Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK), a member of the Tec kinase family, is critically involved in a range of immunological pathways. The clinical application of BTK inhibitors for B‐cell malignancies has ...proven successful, and there is strong rationale for the potential benefits of BTK inhibitors in some autoimmune and allergic conditions, including immune‐mediated dermatological diseases. However, the established risk‐to‐benefit profile of “first‐generation” BTK inhibitors cannot be extrapolated to these emerging, non‐oncological, indications. “Next‐generation” BTK inhibitors such as remibrutinib and fenebrutinib entered clinical development for chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU); rilzabrutinib and tirabrutinib are being studied as potential treatments for pemphigus. Promising data from early‐phase clinical trials in CSU suggest potential for these agents to achieve strong pathway inhibition, which may translate into measurable clinical benefits, as well as other effects such as the disruption of autoantibody production. BTK inhibitors may help to overcome some of the shortcomings of monoclonal antibody treatments for immune‐mediated dermatological conditions such as CSU, pemphigus, and systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, the use of BTK inhibitors may improve understanding of the pathophysiological roles of mast cells, basophils, and B cells in such conditions.
Mesophotic ecosystems de Oliveira Soares, Marcelo; Tavares, Tallita Cruz Lopes; de Macêdo Carneiro, Pedro Bastos
Diversity & distributions,
02/2019, Letnik:
25, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aim
This study reviews recent research on the South Atlantic Mesophotic ecosystems (MEs) and the pressures threatening them, and offers suggestions for their management and conservation.
Location
The ...South Atlantic Ocean.
Methods
A comprehensive compilation of the scientific literature was performed to examine the distribution, human impacts and conservation status of the South Atlantic MEs.
Results
Our review indicated that the South Atlantic Ocean (SAO) is one of the major MEs areas in the world's oceans. The South Atlantic MEs are composed of a mosaic of distinct seascapes, mainly rhodolith beds, mesophotic reefs (i.e., rocky and biogenic) and marine animal forests (e.g., sponge aggregations, octocoral and black coral forests) that occur along the East South American and West African coasts, seamounts and oceanic islands. Throughout the SAO, the distinct seascapes of MEs are usually formed on the middle and outer continental shelves, shelf‐edge, seamounts, submarine canyons, incised valleys and paleochannels, reef structures and insular shelves. We highlighted sea temperature anomalies, ocean acidification, extreme floods and droughts, fisheries, invasive species, marine debris, mining, and oil and gas exploitation as major threats to these ecosystems.
Main conclusions
Given the threats to the South Atlantic MEs, growing human pressures may degrade these ecosystems in the next years and undermine their unique biodiversity as well as their potential to provide connectivity between regions and depths. Our review revealed the existence of some extensive and unprotected formations, which urgently demand in‐depth investigations and conservation action.
In tropical estuaries, wet seasons are responsible for the downstream transport of allochthonous material from the upper basin and flooded plains. Although allochthonous matter is commonly associated ...to nutrient and detritus input, pollutants are also transported throughout the basin or suspended from the river bottom via strong streamflow remobilization and rainfall dynamics. We assessed community and population trophic niche-based patterns using organisms' stable isotopes signatures in the wet and the dry seasons to test if estuarine trophic diversity is affected by remobilization of metal-contaminated material from a mining dam collapse that occurred in the Doce river basin, Brazil. Trophic depletion was detected community-wide and in a key consumer group (bottom-dwelling fishes) at the end of the wet season in the impacted Doce river estuary (DRE). Conversely, higher trophic diversity values were recorded in a well-preserved estuary used as control site. Stable isotopes mixing models indicated in the DRE that G. genidens, a predator fish species, presented poor-quality diet based on pollutant-tolerant tiny organisms, a finding that strongly contrasts from diet described in other, little-impacted Brazilian estuaries. Although wet seasons are expected to increase trophic, functional and taxonomic diversity in tropical estuaries, in the DRE the rainfall-driven dynamics poses a threat to the community due to the presence of ore tailings.
Display omitted
•Potential remobilization over the wet season promoted changes in the estuarine biota.•Community trophic diversity decreased in the wet season at the DRE.•Bottom-dweller fishes also exhibited the smallest niche widths in the wet season.•The diet of a resident species differed from the observed for other estuaries.
Abstract The article discusses the political economy of financialisation in developing countries, defending that US power was crucial to driving it, while the indebted dependent states acted not only ...as dollar panhandlers but also as dollar enablers. To avoid excessively ‘outside-in’ apprehensions of US power in the capitalist bloc, we debate interpretations that use the concepts of structural power and internationalisation of the state to highlight some political effects of increasing international economic integration and capitalist wealth interpenetration. The theoretical discussion sets the stage for the presentation of declassified documents that illustrate how financial leverage has combined with some converging capitalist goals to entrench neoliberalism and financialisation in the Global North and the Global South. Our contribution serves to caution heterodox economists not to frame national autonomy only in terms of policy analysis, urging them to mobilise critical theory to imagine beyond the established frameworks for action.
The present study focused on the methodology for identification of the wastewater stream that presents the highest phenolic impact at a large oil refinery. As a case-study, the oil refinery, Petrogal ...S.A., in Sines, Portugal, was selected. Firstly, stripped sour water from the cracking complex was identified as the most relevant wastewater stream concerning phenolic emission. Secondly, multivariate data analysis was used, through projection to latent structures (PLS) regression, to find existing correlations between process parameters and phenols content in stripped sour water. The models developed allowed the prediction of phenols concentration with predictive errors down to 20.16 mg/L (corresponding to 8.2% average error), depending on the complexity of the correlation used, and
R
2
values as high as 0.85. Models were based in input parameters related to fluid catalytic crackers (FCC) feedstock quality, crudemix and steam injected in the catalyst stripper. The studied data analysis approach showed to be useful as a tool to predict the phenolic content in stripped sour water. Such prediction would help improve the wastewater management system, especially the units responsible for phenol degradation. The methodology shown in this work can be used in other refineries containing catalytic cracking complexes, providing a tool which allows the online prediction of phenols in stripped sour water and the identification of the most relevant process parameters. An optimised system at any refinery leads to an improvement in the wastewater quality and costs associated with pollutant discharge; thus, the development of monitoring online tools, as proposed in this work, is essential.
Technologies for water recycling within oil refineries have been gaining interest at an extensive rate due to the large volume of wastewater generated, high dependency of water and the progressive ...scarcity of this valuable resource. Phenols are part of a specific class of organic pollutants that have been contributing to a low-quality effluent in oil refineries due to their hazardous nature and strict environmental legislation associated. The reuse of stripped sour water within refineries is often blocked due to its rich phenolic content.
This study evaluates the retention of phenols in refinery wastewater through reverse osmosis (RO) at its major source of emission, for water reclamation. The RO membrane selected exhibited rejections of up to 98% of phenols and 99% of both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). Permeate quality remained intact despite flux decline caused by phenolic and hydrocarbon adsorption when the oil content, in the feed, reached 771 ppm. The effluent's low conductivity due to lack of salts led to minor osmotic pressure differences (less than 2.5 bar at a volume concentration factor of 3), therefore, showing appealing performances of reverse osmosis filtration. Characterization of all permeates obtained from cross-flow filtration experiments showed COD levels in line with water reuse quality standards for make-up water in cooling processes.
•RO used for phenols reduction in refinery wastewater at emission source.•Technology allowed 98% removal of phenols.•Treated water was in line with quality standards for water reuse.•Osmotic pressure of wastewater affects treatment performance.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For routine EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and lymph nodes (LNs) ESGE recommends 25G or 22G needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation); fine needle aspiration (FNA) ...and fine needle biopsy (FNB) needles are equally recommended (high quality evidence, strong recommendation).
When the primary aim of sampling is to obtain a core tissue specimen, ESGE suggests using 19G FNA or FNB needles or 22G FNB needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE recommends using 10-mL syringe suction for EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and LNs with 25G or 22G FNA needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation) and other types of needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE suggests neutralizing residual negative pressure in the needle before withdrawing the needle from the target lesion (moderate quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE does not recommend for or against using the needle stylet for EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and LNs with FNA needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation) and suggests using the needle stylet for EUS-guided sampling with FNB needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE suggests fanning the needle throughout the lesion when sampling solid masses and LNs (moderate quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE equally recommends EUS-guided sampling with or without on-site cytologic evaluation (moderate quality evidence, strong recommendation). When on-site cytologic evaluation is unavailable, ESGE suggests performance of three to four needle passes with an FNA needle or two to three passes with an FNB needle (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
For diagnostic sampling of pancreatic cystic lesions without a solid component, ESGE suggests emptying the cyst with a single pass of a 22G or 19G needle (low quality evidence, weak recommendation). For pancreatic cystic lesions with a solid component, ESGE suggests sampling of the solid component using the same technique as in the case of other solid lesions (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE does not recommend antibiotic prophylaxis for EUS-guided sampling of solid masses or LNs (low quality evidence, strong recommendation), and suggests antibiotic prophylaxis with fluoroquinolones or beta-lactam antibiotics for EUS-guided sampling of cystic lesions (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
ESGE suggests that evaluation of tissue obtained by EUS-guided sampling should include histologic preparations (e. g., cell blocks and/or formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue fragments) and should not be limited to smear cytology (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).
Reclaiming water for cooling systems in oil refineries has been strongly encouraged over the past years for decreasing the large consumption of fresh water, thus contributing to the efficient use of ...this valuable resource. In a recent study Journal of Environmental Management 261 (2020) 110229, some of the authors studied the retention of phenols in refinery wastewater through reverse osmosis (RO) and found rejections of up to 98% of phenols and 99% of both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). The permeates complied with the quality standards for make-up water in cooling processes. A missing aspect, important for the water to be used in the oil and gas industry, was the level of corrosivity of the new permeates. In this work the corrosion of mild carbon steel in the permeates and in the original cooling tower make-up water was studied by electrochemical techniques. The corrosion rate of steel in the permeates in aerated conditions was lower (between 0.053 ± 0.006 and 0.123 ± 0.011 mm year−1) than in the make-up water (0.167 ± 0.030 mm year−1), confirming their suitability for replacing make-up water in the cooling towers. The low corrosion of carbon steel was attributed to the low conductivity and absence of oxidizing species in the fluids, compared to fresh water.
•Refinery wastewater is treated by reverse osmosis at the emission source.•The reclaimed water meets the standards for makeup water in refinery cooling towers.•Corrosion of mild carbon steel is tested in reclaimed and current makeup waters.•The corrosion in reclaimed water is lower than in the makeup water.
We estimate a bi‐variate LVSTAR model to investigate the non‐linear interplay between Brazil’s credit, output and financial cycles between 1999 and 2017. We use financial stress as the ...regime‐switching variable to assess how it impacts economic performance. We find evidence of a lengthy transition between regimes. Moreover, Granger Causality tests indicate statistical precedence of credit growth through financial intermediaries. After credit shocks, we find non‐mean‐reverting trajectories and that financial stress worsens the economic downturn. Counterintuitively, total credit growth increases after adverse output shocks. This appears to be caused by elevated public credit provision relative to private credit flows, triggered by anticyclical policy.
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