Antimony (Sb) contamination in water resources poses a critical environmental and health challenge globally. Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) are employed to reduce SO to S for removing Sb in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Yet, the reduction efficiency of reducing SO and Sb(V) through SRB remains relatively low, and the underlying mechanism remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe global transition to clean energy technologies has escalated the demand for lithium (Li), a critical component in rechargeable Li-ion batteries, highlighting the urgent need for efficient and sustainable Li extraction methods. Nanofiltration (NF)-based separations have emerged as a promising solution, offering selective separation capabilities that could advance resource extraction and recovery. However, an NF-based lithium extraction process differs significantly from conventional water treatment, necessitating a paradigm shift in membrane materials design, performance evaluation metrics, and process optimization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe interplay of climate change, upstream hydropower development, and local water engineering interventions for agricultural production contributes substantially to the transformation of waterscapes and water scarcity in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. This paper aims to examine how these dynamics are linked to the paradigm shift in water management in An Giang and Ben Tre, the two ecologically distinct provinces that face serious water scarcity in the delta. We used the adaptive management concept to examine how state-led policy directions from food security towards water security enable change in water management that gives priority to water retention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
June 2024
The organic molecular 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis(4,4'-dimethoxy-3-methyldiphenylamino)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (Spiro-MeOTAD) is known as a typical hole transport material in the development of an all-solid-state perovskite solar cell (PSC). Spiro-MeOTAD requires additives of lithium bifurflimide (LiTFSI) and 4--butylpyridine (tBP) to increase the conductivity and solubility for enhancing the photovoltaic performance of PSCs. However, those additives have an adverse effect on the thermal stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study compared the effects of calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2.2H2O) on the physical properties and push-out bond strength of white Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (WMTA) and an experimental Malaysian Portland cement mixed with nano-zirconium oxide (nano-ZrO) [(radiopaque Malaysian Portland cement (RMPC). Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) was the first calcium silicate cement (CSC) introduced in dentistry, but up to date, it is an expensive cement with long setting time and causes tooth discolouration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, underscoring the need for early detection to improve patient survival rates. The current clinical gold standard for detection is histopathological image analysis, but this process is manual, laborious, and time-consuming. As a result, there has been growing interest in developing computer-aided diagnosis to assist pathologists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To investigate factors associated with postoperative avascular necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH) in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) patients, and if or how the associations varied among different subpopulations of age, sex and surgical method.
Methods: Patients with DDH were enrolled between October 31, 2016 and July 15, 2020 in this retrospective cohort study. The average follow-up time was 21.
Skeletal muscle has a robust endocrine function as a powerful organ and can secrete and release cytokines or polypeptides known as myokines. These myokines have significant regulatory effects on signal transduction in skeletal muscle and the metabolism of peripheral tissues and organs and exert biological effects via autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine forms. Obesity and aging cause myokine secretion dysregulation, and hastening sarcopenic obesity (SO) development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSanwei sandalwood decoction (SWTX) is a classical Chinese medicine formula and clinically effective treatment for coronary heart disease, including myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Because the treatment mechanism of SWTX in I/R injury remains obscure, we intended to analyze the potential cardioprotective effects of SWTX in rats with myocardial I/R injury. Our research revealed that SWTX prolonged ventricular conduction time in a dose-dependent manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUpdate to expression of concern for 'Self-assembled membrane manufactured by metal-organic framework (UiO-66) coated γ-AlO for cleaning oily seawater' by Cunlong Li , , 2019, , 10702-10714, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA00521H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 45-year-old male was admitted with severe orthostatic headache secondary to spontaneous intracranial hypotension. He had the site of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage identified at the anterolateral aspect of the C7-T1 spinal level. He first underwent a conventional posterior-approach cervical epidural blood patch (EBP) which provided immediate relief to the patient's symptoms; however, his symptoms recurred two days later.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Reports of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) after messenger RNA (mRNA)-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination has caused safety concerns, but CVT is also known to occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Comparing the relative incidence of CVT after infection vs vaccination may provide a better perspective of this complication.
Objective: To compare the incidence rates and clinical characteristics of CVT following either SARS-CoV-2 infection or mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
Purpose: We describe the spectrum of acute neurological disorders among hospitalized patients who recently had COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.
Method: We performed a prospective study at 7 acute hospitals in Singapore. Hospitalized patients who were referred for neurological complaints and had COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, in the last 6 weeks were classified into central nervous system (CNS) syndromes, cerebrovascular disorders, peripheral nervous system (PNS) disorders, autonomic nervous system (ANS) disorders and immunization stress-related responses (ISRR).
Background And Aims: Studies of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv amyloidosis) in South-East Asia are underrepresented in the literature. We report the unique phenotypic and genetic characteristics of this disorder in a multiracial South-East Asian cohort.
Methods: Patients with genetically proven ATTRv amyloidosis were identified over a 13-year period (2007-2020) at the National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.
Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of congenital scoliosis (CS) in infants based on chest-abdomen radiographs.
Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on infants in the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary children's hospital between February 2008 and September 2019. Patients who had undergone chest-abdomen X-rays were included.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
March 2021
A binder is an important component in lithium-ion batteries and plays a significant role in maintaining the properties of active substances. Most studies in the field of binders have only focussed on physical properties such as bonding performance. Here, a polyacrylic acid-modified binder was designed and adapted to Li[NiCoMn]O, which enhanced the electrochemical stability of Li[NiCoMn]O from 30.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo recover energy from the waste heat of aluminum reduction cells, a waste heat power generation system (WHPGS) with low boiling point working fluid based on Organic Rankine Cycle was proposed. A simplified model for the heat transfer around the walls of aluminum reduction cells and thermodynamic cycle was established. By using the model developed and coded in Matlab, thermal performance analysis of the system was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have improved survival across tumor types however they cause immune-related toxicities through removal of the inhibition of auto-reactive T cells. In this case review, we present 4 patients with metastatic cancer who developed de-novo neuromuscular side effects of myositis with overlapping seropositive myasthenia gravis after ICI treatment. Declaration: This study was performed in accordance to the ethical standards set by the SingHealth Institutional Review Board, with consent taken from living patients and waiver of consent from deceased patients (CIRB Ref 2019/2485).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To describe the spectrum of COVID-19 neurology in Singapore.
Method: We prospectively studied all microbiologically-confirmed COVID-19 patients in Singapore, who were referred for any neurological complaint within three months of COVID-19 onset. Neurological diagnoses and relationship to COVID-19 was made by consensus guided by contemporaneous literature, refined using recent case definitions.
In this Letter, we report a giant and robust asymmetric chiroptical effect (ACOE) in the chiral medium filled golden slit grating on glass substrate (CMGSG-GS). This ACOE comes from the influence of interface asymmetry on the electromagnetic cross-coupling in the CMGSG-GS, and it is inherently different than that reported in the Faraday medium and the planar anisotropic chiral metamaterials. Both the polarization eigenstate and the transmission matrix are highly dependent on the metal structure used in the CMGSG-GS.
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