This review provides a quantitative description of the nano-adsorbent processing and its viability against wastewater detoxification by extracting heavy metal ions. The impact of nano-adsorbent ...functionalities on specific essential attributes such as the surface area, segregation, and adsorption capacity were comprehensively evaluated. A detailed analysis has been presented on the characteristics of nanomaterials through their limited resistance to adsorb some heavy metal ions. Experimental variables such as the adsorbent dosage, pH, substrate concentration, response duration, temperature, and electrostatic force that influence the uptake of metal ions have been studied. Besides, separate models for the adsorption kinetics and isothermal adsorption have been investigated to understand the mechanism behind adsorption. Here, we reviewed the different adsorbent materials with nano-based techniques for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater and especially highlighted the nano adsorption technique. The influencing factors such as pH, temperature, dosage time, sorbent dosage, adsorption capacities, ion concentration, and mechanisms related to the removal of heavy metals by nano composites are highlighted. Lastly, the application potentials and challenges of nano adsorption for environmental remediation are discussed. This critical review would benefit engineers, chemists, and environmental scientists involved in the utilization of nanomaterials for wastewater treatment.
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•This review provides a quantitative description of the nano-adsorbent against wastewater detoxification.•Highlighted the various nano adsorption techniques.•Challenges of nano adsorption for environmental remediation are discussed.
Paravertebral Block for Thoracic Surgery D’Ercole, Francine; Arora, Harendra; Kumar, Priya A.
Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia,
April 2018, 2018-04-00, Volume:
32, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Local anesthetic injected into a wedge-shaped space lateral to the spinal nerves as they emerge from the intervertebral foramina produces somatosensory and sympathetic nerve blockade effective for ...anesthesia and for managing pain of unilateral origin from the chest and abdomen. Paravertebral blockade (PVB) is versatile and may be applied unilaterally or bilaterally. Unlike thoracic epidural, the PVB technique may be used to avoid contralateral sympathectomy, thereby minimizing hypotension and leading to better preservation of blood pressure. There are no reports on systemic toxicity associated with bilateral PVB despite the need for relatively large doses of local anesthetics. This review includes an important historic background and captures the resurgence of PVB—an almost lost technique. Thoracic PVB provides post-thoracotomy pain relief comparable with thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) with lower side effects supported by moderate-quality evidence. The feasibility and potential of bilateral thoracic PVB for bilateral thoracic surgery appear practical. However, there is existing controversy in the assumption that thoracic PVB is a satisfactory, safer alternative when anticoagulation status is a contraindication to thoracic epidural placement. During the last 2 decades of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, both TEA and PVB have been deemed appropriate in the management of thoracic surgery. A multimodal approach to analgesia includes regional techniques for thoracic surgery that may reduce the likelihood of the development of postoperative complications and chronic pain.
The authors evaluated current opinion, clinical practice, new multimodal adjuvants, regional anesthesia, and innovation and technology related PVB in the thoracic surgery patient population. The review focuses on history, techniques, application, ease of placement, and relative safety of this regional technique. For this review, studies and reference lists were retrieved from the Cochrane library, Embase, and Medline from January 1995 through January 2017.
Existing evidence demonstrates noninferiority of thoracic PVB compared with TEA for postoperative analgesia, with fewer side effects for unilateral and bilateral thoracic surgery, including video-assisted thoracoscopy. The determining factors in selecting the regional technique of choice include the following: (1) tolerance of side effects associated with TEA, (2) consensus on best practice or technique, and (3) operator experience. There is no consensus on the optimal approach for thoracic PVB technique or any standardization when comparing the landmark, ultrasound-guided, or stimulation-based PVB approaches. Moreover, the efficacy of TEA compared with PVB in preventing post-thoracotomy chronic pain syndrome has not been investigated thoroughly and requires future clinical trials.
SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterized by peak viral load in the upper airway prior to or at the time of symptom onset, an unusual feature that has enabled widespread transmission of the virus and ...precipitated a global pandemic. How SARS-CoV-2 is able to achieve high titer in the absence of symptoms remains unclear. Here, we examine the upper airway host transcriptional response in patients with COVID-19 (n = 93), other viral (n = 41) or non-viral (n = 100) acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs). Compared with other viral ARIs, COVID-19 is characterized by a pronounced interferon response but attenuated activation of other innate immune pathways, including toll-like receptor, interleukin and chemokine signaling. The IL-1 and NLRP3 inflammasome pathways are markedly less responsive to SARS-CoV-2, commensurate with a signature of diminished neutrophil and macrophage recruitment. This pattern resembles previously described distinctions between symptomatic and asymptomatic viral infections and may partly explain the propensity for pre-symptomatic transmission in COVID-19. We further use machine learning to build 27-, 10- and 3-gene classifiers that differentiate COVID-19 from other ARIs with AUROCs of 0.981, 0.954 and 0.885, respectively. Classifier performance is stable across a wide range of viral load, suggesting utility in mitigating false positive or false negative results of direct SARS-CoV-2 tests.
All living things depend on their natural environment, either directly or indirectly, for their high quality of life, growth, nutrition, and development. Due to the fast emissions of greenhouse gases ...(GHGs), the Earth's climate system is being negatively impacted by global warming. Stresses caused by climate change, such as rising and hotter seas, increased droughts and floods, and acrid waters, threaten the world's most populated areas and aquatic ecosystems. As a result, the aquatic ecosystems of the globe are quickly reaching hazardous conditions. Marine ecosystems are essential parts of the world's environment and provide several benefits to the human population, such as water for drinking and irrigation, leisure activities, and habitat for commercially significant fisheries. Although local human activities have influenced coastal zones for millennia, it is still unclear how these impacts and stresses from climate change may combine to endanger coastal ecosystems. Recent studies have shown that rising levels of greenhouse gases are causing ocean systems to experience conditions not seen in several million years, which may cause profound and irreversible ecological shifts. Ocean productivity has declined, food web dynamics have changed, habitat-forming species are less common, species ranges have changed, and disease prevalence has increased due to human climate change. We provide an outline of the interaction between global warming and the influence of humans along the coastline. This review aims to demonstrate the significance of long-term monitoring, the creation of ecological indicators, and the applications of understanding how aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning respond to global warming. This review discusses the effects of current climate change on marine biological processes both now and in the future, describes present climate change concerning historical change, and considers the potential roles aquatic systems could play in mitigating the effects of global climate change.
In this report, silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were prepared by pulsed laser ablation of the silver nitrate salt solution using Nd:YAG laser. Trisodium citrate (TSC) is used as a stabilizing/reducing ...agent for nanoparticles. Under different laser ablation durations, the morphology of nanoparticles changed. Nanoparticles showed the average size ranging from 5 to 31 nm for 20–80 min of ablation. The theoretical and experimental estimation of the particle sizes is done. Butterfly-shaped silver nanoparticles have been tested for the room-temperature clad-modified fiber optic gas sensors sensitivity with ammonia and ethanol gas. The clad-modified optical fiber sensor exhibits distinct linear variation in the spectral peak intensity with the ammonia concentration (0–500 ppm). The characteristics of the gas sensors when exposed to ethanol and ammonia gases were used for studying the sensor selectivity. The results exhibited good sensor response and selectivity for ammonia with sensitivity of 64 counts/ppm and sensitivity percentage of 27%, whereas for ethanol, sensitivity of 9.5 counts/ppm and sensitivity percentage of only 4% were observed.
Due to the continuous increase in industrial pollution and modern lifestyle, several types of air contaminants and their concentrations are emerging in the atmosphere. Besides, photocatalysis has ...gained much attention in the elimination of air pollution. Several ultraviolet and visible light active photocatalysts were tested in air pollutant treatment and thereby, the number of reports was increased in the past few years. In this context, this review describes the photocatalytic treatment of gaseous inorganic contaminants like NOx, H2S, and organic pollutants like formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzene derivatives. Different photocatalysts with their air pollutant removal efficiency were explained. Improving strategies such as metal/non-metal doping, composite formation for photocatalyst activities have been studied. Moreover, an analysis is presented from each of the existing photocatalytic immobilization approaches. Also, factors responsible for effective photocatalysis were explained. Overall, the photocatalytic abatement technique is an auspicious way to eliminate different air contaminants. Besides, existing drawbacks and future challenges are also discussed.
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•Photocatalysis has vital role in air pollution removal.•Various photocatalyst immobilization methods on support were mentioned.•Toxicity of inorganic gases can be reduced through photocatalytic conversion.•Aliphatic and aromatic gaseous pollutants can be mineralized by photocatalysis.
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