Catalytic propane dehydrogenation has been tested on different reactor configurations employing Pt–Sn/MgAl2O4 as a catalyst. Hollow fiber palladium membranes coupled to the two-zone fluidized bed ...reactor (TZFBR) combine the possibility of improving propane conversion by hydrogen removal from the reaction bed through the membrane with in situ catalyst regeneration in the lower section of the TZFBR. Experiments have been carried out at different reaction temperatures and time on stream. In addition, the optimum regenerative agent flow fraction (diluted oxygen) to be fed into the TZFBR has been determined at the reaction temperatures between 500 °C and 600 °C to get a constant catalytic activity without net deactivation. Moreover, the TZFBR with palladium membranes has been successfully tested, displacing the reaction equilibrium towards the production of propylene, and still keeping steady state in the catalytic propane dehydrogenation. These results were better than those reported in the literature for conventional reactors.
ABSTRACT
We present a new catalogue of H ii regions based on the integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data of the extended CALIFA and PISCO samples. The selection of H ii regions was based on two ...assumptions: a clumpy structure with high contrast of H α emission and an underlying stellar population comprising young stars. The catalogue provides the spectroscopic information of 26 408 individual regions corresponding to 924 galaxies, including the flux intensities and equivalent widths of 51 emission lines covering the wavelength range between 3745 and 7200 Å. To our knowledge, this is the largest catalogue of spectroscopic properties of H ii regions. We explore a new approach to decontaminate the emission lines from diffuse ionized gas contribution. This diffuse gas correction was estimated to correct every emission line within the considered spectral range. With the catalogue of H ii regions corrected, new demarcation lines are proposed for the classical diagnostic diagrams. Finally, we study the properties of the underlying stellar populations of the H ii regions. It was found that there is a direct relationship between the ionization conditions on the nebulae and the properties of stellar populations besides the physicals condition on the ionized regions.
Background
The American Society of Peritoneal Surface Malignancies (ASPSM) is a consortium of cancer centers performing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). ...This is a position paper from the ASPSM on the standardization of the delivery of HIPEC.
Methods
A survey was conducted of all cancer centers performing HIPEC in the United States. We attempted to obtain consensus by the modified method of Delphi on seven key HIPEC parameters: (1) method, (2) inflow temperature, (3) perfusate volume, (4) drug, (5) dosage, (6) timing of drug delivery, and (7) total perfusion time. Statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric tests.
Results
Response rates for ASPSM members (
n
= 45) and non-ASPSM members (
n
= 24) were 89 and 33 %, respectively. Of the responders from ASPSM members, 95 % agreed with implementing the proposal. Majority of the surgical oncologists favored the closed method of delivery with a standardized dual dose of mitomycin for a 90-min chemoperfusion for patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal origin.
Conclusions
This recommendation on a standardized delivery of HIPEC in patients with colorectal cancer represents an important first step in enhancing research in this field. Studies directed at maximizing the efficacy of each of the seven key elements will need to follow.
In this paper, we present a study about the remanence state and coercivity in 1-D chain of cobalt hollow nanospheres, by using micromagnetic simulation. The high coercivity values (<inline-formula> ...<tex-math notation="LaTeX">{H_{c}} </tex-math></inline-formula> is determined in the range of 600-1800 Oe) and the monotonic decrease of remanence are attributed to the shape anisotropy effect due to an increase in the aspect ratio value. The configuration of magnetization in remanence showed the onion state for hollow spheres (HSs) with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{R_{e} = 15} </tex-math></inline-formula> nm, whereas for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{R_{e} = 30} </tex-math></inline-formula> nm, appear the curling-vortex (CV) state. Finally for a cluster of chains, constituted by cobalt HSs, with random orientations the CV state is preserved.
In addition to its search for extrasolar planets, the NASA Kepler mission provides exquisite data on stellar oscillations. We report the detections of oscillations in 500 solar-type stars in the ...Kepler field of view, an ensemble that is large enough to allow statistical studies of intrinsic stellar properties (such as mass, radius, and age) and to test theories of stellar evolution. We find that the distribution of observed masses of these stars shows intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and interleukin (IL)-2 administered following lymphodepletion can cause the durable complete regression of bulky metastatic melanoma in patients refractory to ...approved treatments. However, the generation of a unique tumor-reactive TIL culture for each patient may be prohibitively difficult. We therefore investigated the clinical and immunologic impact of unscreened, CD8+ enriched "young" TIL.
Methods were developed for generating TIL that minimized the time in culture and eliminated the individualized tumor-reactivity screening step. Thirty-three patients were treated with these CD8+ enriched young TIL and IL-2 following nonmyeloablative lymphodepletion (NMA). Twenty-three additional patients were treated with CD8+ enriched young TIL and IL-2 after lymphodepletion with NMA and 6 Gy of total body irradiation.
Young TIL cultures for therapy were successfully established from 83% of 122 consecutive melanoma patients. Nineteen of 33 patients (58%) treated with CD8+ enriched young TIL and NMA had an objective response (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) including 3 complete responders. Eleven of 23 patients (48%) treated with TIL and 6 Gy total body irradiation had an objective response including 2 complete responders. At 1 month after TIL infusion the absolute CD8+ cell numbers in the periphery were highly correlated with response.
This study shows that a rapid and simplified method can be used to reliably generate CD8+ enriched young TIL for administration as an individualized therapy for advanced melanoma, and may allow this potentially effective treatment to be applied at other institutions and to reach additional patients.
While osimertinib, a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is the standard treatment in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ...with sensitising EGFR and acquired T790M mutations, progression inevitably occurs. The angiogenic pathway is implicated in EGFR TKI resistance.
BOOSTER is an open-label randomised phase II trial investigating the efficacy and safety of combined osimertinib 80 mg daily and bevacizumab 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks, versus osimertinib alone, in patients with EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC and acquired T790M mutations after failure on previous EGFR TKI therapy. Primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR) and adverse events (AEs).
Between May 2017 and February 2019, 155 patients were randomised (combination: 78; osimertinib: 77). At data cut-off of 22 February 2021, median follow-up was 33.8 months interquartile range (IQR): 26.5-37.6 months and 129 (83.2%) PFS events were reported in the intention-to-treat population. There was no difference in median PFS between the combination 15.4 months; 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.2-18.0 months and osimertinib arm (12.3 months; 95% CI 6.2-17.2 months; stratified log-rank P = 0.83), hazard ratio (HR) = 0.96; 95% CI 0.68-1.37. Median OS was 24.0 months (95% CI 17.8-32.1 months) in the combination arm and 24.3 months (95% CI 16.9-37.0 months) in the osimertinib arm (stratified log-rank P = 0.91), (HR = 1.03; 95% CI 0.67-1.56). Exploratory analysis revealed a significant interaction of smoking history with treatment for PFS (adjusted P = 0.0052) with a HR of 0.52 (95% CI 0.30-0.90) for smokers, and 1.47 (95% CI 0.92-2.33) for never smokers. ORR was 55% in both arms and the median time to treatment failure was significantly shorter in the combination than in the osimertinib arm, 8.2 months versus 10.8 months, respectively (P = 0.0074). Safety of osimertinib and bevacizumab was consistent with previous reports with grade ≥3 treatment-related AEs (TRAEs) reported in 47% and 18% of patients on combination and osimertinib alone, respectively.
No difference in PFS was observed between osimertinib plus bevacizumab and osimertinib alone. Grade ≥3 TRAEs were more common in patients on combination.
•A randomised trial comparing bevacizumab plus osimertinib versus osimertinib alone in EGFR-mutant NSCLC with T790M mutations.•The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed PFS.•No difference in PFS was observed between osimertinib plus bevacizumab and osimertinib alone.•TRAEs of grade ≥3 were more common in patients on combination than osimertinib alone.
Cytosolic Ca2+ regulates multiple steps in the host-cell invasion, growth, proliferation, and egress of blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum, yet our understanding of Ca2+ signaling in this endemic ...malaria parasite is incomplete. By using a newly generated transgenic line of P. falciparum (PfGCaMP3) that expresses constitutively the genetically encoded Ca2+ indicator GCaMP3, we have investigated the dynamics of Ca2+ release and influx elicited by inhibitors of the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase pumps, cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), and thapsigargin (Thg). Here we show that in isolated trophozoite phase parasites: (i) both CPA and Thg release Ca2+ from intracellular stores in P. falciparum parasites; (ii) Thg is able to induce Ca2+ release from an intracellular compartment insensitive to CPA; (iii) only Thg is able to activate Ca2+ influx from extracellular media, through a mechanism resembling store-operated Ca2+ entry, typical of mammalian cells; and (iv) the Thg-sensitive Ca2+ pool is unaffected by collapsing the mitochondria membrane potential with the uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone or the release of acidic Ca2+ stores with nigericin. These data suggest the presence of two Ca2+ pools in P. falciparum with differential sensitivity to the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase pump inhibitors, and only the release of the Thg-sensitive Ca2+ store induces Ca2+ influx. Activation of the store-operated Ca2+ entry–like Ca2+ influx may be relevant for controlling processes such as parasite invasion, egress, and development mediated by kinases, phosphatases, and proteases that rely on Ca2+ levels for their activation.
Part of the InSight mission, the SEIS instrument (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures), is planned to arrive on Mars in November 2018. In order to prepare its future recordings on the red ...planet, special attention was directed towards calibrating the seismometer in-situ on the Martian surface. Besides relative calibrations, we studied the possibility of actively calibrating the two kinds of seismometers onboard SEIS, the Very Broad Band seismometers (VBB) and the Short Period seismometers (SP) and extended the analysis towards a possible absolute calibration. For that purpose, we developed additional noise models at low frequency and elaborate on how they will be sensed by the seismic sensors from long-period data recorded by the seismometer. Such work will improve SEIS capabilities to unveil the inner structure of Mars by checking SEIS well-being and with applications such as gravimetry with the main Phobos tide. The current calibration procedure is planned to take one hour to calibrate the VBB sensors using the SP sensors, and determine the VBB gain with an accuracy of 0.4%, good enough to resolve the state of the Martian core.
Although different amendments have been used for the immobilization of metals and metalloids in contaminated soils, in most of them there are still important challenges that need to be faced in order ...to achieve an optimal result. In this work, a new material based on a carbon foam impregnated with goethite nanoneedles has been developed with the aim of evaluating its effect on the mobility and availability of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in an industrial soil. For this purpose, leaching, sequential extraction and phytotoxicity studies have been carried out. The results were compared with the same carbon foam without goethite impregnation. When the soil was treated with goethite-based carbon foam nanocomposite, the mobility of metal(loid)s was markedly reduced, with the exception of Zn, which showed moderate immobilization. The presence of acid groups on the surface of the carbon foam, together with a high surface area, led to a strong immobilization of pollutants. Moreover, the modification of the foams using goethite nanoneedles, imply that the novel nanocomposite obtained is effective to remediate simultaneously metal and metalloid-polluted soils, without any relevant effect on soil toxicity.
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•Iron-based carbon foam is effective in simultaneously immobilizing As and metals.•Surface area, pH and functional groups of the carbon foam key to immobilization.•The iron-based carbon foam nanocomposite does not affect the Fe availability.•Phytotoxicity of soil is reduced as a consequence of As immobilization.
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