Younger age at surgery and lesser seizure frequency as prognostic factors for favorable seizure-related outcome after glioma resection in adults.

The identification of variables predictive of good seizure control following surgical tumor resection in adult glioma patients with tumor-related epilepsy would greatly benefit treatment decisions. Therefore, we analyzed the clinical data of adult patients with tumor-related epilepsy who underwent tumor resection at our institute between November 2011 and August 2013. Patients were divided into seizure-free (Engel Ia) and unfavorable outcome groups (Engel Ib-IV), and potential prognostic factors were analyzed.

Interaction of gaseous aromatic and aliphatic compounds in thermophilic biofilters.

Two thermophilic biofilters were applied in treating a mixture of gaseous aromatic (benzene) and aliphatic compounds (hexane) to evaluate the interaction of the compounds. The performance of the biofilters was investigated in terms of removal efficiencies, elimination capacity, kinetic analysis, interaction indices, and microbial metabolic characteristics. Results showed that the removal performance of benzene was unaffected by the addition of hexane.

Influence of powdered activated carbon addition on water quality, sludge properties, and microbial characteristics in the biological treatment of commingled industrial wastewater.

A powdered activated carbon-activated sludge (PAC-AS) system, a traditional activated sludge (AS) system, and a powdered activated carbon (PAC) system were operated to examine the insights into the influence of PAC addition on biological treatment. The average COD removal efficiencies of the PAC-AS system (39%) were nearly double that of the AS system (20%). Compared with the average efficiencies of the PAC system (7%), COD removal by biodegradation in the PAC-AS system was remarkably higher than that in the AS system.

Evaluation of the cytotoxicity of cigarette smoke condensate by a cellular impedance biosensor.

In this study, a cytotoxicity assay was developed for profiling the cytotoxicity of cigarette smoke condensates (CSCs) base on a cellular impedance biosensor (CIB). Compared with the traditional in vitro cytotoxicity assays, this CIB-based method offered distinct advantages in real-time kinetic measurement which provided a comprehensive understanding of cellular responses for the entire duration of the experiment and prediction of the potential mechanism of action of a given treatment. The time-dependent cell response profiles provided valid evidences for optimization of cell number per well, cell quality control, and identification of the optimal time points for compound treatment and endpoint assays.

[Determination of trace elements in cigarette flavours by closed-vessel microwave digestion-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry].

Tobacco flavours have great effect on the aroma, taste and quality stabilization of cigarettes. In order to effectively control the quality of cigarette flavours and reduce the content level of toxic elements in cigarette mainstream smoke, a method for the simultaneous determination of Be, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Cd, Tl and Pb in cigarette flavours by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with closed-vessel microwave assisted digestion was developed. The linear correlative coefficients for all elements are better than 0.

Construction of supported lipid membrane modified piezoelectric biosensor for sensitive assay of cholera toxin based on surface-agglutination of ganglioside-bearing liposomes.

A novel piezoelelctric biosensor has been developed for cholera toxin (CT) detection based on the analyte-mediated surface-agglutination of ganglioside (GM1)-functionalized liposomes. To achieve a CT-specific agglutination at the surface, the gold electrode is modified by a GM1-functionalized supported lipid membrane via spontaneous spread of the liposomes on a self-assembled monolayer of a long-chain alkanethiol. In the presence of CT, the GM1-incorporated liposomes in assay medium will rapidly specifically agglutinate at the electrode surface through the binding of CT to GM1 on the electrode surface and the liposome interface.

[Determination of 27 elements in tobacco by ICP-MS using microwave digestion for sample preparation].

While the organic and biologically active components in tobacco smoke are well characterized, it is also important to know which inorganic elements are contained in tobacco. In the present paper, the determination of Be, Na, Mg, K, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, Pb, Th and U in tobacco leaves was studied by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Samples were digested in a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide by closed-vessel microwave digestion.