadhesive force of various formulations composed of diclofenac sodium, poloxamers, and sodium chloride were investigated. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic study of diclofenac sodium delivered by the poloxamer gel was performed. Diclofenac sodium significantly increased the gelation temperature and weakened the gel strength and bioadhesive force, while sodium chloride did the opposite. The poloxamer gels with less than 1.0% sodium chloride, in which the drug was not precipitated, were inserted into the rectum without difficulty and leakage, and were retained in the rectum of rats for at least 6 hr. Furthermore, poloxamer gel gave significantly higher initial plasma concentrations and faster T_max of diclofenac sodium than did solid suppository, indicating that drug from poloxamer gel could be absorbed faster than that from the solid one in rats. Our results suggested that a rectal poloxamer gel system with sodium chloride and poloxamers was a more physically stable, convenient, and effective rectal dosage form for diclofenac sodium.     

Nitrogen control in AO process with recirculation of solubilized excess sludge

In order to establish a sludgeless process with a nitrogen-controlled effluent, batch and continuous experiments in a lab scale anoxic-oxic (AO) process were carried out to investigate the possibility of ozonized sludge (OS) usage as a denitrification energy source. Through ozonation at an ozone dose of 1.2g O(3)/g MLVSS, 63.2% of treated MLVSS was solubilized, 12.7% of COD was lost (probably due to complete oxidation to CO(2)), and soluble COD/TN ratio of OS appeared to be only about 10.78 because ozonation released cellular proteins and other nitrogenous substances. In oxic conditions, incubation of OS supernatant with activated sludge generated nitrate without significant ammonia accumulation, which meant that rapid nitrification occurred following ammonia generation from heterotrophic degradation of nitrogen-bearing cellular substances. In anoxic conditions, externally supplied nitrate was removed at the expense of organic carbons in the OS supernatant. However, ammonia was accumulated as anoxic incubation proceeded probably because of heterotrophic degradation of nitrogenous materials as in oxic conditions. Thus it was appeared that solubilized excess sludge acted as a reducing power for denitrification but also as a nitrogen source. In addition, 24-41% of COD contained in OS supernatant were found to be consumed for denitrification. But the remaining COD was not assimilated further even in the presence of nitrate. It was concluded by a nitrogen balance analysis that the energy source contained in OS was not sufficient to completely reduce the nitrogen that was originated from OS itself to nitrogen gas.     

Analysis of affective instability in ecological momentary assessment: Indices using successive difference and group comparison via multilevel modeling.

Temporal instability of affect is a defining characteristic of psychological disorders such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and mood cycling disorders. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) enables researchers to directly assess such frequent and extreme fluctuations over time. The authors examined 4 operationalizations of such temporal instability: the within-person variance (WPV), the first-order autocorrelation, the mean square successive difference (MSSD), and the probability of acute change (PAC). It is argued that the MSSD and PAC measures are preferred indices of affective instability because they capture both variability and temporal dependency in a time series. Additionally, the performance of these 2 measures in capturing within- and between-day instability is discussed. To illustrate, the authors present EMA data from a study of negative mood in BPD and major depressive disorder patients. In this study, MSSD and PAC captured affective instability better than did WPV. Given that MSSD and PAC are individual difference measures, the authors propose that group differences on these indices be explored using generalized multilevel models. Versions of MSSD and PAC that adjust for randomly elapsed time interval between assessments are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short communication: in vivo evaluation of microemulsion system for oral and parenteral delivery of rutaecarpine to rats

Rutaecarpine-loaded microemulsion composed of 10.8% polyethylene glycol 400, 7.2% Tween 80, 20% caster oil, and 62% water were previously reported to be physically and chemically stable for at least 6 months. For the development of a Rutaecarpine-loaded microemulsion, here we studied the pharmacokinetic profiles of rutaecarpine after oral and intravenous administration of rutaecarpine-loaded microemulsion compared to suspension. The AUC of rutaecarpine from microemulsion after oral and intravenous administration increased about three-fold compared with that from suspension. Furthermore, the rutaecarpine-loaded microemulsion gave significantly higher AUC and Cmax than did suspension, suggesting that the oral bioavailability of rutaecarpine in this microemulsion system could be enhanced due to the enhanced solubility of rutaecarpine by microemulsion. Thus, our results indicated that the microemulsion system composed of castor oil, polyethylene glycol 400, Tween 80, and water could be a more effective oral and parenteral dosage form for rutaecarpine.     

Affect and alcohol use: An ecological momentary assessment study of outpatients with borderline personality disorder.

Alcohol use may be viewed as an attempt (albeit maladaptive) to regulate negative emotional states. We examined associations between both negative and positive affects and alcohol use in outpatient women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD; n = 74), a prototype of emotional dysregulation, as well as a psychiatric control group of women with current depressive disorder (major depressive disorder/dysthymic disorder [MDD\DYS]; n = 50). Participants completed randomly prompted reports of mood and alcohol use up to six times a day over a 28-day period using electronic diaries. Mean levels of either positive or negative affects did not distinguish between drinkers and nondrinkers in either diagnostic group. However, levels of both negative and positive affects were positively associated with alcohol use at the momentary level in BPD drinkers. More robust findings were obtained with respect to within-person affective variability, which was related to alcohol use in multiple ways. BPD drinkers showed higher within-person variability for most negative affects than BPD nondrinkers; MDD\DYS drinkers in general showed less within-person variability than MDD\DYS nondrinkers for negative affects. Multilevel lagged analyses for BPD drinkers indicated that alcohol use was positively related to variability in all affects, concurrently, but fewer significant effects of affect variability on the next day's drinking or significant effects of alcohol use on the next day's affect variability were observed. Among MDD\DYS drinkers, we observed more significant associations between affect variability on next day's alcohol use and of alcohol use on next day's affect variability. We discuss theoretical and methodological issues relevant to these findings as well as implications for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immediate ipsilateral fibular transfer in a large tibial defect using a ring fixator. A case report

A 57-year-old man with monoclonal gamma-globulinemia was admitted because of edema and proteinuria. A renal biopsy specimen showed lobular glomerulonephritis associated with deposition of material that was positive for IgG, C3, C1q, fibrin, kappa light chain, and lambda light chain but was not stained by Congo red. Glomeruli showed massive electron-dense deposits with two kinds of unusual, highly organized crystalline structures in the mesangial matrix and peripheral capillary loops. Clinically, the patient had nephrotic syndrome, microscopic hematuria, and hypertension. No Bence-Jones protein or cryoglobulin was found in the urine or serum. Immunoelectrophoresis of blood and urine revealed increased IgG-lambda paraprotein, but no free light chains were found. This case was not associated with amyloidosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, light chain deposition disease, cryoglobulinemia, or multiple myeloma. Immunotactoid glomerulopathy was diagnosed. Treatment with oral prednisone was effective for the management of nephrotic syndrome and renal dysfunction. Glomerular deposition of two kinds of microtubular structure in immunotactoid glomerulopathy has rarely been reported.     

Quantitative susceptibility mapping in a diabetes mellitus rat model: Iron accumulation in the brain

This study evaluated the susceptibility effects using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) as a marker for regional brain iron alternations in diabetic rat brains. Otsuka Long‐Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats (n = 7) and age‐matched lean Long‐Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) control rats (n = 8) were scanned using a three‐dimensional gradient‐echo sequence in a 3 Tesla MRI to map QSM. The correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the QSM value and the body weight and the fasting blood glucose value of the rats. QSM values in the OLETF group were significantly increased in hippocampi and thalami, as compared with those of the LETO group. The QSM values of the OLETF rats were negatively correlated with the body weight in putamen and were significantly correlated with the fasting blood glucose level in the left amygdala and right thalamus. With higher QSM values in diabetic rats than in control rats, QSM values in the diabetic group were significantly correlated with the body weight and the fasting blood glucose level, indicating that the QSM technique should be helpful to noninvasively investigate iron overload in the diabetic brain.     

Effective design of electronic commerce environments: a proposedtheory of congruence and an illustration

We posit that the current electronic commerce (EC) systems are not user-oriented. Consumers in an EC environment find it difficult to deal with the inherent nature of virtual reality in their interaction. We propose a conceptual framework to address such an issue by drawing on insights from contingency research in information systems design and media choice behavior. The basic theme of this model, called the congruence model, is that for an EC systems environment to have favorable impact on a consumer, the system must have a good fit with both the products/services that are sold/provided and the users it supports. An initial validity of this conceptual framework is demonstrated by working with a few product and user types. A detailed evaluation of eight different commercial web sites dealing with four different product categories provides additional support to the proposed theory. We expect our conceptual model to spur significant future research on this important phenomenon     

Comparative evaluation of the polynomial and spline fitting methods for the B0 correction of CEST MRI data acquired from human brains

To compare the magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry (MTR_asym) values calculated with polynomial and spline fitting methods for B0 correction of the full Z-spectrum images, full Z-spectrum data was obtained from 12 elderly healthy subjects by using a 3D segmented EPI sequence, as well as from 17 other subjects by using a 3D GRASE sequence with two different 3 T MRI systems. The full Z-spectra were analyzed to map MTR_asym with three different fitting methods, namely the 10th and 14th polynomial and spline methods, for B0 correction. The MTR_asym values for each offset frequency were compared among the three fitting methods. For the 3D segmented EPI sequence, the MTR_asym values significantly differed among the three fitting methods at 0.86, 2.14, 3.00, and 3.43 ppm offset frequencies. For the 3D GRASE sequence, the MTRasym values obtained by 14th polynomial and spline fitting methods significantly differed at arbitrary offset frequencies. The MTR_asym values are sensitive to the fitting methods of B0 correction and to the type of acquisition sequence for the full Z-spectrum. Therefore, an appropriate fitting method should be used to analyze the full Z-spectrum obtained from the brain.