Biosimilar erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are an effective and safe option for the management of myelofibrosis-related anemia

Objectives: Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) have an established role in treating anemia in hematological malignancies. However, their role, particularly biosimilar ESA (B-ESA), in myelofibrosis (MF) is not well established. Methods: This study retrospectively collected data on 96 MF patients treated with B-ESA (alpha/zeta) for the management of anemia to assess safety, efficacy (anemia response [AR]), and survival. Results: Seventy-seven patients (80%) obtained AR. The median time to AR was 2.5 months. In multivariate analysis, significant predictive factors of AR were transfusion independency (p =.006) and ferritin levels 8.5 g/dl (p =.047) at baseline were significantly associated with improved survival, with a trend for longer survival in AR patients (p =.06). Conclusions: B-ESA seems to be an effective and well-tolerated option for anemia treatment in the MF setting. This strategy deserves further clinical investigation

Integrating particle tracking with computational fluid dynamics to assess haemodynamic perturbation by coronary artery stents

Aims Coronary artery stents have profound effects on arterial function by altering fluid flow mass transport and wall shear stress. We developed a new integrated methodology to analyse the effects of stents on mass transport and shear stress to inform the design of haemodynamically-favourable stents. Methods and results Stents were deployed in model vessels followed by tracking of fluorescent particles under flow. Parallel analyses involved high-resolution micro-computed tomography scanning followed by computational fluid dynamics simulations to assess wall shear stress distribution. Several stent designs were analysed to assess whether the workflow was robust for diverse strut geometries. Stents had striking effects on fluid flow streamlines, flow separation or funnelling, and the accumulation of particles at areas of complex geometry that were tightly coupled to stent shape. CFD analysis revealed that stents had a major influence on wall shear stress magnitude, direction and distribution and this was highly sensitive to geometry. Conclusions Integration of particle tracking with CFD allows assessment of fluid flow and shear stress in stented arteries in unprecedented detail. Deleterious flow perturbations, such as accumulation of particles at struts and non-physiological shear stress, were highly sensitive to individual stent geometry. Novel designs for stents should be tested for mass transport and shear stress which are important effectors of vascular health and repair

Adsorption of Argon on MFI Nanosheets: Experiments and Simulations

Argon adsorption on zeolite nanosheets has been studied using molecular simulations and experiments. Zeolite nanosheets are thin sheets of zeolite, with a thickness on the nanometre length scale. Zeolite nanosheets have a large surface area compared to the mass of the zeolite crystal. No part of the zeolite nanosheet can be characterized as bulk zeolite. The pores, channels and cages of the zeolite are still present, so adsorption can take place inside the nanosheet, as well as on the external surface of the zeolite nanosheet. Capillary condensation can take place between parallel zeolite nanosheets, and this can occur at pressures below saturation pressure of the adsorbent. The large space on the external surfaces, as well as void space between surfaces of different nanosheets, can significantly increase the porosity of the system. This results in a different adsorption isotherm compared to the regular bulk zeolite structure, where adsorption on the external surfaces has only a minor contribution to the overall adsorption. In this paper, we develop a simulation model for studying adsorption of argon on the external surface of zeolite nanosheets and between layered zeolite nanosheets. Using molecular simulation, we study the effect of capillary condensation with different distances between the nanosheets. Results from molecular simulations are compared to adsorption isotherms from experiments. The comparison between bulk zeolite and zeolite nanosheets helps to distinguish adsorption on external surfaces from adsorption in the zeolite framework. We find that experimental data can be described using a simple nanosheet model in molecular simulations. In addition, the density profile around the external surface of the zeolite is studied. The density profile across the external surface is calculated, and used to determine the Gibbs surface excess concentration of the gas/zeolite interface