Category: Nevin Manimala

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2022 Apr 8;43(4):1898-1907. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.202107187.

ABSTRACT

As an important food production area in the north of China, the Hetao plain is extremely vulnerable to nitrate pollution caused by agricultural production activities and additional factors. Thus, it is of great significance for the environmental protection and rational use of groundwater to detect the current situation of groundwater nitrate pollution, temporal and spatial evolution characteristics, and main influencing factors in the Hetao irrigation district. We selected the Wualte irrigation area as the study area, and the characteristics of temporal and spatial changes in groundwater nitrate concentration and the main influencing factors in this area were explored. We used statistical analysis to analyze the nitrogen content of groundwater in the study area, and the Piper three-line diagram was used to explore the characteristics of chemical composition and evolution; furthermore, we used ion ratio and correlation analysis methods to explore the source of NO₃^–-N in groundwater. The results showed that NO₃^–-N was the main existing form of nitrogen in the Wulate irrigation area, and its concentration varied from 0.01 to 60.00 mg·L^-1, with an exceeding standard rate of 10.50%. In terms of time, the characteristic of time change was that the NO₃^–-N concentration in August of groundwater was the highest (average 6.61 mg·L^-1), followed by that in October (6.22 mg·L^-1) and November (6.25 mg·L^-1), and that in March (average value of 1.77 mg·L^-1) was the lowest. With the influence of rainfall and irrigation, the NO₃^–-N in the soil was infiltrated into the groundwater, showing the characteristic that wet season and concentrated irrigation periods were higher than those in other periods. Spatially, it appeared as southwest (8.87 mg·L^-1)>northwest (4.25 mg·L^-1)>east (0.89 mg·L^-1), mainly due to the original geological conditions, land use, and domestic waste stacking. In addition, the concentration of NO₃^–-N of groundwater in the study area was closely related to the depth of groundwater and redox conditions but was relatively less affected by the concentration of water chemical ions. Therefore, identifying the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics and main sources of groundwater nitrogen pollution can provide a scientific basis for scientific fertilization, groundwater nitrate pollution control, and water safety.

PMID:35393813 | DOI:10.13227/j.hjkx.202107187

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2022 Apr 8;43(4):2018-2029. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.202107040.

ABSTRACT

Rainfall runoff is one of the important sources of urban river pollution. In order to understand the pollution characteristics of rainfall runoff, the synchronous sampling and monitoring of rainfall runoff in the old urban area of Nanning were carried out; the pollution condition, initial scouring effect, and pollution contribution ratio of different underlying surfaces under different rainfall conditions were analyzed; and the calculation method and influence factor analysis of initial scouring of runoff pollution were discussed. According to the underlying surface of the vegetable market in the old urban area, the selection standard and necessity of the underlying surface of rainfall runoff were discussed. The results showed that the average concentration (EMC) of COD and TSS in roads and vegetable markets were greater than those in green spaces and roofs in the runoff pollution of the old urban area of Nanning, and the EMC values of nutrient pollutants in field rainfall runoff were ranked in decreasing order as vegetable markets, green spaces, roofs, and roads. Under the condition of heavy rain, each underlying surface had an obvious initial scouring effect, the average value of initial scouring coefficient (b) was 0.67, and there were many pollutants transported by roads and green spaces at the initial stage. Under light rain and moderate rain conditions, there was no obvious initial scouring effect, and the average b values were 0.83 and 0.94, respectively. The b value calculated by the whole process was preferred for evaluating the scouring effect. Based on multivariate statistical analysis, the EMC value of TSS in road runoff was significantly positively correlated with the total rainfall duration (RD), and the EMC value of TN in green land runoff was significantly negatively correlated with the average rainfall intensity (ARI). Whether the vegetable market was considered as the underlying surface had a great impact on the calculation results of nutrient pollution load but had little impact on the calculation results of COD and TSS load. The difference percentage of nutrient pollution load under heavy rain reached 80%. Under this condition, the difference percentage of pollutant EMC between the road and vegetable market reached 1012%.

PMID:35393825 | DOI:10.13227/j.hjkx.202107040

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2022 Apr 8;43(4):1885-1897. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.202108254.

ABSTRACT

In order to serve the water resources management of the Xiaohuangni River basin, this study explored the hydrochemical composition characteristics and ion sources of surface water in the basin. Samples of main stream and tributary river water and mine water were systematically collected. By means of a Piper diagram, Gibbs diagram, ion ratio coefficient, and mathematical statistical analysis, we analyzed the hydrochemical composition, spatial distribution characteristics, and main control factors of the Xiaohuangni River and evaluated the solute contribution rates of different sources. The results showed that the pH of the Xiaohuangni River basin ranged between 7.17 to 9.14, with an average of 8.00, which is generally considered weakly alkaline. Additionally, the total dissolved solids ranged between 154 mg·L^-1 to 460 mg·L^-1, with an average of 257.39 mg·L^-1, which was equivalent to that of the main stream of the Xijiang River. The dominant cation was Ca²⁺, accounting for 69% of the total cations; the dominant anions were HCO₃^– and SO₄^2-, accounting for 65% and 30% of the total anions, respectively. The main chemical type of the main stream was HCO₃-Ca. Affected by mining activities, the tributaries transitioned from HCO₃-Ca to HCO₃·SO₄-Ca and HCO₃·SO₄-Ca·Na type. River water solute was mainly controlled by the weathering of carbonate rock and silicate rock, with the participation of sulfuric and carbonic acid. The contribution rate of carbonate weathering to river water solute was 63%, and that of silicate weathering was 16.33%. Meanwhile, human activities contributed markedly to the dissolved solutes of the Xiaohuangni River basin, in which the contribution rate of mining activities was 13.4%, and the contribution rate of agricultural activities and domestic sewage was 4%.

PMID:35393812 | DOI:10.13227/j.hjkx.202108254

ESC Heart Fail. 2022 Apr 8. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13926. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: The current study explores whether degree of inflammation, reflected by C-reactive protein (CRP) level, modifies the effect of intravenous (IV) corticosteroid administered in the emergency department (ED) on clinical outcomes in patients with acute heart failure (AHF).

METHODS AND RESULTS: We selected patients diagnosed with AHF in the ED, with confirmed N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide > 300 pg/mL and CRP > 5 mg/L in the ED from the Epidemiology of Acute Heart Failure in the Emergency Departments (EAHFE) registry. In these 1109 patients, 121 were treated by corticosteroid. The corticosteroid therapy hazard ratio (HR) for 30 day all-cause mortality was 1.26 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-2.09, P = 0.38]. Although not statistically significant, HRs tended to decrease with increasing CRP level, with point estimates favouring corticosteroid at CRP levels above 20. In patients with CRP > 40 mg/L, with adjusted HRs of 0.56 (95% CI 0.20-1.55, P = 0.27) for 30 day all-cause mortality, 0.92 (95% CI 0.52-1.62, P = 0.78) for 30 day post-discharge ED revisit, hospitalization, or death, and adjusted odds ratio of 0.61 (95% CI 0.17-2.14, P = 0.44) for in-hospital all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis suggests that corticosteroids might have the potential to improve outcomes in AHF patients with inflammatory activation. Larger, prospective studies of anti-inflammatory therapy should be considered to assess potential benefit in patients with the highest degree of inflammation.

PMID:35393762 | DOI:10.1002/ehf2.13926

Mol Inform. 2022 Apr 7. doi: 10.1002/minf.202100315. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Blood-brain-barrier permeability (BBBP) is an important property that is used to establish the drug-likeness of a molecule, as it establishes whether the molecule can cross the BBB when desired. It also eliminates those molecules which are not supposed to cross the barrier, as doing so would lead to toxicity. BBBP can be measured in vivo, in vitro or in silico. With the advent and subsequent rise of in silico methods for virtual drug screening, quite a bit of work has been done to predict this feature using statistical machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) based methods. In this work a mixed DL-based model, consisting of a Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) and Convolutional Neural Network layers, has been paired with Mol2vec. Mol2vec is a convenient and unsupervised machine learning technique which produces high-dimensional vector representations of molecules and its molecular substructures. These succinct vector representations are utilized as inputs to the mixed DL model that is used for BBBP predictions. Several well-known benchmarks incorporating BBBP data have been used for supervised training and prediction by our mixed DL model which demonstrates superior results when compared to existing ML and DL techniques used for predicting BBBP.

PMID:35393777 | DOI:10.1002/minf.202100315

Biomed Chromatogr. 2022 Apr 7:e5381. doi: 10.1002/bmc.5381. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This research developed and validated a highly sensitive and selective UPLC-MS/MS approach using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer for quantifying favipiravir (FAV). Moreover, we introduced a study evaluating bioequivalence using two drugs, favibrivix and avigan- containing favipiravir. Lean Six Sigma verified the capacity and performance of the process. Protein precipitation extraction was utilized to extract FAV from the collected human matrices. We used an ACQUITY UPLCr BEH HILIC column and valproic acid as an internal standard (IS). Furthermore, we conducted the procedure using an isocratic elution comprising acetonitrile and 0.005% ammonia in water (75:25, v/v), a flow rate of 0.25ml/min, a temperature-controlled at 10 ⁰ C, and an injection volume of 1.0μl. Our UPLC-MS/MS process has a broad range (50-10,000) ng/ml with a determination coefficient (r² ) of 0.9980. We validated the method in line with the FDA. The findings revealed that the test, favibrivix 200mg/tablet, and the reference, avigan® 200mg/tablet, were statistically bioequivalent regarding healthy Egyptian participants.

PMID:35393721 | DOI:10.1002/bmc.5381

ANZ J Surg. 2022 Apr 8. doi: 10.1111/ans.17649. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Our aims were to determine if the diagnostic threshold for diagnosing hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) on ultrasound scan (USS) should be adjusted based on birth weight (BW), current weight (CW), gestational age (GA), chronological age (CA) or corrected gestational age (CGA).

METHODS: All patients who underwent either an USS and pyloromyotomy (Group 1) or an USS for possible HPS (Group 2) at our tertiary centre between July 2013 and June 2019 were identified. Ideal threshold values are identified by measuring Youden’s Index (J = sensitivity + specificity – 1; higher is better). Mean maximum Youden’s Index for stratified results was compared to that for combined results.

RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-four patients were included (142 patients in both Group 1 and Group 2). Combined maximum Youden’s Index for all patients was 0.92 for pyloric canal thickness (PMT) and 0.87 for pyloric canal length (PCL). Mean maximum Youden’s Index was higher when patients were stratified by GA, CGA, BW or CW, and equivalent for CA. For pyloric canal length (PCL), mean maximum Youden’s Index was lower for all variables when stratified compared to combined. There was no visual trend observed in the diagnostic thresholds between groups.

CONCLUSION: Stratifying USS PMT diagnostic thresholds values based on age and weight is statistically more accurate than a single threshold in diagnosing HPS. However, the lack of visual correlation indicates a larger dataset is required to validate these results.

PMID:35393697 | DOI:10.1111/ans.17649

Bioessays. 2022 Apr 7:e2200020. doi: 10.1002/bies.202200020. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

There is much discussion in the media and some of the scientific literature of how many of the conclusions from scientific research should be doubted. These critiques often focus on studies, typically in non-experimental spheres of biomedical and social sciences – that search large datasets for novel correlations, with a risk that inappropriate statistical evaluations might yield dubious conclusions. By contrast, results from experimental biological research can often be interpreted largely without statistical analysis. Typically: novel observation(s) are reported, and an explanatory hypothesis is offered; multiple labs undertake experiments to test the hypothesis; interpretation of the results may refute the hypothesis, support it or provoke its modification; the test/revise sequence is reiterated many times; and the field moves forward. I illustrate this experimental/non-experimental dichotomy by examining the contrasting recent histories of: (a) our remarkable and growing understanding of how several inositol-containing phospholipids contribute to the lives of eukaryote cells; and (b) the difficulty of achieving any agreed mechanistic understanding of why consuming dietary supplements of inositol is clinically beneficial in some metabolic diseases.

PMID:35393713 | DOI:10.1002/bies.202200020

Int J Urol. 2022 Apr 7. doi: 10.1111/iju.14887. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to develop models to predict new-onset overactive bladder in 5 years using a large prospective cohort of the general population.

METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a longitudinal cohort study in Japan. The baseline characteristics were measured between 2008 and 2010, with follow-ups every 5 years. We included subjects without overactive bladder at baseline and with follow-up data 5 years later. Overactive bladder was assessed using the overactive bladder symptom score. Baseline characteristics (demographics, health behaviors, comorbidities, and overactive bladder symptom scores) and blood test data were included as predictors. We developed two competing prediction models for each sex based on logistic regression with penalized likelihood (LASSO). We chose the best model separately for men and women after evaluating models’ performance in terms of discrimination and calibration using an internal validation via 200 bootstrap resamples and a temporal validation.

RESULTS: We analyzed 7218 participants (male: 2238, female: 4980). The median age was 60 and 55 years, and the number of new-onset overactive bladder was 223 (10.0%) and 288 (5.8%) per 5 years in males and females, respectively. The in-sample estimates for C-statistic, calibration intercept, and slope for the best performing models were 0.77 (95% confidence interval 0.74-0.80), 0.28 and 1.15 for males, and 0.77 (95% confidence interval 0.74-0.80), 0.20 and 1.08 for females. Internal and temporal validation gave broadly similar estimates of performance, indicating low optimism.

CONCLUSION: We developed risk prediction models for new-onset overactive bladder among men and women with good predictive ability.

PMID:35393696 | DOI:10.1111/iju.14887

Biomed Chromatogr. 2022 Apr 7:e5362. doi: 10.1002/bmc.5362. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Chicken Colibacillosis (CC) is one of the most severe diseases in the chicken industry. Ceftiofur sodium (CS) is often used to treat CC in clinical practice, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) accumulates in the chicken body. Previous experimental studies found that CS combined with LPS could induce liver injury in layer chickens, and polysaccharides from charred Angelica Sinensis (CASP) had a better hepatoprotective effect than polysaccharides from unprocessed Angelica Sinensis (UASP). However, the intervention mechanism was unclear. Thus, UPLC-Q/TOF-MS/MS-based metabonomics and transcriptomics were used in this study to clarify the hepatoprotective effect mechanism of CASP and UASP on the layer chicken. Transcriptomics and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to make the biological verification on some critical mutual metabolic pathways screened with metabonomics. The comprehensive analysis results showed that after the layer chicken liver injury model built with LPS and CS, twelve critical metabolic pathways were disturbed, involving ten important differential metabolites. The hepatoprotective effect mechanism of CASP is related to the arachidonic acid metabolism pathway and mTOR signaling pathway, involving nine important differential metabolites. By contrast, the hepatoprotective effect mechanism of UASP is related to the arachidonic acid metabolism pathway, involving four important differential metabolites.

PMID:35393691 | DOI:10.1002/bmc.5362