Power generation performance and long‐term durability of ammonia‐fueled solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems are investigated with SOFC stacks consisting of 30 planar anode‐supported cells. SOFC ...systems with three different operation modes are employed: direct ammonia, external decomposition and autothermal decomposition. A novel BaO/Ni/Sm2O3/MgO catalyst is newly developed for the external ammonia cracker, whereas a Co‐Ce‐Zr composite oxide catalyst is used for the autothermal ammonia cracker. Initial performance measurement and 1,000 h long‐term durability test of the stacks are conducted. The stack fueled with direct ammonia achieves 1 kW power output with 52% direct current (DC) electrical efficiency; a slight decrease in its performance compared with the stack with the mixture fuel of hydrogen and nitrogen is attributed to the decrease in the stack temperature caused by the endothermic ammonia decomposition reaction. The external ammonia cracker helps to maintain the stack temperature, improving the initial performance of the stack. The stack performance with the autothermal ammonia cracker is also comparable to those with the other operation modes. It is also demonstrated that the stacks fueled with ammonia have excellent stability during the long‐term tests and 57% energy conversion efficiency at ca. 700 W electrical output is achieved with the external ammonia cracker.
Abstract Background Heart Failure (HF) is increasing in prevalence and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, despite advances in medical and device therapy. Autonomic imbalance, with excess ...sympathetic activation and decreased vagal tone, is an integral component of the pathophysiology of HF. Objectives INOVATE-HF was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) among patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction. Methods INOVATE-HF was a multinational, randomized trial involving 85 centers in patients with chronic HF, NYHA III symptoms and ejection fraction < 40%. Patients were assigned to device implantation to provide VNS (Active) or continued medical therapy (Control) in a 3:2 ratio. The primary efficacy endpoint was the composite of death from any cause or first event for worsening HF. Results There were 707 patients randomized and followed for a mean of 16 months. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 132 of 436 patients in the VNS group, as compared with 70 of 271 in the control group (30.3% vs. 25.8%; hazard ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.86 to 1.53; P = 0.37). During the trial, the estimated annual mortality rates of 9.3% and 7.1%, respectively (p=0.19). Quality of life, New York Heart Association Class and 6 minute walking distance were favorably affected by VNS (p’s < 0.05), but left ventricular end-systolic volume index was not different (P=0.49). Conclusions VNS does not reduce the rate of death or HF events in chronic HF patients. (Clinical Trials.gov number NCT01303718)
We have investigated the effect of carbon on the coercivity and microstructure in fine-grained Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets fabricated by the pressless sintering method. The coercivity of the sample with ...the carbon content of 730ppm (low-C) was 1.59T while that of the sample with 1500ppm (high-C) was 1.44T in the as-sintered state. The low-C sample exhibited a larger coercivity increase by a post-sinter annealing, reaching the highest coercivity of 1.85T, while the high-C sample reached a lower coercivity of 1.54T. Detailed microstructure investigations using scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography revealed that the high carbon content resulted in the formation of a Nd-carbide with a tetragonal structure and the reduction in the volume fraction of an alpha -Nd phase at triple junctions. This in turn decreased the Nd+Pr concentration in thin Nd-rich grain boundary phase, resulting in the lower coercivity.
Abstract
MF (Mitsui Furnace) is a half shaft blast furnace developed by Mitsui Miike Smelter in the 1960’s to treat vertical retort residue. Currently MF mainly treats various secondary wastes (EAF ...dust, Secondary Fly Ash, etc.) and recovers zinc and lead as crude zinc oxide, copper and silver as matte, meanwhile other elements such as FeO, CaO, SiO
2
, Al
2
O
3
are concentrated in slag.
There are two steps in the MF process. The first step is pretreatment. In this process, various waste materials are blended in a certain proportion with reductant and dried adding binder in a rotary dryer, then grinded in a rod mill. The grinded materials are made into an oval briquette by briquetting machine. The second step is treatment process. The briquettes fed into the MF are smelted and reduced by blowing air through the tuyeres. By enriching the tuyere air with oxygen generated by the VSA (Vacuum Swing Adsorption) oxygen generator in 2005 and 2012, we have improved the throughput of wastes.
By the improvement of oxygen enrichment in the MF, the unit capacity increased significantly. However shortage of the drying capacity in the pretreatment process became a problem. To ensure sufficient drying capacity, we installed one more rotary drier in series in 2016. Additionally in 2018, we installed a granulator after the rod mill to improve the bulk density in briquette. As a result of these efforts, the treatment amount in the whole MF process has increased.
The MF can treat various kinds of materials containing various non-ferrous metal-valuables. Through these process improvements, we promote the treatment of wastes containing heavy metals and contributes significantly to the recycling of metal resources.
Microstructures of Ga-doped ultra-fine-grained (UFG) Nd-Fe-B magnets processed from press-less sintering of He-jet-milled powder and hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination (HDDR) ...powder have been investigated to understand the large coercivity difference in the two magnets with nearly the same grain size. While the sintered magnet processed from the jet-milled powder showed a very high coercivity of 2.14 T, the sintered magnet made from HDDR powder showed a low coercivity of only 1.31 T regardless of the similar grain size. Microstructure observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis revealed that the Nd-rich grain boundary (GB) phase in the magnet produced from HDDR powder exhibits thickness of 1–2 nm with large variations in their chemical compositions, while the Nd-rich GB phase in the magnet made from He-jet-milled powder displays larger thickness variations (1–7 nm) along with significant increase of nonferromagnetic elements (Nd, Pr, Cu, Ga) in the GB phase after optimal annealing. The possible reasons for these differences in GB phases are discussed based on quantitative microstructure characterization results.
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Summary
Background
The interleukin (IL)‐23/IL‐17 pathway is central in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. The favourable efficacy and safety of guselkumab, an IL‐23‐specific monoclonal antibody, has been ...demonstrated in global phase III studies of plaque psoriasis.
Objectives
To evaluate the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of single‐dose subcutaneous guselkumab in Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis.
Methods
Patients with ≥ 10% of total body surface area involvement and a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) ≥ 12 were randomized (5 : 1) to receive guselkumab or placebo in four cohorts of this double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, single ascending‐dose, single‐centre study. Safety, pharmacokinetics and clinical response were monitored at baseline and specific time points over a 24‐week follow‐up period.
Results
To week 24, 55% (11/20) of patients in the guselkumab group and 50% (2/4) in the placebo group experienced ≥1 adverse event (AE). No deaths, serious AEs or AEs leading to treatment discontinuation were reported. Maximum clinical response was seen at week 16 with PASI 75 (≥ 75% improvement from baseline PASI) response in two of five (10 mg), four of five (30 mg and 300 mg) and three of five (100 mg) patients; and PASI 90 (≥ 90% improvement from baseline PASI) in zero of five (10 mg), three of five (30 mg), two of five (100 mg) and three of five (300 mg) patients. Mean maximum serum concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve from time zero to infinity values increased in a dose‐proportional manner with a mean terminal half‐life of 15·6–17·6 days and median time to reach Cmax of 4–6 days.
Conclusions
Guselkumab was generally well‐tolerated and exhibited sustained high levels of clinical response in Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis.
What's already known about this topic?
Interleukin (IL)‐23/IL‐17 is a major pathway underlying the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
The favourable efficacy and safety of guselkumab, an IL‐23‐specific monoclonal antibody, has been demonstrated in global phase III studies of plaque psoriasis.
What does this study add?
A single dose of guselkumab was generally well‐tolerated and efficacious in Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque‐type psoriasis
Results support further development of guselkumab in Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis.
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Several mutations in the surfactant protein C (SP-C) gene (SFTPC) have been reported as causing familial pulmonary fibrosis (FPF). However, the genetic background and clinical features of FPF are ...still not fully understood. We identified one Japanese kindred, in which at least six individuals over three generations were diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. We examined the patients radiologically and histopathologically and sequenced their SFTPC and ABCA3 genes. We also established a cell line stably expressing the mutant gene. All the patients had similar radiological and histopathological characteristics. Their histopathological pattern was that of usual interstitial pneumonia, showing numerous fibroblastic foci even in areas without abnormal radiological findings on chest high-resolution computed tomography. No child had respiratory symptoms in the kindred. Sequencing of SFTPC showed a novel heterozygous mutation, c.298G>A (G100S), in the BRICHOS domain of proSP-C, which co-segregated with the disease. However, in the ABCA3 gene, no mutation was found. In vitro expression of the mutant gene revealed that several endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins were strongly expressed. The mutation increases endoplasmic reticulum stress and induces apoptotic cell death compared with wild-type SP-C in alveolar type II cells, supporting the significance of this mutation in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.
Background The CorCap cardiac support device (Acorn Cardiovascular, Inc, St Paul, Minn) is the first device that specifically addresses ventricular remodeling in heart failure by reducing wall ...stress. We previously reported outcomes from the Acorn randomized trial to a common closing date (22.9 months of follow-up). This report summarizes results of extended followup to 5 years. Methods A total of 107 patients were enrolled in the no–mitral valve repair/replacement stratum including 57 in the CorCap treatment group and 50 in the control (optimal medical therapy alone) group. Patients were assessed every year, until completing 5 years of follow-up, for survival, adverse events, major cardiac procedures, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional status, and echocardiograms, which were read at a core laboratory. Results Overall survivals were similar between the treatment and control groups, demonstrating no late adverse effect on mortality. The treatment group had significant reductions in left ventricular end-diastolic volume ( P = .029) as well as a small increase in sphericity index. More patients in the treatment group improved by at least 1 NYHA functional class ( P = .0005). There was no difference in rates of adverse events. In a subgroup of patients with an intermediate left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, there was a significant reduction in the Kaplan-Meier estimate of the freedom from the composite end point of death and major cardiac procedures ( P = .04). Conclusions These cumulative data demonstrate the sustained reverse remodeling of the left ventricle and the long-term safety and efficacy of the CorCap cardiac support device as an adjunctive therapy for patients with heart failure who remain symptomatic despite optimal medical therapy.
Objective The study objective was to evaluate the long-term (5-year) safety and efficacy of mitral valve surgery with and without the CorCap cardiac support device (Acorn Cardiovascular, St Paul, ...Minn) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and New York Heart Association class II–IV heart failure. Background The Acorn trial provided a unique opportunity to assess the long-term safety and efficacy of mitral valve surgery because clinical visits and echocardiograms (read by a core laboratory) were completed for 5 years of follow-up. Further, this study provided follow-up data on the long-term effect of the CorCap cardiac support device as an adjunct to mitral valve surgery. Methods From the original Acorn trial (n = 300 patients), 193 patients were enrolled in the mitral valve repair/replacement stratum. A total of 102 were randomized to mitral valve surgery alone (control group) and 91 were randomized to mitral valve surgery with implantation of the CorCap cardiac support device (treatment group). Patients were followed up for 5 years. Results As previously reported, 30-day operative mortality was only 1.6%. At 5 years, the total mortality was 30% with an average annual mortality rate of approximately 6% per year. The effects of mitral valve surgery led to a progressive decrease in left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, which were highly significant at all time points. At the end of 5 years, there was an average reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic volume of 75 mL, which represents a 28% reduction from baseline. During 5 years of follow-up, 29 patients had recurrent mitral regurgitation and 5 patients underwent repeat mitral valve surgery. The addition of the CorCap device led to greater decreases in left ventricular end-diastolic volume (average difference of 16.5 mL; P = .05), indicating that the CorCap device had an additive effect to the mitral valve operation. Conclusions This study demonstrates long-term improvement in left ventricular structure and function after mitral valve surgery for up to 5 years. These data provide evidence supporting mitral valve repair in combination with the Acorn CorCap device for patients with nonischemic heart failure with severe left ventricular dysfunction who have been medically optimized yet remain symptomatic with significant mitral regurgitation.
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of extended gamma-ray emission measured by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB ...3 (G132.7+1.3) and the W3 II complex adjacent to the southeast of the remnant. W3 is spatially associated with bright 12CO (J = 1-0) emission. The gamma-ray emission is spatially correlated with this gas and the SNR. We discuss the possibility that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The emission from W3 is consistent with irradiation of the CO clouds by the cosmic rays accelerated in HB 3.
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