MSWI Fly Ash Multiple Washing: Kinetics of Dissolution in Water, as Function of Time, Temperature and Dilution

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (FA) can represent a sustainable supply of supplementary material to the construction industries if it is pre-treated to remove hazardous substances such as chloride, sulfate, and heavy metals. In this paper, the phenomenology associated with a water washing multi-cycle treatment of FA is investigated, focusing attention upon the mineral dissolution process. The efficacy of the treatment is assessed by leaching tests, according to the European Standard, and discussed in light of the occurring mineral phases. The water-to-solid (L/S) ratio is a crucial parameter, along with the number of washing cycles, for removing halite and sylvite, whereas quartz, calcite, anhydrite, and an amorphous phase remain in the solid residue. The sequential extraction method and dissolution kinetics modelling provide further elements to interpret leaching processes, and suggest that dissolution takes place through a two-step mechanism. Altogether, multi-step washing with L/S = 5 is effective in reducing contaminants under the legal limits for non-hazardous waste disposal, while the legal limits for non-reactive or reusable material cannot be completely reached, owing to sulfate and some heavy metals which still leached out from the residue

Cortistatin-17 and -14 exert the same endocrine activities as somatostatin in humans

Cortistatin (CST) is a neuropeptide, which binds with high affinity all somatostatin (SS) receptor subtypes and shows high structural homology with SS itself. A receptor specific for CST only, i.e., not recognized by SS, has been recently described in agreement with data reporting that not all CST actions are shared by SS. Interestingly, CST but not SS also binds ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a) in vitro, suggesting a potential interplay between CST and ghrelin system. The aim of this study was to investigate in humans the endocrine and metabolic activities of human CST-17 in comparison with rat CST-14 that has previously been shown to exert the same endocrine actions of SS in healthy volunteers. To this aim, in six healthy male volunteers (age [median, 3rd-97th centiles]: 28.5; 23.6-34.3 years; Body Mass Index: 23.5; 21.0-25.1 kg/m2), we studied the effects of human CST-17 (2.0 μg/kg/h iv over 120 min), rat CST-14 (2.0 μg/kg/h iv over 120 min) and SS-14 (2.0 μg/kg/h iv over 120 min) on: (a) spontaneous GH, ACTH, PRL, cortisol, insulin and glucose levels; (b) the GH responses to GHRH (1.0 μg/kg iv at 0 min); (c) the GH, PRL, ACTH, cortisol, insulin and glucose responses to ghrelin (1.0 μg/kg iv at 0 min). CST-17 inhibited (p<0.01) basal GH secretion to the same extent of CST-14 and SS-14. Spontaneous PRL, ACTH and cortisol secretion were not significantly modified by CST-17, CST-14 or SS-14. CST-17 as well as CST-14 and SS-14 also inhibited (p<0.05) spontaneous insulin secretion to a similar extent. None of these peptides modified glucose levels. The GH response to GHRH was inhibited to the same extent by CST-17 (p<0.01), CST-14 (p<0.01) and SS-14 (p<0.05). The ghrelin-induced GH response was higher than that elicited by GHRH (p<0.01) and inhibited by CST-17 (p<0.05) as well as by CST-14 (p<0.05) and SS-14 (p<0.01). The PRL, ACTH and cortisol responses to ghrelin were unaffected by CST-17, CST-14 or SS-14. On the other hand, the inhibitory effect of ghrelin on insulin levels was abolished by CST-17, CST-14 or SS-14 (p<0.05) that, in turn, did not modify the ghrelin-induced increase in glucose levels. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that human CST-17 and rat CST-14 exert the same endocrine activities of SS in humans. The endocrine actions of human and rat CST therefore are likely to reflect activation of classical SS receptors

A Cylindrical GEM Inner Tracker for the BESIII experiment at IHEP

The Beijing Electron Spectrometer III (BESIII) is a multipurpose detector that collects data provided by the collision in the Beijing Electron Positron Collider II (BEPCII), hosted at the Institute of High Energy Physics of Beijing. Since the beginning of its operation, BESIII has collected the world largest sample of J/{\psi} and {\psi}(2s). Due to the increase of the luminosity up to its nominal value of 10^33 cm-2 s-1 and aging effect, the MDC decreases its efficiency in the first layers up to 35% with respect to the value in 2014. Since BESIII has to take data up to 2022 with the chance to continue up to 2027, the Italian collaboration proposed to replace the inner part of the MDC with three independent layers of Cylindrical triple-GEM (CGEM). The CGEM-IT project will deploy several new features and innovation with respect the other current GEM based detector: the {\mu}TPC and analog readout, with time and charge measurements will allow to reach the 130 {\mu}m spatial resolution in 1 T magnetic field requested by the BESIII collaboration. In this proceeding, an update of the status of the project will be presented, with a particular focus on the results with planar and cylindrical prototypes with test beams data. These results are beyond the state of the art for GEM technology in magnetic field

The heme synthesis-export system regulates the tricarboxylic acid cycle flux and oxidative phosphorylation

Heme is an iron-containing porphyrin of vital importance for cell energetic metabolism. High rates of heme synthesis are commonly observed in proliferating cells. Moreover, the cell-surface heme exporter feline leukemia virus subgroup C receptor 1a (FLVCR1a) is overexpressed in several tumor types. However, the reasons why heme synthesis and export are enhanced in highly proliferating cells remain unknown. Here, we illustrate a functional axis between heme synthesis and heme export: heme efflux through the plasma membrane sustains heme synthesis, and implementation of the two processes down-modulates the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle flux and oxidative phosphorylation. Conversely, inhibition of heme export reduces heme synthesis and promotes the TCA cycle fueling and flux as well as oxidative phosphorylation. These data indicate that the heme synthesis-export system modulates the TCA cycle and oxidative metabolism and provide amechanistic basis for the observation that both processes are enhanced in cells with high-energy demand