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A scientific evaluation of the carbon emission efficiency is crucial for ensuring the sustainable development of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this paper, we applied a non-radial data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to calculate the carbon emission efficiency of 225 WWTPs located in China. The results showed that the average carbon emission efficiency of China's WWTPs was 0.59, indicating that the efficiencies of most samples still require improvement. The carbon emission efficiency of WWTPs from 2015 to 2017 decreased because of the decrease in technology efficiency. Among the influencing factors, different treating scales had positive impact on carbon emission efficiency improvement. WWTPs with anaerobic oxic process and the first-class A standard were likely to have higher carbon emission efficiency in the 225 WWTPs. By incorporating direct and indirect carbon emissions into WWTP efficiency evaluation, this study helped decision-makers and related water authorities to better understand the contribution of WWTPs to the aquatic and atmospheric environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new diterpenoid, 17-methyl-8, 13-labdadien-15, 16-olid-19-oic acid methyl ester (1), along with two known compounds 2 and 3, were isolated from the leaves of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco. The structures were confirmed based on the analysis of HR-MS, 1D-NMR, and 2D-NMR spectra and the configuration of 1 was confirmed by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • BCM-nZVI exhibit adsorption capacity of 134 mg·g−1 and Cd2+ removal rate of 99.96%. • Cd2+ in water treated by BCM-nZVI is below drinking water standards (5 μg·L-1). • BCM-nZVI can be stored stably for 120 days without loss of activity. • The adsorption mechanism by reducing toxic Cd2+ to non-toxic Cd0 is revealed. Cadmium (Cd2+) ions in drinking water are typical heavy metal contaminants, even trace amounts of Cd2+ can accumulate in the body, leading to serious irreversible damage to human bones and kidneys. Herein, we propose an effective and green strategy for the deep removal of trace Cd2+ from water by dispersed loading of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) onto bacterial cellulose membranes (BCM). BCM-nZVI can effectively remove Cd2+ from water in a wide pH range (5–8) with 99.96% removal rate. Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order model reveal the adsorption process with a maximum adsorption capacity of 134.0 mg·g−1 at 30 °C. Impressively, the Cd2+ concentration in actual Cd2+ containing drinking water is below the target of 5 μg·L−1 (drinking water standard in China, USA and EU) after treated by the BCM-nZVI, and no additional pollutants are introduced. The excellent stability (stored stably for 120 days) and economic cost analysis ($75.6 m−3 for Cd2+ containing drinking water) of BCM-nZVI indicated they are viable for practical application in actual water treatment. Most importantly, the reduction reaction and mechanism study of BCM-nZVI revealed that the toxic Cd2+ is converted into non-toxic Cd0 assisted by the hydrated electrons and it has been systemically verified in our paper. This work sheds light on BCM-nZVI can be used as an ideal green material to removal Cd2+ in trace amounts of actual drinking water with high-efficiency, economical, environmentally friendly and has great potential for application in real environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treating and reusing industrial wastewater is one of many means to improve water supply capacity, especially within developing countries. In the past 15 years, remarkable progress has been achieved on the commercial applications of membrane technology in China. The membranes demand in China exceeded 30 billion yuan (US$ 4.8 billion) in 2010, amounting for about 15% of the world total. However, the sate-of-the-art of membrane applications in industrial wastewater treatment is not well understood and documented. This study performs a national survey of membrane plants and membrane manufacturers to investigate the characteristics of membrane technology applications for industrial wastewater treatment to increase water supply in China. The data obtained from the survey of membrane plants were confirmed with the survey of membrane manufacturers. It is aimed to provide comprehensive information of membrane technology applications for industrial wastewater treatment in China to guild the future development of the same kind of applications. The results indicate that 6.7 million m 3 of wastewater per day (2.4 billion m 3 per year) treatment capacity applies membrane technology. 580 membrane plants have been successfully applied in practice for different industrial wastewater treatment. Petrochemical, power generation, and steel industries account for the majority of membrane technology applications, from both of number of membrane plants and treatment capacity. Northern Chinese provinces which are rich in coal, crude petroleum, and ferrous ore but scarce in water resources have seen the most of membrane practices. Water withdrawal for the power generation industry decreased substantially recently, as water use and reuse efficiency has been improved due to wide applications of advanced wastewater treatment methods such as membrane technology. With increasingly stringent emission standards faced by industry and water resources shortages confronted with China, it is expected membrane technology will play key role to address water quality and quantity issues in China. Membrane market in China is expected to grow at a relative high annual rate of approximate 15% for the next decade. It is worthy to note that environmental impacts due to membrane technology applications for industrial wastewater treatment, including membrane pollution and high salinity water, shall be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and the TNF receptor superfamily (TNF-TNFR) plays very important roles in the pathogenesis of Kawasaki disease (KD) by leukocyte recruitment, upregulation of matrix-degrading enzymes and proinflammatory cytokines. This study aims to investigate whether potential polymorphisms in TNF receptor superfamily member 1A gene (TNFR1) are associated with KD and its effects on transcriptions activity of TNFR1. Genetic variations of TNFR1 promoter and coding regions in 132 unrelated patients with KD and 212 age-matched healthy controls recruited from a population of Chinese individuals were screened by direct sequencing. Bioinformatics analysis and function assays were performed to investigate the association between genetic variations and KD, and its effects on transcription activity of TNFR1. Five polymorphisms, termed −609T/G, −581A/G, −421G/A, −383A/C, and +36A/G, were identified in the subjects, of which −421A/G was reported for the first time. In particular, bioinformatics analysis and function assay confirmed that −609T allele resulted in allele-specific strengthening of TNFR1 transcription and was significantly associated with KD (p = 2.951E-08, odds ratio = 2.42, 95% confidence interval = 1.76–3.13). Furthermore, the haplotype TAGAA showed a relatively higher frequency in patients with KD compared with healthy controls (p = 3.446E-07, odds ratio = 2.26, 95% confidence interval = 1.65–3.11). Therefore, our results suggested that regulatory polymorphism −609T/G and the haplotype TAGAA may be related to increased susceptibility to KD in Chinese individuals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For the first time we synthesized the fire history for the eastern monsoonal region of China during the Holocene, through the combined analyses of paleofire indices including both charcoal and black carbon records from 14 localities available at present. Our results show that in eastern China fire activity was relatively higher before 9500 cal yr BP, very low between 9500 and 7500 cal yr BP, and evidently increased since 7500 cal yr BP, reaching its maximum at about 2000 cal yr BP. This general pattern of fire activity closely follows the Holocene effective moisture evolution in the eastern monsoonal China at an orbital timescale, i.e. more fires occurred during drier conditions, while less fire occurred during more humid conditions. These results suggest that the fire activity in eastern China were primarily driven by climate changes (i.e., variations of past moisture conditions) and monsoon-related changes in vegetation communities, ultimately forced by the Northern Hemisphere insolation (NHI) on orbital timescales over the Holocene. Our data also show that the fire activity increased concurrently with significant human development from the mid- to late-Holocene, possibly suggesting an intensified trend of human-induced fire activities since about 7500 years ago. Moreover, the fire activity in eastern China closely parallels the atmospheric CO 2 concentration inferred from Antarctica ice-cores. Our synthesis will help to better understand the relationship between fire, climate and human activity at a variety of geographical scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a heterogeneous waste stream, which is harmful for human health and the ecological environment if it is not well managed. Based on results from different authors by analyzing the generation, physical components and management of MSW from different cities, this paper presents an overview of the temporal trends and spatial variation characterization of MSW generation and its physical components in China. Total MSW generation has increased from 31,320 thousand tons in 1980 to 178,602 thousand tons in 2014, and MSW generation per capita has also increased from 448.3 g to 653.2 g. The distribution of MSW generation is mostly concentrated in the coastal southeastern region, as well as large point sources of more than 200 thousand tons per year are mostly distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hebei and Guangdong provinces. The review shows that the largest proportion of food waste, plastics and paper is 61.2% (54.2–65.9%, 95% CI), 9.8% (7.2–14.0%, 95% CI), 9.6% (6.7–12.3%, 95% CI), respectively, in 2014; the best estimates of other waste were as follows: 3.1% textile, 2.1% glass, 1.1% metal, 1.8% wood and grass, 1.3% rubber and leather, 1.8% ceramic, 2.5% ash, 1.2% hazardous waste, and 4.5% miscellaneous. To better manage China’s MSW, several possible and appropriate solutions (e.g., concentrating on key regions, intensifying source separation, promoting green lifestyle, and establishing specialized regulations and policies) should be adopted, which might facilitate the application of China’s 13th Five, and identify gaps in our knowledge of MSW management subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RO membrane technology has been broadly applied in China in the past two decades and its applications increased quickly, as China is faced with a combination of rapid growth of heavy industries, large population, and water stress. The literature often underestimated the scale of RO applications in China as it was traditionally derived from surveys of RO membrane plants. Chinese RO market is highly monopolized, which provides an alternative to examine RO applications. This study collected manufacturing and sales data of RO membrane modules from limited RO membrane manufacturers, and analyzed the history and driving forces. For 2014, 1.8 million 8-inch RO membrane modules were used by membrane plants in China and the output capacity was about 27 million m 3 /d. RO plants are mainly applied for heavy industries, such as power, petrochemical, and coal industries. The power industry has highest number and output capacity of RO applications. RO plants are clustered in three regions, i.e. coastal provinces; northern China; and other provinces with advanced electronic, pharmaceutical and landfill leachate treatment industries. The RO applications in China were primarily driven by decreasing cost, rapid development of domestic membrane manufacturers, fast development of industries, and increasing water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Piper wallichii (Miq.) Hand.-Mazz. is a medicinal plant used widely for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory diseases, cerebral infarction and angina in China. Previous study showed that lignans and neolignans from Piper spp. had potential inhibitory activities on platelet aggregation. In the present study, we investigated the chemical constituents of Piper wallichii and their antithrombotic activities, to support its traditional uses. Materials and methods The methanolic extract of the air-dried stems of Piper wallichii was separated and purified using various chromatographic methods, including semi-preparative HPLC. The chemical structures of the isolates were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis, and acidic hydrolysis in case of the new glycoside 2 . Determination of absolute configurations of the new compound 1 was facilitated by calculated electronic circular dichroism using time-dependent density-functional theory. All compounds were tested for their inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation induced by platelet activating factor (PAF) in rabbits׳ blood model, from which the active ones were further evaluated the in vivo antithrombotic activity in zebrafish model. Results A new neolignan, piperwalliol A ( 1 ), and four new aromatic glycosides, piperwalliosides A–D ( 2 – 5 ) were isolated from the stems of Piper wallichii , along with 25 known compounds, including 13 lignans, six aromatic glycosides, two phenylpropyl aldehydes, and four biphenyls. Five known compounds ( 6 – 10 ) showed in vitro antiplatelet aggregation activities. Among them, (–)-syringaresinol ( 6) was the most active compound with an IC 50 value of 0.52 mM. It is noted that in zebrafish model, the known lignan 6 showed good in vivo antithrombotic effect with a value of 37% at a concentration of 30 μM, compared with the positive control aspirin with the inhibitory value of 74% at a concentration of 125 μM. Conclusion This study demonstrated that lignans, phenylpropanoid and biphenyl found in Piper wallichii may be responsible for antithrombotic effect of the titled plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A four-stage systematic tracking survey of 240 households was conducted from the summer of 2011 to the spring of 2012 in a Chinese city of Suzhou to determine the characteristics of household hazardous waste (HHW) generated by the city. Factor analysis and a regression model were used to study the major driving forces of HHW generation. The results indicate that the rate of HHW generation was 6.16 (0.16–31.74, 95% CI) g/person/day, which accounted for 2.23% of the household solid waste stream. The major waste categories contributing to total HHW were home cleaning products (21.33%), medicines (17.67%) and personal care products (15.19%). Packaging and containers (one-way) and products (single-use) accounted for over 80% of total HHW generation, implying a considerable potential to mitigate HHW generation by changing the packaging design and materials used by manufacturing enterprises. Strong correlations were observed between HHW generation (g/person/day) and the driving forces group of “household structure” and “consumer preferences” (among which the educational level of the household financial manager has the greatest impact). Furthermore, the HHW generation stream in Suzhou suggested the influence of another set of variables, such as local customs and culture, consumption patterns, and urban residential life-style. This study emphasizes that HHW should be categorized at its source (residential households) as an important step toward controlling the HHW hazards of Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leachate from the landfill is a kind of organic wastewater that highly pollutes the water environment. Water polluted by landfill leachate has been found globally. Therefore, it is necessary to properly treat the leachate before the final discharge. Environmental policy, among other factors such as cost, often has critical impact on water and wastewater treatment technology adoption. In the present study, a comprehensive database of leachate treatment projects is compiled based on literature review and a survey of manager of leachate treatment companies, aimed to explore the impact of national policies on the adoption of treatment technologies. Results show that although China produces a large amount of leachate (0.53–0.75 million tons/day) and the operating cost is high (US$5.60 ± 2.05), the new standard issued in 2008 has higher requirements on wastewater discharge standard, which makes membrane technology, especially membrane bioreactor (MBR) + nanofiltration (NF)/reverse osmosis (RO) technology, widely used in China. This increasing employment of membrane technology to treat leachate in China is a direct result of the new leachate standard, which demonstrates that new environmental policy prevail the concern of treatment cost and advances the adoption of environment friendly technology. [Display omitted] • A real-world study of environmental policy impact on technology adoption. • Environmental policies impacts technology adoption for landfill leachate treatment. • Average production of leachate in China is 0.53–0.75 million tons/day. • Treatment cost in China is about US$5.60 ± 2.05/m3 leachate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of pharmaceutical higher education in China needs to be adjusted under the guidance of Xi Jinping's new development philosophy, especially the concept of coordinated development, in order to meet the demands of the campaign to construct new medical education and to develop in coordination with the pharmaceutical industry. Based on the concept of coordinated development, we summarized herein the relationship between pharmaceutical higher education, pharmaceutical research and the pharmaceutical industry, analyzed the adaptability of pharmaceutical higher education and the pharmaceutical industry, and put forward suggestions for and implemented initially the reform of the pharmaceutical curriculum structure under the guidance of the concept of coordinated development. We hope this paper will, under the new circumstances, provide useful reference for the ongoing education reform of the curricular structure of pharmaceutical higher education and pharmaceutical research coordinated along with the development of the pharmaceutical industry., (Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences).)

Background: Oral glucocorticoids can prevent acute mountain sickness (AMS). Whether inhaled budesonide (BUD) can prevent AMS remains unknown., Objective: Our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of BUD in AMS prevention., Methods: Eighty subjects were randomly assigned to receive budesonide (BUD, inhaled), procaterol tablet (PT), budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FM, inhaled), or placebo tablet (n = 20 in each group). Subjects were treated for 3 days before ascending from 500 m to 3700 m within 2.5 h by air. Lake Louis AMS questionnaire, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation (SpO2) were examined at 20, 72, and 120 h after high-altitude exposure. Pulmonary function was measured at 20 h after exposure., Results: Compared with placebo, BUD significantly reduced the incidence of AMS (70% vs. 25% at 20 h, p < 0.05; both 10% vs. 5% at 72 and 120 h, both p > 0.05) without side effects. The relative risk was 0.357, and the risk difference was 0.45. Mean SpO2 was higher in BUD, BUD/FM, and PT groups than in the placebo group at 20 h (p < 0.05). SpO2 in all 80 subjects dropped after ascent (98.1% to 88.12%, p < 0.01) and increased gradually, but it was still lower at 120 h than at baseline (92.04% vs. 98.1%, p < 0.01). Pulmonary function did not differ among the four groups at 20 h., Conclusion: BUD can prevent AMS without side effects. The alleviation of AMS may be related to increased blood oxygen levels rather than pulmonary function., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFR) and laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of gastric stromal tumors arising from the muscularis propria., Methods: Out of 62 gastric stromal tumors arising from the muscularis propria, each > 1.5 cm in diameter, 32 were removed by EFR, and 30 were removed by laparoscopic surgery. The tumor expression of CD34, CD117, Dog-1, S-100, and SMA was assessed immunohistochemically. The operative time, complete resection rate, length of hospital stay, incidence of complications, and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups. Continuous data were compared using independent samples t-tests, and categorical data were compared using χ (2) tests., Results: The 32 gastric stromal tumors treated by EFR and the 30 treated by laparoscopic surgery showed similar operative time [20-155 min (mean, 78.5 ± 30.1 min) vs 50-120 min (mean, 80.9 ± 46.7 min), P > 0.05], complete resection rate (100% vs 93.3%, P > 0.05), and length of hospital stay [4-10 d (mean, 5.9 ± 1.4 d) vs 4-19 d (mean, 8.9 ± 3.2 d), P >0.05]. None of the patients treated by EFR experienced complications, whereas two patients treated by laparoscopy required a conversion to laparotomy, and one patient had postoperative gastroparesis. No recurrences were observed in either group. Immunohistochemical staining showed that of the 62 gastric stromal tumors diagnosed by gastroscopy and endoscopic ultrasound, six were leiomyomas (SMA-positive), one was a schwannoglioma (S-100 positive), and the remaining 55 were stromal tumors., Conclusion: Some gastric stromal tumors arising from the muscularis propria can be completely removed by EFR. EFR could likely replace surgical or laparoscopic procedures for the removal of gastric stromal tumors.

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of severely and critically ill children with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) infection., Method: Clinical data of 150 cases with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection confirmed with the use of a real-time polymerase-chain-reaction assay on nasopharyngeal swab specimens were analyzed., Result: Among 150 severely and critically ill children with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection, 103 were male, 47 were female; the median age was 5 years, 81(55%) were 5 years of age or older; 21 (14%) had underlying chronic diseases. The most common presenting symptoms were fever (95%), cough (89%), vomiting (23%), wheezing (19%), abdominal pain (16%), lethargy (7%), seizures (6%), myalgia (6%), and diarrhea (6%). The common laboratory abnormalities were increased or decreased white blood cells counts (40%), elevated of CRP (33%), LDH (29%), CK (25%) and AST (19%). Clinical complications included pneumonia (65%), encephalopathy (12%), myocarditis (5%), encephalitis (1%) and myositis (1%). All patients had received antibiotics before admission or on admission; 73% of patients had received oseltamivir treatment, 23% of patients had received corticosteroids; 32 (21%) were admitted to an ICU, 13 patients were intubated and mechanically ventilated. Fourteen patients with dyspnea who were irresponsive to the treatment experienced bronchoalveolar lavage with flexible bronchoscopy, and the branching bronchial casts were removed in 5 patients. Totally 145 (97%) patients were discharged, five (3%) died, three previously healthy patients died from severe encephalopathy, one patient died from ARDS, one previously healthy patient died from secondary fungal meningitis., Conclusion: Severely and critically ill children with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection may occur mainly in older children without underlying chronic disease. The clinical spectrum and laboratory abnormality of the patients can have a wide range. Neurologic complications may be common and severe encephalopathy can lead to death in previously healthy children. Early use of bronchoalveolar lavage with flexible bronchoscopy may reduce death associated with pulmonary complications.

Objective: To investigate EV71 and CA16 pathogen of HFMD in Shenzhen in 2008, and to provide the evidence for the prevention and treatment HFMD., Method: Using RT-PCR technology to detect the EV71 and CoxA16 genes of 307 samples HFMD; sequencing the purified PCR products from 14 samples. Using ClustalW2 online analysis software for sequence and phylogenetic analysis of enterovirus 71., Result: Percentage of positive EV71 from different samples is shown as follows respectively: positive EV71 from stool samples is 24.4% (75/307), from throat swab--7.8% (24/307), from peripheral blood--12.5% (1/8). Percentage of positive CoxA16 is shown as follows respectively: positive EV71 from stool samples is 13.8% (28/203), from throat swab-11.0% (20/181). Among all the 307 samples, three are positive for both EV71 and CoxA16. EV71 and CoxA16 are not detected in the samples of cerebrospinal fluid.Comparative analysis of nucleotide sequences of EV71 with those of strains BrCr and 11 deposited in GenBank demonstrated numerous disparities from 8 samples, but residue 595 from 2 samples and residue 658 from 1 sample are variable. The phylogenetic analysis based on VP1 region demonstrates that strains from 2 samples has the nearest genetic relationship with anhui strains, the farthest with BrCr and SHH02-6, SHZH02-40, SHZH03-58 strains, also strains from other 12 samples have the farthest genetic relationship with them. The genotypes A, B and C were classified as proposed by Brown et al. (1999). The EV71 from 14 samples were the member of genotype C., Conclusion: EV71 among the pathogen of HFMD in Shenzhen in 2008 was majority. These EV71 may belong to the same genegroup with Anhui predominant strains.

Objective: The objective of our study was to describe the clinical and imaging features of infants exposed to milk formula contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid., Conclusion: The imaging feature of patients exposed to food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid was multiple calculi of the urinary tract that varied greatly in size and shape. Most patients presented with symptoms of urinary obstruction.