Inherent Metal Elements in Biomass Pyrolysis: A Review

One of the main drawbacks of using biomass as pyrolysis feedstock consists of the huge variability of the different biomass resources which undermines the viability of downstream processes. Inherent inorganic elements greatly contribute to enhance the compositional variability issues due to their catalytic effect (especially alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs)) and the technical problems arising due to their presence. Due to the different pretreatments adopted in the experimental investigations as well as the different reactor configurations and experimental conditions, some mechanisms involving interactions between these elements and the biomass organic fraction during pyrolysis are still debated. This is the reason why predicting the results of these interactions by adapting the existing kinetic models of pyrolysis is still challenging. In this work, the most prominent experimental works of the last 10 years dealing with the catalytic effects of biomass inherent metals on the pyrolysis process are reviewed. Reaction pathways, products distributions and characteristics, and impacts on the products utilization are discussed with a focus on AAEMs and on potential toxic metallic elements in hyperaccumulator plants. The literature findings are discussed in relation to the applied laboratory procedures controlling the concentration of inherent inorganic elements, their capability of preserving the chemical integrity of the main organic components, and the ability of resembling the inherent inorganic elements in the raw biomass. The goal is to reveal possible experimental inconsistencies and to provide a clear scheme of the reaction pathways altered by the presence of inherent inorganics. This analysis paves the way for the examination of the proposed modifications of the existing models aiming at capturing the effect of inorganics on pyrolysis kinetics. Finally, the most relevant shortcomings and bottlenecks in existing experimental and modeling approaches are analyzed and directions for further studies are suggested

Reconstruction of the swine pulmonary artery using a graft engineered with syngeneic cardiac pericytes

The neonatal heart represents an attractive source of regenerative cells. Here, we report the results of a randomized, controlled, investigator-blinded preclinical study, which assessed the safety and effectiveness of a matrix graft cellularized with cardiac pericytes (CPs) in a piglet model of pulmonary artery (PA) reconstruction. Within each of five trios formed by 4-week-old female littermate piglets, one element (the donor) was sacrificed to provide a source of CPs, while the other two elements (the graft recipients) were allowed to reach the age of 10 weeks. During this time interval, culture-expanded donor CPs were seeded onto swine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) grafts, which were then shaped into conduits and conditioned in a flow bioreactor. Control unseeded SIS conduits were subjected to the same procedure. Then, recipient piglets were randomized to surgical reconstruction of the left PA (LPA) with unseeded or CP-seeded SIS conduits. Doppler echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) were performed at baseline and 4-months post-implantation. Vascular explants were examined using histology and immunohistochemistry. All animals completed the scheduled follow-up. No group difference was observed in baseline imaging data. The final Doppler assessment showed that the LPA’s blood flow velocity was similar in the treatment groups. CMRI revealed a mismatch in the average growth of the grafted LPA and contralateral branch in both treatment groups. Histology of explanted arteries demonstrated that the CP-seeded grafts had a thicker luminal cell layer, more intraparietal arterioles, and a higher expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) compared with unseeded grafts. Moreover, the LPA stump adjacent to the seeded graft contained more elastin and less collagen than the unseeded control. Syngeneic CP engineering did not accomplish the primary goal of supporting the graft’s growth but was able to improve secondary outcomes, such as the luminal cellularization and intraparietal vascularization of the graft, and elastic remodeling of the recipient artery. The beneficial properties of neonatal CPs may be considered in future bioengineering applications aiming to reproduce the cellular composition of native arteries

Longitudinal proteomic profiling of dialysis patients with COVID-19 reveals markers of severity and predictors of death

Funder: The Sidharth Burman endowmentEnd-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients are at high risk of severe COVID-19. We measured 436 circulating proteins in serial blood samples from hospitalised and non-hospitalised ESKD patients with COVID-19 (n = 256 samples from 55 patients). Comparison to 51 non-infected patients revealed 221 differentially expressed proteins, with consistent results in a separate subcohort of 46 COVID-19 patients. Two hundred and three proteins were associated with clinical severity, including IL6, markers of monocyte recruitment (e.g. CCL2, CCL7), neutrophil activation (e.g. proteinase-3), and epithelial injury (e.g. KRT19). Machine-learning identified predictors of severity including IL18BP, CTSD, GDF15, and KRT19. Survival analysis with joint models revealed 69 predictors of death. Longitudinal modelling with linear mixed models uncovered 32 proteins displaying different temporal profiles in severe versus non-severe disease, including integrins and adhesion molecules. These data implicate epithelial damage, innate immune activation, and leucocyte–endothelial interactions in the pathology of severe COVID-19 and provide a resource for identifying drug targets

Longitudinal proteomic profiling of dialysis patients with COVID-19 reveals markers of severity and predictors of death

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients are at high risk of severe COVID-19. We measured 436 circulating proteins in serial blood samples from hospitalised and non-hospitalised ESKD patients with COVID-19 (n=256 samples from 55 patients). Comparison to 51 non-infected patients revealed 221 differentially expressed proteins, with consistent results in a separate subcohort of 46 COVID-19 patients. 203 proteins were associated with clinical severity, including IL6, markers of monocyte recruitment (e.g. CCL2, CCL7), neutrophil activation (e.g. proteinase-3) and epithelial injury (e.g. KRT19). Machine learning identified predictors of severity including IL18BP, CTSD, GDF15, and KRT19. Survival analysis with joint models revealed 69 predictors of death. Longitudinal modelling with linear mixed models uncovered 32 proteins displaying different temporal profiles in severe versus non-severe disease, including integrins and adhesion molecules. These data implicate epithelial damage, innate immune activation, and leucocyte-endothelial interactions in the pathology of severe COVID-19 and provide a resource for identifying drug targets

Relazione su cinque campioni di intonaci parietali provenienti dal sito ex Vescovado di Rimini.

QUALCHE CENNO SULLA SPETTROSCOPIA RAMAN. II prodotto di un'indagine spettroscopica Raman consiste in un grafico (spettro) in cui il valore della frequenza (asse X) e dell'intensit\ue0 relativa delle bande Raman (asse Y) \ue8 caratteristica della specie chimica esaminata e ne costituisce una specie di "impronta digitale". Dal valore della frequenza e dall'intensit\ue0 delle bande \ue8 possibile risalire alla struttura molecolare del composto in esame e quindi alla sua formula chimica. La spettroscopia Raman pu\uf2, a ragione, essere considerato il mezzo ideale per l'analisi di pigmenti in quanto sensibile, non-distruttiva, selettiva e adatta all'applicazione in situ. Con l'uso poi della microscopia Raman \ue8 possibile analizzare anche regioni spaziali molto piccole del campione (circa l-2m se la lunghezza d'onda del laser utilizzato come sorgente \ue8 nel visibile ed abbinata ad un microscopio). I vantaggi della spettroscopia Raman sono piuttosto importanti anche quando un reperto ha subito trattamenti conservativi successivi o quando un colore \ue8 formato da una mescolanza di pigmenti diversi. RISULTATI DELLE ANALISI DEI CAMPIONI: RIMIMI EX VESCOVADO. Tutte le misure sono state effettuate utilizzando uno spettrometro micro-Raman della Jasco abbinato ad un microscopio Olimpus (Obiettivo utilizzato 50 X); come sorgente eccitatrice \ue8 stata utilizzata la riga blu (488 nm) di un laser ad Argon della Coherent Radiation con potenza sul campione di circa 1mW; sistema di rivelazione CCD (Charge Coupled Device - 1100 X 300 pixel) della Princeton Instrument. Tali apparecchiature sono in dotazione del Centro di Studio sulla Spettroscopia Raman (CSSR) della Facolt\ue0 di Scienze dell'Universit\ue0 di Bologna, presso cui sono state svolte le analisi dei suddetti reperti. L'identificazione dei campioni \ue8 stata effettuata per mezzo di una banca dati di spettri Raman di pigmenti e minerali realizzata negli ultimi anni presso il suddetto centro. La percentuale \ue8 relativa all'abbondanza dei cristalli del rispettivo colore ed \ue8 fatta contando il numero di cristalli dello stesso colore che compaiono in cinque schermate scelte a caso sul campione. Tale valore \ue8 solo indicativo e serve per valutare l'abbondanza relativa dei costituenti. CONCLUSIONI. In buona sostanza sono stati rilevati solo tre pigmenti veri: Blu Egiziano, Goethite ed Ematite. La calcite, trattandosi di affresco "deve" essere presente ovunque. Poteva comunque essere utilizzata anche per schiarire il colore. Il quarzo pu\uf2 essere trovato assieme al blu egiziano in quanto entra nella preparazione del pigmento stesso, ma pu\uf2 anche derivare dall'uso di sabbie quarzifere nelle malte utilizzate per fare l'intonaco base. Il rutilo lo si trova spesso e va considerato impurezza in quanto il suo uso come sbiancante risale solo al secolo scorso. Il solfato di calcio \ue8 sicuramente una impurezza derivante dall'intonaco base. Spettri Raman: a titolo di esempio si riportano nelle figure che seguono gli spettri Raman di alcuni dei campioni esaminati a confronto con quelli della banca dati

Molecular Interactions and Properties of Biologically Active Compounds: Infrared and Raman Spectroscopic Studies

The correlation between molecular interactions and properties of biomolecules is a pre-eminent problem in the biological field. H-bond interactions in different classes of biomolecules, such as phospholipids, polypeptides, polynucleotides, polyamines and neurotransmitter-receptors, are here discussed by vibrational infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Effects of the strength, non-stoichiometry, and of the water molecules on this type of bond have been considered and correlated with structural and biological modifications