Selecting Critical Properties of Terpenes and Terpenoids through Group-Contribution Methods and Equations of State

The knowledge of critical properties is fundamental in engineering process calculations for the estimation of thermodynamic properties and phase equilibria. A literature survey shows a large number of methods for predicting critical properties of different classes of compounds, but no previous study is available to evaluate their suitability for terpenes and terpenoids. In this work, the critical properties of terpenes and terpenoids were first estimated using the group-contribution methods of Joback, Constantinou and Gani, and Wilson and Jasperson. These were then used to calculate densities and vapor pressure through the equations of state Peng-Robinson (PR) and Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) and then compared with the experimental values. On other hand, density and vapor pressure experimental data were used to estimate the critical properties directly by the same equations of state (EoSs), allowing a comparison between the two estimation procedures. For this purpose densities for 17 pure terpenes and terpenoids were here measured at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range (278.15 to 368.15) K. Using the first approach, the best combination is the Joback's method with the Peng-Robinson EoS, despite the high relative deviations found for vapor pressure calculations and difficulties to predict density at low temperatures. Following the second approach, the set of critical properties and acentric factors estimated are able to adequately correlate the experimental data. Both equatio ns show a similar capability to correlate the data with SRK EoS presenting a global %ARD of 3.16 and 0.62 for vapor pressure and density, respectively; while the PR EoS presented 3.61 and 0.66, for the same properties, both giving critical properties estimates also closer to those calculated by the Joback method, which is the recommended group-contribution method for this type of compounds.This work was developed in the scope of the projects POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-007679-CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013), POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006984−Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM both funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through COMPETE2020, Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI), and by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia). This work is also a result of project “AIProcMat@N2020 (Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020)”, with the reference NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000006, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through ERDF. M.A.R.M. acknowledges FCT for her Ph.D. grant (SFRH/BD/87084/ 2012) and COST for the STSM Grant from COST action CM1206. P. J. Carvalho also acknowledges FCT for a contract under the Investigador FCT 2015, Contract No. IF/00758/ 2015. A.M.P. acknowledges Infochem-KBC for his Ph.D. grant. The software Multiflash from Infochem-KBC was applied in some of the calculationsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Delays in IP routers, a Markov model

Delays in routers are an important component of end-to-end delay and therefore have a significant impact on quality of service. While the other component, the propagation time, is easy to predict as the distance divided by the speed of light inside the link, the queueing delays of packets inside routers depend on the current, usually dynamically changing congestion and on the stochastic features of the flows. We use a Markov model taking into account the distribution of the size of packets and self-similarity of incoming flows to investigate their impact on the queueing delays and their dynamics

Molecular EPISTOP, a comprehensive multi-omic analysis of blood from Tuberous Sclerosis Complex infants age birth to two years

We present a comprehensive multi-omic analysis of the EPISTOP prospective clinical trial of early intervention with vigabatrin for pre-symptomatic epilepsy treatment in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), in which 93 infants with TSC were followed from birth to age 2 years, seeking biomarkers of epilepsy development. Vigabatrin had profound effects on many metabolites, increasing serum deoxycytidine monophosphate (dCMP) levels 52-fold. Most serum proteins and metabolites, and blood RNA species showed significant change with age. Thirty-nine proteins, metabolites, and genes showed significant differences between age-matched control and TSC infants. Six also showed a progressive difference in expression between control, TSC without epilepsy, and TSC with epilepsy groups. A multivariate approach using enrollment samples identified multiple 3-variable predictors of epilepsy, with the best having a positive predictive value of 0.987. This rich dataset will enable further discovery and analysis of developmental effects, and associations with seizure development in TSC.</p

A survey of the European Reference Network EpiCARE on clinical practice for selected rare epilepsies

Objective: Clinical care of rare and complex epilepsies is challenging, because evidence‐based treatment guidelines are scarce, the experience of many physicians is limited, and interdisciplinary treatment of comorbidities is required. The pathomechanisms of rare epilepsies are, however, increasingly understood, which potentially fosters novel targeted therapies. The objectives of our survey were to obtain an overview of the clinical practice in European tertiary epilepsy centers treating patients with 5 arbitrarily selected rare epilepsies and to get an estimate of potentially available patients for future studies. / Methods: Members of the European Reference Network for rare and complex epilepsies (EpiCARE) were invited to participate in a web‐based survey on clinical practice of patients with Dravet syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), autoimmune encephalitis, and progressive myoclonic epilepsies including Unverricht Lundborg and Unverricht‐like diseases. A consensus‐based questionnaire was generated for each disease. / Results: Twenty‐six of 30 invited epilepsy centers participated. Cohorts were present in most responding centers for TSC (87%), Dravet syndrome (85%), and autoimmune encephalitis (71%). Patients with TSC and Dravet syndrome represented the largest cohorts in these centers. The antiseizure drug treatments were rather consistent across the centers especially with regard to Dravet syndrome, infantile spasms in TSC, and Unverricht Lundborg / Unverricht‐like disease. Available, widely used targeted therapies included everolimus in TSC and immunosuppressive therapies in autoimmune encephalitis. Screening for comorbidities was routinely done, but specific treatment protocols were lacking in most centers. / Significance: The survey summarizes the current clinical practice for selected rare epilepsies in tertiary European epilepsy centers and demonstrates consistency as well as heterogeneity in the treatment, underscoring the need for controlled trials and recommendations. The survey also provides estimates for potential participants of clinical trials recruited via EpiCARE, emphasizing the great potential of Reference Networks for future studies to evaluate new targeted therapies and to identify novel biomarkers

Clinical Cell Therapy Guidelines for Neurorestoration (IANR/CANR 2017)

Cell therapy has been shown to be a key clinical therapeutic option for central nervous system diseases or damage. Standardization of clinical cell therapy procedures is an important task for professional associations devoted to cell therapy. The Chinese Branch of the International Association of Neurorestoratology (IANR) completed the first set of guidelines governing the clinical application of neurorestoration in 2011. The IANR and the Chinese Association of Neurorestoratology (CANR) collaborated to propose the current version "Clinical Cell Therapy Guidelines for Neurorestoration (IANR/CANR 2017)". The IANR council board members and CANR committee members approved this proposal on September 1, 2016, and recommend it to clinical practitioners of cellular therapy. These guidelines include items of cell type nomenclature, cell quality control, minimal suggested cell doses, patient-informed consent, indications for undergoing cell therapy, contraindications for undergoing cell therapy, documentation of procedure and therapy, safety evaluation, efficacy evaluation, policy of repeated treatments, do not charge patients for unproven therapies, basic principles of cell therapy, and publishing responsibility

Reducing the development gaps between regions in Poland with the use of European Union funds

The paper evaluates the processes of regional income convergence in Poland. This new research approach involves an attempt to assess the process of convergence from the point of view of development gaps. Six key development gaps were considered in the region of Eastern Poland, which is a singular case, significantly different from other regions. A dynamic panel data model was applied to investigate the impact of EU funds on the progress made towards closing these development gaps. Among the analysed development gaps, only the structural gap was not reduced in the period 2004–2015. Studies have also revealed the different impact of structural funds on each category of development gaps (a positive impact on reducing the regional transport accessibility gap and the investment gap, but negative – on reducing the innovation gap). Research has suggested the need for a change in the structure of using EU funds in the period 2014–2020 to favour stronger support for entrepreneurship and the creation of new jobs. Greater stimulation of the economic structure of peripheral regions has been proposed as the prerequisite for the future reduction in the discrepancies between regions and for the intensification of convergence. First published online 2 April 201