Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass: Developments from batch to continuous process

This review describes the recent results in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass in continuous-flow processing systems. Although much has been published about batch reactor tests of biomass HTL, there is only limited information yet available on continuous-flow tests, which can provide a more reasonable basis for process design and scale-up for commercialization. High-moisture biomass feedstocks are the most likely to be used in HTL. These materials are described and results of their processing are discussed. Engineered systems for HTL are described; however, they are of limited size and do not yet approach a demonstration scale of operation. With the results available, process models have been developed, and mass and energy balances determined. From these models, process costs have been calculated and provide some optimism as to the commercial likelihood of the technology

Functional and immunogenic characterization of diverse HCV glycoprotein E2 variants

© 2018 European Association for the Study of the Liver Background & Aims: Induction of cross-reactive antibodies targeting conserved epitopes of the envelope proteins E1E2 is a key requirement for an hepatitis C virus vaccine. Conserved epitopes like the viral CD81-binding site are targeted by rare broadly neutralizing antibodies. However, these viral segments are occluded by variable regions and glycans. We aimed to identify antigens exposing conserved epitopes and to characterize their immunogenicity. Methods: We created hepatitis C virus variants with mutated glycosylation sites and/or hypervariable region 1 (HVR1). Exposure of the CD81 binding site and conserved epitopes was quantified by soluble CD81 and antibody interaction and neutralization assays. E2 or E1-E2 heterodimers with mutations causing epitope exposure were used to immunize mice. Vaccine-induced antibodies were examined and compared with patient-derived antibodies. Results: Mutant viruses bound soluble CD81 and antibodies targeting the CD81 binding site with enhanced efficacy. Mice immunized with E2 or E1E2 heterodimers incorporating these modifications mounted strong, cross-binding, and non-interfering antibodies. E2-induced antibodies neutralized the autologous virus but they were not cross-neutralizing. Conclusions: Viruses lacking the HVR1 and selected glycosylation sites expose the CD81 binding site and cross-neutralization antibody epitopes. Recombinant E2 proteins carrying these modifications induce strong cross-binding but not cross-neutralizing antibodies. Lay summary: Conserved viral epitopes can be made considerably more accessible for binding of potently neutralizing antibodies by deletion of hypervariable region 1 and selected glycosylation sites. Recombinant E2 proteins carrying these mutations are unable to elicit cross-neutralizing antibodies suggesting that exposure of conserved epitopes is not sufficient to focus antibody responses on production of cross-neutralizing antibodies

Influence of Tattoo Ink on Hepatitis C Virus Infectiousness.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne virus and is most frequently transmitted through large or repeated direct percutaneous exposures to infected blood. The 2 most common exposures associated with transmission of HCV are blood transfusion and intravenous drug abuse. The association between HCV transmission and other suspected risk factors such as tattooing is more controversial. Although HCV can survive for days to weeks in suspension or on inanimate surfaces, its stability in tattooing supplies remains elusive. Here, we analyzed the influence of tattoo ink on HCV infectiousness

Search for B [minus] [going to] [rho] [lepton] [anti-neutrino] at ARGUS

Data taken with the ARGUS detector at DESY, Hamburg, specifically BB pairs produced from $e sp+e sp-$ collisions at the energy of the $Upsilon$(4S) resonance, are used to investigate the decay channel $B sp- to rho sp0 ell sp- bar nu.$ Observation of a signal would be conclusive evidence that the CKM matrix element $V sb{ub}$ is non-zero, a necessary condition for the validity of the Kobayashi-Maskawa explanation for CP violation. The recoil mass technique is employed to try to isolate signal events. Monte Carlo data are used to model the signal background, which is dominated by reasonably well understood $b to c$ decays. Using the model of Wirbel, Stech, and Bauer, a model-dependent upper limit of 1.6 $times$ 10$sp{-2}$ is placed on the value of $vert V sb{ub} vert$ at 90% confidence. The results, however, suggest that further study of the $b to c$ background is warranted. In particular, B meson transitions to states with higher mass than the $D sp*$ may contribute significantly

The impact of hepatitis E in the liver transplant setting.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been identified as a cause of graft hepatitis in liver transplant recipients. The true frequency and clinical importance of HEV infections after liver transplantations is a matter of debate. It is proposed that consumption of HEV-contaminated undercooked meat is a main source for HEV infections in developed countries--which might also account for some hepatitis E cases after organ transplantation. However, HEV is also transmitted by transfusion of blood products, likely representing a previously underestimated risk particularly for patients in the transplant setting. HEV infection can take chronic courses in immunocompromised individuals, associated in some cases with rapid progression to cirrhosis within 1-2 years of infection. Diagnosis in transplanted patients is based on HEV RNA testing as antibody assays are not sensitive enough. Selection of immunosuppressive drugs is important as different compounds may influence viral replication and the course of liver disease. Ribavirin has antiviral activity against HEV and should be administered for at least three months in chronically infected individuals; however, treatment failure may occur. HEV infections have also been linked to a variety of extrahepatic manifestations both during and after resolution of infection. In this review we summarize the emerging data on hepatitis E with a particular focus on the importance of HEV infections for liver transplant recipients

Three sorries and you're In? Does the Prime Minister's statement in the Australian Federal Parliament presage Federal Constitutional recognition and reparations?

Then newly elected Labor Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made a historic statement of “Sorry” for past injustices to Australian Indigenous peoples at the opening of the 2008 federal parliament. In the long-standing absence of a constitutional ‘foundational principle’ to shape positive federal initiatives in this context, there has been speculation that the emphatic Sorry Statement may presage formal constitutional recognition. The debate is long overdue in a nation that only overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius and recognised native title to lan [sic] [land] with the High Court’s decision in Mabo in 1992. This article explores the implications of the Sorry Statement in the context of reparations for the generations removed from their families under assimilation policies (known since the Bringing Them Home Inquiry as the Stolen Generations). We draw out the utility of recent human rights statutes—such as the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT)—as a mechanism for facilitating justice,including compensation for past wrongs. Our primary concern here is whether existing legal processes in Australia hold further capacity to provide reparation for Australian Indigenous peoples or whether their potential in that regard is already exhausted. We compare common law and statutory developments in other international jurisdictions, such as Canada, as an indication of what can be achieved by the law to facilitate better legal, economic and social outcomes for Indigenous peoples. The year 2008 also saw Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper express his apology to residential school victims in the Canadian Parliament, providing thematic and symbolic echoes across these two former colonies, which, despite remaining under the British monarchy, both forge their own path into the future, while confronting their own unique colonial past. We suggest that the momentum provided by the recent public apology and statement of “Sorry” by the newly elected Australian Prime Minister must not be lost. This symbolic utterance as a first act of the 2008 parliamentary year stood in stark contrast to the long-standing recalcitrance of the former Prime Minister John Howard on the matter of a formal apology. Rather than a return to a law enforcement-inspired “three strikes and you’re out” approach, Australia stands poised for an overdue constitutional and human rights-inspired “three ‘sorries’ and you’re in”

Hepatitis E in Deutschland – eine unterschätzte Infektionskrankheit

Hintergrund: Mindestens 17 % der in Deutschland lebenden Bevölkerung haben eine Infektion mit dem Hepatitis-E-Virus (HEV) durchgemacht. Somit ist diese Infektion in Deutschland häufiger als bislang angenommen. Demgegenüber wurden an das Robert Koch-Institut 2013 weniger als 500 HEV-Infektionen gemeldet. Methode: Selektive Literaturrecherche in PubMed Ergebnisse: Die Hepatitis E wird in Deutschland zumeist autochthon durch unzureichend gegartes, infiziertes Schweinefleisch übertragen und nur in Einzelfällen als Tropenkrankheit importiert. HEV kann durch Blutprodukte und Bluttransfusionen sowie Organspenden übertragen werden. Eine HEV-Infektion verläuft in über 99 % der Fälle asymptomatisch und ist selbstlimitierend. Es gibt jedoch auch schwerwiegende Verläufe mit akutem Leberversagen. Bei immunsupprimierten Patienten sind chronische Verläufe möglich, die innerhalb weniger Jahre zu Leberzirrhosen mit lebensgefährlichen Komplikationen führen können. HEV-Infektionen sind mit extrahepatischen Manifestationen wie zum Beispiel dem Guillain-Barré-Syndrom assoziiert worden. In zwei retrospektiv ausgewerteten Fallserien zeigte Ribavirin eine antivirale Wirkung gegen HEV und kann deshalb bei akuten oder chronischen HEV-Infektionen eingesetzt werden. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Hepatitis-E-Infektion sollte in der Differenzialdiagnose erhöhter Leberwerte, aber auch bei unklaren System- und neurologischen Erkrankungen berücksichtigt werden. Die Infektion ist in der Regel selbstlimitierend, bei Immunsupprimierten können jedoch schwerwiegende Verläufe auftreten. Bei schwer verlaufenden Infektionen steht mit Ribavirin eine antivirale Therapie zur Verfügung

Environmental Stability and Infectivity of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Different Human Body Fluids

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a hepatotropic, blood-borne virus, but in up to one-third of infections of the transmission route remained unidentified. Viral genome copies of HCV have been identified in several body fluids, however, non-parental transmission upon exposure to contaminated body fluids seems to be rare. Several body fluids, e.g., tears and saliva, are renowned for their antimicrobial and antiviral properties, nevertheless, HCV stability has never been systematically analyzed in those fluids.Methods: We used state of the art infectious HCV cell culture techniques to investigate the stability of HCV in different body fluids to estimate the potential risk of transmission via patient body fluid material. In addition, we mimicked a potential contamination of HCV in tear fluid and analyzed which impact commercially available contact lens solutions might have in such a scenario.Results: We could demonstrate that HCV remains infectious over several days in body fluids like tears, saliva, semen, and cerebrospinal fluid. Only hydrogen-peroxide contact lens solutions were able to efficiently inactivate HCV in a suspension test.Conclusion: These results indicate that HCV, once it is present in various body fluids of infected patients, remains infective and could potentially contribute to transmission upon direct contact

Risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E virus infection from pool-tested platelets and plasma

Background and Aims: Immunocompromised patients are at risk of chronic hepatitis E which can be acquired by blood transfusions. Currently, screening of blood donors (BDs) for HEV RNA with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2,000 IU/ml is required in Germany. However, this may result in up to 440,000 IU of HEV RNA in blood products depending on their plasma volume. We studied the residual risk of transfusion-transmitted (tt) HEV infection when an LOD of 2,000 IU/ml is applied. Methods: Highly sensitive individual donor testing for HEV RNA on the Grifols Procleix Panther system (LOD 7.89 IU/ml) was performed. HEV loads were quantified by real-time PCR. Results: Of 16,236 donors, 31 (0.19%) were HEV RNA positive. Three BDs had viral loads between 710 and 2,000 IU/ml, which pose a significant risk of tt hepatitis E with any type of blood product. Eight BDs had viral loads of >32 to 710 IU/ml, which pose a risk of tt hepatitis E with platelet or plasma transfusions because of their higher plasma volume compared to red blood cell concentrates. Eight of these 11 potentially infectious BDs were seronegative for HEV, indicating a recent infection. Only 8 of 31 donors had viral loads >2,000 IU/ml that would also have been detected by the required screening procedure and 12 had very low HEV loads (<32 IU/ml). Conclusions: Screening of BDs with an LOD of 2,000 IU/ml reduced the risk of tt HEV infection by about 73% for red blood cell concentrates but by just 42% for platelet and fresh frozen plasma transfusions. Single donor screening (LOD <32 IU/ml) should lead to an almost 100% risk reduction. Lay summary: Immunocompromised patients, such as solid organ or hematopoietic stem cell recipients, are at risk of chronic hepatitis E, which can be acquired via blood transfusions. The risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E in these patients may not be sufficiently controlled by (mini-)pool hepatitis E virus RNA screening of blood donors. Single donor screening should be considered to improve the safety of blood products. (C) 2021 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved