The paper focuses on the improved process of metal recovery from lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) cathode waste materials by using hydrometallurgical methods. ...In the acid leaching step, the essential effects of acidity concentration, H2O2 concentration, leaching time, liquid-solid mass ratio, and reaction temperature with the leaching percentage were investigated in detail. The cathode material was leached with 2M H2SO4 and 10 vol. % H2O2 at 70 °C and 300 rpm using a liquid-solid mass ratio of 30 mL/g. In order to complete the recovery process, this paper designs the proper separation process to recover valuable metals. The leach liquor in the recovery process uses Cyanex 272 to first extract Co and Mn to the organic phase. Secondly, Co and Mn are separated by using D2EHPA, and a high purity of Co is obtained. Thirdly, Ni is selectively precipitated by using DMG, and Ni is completely formed as a solid complex. Finally, in the chemical precipitation process, the remaining Li in the leach liquor is recovered as Li2CO3 precipitated by saturated Na2CO3, and Co, Mn, and Ni are recovered as hydroxides by NaOH. This hydrometallurgical process may provide an effective separation and recovery of valuable metals from LIBs waste cathode materials.
Dementia is a common neurological disease that substantially affects public health. A previous study revealed that dementia occurs when the body's immune system attacks the cells of the brain, ...indicating that dementia may be similar to autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). In the current retrospective cohort study, we focused on middle-aged ARD patients (45 years or older) to investigate the association between ARDs in middle-aged people and dementia by using a nationwide population-based database in Taiwan.
Our study analyzed the medical data of the Taiwanese population from 2001 to 2012, with a follow-up period extending until the end of 2011. We identified middle-aged patients with ARDs by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. We selected a comparison cohort from the general population that was randomly frequency-matched by age (in 5-year increments), sex, and index year and further analyzed the dementia risk by using a Cox regression model that considers sex, age, and comorbidities.
The study enrolled 34,660 middle-aged ARD patients (77% female, mean age = 59.8 years) and 138,640 controls. The risk of developing dementia was 1.18 times higher for middle-aged patients with ARDs compared with patients without ARDs after adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities. Among the patients with ARDs, the subgroups with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and Sjögren syndrome (SS) were associated with a significantly higher dementia risk (adjusted hazard ratio HR 1.14, 95% confidence index CI 1.06-1.32; adjusted HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.86-1.34; adjusted HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.32-1.63, respectively). Furthermore, primary SS and secondary SS patients had the highest risks of dementia among all the ADR subgroups (adjusted HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.18-1.54; adjusted HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.43-1.95 respectively).
This nationwide retrospective cohort study demonstrated that dementia risk is significantly higher in middle-aged patients with ARDs compared with the general population.
Heat stress can significantly affect the immune function of the animal body. Heat stress stimulates oxidative stress in intestinal tissue and suppresses the immune responses of mice. The protecting ...effects of chitosan on heat stress induced colitis have not been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of chitosan on immune function in heat stressed mice. Mice were exposed to heat stress (40 °C per day for 4 h) for 14 consecutive days. The mice (C57BL/6J), were randomly divided into three groups including: control group, heat stress, Chitosan group (LD: group 300 mg/kg/day, MD: 600 mg/kg/day, HD: 1000 mg/kg/day). The results showed that tissue histology was improved in chitosan groups than heat stress group. The current study showed that the mice with oral administration of chitosan groups had improved body performance as compared with the heat stress group. The results also showed that in chitosan treated groups the production of HSP70, TLR4, p65, TNF-α, and IL-10 was suppressed on day 1, 7, and 14 as compared to the heat stress group. In addition Claudin-2, and Occludin mRNA levels were upregulated in mice receiving chitosan on day 1, 7, and 14 of heat stress. Furthermore, the IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α plasma levels were down-regulated on day 1, 7, and 14 of heat stress in mice receiving the oral administration of chitosan. In conclusion, the results showed that chitosan has an anti-inflammatory ability to tolerate hot environmental conditions.
Electronic products are ever growing in popularity, and tantalum capacitors are heavily used in small electronic products. Spent epoxy-coated solid electrolyte tantalum capacitors, containing about ...22 wt.% of tantalum and 8 wt.% of manganese, were treated with selective leaching by hydrochloric acid and chlorination after removing the epoxy resin, and the products converted, respectively, to Mn(OH)
and TaCl
. The effects of acid type, acid concentration, liquid-solid ratio, and reaction time were investigated to dissolve the manganese. The optimal selective leaching conditions were determined as 3 mol/L of HCl, 40 mL/g at 25 °C for 32 min. Next, residues of selective leaching after washing and drying were heated with ferrous chloride to convert to pure TaCl
. Mixing 48 wt.% of chloride and 52 wt.% of residues for a total of 5 g was conducted to complete the chlorination process in the tube furnace at 450 °C for 3 h. A total of 2.35 g of Ta was collected and the recovery of Ta achieved 94%. Finally, Mn(OH)
and TaCl
were separated and purified as the products.
The generation of hazardous industrial waste in Taiwan has rapidly increased, reaching 1.5 million tons produced annually in 2021. Most of this waste was burned in incinerators, with about 15% ...(225,000 tons) of it converted into fly ash. Incinerator fly ash primarily consists of heavy metals, dioxins, chlorides, and silica. Historically, fly ash disposal has only relied on cement solidification, contributing to insufficient landfill capacity and soil-pollution concerns. To address these issues, the melting process has been a feasible solution, wherein the heavy metals can be encapsulated within a vitrified structure to prevent them from leaching out. However, the melting point of fly ash is too high, so this study aimed to explore the optimal basicity index for fly ash to conduct the melting process. Basicity indices are estimated by the ratio of CaO/SiO2, and the melting point of the fly ash can be decreased during the melting process with the right basicity index. In this study, the characteristics of incinerator fly ashes from industrial waste and laboratory waste were initially investigated. With their basicity indices adjusted with two sources of silica, the fly ashes were tested at 1100~1400 °C to observe whether they melted. The vitrified slags were subsequently subjected to TCLP, XRF, and ICP tests to verify their stability. In summary, we discovered that fly ash could be melted through the melting process with the basicity index adjusted to under 1.28, with the silica source as either glass or silica sand powder. After melting, the heavy metals were confirmed to be stabilized in the vitrified slags. Consequently, the melting process could be an alternative solution for fly ash disposal that is sustainable and eco-friendly.
Tantalum is a critical metal that is widely used in electronic products. The demand for tantalum is increasing, but the supply is limited. As tantalum waste products have increased in Taiwan in ...recent years, the treatment of spent tantalum capacitors has become necessary and important. The recycling of tantalum from tantalum capacitors will not only decrease pollution from waste, but will also conserve tantalum resources. The tantalum content in epoxy-coated solid electrolyte tantalum capacitors (EcSETCs) is over 40 wt.%. Here, we designed a recycling process that includes pre-treatment, leaching, and solvent extraction to recover tantalum. In the pre-treatment process, epoxy resin and wires were removed. During hydrometallurgical process, pressure leaching by hydrofluoric acid was used to leach tantalum and manganese from solid electrolyte tantalum capacitors (SETCs). During our testing of this proposed process, the acid concentration, reaction time, temperature, and solid-liquid ratio were examined for leaching. After the leaching process, Alamine 336 was used to extract tantalum from the leaching solution. The pH value, extractant concentration, extraction time, and aqueous-organic ratio were investigated. Then, tantalum was stripped using HNO
, and the HNO
concentration, stripping time, and organic-aqueous ratio were analyzed in detail. Under optimal conditions, the recovery efficiency of tantalum reached over 98%, and a final product of tantalum pentoxide with 99.9% purity was obtained after chemical precipitation and calcination.
Explaining colour variation among animals at broad geographic scales remains challenging. Here we demonstrate how deep learning-a form of artificial intelligence-can reveal subtle but robust patterns ...of colour feature variation along an ecological gradient, as well as help identify the underlying mechanisms generating this biogeographic pattern. Using over 20,000 images with precise GPS locality information belonging to nearly 2,000 moth species from Taiwan, our deep learning model generates a 2048-dimension feature vector that accurately predicts each species' mean elevation based on colour and shape features. Using this multidimensional feature vector, we find that within-assemblage image feature variation is smaller in high elevation assemblages. Structural equation modeling suggests that this reduced image feature diversity is likely the result of colder environments selecting for darker colouration, which limits the colour diversity of assemblages at high elevations. Ultimately, with the help of deep learning, we will be able to explore the endless forms of natural morphological variation at unpreceded depths.
Objective
To evaluate Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) infection risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Taiwan.
Methods
We identified 24,367 patients with SLE from the ...National Health Insurance research database between 1997 and 2012 and compared the PJP incidence rates (IRs) with those in 243,670 age‐ and sex‐matched non‐SLE controls. PJP risk in the patients was evaluated using a Cox multivariate proportional hazards model.
Results
The SLE patients exhibited a significantly higher PJP risk than the controls, with an IR of 2.63 per 10,000 person‐years and IR ratio of 27.65 (95% confidence interval 17.2–45.3; P < 0.001). Male sex (hazard ratio HR 2.42, P < 0.01), end‐stage renal disease (ESRD; HR 1.74, P = 0.01), recent use of mycofenolate mofetil (MMF; HR 4.43, P < 0.001), intravenous steroid pulse therapy (HR 108.73, P < 0.001), and average oral dosage of >7.5 mg/day prednisolone or equivalent treatment (HR 4.83, P < 0.001) were associated with PJP in SLE, whereas hydroxychloroquine use reduced its risk (HR 0.51, P = 0.01). Of note, cyclophosphamide was not associated with PJP infection in the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model.
Conclusion
Patients with SLE have a considerably high PJP risk. Cyclophosphamide does not increase PJP risk. Male sex, ESRD, MMF use, intravenous steroid pulse therapy, and oral prednisolone or equivalent treatment (>7.5 mg/day) are risk factors for PJP, whereas hydroxychloroquine use reduces PJP risk.
Lymphangiogenesis plays a pivotal role in diverse pathological conditions. Here, we demonstrate that a carbohydrate-binding protein, galectin-8, promotes pathological lymphangiogenesis. Galectin-8 is ...markedly upregulated in inflamed human and mouse corneas, and galectin-8 inhibitors reduce inflammatory lymphangiogenesis. In the mouse model of corneal allogeneic transplantation, galectin-8-induced lymphangiogenesis is associated with an increased rate of corneal graft rejection. Further, in the murine model of herpes simplex virus keratitis, corneal pathology and lymphangiogenesis are ameliorated in Lgals8(-/-) mice. Mechanistically, VEGF-C-induced lymphangiogenesis is significantly reduced in the Lgals8(-/-) and Pdpn(-/-) mice; likewise, galectin-8-induced lymphangiogenesis is reduced in Pdpn(-/-) mice. Interestingly, knockdown of VEGFR-3 does not affect galectin-8-mediated lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) sprouting. Instead, inhibiting integrins α1β1 and α5β1 curtails both galectin-8- and VEGF-C-mediated LEC sprouting. Together, this study uncovers a unique molecular mechanism of lymphangiogenesis in which galectin-8-dependent crosstalk among VEGF-C, podoplanin and integrin pathways plays a key role.
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