On the structure of axial algebras

Axial algebras are a recently introduced class of non-associative algebra motivated by applications to groups and vertex-operator algebras. We develop the structure theory of axial algebras focussing on two major topics: (1) radical and simplicity; and (2) sum decompositions.Comment: 27 page

Probabilistic characterizations of some finite ring of matrices and its zero divisor graph

Let R be a finite ring. In this study, the probability that two random elements chosen from a finite ring have product zero is determined for some finite ring of matrices over Zn. Then, the results are used to construct the zero divisor graph which is defined as a graph whose vertices are the nonzero zero divisors of R and two distinct vertices x and y are adjacent if and only if xy = 0

Chemotherapy in the elderly

The number of elderly patients with malignancy is growing and is likely to have a major impact on resources, quality of care, health economics and treatment options. Decisions regarding treatment options with chemotherapy are limited by the scarcity of data specifically addressing the issues regarding chemotherapy in the elderly. The problem is further confounded by issues such as co morbidity, poly-pharmacy, cognitive impairments, emotional problems, functional limitations, sensory impairment and a lack of social support. Ageing is associated with specific physiologic changes in functional status, organ function and drug pharmacokinetics. Optimising cancer care and chemotherapy delivery in the elderly requires a better understanding of the specific pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic issues and administration of chemotherapy in this age group. Elderly participation in clinical trials and specific research is essential to guide treatment decisions and further research is required to provide evidence-based models to guide treatment decisions. In an Australian setting, the development of a geriatric oncology specific group as a means of facilitating collaboration with geriatricians, development of specific elderly research programs and clinical trials, education and development of treatment guidelines would further improve outcomes of our elderly patients undergoing cancer treatment

Fighting vessel dysmorphia to improve glioma chemotherapy

High-grade gliomas are aggressive and abundantly vascular tumors, and as in most cancer types, blood vessels in advanced lesions are highly abnormal. Poor perfusion and vascular leakage in tumor tissue resulting in hypoxia, necrosis, and high interstitial fluid pressure can hamper the efficient delivery of chemotherapy. Tumor angiogenesis is known to be supported by host leukocytes recruited to the tumor microenvironment, but the mechanisms leading to dysfunctional vascular network formation are incompletely understood. In this issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, Mathivet et al (2017) present an elegant study, where longitudinal intravital imaging gives new insight on how recruitment and polarization of tumor-associated macrophages regulate aberrant angiogenesis in experimental gliomas. They show that macrophage targeting results in vessel normalization and improved chemotherapy response, suggesting that the combination of these therapeutic modalities could improve the outcome of glioma treatment in the clinic.Non peer reviewe

Thrombocytopenia in solid tumors

Thrombocytopenia in patients with solid malignancy can be caused by bone marrow involvement or toxicity from anticancer therapy; however, it could rarely be the first presentation of a tumor such as breast cancer or lymphoma. Hematological paraneoplastic syndromes such as paraneoplastic thrombocytopenia and/or immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) are well described as secondary findings simultaneously with malignancies such as breast cancer and lymphoma. Other hematological conditions such as severe amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have also rarely been described as a possible paraneoplastic process complicating solid tumors. On the one hand, occult disseminated malignancy may mimic ITP and TTP, leading to diagnostic and therapeutic problems. On the other hand, thrombocytopenia could be the first manifestation of cancer

Fundamental understanding on the use of different carbon sources in the HIsarna alternative ironmaking process

Environmental problems such as air pollution and global warming have resulted in more stringent environmental legislations which challenges major industries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The most recent approach by the steel industries to address the climate challenges is the Net-Zero Steel strategy which has been initiated as a roadmap to eliminate the emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. In 2004, the (Ultra- Low CO2 Steelmaking) ULCOS research program lunched by major European steelmakers shortlisted HIsarna process as one of the most promising technologies to reduce CO2 emissions from steel industry. This research conducted with the aims to provide fundamental understanding on the behaviours of renewable biomass in the HIsarna SRV and support HIsarna development in optimising carbon source selection. Initially the slow devolatilization experiments were performed to compare coals (with low to high volatile matter content) with two biomass samples sourced from wood and grass. The results show that similar types of volatiles components were produced for all the carbonaceous materials, however the wt% of reducing gases e.g., H2, CO, and hydrocarbons, and the temperature required for these gases to evolve were notably different. Furthermore, the off-gas analysis reveals that torrefied grass contains large amount of H2O and CO2 which are released at low temperatures, therefore pretreatment to the temperature of ~ 400 °C is necessary for this material to be utilised effectively. The study then progresses into the thermal conditions similar to HIsarna SRV using drop-tube furnace with quadrupole mass spectrometer (DTF-QMS). It was found that the gas species detected were similar for coal and biomass samples but char oxidation for charcoal (CC) was significantly faster. Despite high fixed carbon and low VM content, the weight loss (under rapid devolatilization) for charcoal (29%) was higher than that for thermal coal (23%) and Bana grass char (22%) at 1500 °C, which could lead to low solid char yield during CC injection. Furthermore, the CC char has the fastest CO2 gasification reaction, this behaviour is likely to be governed by combination of low ash content, ash composition and char morphology in the CC material compared to thermal coal (TC) and Bana grass char (BGC). Reactions between carbonaceous materials and molten slag under simulated HIsarna thermal conditions were carried out by injecting different carbonaceous materials (CC, TC and BGC) into molten synthetic HIsarna slag in laboratory. The results show that the reduction process proceeds through two stages, starting with an initial rapid reduction and followed by gradual levelling off until the end of the process. The reaction rate and reduction degree of FeO in molten slag were the highest with CC chars, achieving over 60 % reduction at 1500 °C in the first 500s, compared to only ~50 % and just over 40 % with TC and BGC chars respectively for the same reaction time. The kinetic analysis suggests that the first stage reaction is controlled by chemical reactions at the carbon-slag interface, and the apparent activation energy values were 290, 229 and 267 kJ/mol for reactions with TC, CC and BGC chars respectively. On the other hand, the second stage can be described by threedimensional diffusion model (D3) and mixed influence from gas diffusion, liquid phase mass transfer, chemical reaction and carbon diffusion is likely to control the reduction. The results show that there are some common characteristics between coals and biomass materials selected, but the overall behaviour was different. Charcoal showed to have much higher combustibility and reactivity among the tested materials. The higher reactivity for charcoal may result in some of the solid chars to burn prematurely during HIsarna injection and this could lead to generation of higher amount of CO for CCF section on the expense of the solid chars required for SRV. Therefore, to maintain the process efficiency during CC injection it is necessary to increase the CCF productivity to utilise the extra reductive gas proportion produced to improve the balance between devolatilization/gasification and solid char yield. To build on the current findings and for efficient use of biomass or other alternative fuels, further research is suggested to consider biomass/coal blending, continuation of slag/carbon reaction (e.g., quenching), molten metal carburisation, slag chemical composition (e.g., different FeO content), effect of impurities in the raw materials and the ash content and ash chemistry