Method A total of 423 consecutive consenting women attending the pregnancy and puerperal clinics at a university teaching hospital were interviewed using structured questionnaire.

Results The prevalence of previous contraceptive use was 35.5%. Fifty-four percent of the respondents intended to use contraceptives after delivery, though 3% were yet to decide. Condoms (38.3%) followed by intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) 11.5%, were the most preferred choice of postpartum contraceptives. However, spermicide (0.4%) was the least preferred. Advanced age and high parity significantly predicted intention

to use postpartum Angiogenesis inhibitor contraceptives (P = 0.02 and 0.01, respectively). Also high level of respondent’s education and family planning counseling by doctors and nurses increased the intention to use postpartum contraceptives (P = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively).

Conclusion Family planning counseling

and education play a vital role in increasing the use of contraceptives in the postpartum period.”
“Signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 (STAT3) has been implicated in cancer development and is recognized as a type of oncogene. However, association studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the STAT3 gene with cancer risk are rare and not available for lung cancer. We examined whether STAT3 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Eight SNPs in the STAT3 gene were genotyped by DMH1 inhibitor TaqMan assays in 326 NSCLC cases and 432 selleck kinase inhibitor controls in a Chinese population. Significant decreased risk of NSCLC was observed for carriers of minor alleles rs4796793 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.51-0.92), rs7211777 (OR = 0.67, 95%CI = 0.50-0.90), rs12949918 (OR = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.54-0.97), rs744166 (OR = 0.69, 95%CI = 0.51-0.92), rs9912773 (OR = 0.75, 95%CI = 0.55-0.98), and rs3869550 (OR = 0.70, 95%CI = 0.53-0.94). The GGCGGC haplotype, comprised of minor alleles of the six NSCLC-associated SNPs, had a 0.78-fold (95%CI = 0.62-0.97) significantly decreased

risk of NSCLC, as compared to the most common haplotype of CATACT. Stratification analyses by clinical stage showed that the trend for the association between STAT3 polymorphisms and NSCLC risk was present both for stage I/II and stage III/IV, and appeared moderately stronger for stage III/IV. We conclude that polymorphisms in the STAT3 gene may have a protective role in the development of NSCLC, particular of stage III/IV NSCLC.”
“Simple analytical model is developed to evaluate spatial distribution of sheet electron density in the channel of the high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT)-like structure periodically modulated by the bias voltages applied to interdigitated gate. Resonant frequencies of plasma oscillations excited in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel of such structures are evaluated in the ideal and realistic situations.

9% vs 85.8%, p<0.05), cell fusion (84.6% vs 70.1%, p<0.05) and blastocyst formation (15.4% vs 10.9%, p<0.05) using demecolcine auxiliary enucleation were significantly higher than those after blind enucleation. These results demonstrated that sika deer oocytes could be enucleated quickly and effectively using demecolcine auxiliary enucleation, which could enhance the enucleation rate, cell fusion rate and blastocyst rate of cloned embryos in vitro.”
“The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II was developed

to improve the overestimation of surgical risk associated with the original (additive and logistic) EuroSCOREs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of the EuroSCORE II by comparing GDC-0973 mouse its performance with that of the original EuroSCOREs Milciclib solubility dmso in Japanese patients undergoing surgery on the thoracic aorta.

We have calculated the predicted mortalities according to the additive EuroSCORE, logistic EuroSCORE and EuroSCORE II algorithms in 461 patients who underwent surgery on the thoracic aorta during a period of 20 years (1993-2013).

The

actual in-hospital mortality rates in the low- (additive EuroSCORE of 3-6), moderate- (7-11) and high-risk (>= 11) groups (followed by overall mortality) were 1.3, 6.2 and 14.4% (7.2% overall), respectively. Among the three different risk groups, the expected mortality rates were 5.5 +/- 0.6, 9.1 +/- 0.7 and 13.5 +/- 0.2% (9.5 +/- 0.1% overall) by the additive EuroSCORE algorithm, 5.3 +/- 0.1, 16 +/- 0.4 and 42.4 +/- 1.3% (19.9 +/- 0.7% overall) by the logistic EuroSCORE algorithm and 1.6 +/- 0.1, 5.2 +/- 0.2 and 18.5 +/- 1.3% (7.4 +/- 0.4% overall) by

the EuroSCORE II algorithm, indicating poor prediction (P < 0.0001) of the mortality in the high-risk group, especially by the logistic EuroSCORE. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic Ulixertinib chemical structure curves of the additive EuroSCORE, logistic EuroSCORE and EuroSCORE II algorithms were 0.6937, 0.7169 and 0.7697, respectively. Thus, the mortality expected by the EuroSCORE II more closely matched the actual mortality in all three risk groups. In contrast, the mortality expected by the logistic EuroSCORE overestimated the risks in the moderate- (P = 0.0002) and high-risk (P < 0.0001) patient groups.

Although all of the original EuroSCOREs and EuroSCORE II appreciably predicted the surgical mortality for thoracic aortic surgery in Japanese patients, the EuroSCORE II best predicted the mortalities in all risk groups.”
“Non-syndromic hearing loss is one of the most common hereditary determined diseases in human, and the disease is a genetically heterogeneous disorder. Mutations in the GJB2 gene, encoding connexin 26 (Cx26), are a major cause of non-syndromic recessive hearing impairment in many countries and are largely dependent on ethnic groups. Due to the high frequency of the c.

With untreated simulated hydrolysate containing inhibitors the fermentation was inhibited completely. Detoxification of the same hydrolysate with L62D (1% and 5%) and L62LF (1% and 5%)

showed complete fermentation with high ethanol productivity (0.61gL(-1)h(-1)). Similarly, the detoxified corn stover hydrolysate showed delayed fermentation. The productivity BMS345541 increased by 30% after detoxification with 1% of the two surfactants and by 100% with 5% of the surfactants (L62D and L62LF).

CONCLUSIONThe new surfactant-based detoxification method significantly improved the fermentability of simulated hydrolysate and corn stover hydrolysate. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry”
“The effects of varying shot peening process parameters on drag force signatures are examined. The salient features of such signatures are found

to compare favorably with those expected from consideration of the effects of peening on magnetic properties combined with analysis of the actual force sources. The potential utility of the drag force method for automatic assessment of peening quality and uniformity is encouraged by experimental results. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3072378]“
“The c-AMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) and its phosphorylated product (P-CREB) are nuclear www.selleckchem.com/products/YM155.html proteins expressed after stimulation of pain-producing areas of the spinal cord. There is evidence indicating that central sensitization within dorsal horn neurons is dependent on P-CREB transcriptional regulation. The objectives of the study were to investigate the expression of P-CREB in cells in rat trigeminal nucleus caudalis after noxious stimulation and to determine whether pre-treatment with specific anti-migraine agents modulate this expression. CREB and P-CREB labelling was investigated within the trigeminal caudalis by immunohistochemistry after capsaicin stimulation. Subsequently, the effect of i.v. pre-treatment with either sumatriptan (n = 5), or naratriptan (n = 7) C59 Wnt ic50 on P-CREB expression

was studied. Five animals pre-treated with i.v. normal saline were served as controls. CREB and P-CREB labelling was robust in all animal groups within Sp5C. Both naratriptan and sumatriptan decreased P-CREB expression (p = 0.0003 and 0.0013) within the Sp5C. Triptans attenuate activation of CREB within the central parts of the trigeminal system, thereby leading to potential inhibition of central sensitization. P-CREB may serve as a new marker for post-synaptic neuronal activation within Sp5C in animal models relevant to migraine.”
“BACKGROUNDIt is vitally important to understand the effect of sub-/super-critical CO2 pretreatment on enzyme conformation and its activity, which should improve the understanding of enzymatic biotransformation applications in nonaqueous media.

95 GHz) radiofrequencies

(RF) would induce chronic illness in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.

Materials and methods: Two groups of 40 SD rats (50% males and females in sham and exposed groups) were exposed to CDMA and WCDMA RF simultaneously at 2.0 W/kg for 45 min/day (total 4.0 W/kg), 5 days per week for a total of one year. Body and organ weight measurements, urinalysis, haematological and blood biochemical analysis, and histopathological evaluations were performed.

Results: The mortality patterns in male selleck chemicals and female rats exposed to RF were compared with those found in gender-matched sham control animals. No significant alteration in body weight was observed with the simultaneous combined RF exposure. Most RF-exposed rats showed

no significant alteration, based on urinalysis, haematology, blood biochemistry, or histopathology. However, some altered parameters of the complete blood count and serum chemistry were seen in RF-exposed rats. The total tumour incidence was not different between sham-exposed and RF-exposed animals.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that one-year chronic exposure to CDMA (849 MHz) and WCDMA (1.95 GHz) RF simultaneously at 2.0 W/kg for 45-min RF exposure periods (total, 4 W/kg) did not increase chronic illness in rats, although there were some altered parameters in the complete blood count and serum chemistry.”
“Poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microspheres with size ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 mu m were prepared in acetic acid by precipitation NVP-BSK805 polymerization. The particle size and particle size distribution were determined by laser diffraction particle size analyzer, and the morphology of mTOR inhibitor the particles was observed with scanning electron microscope. Besides, effects of various polymerization parameters such as initiator and total monomer concentration, divinylbenzene (DVB) content, polymerization time and polymerization temperature on the morphology and particle size were investigated in this article. In addition, the yield of

microspheres increased with the increasing total monomer concentration, initiator loading, DVB concentration and polymerization time. In addition, the optimum polymerization conditions for synthesis of monodisperse crosslinked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microspheres by precipitation polymerization in acetic acid were obtained. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012″
“We studied the switching dynamics of a ferroelectric-gate thin-film transistor (FeTFT) consisting entirely of oxide-based thin films: SrRuO3 (SRO: bottom-gate electrode), Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 (PZT: ferroelectric), and ZnO (semiconductor). We switched the FeTFT channel conductance by applying short pulses to the gate electrode. We found that the switching of a FeTFT was caused by the domain wall motion in a ferroelectric film. The polarization reversal starts from the region located under the source and drain electrodes and travels along the channel length direction.

In some organs, such as the parotid

gland, a number of tumors comprise well-established entities, whereas in the majority of cases an extracutaneous occurrence of cutaneous-type adnexal lesions is a rare and often diagnostically challenging finding. This review Selleckchem GPCR Compound Library discusses various authentic cutaneous-type adnexal neoplasms or related lesions presented according to the organ involved.”
“Hypertension represents a significant global public health concern, contributing to vascular and renal morbidity, cardiovascular mortality, and economic burden. The opportunity to influence clinical outcomes through hypertension management is therefore paramount. Despite adherence to multiple available medical therapies, a significant proportion of patients have persistent blood pressure elevation, a condition termed resistant hypertension. Recent recognition of the importance of the renal sympathetic and somatic nerves in modulating blood pressure and the development of a novel procedure that selectively removes these contributors to resistant hypertension represents an opportunity to provide clinically meaningful benefit across wide and varied

patient populations. Early clinical evaluation with catheter-based, selective renal sympathetic denervation in patients with resistant hypertension has mechanistically correlated sympathetic efferent denervation with decreased renal norepinephrine spillover and renin activity, increased renal plasma flow, and has demonstrated clinically significant, sustained reductions in blood pressure. The SYMPLICITY JAK inhibitor HTN-3 Trial is a pivotal study designed as a prospective, randomized, masked procedure, single-blind

trial evaluating the safety SNS-032 mw and effectiveness of catheter-based bilateral renal denervation for the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension despite compliance with at least 3 antihypertensive medications of different classes (at least one of which is a diuretic) at maximal tolerable doses. The primary effectiveness endpoint is measured as the change in office-based systolic blood pressure from baseline to 6 months. This manuscript describes the design and methodology of a regulatory trial of selective renal denervation for the treatment of hypertension among patients who have failed pharmacologic therapy. Clin. Cardiol. 2012. doi: 10.1002/clc.22008 Dr. Kandzari receives research/grant support and consulting honoraria from Medtronic CardioVascular, Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific; Dr. Bhatt receives honoraria from WebMD and research grants from Amarin, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Ethicon, Medtronic, Sanofi Aventis, and The Medicines Company. Dr. Oparil receives research/grant support from Merck and Co., NHLBI, Novartis, and Takeda, honoraria from Daiichi Sankyo and Pfizer, and is a consultant for Bayer, Medtronic, Novartis, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Rocha-Singh is a consultant for Medtronic, Covidien, and Cardiosonic. Dr.

The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution difference of age at menarche for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) girls and normal control population and to subsequently elucidate the menarche age difference through literature reviewing. Moreover, menarche Elafibranor Metabolism inhibitor age of

AIS girls with Cobb angle < 40A degrees, 40-60A degrees, > 60A degrees were compared to estimate its association with curve severity. Menstrual status data were available for 6,376 healthy female adolescents and 2,196 AIS girls. We notice that less than 10% of healthy Chinese girls experienced onset of menses before 11.38 years, and approximately 90% of healthy Chinese girls were menstruating by 13.88 years, with a median age of 12.63 years. As for AIS girls, less than 10% started to menstruate before see more 11.27 years, and approximately 90% were menstruating by 14.38 years, with a median age of 12.83 years. Average menarche age in AIS (12.83 +/-

A 1.22 years) was significantly later than that of normal control girls (12.63 +/- A 0.98 years) (p < 0.001). Age at menarche for AIS affected girls was significantly greater than that of normal control girls at 75%, 90% of whom had attained menarche (p = 0.001, p < 0.001). Proportion of girls starting to menstruate after 14 years was significantly higher in AIS population compared with normal controls (16.3 vs. 8.1%, p < 0.001). In addition, AIS girls with Cobb angle > 60A degrees experienced onset of menses at an average age of 13.25 years, which was significantly later than AIS girls with Cobb angle < 40A degrees (12.81 years, p < 0.05) and marginally significantly later than AIS girls with Cobb angle between 40 and 60A degrees (12.86 years, p = 0.053). In conclusion, a tendency of delayed onset of menarche was observed in Chinese idiopathic scoliotic girls in this large sample study, especially for girls with Cobb angle > 60A degrees, which is supported by multiple previously established positive linkages on AIS etiology studies. Accordingly it is believed that late menarche may contribute importantly to abnormal pubertal growth and

subsequently modulate curve behavior Nutlin-3 in AIS.”
“Scaling root planing (SRP) has been proven efficacious as the traditional treatment approach for chronic periodontitis. However, important limitations such as difficult access in deep pockets, grooves, and furcations have led to the development of new therapeutic strategies. The erbium-doped:yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Er:YAG) laser is one of the most promising laser types for periodontal therapy. Its efficacy in radicular debris removal and root smoothing has been proven in vitro. However, the clinical effectiveness of the Er:YAG laser remains controversial. The aim of the present systematic review was to systemically assess the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of Er:YAG laser compared to SRP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

The immobilized biocatalyst exhibited considerable operational stability, since a decrease of roughly 10% in the product yield after 24 h biotransformation runs was observed in trials performed at 50 degrees C, following 20 repeated, consecutive batches.

CONCLUSION: The results obtained highlight the potential of PVA-based particles obtained through extrusion into PEG for the production

of suitable biocatalysts for application in large-scale processes. (c) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry”
“The mammalian heart is a highly specialized organ, comprised of many different cell types arising from distinct SNX-5422 nmr embryonic progenitor populations during cardiogenesis. Three precursor populations have been identified to contribute to different myocytic and nonmyocytic cell lineages of the heart: cardiogenic mesoderm cells (CMC), the proepicardium (PE), and cardiac neural crest cells (CNCCs). This review will focus on molecular cues necessary for proper induction, expansion, and lineage-specific

differentiation of these progenitor populations during cardiac development in vivo. Moreover, we will briefly discuss how the knowledge gained on embryonic heart progenitor biology can be used to develop novel therapeutic strategies for the management of congenital heart disease as well as for improvement of cardiac function in ischemic heart disease.”
“Objective: To investigate the familial correlations and intraclass correlation of age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) in specific frequencies. In addition, heritability estimates were calculated.

Study Design: Multicenter survey in Selleck DZNeP 8 European centers.

Subjects: One hundred ninety-eight families consisting of 952 family members, screened by otologic examination and structured interviews. Subjects with general

conditions, known to affect hearing thresholds or known otologic cause were excluded from the study.

Results: We detected familial correlation coefficients of 0.36, 0.37, 0.36, and 0.30 for 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz, respectively, and correlation coefficients of 0.20 and 0.18 for 4 and 8 kHz, respectively. Variance components analyses showed that the proportion of the total variance attributable to family differences was between see more 0.32 and 0.40 for 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz and below 0.20 for 4 and 8 kHz. When testing for homogeneity between sib pair types, we observed a larger familial correlation between female than male subjects. Heritability estimates ranged between 0.79 and 0.36 across the frequencies.

Discussion: Our results indicate that there is a substantial shared familial effect in ARHI. We found that familial aggregation of ARHI is markedly higher in the low frequencies and that there is a trend toward higher familial aggregation in female compared with male subjects.”
“BACKGROUND: Di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA, H(2)A(2)) has been used extensively in hydrometallurgy for the extraction of rare earths, but it has some limitations.

Interestingly, the Ishikawa minus cell line (lacking estrogen receptor expression) demonstrated no to minimal expression of the betaC subunit as observed with immunofluorescence and RT-PCR, suggesting a possible hormone- dependency of this subunit in human endometrial

cancer cells. Moreover, because the Ishikawa cell line minus is thought to be a more malignant endometrial cell line than its estrogen receptor positive counterpart, inhibin-betaC subunit might be substantially involved in the pathogenesis and malignant transformation in human endometrium.”
“To investigate the manipulation of magnetic particles diluted in magnetic fluid, we fabricated a spin valve check details sensor consisting of sensing and reference sensors and a current-carrying wire near the sensing sensor as well as a microfluidic channel. We designed the microfluidic channel to operate only on the top surface of the sensing sensor. Although this website a 40 mu V output signal was

achieved when the magnetic fluid including a 10(6) bead/ml concentration passed through the channel, the signal disappeared when we switched on the line current. Such a result indicated that the magnetic force, induced by the gradient near the current-carrying wire, caused magnetic particles to exit from the top surface of the sensing sensor. In particular, the output signal recovered to a value of 40 mu V when the current was switched off. In addition, the output signal was proportional to the concentration of magnetic fluid. The results in this

study indicated that magnetic pumping employing a current-carrying wire near sensors can be effectively used to manipulate magnetic particles on sensor surfaces, allowing use of spin-valve sensors after a detection of magnetic particle. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3562870]“
“Waste crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) was partially decrosslinked to obtain a thermoplastic recycled material through solid-state mechanochemical milling with pan-mill equipment at ambient temperature. The gel fraction and size exclusion chromatography measurements showed that the gel content of XLPE decreased remarkably with increasing cycles of mechanochemical milling, whereas the molecular JPH203 in vitro weight of the sol fraction was not significantly reduced; this indicated the realization of partial decrosslinking during mechanochemical milling. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the melting temperature of decrosslinked polyethylene increased by 3.5 degrees C because the bigger crystallites size resulting from the higher mobility of the chain segment. The improved thermoplastic characteristic of XLPE after mechanochemical milling were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and rheological measurement. The mechanical properties of recycled XLPE also achieved significant improvement after mechanochemical milling.

Common causes of DLD, such as infection, especially in the setting of immunodeficiency, must be ruled out. Optimal therapy for specific disorders will require careful analysis of data from national registries. Emerging use of biomarkers and high-throughput

molecular analysis will yield novel insight into these find more disorders.

Summary

In the setting of known or suspected rheumatologic disorders, diagnosis and management of DLD are challenging, and require close collaboration among rheumatologists, pulmonologists, and other specialists.”
“An increasing number of reported cases of drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, demonstrate the urgent need for new therapeutics that are effective against such and other multi-drug resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides have for two decades now been looked upon as interesting leads for development of new therapeutics combating these drug resistant microbes.

High-throughput screening of peptide libraries have generated large amounts of information on peptide activities. However, www.selleckchem.com/products/AG-014699.html scientists still struggle with explaining the specific peptide motifs resulting in antimicrobial activity. Consequently, the majority of peptides

put into clinical trials have failed at some point, underlining the importance of a thorough peptide optimization.

An important tool in peptide design and optimization is quantitative structure-activity relationship

(QSAR) analysis, correlating chemical parameters with biological activities of the peptide, using statistical methods. In this review we will discuss two different in silico strategies of computer-aided antibacterial peptide design, a linear correlation model build as an extension of traditional principal component NU7441 purchase analysis (PCA) and a non-linear artificial neural network model. Studies on structurally diverse peptides, have concluded that the PCA derived model are able to guide the antibacterial peptide design in a meaningful way, however requiring rather a high homology between the peptides in the test-set and the in silico library, to ensure a successful prediction. In contrast, the neural network model, though significantly less explored in relation to antimicrobial peptide design, has proven extremely promising, demonstrating impressive prediction success and ranking of random peptide libraries correlating well with measured activities.”
“Purpose of review

Despite major advancements in therapeutics, variability in drug response remains a challenge in both adults and children diagnosed with rheumatic disease. The genetic contribution to interindividual variability has emerged as a promising avenue of exploration; however, challenges remain in making this knowledge relevant in the clinical realm.

Results. The mean age of patients was 41.5 years (+/- 17). The majority of the operative procedures involved instrumented fusion from thoracic to lumbar/sacral spine (n = 55), thoracic- pelvis fusion (n = 26), and a combined total of 32 osteotomies (including 25 pedicle subtraction osteotomies and 7 Smith-Peterson osteotomies). SSEPs were recorded successfully in

101 (99%), EMGs in 89 of 102 (87%), and MEPs in 12 of 16 (75%). Five cases were true positives (4.95%), and these were all detected by combined monitoring (2-SSEP, 2-EMG, 1-MEP). There were no false positives with SSEPs, but EMG resulted in 30 of 89 (34%) false positives. There were 4 false negatives with SSEPs, which reduced its sensitivity to 33%. There was 1 false negative with https://www.selleckchem.com/products/fg-4592.html EMG, and 0 with MEPs. When these results were collated, the overall sensitivity of combined multimodality IOM in this adult deformity series was 100%, specificity 84.3%, PPV 13.9%, and NPV 97%. The combined sensitivity in the osteotomy group (n = 32) was 67%, specificity 98%, PPV 80%,

and NPV 96%. In comparison, there were no IOM abnormalities in those patients who had in situ/minor corrective procedures (n = 18; largely adult degenerative scoliosis).

Conclusion. Multimodality IOM of spinal cord sensory and motor function FOX inhibitor during surgical correction of adult spinal deformity is feasible and provides useful neurophysiological data with an overall sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 84.3% (67% and 98%, respectively in patients undergoing major deformity correction).”
“BACKGROUND

The adsorption of Cr(III) ions on various pig manure biochar (BC) samples was investigated to determine the effect of operating conditions (initial pH, sorbate and sorbent concentrations) on sorptive capacity. The BC samples with higher sorption capacity showed high surface area and were rich in alkaline metals whose concentration was measured by ICP-OES.

RESULTS

For BCs from anaerobically and chemically pretreated

feedstock greater Delta pH changes and higher maximum PF-03084014 chemical structure capacity were noted during Cr(III) adsorption than for BC from mechanically pretreated samples, due to a higher ion exchange capacity. The maximum Cr(III) uptake of 102 mg g(-1) for the BC sample was achieved at c(0) = 300 mg dm(-3) and pH = 5. It was also observed that the high ash content effectively lowered the surface area of BCs; however all BCs investigated contained a low level of toxic metals.

CONCLUSIONS

The data indicate that both the technology used for separation of the manure and pyrolysis temperature had a significant influence on the physical and chemical properties of the BC and affected its sorption capacity. In addition, compared with other sorbents pig manure BC has one of the best Cr(III) sorption capacities.