Apparatus for synthesizing and separating synthesis products e.g. gaseous and liquid phases on bed, maintains heavier liquid phase at lower portion of first meatus due to gravity and lighter liquid phase at upper portion of meatus

NOVELTY - The apparatus has header that is set to make the heavier and lighter liquid phases flow along outer side surface of a third tube (8) as far as first closure element (13). The third tube is provided with second side openings for directly connecting the first and second meatus. The heavier liquid phase is maintained at lower portion of the first meatus due to gravity and lighter liquid phase is maintained at upper portion of the first meatus until the liquid phases fall into a fourth tube (9). The heavier liquid phase is collectible through a collection hole (12). USE - Apparatus e.g. reactor/separator for synthesizing and separating synthesis products e.g. gaseous phase and heavier and lighter liquid phases on catalytic bed, used in production of biodiesel. ADVANTAGE - Since heavier liquid phase is maintained at lower portion of the first meatus due to gravity and lighter liquid phase is maintained at upper portion of the first meatus, sedimentation separation of the liquid phases is improved. The structure of the apparatus is simplified and the apparatus is constructed easily. The efficacy and use of catalyst are maximized. DETAILED DESCRIPTION - The apparatus has synthesis module (M1) that is set with a first tube (1) which is provided with an opening at one end and closed at second end by a mesh (7). The first tube is adapted to contain a catalytic bed (6). A separation module (M2) is set to separate heavier and lighter liquid phases and gaseous phase originating from the synthesis module. A second tube (1') is arranged adjacent to second end of the first tube. A first closure element is provided with a through hole for sole passage of the second liquid and of the gaseous phase. A third tube is affixed to first end of second tube. A first meatus is set between second tube and the third tube. The fourth tube is set inside the third tube so as to define a second meatus between the third tube and the fourth tube. A separation zone is set between the heavier and lighter liquid phases. A collection hole is set in the second tube to collect the heavier liquid phase. The third tube is set with first side openings at first end, and is set with a header for collecting the liquid phases originating from the synthesis module. The first meatus is directly inserted into the third tube and subsequently into the fourth tube. A control system is set between the liquid phases, to check and maintain interface level below the upper end of the first side openings. The control system has interface level indicator that is connected to the second tube by second side holes envisaged in side surface of the second tube. One of the second side holes is arranged in proximity of the first closure element and other is positioned above the upper end of the first side openings. The protrusions are arranged along cylindrical side surface of the third tube, and are separated by spaces for passage of the liquid phases from the header to the first meatus. A redistribution module (M3) is set to redistribute the lighter liquid phase and gaseous phase originating from the fourth tube. A fifth tube (1") is arranged adjacent to second end of the second tube. The closure element is set with a central perforated area. A sixth tube (14) is set to descent and release of the gaseous phase. The central perforated area is provided with several holes for homogeneous distribution of lighter liquid phase downstream of the redistribution module. The sixth tube is affixed to a second closure element (15). The mesh is provided with a passage area. The synthesis module, separation module and redistribution module are vertically-stacked. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a method for synthesizing and separating synthesis products e.g. gaseous phase and heavier and lighter liquid phases on catalytic bed, involves synthesizing on a catalytic bed and producing the synthesis products. The liquid phases and gaseous phase are separated in the separation module

Investigating serum and tissue expression identified a cytokine/chemokine signature as a highly effective melanoma marker

The identification of reliable and quantitative melanoma biomarkers may help an early diagnosis and may directly affect melanoma mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study was to identify effective biomarkers by investigating the expression of 27 cytokines/chemokines in melanoma compared to healthy controls, both in serum and in tissue samples. Serum samples were from 232 patients recruited at the IDI-IRCCS hospital. Expression was quantified by xMAP technology, on 27 cytokines/chemokines, compared to the control sera. RNA expression data of the same 27 molecules were obtained from 511 melanoma-and healthy-tissue samples, from the GENT2 database. Statistical analysis involved a 3-step approach: analysis of the single-molecules by Mann–Whitney analysis; analysis of paired-molecules by Pearson correlation; and profile analysis by the machine learning algorithm Support Vector Machine (SVM). Single-molecule analysis of serum expression identified IL-1b, IL-6, IP-10, PDGF-BB, and RANTES differently expressed in melanoma (p < 0.05). Expression of IL-8, GM-CSF, MCP-1, and TNF-α was found to be significantly correlated with Breslow thickness. Eotaxin and MCP-1 were found differentially expressed in male vs. female patients. Tissue expression analysis identified very effective marker/predictor genes, namely, IL-1Ra, IL-7, MIP-1a, and MIP-1b, with individual AUC values of 0.88, 0.86, 0.93, 0.87, respectively. SVM analysis of the tissue expression data identified the combination of these four molecules as the most effective signature to discriminate melanoma patients (AUC = 0.98). Validation, using the GEPIA2 database on an additional 1019 independent samples, fully confirmed these observations. The present study demonstrates, for the first time, that the IL-1Ra, IL-7, MIP-1a, and MIP-1b gene signature discriminates melanoma from control tissues with extremely high efficacy. We therefore propose this 4-molecule combination as an effective melanoma marker

First Italian outbreak of VIM-producing Serratia marcescens in an adult polyvalent intensive care unit, August-October 2018: A case report and literature review

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae has become a significant public health concern as hospital outbreaks are now being frequently reported and these organisms are becoming difficult to treat with the available antibiotics

Intracochlear schwannoma presenting as diffuse cochlear enhancement: diagnostic challenges of a rare cause of deafness

Intracochlear schwannoma is a rare, treatable, cause of unilateral hearing loss. Due to the small size, position, and variable clinical and imaging features, diagnosis presents a significant challenge and is often delayed. We present a case of a patient with an intracochlear schwannoma presenting as a diffuse enhancement of the cochlea, mimicking an infectious or inflammatory process. The absence of focal nodularity in this lesion on multiple high-resolution MRI examinations led to a delay of over 3 years from the patient’s initial presentation to surgical diagnosis. Clinical history and examination, imaging features, pathologic findings, and surgical management options are described

The CAST Time Projection Chamber

One of the three X-ray detectors of the CAST experiment searching for solar axions is a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) with a multi-wire proportional counter (MWPC) as a readout structure. Its design has been optimized to provide high sensitivity to the detection of the low intensity X-ray signal expected in the CAST experiment. A low hardware threshold of 0.8 keV is safely set during normal data taking periods, and the overall efficiency for the detection of photons coming from conversion of solar axions is 62 %. Shielding has been installed around the detector, lowering the background level to 4.10 x 10^-5 counts/cm^2/s/keV between 1 and 10 keV. During phase I of the CAST experiment the TPC has provided robust and stable operation, thus contributing with a competitive result to the overall CAST limit on axion-photon coupling and mass.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures and images, submitted to New Journal of Physic

Search for solar axions using Li-7

We describe a novel approach to the search for solar, near-monochromatic hadronic axions, the latter being suggested to be created in the solar core during M1 transitions between the first excited level of Li-7, at 478 keV, and the ground state. As a result of Doppler broadening, in principle these axions can be detected via resonant absorption by the same nuclide on the Earth. Excited nuclei of Li-7 are produced in the solar interior by Be-7 electron capture and thus the axions are accompanied by emission of Be-7 solar neutrinos of energy 384 keV. An experiment was made which has yielded an upper limit on hadronic axion mass of 32 keV at the 95% confidence level.Comment: revtex, 4 pages with 2 figures, title revised, minor changes, matches version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Prospects for the CERN Axion Solar Telescope Sensitivity to 14.4 keV Axions

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is searching for solar axions using the 9.0 T strong and 9.26 m long transverse magnetic field of a twin aperture LHC test magnet, where axions could be converted into X-rays via reverse Primakoff process. Here we explore the potential of CAST to search for 14.4 keV axions that could be emitted from the Sun in M1 nuclear transition between the first, thermally excited state, and the ground state of 57Fe nuclide. Calculations of the expected signals, with respect to the axion-photon coupling, axion-nucleon coupling and axion mass, are presented in comparison with the experimental sensitivity.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

CAST constraints on the axion-electron coupling

In non-hadronic axion models, which have a tree-level axion-electron interaction, the Sun produces a strong axion flux by bremsstrahlung, Compton scattering, and axio-recombination, the "BCA processes." Based on a new calculation of this flux, including for the first time axio-recombination, we derive limits on the axion-electron Yukawa coupling g_ae and axion-photon interaction strength g_ag using the CAST phase-I data (vacuum phase). For m_a < 10 meV/c2 we find g_ag x g_ae< 8.1 x 10^-23 GeV^-1 at 95% CL. We stress that a next-generation axion helioscope such as the proposed IAXO could push this sensitivity into a range beyond stellar energy-loss limits and test the hypothesis that white-dwarf cooling is dominated by axion emission

First results from the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST)

Hypothetical axion-like particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the Sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field (``axion helioscope'') they would be transformed into X-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned LHC test magnet, CAST has been running for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling < 1.16 10^{-10} GeV^-1 at 95% CL for m_a <~0.02 eV. This limit is comparable to the limit from stellar energy-loss arguments and considerably more restrictive than any previous experiment in this axion mass range.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by PRL. Final version after the referees comment

Prospects for K+→π+ννˉK^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu } at CERN in NA62

The NA62 experiment will begin taking data in 2015. Its primary purpose is a 10% measurement of the branching ratio of the ultrarare kaon decay $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu }$, using the decay in flight of kaons in an unseparated beam with momentum 75 GeV/c.The detector and analysis technique are described here.Comment: 8 pages for proceedings of 50 Years of CP