Proteins in extracellular polymeric substances play a vital role in adsorbing organic contaminants in biological wastewater treatment processes, but there is still lack of a fast and effective approach to monitor their interaction. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) was used to investigate the binding and viscoelastic properties of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on extracellular proteins from activated sludge by a two-step sequential deposition method. A saturated viscoelastic monolayer of proteins was formed on the crystal by injecting 500 mg L-1 extracellular proteins. Binding of CIP with the extracellular proteins film followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic equation and Langmuir model, with the maximum binding capacity of 172.4 mg g-1. The binding mass, energy dissipation, and reaction rate constant increased with increasing CIP concentration. A strong binding was obtained at pH 5, suggesting electrostatic interactions as the dominating binding mechanism. Cations inhibited CIP binding with extracellular proteins, probably due to cations competition. Two binding periods were distinguished according to the viscoelastic properties of CIP layer viscous binding in the initial period and elastic towards binding saturation. Results highlighted QCM-D as an effective and real-time technique to evaluate the role of extracellular proteins in contaminants removal.
  We evaluated the validity of the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) to screen for physical frailty and low physical performance in a nationwide community-dwelling Korean older population.
 
  We used baseline records of 3,010 ambulatory participants with TUG data from the Korean Frailty Aging Cohort Study from 2016 to 2017. The population-specific distribution of TUG was assessed. Physical frailty was defined as ≥3 positive items in the 5-item Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) frailty scale, and low physical performance was assessed as Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) scores ≤9 (ranging from 0 to 12).
 
  In men (n=1,429) and women (n=1,581), the mean TUG times were 10.3±2.7 seconds and 10.2±3.0 seconds, respectively. The cut-off TUG times for the worst quintile were 11.8 seconds in men and 12.5 seconds in women. The TUG time was correlated with both the CHS frailty scale score (standardized beta [B]=0.36, p<0.001) and SPPB total score (B=-0.22, p<0.001) in the linear regression analysis adjusted for age and sex. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the performance of TUG in identifying physical frailty, calculated as the area under the curve (AUC), was 0.87, while the AUC of TUG in identifying low physical performance according to SPPB was 0.86.
 
  In the Korean older population, TUG can be a simple measure to identify physical frailty and low physical performance so as to identify populations that may benefit from in-depth geriatric assessments.
 In the Korean older population, TUG can be a simple measure to identify physical frailty and low physical performance so as to identify populations that may benefit from in-depth geriatric assessments.The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative research study was to explore a nursing residency students' perception of clinical decision making and clinical judgment as evidenced through reflective journaling. Seven Registered Nurses completed a one year Baccalaureate Degree, while concurrently participating in a nursing residency. Reflective Journals focusing on clinical incidences during the residency were analyzed using the Tanner's Model of Clinical Judgement (2006). The residency experiences were noted as temporal in nature; with three phases evident; Beginning Residency, Thresholds in Nursing Residency and Homecoming in Nursing Residency. Eight themes were identified throughout the three phases. A nursing residency is an exceptional transformative pedagogical methodology for skill/knowledge acquisition allowing for a deeper engagement in enhanced confidence, self-analysis and progression to professional socialization. In addition, reflective journaling is a viable method for the self-analysis of clinical decision making through the experience of a nursing residency.Combined pollution in groundwater has become increasingly serious. Adding emulsified vegetable oil to an aquifer is an effective method to remediate multiple pollutants. However, the efficiency and threshold values for the remediation of groundwater contaminated by both nitrate and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) stimulated by emulsified vegetable oil remain unclear. In this study, emulsified vegetable oil was used for the first time to simultaneously remediate nitrate and Cr(VI) in groundwater. The results suggested that the addition of emulsified vegetable oil could effectively remediate nitrate and Cr(VI), and there were interplay effects between nitrate and Cr(VI). Nitrate promoted Cr(VI) removal, while Cr(VI) inhibited nitrate reduction. The remediation thresholds for nitrate and Cr(VI) alone were 1600 mg/L and 10 mg/L, respectively (emulsified vegetable oil = 7 g/L). For combined pollution, the remediation threshold values were 868.10 mg/L for nitrate and 12.43 mg/L for Cr(VI) (emulsified vegetable oil = 7 g/L). The dose of emulsified vegetable oil played an important role in the threshold value. When the concentration of emulsified vegetable oil was 10.8 g/L, the maximum threshold values were 1379.79 mg/L for nitrate and 12.67 mg/L for Cr(VI). When the pollutant concentration was below the threshold value, the contaminant could be completely removed.Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system, but its physiological functions in vertebrates are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that autophagy is required for inflation of air-filled organs zebrafish swim bladder and mouse lung. In wild-type zebrafish swim bladder and mouse lung type II pulmonary epithelial cells, autophagosomes are formed and frequently fuse with lamellar bodies. The lamellar body is a lysosome-related organelle that stores a phospholipid-containing surfactant complex that lines the air-liquid interface and reduces surface tension. We find that autophagy is critical for maturation of the lamellar body. Accordingly, atg-deficient zebrafish fail to maintain their position in the water, and type-II-pneumocyte-specific Fip200-deficient mice show neonatal lethality with respiratory failure. Autophagy suppression does not affect synthesis of the surfactant phospholipid, suggesting that autophagy supplies lipids and membranes to lamellar bodies.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/unc0379.html  These results demonstrate an evolutionarily conserved role of autophagy in lamellar body maturation.