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The association between gallstone disease and coronary artery atherosclerotic disease (CAD) remains unclear. To clarify their relationship, patients with CAD newly diagnosed by coronary angiography were investigated in this cross-sectional study.The study cohort consisted of 1,270 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the first time between January 2007 and September 2011. Patients with ≥50% diameter stenosis in any major coronary artery on coronary angiography were defined as being CAD positive (n = 766) and those with no stenosis as CAD negative (n = 504). Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between gallstone disease and CAD. The odds ratios (OR) of factors associated with CAD were calculated. In addition, CAD-positive and CAD-negative patients were matched one-to-one by age, gender and metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the association between gallbladder disease and CAD was determined.The prevalence of gallstone disease was significantly higher in CAD-positive than in CAD negative patients (149/766 [19.5%] vs 57/504 [11.3%], P

Background: Fatty liver index (FLI) was recently established to predict non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in general population, which is known to be associated with coronary artery atherosclerotic disease (CAD).This study aims to investigate whether FLI correlates with NAFLD and with newly diagnosed CAD in a special Chinese population who underwent coronary angiography.Methods: Patients with CAD (n = 231) and without CAD (n = 482) as confirmed by coronary angiography were included. Among them, 574 patients underwent B-ultrosonography were divided into NAFLD group (n = 209) and non-NAFLD group (n = 365). Correlation between FLI and NAFLD was analyzed using pearson's correlation. The associations between FLI and NAFLD as well as CAD were assessed using logistic regression. The predictive accuracy of FLI for NAFLD was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis.Results: FLI was significantly higher in NAFLD group (37.10 ± 1.95) than in non-NAFLD group (17.70 ± 1.04), P < 0.01. FLI correlated with NAFLD (r = 0.372, P < 0.001). The algorithm for FLI had a ROC-AUC of 0.721 (95% CI: 0.678-0.764) in the prediction of NAFLD. Logistic regression analysis showed that FLI was associated with NAFLD (adjusted OR = 1.038, 95% CI: 1.029-1.047, P < 0.01). The proportion of patients with CAD did not differ among the groups of FLI ≤ 30 (32.3%), 30-60 (31.0%), and ≥60 (35.3%). No significant association was found between FLI and CAD (adjusted OR = 0.992, 95% CI: 0.981-1.003 in men and OR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.963-1.012 in women, P > 0.05).Conclusions: FLI showed good correlation with NAFLD in patients who underwent coronary angiography, but not with newly diagnosed CAD. This might be underestimated because some patients in non-CAD group may have other underlying cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the oxidative stress and antioxidative response of Cinnamomum camphora seedlings exposed to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) fumigation. Measurements were made up of the growth, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant system and lipid peroxidation of one-year-old C. camphora seedlings exposed to NO2 (0.1, 0.5, and 4 μl/L) fumigation in open top chambers over a period of 60 d. After the first 30 d, 0.5 and 4.0 μl/L NO2 showed insignificant effects on the growth of C. camphora seedlings. However, exposure to 0.5 and 4.0 μl/L NO2 for 15 d significantly reduced their chlorophyll content ( P<0.05), enhanced their malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity ( P<0.05), and also significantly reduced the maximal quantum yield of PSII in the dark [the ratio of variable fluorescence to maximal fluorescence ( Fv/ Fm)] ( P<0.05). In the latter 30 d, 0.5 μl/L NO2 showed a positive effect on the vitality of the seedlings, which was reflected by a recovery in the ratio of Fv/ Fm and chlorophyll content, and obviously enhanced growth, SOD activity, ascorbate (AsA) content and glutathione reductase (GR) activity ( P<0.05); 4.0 μl/L NO2 then showed a negative effect, indicated by significant reductions in chlorophyll content and the ratio of Fv/ Fm, and inhibited growth ( P<0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest adaptation of C. camphora seedlings to 60-d exposure to 0.1 and 0.5 μl/L NO2, but not to 60-d exposure to 4.0 μl/L NO2. C. camphora seedlings may protect themselves from injury by strengthening their antioxidant system in response to NO2-induced oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain information on organic pollutants in water–sediment systems, a compartment model was applied to study the sorption course of phenanthrene and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in sediments. The model described the time-dependent interaction of phenanthrene and PCP with operationally defined reversible and irreversible (or slowly reversible) sediment fractions. The interactions between these fractions were described using first order differential equations. By fitting the models to the experimental data, apparent rate constants were obtained using numerical optimization software. The model optimizations showed that the amount of reversible phase increased rapidly in the first 10 d with the sorption time, then decreased after 10 d, while the amount of irreversible phase increased in the total sorption course. That suggested the mass transport between reversible phase and irreversible phase. The extraction efficiency with hot methanol ranged from 36% to 103% for phenanthrene and from 65% to 101% for PCP, with the trend of decreasing with sorption time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of nitrogen and phosphorus recovery from swine waste biogas digester effluent and the effects of pH and NH4+: Mg2+: PO4(3-) molar ratio on its precipitation., Methods: Precipitation experiments with swine waste biogas digester effluent were conducted at pH 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 together with NH4+: Mg2+: PO4(3-) molar ratios 1: 0.2: 0.08, 1: 1: 1, and 1: 1.5: 1.5. Chemical and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were done to determine the composition of the precipitate., Results: The highest removal and recovery of NH4+ and PO4(3-) were achieved at pH 9.0 in each experiment. The elevation of pH to 9.0 alone could decrease the initial PO4(3-) concentration from 42 mg L(-1) to 4.7 mg L(-1) and 89.2% PO4(3-) recovery was achieved. The pH-molar ratio combination 9.0-1: 1.5: 1.5 effected 76.5% NH4+ and 68.5% PO4(3-) recovery. The molar ratio of 1: 1: 1 together with pH elevation to 9.0 was determined to be the optimum combination for both NH4+ and PO4(3-) removal as it recovered over 70% and 97% of the initial NH4+ and PO4(3-), respectively., Conclusions: Nitrogen and phosphorus can be recovered from biogas digester effluent as struvite.

Objective: To investigate the characteristic and biochemical mechanism about the phenol biodegradation by bacterial strains ZD 4-1 and ZD 4-3., Methods: Bacterial strains ZD 4-1 and ZD 4-3 were isolated by using phenol as the sole source of carbon and energy, and identified by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The concentrations of phenol and total organic carbon (TOC) were monitored to explore the degradation mechanism. The biodegradation intermediates were scanned at 375 nm by using a uv-vis spectrophotometer. The enzyme assays were performed to detect the activities of dioxygenases., Results: Bacterial strains ZD 4-1 and ZD 4-3 were identified as Comamonas testosteroni and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by 16S rDNA sequence analysis, respectively. The growth of the two strains was observed on a variety of aromatic hydrocarbons. The strains ZD 4-1 and ZD 4-3 metabolized phenol via ortho-pathways and meta-pathways, respectively. In addition, the results of enzyme assays showed that the biodegradation efficiency of phenol by meta-pathways was higher than that by ortho-pathways. Finally, the results of induction experiment indicated that the catechol dioxygenases, both catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C120) and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C230), were all inducible., Conclusion: The strains ZD 4-1 and ZD 4-3 metabolize phenol through ortho-pathways and meta-pathway, respectively. Furthermore, the biodegradation efficiency of phenol by meta-pathways is higher than that by ortho-pathways.