•An hypothetical industrial scale facility based on SAGD has been studied.•A DCFA and a LCA of the hypothetical plant have been carried out.•An economic–environmental model for SAGD technology ...optimization has been developed.•Cost competiveness and environmental impacts have been calculated.
As conventional oil production becomes limited, transportation fuels are being produced from other unconventional fossil resources such as oil sands. Oil sands are a combination of clay, sand, water and bitumen. Vast quantities of oil sands resources have been found worldwide. The largest known reservoir of oil sands in the world is located in the province of Alberta (Canada). Several techniques for the extraction of the oil from oil sands have been developed in recent decades. Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is the most promising approach for recovering heavy and viscous oil resources. In SAGD, two closely-spaced horizontal wells, one above the other, form a steam-injector and producer pair. The reservoir oil is heated by the injected steam and drains to the producer under the effect of gravity. First aim of this work is an economic optimization and evaluation of an hypothetical industrial scale facility (named LINK), located in Alberta. All data relating to LINK plant have been obtained from a review of the existing literature references or have been assumed. A Discounted Cash Flow Analysis (DCFA) of LINK plant has been performed. Costs of existing projects have been found in literature. The results show that the hypothetical plant LINK is a profitable investment and that the investment cost has a significant effect on the competitiveness of the LINK facility. Second purpose of the present work is an environmental analysis of the LINK plant: in order to evaluate GHG emissions from LINK plant, a LCA analysis has been carried out. The calculated emissions from oil sand production by SAGD technology have been compared with values relating to conventional crude oil pathways and to recovery and extraction of bitumen through surface mining from literature. The comparison demonstrated that SAGD is a promising technology also from an environmental point of view. An economic–environmental model for SAGD technology optimization has been developed.
This paper presents the preliminary results of an environmental evaluation carried out by the application of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), to a new method proposed for managing the end of life of thin ...film photovoltaic panels that is being developed by a company leader in design and installation of photovoltaic solutions. The new method is being developed in an experimental test facility established by the company for implementing a series of mechanical and hydro mechanical treatments to thin film panels at the end of their life before the ultimate material recovery phase.
The main innovation of the method consists in the elimination of the thermal treatments and the reduction of chemicals needed for recovering valuable materials, in favor of mechanical processes. The results demonstrate that the mechanical treatments used in the pre-treatment phase of the module has a positive effect in almost all the damage categories defined in the LCA and contribute significantly to the reduction of the global warming and the carbon footprint of the photovoltaic technology.
► Innovative pre-treatment method for thin film panels. ► Elimination of thermal and chemical treatments. ► Low environmental impact of photovoltaic recycling process. ► Reduction of carbon footprint of photovoltaic technology.
Background
Optimization of factor VIII (FVIII) infusion in hemophilia A would benefit from identification of FVIII pharmacokinetics (PK) determinants. The low‐density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) ...contains an FVIII‐binding site and might influence FVIII clearance. Consistently, LDLR polymorphisms have been associated with FVIII levels.
Objective
To investigate the relationships between individual FVIII PK and functional LDLR polymorphisms.
Patients/Methods
Thirty‐three hemophilia A patients (FVIII coagulant activity FVIII:C ≤2 IU/dL) without inhibitors underwent 85 FVIII single‐dose (21.4‐51.8 IU/kg) PKs with different FVIII concentrates. Twenty patients underwent repeated PKs (2‐6). FVIII:C measured up to 72 hours was analyzed by two‐compartment model. Parameters were evaluated in relation to F8 mutations, ABO blood‐group and LDLR genotypes.
Results
F8 mutation types were not associated with PK parameters. ABO and LDLR c.1773C/T polymorphism were associated with Alpha, Alpha HL, CLD2, K1‐2, and K2‐1 parameters, suggesting an influence on the FVIII initial distribution phase. Regression analysis showed an independent association of both ABO and LDLR c.1773C/T with PK parameters (Alpha, β‐coefficient −0.311 vs 0.348; CLD2, β‐coefficient −0.335 vs 0.318), giving rise to an additive effect in subjects stratified by combined phenotypes. Differently, the LDLR c.81C/T was associated with FVIII clearance and volume of distribution at steady state, which could be related to distinct effects of polymorphisms, potentially linked to LDLR intracellular distribution and FVIII binding behavior.
Conclusions
With the limitation of different FVIII concentrates and low number of patients, our data show plausible associations of LDLR polymorphisms with FVIII PK parameters, thus supporting their investigation as candidate functional determinants of FVIII PK.
The ethnobotany of the Sahrawi people considers various species of plants and crude drugs as food, cooking spices and traditional health remedies. From among these, the fruits of Ammodaucus ...leucotrichus Coss. & Dur. (Apiaceae), known as Saharan cumin, were chosen for our research. The present paper reports a proximate composition and mineral element analysis of various samples of A. leucotrichus fruits, collected during the balsamic period (full fruiting) from plants grown in Bir Lehlu (Western Sahara) and purchased in a local market (Tindouf). These analyses pointed out interesting nutritional values of the crude drug. Decoction and alcoholic extract, analyzed by HPLC-DAD, evidenced ammolactone-A and R-perillaldehyde as the two main isolated constituents, particularly in the ethanolic extracts (ammolactone-A, market sample: 51.71 ± 0.39 mg/g dry extract; wild sample: 111.60 ± 1.80 mg/g dry extract; R-perillaldehyde, market sample: 145.95 ± 0.35 mg/g dry extract; wild sample: 221.40 ± 0.30 mg/g dry extract). The essential oils, obtained through hydrodistillation, were characterized by GC-MS and evidenced R-perillaldehyde (market sample: 53.21 ± 1.52%; wild sample: 74.01 ± 1.75%) and limonene (market sample: 35.15 ± 1.68%; wild sample: 19.90 ± 1.86%) as the most abundant compounds. The R configuration of perillaldehyde was ascertained and a complete description of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of ammolactone-A was performed.
Abstract Objective Brain metastases occur between 10 and 40% of patients with cancer and are more common than primary brain tumors (30-40%) and their incidence is growing because of the improvements ...in control of systemic disease, the prolonged survival and the better radiological detection. Modern treatment of brain metastases dramatically changed their expected prognosis that traditionally has been considered very poor referring such patients only to palliation because their terminal stage, and new prognostic indexes have been proposed to evaluate them. The aim of our study was to determine the long-term incidence of surgery on overall survival (OS) in patients with brain metastases from dissimilar primary tumors and to identify the prognostic variables associated with a prolonged survival. Surgical resection should be considered the primary option for brain metastases and together with stereotactic radiosurgery must be evaluated for single brain metastases and also for multiple lesions up to 3. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of patients operated between January 2010 and October 2014 for cerebral metastases from lung, kidney, breast and gastrointestinal cancers plus melanoma. Among the variables, we include age, sex, histology, location of lesions and specific treatments that these patients have undergone including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, individually or in combination of them. At admission, all the patients underwent an oncological evaluation considering their general health conditions according to specific scales (ECOCG) and their prognostic classification according with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) one. Results None worsened after surgery and, at discharge, 19 (26.76%) patients demonstrated an unchanged postoperative neurological examination while 52 patients (73.23%) showed an improvement (chi2 34.84, p-value < 0.0001). The expected overall survival, considering all tumor subtypes, was 372.24 months but the patients in our series obtained an overall survival of 787 months, more than twice than expected; specifically, the average expected survival of each patient was of 5.24 months while the obtained was 11.08 (p-value 0.000008). Conclusion We believe that surgery is a safe and effective procedure for cerebral metastases and should not be considered an aggressive treatment in such disease because in our series 55% of the patients had a survival longer than 6 months and a significant improvement in term of obtained vs expected survival.
Considering that the authentication of food contents is one of the most important issues for the food quality sector, and given the increasing demand for transparency in the meat industry followed ...the horsemeat scandal in Europe, this study investigates processed-meat products from Italian markets and supermarkets using the mitochondrial
cytochrome b
gene qualitative PCR identification system in order to verify any species substitution or mislabeling. The results revealed a high substitution rate among the meat products, highlighting a mislabeling rate of 57 %, and consequently, considerable discordance with the indications on the labels, which raises significant food-safety and consumer-protection concerns.
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