Investigation on visible-light photocatalytic performance and mechanism of zinc peroxide for tetracycline degradation and Escherichia coli inactivation.

In this study, zincperoxide (ZnO) with broad energy gap was firstly used for visible-light-induced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) and inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli). A small amount of ZnO (10 mg) could efficiently degrade 100 mL of 50 mg/L TC in a wide pH range (4-12), and the degradation performance was rarely suppressed by common matrix species and natural water sources.

Biodegradation of tetracycline using hybrid material (UCPs-TiO) coupled with biofilms under visible light.

To develop a more green and effective method for tetracycline (TC) removal, a hybrid material (conversion phosphors-TiO, UCPs-TiO) was coupled with a biofilm to achieve enhanced removal of TC. The removal of TC by biofilm coupled with UCPs-TiO under visible light reached 82%, which was 35% higher than that in treatment using only the biofilm. Extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) promoted the production of hydroxyl radicals by UCPs-TiO, as the EPS acted as an electron transfer medium and accelerated the TC mineralization.

Paraproteins are a common cause of interferences with automated chemistry methods.

Context: Previous studies have shown that paraproteins caused spurious results on individual analytes including total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), or HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). Studies demonstrating paraprotein interferences with multiple analytes measured by different analyzers have not been reported.

Objective: To systemically investigate interferences of paraproteins on TBIL, DBIL, and HDL-C measured by the Roche MODULAR and the Olympus AU2700.

The impact and cumulative effects of intimate partner abuse during pregnancy on health-related quality of life among Hong Kong Chinese women.

Objective: to explore the prevalence of intimate partner abuse during pregnancy and to examine the effect and cumulative effects of different types of intimate partner abuse on health-related quality of life.

Design: a retrospective, cross-sectional, comparative design.

Setting: three postnatal wards of a university-affiliated regional public hospital in Hong Kong.

The use of topical lidocaine/prilocaine cream prior to childhood circumcision under local anesthesia.

A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of prior application of topical eutectic mixture of local anesthetics, EMLA, in alleviating the pain associated with infiltration local anesthetic (LA) for circumcision in children and to assess its impact on the outcome. A total of 173 children aged 3-13 years requiring circumcision were randomly assigned to have EMLA or placebo cream applied over the root of the penis 1 h before subcutaneous ring block. A blinded observer rated the pain response on a 10-point visual scale during needle insertion, injection of local anesthetic and circumcision.