Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are pollutants with estrogenic or androgenic activity at very low concentrations and are emerging as a major concern for water quality. Within the past few ...decades, more and more target chemicals were monitored as the source of estrogenic or androgenic activity in wastewater, and great endeavors have been done on the removal of EDCs in wastewater. This article reviewed removal of EDCs from three aspects, that is, physical means, biodegradation, and chemical advanced oxidation (CAO).
In order to balance the deviation time between replacement and failure, a new notion of cost named as deviation cost is taken into account for planning replacement policies. We firstly take up a ...standard parallel system with
n
identical units and model replacement policies that are done at planned time and at periodic times. Next, we model again the above replacement policies when the number of units is a random variable that has a Poisson distribution. Thirdly, replacement policies are planned preventively at the completion of random working times. Optimum number of units is scheduled for a total working interval that is constantly and randomly given. Finally, we give reliability functions of
k
-out-of-
n
systems for extensions of parallel systems. We give analytical discussions for the above replacement policies and illustrate numerical examples when the failure time of each unit has an exponential distribution.
Focusing on the three-year period starting in 1904, the very beginning of Japan’s colonization of Korea, this article demonstrates how the idea of British rule in Egypt as a model of colonial rule ...played a critical role in the emergence of Korea as a protectorate. The article not only describes the scope and limits of Egypt as a model but also helps to reveal the motivations of those Japanese involved in the comparative debate; How did they promote―or oppose―this model, and to what effect? Why and how did they compare this model with other models, which one did they prefer, and for what reasons? By exploring these questions through an examination of relevant historical sources, the author argues that, on several grounds, Japan’s initial colonization of Korea can be plausibly and effectively framed as a subject of “transimperial history” that takes seriously the influence of the “politics of comparison.” The article also demonstrates that the theories and practices concerning the Egypt model can be fully understood only by seeing how the comparative views of the involved Japanese policymakers and intellectuals were influenced by the ways actors in other empires—namely, the British and French empires—had practiced their own “politics of comparison” with their specific motives and agendas. KCI Citation Count: 0
Electrochemical impedance analysis was performed for LiLi0.1Al0.1Mn1.8O4 (LAMO) used as a lithium-insertion electrode by the diluted electrode method to identify the origin of resistance. Utilization ...of diluted electrodes, in which some portion of active material, LAMO, was systematically replaced with the same amounts of spectator Al2O3 material to maintain the original structure of the LAMO electrode, is a promising method to discriminate between the resistance attributed to the lithium-insertion reaction in LAMO (charge-transfer resistance) and that accompanied by conduction of electron and/or ion in the porous electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectra of the diluted electrodes consisted of two semicircles. The radius of a semicircle in the lower frequency region depends on the LAMO content in a diluted electrode, indicating that the semicircle is associated with charge-transfer resistance. On the other hand, the radius of the other semicircle in the higher frequency region is independent of the LAMO contents, suggesting that the semicircle is mainly related to the resistance accompanied by the porous structure of electrodes. Thus, the structure of lithium-insertion electrode should be carefully considered in designing high-energy and high-power lithium-ion batteries that employ thick electrodes.
•Increased LAMO content reduced charge-transfer resistance in diluted electrodes.•Resistance in high-frequency region arose from the porous electrode configuration.•Reducing the resistance in high-frequency region is important for thick electrodes.
Fibrosing interstitial lung disease (ILD) develops due to the impaired reparative processes following lung tissue damage. Cellular senescence has been reported to contribute to the progression of ...fibrosis. However, the mechanisms by which these senescent cells initiate and/or drive the progression of lung tissue fibrosis are not yet fully understood. We demonstrated that p21
- and p16
-pathway-dependent senescence in type 2 alveolar epithelial cells (AEC2) were both involved in the initiation and progression of lung fibrosis in murine bleomycin (BLM)-induced ILD. p21
-senescent AEC2 emerged rapidly, as early as 1 day after the intratracheal instillation of BLM. Their number subsequently increased and persisted until the later fibrosis phase. Very few p16
-senescent AEC2 emerged upon the instillation of BLM, and their increase was slower and milder than that of p21
AEC2. AEC2 enriched with senescent cells sorted from BLM-ILD lungs expressed senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP)-related genes, including
,
,
,
,
, and
, at the initiation and chronic phases of fibrosis, exhibiting distinct expression patterns of magnitude that were dependent on the disease phase. Ly6C
inflammatory monocytes increased in the lungs immediately after the instillation of BLM and interstitial macrophages increased from day 3. The expression of
and
was upregulated as early as day 1, indicating the activation of fibroblasts. We speculated that IL-6, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and TGF-β contributed to the accumulation of senescent cells during the progression of fibrosis in an autocrine and paracrine manner. In addition, CCL2, produced in large amounts by senescent AEC2, may have induced the infiltration of Ly6C
inflammatory monocytes in the early phase, and TGF-β and PDGFa from senescent AEC2 may contribute to the activation of fibroblasts in the very early phases. Our study indicated that senescent AEC2 plays a role in the pathogenesis of fibrosing ILD throughout the course of the disease and provides insights into its pathogenesis, which may lead to the development of new therapeutic methods targeting senescent cells or SASP molecules.
We herein report a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who successfully delivered a healthy child with continuous administration of sarilumab throughout pregnancy. She delivered her first child, a ...healthy boy, following in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) while using etanercept and low-dose prednisolone. Disease activity persisted after delivery, so etanercept was switched to sarilumab. She became pregnant by IVF-ET again. Because RA was still active, sarilumab was continued during pregnancy. She delivered a healthy girl at the 38th week of gestation by Caesarean section. No abnormalities were detected at or within 6 months after birth. Sarilumab was safe and effective in this pregnant woman with RA.
Background: Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a rare manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It has been described in very few case reports.
Purpose and Methods: We encountered OP in three ...patients with SLE in 1 year; two manifested OP as an initial presentation of SLE, while the third manifested OP when SLE relapsed. To elucidate the clinical features and outcomes of OP in patients with SLE, we screened the PubMed database for cases diagnosed with OP either at or after the diagnosis of SLE; the search was restricted to articles that were published after 1990, when OP became widely recognized.
Results: We identified 15 cases of OP in patients with SLE. Thus, we analyzed a total of 18 cases (including our three). OP developed at the initial diagnosis of SLE in 15 cases and at relapse of SLE in three cases. In most cases, the disease activity of SLE was moderate or high. In all cases, OP was accompanied by other extrapulmonary symptoms of SLE, namely, fever (77.8%), cutaneous manifestations (61.1%), arthralgia/arthritis (50%), and lupus nephritis (33.3%). Steroid monotherapy or increasing the dose of the steroids was effective in seven cases (38.8%); however, steroid monotherapy was ineffective and led to death due to respiratory failure in two cases (11.1%). Combination therapies of steroids with hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide therapy, and belimumab were effective in seven cases (38.8%).
Conclusions: Based on the review of previously reported and our cases, we concluded that OP is an important pulmonary manifestation of SLE. Clinicians should be aware of it as it may require intensive immunosuppressive therapy either at or after the diagnosis of SLE.
In this paper, we propose a computing algorithm to obtain optimal checking times which minimize the expected cost rate of sequential inspection models. This algorithm is applied to two modified ...inspection models with finite intervals such that the unit is checked at times
T
k
(
k
=
1
,
2
,
…
,
N
) for given
N
and given
S
≡
T
N
. The modified algorithms are proposed and optimal checking times to minimize the expected cost rates are obtained. Numerical examples of each model are given to show how to use the algorithm. This method would be applied to other sequential inspection models by its suitable modifications.
PDF
