Prognostic Value of Serum Cholinesterase Levels for In-Hospital Mortality among Patients with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Cholinesterase (ChE) is associated with the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic airway inflammation and oxidation/antioxidant imbalance. However, the relationship between serum ChE levels and survival outcomes of patients hospitalized with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) is unknown. In this retrospective single-center study, we investigated the ability of the serum ChE level to predict in-hospital death in patients hospitalized with AECOPD.

Effects of rice husk powder and thermal hydrolysis on sludge characteristics.

To reduce the water content and improve the incineration characteristics of sludge, rice husk and thermal hydrolysis were employed in this study. Effects of rice husk and thermal hydrolysis on the characteristics of the sludge were investigated. The results showed that synergistic thermal hydrolysis with rice husk could effectively destroy sludge particles and release more bound water.

Establishment of the Permeability Model for Soft Solid Sludge Conditioned with Flocculants.

Permeability plays a decisive role in the dewatering process and reflects the difficulty of filtration, especially for soft solid material such as sludge. In this paper, the physicochemical properties and dewatering performance of sludge conditioned with different kinds of flocculants were investigated. Results showed that the flocculant could change the sludge microstructure such as floc morphology, specific surface area, and fractal dimension.

Rheology characteristics of activated sludge and thermal treated sludge at different process temperature.

In this paper, flow behavior for activated sludge and thermal treated sludge at different process temperature and various solids content were analyzed. Results show viscosity of activated sludge and thermal treated sludge both decreased with increasing temperature, while temperature dependence of viscosity for both types of sludge were not same at the whole study range. The relationship between viscosity and temperature could be expressed by Arrhenius equation for activated sludge, and it was interesting that this law was only suitable when certain solid content (80 g/L) for thermal treated sludge.

Effects of thermal hydrolysis temperature on physical characteristics of municipal sludge.

Effects of thermal hydrolysis temperature on the physical properties of municipal sludge was further studied by a series of experiments. There was a decrease in bound water content with an increase in hydrolysis temperature, while there was an increase in pH at temperatures below 120 °C, and a decrease at temperatures exceeding 120 °C. An analysis of settleability, centrifugation and vacuum filtration of the treated sludge indicated that the threshold temperature was 120 °C, which was the same as the temperature for the bound water content and particle size.

STAT6 phosphorylation inhibitors block eotaxin-3 secretion in bronchial epithelial cells.

The STAT6 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 6) protein facilitates T-helper cell 2 (Th2) mediated responses that control IgE-mediated atopic diseases such as asthma. We have identified compounds that bind to STAT6 and inhibit STAT6 tyrosine phosphorylation induced by IL-4. In the bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B, compound (R)-84 inhibits the secretion of eotaxin-3, a chemokine eliciting eosinophil infiltration.