Rituximab plus chemotherapy provides no clinical benefit in a peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified with aberrant expression of CD20 and CD79a. A case report and review of the literature

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is the most common entity of mature T-cell neoplasms. PTCL-NOS generally has an aggressive behavior and is often refractory to standard therapy. Only a few cases of PTCL with aberrant expression of B-cell antigens have been reported so far. This phenotypic aberrancy may lead to misdiagnosis as B-cell non- Hodgkin lymphomas and eventual inappropriate patient management, whereas in an accurately diagnosed PTCL, the presence of CD20 may appear as an appealing therapeutic target. In this setting, response to anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody in combination with chemotherapy has been poorly explored. We describe the case of a 59-year-old male diagnosed by a pathological and molecular approach as PTCL-NOS with aberrant co-expression of the B-cell antigens CD20 and CD79a, which proved non-responsive to the addition of rituximab to standard polychemotherapy. This case highlights that the presence of CD20 in PTCL may be misleading in the diagnosis and also act as a lure for the clinician to adopt a rituximab-based treatment, the effectiveness of which is undefined as the molecular mechanisms underlying B-cell marker expression in PTCL

Rituximab Plus Chemotherapy Provides No Clinical Benefit in a Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma Not Otherwise Specified with Aberrant Expression of CD20 and CD79a: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is the most common entity of mature T-cell neoplasms. PTCL-NOS generally has an aggressive behavior and is often refractory to standard therapy. Only a few cases of PTCL with aberrant expression of B-cell antigens have been reported so far. This phenotypic aberrancy may lead to misdiagnosis as B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas and eventual inappropriate patient management, whereas in an accurately diagnosed PTCL, the presence of CD20 may appear as an appealing therapeutic target. In this setting, response to anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody in combination with chemotherapy has been poorly explored. We describe the case of a 59-year-old male diagnosed by a pathological and molecular approach as PTCL-NOS with aberrant co-expression of the B-cell antigens CD20 and CD79a, which proved non-responsive to the addition of rituximab to standard polychemotherapy. This case highlights that the presence of CD20 in PTCL may be misleading in the diagnosis and also act as a lure for the clinician to adopt a rituximab-based treatment, the effectiveness of which is undefined as the molecular mechanisms underlying B-cell marker expression in PTCL

Enhanced fluid dynamics in 3D monolithic reactors to improve the chemical performance: experimental and numerical investigation

Three-dimensional (3D) Fe/SiC monoliths with parallel interconnected channels and different cell geometries (square, troncoconical, and triangular) were manufactured by robocasting and used as catalytic reactors in hydroxylation of phenol using hydrogen peroxide to produce dihydroxybenzenes; the reaction was performed at Cphenol,0 = 0.33 M, Cphenol,0:CH2O2,0 = 1:1 M, WR = 3.7 g, T = 80-90 °C, and τ = 0-254 gcat·h·L-1 with water as a solvent. The values of the apparent kinetic rate constants demonstrated the superior performance of the triangular cell monoliths for hydrogen peroxide decomposition, phenol hydroxylation, and dihydroxybenzene production reactions. A computational fluid dynamic model was validated with the experimental results. It demonstrated that the triangular cell monoliths, with a lower channel hydraulic diameter and not-facing interconnections, provided a higher internal macrotortuosity that induced an oscillating flow of the liquid phase inside the channels, leading to an additional transverse flow between adjacent parallel channels. This behavior, not observed in the other two geometries, resulted in a better overall performanceThe authors thank the financial support by the Community of Madrid through the project S2018/EMT-4341 and the Government of Spain through the projects: PGC2018- 095642-B-I00 and RTI2018-095052-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/ FEDER, UE). Also, G. Vega acknowledges the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid for the predoctoral contrac

Service Prototyping Lab Report - 2017 (Y2)

The annual activity report of the Service Prototyping Lab at Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Research trends and initiatives, research projects, transfer to education and local industry, academic community involvement, qualification and scientific development over the period of one year are among the covered topics

Zeolite-encapsulated single-atom catalysts for efficient CO2 conversion

Zeolite-supported single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as a novel class of cheap and tuneable catalysts that can exhibit high activity, selectivity and stability. In this work, we conduct an extensive screening by means of density functional theory calculations to determine the usefulness of 3d, 4d and 5d transition metal (TM) SACs-supported in MFItype Silicalite-1 zeolite for CO2 conversion. Two reaction mechanisms are considered, namely the redox −direct CO2 dissociation− and associative −hydrogen-assisted CO2 dissociation− mechanisms. Early TM SACs exhibit the lowest energy barriers, which follow the redox mechanism. These energy barriers raise when going right in the periodic table up to group 10, where they become prohibitive and the associative mechanism should dominate. By also considering their resistance to aggregation, we support the use of Sc, Y, La, Ru, Rh, Ni, Pd and Pt as potentially active and stable catalysts for CO2 conversion, given their low energy barriers and strong interaction with the zeolite framework

Device Physics of Hybrid Perovskite Solar cells: Theory and Experiment

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) exhibit a series of distinctive features in their optoelectronic response which have a crucial influence on the performance, particularly for long-time response. Here, a survey of recent advances both in device simulation and optoelectronic and photovoltaic responses is provided, with the aim of comprehensively covering recent advances. Device simulations are included with clarifying discussions about the implications of classical drift-diffusion modeling and the inclusion of ionic charged layers near the outer carrier selective contacts. The outcomes of several transient techniques are summarized, along with the discussion of impedance and capacitive responses upon variation of bias voltage and irradiance level. In relation to the capacitive response, a discussion on the J-V curve hysteresis is also included. Although alternative models and explanations are included in the discussion, the review relies upon a key mechanism able to yield most of the rich experimental responses. Particularly for state-of-the-art solar cells exhibiting efficiencies around or exceeding 20%, outer interfaces play a determining role on the PSC's performance. The ionic and electronic kinetics in the vicinity of the interfaces, coupled to surface recombination and carrier extraction mechanisms, should be carefully explored to progress further in performance enhancement

Changes in plasma fatty acid composition are associated with improvements in obesity and related metabolic disorders: A therapeutic approach to overweight adolescents

Background & aims: In recent years, obesity has reached alarming levels among children and adolescents. The study of plasma fatty acid (FA) composition, as a reflection of diet, and its associations with other parameters, that are closely linked to obesity and the cardiometabolic profile, may be useful for setting nutritional goals for obesity treatment and prevention. This study explored the relationship between plasma FA levels and body fat and cardiometabolic risk markers, in overweight adolescents. Methods: A multidisciplinary weight loss program was followed by 127 overweight and obese adolescents aged 12-17 years old. Plasma FA composition, anthropometric indicators of adiposity and biochemical parameters were analyzed at baseline, two months (the end of the intensive intervention phase) and six months (the end of the extensive phase). Results: While saturated fatty acid (SFA) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels decreased significantly during the intervention, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and n-3 PUFA showed the opposite trend. The decrease in SFA C14:0 was associated with a reduction in total and LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and insulin. The increase in MUFAs, especially C18:1n-9, was related to a reduction in weight, fat mass, fat mass index and glucose. Regarding PUFAs, changes in the n-3 series were not associated with any of the parameters studied, whereas the reduction in n-6 PUFA5 was directly related to weight, fat mass, total and HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein Al, glucose and insulin, and inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure. The adolescents with greater weight loss presented significant changes in MUFAs, n-6 PUFA5 and C14:0. Conclusions: Modifications in plasma FA composition were associated with adiposity reduction and cardiometabolic profile improvement in an anti-obesity program aimed at adolescents. The changes observed in FA composition were related to the success of the treatment, since the individuals most affected by these variations were those who presented the greatest weight loss

Propagation of solitons in thermal media with periodic nonlinearity

We address the existence and properties of solitons in layered thermal media made of alternating focusing and defocusing layers. Such structures support robust bright solitons even if the averaged nonlinearity is defocusing. We show that non-oscillating solitons may form in any of the focusing domains, even in those located close to the sample edge, in contrast to uniform thermal media where light beams always oscillate when not launched exactly on the sample center. Stable multipole solitons may include more than four spots in layered media.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Optics Letter

QSI methods for determining the quality of the surface finish of concrete

[EN] The surface finish of a concrete element may become an index of its quality, relating the external and internal porosity with the mechanical and durability properties. Few methods are used to determine the surface quality of concrete elements. Mention must be made the Quality Surface Index (QSI) proposes a simplified method to quantify the surface occupied by the pores in relation with the total surface inspected, analyzing groups of pores by their diameter. The method of the CIB W29 (Commission W29 "Concrete Surface Finishings") proposes an inspection of the concrete element and its visual comparison with some standard templates. Finally, the digital processing of images allows the zones with surface defects to be delimited and quantified according to premises of quality introduced into the control software. These three methods are employed in this work and are applied in three concrete walls situated three meters from the observer (M-1, M-2 and M-3). Following the conversion of the results of the method with ImageJ and QSI, the results suppose differences that go from 0.1 tenths (2%) for M-3 up to 0.3 tenths (8%) for M-1. All values are within the obtained range with CIB W29 templates. This can validate the QSI and digital processing methods and allows a quick verification of the results. With the digital method, it is obtained that 23.5% of the total pores of M-1 have a diameter of less than 10 mm(2) and 44% of less than 100 mm(2). For M-2 and M-3 the proportions of pores with a dimension below 10 mm(2) is of 43.1% and 27.7%, respectively, and that 77.5% and 60.7% are smaller than 100 mm2. From all the above it can be highlighted that M-1 is the one with the lowest amount of pores, however the proportion of the largest is greater than for M-2 and M-3. In the case of M-3, although it has a lower proportion of larger pores than M-1, its greater amount means it is the worst in terms of surface finish of the three.Benito-Saorín, FJ.; Miñano-Belmonte, I.; Parra Costa, C.; Rodríguez-López, C.; Valcuende Payá, MO. (2018). QSI methods for determining the quality of the surface finish of concrete. Sustainability. 10(4):931-1-931-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040931S931-1931-1410