Colorectal liver metastases: Surgery versus thermal ablation (COLLISION) - a phase III single-blind prospective randomized controlled trial

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are widely accepted techniques to eliminate small unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). Although previous studies labelled thermal ablation inferior to surgical resection, the apparent selection bias when comparing patients with unresectable disease to surgical candidates, the superior safety profile, and the competitive overall survival results for the more recent reports mandate the setup of a randomized controlled trial. The objective of the COLLISION trial is to prove non-inferiority of thermal ablation compared to hepatic resection in patients with at least one resectable and ablatable CRLM and no extrahepatic disease. Methods: In this two-arm, single-blind multi-center phase-III clinical trial, six hundred and eighteen patients with at least one CRLM (≤3cm) will be included to undergo either surgical resection or thermal ablation of appointed target lesion(s) (≤3cm). Primary endpoint is OS (overall survival, intention-to-treat analysis). Main secondary endpoints are overall disease-free survival (DFS), time to progression (TTP), time to local progression (TTLP), primary and assisted technique efficacy (PTE, ATE), procedural morbidity and mortality, length of hospital stay, assessment of pain and quality of life (QoL), cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Discussion: If thermal ablation proves to be non-inferior in treating lesions ≤3cm, a switch in treatment-method may lead to a reduction of the post-procedural morbidity and mortality, length of hospital stay and incremental costs without compromising oncological outcome for patients with CRLM. Trial registration:NCT03088150 , January 11th 2017

Automatic on-line pressurized liquid injection in gas chromatography

An automated on-line gas chromatographic method was developed for accurate kinetic studies of the catalytic synthesis of methyl tert.-butyl ether from methanol and 2-methylpropene. It includes a pressurized liquid injection valve than can be used for the direct introduction of liquified mixtures. The influence of the pressure and density of the sample mixture is discussed and the theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental results. The relative standard deviation of the results was to be better than 0.1% for the integrated peak area of 2-methylpropene (n = 6). The pressurized injection technique also offers good possibilities for capillary gas chromatograph

Identification of components in fast pyrolysis oil and upgraded products by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and flame ionisation detection

Pyrolysis oil and upgraded products are promising energy carriers. Characterisation of the oils is hampered due to the presence of a large number of components (>400) belonging to a broad variety of chemical compound classes (i.e., acids, aldehydes, ketones). In this study, a comparison of the capabilities of 2D-GC–FID and GC–MS to determine the molecular composition of these oils is made. As such, it represents a chromatographic study for a real application in green catalytic technology. Split-injection of the oil samples, diluted in tetrahydrofuran (THF), was applied without any sample pre-treatment. GC–MS application resulted in coelution, while 2D-GC showed significantly higher chromatographic resolution. Model compound mixtures were used for compound identification in the 2D-GC analysis while GC–MS was used to confirm the molecular structures. The combination of both 2D-GC–FID and GC–MS proved to be a useful method, without the requirement of a 2D-GC/TOF instrument. The technique was applied successfully to identify and quantify the main components in pyrolysis oil and upgraded pyrolysis oil made by hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) technology. Compared to GC–MS, 2D-GC–FID provides a fast overview of the various chemical compound classes present in the oils.

Study concerning the application of alternative oxidation and desinfection methods in treatment and transport of drinking water

De resultaten van het onderzoek naar de toepassing van Cl-2, ClO-2, O-3 en UV-bestraling hebben aangetoond dat uit het oogpunt van het voorkomen van vorming van schadelijke reactie produkten tijdens de waterbehandeling de UV-bestraling de voorkeur verdient omdat hierbij geen veranderingen in de chemische samenstelling en in de mutagene activiteit optreden. Voor de veiligheidsdesinfectie van het drinkwater met een laag gehalte aan organische stoffen biedt de toepassing van lage doseringen van ClO-2 een geschikt alternatief omdat hierbij geen verhoging van de mutageniteit werd gevonden en weinig of geen gehalogeneerde organische stoffen en chloriet werden gevormd. Bij de transport desinfectie met hoge ClO-2 doseringen werd de mutageniteit wel verhoogd en tevens kunnen hierbij vrij hoge chlorietconcentraties ontstaan.Abstract not availableDGMH/

Mobility, turnover and storage of pollutants in soils, sediments and waters : achievements and results of the EU project AquaTerra : a review.

AquaTerra is one of the first environmental projects within the 6th Framework program by the European Commission. It began in June 2004 with a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 13 EU countries, Switzerland, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro. Results from sampling and modeling in 4 large river basins (Ebro, Danube, Elbe and Meuse) and one catchment of the Brévilles Spring in France led to new evaluations of diffuse and hotspot input of persistent organic and metal pollutants including dynamics of pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as metal turnover and accumulation. While degradation of selected organic compounds could be demonstrated under controlled conditions in the laboratory, turnover of most persistent pollutants in the field seems to range from decades to centuries. First investigations of long-term cumulative and degradation effects, particularly in the context of climate change, have shown that it is also necessary to consider the predictions of more than one climate model when trying to assess future impacts. This is largely controlled by uncertainties in climate model responses. It is becoming evident, however, that changes to the climate will have important impacts on the diffusion and degradation of pollutants in space and time that are just at the start of their exploration