Scalable Jet-Based Fabrication of PEI-Hydrogel Particles for CO₂ Capture

The capture, regeneration, and conversion of CO2 from ambient air and flue gas streams are critical aspects of mitigating global warming. Solid sorbents for CO2 absorption are very promising as they have high mass transfer areas without energy input and reduce emissions and minimize corrosion as compared to liquid sorbents. However, precisely tunable solid CO2 sorbents are difficult to produce. Here, we demonstrate the high-throughput production of hydrogel-based CO2-absorbing particles via liquid jetting. By wrapping a liquid jet consisting of an aqueous solution of cross-linkable branched polyethylenimine (PEI) with a layer of suspension containing hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, monodisperse droplets with a silica nanoparticle coating layer was formed in the air. A stable Pickering emulsion containing PEI droplets was obtained after these ejected droplets were collected in a heated oil bath. The droplets turn into mm-sized particles after thermal curing in the bath. The diameter, PEI content, and silica content of the particles were systematically varied, and their CO2 absorption was measured as a function of time. Steam regeneration of the particles enabled cyclic testing, revealing a CO2 absorption capacity of 6.5 ± 0.5 mol kg−1 solid PEI in pure CO2 environments and 0.7 ± 0.3 mol kg−1 solid PEI for direct air capture. Several thousands of particles were produced per second at a rate of around 0.5 kg per hour, with a single nozzle. This process can be further scaled by parallelization. The complete toolbox for the design, fabrication, testing, and regeneration of functional hydrogel particles provides a powerful route toward novel solid sorbents for regenerative CO2 capture.</p

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue to treat stage III homologous deficient breast cancer: factors influencing clinical implementation

Background: High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue (HDCT) is a promising treatment for patients with stage III, HER2-negative, homologous recombination deficient (HRD) breast cancer. Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness are currently under investigation in an international multicenter randomized controlled trial. To increase the chance of successful introduction of HDCT into daily clinical practice, we aimed to identify relevant factors for smooth implementation using an early comprehensive assessment framework. Methods: This is a qualitative, multi-stakeholder, exploratory research using semi-structured interviews guided by the Constructive Technology Assessment model, which evaluates the quality of a novel health technology by clinical, economic, patient-related, and organizational factors. Stakeholders were recruited by purposeful stratified sampling and interviewed until sufficient content saturation was reached. Two researchers independently created themes, categories, and subcategories by following inductive coding steps, these were verified by a third researcher. Results: We interviewed 28 stakeholders between June 2019 and April 2021. In total, five overarching themes and seventeen categories were identified. Important findings for optimal implementation included the structural identification and referral of all eligible patients, early integration of supportive care, multidisciplinary collaboration between- and within hospitals, (de)centralization of treatment aspects, the provision of information for patients and healthcare professionals, and compliance to new regulation for the BRCA1-like test. Conclusions: In anticipation of a positive reimbursement decision, we recommend to take the highlighted implementation factors into consideration. This might expedite and guide high-quality equitable access to HDCT for patients with stage III, HER2-negative, HRD breast cancer in the Netherlands

Rekenmodel plaatst P+R in netwerkperspectief

Contains fulltext : 45461.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access)6 p

De toekomst van het bouw- en woningtoezicht

Het Bouw- en Woningtoezicht heeft een rijke geschiedenis achter de rug. Heden ten dage wordt een gedifferentieerd takenpakket uitgevoerd door de Diensten BWT, grotendeels op basis van de Woningwet. Deze OTB-studie, uitgevoerd in opdracht van de landelijke Hinderwet- en Bouwtoezichtvereniging, en gefinancierd door het Ministerie van VROM, geeft een overzicht van het huidig functioneren van de Diensten BWT. Een aantal ontwikkelingen wordt geschetst, die het gezicht van Bouw- en Woningtoezicht in de toekomst zullen bepalen. De Woningwet wordt herzien, het Bouwbesluit zal binnenkort in werking treden, en 'Europa 1992' zal grote gevolgen hebben voor het Bouw- en Woningtoezicht. Ook technologische veranderingen zullen hun sporen nalaten, zoals de informatisering van de bouw. Tenslotte zijn de verschuiving van nieuwbouw naar voorraadbeheer van grote betekenis, evenals de toenemende prioriteit van milieu-overwegingen. De mogelijke consequenties van deze ontwikkelingen voor het Bouw- en Woningtoezicht worden in deze studie grondig verkend.OTB Research Institute for the Built Environmen