Quantifying the combined effects of pronase and benzalkonium chloride in removing late-stage Listeria monocytogenes-Escherichia coli dual-species biofilms.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-López, Pedro; Puga, Carmen H; Orgaz, Belén; Cabo, Marta L

2017-09-01

This work presents the assessment of the effectivity of a pronase (PRN)-benzalkonium chloride (BAC) sequential treatment in removing Listeria monocytogenes-Escherichia coli dual-species biofilms grown on stainless steel (SS) using fluorescence microscopy and plate count assays. The effects of PRN-BAC on the occupied area (OA) by undamaged cells in 168 h dual-species samples were determined using a first-order factorial design. Empirical equations significantly (r 2 = 0.927) described a negative individual effect of BAC and a negative interactive effect of PRN-BAC achieving OA reductions up to 46%. After treatment, high numbers of remaining attached and released viable and cultivable E. coli cells were detected in PRN-BAC combinations when low BAC concentrations were used. Therefore, at appropriate BAC doses, in addition to biofilm removal, sequential application of PRN and BAC represents an appealing strategy for pathogen control on SS surfaces while hindering the dispersion of live cells into the environment.

Effect of Vermifiltration on COD and Color Removal from Textile Factories’ Waste Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabbani D.1 PhD,

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Aims Textile industries are among the manufactures which produce the highly polluted waste water. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of vermifiltration on COD and color removal from textile waste water. Materials & Methods This experimental research was performed March to August 2014 in one of the textile factories of Kashan region, Iran. The glass cubic kits with- without Eisenia fetida were used to filter the waste water samples. Data was analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis and two-way analysis of variance in SPSS 19 statistical software. Findings The mean of COD concentration in the raw waste water samples was 1324.24±757.01mg/l which was decreased to 598.22±349.33 and 831.32±445.19mg/l after the experimental and control kits usage, respectively (p<0.001. The mean of color intensity in raw waste water samples was 51.2±30.6% which was decreased to 27.8±15.0 and 27.4±15.1% (p=0.635 in experimental and control kits, respectively. There was a significant negative correlation between COD removal and hydraulic loads (p<0.001; r=-0.804 and a significant negative correlation between color removal and hydraulic loads (p<0.001; r=- 0.278 in both experimental and control kits. Conclusion The most important risk groups in our study were abattoir workers, butchers, housewives and students who handle infected animals.

Effectiveness of carbon dioxide removal in lowering atmospheric CO2 and reversing global warming in the context of 1.5 degrees

Science.gov (United States)

Zickfeld, K.; Azevedo, D.

2017-12-01

The majority of emissions scenarios that limit warming to 2°C, and nearly all emission scenarios that do not exceed 1.5°C warming by the year 2100 require artificial removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in these scenarios are required to offset emissions from sectors that are difficult or costly to decarbonize and to generate global `net negative' emissions, allowing to compensate for earlier emissions and to meet long-term climate stabilization targets after overshoot. Only a few studies have explored the Earth system response to CDR and large uncertainties exist regarding the effect of CDR on the carbon cycle and its effectiveness in reversing climate impacts after overshoot. Here we explore the effectiveness of CDR in lowering atmospheric CO2 ("carbon cycle effectiveness") and cool global climate ("cooling effectiveness"). We force the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model, a model of intermediate complexity, with a set of negative CO2 emissions pulses of different magnitude and applied from different background atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We find the carbon cycle effectiveness of CDR - defined as the change in atmospheric CO2 per unit CO2 removed - decreases with the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere and increases at higher background CO2 concentrations from which CDR is applied due to nonlinear responses of carbon sinks to CO2 and climate. The cooling effectiveness - defined as the change in global mean surface air temperature per unit CO2 removed - on the other hand, is largely insensitive to the amount of CO2 removed, but decreases if CDR is applied at higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations, due to the logarithmic relationship between atmospheric CO2 and radiative forcing. Based on our results we conclude that CDR is more effective in restoring a lower atmospheric CO2 concentration and reversing impacts directly linked to CO2 at lower levels of overshoot. CDR's effectiveness in restoring a

The Peculiar Negative Greenhouse Effect Over Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Sejas, S.; Taylor, P. C.; Cai, M.

2017-12-01

Greenhouse gases warm the climate system by reducing the energy loss to space through the greenhouse effect. Thus, a common way to measure the strength of the greenhouse effect is by taking the difference between the surface longwave (LW) emission and the outgoing LW radiation. Based on this definition, a paradoxical negative greenhouse effect is found over the Antarctic Plateau, which suprisingly indicates that greenhouse gases enhance energy loss to space. Using 13 years of NASA satellite observations, we verify the existence of the negative greenhouse effect and find that the magnitude and sign of the greenhouse effect varies seasonally and spectrally. A previous explanation attributes the negative greenhouse effect solely to stratospheric CO2 and warmer than surface stratospheric temperatures. However, we surprisingly find that the negative greenhouse effect is predominantly caused by tropospheric water vapor. A novel principle-based explanation provides the first complete account of the Antarctic Plateau's negative greenhouse effect indicating that it is controlled by the vertical variation of temperature and greenhouse gas absorption strength. Our findings indicate that the strong surface-based temperature inversion and scarcity of free tropospheric water vapor over the Antarctic Plateau cause the negative greenhouse effect. These are climatological features uniquely found in the Antarctic Plateau region, explaining why the greenhouse effect is positive everywhere else.

Terra MODIS Band 27 Electronic Crosstalk Effect and Its Removal

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Junqiang; Xiong, Xiaoxiong; Madhavan, Sriharsha; Wenny, Brian

2012-01-01

The MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of the primary instruments in the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS). The first MODIS instrument was launched in December, 1999 on-board the Terra spacecraft. MODIS has 36 bands, covering a wavelength range from 0.4 micron to 14.4 micron. MODIS band 27 (6.72 micron) is a water vapor band, which is designed to be insensitive to Earth surface features. In recent Earth View (EV) images of Terra band 27, surface feature contamination is clearly seen and striping has become very pronounced. In this paper, it is shown that band 27 is impacted by electronic crosstalk from bands 28-30. An algorithm using a linear approximation is developed to correct the crosstalk effect. The crosstalk coefficients are derived from Terra MODIS lunar observations. They show that the crosstalk is strongly detector dependent and the crosstalk pattern has changed dramatically since launch. The crosstalk contributions are positive to the instrument response of band 27 early in the mission but became negative and much larger in magnitude at later stages of the mission for most detectors of the band. The algorithm is applied to both Black Body (BB) calibration and MODIS L1B products. With the crosstalk effect removed, the calibration coefficients of Terra MODIS band 27 derived from the BB show that the detector differences become smaller. With the algorithm applied to MODIS L1B products, the Earth surface features are significantly removed and the striping is substantially reduced in the images of the band. The approach developed in this report for removal of the electronic crosstalk effect can be applied to other MODIS bands if similar crosstalk behaviors occur.

Negative impact of oxygen molecular activation on Cr(VI) removal with core–shell Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mu, Yi; Wu, Hao; Ai, Zhihui

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The presence of oxygen inhibited Cr(VI) removal efficiency with nZVI by near 3 times. • Cr(VI) removal with nZVI was related to adsorption, reduction, co-precipitation, and adsorption reactions. • Molecular oxygen activation competed donor electrons from Fe 0 core and surface bound Fe(II) of nZVI. • Thicker Cr(III)/Fe(III)/Cr(VI) oxyhydroxides shell of nZVI leaded to the electron transfer inhibition. - Abstract: In this study, we demonstrate that the presence of oxygen molecule can inhibit Cr(VI) removal with core–shell Fe@Fe 2 O 3 nanowires at neutral pH of 6.1. 100% of Cr(VI) removal was achieved by the Fe@Fe 2 O 3 nanowires within 60 min in the anoxic condition, in contrast, only 81.2% of Cr(VI) was sequestrated in the oxic condition. Removal kinetics analysis indicated that the presence of oxygen could inhibit the Cr(VI) removal efficiency by near 3 times. XRD, SEM, and XPS analysis revealed that either the anoxic or oxic Cr(VI) removal was involved with adsorption, reduction, co-precipitation, and re-adsorption processes. More Cr(VI) was bound in a reduced state of Cr(III) in the anoxic process, while a thicker Cr(III)/Fe(III)/Cr(VI) oxyhydroxides shell, leading to inhibiting the electron transfer, was found under the oxic process. The negative impact of oxygen molecule was attributed to the oxygen molecular activation which competed with Cr(VI) adsorbed for the consumption of donor electrons from Fe 0 core and ferrous ions bound on the iron oxides surface under the oxic condition. This study sheds light on the understanding of the fate and transport of Cr(VI) in oxic and anoxic environment, as well provides helpful guide for optimizing Cr(VI) removal conditions in real applications

Interrupted object-based updating of reach program leads to a negative compatibility effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Vainio, Lari

2009-07-01

The author investigated how the motor program elicited by an object's orientation is updated by object-based information while a participant reaches for the object. Participants selected the hand of response according to the thickness of the graspable object and then reached toward the location in which the object appeared. Reach initiation times decreased when the handle of the object was oriented toward the responding hand. This positive compatibility effect turned into a negative compatibility effect (NCE) during reach execution when the object was removed from the display 300 ms after object onset or replaced with a mask at movement onset. The results demonstrate that interrupted object-based updating of an ongoing reach movement triggers the NCE.

Global patterns in post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Peco, Begoña; Laffan, Shawn W; Moles, Angela T

2014-01-01

It is commonly accepted that species interactions such as granivory are more intense in the tropics. However, this has rarely been tested. A global dataset of post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates for 79 native plant species from semi-natural and natural terrestrial habitats ranging from 55° N to 45° S, was compiled from the global literature to test the hypothesis that post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates is more intense at lower latitudes. We also quantified the relationship between post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates and by invertebrates to global climatic features including temperature, actual evapotranspiration (AET) and rainfall seasonality. Linear mixed effect models were applied to describe the relationships between seed removal and latitude, hemisphere and climatic variables controlling for the effect of seed mass. Post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates was negatively related to latitude. In contrast, post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates was positively but weakly related to latitude. Mean annual temperature and actual evapotranspiration were positively related to post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates, but not to post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates, which was only marginally negatively related to rainfall seasonality. The inclusion of seed mass improved the fit of all models, but the term for seed mass was not significant in any model. Although a good climatic model for predicting post-dispersal seed predation by vertebrates at the global level was not found, our results suggest different and opposite latitudinal patterns of post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates vs vertebrates. This is the first time that a negative relationship between post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and latitude, and a positive relationship with temperature and AET have been documented at a global-scale. These results have important implications for understanding global patterns in plant

Effect of irradiation, pruning and removal of in vitro formed roots on ex vitro growth in micropropagated grape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charbaji, T.; Ayyoubi, Z.

2002-06-01

In vitro rootstock (Ru 140) and Helwani variety were cultured on DSD1 media, were irradiated at low doses of gamma irradiation before acclimatization. Ru 140 were exposed to 0-5 Gy, while Helwani was exposed to 0-7 Gy. Then, the plants were divided into three different groups: in the first group the plant roots were pruned, in the second the plant roots were completely removed and in the third group the plant roots were kept intact (control). The ex vitro plants were observed after 45 days of planting. Shoots groeth, leaf number and dry weight of Ru 140 were significantly higher than those of the control when roots were pruned and 5 Gy was applied. Those parameters were negatively affected by root removal. Gamma irradiation had a positive effect on the control comparing to unirradiated plants. Root pruning had positive effects on shoot growth, leaf number and dry weight of helwani veriety, while root removal had a contrary effect on this variety. Gamma irradiation positively affected shoot growth and dry weight of control comparing to unirradiated plants, similar effect was observed on leaf number of control and pruned plant of Helwani. (author)

Effect of Irradiation, Pruning and Removal of In Vitro Formed Roots on Ex Vitro Growth in Micropropagated Grape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charabaji, T.; Ayyoubi, Z.; Karajoly, I

2007-01-01

In vitro rootstock (Ru 140) and Helwani variety were cultured on DSD1 media, were irradiated at low doses of gamma irradiation before acclimatization. Ru 140 was exposed to 0-5 Gy, while Helwani was exposed to 0-7 Gy. Then, the plants were divided into three different procedures, 1)- the plant roots were pruned, 2)- the plant roots were completely removed, 3)- the plant roots were kept intact (control). The ex vitro plants were observed after 45 days of planting. Shoots growth, leaf number and dry weight of Ru 140 were significantly higher than those of the control when roots were pruned and 5 Gy was applied. Those parameters were negatively affected by root removal. Gamma irradiation had a positive effect on the control comparing to unirradiated plants. Root pruning had positive effects on shoot growth, leaf number and dry weight of Helwani variety, while root removal had a contrary effect on this variety. Gamma irradiation positively affected shoot growth and dry weight of control comparing to unirradiated plants, similar effect was observed on leaf number of control and pruned plant of Helwani.

SM-1 negative ion source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Zhenjun; Wang Jianzhen

1987-01-01

The working principle and characteristics of SM-1 Negative Ion Source is mainly introduced. In the instrument, there is a device to remove O 3 . This instrument can keep high density of negative ions which is generated by the electrical coronas setting out electricity at negative high voltage and can remove the O 3 component which is harmful to the human body. The density of negative ions is higher than 2.5 x 10 6 p./cm 3 while that of O 3 components is less than 1 ppb at the distance of 50 cm from the panel of the instrument. The instrument sprays negative ions automatically without the help of electric fan, so it works noiselessly. It is widely used in national defence, industry, agriculture, forestry, stock raising, sidelines and in the places with an equipment of low density of negative ion or high concentration of O 3 components. Besides, the instrument may also be used to treat diseases, to prevent against rot, to arrest bacteria, to purify air and so on

Effectiveness of four different final irrigation activation techniques on smear layer removal in curved root canals : a scanning electron microscopy study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Puneet Ahuja

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of apical negative pressure (ANP, manual dynamic agitation (MDA, passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI and needle irrigation (NI as final irrigation activation techniques for smear layer removal in curved root canals.Mesiobuccal root canals of 80 freshly extracted maxillary first molars with curvatures ranging between 25° and 35° were used. A glide path with #08-15 K files was established before cleaning and shaping with Mtwo rotary instruments (VDW, Munich, Germany up to size 35/0.04 taper. During instrumentation, 1 ml of 2.5% NaOCl was used at each change of file. Samples were divided into 4 equal groups (n=20 according to the final irrigation activation technique: group 1, apical negative pressure (ANP (EndoVac; group 2, manual dynamic agitation (MDA; group 3, passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI; and group 4, needle irrigation (NI. Root canals were split longitudinally and subjected to scanning electron microscopy. The presence of smear layer at coronal, middle and apical levels was evaluated by superimposing 300-μm square grid over the obtained photomicrographs using a four-score scale with X1,000 magnification.Amongst all the groups tested, ANP showed the overall best smear layer removal efficacy (p < 0.05. Removal of smear layer was least effective with the NI technique.ANP (EndoVac system can be used as the final irrigation activation technique for effective smear layer removal in curved root canals.

Toxic Gas Removal by Dielectric Discharge with Corona Effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreno, H.; Pacheco, M.; Mercado, A.; Cruz, A.; Pacheco, J.; Yousfi, M.; Eichwald, O.; Benhenni, M.

2006-01-01

In this work, a theoretical and experimental study on SO2 and NOx removal by non-thermal plasma technology, more specifically a dielectric barrier (DBD) discharge combined with the Corona effect, is presented. Results obtained from a theoretical study describe the chemical kinetic model of SO2 and NOx removal processes; the effect of OH radicals in removal of both gases is noteworthy. Experimental results of de-SO2 process are reported. Also, optical emission spectroscopy study was applied on some atomic helium lines to obtain temperature of electrons in the non-thermal plasma

Depressive realism and the effect of intertrial interval on judgements of zero, positive, and negative contingencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Msetfi, Rachel M; Murphy, Robin A; Simpson, Jane

2007-03-01

In three experiments we tested how the spacing of trials during acquisition of zero, positive, and negative response-outcome contingencies differentially affected depressed and nondepressed students' judgements. Experiment 1 found that nondepressed participants' judgements of zero contingencies increased with longer intertrial intervals (ITIs) but not simply longer procedure durations. Depressed groups' judgements were not sensitive to either manipulation, producing an effect known as depressive realism only with long ITIs. Experiments 2 and 3 tested predictions of Cheng's (1997) Power PC theory and the Rescorla-Wagner (1972) model, that the increase in context exposure experienced during the ITI might influence judgements most with negative contingencies and least with positive contingencies. Results suggested that depressed people were less sensitive to differences in contingency and contextual exposure. We propose that a context-processing difference between depressed and nondepressed people removes any objective notion of "realism" that was originally employed to explain the depressive realism effect (Alloy & Abramson, 1979).

Effect of irradiation, pruning and removal of in vitro formed roots on ex vitro growth in micro propagated grape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charbaji, T.; Ayyoubi, Z.

2003-01-01

In vitro rootstock (Ru 140) and Helwani variety were cultured on DSD1 media, were irradiated at low doses of gamma irradiation before acclimatization. Ru 140 were exposed to 0-5 Gy, while Helwani was exposed to 0-7 Gy. Then, the plants were divided into three different groups: in the first group the plant roots were pruned, in the second the plant roots were completely removed and in the third group the plant roots were kept intact (control). The ex vitro plants were observed after 45 days of planting. Shoots growth, leaf number and dry weight of Ru 140 were significantly higher than those of the control when roots were pruned and 5 Gy was applied. Those parameters were negatively affected by root removal. Gamma irradiation had a positive effect on the control comparing to unirradiated plants. Root pruning had positive effects on shoot growth, leaf number and dry weight of Helwani variety, while root removal had a contrary effect on this variety. Gamma irradiation positively affected shoot growth and dry weight of control comparing to unirradiated plants, similar effect was observed on leaf number of control and pruned plant of Helwani. (author)

Negative CO

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meysman, F.J.R.; Montserrat, F.

2017-01-01

Negative emission technologies (NETs) target the removal of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere, and are being actively investigated as a strategy to limit global warming to within the 1.5–2°C targets of the 2015 UN climate agreement. Enhanced silicate weathering (ESW) proposes to

Effect of ferrate on green algae removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Kubiňáková, Emília; Híveš, Ján; Gál, Miroslav; Fašková, Andrea

2017-09-01

Green algae Cladophora aegagropila, present in cooling water of thermal power plants, causes many problems and complications, especially during summer. However, algae and its metabolites are rarely eliminated by common removal methods. In this work, the elimination efficiency of electrochemically prepared potassium ferrate(VI) on algae from cooling water was investigated. The influence of experimental parameters, such as Fe(VI) dosage, application time, pH of the system, temperature and hydrodynamics of the solution on removal efficiency, was optimized. This study demonstrates that algae C. aegagropila can be effectively removed from cooling water by ferrate. Application of ferrate(VI) at the optimized dosage and under the suitable conditions (temperature, pH) leads to 100% removal of green algae Cladophora from the system. Environmentally friendly reduction products (Fe(III)) and coagulation properties favour the application of ferrate for the treatment of water contaminated with studied microorganisms compared to other methods such as chlorination and use of permanganate, where harmful products are produced.

Simulating the Earth System Response to Negative Emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, R. B.; Milne, J.; Littleton, E. W.; Jones, C.; Canadell, J.; Peters, G. P.; van Vuuren, D.; Davis, S. J.; Jonas, M.; Smith, P.; Ciais, P.; Rogelj, J.; Torvanger, A.; Shrestha, G.

2016-12-01

The natural carbon sinks of the land and oceans absorb approximately half the anthropogenic CO2 emitted every year. The CO2 that is not absorbed accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere and traps the suns rays causing an increase in the global mean temperature. Removing this left over CO2 using negative emissions technologies (NETs) has been proposed as a strategy to lessen the accumulating CO2 and avoid dangerous climate change. Using CMIP5 Earth system model simulations this study assessed the impact on the global carbon cycle, and how the Earth system might respond, to negative emissions strategies applied to low emissions scenarios, over different times horizons from the year 2000 to 2300. The modeling results suggest that using NETs to remove atmospheric CO2 over five 50-year time horizons has varying effects at different points in time. The effects of anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks, can result in positive or negative changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Results show that historic emissions and the current state of the Earth System have impacts on the behavior of atmospheric CO2, as do instantaneous anthropogenic emissions. Indeed, varying background scenarios seemed to have a greater effect on atmospheric CO2 than the actual amount and timing of NETs. These results show how NETs interact with the physical climate-carbon cycle system and highlight the need for more research on earth-system dynamics as they relate to carbon sinks and sources and anthropogenic perturbations.

Stop Negative Thinking Effects for Drug Dependence

OpenAIRE

Windiarti, Sri Endang; Indriati, Indriati; Surachmi, Fajar

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of therapy stop thinking negatively against drug addiction in Rehabilitation Orphanage Rumah Damai Gunung Pati Semarang. This research is quasy experiment with pretest - posttes without the control group design. Thirty respondents were taken to the reseach sujects. Stop thinking negative therapy before and after thebehavior of drug addiction there are differences (t = 0.00), so it can be stated that the therapy stop thinking negatively inf...

Negative price-image effects of appealing store architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zielke, Stephan; Toporowski, Waldemar

2012-01-01

Retailers often worry about the negative effects of appealing exterior architecture on their store's price image, especially the price-level perception and the ease of price evaluation. Findings from prior laboratory experiments support these concerns, while field studies find no such effects. Th....... The availability of price information neutralizes the negative effects of appealing architecture on the price-level perception, but not on the ease of price evaluation....

Liposomal encapsulated Zn-DTPA for removing intracellular 169Yb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blank, M.L.; Cress, E.A.; Byrd, B.L.; Washburn, L.C.; Snyder, F.

1980-01-01

Multilamellar liposomes possessing neutral positive or negative charges were tested for their capacity to encapsulate sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and for their selectivity in depositing in specific tissues after being injected into rats. Negative-charged liposomes had the greatest trapping efficiency over a wide range of lipid-to-aqueous phase ratios. In contrast, except for lung, liposomal charge had no significant effect on the tissue distribution of encapsulated EDTA; liver and spleen exhibited the highest uptake with all preparations. The proportion of encapsulated EDTA taken up by the liver decreased as the amount of injected liposomes was increased. Free zinc diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (Zn-DTPA) and multilamellar liposomes containing entrapped Zn-DTPA were administered to rats that had been injected with 169 Yb-citrate 24 hr earlier. At doses of 14 mg Zn-DTPA per kg body weight, both free Zn-DPTA and the liposomal-bound Zn-DTPA caused increased removal of 169 Yb from the animals. However, treatment with the liposomal Zn-DTPA caused significantly more of the 169 Yb to be removed than did the free Zn-DTPA treatment by itself. Our data indicate that lipophilic forms of chelators can effectively increase the removal rates of heavy metal contamination in tissues. (author)

Short-term responses of decomposers and vegetation to stump removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kataja-aho, S.

2011-07-01

Stump removal has become a common practice to produce raw material for bioenergy production. It was hypothesized that stump removal is an extensive and more intense disturbance for forest ecosystems (soil decomposer organisms and vegetation) compared to traditional site preparation after clear cutting. Therefore, the effects of stump harvesting on forest soil decomposers, vegetation and nutrient dynamics in undisturbed patches of the forest soil and in exposed mineral soil were compared to the effects of the traditional site preparation method, mounding. Nematodes and enchytraeids were the only decomposer groups that were directly affected (negatively) by the stump removal. Regardless of the treatment, the abundances of most of the decomposer groups were consistently lower in the exposed mineral soil than in the intact forest soil. There was 2-3 times more exposed mineral soil in stump removal sites compared to mounding sites. When this was taken into account, the decomposer community was negatively affected by the stump removal at the forest stand level. However, the greater soil disturbance at the stump harvesting sites enhanced CO{sub 2} production, net nitrogen mineralisation and nitrification. The increased N availability and the changes in microclimate due to the disturbance probably explained the vegetation increase at the stump harvested sites. Planted Norway spruce seedlings grew faster during the first two growing periods at the stump removal sites than at the mounding sites. The seedlings had high and similar ectomycorrhizal colonization rate in both treatments. In the short-term, it is probably not the resources removed in the stumps themselves, but the degree and amount of soil disturbance during the stump harvesting procedure that affects the decomposer community and its function in the clear-felled stands. (orig.)

Preozonation Effect on Total Organic Carbon Removal in Surface Water Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Torabian

2006-06-01

Full Text Available In drinking water treatment, preozonation is often applied in order to control the microorganisms and taste and odor causing materials, which may influence organics removal by preoxidation and adsorption. Using commercial and natural water humic substances, the positive effect of preozonation as an aid to coagulation-flocculation of these compounds was confirmed by removal of TOC removal in Tehranpars Water Treatment Plant in Tehran. These experiments were conducted as bench-scale studies through a series of jar tests using different pH coagulant dosages and total organic carbon concentration of approximately 4, 8 and 12 mg/L. In addition to TOC removal, the existence of an optimum preozonation dose (OPZD was also confirmed. Experiments show that preozonation can improve coagulation and flocculation depending on influent TOC concentration of raw water. The results demonstrate different effects of preozonation on removal of influent TOC. Preozonation showed a positive effect on a system with low influent TOC and very low molecular weight (noncolloidal humic substances.

The effectiveness of various chelates used alone or in combination with sodium hypochlorite in the removal of calcium hydroxide from root canals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emel Uzunoglu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of various chelates used alone or in combination with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl in the removal of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH2 from root canals. Materials and Methods: The root canals of 72 mandibular incisors were prepared up to the ProTaper F2 file. Among these, six randomly selected teeth were used as negative and positive controls, while the root canals of the remaining 66 were filled with Ca(OH2 paste for 1 week. Then, the experimental group specimens were divided into six groups (n = 11. The access cavities were reopened and the Ca(OH2 paste in each group was removed using the following solutions: 2.5 mL ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; Group 1, 2.5 mL peracetic acid (PAA; Group 2, 2.5 mL QMix (Group 3, 2.5 mL NaOCl/2.5 mL EDTA (Group 4, 2.5 mL NaOCl/2.5 mL PAA (Group 5, and 2.5 mL NaOCl/2.5 mL QMix (Group 6. Digital photographs of longitudinally split specimens were imported into image analyzer software, and the amount of residual Ca (OH 2 was recorded as a percentage of the overall canal surface area. The results were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis and Conover–Dunn tests. Results: The canal walls in the positive control group were completely covered with Ca(OH 2 compared with those in the negative control group. The lowest Ca(OH2 removal efficiency was observed for Group 4 (P < 0.001, while Group 6 showed favorable results (P < 0.05. Conclusions: QMix combined with NaOCl can remove Ca(OH2 from root canals as effectively as 17% EDTA and 1% PAA. The type and sequence of irrigants are more important than the total irrigant volume for effective Ca(OH 2 removal.

Boron removal by electrocoagulation and recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Isa, Mohamed Hasnain; Ezechi, Ezerie Henry; Ahmed, Zubair; Magram, Saleh Faraj; Kutty, Shamsul Rahman Mohamed

2014-03-15

This work investigated the removal of boron from wastewater and its recovery by electrocoagulation and hydrothermal mineralization methods respectively. The experimental design was developed using Box-Behnken Model. An initial study was performed based on four preselected variables (pH, current density, concentration and time) using synthetic wastewater. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the effect of process variables and their interaction on boron removal. The optimum conditions were obtained as pH 6.3, current density 17.4 mA/cm(2), and time 89 min. At these applied optimum conditions, 99.7% boron removal from an initial concentration of 10.4 mg/L was achieved. The process was effectively optimized by RSM with a desirability value of 1.0. The results showed that boron removal efficiency enhanced with increase in current density and treatment time. Removal efficiency also increased when pH was increased from 4 to 7 and subsequently decreased at pH 10. Adsorption kinetics study revealed that the reaction followed pseudo second order kinetic model; evidenced by high correlation and goodness of fit. Thermodynamics study showed that mechanism of boron adsorption was chemisorption and the reaction was endothermic in nature. Furthermore, the adsorption process was spontaneous as indicated by negative values of the adsorption free energy. Treatment of real produced water using electrocoagulation resulted in 98% boron removal. The hydrothermal mineralization study showed that borate minerals (Inyoite, Takadaite and Nifontovite) can be recovered as recyclable precipitate from electrocoagulation flocs of produced water. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of color removal agent on textiles waste water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khomsaton Abu Bakar; Selambakknu, Sarala; Jamaliah Shariff; Ting, Teo Ming; Khairul Zaman Dahlan

2010-01-01

The effect of color removal agent (CRA) on textile waste water has been studied. The aim of this work is to determine the optimum condition for CRA to react on the textile waste water and to see the effect of CRA on waste water with different Chemical Oxygen Demand. 8 ml CRA was used to treat 800 mls of sample with various COD ranging between 2500 mg/ l-500 mg/ l. The results showed that CRA totally remove the colour of textile waste water at pH ranging from 6 to 8. At an optimum condition CRA works efficiently on waste water with COD 2300 mg/ l for reduction of suspended solid and turbidity. It also observed, sludge accumulation was depended on COD concentration. Color removal curves for different initial COD concentration also obtained. (author)

Effect of garlic solution to Bacillus sp. removal

Science.gov (United States)

Zainol, N.; Rahim, S. R.

2018-04-01

Biofilm is a microbial derived sessile community characterized by cells that are irreversibly attached to a substratum or interface to each other, embedded in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances that they have produced. Bacillus sp. was used as biofilm model in this study. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Garlic solution in term of ratio of water and Garlic solution (W/G) and ratio of Garlic solution to Bacillus sp. (GS/B) on Bacillus sp removal. Garlic solution was used to remove Bacillus sp. In this study, Garlic solution was prepared by crushing the garlic and mixed it with water. the Garlic solution was added into Bacillus sp. mixture and mixed well. The mixture then was spread on nutrient agar. The Bacillus sp. weight on agar plate was measured by using dry weight measurement method. In this study, initially Garlic solution volume and Garlic solution concentration were studied using one factor at time (OFAT). Later two-level-factorial analysis was done to determine the most contributing factor in Bacillus sp. removal. Design Expert software (Version 7) was used to construct experimental table where all the factors were randomized. Bacilus sp removal was ranging between 42.13% to 99.6%. The analysis of the results showed that at W/G of 1:1, Bacillus sp. removal increased when more Garlic solution was added to Bacillus sp. Effect of Garlic solution to Bacillus sp. will be understood which in turn may be beneficial for the industrial purpose.

Combining woody biomass for combustion with green waste composting: Effect of removal of woody biomass on compost quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandecasteele, Bart; Boogaerts, Christophe; Vandaele, Elke

2016-12-01

The question was tackled on how the green waste compost industry can optimally apply the available biomass resources for producing both bioenergy by combustion of the woody fraction, and high quality soil improvers as renewable sources of carbon and nutrients. Compost trials with removal of woody biomass before or after composting were run at 9 compost facilities during 3 seasons to include seasonal variability of feedstock. The project focused on the changes in feedstock and the effect on the end product characteristics (both compost and recovered woody biomass) of this woody biomass removal. The season of collection during the year clearly affected the biochemical and chemical characteristics of feedstock, woody biomass and compost. On one hand the effect of removal of the woody fraction before composting did not significantly affect compost quality when compared to the scenario where the woody biomass was sieved from the compost at the end of the composting process. On the other hand, quality of the woody biomass was not strongly affected by extraction before or after composting. The holocellulose:lignin ratio was used in this study as an indicator for (a) the decomposition potential of the feedstock mixture and (b) to assess the stability of the composts at the end of the process. Higher microbial activity in green waste composts (indicated by higher oxygen consumption) and thus a lower compost stability resulted in higher N immobilization in the compost. Removal of woody biomass from the green waste before composting did not negatively affect the compost quality when more intensive composting was applied. The effect of removal of the woody fraction on the characteristics of the green waste feedstock and the extracted woody biomass is depending on the season of collection. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Verbal instructions targeting valence alter negative conditional stimulus evaluations (but do not affect reinstatement rates).

Science.gov (United States)

Luck, Camilla C; Lipp, Ottmar V

2018-02-01

Negative conditional stimulus (CS) valence acquired during fear conditioning may enhance fear relapse and is difficult to remove as it extinguishes slowly and does not respond to the instruction that unconditional stimulus (US) presentations will cease. We examined whether instructions targeting CS valence would be more effective. In Experiment 1, an image of one person (CS+) was paired with an aversive US, while another (CS-) was presented alone. After acquisition, participants were given positive information about the CS+ poser and negative information about the CS- poser. Instructions reversed the pattern of differential CS valence present during acquisition and eliminated differential electrodermal responding. In Experiment 2, we compared positive and negative CS revaluation by providing positive/negative information about the CS+ and neutral information about CS-. After positive revaluation, differential valence was removed and differential electrodermal responding remained intact. After negative revaluation, differential valence was strengthened and differential electrodermal responding was eliminated. Unexpectedly, the instructions did not affect the reinstatement of differential electrodermal responding.

Consensus statement on defining and measuring negative effects of Internet interventions

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Alexander Rozental

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Internet interventions have great potential for alleviating emotional distress, promoting mental health, and enhancing well-being. Numerous clinical trials have demonstrated their efficacy for a number of psychiatric conditions, and interventions delivered via the Internet will likely become a common alternative to face-to-face treatment. Meanwhile, research has paid little attention to the negative effects associated with treatment, warranting further investigation of the possibility that some patients might deteriorate or encounter adverse events despite receiving best available care. Evidence from research of face-to-face treatment suggests that negative effects afflict 5–10% of all patients undergoing treatment in terms of deterioration. However, there is currently a lack of consensus on how to define and measure negative effects in psychotherapy research in general, leaving researchers without practical guidelines for monitoring and reporting negative effects in clinical trials. The current paper therefore seeks to provide recommendations that could promote the study of negative effects in Internet interventions with the aim of increasing the knowledge of its occurrence and characteristics. Ten leading experts in the field of Internet interventions were invited to participate and share their perspective on how to explore negative effects, using the Delphi technique to facilitate a dialog and reach an agreement. The authors discuss the importance of conducting research on negative effects in order to further the understanding of its incidence and different features. Suggestions on how to classify and measure negative effects in Internet interventions are proposed, involving methods from both quantitative and qualitative research. Potential mechanisms underlying negative effects are also discussed, differentiating common factors shared with face-to-face treatments from those unique to treatments delivered via the Internet. The authors

Hair removal in adolescence

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Sandra Pereira

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Due to hormonal stimulation during puberty, changes occur in hair type and distribution. In both sexes, body and facial unwanted hair may have a negative psychological impact on the teenager. There are several available methods of hair removal, but the choice of the most suitable one for each individual can raise doubts. Objective: To review the main methods of hair removal and clarify their indications, advantages and disadvantages. Development: There are several removal methods currently available. Shaving and depilation with chemicals products are temporary methods, that need frequent repetition, because hair removal is next to the cutaneous surface. The epilating methods in which there is full hair extraction include: epilation with wax, thread, tweezers, epilating machines, laser, intense pulsed light, and electrolysis. Conclusions: The age of beginning hair removal and the method choice must be individualized and take into consideration the skin and hair type, location, dermatological and endocrine problems, removal frequency, cost and personal preferences.

Specific and non-specific match effects in negative priming.

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Labossière, Danielle I; Leboe-McGowan, Jason P

2018-01-01

The negative priming effect occurs when withholding a response to a stimulus impairs generation of subsequent responding to a same or a related stimulus. Our goal was to use the negative priming procedure to obtain insights about the memory representations generated by ignoring vs. attending/responding to a prime stimulus. Across three experiments we observed that ignoring a prime stimulus tends to generate higher identity-independent, non-specific repetition effects, owing to an overlap in the coarse perceptual form of a prime distractor and a probe target. By contrast, attended repetition effects generate predominantly identity-specific sources of facilitation. We use these findings to advocate for using laboratory phenomena to illustrate general principles that can be of practical use to non-specialists. In the case of the negative priming procedure, we propose that the procedure provides a useful means for investigating attention/memory interactions, even if the specific cause (or causes) of negative priming effects remain unresolved. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Melamine Sponge on Tooth Stain Removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Otsuka, Takero; Kawata, Toshitsugu

2015-01-01

To investigate the stain removal ability of melamine sponge before aesthetic tooth whitening in extracted teeth. Melamine sponge of thickness 40 mm was compressed and the destruction of the partition wall structure during the compression process was examined under a stereoscopic microscope. An extracted human tooth was cleaned by normal polishing or with melamine sponge for 90 s. To evaluate the stain level, the tooth surfaces were photographed under a stereoscopic microscope at 0, 30, 60 and 90 s. The residual stained region was traced in a high-magnification photograph, and the stain intensity was presented as a change, relative to the intensity before the experiment (0 s). Mechanical cleaning by toothbrushing produced polishing scratches on the tooth surface, whereas use of the melamine sponge resulted in only minimal scratches. As the compression level increased, the stain-removing effect tended to become stronger. Melamine sponge can remove stains from the tooth surface more effectively and less invasively compared to a conventional toothbrush. As no new scratches are made on the tooth surface when using a melamine sponge brush, the risk of re-staining is reduced. Cleaning using a melamine sponge brush can be easily and effectively performed at home and in a dental office.

Ultrasound gel minimizes third body debris with partial hardware removal in joint arthroplasty

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Aidan C. McGrory

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Hundreds of thousands of revision surgeries for hip, knee, and shoulder joint arthroplasties are now performed worldwide annually. Partial removal of hardware during some types of revision surgeries may create significant amounts of third body metal, polymer, or bone cement debris. Retained debris may lead to a variety of negative health effects including damage to the joint replacement. We describe a novel technique for the better containment and easier removal of third body debris during partial hardware removal. We demonstrate hardware removal on a hip joint model in the presence and absence of water-soluble gel to depict the reduction in metal debris volume and area of spread.

Combined electrocoagulation and electroflotation for removal of fluoride from drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Qianhai; Chen, Xueming; Li, Wei; Chen, Guohua

2008-11-30

A combined electrocoagulation (EC) and electroflotation (EF) process was proposed to remove fluoride from drinking water. Its efficacy was investigated under different conditions. Experimental results showed that the combined process could remove fluoride effectively. The total hydraulic retention time required was only 30 min. After treatment, the fluoride concentration was reduced from initial 4.0-6.0mg/L to lower than 1.0mg/L. The influent pH value was found to be a very important variable that affected fluoride removal significantly. The optimal influent pH range is 6.0-7.0 at which not only can effective defluoridation be achieved, but also no pH readjustment is needed after treatment. In addition, it was found that SO(4)(2-) had negative effect; Ca(2+) had positive effect; while Cl(-) had little effect on the fluoride removal. The EC charge loading, EF charge loading and energy consumption were 3.0 Faradays/m(3), 1.5 Faradays/m(3), and 1.2 kWh/m(3), respectively, under typical conditions where fluoride was reduced from initial 4.0 to 0.87 mg/L.

Effect of adhesive remnant removal on enamel topography after bracket debonding

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Larissa Adrian Meira Cardoso

2014-12-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: At orthodontic treatment completion, knowledge about the effects of adhesive remnant removal on enamel is paramount.OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at assessing the effect of different adhesive remnant removal methods on enamel topography (ESI and surface roughness (Ra after bracket debonding and polishing.METHODS: A total of 50 human premolars were selected and divided into five groups according to the method used for adhesive remnant removal: high speed tungsten carbide bur (TCB, Sof-Lex discs (SL, adhesive removing plier (PL, ultrasound (US and Fiberglass burs (FB. Metal brackets were bonded with Transbond XT, stored at 37oC for 24 hours before debonding with adhesive removing plier. Subsequently, removal methods were carried out followed by polishing with pumice paste. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted with pre-bonding, post-debonding and post-polishing analyses. Results were submitted to statistical analysis with F test (ANOVA and Tukey's (Ra as well as with Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni tests (ESI (P < 0.05.RESULTS: US Ra and ESI were significantly greater than TCB, SL, PL and FB. Polishing minimized Ra and ESI in the SL and FB groups.CONCLUSION: Adhesive remnant removal with SL and FB associated with polishing are recommended due to causing little damage to the enamel.

Effects of water chemistry on arsenic removal from drinking water by electrocoagulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Wei; Pepping, Troy J; Banerji, Tuhin; Chaudhari, Sanjeev; Giammar, Daniel E

2011-01-01

Exposure to arsenic through drinking water poses a threat to human health. Electrocoagulation is a water treatment technology that involves electrolytic oxidation of anode materials and in-situ generation of coagulant. The electrochemical generation of coagulant is an alternative to using chemical coagulants, and the process can also oxidize As(III) to As(V). Batch electrocoagulation experiments were performed in the laboratory using iron electrodes. The experiments quantified the effects of pH, initial arsenic concentration and oxidation state, and concentrations of dissolved phosphate, silica and sulfate on the rate and extent of arsenic removal. The iron generated during electrocoagulation precipitated as lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH), except when dissolved silica was present, and arsenic was removed by adsorption to the lepidocrocite. Arsenic removal was slower at higher pH. When solutions initially contained As(III), a portion of the As(III) was oxidized to As(V) during electrocoagulation. As(V) removal was faster than As(III) removal. The presence of 1 and 4 mg/L phosphate inhibited arsenic removal, while the presence of 5 and 20 mg/L silica or 10 and 50 mg/L sulfate had no significant effect on arsenic removal. For most conditions examined in this study, over 99.9% arsenic removal efficiency was achieved. Electrocoagulation was also highly effective at removing arsenic from drinking water in field trials conducted in a village in Eastern India. By using operation times long enough to produce sufficient iron oxide for removal of both phosphate and arsenate, the performance of the systems in field trials was not inhibited by high phosphate concentrations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of SiO2 and graphene oxide nanoparticles on efficiency of biological removal process.

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaeili-Faraj, Seyyed Hamid; Nasr Esfahany, Mohsen

2017-11-01

The effects of the presence of synthesized silica (SS) and exfoliated graphene oxide (EGO) on the removal of sulfide ion with activated sludge (AS) are experimentally investigated. The maximum removal efficiency of sulfide ion for AS without nanoparticles, and the samples with SS and EGO nanoparticles were 81%, 88% and 79%, respectively. Moreover, the maximum elimination capacity (EC max ) for the bioreactor with SS-nanoparticles is 7542 mg/L s, while the EC max of AS and EGO samples were 7075 and 6625 mg/L s, respectively. Two filamentous microbial strains as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria are discerned that removed sulfide ion in the presence of nanoparticles. The measurement of mixture liquor volatile suspended solid that indicates the biomass growth rate during the test shows that the bioreactor containing SS-nanoparticles has more biomass content than the other samples. Our findings indicate that SS-nanoparticles with 0.1% wt. concentration in the bioreactor have no negative effects on the efficiency of the biological removal of sulfide and the presence of SS-nanoparticles even enhances the performance of the bioreactor. On the other side, a bioreactor with EGO nanosheets, as highly antibacterial nanoparticles, with 0.02% wt. concentration significantly influences the microbial growth and reduces sulfide removal efficiency.

Effectiveness of a new dentifrice with baking soda and peroxide in removing extrinsic stain and whitening teeth.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghassemi, A; Hooper, W; Vorwerk, L; Domke, T; DeSciscio, P; Nathoo, S

2012-01-01

The primary purpose of this randomized, controlled, six-week clinical trial was to determine the effectiveness and safety of a new whitening dentifrice in removing extrinsic tooth stain and whitening teeth. An additional two-week exploratory study was conducted to determine whether the whitening or stain-prevention activity of the dentifrice would persist following cessation of use. In the first study (Phase I), one-hundred and forty-six qualifying subjects were randomly assigned to either a sodium bicarbonate whitening dentifrice group (Arm & Hammer Advance White Extreme Whitening Baking Soda and Peroxide Toothpaste) or a silica-based negative control dentifrice group, and brushed twice daily with their assigned dentifrice for six weeks. Tooth shade on the labial surfaces of the eight incisors was assessed using a Vita Classic shade guide, and extrinsic tooth stain was scored using a Modified Lobene Stain Index (MLSI) at baseline, week 4, and week 6. In Phase II (after the week 6 examination), volunteers from the Arm & Hammer whitening dentifrice group were randomly assigned to continue using the whitening dentifrice or to use the negative control dentifrice twice daily for two weeks. The six-week shade and stain index scores served as the baseline for this exploratory phase and were rescored after two weeks. The whitening dentifrice group had statistically significant (p < 0.0001) mean shade score reductions of 1.82 and 2.57 from baseline to weeks 4 and 6, respectively. For the same periods, the negative control dentifrice group was virtually unchanged from baseline. For tooth stain, the MLSI total mean scores for the whitening dentifrice group showed statistically significant (p < 0.0001) decreases from baseline of 1.42 (41.6%) and 2.11 (61.6%) at weeks 4 and 6, respectively. In contrast, the negative control dentifrice group had a MLSI reduction of 0.07 at week 4 and a 0.06 increase at week 6. Between-group analyses using baseline-adjusted ANCOVA showed the

[Effect of Different Purple Parent Rock on Removal Rates of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Organics in Landscape Water].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xue-jiao; Liu, Xiao-chen; Li, Zhen-lun; Shi, Wen-hao; Yang, Shan

2015-05-01

In order to understand the impacts of physicochemical properties of purple parent rock on the removal rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and organics in landscape water systems, four types of purple parent rocks including Peng-lai-zhen Formation (S1) , Sha-xi-miao Formation (S2) , Fei-xian-guan Formation (S3) and Sui-ning Formation (S4) , which distribute widely in Chongqing, were selected and autoclaved, and added to unsterile landscape water collected from Chong-de Lake in Southwest University, and the landscape water only was used as control. And several indicators such as total nitrogen and phosphorus and so on of every disposal were investigated periodically. The results indicated that: (1) The highest removal rates of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and Ammonia nitrogen were observed in Sl, which were 45.1%, 62.3% and 90%, respectively; the highest removal rate of COD was 94.5% in S4; the ammonia nitrogen content in the purple parent rocks was not obviously changed before and after the experiments, which indicated that the adsorption of ammonia nitrogen on purple parent rock surface was not the main reason for the decrease of ammonia nitrogen in water. (2) Arsenate had inhibitory effect on the sulfate-reducing bacteria, while copper and magnesium had promoting effect on gram-negative bacteria. (3) The microbial diversity was positively correlated to total nitrogen in water. (4) Based on the PCA analyses of microbial community structure and environmental factors, the mineral elements released from parent rock affected the structure and composition of microbial community in the test water, and then influenced the removal rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and organics in water systems.

Plasma polymer-functionalized silica particles for heavy metals removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhavan, Behnam; Jarvis, Karyn; Majewski, Peter

2015-02-25

Highly negatively charged particles were fabricated via an innovative plasma-assisted approach for the removal of heavy metal ions. Thiophene plasma polymerization was used to deposit sulfur-rich films onto silica particles followed by the introduction of oxidized sulfur functionalities, such as sulfonate and sulfonic acid, via water-plasma treatments. Surface chemistry analyses were conducted by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Electrokinetic measurements quantified the zeta potentials and isoelectric points (IEPs) of modified particles and indicated significant decreases of zeta potentials and IEPs upon plasma modification of particles. Plasma polymerized thiophene-coated particles treated with water plasma for 10 min exhibited an IEP of less than 3.5. The effectiveness of developed surfaces in the adsorption of heavy metal ions was demonstrated through copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) removal experiments. The removal of metal ions was examined through changing initial pH of solution, removal time, and mass of particles. Increasing the water plasma treatment time to 20 min significantly increased the metal removal efficiency (MRE) of modified particles, whereas further increasing the plasma treatment time reduced the MRE due to the influence of an ablation mechanism. The developed particulate surfaces were capable of removing more than 96.7% of both Cu and Zn ions in 1 h. The combination of plasma polymerization and oxidative plasma treatment is an effective method for the fabrication of new adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals.

Effect of halide impregnation on elemental mercury removal of activated carbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yim, Yoon Ji; Park, Soo Jin [Dept. of Chemistry, Inha University, Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2017-02-15

Activated carbons (ACs) were impregnated with potassium halides (KX) to enhance the removal efficiency of elemental mercury (Hg{sup 0}). In this work, the impregnation effect of potassium bromide (KBr) and potassium iodine (KI) were investigated. The surface properties of KX-ACs were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The pore structures and total pore volumes of the KX-ACs were analyzed using the N{sub 2} /77 K adsorption isotherms. The Hg{sup 0} removal efficiency of KBr-ACs and KI-ACs was studied under simulated flue gas conditions. The effects of KI and KBr loading, adsorption temperature, and flue gas components on Hg{sup 0} removal efficiency were also investigated. The results showed that the Hg{sup 0} removal efficiency of the ACs was significantly enhanced by KI or KBr impregnation, and KI-ACs showed higher Hg{sup 0} removal efficiency than KBr-ACs under the same conditions. An increase in KI or KBr loading and higher adsorption temperatures improved the Hg{sup 0} removal efficiency, indicating that chemisorption occurred due to the reaction between X− and Hg{sup 0}. The lower extent of Hg{sup 0} removal exhibited by the KBr-ACs than by the KI-ACs was due to the difficulty of Br{sub 2} formation on the surfaces.

Rate and predictors of negative effects of psychotherapy in psychiatric and psychosomatic inpatients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rheker, Julia; Beisel, Sylvia; Kräling, Svenja; Rief, Winfried

2017-08-01

Studies examining the rates of negative effects of psychotherapy are rare and the reported rates differ widely. To be able to calculate adequate benefit-cost ratios in conjunction with different samples and settings, we need a deeper understanding of these effects. We therefore investigated whether different treatment settings would reveal varying rates and kinds of negative effects by recruiting patients from a psychiatric (n=93) and a psychosomatic rehabilitation (n=63) hospital. Negative effects of psychotherapy were assessed with the Inventory for the Assessment of Negative Effects of Psychotherapy post-treatment. To investigate whether patients' pre-treatment expectations have an influence on reported negative effects, patients filled in the Patient Questionnaire on Therapy Expectation and Evaluation prior to treatment begin. Patients from the psychiatric hospital reported an average 1.41 negative effects, with 58.7% reporting at least one negative effect. Those from the psychosomatic hospital reported 0.76 negative effects on average, with 45.2% of patients reporting at least one negative effect. The differences between these samples are significant. The two samples' top three reported types of negative effects are that patients had experienced more downs during or just before the end of the therapy, that patients had difficulty making important decisions without the therapist, and that patients were concerned that colleagues or friends might find out about the therapy. A regression analysis revealed that the clinical setting (psychosomatic rehabilitation hospital vs. psychiatric hospital) and expectations in the form of hope of improvement were significant predictors for negative effects of psychotherapy. Our study highlights the need to examine the negative effects of psychotherapy in different settings and samples to better evaluate the benefit-cost ratios of treatments for different patient groups. It also shows that we need guidelines for assessing and

Patients' perspectives about why they have their contraceptive Implanon NXT device removed early.

Science.gov (United States)

Flore, Meike; Chen, Xiaoshuang Lilly; Bonney, Andrew; Mullan, Judy; Dijkmans-Hadley, Bridget; Hodgkins, Adam; Evans, Gina; Frew, Haley; Lloyd, Gail

2016-10-01

Women with long-acting, reversible contraceptive devices inserted may choose to remove them prior to their planned expiry dates. The objective of this study was to explore Australian women's experiences with the etonogestrel subdermal contraceptive implant (Implanon NXT) and why they had it removed early. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 women between June 2013 and January 2014. Transcriptions of the audio-taped interviews were analysed using a constant comparative analysis framework. Two core themes of participants' responses that were identified in this study were influences on choice of contraception, which included convenience and information sources; and influences on removal of contraception, which included side effects and their negative impacts on relationships and financial costs. This study highlights that women's experiences with side effects contribute to the early removal of long-acting contraceptive devices such as Implanon NXT. This study emphasises the importance of general practitioners (GPs) in providing comprehensive information about the benefits and potential side effects associated with using these implants.

Evaluation of trickle-bed air biofilter performance for MEK removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Zhangli; Kim, Daekeun; Sorial, George A

2004-10-18

A lab-scale trickle-bed air biofilter (TBAB) was operated to evaluate the removal of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from waste gas. Three biomass control strategies were investigated, namely, backwashing and two non-use periods (starvation and stagnant). Five volumetric loading rates from 0.70 to 7.04 kg COD/m(3)day were employed. Backwashing once a week removed the excess biomass and obtained long-term, stable performance over 99% removal efficiency for loading rates less than 5.63 kg COD/m(3)day. The two non-use periods could also sustain 99% removal efficiency and could be employed as another means of biomass control for loading rates up to 3.52 kg COD/m(3)day. The non-use periods did not delay the recovery when the loading rate did not exceed 3.52 kg COD/m(3)day. The pseudo-first-order removal rate constant decreased with increase in volumetric loading rate. The effect of non-use periods on removal rate showed apparent transition from positive to negative with the increase in loading rate.

Effects of postmyelographic removal of metrizamide in dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widmer, W.R.; Blevins, W.E.; Cantwell, H.D.; Cook, J.R. Jr.; DeNicola, D.B.

1990-01-01

Using a paired crossover trial, the effects of postmyelographic removal of metrizamide injected via the cerebellomedullary cistern were studied in 16 normal dogs. Each animal received a routine and a withdrawal myelogram. Seizure activity, changes in spinal evoked motor potentials and body temperature were measured following each myelogram. The amount of metrizamide removed was determined by densitometrically analyzing radiographs of cerebrospinal fluid/metrizamide aliquots recovered during the withdrawal procedure. There was a significant decrease in the number of seizures for withdrawal versus nonwithdrawal myelography (p < 0.01). The mean amount of metrizamide withdrawn per dog was 29% of the total injected

Positive Effects of Negative Publicity: When Negative Reviews Increase Sales

OpenAIRE

Jonah Berger; Alan T. Sorensen; Scott J. Rasmussen

2010-01-01

Can negative information about a product increase sales, and if so, when? Although popular wisdom suggests that "any publicity is good publicity," prior research has demonstrated only downsides to negative press. Negative reviews or word of mouth, for example, have been found to hurt product evaluation and sales. Using a combination of econometric analysis and experimental methods, we unify these perspectives to delineate contexts under which negative publicity about a product will have posit...

Effective removal of Ni(II) from aqueous solutions by modification of nano particles of clinoptilolite with dimethylglyoxime.

Science.gov (United States)

Nezamzadeh-Ejhieh, Alireza; Kabiri-Samani, Mehdi

2013-09-15

In this work an Iranian natural clinoptilolite tuff was pre-treated and changed to the micro (MCP) and nano (NCP) particles by mechanical method. Modification of micro and nano particles and also their Ni-exchanged forms were done by dimethylglyoxime (DMG). The raw and modified samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, BET, TG-DTG and energy dispersive analysis X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). Removal of Ni(II) by modified and unmodified samples was investigated in batch procedure. It was found that NCP-DMG has higher capacity for removal of Ni(II). The effects of analytical parameters such as pH, dose of DMG, concentration of nickel solution, contact time and selectivity were studied and the optimal operation parameters were found as follows: pHPZC: 7.6, CNi(II): 0.01 M, contact time: 360 min and DMG dosage: 5mM. The results of selectivity experiments showed that the modified zeolite has a good selectivity for nickel in the presence of different multivalent cations. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were adopted to describe the adsorption isotherms. Adsorption isotherms of Ni(II) ions could be best modelled by Langmuir equation, that indicate the monolayer sorption of Ni(II). Comparison of two kinetic models indicates that the adsorption kinetic can be well described by the pseudo-second-order rate equation that indicates that the rate limiting step for the process involves chemical reaction. The negative ΔH and ΔG indicate an exothermic and spontaneously process. The negative ΔS indicates that the adsorption of nickel cations from solution occurs with lower amount ion replacement, thus chemisorptions due to complex formation are dominant process in nickel removal. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sulphate Removal from Water by Carbon Residue from Biomass Gasification: Effect of Chemical Modification Methods on Sulphate Removal Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanna Runtti

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Sulphate removal from mine water is a problem because traditional chemical precipitation does not remove all sulphates. In addition, it creates lime sediment as a secondary waste. Therefore, an inexpensive and environmental-friendly sulphate removal method is needed in addition to precipitation. In this study, carbon residues from a wood gasification process were repurposed as precursors to a suitable sorbent for SO42- ion removal. The raw material was modified using ZnCl2, BaCl2, CaCl2, FeCl3, or FeCl2. Carbon residues modified with FeCl3 were selected for further consideration because the removal efficiency toward sulphate was the highest. Batch sorption experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of the initial pH, initial SO42- ion concentration, and contact time on sulphate removal. The removal of SO42- ions using Fe-modified carbon residue was notably higher compared with unmodified carbon residue and commercially available activated carbon. The sorption data exhibited pseudo-second-order kinetics. The isotherm analysis indicated that the sorption data of Fe-modified carbon residues can be represented by the bi-Langmuir isotherm model.

Novel stimuli are negative stimuli: evidence that negative affect is reduced in the mere exposure effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Brent M; Elias, Lorin J

2005-04-01

Repeated exposure of a nonreinforced stimulus results in an increased preference for that stimulus, the mere exposure effect. The present study repeatedly presented positive, negative, and neutrally affective faces to 48 participants while they made judgments about the emotional expression. Participants then rated the likeability of novel neutrally expressive faces and some of these previously presented faces, this time in their neutral expression. Faces originally presented as happy were rated as the most likeable, followed by faces originally presented as neutral. Negative and novel faces were not rated significantly differently from each other. These findings support the notion that the increase in preference towards repeatedly presented stimuli is the result of the reduction in negative affect, consistent with the modified two-factor uncertainty-reduction model and classical conditioning model of the mere exposure effect.

Accelerating effects of cellulase in the removal of denture adhesives from acrylic denture bases.

Science.gov (United States)

Harada-Hada, Kae; Mimura, Sumiyo; Hong, Guang; Hashida, Tatsumi; Abekura, Hitoshi; Murata, Hiroshi; Nishimura, Masahiro; Nikawa, Hiroki

2017-04-01

Studies of effective methods for the easy removal of denture adhesives from a denture base are not well represented in the literature. We previously assessed the removability of denture adhesives by immersing within denture cleaners, showing that some cleaners have a weak effect, insufficiently effective in daily use. In this study, we prepared a cellulase, as a potential component for denture adhesive removers, and we examined whether the addition of cellulase to denture cleaners is effective in the removal of cream denture adhesives. We prepared the cellulase Meicelase as one component for the liquefaction of denture adhesives. We used two denture cleaners and two cream adhesives. After the immersion of plates in sample solutions, we evaluated the area of the sample plate still covered with adhesives. Biofilm removal assay was also performed using denture cleaners containing cellulase. The addition of cellulase accelerated the removal of cream adhesives in immersion experiments to a rate faster than that of water and denture cleaners. However, it did not influence the removability of Candida albicans biofilms from acrylic resin specimens. Cellulase hastened the liquefaction of cream adhesives. Copyright © 2016 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How encompassing is the effect of negativity bias on political conservatism?

Science.gov (United States)

Malka, Ariel; Soto, Christopher J

2014-06-01

We argue that the political effects of negativity bias are narrower than Hibbing et al. suggest. Negativity bias reliably predicts social, but not economic, conservatism, and its political effects often vary across levels of political engagement. Thus the role of negativity bias in broad ideological conflict depends on the strategic packaging of economic and social attitudes by political elites.

Stage effects of negative emotion on spatial and verbal working memory

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Chan Raymond CK

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The effects of negative emotion on different processing periods in spatial and verbal working memory (WM and the possible brain mechanism of the interaction between negative emotion and WM were explored using a high-time resolution event-related potential (ERP technique and time-locked delayed matching-to-sample task (DMST. Results Early P3b and late P3b were reduced in the negative emotion condition for both the spatial and verbal tasks at encoding. At retention, the sustained negative slow wave (NSW showed a significant interaction between emotional state and task type. Spatial trials in the negative emotion condition elicited a more negative deflection than they did in the neutral emotion condition. However, no such effect was observed for the verbal tasks. At retrieval, early P3b and late P3b were markedly more attenuated in the negative emotion condition than in the neutral emotion condition for both the spatial and verbal tasks. Conclusions The results indicate that the differential effects of negative emotion on spatial and verbal WM mainly take place during information maintenance processing, which implies that there is a systematic association between specific affects (e.g., negative emotion and certain cognitive processes (e.g., spatial retention.

Negative Phototropism of Chlorophytum comosum Roots and Their Mechanisms

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Chen Juan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aerial roots of Chlorophytum comosum were grown hydroponically, allowing us to study the performance and mechanism of negative phototropism. The results of this study were as follows. All the adventitious roots and their branch roots bent away from light with a maximum curvature of approximately 88.5°. Blue-violet light prominently induced negative phototropism while red light had no effect. The root cap was the site of photo perception. Roots with shaded or divested root caps exposed to unilateral light showed no negative phototropism, but resumed their original characteristics when the shade was removed or when new root caps grew. The curvature increased when the light intensity ranged 0–110 μmol · m−2 · s−1. The negative phototropism curvature could be promoted by exogenous CaCl2 but was inhibited by exogenous LaCl3; exogenous CaCl2 could reduce the inhibitory effect of LaCl3. Unilateral light induced the horizontal transport of IAA from the irradiated side to the shaded side, resulting in an unequal distribution of IAA in both the sides, leading to negative phototropism. The horizontal transport of IAA was promoted by exogenous Ca2+ but inhibited by exogenous La3+.

Effect of scleral buckle removal on strabismus surgery outcomes after retinal detachment repair

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Chang, Jee Ho; Hutchinson, Amy; Zhang, Monica; Lambert, Scott R.

2015-01-01

Background/Aims To investigate the effect of scleral buckle removal on the outcomes of strabismus surgery in patients with a prior history of retinal detachment surgery. Methods We reviewed the medical records of 18 patients who underwent strabismus surgery following a scleral buckling procedure at one institution. We investigated the effect of multiple variables on outcome, including: gender, age, surgeon, number of strabismus surgeries, adjustable suture use, previous pars plana vitrectomy, preoperative best-corrected visual acuity and time of surgery. Outcomes were considered successful if there was ≤ 10 prism diopter (PD) residual horizontal and/or ≤ 4 PD residual vertical deviation. Outcomes were analyzed statistically using Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney test. Results Strabismus surgery coupled with scleral buckle removal was associated with a higher rate of success (success with buckle removal, 62.5%; success without buckle removal, 10.0%; p=0.04). There were no significant difference in preoperative findings between the scleral buckle removal and non- removal groups. No retinal redetachments occurred after scleral buckle removal. Conclusion In our series, scleral buckle removal was associated with improved surgical outcome in patients with strabismus following a scleral buckling procedure. PMID:24299332

Fluoride removal from diluted solutions by Donnan dialysis using full factorial design

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Boubakri, Ali; Helali, Nawel; Tlili, Mohamed; Amor, Mohamed Ben [Center of Researches and Water Technologies, Soliman (Turkey)

2014-03-15

Excessive fluoride concentration in potable water can lead to fluorosis of teeth and bones. In the present study, Donnan dialysis (DD) is applied for the removal of fluoride ions from diluted sodium fluoride solutions. A four factor two level (2{sup 4}) full factorial design was used to investigate the influence of different physico-chemical parameters on fluoride removal efficiency (Y{sub F}) and fluoride flux (J{sub F}) through anion exchange membrane. The statistical design determines factors which have the important effects on Donnan dialysis performance and studies all interactions among the considered parameters. The four significant factors were initial fluoride concentration, feed flow rate, temperature and agitation speed. The experimental results and statistical analysis show that the temperature and agitation speed have positive effects on fluoride removal efficiency and the initial fluoride concentration has a negative effect. In the case of fluoride flux, feed flow rate and initial concentration are the main effect and all factors have a positive effect. The interaction between studied parameters was not negligible on two responses. A maximum fluoride removal of 75.52% was obtained under optimum conditions and the highest value of fluoride flux obtained was 2.4 mg/cm{sup 2}·h. Empirical regression models were also obtained and used to predict the flux and the fluoride removal profiles with satisfactory results.

Effect of some operational parameters on the arsenic removal by electrocoagulation using iron electrodes

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2014-01-01

Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a global problem that will likely become more apparent in future years as scientists and engineers measure the true extent of the problem. Arsenic poisoning is preventable though as there are several methods for easily removing even trace amounts of arsenic from drinking water. In the present study, electrocoagulation was evaluated as a treatment technology for arsenic removal from aqueous solutions. The effects of parameters such as initial pH, current density, initial concentration, supporting electrolyte type and stirring speed on removal efficiency were investigated. It has been observed that initial pH was highly effective on the arsenic removal efficiency. The highest removal efficiency was observed at initial pH = 4. The obtained experimental results showed that the efficiency of arsenic removal increased with increasing current density and decreased with increasing arsenic concentration in the solution. Supporting electrolyte had not significant effects on removal, adding supporting electrolyte decreased energy consumption. The effect of stirring speed on removal efficiency was investigated and the best removal efficiency was at the 150 rpm. Under the optimum conditions of initial pH 4, current density of 0.54 mA/cm2, stirring speed of 150 rpm, electrolysis time of 30 minutes, removal was obtained as 99.50%. Energy consumption in the above conditions was calculated as 0.33 kWh/m3. Electrocoagulation with iron electrodes was able to bring down 50 mg/L arsenic concentration to less than 10 μg/L at the end of electrolysis time of 45 minutes with low electrical energy consumption as 0.52 kWh/m3. PMID:24991426

Prosocial Behavior Mitigates the Negative Effects of Stress in Everyday Life.

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Raposa, Elizabeth B; Laws, Holly B; Ansell, Emily B

2016-07-01

Recent theories of stress reactivity posit that, when stressed, individuals tend to seek out opportunities to affiliate with and nurture others in order to prevent or mitigate the negative effects of stress. However, few studies have tested empirically the role of prosocial behavior in reducing negative emotional responses to stress. The current analyses used daily diary data to investigate whether engaging in prosocial behavior buffered the negative effects of naturally-occurring stressors on emotional well-being. Results showed that on a given day, prosocial behavior moderated the effects of stress on positive affect, negative affect, and overall mental health. Findings suggest that affiliative behavior may be an important component of coping with stress, and indicate that engaging in prosocial behavior might be an effective strategy for reducing the impact of stress on emotional functioning.

EDTA-functionalized clinoptilolite nanoparticles as an effective adsorbent for Pb(II) removal.

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Eshraghi, Farahnaz; Nezamzadeh-Ejhieh, Alireza

2018-03-08

An efficient Pb(II) adsorbent was prepared by the modification of clinoptilolite nanoparticles (CpN) with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, BET, TG-DTG, CHNS analyzer, and energy dispersive analysis X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The experiments were designed by response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) that suggested a quadratic model to predict the conditions and the interactions between the variables including adsorbent dosage, removal time, C Pb , and its solution pH. Adequacy of the suggested quadratic model was judged by ANOVA. The maximum Pb(II) removal of 0.27 mmol Pb(II) /g ads was achieved in optimal run including adsorbent dosage 2 g L -1 , removal time 271 min, C Pb 22.51 mmol L -1 , and Pb(II) solution pH 5.88. In binary metal cation systems including 1000 mg L -1 with respect to both Pb(II) and interfering cations, good selectivity of CpN-EDTA adsorbent was observed towards Pb(II) among the tested cations except Fe(III). Adsorption isotherm of lead removal by the adsorbent was well modeled by Langmuir equation, indicating a monolayer sorption of Pb(II) onto the adsorbent. The pseudo-second-order rate equation, indicating chemical reaction rate limiting step for the process, well modeled the kinetic of the process. An exothermic and spontaneous process was confirmed by the negative ∆H and ∆G.

Negative index effects from a homogeneous positive index prism

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Marcus, Sherman W.; Epstein, Ariel

2017-12-01

Cellular structured negative index metamaterials in the form of a right triangular prism have often been tested by observing the refraction of a beam across the prism hypotenuse which is serrated in order to conform to the cell walls. We show that not only can this negative index effect be obtained from a homogeneous dielectric prism having a positive index of refraction, but in addition, for sampling at the walls of the cellular structure, the phase in the material has the illusory appearance of moving in a negative direction. Although many previous reports relied on refraction direction and phase velocity of prism structures to verify negative index design, our investigation indicates that to unambiguously demonstrate material negativity additional empirical evidence is required.

Effects of CEOs’ Negative Traits on Corporate Social Responsibility

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Jae Kyu Myung

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The dark triad, composed of Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism, refers to negative personality traits, which may influence business processes. While negative traits could be an important factor explaining the relationship between a CEO’s immoral and unethical behavior and corporate social responsibility (CSR, there has been minimal research focusing on this relationship. This paper thus attempts to investigate how a CEO exhibiting these negative traits affects CSR, and if an employee’s perception of ethics and social responsibility would mediate the relationship. In addition, this paper considers the moderating effects of an individual performance-based compensation system (IPBCS between employee’s CSR perception and CSR activities. The data are collected through a survey conducted on 165 employees (companies in twelve industries. The regression result indicates an inverse relationship between the negative traits of a CEO and an employee’s perception of ethics and social responsibility and CSR activities, and the mediating effect of the perception in the relationship between the negative traits and CSR activities. It also indicates that an IPBCS moderates the relationship between CSR perception and activities. Implications for the study, future research directions, and management approach are discussed.

Negative effects of fluoranthene on the ecophysiology of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) Fluoranthene mists negatively affected tomato plants.

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Oguntimehin, Ilemobayo; Eissa, Fawzy; Sakugawa, Hiroshi

2010-02-01

Cherry tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) were sprayed with fluoranthene and mixture of fluoranthene and mannitol solutions for 30d. The exposure was carried out in growth chambers in field conditions, and the air was filtered through charcoal filters to remove atmospheric contaminants. Plants were sprayed with 10microM fluoranthene as mist until they reached the fruiting stage, and the eco-physiological parameters were measured to determine the effects of the treatments. We measured CO(2) uptake and water vapour exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf pigment contents, visual symptoms and biomass allocation. Fluoranthene which was deposited as mist onto leaves negatively affected both growth and the quality of tomato plants, while other treatments did not. The photosynthetic rate measured at saturated irradiance was approximately 37% lower in fluoranthene-treated plants compared with the control group. Other variables, such as stomata conductance, the photochemical efficiency of PSII in the dark, Chl a, Chl b, and the total chlorophyll contents of the tomato leaves were significantly reduced in the fluoranthene-treated plants. Tomato plants treated with fluoranthene showed severe visible injury symptoms on the foliage during the exposure period. Mannitol (a reactive oxygen scavenger) mitigated effects of fluoranthene; thus, reactive oxygen species generated through fluoranthene may be responsible for the damaged tomato plants. It is possible for fluoranthene to decrease the aesthetic and hence the economic value of this valuable crop plant. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of nicotine on negative affect among more impulsive smokers.

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Doran, Neal; McChargue, Dennis; Spring, Bonnie; VanderVeen, Joe; Cook, Jessica Werth; Richmond, Malia

2006-08-01

In the present study, the authors tested the hypothesis that nicotine would provide greater relief from negative affect for more impulsive smokers than for less impulsive smokers. Euthymic adult smokers (N=70) participated in 2 laboratory sessions, during which they underwent a negative mood induction (music + autobiographical memory), then smoked either a nicotinized or de-nicotinized cigarette. Mixed-effects regression yielded a significant Impulsivity x Condition (nicotinized vs. de-nicotinized) x Time interaction. Simple effects analyses showed that heightened impulsivity predicted greater negative affect relief after smoking a nicotinized cigarette but not after smoking a de-nicotinized cigarette. These data suggest that nicotine may be a disproportionately powerful negative reinforcer for highly impulsive smokers, promoting higher levels of nicotine dependence and inhibiting smoking cessation.

EFFECTS OF MEDICAL DISPUTES ON INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND NEGATIVE ONLINE WORD-OF-MOUTH.

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Lee, Yi-Chih; Wu, Wei-Li

2015-08-01

Emotions play an important role in human behavior. Negative emotions resulting from medical disputes are problems for medical personnel to solve but also have a significant impact on a hospital's reputation and people's trust in the hospital. One medical dispute case was chosen from an Internet news source to assess the correlation between people's negative emotions and negative online word-of-mouth. Convenience sampling was used in school faculties and university students who had shared their medical treatment experiences online were the research participants. A total of 221 Taiwanese participants volunteered (158 women, 63 men; ages: 26.7% under 19, 22.6% 20-29, 30.8% 30-39,19.9% over 40). Four negative emotions were measured using rating scales: uncertainty, anger, disappointment, and sadness. Four negative online word-of-mouth measures were: venting, advice search, helping receiver, and revenge. A modeled relationship was assessed by partial least square method (PLS). Then, people's positive emotions were further analyzed to assess changes after spreading negative word-of-mouth. The results showed that uncertainty had a positive effect on venting and advice search. People who felt anger or regret spread word-of-mouth in order to help the receiver. Disappointment may trigger the revenge behavior of negative word-of-mouth. Negative emotions could be relieved after engaging in the behavior of helping the receiver.

Effectiveness of Commercial and Homemade Washing Agents in Removing Pesticide Residues on and in Apples.

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Yang, Tianxi; Doherty, Jeffery; Zhao, Bin; Kinchla, Amanda J; Clark, John M; He, Lili

2017-11-08

Removal of pesticide residues from fresh produce is important to reduce pesticide exposure to humans. This study investigated the effectiveness of commercial and homemade washing agents in the removal of surface and internalized pesticide residues from apples. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) mapping and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods were used to determine the effectiveness of different washing agents in removing pesticide residues. Surface pesticide residues were most effectively removed by sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, NaHCO 3 ) solution when compared to either tap water or Clorox bleach. Using a 10 mg/mL NaHCO 3 washing solution, it took 12 and 15 min to completely remove thiabendazole or phosmet surface residues, respectively, following a 24 h exposure to these pesticides, which were applied at a concentration of 125 ng/cm 2 . LC-MS/MS results showed, however, that 20% of applied thiabendazole and 4.4% of applied phosmet had penetrated into the apples following the 24 h exposure. Thiabendazole, a systemic pesticide, penetrated 4-fold deeper into the apple peel than did phosmet, a non-systemic pesticide, which led to more thiabendazole residues inside the apples, which could not be washed away using the NaHCO 3 washing solution. This study gives us the information that the standard postharvest washing method using Clorox bleach solution for 2 min is not an effective means to completely remove pesticide residues on the surface of apples. The NaHCO 3 method is more effective in removing surface pesticide residues on apples. In the presence of NaHCO 3 , thiabendazole and phosmet can degrade, which assists the physical removal force of washing. However, the NaHCO 3 method was not completely effective in removing residues that have penetrated into the apple peel. The overall effectiveness of the method to remove all pesticide residues diminished as pesticides penetrated deeper into the fruit. In practical application

How Effective are Existing Arsenic Removal Techniques

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This presentation will summarize the system performance results of the technologies demonstrated in the arsenic demonstration program. The technologies include adsorptive media, iron removal, iron removal with iron additions, iron removal followed by adsorptive media, coagulatio...

Planning what not to eat: ironic effects of implementation intentions negating unhealthy habits.

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Adriaanse, Marieke A; van Oosten, Johanna M F; de Ridder, Denise T D; de Wit, John B F; Evers, Catharine

2011-01-01

The present studies tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions with an "if [situation], then not [habitual response]" structure. Based on ironic process theory and the literature on the processing of negations, it was expected that these "negation implementation intentions" would, ironically, strengthen the habit (situation-response association) one aims to break. In line with the hypotheses, forming negation implementation intentions resulted in cognitive ironic rebound effects as well as behavioral ironic rebound effects compared to an intention only condition or a replacement implementation intention. Additionally, it was found that negation implementation intentions are most likely to result in ironic rebound effects when the habit to be negated is strong. Although implementation intentions are generally highly effective in facilitating behavior change even when this involves breaking unwanted habits, the present research suggests that they are ineffective when they have a negating structure.

Is psychotherapy for functional somatic syndromes harmful? A mixed methods study on negative effects.

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Holsting, A F; Pedersen, H F; Rask, M T; Frostholm, L; Schröder, A

2017-07-01

Concern for negative effects of psychotherapy for functional somatic syndromes (FSS) has been expressed by clinicians and some patient associations, which may prevent patients from seeking treatment. Therefore, we sought to explore the occurrence and characteristics of negative effects from group-based psychotherapy as experienced by patients with severe or multiple FSS. An adapted version of the explanatory sequential mixed methods design was applied. We used data from an on-going pilot study on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Negative effects were measured by Inventory for the assessment of Negative Effects of Psychotherapy (INEP). In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with randomly chosen patients and patients who reported negative effects. The latter were asked to elaborate on their INEP response. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively while interview transcripts were explored by thematic analysis. Eighty patients responded to the questionnaire (89%). Negative effects to different extent (from 'slightly agree' to 'fully agree') were reported by 25 (31%). The most frequent negative effects were dependence on the therapist (12%), feeling down after therapy (6%) and insurance problems (7%). By exploring 27 participants' experiences of negative effects 3 main themes were identified: relations in therapy, outcome and transition from therapy to everyday life. Patients with FSS reported a few specific negative effects, all with low frequency. Generally, therapy was well-received. Some patients did however express negative effects both within and outside the therapeutic context. It is important to inform patients about potential negative effects prior to psychotherapy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of pollutants removal in hybrid constructed wetlands – different configurations case study

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Gajewska Magdalena

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, an increase in interest in hybrid constructed wetland systems (HCWs has been observed. The aim of the paper is to compare different HCW configurations in terms of mass removal rates and efficiency of pollutants removal. Analysed data have been collected at multistage constructed wetlands in Poland, which are composed by at least two beds: horizontal subsurface flow (SSHF and vertical subsurface flow (SSVF. The evaluation was focused on hybrid constructed wetlands performance with HF+VF vs. VF+HF configuration, where influent wastewater of the same composition was treated. In analysed HCWs, the effective removal of organic matter from 75.2 to 91.6% COD was confirmed. Efficiency of total nitrogen removal varied from 47.3 to 91.7%. The most effective removal of TN (8.3 g m−2 d−1 occurred in the system with VF+VF+HF configuration.

Interactive effects of Cd and PAHs on contaminants removal from co-contaminated soil planted with hyperaccumulator plant Sedum alfredii

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Wang, Kai; Huang, Huagang; Li, Tingqiang; Yang, Xiaoe [Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China). MOE Key Lab. of Environment Remediation and Ecosystem Health; Zhu, Zhiqiang [Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China). MOE Key Lab. of Environment Remediation and Ecosystem Health; Hainan Univ., Haikou (China). College of Agriculture; He, Zhenli [Florida Univ., Port Pierce, FL (United States). Inst. of Food and Agricultural Sciences; Alva, Ashok [US Department of Agriculture, Prosser, WA (United States). Agricultural Research Service

2012-04-15

Purpose: Soil contamination by multiple organic and inorganic contaminants is common but its remediation by hyperaccumulator plants is rarely reported. The growth of a cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii and removal of contaminants from Cd and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) co-contaminated soil were reported in this study. Materials and methods: Soil slightly contaminated by Cd (0.92 mg kg{sup -1} DW) was collected from a vegetable field in Hangzhou and was spiked with two levels (0 and 6 mg kg{sup -1} DW) of Cd and three levels (0, 25, and 150 mg kg{sup -1} DW) of phenanthrene (PHE) or pyrene (PYR). A pot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using S. alfredii with unplanted controls for 60 days. Shoot and root biomass of plants, dehydrogenase activity (DHA), and microbial biomass carbon in the soil were measured. Concentrations of Cd and PAHs in the plant and soil were determined. Results and discussion: Elevated Cd level (6.38 mg kg{sup -1} DW) increased S. alfredii growth. The presence of PAHs decreased the stimulatory effects of Cd on plant biomass and Cd concentrations in shoots in Cd spiked soil, thus decreasing Cd phytoextraction efficiency. Cadmium removal by S. alfredii after 60 days of growth varied from 5.8% to 6.7% and from 5.7% to 9.6%, in Cd unspiked and spiked soils, respectively. Removal rate of PAHs in the soil was similar with or without the plants. Removal rate of PYR decreased at the elevated Cd level in the soil. This appears to be due to a decrease in soil microbial activity. This is confirmed by a decrease in DHA, which is a good indicator of soil microbial activity. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that S. alfredii could effectively extract Cd from Cd-contaminated soils in the presence of PHE or PYR; however, both PAHs exhibited negative effects on phytoextraction of Cd from Cd spiked soil (6.38 mg kg{sup -1} DW). S. alfredii is not suitable for remediation of PAHs. The effects of Cd and PAHs concentrations on the

Effects of slash removal in an experimental nitrogen gradient. Final report for the project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nohrstedt, H.Oe.; Ring, Eva; Sikstroem, Ulf; Hoegbom, Lars; Nordlund, Sten

2000-04-01

During four years after clear-felling, the effects of slash removal, including needles, were studied on a productive spruce site (site index G30) in the province of Vaermland, western Sweden. The study was made in an old fertilization experiment, in which at the most 2400 kg N/ha had been added during a twenty-year period. Despite the fact that the site is rich in nitrogen and that much slash was removed (100 ton d. m./ha), there were only very minor effects of the slash removal on the variables under study. These were the composition of soil water, the content of inorganic nitrogen in soil, the biomass of the field layer and the development of the planted spruce seedlings. The only statistically significant effect was that the content of nitrate was reduced in the humus layer. No data supported the idea that the previous fertilization influenced the effect of the slash removal, even though the fertilization had increased the content of total nitrogen in soil and the nitrogen leaching. Thus, we have not been able to repeat the observation from another Swedish study that slash removal reduces leaching of nitrogen and accompanying base cations, e. g. potassium. The effect of slash removal seems to depend on site conditions. Research is needed to reveal the variation in response and decisive factors. Our results, that the survival of spruce seedlings tends to be favoured by slash removal and that the early height growth is unaffected, are in accordance with results from previous studies. Our result, that the biomass of the total field layer is unaffected by slash removal, is not possible to compare with results from other studies, since these were mainly of a qualitative nature

Negativity Bias in Media Multitasking: The Effects of Negative Social Media Messages on Attention to Television News Broadcasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kätsyri, Jari; Kinnunen, Teemu; Kusumoto, Kenta; Oittinen, Pirkko; Ravaja, Niklas

2016-01-01

Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.

Negativity Bias in Media Multitasking: The Effects of Negative Social Media Messages on Attention to Television News Broadcasts.

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Jari Kätsyri

Full Text Available Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.

A longitudinal mediation analysis of the effect of negative-self-schemas on positive symptoms via negative affect.

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Jaya, E S; Ascone, L; Lincoln, T M

2018-06-01

Cognitive models postulate that negative-self-schemas (NSS) cause and maintain positive symptoms and that negative affect mediates this link. However, only few studies have tested the temporal mediation claim systematically using an appropriate design. A longitudinal cohort design in an online community sample (N = 962) from Germany, Indonesia, and the USA was used. NSS, negative affect and positive symptoms were measured at four time-points (T0-T3) over a 1-year period. Cross-lagged panel and longitudinal mediation analyses with structural equation modeling were used to test the temporal mediation. Independent cross-lagged panel models showed a significant unidirectional longitudinal path from NSS to positive symptoms (T2-T3, β = 0.18, p negative affect (T0-T1, γ = 0.14, p negative affect at T1 and T2 to positive symptoms at T3 (unstandardized indirect effect coefficient = 0.020, p affective pathway from NSS to positive symptoms via negative affect. Specifically, our data indicate that NSS and negative affect influence each other and build up over the course of several months before leading on to positive symptoms. We conclude that interrupting this process by targeting NSS and negative affect early in the process could be a promising strategy to prevent the exacerbation of positive symptoms.

Negative Effects of Psychological Treatments: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Negative Effects Questionnaire for Monitoring and Reporting Adverse and Unwanted Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozental, Alexander; Kottorp, Anders; Boettcher, Johanna; Andersson, Gerhard; Carlbring, Per

2016-01-01

Research conducted during the last decades has provided increasing evidence for the use of psychological treatments for a number of psychiatric disorders and somatic complaints. However, by focusing only on the positive outcomes, less attention has been given to the potential of negative effects. Despite indications of deterioration and other adverse and unwanted events during treatment, little is known about their occurrence and characteristics. Hence, in order to facilitate research of negative effects, a new instrument for monitoring and reporting their incidence and impact was developed using a consensus among researchers, self-reports by patients, and a literature review: the Negative Effects Questionnaire. Participants were recruited via a smartphone-delivered self-help treatment for social anxiety disorder and through the media (N = 653). An exploratory factor analysis was performed, resulting in a six-factor solution with 32 items, accounting for 57.64% of the variance. The derived factors were: symptoms, quality, dependency, stigma, hopelessness, and failure. Items related to unpleasant memories, stress, and anxiety were experienced by more than one-third of the participants. Further, increased or novel symptoms, as well as lack of quality in the treatment and therapeutic relationship rendered the highest self-reported negative impact. In addition, the findings were discussed in relation to prior research and other similar instruments of adverse and unwanted events, giving credence to the items that are included. The instrument is presently available in eleven different languages and can be freely downloaded and used from www.neqscale.com.

Endotoxin Removal from Water Using Heterogenus Catalytic Ozonation by Bone Char

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Abas Rezaee

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The endotoxin is one of pollutants with lipopolysaccharide structure which release from gram negative bacteria and cyanobacters. The aim of this study was removal of endotoxin from water using catalytic ozonation by bone char. The endotoxin for experiments have extracted from Escherichia coli bacterium cell wall by Stefan and Jan method. Chromogenic limulus ambusite lysate method in 405-410 nm wave length was used for analysing of endotoxin. The ozone have analysed by potassium iodine method. Results: Results of the research shown endotoxin removal rates using heterogenous catalytic ozonation were 6.0 Eu/ml.min and 0.5 Eu/ml.min for grey bone char and white bone char, respectively. The efficency of the process was found eighty percent. Primary concentration of basic compounds had no effect on endotoxin removal rate. Therefore, endotoxin removal kinetic of reaction is a zero order reaction. This study revealed that ozonation process using bone char is more efficient than other proposed methods such as ozonation or chlorination and can be used successfully for endotoxin removal from water as a efficient method.

Total nitrogen and total phosphorus removal from brackish aquaculture wastewater using effective microorganism

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamad, K. A.; Mohd, S. Y.; Sarah, R. S.; Mohd, H. Z.; Rasyidah, A.

2017-09-01

Aquaculture is one of dominant food based industry in the world with 8.3% annual growth rate and its development had led to adverse effect on the environment. High nutrient production in form of nitrogenous compound and phosphorus contributed to environmental deterioration such as eutrophication and toxicity to the industry. Usage of Effective Microorganism (EM), one of the biological approaches to remove Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) in aquaculture pond was proposed. Samples were obtained from the Sea Bass intensive brackish aquaculture wastewater (AW) from fish farm at Juru, Penang and the parameters used to measure the removal of nitrogenous compounds include, pH, EM dosage, shaking, contact time and optimum variable conditions. From the study, for effective contact time, day 6 is the optimum contact time for both TN and TP with 99.74% and 62.78% removal respectively while in terms of optimum pH, the highest TN removal was at pH 7 with 66.89 %. The optimum dosage of EM is 1.5 ml with ratio 1:166 for 81.5 % TN removal was also found appropriate during the experiment. At varied optimum conditions of EM, the removal efficiency of TN and TP were 81.53% and 38.94% respectively while the removal mechanism of TN was highly dependent on the decomposition rate of specific bacteria such as Nitrobacter bacteria, Yeast and Bacillus Subtilis sp. The study has established the efficacy of EM's ability to treat excessive nutrient of TN and TP from AW.

Proactive and Retroactive Effects of Negative Suggestion

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Alan S.; Brown, Christine M.; Mosbacher, Joy L.; Dryden, W. Erich

2006-01-01

The negative effects of false information presented either prior to (proactive interference; PI) or following (retroactive interference; RI) true information was examined with word definitions (Experiment 1) and trivia facts (Experiment 2). Participants were explicitly aware of which information was true and false when shown, and true-false…

Impacts of invasive fish removal through angling on population characteristics and juvenile growth rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Evangelista, Charlotte; Britton, Robert J; Cucherousset, Julien

2015-06-01

Exploitation can modify the characteristics of fish populations through the selective harvesting of individuals, with this potentially leading to rapid ecological and evolutionary changes. Despite the well-known effects of invasive fishes on aquatic ecosystems generally, the potential effects of their selective removal through angling, a strategy commonly used to manage invasive fish, are poorly understood. The aim of this field-based study was to use the North American pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus as the model species to investigate the consequences of selective removal on their population characteristics and juvenile growth rates across 10 populations in artificial lakes in southern France. We found that the maximal individual mass in populations decreased as removal pressure through angling increased, whereas we did not observed any changes in the maximal individual length in populations as removal pressure increased. Total population abundance did not decrease as removal pressure increased; instead, here was a U-shaped relationship between removal pressure and the abundance of medium-bodied individuals. In addition, population biomass had a U-shaped curve response to removal pressure, implying that invasive fish populations can modulate their characteristics to compensate for the negative effects of selective removals. In addition, individual lengths at age 2 and juvenile growth rates decreased as removal pressure through angling increased, suggesting a shift toward an earlier size at maturity and an overall slower growing phenotype. Therefore, these outputs challenge the efficiency of selective management methods, suggesting the use of more proactive strategies to control invasive populations, and the need to investigate the potential ecological and evolutionary repercussions of nonrandom removal.

Effect of humic substances on phosphorus removal by struvite precipitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zhen; Hu, Dalong; Ren, Weichao; Zhao, Yuzeng; Jiang, Lu-Man; Wang, Luochun

2015-12-01

Humic substances (HS) are a major fraction of dissolved organic matters in wastewater. The effect of HS on phosphorus removal by struvite precipitation was investigated using synthetic wastewater under different initial pH values, Mg/P molar ratios and HS concentrations. The composition, morphology and thermal properties of harvested precipitates were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. It showed that inhibition effect of HS reached its maximum value of 48.9% at pH 8.0, and decreased to below 10% at pH>9.0. The increase of Mg/P ratio enhanced phosphorus removal efficiency, and thus reduced the influence of HS on struvite precipitation. At pH 9.0, the inhibitory effect of initial HS concentration matched the modified Monod model with half maximum inhibition concentration of 356mgL(-1), and 29% HS was removed in conjunction with struvite crystallisation. XRD analysis revealed that the crystal form of struvite precipitates was changed in the presence of HS. The morphology of harvested struvite was transformed from prismatic to pyramid owing to the coprecipitation of HS on crystal surface. TGA results revealed that the presence of HS could compromise struvite purity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal effects of the Nd:YAG laser and Carisolv on carious dentin.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Y; Hossain, M; Kawanaka, T; Kinoshita, J; Matsumoto, K

2000-10-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the removal effect of the Nd:YAG laser irradiation and Carisolv on carious dentin. Many previous studies have reported several simple and alternative techniques, such as lasers and chemicals, for caries removal. Carisolv was applied on the surface of 20 extracted human anterior and molar teeth for 1 min and then the Nd:YAG laser was irradiated with a continuous water spray for another 1 min. The energy densities were varied from 2 to 6W with a repetition rate of 20 pps. As caries removal progressed, the cavity was carefully assessed by DIAGNOdent. Each lesion was photographed before and after treatment, and the treated cavity was observed microscopically using a stereoscope and with scanning electron microscope (SEM). Thermal change at the time of laser irradiation was measured by thermovision. Our results revealed that application of Carisolv followed by Nd:YAG laser irradiation at 4-6W pulse energy effectively removed dentin caries. The total procedure was usually repeated once or twice for complete caries removal. From the SEM study, it was found that the cavity surface treated with the laser revealed various patterns of microirregularity, often accompanied by microfissure propagation. There was also no smear layer. It was revealed that Nd:YAG laser and Carisolv could provide an alternative technique for caries removal instead of the conventional mechanical drilling and cutting.

An Internet-based survey on characteristics of laser tattoo removal and associated side effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Annette; Rittmann, Ines; Hiller, Karl-Anton; Landthaler, Michael; Bäumler, Wolfgang

2014-03-01

Tattoo removal by laser therapy is a frequently performed procedure in dermatological practices. Quality-switched ruby, alexandrite, or Nd:YAG lasers are the most suitable treatment devices. Although these techniques are regarded as safe, both temporary and permanent side effects might occur. Little has been published on the frequency of complications associated with laser tattoo removal. We performed an Internet survey in German-speaking countries on characteristics of laser tattoo removal and associated side effects. A total number of 157 questionnaires entered the final analysis. Motivations for laser tattoo removal were mainly considering the tattoo as youthful folly (29%), esthetic reasons (28%), and 6% indicated medical problems. One third of participants were unsatisfied with the result of laser tattoo removal, and a complete removal of the tattoo pigment was obtained in 38% only. Local transient side effects occurred in nearly all participants, but an important rate of slightly visible scars (24%) or even important scarring (8%) was reported. Every fourth participant described mild or intense tan when the laser treatment was performed, and the same number of people indicated UV exposure following laser therapy, which should normally be avoided in these circumstances. As reported in the literature, nearly half of the participants experienced hypopigmentation in the treated area. Our results show that from the patients' point of view there is an important rate of side effects occurring after laser tattoo removal. Appropriate pretreatment counseling with regard to realistic expectations, possible side effects, and the application of test spots is mandatory to ensure patient satisfaction. Laser treatment should be performed by appropriately trained personnel only.

Trauma and Depression among North Korean Refugees: The Mediating Effect of Negative Cognition

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Subin Park

2018-03-01

Full Text Available North Korean refugees experience adaptation difficulties, along with a wide range of psychological problems. Accordingly, this study examined the associations between early traumatic experiences, negative automatic thoughts, and depression among young North Korean refugees living in South Korea. Specifically, we examined how different factors of negative automatic thoughts would mediate the relationship between early trauma and depressive symptoms. A total of 109 North Korean refugees aged 13–29 years were recruited from two alternative schools. Our path analysis indicated that early trauma was positively linked with thoughts of personal failure, physical threat, and hostility, but not with thoughts of social threat. The link with depressive symptoms was only significant for thoughts of personal failure. After removing all non-significant pathways, the model revealed that early traumatic experiences were positively associated with depressive symptoms (ß = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.48–0.73 via thoughts of personal failure (ß = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.08–0.28, as well as directly (ß = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.27–0.59. Interventions that target negative cognitions of personal failure may be helpful for North Korean refugees at risk of depression.

Laser scabbling for nuclear decommissioning: Effect of concrete composition on volume removal efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peach, B.; Petkovski, M.; Blackburn, J.; Engelberg, D.L.

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of concrete composition and moisture content on volume removal with the overarching goal to identify mechanism(s) responsible for laser scabbling. Tests under application of fixed laser parameters showed that concrete composition had a significant effect on material removal but the investigation into moisture content was inconclusive. The mechanical properties and size of coarse aggregates seemed to affect scabbling efficiency, rather than their chemical properties. The presence of pulverized fuel ash as a cement replacement material indicated to be a major factor that determines material removal volumes. (authors)

Sojourn time distributions in a Markovian G-queue with batch arrival and batch removal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Woo Shin

1999-01-01

Full Text Available We consider a single server Markovian queue with two types of customers; positive and negative, where positive customers arrive in batches and arrivals of negative customers remove positive customers in batches. Only positive customers form a queue and negative customers just reduce the system congestion by removing positive ones upon their arrivals. We derive the LSTs of sojourn time distributions for a single server Markovian queue with positive customers and negative customers by using the first passage time arguments for Markov chains.

Experimental Observation of Negative Effective Gravity in Water Waves

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Hu, Xinhua; Yang, Jiong; Zi, Jian; Chan, C. T.; Ho, Kai-Ming

2013-01-01

The gravity of Earth is responsible for the formation of water waves and usually difficult to change. Although negative effective gravity was recently predicted theoretically in water waves, it has not yet been observed in experiments and remains a mathematical curiosity which is difficult to understand. Here we experimentally demonstrate that close to the resonant frequency of purposely-designed resonating units, negative effective gravity can occur for water waves passing through an array of resonators composing of bottom-mounted split tubes, resulting in the prohibition of water wave propagation. It is found that when negative gravity occurs, the averaged displacement of water surface in a unit cell of the array has a phase difference of π to that along the boundary of the unit cell, consistent with theoretical predictions. Our results provide a mechanism to block water waves and may find applications in wave energy conversion and coastal protection. PMID:23715132

Effects of Selected Root Exudate Components on Nitrogen Removal and Development of Denitrifying Bacteria in Constructed Wetlands

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Hailu Wu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Root exudates, particularly low molecular weight carbon (LMWC substrates, are major drivers of bacterial diversity and activity in the rhizosphere environment. However, it is not well understood how specific LMWC compounds—such as organic acids, soluble sugars, and amino acids—influence the community structures of denitrifying bacteria or if there are specific functions of LMWC substrates that preferentially respond to nitrogen (N removal in constructed wetlands (CWs. To address these knowledge gaps, we added mixtures of artificial exudates to CW microcosms containing N pollutant. N removal efficiency was observed over a 48-h experimental period, and at the end of the experiment, DNA was extracted from microbial samples for assessment of the bacterial community. The removal efficiencies of TN for the exudates treatments were higher than for control groups by 47.1–58.67%. Organic acid and soluble sugar treatments increased N removal, while amino acids were negative to N removal. The microbial community was changed when artificial exudates were added, but there were no significant relationships between LMWC compounds and bacterial community composition. These results indicate that although the responses of community structures of denitrifying bacteria to LMWC additions are still uncertain, there is evidence for N removal in response to exudate additions across LMWC types.

Adsorption removal of tartrazine by chitosan/polyaniline composite: Kinetics and equilibrium studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahnoun, Sousna; Boutahala, Mokhtar

2018-02-24

The present work focused on the performance of chitosan/polyaniline (Cht-PANI) composite for removing tartrazine dye from aqueous solutions. The adsorbent was characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and TGA/DTA techniques. The effects of pH, initial dye concentration, contact time, and temperature on azo dye removal were studied. The kinetics and isotherm of tartrazine removal follow pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Freundlich isotherm, respectively. The Langmiur isotherm model exhibted a maximum adsorption capacity of 584.0 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters were calculated and the negative values of ΔG° and positive value of ΔH° indicate that the adsorption processes are spontaneous and endothermic in nature. In addition, the resulting adsorbent reusability was demonstrated over four cycles, indicating that the Cht-PANI is a very promising adsorbent for removal of toxic pollutants from aqueous solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of synthetic iron colloids on the microbiological NH(4)(+) removal process during groundwater purification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolthoorn, Anke; Temminghoff, Erwin J M; van Riemsdijk, Willem H

2004-04-01

Subsurface aeration is used to oxidise Fe in situ in groundwater that is used to make drinking water potable. In a groundwater system with pH>7 subsurface aeration results in non-mobile Fe precipitate and mobile Fe colloids. Since originally the goal of subsurface aeration is to remove iron in situ, the formation of non-mobile iron precipitate, which facilitates the metal's removal, is the desired result. In addition to this intended effect, subsurface aeration may also strongly enhance the microbiological removal of ammonium (NH(4)(+)) in the purification station. Mobile iron colloids could be the link between subsurface aeration and the positive effect on the NH(4)(+) removal process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess whether synthetic iron colloids could improve the NH(4)(+) removal process. The effect of synthetic iron colloids on the NH(4)(+) removal process was studied using an artificial purification set-up on a laboratory scale. Columns that purified groundwater with or without added synthetic iron colloids were set up in duplicate. The results showed that the NH(4)(+) removal was significantly ( alpha = 0.05 ) increased in columns treated with the synthetic iron colloids. Cumulative after 4 months about 10% more NH(4)(+) was nitrified in the columns that was treated with the groundwater containing synthetic iron colloids. The results support the hypothesis that mobile iron colloids could be the link between subsurface aeration and the positive effect on the NH(4)(+) removal process.

The Effect of Water Chemistry on the Removal of Arsenic from Drinking Water During Iron Removal Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

This research investigates the effects of water chemistry, oxidant type and concentration on the removal of iron and arsenic from drinking water. The research will be conducted using one of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory’s Water Supply and Water Resources Divisi...

The Immoral Assumption Effect: Moralization Drives Negative Trait Attributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Meindl, Peter; Johnson, Kate M; Graham, Jesse

2016-04-01

Jumping to negative conclusions about other people's traits is judged as morally bad by many people. Despite this, across six experiments (total N = 2,151), we find that multiple types of moral evaluations--even evaluations related to open-mindedness, tolerance, and compassion--play a causal role in these potentially pernicious trait assumptions. Our results also indicate that moralization affects negative-but not positive-trait assumptions, and that the effect of morality on negative assumptions cannot be explained merely by people's general (nonmoral) preferences or other factors that distinguish moral and nonmoral traits, such as controllability or desirability. Together, these results suggest that one of the more destructive human tendencies--making negative assumptions about others--can be caused by the better angels of our nature. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Influence of removal of invisible fixation on the saccadic and manual gap effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Ueda, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Kohske; Watanabe, Katsumi

2014-01-01

Saccadic and manual reactions to a peripherally presented target are facilitated by removing a central fixation stimulus shortly before a target onset (the gap effect). The present study examined the effects of removal of a visible and invisible fixation point on the saccadic gap effect and the manual gap effect. Participants were required to fixate a central fixation point and respond to a peripherally presented target as quickly and accurately as possible by making a saccade (Experiment 1) or pressing a corresponding key (Experiment 2). The fixation point was dichoptically presented, and visibility was manipulated by using binocular rivalry and continuous flash suppression technique. In both saccade and key-press tasks, removing the visible fixation strongly quickened the responses. Furthermore, the invisible fixation, which remained on the display but suppressed, significantly delayed the saccadic response. Contrarily, the invisible fixation had no effect on the manual task. These results indicate that partially different processes mediate the saccadic gap effect and the manual gap effect. In particular, unconscious processes might modulate an oculomotor-specific component of the saccadic gap effect, presumably via subcortical mechanisms.

Method effects: the problem with negatively versus positively keyed items.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindwall, Magnus; Barkoukis, Vassilis; Grano, Caterina; Lucidi, Fabio; Raudsepp, Lennart; Liukkonen, Jarmo; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie

2012-01-01

Using confirmatory factor analyses, we examined method effects on Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) in a sample of older European adults. Nine hundred forty nine community-dwelling adults 60 years of age or older from 5 European countries completed the RSES as well as measures of depression and life satisfaction. The 2 models that had an acceptable fit with the data included method effects. The method effects were associated with both positively and negatively worded items. Method effects models were invariant across gender and age, but not across countries. Both depression and life satisfaction predicted method effects. Individuals with higher depression scores and lower life satisfaction scores were more likely to endorse negatively phrased items.

Effect of baking soda in dentifrices on plaque removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Myneni, Srinivas R

2017-11-01

The prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases targets control of dental plaque biofilm. In this context, chemical agents could represent a valuable complement to mechanical plaque control by reducing and controlling biofilm formation. The literature on the effectiveness of different dentifrices has not, however, been carefully categorized. A lack of consensus exists among dental professionals on a recommendation for a universal dentifrice for plaque control. The authors reviewed the scientific data on the different properties of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)-containing dentifrices and their effectiveness in plaque removal. The results of the literature search show that baking soda-containing dentifrices are ideal candidates to be considered as a universal dentifrice because baking soda is inexpensive, abundant in supply, highly biocompatible, exhibits specific antibacterial properties to oral microorganisms, has low abrasivity, and is effective in plaque biofilm removal. Although some patients may benefit from desensitizing or high fluoride-containing dentifrices, those with routine needs may find using dentifrices containing baking soda and fluoride effective. Baking soda and fluoride dentifrices, therefore, may perhaps be considered as a criterion standard for patients with routine oral hygiene needs. Copyright © 2017 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative Effects of Psychological Treatments: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Negative Effects Questionnaire for Monitoring and Reporting Adverse and Unwanted Events

Science.gov (United States)

Kottorp, Anders; Boettcher, Johanna; Andersson, Gerhard; Carlbring, Per

2016-01-01

Research conducted during the last decades has provided increasing evidence for the use of psychological treatments for a number of psychiatric disorders and somatic complaints. However, by focusing only on the positive outcomes, less attention has been given to the potential of negative effects. Despite indications of deterioration and other adverse and unwanted events during treatment, little is known about their occurrence and characteristics. Hence, in order to facilitate research of negative effects, a new instrument for monitoring and reporting their incidence and impact was developed using a consensus among researchers, self-reports by patients, and a literature review: the Negative Effects Questionnaire. Participants were recruited via a smartphone-delivered self-help treatment for social anxiety disorder and through the media (N = 653). An exploratory factor analysis was performed, resulting in a six-factor solution with 32 items, accounting for 57.64% of the variance. The derived factors were: symptoms, quality, dependency, stigma, hopelessness, and failure. Items related to unpleasant memories, stress, and anxiety were experienced by more than one-third of the participants. Further, increased or novel symptoms, as well as lack of quality in the treatment and therapeutic relationship rendered the highest self-reported negative impact. In addition, the findings were discussed in relation to prior research and other similar instruments of adverse and unwanted events, giving credence to the items that are included. The instrument is presently available in eleven different languages and can be freely downloaded and used from www.neqscale.com. PMID:27331907

Negative Effects of Psychological Treatments: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Negative Effects Questionnaire for Monitoring and Reporting Adverse and Unwanted Events.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Rozental

Full Text Available Research conducted during the last decades has provided increasing evidence for the use of psychological treatments for a number of psychiatric disorders and somatic complaints. However, by focusing only on the positive outcomes, less attention has been given to the potential of negative effects. Despite indications of deterioration and other adverse and unwanted events during treatment, little is known about their occurrence and characteristics. Hence, in order to facilitate research of negative effects, a new instrument for monitoring and reporting their incidence and impact was developed using a consensus among researchers, self-reports by patients, and a literature review: the Negative Effects Questionnaire. Participants were recruited via a smartphone-delivered self-help treatment for social anxiety disorder and through the media (N = 653. An exploratory factor analysis was performed, resulting in a six-factor solution with 32 items, accounting for 57.64% of the variance. The derived factors were: symptoms, quality, dependency, stigma, hopelessness, and failure. Items related to unpleasant memories, stress, and anxiety were experienced by more than one-third of the participants. Further, increased or novel symptoms, as well as lack of quality in the treatment and therapeutic relationship rendered the highest self-reported negative impact. In addition, the findings were discussed in relation to prior research and other similar instruments of adverse and unwanted events, giving credence to the items that are included. The instrument is presently available in eleven different languages and can be freely downloaded and used from www.neqscale.com.

A novel vanadosilicate with hexadeca-coordinated Cs+ ions as a highly effective Cs+ remover

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datta, Shuvo Jit; Moon, Won Kyung; Choi, Do Young; Hwang, In Chul; Yoon, Kyung Byung

2014-01-01

The effective removal of 137 Cs + ions from contaminated groundwater and seawater and from radioactive nuclear waste solutions is crucial for public health and for the continuous operation of nuclear power plants. Various 137 Cs + removers have been developed, but more effective 137 Cs + removers are still needed. A novel microporous vanadosilicate with mixed-valence vanadium (V 4+ and V 5+ ) ions is now reported, which shows an excellent ability for Cs + capture and immobilization from groundwater, seawater, and nuclear waste solutions. This material is superior to other known materials in terms of selectivity, capacity, and kinetics, and at very low Cs + concentrations, it was found to be the most effective material for the removal of radioactive Cs + ions under the test conditions. This novel vanadosilicate also contains hexadeca-coordinated Cs + ions, which corresponds to the highest coordination number ever described.

Effect of acid leaching conditions on impurity removal from silicon doped by magnesium

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Stine Espelien

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The effect of magnesium addition into a commercial silicon and its leaching refining behavior is studied for producing solar grade silicon feedstock. Two different levels of Mg is added into a commercial silicon and the leaching of the produced alloys by 10% HCl solution at 60 ℃ for different durations is performed. It is shown that the microstructure of the alloy and in particular the distribution of eutectic phases is dependent on the amount of the added Mg. Moreover, the metallic impurities in silicon such as Fe, Al, Ca and Ti are mainly forming silicide particles with different compositions. These silicides are physically more detached from the primary silicon grains and their removal through chemical and physical separation in leaching is better for higher Mg additions. It is observed that the leaching is more effective for the purification of smaller silicon particles produced from each Mg-doped silicon alloy. It is shown that acid leaching by the applied method is effective to reach more than 70% of phosphorous removal. It is also shown that the purity of silicon is dependent on the total Mg removal and effectiveness of leaching on removing the Mg2Si phase.

Effects of repeated simulated removal activities on feral swine movements and space use

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Justin W.; McMurtry , Dan; Blass, Chad R.; Walter, W. David; Beringer, Jeff; VerCauterren, Kurt C.

2016-01-01

Abundance and distribution of feral swine (Sus scrofa) in the USA have increased dramatically during the last 30 years. Effective measures are needed to control and eradicate feral swine populations without displacing animals over wider areas. Our objective was to investigate effects of repeated simulated removal activities on feral swine movements and space use. We analyzed location data from 21 feral swine that we fitted with Global Positioning System harnesses in southern MO, USA. Various removal activities were applied over time to eight feral swine before lethal removal, including trapped-and-released, chased with dogs, chased with hunter, and chased with helicopter. We found that core space-use areas were reduced following the first removal activity, whereas overall space-use areas and diurnal movement distances increased following the second removal activity. Mean geographic centroid shifts did not differ between pre- and post-periods for either the first or second removal activities. Our information on feral swine movements and space use precipitated by human removal activities, such as hunting, trapping, and chasing with dogs, helps fill a knowledge void and will aid wildlife managers. Strategies to optimize management are needed to reduce feral swine populations while preventing enlarged home ranges and displacing individuals, which could lead to increased disease transmission risk and human-feral swine conflict in adjacent areas.

Effect of selective removal of organic matter and iron oxides on the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of selective removal of organic matter and amorphous and crystalline iron oxides on N2-BET specific surface areas of some soil clays was evaluated. Clay fractions from 10 kaolinitic tropical soils were successively treated to remove organic matter by oxidation with Na hypochlorite, amorphous Fe oxide with acid ...

The effect of nanocrystalline magnetite size on arsenic removal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.T. Mayo et al

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Higher environmental standards have made the removal of arsenic from water an important problem for environmental engineering. Iron oxide is a particularly interesting sorbent to consider for this application. Its magnetic properties allow relatively routine dispersal and recovery of the adsorbent into and from groundwater or industrial processing facilities; in addition, iron oxide has strong and specific interactions with both As(III and As(V. Finally, this material can be produced with nanoscale dimensions, which enhance both its capacity and removal. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential arsenic adsorption by nanoscale iron oxides, specifically magnetite (Fe3O4 nanoparticles. We focus on the effect of Fe3O4 particle size on the adsorption and desorption behavior of As(III and As(V. The results show that the nanoparticle size has a dramatic effect on the adsorption and desorption of arsenic. As particle size is decreased from 300 to 12 nm the adsorption capacities for both As(III and As(V increase nearly 200 times. Interestingly, such an increase is more than expected from simple considerations of surface area and suggests that nanoscale iron oxide materials sorb arsenic through different means than bulk systems. The desorption process, however, exhibits some hysteresis with the effect becoming more pronounced with small nanoparticles. This hysteresis most likely results from a higher arsenic affinity for Fe3O4 nanoparticles. This work suggests that Fe3O4 nanocrystals and magnetic separations offer a promising method for arsenic removal.

Combination of biochar amendment and phytoremediation for hydrocarbon removal in petroleum-contaminated soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Tao; Zhao, Zhipeng; Bartlam, Mark; Wang, Yingying

2016-11-01

Remediation of soils contaminated with petroleum is a challenging task. Four different bioremediation strategies, including natural attenuation, biochar amendment, phytoremediation with ryegrass, and a combination of biochar and ryegrass, were investigated with greenhouse pot experiments over a 90-day period. The results showed that planting ryegrass in soil can significantly improve the removal rate of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and the number of microorganisms. Within TPHs, the removal rate of total n-alkanes (45.83 %) was higher than that of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (30.34 %). The amendment of biochar did not result in significant improvement of TPH removal. In contrast, it showed a clear negative impact on the growth of ryegrass and the removal of TPHs by ryegrass. The removal rate of TPHs was significantly lower after the amendment of biochar. The results indicated that planting ryegrass is an effective remediation strategy, while the amendment of biochar may not be suitable for the phytoremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.

Cost-effectiveness of implant-supported mandibular removable partial dentures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jensen, Charlotte; Ross, Jamila; Feenstra, Talitha L; Raghoebar, Gerry M; Speksnijder, Caroline; Meijer, Henny J A; Cune, Marco S

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing conventional removable partial dentures (RPDs) and implant-supported RPDs (ISRPDs) treatment in patients with an edentulous maxilla and a bilateral free-ending situation in the mandible. Material and methodsThirty

An experimental study on lead removing effect of new chelating agent-FZ-820-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Jue; Zhang Kangrong; Yin Xieyu; Ji Shaowei

2001-01-01

To evaluate the lead removing effects of F Z-82-4, a new chelating agent, and to compare it with those of DTPA, EDTA, H-73-10 and control group. The experiments are carried out using rats. The Pb-nitrate removing effect of FZ-82-4 was obviously superior to those EDTA, H-73-10 and control group, and equivalent to that of DTPA. According to lead excreting rate of urine in 24 hours. For lead retention rate in bones, liver and kidneys, F Z-82-4 group was lower than control group. The Pb-nitrate removing effect of FZ-82-4 was related to administering time, route and dose

Sex differences in effective fronto-limbic connectivity during negative emotion processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lungu, Ovidiu; Potvin, Stéphane; Tikàsz, Andràs; Mendrek, Adrianna

2015-12-01

In view of the greater prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in women than in men, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have examined sex-differences in brain activations during emotion processing. Comparatively, sex-differences in brain connectivity received little attention, despite evidence for important fronto-limbic connections during emotion processing across sexes. Here, we investigated sex-differences in fronto-limbic connectivity during negative emotion processing. Forty-six healthy individuals (25 women, 21 men) viewed negative, positive and neutral images during an fMRI session. Effective connectivity between significantly activated regions was examined using Granger causality and psychophysical interaction analyses. Sex steroid hormones and feminine-masculine traits were also measured. Subjective ratings of negative emotional images were higher in women than in men. Across sexes, significant activations were observed in the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the right amygdala. Granger connectivity from right amygdala was significantly greater than that from dmPFC during the 'high negative' condition, an effect driven by men. Magnitude of this effect correlated negatively with highly negative image ratings and feminine traits and positively with testosterone levels. These results highlight critical sex differences in brain connectivity during negative emotion processing and point to the fact that both biological (sex steroid hormones) and psychosocial (gender role and identity) variables contribute to them. As the dmPFC is involved in social cognition and action planning, and the amygdala-in threat detection, the connectivity results suggest that compared to women, men have a more evaluative, rather than purely affective, brain response during negative emotion processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transport of sewage molecular markers through saturated soil column and effect of easily biodegradable primary substrate on their removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Foolad, Mahsa; Ong, Say Leong; Hu, Jiangyong

2015-11-01

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and artificial sweeteners (ASs) are emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in the aquatic environment. The presence of PPCPs and ASs in water bodies has an ecologic potential risk and health concern. Therefore, it is needed to detect the pollution sources by understanding the transport behavior of sewage molecular markers in a subsurface area. The aim of this study was to evaluate transport of nine selected molecular markers through saturated soil column experiments. The selected sewage molecular markers in this study were six PPCPs including acetaminophen (ACT), carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CF), crotamiton (CTMT), diethyltoluamide (DEET), salicylic acid (SA) and three ASs including acesulfame (ACF), cyclamate (CYC), and saccharine (SAC). Results confirmed that ACF, CBZ, CTMT, CYC and SAC were suitable to be used as sewage molecular markers since they were almost stable against sorption and biodegradation process during soil column experiments. In contrast, transport of ACT, CF and DEET were limited by both sorption and biodegradation processes and 100% removal efficiency was achieved in the biotic column. Moreover, in this study the effect of different acetate concentration (0-100mg/L) as an easily biodegradable primary substrate on a removal of PPCPs and ASs was also studied. Results showed a negative correlation (r(2)>0.75) between the removal of some selected sewage chemical markers including ACF, CF, ACT, CYC, SAC and acetate concentration. CTMT also decreased with the addition of acetate, but increasing acetate concentration did not affect on its removal. CBZ and DEET removal were not dependent on the presence of acetate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of constructed wetland design on ibuprofen removal – A mesocosm scale study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Liang; Lyu, Tao; Zhang, Yang

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of constructed wetland design (unsaturated, saturated and aerated saturated) and plant species (Juncus, Typha, Berula, Phragmites and Iris) on the mass removal and removal kinetics of the pharmaceutical ibuprofen. Planted systems had higher ibuprofen...

Inhibitory and toxic effects of extracellular self-DNA in litter: a mechanism for negative plant-soil feedbacks?

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzoleni, Stefano; Bonanomi, Giuliano; Incerti, Guido; Chiusano, Maria Luisa; Termolino, Pasquale; Mingo, Antonio; Senatore, Mauro; Giannino, Francesco; Cartenì, Fabrizio; Rietkerk, Max; Lanzotti, Virginia

2015-02-01

Plant-soil negative feedback (NF) is recognized as an important factor affecting plant communities. The objectives of this work were to assess the effects of litter phytotoxicity and autotoxicity on root proliferation, and to test the hypothesis that DNA is a driver of litter autotoxicity and plant-soil NF. The inhibitory effect of decomposed litter was studied in different bioassays. Litter biochemical changes were evaluated with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. DNA accumulation in litter and soil was measured and DNA toxicity was assessed in laboratory experiments. Undecomposed litter caused nonspecific inhibition of root growth, while autotoxicity was produced by aged litter. The addition of activated carbon (AC) removed phytotoxicity, but was ineffective against autotoxicity. Phytotoxicity was related to known labile allelopathic compounds. Restricted (13) C NMR signals related to nucleic acids were the only ones negatively correlated with root growth on conspecific substrates. DNA accumulation was observed in both litter decomposition and soil history experiments. Extracted total DNA showed evident species-specific toxicity. Results indicate a general occurrence of litter autotoxicity related to the exposure to fragmented self-DNA. The evidence also suggests the involvement of accumulated extracellular DNA in plant-soil NF. Further studies are needed to further investigate this unexpected function of extracellular DNA at the ecosystem level and related cellular and molecular mechanisms. © 2014 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.

Effectiveness of different irrigation protocols on calcium hydroxide removal from simulated immature teeth after apexification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evren Ok

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of different irrigation solutions and ultrasonic activation of the irrigation solutions on the removal of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH2 from the simulated immature root canals after apexification. Materials and methods: One-hundred and one single-rooted teeth were used. The root canals were shaped with ProTaper rotary files up to F5. Simulation of roots with immature apices was carried out using size 4 Unicore drills. An injectable Ca(OH2 was injected into each root canal, and packed to the working length. Then, cotton pellets were placed over canal orifices, and apical and coronal parts of the roots were sealed with resin-modified glass ionomer cement, and light cured. Specimens were stored in distilled water for 3 months at 37°C. After 3 months, the temporary coronal seal was removed and the samples were randomly divided into: (a saline (n = 20, (b ultrasonic activation of saline (n = 20, (c sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl (n = 20, (d ultrasonic activation of NaOCl (n = 15, (e chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX (n = 20 and one positive control group (n = 3 and one negative control group (n = 3. The amount of remaining Ca(OH2 on the canal walls was measured under stereomicroscope with 30× magnification. Comparisons between groups were made by the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn post-test at a significance level of p  0.05 groups. Conclusions: Irrigation solutions and ultrasonic activation of the irrigation solutions could not completely remove Ca(OH2 from the simulated immature root canals.

Sorbents for effective removal of radioactive antimony during chemical decontamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishad, Padala Abdul; Bhaskarapillai, Anupkumar; Velmurugan, Sankaralingam

2014-01-01

Removal of radioactive antimony is a challenging problem. Often, during decontamination, they get mobilized around the system and redeposit in different areas thus offsetting the reduction in the radiation field obtained by removing other activities such as 60 Co. Thus, there is a clear need for better antimony removing materials/strategies for effective reactor decontamination. In this regard, six commercially available sorbents namely, Tulsion A33 (strong base anion (-OH) resin), Amberlite IRC-718 (chelating resin), Radex ® Sb-1000, nano TiO 2 -special grade (Inorganic type IX), Chitosan (biosorbent) and Aeroxide p25 (nano TiO 2 , Inorganic type IX) were evaluated for their antimony sorption properties. Radex ® and TiO 2 based materials were found to be more effective in removing both Sb(V) and Sb(III). Solution pH was seen to significantly influence the antimony sorption and the effect was more prominent in anion resin, when tested under column conditions. Apart from the commercial sorbents, we have synthesised a robust high performing sorbent (TA-Chitosan beads) in the form of stable beads, using nano-TiO 2 and chitosan. The beads were found to retain the antimony sorption properties of the nano-TiO 2 , while adapting a physical format suitable for large scale operations. The sorbent exhibited almost complete sorption of antimony both in low (ppb level) as well as high concentrations of antimony. The suitability of the beads for use in column mode has been established and its radiation stability was probed in detail. The beads were found to be stable to irradiations as ascertained from the TOC values and unchanged sorption properties. The sorption properties of the CHITA beads in typical decontamination formulation containing mixture of complexing agents have been investigated in detail. (author)

Interactive and Indirect Effects of Anxiety and Negative Urgency on Alcohol-Related Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Menary, Kyle R.; Corbin, William R.; Leeman, Robert F.; Fucito, Lisa M.; Toll, Benjamin A.; DeMartini, Kelly; O’Malley, Stephanie S.

2015-01-01

Background Although drinking for tension reduction has long been posited as a risk factor for alcohol-related problems, studies investigating anxiety in relation to risk for alcohol problems have returned inconsistent results, leading researchers to search for potential moderators. Negative urgency (the tendency to become behaviorally dysregulated when experiencing negative affect) is a potential moderator of theoretical interest because it may increase risk for alcohol problems among those high in negative affect. The present study tested a cross-sectional mediated moderation hypothesis whereby an interactive effect of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems is mediated through coping-related drinking motives. Method The study utilized baseline data from a hazardously drinking sample of young adults (N = 193) evaluated for participation in a randomized controlled trial of naltrexone and motivational interviewing for drinking reduction. Results The direct effect of anxiety on physiological dependence symptoms was moderated by negative urgency such that the positive association between anxiety and physiological dependence symptoms became stronger as negative urgency increased. Indirect effects of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems (operating through coping motives) were also observed. Conclusions Although results of the current cross-sectional study require replication using longitudinal data, the findings suggest that the simultaneous presence of anxiety and negative urgency may be an important indicator of risk for AUDs via both direct interactive effects and indirect additive effects operating through coping motives. These findings have potentially important implications for prevention/intervention efforts for individuals who become disinhibited in the context of negative emotional states. PMID:26031346

[Removable partial dentures. Oral functions and types].

Science.gov (United States)

Creugers, N H J; de Baat, C

2009-11-01

A removable partial denture enables the restoration or improvement of 4 oral functions: aesthetics, mandibular stability, mastication, and speech. However, wearing a removable partial denture should not cause oral comfort to deteriorate. There are 3 types of removable partial dentures: acrylic tissue-supported dentures, dentures with cast metal frameworks en dentures with cast metal frameworks and (semi)precision attachments. Interrupted tooth arches,free-ending tooth arches, and a combination of interrupted as well as free-ending tooth arches can be restored using these dentures. Well-known disadvantages of removable partial dentures are problematic oral hygiene, negative influence on the remaining dentition and limited oral comfort. Due to the advanced possibilities of fixed tooth- or implant-supported partial dentures, whether or not free-ending, or tooth- as well as implant-supported partial dentures, the indication of removable partial dentures is restricted. Nevertheless, for the time being the demand for removable partial dentures is expected to continue.

Study on complexed lead and cadmium ions removal from aqueous solutions by means of ion exchange method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudzinska, M.

1992-01-01

The possibility of simultaneous removal of heavy metal ions and organic chelates from waste water has been studied. The experimental work has been preceded by extensive theoretical considerations and calculations of physico-chemical parameters of the process for model and real waste water systems. The negative influence of the presence of sulfate anions on cadmium and lead complexes removal in ion exchange process has been experimentally proved. In the systems free of sulfate anions or when their concentrations were low, the purification process conducted on Amberlite IRA-68 was very effective for cadmium and lead complexes removal. 112 refs, 78 figs, 15 tabs

Effect of wastewater colloids on membrane removal of antibiotic resistance genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Breazeal, Maria V Riquelme; Novak, John T; Vikesland, Peter J; Pruden, Amy

2013-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) significantly alter the magnitude and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in receiving environments, indicating that wastewater treatment represents an important node for limiting ARG dissemination. This study examined the potential for membrane treatment of microconstituent ARGs and the effect of native wastewater colloids on the extent of their removal. Plasmids containing vanA (vancomycin) and bla(TEM) (β-lactam) ARGs were spiked into three representative WWTP effluents versus a control buffer and tracked by quantitative polymerase chain reaction through a cascade of microfiltration and ultrafiltration steps ranging from 0.45 μm to 1 kDa. Significant removal of ARGs was achieved by membranes of 100 kDa and smaller, and presence of wastewater colloids resulted in enhanced removal by 10 kDa and 1 kDa membranes. ARG removal was observed to correlate significantly with the corresponding protein, polysaccharide, and total organic carbon colloidal fractions. Alumina membranes removed ARGs to a greater extent than polyvinylidene fluoride membranes of the same pore size (0.1 μm), but only in the presence of wastewater material. Control studies confirmed that membrane treatment was the primary mechanism of ARG removal, versus other potential sources of loss. This study suggests that advanced membrane treatment technology is promising for managing public health risks of ARGs in wastewater effluents and that removal may even be enhanced by colloids in real-world wastewaters. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Enzymes to Improve Antibiotic Effectiveness on "Staphylococcus Epidermidis" Biofilm Removal

Science.gov (United States)

Candal, Carmen

2012-01-01

The effectiveness of five different enzymes as treatments against Staphylococcus biofilm growth was measured in the presence of antibiotics and alone. Protease was the least effective enzyme in biofilm removal with all antibiotics, and pectinase was the most effective with dicloxacillin and clindamycin. Also, dicloxacillin was the most effective…

Synergistic Effect of Nanophotocatalysis and Nonthermal Plasma on the Removal of Indoor HCHO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanwei Lu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Photocatalysis is an effective method of air purification at the condition of a higher pollutant concentration. However, its wide application in indoor air cleaning is limited due to the low level of indoor air contaminants. Immobilizing the nanosized TiO2 particles on the surface of activated carbon filter (TiO2/AC film could increase the photocatalytic reaction rate as a local high pollutant concentration can be formed on the surface of TiO2 by the adsorption of AC. However, the pollutant removal still decreased quickly with the increase in flow velocity, which results in a decrease in air treatment capacity. In order to improve the air treatment capacity by the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO method, this paper used formaldehyde (HCHO as a contaminant to study the effect of combination of PCO with nonthermal plasma technology (NTP on the removal of HCHO. The experimental results show that HCHO removal is more effective with line-to-plate electrode discharge reactor; the HCHO removal and the reaction rate can be enhanced and the amount of air that needs to be cleaned can be improved. Meanwhile, the results show that there is the synergistic effect on the indoor air purification by the combination of PCO with NTP.

Differential Effects of Positive versus Negative Self-Involving Counselor Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Remer, Pam; And Others

1983-01-01

Investigated the effects of positive and negative counselor disclosure using typescripts of hypothetical counseling interviews. Results indicated impact of condition was mixed, with each having some desirable effects. (PAS)

Kinetic effects in the propagation of ion-acoustic negative solitons in plasmas with negative ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberto, M.

1986-12-01

The existence of ion-acoustic negative (rarefactive) solitons in plasmas was experimentally verified and explained by means of the Korteweg-de Vries equation, obtained from a fluid model. The experimental results obtained in a double-plasma machine of the Institute for Space Research, however, have provided values of Mach number larger than predicted by this simple model. In order to improve the analysis of the phenomenon, Kinetic effects resultant from the occurrence of reflected electrons and trapped ions in the soliton potential were considered, using the theory of Sagdeev potential. For the description of the negative ion dynamics the fluid model treatment was preserved. It was verified that the effects of the finite temperature and trapping of the positive ions modify the results predicted by the simple KdV model in such a way that the Mach number is reduced as the ion temperature increases. It was shown that reflection of electrons is consistent with the large experimental values of Mach number. (Author) [pt

Effect of compost age and composition on the atrazine removal from solution

Science.gov (United States)

Tsui, L.; Roy, W.R.

2007-01-01

Compost samples from two composting facilities, the Urbana (Illinois) Landscape Recycling Center (ULRC) and Illinois State University (ISU), were selected to examine the effect of compost age on atrazine removal from solution. The ULRC samples were made from yard waste without an additional nitrogen source. The ISU samples were made from yard waste or sawdust with the addition of manure. The 6-month-old ULRC compost had the greater capacity to remove atrazine from solution, which we attributed to its greater organic carbon content. The addition of nitrate into ULRC compost could influence the extent of atrazine removal, but did not have a significant impact on atrazine removal when applied to ISU compost, probably because manure was added to the yard waste to produce the compost. For both ULRC and ISU samples, the presence of sodium azide inhibited atrazine removal, suggesting that microbial activity contributed to the atrazine removal. Metabolic analysis demonstrated that hydroxyatrazine was the major identified metabolite that accumulated in solution before significant ring mineralization could occur. When compared with the ISU compost, the ULRC compost sample had a greater capacity to remove atrazine from solution during the 120 days of study because of the larger humic acid content. The experimental results suggested that less-mature compost may be better suited for environmental applications such as removing atrazine from tile-drainage waters. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of compost age and composition on the atrazine removal from solution.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsui, Lo; Roy, William R

2007-01-02

Compost samples from two composting facilities, the Urbana (Illinois) Landscape Recycling Center (ULRC) and Illinois State University (ISU), were selected to examine the effect of compost age on atrazine removal from solution. The ULRC samples were made from yard waste without an additional nitrogen source. The ISU samples were made from yard waste or sawdust with the addition of manure. The 6-month-old ULRC compost had the greater capacity to remove atrazine from solution, which we attributed to its greater organic carbon content. The addition of nitrate into ULRC compost could influence the extent of atrazine removal, but did not have a significant impact on atrazine removal when applied to ISU compost, probably because manure was added to the yard waste to produce the compost. For both ULRC and ISU samples, the presence of sodium azide inhibited atrazine removal, suggesting that microbial activity contributed to the atrazine removal. Metabolic analysis demonstrated that hydroxyatrazine was the major identified metabolite that accumulated in solution before significant ring mineralization could occur. When compared with the ISU compost, the ULRC compost sample had a greater capacity to remove atrazine from solution during the 120 days of study because of the larger humic acid content. The experimental results suggested that less-mature compost may be better suited for environmental applications such as removing atrazine from tile-drainage waters.

Technostress : negative effect on performance and possible mitigations

OpenAIRE

Tarafdar, Monideepa; Pullins, Ellen; Ragu-Nathan, T. S

2015-01-01

We investigate the effect of conditions that create technostress, on technology-enabled innovation, technology-enabled performance and overall performance. We further look at the role of technology self-efficacy, organizational mechanisms that inhibit technostress and technology competence as possible mitigations to the effects of technostress creators. Our findings show a negative association between technostress creators and performance. We find that, while traditional effort-based mechanis...

Removal of trace Cd2+ from aqueous solution by foam fractionation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jian; Li, Ying; Zhang, Sen; Sun, Yange

2015-04-09

In recent years, aqueous foam was known as an efficient technique with high potential on being used to remove heavy metal ions from the polluted water, not only because of the low cost, simple operation, but also ascribed to the high removal efficiency of trace heavy metal ions and would not cause secondary pollution to the environment. In this paper, the removal of Cd(2+) from aqueous solution by aqueous foam stabilized by a kind of novel anionic-nonionic surfactant sodium trideceth-4 carboxylate (AEC) was investigated. The effect of conditions such as surfactant/metal ions molar ratio, surfactant concentration on the removal efficiency was studied. In large concentration range of surfactant, the removal rate was higher than 90%, and could reach up to 99.8% under the optimum conditions. The Zeta potential of gas bubbles in the AEC solutions was determined to verify the combination between the negative charged group heads of surfactant molecules and heavy metal ions, and isothermal titration calorimeter (ITC) determination was utilized to demonstrate the interaction, which helped to understand the mechanisms more clearly. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forced fluid removal in intensive care patients with acute kidney injury

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berthelsen, R E; Perner, A; Jensen, A K

2018-01-01

/or continuous renal replacement therapy aiming at net negative fluid balance > 1 mL/kg ideal body weight/hour until cumulative fluid balance calculated from ICU admission reached less than 1000 mL. RESULTS: After 20 months, we stopped the trial prematurely due to a low inclusion rate with 23 (2%) included...... patients out of the 1144 screened. Despite the reduced sample size, we observed a marked reduction in cumulative fluid balance 5 days after randomisation (mean difference -5814 mL, 95% CI -2063 to -9565, P = .003) with forced fluid removal compared to standard care. While the trial was underpowered...... for clinical endpoints, no point estimates suggested harm from forced fluid removal. CONCLUSIONS: Forced fluid removal aiming at 1 mL/kg ideal body weight/hour may be an effective treatment of fluid accumulation in ICU patients with acute kidney injury. A definitive trial using our inclusion criteria seems...

A Double-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant Women? Evidence from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helena Skyt; Husted, L.; Rosholm, Michael

In this paper we investigate whether there exists a double-negative effect on the earnings of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a combined negative effect of gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups allowing...... for individual specific effects. Considering females, correcting for possible sample selection bias due to the participation decision is essential. Based on a Danish panel of register data, we identify some groups of immigrant females that experience a strong and persistent double-negative effect on wages even...

Synergistic effects of non-thermal plasma-assisted catalyst and ultrasound on toluene removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yongli; Zhou, Libo; Zhang, Luhong; Sui, Hong

2012-01-01

A wire-mesh catalyst coated by La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 was combined with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor for toluene removal at atmospheric pressure. It was found that toluene removal efficiency and carbon dioxide selectivity were enhanced in the catalytic packed-bed reactor. In addition, ozone and nitrogen monoxide from the gas effluent byproducts decreased. This is the first time that ultrasound combined with plasma has been used for toluene removal. A synergistic effect on toluene removal was observed in the plasma-assisted ultrasound system. At the same time, the system increased toluene conversion and reduced ozone emission.

Differential effects of arousal in positive and negative autobiographical memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Jaclyn Hennessey; Addis, Donna Rose; Giovanello, Kelly S

2012-01-01

Autobiographical memories are characterised by a range of emotions and emotional reactions. Recent research has demonstrated that differences in emotional valence (positive vs. negative emotion) and arousal (the degree of emotional intensity) differentially influence the retrieved memory narrative. Although the mnemonic effects of valence and arousal have both been heavily studied, it is currently unclear whether the effects of emotional arousal are equivalent for positive and negative autobiographical events. In the current study, multilevel models were used to examine differential effects of emotional valence and arousal on the richness of autobiographical memory retrieval both between and within subjects. Thirty-four young adults were asked to retrieve personal autobiographical memories associated with popular musical cues and to rate the valence, arousal and richness of these events. The multilevel analyses identified independent influences of valence and intensity upon retrieval characteristics at the within- and between-subject levels. In addition, the within-subject interactions between valence and arousal highlighted differential effects of arousal for positive and negative memories. These findings have important implications for future studies of emotion and memory, highlighting the importance of considering both valence and arousal when examining the role emotion plays in the richness of memory representation.

Aberration of a negative ion beam caused by space charge effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, K.; Wada, S.; Hatayama, A.

2010-01-01

Aberrations are inevitable when the charged particle beams are extracted, accelerated, transmitted, and focused with electrostatic and magnetic fields. In this study, we investigate the aberration of a negative ion accelerator for a neutral beam injector theoretically, especially the spherical aberration caused by the negative ion beam expansion due to the space charge effect. The negative ion current density profiles with the spherical aberration are compared with those without the spherical aberration. It is found that the negative ion current density profiles in a log scale are tailed due to the spherical aberration.

Aberration of a negative ion beam caused by space charge effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miyamoto, K. [Naruto University of Education, 748 Nakashima, Takashima, Naruto-cho, Naruto-shi, Tokushima 772-8502 (Japan); Wada, S.; Hatayama, A. [Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522 (Japan)

2010-02-15

Aberrations are inevitable when the charged particle beams are extracted, accelerated, transmitted, and focused with electrostatic and magnetic fields. In this study, we investigate the aberration of a negative ion accelerator for a neutral beam injector theoretically, especially the spherical aberration caused by the negative ion beam expansion due to the space charge effect. The negative ion current density profiles with the spherical aberration are compared with those without the spherical aberration. It is found that the negative ion current density profiles in a log scale are tailed due to the spherical aberration.

Aberration of a negative ion beam caused by space charge effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyamoto, K; Wada, S; Hatayama, A

2010-02-01

Aberrations are inevitable when the charged particle beams are extracted, accelerated, transmitted, and focused with electrostatic and magnetic fields. In this study, we investigate the aberration of a negative ion accelerator for a neutral beam injector theoretically, especially the spherical aberration caused by the negative ion beam expansion due to the space charge effect. The negative ion current density profiles with the spherical aberration are compared with those without the spherical aberration. It is found that the negative ion current density profiles in a log scale are tailed due to the spherical aberration.

The effect of four different irrigation systems in the removal of a root canal sealer.

Science.gov (United States)

Grischke, J; Müller-Heine, A; Hülsmann, M

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of sonic, ultrasonic, and hydrodynamic devices in the removal of a root canal sealer from the surface and from simulated irregularities of root canals. Fifty-three root canals with two standardized grooves in the apical and coronal parts of longitudinally split roots were covered with AH Plus root canal sealer. Compared were the effects of (control) syringe irrigation, (1) CanalBrush, (2) passive ultrasonic irrigation, (3) EndoActivator, and (4) RinsEndo on the removal of the sealer. The specimens were divided into four groups (N = 12) and one control group (N = 5) via randomization. The amount of remaining sealer in the root canal irregularities was evaluated under a microscope using a 4-grade scoring system, whereas the remaining sealer on the root canal surface was evaluated with a 7-grade scoring system. Passive ultrasonic irrigation is more effective than the other tested irrigation systems or syringe irrigation in removing sealer from root canal walls (p irrigation shows a superior effect on sealer removal from the root canal surface during endodontic retreatment. Cleaning of lateral grooves seems not to be possible with one of the techniques investigated. Incomplete removal of root canal sealer during re-treatment may cause treatment failure. Passive Ultrasonic irrigation seems to be the most effective system to remove sealer from a root canal.

Integrated Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Science.gov (United States)

Rickels, W.; Reith, F.; Keller, D.; Oschlies, A.; Quaas, M. F.

2018-03-01

To maintain the chance of keeping the average global temperature increase below 2°C and to limit long-term climate change, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide removal, CDR) is becoming increasingly necessary. We analyze optimal and cost-effective climate policies in the dynamic integrated assessment model (IAM) of climate and the economy (DICE2016R) and investigate (1) the utilization of (ocean) CDR under different climate objectives, (2) the sensitivity of policies with respect to carbon cycle feedbacks, and (3) how well carbon cycle feedbacks are captured in the carbon cycle models used in state-of-the-art IAMs. Overall, the carbon cycle model in DICE2016R shows clear improvements compared to its predecessor, DICE2013R, capturing much better long-term dynamics and also oceanic carbon outgassing due to excess oceanic storage of carbon from CDR. However, this comes at the cost of a (too) tight short-term remaining emission budget, limiting the model suitability to analyze low-emission scenarios accurately. With DICE2016R, the compliance with the 2°C goal is no longer feasible without negative emissions via CDR. Overall, the optimal amount of CDR has to take into account (1) the emission substitution effect and (2) compensation for carbon cycle feedbacks.

Effects of rhamnolipid biosurfactants on removal of phenanthrene from soil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noordman, Wouter H.; Ji, Wei; Brusseau, Mark L.; Janssen, Dick B.

1998-01-01

Solubilizing agents may enhance remediation of-soils contaminated with hydrophobic organic contaminants by diminishing sorption of the contaminants or increasing desorption rates. The effectiveness of rhamnolipid biosurfactants to enhance the removal of sorbed contaminants from soil was determined

Pervasive negative effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation: The myth continues.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, J; Banko, K M; Pierce, W D

2001-01-01

A major concern in psychology and education is that rewards decrease intrinsic motivation to perform activities. Over the past 30 years, more than 100 experimental studies have been conducted on this topic. In 1994, Cameron and Pierce conducted a meta-analysis of this literature and concluded that negative effects of reward were limited and could be easily prevented in applied settings. A more recent meta-analysis of the literature by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) shows pervasive negative effects of reward. The purpose of the present article is to resolve differences in previous meta-analytic findings and to provide a meta-analysis of rewards and intrinsic motivation that permits tests of competing theoretical explanations. Our results suggest that in general, rewards are not harmful to motivation to perform a task. Rewards given for low-interest tasks enhance free-choice intrinsic motivation. On high-interest tasks, verbal rewards produce positive effects on free-choice motivation and self-reported task interest. Negative effects are found on high-interest tasks when the rewards are tangible, expected (offered beforehand), and loosely tied to level of performance. When rewards are linked to level of performance, measures of intrinsic motivation increase or do not differ from a nonrewarded control group. Overall, the pattern of results indicates that reward contingencies do not have pervasive negative effects on intrinsic motivation. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are addressed.

A facilitative effect of negative affective valence on working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Gotoh, Fumiko; Kikuchi, Tadashi; Olofsson, Ulrich

2010-06-01

Previous studies have shown that negatively valenced information impaired working memory performance due to an attention-capturing effect. The present study examined whether negative valence could also facilitate working memory. Affective words (negative, neutral, positive) were used as retro-cues in a working memory task that required participants to remember colors at different spatial locations on a computer screen. Following the cue, a target detection task was used to either shift attention to a different location or keep attention at the same location as the retro-cue. Finally, participants were required to discriminate the cued color from a set of distractors. It was found that negative cues yielded shorter response times (RTs) in the attention-shift condition and longer RTs in the attention-stay condition, compared with neutral and positive cues. The results suggest that negative affective valence may enhance working memory performance (RTs), provided that attention can be disengaged.

The therapeutic effect of negative pressure in treating femoral head necrosis in rabbits.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yin-gang; Wang, Xuezhi; Yang, Zhi; Zhang, Hong; Liu, Miao; Qiu, Yushen; Guo, Xiong

2013-01-01

Because negative pressure can stimulate vascular proliferation, improve blood circulation and promote osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells, we investigated the therapeutic effect of negative pressure on femoral head necrosis (FHN) in a rabbit model. Animals were divided into four groups (n = 60/group): [1] model control, [2] core decompression, [3] negative pressure and [4] normal control groups. Histological investigation revealed that at 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively, improvements were observed in trabecular bone shape, empty lacunae and numbers of bone marrow hematopoietic cells and fat cells in the negative pressure group compared to the core decompression group. At week 8, there were no significant differences between the negative pressure and normal control groups. Immunohistochemistry staining revealed higher expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the femoral heads in the negative pressure group compared with the core decompression group. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that cell organelles were further developed in the negative pressure group compared with the core decompression group. Microvascular ink staining revealed an increased number of bone marrow ink-stained blood vessels, a thicker vascular lumen and increased microvascular density in the negative pressure group relative to the core decompression group. Real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that expression levels of both VEGF and BMP-2 were higher in the negative pressure group compared with the core decompression group. In summary, negative pressure has a therapeutic effect on FHN. This effect is superior to core decompression, indicating that negative pressure is a potentially valuable method for treating early FHN.

Removal of Negative Feedback Enhances WCST Performance for Individuals with ASD

Science.gov (United States)

Broadbent, Jaclyn; Stokes, Mark A.

2013-01-01

Negative feedback was explored as a potential mechanism that may exacerbate perseverative behaviours in individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS). The current study compared 50 individuals with AS and 50 typically developing (TD) individuals for their abilities to successfully complete the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) in the presence or…

Influence of negative emotion on the framing effect: evidence from event-related potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Qingguo; Pei, Guanxiong; Wang, Kai

2015-04-15

The framing effect is the phenomenon in which different descriptions of an identical problem can result in different choices. The influence of negative emotions on the framing effect and its neurocognitive basis are important issues, especially in the domain of saving lives, which is essential and highly risky. In each trial of our experiment, the emotion stimulus is presented to the participants, followed by the decision-making stimulus, which comprises certain and risky options with the same expected value. Each pair of options is positively or negatively framed. The behavioral results indicate a significant interactive effect between negative emotion and frame; thus, the risk preference under the positive frame can be enhanced by negative emotions, whereas this finding is not true under the negative frame. The event-related potential analysis indicates that choosing certain options under the positive frame with negative emotion priming generates smaller P2 and P3 amplitudes and a larger N2 amplitude than with neutral emotion priming. The event-related potential findings indicate that individuals can detect risk faster and experience more conflict and increased decision difficulty if they choose certain options under the positive frame with negative priming compared with neutral priming.

Wastewater treatment processes for the removal of emerging organic pollutants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ainhoa Rubio Clemente

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Emerging organic pollutants form a very heterogeneous group of substances that have negative effects on aquatic organisms, so they should be removed from the environment. Unfortunately, conventional processes in wastewater treatment plants, especially biological ones, are inefficient in the degradation of these substances. It is therefore necessary to evaluate and optimize the effectiveness of the treatments, including advanced oxidation and membrane filtration processes. However, both techniques have drawbacks that may limit their stand-alone application, so it is proposed that the best solution may be to combine these technologies with biological processes to treat wastewater contaminated with emerging organic pollutants.

Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal: Metabolic Insights and Salinity Effects

OpenAIRE

Welles, L.

2015-01-01

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a biological process for efficient phosphate removal from wastewaters through intracellular storage of polyphosphate by polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAO) and subsequent removal of PAO from the system through wastage of sludge. In comparison to physical and chemical phosphorus removal processes, the biological process has several advantages such as high removal efficiency, low cost, and no chemical sludge production, but disturbances an...

Removal of internal fixation--the effect on patients' complaints: a study of 66 cases of removal of internal fixation after malleolar fractures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, S; Honnens de Lichtenberg, M; Jensen, C M

1994-01-01

To estimate the effect of removal of internal fixation after treatment of malleolar fractures on postoperatively presented complaints, we retrospectively evaluated 66 patients by their records and by personal questionnaires. Of all the patients, 89.4% had one or more complaints. These were...... typically soreness over implant and cicatrix, reduced movement of the ankle joint, and strain-related pain. About 75% of these patients reported improvement after removal. The AO mode of fixation, i.e., typically by lateral semitubular plating and transsyndesmotic screw and a medial screw or pins...... period. We conclude that removal of internal fixation after malleolar fractures is indicated when common types of complaints are presented....

Potential of duckweed (Lemna minor) for removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from water under salt stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chunguang; Dai, Zheng; Sun, Hongwen

2017-02-01

Duckweed plays a major role in the removal of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from water. To determine the effect of salt stress on the removal of N and P by duckweed, we cultured Lemna minor, a common species of duckweed, in N and P-rich water with NaCl concentrations ranging from 0 to 100 mM for 24 h and 72 h, respectively. The results show that the removal capacity of duckweed for N and P was reduced by salt stress. Higher salt stress with longer cultivation period exerts more injury to duckweed and greater inhibition of N and P removal. Severe salt stress (100 mM NaCl) induced duckweed to release N and P and even resulted in negative removal efficiencies. The results indicate that L. minor should be used to remove N and P from water with salinities below 75 mM NaCl, or equivalent salt stress. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Invasive-Plant Management on Nitrogen-Removal Services in Freshwater Tidal Marshes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Alldred

Full Text Available Establishing relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function is an ongoing endeavor in contemporary ecosystem and community ecology, with important practical implications for conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Removal of invasive plant species to conserve native diversity is a common management objective in many ecosystems, including wetlands. However, substantial changes in plant community composition have the potential to alter sediment characteristics and ecosystem services, including permanent removal of nitrogen from these systems via microbial denitrification. A balanced assessment of costs associated with keeping and removing invasive plants is needed to manage simultaneously for biodiversity and pollution targets. We monitored small-scale removals of Phragmites australis over four years to determine their effects on potential denitrification rates relative to three untreated Phragmites sites and adjacent sites dominated by native Typha angustifolia. Sediment ammonium increased following the removal of vegetation from treated sites, likely as a result of decreases in both plant uptake and nitrification. Denitrification potentials were lower in removal sites relative to untreated Phragmites sites, a pattern that persisted at least two years following removal as native plant species began to re-colonize treated sites. These results suggest the potential for a trade-off between invasive-plant management and nitrogen-removal services. A balanced assessment of costs associated with keeping versus removing invasive plants is needed to adequately manage simultaneously for biodiversity and pollution targets.

Effects of Invasive-Plant Management on Nitrogen-Removal Services in Freshwater Tidal Marshes.

Science.gov (United States)

Alldred, Mary; Baines, Stephen B; Findlay, Stuart

2016-01-01

Establishing relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function is an ongoing endeavor in contemporary ecosystem and community ecology, with important practical implications for conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Removal of invasive plant species to conserve native diversity is a common management objective in many ecosystems, including wetlands. However, substantial changes in plant community composition have the potential to alter sediment characteristics and ecosystem services, including permanent removal of nitrogen from these systems via microbial denitrification. A balanced assessment of costs associated with keeping and removing invasive plants is needed to manage simultaneously for biodiversity and pollution targets. We monitored small-scale removals of Phragmites australis over four years to determine their effects on potential denitrification rates relative to three untreated Phragmites sites and adjacent sites dominated by native Typha angustifolia. Sediment ammonium increased following the removal of vegetation from treated sites, likely as a result of decreases in both plant uptake and nitrification. Denitrification potentials were lower in removal sites relative to untreated Phragmites sites, a pattern that persisted at least two years following removal as native plant species began to re-colonize treated sites. These results suggest the potential for a trade-off between invasive-plant management and nitrogen-removal services. A balanced assessment of costs associated with keeping versus removing invasive plants is needed to adequately manage simultaneously for biodiversity and pollution targets.

[Evaluation of the cosmetic effect of orbital endoimplantation after removal the eyeball].

Science.gov (United States)

Piskiniene, Raimonda

2006-01-01

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the cosmetic effect of endoimplantation after removal the eyeball. The removal of the globe creates anatomic and physiological alteration of the orbital tissue and orbital bones. A volume deficit occurs when an eye is enucleated. Deep upper lid sulcus, ptosis, lower lid laxity, and enophthalmus of the artificial eye together constitute the postenucleation socket syndrome, which creates an asymmetry of the face. The orbital prosthesis by placing it in the orbital cavity allows correcting volume deficit, so the implant with attached extraocular muscles, together with an artificial eye, creates an illusion of real eye. Forty patients were operated on in Clinic of Eye Diseases of Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital. Twenty patients underwent removal of the eye and procedure of orbital implant insertion (main group). Twenty patients had just an eyeball removal without insertion of an orbital implant (control group). There was a statistically significant difference in exophthalmometry data between main and control groups (14.20+/-2.73 vs. 10.35+/-1.23 mm, respectively; peyeball removal.

Negativity bias and task motivation: testing the effectiveness of positively versus negatively framed incentives.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, Kelly; Dhar, Ravi

2013-12-01

People are frequently challenged by goals that demand effort and persistence. As a consequence, philosophers, psychologists, economists, and others have studied the factors that enhance task motivation. Using a sample of undergraduate students and a sample of working adults, we demonstrate that the manner in which an incentive is framed has implications for individuals' task motivation. In both samples we find that individuals are less motivated when an incentive is framed as a means to accrue a gain (positive framing) as compared with when the same incentive is framed as a means to avoid a loss (negative framing). Further, we provide evidence for the role of the negativity bias in this effect, and highlight specific populations for whom positive framing may be least motivating. Interestingly, we find that people's intuitions about when they will be more motivated show the opposite pattern, with people predicting that positively framed incentives will be more motivating than negatively framed incentives. We identify a lay belief in the positive correlation between enjoyment and task motivation as one possible factor contributing to the disparity between predicted and actual motivation as a result of the framing of the incentive. We conclude with a discussion of the managerial implications for these findings. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Effect of hysteretic and non-hysteretic negative capacitance on tunnel FETs DC performance

Science.gov (United States)

Saeidi, Ali; Jazaeri, Farzan; Stolichnov, Igor; Luong, Gia V.; Zhao, Qing-Tai; Mantl, Siegfried; Ionescu, Adrian M.

2018-03-01

This work experimentally demonstrates that the negative capacitance effect can be used to significantly improve the key figures of merit of tunnel field effect transistor (FET) switches. In the proposed approach, a matching condition is fulfilled between a trained-polycrystalline PZT capacitor and the tunnel FET (TFET) gate capacitance fabricated on a strained silicon-nanowire technology. We report a non-hysteretic switch configuration by combining a homojunction TFET and a negative capacitance effect booster, suitable for logic applications, for which the on-current is increased by a factor of 100, the transconductance by 2 orders of magnitude, and the low swing region is extended. The operation of a hysteretic negative capacitance TFET, when the matching condition for the negative capacitance is fulfilled only in a limited region of operation, is also reported and discussed. In this late case, a limited improvement in the device performance is observed. Overall, the paper demonstrates the main beneficial effects of negative capacitance on TFETs are the overdrive and transconductance amplification, which exactly address the most limiting performances of current TFETs.

Ammonium removal using algae-bacteria consortia: the effect of ammonium concentration, algae biomass, and light.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Huijun; Yuan, Qiuyan

2018-04-01

In this study, the effects of ammonium nitrogen concentration, algae biomass concentration, and light conditions (wavelength and intensity) on the ammonium removal efficiency of algae-bacteria consortia from wastewater were investigated. The results indicated that ammonium concentration and light intensity had a significant impact on nitrification. It was found that the highest ammonia concentration (430 mg N/L) in the influent resulted in the highest ammonia removal rate of 108 ± 3.6 mg N/L/days, which was two times higher than the influent with low ammonia concentration (40 mg N/L). At the lowest light intensity of 1000 Lux, algae biomass concentration, light wavelength, and light cycle did not show a significant effect on the performance of algal-bacterial consortium. Furthermore, the ammonia removal rate was approximately 83 ± 1.0 mg N/L/days, which was up to 40% faster than at the light intensity of 2500 Lux. It was concluded that the algae-bacteria consortia can effectively remove nitrogen from wastewater and the removal performance can be stabilized and enhanced using the low light intensity of 1000 Lux that is also a cost-effective strategy.

The Coordination of calculation and experimental procedures in the determination of high-negative reactivities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinegin, A.A.; Tsyganov, S.V.

1999-01-01

Usually three sources of information about the value of inserted negative reactivity (ρ) are used: dynamical experiment with reactimeters, solution of conventionally critical problems, and dynamical calculation of the process of reactivity insertion with the reactimer model. Each of them gives they own estimation of ρ. The discrepancy between these estimation could be significant, particularly noticeable in dissymmetric insertion of perturbation. The paper discusses origin of problems of estimation high negative reactivity with reactivity meter. Authors believe that correct method of high negative reactivity estimation have to include three dimensional dynamic core model for taking to account spatial effect. Moreover, some special process, such a removal of delayed neutron emitters, change in the fraction of delayed neutrons, inner source etc. (Authors)

The coordination of calculation and experimental procedures in the determination of high-negative reactivities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinegin, A.A.; Tsyganov, S.V.

1999-01-01

Usually three sources of information about the value of inserted negative reactivity (ρ) are used: dynamical experiment with reactimeters, solution of conventionally critical problems, and dynamical calculation of the process of reactivity insertion with the reactimeter model. Each of them gives they own estimation of ρ. The discrepancy between these estimations could be significant, particularly noticeable in dissymmetric insertion of perturbation. Origin of problems of estimation high negative reactivity is discussed using the reactivity meter. A correct method of high negative reactivity estimation have to include three dimensional dinamic core model for taking to account spatial effect. Moreover, some special processes, such as removal of delayed neutron emitters, change in the fraction of delayed neutrons, inner sources are considered etc. (author)

Improvements in lung lavage to increase its effectiveness in removing inhaled radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muggenburg, B.A.; Guilmette, R.A.; Romero, L.M.; Mewhinney, J.A.

1991-01-01

Lung lavage has been shown to be an effective method to remove insoluble radionuclides deposited and retained in the lung, but the treatment has been limited to the effective removal of only about 50% of the retained material. Reported here is change in lavage technique that slightly increases the effectiveness and the addition of high-frequency chest wall oscillation. The latter increased the effectiveness of the lavage procedure but also caused significant physiological complications. These studies were conducted in adult male and female beagles. The aerosol in the first study was 239 PuO 2 heat-treated at 850 degrees C, obtained as powder from a commercial V-blending process. The dogs briefly inhaled the aerosol per nasi. The tissue content at death and the amount of 239 Pu excreted and in the recovered lung lavage fluid was determined by radiochemical methods 5 . These values were used to reconstruct the initial pulmonary burden of 239 and the amount of 239 Pu removed by lavage. In the second study, with the HFCWO, the aerosol was 85 Sr fused in aluminosilicate particles. The IPB of 85 Sr was determined by whole-body counting. The excreta and recovered lung lavage fluids were also assayed for 85 Sr activity

Effect of Large Negative Phase of Blast Loading on Structural Response of RC Elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed Zubair Iman

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Structural response of reinforced concrete (RC elements for analysis and design are often obtained using the positive phase of the blast pressure curve disregarding the negative phase assuming insignificant contribution from the negative phase of the loading. Although, some insight on the effect of negative phase of blast pressure based on elastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF analysis was presented before, the influence of negative phase on different types of resistance functions of SDOF models and on realistic finite element analysis has not been explored. In this study, the effects of inclusion of pulse negative phase on structural response of RC elements from SDOF analysis and from more detailed finite element analysis have been investigated. Investigation of SDOF part has been conducted using MATLAB code that utilizes non-linear resistance functions of SDOF model. Detailed numerical investigation using finite element code DIANA was conducted on the significance of the negative phase on structural response. In the FE model, different support stiffness was used to explore the effect of support stiffness on the structural response due to blast negative phase. Results from SDOF and FE analyses present specific situations where the effect of large negative phase was found to be significant on the structural response of RC elements.

Hit Twice? Danish Evidence on the Double-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant Women

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helena Skyt; Rosholm, Michael; Smith, Nina

2000-01-01

In this paper, we investigate whether there is a double-negative effect on the wages of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a negative effect from both gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups correcting for sample s...... selection and individual specific effects. Based on a Danish panel of register data, we find that all women are affected by a substantial gender discrimination in wages, but only Pakistani women experience a double-negative effect.......In this paper, we investigate whether there is a double-negative effect on the wages of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a negative effect from both gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups correcting for sample...

Hit Twice? Danish Evidence on the Double-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant Women

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helena Skyt; Rosholm, Michael; Smith, Nina

In this paper, we investigate whether there is a double-negative effect on the wages of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a negative effect from both gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups correcting for sample s...... selection and individual specific effects. Based on a Danish panel of register data, we find that all women are affected by a substantial gender discrimination in wages, but only Pakistani women experience a double-negative effect.......In this paper, we investigate whether there is a double-negative effect on the wages of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a negative effect from both gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups correcting for sample...

Negative effects of internet interventions: a qualitative content analysis of patients' experiences with treatments delivered online.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozental, Alexander; Boettcher, Johanna; Andersson, Gerhard; Schmidt, Brad; Carlbring, Per

2015-01-01

Internet interventions are defined as the delivery of health care-related treatments via an online or a smartphone interface, and have been shown to be a viable alternative to face-to-face treatments. However, not all patients benefit from such treatments, and it is possible that some may experience negative effects. Investigations of face-to-face treatments indicate that deterioration occurs in 5-10% of all patients. The nature and scope of other negative effects of Internet interventions is, however, largely unknown. Hence, the current study explored patients' reported negative experiences while undergoing treatments delivered via the Internet. Data from four large clinical trials (total N = 558) revealed that 9.3% of patients reported some type of negative effects. Qualitative content analysis was used to explore the patients' responses to open-ended questions regarding their negative experiences. Results yielded two broad categories and four subcategories of negative effects: patient-related negative effects (insight and symptom) and treatment-related negative effects (implementation and format). Results emphasize the importance of always considering negative effects in Internet-based interventions, and point to several ways of preventing such experiences, including regular assessment of negative events, increasing the flexibility of treatment schedules and therapist contact, as well as prolonging the treatment duration.

Effect of pH and Fe/U ratio on the U(VI) removal rate by the synergistic effect of Fe(II) and O2

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Yukui; Luo, Yingfeng; Fang, Qi; Xie, Yanpei; Wang, Zhihong; Zhu, Xiangyu

2018-02-01

As for the decommissioned uranium deposits of acid in-situ leaching, both of the concentrations of U(VI) and Fe(II) are relatively high in groundwater. In the presence of O2, the oxidation of Fe(II) into Fe(III) that forms Fe-hydroxides could effectively remove U(VI) in the forms of sorption or co-precipitation. In this process, pH condition and Fe content will have a significant effect on the U(VI) removal rate by the synergistic effect of Fe(II) and O2. In the present work, a series of batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of pH values and Fe/U mass ratio on the U(VI) removal rate by the synergistic effect of Fe(II) and O2. Experiment results show that the removal rate of U(VI) is mainly controlled by pH and secondly by Fe/U mass ratio. In the neutral conditions with pH at 7 and 8, the removal rate of U(VI) reaches up to 90% for all solutions with different initial Fe(II) concentrations. The optimal pH for the removal rate of U(VI) is above 7. In the acidic conditions with pH below 6, the effect of Fe/U mass ratio on the removal rate of U(VI) becomes more obvious and the optimal Fe/U mass ratio for U(VI) removal is 1:2.

Highly effective removal of heavy metals by polymer-based zirconium phosphate: a case study of lead ion.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, B C; Zhang, Q R; Zhang, W M; Pan, B J; Du, W; Lv, L; Zhang, Q J; Xu, Z W; Zhang, Q X

2007-06-01

Zirconium phosphate (ZrP) has recently been demonstrated as an excellent sorbent for heavy metals due to its high selectivity, high thermal stability, and absolute insolubility in water. However, it cannot be readily adopted in fixed beds or any other flowthrough system due to the excessive pressure drop and poor mechanical strength resulting from its fine submicrometer particle sizes. In the present study a hybrid sorbent, i.e., polymer-supported ZrP, was prepared by dispersing ZrP within a strongly acidic cation exchanger D-001 and used for enhanced lead removal from contaminated waters. D-001 was selected as a host material for sorbent preparation mainly because of the Donnan membrane effect resulting from the nondiffusible negatively charged sulfonic acid group on the exchanger surface, which would enhance permeation of the targeted metal ions. The hybrid sorbent (hereafter denoted ZrP-001) was characterized using a nitrogen adsorption technique, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Lead sorption onto ZrP-001 was found to be pH dependent due to the ion-exchange mechanism, and its sorption kinetics onto ZrP-001 followed the pseudo-first-order model. Compared to D-001, ZrP-001 exhibited more favorable lead sorption particularly in terms of high selectivity, as indicated by its substantially larger distribution coefficients when other competing cations Na(+), Ca(2+), and Mg(2+) coexisted at a high level in solution. Fixed-bed column runs showed that lead sorption on ZrP-001 resulted in a conspicuous decrease of this toxic metal from 40 mg/L to below 0.05 mg/L. By comparison with D-001 and ZrP-CP (ZrP dispersion within a neutrally charged polymer CP), enhanced removal efficiency of ZrP-001 resulted from the Donnan membrane effect of the host material D-001. Moreover, its feasible regeneration by diluted acid solution and negligible ZrP loss during operation also helps ZrP-001 to be a potential candidate for lead removal from water. Thus

The Effect of Filamentous Turf Algal Removal on the Development of Gametes of the Coral Orbicella annularis

Science.gov (United States)

Cetz-Navarro, Neidy P.; Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio J.; Espinoza-Avalos, Julio; Chee-Barragán, Guillermina

2015-01-01

Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA) are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS) and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size) of Orbicella annularis were used to evaluate the effect of long- (7–10 months) and short-term (2.5 months) FTA removal (treatments T1 and T2, respectively) at both the beginning (May) and the end (August) of gametogenesis. Ramets (individual lobes of a colony) surrounded by FTA (T3) or crustose coralline algae (CCA; T4) were used as controls. The removal of FTA enhanced the development of gametes (i.e., a larger and higher percentage of mature gametes (PMG)) of O. annularis for T1 vs. T3 ramets in May and T1 and T2 vs. T3 ramets in August. Similar values of PGS and MDE between gametes from T3 and T4 in both May and August were unexpected because a previous study had shown that the same ramets of T4 (with higher tissue thickness, chlorophyll a cm-2 and zooxanthellae density and lower mitotic index values) were less stressed than ramets of T3. Evaluating coral stress through reproduction can reveal more sensitive responses than other biological parameters; within reproductive metrics, PGS can be a better stress indicator than egg size. The presence of turf algae strongly impacted the development of gametes and egg size (e.g., PMG in ramets with FTA removal increased almost twofold in comparison with ramets surrounded by FTA in August), most likely exerting negative chronic effects in the long run due to the ubiquity and permanence of turf algae in the Caribbean. These algae can be considered a stressor that affects coral sexual reproduction. Although the effects of turf algae on O. annularis are apparently less severe than those of other stressors, the future of this species is uncertain because of the combined impacts of these effects, the decline of O. annularis populations and the almost

The effect of filamentous turf algal removal on the development of gametes of the coral Orbicella annularis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neidy P Cetz-Navarro

Full Text Available Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size of Orbicella annularis were used to evaluate the effect of long- (7-10 months and short-term (2.5 months FTA removal (treatments T1 and T2, respectively at both the beginning (May and the end (August of gametogenesis. Ramets (individual lobes of a colony surrounded by FTA (T3 or crustose coralline algae (CCA; T4 were used as controls. The removal of FTA enhanced the development of gametes (i.e., a larger and higher percentage of mature gametes (PMG of O. annularis for T1 vs. T3 ramets in May and T1 and T2 vs. T3 ramets in August. Similar values of PGS and MDE between gametes from T3 and T4 in both May and August were unexpected because a previous study had shown that the same ramets of T4 (with higher tissue thickness, chlorophyll a cm-2 and zooxanthellae density and lower mitotic index values were less stressed than ramets of T3. Evaluating coral stress through reproduction can reveal more sensitive responses than other biological parameters; within reproductive metrics, PGS can be a better stress indicator than egg size. The presence of turf algae strongly impacted the development of gametes and egg size (e.g., PMG in ramets with FTA removal increased almost twofold in comparison with ramets surrounded by FTA in August, most likely exerting negative chronic effects in the long run due to the ubiquity and permanence of turf algae in the Caribbean. These algae can be considered a stressor that affects coral sexual reproduction. Although the effects of turf algae on O. annularis are apparently less severe than those of other stressors, the future of this species is uncertain because of the combined impacts of these effects, the decline of O. annularis populations and the almost

Effects of solution chemistry on arsenic(V) removal by low-cost adsorbents.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuru; Tsang, Daniel C W

2013-11-01

Natural and anthropogenic arsenic (As) contamination of water sources pose serious health concerns, especially for small communities in rural areas. This study assessed the applicability of three industrial byproducts (coal fly ash, lignite, and green waste compost) as the low-cost adsorbents for As(V) removal under various field-relevant conditions (dissolved oxygen, As(V)/Fe ratio, solution pH, and presence of competing species). The physico-chemical properties of the adsorbents were characterized by XRD, XRF, FT-IR, and NMR analysis. Batch experiments demonstrated that coal fly ash could provide effective As(V) removal (82.1%-95%) because it contained high content of amorphous iron/aluminium hydroxides for As(V) adsorption and dissolvable calcium minerals for calcium arsenate precipitation. However, the addition of lignite and green waste compost was found unfavourable since they hindered the As(V) removal by 10%-42% possibly due to dissolution of organic matter and ternary arsenate-iron-organic matter complexes. On the other hand, higher concentrations of dissolved iron (comparing As(V)/Fe ratios of 1:1 and 1:10) and dissolved oxygen (comparing 0.2 and 6 mg/L) only marginally enhanced the As(V) removal at pH 6 and 8. Thus, addition of dissolved iron, water aeration, or pH adjustment became unnecessary because coal fly ash was able to provide effective As(V) removal under the natural range of geochemical conditions. Moreover, the presence of low levels of background competing (0.8 or 8 mg/L of humic acid, phosphate, and silicate) imposed little influence on As(V) removal, possibly because the high adsorption capacity of coal fly ash was far from exhaustion. These results suggested that coal fly ash was a potentially promising adsorbent that warranted further investigation.

Community Work Programme has positive and negative effects on ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-08-03

Aug 3, 2016 ... ... has positive and negative effects on social bonds in South African communities ... to contribute to positive social cohesion and to prevent violence. ... including shared values and identity, feelings of belonging, civic pa.

The effect of negative performance stereotypes on learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Rydell, Robert J; Rydell, Michael T; Boucher, Kathryn L

2010-12-01

Stereotype threat (ST) research has focused exclusively on how negative group stereotypes reduce performance. The present work examines if pejorative stereotypes about women in math inhibit their ability to learn the mathematical rules and operations necessary to solve math problems. In Experiment 1, women experiencing ST had difficulty encoding math-related information into memory and, therefore, learned fewer mathematical rules and showed poorer math performance than did controls. In Experiment 2, women experiencing ST while learning modular arithmetic (MA) performed more poorly than did controls on easy MA problems; this effect was due to reduced learning of the mathematical operations underlying MA. In Experiment 3, ST reduced women's, but not men's, ability to learn abstract mathematical rules and to transfer these rules to a second, isomorphic task. This work provides the first evidence that negative stereotypes about women in math reduce their level of mathematical learning and demonstrates that reduced learning due to stereotype threat can lead to poorer performance in negatively stereotyped domains. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Laboratory investigations of stormwater remediation via slag: Effects of metals on phosphorus removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okochi, Nnaemeka C.; McMartin, Dena W.

2011-01-01

The use of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag for the removal of phosphorus (P) from various simulated stormwater blends was investigated in the laboratory. The form of P measured was the inorganic orthophosphate (PO 4 -P). The stormwater solutions used in this preliminary study were synthesized as blends of P and typical concentrations of some of the most common and abundant metals in stormwater (e.g. cadmium, copper, lead and zinc), and contacted with EAF slag to determine P removal efficiency and sorptive competition. Results showed that the presence of cadmium, lead and zinc had minimal effect on the removal process; copper was a significant inhibitor of P uptake by the EAF slag media. P removal was greatest in the metal-free and multi-metal stormwater solutions.

The effective removal method of copper and cyanide in waste water of metal plating factories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jae, Won Mok; Hong, Zong Doo; Kim, Myun Sup

1988-01-01

To investigate the effective removal method of cooper and cyanide compounds in metal plating waste water, removal ratio of cooper and cyanide compounds in solution are measured with varying pH, concentration and contact time. As results of the present experiment, cyanide compounds in the solution are removed to 0.03mg/l or less with 5% NaOCl solution. The present result is satisfied to environmental disposal standards. The removal ratio against pH values show 99% over pH8. As results of neutral precipitation method, copper including solution are removed to 99% at pH8 in short time. The removal ratios of cyanide mixed copper solution against pH values show high efficiency(over 95%) at pH8 and 11 and removal ratios are decreased at pH10.(Author)

Effect of electrode materials on a negative ion production in a cesium seeded negative ion source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shimizu, Takashi; Morishita, Takutoshi; Kashiwagi, Mieko; Hanada, Masaya; Iga, Takashi; Inoue, Takashi; Watanabe, Kazuhiro; Imai, Tsuyoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Naka, Ibaraki (Japan). Naka Fusion Research Establishment; Wada, Motoi [Doshisha Univ., Kyoto (Japan)

2003-03-01

Effects of plasma grid materials on the negative ion production efficiency in a cesium seeded ion source have been experimentally studied. Grid materials of Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, and Mo were examined. A 2.45 GHz microwave ion source was utilized in the experiment to avoid contamination of tungsten from filament cathode. Relations between the negative ion currents and work functions of the grid were measured for these materials. Influence of the contamination by tungsten on the grid was also investigated. If was clarified that the negative ion production efficiency was determined only by the work function of the grid. The efficiency did not depend on the material itself. The lowest work function of 1.42 eV was obtained for Au grid with Cs, and a high H{sup -} production efficiency of 20.7 mA/kW was measured. This efficiency is about 1.3 times larger than that of Cs/Mo and Cs/Cu. Further improvement of the production efficiency was observed by covering the plasma grid with tungsten and cesium simultaneously. Such co-deposition of W and Cs on the plasma grid produced the negative ion production efficiency of 1.7 times higher than that from the tungsten grid simply covered with Cs. (author)

Effect of operating conditions in soil aquifer treatment on the removals of pharmaceuticals and personal care products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Kai, E-mail: hekai@urban.env.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Echigo, Shinya; Itoh, Sadahiko

2016-09-15

Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) is an alternative advanced treatment for wastewater reclamation, and it has the potential to control micropollutants including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). However, the relationship of operating conditions in SAT and removals of micropollutants was not clear. In this study, the effects of operating conditions on the removals of PPCPs were evaluated by using lab-scale columns and plant pilot-scale reactors under different operating conditions. Firstly, weathered granite soil (WGS), standard sand (SAND) and Toyoura standard sand (TS) have different soil characteristics such as total organic carbon (TOC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). In the columns with these packing materials, the removals of carboxylic analgesics and antilipidemics were effective regardless packing materials. The removals of antibiotics were more effective in WGS than in TS and SAND, indicating high TOC and CEC enhance the sorption in SAT. Secondly, with the extension of hydraulic retention time (HRT), the removals of sulfamethoxazole, acetaminophen, crotamiton, and antipyrine were improved in WGS columns, and adaptable biodegradation for moderately removable PPCPs was formed. Thirdly, the removal efficiencies of sulfamethoxazole and crotamiton were higher in the WGS column under vadose condition than in the WGS column under saturated condition, because of aerobic condition in WGS column under vadose condition. Though long HRT and vadose condition had positive influence on the removals of several PPCPs such as sulfamethoxazole, WGS column with an HRT of 7 days under saturated condition removed most PPCPs. - Highlights: • Soil organic matter and cation exchange capacity enhanced the removals of antibiotics in SAT. • A hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 7 days was sufficient for the removals of most PPCPs. • The removals of most selected PPCPs were similar under vadose and saturated conditions. • Vadose condition contributed to the

Effects of fish removal in the Furnas Lake, Azores

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Bio, A.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The Furnas Lake is a small volcanic, monomitic and increasingly eutrophised water body. Next to agricultural nutrient inputs, high densities of herbivorous fish are thought to contribute to high levels of turbidity in the lake, through zooplankton consumption and re suspension of the nutrients accumulated in the sediment. According to the alternative state hypothesis a shift from turbid to clear water conditions is favoured by reduction of nutrient concentrations, increased light availability and reduction of planktivorous and benthos-feeding fish stock. To improve water quality in the Furnas Lake, a substantial part of the bottom-feeding fish population (62% of the estimated common carp population, Cyprinus carpio, and 5% of the estimated roach population, Rutilus rutilus was removed. Effects of fish removal on turbidity and associated trophic state were analysed next to post-manipulation chlorophyll a concentration, zooplankton and macrophytes densities. Results suggest that fish removal was not enough to change lake conditions towards a lasting clear state dominated by macrophytes. Excessive nutrient load, in water and sediments, nutrient input from the lake basin and fish recruitment causing enhanced zooplankton grazing are appointed causes. Any further biomanipulation efforts should be associated to nutrient reduction; and continued monitoring of water quality, fish stock, macrophytes and zooplankton is needed.

Laboratory investigations of stormwater remediation via slag: Effects of metals on phosphorus removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okochi, Nnaemeka C. [Environmental Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 0A2 (Canada); McMartin, Dena W., E-mail: dena.mcmartin@uregina.ca [Environmental Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 0A2 (Canada)

2011-03-15

The use of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag for the removal of phosphorus (P) from various simulated stormwater blends was investigated in the laboratory. The form of P measured was the inorganic orthophosphate (PO{sub 4}-P). The stormwater solutions used in this preliminary study were synthesized as blends of P and typical concentrations of some of the most common and abundant metals in stormwater (e.g. cadmium, copper, lead and zinc), and contacted with EAF slag to determine P removal efficiency and sorptive competition. Results showed that the presence of cadmium, lead and zinc had minimal effect on the removal process; copper was a significant inhibitor of P uptake by the EAF slag media. P removal was greatest in the metal-free and multi-metal stormwater solutions.

The implicit influence of a negative mood on the subliminal mere exposure effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakami, Naoaki

2012-12-01

Despite numerous studies on the mere exposure effect, it is still not clear why it occurs. The present study examined whether a negative mood would enhance or inhibit the effects. Fifty-two participants (30 men, 22 women; M age = 20.5 yr.) were assigned to one of two mood-induction groups (negative and neutral), and were exposed to a photograph 20 times after the mood induction. Thereafter, a single-category Implicit Association Test was conducted to measure their implicit attitudes toward the photograph. There was a significant interaction, with exposed stimuli evaluated more favorably than unexposed stimuli in the neutral condition, but not in the negative condition. This result suggests that a negative mood inhibited the mere exposure effect, implying that people could use their emotional states as cues to evaluate ambiguous objects that they have been repeatedly exposed to.

Cross subsidy removal in electricity pricing in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharyya, Ranajoy; Ganguly, Amrita

2017-01-01

In India electricity price for agriculture is cross subsidized by the industries. The Indian government has started a process through which the extent of cross subsidization is gradually being reduced. The idea is to replace the cross subsidization by 2030 and introduce a rate structure that will increase with the amount of electricity usage. This paper uses the Computable General Equilibrium framework to evaluate the ex-ante impact of these policy changes on the Indian economy. The paper finds that removal of cross subsidies will increase inflation particularly food inflation resulting in a decline in household incomes more so in rural areas. Replacing cross subsidies with a progressive rate structure will compensate for only a small part of the negative effects of the removal of cross subsidies. Four other policy options are also investigated targeting household incomes, food inflation and general inflation. Most of these options do not work as the required increase in budget deficit is unlikely to be bearable to the government. The only feasible option appears to be a direct price subsidy to agricultural sector: in this case food prices are held down, inflation is moderate and effect on household incomes is minimal. - Highlights: • Removal of cross subsidies in electricity sector will increase inflation in India. • Different policy options are investigated targeting household incomes, food inflation and general inflation. • Feasible option appears to be a direct price subsidy to agricultural sector.

Effect of pH and time on the accumulation of heavy metals in Gram-negative bacteria

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Yamina Benmalek

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The release of heavy metals into our environment is very important and causes an environmental pollution problem. Contamination of the aquatic environment by toxic heavy metals is a serious pollution problem because they can reach water-courses either naturally through a variety of geochemical processes or by direct discharge of municipal, agricultural and industrial wastewater. The bioremediation of heavy metals using microorganisms has received a great deal of attention in recent years because their potential application in industry. Microorganisms uptake metal either actively (bioaccumulation and passively (biosorption. Some bacteria have developed chromosomally or extra-chromosomally controlled detoxification mechanisms to overcome the detrimental effects of heavy metals. In the present work, we have studied resistance to heavy metals and the capacity of a Gram-negative bacteria to accumulate lead and zinc. Results obtained indicated that the bacterial strain exhibited high Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC values for metal ions tested ranging from 75 mg/l to 500 mg/l and it was able to accumulate more than 90% of lead and zinc during the active growth cycle. Effect of pH and time on heavy metal removal was also studied properly.

The test-negative design for estimating influenza vaccine effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Michael L; Nelson, Jennifer C

2013-04-19

The test-negative design has emerged in recent years as the preferred method for estimating influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in observational studies. However, the methodologic basis of this design has not been formally developed. In this paper we develop the rationale and underlying assumptions of the test-negative study. Under the test-negative design for influenza VE, study subjects are all persons who seek care for an acute respiratory illness (ARI). All subjects are tested for influenza infection. Influenza VE is estimated from the ratio of the odds of vaccination among subjects testing positive for influenza to the odds of vaccination among subjects testing negative. With the assumptions that (a) the distribution of non-influenza causes of ARI does not vary by influenza vaccination status, and (b) VE does not vary by health care-seeking behavior, the VE estimate from the sample can generalized to the full source population that gave rise to the study sample. Based on our derivation of this design, we show that test-negative studies of influenza VE can produce biased VE estimates if they include persons seeking care for ARI when influenza is not circulating or do not adjust for calendar time. The test-negative design is less susceptible to bias due to misclassification of infection and to confounding by health care-seeking behavior, relative to traditional case-control or cohort studies. The cost of the test-negative design is the additional, difficult-to-test assumptions that incidence of non-influenza respiratory infections is similar between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups within any stratum of care-seeking behavior, and that influenza VE does not vary across care-seeking strata. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Negativity and positivity effects in person perception and inference: Ability versus morality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martijn, A.C.; Spears, R.; van der Pligt, J.; Jakobs, E.

1992-01-01

Examined, in 2 experiments involving 190 undergraduates, negativity and positivity effects in trait inferences and impression formation. In Exp 1, Ss made trait inferences of actors in different behavioral instances. Results support the prediction that negative behavior is more informative for

Hexavalent chromium removal by chitosan modified-bioreduced nontronite

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rajesh; Dong, Hailiang; Zeng, Qiang; Zhang, Li; Rengasamy, Karthikeyan

2017-08-01

Recent efforts have focused on structural Fe(II) in chemically or biologically reduced clay minerals to immobilize Cr(VI) from aqueous solution, but the coulombic repulsion between the negatively charged clay surface and the polyanionic form of Cr(VI), e.g., dichromate, can hinder the effectiveness of this process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency and mechanism of Cr(VI) removal by a charge-reversed nontronite (NAu-2), an Fe-rich smectite. Chitosan, a linear polysaccharide derived from chitin found in soil and groundwater, was used to reverse the charge of NAu-2. Intercalation of chitosan into NAu-2 interlayer increased the basal d-spacing of NAu-2 from 1.23 nm to 1.83 nm and zeta potential from -27.17 to +34.13 mV, with the amount of increase depending on chitosan/NAu-2 ratio. Structural Fe(III) in chitosan-exchanged NAu-2 was then biologically reduced by an iron-reducing bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 in bicarbonate buffer with lactate as the sole electron donor, with and without electron shuttle, AQDS. Without AQDS, the extent of Fe(III) reduction increased from the lowest (∼9%) for the chitosan-free NAu-2 to the highest (∼12%) for the highest chitosan loaded NAu-2 (3:1 ratio). This enhancement of Fe(III) reduction was likely due to the attachment of negatively charged bacterial cells to charge-reversed (e.g., positively charged) NAu-2 surfaces, facilitating the electron transfer between cells and structural Fe(III). With AQDS, Fe(III) reduction extent doubled relative to those without AQDS, but the enhancement effect was similar across all chitosan loadings, suggesting that AQDS was more important than chitosan in enhancing Fe(III) bioreduction. Chitosan-exchanged, biologically reduced NAu-2 was then utilized for removing Cr(VI) in batch experiments with three consecutive spikes of 50 μM Cr. With the first Cr spike, the rate of Cr(VI) removal by charged-reversed NAu-2 that was bioreduced without and with AQDS was ∼1

Removal of micropollutants during tertiary wastewater treatment by biofiltration: Role of nitrifiers and removal mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Rattier, M; Reungoat, J; Keller, J; Gernjak, W

2014-05-01

The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which a suite of organic micropollutants (MPs) can be removed by biological filtration and the role of bioavailability and ammonia oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in the biodegradation process. During approximately one year, laboratory-scale columns with 8 min empty bed contact time (EBCT) and packed with anthracite as filter media were used for treating a tertiary effluent spiked with a broad range of MPs at a target concentration of 2 μg L(-1). In parallel columns, aerobic biomass growth was inhibited by using either the biocide sodium azide (500 mg L(-1) NaN3) or allylthiourea (5 mg L(-1) ATU), specifically inhibiting nitrifying bacteria. Once the biomass had colonized the media, around 15% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contained in the untreated tertiary effluent was removed by non-inhibited columns. The removal of several MPs increased over time indicating the relevance of biological activity for the removal of MPs, while the negative control, the NaN3 inhibited column, showed no significant removal. Out of 33 MPs, 19 were recalcitrant (granular activated carbon (GAC) and their removal efficiency by biodegradation on anthracite was observed. This result suggested that the affinity of the MPs for GAC media could be a useful indicator of the bioavailability of compounds during biofiltration on anthracite. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Further Investigating Method Effects Associated with Negatively Worded Items on Self-Report Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

DiStefano, Christine; Motl, Robert W.

2006-01-01

This article used multitrait-multimethod methodology and covariance modeling for an investigation of the presence and correlates of method effects associated with negatively worded items on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSE) scale (Rosenberg, 1989) using a sample of 757 adults. Results showed that method effects associated with negative item phrasing…

On the 'hysteresis' effect in the biological nitrogen removal :theory and full scale experimental evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tatano, F.

1996-01-01

The wastewater treatments plants localized in the Ruhr River (Germany), generally present a typical wastewater temperature variation curve during the winter period. These temperature changes produce specific effects on the nitrogen removal efficiencies in the activated sludge systems. The so called 'hysteresis' phenomenon is responsible for these effects. The paper deals with some simplified theoretical considerations and with a full scale experimental evaluations of the effects caused by the hysteresis phenomenon in the biological nitrogen removal

Metal resistance mechanisms in Gram-negative bacteria and their potential to remove Hg in the presence of other metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Giovanella, Patricia; Cabral, Lucélia; Costa, Alexandre Pereira; de Oliveira Camargo, Flávio Anastácio; Gianello, Clesio; Bento, Fátima Menezes

2017-06-01

Contamination of the environment by heavy metals has been increasing in recent years due to industrial activities. Thus research involving microorganisms capable of surviving in multi-contaminated environments is extremely important. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the removal of mercury alone and in the presence of cadmium, nickel and lead by four mercury-resistant microorganisms; estimate the removal of Cd, Ni and Pb; understand the mechanisms involved (reduction, siderophores, biofilms, biosorption and bioaccumulation) in the metal resistance of the isolate Pseudomonas sp. B50D; and determine the capacity of Pseudomonas sp. B50D in removing Hg, Cd, Ni and Pb from an industrial effluent. It was shown that the four isolates evaluated were capable of removing from 62% to 95% of mercury from a culture medium with no addition of other metals. The isolate Pseudomonas sp. B50D showed the best performance in the removal of mercury when evaluated concomitantly with other metals. This isolate was capable of removing 75% of Hg in the presence of Cd and 91% in the presence of Ni and Pb. With respect to the other metals it removed 60%, 15% and 85% of Cd, Ni and Pb, respectively. In tests with effluent, the isolate Pseudomonas sp. B50D removed 85% of Hg but did not remove the other metals. This isolate presented reduction, biosorption, biofilm production and siderophore production as its metal resistance mechanisms. Pseudomonas sp. B50D was thus a candidate with potential for application in the bioremediation of effluents with complex metal contaminations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rotavirus vaccine effectiveness in low-income settings: An evaluation of the test-negative design.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Lauren M; Halloran, M Elizabeth; Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali; Neuzil, Kathleen M; Victor, John C

2017-01-03

The test-negative design (TND), an epidemiologic method currently used to measure rotavirus vaccine (RV) effectiveness, compares the vaccination status of rotavirus-positive cases and rotavirus-negative controls meeting a pre-defined case definition for acute gastroenteritis. Despite the use of this study design in low-income settings, the TND has not been evaluated to measure rotavirus vaccine effectiveness. This study builds upon prior methods to evaluate the use of the TND for influenza vaccine using a randomized controlled clinical trial database. Test-negative vaccine effectiveness (VE-TND) estimates were derived from three large randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) of monovalent (RV1) and pentavalent (RV5) rotavirus vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Derived VE-TND estimates were compared to the original RCT vaccine efficacy estimates (VE-RCTs). The core assumption of the TND (i.e., rotavirus vaccine has no effect on rotavirus-negative diarrhea) was also assessed. TND vaccine effectiveness estimates were nearly equivalent to original RCT vaccine efficacy estimates. Neither RV had a substantial effect on rotavirus-negative diarrhea. This study supports the TND as an appropriate epidemiologic study design to measure rotavirus vaccine effectiveness in low-income settings. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal : Metabolic Insights and Salinity Effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Welles, L.

2015-01-01

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a biological process for efficient phosphate removal from wastewaters through intracellular storage of polyphosphate by polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAO) and subsequent removal of PAO from the system through wastage of sludge. In comparison

Dam removal: Listening in

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, M. M.; Bellmore, J. R.; O'Connor, J. E.; Duda, J. J.; East, A. E.; Grant, G. E.; Anderson, C. W.; Bountry, J. A.; Collins, M. J.; Connolly, P. J.; Craig, L. S.; Evans, J. E.; Greene, S. L.; Magilligan, F. J.; Magirl, C. S.; Major, J. J.; Pess, G. R.; Randle, T. J.; Shafroth, P. B.; Torgersen, C. E.; Tullos, D.; Wilcox, A. C.

2017-07-01

Dam removal is widely used as an approach for river restoration in the United States. The increase in dam removals—particularly large dams—and associated dam-removal studies over the last few decades motivated a working group at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis to review and synthesize available studies of dam removals and their findings. Based on dam removals thus far, some general conclusions have emerged: (1) physical responses are typically fast, with the rate of sediment erosion largely dependent on sediment characteristics and dam-removal strategy; (2) ecological responses to dam removal differ among the affected upstream, downstream, and reservoir reaches; (3) dam removal tends to quickly reestablish connectivity, restoring the movement of material and organisms between upstream and downstream river reaches; (4) geographic context, river history, and land use significantly influence river restoration trajectories and recovery potential because they control broader physical and ecological processes and conditions; and (5) quantitative modeling capability is improving, particularly for physical and broad-scale ecological effects, and gives managers information needed to understand and predict long-term effects of dam removal on riverine ecosystems. Although these studies collectively enhance our understanding of how riverine ecosystems respond to dam removal, knowledge gaps remain because most studies have been short (< 5 years) and do not adequately represent the diversity of dam types, watershed conditions, and dam-removal methods in the U.S.

COUPLING OF MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR AND OZONATION FOR REMOVAL OF ANTIBIOTICS FROM HOSPITAL WASTEWATER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bui Xuan Thanh

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Antibiotic residues in the environment and their potential toxic effects have been considered as one of the emerging research area in the environmental field. Their continuous introduction in our environment may increase their negative impacts on human health.  In this study, the eliminations of antibiotic such as Norfloxacin (NOR, Ciprofloxacin (CIP, Ofloxacin (OFL and Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ in wastewater of hospital were processed by membrane bioreactor (MBR coupled with ozonation process. In particular, the MBR was applied for the antibiotic removals followed by ozonation process as a post-treatment stage to create an adequate integration to enhance removal efficiency. Achieved results after MBR treatment showed that the removal efficiency of NOR, CIP, OFL and SMZ were 90 ± 4.0% , 83 ± 13% , 81 ± 13 % and  39 ± 6%, respectivley. In addition, those antibiotic matters were continously removed by ozonation process with the removal efficiency of 87±9.0% , 83±1.0% , 81±2.3% and 66±2.3% for NOR, CIP, OFL and SMZ, respectively. In summary, antibiotics could be basically limited by the combination of MBR and ozonation before discharging in aquatic environment.

Do constructed wetlands remove metals or increase metal bioavailability?

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaoyu; Mills, Gary L

2018-07-15

The H-02 wetland was constructed to treat building process water and storm runoff water from the Tritium Processing Facility on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (Aiken, SC). Monthly monitoring of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations and water quality parameters in surface waters continued from 2014 to 2016. Metal speciation was modeled at each sampling occasion. Total Cu and Zn concentrations released to the effluent stream were below the NPDES limit, and the average removal efficiency was 65.9% for Cu and 71.1% for Zn. The metal-removal processes were found out to be seasonally regulated by sulfur cycling indicated by laboratory and model results. High temperature, adequate labile organic matter, and anaerobic conditions during the warm months (February to August) favored sulfate reduction that produced sulfide minerals to significantly remove metals. However, the dominant reaction in sulfur cycling shifted to sulfide oxidation during the cool months (September to next March). High concentrations of metal-organic complexes were observed, especially colloidal complexes of metal and fulvic acid (FA), demonstrating adsorption to organic matter became the primary process for metal removal. Meanwhile, the accumulation of metal-FA complexes in the wetland system will cause negative effects to the surrounding environment as they are biologically reactive, highly bioavailable, and can be easily taken up and transferred to ecosystems by trophic exchange. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laboratory investigations of stormwater remediation via slag: Effects of metals on phosphorus removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Okochi, Nnaemeka C; McMartin, Dena W

2011-03-15

The use of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag for the removal of phosphorus (P) from various simulated stormwater blends was investigated in the laboratory. The form of P measured was the inorganic orthophosphate (PO(4)-P). The stormwater solutions used in this preliminary study were synthesized as blends of P and typical concentrations of some of the most common and abundant metals in stormwater (e.g. cadmium, copper, lead and zinc), and contacted with EAF slag to determine P removal efficiency and sorptive competition. Results showed that the presence of cadmium, lead and zinc had minimal effect on the removal process; copper was a significant inhibitor of P uptake by the EAF slag media. P removal was greatest in the metal-free and multi-metal stormwater solutions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Zeolites for nitrosamine and pharmaceutical removal from demineralised and surface water: Mechanisms and efficacy

KAUST Repository

De Ridder, David J.

2012-03-01

Zeolites with a high Si/Al ratio can be used as selective adsorbents in water treatment, targeting organic micropollutants which are removed poorly with activated carbon. Due to size exclusion, many Natural Organic Matter (NOM) components cannot access the pores, thus limiting adsorption competition between organic micropollutant and NOM. Furthermore, zeolite channel diameters are close to molecule diameters, which results in strong van der Waals interaction. MOR200 and ZSM5, the two most hydrophobic zeolites, showed the highest removal of neutral nitrosamines in demineralised water, with higher efficacy than activated carbon. DAY and MOR30, which were relatively hydrophilic zeolites, did not show appreciable removal of any of the nitrosamines. When nitrosamines were adsorbed from surface water, there was no influence of competition with, or pore blockage by, NOM components on nitrosamine removal for ZSM5 zeolite, in contrast to activated carbon. Repulsion of negatively charged pharmaceuticals was significant for ZSM5, which had a Si/Al ratio of 80. MOR200 had a Si/Al ratio of 200, indicating a lower Al content than ZSM5 and, as such, a lower negative surface charge. Charge effects were not observed for MOR200. A relationship was found between the Stokes diameter of the pharmaceuticals and nitrosamines, and their removal by ZSM5 and MOR200, indicating that a "close fit" adsorption mechanism is more likely than hydrophobic interaction in these zeolites. Due to their selective nature, adsorption on zeolites should only be considered as an additional treatment step to existing processes, dedicated for the removal of specific organic micropollutants. Less specific treatment techniques, such as activated carbon filtration, are still required to ensure a broad barrier for organic micropollutants in water treatment. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The late negative episodic memory effect: the effect of recapitulating study details at test.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, David; Cycowicz, Yael M; Bersick, Michael

2005-05-01

An hypothesis concerning mnemonic function suggests that perceptual details of previously experienced episodes are retrieved from the cortices that initially processed that information during the encoding phase. Cycowicz et al. [Cycowicz, Y.M., Friedman, D. and Snodgrass, J.G., Remembering the color of objects: an ERP investigation of source memory, Cereb Cortex, 11 (2001) 322-334.] have interpreted the presence of a late negative episodic memory (EM) effect, maximal over parieto-occipital scalp, as a brain signature of the search for and/or retrieval/evaluation of the specific perceptual source-specifying attributes (i.e., color) of pictures in the visual cortical regions that were recruited during the encoding of that information. The present study assessed the validity of this hypothesis. Twelve participants studied pictures outlined in red or green and were subsequently tested with inclusion (i.e., item; old or new regardless of color) and exclusion (i.e., source; same color, different color/new judgments) tasks. In both, old pictures were presented either in the same color as at study or in the alternate color. A late negative, parieto-occipital EM effect was of much larger amplitude in the source compared to the item task. It was of similar magnitude to correctly recognized pictures whose colors were identical at study and test relative to those whose colors changed, and was not modulated by the success or failure of the source retrieval. These data run counter to the initial hypothesis that the late negative EM effect reflects the search for and/or retrieval of specific perceptual attributes such as color. Rather, the late negative EM effect may reflect the search for and/or retrieval/evaluation of more general source-specifying information in the cortical regions that initially processed the stimuli.

Turning negative into positive: public health mass media campaigns and negative advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

Apollonio, D E; Malone, R E

2009-06-01

Literature suggests that 'negative advertising' is an effective way to encourage behavioral changes, but it has enjoyed limited use in public health media campaigns. However, as public health increasingly focuses on non-communicable disease prevention, negative advertising could be more widely applied. This analysis considers an illustrative case from tobacco control. Relying on internal tobacco industry documents, surveys and experimental data and drawing from political advocacy literature, we describe tobacco industry and public health research on the American Legacy Foundation's "truth" campaign, an example of effective negative advertising in the service of public health. The tobacco industry determined that the most effective advertisements run by Legacy's "truth" campaign were negative advertisements. Although the tobacco industry's own research suggested that these negative ads identified and effectively reframed the cigarette as a harmful consumer product rather than focusing solely on tobacco companies, Philip Morris accused Legacy of 'vilifying' it. Public health researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of the "truth" campaign in reducing smoking initiation. Research on political advocacy demonstrating the value of negative advertising has rarely been used in the development of public health media campaigns, but negative advertising can effectively communicate certain public health messages and serve to counter corporate disease promotion.

The Analysis of The Effect Of Removing Barriers On The Creativity Students' Mathematical Learning

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Seyedeh Edna Khalilinezhad

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, flowering of student creativity is one of the most important purposes of education. But in our country, due to the fact that creativity is effected by environmental conditions and factors, it is barely investigated, reviewed, and accurately programmed. For these reasons, the aim of the present study was to identify and removal the four group of the creativity barriers, and investigate their effect on students' learning and creativity growth in math. This research is of an applied type with a sample consisting of 40 eighths grade girl students from Reyhane-Nabi school in Ahvaz City. The sample was divided into two homogenous groups: control and experimental. In order to train the experimental group, creativity barriers were removed and its effect on learning, creativity, and students' interest in math was analyzed. Then the information obtained by descriptive and inferential Statistics was analyzed. Results of T-test for independent and paired samples showed that removing creativity barriers would have a positive effect on students' learning and creativity, in math.

NEGATIVITY AND POSITIVITY EFFECTS IN PERSON PERCEPTION AND INFERENCE : ABILITY VERSUS MORALITY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

MARTIJN, C; SPEARS, R; VAN DER PLIGT, J; JAKOBS, E

1992-01-01

The present paper deals with negativity and positivity effects in trait inferences and impression formation. In the first experiment we tested the suggestion of Skowronski and Carlston (1987) that in the domain of morality negative information is more diagnostic, will therefore receive more weight

The impacts of removing energy subsidies on economy-wide rebound effects in China: An input-output analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Ke; Jiang, Zhujun

2016-01-01

Facing with the increasing contradiction of economic growth, energy scarcity and environmental deterioration, energy conservation and emissions abatement have been ambitious targets for the Chinese government. Improving energy efficiency through technological advancement is a primary measure to achieve these targets. However, the existence of energy rebound effects may completely or partially offset energy savings associated with technological advancement. This paper adopted a modified input-output model to estimate the economy-wide energy rebound effects across China's economic sectors with the consideration of energy subsidies. The empirical results show that the aggregate rebound effect of China is about 1.9% in 2007–2010, thus technological advancement significantly restrains energy consumption increasing. Removing energy subsidies will cause the aggregate rebound effect declines to 1.53%. Specifically, removing subsidies for coal and nature gas can reduce the rebound effects signifcantly, while removing the subsidies for oil products has a small impact on rebound effect. The existence of rebound effects implies that technological advancement should be cooperated with energy price reform so as to achieve the energy saving target. In addition, the government should consider the diversity of economic sectors and energy types when design the reform schedule. - Highlights: • Rebound effects with the consideration of energy subsidies are estimated in China. • When considering the interactions among sectors, the aggregate rebound effect become small. • Removing subsidies will reduce energy consumption, thereby declining the rebound effects. • Removing subsidies for different energy types has varies effects on rebound effect.

Characterization of Hemagglutinin Negative Botulinum Progenitor Toxins

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Suzanne R. Kalb

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Botulism is a disease involving intoxication with botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs, toxic proteins produced by Clostridium botulinum and other clostridia. The 150 kDa neurotoxin is produced in conjunction with other proteins to form the botulinum progenitor toxin complex (PTC, alternating in size from 300 kDa to 500 kDa. These progenitor complexes can be classified into hemagglutinin positive or hemagglutinin negative, depending on the ability of some of the neurotoxin-associated proteins (NAPs to cause hemagglutination. The hemagglutinin positive progenitor toxin complex consists of BoNT, nontoxic non-hemagglutinin (NTNH, and three hemagglutinin proteins; HA-70, HA-33, and HA-17. Hemagglutinin negative progenitor toxin complexes contain BoNT and NTNH as the minimally functional PTC (M-PTC, but not the three hemagglutinin proteins. Interestingly, the genome of hemagglutinin negative progenitor toxin complexes comprises open reading frames (orfs which encode for three proteins, but the existence of these proteins has not yet been extensively demonstrated. In this work, we demonstrate that these three proteins exist and form part of the PTC for hemagglutinin negative complexes. Several hemagglutinin negative strains producing BoNT/A, /E, and /F were found to contain the three open reading frame proteins. Additionally, several BoNT/A-containing bivalent strains were examined, and NAPs from both genes, including the open reading frame proteins, were associated with BoNT/A. The open reading frame encoded proteins are more easily removed from the botulinum complex than the hemagglutinin proteins, but are present in several BoNT/A and /F toxin preparations. These are not easily removed from the BoNT/E complex, however, and are present even in commercially-available purified BoNT/E complex.

The Effect of Smear Layer Removal on Endodontic Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

pulpal and periapical disease (1). The goal of root canal treatment is to remove diseased pulpal tissue and reduce bacteria within the canal...Patients with a history of periodontal disease , previously initiated or previously treated, on antibiotic therapy or presenting with an acute apical...Fitzgerald RJ. The effects of surgical exposures of dental pulps in germ-free and conventional laboratory rats. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1965;20

Synthesis of common management concerns associated with dam removal

Science.gov (United States)

Tullos, Desiree D.; Collins, Mathias J.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Bountry, Jennifer A.; Connolly, Patrick J.; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Wilcox, Andrew C.

2016-01-01

Managers make decisions regarding if and how to remove dams in spite of uncertainty surrounding physical and ecological responses, and stakeholders often raise concerns about certain negative effects, regardless of whether or not these concerns are warranted at a particular site. We used a dam-removal science database supplemented with other information sources to explore seven frequently-raised concerns, herein Common Management Concerns (CMCs). We investigate the occurrence of these concerns and the contributing biophysical controls. The CMCs addressed are: degree and rate of reservoir sediment erosion, excessive channel incision upstream of reservoirs, downstream sediment aggradation, elevated downstream turbidity, drawdown impacts on local water infrastructure, colonization of reservoir sediments by non-native plants, and expansion of invasive fish. Biophysical controls emerged for some of the concerns, providing managers with information to assess whether a given concern is likely to occur at a site. To fully assess CMC risk, managers should concurrently evaluate site conditions and identify the ecosystem or human uses that will be negatively affected if the biophysical phenomenon producing the CMC occurs. We show how many CMCs have one or more controls in common, facilitating the identification of multiple risks at a site, and demonstrate why CMC risks should be considered in the context of other factors like natural watershed variability and disturbance history.

Performance Evaluation of Bulk Liquid Membrane Technique on p-Nitrophenol Removal from Aqueous Solution

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K. Pourkhanali

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The transport of p-nitrophenol (PNP through a bulk liquid membrane (BLM was investigated to evaluate the effect of different experimental conditions on PNP partitioning behavior. The influence of solvent type, different salts in feed phase, the feed phase pH and PNP concentration in feed phase on transport efficiency of PNP through the BLM were studied. The results indicated that the highest removal efficiency of PNP was observed for 80 % xylene + 20 % toluene as liquid membrane, Na2SO4 as salt in feed phase, in the acidic feed phase and in 150 min. The effect of initial concentration of PNP on the efficiency of the separation PNP showed that the increase in initial concentration up to 350 ppm had positive effect, and more than 350 ppm had negative effect on the PNP removal behavior. Also, pertraction in BLM systems were described by a kinetic model of two consecutive irreversible first order chemical reactions.

The chemo-mechanical effect of cutting fluid on material removal in diamond scribing of silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Arkadeep; Melkote, Shreyes N.

2017-07-01

The mechanical integrity of silicon wafers cut by diamond wire sawing depends on the damage (e.g., micro-cracks) caused by the cutting process. The damage type and extent depends on the material removal mode, i.e., ductile or brittle. This paper investigates the effect of cutting fluid on the mode of material removal in diamond scribing of single crystal silicon, which simulates the material removal process in diamond wire sawing of silicon wafers. We conducted scribing experiments with a diamond tipped indenter in the absence (dry) and in the presence of a water-based cutting fluid. We found that the cutting mode is more ductile when scribing in the presence of cutting fluid compared to dry scribing. We explain the experimental observations by the chemo-mechanical effect of the cutting fluid on silicon, which lowers its hardness and promotes ductile mode material removal.

Effects of Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Cipangopaludina cathayensis on Pollutant Removal and Microbial Community in Constructed Wetlands

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Pengfei Li

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Aquatic animals play an important role in the energy flow and matter cycling in the wetland ecosystem. However, little is known about their effects on pollutant removal performance and microbial community in constructed wetlands. This work presents an initial attempt to investigate the effects of Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (loach and Cipangopaludina cathayensis (snail on nutrient removal performance and microbial community of constructed wetlands (CWs. Compared with a control group, CW microcosms with aquatic animals exhibited better pollutant removal performance. The removal efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP in the loach group were 13.1% higher than in the control group, and snails increased the ammonium removal most effectively. Moreover, the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC and TP in sediment significantly reduced with the addition of loaches and snails (p < 0.05, whereas the concentration of total nitrogen (TN showed an obvious increase with the addition of loaches. High-throughput sequencing showed a microbial community structure change. Loaches and snails in wetlands changed the microbial diversity, especially in the Proteobacteria and denitrifying community. Results suggested that benthic aquatic animals might play an important role in CW ecosystems.

The indirect effect of emotion dysregulation in terms of negative affect and smoking-related cognitive processes.

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Johnson, Adrienne L; McLeish, Alison C

2016-02-01

Although negative affect is associated with a number of smoking-related cognitive processes, the mechanisms underlying these associations have yet to be examined. The current study sought to examine the indirect effect of emotion regulation difficulties in terms of the association between negative affect and smoking-related cognitive processes (internal barriers to cessation, negative affect reduction smoking motives, negative affect reduction smoking outcome expectancies). Participants were 126 daily cigarette smokers (70.4% male, Mage=36.5years, SD=13.0; 69.8% Caucasian) who smoked an average of 18.5 (SD=8.7) cigarettes per day and reported moderate nicotine dependence. Formal mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS to examine the indirect effect of negative affect on internal barriers to cessation and negative affect reduction smoking motives and outcome expectancies through emotion regulation difficulties. After accounting for the effects of gender, daily smoking rate, and anxiety sensitivity, negative affect was indirectly related to internal barriers to cessation and negative affect reduction smoking motives through emotion regulation difficulties. There was no significant indirect effect for negative affect reduction smoking outcome expectancies. These findings suggest that greater negative affect is associated with a desire to smoke to reduce this negative affect and perceptions that quitting smoking will be difficult due to negative emotions because of greater difficulties managing these negative emotions. Thus, emotion regulation difficulties may be an important target for smoking cessation interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effective removal of hazardous trace metals from recovery boiler fly ashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnarinen, Teemu; Golmaei, Mohammad; Jernström, Eeva; Häkkinen, Antti

2018-02-15

The objective of this study is to introduce a treatment sequence enabling straightforward and effective recovery of hazardous trace elements from recovery boiler fly ash (RBFA) by a novel method, and to demonstrate the subsequent removal of Cl and K with the existing crystallization technology. The treatment sequence comprises two stages: dissolution of most other RBFA components than the hazardous trace elements in water in Step 1 of the treatment, and crystallization of the process chemicals in Step 2. Solid-liquid separation has an important role in the treatment, due to the need to separate first the small solid residue containing the trace elements, and to separate the valuable crystals, containing Na and S, from the liquid rich in Cl and K. According to the results, nearly complete recovery of cadmium, lead and zinc can be reached even without pH adjustment. Some other metals, such as Mg and Mn, are removed together with the hazardous metals. Regarding the removal of Cl and K from the process, in this non-optimized case the removal efficiency was satisfactory: 60-70% for K when 80% of sodium was recovered, and close to 70% for Cl when 80% of sulfate was recovered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Permanganate Preoxidation to Natural Organic Matter and Disinfection by-Products Formation Potential Removal

Science.gov (United States)

Hidayah, E. N.; Yeh, H. H.

2018-01-01

Laboratory scale experiments was conducted to examine effect of permanganate (KMnO4) peroxidation in characterizing and to remove natural organic matter (NOM) in source water. The experimental results shows that increasing permanganate dosage could decreased aromatic matter, as indicated by decreasing UV254 and SUVA value about 23% and 28%, respectively. It seems that permanganate preoxidation caused the breakdown of high molecular weight (MW) organics into low MW ones, as represented by increasing NPDOC about 10%. Further, disinfection by-products formation potential (DBPFP) in terms of trihalomethanes formation potential (THMFP) and haloacetic acid formation potential (HAAP) decreased about 15% and 23%, respectively. HAAFP removal is higher than THMFP removal and that DPBFP removal is consistent with UV254 and NPDOC removal.

[Effects of understory removal on soil greenhouse gas emissions in Carya cathayensis stands].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Juan; Chen, Xue-shuang; Wu, Jia-sen; Jiang, Pei-kun; Zhou, Guo-mo; Li, Yong-fu

2015-03-01

CO2, N2O and CH4 are important greenhouse gases, and soils in forest ecosystems are their important sources. Carya cathayensis is a unique tree species with seeds used for high-grade dry fruit and oil production. Understory vegetation management plays an important role in soil greenhouse gases emission of Carya cathayensis stands. A one-year in situ experiment was conducted to study the effects of understory removal on soil CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions in C. cathayensis plantation by closed static chamber technique and gas chromatography method. Soil CO2 flux had a similar seasonal trend in the understory removal and preservation treatments, which was high in summer and autumn, and low in winter and spring. N2O emission occurred mainly in summer, while CH4 emission showed no seasonal trend. Understory removal significantly decreased soil CO, emission, increased N2O emission and CH4 uptake, but had no significant effect on soil water soluble organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon. The global warming potential of soil greenhouse gases emitted in the understory removal. treatment was 15.12 t CO2-e . hm-2 a-1, which was significantly lower than that in understory preservation treatment (17.04 t CO2-e . hm-2 . a-1).

A novel vanadosilicate with hexadeca-coordinated Cs{sup +} ions as a highly effective Cs{sup +} remover

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Datta, Shuvo Jit; Moon, Won Kyung; Choi, Do Young; Hwang, In Chul; Yoon, Kyung Byung [Sogang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). Korea Center for Artificial Photosynthesis

2014-07-07

The effective removal of {sup 137}Cs{sup +} ions from contaminated groundwater and seawater and from radioactive nuclear waste solutions is crucial for public health and for the continuous operation of nuclear power plants. Various {sup 137}Cs{sup +} removers have been developed, but more effective {sup 137}Cs{sup +} removers are still needed. A novel microporous vanadosilicate with mixed-valence vanadium (V{sup 4+} and V{sup 5+}) ions is now reported, which shows an excellent ability for Cs{sup +} capture and immobilization from groundwater, seawater, and nuclear waste solutions. This material is superior to other known materials in terms of selectivity, capacity, and kinetics, and at very low Cs{sup +} concentrations, it was found to be the most effective material for the removal of radioactive Cs{sup +} ions under the test conditions. This novel vanadosilicate also contains hexadeca-coordinated Cs{sup +} ions, which corresponds to the highest coordination number ever described.

Negative Emotion Weakens the Degree of Self-reference Effect: Evidence from ERPs

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Wei Fan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available We investigated the influence of negative emotion on the degree of self-reference effect using event-related potentials (ERPs. We presented emotional pictures and self-referential stimuli (stimuli that accelerate and improve processing and improve memory of information related to an individual’s self-concept in sequence. Participants judged the color of the target stimulus (self-referential stimuli. ERP results showed that the target stimuli elicited larger P2 amplitudes under neutral conditions than under negative emotional conditions. Under neutral conditions, N2 amplitudes for highly self-relevant names (target stimulus were smaller than those for any other names. Under negative emotional conditions, highly and moderately self-referential stimuli activated smaller N2 amplitudes. P3 amplitudes activated by self-referential processing under negative emotional conditions were smaller than neutral conditions. In the left and central sites, highly self-relevant names activated larger P3 amplitudes than any other names. But in the central sites, moderately self-relevant names activated larger P3 amplitudes than non-self-relevant names. The findings indicate that negative emotional processing could weaken the degree of self-reference effect.

The role of nitric oxide radicals in removal of hyper-radiosensitivity by priming irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edin, Nina Jeppesen; Sandvik, Joe Alexander; Pettersen, Erik Olai; Vollan, Hilde Synnove; Reger, Katharina; Görlach, Agnes

2013-01-01

In this study, a mechanism in which low-dose hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS) is permanently removed, induced by low-dose-rate (LDR) (0.2 - 0.3 Gy/h for 1 h) but not by high-dose-rate priming (0.3 Gy at 40 Gy/h) was investigated. One HRS-negative cell line (NHIK 3025) and two HRS-positive cell lines (T-47D, T98G) were used. The effects of different pretreatments on HRS were investigated using the colony assay. Cell-based ELISA was used to measure nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels, and microarray analysis to compare gene expression in primed and unprimed cells. The data show how permanent removal of HRS, previously found to be induced by LDR priming irradiation, can also be induced by addition of nitric oxide (NO)-donor DEANO combined with either high-dose-rate priming or exposure to prolonged cycling hypoxia followed by reoxygenation, a treatment not involving radiation. The removal of HRS appears not to involve DNA damage induced during priming irradiation as it was also induced by LDR irradiation of cell-conditioned medium without cells present. The permanent removal of HRS in LDR-primed cells was reversed by treatment with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor 1400W. Furthermore, 1400W could also induce HRS in an HRS-negative cell line. The data suggest that LDR irradiation for 1 h, but not 15 min, activates iNOS, and also that sustained iNOS activation is necessary for the permanent removal of HRS by LDR priming. The data indicate that nitric oxide production is involved in the regulatory processes determining cellular responses to low-dose-rate irradiation. (author)

Negative control exposure studies in the presence of measurement error: implications for attempted effect estimate calibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanderson, Eleanor; Macdonald-Wallis, Corrie; Davey Smith, George

2018-04-01

Negative control exposure studies are increasingly being used in epidemiological studies to strengthen causal inference regarding an exposure-outcome association when unobserved confounding is thought to be present. Negative control exposure studies contrast the magnitude of association of the negative control, which has no causal effect on the outcome but is associated with the unmeasured confounders in the same way as the exposure, with the magnitude of the association of the exposure with the outcome. A markedly larger effect of the exposure on the outcome than the negative control on the outcome strengthens inference that the exposure has a causal effect on the outcome. We investigate the effect of measurement error in the exposure and negative control variables on the results obtained from a negative control exposure study. We do this in models with continuous and binary exposure and negative control variables using analysis of the bias of the estimated coefficients and Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that measurement error in either the exposure or negative control variables can bias the estimated results from the negative control exposure study. Measurement error is common in the variables used in epidemiological studies; these results show that negative control exposure studies cannot be used to precisely determine the size of the effect of the exposure variable, or adequately adjust for unobserved confounding; however, they can be used as part of a body of evidence to aid inference as to whether a causal effect of the exposure on the outcome is present.

Negative life events have detrimental effects on in-vitro fertlization outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Nafiye; Kahyaoglu, İnci; İnal, Hasan Ali; Görkem, Ümit; Devran, Aysun; Mollamahmutoglu, Leyla

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of negative life events on in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) outcome. Depression and negative life events were measured using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and List of Recent Events in 83 women attending the IVF clinic of a tertiary research and education hospital with the diagnosis of unexplained infertility between January 2013 and August 2013. Demographic features, stimulation parameters, depression scores, and negative life events of pregnant and non-pregnant participants were compared and the relation between negative life events, depression scores, and IVF outcome was investigated. Women who did not achieve a pregnancy experienced more negative life events than women who became pregnant (77.2% vs. 23.1%) (p > 0.001). The number of patients with moderate-to-severe depression (BDI scores > 16) was higher in the non-pregnant group than pregnant group (49.1% vs. 26.9%), however the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.057). Clinical pregnancy showed a significant moderate negative correlation with the number of negative life events (r = -0.513, p = 0.001), but the correlation between clinical pregnancy and BDI scores was not statistically significant (r = -0.209, p = 0.059). Stressful life events have a negative influence on the quality of life, which eventually affects in IVF outcome, possibly through maladaptive lifestyle behavior.

Theory of insulated gate field effect transistor with negative differential electron mobility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furman, A.S.

1995-09-01

We study the consequences of negative differential electron mobility in FETs using the field model and the gradual channel approximation. We find that the FET may show convective or absolute instability. The fluctuations growths is governed by diffusion law with negative effective diffusion coefficient. (author). 4 refs, 2 figs

Emotion-Specific Priming: Congruence Effects on Affect and Recognition across Negative Emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Christine H.; Shantz, Cynthia A.

1995-01-01

Demonstrated the emotion-specific priming effects of negatively valenced emotions (anger, sadness, and fear) in a divided attention task. Results indicated that a negative emotion displayed by a target that matched the emotion induced by a priming manipulation was significantly stronger than an incongruous priming manipulation and displayed…

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 fine-tunes inflammatory responses in murine Gram-negative sepsis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt Thøgersen, Mariane; Gawish, Riem; Martins, Rui

2015-01-01

During infections, TLR-mediated responses require tight regulation to allow for pathogen removal, while preventing overwhelming inflammation and immunopathology. The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-2 negatively regulates inflammation by macrophages and impacts on phagocytosis...... was followed by an accelerated resolution and ultimately improved survival, associated with the induction of the negative regulator A20. Upon infection with Escherichia coli, the otherwise beneficial effect of an exaggerated early immune response in TREM-2(-/-) animals was counteracted by a 50% reduction...... in bacterial phagocytosis. In line with this, TREM-2(-/-) peritoneal macrophages (PMs) exhibited augmented inflammation following TLR4 stimulation, demonstrating the presence and negative regulatory functionality of TREM-2 on primary PMs. Significantly, we identified a high turnover rate because TREM-2 RNA...

Effect of chest physiotherapy on the removal of mucus in patients with cystic fibrosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rossman, C.M.; Waldes, R.; Sampson, D.; Newhouse, M.T.

1982-07-01

We studied the effectiveness of some of the components of a physiotherapy regimen on the removal of mucus from the lungs of 6 subjects with cystic fibrosis. On 5 randomized study days, after inhalation of a /sup 99/mTc-human serum albumin aerosol to label primarily the large airways, the removal of lung radioactivity was measured during 40 min of (a) spontaneous cough while at rest (control), (b) postural drainage, (c) postural drainage plus mechanical percussion, (d) combined maneuvers (postural drainage, deep breathing with vibrations, and percussion) administered by a physiotherapist, (e) directed vigorous cough. Measurements continued for an additional 2 h of quiet rest. Compared with the control day, all forms of intervention significantly improved the removal of mucus: cough (p less than 0.005), physiotherapy maneuvers (0.005 less than or equal to p less than 0.01), postural drainage (p less than 0.05), and postural drainage plus percussion (p less than 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between regimented cough alone and therapist-administered combined maneuvers, nor between postural drainage alone and with mechanical percussion. We conclude that in cystic fibrosis, vigorous, regimented cough sessions may be as effective as therapist-administered physiotherapy in removing pulmonary secretions. Postural drainage, although better than the control maneuver, was not as effective as cough and was not enhanced by mechanical percussion. Frequent, vigorous self-directed cough sessions are potentially as useful as more complex measures for effective bronchial toilet.

Effect of chest physiotherapy on the removal of mucus in patients with cystic fibrosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossman, C.M.; Waldes, R.; Sampson, D.; Newhouse, M.T.

1982-01-01

We studied the effectiveness of some of the components of a physiotherapy regimen on the removal of mucus from the lungs of 6 subjects with cystic fibrosis. On 5 randomized study days, after inhalation of a 99 mTc-human serum albumin aerosol to label primarily the large airways, the removal of lung radioactivity was measured during 40 min of (a) spontaneous cough while at rest (control), (b) postural drainage, (c) postural drainage plus mechanical percussion, (d) combined maneuvers (postural drainage, deep breathing with vibrations, and percussion) administered by a physiotherapist, (e) directed vigorous cough. Measurements continued for an additional 2 h of quiet rest. Compared with the control day, all forms of intervention significantly improved the removal of mucus: cough (p less than 0.005), physiotherapy maneuvers (0.005 less than or equal to p less than 0.01), postural drainage (p less than 0.05), and postural drainage plus percussion (p less than 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between regimented cough alone and therapist-administered combined maneuvers, nor between postural drainage alone and with mechanical percussion. We conclude that in cystic fibrosis, vigorous, regimented cough sessions may be as effective as therapist-administered physiotherapy in removing pulmonary secretions. Postural drainage, although better than the control maneuver, was not as effective as cough and was not enhanced by mechanical percussion. Frequent, vigorous self-directed cough sessions are potentially as useful as more complex measures for effective bronchial toilet

Hit Twice? Danish Evidence on the Double-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant Women

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helena Skyt; Rosholm, Michael; Smith, Nina

2000-01-01

In this paper, we investigate whether there is a double-negative effect on the wages of immigrant women in Denmark stemming from a negative effect from both gender and foreign country of origin. We estimate separate wage equations for Danes and a number of immigrant groups correcting for sample...... selection and individual specific effects. Based on a Danish panel of register data, we find that all women are affected by a substantial gender discrimination in wages, but only Pakistani women experience a double-negative effect....

Treatment Experience of Continuous Negative Pressure Drainage in the Acute Anterior Mediastinal Infection of Oropharyngeal Origined

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Anping CHEN

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background and objective Mediastinal infection is a serious infection of mediastinal connective tissue, with more complications and higher mortality. Application of broad-spectrum antibiotics and nutritional support, early sufficient drainage is the key to successful treatment. In the mode of drainage, this paper discusses the application of continuous negative pressure drainage technique to treat acute anterior mediastinal infection of severe mouth pharynx source, and the good results are summarized and shared. Methods In January to December in 2017, a total of 17 cases treated acute mediastinal infection is derived from the throat, has formed a mediastinal abscess, surgery adopts retrosternal counterpart negative pressure drainage way, namely the sternum nest and free sternum xiphoid process under the incision on the first mediastinal clearance, make breakthrough and placed drainage device, suture closed wound, continuous negative pressure drainage, negative pressure using 3 cm-5 cm water column. Results Among the 17 patients, 14 patients were relieved by continuous negative pressure drainage, and then the drainage tube was removed. In 2 cases, the infection broke into the right thoracic cavity, and the closed drainage caused the negative pressure to disappear, and the negative pressure drainage was replaced by the conventional drainage, and the drainage tube was removed after the drainage tube was clear. One patient had formed a mediastinal abscess incision drainage time later, complicated with septic shock and sepsis, resulting in the death of multiple organ failure. Conclusion The traditional treatment of severe acute mediastinal infection is sternal incision and drainage. Continuous negative pressure drainage adequate drainage of mediastinal can relieve patients' pain, effusion, and avoid the dressing out repeatedly. It is an effective method. However, there are limitations in this method, which need to be further optimized.

Comparison of effectiveness of four chelating agents in removing incorporated sup 241 Am

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mingyue, Lun; Yumin, Wang; Zhikang, Wei [Ministry of Nuclear Industry, Taiyuan, SX (China). Inst. of Radiation Protection; and others

1988-02-01

The effectiveness of four chelating agents (Ca-DTPA, Zn-DTPA, quinamic acid and H-73-10) in removing incorporated {sup 241}Am was studied on 200 rats. The results show that Ca-DTPA and Zn-DTPA are more effective than the others. They decreased the {sup 241}Am contents in the rat liver and skeleton down to only about 5 and 10 per cent of the control values, respectively. Quinamic acid has the same effectiveness in reducing the {sup 241}Am contents in the rat skeleton and liver as that of DTPA, but it leads to the cumulation of {sup 241}Am in the kidney, i. e., the {sup 241}Am content in the kidney is even higher than that in control rats. Although H-73-10 can remove {sup 241}Am from the rat organs, it is much less effective than DTPA.

The brief negative symptom scale (BNSS): Sensitivity to treatment effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkpatrick, Brian; Saoud, Jay B; Strauss, Gregory P; Ahmed, Anthony O; Tatsumi, Kazunori; Opler, Mark; Luthringer, Remy; Davidson, Michael

2017-12-21

The Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) grew out of a recommendation by the NIMH-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms that a scale based on contemporary concepts be developed. We assessed sensitivity to change of the BNSS in a trial of MIN-101, which showed efficacy for negative symptoms (PANSS pentagonal model) at daily doses of 32 and 64mg/day. Using mixed-effects model for repeated measures, we examined change in BNSS total score and in the BNSS factors of anhedonia/avolition/asociality (AAA), and expressivity (EXP). Compared to placebo, the 64mg group (N=83) showed a significant decrease in BNSS total score (effect size d [ES] 0.56, psymptom scores; covarying for disorganization, positive symptoms, or anxiety/depression did not cause a meaningful change in the significance of the BNSS total or factor scores in this group. The 32mg group (N=78) did not differ significantly from placebo (N=83) on BNSS total score (ES=0.33, p<0.09), AAA (ES=0.25, p<0.20) or EXP (ES=0.30, p<0.12) scores. These results demonstrate the BNSS is sensitive to change. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Investigation of Dusts Effect and Negative Ion in DC Plasmas by Electric Probes

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hye Taek; Kang, Inje; Bae, Min-Keun; Park, Insun; Lee, Seunghwa; Jeong, Seojin; Chung, Kyu-Sun

2017-10-01

Dust is typically negatively charged by electron attachment whose thermal velocities are fast compared to that of the heavier ions. The negatively charged particles can play a role of negative ions which affect the quasi-neutrality of background plasma. To investigate effect of metal dusts and negative ion on plasma and materials, metal dusts are injected into background Ar plasma which is generated by tungsten filament using dust dispenser on Cubical Plasma Device (CPD). The CPD has following conditions: size =24x24x24cm3, plasma source =DC filament plasma (ne 1x10x1010, Te 2eV), background gas =Ar, dusts =tungsten powder (diameter 1.89micron). The dust dispenser is developed to quantitate of metal dust by ultrasonic transducer. Electronegative plasmas are generated by adding O2 + Ar plasma to compare negative ion and dust effect. A few grams of micron-sized dusts are placed in the dust dispenser which is located at the upper side of the Cubical Plasma Device. The falling particles by dust dispenser are mainly charged up by the collection of the background plasma. The change in parameters due to negative ion production are characterized by measuring the floating and plasma potential, electron temperature and negative ion density using electric probes.

Effect of CaCO3(S) nucleation modes on algae removal from alkaline water.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jin Yong; Kinney, Kerry A; Katz, Lynn E

2016-02-29

The role of calcite heterogeneous nucleation was studied in a particle coagulation treatment process for removing microalgae from water. Batch experiments were conducted with Scenedesmus sp. and Chlorella sp. in the presence and absence of carbonate and in the presence and absence of Mg to delineate the role of CaCO 3(S) nucleation on microalgae removal. The results indicate that effective algae coagulation (e.g., up to 81 % algae removal efficiency) can be achieved via heterogeneous nucleation with CaCO 3(S) ; however, supersaturation ratios between 120 and 200 are required to achieve at least 50% algae removal, depending on ion concentrations. Algae removal was attributed to adsorption of Ca 2+ onto the cell surface which provides nucleation sites for CaCO 3(S) precipitation. Bridging of calcite particles between the algal cells led to rapid aggregation and formation of larger flocs. However, at higher supersaturation conditions, algae removal was diminished due to the dominance of homogeneous nucleation of CaCO 3(S) . Removal of algae in the presence of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ required higher supersaturation values; however, the shift from heteronucleation to homonucleation with increasing supersaturation was still evident. The results suggest that water chemistry, pH, ionic strength, alkalinity and Ca 2+ concentration can be optimized for algae removal via coagulation-sedimentation.

Effects of Age on Negative Subsequent Memory Effects Associated with the Encoding of Item and Item–Context Information

Science.gov (United States)

Mattson, Julia T.; Wang, Tracy H.; de Chastelaine, Marianne; Rugg, Michael D.

2014-01-01

It has consistently been reported that “negative” subsequent memory effects—lower study activity for later remembered than later forgotten items—are attenuated in older individuals. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated whether these findings extend to subsequent memory effects associated with successful encoding of item–context information. Older (n = 25) and young (n = 17) subjects were scanned while making 1 of 2 encoding judgments on a series of pictures. Memory was assessed for the study item and, for items judged old, the item's encoding task. Both memory judgments were made using confidence ratings, permitting item and source memory strength to be unconfounded and source confidence to be equated across age groups. Replicating prior findings, negative item effects in regions of the default mode network in young subjects were reversed in older subjects. Negative source effects, however, were invariant with respect to age and, in both age groups, the magnitude of the effects correlated with source memory performance. It is concluded that negative item effects do not reflect processes necessary for the successful encoding of item–context associations in older subjects. Negative source effects, in contrast, appear to reflect the engagement of processes that are equally important for successful episodic encoding in older and younger individuals. PMID:23904464

Removal of congo red and methylene blue from waste water using coagulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghaffar, S.; Nosheen, S.; Ahmad, N.

2011-01-01

The textile industry has been condemned as being one of the world's worst offenders in terms of pollution Because of increasing population and industrial developments, a huge amount of wastewater is discharged to the environment above the level that the nature can eliminate. Many techniques like oxidation, reduction, physical treatment and biological method are available for removal of colored dyes from wastewater. The work presented here involved the decolorisation of wastewater containing congo red and methylene blue using various coagulants such as alum, bentonite and lime. The effect of various experimental factors such as dosage of coagulants, contact time between coagulant and dye and concentration of dyes and working environment like shaking and static was studied. Under static condition alum give almost 43% removal of congo red while with 10 minutes shaking 74 % removal of 80 dye was achieved with same coagulant. The highest removal of congo red was found to be 99.5 % by using alum after 30 minutes of shaking but in case of methylene blue it intensified the color and gave negative results. Lime gave only 33 % color removal of congo red under static conditions while 57% color was removed under shaking conditions. Maximum color removal achieved by lime was 89% at 40 minutes with shaking condition. Lime gave 60% removal of methylene blue in static condition and 90% removal in shaking condition and maximum absorbance at 80 ppm was 90%. Bentonite also used for the removal of methylene blue and gave 89% removal in shaking condition. By increasing shaking time %age removal increased to 100% at 40 min. And amount of coagulant increased the removal efficiency it attained 100% in both lime and bentonite coagulant for methylene blue Overall alum was found to be better coagulant for the removal of congo red from its aqueous solution. Lime and bentonite both proved better and economical for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution at lab scale. (author)

Influence of Removal of a Non-native Tree Species Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. on the Regenerating Plant Communities in a Tropical Semideciduous Forest Under Restoration in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Podadera, Diego S.; Engel, Vera L.; Parrotta, John A.; Machado, Deivid L.; Sato, Luciane M.; Durigan, Giselda

2015-11-01

Exotic species are used to trigger facilitation in restoration plantings, but this positive effect may not be permanent and these species may have negative effects later on. Since such species can provide a marketable product (firewood), their harvest may represent an advantageous strategy to achieve both ecological and economic benefits. In this study, we looked at the effect of removal of a non-native tree species ( Mimosa caesalpiniifolia) on the understory of a semideciduous forest undergoing restoration. We assessed two 14-year-old plantation systems (modified "taungya" agroforestry system; and mixed plantation using commercial timber and firewood tree species) established at two sites with contrasting soil properties in São Paulo state, Brazil. The experimental design included randomized blocks with split plots. The natural regeneration of woody species (height ≥0.2 m) was compared between managed (all M. caesalpiniifolia trees removed) and unmanaged plots during the first year after the intervention. The removal of M. caesalpiniifolia increased species diversity but decreased stand basal area. Nevertheless, the basal area loss was recovered after 1 year. The management treatment affected tree species regeneration differently between species groups. The results of this study suggest that removal of M. caesalpiniifolia benefited the understory and possibly accelerated the succession process. Further monitoring studies are needed to evaluate the longer term effects on stand structure and composition. The lack of negative effects of tree removal on the natural regeneration indicates that such interventions can be recommended, especially considering the expectations of economic revenues from tree harvesting in restoration plantings.

Experimental investigation on improving the removal effect of WFGD system on fine particles by heterogeneous condensation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bao, Jingjing; Yang, Linjun; Yan, Jinpei; Xiong, Guilong; Shen, Xianglin [Southeast Univ., Nanjing (China). School of Energy and Environment

2013-07-01

Heterogeneous condensation of water vapor as a preconditioning technique for the removal of fine particles from flue gas was investigated experimentally in a wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) system. A supersaturated vapor phase, necessary for condensational growth of fine particles, was achieved in the SO{sub 2} absorption zone and at the top of the wet FGD scrubber by adding steam in the gas inlet and above the scrubbing liquid inlet of the scrubber, respectively. The condensational grown droplets were then removed by the scrubbing liquid and a high-efficiency demister. The results show that the effectiveness of the WFGD system for removal of fine particles is related to the SO{sub 2} absorbent and the types of scrubber employed. Despite a little better effectiveness for the removal of fine particles in the rotating-stream-tray scrubber at the same liquid-to-gas ratio, The similar trends are obtained between the spray scrubber and rotating-stream-tray scrubber. Due to the formation of aerosol particles in the limestone and ammonia-based FGD processes, the fine particle removal efficiencies are lower than those for Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3} and water. The performance of the WFGD system for removal of fine particles can be significantly improved for both steam addition cases, for which the removal efficiency increases with increasing amount of added steam. A high liquid to gas ratio is beneficial for efficient removal of fine particles by heterogeneous condensation of water vapor.

Effect of cesium seeding on hydrogen negative ion volume production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bacal, M.; Balghiti-Sube, F. El; Elizarov, L. I.; Tontegode, A. J.

1998-01-01

The effect of cesium vapor partial pressure on the plasma parameters has been studied in the dc hybrid negative ion source ''CAMEMBERT III.'' The cesium vapor pressure was varied up to 10 -5 Torr and was determined by a surface ionization gauge in the absence of the discharge. The negative ion relative density measured by laser photodetachment in the center of the plasma extraction region increases by a factor of four when the plasma is seeded with cesium. However the plasma density and the electron temperature (determined using a cylindrical electrostatic probe) are reduced by the cesium seeding. As a result, the negative ion density goes up by a factor of two at the lowest hydrogen pressure studied. The velocity of the directed negative ion flow to the plasma electrode, determined from two-laser beam photodetachment experiments, appears to be affected by the cesium seeding. The variation of the extracted negative ion and electron currents versus the plasma electrode bias will also be reported for pure hydrogen and cesium seeded plasmas. The cesium seeding leads to a dramatic reduction of the electron component, which is consistent with the reduced electron density and temperature. The negative ion current is enhanced and a goes through a maximum at plasma electrode bias lower than 1 V. These observations lead to the conclusion that the enhancement of pure volume production occurs in this type of plasma. Possible mechanisms for this type of volume process will be discussed

Negative mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammond, Richard T

2015-01-01

Some physical aspects of negative mass are examined. Several unusual properties, such as the ability of negative mass to penetrate any armor, are analysed. Other surprising effects include the bizarre system of negative mass chasing positive mass, naked singularities and the violation of cosmic censorship, wormholes, and quantum mechanical results as well. In addition, a brief look into the implications for strings is given. (paper)

The effect of nitrogen on phosphorus and potassium removal by cauliflower

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Everaarts, A.P.; Moel, de C.P.

2009-01-01

The effect of the amount of nitrogen applied and of the method of application on the amounts of phosphorus and potassium removed from the field with the product in cauliflower cultivation was studied in three field experiments. Band placement or split application of nitrogen did not influence

The effect of magnesium on partial sulphate removal from mine water as gypsum.

Science.gov (United States)

Tolonen, Emma-Tuulia; Rämö, Jaakko; Lassi, Ulla

2015-08-15

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of magnesium on the removal efficiency of sulphate as gypsum from mine water. The precipitation conditions were simulated with MINEQL + software and the simulation results were compared with the results from laboratory jar test experiments. Both the simulation and the laboratory results showed that magnesium in the mine water was maintaining sulphate in a soluble form as magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) at pH 9.6. Thus magnesium was preventing the removal of sulphate as gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O). However, change in the lime precipitation pH from 9.6 to 12.5 resulted in magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) precipitation and improved sulphate removal. Additionally, magnesium hydroxide could act as seed crystals for gypsum precipitation or co-precipitate sulphate further enhancing the removal of sulphate from mine water. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Positive and negative affect produce opposing task-irrelevant stimulus preexposure effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazar, Josef; Kaplan, Oren; Sternberg, Terri; Lubow, R E

2012-06-01

In three experiments, groups were exposed to either positive or negative affect video clips, after which they were presented with a series of task-irrelevant stimuli. In the subsequent test task, subjects were required to learn an association between the previously irrelevant stimulus and a consequence, and between a new stimulus and a consequence. Induced positive affect produced a latent inhibition effect (poorer evidence of learning with the previously irrelevant stimulus than with the novel stimulus). In opposition to this, induced negative affect resulted in better evidence of learning with a previously irrelevant stimulus than with a novel stimulus. In general, the opposing effects also were present in participants scoring high on self-report questionnaires of depression (Experiments 2 and 3). These unique findings were predicted and accounted for on the basis of two principles: (a) positive affect broadens the attentional field and negative affect contracts it; and (b) task-irrelevant stimuli are processed in two successive stages, the first encodes stimulus properties, and the second encodes stimulus relationships. The opposing influences of negative and positive mood on the processing of irrelevant stimuli have implications for the role of emotion in general theories of cognition, and possibly for resolving some of the inconsistent findings in research with schizophrenia patients.

Linking removal targets to the ecological effects of invaders: a predictive model and field test.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Stephanie J; Dulvy, Nicholas K; Brooks, Annabelle M L; Akins, John L; Cooper, Andrew B; Miller, Skylar; Côté, Isabelle M

Species invasions have a range of negative effects on recipient ecosystems, and many occur at a scale and magnitude that preclude complete eradication. When complete extirpation is unlikely with available management resources, an effective strategy may be to suppress invasive populations below levels predicted to cause undesirable ecological change. We illustrated this approach by developing and testing targets for the control of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) on Western Atlantic coral reefs. We first developed a size-structured simulation model of predation by lionfish on native fish communities, which we used to predict threshold densities of lionfish beyond which native fish biomass should decline. We then tested our predictions by experimentally manipulating lionfish densities above or below reef-specific thresholds, and monitoring the consequences for native fish populations on 24 Bahamian patch reefs over 18 months. We found that reducing lionfish below predicted threshold densities effectively protected native fish community biomass from predation-induced declines. Reductions in density of 25–92%, depending on the reef, were required to suppress lionfish below levels predicted to overconsume prey. On reefs where lionfish were kept below threshold densities, native prey fish biomass increased by 50–70%. Gains in small (15 cm total length), including ecologically important grazers and economically important fisheries species, had increased by 10–65% by the end of the experiment. Crucially, similar gains in prey fish biomass were realized on reefs subjected to partial and full removal of lionfish, but partial removals took 30% less time to implement. By contrast, the biomass of small native fishes declined by >50% on all reefs with lionfish densities exceeding reef-specific thresholds. Large inter-reef variation in the biomass of prey fishes at the outset of the study, which influences the threshold density of lionfish

Negative Magnus Effect on a Rotating Sphere at around the Critical Reynolds Number

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muto, Masaya; Watanabe, Hiroaki; Tsubokura, Makoto; Oshima, Nobuyuki

2011-01-01

Negative Magnus lift acting on a sphere rotating about the axis perpendicular to an incoming flow is investigated using large-eddy simulation at three Reynolds numbers of 1.0× 10 4 , 2.0 × 10 5 , and 1.14 × 10 6 . The numerical methods adopted are first validated on a non-rotating sphere and the spatial resolution around the sphere is determined so as to reproduce the laminar separation, reattachment, and turbulent transition of the boundary layer observed at around the critical Reynolds number. In the rotating sphere, positive or negative Magnus effect is observed depending on the Reynolds number and the rotating speed imposed. At the Reynolds number in the subcritical or supercritical region, the direction of the lift force follows the Magnus effect to be independent of the rotational speed tested here. In contrast, negative lift is observed at the Reynolds number at the critical region when particular rotating speeds are imposed. The negative Magnus effect is discussed in the context of the suppression or promotion of boundary layer transition around the separation point.

Removal of arsenic and iron removal from drinking water using coagulation and biological treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pramanik, Biplob Kumar; Pramanik, Sagor Kumar; Suja, Fatihah

2016-02-01

Effects of biological activated carbon (BAC), biological aerated filter (BAF), alum coagulation and Moringa oleifera coagulation were investigated to remove iron and arsenic contaminants from drinking water. At an initial dose of 5 mg/L, the removal efficiency for arsenic and iron was 63% and 58% respectively using alum, and 47% and 41% respectively using Moringa oleifera. The removal of both contaminants increased with the increase in coagulant dose and decrease in pH. Biological processes were more effective in removing these contaminants than coagulation. Compared to BAF, BAC gave greater removal of both arsenic and iron, removing 85% and 74%, respectively. Longer contact time for both processes could reduce the greater concentration of arsenic and iron contaminants. The addition of coagulation (at 5 mg/L dosage) and a biological process (with 15 or 60 min contact time) could significantly increase removal efficiency, and the maximum removal was observed for the combination of alum and BAC treatment (60 min contact time), with 100% and 98.56% for arsenic and iron respectively. The reduction efficiency of arsenic and iron reduced with the increase in the concentration of dissolved organics in the feedwater due to the adsorption competition between organic molecules and heavy metals.

The effect of positive and negative memory bias on anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Samuel M Y; Cheng, Joseph; Dai, Darren Wai Tong; Tam, Titian; Hui, Otilia

2018-02-28

To examine the interaction effect of anxiety and depression on the intentional forgetting of positive and negative valence words. One hundred fifty-five grade 7 to grade 10 students participated in the study. The item-method directed forgetting paradigm was used to examine the intentional forgetting of positive-valence, negative-valence, and neutral-valence words. Negative-valence words were recognized better than either positive-valence or neutral-valence words. The results revealed an anxiety main effect (p = .01, LLCI = -.09, and ULCI = -.01) and a depression main effect (p = .04, LLCI = .00, and ULCI = .24). The anxiety score was negative, whereas the depression score was positively related to the directed forgetting of negative-valence words. Regression-based moderation analysis revealed a significant anxiety × depression interaction effect on the directed forgetting of positive-valence words (p = .02, LLCI = .00, and ULCI = .01). Greater anxiety was associated with more directed forgetting of positive-valance words only among participants with high depression scores. With negative-valence words, the anxiety × depression interaction effect was not significant (p = .15, LLCI = - .00, and ULCI = .01). Therapeutic strategies to increase positive memory bias may reduce anxiety symptoms only among those with high depression scores. Interventions to reduce negative memory bias may reduce anxiety symptoms irrespective of levels of depression. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effect of primary sedimentation on full-scale WWTP nutrient removal performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig, S; van Loosdrecht, M C M; Flameling, A G; Colprim, J; Meijer, S C F

2010-06-01

Traditionally, the performance of full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is measured based on influent and/or effluent and waste sludge flows and concentrations. Full-scale WWTP data typically have a high variance which often contains (large) measurement errors. A good process engineering evaluation of the WWTP performance is therefore difficult. This also makes it usually difficult to evaluate effect of process changes in a plant or compare plants to each other. In this paper we used a case study of a full-scale nutrient removing WWTP. The plant normally uses presettled wastewater, as a means to increase the nutrient removal the plant was operated for a period by-passing raw wastewater (27% of the influent flow). The effect of raw wastewater addition has been evaluated by different approaches: (i) influent characteristics, (ii) design retrofit, (iii) effluent quality, (iv) removal efficiencies, (v) activated sludge characteristics, (vi) microbial activity tests and FISH analysis and, (vii) performance assessment based on mass balance evaluation. This paper demonstrates that mass balance evaluation approach helps the WWTP engineers to distinguish and quantify between different strategies, where others could not. In the studied case, by-passing raw wastewater (27% of the influent flow) directly to the biological reactor did not improve the effluent quality and the nutrient removal efficiency of the WWTP. The increase of the influent C/N and C/P ratios was associated to particulate compounds with low COD/VSS ratio and a high non-biodegradable COD fraction. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Negative effects of item repetition on source memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyungmi; Yi, Do-Joon; Raye, Carol L; Johnson, Marcia K

2012-08-01

In the present study, we explored how item repetition affects source memory for new item-feature associations (picture-location or picture-color). We presented line drawings varying numbers of times in Phase 1. In Phase 2, each drawing was presented once with a critical new feature. In Phase 3, we tested memory for the new source feature of each item from Phase 2. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated and replicated the negative effects of item repetition on incidental source memory. Prior item repetition also had a negative effect on source memory when different source dimensions were used in Phases 1 and 2 (Experiment 3) and when participants were explicitly instructed to learn source information in Phase 2 (Experiments 4 and 5). Importantly, when the order between Phases 1 and 2 was reversed, such that item repetition occurred after the encoding of critical item-source combinations, item repetition no longer affected source memory (Experiment 6). Overall, our findings did not support predictions based on item predifferentiation, within-dimension source interference, or general interference from multiple traces of an item. Rather, the findings were consistent with the idea that prior item repetition reduces attention to subsequent presentations of the item, decreasing the likelihood that critical item-source associations will be encoded.

Evaluation of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Three Minimally Invasive Methods of Caries Removal: An in vitro Study

OpenAIRE

Boob, Ankush Ramnarayan; Manjula, M; Reddy, E Rajendra; Srilaxmi, N; Rani, Tabitha

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Many chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) agents have been introduced and marketed since 1970s, with each new one being better and effective than the previously introduced. Papacarie and Carisolv are new systems in the field of CMCR techniques. These are reportedly minimally invasive methods of removing carious dentin while preserving sound dentin. Aim: To compare the Efficiency (time taken for caries removal) and effectiveness (Knoop hardness number of the remaining den...

The Geo/Geo/1+1 Queueing System with Negative Customers

OpenAIRE

Ma, Zhanyou; Guo, Yalin; Wang, Pengcheng; Hou, Yumei

2013-01-01

We study a Geo/Geo/1+1 queueing system with geometrical arrivals of both positive and negative customers in which killing strategies considered are removal of customers at the head (RCH) and removal of customers at the end (RCE). Using quasi-birth-death (QBD) process and matrix-geometric solution method, we obtain the stationary distribution of the queue length, the average waiting time of a new arrival customer, and the probabilities of servers in busy or idle period, respectively. Finally, ...

Effects on physicochemical characteristics of yoghurt and ice cream with fatty acid modification and cholesterol removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nadeem, M.; Ullah, R.; Arif, A.M.

2015-01-01

This study investigated the effect of fatty acid modification and cholesterol removal on physico-chemical characteristics of yoghurt and ice cream. Fatty acid profile of milk fat was modified by feeding calcium salts of soybean oil fatty acids to cows and cholesterol was removed by b-cyclodextrin b-cyclodextrin removed 76% and 60% cholesterol from yoghurt and ice cream. Modification of fatty acid composition did not have a significant effect on a-tocopherol content; while b-cyclodextrin treated milk had substantially lower a-tocopherol content. The concentration of a-tocopherol in control and b-cyclodextrin treated yoghurt was 45.62, 32.73 mg/g and 210.34, 185.56 mg/g for ice cream, respectively. Fatty acid modification and cholesterol removal significantly decreased the overrun in ice cream (P<0.05), with no effect on sensory characteristics of yoghurt and ice cream. These results evidenced that milk with higher content of unsaturated fatty acids and low cholesterol can be used in the formulation of yoghurt and ice cream with improved health benefits and suitable sensory features. (author)

Planning what not to eat: ironic effects of implementation intentions negating unhealthy habits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adriaanse, M.A.; van Oosten, J.M.F.; de Ridder, D.T.D.; de Wit, J.B.F.; Evers, C.

2011-01-01

The present studies tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions with an "if [situation], then not [habitual response]" structure. Based on ironic process theory and the literature on the processing of negations, it was expected that these "negation implementation intentions" would,

Negative space charge effects in photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar converters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segev, G.; Weisman, D.; Rosenwaks, Y.; Kribus, A.

2015-01-01

In thermionic energy converters, electrons in the gap between electrodes form a negative space charge and inhibit the emission of additional electrons, causing a significant reduction in conversion efficiency. However, in Photon Enhanced Thermionic Emission (PETE) solar energy converters, electrons that are reflected by the electric field in the gap return to the cathode with energy above the conduction band minimum. These electrons first occupy the conduction band from which they can be reemitted. This form of electron recycling makes PETE converters less susceptible to negative space charge loss. While the negative space charge effect was studied extensively in thermionic converters, modeling its effect in PETE converters does not account for important issues such as this form of electron recycling, nor the cathode thermal energy balance. Here, we investigate the space charge effect in PETE solar converters accounting for electron recycling, with full coupling of the cathode and gap models, and addressing conservation of both electric and thermal energy. The analysis shows that the negative space charge loss is lower than previously reported, allowing somewhat larger gaps compared to previous predictions. For a converter with a specific gap, there is an optimal solar flux concentration. The optimal solar flux concentration, the cathode temperature, and the efficiency all increase with smaller gaps. For example, for a gap of 3 μm the maximum efficiency is 38% and the optimal flux concentration is 628, while for a gap of 5 μm the maximum efficiency is 31% and optimal flux concentration is 163

Arsenic removal by electrocoagulation process: Recent trends and removal mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Nidheesh, P V; Singh, T S Anantha

2017-08-01

Arsenic contamination in drinking water is a major issue in the present world. Arsenicosis is the disease caused by the regular consumption of arsenic contaminated water, even at a lesser contaminated level. The number of arsenicosis patients is increasing day-by-day. Decontamination of arsenic from the water medium is the only one way to regulate this and the arsenic removal can be fulfilled by water treatment methods based on separation techniques. Electrocoagulation (EC) process is a promising technology for the effective removal of arsenic from aqueous solution. The present review article analyzes the performance of the EC process for arsenic removal. Electrocoagulation using various sacrificial metal anodes such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, etc. is found to be very effective for arsenic decontamination. The performances of each anode are described in detail. A special focus has been made on the mechanism behind the arsenite and arsenate removal by EC process. Main trends in the disposal methods of sludge containing arsenic are also included. Comparison of arsenic decontamination efficiencies of chemical coagulation and EC is also reported. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of aripiprazole on mismatch negativity (MMN in schizophrenia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenhe Zhou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cognitive deficits are considered core symptoms of the schizophrenia. Cognitive function has been found to be a better predictor of functional outcome than symptom levels. Changed mismatch negativity (MMN reflects abnormalities of early auditory processing in schizophrenia. Up to now, no studies for the effects of aripiprazole on MMN in schizophrenia have been reported. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Subjects included 26 patients with schizophrenia, and 26 controls. Psychopathology was rated in patients with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS at baseline, after 4- and 8-week treatments with aripiprazole. Auditory stimuli for ERP consisted of 100 millisecond/1000 Hz standards, intermixed with 100 millisecond/1500 Hz frequency deviants and 250 millisecond/1000 Hz duration deviants. EEG was recorded at Fz. BESA 5.1.8 was used to perform data analysis. MMN waveforms were obtained by subtracting waveforms elicited by standards from waveforms elicited by frequency- or duration-deviant stimuli. Aripiprazole decreased all PANSS. Patients showed smaller mean amplitudes of frequency and duration MMN at baseline than did controls. A repeated measure ANOVA with sessions (i.e., baseline, 4- and 8-week treatments and MMN type (frequency vs. duration as within-subject factors revealed no significant MMN type or MMN type × session main effect for MMN amplitudes. Session main effect was significant. LSD tests demonstrated significant differences between MMN amplitudes at 8 weeks and those at both baseline and 4 weeks. There was significant negative correlation between changes in amplitudes of frequency and duration MMN and changes in PANSS total scores at baseline and follow-up periods. CONCLUSIONS: Aripiprazole improved the amplitudes of MMN. MMN offers objective evidence that treatment with the aripiprazole may ameliorate preattentive deficits in schizophrenia.

Removable splint with locking attachments for maxillary distraction osteogenesis with the RED system.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, E Y; Suzuki, B

2007-12-01

The external traction hooks of the intraoral splint used to control traction forces applied to the maxilla with the rigid external distraction system represent a major barrier to surgical procedures. The purpose of this article is to introduce a removable intraoral splint with locking attachments that can be placed post-surgically immediately before distraction, facilitating surgery and consequently reducing the operative time. Fifteen cleft lip and palate patients underwent maxillary distraction osteogenesis using a rigid external distraction device in combination with the proposed removable splint that was fixed onto the maxillary teeth to provide anchorage. Initial records showed severe maxillary hypoplasia and negative overjet. The removable splint was fabricated using 1.5-mm diameter stainless-steel rigid orthodontic wires soldered to the locking attachments (Y&B Products LP, Chiang Mai, Thailand), making possible its placement post-surgically. Stable splint fixation was achieved prior to the distraction procedure and the desired treatment goals were reached. No complications inserting or removing the splint post-surgically, including pain or discomfort, were observed. The use of the removable splint with locking attachments has proved to be a highly effective fixation approach to manage the severely hypoplastic maxilla, eliminating lip constraints resulting from scarring, and allowing for easier, more deliberate and careful dissection.

Schwinger effect and negative differential conductivity in holographic models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shankhadeep Chakrabortty

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The consequences of the Schwinger effect for conductivity are computed for strong coupling systems using holography. The one-loop diagram on the flavor brane introduces an O(λNc imaginary part in the effective action for a Maxwell flavor gauge field. This in turn introduces a real conductivity in an otherwise insulating phase of the boundary theory. Moreover, in certain regions of parameter space the differential conductivity is negative. This is computed in the context of the Sakai–Sugimoto model.

Effect of pectin and hemicellulose removal from hemp fibres on the mechanical properties of unidirectional hemp/epoxy composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Ming; Meyer, Anne S.; Fernando, Dinesh

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pectin and hemicellulose removal from hemp fibres on the mechanical properties of hemp fibre/epoxy composites. Pectin removal by EDTA and endo-polygalacturonase (EPG) removed epidermal and parenchyma cells from hemp fibres and improved...

The influence of temperature and salt on metal and sediment removal in stormwater biofilters.

Science.gov (United States)

Søberg, Laila C; Viklander, Maria; Blecken, Godecke-Tobias

2014-01-01

Stormwater biofilters are used to treat stormwater runoff. In countries with cold winter climates, biofilters are subject to low temperatures which, in some cases, are combined with potentially high salt concentrations from road de-icing, potentially affecting the biofilter's performance. Since stormwater biofilters have been developed without consideration of their critical winter use, a laboratory study was carried out to evaluate the performance of stormwater biofilters subjected to low and high temperatures, with and without salt. Both factors and their interaction had a significant effect on outflow concentrations and removal percentages. Salt had a negative impact on outflow concentrations, causing lower removal percentages for (especially dissolved) metals, this impact being most pronounced for Cu and Pb. The unrealistic combination of salt with high temperature seemed to further amplify the negative impacts of salt despite the fact that temperature alone did not cause significant differences in outflow concentrations and removal percentages. Still, biofilters showed the ability to treat stormwater efficiently under the simulated winter conditions; outflow concentrations for total metals as a minimum met the class 4 threshold value defined in the Swedish freshwater quality guidelines, while inflow concentrations clearly exceeded the threshold value for class 5. The relatively coarse filter material (which is recommended to facilitate infiltration during winter) did not seem to exacerbate biofilter performance.

Energy dependence of negatively charged pion production in proton-proton interactions at the CERN SPS

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)663936; Dominik, Wojciech; Gaździck, Marek

2016-01-01

This thesis presents inclusive spectra of the negatively charged pions produced in inelastic proton-proton interactions measured at five beam momenta: 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c. The measurements were conducted in the NA61/SHINE experiment at CERN using a system of five Time Projection Chambers. The negatively charged pion spectra were calculated based on the negatively charged hadron spectra. Contribution of hadrons other than the primary pions was removed using EPOS simulations. The results were corrected for effects related to detection, acceptance, reconstruction efficiency and the analysis technique. Two-dimensional spectra were derived as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum or transverse mass. The spectra were parametrised by widths of the rapidity distributions, inverse slope parameters of the transverse mass distributions, mean transverse masses and the total pion multiplicities. The negatively charged pion spectra in proton-proton interactions belong to a broad NA61/SHINE programme of se...

Effects of carbon additives on the performance of negative electrode of lead-carbon battery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, Xianping; Kang, Zongxuan; Shu, Dong; Liao, Yuqing; Gong, Yibin; He, Chun; Hao, Junnan; Zhong, Yayun

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The negative electrode sheets are prepared by simulating manufacture condition of negative plates. • The effect of carbon additives on negative electrode sheets is studied by electrochemical method. • Carbon additives in NAM enhance electrochemical properties of the negative sheets. • The negative sheets with 0.5 wt% carbon additive exhibit better electrochemical performance. • The charge-discharge mechanism is discussed in detail according to the experimental results. - Abstract: In this study, carbon additives such as activated carbon (AC) and carbon black (CB) are introduced to the negative electrode to improve its electrochemical performance, the negative electrode sheets are prepared by simulating the negative plate manufacturing process of lead-acid battery, the types and contents of carbon additives in the negative electrode sheets are investigated in detail for the application of lead-carbon battery. The electrochemical performance of negative electrode sheets are measured by chronopotentiometry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the crystal structure and morphology are characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the appropriate addition of AC or CB can enhance the discharge capacity and prolong the cycle life of negative electrode sheets under high-rate partial-state-of-charge conditions, AC additive exerts more obvious effect than CB additive, the optimum contents for the best electrochemical performance of the negative electrode sheets are determined as 0.5wt% for both AC and CB. The reaction mechanism of the electrochemical process is also discussed in this paper, the appropriate addition of AC or CB in negative electrode can promote the conversion of PbSO 4 to Pb, suppress the sulfation of negative electrode sheets and reduce the electrochemical reaction resistance

Invisible Support: Effects on the Provider's Positive and Negative Affect.

Science.gov (United States)

König, Claudia; Stadler, Gertraud; Knoll, Nina; Ochsner, Sibylle; Hornung, Rainer; Scholz, Urte

2016-07-01

Social support that goes unnoticed by receivers (i.e. invisible support) seems to be most beneficial for the receivers' well-being. The providers' well-being, however, has been neglected so far. This study examines how invisible support is related to the providers' well-being and whether this association is dependent on the providers' relationship satisfaction. Overall, 97 non-smoking partners of smokers who were about to quit smoking were examined. Invisible support was assessed dyadically: partners' reports on smoking-specific provided social support together with smokers' reports on received support were assessed at baseline. Partners' relationship satisfaction was also assessed at baseline. Partners' positive and negative affect were measured at baseline and six-week follow-up. No main effects of invisible instrumental or emotional support occurred. However, partners' relationship satisfaction moderated the association between invisible instrumental support and change in partners' negative and positive affect: For partners with lower relationship satisfaction more invisible instrumental support was related to increased negative affect and decreased positive affect, whereas for partners with higher relationship satisfaction the inverse effects occurred. The study's results emphasise that invisible instrumental support might have emotional costs for the providers. Relationship satisfaction seems to serve as a protective factor. © 2016 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

Pervasive negative effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation: The myth continues

OpenAIRE

Cameron, Judy; Banko, Katherine M.; Pierce, W. David

2001-01-01

A major concern in psychology and education is that rewards decrease intrinsic motivation to perform activities. Over the past 30 years, more than 100 experimental studies have been conducted on this topic. In 1994, Cameron and Pierce conducted a meta-analysis of this literature and concluded that negative effects of reward were limited and could be easily prevented in applied settings. A more recent meta-analysis of the literature by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) shows pervasive negative e...

Electroplating moulds using dry film thick negative photoresist

Science.gov (United States)

Kukharenka, E.; Farooqui, M. M.; Grigore, L.; Kraft, M.; Hollinshead, N.

2003-07-01

This paper reports on progress on the feasibility of fabricating moulds for electroplating using Ordyl P-50100 (negative) acrylate polymer based dry film photoresist, commercially available from Elga Europe (http://www.elgaeurope.it). We used this photoresist as an alternative to SU8 negative epoxy based photoresist, which is very difficult to process and remove after electroplating (Lorenz et al 1998 Microelectron. Eng. 41/42 371-4, Eyre et al 1998 Proc. MEMS'98 (Heidelberg) (Piscataway, NJ: IEEE) pp 218-22). Ordyl P-50100 is easy to work with and can be easily removed after processing. A single layer of Ordyl P-50100 was deposited by lamination up to 20 µm thickness. Thicker layers (200 µm and more) can be achieved with multilayer lamination using a manual laminator. For our applications we found that Ordyl P-50100 dry film photoresist is a very good alternative to SU8 for the realization of 100 µm high moulds. The results presented will open up new possibilities for low-cost LIGA-type processes for MEMS applications.

Effect of antimony on lead-acid battery negative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahato, B.K.; Bullock, K.R.; Strebe, J.L.; Wilkinson, D.F.

1985-01-01

The role of antimony on the lead-acid battery negative in terms of its effect on charge efficiency, its effect on gassing overpotential, its interactive influence with lignin expander in controlling the charge efficiency, and its retentive behavior or purging characteristics as SbH 3 in the overcharge gas stream was investigated. Linear potential sweep (LPS) cycling of Plante-type lead electrodes were used to determine the effect of antimony on gassing overpotential and to monitor its concentration either in the active material or the exit gas stream. Results showed a significant contribution of antimony in decreasing charge efficiency and an overwhelming role of lignin expander in suppressing the effect of antimony on charge efficiency. The critical lead-electrode potential for purging antimony from the electrode is close to -1275 mV (vs. Hg/Hg 2 SO 4 )

Modeled PM2.5 removal by trees in ten US cities and associated health effects

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak; Satoshi Hirabayashi; Allison Bodine; Robert. Hoehn

2013-01-01

Urban particulate air pollution is a serious health issue. Trees within cities can remove fine particles from the atmosphere and consequently improve air quality and human health. Tree effects on PM2.5 concentrations and human health are modeled for 10 U.S. cities. The total amount of PM2.5 removed annually by...

Comparison of the effect of diode laser versus intense pulsed light in axillary hair removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Ormiga, Patricia; Ishida, Cleide Eiko; Boechat, Alvaro; Ramos-E-Silva, Marcia

2014-10-01

Devices such as diode laser and intense pulsed light (IPL) are in constant development aiming at permanent hair removal, but there are few comparative studies between these technologies. The objective was to comparatively assess axillary hair removal performed by diode laser and IPL and to obtain parameters of referred pain and evolution response for each method. A comparative prospective, double-blind, and randomized study of axillary hair removal performed by the diode laser and IPL was conducted in 21 females. Six sessions were held with application of the diode laser in one axilla and the IPL in the other, with intervals of 30 days and follow-up of 6 months after the last session. Clinical photographs and digital dermoscopy for hair counts in predefined and fixed fields of the treated areas were performed before, 2 weeks after the sixth session, and 6 months after the end of treatment. A questionnaire to assess the pain was applied. The number of hair shafts was significantly reduced with the diode laser and IPL. The diode laser was more effective, although more painful than the IPL. No serious, adverse, or permanent effects were observed with both technologies. Both diode laser and the IPL are effective, safe, and able to produce lasting results in axillary hair removal.

Positive or negative Poynting effect? The role of adscititious inequalities in hyperelastic materials

KAUST Repository

Mihai, L. A.

2011-08-10

Motivated by recent experiments on biopolymer gels whereby the reverse of the usual (positive) Poynting effect was observed, we investigate the effect of the so-called \\'adscititious inequalities\\' on the behaviour of hyperelastic materials subject to shear. We first demonstrate that for homogeneous isotropic materials subject to pure shear, the resulting deformation consists of a triaxial stretch combined with a simple shear in the direction of the shear force if and only if the Baker-Ericksen inequalities hold. Then for a cube deformed under pure shear, the positive Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces draw together\\'. Similarly, under simple shear deformation, the positive Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces tend to spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces tend to draw together\\'. When the Poynting effect occurs under simple shear, it is reasonable to assume that the same sign Poynting effect is btained also under pure shear. Since the observation of the negative Poynting effect in semiflexible biopolymers implies that the (stronger) empirical inequalities may not hold, we conclude that these inequalities must not be imposed when such materials are described. © 2011 The Royal Society.

Negative effects of sugar-sweetened beverages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataša Fidler Mis

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The rising prevalence of obesity in children has been linked in part to the consumption of sugary drinks (sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs and fruit juices. They have high sugar content, low satiety effect and incomplete compensation for energy, so they pose a risk for promoting positive energy balance. Each extra serving of SSBs children consume per day increases their chance of becoming obese by 60 %. Other main negative health effects of sugary drinks are: the development of preference for sweet taste, poor nutrient supply, lower mineral density, bone fractures, development of dental caries, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. SSBs are the leading source of added sugar in the diet of Slovenian adolescents. Water does not contain energy and may support a healthy weight status if it replaces sugary drinks. Cutting back on SSBs can control weight in children and adults. It is necessary that present public health strategies include education about beverage intake. Consumption of SSBs should be discouraged, whereas promoting the consumption of water should be made a priority.

Effects of additives on 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) removal and its mineralization in aqueous solution by gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byungjin; Jeong, Seung-Woo

2009-01-01

The effects of additives (i.e., methanol, EDTA, mannitol, thiourea, nitrous oxide, oxygen and ozone) on gamma irradiation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) were investigated to elucidate the initial reaction mechanism of TNT degradation and suggest an practical method for complete by-product removal. All additives, except thiourea, significantly increased the TNT removal efficiency by gamma irradiation. The overall results of the additive experiments implied that the TNT decomposition would be initiated by ·OH, e aq - , and HO 2 ·/O 2 · - , and also implied that ·H did not have any direct effect on the TNT decomposition. Additions of methanol and nitrous oxide were more effective in TNT removal than the other additives, achieving complete removal of TNT at doses below 20 kGy. Total organic carbon (TOC) of the irradiated solution was analyzed to evaluate the degree of TNT mineralization under the additive conditions. TOC under the nitrous oxide addition was removed rapidly, and complete TNT mineralization was thus achieved at 50 kGy. Methanol addition was very effective in the TNT removal, but it was not effective in reduction in TOC. Trinitrobenzene (TNB), oxalic acid and glyoxalic acid were detected as radiolytic organic by-products, while ammonia and nitrate were detected as radiolytic inorganic by-products. The most efficient TNT removal and its mineralization by gamma irradiation would be achieved by supersaturating the solution with nitrous oxide before irradiation.

Rainfall intensity effects on removal of fecal indicator bacteria from solid dairy manure applied over grass-covered soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blaustein, Ryan A., E-mail: rblauste@ufl.edu [USDA-ARS Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD (United States); Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Hill, Robert L. [Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Micallef, Shirley A. [Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Center for Food Safety and Security Systems, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Shelton, Daniel R.; Pachepsky, Yakov A. [USDA-ARS Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD (United States)

2016-01-01

The rainfall-induced release of pathogens and microbial indicators from land-applied manure and their subsequent removal with runoff and infiltration precedes the impairment of surface and groundwater resources. It has been assumed that rainfall intensity and changes in intensity during rainfall do not affect microbial removal when expressed as a function of rainfall depth. The objective of this work was to test this assumption by measuring the removal of Escherichia coli, enterococci, total coliforms, and chloride ion from dairy manure applied in soil boxes containing fescue, under 3, 6, and 9 cm h{sup −1} of rainfall. Runoff and leachate were collected at increasing time intervals during rainfall, and post-rainfall soil samples were taken at 0, 2, 5, and 10 cm depths. Three kinetic-based models were fitted to the data on manure-constituent removal with runoff. Rainfall intensity appeared to have positive effects on rainwater partitioning to runoff, and removal with this effluent type occurred in two stages. While rainfall intensity generally did not impact the parameters of runoff-removal models, it had significant, inverse effects on the numbers of bacteria remaining in soil after rainfall. As rainfall intensity and soil profile depth increased, the numbers of indicator bacteria tended to decrease. The cumulative removal of E. coli from manure exceeded that of enterococci, especially in the form of removal with infiltration. This work may be used to improve the parameterization of models for bacteria removal with runoff and to advance estimations of depths of bacteria removal with infiltration, both of which are critical to risk assessment of microbial fate and transport in the environment. - Highlights: • Release and removal of indicator bacteria from manure was evaluated in soil boxes. • Rainfall intensity did not impact runoff-removal kinetics in three tested models. • Rainfall intensity had positive/inverse effects on bacterial release to runoff

Effect of pre-bloom leaf removal on grape aroma composition and wine sensory profile of Semillon cultivar.

Science.gov (United States)

Alessandrini, Massimiliano; Battista, Fabrizio; Panighel, Annarita; Flamini, Riccardo; Tomasi, Diego

2018-03-01

Early leaf removal at pre-bloom is an innovative viticultural practice for regulating yield components and improving grape quality. The effects of this technique on vine performance, grape composition and wine sensory profile of Semillon variety were assessed. Pre-bloom leaf removal enhanced canopy porosity, total soluble solids in musts and reduced cluster compactness. This practice had a strong effect on glycoside aroma precursors, in particular by increasing glycoside terpenols and norisoprenoids. Metabolites of linalool were the most responsive to leaf removal. Wine produced from defoliated vines was preferred in tasting trials for its more intense fruity notes and mouthfeel attributes. Pre-bloom leaf removal is a powerful technique for modifying canopy microclimate, vine yield, grape composition and wine quality. The increase of glycoside aroma compounds in treated grapes has potential positive effect in improving the sensory profile of the resulting wines. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Potential of hydrolysis of particulate COD in extended anaerobic conditions to enhance biological phosphorous removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Jabari, P; Yuan, Q; Oleszkiewicz, J A

2016-11-01

The effect of anaerobic hydrolysis of particulate COD (pCOD) on biological phosphorous removal in extended anaerobic condition was investigated through (i) sequencing batch reactors (SBR)s with anaerobic hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 0.8, 2, and 4 h; (ii) batch tests using biomass from a full scale biological nutrient removal (BNR) plant; and (iii) activated sludge modeling (BioWin 4.1 simulation). The results from long-term SBRs operation showed that phosphorus removal was correlated to the ratio of filtered COD (FCOD) to total phosphorus (TP) in the influent. Under conditions with low FCOD/TP ratio (average of 20) in the influent, extending anaerobic HRT to 4 h in the presence of pCOD did not significantly improve overall phosphorous removal. During the period with high FCOD/TP ratio (average of 37) in the influent, all SBRs removed phosphorous completely, and the long anaerobic HRT did not have negative effect on overall phosphorous removal. The batch tests also showed that pCOD at different concentration during 4 h test did not affect the rate of anaerobic phosphorus release. The rate of anaerobic hydrolysis of pCOD was significantly low and extending the anaerobic HRT was ineffective. The simulation (BioWin 4.1) of SBRs with low influent FCOD/TP ratio showed that the default kinetics of anaerobic hydrolysis in ASM2d overestimated phosphorous removal in the SBRs (high anaerobic hydrolysis of pCOD). The default anaerobic hydrolysis rate in BioWin 4.1 (ten times lower) could produce similar phosphorous removal to that in the experiment. Results showed that the current kinetics of anaerobic hydrolysis in ASM2d could lead to considerable error in predicting phosphorus removal in processes with extended anaerobic HRT. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2377-2385. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluation of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Three Minimally Invasive Methods of Caries Removal: An in vitro Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Boob, Ankush Ramnarayan; Manjula, M; Reddy, E Rajendra; Srilaxmi, N; Rani, Tabitha

2014-01-01

Many chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) agents have been introduced and marketed since 1970s, with each new one being better and effective than the previously introduced. Papacarie and Carisolv are new systems in the field of CMCR techniques. These are reportedly minimally invasive methods of removing carious dentin while preserving sound dentin. To compare the Efficiency (time taken for caries removal) and effectiveness (Knoop hardness number of the remaining dentin) of caries removal by three minimally invasive methods, i.e. hand excavation and chemomechanical caries removal using Carisolv and Papacarie. Thirty recently extracted human permanent molars with occlusal carious lesions were divided randomly in three equal groups and bisected through the middle of the lesion mesiodistally and excavated by two methods on each tooth. Statistically significant difference was present among three methods with respect to time and knoop hardness values (KHN) of the remaining dentin. The Efficiency of Hand method is better compared to CMCR techniques and effectiveness of CMCR techniques is better than Hand method in terms of dentin preservation so the chances of maintaining vitality of the pulp will be enhanced. How to cite this article: Boob AR, Manjula M, Reddy ER, Srilaxmi N, Rani T. Evaluation of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Three Minimally Invasive Methods of Caries Removal: An in vitro Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(1):11-18.

Perchlorate: Health Effects and Technologies for Its Removal from Water Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiruvenkatachari Viraraghavan

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Perchlorate has been found in drinking water and surface waters in the United States and Canada. It is primarily associated with release from defense and military operations. Natural sources include certain fertilizers and potash ores. Although it is a strong oxidant, perchlorate is very persistent in the environment. At high concentrations perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland by inhibiting the uptake of iodine. A maximum contaminant level has not been set, while a guidance value of 6 ppb has been suggested by Health Canada. Perchlorate is measured in environmental samples primarily by ion chromatography. It can be removed from water by anion exchange or membrane filtration. Biological and chemical processes are also effective in removing this species from water.

Characterization of leaf waste based biochar for cost effective hydrogen sulphide removal from biogas.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahota, Shivali; Vijay, Virendra Kumar; Subbarao, P M V; Chandra, Ram; Ghosh, Pooja; Shah, Goldy; Kapoor, Rimika; Vijay, Vandit; Koutu, Vaibhav; Thakur, Indu Shekhar

2018-02-01

Installation of decentralized units for biogas production along with indigenous upgradation systems can be an effective approach to meet growing energy demands of the rural population. Therefore, readily available leaf waste was used to prepare biochar at different temperatures and employed for H 2 S removal from biogas produced via anaerobic digestion plant. It is found that biochar prepared via carbonization of leaf waste at 400 °C effectively removes 84.2% H 2 S (from 1254 ppm to 201 ppm) from raw biogas for 25 min in a continuous adsorption tower. Subsequently, leaf waste biochar compositional, textural and morphological properties before and after H 2 S adsorption have been analyzed using proximate analysis, CHNS, BET surface area, FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDX. It is found that BET surface area, pore size, and textural properties of leaf waste biochar plays a crucial role in H 2 S removal from the biogas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Basic principles of test-negative design in evaluating influenza vaccine effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukushima, Wakaba; Hirota, Yoshio

2017-08-24

Based on the unique characteristics of influenza, the concept of "monitoring" influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) across the seasons using the same observational study design has been developed. In recent years, there has been a growing number of influenza VE reports using the test-negative design, which can minimize both misclassification of diseases and confounding by health care-seeking behavior. Although the test-negative designs offer considerable advantages, there are some concerns that widespread use of the test-negative design without knowledge of the basic principles of epidemiology could produce invalid findings. In this article, we briefly review the basic concepts of the test-negative design with respect to classic study design such as cohort studies or case-control studies. We also mention selection bias, which may be of concern in some countries where rapid diagnostic testing is frequently used in routine clinical practices, as in Japan. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A comparative study of the removal of trivalent chromium from aqueous solutions by bentonite and expanded perlite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakir, Achraf; Bessiere, Jacques; Kacemi, Kacem EL.; Marouf, Bouchaieb

2002-01-01

Local bentonite and expanded perlite (Morocco) have been characterised and used for the removal of trivalent chromium from aqueous solutions. The kinetic study had showed that the uptake of Cr(III) by bentonite is very rapid compared to expanded perlite. To calculate the sorption capacities of the two sorbents, at different pH, the experimental data points have been fitted to the Freundlich and Langmuir models, respectively, for bentonite and expanded perlite. For both sorbents the sorption capacity increases with increasing the pH of the suspensions. The removal efficiency has been calculated for both sorbents resulting that bentonite (96% of Cr(III) was removed) is more effective in removing trivalent chromium from aqueous solution than expanded perlite (40% of Cr(III) was removed). In the absence of Cr(III) ions, both bentonite and expanded perlite samples yield negative zeta potential in the pH range of 2-11. The changes of expanded perlite charge, from negative to positive, observed after contact with trivalent chromium(III) solutions was related to Cr(III) sorption on the surface of the solid. Thus, it was concluded that surface complexation plays an important role in the sorption of Cr(III) species on expanded perlite. In the case of bentonite, cation-exchange is the predominate mechanism for sorption of trivalent chromium ions, wherefore no net changes of zeta potential was observed after Cr(III) sorption. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, at different pH values, were also made to corroborate the zeta potential results

Coagulation effectiveness of graphene oxide for the removal of turbidity from raw surface water.

Science.gov (United States)

Aboubaraka, Abdelmeguid E; Aboelfetoh, Eman F; Ebeid, El-Zeiny M

2017-08-01

This study presents the performance of graphene oxide (GO) as a coagulant in turbidity removal from naturally and artificially turbid raw surface water. GO is considered an excellent alternative to alum, the more common coagulant used in water treatment processes, to reduce the environmental release of aluminum. Effects of GO dosage, pH, and temperature on its coagulation ability were studied to determine the ideal turbidity removal conditions. The turbidity removal was ≥95% for all levels of turbid raw surface water (20, 100, and 200 NTU) at optimum conditions. The role of alkalinity in inducing turbidity removal by GO coagulation was much more pronounced upon using raw surface water samples compared with that using artificially turbid deionized water samples. Moreover, GO demonstrated high-performance removal of biological contaminants such as algae, heterotrophic bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria by 99.0%, 98.8% and 96.0%, respectively, at a dosage of 40 mg/L. Concerning the possible environmental release of GO into the treated water following filtration process, there was no residual GO in a wide range of pH values. The outcomes of the study highlight the excellent coagulation performance of GO for the removal of turbidity and biological contaminants from raw surface water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conceptual design of cesium removal device for ITER NBI maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oka, Kiyoshi; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2003-03-01

Cesium is required in order to generate a stable negative ion of hydrogen in an ion source of the neutral beam injector (NBI), which is one of the plasma-heating devices for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). After long time operation of the NBI, the cesium deposits to the insulators supporting the electrode. Due to the deterioration of the insulation resistance, the continuous operation of the NBI will be difficult. In addition, the NBI device is activated by neutrons from D-T plasma, so that periodic removal and cleaning of the cesium on the insulators by remove handling is required. A study of the cesium removal scenario and the device is therefore required considering remote handling. In this report, a cesium removal procedure and conceptual design of the cesium removal device using laser ablation technique are studied, and the feasibility of the laser ablation method is shown. (author)

The Effect of Negative Affect on Cognition: Anxiety, Not Anger, Impairs Executive Function

OpenAIRE

Shields, Grant S.; Moons, Wesley G.; Tewell, Carl A.; Yonelinas, Andrew P.

2016-01-01

It is often assumed that negative affect impairs the executive functions that underlie our ability to control and focus our thoughts. However, support for this claim has been mixed. Recent work has suggested that different negative affective states like anxiety and anger may reflect physiologically separable states with distinct effects on cognition. However, the effects of these two affective states on executive function have never been assessed. As such, we induced anxiety or anger in parti...

Investigating electrochemical removal of bacterial biofilms from stainless steel substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Dargahi, Mahdi; Hosseinidoust, Zeinab; Tufenkji, Nathalie; Omanovic, Sasha

2014-05-01

Electrochemical removal of biofilms deserves attention because of its ease of use and environmentally friendly nature. We investigated the influence of electrode potential and treatment time on the removal of a 10-day old Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formed on stainless steel 316 L substrates. At electrode potentials more positive than -1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl, lower removal rates were observed and only partial removal of the biofilm was achieved during a 1-min time interval. Electrostatic repulsion between the film and electrode surface is believed to drive biofilm detachment under these conditions. However, when the biofilm-coated substrates were treated at potentials negative of -1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl, complete removal of a biofilm was achieved within seconds. Under these conditions, vigorous evolution of hydrogen gas is believed to be responsible for the film removal, mechanically detaching the bacteria and extracellular polymeric matrix from the substrate. Stainless steel substrates were also subjected to repeated cycles of biofilm formation and electrochemical removal. High removal efficiencies were maintained throughout this process suggesting the potential of the proposed technology for application on conductive surfaces in various industrial settings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Technologies for Decentralized Fluoride Removal: Testing Metallic Iron-based Filters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnaud Igor Ndé-Tchoupé

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Since the realization in the 1930s that elevated fluoride concentrations in drinking water can have detrimental effects on human health, new methods have been progressively developed in order to reduce fluoride to acceptable levels. In the developing world the necessity for filtration media that are both low-cost and sourced from locally available materials has resulted in the widespread use of bone char. Since the early 1990s metallic iron (Fe0 has received widespread use as both an adsorbent and a reducing agent for the removal of a wide range of contaminant species from water. The ion-selectivity of Fe0 is dictated by the positively charged surface of iron (hydroxides at circumneutral pH. This suggests that Fe0 could potentially be applied as suitable filter media for the negatively charged fluoride ion. This communication seeks to demonstrate from a theoretical basis and using empirical data from the literature the suitability of Fe0 filters for fluoride removal. The work concludes that Fe0-bearing materials, such as steel wool, hold good promise as low-cost, readily available and highly effective decentralized fluoride treatment materials.

Myriophyllum aquaticum Constructed Wetland Effectively Removes Nitrogen in Swine Wastewater

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Haishu Sun

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Removal of nitrogen (N is a critical aspect in the functioning of constructed wetlands (CWs, and the N treatment in CWs depends largely on the presence and activity of macrophytes and microorganisms. However, the effects of plants on microorganisms responsible for N removal are poorly understood. In this study, a three-stage surface flow CW was constructed in a pilot-scale within monospecies stands of Myriophyllum aquaticum to treat swine wastewater. Steady-state conditions were achieved throughout the 600-day operating period, and a high (98.3% average ammonia removal efficiency under a N loading rate of 9 kg ha-1 d-1 was observed. To determine whether this high efficiency was associated with the performance of active microbes, the abundance, structure, and interactions of microbial community were compared in the unvegetated and vegetated samples. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions showed the abundances of nitrifying genes (archaeal and bacterial amoA and denitrifying genes (nirS, nirK, and nosZ were increased significantly by M. aquaticum in the sediments, and the strongest effects were observed for the archaeal amoA (218-fold and nirS genes (4620-fold. High-throughput sequencing of microbial 16S rRNA gene amplicons showed that M. aquaticum greatly changed the microbial community, and ammonium oxidizers (Nitrosospira and Nitrososphaera, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrospira, and abundant denitrifiers including Rhodoplanes, Bradyrhizobium, and Hyphomicrobium, were enriched significantly in the sediments. The results of a canonical correspondence analysis and Mantle tests indicated that M. aquaticum may shift the sediment microbial community by changing the sediment chemical properties. The enriched nitrifiers and denitrifiers were distributed widely in the vegetated sediments, showing positive ecological associations among themselves and other bacteria based on phylogenetic molecular ecological networks.

Effect of Molasses on Phenol Removal Rate Using Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Reactors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdollah Dargahi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available With the growing industrial and social development through time, toxic substances such as phenol and its derivatives are increasingly released into the environment from a variety of sources. The present study aims to investigate the effects of molasses on phenol removal. For this purpose, five pilot scale batch reactors (5 Erlenmeyer flasks equipped with the air and gas diffusion control system were used in the laboratory scale. The volumes of the reactors were kept constant with a final volume content of 550 ml in each reactor. Phenol with a fixed concentration of 100 mg/l was tested under anaerobic conditions in each reactor in contact with beet molasses (organic matter used as the auxiliary substrate with COD concentrations of 10000, 5000, 2000, 1000, and 500 mg/l over 5 retention times (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 days. All the sampling and testing procedures wer e performed according to the standard methods. The results showed that in all the five experimental reactors, increasing retention time was accompanied by a continuous decline in initial phenol and COD concentrations. However, for each retention time, increasing COD concentration led to a decrease in COD removal efficiency such that increasing the initial COD concentration up to a certain level was associated with an increase in chemical oxygen demanding materials, but beyond this range, COD removal decreased slowly. It was also found that phenol removal increased with increasing retention time but it was not proportional to the concentration of the biodegradable COD. After 50 days of contact with 1000 mg/l of the supporting substrate, phenol removal in the reactors reached 98.62%. Another finding of the study was the fact that the highest phenol removal was achieved when 1000-2000 mg/l of biodegradable COD was used over 50 days of retention time

Selective removal of cesium from aqueous solutions with nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue–walnut shell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Dahu; Lei, Zhongfang; Yang, Yingnan; Feng, Chuanping; Zhang, Zhenya

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Novel biosorbent for cesium removal was derived from agricultural residue. • It could remove cesium effectively from aqueous solution. • Large size of granules makes it easy to be separated from solutions. • The volume of used biosorbent could be significantly reduced after incineration. • Incinerated biosorbent has a low volume and a low cost final disposal. - Abstract: A novel nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue-walnut shell (Ni II HCF III -WS) was developed to selectively remove cesium ion (Cs + ) from aqueous solutions. This paper showed the first integral study on Cs + removal behavior and waste reduction analysis by using biomass adsorption material. The results indicated that the removal process was rapid and reached saturation within 2 h. As a special characteristic of Ni II HCF III -WS, acidic condition was preferred for Cs + removal, which was useful for extending the application scope of the prepared biomass material in treating acidic radioactive liquid waste. The newly developed Ni II HCF III -WS could selectively remove Cs + though the coexisting ions (Na + and K + in this study) exhibited negative effects. In addition, approximately 99.8% (in volume) of the liquid waste was reduced by using Ni II HCF III -WS and furthermore 91.9% (in volume) of the spent biomass material (Cs-Ni II HCF III -WS) was reduced after incineration (at 500 °C for 2 h). Due to its relatively high distribution coefficient and significant volume reduction, Ni II HCF III -WS is expected to be a promising material for Cs + removal in practice

Effective Removal of Heavy Metal Ions Using Glycerol and Starch Xanthate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aliyu Mohammed

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Glycerol and insoluble starch xanthates were synthesised and effectively used in the removal of Pb, Cd and Cu from aqueous solutions. The insoluble metal complex formed between the sulphur atoms in the xanthates and the heavy metals were easily separated. Lower dosage of glycerol xanthate was required in each case, with the optimum molar ratio (M2+/GX of 2. Moreover, the use of glycerol xanthate required no pH adjustments to give a 100 % heavy metal removal within the range of the detection limit. As for the ISX, there was a remarkable metal scavenging activity when the ISX contained high amount of Sulphur per molecule (10.12% S and when the pH was adjusted to 6. Butyl xanthate was also synthesised to make a good comparison with the glycerol and insoluble starch xanthate. The xanthates from these two sustainable materials (Starch and glycerol are proven to be more effective in metal scavenging activity. FTIR and CHNS elemental analyses were used to prove the evidence of xanthation, in addition, 13C NMR was used to characterise the glycerol xanthate.

Effect of diluent wash over the removal of aqueous dissolved TBP and DBP in reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manjula, R.; Dasi, Mahesh; Mohandas, Jaya; Vijaya Kumar, N.; Kumar, T.

2015-01-01

In reprocessing of nuclear spent fuels by PUREX process Tri-n-Butyl phosphate diluted with n-Dodecane (nDD) is used as solvent. This solvent undergoes degradation due to radiation yielding degradation products, mainly Di-n-butyl phosphate (HDBP). During extraction steps some amount of these organic gets dissolved in aqueous phase owing to its mutual solubility. Removal of dissolved organic from aqueous streams before evaporation is essential to prevent red oil related disasters. Diluent wash technique employing nDD as diluent is one of the commonly used method for the same. During the continuous operation of this process, the diluent will get loaded with dissolved organic and subsequently the performance of diluent will not remain same as pure diluent. While some reports are available in literature for the efficiency of removal of TBP by nDD, so far no work has been reported for the removal of DBP. The scope of the present work is to ascertain the efficiency of diluent wash technique on the removal of dissolved TBP as well as DBP. The results obtained indicate that the removal of dissolved TBP by nDD decreases with increase in percentage of TBP in nDD. In the case of DBP it is just reverse and the removal becomes more effective when the TBP percentage in the diluent increases. A/O ratio of 6:1 is found to be more suitable. As the DBP is getting extracted very effectively into nDD containing TBP, diluent wash solution should be treated as spent organic and managed accordingly for further utilization

Assessment of the nutrient removal effectiveness of floating treatment wetlands applied to urban retention ponds.

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Wang, Chih-Yu; Sample, David J

2014-05-01

The application of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) in point and non-point source pollution control has received much attention recently. Although the potential of this emerging technology is supported by various studies, quantifying FTW performance in urban retention ponds remains elusive due to significant research gaps. Actual urban retention pond water was utilized in this mesocosm study to evaluate phosphorus and nitrogen removal efficiency of FTWs. Multiple treatments were used to investigate the contribution of each component in the FTW system with a seven-day retention time. The four treatments included a control, floating mat, pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata L.), and softstem bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani). The water samples collected on Day 0 (initial) and 7 were analyzed for total phosphorus (TP), total particulate phosphorus, orthophosphate, total nitrogen (TN), organic nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate-nitrite nitrogen, and chlorophyll-a. Statistical tests were used to evaluate the differences between the four treatments. The effects of temperature on TP and TN removal rates of the FTWs were described by the modified Arrhenius equation. Our results indicated that all three FTW designs, planted and unplanted floating mats, could significantly improve phosphorus and nitrogen removal efficiency (%, E-TP and E-TN) compared to the control treatment during the growing season, i.e., May through August. The E-TP and E-TN was enhanced by 8.2% and 18.2% in the FTW treatments planted with the pickerelweed and softstem bulrush, respectively. Organic matter decomposition was likely to be the primary contributor of nutrient removal by FTWs in urban retention ponds. Such a mechanism is fostered by microbes within the attached biofilms on the floating mats and plant root surfaces. Among the results of the four treatments, the FTWs planted with pickerelweed had the highest E-TP, and behaved similarly with the other two FTW treatments for nitrogen removal

Negative effects of item repetition on source memory

OpenAIRE

Kim, Kyungmi; Yi, Do-Joon; Raye, Carol L.; Johnson, Marcia K.

2012-01-01

In the present study, we explored how item repetition affects source memory for new item–feature associations (picture–location or picture–color). We presented line drawings varying numbers of times in Phase 1. In Phase 2, each drawing was presented once with a critical new feature. In Phase 3, we tested memory for the new source feature of each item from Phase 2. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated and replicated the negative effects of item repetition on incidental source memory. Prior item re...

Removal of cyanobacterial blooms in Taihu Lake using local soils II. Effective removal of Microcystis aeruginosa using local soils and sediments modified by chitosan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Hua; Pan Gang; Chen Hao; Yuan Xianzheng

2006-01-01

After sepiolite was modified with Fe 3+ to increase its surface charge, the initial algal removal rate increased significantly, but its Q 8h was not improved substantially at clay loadings below 0.1 g/L. Modification on netting and bridging properties of clays by either chitosan or polyacrylamide (PAM) dramatically increased flocculation (Q 8h ) of MA cells in freshwaters. Algal removal efficiencies of different solids, including Type III clays, local soils and sediments, were all improved to a similar level of >90% at a total loading of 0.011 g/L (contained 0.001 g/L chitosan) after they were modified with chitosan, making the idea of clearing up algal blooms using local soils/sediments possible. The mechanism of netting and bridging was confirmed to be the most important factor in improving the removal efficiency of cells, whereas clays also played important roles in the sedimentation of the floc. -- Chitosan modification can turn many solids, such as local clays and soils, into highly effective flocculants in removing harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwaters

Scavenger removal: Bird and bat carcass persistence in a tropical wind farm

Science.gov (United States)

Villegas-Patraca, Rafael; Macías-Sánchez, Samuel; MacGregor-Fors, Ian; Muñoz-Robles, Carlos

2012-08-01

Energy produced by wind farms has diverse positive environmental effects, but can also be related to negative impacts, including wildlife mortality through collisions with wind turbines. Bird and bat mortality caused by collisions with wind turbines can be estimated indirectly by counting carcasses within wind farms. However, carcass removal by scavengers often biases such measurements. In this study, we identified the main scavengers removing bird and bat carcasses in a tropical wind farm. A known fate analysis was done to assess the effect of carcass type (i.e., small bird, large bird, bat), vegetation type (i.e., secondary vegetation, croplands) and season (dry and rainy seasons of 2009) on carcass persistence rates. We identified three main scavenger groups, with mammals being the most abundant group. Our results show high rates of carcass removal relative to previous studies, especially for bats; there were fewer remaining carcasses after 20 days in our tropical site than in non-tropical environments reported elsewhere. We found a higher carcass persistence rate during the rainy season than in the dry season, possibly due to a greater abundance of food resources for scavenger organisms in the rainy season. Although we found some evidence for higher persistence rates for large bird carcasses than for small bird and bat carcasses during the rainy season, overall carcass type was not a strong predictor of persistence rates. Similarly, we did not find a strong effect of vegetation type on carcass persistence rates. Results suggest that in order to estimate accurate bird and bat mortality in tropical wind farm areas, seasonality should be incorporated to correction factors of carcass removal rates.

Do managed bees have negative effects on wild bees?: A systematic review of the literature.

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Rachel E Mallinger

Full Text Available Managed bees are critical for crop pollination worldwide. As the demand for pollinator-dependent crops increases, so does the use of managed bees. Concern has arisen that managed bees may have unintended negative impacts on native wild bees, which are important pollinators in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. The goal of this study was to synthesize the literature documenting the effects of managed honey bees and bumble bees on wild bees in three areas: (1 competition for floral and nesting resources, (2 indirect effects via changes in plant communities, including the spread of exotic plants and decline of native plants, and (3 transmission of pathogens. The majority of reviewed studies reported negative effects of managed bees, but trends differed across topical areas. Of studies examining competition, results were highly variable with 53% reporting negative effects on wild bees, while 28% reported no effects and 19% reported mixed effects (varying with the bee species or variables examined. Equal numbers of studies examining plant communities reported positive (36% and negative (36% effects, with the remainder reporting no or mixed effects. Finally, the majority of studies on pathogen transmission (70% reported potential negative effects of managed bees on wild bees. However, most studies across all topical areas documented the potential for impact (e.g. reporting the occurrence of competition or pathogens, but did not measure direct effects on wild bee fitness, abundance, or diversity. Furthermore, we found that results varied depending on whether managed bees were in their native or non-native range; managed bees within their native range had lesser competitive effects, but potentially greater effects on wild bees via pathogen transmission. We conclude that while this field has expanded considerably in recent decades, additional research measuring direct, long-term, and population-level effects of managed bees is needed to understand

Do managed bees have negative effects on wild bees?: A systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallinger, Rachel E; Gaines-Day, Hannah R; Gratton, Claudio

2017-01-01

Managed bees are critical for crop pollination worldwide. As the demand for pollinator-dependent crops increases, so does the use of managed bees. Concern has arisen that managed bees may have unintended negative impacts on native wild bees, which are important pollinators in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. The goal of this study was to synthesize the literature documenting the effects of managed honey bees and bumble bees on wild bees in three areas: (1) competition for floral and nesting resources, (2) indirect effects via changes in plant communities, including the spread of exotic plants and decline of native plants, and (3) transmission of pathogens. The majority of reviewed studies reported negative effects of managed bees, but trends differed across topical areas. Of studies examining competition, results were highly variable with 53% reporting negative effects on wild bees, while 28% reported no effects and 19% reported mixed effects (varying with the bee species or variables examined). Equal numbers of studies examining plant communities reported positive (36%) and negative (36%) effects, with the remainder reporting no or mixed effects. Finally, the majority of studies on pathogen transmission (70%) reported potential negative effects of managed bees on wild bees. However, most studies across all topical areas documented the potential for impact (e.g. reporting the occurrence of competition or pathogens), but did not measure direct effects on wild bee fitness, abundance, or diversity. Furthermore, we found that results varied depending on whether managed bees were in their native or non-native range; managed bees within their native range had lesser competitive effects, but potentially greater effects on wild bees via pathogen transmission. We conclude that while this field has expanded considerably in recent decades, additional research measuring direct, long-term, and population-level effects of managed bees is needed to understand their

Attention training through gaze-contingent feedback: Effects on reappraisal and negative emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez, Alvaro; Everaert, Jonas; Koster, Ernst H W

2016-10-01

Reappraisal is central to emotion regulation but its mechanisms are unclear. This study tested the theoretical prediction that emotional attention bias is linked to reappraisal of negative emotion-eliciting stimuli and subsequent emotional responding using a novel attentional control training. Thirty-six undergraduates were randomly assigned to either the control or the attention training condition and were provided with different task instructions while they performed an interpretation task. Whereas control participants freely created interpretations, participants in the training condition were instructed to allocate attention toward positive words to efficiently create positive interpretations (i.e., recruiting attentional control) while they were provided with gaze-contingent feedback on their viewing behavior. Transfer to attention bias and reappraisal success was evaluated using a dot-probe task and an emotion regulation task which were administered before and after the training. The training condition was effective at increasing attentional control and resulted in beneficial effects on the transfer tasks. Analyses supported a serial indirect effect with larger attentional control acquisition in the training condition leading to negative attention bias reduction, in turn predicting greater reappraisal success which reduced negative emotions. Our results indicate that attentional mechanisms influence the use of reappraisal strategies and its impact on negative emotions. The novel attention training highlights the importance of tailored feedback to train attentional control. The findings provide an important step toward personalized delivery of attention training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Arsenic removal from groundwater using iron electrocoagulation: effect of charge dosage rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Amrose, Susan; Gadgil, Ashok; Srinivasan, Venkat; Kowolik, Kristin; Muller, Marc; Huang, Jessica; Kostecki, Robert

2013-01-01

We demonstrate that electrocoagulation (EC) using iron electrodes can reduce arsenic below 10 μg/L in synthetic Bangladesh groundwater and in real groundwater from Bangladesh and Cambodia, while investigating the effect of operating parameters that are often overlooked, such as charge dosage rate. We measure arsenic removal performance over a larger range of current density than in any other single previous EC study (5000-fold: 0.02 - 100 mA/cm(2)) and over a wide range of charge dosage rates (0.060 - 18 Coulombs/L/min). We find that charge dosage rate has significant effects on both removal capacity (μg-As removed/Coulomb) and treatment time and is the appropriate parameter to maintain performance when scaling to different active areas and volumes. We estimate the operating costs of EC treatment in Bangladesh groundwater to be $0.22/m(3). Waste sludge (~80 - 120 mg/L), when tested with the Toxic Characteristic Leachate Protocol (TCLP), is characterized as non-hazardous. Although our focus is on developing a practical device, our results suggest that As[III] is mostly oxidized via a chemical pathway and does not rely on processes occurring at the anode. Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, to view the free supplemental file.

The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Grant S; Moons, Wesley G; Tewell, Carl A; Yonelinas, Andrew P

2016-09-01

It is often assumed that negative affect impairs the executive functions that underlie our ability to control and focus our thoughts. However, support for this claim has been mixed. Recent work has suggested that different negative affective states like anxiety and anger may reflect physiologically separable states with distinct effects on cognition. However, the effects of these 2 affective states on executive function have never been assessed. As such, we induced anxiety or anger in participants and examined the effects on executive function. We found that anger did not impair executive function relative to a neutral mood, whereas anxiety did. In addition, self-reports of induced anxiety, but not anger, predicted impairments in executive function. These results support functional models of affect and cognition, and highlight the need to consider differences between anxiety and anger when investigating the influence of negative affect on fundamental cognitive processes such as memory and executive function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness of oral antibiotics for definitive therapy of Gram-negative bloodstream infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutob, Leila F; Justo, Julie Ann; Bookstaver, P Brandon; Kohn, Joseph; Albrecht, Helmut; Al-Hasan, Majdi N

2016-11-01

There is paucity of data evaluating intravenous-to-oral antibiotic switch options for Gram-negative bloodstream infections (BSIs). This retrospective cohort study examined the effectiveness of oral antibiotics for definitive treatment of Gram-negative BSI. Patients with Gram-negative BSI hospitalised for antibiotics were included in this study. The cohort was stratified into three groups based on bioavailability of oral antibiotics prescribed (high, ≥95%; moderate, 75-94%; and low, antibiotics were prescribed to 106, 179 and 77 patients, respectively, for definitive therapy of Gram-negative BSI. Mean patient age was 63 years, 217 (59.9%) were women and 254 (70.2%) had a urinary source of infection. Treatment failure rates were 2%, 12% and 14% in patients receiving oral antibiotics with high, moderate and low bioavailability, respectively (P = 0.02). Risk of treatment failure in the multivariate Cox model was higher in patients receiving antibiotics with moderate [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 5.9, 95% CI 1.6-38.5; P = 0.005] and low bioavailability (aHR = 7.7, 95% CI 1.9-51.5; P = 0.003) compared with those receiving oral antimicrobial agents with high bioavailability. These data demonstrate the effectiveness of oral antibiotics with high bioavailability for definitive therapy of Gram-negative BSI. Risk of treatment failure increases as bioavailability of the oral regimen declines. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Effect of some operational parameters on the arsenic removal by electrocoagulation using iron electrodes

OpenAIRE

Can, Berrin Zeliha; Boncukcuoglu, Recep; Yilmaz, Alper Erdem; Fil, Baybars Ali

2014-01-01

Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a global problem that will likely become more apparent in future years as scientists and engineers measure the true extent of the problem. Arsenic poisoning is preventable though as there are several methods for easily removing even trace amounts of arsenic from drinking water. In the present study, electrocoagulation was evaluated as a treatment technology for arsenic removal from aqueous solutions. The effects of parameters such as initial pH, curr...

Early-life sugar consumption has long-term negative effects on memory function in male rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, Emily E; Hsu, Ted M; Liang, Joanna; Kanoski, Scott E

2017-09-25

Added dietary sugars contribute substantially to the diet of children and adolescents in the USA, and recent evidence suggests that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) during early life has deleterious effects on hippocampal-dependent memory function. Here, we test whether the effects of early-life sugar consumption on hippocampal function persist into adulthood when access to sugar is restricted to the juvenile/adolescent phase of development. Male rats were given ad libitum access to an 11% weight-by-volume sugar solution (made with high fructose corn syrup-55) throughout the adolescent phase of development (post-natal day (PN) 26-56). The control group received a second bottle of water instead, and both groups received ad libitum standard laboratory chow and water access throughout the study. At PN 56 sugar solutions were removed and at PN 175 rats were subjected to behavioral testing for hippocampal-dependent episodic contextual memory in the novel object in context (NOIC) task, for anxiety-like behavior in the Zero maze, and were given an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. Early-life exposure to SSBs conferred long-lasting impairments in hippocampal-dependent memory function later in life- yet had no effect on body weight, anxiety-like behavior, or glucose tolerance. A second experiment demonstrated that NOIC performance was impaired at PN 175 even when SSB access was limited to 2 hours daily from PN 26-56. Our data suggest that even modest SSB consumption throughout early life may have long-term negative consequences on memory function during adulthood.

Improved virus removal in ceramic depth filters modified with MgO.

Science.gov (United States)

Michen, Benjamin; Fritsch, Johannes; Aneziris, Christos; Graule, Thomas

2013-02-05

Ceramic filters, working on the depth filtration principle, are known to improve drinking water quality by removing human pathogenic microorganisms from contaminated water. However, these microfilters show no sufficient barrier for viruses having diameters down to 20 nm. Recently, it was shown that the addition of positively charged materials, for example, iron oxyhydroxide, can improve virus removal by adsorption mechanisms. In this work, we modified a common ceramic filter based on diatomaceous earth by introducing a novel virus adsorbent material, magnesium oxyhydroxide, into the filter matrix. Such filters showed an improved removal of about 4-log in regard to bacteriophages MS2 and PhiX174. This is explained with the electrostatic enhanced adsorption approach that is the favorable adsorption of negatively charged viruses onto positively charged patches in an otherwise negatively charged filter matrix. Furthermore, we provide theoretical evidence applying calculations according to Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory to strengthen our experimental results. However, modified filters showed a significant variance in virus removal efficiency over the course of long-term filtration experiments with virus removal increasing with filter operation time (or filter aging). This is explained by transformational changes of MgO in the filter upon contact with water. It also demonstrates that filter history is of great concern when filters working on the adsorption principles are evaluated in regard to their retention performance as their surface characteristics may alter with use.

Effect and Removal Mechanisms of 6 Different Washing Agents for Building Wastes Containing Chromium

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Wang Xing-run

2012-01-01

Full Text Available With the building wastes contaminated by chromium in Haibei Chemical Plan in China as objects, we studied the contents of total Cr and Cr (VI of different sizes, analyzed the effect of 6 different washing agents, discussed the removal mechanisms of 6 different washing agents for Cr in various forms, and finally selected applicable washing agent. As per the results, particle size had little impact on the contents of total Cr and Cr (VI; after one washing with water, the removal rate of total Cr and Cr (VI was 75% and 78%, respectively, and after the second washing with 6 agents, the removal rate of citric acid was the highest, above 90% for total Cr and above 99% for hexavalent chromium; the pH of building wastes were reduced by citric acid, and under acid condition, hexavalent chromium was reduced to trivalent chromium spontaneously by organic acid, which led to better removal rate of acid soluble Cr and reducible Cr; due to the complexing action, citric acid had best removal rate for oxidizable trivalent chromium. In conclusion, citric acid is the most applicable second washing agent for building wastes.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of body psychotherapy in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia – a multi-centre randomised controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priebe Stefan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are frequently associated with poor long term outcomes. Established interventions have little, if any, positive effects on negative symptoms. Arts Therapies such as Body Psychotherapy (BPT have been suggested to reduce negative symptoms, but the existing evidence is limited. In a small exploratory trial a manualised form of group BPT led to significantly lower negative symptom levels both at the end of treatment and at 4 months follow-up as compared to supportive counseling. We designed a large multi-site trial to assess the effectiveness of a manualised BPT intervention in reducing negative symptoms, compared to an active control. Methods/Design In a randomised controlled trial, 256 schizophrenic outpatients with negative symptoms will be randomly allocated either to BPT or Pilates groups. In both conditions, patients will be offered two 90 minutes sessions per week in groups of about 8 patients over a period of 10 weeks. Outcomes are assessed at the end of treatment and at six months follow-up. The primary outcome is severity of negative symptoms, as measured by the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS, whilst a range of secondary outcome measures include general psychopathology, social contacts, and quality of life. We will also assess the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. Discussion The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a promising form of group therapy which may help alleviate negative symptoms that are associated with unfavourable long-term outcomes and have so far been difficult to treat. If the trial is successful, it will add a new and effective option in the treatment of negative symptoms. Group BPT is manualised, might be attractive to many patients because of its unusual approach, and could potentially be rolled out to services at relatively little additional cost. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN84216587

Cryogen spray cooling: Effects of droplet size and spray density on heat removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Pikkula, B M; Torres, J H; Tunnell, J W; Anvari, B

2001-01-01

Cryogen spray cooling (CSC) is an effective method to reduce or eliminate non-specific injury to the epidermis during laser treatment of various dermatological disorders. In previous CSC investigations, fuel injectors have been used to deliver the cryogen onto the skin surface. The objective of this study was to examine cryogen atomization and heat removal characteristics of various cryogen delivery devices. Various cryogen delivery device types including fuel injectors, atomizers, and a device currently used in clinical settings were investigated. Cryogen mass was measured at the delivery device output orifice. Cryogen droplet size profiling for various cryogen delivery devices was estimated by optically imaging the droplets in flight. Heat removal for various cryogen delivery devices was estimated over a range of spraying distances by temperature measurements in an skin phantom used in conjunction with an inverse heat conduction model. A substantial range of mass outputs were measured for the cryogen delivery devices while heat removal varied by less than a factor of two. Droplet profiling demonstrated differences in droplet size and spray density. Results of this study show that variation in heat removal by different cryogen delivery devices is modest despite the relatively large difference in cryogen mass output and droplet size. A non-linear relationship between heat removal by various devices and droplet size and spray density was observed. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Removal of waterborne microorganisms by filtration using clay-polymer complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Undabeytia, Tomas; Posada, Rosa; Nir, Shlomo; Galindo, Irene; Laiz, Leonila; Saiz-Jimenez, Cesareo; Morillo, Esmeralda

2014-08-30

Clay-polymer composites were designed for use in filtration processes for disinfection during the course of water purification. The composites were formed by sorption of polymers based on starch modified with quaternary ammonium ethers onto the negatively charged clay mineral bentonite. The performance of the clay-polymer complexes in removal of bacteria was strongly dependent on the conformation adopted by the polycation on the clay surface, the charge density of the polycation itself and the ratio between the concentrations of clay and polymer used during the sorption process. The antimicrobial effect exerted by the clay-polymer system was due to the cationic monomers adsorbed on the clay surface, which resulted in a positive surface potential of the complexes and charge reversal. Clay-polymer complexes were more toxic to bacteria than the polymers alone. Filtration employing our optimal clay-polymer composite yielded 100% removal of bacteria after the passage of 3L, whereas an equivalent filter with granular activated carbon (GAC) hardly yielded removal of bacteria after 0.5L. Regeneration of clay-polymer complexes saturated with bacteria was demonstrated. Modeling of the filtration processes permitted to optimize the design of filters and estimation of experimental conditions for purifying large water volumes in short periods. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of cognitive remediation on negative symptoms dimensions: exploring the role of working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Cella, M; Stahl, D; Morris, S; Keefe, R S E; Bell, M D; Wykes, T

2017-09-04

Recent theories suggest that poor working memory (WM) may be the cognitive underpinning of negative symptoms in people with schizophrenia. In this study, we first explore the effect of cognitive remediation (CR) on two clusters of negative symptoms (i.e. expressive and social amotivation), and then assess the relevance of WM gains as a possible mediator of symptom improvement. Data were accessed for 309 people with schizophrenia from the NIMH Database of Cognitive Training and Remediation Studies and a separate study. Approximately half the participants received CR and the rest were allocated to a control condition. All participants were assessed before and after therapy and at follow-up. Expressive negative symptoms and social amotivation symptoms scores were calculated from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. WM was assessed with digit span and letter-number span tests. Participants who received CR had a significant improvement in WM scores (d = 0.27) compared with those in the control condition. Improvements in social amotivation levels approached statistical significance (d = -0.19), but change in expressive negative symptoms did not differ between groups. WM change did not mediate the effect of CR on social amotivation. The results suggest that a course of CR may benefit behavioural negative symptoms. Despite hypotheses linking memory problems with negative symptoms, the current findings do not support the role of this cognitive domain as a significant mediator. The results indicate that WM improves independently from negative symptoms reduction.

Novel KMnO4-modified iron oxide for effective arsenite removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yao-Hui; Shih, Yu-Jen; Cheng, Fu-Ji

2011-01-01

Highlights: ► We employ the MnBT-4 adsorbent for As (III)/(V) removal in solution. ► The waste iron oxide BT-4 acts as the support to immobilize Mn using FBR reactor. ► MnBT-4 has higher arsenite adsorption as compared with BT4. ► Easy solid–liquid separation and cost effective are the merits of applying MnBT-4. - Abstract: This work demonstrates the synthesis of a novel KMnO 4 -modified form of iron oxide, MnBT-4, using a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) for the adsorptive removal of arsenic (III)/(V). Characterization by XRD, BET, and SEM indicated that the BT-4 support was poorly crystallized goethite (α-FeOOH) with a specific surface area of 229 m 2 g −1 . In FBR experiments of synthesizing MnBT-4, the Fe and Mn salts were found to have an optimal dosage ratio of less than 4, which maximized the KMnO 4 immobilization efficiency. The immobilized Mn compounds on MnBT-4 underwent an additional oxidation step of As (III), promoting arsenic adsorption. When applied MnBT-4 for As (III) removal from solution, the sorption isotherm was accurately fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models, while the maximum adsorption capacity of 27.4 mg g −1 exceeded those of other adsorbents in the literature. Batch experimental results revealed that both raw BT-4 and MnBT-4 could take up a large amount of As (V). However, the MnBT-4 provided a substantially higher As (III) removal efficiency than BT-4.

Cost effectiveness of methods for removing radium and thorium in uranium mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogers, V.C.; Nielson, K.K.

1981-01-01

The potential health impact from uranium milling operations is mainly associated with long-term releases of radioactive contaminants from the mill tailings. The major mechanisms for mitigating these potential releases focus on increasing the tailings containment with the addition of migration barriers such as thick earthern covers and clay liners. Some limited investigation has also focused on reducing the radionuclide source terms. This alternative approach has some desirable features, but stringent cost requirements are placed upon source removal methods in order for them to be economically favorable. A cost effectiveness evaluation is presented herein, in which costs for containment methods are used to establish maximum cost guidelines for the source removal methods

Q-switched laser tattoo removal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viljem H. topčič

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Decorative tattooing gained popularity in many western countries throughout the 1990s. Some estimates show that approximately 10 % of men in the United States already have tattoos. However, tattoos often become a personal regret. As recent surveys suggest, 17 % of people that have obtained a tattoo and more than 50 % of adults over the age of 40 in the United States of America consider having them removed. The same trend can be observed in our country as well. Laser therapy is the gold standard for tattoo removal. In Slovenia, laser tattoo removal therapy is available and widely accessible. There is a wide range of facilities offering laser tattoo removal, ranging from different private clinics to beauty salons. Different facilities use different lasers, but not all lasers, however, are optimal for successful and complete tattoo removal, as inappropriate use can cause many unwanted side effects.Methods: Eleven (11 patients (2 men and 9 women requesting tattoo removal were treated in our department. When treating our patients, we used Fotona’s QX MAX quality-switched Nd:YAG laser which offers four different wavelengths in a single system; 1064 nm Nd:YAG was used to treat and remove dark pigments, 532 nm KTP for red, tan-colored, purple and orange tattoo inks, 650 nm dye for green tattoo inks and 585 nm dye for sky-blue colored inks.Results: Satisfactory tattoo removal was achieved in all patients treated. Patients were very satisfied with the success and the number of treatments needed for tattoo removal. There were mild unwanted side effects and the pain was moderate. The average number of treatments required for complete tattoo removal was less than 7, ranging from 3 to 21 treatments. Patients’ satisfaction with tattoo removal was estimated at 5.2 (on a scale from 1 to 6.Conclusions: Our study showed that Q-switched lasers successfully remove tattoo ink, however several treatments are required for satisfactory tattoo removal

Background species effect on aqueous arsenic removal by nano zero-valent iron using fractional factorial design.

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Tanboonchuy, Visanu; Grisdanurak, Nurak; Liao, Chih-Hsiang

2012-02-29

This study describes the removal of arsenic species in groundwater by nano zero-valent iron process, including As(III) and As(V). Since the background species may inhibit or promote arsenic removal. The influence of several common ions such as phosphate (PO4(3-)), bicarbonate (HCO3-)), sulfate (SO4(2-)), calcium (Ca2+), chloride (Cl-), and humic acid (HA) were selected to evaluate their effects on arsenic removal. In particular, a 2(6-2) fractional factorial design (FFD) was employed to identify major or interacting factors, which affect arsenic removal in a significant way. As a result of FFD evaluation, PO4(3-) and HA play the role of inhibiting arsenic removal, while Ca2+ was observed to play the promoting one. As for HCO3- and Cl-, the former one inhibits As(III) removal, whereas the later one enhances its removal; on the other hand, As(V) removal was affected only slightly in the presence of HCO3- or Cl-. Hence, it was suggested that the arsenic removal by the nanoiron process can be improved through pretreatment of PO4(3-) and HA. In addition, for the groundwater with high hardness, the nanoiron process can be an advantageous option because of enhancing characteristics of Ca2+. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequential Washing with Electrolyzed Alkaline and Acidic Water Effectively Removes Pathogens from Metal Surfaces.

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Yuichiro Nakano

Full Text Available Removal of pathogenic organisms from reprocessed surgical instruments is essential to prevent iatrogenic infections. Some bacteria can make persistent biofilms on medical devices. Contamination of non-disposable equipment with prions also represents a serious risk to surgical patients. Efficient disinfection of prions from endoscopes and other instruments such as high-resolution cameras remains problematic because these instruments do not tolerate aggressive chemical or heat treatments. Herein, we develop a new washing system that uses both the alkaline and acidic water produced by electrolysis. Electrolyzed acidic water, containing HCl and HOCl as active substances, has been reported to be an effective disinfectant. A 0.15% NaCl solution was electrolyzed and used immediately to wash bio-contaminated stainless steel model systems with alkaline water (pH 11.9 with sonication, and then with acidic water (pH 2.7 without sonication. Two bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a fungus (Candida albicans were effectively removed or inactivated by the washing process. In addition, this process effectively removed or inactivated prions from the stainless steel surfaces. This washing system will be potentially useful for the disinfection of clinical devices such as neuroendoscopes because electrolyzed water is gentle to both patients and equipment and is environmentally sound.

Comparative study of the effect of ultrasound on the removal of intracanal posts.

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Braga, Neilor Mateus Antunes; Resende, Leandro Marques; Vasconcellos, Walisom Arthuso; Paulino, Silvana Maria; Sousa-Neto, Manoel Damiao

2009-01-01

This study sought to evaluate how ultrasound affected the removal of stainless steel and titanium posts that had been attached with two different resin cements. The crowns of 32 maxillary canines were removed, the roots were embedded in acrylic resin blocks, and the canals were treated endodontically. The specimens were randomly distributed into two groups (n = 16) according to the brand of cement and subdivided (n = 8) according to the type of post. The specimens were submitted to ultrasonic vibration applied perpendicularly to the long axis of the tooth for 60 seconds. Data were submitted to ANOVA and showed no significant statistical difference among the groups (p > 0.05). It may be concluded that the effects of ultrasonic vibration used to remove intraradicular posts were not significantly different when applied to stainless steel or titanium posts cemented with chemically or dual-activated resin cements.

Negative self-schema: the effects of induced depressed mood.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton, L J; Teasdale, J D; Broadbent, D E

1988-05-01

A depth-of-processing incidental recall paradigm, previously used as a measure of negative self-schema in depressed patients (Derry & Kuiper, 1981), was administered to normal subjects in whom depressed or neutral mood had been induced. Subjects in whom depressed mood was induced showed a pattern of recall similar to that previously found for depressed patients, suggesting (1) that at least some of the effects observed in depressed patients were a function of transient mood state, rather than persistent characteristics, and (2) that these effects of depressed mood also occur in individuals who have not been selected for vulnerability to clinical depression.

Successful Removal of Football Helmet Face-Mask Clips After 1 Season of Use

Science.gov (United States)

Scibek, Jason S.; Gatti, Joseph M.; McKenzie, Jennifer I.

2012-01-01

Context Whereas many researchers have assessed the ability to remove loop straps in traditional face-mask attachment systems after at least 1 season of use, research in which the effectiveness of the Riddell Quick Release (QR) Face Guard Attachment System clip after 1 season has been assessed is limited. Objective To examine the success rate of removing the QR clips after 1 season of use at the Football Championship Subdivision level. We hypothesized that 1 season of use would negatively affect the removal rate of the QR clip but repeated clip-removal trials would improve the removal rate. Design Retrospective, quasi-experimental design. Setting Controlled laboratory study. Patients or Other Participants Sixty-three football helmets from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I university located in western Pennsylvania used during the 2008 season were tested. Intervention(s) Three certified athletic trainers (2 men, 1 woman; age = 31.3 ± 3.06 years, time certified = 9.42 ± 2.65 years) attempted to remove the QR clips from each helmet with the tool provided by the manufacturer. Helmets then were reassembled to allow each athletic trainer to attempt clip removal. Main Outcome Measure(s) The dependent variables were total left clips removed (TCR-L), total right clips removed (TCR-R), and total clips removed (TCR). Success rate of clip removal (SRCR) also was assessed. Results Percentages for TCR-L, TCR-R, and TCR were 100% (189 of 189), 96.30% (182 of 189), and 98.15% (371 of 378), respectively. A paired-samples t test revealed a difference between TCR-R and TCR-L (t188 = −2.689, P = .008, μd = 0.037, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.064, −0.010). The percentage for SRCR was 96.30% (n = 182), whereas SRCR percentages for trials 1, 2, and 3 were 95.24% (n = 60), 98.41% (n = 62), and 95.24% (n = 60), respectively, and did not represent a difference (F2,186 = 0.588, P = .56, 95% CI = 0.94, 0.99). Conclusions Our results indicated favorable and

Clinical evaluation of isolated abutment teeth in removable partial dentures

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Zarrati S

2011-02-01

Full Text Available "nBackground and Aims: Nowadays, removable partial dentures are applied to patients who are not able to use dental implants or fixed prosthesis. Although based on the studies the users of removable partial dentures are in the risk of plaque accumulation and unacceptable changes such as gingivitis, periodontitis and mobility in abutment tooth. It is not clear whether the negative effects of removable partial dentures are more on the isolated teeth which are a kind of abutment adjacent to endentulous area in both sides. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical condition of isolated abutment teeth without splinting in comparison to control abutment from the aspects of B.O.P (bleeding on probing, mobility, pocket depth and gingivitis."nMaterials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the prepared questionnaires were filled out by 50 patients who received removable partial dentures in department of removable prosthodontics of dental school of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The patients had isolated abutment tooth and did not have any systemic disease. The obtained data were analyzed. Using Wilcoxon, exact Fisher and Kruskal-Wallis test."nResults: B.O.P (P=0.004, pocket depth (P=0.035, and mobility (P<0.001 in isolated abutments were more than those in control abutments, but there were not significant differences in the degree of caries (P=0.083 and gingivitis (P=0.07."nConclusion: This study showed that clinical condition of isolated abutments is worse than that of control abutments. More attention should be paid to healthiness of isolated teeth without splinting and periodic follow ups should be done in these cases.

The safety and effectiveness of different methods of earwax removal: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

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Clegg, A J; Loveman, E; Gospodarevskaya, E; Harris, P; Bird, A; Bryant, J; Scott, D A; Davidson, P; Little, P; Coppin, R

2010-06-01

Build-up of earwax is a common reason for attendance in primary care. Current practice for earwax removal generally involves the use of a softening agent, followed by irrigation of the ear if required. However, the safety and benefits of the different methods of removal are not known for certain. To conduct evidence synthesis of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the interventions currently available for softening and/or removing earwax and any adverse events (AEs) associated with the interventions. Eleven electronic resources were searched from inception to November 2008, including: The Cochrane Library; MEDLINE (OVID), PREMEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations (OVID), EMBASE (OVID); and CINAHL. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts for eligibility. Inclusion criteria were applied to the full text or retrieved papers and data were extracted by two reviewers using data extraction forms developed a priori. Any differences were resolved by discussion or by a third reviewer. Study criteria included: interventions - all methods of earwax removal available and combinations of these methods; participants - adults/children presenting requiring earwax removal; outcomes - measures of hearing, adequacy of clearance of wax, quality of life, time to recurrence or further treatment, AEs and measures of cost-effectiveness; design - randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) for clinical effectiveness, cohort studies for AEs and cost-effectiveness, and costing studies for cost-effectiveness. For the economic evaluation, a deterministic decision tree model was developed to evaluate three options: (1) the use of softeners followed by irrigation in primary care; (2) softeners followed by self-irrigation; and (3) a 'no treatment' option. Outcomes were assessed in terms of benefits to patients and costs incurred, with costs presented by exploratory cost-utility analysis. Twenty-six clinical trials conducted in primary

Arsenic removal for ceramic water filters

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Mishant Kumar

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Arsenic in drinking water is a hazard to human health and is a known carcinogen (Mass 1992. Resource Development International – Cambodia (RDIC has researched, developed, and manufactured simple ceramic water fi lters (CWF which have proved to be extremely effective in removing pathogens from water. These fi lters however, do not remove arsenic from water, which exists in the source water at levels above the World Health Organisation (WHO guideline of 10μg/L. The aims of this literature based study were to investigate conventional and non-conventional arsenic removal processes, and to discuss the options for applying an arsenic removal technology to the CWFs produced by RDIC. It was found that conventional arsenic removal technologies are diffi cult to implement in the context of household water treatment in a developing country. This study suggested that non-conventional arsenic removal technologies shall be more effective and that field studies must be undertaken to verify the success of such methods.

Negative Effects of Learning Spreadsheet Management on Learning Database Management

Science.gov (United States)

Vágner, Anikó; Zsakó, László

2015-01-01

A lot of students learn spreadsheet management before database management. Their similarities can cause a lot of negative effects when learning database management. In this article, we consider these similarities and explain what can cause problems. First, we analyse the basic concepts such as table, database, row, cell, reference, etc. Then, we…

Efficient removal of arsenic from water using a granular adsorbent: Fe-Mn binary oxide impregnated chitosan bead.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Jianying; Zhang, Gaosheng; Li, Haining

2015-10-01

A novel sorbent of Fe-Mn binary oxide impregnated chitosan bead (FMCB) was fabricated through impregnating Fe-Mn binary oxide into chitosan matrix. The FMCB is sphere-like with a diameter of 1.6-1.8 mm, which is effective for both As(V) and As(III) sorption. The maximal sorption capacities are 39.1 and 54.2 mg/g, respectively, outperforming most of reported granular sorbents. The arsenic was mainly removed by adsorbing onto the Fe-Mn oxide component. The coexisting SO4(2-), HCO3(-) and SiO3(2-) have no great influence on arsenic sorption, whereas, the HPO4(2-) shows negative effects. The arsenic-loaded FMCB could be effectively regenerated using NaOH solution and repeatedly used. In column tests, about 1500 and 3200 bed volumes of simulated groundwater containing 233 μg/L As(V) and As(III) were respectively treated before breakthrough. These results demonstrate the superiority of the FMCB in removing As(V) and As(III), indicating that it is a promising candidate for arsenic removal from real drinking water. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of negative experiences on delinquent behavior of youth in a social withdrawal situation.

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Chan, Gloria Hongyee; Lo, T Wing

2016-07-01

This study examines the relationship between negative experiences, negative emotions, and delinquent behavior among young people in a social withdrawal situation. There were 533 participants in this study and various quantitative analyses were utilized. Results showed that participants with a longer period of social withdrawal were generally less affected by negative experiences, while those with a higher level of social withdrawal were more affected by negative experiences, particularly negative relationships with other people. Also, both negative emotions and higher level of social withdrawal mediated the relationship between negative experiences and involvement in delinquent behavior, with negative emotions displaying a higher mediating effect. This reflects that the root of delinquent behavior is the negative experiences which arouse negative emotions, rather than the social withdrawal behavior itself. Results imply that practitioners should first explore the negative experiences suffered by these young people, so as to provide them the most appropriate support. Copyright © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing the Effects of Negative and Mixed Emotional Messages on Predicted Occasional Excessive Drinking

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Pilar Carrera

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In this work we present two types of emotional message, negative (sadness versus mixed (joy and sadness, with the aim of studying their differential effect on attitude change and the probability estimated by participants of repeating the behavior of occasional excessive drinking in the near future. The results show that for the group of participants with moderate experience in this behavior the negative message, compared to the mixed one, is associated with higher probability of repeating the risk behavior and a less negative attitude toward it. These results suggest that mixed emotional messages (e.g. joy and sadness messages could be more effective in campaigns for the prevention of this risk behavior.

Comparing the effects of negative and mixed emotional messages on predicted occasional excessive drinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrera, Pilar; Caballero, Amparo; Muñoz, Dolores

2008-01-01

In this work we present two types of emotional message, negative (sadness) versus mixed (joy and sadness), with the aim of studying their differential effect on attitude change and the probability estimated by participants of repeating the behavior of occasional excessive drinking in the near future. The results show that for the group of participants with moderate experience in this behavior the negative message, compared to the mixed one, is associated with higher probability of repeating the risk behavior and a less negative attitude toward it. These results suggest that mixed emotional messages (e.g. joy and sadness messages) could be more effective in campaigns for the prevention of this risk behavior.

Interrogative pressure in simulated forensic interviews: the effects of negative feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

McGroarty, Allan; Baxter, James S

2007-08-01

Much experimental research on interrogative pressure has concentrated on the effects of leading questions, and the role of feedback in influencing responses in the absence of leading questions has been neglected by comparison. This study assessed the effect of negative feedback and the presence of a second interviewer on interviewee responding in simulated forensic interviews. Participants viewed a videotape of a crime, answered questions about the clip and were requestioned after receiving feedback. Compared with neutral feedback, negative feedback resulted in more response changes, higher reported state anxiety and higher ratings of interview difficulty. These results are consistent with Gudjonsson and Clark's (1986) model of interrogative suggestibility. The presence and involvement of a second interviewer did not significantly affect interviewee responding, although trait anxiety scores were elevated when a second interviewer was present. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are considered.

Graphene nanomesh-based devices exhibiting a strong negative differential conductance effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hung Nguyen, V; Mazzamuto, F; Saint-Martin, J; Bournel, A; Dollfus, P

2012-01-01

Using atomistic quantum simulation based on a tight binding model, we have investigated the transport characteristics of graphene nanomesh-based devices and evaluated the possibilities of observing negative differential conductance. It is shown that by taking advantage of bandgap opening in the graphene nanomesh lattice, a strong negative differential conductance effect can be achieved at room temperature in pn junctions and n-doped structures. Remarkably, the effect is improved very significantly (with a peak-to-valley current ratio of a few hundred) and appears to be weakly sensitive to the transition length in graphene nanomesh pn hetero-junctions when inserting a pristine (gapless) graphene section in the transition region between n and p zones. The study therefore suggests new design strategies for graphene electronic devices which may offer strong advantages in terms of performance and processing over the devices studied previously. (paper)

Rotavirus vaccine effectiveness in low-income settings: An evaluation of the test-negative design

OpenAIRE

Schwartz, Lauren M.; Halloran, M. Elizabeth; Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali; Neuzil, Kathleen M.; Victor, John C.

2017-01-01

Background The test-negative design (TND), an epidemiologic method currently used to measure rotavirus vaccine (RV) effectiveness, compares the vaccination status of rotavirus-positive cases and rotavirus-negative controls meeting a pre-defined case definition for acute gastroenteritis. Despite the use of this study design in low-income settings, the TND has not been evaluated to measure rotavirus vaccine effectiveness. Methods This study builds upon prior methods to evaluate the use of the T...

Electrochemical filtration for turbidity removal in industrial cooling/process water systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumbhar, A.G.; Venkateswaran, G.

2008-01-01

Water samples of large cooling water reservoirs may look visibly clear and transparent, but still may contain sub-micron size particles at sub-parts-per-million levels. Deposition of these particles on heat exchanger surfaces, reduces the heat transfer efficiency in power industry. In nuclear power plants, additionally it creates radiation exposure problems due to activation of fine metallic turbidity in the reactor core and its subsequent transfer to out-of-core surfaces. Sub-micron filtration creates back high-pressure problem. Zeta filters available commercially are prescribed for separating either positively or negatively charged particles. They are of once-use and throw-type. Precipitation surface modified ion exchangers impart chemical impurities to the system. Thus, sub-micron size and dilute turbidity removal from large volumes of waters such as heat exchanger cooling water in nuclear and power industry poses a problem. Electro deposition of the turbidity causing particles, on porous carbon/graphite felt electrodes, is one of the best suited methods for turbidity removal from large volumes of water due to the filter's high permeability, inertness to the system and regenerability resulting in low waste generation. Initially, active indium turbidity removal from RAPS-1 heavy water moderator system, and microbes removal from heat exchanger cooling lake water of RAPS 1 and 2 were demonstrated with in-house designed and fabricated prototype electrochemical filter (ECF). Subsequently, a larger size, high flow filter was fabricated and deployed for iron turbidity removal from active process waters system of Kaiga Generation Station unit 1 and silica and iron turbidity removal from cooling water pond used for heat exchanger of a high temperature high pressure (HTHP) loop at WSCD, Kalpakkam. The ECF proved its exclusive utility for sub-micron size turbidity removal and microbes removal. ECF maneuverability with potential and current for both positively and

Effect of Gamma Radiation in the Removal of some Hazardous Waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dessouki, A.M.; Aly, H.F.; Sokker, H.H.

1999-01-01

The treatment of wastewaters containing toxic pesticides poses a serious environmental problem. Many of the pesticides are not readily biodegradable and complete removal in many cases is a relatively expensive process. Ionizing radiations proved to be more effective for the treatment of these wastewaters than ordinary conventional methods. In the present study a try was made to explain the degradation kinetic due to irradiation of aqueous solutions of some active ingredient pesticides.. These pesticides are: two Organophosphorous Pesticides; Dimethoate and Sumithion and one Organo chlorine Pesticide: DDT. A combined treatment of gamma irradiation and conventional methods was applied . Factors affecting the radiolysis of pesticides such as pesticide concentration, irradiation dose, dose rate and ph of the solutions were studied. The effect of different additives such as nitrogen and oxygen showed an enhancement in the degradation process. Experiments on the adsorption of pesticides on some polymeric materials and on Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), showed that GAC has degradation followed by adsorption of the toxic pesticide pollutants and their removal from wastewater down to concentrations not exceeding the maximum permissible concentration (MPC), according to international standards, proved to be better than the conventional methods of purification and more economical as well

Selective removal of cesium from aqueous solutions with nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue–walnut shell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Dahu, E-mail: dingdahu@gmail.com [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572 (Japan); Lei, Zhongfang; Yang, Yingnan [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572 (Japan); Feng, Chuanping [School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Evolution, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100083 (China); Zhang, Zhenya, E-mail: zhang.zhenya.fu@u.tsukuba.ac.jp [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572 (Japan)

2014-04-01

Highlights: • Novel biosorbent for cesium removal was derived from agricultural residue. • It could remove cesium effectively from aqueous solution. • Large size of granules makes it easy to be separated from solutions. • The volume of used biosorbent could be significantly reduced after incineration. • Incinerated biosorbent has a low volume and a low cost final disposal. - Abstract: A novel nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue-walnut shell (Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS) was developed to selectively remove cesium ion (Cs{sup +}) from aqueous solutions. This paper showed the first integral study on Cs{sup +} removal behavior and waste reduction analysis by using biomass adsorption material. The results indicated that the removal process was rapid and reached saturation within 2 h. As a special characteristic of Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS, acidic condition was preferred for Cs{sup +} removal, which was useful for extending the application scope of the prepared biomass material in treating acidic radioactive liquid waste. The newly developed Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS could selectively remove Cs{sup +} though the coexisting ions (Na{sup +} and K{sup +} in this study) exhibited negative effects. In addition, approximately 99.8% (in volume) of the liquid waste was reduced by using Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS and furthermore 91.9% (in volume) of the spent biomass material (Cs-Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS) was reduced after incineration (at 500 °C for 2 h). Due to its relatively high distribution coefficient and significant volume reduction, Ni{sup II}HCF{sup III}-WS is expected to be a promising material for Cs{sup +} removal in practice.

Medium-high frequency ultrasound and ozone based advanced oxidation for amoxicillin removal in water.

Science.gov (United States)

Kıdak, Rana; Doğan, Şifa

2018-01-01

In this study, treatment of an antibiotic compound amoxicillin by medium-high frequency ultrasonic irradiation and/or ozonation has been studied. Ultrasonic irradiation process was carried out in a batch reactor for aqueous amoxicillin solutions at three different frequencies (575, 861 and 1141kHz). The applied ultrasonic power was 75W and the diffused power was calculated as 14.6W/L. The highest removal was achieved at 575kHz ultrasonic frequency (>99%) with the highest pseudo first order reaction rate constant 0.04min -1 at pH 10 but the mineralization achieved was around 10%. Presence of alkalinity and humic acid species had negative effect on the removal efficiency (50% decrease). To improve the poor outcomes, ozonation had been applied with or without ultrasound. Ozone removed the amoxicillin at a rate 50 times faster than ultrasound. Moreover, due to the synergistic effect, coupling of ozone and ultrasound gave rise to rate constant of 2.5min -1 (625 times higher than ultrasound). In the processes where ozone was used, humic acid did not show any significant effect because the rate constant was so high that ozone has easily overcome the scavenging effects of natural water constituents. Furthermore, the intermediate compounds, after the incomplete oxidation mechanisms, has been analyzed to reveal the possible degradation pathways of amoxicillin through ultrasonic irradiation and ozonation applications. The outcomes of the intermediate compounds experiments and the toxicity was investigated to give a clear explanation about the safety of the resulting solution. The relevance of all the results concluded that hybrid advanced oxidation system was the best option for amoxicillin removal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption

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Yan Wang

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Evaluative conditioning (EC procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli (50% and negative stimuli (50%. Explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images were collected. During an ostensible taste test, chocolate evaluation and consumption were assessed. Results revealed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in the experimental condition showed more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images and evaluated chocolate more negatively during the taste test. However, chocolate consumption did not differ between experimental and control conditions. These findings suggest that pairing chocolate with negative stimuli can influence attitudes toward chocolate, though behavioral effects are absent. Intervention applications of EC provide avenues for future research and practices.

Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yan; Wang, Guosen; Zhang, Dingyuan; Wang, Lei; Cui, Xianghua; Zhu, Jinglei; Fang, Yuan

2017-01-01

Evaluative conditioning (EC) procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli (50%) and negative stimuli (50%). Explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images were collected. During an ostensible taste test, chocolate evaluation and consumption were assessed. Results revealed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in the experimental condition showed more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images and evaluated chocolate more negatively during the taste test. However, chocolate consumption did not differ between experimental and control conditions. These findings suggest that pairing chocolate with negative stimuli can influence attitudes toward chocolate, though behavioral effects are absent. Intervention applications of EC provide avenues for future research and practices.

Effects of sodium hypochlorite and high pH buffer solution in electrokinetic soil treatment on soil chromium removal and the functional diversity of soil microbial community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cang Long; Zhou Dongmei; Alshawabkeh, Akram N.; Chen Haifeng

2007-01-01

Effects of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), applied as an oxidant in catholyte, and high pH buffer solution on soil Cr removal and the functional diversity of soil microbial community during enhanced electrokinetic treatments of a chromium (Cr) contaminated red soil are evaluated. Using pH control system to maintain high alkalinity of soil together with the use of NaClO increased the electrical conductivities of soil pore liquid and electroosmotic flux compared with the control (Exp-01). The pH control and NaClO improved the removal of Cr(VI) and total Cr from the soil. The highest removal percentages of soil Cr(VI) and total Cr were 96 and 72%, respectively, in Exp-04 when the pH value of the anolyte was controlled at 10 and NaClO was added in the catholyte. The alkaline soil environment and introduction of NaClO in the soil enhanced the desorption of Cr(VI) from the soil and promoted Cr(III) oxidation to mobile Cr(VI), respectively. However, the elevated pH and introduction of NaClO in the soil, which are necessary for improving the removal efficiency of soil Cr, resulted in a significantly adverse impact on the functional diversity of soil microbial community. It suggests that to assess the negative impact of extreme conditions for enhancing the extraction efficiencies of Cr on the soil properties and function is necessary

Visualization of laser tattoo removal treatment effects in a mouse model by two-photon microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Won Hyuk; Yoon, Yeoreum; Kim, Wonjoong; Kwon, Soonjae; Lee, Seunghun; Song, Duke; Choi, Jong Woon; Kim, Ki Hean

2017-08-01

Laser tattoo removal is an effective method of eliminating tattoo particles in the skin. However, laser treatment cannot always remove the unwanted tattoo completely, and there are risks of either temporary or permanent side effects. Studies using preclinical animal models could provide detailed information on the effects of laser treatment in the skin, and might help to minimize side effects in clinical practices. In this study, two-photon microscopy (TPM) was used to visualize the laser treatment effects on tattoo particles in both phantom specimens and in vivo mouse models. Fluorescent tattoo ink was used for particle visualization by TPM, and nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) lasers at 532 nm were used for treatment. In phantom specimens, TPM characterized the fragmentation of individual tattoo particles by tracking them before and after the laser treatment. These changes were confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). TPM was used to measure the treatment efficiency of the two lasers at different laser fluences. In the mouse model, TPM visualized clusters of tattoo particles in the skin and detected their fragmentation after the laser treatment. Longitudinal TPM imaging observed the migration of cells containing tattoo particles after the laser treatment. These results show that TPM may be useful for the assessment of laser tattoo removal treatment in preclinical studies.

The effect of hydraulic retention time in onsite wastewater treatment and removal of pharmaceuticals, hormones and phenolic utility substances.

Science.gov (United States)

Ejhed, H; Fång, J; Hansen, K; Graae, L; Rahmberg, M; Magnér, J; Dorgeloh, E; Plaza, G

2018-03-15

Micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, hormones and phenolic utility chemicals in sewage water are considered to be an emerging problem because of increased use and observed adverse effects in the environment. The study provides knowledge on the removal efficiency of micropollutants with a range of physical and chemical properties in three commercially available onsite wastewater treatment facilities (OWTFs), tested on influent wastewater collected from 2500 person equivalents in Bildchen, Germany. A longer hydraulic retention time would in theory be expected to have a positive effect, and this study presents results for three different OWTFs in full-scale comparable tests under natural conditions. A range of 24 different pharmaceuticals, five phenols and three hormones were analyzed. Flow-proportional consecutive sampling was performed in order to determine the removal efficiency. Twenty-eight substances were detected in the effluent wastewater out of 32 substances included. Average effluent concentrations of Simvastatin, Estrone, Estradiol and Ethinylestradiol were above the indicative critical-effect concentration of pharmacological effect on fish in all facilities. Average effluent concentrations of both Diclofenac and Estradiol were higher than the Environmental Quality Standards applied in Sweden (190-240 times and 9-35 times respectively). The removal efficiency of micropollutants was high for substances with high logK ow , which enhance the adsorption and removal with sludge. Low removal was observed for substances with low logK ow and acidic characteristics, and for substances with stabilizing elements of the chemical structure. Facilities that use activated sludge processes removed hormones more efficiently than facilities using trickling filter treatment technique. Moreover, longer hydraulic retention time increased the removal of pharmaceuticals, hormones, turbidity and total nitrogen. Removal of Caffeine, Ibuprofen, Estrone, Naproxen and Estradiol

Effects of herbivory on the reproductive effort of 4 prairie perennials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bradley Kate L

2002-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Herbivory can affect every aspect of a plant's life. Damaged individuals may show decreased survivorship and reproductive output. Additionally, specific plant species (legumes and tissues (flowers are often selectively targeted by herbivores, like deer. These types of herbivory influence a plant's growth and abundance. The objective of this study was to identify the effects of leaf and meristem removal (simulated herbivory within an exclosure on fruit and flower production in four species (Rhus glabra, Rosa arkansana, Lathyrus venosus, and Phlox pilosa which are known targets of deer herbivory. Results Lathyrus never flowered or went to seed, so we were unable to detect any treatment effects. Leaf removal did not affect flower number in the other three species. However, Phlox, Rosa, and Rhus all showed significant negative correlations between seed mass and leaf removal. Meristem removal had a more negative effect than leaf removal on flower number in Phlox and on both flower number and seed mass in Rosa. Conclusions Meristem removal caused a greater response than defoliation alone in both Phlox and Rosa, which suggests that meristem loss has a greater effect on reproduction. The combination of leaf and meristem removal as well as recruitment limitation by deer, which selectively browse for these species, is likely to be one factor contributing to their low abundance in prairies.

The effect of seed mass and cotyledon removal on the germination ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Experiments were carried out to determine the effect of seed mass and cotyledon removal on the germination and growth of African fluted pumpkin (Telfaria occidentalis, Hook. F.). The seeds of pumpkin were divided into 3 weight classes A (13.10-13.05 g), B (11.10-11.05 g), C (8.60-8.55 g) and planted in a 1:1 mixture of ...

Removal of two waterborne pathogenic bacterial strains by activated carbon particles prior to and after charge modification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Busscher, Henk J.; Dijkstra, Rene J. B.; Engels, Eefje; Langworthy, Don E.; Collias, Dimitris I.; Bjorkquist, David W.; Mitchell, Michael D.; van der Mei, Henny C.

2006-01-01

Waterborne diseases constitute a threat to public health despite costly treatment measures aimed at removing pathogenic microorganisms from potable water supplies. This paper compared the removal of Raoultella terrigena ATCC 33257 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 by negatively and positively charged

Crack propagation and the material removal mechanism of glass-ceramics by the scratch test.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Zhongjun; Liu, Congcong; Wang, Haorong; Yang, Xue; Fang, Fengzhou; Tang, Junjie

2016-12-01

To eliminate the negative effects of surface flaws and subsurface damage of glass-ceramics on clinical effectiveness, crack propagation and the material removal mechanism of glass-ceramics were studied by single and double scratch experiments conducted using an ultra-precision machine. A self-manufactured pyramid shaped single-grit tool with a small tip radius was used as the scratch tool. The surface and subsurface crack propagations and interactions, surface morphology and material removal mechanism were investigated. The experimental results showed that the propagation of lateral cracks to the surface and the interaction between the lateral cracks and radial cracks are the two main types of material peeling, and the increase of the scratch depth increases the propagation angle of the radial cracks and the interaction between the cracks. In the case of a double scratch, the propagation of lateral cracks and radial cracks between paired scratches results in material peeling. The interaction between adjacent scratches depends on the scratch depth and separation distance. There is a critical separation distance where the normalized material removal volume reaches its peak. These findings can help reduce surface flaws and subsurface damage induced by the grinding process and improve the clinical effectiveness of glass-ceramics used as biological substitute and repair materials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing the effects of positive and negative feedback in information-integration category learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Freedberg, Michael; Glass, Brian; Filoteo, J Vincent; Hazeltine, Eliot; Maddox, W Todd

2017-01-01

Categorical learning is dependent on feedback. Here, we compare how positive and negative feedback affect information-integration (II) category learning. Ashby and O'Brien (2007) demonstrated that both positive and negative feedback are required to solve II category problems when feedback was not guaranteed on each trial, and reported no differences between positive-only and negative-only feedback in terms of their effectiveness. We followed up on these findings and conducted 3 experiments in which participants completed 2,400 II categorization trials across three days under 1 of 3 conditions: positive feedback only (PFB), negative feedback only (NFB), or both types of feedback (CP; control partial). An adaptive algorithm controlled the amount of feedback given to each group so that feedback was nearly equated. Using different feedback control procedures, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that participants in the NFB and CP group were able to engage II learning strategies, whereas the PFB group was not. Additionally, the NFB group was able to achieve significantly higher accuracy than the PFB group by Day 3. Experiment 3 revealed that these differences remained even when we equated the information received on feedback trials. Thus, negative feedback appears significantly more effective for learning II category structures. This suggests that the human implicit learning system may be capable of learning in the absence of positive feedback.

Iron removal using an aerated granular filter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, B.Y. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Republic of Korea). College of Engineering

2005-10-01

Laboratory scale experiments concerning iron removal from artificial raw water by an artificial filter using anthracite as filter media were conducted. The major findings were that iron oxidation and removal by an aerated filter is mainly a catalytic chemical reaction rather than a biological reaction. Further, iron removal does not perform effectively without aeration. Iron removal was very effective when the pH was weakly acidity. Iron oxide attached to the surface of the media is identified as ferrihydrite, which catalyzes the oxidation of iron as shown by Moessbauer spectra analysis.

Is There a Paradox of Aging: When the Negative Aging Stereotype Meets the Positivity Effect in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Liqing; Lu, Jia; Chen, Guopeng; Dong, Li; Yao, Yujia

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) states that the positivity effect is a result of older adults' emotion regulation and that older adults derive more emotional satisfaction from prioritizing positive information processing. The authors explored whether the positivity effect appeared when the negative aging stereotype was activated in older adults and also whether the effect differed between mixed and unmixed valence conditions. Sixty younger (18-23 years of age) and 60 older (60-87 years of age) adults were randomly assigned to a control group and a priming group, in which the negative aging stereotype was activated. All the participants were asked to select 15 words that best described the elderly from a mixed-word list (positive and negative words were mixed together) and from an unmixed-word list (positive and negative words were separated). Older adults in the control group selected more positive words, whereas among younger adults, selection did not differ by valence in either the mixed- or unmixed-word list conditions. There were no differences between the positive and negative word choices of the younger and older adults in the priming group. We calculated the differences between the numbers of positive and negative words, and the differences in the older adults' word choices were larger than those among the younger adults; the differences were also larger in the control group than in the priming group. The positivity effect worked by choosing positive stimuli rather than avoiding negative stimuli. The role of emotion regulation in older adults was limited, and when the positivity effect faced the effect of the negative aging stereotype, the negative stereotype effect was dominant. Future research should explore the changes in the positivity effect in the face of a positive aging stereotype and what roles other factors (e.g., activation level of the stereotype, arousal level of affective words) might play.

Assessing regional variations in the effect of the removal of user fees ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this research was to analyse the effect of user fee removal in rural ... Conclusion: Although user fees matter, to a degree, service quality is a relatively more important contributor to the promotion ... been required to purchase supplies – bleach, to sterilise ... decision-making at the individual and household level,.

Reducing the negative vocal effects of superficial laryngeal dehydration with humidification.

Science.gov (United States)

Levendoski, Elizabeth Erickson; Sundarrajan, Anusha; Sivasankar, M Preeti

2014-07-01

Environmental humidification is a simple, cost-effective method believed to reduce superficial laryngeal drying. This study sought to validate this belief by investigating whether humidification treatment would reduce the negative effects of superficial laryngeal dehydration on phonation threshold pressure (PTP). Phonation threshold pressure data analysis may be vulnerable to bias because of lack of investigator blinding. Consequently, this study investigated the extent of PTP analysis reliability between unblinded and blinded investigators. Healthy male and female adults were assigned to a vocal fatigue (n = 20) or control group (n = 20) based on their responses to a questionnaire. PTP was assessed after 2 hours of mouth breathing in low humidity (dehydration challenge), following a 5-minute break in ambient humidity, and after 2 hours of mouth breathing in high humidity (humidification). PTP significantly increased following the laryngeal dehydration challenge. After humidification, PTP returned toward baseline. These effects were observed in both subject groups. PTP measurements were highly correlated between the unblinded and blinded investigator. Humidification may be an effective approach to decrease the detrimental voice effects of superficial laryngeal dehydration. These data lay the foundation for future investigations aimed at preventing and treating the negative voice changes associated with chronic, surface laryngeal drying.

The Effect of HLRs on Nitrogen Removal by Using a Pilot-scale Aerated Steel Slag System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamdan R.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Discharge from domestic wastewater treatment plant amongst the main sources of nitrogen pollution in the environment. However, to remove nitrogen conventionally in domestic wastewater require high cost and complex chemical treatment method. Vertical flow aerated rock filter emerged as one of attractive alternative wastewater treatment method due to simplicity and compactness of the system. However, the application is yet to be developed in warm climate countries in particular Malaysia. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of hydraulic loading rate (HLR to the performance of a pilot-scale Vertical Flow Aerated Rock Filter (VFARF in removing nitrogen from domestic wastewater using pilot-scale VFARF systems with steel slag as the filter media. Furthermore, this study has been designed to focus on the effects of two HLRs; 2.72 and 1.04 m3/m3.day. Influent and effluent of the filter systems were monitored biweekly basis for 11 weeks and analyzed for selected parameters. Results from this study shows that the VFARF with HLR 1.04 m3/m3.day has performed better in terms of removal ammonium-nitrogen and TKN as the system able to remove 90.4 ± 6.9%, 86.2 ± 10.7%, whilst the VFARF with 2.72 m3/m3.day remove 87.4 ± 9.9%, 80 ± 11.7%, respectively. From the observation, it can be concluded that nitrogen removal does affect by HLR as the removal in lower HLR system was higher due to high DO level in the VFARF system with 1.04 m3/m3.day which range from 4.5 to 5.1 mg/L whilst the DO level was slightly lower in the VFARF system with 2.72 m3/m3.day in the range of 3.7 to 4.5 mg/L.

The primacy of perceiving: emotion recognition buffers negative effects of emotional labor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bechtoldt, M.N.; Rohrmann, S.; de Pater, I.E.; Beersma, B.

2011-01-01

There is ample empirical evidence for negative effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on workers' well-being. This study analyzed to what extent workers' ability to recognize others' emotions may buffer these effects. In a 4-week study with 85 nurses and police officers, emotion

Simultaneous removal of Cd(II) and Sb(V) by Fe–Mn binary oxide: Positive effects of Cd(II) on Sb(V) adsorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Ruiping; Liu, Feng; Hu, Chengzhi; He, Zan; Liu, Huijuan; Qu, Jiuhui

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Fe–Mn binary oxide achieves the simultaneous removal of Cd(II) and Sb(V). • Cd(II) at above 0.25 mmol/L improves Sb(V) adsorption onto FMBO. • Cd(II) improves more significant Sb(V) adsorption than Ca"2"+ and Mn"2"+. • Sb(V) adsorption decreases whereas Cd(II) adsorption increases with elevated pH. • The increased ζ-potential and Cd(II)–Sb(V) precipitation favors Sb(V) adsorption. - Abstract: The coexistence of cadmium ion (Cd(II)) and antimonate (Sb(V)) creates the need for their simultaneous removal. This study aims to investigate the effects of positively-charged Cd(II) on the removal of negative Sb(V) ions by Fe–Mn binary oxide (FMBO) and associated mechanisms. The maximum Sb(V) adsorption density (Q_m_a_x_,_S_b_(_V_)) increased from 1.02 to 1.32 and 2.01 mmol/g in the presence of Cd(II) at 0.25 and 0.50 mmol/L. Cd"2"+ exhibited a more significant positive effect than both calcium ion (Ca"2"+) and manganese ion (Mn"2"+). Cd"2"+ showed higher affinity towards FMBO and increased its ζ-potential more significantly compared to Ca"2"+ and Mn"2"+. The simultaneous adsorption of Sb(V) and Cd(II) onto FMBO can be achieved over a wide initial pH (pH_i) range from 2 to 9, and Q_S_b_(_V_) decreases whereas Q_C_d_(_I_I_) increases with elevated pH_i. Their combined values, as expressed by Q_S_b_(_V_)_+_C_d_(_I_I_), amount to about 2 mmol/g and vary slightly in the pH_i range 4–9. FTIR and XPS spectra indicate the significant synergistic effect of Cd(II) on Sb(V) adsorption onto FMBO, and that little chemical valence transformation occurs. These results may be valuable for the treatment of wastewater with coexisting heavy metals such as Cd(II) and Sb(V).

Simultaneous removal of Cd(II) and Sb(V) by Fe–Mn binary oxide: Positive effects of Cd(II) on Sb(V) adsorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Ruiping [Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China); Liu, Feng [Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Hu, Chengzhi, E-mail: czhu@rcees.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China); He, Zan [Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Liu, Huijuan; Qu, Jiuhui [Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China)

2015-12-30

Highlights: • Fe–Mn binary oxide achieves the simultaneous removal of Cd(II) and Sb(V). • Cd(II) at above 0.25 mmol/L improves Sb(V) adsorption onto FMBO. • Cd(II) improves more significant Sb(V) adsorption than Ca{sup 2+} and Mn{sup 2+}. • Sb(V) adsorption decreases whereas Cd(II) adsorption increases with elevated pH. • The increased ζ-potential and Cd(II)–Sb(V) precipitation favors Sb(V) adsorption. - Abstract: The coexistence of cadmium ion (Cd(II)) and antimonate (Sb(V)) creates the need for their simultaneous removal. This study aims to investigate the effects of positively-charged Cd(II) on the removal of negative Sb(V) ions by Fe–Mn binary oxide (FMBO) and associated mechanisms. The maximum Sb(V) adsorption density (Q{sub max,Sb(V)}) increased from 1.02 to 1.32 and 2.01 mmol/g in the presence of Cd(II) at 0.25 and 0.50 mmol/L. Cd{sup 2+} exhibited a more significant positive effect than both calcium ion (Ca{sup 2+}) and manganese ion (Mn{sup 2+}). Cd{sup 2+} showed higher affinity towards FMBO and increased its ζ-potential more significantly compared to Ca{sup 2+} and Mn{sup 2+}. The simultaneous adsorption of Sb(V) and Cd(II) onto FMBO can be achieved over a wide initial pH (pH{sub i}) range from 2 to 9, and Q{sub Sb(V)} decreases whereas Q{sub Cd(II)} increases with elevated pH{sub i}. Their combined values, as expressed by Q{sub Sb(V)+Cd(II)}, amount to about 2 mmol/g and vary slightly in the pH{sub i} range 4–9. FTIR and XPS spectra indicate the significant synergistic effect of Cd(II) on Sb(V) adsorption onto FMBO, and that little chemical valence transformation occurs. These results may be valuable for the treatment of wastewater with coexisting heavy metals such as Cd(II) and Sb(V).

Growth Estimators and Confidence Intervals for the Mean of Negative Binomial Random Variables with Unknown Dispersion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Shilane

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The negative binomial distribution becomes highly skewed under extreme dispersion. Even at moderately large sample sizes, the sample mean exhibits a heavy right tail. The standard normal approximation often does not provide adequate inferences about the data's expected value in this setting. In previous work, we have examined alternative methods of generating confidence intervals for the expected value. These methods were based upon Gamma and Chi Square approximations or tail probability bounds such as Bernstein's inequality. We now propose growth estimators of the negative binomial mean. Under high dispersion, zero values are likely to be overrepresented in the data. A growth estimator constructs a normal-style confidence interval by effectively removing a small, predetermined number of zeros from the data. We propose growth estimators based upon multiplicative adjustments of the sample mean and direct removal of zeros from the sample. These methods do not require estimating the nuisance dispersion parameter. We will demonstrate that the growth estimators' confidence intervals provide improved coverage over a wide range of parameter values and asymptotically converge to the sample mean. Interestingly, the proposed methods succeed despite adding both bias and variance to the normal approximation.

The Influence of Negative Emotion on the Simon Effect as Reflected by P300

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingguo Ma

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The Simon effect refers to the phenomenon that reaction time (RT is faster when stimulus and response location are congruent than when they are not. This study used the priming-target paradigm to explore the influence of induced negative emotion on the Simon effect with event-related potential techniques (ERPs. The priming stimuli were composed of two kinds of pictures, the negative and neutral pictures, selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS. The target stimuli included chessboards of two color types. One was red and black the other one was green and black. Each chessboard was presented on the left or the right of the screen. The participants were asked to press the response keys according to the colors of the chessboards. It was called the congruent condition if the chessboard and the response key were on the same side, otherwise incongruent condition. In this study, the emotion-priming Simon effect was found in terms of RT and P300. Negative emotion compared with neutral emotion significantly enhanced the Simon effect in the cognitive process, reflected by a larger difference of P300 latency between the incongruent and congruent trials. The results suggest that the induced negative emotion influenced the Simon effect at the late stage of the cognitive process, and the P300 latency could be considered as the reference measure. These findings may be beneficial to researches in psychology and industrial engineering in the future.

False Positive and False Negative Effects on Network Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Yilun

2018-01-01

Robustness against attacks serves as evidence for complex network structures and failure mechanisms that lie behind them. Most often, due to detection capability limitation or good disguises, attacks on networks are subject to false positives and false negatives, meaning that functional nodes may be falsely regarded as compromised by the attacker and vice versa. In this work, we initiate a study of false positive/negative effects on network robustness against three fundamental types of attack strategies, namely, random attacks (RA), localized attacks (LA), and targeted attack (TA). By developing a general mathematical framework based upon the percolation model, we investigate analytically and by numerical simulations of attack robustness with false positive/negative rate (FPR/FNR) on three benchmark models including Erdős-Rényi (ER) networks, random regular (RR) networks, and scale-free (SF) networks. We show that ER networks are equivalently robust against RA and LA only when FPR equals zero or the initial network is intact. We find several interesting crossovers in RR and SF networks when FPR is taken into consideration. By defining the cost of attack, we observe diminishing marginal attack efficiency for RA, LA, and TA. Our finding highlights the potential risk of underestimating or ignoring FPR in understanding attack robustness. The results may provide insights into ways of enhancing robustness of network architecture and improve the level of protection of critical infrastructures.

Sorption of lead onto two gram-negative marine bacteria in seawater

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Ronald W.; Leckie, James O.

1985-01-01

Laboratory adsorption experiments performed at environmentally significant lead (Pb) and cell concentrations indicate that the marine bacteria examined have significant binding capacities for Pb. However, the behavior governing Pb sorption onto gram-negative bacteria in seawater may be quite complex. The sorption kinetics appear to involve two distinct phases, i.e., a rapid removal of Pb from solution within the first few minutes, followed by a slow but nearly constant removal over many hours. Also, the average binding coefficient, calculated for Pb sorption onto bacteria and a measure of binding intensity, increases with decreasing sorption density (amounts of bacteria-associated Pb per unit bacterial surface) at low cell concentrations (105 cells ml−1), but decreases with decreasing sorption density at higher cell concentrations (107 cells ml−1). The latter effect is apparently due to the production of significant amounts of extra-cellular organics at high cell concentrations that compete directly with bacterial surfaces for available lead. Lead toxicity and active uptake by marine bacteria did not appear significant at the Pb concentrations used.

Suppressor Effects of Positive and Negative Religious Coping on Academic Burnout Among Korean Middle School Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Noh, Hyunkyung; Chang, Eunbi; Jang, Yoojin; Lee, Ji Hae; Lee, Sang Min

2016-02-01

Statistical suppressor effects in prediction models can provide evidence of the interdependent relationship of independent variables. In this study, the suppressor effects of positive and negative religious coping on academic burnout were examined using longitudinal data. First, 388 middle school students reported their type of religion and use of positive and negative religious coping strategies. Four months later, they also reported their level of academic burnout. From structural equation modeling, significant suppressor effects were found among religious students. That is, the coefficients became larger when both positive and negative religious coping predicted academic burnout simultaneously, compared to when each religious coping predicted academic burnout alone. However, suppressor effects were not found among non-religious students.

The effect of light supply on microalgal growth, CO2 uptake and nutrient removal from wastewater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonçalves, A.L.; Simões, M.; Pires, J.C.M.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Effect of irradiance and light:dark ratio on microalgal growth was analysed. • Microalgal growth, CO 2 capture, nitrogen and phosphorus uptake were evaluated. • Higher irradiances and light periods supported higher growth and CO 2 uptake rates. • All the studied microalgal strains have shown high nitrogen removal efficiencies. • The highest phosphorus removal efficiency was 67.6%. - Abstract: Microalgal based biofuels have been reported as an attractive alternative for fossil fuels, since they constitute a renewable energy source that reduces greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. However, producing biofuels from microalgae is still not economically viable. Therefore, the integration of biofuel production with other microalgal applications, such as CO 2 capture and nutrient removal from wastewaters, would reduce the microalgal production costs (and the environmental impact of cultures), increasing the economic viability of the whole process. Additionally, producing biofuels from microalgae strongly depends on microalgal strain and culture conditions. This study evaluates the effect of culture conditions, namely light irradiance (36, 60, 120 and 180 μE m −2 s −1 ) and light:dark ratio (10:14, 14:10 and 24:0), on microalgal growth, atmospheric CO 2 uptake and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) removal from culture medium. Four different microalgal strains, Chlorella vulgaris, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Synechocystis salina and Microcystis aeruginosa, were studied to ascertain the most advantageous regarding the referred applications. This study has shown that higher light irradiance values and light periods resulted in higher specific growth rates and CO 2 uptake rates. C. vulgaris presented the highest specific growth rate and CO 2 uptake rate: 1.190 ± 0.041 d −1 and 0.471 ± 0.047 g CO2 L −1 d −1 , respectively. All the strains have shown high nitrogen removal efficiencies, reaching 100% removal percentages in

Biological phosphorus and nitrogen removal in sequencing batch reactors: effects of cycle length, dissolved oxygen concentration and influent particulate matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginige, Maneesha P; Kayaalp, Ahmet S; Cheng, Ka Yu; Wylie, Jason; Kaksonen, Anna H

2013-01-01

Removal of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from municipal wastewaters is required to mitigate eutrophication of receiving water bodies. While most treatment plants achieve good N removal using influent carbon (C), the use of influent C to facilitate enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is poorly explored. A number of operational parameters can facilitate optimum use of influent C and this study investigated the effects of cycle length, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration during aerobic period and influent solids on biological P and N removal in sequencing batch reactors (SRBs) using municipal wastewaters. Increasing cycle length from 3 to 6 h increased P removal efficiency, which was attributed to larger portion of N being removed via nitrite pathway and more biodegradable organic C becoming available for EBPR. Further increasing cycle length from 6 to 8 h decreased P removal efficiencies as the demand for biodegradable organic C for denitrification increased as a result of complete nitrification. Decreasing DO concentration in the aerobic period from 2 to 0.8 mg L(-1) increased P removal efficiency but decreased nitrification rates possibly due to oxygen limitation. Further, sedimented wastewater was proved to be a better influent stream than non-sedimented wastewater possibility due to the detrimental effect of particulate matter on biological nutrient removal.

Lake restoration by fish removal: Short and Long-term effects in 36 Danish lakes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Martin; Liboriussen, Lone; Pedersen, Asger Roer

2008-01-01

a (Chla), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and suspended solids (SS) decreased to 50-70% of the level prior to removal. The most significant and long-lasting effects were found for SS and Secchi depth, whereas the most modest effects were seen for Chla. This probably reflects an efficient...

Nanotubular halloysite clay as efficient water filtration system for cationic and anionic dyes removal

OpenAIRE

Conference, Nanostruc; Yafei Zhao, Elshad Abdullayev and Yuri Lvov

2014-01-01

Halloysite clay has chemical structure similar to kaolinite but it is rolled in tubes with diameter of 50 nm and length of ca. 1000 nm. Halloysite exhibits higher adsorption capacity for both cationic and anionic dyes because it has negative SiO2 outermost and positive Al2O3 inner lumen surface. An adsorption study using cationicRhodamine 6G and anionic Chrome azurol S has shown pproximately two times better dye removal for halloysite as compared to kaolin. Halloysite filters have been effect...

Potential and costs of carbon dioxide removal by enhanced weathering of rocks

Science.gov (United States)

Strefler, Jessica; Amann, Thorben; Bauer, Nico; Kriegler, Elmar; Hartmann, Jens

2018-03-01

The chemical weathering of rocks currently absorbs about 1.1 Gt CO2 a-1 being mainly stored as bicarbonate in the ocean. An enhancement of this slow natural process could remove substantial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, aiming to offset some unavoidable anthropogenic emissions in order to comply with the Paris Agreement, while at the same time it may decrease ocean acidification. We provide the first comprehensive assessment of economic costs, energy requirements, technical parameterization, and global and regional carbon removal potential. The crucial parameters defining this potential are the grain size and weathering rates. The main uncertainties about the potential relate to weathering rates and rock mass that can be integrated into the soil. The discussed results do not specifically address the enhancement of weathering through microbial processes, feedback of geogenic nutrient release, and bioturbation. We do not only assess dunite rock, predominantly bearing olivine (in the form of forsterite) as the mineral that has been previously proposed to be best suited for carbon removal, but focus also on basaltic rock to minimize potential negative side effects. Our results show that enhanced weathering is an option for carbon dioxide removal that could be competitive already at 60 US  t-1 CO2 removed for dunite, but only at 200 US  t-1 CO2 removed for basalt. The potential carbon removal on cropland areas could be as large as 95 Gt CO2 a-1 for dunite and 4.9 Gt CO2 a-1 for basalt. The best suited locations are warm and humid areas, particularly in India, Brazil, South-East Asia and China, where almost 75% of the global potential can be realized. This work presents a techno-economic assessment framework, which also allows for the incorporation of further processes.

Taurolidine as an effective and biocompatible additive for plaque-removing techniques on implant surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

John, Gordon; Schwarz, Frank; Becker, Jürgen

2015-06-01

The aim of the present study was the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of two plaque-removing techniques, plastic curettes (PC) and glycine powder airflow (GLY) in combination with taurolidine (T), chlorhexidine (CHX), or pure water (PW) as additives and compared to groups without previous treatment (NT). Plaque was collected on titanium samples for 48 h in six subjects. Specimens were worn in a special splint in the upper jaw and randomly assigned to test and control groups. After biofilm removal procedures, clean implant surface (CIS) on the samples and treatment time were taken as parameters. Mean CIS was determined in the following descending order: T-GLY > CHX-GLY > NT-GLY > T-PC > PW-GLY > PW-PC > CHX-PC > NT-PC. Mean treatment time was determined in the following ascending order: T-GLY treatment times of the T groups were significantly lower than their corresponding PC or GLY groups. The results of the current study indicate that taurolidine seems to enhance effectiveness of plaque-removing procedures with plastic curettes and glycine powder airflow. Also, the efficiency of both treatment procedures seems to be increased.

Selective removal of cesium from aqueous solutions with nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue-walnut shell.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Dahu; Lei, Zhongfang; Yang, Yingnan; Feng, Chuanping; Zhang, Zhenya

2014-04-15

A novel nickel (II) hexacyanoferrate (III) functionalized agricultural residue-walnut shell (Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS) was developed to selectively remove cesium ion (Cs(+)) from aqueous solutions. This paper showed the first integral study on Cs(+) removal behavior and waste reduction analysis by using biomass adsorption material. The results indicated that the removal process was rapid and reached saturation within 2h. As a special characteristic of Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS, acidic condition was preferred for Cs(+) removal, which was useful for extending the application scope of the prepared biomass material in treating acidic radioactive liquid waste. The newly developed Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS could selectively remove Cs(+) though the coexisting ions (Na(+) and K(+) in this study) exhibited negative effects. In addition, approximately 99.8% (in volume) of the liquid waste was reduced by using Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS and furthermore 91.9% (in volume) of the spent biomass material (Cs-Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS) was reduced after incineration (at 500°C for 2h). Due to its relatively high distribution coefficient and significant volume reduction, Ni(II)HCF(III)-WS is expected to be a promising material for Cs(+) removal in practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effective Biological Nitrogen Removal Treatment Processes for Domestic Wastewaters with Low C/N Ratios: A Review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sun, Sheng-Peng; Pellicer i Nàcher, Carles; Merkey, Brian

2010-01-01

with high efficiency and relative low costs. However, the removal of nitrogen from domestic wastewater with a low carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio can often be limited in municipal wastewater plants (WWTPs) because organic carbon is a limiting factor for denitrification. The present work reviews innovative....... They can effectively be used for nitrogen removal from low C/N domestic wastewater without external carbon addition. In addition, conventional and alternative carbon sources for enhanced biological nitrogen removal were also reviewed. We conclude that alternative carbon sources such as wine distillery...... at large scale for nitrogen removal from low C/N domestic wastewater, (2) further method logic are explored to introduce the Anammox pathway into domestic wastewater treatment, and (3) alternative carbon sources are explored and optimized for supporting the denitrification. With these efforts, cost...

Does individualism bring happiness? Negative effects of individualism on interpersonal relationships and happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogihara, Yuji; Uchida, Yukiko

2014-01-01

We examined the negative effects of individualism in an East Asian culture. Although individualistic systems decrease interpersonal relationships through competition, individualistic values have prevailed in European American cultures. One reason is because individuals could overcome negativity by actively constructing interpersonal relationships. In contrast, people in East Asian cultures do not have such strategies to overcome the negative impact of individualistic systems, leading to decreased well-being. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between individualistic values, number of close friends, and subjective well-being (SWB). Study 1 indicated that individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB for Japanese college students but not for American college students. Moreover, Study 2 showed that even in an individualistic workplace in Japan, individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB. We discuss how cultural change toward increasing individualism might affect interpersonal relationships and well-being.

Does individualism bring happiness? Negative effects of individualism on interpersonal relationships and happiness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuji eOgihara

2014-03-01

Full Text Available We examined the negative effects of individualism in an East Asian culture. Although individualistic systems decrease interpersonal relationships through competition, individualistic values have prevailed in European American cultures. One reason is because individuals could overcome negativity by actively constructing interpersonal relationships. In contrast, people in East Asian cultures do not have such strategies to overcome the negative impact of individualistic systems, leading to decreased well-being. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between individualistic values, number of close friends, and subjective well-being (SWB. Study 1 indicated that individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB for Japanese college students but not for American college students. Moreover, Study 2 showed that even in an individualistic workplace in Japan, individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB. We discuss how cultural change toward increasing individualism might affect interpersonal relationships and well-being.

The Negatively Charged Regions of Lactoferrin Binding Protein B, an Adaptation against Anti-Microbial Peptides

Science.gov (United States)

Morgenthau, Ari; Beddek, Amanda; Schryvers, Anthony B.

2014-01-01

Lactoferrin binding protein B (LbpB) is a bi-lobed membrane bound lipoprotein that is part of the lactoferrin receptor complex in a variety of Gram-negative pathogens. Despite high sequence diversity among LbpBs from various strains and species, a cluster of negatively charged amino acids is invariably present in the protein’s C-terminal lobe in all species except Moraxella bovis. The function of LbpB in iron acquisition has yet to be experimentally demonstrated, whereas in vitro studies have shown that LbpB confers protection against lactoferricin, a short cationic antimicrobial peptide released from the N- terminus of lactoferrin. In this study we demonstrate that the negatively charged regions can be removed from the Neisseria meningitidis LbpB without compromising stability, and this results in the inability of LbpB to protect against the bactericidal effects of lactoferricin. The release of LbpB from the cell surface by the autotransporter NalP reduces the protection against lactoferricin in the in vitro killing assay, attributed to removal of LbpB during washing steps, but is unlikely to have a similar impact in vivo. The protective effect of the negatively charged polysaccharide capsule in the killing assay was less than the protection conferred by LbpB, suggesting that LbpB plays a major role in protection against cationic antimicrobial peptides in vivo. The selective release of LbpB by NalP has been proposed to be a mechanism for evading the adaptive immune response, by reducing the antibody binding to the cell surface, but may also provide insights into the primary function of LbpB in vivo. Although TbpB and LbpB have been shown to be major targets of the human immune response, the selective release of LbpB suggests that unlike TbpB, LbpB may not be essential for iron acquisition, but important for protection against cationic antimicrobial peptides. PMID:24465982

The negatively charged regions of lactoferrin binding protein B, an adaptation against anti-microbial peptides.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ari Morgenthau

Full Text Available Lactoferrin binding protein B (LbpB is a bi-lobed membrane bound lipoprotein that is part of the lactoferrin receptor complex in a variety of Gram-negative pathogens. Despite high sequence diversity among LbpBs from various strains and species, a cluster of negatively charged amino acids is invariably present in the protein's C-terminal lobe in all species except Moraxella bovis. The function of LbpB in iron acquisition has yet to be experimentally demonstrated, whereas in vitro studies have shown that LbpB confers protection against lactoferricin, a short cationic antimicrobial peptide released from the N- terminus of lactoferrin. In this study we demonstrate that the negatively charged regions can be removed from the Neisseria meningitidis LbpB without compromising stability, and this results in the inability of LbpB to protect against the bactericidal effects of lactoferricin. The release of LbpB from the cell surface by the autotransporter NalP reduces the protection against lactoferricin in the in vitro killing assay, attributed to removal of LbpB during washing steps, but is unlikely to have a similar impact in vivo. The protective effect of the negatively charged polysaccharide capsule in the killing assay was less than the protection conferred by LbpB, suggesting that LbpB plays a major role in protection against cationic antimicrobial peptides in vivo. The selective release of LbpB by NalP has been proposed to be a mechanism for evading the adaptive immune response, by reducing the antibody binding to the cell surface, but may also provide insights into the primary function of LbpB in vivo. Although TbpB and LbpB have been shown to be major targets of the human immune response, the selective release of LbpB suggests that unlike TbpB, LbpB may not be essential for iron acquisition, but important for protection against cationic antimicrobial peptides.

Regulation of positive and negative emotion: Effects of sociocultural context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara A. Snyder

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Previous research has demonstrated that the use of emotion regulation strategies can vary by sociocultural context. In a previous study, we reported changes in the use of two different emotion regulation strategies at an annual alternative cultural event, Burning Man (McRae, Heller, John, & Gross, 2011. In this sociocultural context, as compared to home, participants reported less use of expressive suppression (a strategy generally associated with maladaptive outcomes, and greater use of cognitive reappraisal (a strategy associated with adaptive outcomes. What remained unclear was whether these changes in self-reported emotion regulation strategy use were characterized by changes in the regulation of positive emotion, negative emotion, or both. We addressed this issue in the current study by asking Burning Man participants separate questions about positive and negative emotion. Using multiple datasets, we not only replicated our previous findings, but also found that the decreased use of suppression is primarily driven by reports of decreased suppression of positive emotion at Burning Man. By contrast, the reported increased use of reappraisal is not characterized by differential reappraisal of positive and negative emotion at Burning Man. Moreover, we observed novel individual differences in the magnitude of these effects. The contextual changes in self-reported suppression that we report are strongest for men and younger participants. For those who had previously attended Burning Man, we observed lower levels of self-reported suppression in both sociocultural contexts: Burning Man and home. These findings have implications for understanding the ways in which certain sociocultural contexts may decrease suppression, and possibly minimize its associated maladaptive effects.

The challenge of carbon dioxide removal for EU policy-making

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Vivian; Geden, Oliver

2018-05-01

Most scenarios to meet the Paris Agreement require negative emissions technologies. The EU has assumed a global leadership role in mitigation action and low-carbon energy technology development and deployment, but carbon dioxide removal presents a serious challenge to its low-carbon policy paradigm and experience.

The effects of positive versus negative impact reflection on change in job performance and work-life conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardador, M Teresa

2014-01-01

Research on task significance and relational job design suggests that information from beneficiaries of one's work fosters perceptions of impact, and thus improved work outcomes. This paper presents results from a longitudinal field experiment examining the effect of another strategy for fostering perceptions of impact - engaging employees in regular reflection about how their work benefits others. With a sample of professionals from multiple organizations, this longitudinal study examined the effect on job performance and work-life conflict of both positive and negative impact reflection. Results show that negative impact reflection had a pronounced negative effect on job performance, but no effect on work-life conflict. Positive impact reflection had a weak positive effect on work-life conflict, but no significant effect on job performance. The direction of effects seen in the no intervention condition mirrored that of the negative impact reflection condition, suggesting a possible buffering effect for positive impact reflection. This research provides empirical and theoretical contributions to the literatures on relational job design and task significance.

Acute effects of capsaicin on energy expenditure and fat oxidation in negative energy balance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilou L H R Janssens

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Addition of capsaicin (CAPS to the diet has been shown to increase energy expenditure; therefore capsaicin is an interesting target for anti-obesity therapy. AIM: We investigated the 24 h effects of CAPS on energy expenditure, substrate oxidation and blood pressure during 25% negative energy balance. METHODS: Subjects underwent four 36 h sessions in a respiration chamber for measurements of energy expenditure, substrate oxidation and blood pressure. They received 100% or 75% of their daily energy requirements in the conditions '100%CAPS', '100%Control', '75%CAPS' and '75%Control'. CAPS was given at a dose of 2.56 mg (1.03 g of red chili pepper, 39,050 Scoville heat units (SHU with every meal. RESULTS: An induced negative energy balance of 25% was effectively a 20.5% negative energy balance due to adapting mechanisms. Diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT and resting energy expenditure (REE at 75%CAPS did not differ from DIT and REE at 100%Control, while at 75%Control these tended to be or were lower than at 100%Control (p = 0.05 and p = 0.02 respectively. Sleeping metabolic rate (SMR at 75%CAPS did not differ from SMR at 100%CAPS, while SMR at 75%Control was lower than at 100%CAPS (p = 0.04. Fat oxidation at 75%CAPS was higher than at 100%Control (p = 0.03, while with 75%Control it did not differ from 100%Control. Respiratory quotient (RQ was more decreased at 75%CAPS (p = 0.04 than at 75%Control (p = 0.05 when compared with 100%Control. Blood pressure did not differ between the four conditions. CONCLUSION: In an effectively 20.5% negative energy balance, consumption of 2.56 mg capsaicin per meal supports negative energy balance by counteracting the unfavorable negative energy balance effect of decrease in components of energy expenditure. Moreover, consumption of 2.56 mg capsaicin per meal promotes fat oxidation in negative energy balance and does not increase blood pressure significantly. TRIAL REGISTRATION

Device for removing fur

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanawa, Minoru; Nakagawa, Takao; Sakuma, Toyoo; Yonemura, Eizo.

1976-01-01

Purpose: To effectively remove fur adhered to fuel rods and to increase working efficiency without use of a lengthy hose. Constitution: In the fur removing device of the present invention, brushes rotated by gears are provided within a casing so that fur adhered to the fuel rods are removed by the brushes and water is rotatably moved by blades housed therein to outwardly blow fur floating in water by means of a centrifugal force. Then, the fur is filtered by a filter outwardly provided. In this way, the fur may be collected within the device to avoid contamination to others. (Kamimura, M.)

RETENTION TIME EFFECT ON METAL REMOVAL BY PEAT COLUMNS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, E

2007-02-28

The potential use of a peat bed to treat the H-12 Outfall discharge to bring it to new compliance limits was previously investigated and reported utilizing a 7 hour retention time. The influence of retention time (contact time) of water with peat moss on the removal of copper from the water was investigated under laboratory conditions using vertical flow peat moss columns. Reduction of the necessary retention time has a large influence on the design sizing of any peat bed that would be constructed to treat the H-12 discharge on a full scale basis. Retention times of 5 hours, 3 hours and 1 hour were tested to determine the copper removal by the peat columns using vertical flow. Water samples were collected after 4, 8, 12, and 16 water volumes had passed through the columns and analyzed for a suite of metals, with quantitative emphasis on copper. Laboratory results indicated that copper removal was very high at each of the 3 retention times tested, ranging from 99.6 % removal at 5 and 3 hours to 98.8% removal at 1 hour. All these values are much lower that the new compliance limit for the outfall. The results also indicated that most divalent metals were removed to their normal reporting detection limit for the analytical methods used, including zinc. Lead levels in the H-12 discharge used in this study were below PQL in all samples analyzed. While each of the retention times studied removed copper very well, there were indications that 1 hour is probably too short for an operational, long-term facility. At that retention time, there was about 6% compaction of the peat in the column due to the water velocity, and this may affect long term hydraulic conductivity of the peat bed. At that retention time, copper concentration in the effluent was higher than the other times tested, although still very low. Because of the potential compacting and somewhat reduced removal efficiency at a 1 hour retention time, it would be prudent to design to at least a 3 hour retention

Electrified emotions: Modulatory effects of transcranial direct stimulation on negative emotional reactions to social exclusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, Paolo; Romero Lauro, Leonor J; Vergallito, Alessandra; DeWall, C Nathan; Bushman, Brad J

2015-01-01

Social exclusion, ostracism, and rejection can be emotionally painful because they thwart the need to belong. Building on studies suggesting that the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is associated with regulation of negative emotions, the present experiment tests the hypothesis that decreasing the cortical excitability of the rVLPFC may increase negative emotional reactions to social exclusion. Specifically, we applied cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the rVLPFC and predicted an increment of negative emotional reactions to social exclusion. In Study 1, participants were either socially excluded or included, while cathodal tDCS or sham stimulation was applied over the rVLPFC. Cathodal stimulation of rVLPFC boosted the typical negative emotional reaction caused by social exclusion. No effects emerged from participants in the inclusion condition. To test the specificity of tDCS effects over rVLPFC, in Study 2, participants were socially excluded and received cathodal tDCS or sham stimulation over a control region (i.e., the right posterior parietal cortex). No effects of tDCS stimulation were found. Our results showed that the rVLPFC is specifically involved in emotion regulation and suggest that cathodal stimulation can increase negative emotional responses to social exclusion.

Effect of temperature on selenium removal from wastewater by UASB reactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Dessì, Paolo; Jain, Rohan; Singh, Satyendra; Seder-Colomina, Marina; van Hullebusch, Eric D; Rene, Eldon R; Ahammad, Shaikh Ziauddin; Carucci, Alessandra; Lens, Piet N L

2016-05-01

The effect of temperature on selenium (Se) removal by upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors treating selenate and nitrate containing wastewater was investigated by comparing the performance of a thermophilic (55 °C) versus a mesophilic (30 °C) UASB reactor. When only selenate (50 μM) was fed to the UASB reactors (pH 7.3; hydraulic retention time 8 h) with excess electron donor (lactate at 1.38 mM corresponding to an organic loading rate of 0.5 g COD L(-1) d(-1)), the thermophilic UASB reactor achieved a higher total Se removal efficiency (94.4 ± 2.4%) than the mesophilic UASB reactor (82.0 ± 3.8%). When 5000 μM nitrate was further added to the influent, total Se removal was again better under thermophilic (70.1 ± 6.6%) when compared to mesophilic (43.6 ± 8.8%) conditions. The higher total effluent Se concentration in the mesophilic UASB reactor was due to the higher concentrations of biogenic elemental Se nanoparticles (BioSeNPs). The shape of the BioSeNPs observed in both UASB reactors was different: nanospheres and nanorods, respectively, in the mesophilic and thermophilic UASB reactors. Microbial community analysis showed the presence of selenate respirers as well as denitrifying microorganisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE REMOVAL OF GLYPHOSATE FROM DRINKING WATER

Science.gov (United States)

The effectiveness of granulated activated carbon (GAC), packed activated carbon (PAC), conventional treatment, membranes, and oxidation for removing glyphosate from natural waters is evaluated. Results indicate that GAC and PAC are not effective in removing glyphosate, while oxid...

The Primacy of Perceiving: Emotion Recognition Buffers Negative Effects of Emotional Labor

Science.gov (United States)

Bechtoldt, Myriam N.; Rohrmann, Sonja; De Pater, Irene E.; Beersma, Bianca

2011-01-01

There is ample empirical evidence for negative effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on workers' well-being. This study analyzed to what extent workers' ability to recognize others' emotions may buffer these effects. In a 4-week study with 85 nurses and police officers, emotion recognition moderated the relationship between…

Tattoo or taboo? Tattoo stigma and negative attitudes toward tattooed individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Broussard, Kristin A; Harton, Helen C

2017-09-21

Tattoos are common in the United States; however, tattooed persons may be perceived as having more negative character and as more deviant than people without tattoos. College students (Study 1) and community members (Study 2) viewed images of men and women with tattoos or the same images with the tattoos digitally removed and rated the targets' characteristics. Half of the participants viewed a target with a tattoo, and half viewed that target without it, allowing for both within- (participants all rated one male and one female target with a tattoo and another without) and between-participants (participants rated either the tattooed or non-tattooed version of a single target) comparisons. Tattooed targets, especially women, were rated as stronger and more independent, but were rated more negatively on other character attributes than the same target images with the tattoos removed. The stigma associated with tattoos appears to still exist, despite the prevalence of tattoos in modern culture.

Effect of Tris-acetate buffer on endotoxin removal from human-like collagen used biomaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Huizhi; Fan, Daidi; Deng, Jianjun; Zhu, Chenghui; Hui, Junfeng; Ma, Xiaoxuan

2014-01-01

Protein preparation, which has active ingredients designated for the use of biomaterials and therapeutical protein, is obtained by genetic engineering, but products of genetic engineering are often contaminated by endotoxins. Because endotoxin is a ubiquitous and potent proinflammatory agent, endotoxin removal or depletion from protein is essential for researching any biomaterials. In this study, we have used Tris-acetate (TA) buffer of neutral pH value to evaluate endotoxins absorbed on the Pierce high-capacity endotoxin removal resin. The effects of TA buffer on pH, ionic strength, incubation time as well as human-like collagen (HLC) concentration on eliminating endotoxins are investigated. In the present experiments, we design an optimal method for TA buffer to remove endotoxin from recombinant collagen and use a chromogenic tachypleus amebocyte lysate (TAL) test kit to measure the endotoxin level of HLC. The present results show that, the endotoxins of HLC is dropped to 8.3 EU/ml at 25 mM TA buffer (pH 7.8) with 150 mM NaCl when setting incubation time at 6 h, and HLC recovery is about 96%. Under this experimental condition, it is proved to exhibit high efficiencies of both endotoxin removal and collagen recovery. The structure of treated HLC was explored by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), demonstrating that the property and structure of HLC treated by TA buffer are maintained. Compared to the most widely used endotoxin removal method, Triton X-114 extraction, using TA buffer can obtain the non-toxic HLC without extra treatment for removing the toxic substances in Triton X-114. In addition, the present study aims at establishing a foundation for further work in laboratory animal science and providing a foundation for medical grade biomaterials. - Graphical abstract: The processes of endotoxins adsorbed from HLC. - Highlights: • TA buffer is a mild buffer system for endotoxins removal of HLC. • TA buffer may facilitate endotoxins adsorbed on the

Experimental study on interaction between a positive mass and a negative effective mass through a mass–spring system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiao Zhou

2015-08-01

Full Text Available We investigate the interaction between a positive mass and a negative effective mass through a three-mass chain connected with elastic springs, a pair of masses is designed to have an effective negative mass, and it interacts with the third positive one as if an equivalent two-mass chain. The dynamics of the equivalent two-mass chain shows that the two bodies may be self-accelerated in same direction when the effective mass becomes negative, the experiment is also conducted to demonstrate this type of motion. We further show that the energy principle (Hamilton’s principle is applicable if the energy of the negative mass unit is properly characterized. The result may be relevant to composite with cells of effective negative mass, their interaction with matrix may lead to more richer unexpected macroscopic responses.

Effect of clarification process on the removal of pesticide residues in red wine and comparison with white wine.

Science.gov (United States)

Doulia, Danae S; Anagnos, Efstathios K; Liapis, Konstantinos S; Klimentzos, Demetrios A

2018-04-30

The aim of this study was to determine the potential of seven clarifying agents to remove pesticides in red wine. The presence of pesticides in wine consists a great problem for winemakers and therefore, results on pesticide removal by clarification are very useful for taking a decision on the appropriate adsorbent. The selection of an efficient adsorbent can be based on data correlating pesticide removal in red wine to pesticides' properties, given the great number and variety of pesticides used. So, this experimental work is focused on the collection of results with regard to pesticide removal by clarification using a great number of pesticides and fining agents. A Greek red wine, fortified with single solutions and mixtures of 23 or 9 pesticides was studied. The seven fining agents, used at two concentrations, were activated carbon, bentonite, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), gelatin, egg albumin, isinglass-fish glue, and casein. Pesticides were selected with a wide range of properties (octanol-water partition coefficient (log K ow ) 2.7-6.3 and water solubility 0.0002-142) and belong to 11 chemical groups. Solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by gas chromatography (GC) with electron capture detector (ECD) were performed to analyze pesticide residues of the clarified fortified wine. The correlation of the clarifying agents' effectiveness to pesticide's chemical structure and properties (log K ow , water solubility) was investigated. The antagonistic and/or synergistic effects, occurring among the pesticides in the mixtures, were calculated by indices. Pesticide removal effectiveness results of the red wine were compared to those obtained from a white wine under the same experimental conditions and discussed. The order of decreasing adsorbent effectiveness (mixture of 23 pesticides) was: activated carbon 40% > gelatin 23% > egg albumin 21% > PVPP 18% > casein 12% > bentonite 7%. Isinglass showed 12% removal at the highest permitted concentration. In the case of

The Effect of Positive and Negative Feedback on Risk-Taking across Different Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Losecaat Vermeer, Annabel B; Sanfey, Alan G

2015-01-01

Preferences for risky choices have often been shown to be unstable and context-dependent. Though people generally avoid gambles with mixed outcomes, a phenomenon often attributed to loss aversion, contextual factors can impact this dramatically. For example, people typically prefer risky options after a financial loss, while generally choosing safer options after a monetary gain. However, it is unclear what exactly contributes to these preference shifts as a function of prior outcomes, as these gain/loss outcomes are usually confounded with participant performance, and therefore it is unclear whether these effects are driven purely by the monetary gains or losses, or rather by success or failure at the actual task. Here, we experimentally separated the effects of monetary gains/losses from performance success/failure prior to a standard risky choice. Participants performed a task in which they experienced contextual effects: 1) monetary gain or loss based directly on performance, 2) monetary gain or loss that was randomly awarded and was, crucially, independent from performance, and 3) success or failure feedback based on performance, but without any monetary incentive. Immediately following these positive/negative contexts, participants were presented with a gain-loss gamble that they had to decide to either play or pass. We found that risk preferences for identical sets of gambles were biased by positive and negative contexts containing monetary gains and losses, but not by contexts containing performance feedback. This data suggests that the observed framing effects are driven by aversion for monetary losses and not simply by the positive or negative valence of the context, or by potential moods resulting from positive or negative contexts. These results highlight the specific context dependence of risk preferences.

Nitrate removal in stream ecosystems measured by 15N addition experiments: Denitrification

Science.gov (United States)

Mulholland, P.J.; Hall, R.O.; Sobota, D.J.; Dodds, W.K.; Findlay, S.E.G.; Grimm, N. B.; Hamilton, S.K.; McDowell, W.H.; O'Brien, J. M.; Tank, J.L.; Ashkenas, L.R.; Cooper, L.W.; Dahm, Clifford N.; Gregory, S.V.; Johnson, S.L.; Meyer, J.L.; Peterson, B.J.; Poole, G.C.; Valett, H.M.; Webster, J.R.; Arango, C.P.; Beaulieu, J.J.; Bernot, M.J.; Burgin, A.J.; Crenshaw, C.L.; Helton, A.M.; Johnson, L.T.; Niederlehner, B.R.; Potter, J.D.; Sheibley, R.W.; Thomasn, S.M.

2009-01-01

We measured denitrification rates using a field 15N-NO- 3 tracer-addition approach in a large, cross-site study of nitrate uptake in reference, agricultural, and suburban-urban streams. We measured denitrification rates in 49 of 72 streams studied. Uptake length due to denitrification (SWden) ranged from 89 m to 184 km (median of 9050 m) and there were no significant differences among regions or land-use categories, likely because of the wide range of conditions within each region and land use. N2 production rates far exceeded N2O production rates in all streams. The fraction of total NO-3 removal from water due to denitrification ranged from 0.5% to 100% among streams (median of 16%), and was related to NHz 4 concentration and ecosystem respiration rate (ER). Multivariate approaches showed that the most important factors controlling SWden were specific discharge (discharge / width) and NO-3 concentration (positive effects), and ER and transient storage zones (negative effects). The relationship between areal denitrification rate (Uden) and NO- 3 concentration indicated a partial saturation effect. A power function with an exponent of 0.5 described this relationship better than a Michaelis-Menten equation. Although Uden increased with increasing NO- 3 concentration, the efficiency of NO-3 removal from water via denitrification declined, resulting in a smaller proportion of streamwater NO-3 load removed over a given length of stream. Regional differences in stream denitrification rates were small relative to the proximate factors of NO-3 concentration and ecosystem respiration rate, and land use was an important but indirect control on denitrification in streams, primarily via its effect on NO-3 concentration. ?? 2009.

Positive and Negative Effects of Parental Conflicts on Children’s Condition and Behaviour

OpenAIRE

Joëlle Barthassat

2014-01-01

Previous research focused on the negative consequences of parental conflict behaviours. In contrast, this review is about the positive and negative effects that constructive and destructive parental conflict behaviours have on a child’s condition and behaviour. It employs the cognitive-contextual framework of Grych and Fincham (1990) and the emotional security hypothesis of Davies and Cummings (1994). Parental conflicts are represented as a continuum from very destructive to very constructive...

Negative factors of beliefs toward advertising on Facebook and their effect on attitudes

OpenAIRE

Hilda Bongazana Dondolo

2017-01-01

Previous research has studied the effects of materialism, value corruption and falsity, which were identified by Pollay and Mittal (1993) as negatively impacting the beliefs about advertising. Few, if any, assessed negative beliefs about Facebook advertising. This paper assesses such beliefs and how these beliefs influence attitudes toward advertising on Facebook. To meet the objectives of the study, 269 undergraduate students completed the questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to exami...

If you negate, you may forget: negated repetitions impair memory compared with affirmative repetitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, Ruth; Schul, Yaacov; Rosenthal, Meytal

2014-08-01

One of the most robust laws of memory is that repeated activation improves memory. Our study shows that the nature of repetition matters. Specifically, although both negated repetition and affirmative repetition improve memory compared with no repetition, negated repetition hinders memory compared with affirmative repetition. After showing participants different entities, we asked them about features of these entities, leading to either "yes" or "no" responses. Our findings show that correctly negating an incorrect feature of an entity elicits an active forgetting effect compared with correctly affirming its true features. For example, after seeing someone drink a glass of white wine, answering "no" to "was it red wine?" may lead one to greater memory loss of the individual drinking wine at all compared with answering "yes" to "was it white wine?" We find this negation-induced forgetting effect in 4 experiments that differ in (a) the meaning given for the negation, (b) the type of stimuli (visual or verbal), and (c) the memory measure (recognition or free recall). We discuss possible underlying mechanisms and offer theoretical and applied implications of the negation-induced forgetting effect in relation to other known inhibition effects. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Impact of Corn Residue Removal on Crop and Soil Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, J. M.; Wilhelm, W. W.; Hatfield, J. L.; Voorhees, W. B.; Linden, D.

2003-12-01

Over-reliance on imported fuels, increasing atmospheric levels of greenhouses and sustaining food production for a growing population are three of the most important problems facing society in the mid-term. The US Department of Energy and private enterprise are developing technology necessary to use high cellulose feedstock, such as crop residues, for ethanol production. Based on production levels, corn (Zea mays L.) residue has potential as a biofuel feedstock. Crop residues are a renewable and domestic fuel source, which can reduce the rate of fossil fuel use (both imported and domestic) and provide an additional farm commodity. Crop residues protect the soil from wind and water erosion, provide inputs to form soil organic matter (a critical component determining soil quality) and play a role in nutrient cycling. Crop residues impact radiation balance and energy fluxes and reduce evaporation. Therefore, the benefits of using crop residues as fuel, which removes crop residues from the field, must be balanced against negative environmental impacts (e.g. soil erosion), maintaining soil organic matter levels, and preserving or enhancing productivity. All ramifications of new management practices and crop uses must be explored and evaluated fully before an industry is established. There are limited numbers of long-term studies with soil and crop responses to residue removal that range from negative to negligible. The range of crop and soil responses to crop residue removal was attributed to interactions with climate, management and soil type. Within limits, corn residue can be harvested for ethanol production to provide a renewable, domestic source of energy feedstock that reduces greenhouse gases. Removal rates must vary based on regional yield, climatic conditions and cultural practices. Agronomists are challenged to develop a protocol (tool) for recommending maximum permissible removal rates that ensure sustained soil productivity.

Exercise attenuates negative effects of abstinence during 72 hours of smoking deprivation.

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Conklin, Cynthia A; Soreca, Isabella; Kupfer, David J; Cheng, Yu; Salkeld, Ronald P; Mumma, Joel M; Jakicic, John M; Joyce, Christopher J

2017-08-01

Exercise is presumed to be a potentially helpful smoking cessation adjunct reputed to attenuate the negative effects of deprivation. The present study examined the effectiveness of moderate within-session exercise to reduce 4 key symptoms of smoking deprivation during 3 72-hr nicotine abstinence blocks in both male and female smokers. Forty-nine (25 male, 24 female) sedentary smokers abstained from smoking for 3 consecutive days on 3 separate occasions. At each session, smokers' abstinence-induced craving, cue-induced craving, negative mood, and withdrawal symptom severity were assessed prior to and after either exercise (a.m. exercise, p.m. exercise) or a sedentary control activity (magazine reading). Abstinence-induced craving and negative mood differed as a function of condition, F(2, 385) = 21, p exercise, but exercise overall led to greater pre-post reduction in abstinence-induced craving, t(385) = 6.23, p exercise also led to a larger pre-post reduction in cue-induced craving in response to smoking cues, F(2, 387) = 8.94, p = .0002; and withdrawal severity, F(2, 385) = 3.8, p = .02. Unlike the other 3 measures, p.m. exercise reduced withdrawal severity over control, t(385) = 2.64, p = .009, d = 0.27, whereas a.m. exercise did not. The results support the clinical potential of exercise to assist smokers in managing common and robust negative symptoms experienced during the first 3 days of abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Short-Term Response of Native Flora to the Removal of Non-Native Shrubs in Mixed-Hardwood Forests of Indiana, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua M. Shields

2015-05-01

Full Text Available While negative impacts of invasive species on native communities are well documented, less is known about how these communities respond to the removal of established populations of invasive species. With regard to invasive shrubs, studies examining native community response to removal at scales greater than experimental plots are lacking. We examined short-term effects of removing Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle and other non-native shrubs on native plant taxa in six mixed-hardwood forests. Each study site contained two 0.64 ha sample areas—an area where all non-native shrubs were removed and a reference area where no treatment was implemented. We sampled vegetation in the spring and summer before and after non-native shrubs were removed. Cover and diversity of native species, and densities of native woody seedlings, increased after shrub removal. However, we also observed significant increases in L. maackii seedling densities and Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard cover in removal areas. Changes in reference areas were less pronounced and mostly non-significant. Our results suggest that removing non-native shrubs allows short-term recovery of native communities across a range of invasion intensities. However, successful restoration will likely depend on renewed competition with invasive species that re-colonize treatment areas, the influence of herbivores, and subsequent control efforts.

Elementary sulfur in effluent from denitrifying sulfide removal process as adsorbent for zinc(II).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chuan; Zhou, Xu; Wang, Aijie; Wu, Dong-hai; Liu, Li-hong; Ren, Nanqi; Lee, Duu-Jong

2012-10-01

The denitrifying sulfide removal (DSR) process can simultaneously convert sulfide, nitrate and organic compounds into elementary sulfur (S(0)), di-nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide, respectively. However, the S(0) formed in the DSR process are micro-sized colloids with negatively charged surface, making isolation of S(0) colloids from other biological cells and metabolites difficult. This study proposed the use of S(0) in DSR effluent as a novel adsorbent for zinc removal from wastewaters. Batch and continuous tests were conducted for efficient zinc removal with S(0)-containing DSR effluent. At pHremoval rates of zinc(II) were increased with increasing pH. The formed S(0) colloids carried negative charge onto which zinc(II) ions could be adsorbed via electrostatic interactions. The zinc(II) adsorbed S(0) colloids further enhanced coagulation-sedimentation efficiency of suspended solids in DSR effluents. The DSR effluent presents a promising coagulant for zinc(II) containing wastewaters. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards an optimal experimental design for N2O model calibration during biological nitrogen removal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Domingo Felez, Carlos; Valverde Pérez, Borja; Plósz, Benedek G.

Process models describing nitrous oxide (N2O) production during biological nitrogen removal allow for the development of mitigation strategies of this potent greenhouse gas. N2O is an intermediate of nitrogen removal, hence its prediction is negatively affected by the uncertainty associated to it...... of strategies to minimize the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants....

Effects of the weak magnetic field and electron diffusion on the spatial potential and negative ion transport in the negative ion source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurabayashi, T.; Hatayama, A.; Bacal, M.

2004-01-01

The effects of the weak magnetic field on the negative ion (H - ) extraction in a negative ion source have been studied by means of a two-dimensional electrostatic particle simulation. A particle-in-cell model is used which simulates the motion of the charged particles in their self-consistent electric field. In addition, the effect of the electron diffusion across the weak magnetic field is taken into account by a simple random-walk model with a step length Δx per time step Δt; Δx=√(2D perpendicular )Δt)·ξ x , where D perpendicular ) and ξ x are the perpendicular diffusion coefficient and normal random numbers. Under this simple diffusion model, the electron diffusion has no significant effects on the H - transport. Most electrons are magnetized by the weak magnetic field and lost along the field line. As a result, more H - ions arrive instead of electrons in the region close to the plasma grid in order to ensure the plasma neutrality

Effective removal of cadmium ions from a simulated gastrointestinal fluid by Lentinus edodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Xin; Huang, Wen; Bian, Yinbing

2014-12-01

Lentinus edodes, a functional food, was evaluated as a potential antidote for adsorption/removal of cadmium ion from simulated gastrointestinal fluids. An adsorption/removal capacity of 65.12 mg/g was achieved by L. edodes in solutions with a pH ranging from 2.5 to 6.0, while little if any adsorption was observed in solutions with a pH under 2.5. In solutions with pH 6.0, 84% of the cadmium adsorption by L. edodes occurred in the first minute. Scanning electronic microscopic examination showed that the cell wall polysaccharides of L. edodes provided a rough sponge-like surface for effective cadmium adsorption. FTIR indicated that the carboxyl, hydroxyl and -NH groups of the cell wall polysaccharides and proteins were the primary functional groups that chemically bind with cadmium ions. The energy dispersive spectrometry further revealed that cation exchange might be attributed to cadmium biosorption. These results suggested that L. edodes was effective for cadmium detoxication, especially in low concentration.

A case of deep infection after instrumentation in dorsal spinal surgery: the management with antibiotics and negative wound pressure without removal of fixation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobran, Mauro; Mancini, Fabrizio; Nasi, Davide; Scerrati, Massimo

2017-07-28

Until today the role of spinal instrumentation in the presence of a wound infection has been widely discussed and recently many authors leave the hardware in place with appropriate antibiotic therapy. This is a case of a 65-year-old woman suffering from degenerative scoliosis and osteoporotic multiple vertebral collapses treated with posterior dorsolumbar stabilisation with screws and rods. Four months later, skin necrosis and infection appeared in the cranial wound with exposure of the rods. A surgical procedure of debridement of the infected tissue and package with a myocutaneous trapezius muscle flap was performed. One week after surgery, negative pressure wound therapy was started on the residual skin defect. The wound healed after 2 months. The aim of this case report is to focus on the utility of this method even in the case of hardware exposure and infection. This may help avoid removing instrumentation and creating instability. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

COMT Val(108/158)Met polymorphism effects on emotional brain function and negativity bias.

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Williams, Leanne M; Gatt, Justine M; Grieve, Stuart M; Dobson-Stone, Carol; Paul, Robert H; Gordon, Evian; Schofield, Peter R

2010-11-15

Biases toward processing negative versus positive information vary as a function of level of awareness, and are modulated by monoamines. Excessive biases are associated with individual differences in mood and emotional stability, and emotional disorder. Here, we examined the impact of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(108/158)Met polymorphism, involved in dopamine and norepinephrine catabolism, on both emotional brain function and self-reported negativity bias. COMT genotyping and self-reported level of negativity bias were completed for 46 healthy participants taking part in the Brain Resource International Database. Functional MRI was undertaken during perception of facial expressions of fear and happiness presented under unmasked (consciously identified) and masked (to prevent conscious detection) conditions. Structural MR images were also acquired. A greater number of COMT Met alleles predicted increased activation in brainstem, amygdala, basal ganglia and medial prefrontal regions for conscious fear, but decreased activation for conscious happiness. This pattern was also apparent for brainstem activation for the masked condition. Effects were most apparent for females. These differences could not be explained by gray matter variations. The Met-related profile of activation, particularly prefrontally, predicted greater negativity bias associated with risk for emotional disorder. The findings suggest that the COMT Met allele modulates neural substrates of negative versus positive emotion processing. This effect may contribute to negativity biases, which confer susceptibility for emotional disorders. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of co-existing copper and calcium on the removal of As(V) by reused aluminum oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J K; Park, Y J; Kim, K H; Lee, H Y; Min, K C; Lee, S M

2013-01-01

Among the various heavy metals, arsenic is frequently found in abandoned mine drainage and the environmental fate of arsenic in real aqueous solutions can be highly dependent on the presence of co-existing ions. In this study, removal of arsenate through adsorption on the reused aluminum oxide or through precipitation was investigated in a single and in a binary system as a function of pH and concentration. Different removal behaviors of arsenate were observed in the presence of different cations as well as a variation of the molar ratios of arsenate to cations. Co-operative effects on arsenate removal by precipitation in solution occurred with an increase of copper concentration, while a decrease of arsenate removal resulted in increasing calcium concentration. It was observed that the arsenate removal in the presence of calcium would be highly dependent on the molar ratios of both elements.

Effects of Blood-cooling and Stasis-removing Formula on Hemorheology in Rats with Acute Blood Stasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Songyi Ning

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the effects of blood-cooling and stasis-removing formula on hemorheology in rats with acute blood stasis induced by mutifactor stimuli. Methods: The selected SD rats orally took blood-cooling and stasis-removing granule for six days, then the model of acute blood stasis was prepared on the fifth day by injection of epinephrine combined with ice-water bath. The variations of blood-cooling and stasis-removing granule on hemorheology were detected. Results: The high-dose group of blood-cooling and stasis-removing formula can decrease plasma viscosity in rats with acute blood stasis, and obviously reduce the blood viscosity under the condition of shear rates (200s-1, 30s-1, 5s-1, 1s-1 (P < 0.01, P < 0.05. The middle-dose group can decrease the blood viscosity under the condition of shear rate (30s-1 (P < 0.05. Conclusion: Blood-cooling and stasis-removing formula can improve abnormal hemorheology in rats with acute blood stasis.

Quantifying the effectiveness of shoreline armoring removal on coastal biota of Puget Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Timothy S; Toft, Jason D; Cordell, Jeffery R; Dethier, Megan N; Adams, Jeffrey W; Kelly, Ryan P

2018-01-01

Shoreline armoring is prevalent around the world with unprecedented human population growth and urbanization along coastal habitats. Armoring structures, such as riprap and bulkheads, that are built to prevent beach erosion and protect coastal infrastructure from storms and flooding can cause deterioration of habitats for migratory fish species, disrupt aquatic-terrestrial connectivity, and reduce overall coastal ecosystem health. Relative to armored shorelines, natural shorelines retain valuable habitats for macroinvertebrates and other coastal biota. One question is whether the impacts of armoring are reversible, allowing restoration via armoring removal and related actions of sediment nourishment and replanting of native riparian vegetation. Armoring removal is targeted as a viable option for restoring some habitat functions, but few assessments of coastal biota response exist. Here, we use opportunistic sampling of pre- and post-restoration data for five biotic measures (wrack % cover, saltmarsh % cover, number of logs, and macroinvertebrate abundance and richness) from a set of six restored sites in Puget Sound, WA, USA. This broad suite of ecosystem metrics responded strongly and positively to armor removal, and these results were evident after less than one year. Restoration responses remained positive and statistically significant across different shoreline elevations and temporal trajectories. This analysis shows that removing shoreline armoring is effective for restoration projects aimed at improving the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems, and these results may be widely applicable.

Quantifying the effectiveness of shoreline armoring removal on coastal biota of Puget Sound