Elemental sulfur recommendation for pH reduction in soils from Southern Brazil

ABSTRACT The elemental sulfur (S0) application may reduce soil pH, benefiting plants adapted to acid conditions and lessening problems of overliming. Nevertheless, there is no official recommendation for its application. The objective of the study was to quantify the S0 doses required to reduce the pH of soils from Southern Brazil. The experiment was carried out in the laboratory in a factorial scheme (5 × 5), with a completely randomized design and three replicates. The treatments consisted of five soils, and five doses of S0, corresponding to 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200% of the estimated dose need to reach pH 4.0. The applied doses of S0 resulted in reduction of pH and base saturation (V%) and increase of potential acidity (H + Al). These effects, however, were reduced due to the low rate of oxidation of the S0 applied (0.76-3.36%). The soil variables correlated with S0 oxidation were Mg2+ (0.86***), Al3+ (-0.82***), H + Al (-0.89***), V% (0.68***) and aluminum saturation (m%) (-0.87***). In the evaluated soils the oxidation of 50 kg ha-1 of S0 was required to reduce one unit of pH in H2O.

Newborn Skin Care is the Basis for Prevention of Atopic Dermatitis Development

Healthy newborn skin care is challenging task. The basic principles of care should be taught to both medical staff and parents. This care is more crucial in children with atopic dermatitis who have abnormal skin acidity due to multifactorial exposure. Significant pH reduction leads to aggravation of the skin process that requires active therapeutic measures. The article presents guidelines for the first infant's skin cleaning, for conducting first and daily bathing, for using cleansing agents and daily care solutions to prevent skin acidity disorders and the development of atopic dermatitis.

Suppression of Alkalization in Rainwater Regulating Reservoir by Shading on a Pilot Scale

As water in a rainwater regulating reservoir at the Sankyo landfill site in Nagasaki City tends to be alkalized and to exceed the pH upper limit of 7.5, measures to suppress the alkalization should be implemented. Inhibiting photosynthesis in algae is required to suppress the alkalization. Shading is one of the methods for inhibiting algal photosynthesis. In this study, we evaluated the pH reduction effect of shading on a pilot scale. pH decreased from 7.28 to 7.15 when 3% of the total area of the rainwater regulating reservoir was shaded. In addition, a clear decrease in pH was observed with more than 60% shading.

Fabrication of pH/Reduction Sensitive Polyethylene Glycol-Based Micelles for Enhanced Intracellular Drug Release

At present, the drug is still difficult to release completely and quickly only with single stimulation. In order to promote the rapid release of polymeric micelles at tumor site, pH/reduction sensitive polymers (PCT) containing disulfide bonds and orthoester groups were synthesized. The PCT polymers can self-assemble in water and entrap doxorubicin to form drug-loaded micelles (DOX/PCT). In an in vitro drug release experiment, the cumulative release of DOX/PCT micelles in the simulated tumor microenvironment (pH 5.0 with GSH) reached (89.7 ± 11.7)% at 72 h, while it was only (16.7 ± 6.1)% in the normal physiological environment (pH 7.4 without GSH). In addition, pH sensitive DOX loaded micellar system (DOX/PAT) was prepared as a control. Furthermore, compared with DOX/PAT micelles, DOX/PCT micelles showed the stronger cytotoxicity against tumor cells to achieve an effective antitumor effect. After being internalized by clathrin/caveolin-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis, DOX/PCT micelles were depolymerized in intercellular acidic and a reductive environment to release DOX rapidly to kill tumor cells. Additionally, DOX/PCT micelles had a better inhibitory effect on tumor growth than DOX/PAT micelles in in vivo antitumor activity studies. Therefore, pH/reduction dual sensitive PCT polymers have great potential to be used as repaid release nanocarriers for intercellular delivery of antitumor drugs.

Bioremediation of Vanki River Water & Industrial Effluents using Calotropis procera Latex Exudate and its Comparative Analysis against Moringa oleifera Leaves Extract

This study was carried out to check the effectiveness of Calotropis procera latex for bioremediation and to compare its efficacy with Moringa oleifera leaves extract. It was observed that considerable reduction in various physicochemical and bacteriological properties of the samples took place with Calotropis procera latex. After 1 hour of treatment itself, it carried out pH reduction of 11.11%, 30.00% and 12.50%, while Moringa oleifera leaves extract carried out 0.00%, 20.00% and 0.00% reduction and after 24 hours, turbidity was reduced to 90.00%, 61.87% and 65.36% with Calotropis procera latex and 75.00%, 60.43% and 32.03% with Moringa oleifera leaves extract for Vanki river water, Textile effluent and Paper & Pulp Industrial effluent, respectively. Vanki river water showed a reduction in TSS and TDS of 2000 mg/L and 34000 mg/L with Calotropis procera latex and 3000 mg/L and 46000 mg/L, respectively with Moringa oleifera leaves extract. With Calotropis procera latex, the COD and BOD values were 544 mg/L, 608 mg/L and 800 mg/L; and 0.04 mg/L, 0.240 mg/L and 0.012 mg/L for Vanki river water, Textile effluent and Paper & Pulp Industrial effluent, respectively. When treated with Moringa oleifera leaves extract, the COD values reduced to 864 mg/L, 800 mg/L and 896 mg/L and BOD values reduced to 0.004 mg/L, 0.251 mg/L and 0.022 mg/L, respectively. The total coliform count reduced to 130 MPN/100 ml, <1.8 MPN/100 ml and 7.8 MPN/100 ml for Vanki river water, Textile effluent and Paper & Pulp Industrial effluent, respectively after treatment with Calotropis procera latex. Thus, Calotropis procera showed better results in comparison with Moringa oleifera. So, it could be considered as the best alternative to prevent pollution.

A comparison of postoperative outcomes after open and laparoscopic reduction of Petersen's Hernia: a multicenter observational cohort study

Background The aim of this multicenter cohort study was to compare the clinical courses between open and laparoscopic Petersen’s hernia (PH) reduction. Method We retrospectively collected the clinical data of patients who underwent PH repair surgery after gastrectomy for gastric cancer from 2015–2018. Forty patients underwent PH reduction operations that were performed by six surgeons at four hospitals. Among the 40 patients, 15 underwent laparoscopic PH reduction (LPH), and 25 underwent open PH reduction (OPH), including 4 patients who underwent LPH but required conversion to OPH. Results We compared the clinical factors between the LPH and OPH groups. In the clinical course, we found no differences in operation times or intraoperative bowel injury, morbidity, or mortality rates between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, the number of days on a soft fluid diet (OPH vs. LPH; 5.8 vs. 3.7 days, p = 0.03) and length of hospital stay (12.6 vs. 8.2 days, p = 0.04) were significantly less in the LPH group than the OPH group. Regarding postoperative complications, the OPH group had a case of pneumonia and sepsis with multi-organ failure, which resulted in mortality. In the LPH group, one patient experienced recurrence and required reoperation for PH. Conclusion Laparoscopic PH reduction was associated with a faster postoperative recovery period than open PH reduction, with a similar incidence of complications. The laparoscopic approach should be considered an appropriate strategy for PH reduction in selected cases.