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Cadmium (Cd) removal from soil is crucial as Cd enters the food chain and affect food safety, thus impose severe threaten to human health. We developed PPC@PC-Fe, a dual-functional core-shell sphere for efficient soil Cd reduction. The shell (PPC) was composed of encapsulated citric acid (CA) in a polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) network, which endows a function of activating Cd; and the core (PC-Fe) consisted of a polyacrylic acid/carboxymethyl chitosan (PAA/CMC) hydrogel with Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles to adsorb adjacent activated Cd. Upon water contact, the shell dissolved, releasing CA to activate soil Cd. Simultaneously, the swellable PC-Fe core absorbed water and expanded in size, promoting the disintegration of PLA in the shell, which triggered the automatic separation of core from shell, enabling the exposed PC-Fe core to rapidly adsorb Cd. Furthermore, the PC-Fe core can be magnetically removed after adsorption of Cd. Soil culture tests showed that 2 % PPC@PC-Fe reduced soil Cd from 6.009 mg/kg to 4.834 mg/kg in 10 days, with the acid-soluble Cd being the predominantly target to be activated and remove. This study demonstrates an effective stepwise activation and adsorption mechanism by a single carrier, with simple magnetic collection minimizing secondary pollution. It offers an innovative approach to the remediation of cadmium-contaminated sites in the field. • A core-shell self-separated sphere (PPC@PC-Fe) has been synthesized for soil Cd removal. • The PPC@PC-Fe has can activate and adsorb Cd successively in the flooded soil. • The prior activation treatment can significantly increase the Cd removal rates in the soil. • Soil Cd decreased from 6.009 to 4.834 mg/kg with 2 % PPC@PC-Fe treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The orientation of liquid crystal changes when the phosphoryl group of DMMP binds to Cu2+. • The detection system is simpler because the crossed polarizers and the imaging lens are removed. • Quantitative determination of DMMP concentrations by calculating the correlation coefficients of speckle images. A new method is reported for determining the concentration of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) vapor based on the capture of laser speckles from a liquid crystal (LC) sensor. The sensor comprises a film of the nematic LC, 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl, anchored to a carboxy-terminated self-assembled monolayer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid via interaction with copper ions. A linearly polarized laser beam is transmitted through the sensor and irradiated onto a rough diffuser. A charge-coupled device camera is used to capture speckle images from the LC sensor and calculate the correlation coefficient. DMMP vapor is selectively detected over a 500 ppb to 5 ppm concentration range, demonstrating the feasibility of the method for determining vapor phase concentrations of organophosphorus compounds. Compared with previous methods that use a polarizing optical microscope to image the LC film, our approach does not require complex instrumentation and reduces the size, complexity, and cost of the detection system. The detection methodology described in this study provides new ideas for LC-based sensing of organophosphorus vapors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this paper is to evaluate the perioperative outcomes of major hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) in patients with cirrhosis. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative findings in 42 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and in 102 patients with normal livers who underwent major hepatectomy for ICC. Results: Preoperative liver function was worse in patients with cirrhosis compared to patients without cirrhosis. Cirrhotic patients had significantly higher intraoperative blood loss, longer operation time, and longer hospital stay than non-cirrhotic patients. However, the two groups had similar overall morbidity and hospital mortality rates and similar rates of liver failure or other complications. Their R0 resection rates, resection margin widths and disease-free survival rates were also similar. Conclusions: Major hepatectomy for ICC can be performed in selected cirrhotic patients with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates, as compared to patients without cirrhosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • High adsorption capacity to Pb(II) by strong soft-soft interaction and chelation. • Facile collection from wastewater by its excellent floatability and magnetism. • Huge potential material in wastewater treatment with high adsorption efficiency and easy recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The surgical outcome and prognostic factors of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma are not fully understood. This study aimed to establish the clinical significance of cirrhosis for prognosis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after surgery.Methods: One hundred fifteen patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection between December 2001 and January 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. The prognostic significance of clinicopathologic factors including cirrhosis was assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: Thirty-two of the 115 patients (28%) had liver cirrhosis. Complete tumor removal (R0 resection) was performed in 42 patients (75%). Overall median survival time was 21 months, with 1-, 3-, and 5-year actuarial survival rates of 68%, 27%, and 17%, respectively. There was a significant difference in survival between patients with cirrhosis and those without cirrhosis (P = 0.027). Univariate analysis showed that cirrhosis, vascular invasion, hepatic duct invasion, lymph node metastasis, positive surgical margin (R1), and TNM stage were significantly associated with poor survival. Multivariate analysis showed that cirrhosis, positive surgical margin, and lymph node metastases were related to survival, with hazard ratios of 2.49, 3.53, and 4.16, respectively.Conclusions: Cirrhosis is an independent factor for poor prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to compare two contrast agent injection times during the Valsalva manoeuvre (VM) for the diagnosis of right-to-left shunt using contrast-transcranial Doppler (c-TCD). In total, 992 consecutive patients underwent testing. All patients underwent step 1, and then a coin toss was used to determine the order of steps 2 and 3. The following testing steps were repeated twice: (1) a contrast agent (CA) was infused at rest (CA at rest testing); (2) the VM was initiated immediately after CA injection and released 10 s after CA injection (CA pre-VM testing); and (3) a CA was injected 5 s after initiating the VM, which was released 5 s after CA injection (CA mid-VM testing). For the CA at rest, pre-VM and mid-VM groups, significant differences were observed in the positive right-to-left shunt diagnosis rates (11.49% vs. 23.08% vs. 26.11%, respectively, with an inter-group significance of p < 0.05) and grade classifications (p < 0.05). Although the times to first microbubble appearance were similar between the CA at rest and the CA pre-VM groups (8.96 ± 3.40 s vs. 8.42 ± 3.72 s, p > 0.05), it was shorter (6.4 ± 2.75 s, p < 0.05) for the CA mid-VM group than for the other two groups. For the c-TCD testing, the CA mid-VM group yielded different results for diagnosing right-to-left shunts relative to the CA pre-VM group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]