Search Results (10)

In this study, we developed polypropylene-based nanocomposites using different (0.3, 0.5, and 1 wt%) fillers of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), with a particular focus on their applicability as lining materials for Type IV hydrogen storage tanks. The aim of this research was to improve the thermal stability and rheological behavior of PP, while also evaluating the recyclability of the resulting composites in order to support sustainability goals. A realistic recycling approach was simulated by producing original and regranulated (REG) samples using a twin-screw extruder. Thermal analysis showed that the incorporation of MWCNTs promoted crystallization, increasing both the degree of crystallinity and lamellar thickness, which are beneficial factors in terms of reducing gas permeability. Rheological tests showed increased storage and loss moduli in both nanocomposites and their recycled counterparts, especially at low frequencies. It is noteworthy that in REG samples with 0.3 and 1 wt% content, the zero-shear viscosity increased by approximately 50% and 90%, respectively, compared to pure PP. In our research, we produced nanocomposites that could offer significant advances in the field of hydrogen storage and liner materials, while the results of the regranulated composites could further enhance the sustainability of our materials. Full article

Background: Although data on patients treated with pembrolizumab are available from clinical trials and single-country real-world reports, to our knowledge no multi-country real-world studies have investigated the use of pembrolizumab as an adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma. Methods: We used the European Melanoma Registry (EUMelaReg), a disease entity-based registry specific for melanoma, to examine treatment and outcomes for adult patients with stage III melanoma with lymph node involvement who had complete resection and received adjuvant treatment with pembrolizumab. The primary objectives were to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of the included patients as well as time on adjuvant pembrolizumab treatment (TOT), real-world recurrence-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) from adjuvant pembrolizumab initiation. Secondary objectives were time to next treatment (TTNT) after adjuvant use of pembrolizumab, next-line therapy for stage III and unresectable stage IV melanoma and overall survival (OS) from initiation of pembrolizumab. Results: Patients were stratified according to age, sex, BRAF status, number of positive lymph nodes and disease substage. Median TOT was 11.1 (9.2–11.5) months, median RFS was 29.6 [18.7–not reached (NR)] months and median DMFS was 32.4 (22.7–NR) months. TTNT was 29.9 (22.2–NR) months, while median OS was not reached. Conclusions: The results of this study offer insights into the real-world use of pembrolizumab as an adjuvant therapy for melanoma in Europe. Full article

Breed and Burn (B&B) fuel cycle in molten salt reactors (MSRs) qualifies this reactor type as one of the best candidates to be developed for the Gen-IV R&D program. This feature can be approached by employing a closed fuel cycle and application of a molten salt reactor as a spent nuclear fuel burner; the features promise sustainable and clean energy in the future. In this study, a complete package has been developed to calculate core inventory, fuel burnup, and salt clean-up systems of molten salt reactors during their lifetime. To achieve this, the iMAGINE-3BIC package (“iMAGINE 3D-Reg Burnup & Inventory Calculator package”) has been developed in MATLAB R2023a by employing a CINDER90 module of MCNPX 2.7 for burnup-calculation and multi-linear regression method (MLR). The package can estimate the core inventory (concentration of 25 actinides and 245 non-actinides elements) and the burnup of the reactor core during MSR lifetime (up to 100 years) while optimizing the computational resources (time, CPU and RAM), and it can even be hassle-freely executed on standalone PCs in an appropriate time due to its generous database. In addition, the salt clean-up module of the iMAGINE-3BIC package can be employed to evaluate the effects of the salt clean-up system on the above parameters over the MSRs’ lifetime. Finally, the iMAGINE-3BIC package has been applied to an iMAGINE reactor core design (University of Liverpool, UK—chloride-based salt fuel system) and an EVOL reactor core design (CNRS, Grenoble, France, fluoride-based salt fuel system) to evaluate and compare the performance of chloride/fluoride-based salt fuel MSRs from the point of burnup, core inventory, and salt clean-up systems. The results confirm that while a chloride-based salt fuel system has some advantages in less dependency on the salt clean-up system and fewer poisoning elements inventory, the fluoride-based system can achieve higher burnup during the reactor lifetime. The outcome of this study, along with the first part of this article, provides evidence to support the neutronic decision matrix as well as the pros and cons of employing chloride- or fluoride-based fuel systems in MSR cores. Full article

This paper examines the distinct effects of actual and perceived security on forestland investment by rural households. To achieve this, we utilized Tobit and IV-Reg models to analyze repeated survey data from 500 households residing in 50 villages in Jiangxi Province during the years 2017 and 2018. We measured households’ investment in forest management by labor and cash inputs. The findings indicate that actual and perceived tenure security significantly influence forestland investment. Specifically, the possession of forestland certificates exhibiting a marked increase in labor and cash inputs. However, the logging quota system has a significant negative impact on cash input, but no significant effect on labor input. With regard to perceived tenure security, the evaluation and comprehension of the existing tenure policy by households contribute positively to both labor and cash inputs in forestland. From our analysis, it is recommended that the logging quota system be revised to incentivize farmers’ active participation in forest management, and the government should strive to raise awareness among rural households about forest tenure policy. Full article

Remote sensing technology is vital for precision agriculture, aiding in early issue detection, resource management, and environmentally friendly practices. Recent advances in remote sensing technology and data processing have propelled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into valuable tools for obtaining detailed data on plant diseases with high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. Given the growing body of scholarly research centered on UAV-based disease detection, a comprehensive review and analysis of current studies becomes imperative to provide a panoramic view of evolving methodologies in plant disease monitoring and to strategically evaluate the potential and limitations of such strategies. This study undertakes a systematic quantitative literature review to summarize existing literature and discern current research trends in UAV-based applications for plant disease detection and monitoring. Results reveal a global disparity in research on the topic, with Asian countries being the top contributing countries (43 out of 103 papers). World regions such as Oceania and Africa exhibit comparatively lesser representation. To date, research has largely focused on diseases affecting wheat, sugar beet, potato, maize, and grapevine. Multispectral, reg-green-blue, and hyperspectral sensors were most often used to detect and identify disease symptoms, with current trends pointing to approaches integrating multiple sensors and the use of machine learning and deep learning techniques. Future research should prioritize (i) development of cost-effective and user-friendly UAVs, (ii) integration with emerging agricultural technologies, (iii) improved data acquisition and processing efficiency (iv) diverse testing scenarios, and (v) ethical considerations through proper regulations. Full article

Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is characterized by recurrent episodes of oxygen desaturation and reoxygenation (intermittent hypoxia [IH]), and is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and insulin resistance/Type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanisms linking IH stress and CVD remain elusive. We exposed rat H9c2 and mouse P19.CL6 cardiomyocytes to experimental IH or normoxia for 24 h to analyze the mRNA expression of several cardiomyokines. We found that the mRNA levels of regenerating gene IV (Reg IV) and hepatocyte growth factor (Hgf) in H9c2 and P19.CL6 cardiomyocytes were significantly increased by IH, whereas the promoter activities of the genes were not increased. A target mRNA search of microRNA (miR)s revealed that rat and mouse mRNAs have a potential target sequence for miR-499. The miR-499 level of IH-treated cells was significantly decreased compared to normoxia-treated cells. MiR-499 mimic and non-specific control RNA (miR-499 mimic NC) were introduced into P19.CL6 cells, and the IH-induced upregulation of the genes was abolished by introduction of the miR-499 mimic, but not by the miR-499 mimic NC. These results indicate that IH stress downregulates the miR-499 in cardiomyocytes, resulting in increased levels of Reg IV and Hgf mRNAs, leading to the protection of cardiomyocytes in SAS patients. Full article

Background: Current therapeutic options in diffuse metastatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) are limited with unsatisfactory results. We evaluated the efficacy of regional chemotherapy (RegCTx) using arterial infusion (AI), hypoxic stop-flow abdominal perfusion (HAP), upper abdominal perfusion (UAP) and isolated-thoracic perfusion (ITP) in 36 patients with metastatic perihilar and intrahepatic CCC. Methods: Ten patients had previously undergone a liver resection and in 14 patients the previous systemic chemotherapy (sCTx) approach had failed. A total of 189 RegCTx cycles (90 AI, 74 UAP, 13 HAP and 12 ITP) were applied using cisplatin alone or with Adriamycin and Mitomycin C. A minimum of three cycles were applied in 75% of the study population. The response was evaluated using RECIST criteria with MediasStat 28.5.14. Mortality, morbidity and survival analysis were performed using a prospective follow-up database and SPSS–28.0. Results: No procedure related mortality occurred. The overall morbidity was 56% and dominated by lymph fistulas at the inguinal access site. No grade III or IV haematological complication occurred. The overall response rate was 38% partial response, 41% stable and 21% progressive disease. Median overall survival was 23 months (95%CI 16.3–29.7). The RegCTx specific survival was 12 months (95%CI 6.5–17.5) in completely therapy naive patients but also in patients who had failed a sCTx attempt previously. Conclusion: RegCTx is feasible, safe and superior to the current proposed therapeutic options in metastatic CCC. The role of RegCTx should be determined in a larger cohort of diffuse metastatic CCC patients but also at early stages especially in initially not resectable but potentially resectable patients. Full article

Background: Therapeutic options in metastatic esophageal cancer (EC) are limited with unsatisfactory results. We evaluated the efficacy of regional chemotherapy (RegCTx) approach in diffuse metastatic EC using arterial infusion (AI), upper abdominal perfusion (UAP) and isolated-thoracic perfusion (ITP) in 14 patients (N = 8 adenocarcinoma (AC) and N = 6 squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC)) after failure to first-line palliative treatment. Methods: All patients had previously failed first-line palliative treatment attempt with systemic chemotherapy (sCTx). In total 51 RegCTx cycles (12 AI, 3 UAP and 36 ITP) were applied using cisplatin, Adriamycin and Mitomycin C. The outcome was evaluated using RECIST criteria with MediasStat 28.5.14 and SPSS–28.0. Results: No grade III or IV hematological complications occurred. The overall response rate was 41% partial response, 27% stable and 32% progressive disease. Median overall survival (OS) was 38 months (95%CI 10.1–65.9). The OS was better in SQCC with 51 months The RegCTx specific survival was 13 months (95%CI 2.9–23.1) in the entire cohort and 25 months in SQCC patients. Conclusion: RegCTx is a valuable safe approach and superior to the current proposed therapeutic options in metastatic EC after failure to first-line therapy. Full article

Background: Gender issues have received increasing attention in clinical research of the past years, and biological sex has been introduced as a moderating variable in experimental pain perception. However, in clinical studies of acute pain and gender, there are conflicting results. In particular, there are limited data on the impact of gender differences after spinal sequestrectomy. The aim of this work is to examine gender differences in postoperative pain and pain medication consumption in an inpatient clinical setting. Methods: Data of a completed double-blind RCT was subdivided by gender and reanalyzed by means of an analysis of variance in repeated measures. Outcomes included pain severity measured on a VAS, affective (SES-A) and sensory pain perception (SES-S) and morphine equivalent doses (MED) of analgesics after spinal sequestrectomy. Results: In total, 42 female (47.73%) and 46 male (52.27%) patients were analyzed. No differences in pain severity (VAS: Gender × Time F = 0.35; (df = 2, 86); p = 0.708), affective and sensory pain perception (SES-A: Gender × Time F = 0.08; (df = 2, 86); p = 0.919; SES-S: Gender × Time F = 0.06; (df = 2, 86); p = 0.939) or post-operative opioid use between men and women (MEDs: Gender × Time F = 1.44; (df = 2, 86); p = 0.227) could be observed. Conclusions: This reanalysis of an RCT with respect to gender differences is to our knowledge the first attempt to investigate the role of gender in pain perception and medication after lumbar spine sequestrectomy. In contrast to other studies, we were not able to show significant differences between male and female patients in all pain-related outcomes. Apart from well-established pain management, psychological reasons such as gender-specific response biases or the observer effect might explain our results. Trial registration: The study was registered as a regulatory phase IV study at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), an open-access online register for clinical trials conducted in Germany (Reg-No: DRKS00007913). Full article

The role of metastasis-related genes in cisplatin (CDDP) chemoresistance in gastric cancer is poorly understood. Here, we examined the expression of four metastasis-related genes (namely, c-met, HMGB1, RegIV, PCDHB9) in 39 cases of gastric cancer treated with neoadjuvant therapy with CDDP or CDDP+5-fluorouracil and evaluated its association with CDDP responsiveness. Comparison of CDDP-sensitive cases with CDDP-resistant cases, the expression of c-met, HMGB1, and PCDHB9 was correlated with CDDP resistance. Among them, the expression of HMGB1 showed the most significant correlation with CDDP resistance in multivariate analysis. Treatment of TMK-1 and MKN74 human gastric cancer cell lines with ethyl pyruvate (EP) or tanshinone IIA (TAN), which are reported to inhibit HMGB1 signaling, showed a 4–5-fold increase in inhibition by CDDP. Treatment with EP or TAN also suppressed the expression of TLR4 and MyD88 in the HMGB1 signal transduction pathway and suppressed the activity of NFκB in both cell lines. These results suggest that the expression of these cancer metastasis-related genes is also related to anticancer drug resistance and that suppression of HMGB1 may be particularly useful for CDDP sensitization. Full article