Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies have been found in sera of 76% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), mainly in rheumatoid factor (RF) positive patients, with a ...specificity of 96%. We evaluated the presence of anti-CCP antibodies in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and assessed the possibility of synthetic citrullinated peptides as antigenic determinants in JIA.
The presence of anti-CCP antibodies was determined using 3 synthetic citrullinated peptide variants and 2 commercial kits (Inova Diagnostics and Axis-Shield Diagnostics) optimized for detecting JIA-specific antibodies in serum by an ELISA based assay. We evaluated 66 patients with JIA (16 RF positive polyarthritis, 18 RF negative polyarthritis, 19 oligoarthritis, and 13 systemic arthritis). We also tested 9 adult RA patients, 34 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 25 healthy persons as controls.
Significant concentrations of anti-CCP antibodies were detected in the majority of RF positive JIA patients with polyarthritis. Using the 2 synthetic linear peptides, 12/16 (75%) were positive; 9/12 (75%) were positive with the Inova kit and 9/10 (90%) were positive with the Axis-Shield kit. However, utilizing the synthetic linear peptides, significant concentrations of anti-CCP antibodies were detected in 51/66 (77%) JIA patients, including 15/18 (83%) RF negative polyarthritis, 16/19 (84%) oligoarthritis, and 8/13 (62%) systemic arthritis patients. No healthy control showed elevated antibody levels. In contrast, 4/9 (44%) patients with adult RA and 2/6 (33%) with SLE had elevated anti-CCP levels. The synthetic cyclic variant cfc-1-cyc yielded significant anti-CCP levels for 13/14 (93%) patients with RF negative polyarthritis, 6/10 (60%) with oligoarthritis, and 3/7 (43%) with systemic arthritis, and 8/9 (88%) RF positive patients. No healthy control had increased anti-CCP levels. However, 4/9 (44%) adult RA and 9/34 (26%) SLE patients were found to have elevated anti-CCP levels. Using the Inova and Axis-Shield kits, much smaller percentages were found in the RF negative patients, with only 4/16 (25%) in the oligoarthritis and RF negative polyarthritis patients with the Inova kits and 0/25 (0%) by the Axis-Shield kits. The Inova kit revealed elevated anti-CCP antibodies in 5/9 (56%) adult RA patients and in 8/34 (24%) SLE patients. No healthy control had elevated anti-CCP antibodies. However, the Axis-Shield kits did not detect anti-CCP antibodies in adult RA (0/9) or SLE (0/34) patients. Moreover, 0/25 (0%) healthy individuals exhibited anti-CCP levels. The presence of anti-CCP antibodies correlated more frequently with the presence of RF.
This study confirms the presence of anti-CCP antibodies in patients with JIA, especially those with RF positive polyarthritis, by all ELISA based methods. Use of synthetic peptides also revealed anti-CCP antibodies in a percentage of RF negative patients with polyarthritis, oligoarthritis, and systemic arthritis; there was a loss in specificity, but an increase in sensitivity. These results suggest that antibodies to these antigenic peptides may be markers for JIA, and indicate a possible role of citrulline-containing epitopes in the pathogenesis of JIA.
We studied the prevalence and characteristics of chronic uveitis in a population of children diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Uveitis is one of the most important, potentially ...debilitating extra-articular manifestations of JRA and has been observed in as many as 20% of cases. The medical records of 230 patients diagnosed with JRA and treated at a tertiary care hospital ophthalmology clinic between 1992 and 2000 were retrospectively reviewed.Seventeen patients (7.4%) were found to have clinical features of uveitis. There was a preponderance of female patients (16/17) and pauciarticular disease (13/17). Only 12 of 17 were ANA positive. Six had uveitis at diagnosis. Patients who were receiving naproxen had less incidence of uveitis compared with those receiving other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Despite a relatively low prevalence of uveitis, complications occurred in about 24% (4/17) of the patients, even with adequate treatment and close monitoring.The prevalence of uveitis in JRA seems to be decreasing and may be secondary to the increased use of naproxen. However, routine ophthalmologic screening should be continued in patients with JRA to avoid potential complications of chronic uveitis.
Pulmonary hypertension is a well-recognized complication of connective tissue diseases (CTD), with clinical symptoms typically limited to those with relatively advanced disease. The objective of this ...study was to identify patients with early pulmonary vasculature changes using cardiopulmonary exercise testing with pulmonary artery catheterization. Four patients with CTD and normal Doppler echocardiogram results identified as high risk for pulmonary hypertension on the basis of disease process underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing with pulmonary artery catheterization. All patients had normal mean pulmonary artery pressures at rest (<25 mmHg), but exhibited an abnormal rise in mean pulmonary artery pressure with exercise. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing should be considered in patients at high risk for pulmonary hypertension to identify those individuals who may benefit from early therapeutic intervention.
The rapid increase in population has been identified as one of the main reasons for the abundance generation of municipal solid waste (MSW), which could be advantageous when converted to energy. ...Utilizing MSW as a renewable fuel in waste-to-energy conversion technologies provides solutions to depleting fossil fuel reserves, reduces the effect of pollution on human health, and reduces the pressure on land for landfills. The urgent interest in renewable energy generation has recently promoted the utilization of MSW as a renewable and sustainable fuel for thermochemical processes, which is in line with the United Nations' low carbon footprint targets. However, to efficiently harness MSW as fuel for combustion, pyrolysis, and gasification, curbing limitations, such as high moisture content, low calorific value, poor grindability, poor combustion characteristics, low energy density, low H/C and O/C ratios of the MSW is paramount. An effective way to curb these is to pretreat the MSW. Torrefaction is a greener and promising thermochemical process frequently applied for pretreating different biomass resources to curb the MSW limitations. Nonetheless, this process is yet to be profoundly described for MSW and other types of biomass. Therefore, in this review, the influence of torrefaction process parameters on the properties of MSW and other types of biomass was evaluated. The properties of MSW as a raw material for torrefaction process were also presented. Furthermore, the classification of different types of reactors for torrefaction process and potential applications of the torrefied MSW (solid biofuel) were discussed.
•MSW to energy technologies provide solutions to host of environmental issues.•MSW to energy technologies are limited by poor fuel properties of the MSW.•Torrefaction improves the efficiency of MSW to energy technologies.•Torrefaction improves the fuel properties of MSW and other types of biomass.•Torrefied MSW can potentially be applied in combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, adsorption, and soil remediation.
Adopting suitable energy policies that consider the existence of main obstacles could make the development of solar energy systems much smoother. Several obstacles have been placed in the way of ...solar energy development in Pakistan, which has prevented its growth from reaching a satisfactory level. In order to tackle these issues, it is necessary first to recognize the obstacles that stand in the way of implementing solar energy. So, this research aims to find and rank the obstacles to the expansion of solar power in Pakistan using a novel spherical fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. The results revealed that the economic obstacles category (21.46%) ranks highest among major categories. In contrast, the overall global ranking of sub-obstacles showed that budget constraints (4.68%), lack of access to credit/capital (4.52%), political instability (4.51%), high investment risk and operation cost (4.42%), and partnership issues (4.37%) are the more critical five sub-obstacles than the rest of the twenty-one obstacles within different categories. In addition, recommendations are made for the elimination of the obstacles. The current study has policy implications for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners involved in the solar sector in the country. Furthermore, it may help develop strategies for the smooth deployment of solar energy in Pakistan.
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Biomass has the dual benefit of promoting economic expansion and protecting the environment. Sugarcane bagasse, animal manure, and kitchen waste are some of the sources of biomass waste that are ...abundant in Pakistan. However, achieving renewable energy goals while relying on Pakistani road plans is riddled with difficulties. In contrast, there is a significant research gap in examining the barriers to biomass energy development using the multiple‐criteria decision‐making technique. This study aims to fill a knowledge gap by applying the Pythagorean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to the problem of how to overcome the barriers to expanding Pakistan's biomass power generation. The results reveal that the political and policies/institutions are the most noteworthy obstacle with a weight of 0.2281 and follow the economics and financial, meteorological, technology and infrastructure, and cultural and behavioural hurdles stand second to fifth places, respectively. In addition, the analyses demonstrate that political instability is the most important sub‐obstacle, possessing a global weight of 0.0471. According to the study's outcome, it is suggested that decision‐makers, stakeholders, and regulatory agencies coordinate their efforts to ensure the availability of appropriate incentives, boost feedstock supply, and offer locals training to speed up the Pakistan biomass industry's presently sluggish growth.
This study intends to address barriers to Pakistan's biomass power expansion.
The Pythagorean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to evaluate the barriers.
The politics and policies/institutions are the biggest obstacles.
The findings show that Political Instability is the biggest sub‐obstacle.
Decision‐makers should give incentives to boost Pakistan's biomass sector.
The conceived potentials of functionalized Fe3O4 (FeNPs) make it a good candidate for magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT), a promising cancer therapeutic. However, decline in its performance (SAR) ...under alternating current magnetic field remains an intractable problem. Herein, we enhanced and optimized its SAR by rationally loading PEGylated FeNPs onto graphene oxide nanoplatform (GO) to from a superparamagnetic hybrid nanostructure (MHNS). The GO also function as an additive layer which reinforces the surfactants, improve colloidal stability, and provide surface for further derivatization thus, an avenue for multifunctionality. We delineate the effects of concentration, composition, viscosity, magnetic field strength and for the first time pH, heating media and background worming on the MHNS SAR and found that grafting PEGylated FeNPs onto GO at 4:1 loading to form MHNS improved the SAR by 1.7-fold; dispensed 2-fold heat at simulated tumor microenvironment than healthy microenvironment; timely generates high heat for prolong period; and reached 10 °C maximum temperature rise at 15 kA/m and 1.5 mg/mL. These MHNS smart-self-control attributes offer enhanced heating efficiency which is prerequisite for stable MHT performance. These findings pave the way towards developing functional MHNS for drug delivery vehicle and cancer therapy at low concentration and cellular level pH range.
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•Synthesis of new Fe3O4-PEG-GO nanoparticle.•Grafting Fe3O4-APTES-PEG on GO improves heating efficiency.•Lower concentration and background warming are significant in SAR estimation.•Specific absorption rate is accurately estimated from normalized data set.•First time indication of specific absorption rate dependence on pH.
The development of glyphosate-resistant genetically modified organisms (GMO) has increased the use of herbicide glyphosate by several magnitudes in recent years. It is now the most commonly used ...pesticide globally that affects aquatic habitats, especially fish. This study aims to add new knowledge on the effect of technical grade glyphosate on several toxicity parameters and to identify the most effective parameter in predicting technical grade glyphosate chronic toxicity (seven weeks) to fish, especially Malaysia's heavily farmed red tilapia. The results show that a relatively high concentration of technical grade glyphosate is needed to induce significant changes in all tested parameters. However, the results also indicate that the bodyweight index is the most sensitive toxicity parameter in that a reduction in body weight was observed at 25 mg/L of glyphosate. Negative correlations between the glyphosate concentration and toxicity parameters such as specific growth rate (SGR), hepato-somatic index (HIS), and gonado-somatic index (GSI) were observed. The fish condition factor and feed conversion ratio were found not to be affected at the highest glyphosate concentration tested (150 mg/L). To conclude, crossbred red tilapia (
) is one potential species for evaluating the toxic effects of technical grade glyphosate on fish.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The potential of activated carbon as a cheap bioadsorbent prepared from Reptonia buxifolia seeds, for the removal of Pb(II) from wastewater was investigated. The morphology and structure of the ...prepared activated carbon was characterized using different techniques. Adsorption phenomenon was studied by varying the metal ion concentration, contact time, temperature, and pH, in a batch process. The SEM results showed that the thermal treatment significantly altered the topography of synthesized activated carbon due to formation of numerous pores on the surface of the adsorbent. At equilibrium, the Langmuir model gave a better fit to the adsorption isotherm results than the Freundlich model. Kinetics data indicate that equilibrium is established within the first 60 min. The results showed that activated carbon obtained from seeds of R. buxifolia have the potential to be used as alternative economical biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.
nema
A flow diagram of the discussions in the article.
Photocatalytic reactors are not commonplace in treatment of wastewater on a commercial scale. This critical review presents a perspective on how to ...harness the knowledge gained in areas of mass and photon transfer limitations via photoreactor intensification processes to prolong TiO2 catalyst life for photo reactor design. The paper revealed the necessity of TiO2 rational design; considering its surface (rutile and anatase lattices), protonation, water splitting reactions at the TiO2 coordinatively unsaturated sites (CUS) as the limiting step during photocatalytic reactions adding more knowledge on surface interactions that lead to activity inhibition.
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