Industrial waste-an economical approach for adsorption of heavy metals from ground water

A by product from steel industry mainly known as blastfurnace slag is a waste product which was tested for the removal of As(III),from ground water. Steel slag is a commercial waste material mainly consistingof SiO2, Al2O3and CaO, the former twochemicals being major components of zeolites and the latter a major componentof Hydroxyapatite (HAP). Arsenic is highly toxic, mobile and predominantspecies present in groundwater. Batch experiment was performed to determine thefeasibility of steel industry waste as an adsorbent for treatment of heavymetal present in ground water at a wide range of pH 3-12. The results suggestthat steel slag is a suitable candidate for As(V) remediation and economicallyviable to apply in the areas where cost of a purification process is high

FDMA in Point-to-Multipoint Fibre Access Systems for Non-Residential Applications

Optical access networks are seeing growing applications for use cases beyond residential, for example in campus and as Industry 4.0 intra-factory networks, which introduce different requirements in terms of bandwidth delivery and latency. We present an uplink access system with simultaneous transmission and detection of several users by means of frequency division multiplexing (FDM). We demonstrate a multiple uplink access system with differential binary phase shift keying (DBPSK) signals and coherent detection that targets a low and deterministic latency. We achieve receiver (Rx) sensitivities of -43.5dBm, -40dBm, and -34dBm at a pre forward error correction (FEC) bit error ratio (BER) of 10 -3 at 2.5 GBaud, 5 GBaud, and 8 GBaud respectively after 20km of fibre with coherent detection. Furthermore, we show the possibility of employing time-division multiplexing (TDM) within the frequency bands. We also present real-time services showing that the system can allow latency-sensitive and best-effort applications to share the network

Prognostic and Predictive Role of Body Composition in Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Patients Treated with Everolimus: A Real-World Data Analysis

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms frequently characterized by an up- regulation of the mammalian rapamycin targeting (mTOR) pathway resulting in uncontrolled cell proliferation. The mTOR pathway is also involved in skeletal muscle protein synthesis and in adipose tissue metabolism. Everolimus inhibits the mTOR pathway, resulting in blockade of cell growth and tumor progression. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of body composition in- dexes in patients with metastatic NETs treated with everolimus. The study population included 30 patients with well-differentiated (G1-G2), metastatic NETs treated with everolimus at the IRCCS Romagnolo Institute for the Study of Tumors (IRST) “Dino Amadori”, Meldola (FC), Italy. The body composition indexes (skeletal muscle index [SMI] and adipose tissue indexes) were assessed by measuring on a computed tomography (CT) scan the cross-sectional area at L3 at baseline and at the first radiological assessment after the start of treatment. The body mass index (BMI) was assessed at baseline. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 8.9 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.4–13.7 months). The PFS stratified by tertiles was 3.2 months (95% CI: 0.9–10.1 months) in patients with low SMI (tertile 1), 14.2 months (95% CI: 2.3 months-not estimable [NE]) in patients with intermediate SMI (tertile 2), and 9.1 months (95% CI: 2.7 months-NE) in patients with high SMI (tertile 3) (p = 0.039). Similarly, the other body composition indexes also showed a statistically significant difference in the three groups on the basis of tertiles. The median PFS was 3.2 months (95% CI: 0.9–6.7 months) in underweight patients (BMI 18.49 kg/m2) and 10.1 months (95% CI: 3.7–28.4 months) in normal-weight patients (p = 0.011). There were no significant differences in terms of overall survival. The study showed a correlation between PFS and the body composition indexes in patients with NETs treated with everolimus, underlining the role of adipose and muscle tissue in these patients

Investigating the Effect of Galaxy Interactions on Star Formation at 0.5<z<3.0

Observations and simulations of interacting galaxies and mergers in the local universe have shown that interactions can significantly enhance the star formation rates (SFR) and fueling of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). However, at higher redshift, some simulations suggest that the level of star formation enhancement induced by interactions is lower due to the higher gas fractions and already increased SFRs in these galaxies. To test this, we measure the SFR enhancement in a total of 2351 (1327) massive ($M_*>10^{10}M_\odot$) major ($1<M_1/M_2<4$) spectroscopic galaxy pairs at 0.5<z<3.0 with $\Delta V <5000$ km s$^{-1}$ (1000 km s$^{-1}$) and projected separation <150 kpc selected from the extensive spectroscopic coverage in the COSMOS and CANDELS fields. We find that the highest level of SFR enhancement is a factor of 1.23$^{+0.08}_{-0.09}$ in the closest projected separation bin (<25 kpc) relative to a stellar mass-, redshift-, and environment-matched control sample of isolated galaxies. We find that the level of SFR enhancement is a factor of $\sim1.5$ higher at 0.5<z<1 than at 1<z<3 in the closest projected separation bin. Among a sample of visually identified mergers, we find an enhancement of a factor of 1.86$^{+0.29}_{-0.18}$ for coalesced systems. For this visually identified sample, we see a clear trend of increased SFR enhancement with decreasing projected separation (2.40$^{+0.62}_{-0.37}$ vs.\ 1.58$^{+0.29}_{-0.20}$ for 0.5<z<1.6 and 1.6<z<3.0, respectively). The SFR enhancement seen in our interactions and mergers are all lower than the level seen in local samples at the same separation, suggesting that the level of interaction-induced star formation evolves significantly over this time period.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

True 3q Chromosomal Amplification in Squamous Cell Lung Carcinoma by FISH and aCGH Molecular Analysis: Impact on Targeted Drugs

Peer reviewe

Lipid-lowering for lower limb atherosclerosis

Background: Lipid-lowering therapy is recommended for secondary prevention in people with coronary artery disease. It may also reduce cardiovascular events and/or local disease progression in people with lower limb peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Objectives: To assess the effects of lipid-lowering therapy on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular events and local disease progression in patients with PAD of the lower limb. Search methods: The authors searched The Cochrane Peripheral Vascular Diseases Group's Specialised Register (last searched February 2007) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (last searched Issue 2, 2007) for publications describing randomised controlled trials of lipid-lowering therapy in peripheral arterial disease of the lower limb. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of lipid-lowering therapy in patients with PAD of the lower limb. Data collection and analysis: Three authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Main results: Eighteen trials were included, involving a total of 10,049 participants. Trials differed considerably in their inclusion criteria, outcomes measured, and type of lipid-lowering therapy used. Only one trial (PQRST) reported a detrimental effect of active treatment on blood lipid/lipoprotein levels. The pooled results from all eligible trials indicated that lipid-lowering therapy had no statistically significant effect on overall mortality (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.86; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.49 to 1.50) or on total cardiovascular events (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.59 to 1.09). However, subgroup analysis which excluded PQRST showed that lipid-lowering therapy significantly reduced the risk of total cardiovascular events (OR 0.74; CI 0.55 to 0.98). This was primarily due to a positive effect on total coronary events (OR 0.76; 95% CI 0.67 to 0.87). Greatest evidence of effectiveness came from the use of simvastatin in people with a blood cholesterol &ge; 3.5 mmol/litre (HPS). Pooling of the results from several small trials on a range of different lipid-lowering agents indicated an improvement in total walking distance (Mean Difference (MD) 152 m; 95% CI 32.11 to 271.88) and pain-free walking distance (WMD 89.76 m; 95% CI 30.05 to 149.47) but no significant impact on ankle brachial index (WMD 0.04; 95% CI -0.01 to 0.09). Authors' conclusions: Lipid-lowering therapy is effective in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in people with PAD. It may also improve local symptoms. Until further evidence on the relative effectiveness of different lipid-lowering agents is available, use of a statin in people with PAD and a blood cholesterol level &ge; 3.5 mmol/litre is most indicated.Output Type: Revie