Emerging, hydrogen-driven electrochemical water purification

Energy-efficient technologies for the remediation of water and generation of drinking water is a key towards sustainable technologies. Electrochemical desalination technologies are promising alternatives towards established methods, such as reverse osmosis or nanofiltration. In the last few years, hydrogen-driven electrochemical water purification has emerged. This review article explores the concept of desalination fuel cells and capacitive-Faradaic fuel cells for ion separation

Assessment of the Albumin-Bilirubin (ALBI) Grade as a Prognostic Indicator for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated With Radioembolization.

OBJECTIVE: As the utility of Child-Pugh (C-P) class is limited by the subjectivity of ascites and encephalopathy, we evaluated a previously established objective method, the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade, as a prognosticator for yttrium-90 radioembolization (RE) treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 117 patients who received RE for HCC from 2 academic centers were reviewed and stratified by ALBI grade, C-P class, and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage. The overall survival (OS) according to these 3 criteria was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The utilities of C-P class and ALBI grade as prognostic indicators were compared using the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify additional predictive factors. RESULTS: Patients with ALBI grade 1 (n=49) had superior OS than those with ALBI grade 2 (n=65) (P=0.01). Meanwhile, no significant difference was observed in OS between C-P class A (n=100) and C-P class B (n=14) (P=0.11). For C-P class A patients, the ALBI grade (1 vs. 2) was able to stratify 2 clear and nonoverlapping subgroups with differing OS curves (P=0.03). Multivariate Cox regression test identified alanine transaminase, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage, and ALBI grade as the strongest prognostic factors for OS (P\u3c0.10). CONCLUSIONS: ALBI grade as a prognosticator has demonstrated clear survival discrimination that is superior to C-P class among HCC patients treated with RE, particularly within the subgroup of C-P class A patients. ALBI grade is useful for clinicians to make decisions as to whether RE should be recommended to patients with HCC

Сравнение эффектов селективной плазмофильтрации, плазмодиафильтрации с системами MARS и Prometheus при лечении печеночной недостаточности

The mortality of patients with hepatic failure remains high. Often the patient's life can be saved only with extracorporeal liver support (ELS). ELS systems – MARS® и Prometheus® have proved their efficacy but their widespread use is constrained by their very high cost. Introduction in clinical practice of new affordable ELS systems is a topical issue. The objective: to compare clinical and laboratory effects of selective plasma exchange (SPE), plasmadialfiltration (PDF) with use of the selective membrane plasma separators EvaclioTM and MARS® and Prometheus® (FPSA) systems in the treatment of liver failure. Subjects and methods: 15 extracorporeal procedures of each type were performed in 52 patients with acute liver failure (14) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (38): MARS, FPSA, PDF, SPE with use of Evaclio ЕС-2C, and ЕС-3C, ЕС-4C. The clinical and laboratory parameters (total, direct and indirect bilirubin, total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea, etc.), severity of the condition according to MELD score were determined before and after the session and the next morning. Changes, side effects and complications of procedures were assessed and compared. Results. Reduction of concentration of direct bilirubin was comparable with FPSA, PDF and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (38-42%), indirect bilirubin – with PDF and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (29-34%). Low-molecular metabolites (urea, creatinine) were better removed with FPSA (35-44%) and PDF (40-42%). The reduction of their concentration with SPE was insignificant. The reduction of albumin level was the highest with FPSA (10.2%) and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-4C20 (14.3%). All investigated ELS methods did not exert a significant influence on the basic parameters of blood coagulation and quantity of blood cells. No side effects and complications were observed. Conclusion: Selective plasma exchange and plasmadiafiltration are generally comparable in clinical and laboratory effects in the treatment of liver failure with MARS and Prometheus system provided significantly lower costs.Летальность пациентов c печеночной недостаточностью остается высокой. Часто спасение жизни пациента возможно только с использованием экстракорпоральной детоксикации (ЭКД). Системы экстракорпоральной поддержки печени MARS® и Prometheus® продемонстрировали свою эффективность, однако их широкому использованию препятствует очень высокая стоимость. Внедрение в клиническую практику новых, более доступных методов ЭКД является актуальной задачей. Цель: сравнение клинических и лабораторных эффектов процедур селективной плазмофильтрации (СПФ), плазмодиафильтрации (ПДФ) с использованием фракционаторов плазмы EvaclioTM, систем MARS® и Prometheus® (FPSA) при лечении печеночной недостаточности. Материалы и методы: 52 пациентам с острой (14) и декомпенсацией хронической печеночной недостаточности (38) выполнено по 15 экстракорпоральных процедур: MARS, FPSA, ПДФ, СПФ с использованием фракционаторов Evaclio ЕС-2C, ЕС-3C, ЕС-4C. До, сразу после и на следующее утро исследовались клинические и лабораторные (билирубин и фракции, общий белок, альбумин, мочевина, креатинин и др.) показатели, тяжесть состояния по шкале MELD. Оценивались и сравнивались их динамика, побочные эффекты и осложнения процедур. Результаты. Уменьшение концентрации прямого билирубина было сравнимо при FPSA, ПДФ и СПФ на Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (38‒42%), непрямого билирубина – при ПДФ и СПФ на Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (29‒34%). Низкомолекулярные метаболиты (мочевина и креатинин) лучше всего удалялись при FPSA (35‒44%) и ПДФ (40‒42%). Снижение их концентрации при СПФ было незначительным. Снижение уровня альбумина было наибольшим при FPSA (10,2%) и СПФ на Evaclio ЕС-4C20 (14,3%). Все исследованные методы ЭКД не оказывали существенного влияния на основные показатели системы свертывания и клеточный состав крови. Побочных реакций и осложнений не отмечено. Вывод. СПД и ПДФ по клиническим и лабораторным эффектам не уступают системам MARS® и Prometheus® при существенно меньшей стоимости

Cashew nut allergy: clinical relevance and allergen characterisation

Cashew plant (Anacardium occidentale L.) is the most relevant species of the Anacardium genus. It presents high economic value since it is widely used in human nutrition and in several industrial applications. Cashew nut is a well-appreciated food (belongs to the tree nut group), being widely consumed as snacks and in processed foods by the majority of world's population. However, cashew nut is also classified as a potent allergenic food known to be responsible for triggering severe and systemic immune reactions (e.g. anaphylaxis) in sensitised/allergic individuals that often demand epinephrine treatment and hospitalisation. So far, three groups of allergenic proteins have been identified and characterised in cashew nut: Ana o 1 and Ana o 2 (cupin superfamily) and Ana o 3 (prolamin superfamily), which are all classified as major allergens. The prevalence of cashew nut allergy seems to be rising in industrialised countries with the increasing consumption of this nut. There is still no cure for cashew nut allergy, as well as for other food allergies; thus, the allergic patients are advised to eliminate it from their diets. Accordingly, when carefully choosing processed foods that are commercially available, the allergic consumers have to rely on proper food labelling. In this sense, the control of labelling compliance is much needed, which has prompted the development of proficient analytical methods for allergen analysis. In the recent years, significant research advances in cashew nut allergy have been accomplished, which are highlighted and discussed in this review.This work was supported by FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 with grant no. UID/QUI/50006/2013–POCI/01/ 0145/FEDER/007265. Joana Costa is grateful to FCT post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/102404/2014) financed by POPH-QREN (subsidised by FSE and MCTES).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Allergen databases

Allergies represent a significant medical and industrial problem. Molecular and clinical data on allergens are growing exponentially and in this article we have reviewed nine specialized allergen databases and identified data sources related to protein allergens contained in general purpose molecular databases. An analysis of allergens contained in public databases indicates a high level of redundancy of entries and a relatively low coverage of allergens by individual databases. From this analysis we identify current database needs for allergy research and, in particular, highlight the need for a centralized reference allergen database

Comparison of selective plasma exchange and plasmadialfiltration with MARS and Prometheus systems in the treatment of liver failure

The mortality of patients with hepatic failure remains high. Often the patient's life can be saved only with extracorporeal liver support (ELS). ELS systems – MARS® и Prometheus® have proved their efficacy but their widespread use is constrained by their very high cost. Introduction in clinical practice of new affordable ELS systems is a topical issue. The objective: to compare clinical and laboratory effects of selective plasma exchange (SPE), plasmadialfiltration (PDF) with use of the selective membrane plasma separators EvaclioTM and MARS® and Prometheus® (FPSA) systems in the treatment of liver failure. Subjects and methods: 15 extracorporeal procedures of each type were performed in 52 patients with acute liver failure (14) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (38): MARS, FPSA, PDF, SPE with use of Evaclio ЕС-2C, and ЕС-3C, ЕС-4C. The clinical and laboratory parameters (total, direct and indirect bilirubin, total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea, etc.), severity of the condition according to MELD score were determined before and after the session and the next morning. Changes, side effects and complications of procedures were assessed and compared. Results. Reduction of concentration of direct bilirubin was comparable with FPSA, PDF and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (38-42%), indirect bilirubin – with PDF and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-3C20 и ЕС-4C20 (29-34%). Low-molecular metabolites (urea, creatinine) were better removed with FPSA (35-44%) and PDF (40-42%). The reduction of their concentration with SPE was insignificant. The reduction of albumin level was the highest with FPSA (10.2%) and SPE on Evaclio ЕС-4C20 (14.3%). All investigated ELS methods did not exert a significant influence on the basic parameters of blood coagulation and quantity of blood cells. No side effects and complications were observed. Conclusion: Selective plasma exchange and plasmadiafiltration are generally comparable in clinical and laboratory effects in the treatment of liver failure with MARS and Prometheus system provided significantly lower costs