The combination of panobinostat, bortezomib and dexamethasone (PanBorDex) is available as a treatment option for relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) based on the PANORAMA-1 trial which ...investigated this triplet in early relapse. In routine clinical care, PanBorDex is used primarily in later relapses and is commonly administered in attenuated dosing schedules to mitigate the treatment-related toxicity. We set out to evaluate efficacy and safety outcomes with PanBorDex later in the disease course and evaluate the role of attenuated dosing schedules. This was a retrospective evaluation of patients treated in routine clinical practice between 2016-2019 across seven heamatology centres in the UK; patients who received at least one dose of PanBorDex were eligible for inclusion. The dosing schedule of panobinostat (10mg, 15mg or 20mg, twice or three times a week) and bortezomib (0.7mg/m.sup.2, 1mg/m.sup.2 or 1.3mg/m.sup.2 once or twice weekly) was as per treating physician choice. Patients received treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary outcome is response rates according to IMWG criteria. Key secondary endpoints include progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Other secondary endpoints include rates of adverse events according to CTCAE criteria. In total, 61 patients were eligible for inclusion and received PanBorDex primarily as greater than or equal to5.sup.th line of treatment. One third of patients received PanBorDex at full dose, for the remaining two thirds, treatment was given in reduced dose intensities. The overall response rate was 44.2%, including 14.7% very good partial response (VGPR) rates; 68.8% of patients derived clinical benefit with stable disease or better. The median PFS was 3.4 months; non-refractory patients and those who achieved VGPR benefited from prolonged PFS of 11.4 months and 17.7 months, respectively. The median OS was 9.5 months. The triplet was associated with 45% and 18% incidence of grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia and diarrhea, respectively.
Vestibular system, which consists of structures in the inner ear and brainstem, plays a vital role is body balance and patient well-being. In recent years, modulating this system by vestibular ...stimulation techniques are reported to be effective in stress relief and possibly patient's emotional well-being. Emotions refer to an aroused state involving intense feeling, autonomic activation, and related change in behavior, which accompany many of our conscious experiences. The limbic system is primarily involved in the regulation of emotions. Considering the extensive networks between vestibular and limbic system, it is likely that vestibular stimulation techniques may be useful in influencing emotions. Hence, we review here, the possible mechanisms through which vestibular system can influence emotions and highlight the necessary knowledge gaps, which warrants further research to develop vestibular stimulation techniques as a means to treat health conditions associated with emotional disturbances.
Pyrolysis is a thermal method in which volatile matter present in a biomass will be degraded to lower molecular substances. This study aims at evaluation of kinetics of lignocellulosic biomass of ...leaves and stems of Hibiscus rosa sinensis and Nerium oleander under pyrolytic conditions, their proximate and ultimate analyses and their calorific values. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out using a thermogravimetric balance, which combines heat flux type differential thermal analysis (DTA) with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at different heating rates under a nitrogen atmosphere. The results were analyzed using weight loss vs. temperature and derivative weight vs. temperature profiles obtained from DTA and TGA curves. Three kinetic stages apart from moisture evaporation were observed based on the type of biomass. Kinetic parameters such as the pre-exponential factor and activation energy for each degradation step were calculated using first-order kinetics. The assumption of first-order kinetics was also proved from the experimental data. The results showed that Nerium oleander leaves are more suitable for fuel production through pyrolysis due to their higher percentage of volatile matter, low sulfur content, lower ash content, higher calorific value and lower activation energy required to decompose constituents of biomass, namely hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin.
Nerium oleander is a lignocellulosic biomass which is not consumed by cattle due to its poisonous nature. The effect of two important parameters namely particle size and heating rate on thermal ...degradation profiles of leaves and stems of N. oleander under pyrolytic conditions were studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Experiments were conducted using heating rates from 5 to 20 °C min
−1
in the pyrolysis temperature range of 0-1200 °C under 100 sccm nitrogen flow. Three different particle sizes 125, 500, and 1000 µ were considered for this study. Three degradation stages (each for hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin) excluding the moisture loss were found for the chosen biomasses irrespective of particle size and heating rate. The kinetic rate parameters for hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin were found using mass loss data obtained from TGA assuming first order kinetics using Coats-Redfern model. The assumed first order kinetics was proved correct for all the biomasses chosen based on the R
2
value for the experimental data. Lower range of activation energy for hemicellulose and cellulose was observed for all particle sizes at lower heating rate when compared with lignin for both leaves and stems of N. oleander.
There has been a great deal of interest in the computation of distances and shortest paths problem in graphs which is one of the central, and most studied, problems in (algorithmic) graph theory. In ...this paper, we survey the exact results of the static version of the all-pairs shortest paths problem and its variants namely, the Wiener index, the average distance, and the minimum average distance spanning tree (MAD tree in short) in graphs (focusing mainly on algorithmic results for such problems). Along the way we also mention some important open issues and further research directions in these areas.
The synthesis of biodiesel from cottonseed oil using heterogeneous calcined clam shells by transesterification was studied. The effects of the amount of catalyst and the oil-to-methanol ratio on the ...yield of the biodiesel produced were determined. A maximum yield of 84% biodiesel was obtained. Various characterization tests such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy were carried out to ascertain the functional groups and compounds available in the product biodiesel obtained. The properties of the biodiesel using the calcined clamshell catalyst, such as density, viscosity, saponification value, iodine value and ester value, were estimated and compared with the American Society for Testing Materials standard values to determine the quality of the biodiesel produced. The yield of the biodiesel produced was modelled using response surface methodology, and contour regions were obtained. The surface morphology of the catalyst was studied using a scanning electron microscope. From the kinetics results obtained, the forward rate constant of the adsorption of methanol onto the catalyst surface was found to be very low (1.467 × 10
−4
), confirming that the kinetics of biodiesel production is limited by adsorption of methanol onto the active sites of the catalyst.
In this study, a continuous regenerative adsorption unit is proposed as an alternative to conventional dialysis unit. Two adsorbents namely, Zeolite 3A and Zeolite 5A have been used as the ...adsorbents. The parameters of the continuous regeneration unit such as, operation time, amount of adsorbent, etc., have been optimized against the adsorption capacity of the uremic toxins in the human body. Adsorption techniques can increase the clearance of toxins from the blood, eliminate the use of dialysate, semi-permeable membrane and reduce the session time. Zeolite 3A has been found to be the most bio-compatible adsorbent for the efficient removal of low molecular weight uremic toxins to protein-bound solutes in batch processes. The optimal time and adsorption capacity of zeolite for removal of uremic toxins, namely, urea and creatinine from water are evaluated. Experimental runs were carried out with these uremic toxin solutions to study the adsorption capacity of the bed, optimal time for efficient adsorption and reuse of the bed without any regeneration for the optimization of the proposed unit. The concentrations of uremic toxins in solutions after each run at different time intervals were found with the aid of UV Spectroscopic technique (using Shimadzu UV-2600). Significant reduction in uremic toxins under the proposed optimized condition facilitates advance research on engineering the structural properties of the adsorbent for the bio-compatibility of the whole set up with human body
The effect of the Pt–Sn/α-Al2O3 catalyst reduction method on dehydrogenation of mixed-light paraffins to olefins has been studied in this work. Pt–Sn/α-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by two different ...methods: (a) liquid phase reduction with NaBH4 and (b) gas phase reduction with hydrogen. The catalytic performance of these two catalysts for dehydrogenation of paraffins was compared. Also, the synergy between the catalyst reduction method and mixed-paraffin feed (against individual paraffin feed) was studied. The catalysts were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The individual and mixed-paraffin feed dehydrogenation experiments were carried out in a packed bed reactor fabricated from Inconel 600, operating at 600 °C and 10 psi pressure. The dehydrogenation products were analyzed using an online gas chromatograph (GC) with flame ionization detector (FID). The total paraffin conversion and olefin selectivity for individual paraffin feed (propane only and butane only) and mixed-paraffin feed were compared. The conversion of propane only feed was found to be 10.7% and 9.9%, with olefin selectivity of 499% and 490% for NaBH4 and hydrogen reduced catalysts, respectively. The conversion of butane only feed was found to be 24.4% and 23.3%, with olefin selectivity of 405% and 418% for NaBH4 and hydrogen reduced catalysts, respectively. The conversion of propane and butane during mixed-feed dehydrogenation was measured to be 21.4% and 30.6% for the NaBH4 reduced catalyst, and 17.2%, 22.4% for the hydrogen reduced catalyst, respectively. The olefin selectivity was 422% and 415% for NaBH4 and hydrogen reduced catalysts, respectively. The conversions of propane and butane for mixed-paraffin feed were found to be higher when compared with individual paraffin dehydrogenation. The thermogravimetric studies of used catalysts under oxygen atmosphere showed that the amount of coke deposited during mixed-paraffin feed is less compared with individual paraffin feed for both catalysts. The study showed NaBH4 as a simple and promising alternative reduction method for the synthesis of Pt–Sn/Al2O3 catalyst for paraffin dehydrogenation. Further, the studies revealed that mixed-paraffin feed dehydrogenation gave higher conversions without significantly affecting olefin selectivity.
Display omitted
•Nerium Oleander is a source for fuels and is not consumed by cattle and humans.•High VM/FC ratio of Nerium Oleander: Suitable for fuel production via pyrolysis.•nth order, ...randomscission & nucleation model for hemicellulose,cellulose & lignin.•~40 kJ mol−1 lower Ea and 10 times higher A values for catalytic pyrolysis.•The amount of coke deposited for Zeolite 5A catalyst was lower than that of ZSM-5.
Nerium Oleander is a plant that is not consumed by both human and cattle. The pyrolysis of leaves and stems of Nerium oleander was performed using thermogravimetric analysis without and with Zeolite 5A catalyst from room temperature to 1000 ⁰C, with different heating rates from 5 ⁰C min−1 to 20 ⁰C min−1 under nitrogen atmosphere, with a biomass to catalyst ratio of 4:1 for all studies involving catalyst. Three different particle sizes namely, 1000, 500, and 125-µm were chosen for the study. Three degradation stages, referred to hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin were observed under pyrolysis conditions, based on the degradation temperature. The mass loss rate curve was deconvoluted using Fraser-Suzuki function to obtain mass loss rate for individual constituents of biomass. The activation energy for each constituent was determined using Friedmann isoconversional model, as recommended by ICTAC, from deconvoluted data. The reaction model f(α), was determined using the generalized master plots method. The pre-exponential factor was obtained from the fundamental mass loss rate relationship with f(α). The reaction order for hemicellulose degradation was found to be 3rd order, Random-Scission model for cellulose degradation, and nucleation model (Avrami Erofeev 1.5 order) for lignin degradation both for non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis. The activation energy for catalytic pyrolysis was found to be 30–40 kJ mol−1 lower for hemicellulose and cellulose, and 200 kJ mol−1 lower for lignin compared to non-catalytic pyrolysis. The amount of coke deposited during catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis is also compared.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a progressive decline in the cognitive functions, usually starting with memory complaints and eventually progressing to involve multiple cognitive, ...neuropsychological, and behavioral domains. Here, we review the possible mechanisms by which vestibular stimulation may prevent or delay AD. The current article establishes the hypothesis for the use of vestibular stimulation for the management of Alzheimer’s. We recommend translational research in this area to provide experimental evidence to support the use of vestibular stimulation.
PDF
