Dillardwarner4646

This work reports the influence of ultrasound alone and combined with ozone for the treatment of real abattoir wastewater. Three different frequencies were studied (44, 300 and 1000 kHz) at an applied power of 40 W. The injected ozone dose was fixed at 71 mg/L and the treatment time varied from 1 to 60 min. Using ultrasound alone, 300 kHz was the only frequency showing a reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD, 18% reduction) and biological oxygen demand (BOD, 50% reduction), while no diminution in microbial content was measured for any of the frequencies studied. Combining ultrasound with ozone, on the contrary, led to a significant decrease in COD (44%) and BOD (78%) removal for the three frequencies under study. A complete inactivation of total coliforms (TC) was obtained, as well as a final value of 99 CFU/mL in total viable counts (TVC, 5 log reduction). That is, the ozonation-sonication combined system was the only treatment method (compared to sonication and ozonation alone) reaching direct discharge limits, as well as meeting drinking water standards for microbial disinfection (TC and TVC). Limited literature is available concerning the phenolic biosynthesis and antioxidative potential of common bean sprouts induced by ultrasound elicitation. In this study, common bean seeds were treated with ultrasound at different power (0, 180 and 360 W) and time (0, 30, 45 and 60 min) levels, before they were subjected to sprouting (24, 48, 72 and 96 h). Stress markers (H2O2, catalase and guaiacol peroxidase), activities of defense phenolic triggering enzymes (phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and tyrosine ammonia-lyase), phenolic contents (total phenolic acids, total flavonoids and anthocyanins) and antioxidant capacities (DPPH, ABTS and Fe2+ scavenging) were monitored. Results showed that, ultrasound elicitation (especially 360 W, 60 min) significantly increased accumulation of stress markers at 96 h of sprouting, leading to elevated activities of defense phenolic triggering enzymes, and final accumulation of phenolics and antioxidant capacities at significant levels compared to control. Ultrasound treatment at 360 W and 60 min reduced sprouting time by 60 h, compared to control. Results from principal component analysis clearly differentiated latter stages of sprouting and high ultrasound levels from other sprouting conditions as distinct treatments for the production of phenolic-rich common bean sprouts. Overall, results from this study indicated that elicitation with ultrasound can be a green and novel approach for producing phenolic-enriched common bean sprouts as an organic nutraceutical vegetable. Anticoagulants are the main drugs for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolism. However, most of the present anticoagulants have shortcomings and novel anticoagulants are in great demand. Marine microorganisms are an important source of new drugs. Therefore, in this study, ultrasound was applied to enhance anticoagulant accumulation by marine Bacillus subtilis ZHX. Ultrasound parameters were optimized by single-factor experiments exploring the effects of ultrasound power, duration, duty cycle and the cell growth phases. The optimum conditions were exponential prophase (5 h) with 25 kHz frequency, 140 W power, and a 40% duty cycle for 5 min. The maximum anticoagulant activity (55.36 U/mL) was 1.73 times that of the control group, and the fermentation time was shortened by 3 h. Under optimal conditions, ultrasound increased the carbon utilization by Bacillus subtilis ZHX without significant changes in morphology, favoring cell growth and anticoagulant production. However, excessive ultrasound caused intracellular damage, which inhibited biomass accumulation, decreasing anticoagulant activity and even leading to cell rupture. This is the first report on the use of ultrasound to enhance anticoagulant production by Bacillus, and it provides useful information for scaling-up the process. BACKGROUND Historically, cannabis researchers have assumed a single mode and product of cannabis (e.g., smoking plant). However, patterns of use, products (e.g., concentrates, edibles), and modes (e.g. blunts, vaporizers) are diversifying. This study sought to 1) classify cannabis users into groups based on their use of the full range of cannabis products, and 2) examine user group differences on demographics, cannabis consequences and cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptomatology. METHODS In a sample of college students (data collected in Fall 2017), who used cannabis in the past year (N = 1390), latent class analysis (LCA) was used to characterize cannabis users. We then added demographic characteristics, cannabis consequences, and CUD symptomatology scores separately to LCA models to examine class differences. RESULTS Five unique classes emerged high-frequency all-product users, high-frequency plant/moderate-frequency edible and concentrate users, low-frequency plant users, moderate-frequency plant and edible users, and low-frequency edible users. Demographic characteristics, cannabis consequences, and CUD symptomatology differed across classes characterized by frequency as well as product. CONCLUSIONS Results reflect the increasing variety of cannabis products, modes, and use patterns among college students. In this sample, frequency of use remains a strong predictor of cannabis-related consequences, in addition to type of product. As variation in cannabis use patterns continue to evolve, it is essential for researchers to conduct comprehensive assessments. BACKGROUND Information is limited on the prevalence of hazardous drinking and associated covariates among sexual and gender minority (SGM) persons. These analyses estimated the prevalence of hazardous drinking and identified associated covariates. METHODS A total of 1273 SGM adolescents and adults living in Texas completed an online survey between March 2016 and January 2017. Variables associated with hazardous drinking at the bivariate-level (p  less then  0.10) were entered into multiple logistic regression models to estimate the strength of their association. RESULTS More than a third (39.1%) of participants meet criteria for hazardous drinking. Compared to non-hazardous drinkers, hazardous drinkers were younger (x- = 20.7 [SD = 8.9] vs. x- = 26.5 [SD = 13.8]) and more likely to be Hispanic (41.5% vs. 26.2%). Hazardous drinkers were more likely to report using substances in past 12 months, including opioids (15.3% vs. 6.7%), stimulants (26.3% vs. 12.7%), and marijuana (37.6% vs. 21.2%). More hazardous drinkers reported injecting drugs (12.3% vs. 5.8%) and having a history of incarceration (14.1% vs. selleck products 7.3%). They were less likely to be diagnosed with depression (50.2% vs. 56.5%). When entered into a multivariate logistic regression model, hazardous drinkers were more likely to be younger (aOR = 0.97 [0.95, 0.98]), Hispanic (aOR = 1.5 [1.2, 2.0]), have a history of incarceration (aOR = 2.4 [1.5, 3.6]), and use a substance, not including marijuana (aOR = 1.7 [1.3, 2.3]). They were less likely to be diagnosed with depression (aOR = 0.73 [0.6, 0.9]). CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the intersection of race and ethnicity, mental health, criminal justice involvement, and substance use and the need for tailored interventions that address underlying determinants. A common pattern of problematic alcohol consumption among emerging adults consists of little to no drinking during the week, with heavy drinking episodes on the weekend. However, little is known about whether brief alcohol interventions exert impact on decreasing weekend drinking escalations or simply overall consumption throughout the week. A recent randomized controlled trial of heavy drinking emerging adult nonstudents (N = 164) demonstrated the efficacy of a personalized feedback intervention (PFI). Specifically, the PFI was associated with reduced overall alcohol consumption relative to assessment-only controls. However, it is not clear if patterns of weekend drinking escalation may have been disrupted by the intervention. The current study was a follow-up analysis of the parent trial. Using retrospective daily drinking data provided at each timepoint (up to 9-months), data were coded to reflect condition, time (coded to capture initial changes post-intervention as well as long-term maintenance), and day of the week (coded to capture weekend versus weekday). A multilevel negative binomial hurdle analysis was conducted, yielding two sets of results 1) predicting the probability of a non-drinking day, and 2) predicting number of drinks consumed. Although the three-way interaction was not significant, 2 two-way interactions indicated that weekend increases in drinking were less steep over time for both groups, and less steep for PFI participants. In addition, the higher weekend likelihood of drinking was decreased over time for both groups. Steep weekend increases in drinking were disrupted over time, particularly among PFI recipients. Personalized feedback may be effective at helping nonstudent emerging adults avoid high risk drinking situations. Medical treatment of certain diseases and biomedical implants are tending to use delivery systems on the nanoscale basis for biologically active factors including drugs (e. g. antibiotics) or growth factors. Nanoparticles are a useful tool to deliver bioactive substances of different chemical nature directly to the site where it is required in the patient. Here we developed three innovative delivery systems based on different polysaccharides in order to induce a sustained release of TGF-β3 to mediate chondrogenesis of human mesenchymal stromal cells. We were able to encapsulate the protein into nanoparticles and subsequently release TGF-β3 from these particles. The protein was still active and was able to induce chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells. Drug distribution in polymer dissolvable microneedles (MNs) is essential for enhancing the efficiency of drug delivery. In the present work, multiscale simulation was applied to study the interactions between polymer and drug molecules, which may influence the drug distribution in the MNs. In this study, Hyaluronic acid (HA) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used to fabricate the MNs and sulfonhodamine B (SRB) was selected as the model drug. Firstly, from the quantum chemical calculations, the global electronegativity of HA (3.786 eV) is stronger than that of PVA (2.435 eV), which means that HA owns stronger electronegativity. The Flory-Huggins parameter of HA-SRB is -1.16 which is lower than that of PVA-SRB (53.51), indicating that HA has better compatibility with SRB molecules than PVA. From molecular dynamic simulations, the binding energy of HA-SRB is 93.52 kcal/mol which is much higher than that of PVA-SRB (-2.40 kcal/mol), meaning that HA is easier than PVA to combined with SRB. The mesoscale-based dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations were applied to visualize the diffusion behavior of SRB and the swelling properties of the polymers. All the results indicated that SRB has a lower diffusion coefficient in PVA solution than that in HA solution, which may prevent the diffusion of drug from MN tips to the bases, facilitating the fabrication of MNs with drug concentrated MN tips. Finally, the SRB loaded PVA and HA MNs were prepared and the experimental results are consisted with the simulation results. V.