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Abstract Background Osteoporosis has been associated with several disorders; however, there have been only a limited number of reports on heroin-induced osteoporosis. We report a rare case presented with bilateral femoral neck insufficiency fractures without trauma history, caused by heroin-induced osteoporosis. We collect sufficient clinical data and further shed light on the potential mechanism of how heroin affects bone formation and decreases bone density. Case presentation A 55-year-old male patient with normal body mass index (BMI) suffered from bilateral hips pain gradually without trauma history. He had intravenous heroin addiction for more than 30 years. Radiography revealed bilateral femoral neck insufficiency fractures. Laboratory tests showed elevated alkaline phosphatase levels (365 U/L) and decreased inorganic phosphate (1.7 mg/dL), calcium (8.3 mg/dL), 25-(OH)D3 (20.3 ng/ml) and testosterone levels (2.12 ng/ml). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed increased signals on STIR images over the sacral ala and bilateral proximal femur, and multiple band-like lesions at the vertebrae of the thoracic and lumbar spine. Bone densitometry revealed osteoporosis with a T score of minus 4.0. The screen for urine morphine was positive (> 1000 ng/ml). Through assessment of the patient, the diagnosis was insufficiency fractures of bilateral femoral neck caused by opioid-induced osteoporosis. After hemiarthroplasty, regular medication with vitamin D3 and calcium, and detoxification treatment, and the patient recovered well after 6 months of follow-up. Conclusion The aim of this report is to highlight the laboratory and radiology findings in a case of osteoporosis caused by opioid addiction and discuss the potential pathway by which osteoporosis is induced by opioids. When an unusual osteoporosis presents with insufficiency fractures, heroin-induced osteoporosis should be considered.

Patients bitten by Naja atra who are treated with bivalent freeze-dried neurotoxic antivenom in Taiwan have an improved survival rate but develop necrotic wound changes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested using the minimum necrotizing dose (MND) of venom as a method of evaluating the neutralization effect of antivenom. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of antivenom for the prevention of necrosis based on the MND and clarify which component of the venom of N. atra induces necrosis. The neurotoxins (NTXs) were removed from the crude venom (deNTXs), and different concentrations of deNTXs were injected intradermally into the dorsal skin of mice. After three days, the necrotic lesion diameter was found to be approximately 5 mm, and the MND was calculated. A reduction in the necrotic diameter of 50% was used to identify the MND50. Furthermore, both phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and cytotoxins (CTXs) were separately removed from the deNTXs to identify the major necrosis-inducing factor, and the necrotic lesions were scored. All mice injected with deNTXs survived for three days and developed necrotic wounds. The MND of the deNTXs for mice was 0.494 ± 0.029 µg/g, that of the deNTXs-dePLA2 (major component retained: CTXs) was 0.294 ± 0.05 µg/g, and that of the deNTX-deCTX (major component retained: PLA2) venom was greater than 1.25 µg/g. These values show that CTX is the major factor inducing necrosis. These results suggest that the use of the deNTXs is necessary to enable the mice to survive long enough to develop venom-induced cytolytic effects. CTXs play a major role in N. atra-related necrosis. However, the MND50 could not be identified in this study, which meant that the antivenom did not neutralize venom-induced necrosis.

Electrocoagulation (EC) using metallic aluminum as anode and cathode for boron removal from solution was studied. The electrolytic parameters included pH, current density, and initial boron concentration for optimizing the EC process. Experimental results showed that removal efficiency was increased by elevating pH from 4.0 to 8.0, and then decreased at higher pH. The electrolytic efficacy was increased with increasing current density from 1.25 to 5.0 mA cm−2. With respect of energy consumption, 2.5 mA cm−2 of current density was acceptable for an effective EC of boron, while increasing boric acid from 10 to 100 ppm-B did not impair removal efficiency. NaCl as a supporting electrolyte promoted more anodic dissolution of aluminum from the electrode surface than that predicted by the Faraday's law. The optimal conditions under which 95% of boron was removed and less than 5 ppm-B remained in the electrolyte would be pH 8, four pairs of electrodes, and 2.5 mA cm−2 in 180 min as treating wastewaters containing 10–100 ppm-B. X-ray powder diffractometer and scanning electron microscope were used and results suggested that the irregular crystallites of hydroxide precipitates were composed of bayerite and boehmite phases simultaneously.

Graphite electrodes incorporated with multi-metal oxides (Pt, Pd, Ru, Cu, Ni and Co) were prepared by electrodeless deposition technique using NaBH4 as the reductant. The electrodes so prepared were characterized with SEM, EDS, XRD, and XPS. Electrochlorination was carried out using Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the model microorganism. Results showed that the metal oxides significantly improved the efficiency of chlorine generation. The rate constant of chlorine generation increased in the order: PtNiCo/G > RuNiCo/G > NiCo/G > PdNiCo/G > CuNiCo/G > graphite (G). Pt-, Ni-, and Co-oxides were formed on the PtNiCo/G electrode surface, which contributed to the generation of high chlorine concentration at high current efficiency and low energy consumption. Cyclic votammetry (CV) analysis of the PtNiCo/G electrode showed that the chlorine evolution potential was lower than the oxygen evolution potential. The PtNiCo/G electrode had a high chlorine evolution potential due to the presence of Co(II) and Co(III) on the electrode surface and the unique morphology that brought about active surface sites. An E. coli killing efficiency of 5.2-log could be achieved over a contact time of around 10 min on the PtNiCo/G electrode in the presence of NaCl at a dilute concentration of 0.01 M NaCl and a constant current density of 10 mA cm−2.

Objective: Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment Background: An ipsilateral fracture of the midshaft clavicle with dislocation of the acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) is a rare combination injury and almost always occurs following high-energy trauma. Currently, there is no optimal surgical approach for this kind of rare injury. We present a 60-year-old man with a traumatic combined linear midshaft clavicle fracture and ACJ injury simultaneously treated with Knowles pin fixation. Case Report: A 60-year-old male patient presented a linear midshaft clavicle fracture in the emergency room (ER) due to a road traffic accident. A linear fracture progressed to a displaced fracture at followup in the outpatient orthopedic department 3 days later. After open reduction with Knowles pin fixation for displaced clavicle fracture, postoperative followup radiographs revealed unexpected ipsilateral type V ACJ dislocation according to Rockwood classification. The next day, a closed reduction with percutaneous Knowles pin fixation was performed for ACJ dislocation. At the 1-year followup, radiographic and clinical results demonstrated complete union of the clavicle fracture and anatomic reduction of the ACJ with painless and full range of motion. Conclusions: This report highlights that even a linear midshaft clavicle fracture can be combined with ipsilateral ACJ dislocation if the traumatic injury was caused by a high-energy road traffic accident. Therefore, an intraoperative stress view of the injured shoulder is recommended to recheck the stability of the ACJ after the clavicle fracture fixation to prevent a missed ACJ injury. In our case, an excellent outcome was achieved by using Knowles pin fixation simultaneously to treat the dual shoulder injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A manganese immobilization technology in a fluidized-bed reactor (FBR) was developed by using a waste iron oxide (i.e., BT-3) as catalyst which is a by-product from the fluidized-bed Fenton reaction (FBR-Fenton). It was found that BT-3 could easily reduce potassium permanganate (KMnO4) to MnO2. Furthermore, MnO2 could accumulate on the surface of BT-3 catalyst to form a new Fe-Mn oxide. Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the KMnO4-reduction mechanism, including the effect of KMnO4 concentration, BT-3 dosage, and operational solution pH. The results showed that the pH solution was a significant factor in the reduction of KMnO4. At the optimum level, pHf 6, KMnO4 was virtually reduced in 10 min. A pseudo-first order reaction was employed to describe the reduction rate of KMnO4.

Chemical oxo-precipitation (COP), which combines treatment with an oxidant and precipitation using metal salts, was developed for treating boron-containing water under milder conditions (room temperature, pH 10) than those of conventional coagulation processes. The concentration of boron compounds was 1000 mg-B L-1. They included boric acid (H3BO3) and perborate (NaBO3). Precipitation using calcium chloride eliminated 80% of the boron from the perborate solution, but was unable to treat boric acid. COP uses hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to pretreat boric acid, substantially increasing the removal of boron from boric acid solution by chemical precipitation from less than 5% to 80%. Furthermore, of alkaline earth metals, barium ions are the most efficient precipitant, and can increase the 80% boron removal to 98.5% at [H2O2]/[B] and [Ba]/[B] molar ratios of 2 and 1, respectively. The residual boron in the end water of COP contained 15 ppm-B: this value cannot be achieved using conventional coagulation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxylic acids are the main byproducts in effluents after treating source pollutants with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). This work developed a feasible electrochemical method for mineralizing oxalic acid and citric acid (50 ppm, pHi = 3). A reactor was mounted with Ru02/Ir02 coated Ti-DSA electrodes (titanium dimensional stable anode). The selected chloride electrolytes (NaCi, MgCl2 and MnCl2, [Cl-] = 20 mM) mineralized completely oxalic acid through the production of active chlorine. However, the highest total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency was obtained using MnCl2 and was aided by the Mn02 deposited electrochemically on the anode. In the chlorine-free electrolysis process, the performance in terms of TOC removal of the Ti-DSA electrodes that had MnOi on the anode depended on the electrical conditions. Without electricity, MnO2 directly mineralized oxalic acid; with electricity, TOC removal from the citric acid solution improved substantially. The changes in the Mn2+ concentration suggest that Mn02 dissolved by organic compounds could be recovered and reused through formation of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneous oxidation of azo dye Reactive Black B (RBB) by the photo-Fenton system catalyzed with an immobilized iron oxide, Bl (supported with SiO2 grain), was investigated. Reactive Black B oxidation was carried out in an expended-bed reactor in which the effect of B1 dosage on the decolorization and degradation of RBB was examined. Through pseudo-first-order kinetic studies, decolorization was found to be faster than degradation with a fixed rate constant ratio. By determining the iron dissolution from B1, RBB oxidation was supposed to mainly occur on the B1 surface, which, catalyzed the generation of hydroxyl radicals in the photo-Fenton reaction. Accordingly, the efficiency of photo-Fenton could reach 100% and 91.2% of decolorization and degradation, respectively, in 300 minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to remove organic compounds from real wastewater which was from Sustainable Environment Research Center in Taiwan. In this study wastewater was treated by semi batch Electro-Fenton method (EF) and semi batch Photo-Electro-Fenton method (PEF). The volume of wastewater in each run was 4 L, and total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 16500 and 24000 mg L-1, respectively. In the EF system, four pairs of electrodes were used. The ferrous ions are produced by reduction of ferric ions on the cathode which would react with H2O2 to generate hydroxyl radicals (•OH). Moreover, in the PEF system, 4 UV lights (λ = 365 nm) were applied. The solution was treated under EF conditions and simultaneously irradiated with UVA lights to accelerate the mineralization rate of organics via photo-Fenton process. The optimum conditions ([Fe2+] = 2000 mg L-1, H2O2 (50 wt%) dosing rate = 6 mL min-1, pH = 2, and I = 20 A in 420 min of the reaction time) of semi batch EF method and semi batch PEF method could reach a maximum TOC removal of 98 and 99%, respectively. The cyclically electro-generated Fe(II) could efficiently react with H2O2 to prolong the production of hydroxyl radical, and therefore prevent the H2O2 from overflow in EF and PEF. The experimental results showed that the combination of electricity and UV irradiation was an excellent process for treatment of real wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel pollution is usually caused by several industrial processes such as electroplating, plastics manufacturing, nickel-cadmium batteries, fertilizers, pigments, mining and metallurgy. The development of the effective and inexpensive methods is necessary for the removal and/or recovery of nickel. In this work, the electro-treatment of a high strength industrial lead frame nickel-plating wastewater ([Ni] = 1,600 mg/L) was studied through a newly designed electrodeposition reactor. The electrolyte was circulated rapidly past the anode and cathode at a higher flow rate, allowing for improvements in efficiency and recovery, and nickel electrodeposition on the surface of cathode. The results showed that increasing boric acid concentration could increase the efficiency of nickel removal. The pH decreased during the electro-treatment was due to the production of H+ on the cathode surface. Therefore, the optimum pH periodically controlled was found to be 2.9±0.2, and the lower current density was accompanied with the higher current efficiency. This study successfully proposed a newly designed reactor to recover 99.9% nickel from simulated wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the two novel technologies "calcium phosphate fluidized-bed crystallization (FBC) process" and "adsorption" which used an amorphous iron oxide BT-1 as the adsorbent for treating an industrial wastewater with high concentration of phosphate (1,000 mg P L-1). In the adsorption process, most of phosphorus was adsorbed rapidly initially and then reached the thermodynamics equilibrium in 24 h. The phosphate adsorptive capacity of BT-1 was 2.03 mmole/g when the Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. equilibrium concentration was conditioned at 8.23 mM. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir and Temkin adsorption isotherm. In the FBC process, the optimum pH range was wider (pH > 5.3) for the total removal of phosphate than that for crystallization (optimum pH = 5.3-5.9). The total removal efficiency and crystallization ratio of phosphate were about 90% and 60%, respectively, in the optimum pH range. The EDS analysis showed that the Ca-P crystal products had an approximate 1:1:6 molar ratio of Ca:P:O. The XRD diagrams confirmed the crystal type of FBC product in a highly phosphate concentrated system was diacalcium phosphate dehydrate (CaHPO4 ⋅ 2H2O, DCPD), which was different from the general calcium phosphate crystal content, hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH, HAP), produced by FBC process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]