Fabrication and characterization of ceramic tubular composite membranes using slag waste materials for oily wastewater treatment.

In this study, low-cost tubular ceramic membranes were fabricated by using waste slag and natural raw materials in order to decrease the manufacturing carbon footprints. The effects of incorporation of phosphorus slag (PS) and blast furnace slag (BFS) in the mullite-zeolite membrane body were investigated. The structural characteristics of the fabricated membranes were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle, porosity and average pore size analyses.

The acoustic characteristics of fine crackles predict honeycombing on high-resolution computed tomography.

Background: Honeycombing on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is a distinguishing feature of usual interstitial pneumonia and predictive of poor outcome in interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Although fine crackles are common in ILD patients, the relationship between their acoustic features and honeycombing on HRCT has not been well characterized.

Methods: Lung sounds were digitally recorded from 71 patients with fine crackles and ILD findings on chest HRCT.

Effects of Kinesio Taping on breast cancer-related lymphedema: A meta-analysis in clinical trials.

Background: Lymphedema is known as a secondary complication of breast cancer treatment, caused by reduction on lymphatic flow and lymph accumulation on interstitial space. The Kinesio Taping (KT) has become an alternative treatment for lymphedema volume reduction. The objective of the study was to evaluate the literature through a systematic review on KT effects on lymphedema related to breast cancer.

[Job burnout: focusing on occupational differences of enthusiasm for job].

This study investigates characteristics of burnout, as related to job descriptions in mental hospitals and presuppositions of the concept of burnout (burnout is caused as a result of having enthusiasm for a job). The results of a questionnaire survey (burnout tendency, Japanese Burnout Scale, enthusiasm for a job in the past, modified Enthusiasm scale) with 781 workers at mental hospitals showed that burnout characteristics varied according to job descriptions. Specifically, psychiatric social workers, medical assistants, and nurses fell into the high-burnout category, whereas doctors, occupational therapists, and pharmacists fell into the low-burnout category.