Outcomes of endovascular treatment of thoracic aorta pathologies: 10-year single-center results

PURPOSEThoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is a safe and effective treatment method for a variety of thoracic aortic pathologies. We aimed to investigate the mortality and complication outcomes and associated factors of TEVAR treatment in Turkey.METHODSIn this single-centered retrospective study, patients with thoracic aorta pathologies treated with TEVAR at Gazi University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, between January 2009 and January 2020 were included. Perioperative, early, and late mortality, complications, and technical success were the outcomes.RESULTSThe sample comprised 58 patients with 68 TEVAR interventions. Eleven (16.2%) patients were female, the mean age was 60.1 ± 13.4 years. Emergent TEVAR was required in 20.7% of the patients. The main indications of TEVAR were intact descending aorta aneurysms in 37.9% of the sample, 31.0% Stanford type-B dissection, and 12.1% traumatic transections. The technical success rate of primary and secondary interventions was 98.3% and 100%, respectively. The mortality rate in the first 30 days was 8.6%. Seventeen (29.3%) cases had at least 1 complication related to TEVAR treatment. The most common complication was type-1A endoleak (10.3%). Having acute symptoms, stroke, and acute renal failure were significantly associated with mortality (P=.020, .049, and .009, respectively).CONCLUSIONThis study reported the outcomes of TEVAR treatment from a tertiary medical center in Turkey over a decade. Patients presenting with acute symptoms and who developed stroke and acute renal failure after the procedure should be carefully followed up as these factors were found to be associated with mortality

Surface modification of polyethersulfone membrane to improve its hydrophobic characteristics for waste frying oil filtration: Radio frequency plasma treatment

WOS: 000298086500025In this study, polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was subjected to surface modification using hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) in radio frequency (RF) plasma system to improve its hydrophobic property for recovery of waste frying oil. Structural and morphological changes on the membrane surfaces were characterized by contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Permeate fluxes, physical and chemical properties of waste frying oil and waste frying oil-methanol micella (oil/methanol 1/3, 1/1, 1/3, v/v) after filtration through unmodified and modified PES membranes were investigated. The results showed that PES membranes modified with HMDSO at 75 W for 5 min (discharge power-exposure time) selectively rejected total polar compounds (TPC) and free fatty acids (FFAs) of waste frying oil to the extent of 46.9-48% and 35.3-40%, respectively. Furthermore, the viscosity of waste frying oil was reduced to the extent of 9.4-12.8%. RF-plasma-treated PES membranes appeared to improve the regeneration of waste frying oils and allow these oils to be used for either repeated frying operations or biodiesel production. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 123: 3402-3411, 2012Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Turkey; Deltamed Life Sciences and Plasma Technologies Research and Development Corp. [00032.STZ.2006-1]This work has been supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Turkey, and Deltamed Life Sciences and Plasma Technologies Research and Development Corp. as SAN-TEZ project (Project No: 00032.STZ.2006-1). The authors thank Prof. Dr. Arzu Topacli and Prof. Dr. Cafer Topacli from Physics Department of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey for FTIR-ATR analysis

Detoxification of Groundnut Cake Naturally Contaminated with Aflatoxin B-1 Using Rhodococcus erythropolis in Shake Flask Bioreactors

Degradation of aflatoxin B-1 in groundnut cake, a residue after oil extraction, by Rhodococcus erythropolis was optimized using response surface methodology. The bacterium was first grown in synthetic medium to determine optimal growth conditions using the combination of the Plackett-Burman and Box-Behnken methods and consequently aflatoxin B-1 in groundnut cake slurry was degraded under varying culture conditions. Optimal growth conditions were found as 22.5 A degrees C of temperature, pH 7, 100 mL of culture volume in 500 mL flasks, 1 % (v/v) of inoculum size, 135 rpm of agitation speed, 5 g/L of glucose and 5 g/L of peptone concentration according to analysis of the Box-Behnken design. Optimal detoxification conditions were found as 27.4 % (w/v) of solid concentration, 4.88 % (v/v) of inoculum size and 24 h of incubation time by Box-Behnken response surface optimization. Maximum detoxification level was predicted as 92.2 % by the constructed model while the experimental counterpart was 87.3 %. The suggested culture conditions have the potential to decrease aflatoxin B-1 from 200 mu g/kg to below 20 mu g/kg, the regulatory limit, in feed materials. Further studies are needed to test the obtained results at a larger scale and to finalize safety assessment of the final product by animal testing