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•TiO2-SiO2 coatings onto cordierite honeycomb monolith support were successfully designed.•Three ratios of TiO2-SiO2, presenting in powder and coating film, were prepared, ...characterized, and evaluated.•TS5 was the most effective photocatalyst for photodegradation of β-naphthol.•Cordierite honeycomb monolith supports could potentially degrade the environmental contaminants.
The release of organic pollutants into the water solution might damage and negatively affect the environment and human health. To address the safe disposal and clean-up of such pollutants, we explore the photodegradation of organic compounds in a water solution by immobilizing TiO2-SiO2 onto cordierite honeycomb monolith (CHM) support. We also pre-coat and cover the entire CHM by SiO2 layer to further enhance the specific surface area, mechanical properties of CHM, and adhesion of coated-photocatalyst. The catalytic layer thickness varies from 525 to 750 nm. Three ratios of TiO2-SiO2 (TS5, TS15, TS25), presenting in powder form and coating film onto CHM, were successfully prepared, characterized, and evaluated their photocatalytic activity toward the β-naphthol degradation under UV 395 nm. TS5 is the most effective photocatalyst for photodegradation of β-naphthol compound. However, the β -naphthol decomposition efficiency of the CHM photocatalytic system was lower than that of the powder sample. The main reason might come from the ineffective light transmission in the channels of CHM supports, especially between the middle to the end of channels.
Abstract
Rationale:
Congenital bile acid synthesis defect (BASD) is a rare disease caused by mutations in the aldo-keto reductase 1D1 gene, which encodes the primary Δ4-3-oxosteroid 5β-reductase ...enzyme. Early disease diagnosis is critical for early treatment with bile acid replacement therapy, with an excellent chance for recovery. In contrast, protracted diagnosis and treatment may lead to poor outcomes, including decompensated hepatic cirrhosis, liver transplant, and even death.
Patient concerns:
Three clinical congenital bile acid synthesis defect cases in the Vietnamese population are herein reported. These pediatric patients presented with symptoms of prolonged postpartum jaundice and abnormal loose stool (mucus, lipids, and white). The clinical examinations showed hepatosplenomegaly. Urinalysis showed a very low fraction of primary bile acids and atypical 3-oxo-Δ4- bile acids in all three patients.
Diagnoses:
The patients were diagnosed with primary Δ4-3-oxosteroid 5β-reductase deficiency. Next-generation gene sequencing revealed two homozygous mutations in the aldo-keto reductase family 1 member D1 gene. The first is a documented variant, c.797G>A (p.Arg266Gln), and the second is a novel mutation at c.155T>C (p.Ile52Thr).
Interventions:
Immediately after diagnosis, patients were treated with oral chenodeoxycholate 5 mg/kg/d.
Outcomes:
The patients’ symptoms, signs, and primary bile acids levels improved significantly.
Lessons:
Clinicians should consider genetic disorders related to cholestasis for effective and life-saving treatment. A prompt genetic analysis by next-generation gene sequencing enables patients to access bile acid replacement therapy earlier, significantly improving short- and long-term outcomes.
Citrin deficiency (CD), a disorder caused by mutations in the SLC25A13 gene, may result in neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis. This study was purposely to explore the mutation spectrum of SLC25A13 ...gene in Vietnamese CD patients.
The 292 unrelated CD patients were first screened for four high-frequency mutations by PCR/PCR-RFLP. Then, Sanger sequencing was performed directly for heterozygous or undetected patients. Novel mutations identified would need to be confirmed by their parents.
12 pathogenic SLC25A13 mutations were identified in all probands, including three deletions c.851_854del (p.R284Rfs*3), c.70-63_133del (p.Y24_72Ifs*10), and c.1956C>A;1962del (p.N652K;F654Lfs*45), two splice-site mutations (IVS6+5G>A and IVS11+1G>A), one nonsense mutations c.1399C>T (p.R467*), one duplication mutation c.1638_1660dup (p.A554fs*570), one insertion IVSl6ins3kb (p.A584fs*585), and four missense mutation c.2T>C (p.M1T), c.1231G>A (p.V411M), c.1763G>A (p.R588Q), and c.135G>C (p.L45F). Among them, c.851_854del (mut I) was the most identified mutant allele (91.78%) with a total of 247 homozygous and 42 heterozygous genotypes of carriers. Interestingly, two novel mutations were identified: c.70-63_133del (p.Y24_72Ifs*10) and c.1956C>A;1962del (p.N652K;F654Lfs*45).
The SLC25A13 mutation spectrum related to intrahepatic cholestasis infants in Vietnam revealed a quite similar pattern to Asian countries' reports. This finding supports the use of targeted SLC25A13 mutation for CD screening in Vietnam and contributed to the SLC25A13 mutation spectra worldwide. It also helps emphasize the role of DNA analysis in treatment, genetic counseling, and prenatal diagnosis.
In recent years, deep learning has been successfully used in order to classify partial discharges (PDs) for assessing the condition of insulation systems in different electrical equipment. However, ...fault diagnosis using deep learning is still challenging, as it requires a large amount of training data, which is difficult and expensive to obtain in the real world. This paper proposes a novel one-shot learning method for fault diagnosis using a small dataset of phase-resolved PDs (PRPDs) in a gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). The proposed method is based on a Siamese network framework, which employs a distance metric function for predicting sample pairs from the same PRPD class or different PRPD classes. Experimental results over the small PRPD dataset that was obtained from an ultra-high-frequency sensor in the GIS show that the proposed method achieves outstanding performance for PRPD fault diagnosis as compared with the previous methods.
Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the gold standard vascular access for effective hemodialysis. There is a growing interest in AVF creations performed by nephrologists to help reduce vascular surgeons' ...workload and enhance the timely treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, little is known about the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach in the low-resource settings. We examined the AVF surgical success and failure rates and associated predictors as well as early complications of AVF creations by a trained nephrologist with supports from vascular surgeons in Vietnam.
A prospective cohort study was conducted on all adult ESRD patients at the Hemodialysis Department of Thong Nhat Hospital between April 2018 and October 2020. Information on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and AVF creations was collected using a standardized questionnaire. All patients were followed up until 18 weeks post-surgery.
Among 100 patients with a mean age of 61.22 ± 17.11 years old, male accounted for 54%. Common causes of ESRD included hypertension (57%) and diabetes (32%). Just more than half (52%) of them reported having an AVF creation prior to ESRD. The successful first-time AVF creation rate was 98% (13/99, 95%CI: 8.74-21.18%). The primary and secondary AVF failure rates were 13.13% (13/99, 95%CI: 8.74-21.18%) and 16.87% (14/83, 95%CI: 10.32-26.25%), respectively. Early complications included bleeding (1%) and early thrombosis of the anastomosis (2%). There was a statistically significant association between age and primary AVF failure (P = 0.005) and between operation time and secondary AVF failure (P = 0.038).
AVF creations performed by well-trained and skilled interventional nephrologists with supports from vascular surgeons can result in favorable short- and long-term outcomes. It is important to follow up older patients and those with a long operation time to detect AVF failures. A standardized AVF creation training program and practice for nephrologists is needed to increase successful rates.
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a contagious disease for the shrimp cultivation, thus early detection of disease is an unmet need. This present study documented for the first time ...a simple lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) strip using polyclonal antibodies was created for the rapid detection both of PirA
vp
and PirB
vp
protein simultaneously. LFIA method based on the principle of sandwich format. The label is the colloidal gold. The polyclonal antibody was conjugated with the colloidal gold acting as biorecognition element and coated onto the conjugate pad. The rabbit anti-Pir
vp
, anti-PirB
vp
antibodies, and goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody were separately sprayed onto a nitrocellulose membrane to form two test lines and one control line, respectively. The appearance of red bands at the control line and the test line indicated a positive result. A single coloured band at control area indicated a negative result. The limit of detection of LFIA was found to be 125 ng, which could be visually detected by naked eye within 15 min. There was no cross-reactivity observed with VP
non-AHPND
. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of LFIA were 94.0% and 98.0%, respectively. The developed test strip could be a game changer for early and in situ diagnosis of AHPND.
This work investigates the effects of lanthanum doping on the crystal structure, surface morphology, dielectric properties, ferroelectric properties, piezoelectric properties, and electromechanical ...strain properties of lead-free (Bi
0.47
Na
0.47
Ba
0.06
)
1−
x
La
x
TiO
3
piezoelectric ceramics. All specimens were fabricated by a traditional solid-state reaction method. The results of crystal structure and dielectric properties categorize all specimens as relaxor materials. The results of dielectric properties and ferroelectric properties confirm the nonergodic-to-ergodic transformation as a function of La content. At the phase transition point, the material shows a high electric field-induced strain of 0.4% under an applied electric field of 5 kV/mm. The large electromechanical strain response at low applied field in the 0.02 mol La specimen may contribute to the two synergistic effects. First, the electric field induced the reversible ergodic-ferroelectric phase transition, which can generate the large strain. Second, the nonergodic and ergodic phases coexist at the phase transformation point, which can reduce the driving field by facilitating the growth of ferroelectric domains.
In this paper, luminescent Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) capped Mn-doped ZnO nanocomposite materials were successfully synthesized by the chemistry route. The studied ...results indicate that the diffraction peaks of Mn-doped ZnO NPs (2, 4, and 7% Mn) are slightly shifted to the lower 2θ degree angle compared to undoped-ZnO NPs. In contrast, PVA capped Mn-doped ZnO nanocomposite shows a systematic shift of X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks at larger diffraction angles. These samples fluoresce strongly in the visible wavelength of 380–700 nm. The near-infrared (NIR) emission bands in the 740 nm–1100 nm range are due to the shift of XRD peaks diffraction and the transition between defect states within the ZnO crystal. Photometric and chromatic parameters of PVA capped-2%Mn doped-ZnO NPs are CIE (x, y) ≈ (0.3769, 0.3987), CCT ≈ 4238 (K), Duv = 0.0110, CRI (Ra) = 80, CQS = 84, LER = 164 (lm/Wotp), and S/P ratio = 1.70. Luminescent PVA capped ZnO NPs possess CIE (x, y) ≈ (0.3598, 0.3748), CCT ≈ 4592 (K), Duv = 0.0057, CRI (Ra) = 85, CQS = 87, LER = 207 (lm/Wotp), and S/P ratio = 1.83. The studied results indicate that these luminescent materials are suitable for developing a white light emission layer in the structure of light-emitting devices.
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•Luminescent PVA-uncapped Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and PVA-capped Mn-doped ZnO nanocomposite materials synthesized by the co-precipitation method have a hexagonal structure.•Mn doping concentrations and the PVA capping agent affect structural, photoluminescent, and photometric properties of ZnO NPs. The samples show strong emission in the visible wavelength from 380 to 700 nm and the broad near-infrared (NIR) emission band in the 740 nm–1100 nm range.•The broad NIR emission in Mn-doped ZnO NPs and PVA capped Mn-doped ZnO NPs might be the contribution of both the shifting of XRD peaks to the lower angles or larger angles and the transition between VO states and VZn states (VO .→ VZn) or from VO states to oxygen interstitials (Oi) states (VO → Oi) within the ZnO host lattice.•Photometric and chromatic parameters of PVA capped-2%Mn doped-ZnO NPs are CIE (x, y) ≈ (0.3769, 0.3987), CCT ≈ 4238 (K), Duv = 0.0110, CRI (Ra) = 80, CQS = 84, LER = 164 (lm/Wotp), and S/P ratio = 1.70. Luminescent PVA capped ZnO NPs possess CIE (x, y) ≈ (0.3598, 0.3748), CCT ≈ 4592 (K), Duv = 0.0057, CRI (Ra) = 85, CQS = 87, LER = 207 (lm/Wotp), and S/P ratio = 1.83.
Lately, emerging data suggest an association between the development of inflammatory bowel disease and anti-interleukin-17 therapy. Megacolon is a life-threatening complication of acute severe ...ulcerative colitis (ASUC), but its treatment has not yet been established in current practice guidelines. We report a rare case of known psoriasis treated by secukinumab in a patient who presented with ASUC and colonic dilatation. Neither steroids nor standard infliximab regimen was effective. Finally, rescue therapy with accelerated infliximab strategy resulted in excellent recovery. In certain cases of steroid-refractory ASUC complicated by megacolon, accelerated infliximab regimen can be an alternative to surgery.
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