Patients with refractory severe aplastic anemia (SAA) who lack a matched sibling or unrelated donor need new therapeutic approaches. Hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) using mismatched or haploidentical ...related donors has been used in the past, but was associated with a significant risk of GVHD and mortality. Recently, the use of post-transplant cyclophosphamide (Cy) has been shown to be an effective strategy to prevent GVHD in recipients of haploidentical HSCT, but the majority of reports have focused on patients with hematology malignancies. We describe the outcome of 16 patients who underwent haploidentical transplantation using a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen with post-transplant Cy. Stem cell sources were BM (N=13) or PBSCs (N=3). The rate of neutrophil engraftment was 94% and of platelet engraftment was 75%. Two patients had secondary graft failure and were successfully salvaged with another transplant. Three patients developed acute GVHD being grades 2-4 in two. Five patients have died and the 1-year OS was 67.1% (95% confidence interval: 36.5-86.4%). In our small series, the use of a reduced-intensity conditioning with post-transplant Cy in haploidentical BMT was associated with high rates of engraftment and low risk of GVHD in patients with relapsed/refractory SAA.
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease characterized by epithelial tumors that can impede life-sustaining activities of sea turtles, especially green turtles (
Chelonia mydas
). FP is caused by a ...herpesvirus, but environmental factors are also thought to play a role in triggering FP tumor growth. In this study, we evaluate the epidemiology of FP tumors in green turtles along the coast of Espírito Santo, Brazil, a region where juvenile green turtles are known to aggregate with high FP prevalence. A dataset comprising 2024 beach-cast green turtles recorded through daily beach surveys on 400 km of coastline from 2018 to 2021 (inclusive) was evaluated. FP tumors were recorded in 40.9% of the individuals in this dataset, and presence of FP tumors was predicted by individual variables (presence of marine leeches, stranding code, curved carapace length, body mass-size residual) and characteristics of the stranding site (distance to nearest metallurgical plant, mean sea surface salinity (SSS), annual range of sea surface temperature (SST)). Additionally, a second dataset comprising detailed information about the size and anatomical distribution of tumors in 271 green turtles with FP from the same region was evaluated. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed these turtles could be classified in three groups according to the anatomical distribution of their tumors, and in turn the group to which each turtle was assigned could be predicted by the study period (2010–2014 vs. 2018–2022) and by characteristics of the stranding/capture site (green turtle stranding density, mean sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration, mean SSS, mean SST, annual range of SST). These results corroborate that individual and environmental factors play a significant role driving FP epidemiology. Furthermore, the results suggest that rather than behaving as a single entity, FP may be seen as a mosaic of distinct anatomical patterns that are not necessarily driven by the same environmental factors.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Organic electrosynthesis has received great attention as a powerful green tool for synthesis, affording less waste production, less chemicals spent, and often fewer reaction steps than conventional ...methods. Functional group interconversion and C–C bond generation by imposition of a proper electrode potential is what lies behind organic electrosynthesis processes. Paired electrochemical reactions, indirect electrosynthesis, electrochemical microreactors, and the use of ionic liquids are some of the highlighted means that contribute to optimization of the overall process. Necessity to use specific organic solvents combined with supporting electrolytes is one of the main limitations to be overcome to make the electrochemical process more economically feasible when compared to nonelectrochemical processes. Numerous examples from the bench scale to industrial routes such as adiponitrile, substituted benzaldehydes, anthraquinone, fluorinated products, and succinic acid production are well described throughout this review.
The authors investigated the use of slow-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the unaffected hemisphere to decrease interhemispheric inhibition of the lesioned hemisphere ...and improve motor function in patients within 12 months of a stroke. Patients showed a significant decrease in simple and choice reaction time and improved performance of the Purdue Pegboard test with their affected hand after rTMS of the motor cortex in the intact hemisphere as compared with sham rTMS.
As a result of the increased awareness of the dangers posed by global climate changes (mainly caused by growing global energy consumption needs), the quest for clean and sustainable energy future is ...becoming of paramount importance. This can be largely realized via a large-scale integration of variable renewable energy sources (RESs) such as wind and solar, which have relatively low carbon footprints. In many power systems, the level of integration of such resources is dramatically increasing. However, their intermittent nature poses significant challenges in the predominantly conventional power systems that currently exist. Among others, frequency and voltage regulation issues can, for example, arise because of improperly balanced and largely uncoordinated RES supply and demand. Generally, the higher the integration level of intermittent power sources is, the higher the flexibility needs are in the system under consideration. Flexibility, in a power systems context, refers to the ability of such a system to effectively cope with unforeseen changes in operational situations, which are mainly induced by the inherent uncertainty and variability arising from the supply side, demand side or any other external factors. In the absence of appropriate flexibility mechanisms, it is increasingly difficult to manage the imbalances between generation and demand as a result of their natural variations in real-time. This paper presents an extensive and critical review of the main existing and emerging flexibility options that can be deployed in power systems to support the integration of “carbon-free” and variable power production technologies. Starting from a broader definition of flexibility, we highlight the growing importance of such flexibility in renewable-rich energy systems, and provide insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with various flexibility options provided by different technologies.
•This paper presents an extensive and critical review of the main existing and emerging flexibility options.•Starting from a broader definition of flexibility, we highlight the growing importance of such flexibility.•Insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with various flexibility options are provided.•Certain barriers that may hinder their developments in the short to medium terms are also provided.
Landfill leachates are high-strength complex mixtures containing dissolved organic matter, ammonia, heavy metals, and sulfur species, among others. The problem of leachate treatment has subsisted for ...some time, but an efficient and cost-effective universal solution capable of ensuring environmental resources protection has not been found. Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) has been considered a promising technology for biological wastewater treatment in recent years. Granules’ layered structure, with an aerobic outer layer and an anaerobic/anoxic core, enables the presence of diverse microbial populations without the need for support media, allowing simultaneous removal of different pollutants in a single unit. Besides, its strong and compact arrangement provides higher tolerance to toxic pollutants and the ability to withstand large load fluctuations. Furthermore, its good that settling properties allow high biomass retention and better sludge separation. Nevertheless, AGS-related research has focused on carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus removal, mainly from sanitary sewage. This review aims to summarize and analyze the main findings and problems reported in the literature regarding AGS application to landfill leachate treatment and identify the knowledge gaps for future applications.
Pericytes in the Premetastatic Niche Paiva, Ana E; Lousado, Luiza; Guerra, Daniel A P ...
Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.),
06/2018, Letnik:
78, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The premetastatic niche formed by primary tumor-derived molecules contributes to fixation of cancer metastasis. The design of efficient therapies is limited by the current lack of knowledge about the ...details of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the premetastatic niche formation. Recently, the role of pericytes in the premetastatic niche formation and lung metastatic tropism was explored by using state-of-the-art techniques, including
lineage-tracing and mice with pericyte-specific KLF4 deletion. Strikingly, genetic inactivation of KLF4 in pericytes inhibits pulmonary pericyte expansion and decreases metastasis in the lung. Here, we summarize and evaluate recent advances in the understanding of pericyte contribution to premetastatic niche formation.
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This paper investigates a fully decentralized model for electricity trading within a transactive energy market. The proposed model presents a peer-to-peer (P2P) trading framework between the clients. ...The model is incorporated for industrial, commercial, and residential energy hubs to serve their associated demands in a least-cost paradigm. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is implemented to address the decentralized power flow in this study. The optimal operation of the energy hubs is modeled as a standard mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) optimization problem. The corresponding decision variables of the energy hubs operation are transferred to the peer-to-peer (P2P) market, and ADMM is applied to ensure the minimum data exchange and address the data privacy issue. Two different scenarios have been studied in this paper to show the effectiveness of the electricity trading model between peers, called integrated and coordinated operation modes. In the integration mode, there is no P2P energy trading while in the coordinated framework, the P2P transactive energy market is taken into account. The proposed model is simulated on the modified IEEE 33-bus distribution network. The obtained results confirm that the coordinated model can efficiently handle the P2P transactive energy trading for different energy hubs, addressing the minimum data exchange issue, and achieving the least-cost operation of the energy hubs in the system. The obtained results show that the total operating cost of the hubs in the coordinated model is lower than that of the integrated model by $590.319, i.e. 11.75 % saving in the costs. In this regard, the contributions of the industrial, commercial, and residential hubs in the total cost using the integrated model are $3441.895, $596.600, and $988.789, respectively. On the other hand, these energy hubs contribute to the total operating cost in the coordinated model by $2932.645, $590.155, and $914.165 respectively. The highest decrease relates to the industrial hub by 14.8 % while the smallest decrease relates to the residential hub by 1 %. Furthermore, the load demand in the integrated and coordinated models is mitigated by 13 % and 17 %, respectively. These results indicate that the presented framework could effectively and significantly reduce the total load demand which in turn leads to reducing the total cost and power losses.
•Developing energy trading mechanism utilizing an ADMM based OPF (ADMM-OPF) model.•Addressing the P2P transactions for electrical energy trading between the clients.•Increasing the ability of power exchange between the energy hubs.•Presenting a MILP model for multi-carrier energy systems.
Today, the fact that consumers are becoming more active in electrical power systems, along with the development in electronic and control devices, makes the design of Home Energy Management Systems ...(HEMSs) an expedient approach to mitigate their costs. The added costs incurred by consumers are mainly paying for the peak-load demand and the system’s operation and maintenance. Thus, developing and utilizing an efficient HEMS would provide an opportunity both to the end-users and system operators to reduce their costs. Accordingly, this paper proposes an effective HEMS design for the self-scheduling of assets of a residential end-user. The suggested model considers the existence of a dynamic pricing scheme such as Real-Time Pricing (RTP), Time-of-Use (TOU), and Inclining Block Rate (IBR), which are effective Demand Response Programs (DRPs) put in place to alleviate the energy bill of consumers and incentivize demand-side participation in power systems. In this respect, the self-scheduling problem is modeled using a stochastic Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework, which allows optimal determination of the status of the home appliances throughout the day, obtaining the global optimal solution with a fast convergence rate. It is noted that the consumer is equipped with self-generation assets through a Photovoltaic (PV) panel and a battery. This system would make the consumers have energy arbitrage and transact energy with the utility grid. Consequently, the proposed model is demonstrated by determining the best operation schedule for different case studies, highlighting the impact each different DRP has on designing and utilizing the HEMS system for best results.
•Proposing an MILP model for the self-scheduling problem at residential level.•Evaluating the impact of DRPs on the HEMS self-scheduling problem.•Investigating the impact of strategic self-generation on electricity bills.•Addressing a linear discomfort index for shifting the controllable loads.
Epigenetic changes have been identified in recent years as important factors in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Histone deacetylase inhibitors ...(HDACIs) regulate the acetylation of histones as well as other non-histone protein targets. Treatment with HDACIs results in chromatin remodeling that permits re-expression of silenced tumor suppressor genes in cancer cells, which, in turn, can potentially result in cellular differentiation, inhibition of proliferation and/or apoptosis. Several classes of HDACIs are currently under development for the treatment of patients with MDS and AML. Although modest clinical activity has been reported with the use of HDACIs as single-agent therapy, marked responses have been observed in selected subsets of patients. More importantly, HDACIs appear to be synergistic in vitro and improve response rates in vivo when combined with other agents, such as hypomethylating agents. Furthermore, HDACIs are also being investigated in combination with non-epigenetic therapies. This article synthesizes the most recent results reported with HDACIs in clinical trials conducted in patients with MDS and other myeloid malignancies.
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