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In the present study, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly fabrication of silver and gold nanoparticles was performed by using aqueous extract of waste corn-cob. The formation of the metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) was optimized by UV–Vis method. The phytoconstituents were responsible for reduction of silver and gold ions to silver nanoparticles (CC-AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (CC-AuNPs) which were demonstrated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy while formation of AgCl was attributed to the presence of chloride ions in the aqueous extract. The crystalline nature of the AgNPs, AgCl, and AuNPs was confirmed using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns. Morphological studies showed that the synthesized CC-AgNPs existed in spherical shape with the size ranging from 2 to 28 nm possessing an average value of 11 nm while CC-AuNPs were present in the multiple shapes with size ranging from 5 to 50 nm possessing an average value of 35 nm. For studies on bioactive application, the CC-AgNPs exhibited a high antibacterial activity against three bacterial strains including Salmonella typhimurium , Bacillus cereus , and Staphylococcus aureus . In addition, the catalytic efficiency of MNPs was investigated for reduction of o- , m- , p- nitrophenols, and degradation of organic dyes including Eosin Y and Rhodamine 6G. The rate constants calculated from the kinetical data revealed that the biosynthesized nanoparticles are excellent catalysts in potential applications for treatment of wastewater. Graphical abstract .

The rising energy conflicts and environmental pollution are calling for the rapid development of advanced techniques such as photoelectrocatalysis to transform waste into energy and to clean contaminated media. Here we review photoelectrocatalysis for removing wastewater contaminants and recovering energy such as electricity and hydrogen (H 2 ), with focus on the basics of photoelectrocatalysis, charge kinetics, selecting a photoelectrode, and performance. Modification strategies such as heterostructure formation and doping are discussed. We present applications such a hydrogen production coupled with wastewater treatment, carbon dioxide reduction coupled with pollutant degradation, energy production coupled with wastewater treatment, and microbial fuel cells for electricity generation and pollutant degradation.

Background. Trypanosoma is a genus of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma brucei species and Trypanosoma cruzi are the major agents of human trypanosomiasis; other Trypanosoma species can cause human disease, but are rare. In March 2015, a 38-year-old woman presented to a healthcare facility in southern Vietnam with fever, headache, and arthralgia. Microscopic examination of blood revealed infection with Trypanosoma. Methods. Microscopic observation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of blood samples, and serological testing were performed to identify the infecting species. The patient's blood was screened for the trypanocidal protein apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1), and a field investigation was performed to identify the zoonotic source. Results. PCR amplification and serological testing identified the infecting species as Trypanosoma evansi. Despite relapsing 6 weeks after completing amphotericin B therapy, the patient made a complete recovery after 5 weeks of suramin. The patient was found to have 2 wild-type APOL1 alleles and a normal serum APOL1 concentration. After responsive animal sampling in the presumed location of exposure, cattle and/or buffalo were determined to be the most likely source of the infection, with 14 of 30 (47%) animal blood samples testing PCR positive for T. evansi. Conclusions. We report the first laboratory-confirmed case of T. evansi in a previously healthy individual without APOL1 deficiency, potentially contracted via a wound while butchering raw beef, and successfully treated with suramin. A linked epidemiological investigation revealed widespread and previously unidentified burden of T. evansi in local cattle, highlighting the need for surveillance of this infection in animals and the possibility of further human cases.

Both a means of denoising and simplification, it can be beneficial for the majority of modern biological datasets, in which it’s not uncommon to have hundreds or even millions of simultaneous measurements collected for a single sample. Because of “the curse of dimensionality,” many statistical methods lack power when applied to high-dimensional data. Formally, the Marchenko–Pastur distribution asymptotically models the distribution of the singular values of large random matrices. [...]for datasets large in both the number of observations and features, you use a rule of retaining only eigenvalues outside the support of the fitted Marchenko–Pastur distribution; however, remember that this applies only when your data have at least thousands of samples and thousands of features. [...]the height-to-width ratio of a PCA plot should be consistent with the ratio between the corresponding eigenvalues. Because eigenvalues reflect the variance in coordinates of the associated PCs, you only need to ensure that in the plots, one \"unit\" in direction of one PC has the same length as one \"unit\" in direction of another PC. Because batch effects can confound the signal of interest, it is a good practice to check for their presence and, if found, to remove them before proceeding with further downstream analysis.

In this paper, we address the issues of shortage and maldistribution of health personnel in southeast Asia in the context of the international trade in health services. Although there is no shortage of health workers in the region overall, when analysed separately, five low-income countries have some deficit. All countries in southeast Asia face problems of maldistribution of health workers, and rural areas are often understaffed. Despite a high capacity for medical and nursing training in both public and private facilities, there is weak coordination between production of health workers and capacity for employment. Regional experiences and policy responses to address these challenges can be used to inform future policy in the region and elsewhere. A distinctive feature of southeast Asia is its engagement in international trade in health services. Singapore and Malaysia import health workers to meet domestic demand and to provide services to international patients. Thailand attracts many foreign patients for health services. This situation has resulted in the so-called brain drain of highly specialised staff from public medical schools to the private hospitals. The Philippines and Indonesia are the main exporters of doctors and nurses in the region. Agreements about mutual recognition of professional qualifications for three groups of health workers under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Framework Agreement on Services could result in increased movement within the region in the future. To ensure that vital human resources for health are available to meet the needs of the populations that they serve, migration management and retention strategies need to be integrated into ongoing efforts to strengthen health systems in southeast Asia. There is also a need for improved dialogue between the health and trade sectors on how to balance economic opportunities associated with trade in health services with domestic health needs and equity issues.

Steel slag is an industrial by product of steel manufacturing processes and has been widely utilized within civil and construction materials for road materials and environmental remediation in countries like Japan, USA, and European Union nations. However, the current utilization of steel slag in Vietnam is very low mainly because of lack of quality control of slag treatment and chances for reuse of treated steel slag. This paper presents the up to date steel slag production status in Vietnam through the extensive survey and sampling at seven large steel factories. The paper also highlights the environmental and quality control issues of these steel slags to use as road construction aggregates by assessing the heavy metals concentration in the leachate. The basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and electric arc furnace (EAF) slag samples were collected to evaluate leaching properties of metals leached from the slags. The two standardized batch leaching tests of steel slag roadbed material in Japan (JIS K 0058-1) and toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP — EPA method 1311) were performed to the evaluated the hazardous metals. The results of the leaching test show that almost all of the concentration of the metals in the leached solution does not exceed the National Standard for Industrial Wastewater Discharge (QCVN 40-2011). The pH and parameters such as total chromium, nickel, copper, lead, arsenic, and manganese differ from the two test methods. The acidic conditions employed in the EPA 1311 were not representative of condition excepted during slag reuse in road constructions because in the operation condition of the road, acidic liquid is absent. The leaching test results confirmed that JIS test which uses deionized water with gentle mixing prevents the slag sample from size degradation is suitable for the environmental assessment of steel slag use for roadbed material. This research suggests that the adjustment of pH value prior to disposal or reuse as base materials and official guideline should be promulgate by the authorities to ensure the leachate meet the surface water quality standard.

Patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at increased risk for severe hypoglycemia because of defects in glucose counterregulation and recognition of hypoglycemia symptoms, in part mediated through exposure to hypoglycemia. To determine whether implementation of real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) as a strategy for hypoglycemia avoidance could improve glucose counterregulation in patients with long-standing T1D and hypoglycemia unawareness. Eleven patients with T1D disease duration of ∼31 years were studied longitudinally in the Clinical & Translational Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania before and 6 and 18 months after initiation of CGM and were compared with 12 nondiabetic control participants. Endogenous glucose production response derived from paired hyperinsulinemic stepped-hypoglycemic and euglycemic clamps with infusion of 6,6-2H2-glucose. In patients with T1D, hypoglycemia awareness (Clarke score) and severity (HYPO score and severe events) improved (P < 0.01 for all) without change in hemoglobin A1c (baseline, 7.2% ± 0.2%). In response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, endogenous glucose production did not change from before to 6 months (0.42 ± 0.08 vs 0.54 ± 0.07 mg·kg-1·min-1) but improved after 18 months (0.84 ± 0.15 mg·kg-1·min-1; P < 0.05 vs before CGM), albeit remaining less than in controls (1.39 ± 0.11 mg·kg-1·min-1; P ≤ 0.01 vs all). Real-time CGM can improve awareness and reduce the burden of problematic hypoglycemia in patients with long-standing T1D, but with only modest improvement in the endogenous glucose production response that is required to prevent or correct low blood glucose.

In this study, biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized by a green approach using an aqueous extract from Codonopsis pilosula (CP) roots as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The formation of CP-AgNPs and CP-AuNPs was confirmed and optimized by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The CP-AgNPs and CP-AuNPs obtained under optimum conditions of metal ion concentration, reaction temperature, and reaction time were characterized by high-resolution transition electron microscopy (HR-TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis, field-emission scan electron microscopy (FE-SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. It has been found that the biosynthesized CP-AgNPs and CP-AuNPs were formed in spherical shape with an average size of 10±2.5 nm and 20±3.2 nm, respectively. The biosynthesized metallic nanoparticles exhibited selective bacterial activity against three bacterial strains including two Gram-positive bacteria of Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus and one Gram-negative bacteria of Escherichia coli. Meanwhile, there was no antibacterial activity detected toward Gram-negative Salmonella enteritidis. CP-AgNPs and CP-AuNPs also manifested an excellent catalytic performance in the reduction of 1,4-dinitrobenzene, 2-nitrophenol, 3-nitrophenol, and 4-nitrophenol.

This study developed a new adsorbent, specifically activated carbon-loaded silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-AC) by coating the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) onto activated carbon (AC). The obtained AgNPs-AC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The ability of AgNPs-AC to remove methylene blue (MB) was evaluated using different experimental factors, these being pH solution, contact time, adsorbent dose, and initial MB concentration. Results indicated that the highest adsorption capacity of MB onto AgNPs-AC was obtained when the AC was loaded onto AgNPs at the impregnation ratio of 0.5% w/w for AC and AgNPs. The best conditions in which AgNPs-AC could remove MB were as follows: pH 10, contact time lasting 120 min, and adsorbent dose being 250 mg/25 mL solution. In this scenario, the maximum adsorption capacity of MB onto AgNPs-AC was 172.22 mg/g. The adsorption isothermal equilibrium was well described by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips models. The Sips equations had the highest correlation coefficient value (R2 = 0.935). The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models agree well with the dynamic behavior of the adsorption of dye MB on AgNPs-AC.

Chromium (Cr(VI)) causes serious impacts on the environment and human. In this study, the commercial activated carbon-loaded silver nanoparticle (AgNPs-AC) was used as a new adsorbent to remove Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of pH, the initial concentration of Cr(VI), contact time, and dose of AgNPs-AC upon removal of Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution. The results showed that at pH of 4, the contact time of 150 min, 40 mg/L of initial Cr(VI), and dosage of 20 mg AgNPs-AC/25 mL were the most suitable condition for absorption of Cr(VI) onto AgNPs-AC from the aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity achieved at abovementioned conditions was 27.70 mg/g. Meanwhile, the adsorption capacity of commercial activated carbon from a coconut shell obtained only 7.61 mg/g in the case where the initial Cr(VI) concentration is 10 mg/L and the contact time is 60 min. The adsorption kinetic data were found to fit best to the pseudo-second-order model with a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9597). The adsorption process was controlled by chemisorption due to the appearance of new chemical species on the adsorbent surface. The positively charged functional groups rapidly reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(III), and Cr(III) was subsequently adsorbed by the carboxyl group on the adsorbent’s surface. From this study, it can be concluded that AgNPs-AC is a fully promising, low-cost adsorbent in the removal of Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution.