Chemical characterization and economic evaluation of the coal fly ash pre-washing and carbonation process

In the present laboratory-scale study, the combination of washing and carbonation processes was examined to evaluate the feasibility to reduce the environmental impact of coal power plants. Three different washing solutions (tap, distilled and sea water) were used to pre-treat coal fly ash and the corresponding effect on direct gas-solid carbonation and final metal leaching was evaluated. Finally, a preliminary economic evaluation of the process was performed. In terms of captured CO2, the results have shown that significant amounts can be captured, although, as expected, the leaching of soluble salts in water such as Ca and Mg reduce the CO2 uptake. In terms of heavy metal's leaching, the application of pre-washing and carbonation treatment significantly affected the metal immobilization on the final residue. The pre-washing with sea water allowed to reach a sensible improvement since only selenium, chlorides and sulphates resulted outside the range for disposing of the carbonated residue in landfill for non-hazardous waste

IMU-based human activity recognition and payload classification for low-back exoskeletons

Nowadays, work-related musculoskeletal disorders have a drastic impact on a large part of the world population. In particular, low-back pain counts as the leading cause of absence from work in the industrial sector. Robotic exoskeletons have great potential to improve industrial workers’ health and life quality. Nonetheless, current solutions are often limited by sub-optimal control systems. Due to the dynamic environment in which they are used, failure to adapt to the wearer and the task may be limiting exoskeleton adoption in occupational scenarios. In this scope, we present a deep-learning-based approach exploiting inertial sensors to provide industrial exoskeletons with human activity recognition and adaptive payload compensation. Inertial measurement units are easily wearable or embeddable in any industrial exoskeleton. We exploited Long-Short Term Memory networks both to perform human activity recognition and to classify the weight of lifted objects up to 15 kg. We found a median F1 score of 90.80 % (activity recognition) and 87.14 % (payload estimation) with subject-specific models trained and tested on 12 (6M-6F) young healthy volunteers. We also succeeded in evaluating the applicability of this approach with an in-lab real-time test in a simulated target scenario. These high-level algorithms may be useful to fully exploit the potential of powered exoskeletons to achieve symbiotic human–robot interaction

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 in diagnosis of pleural effusion of malignant origin

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 in differentiating benign from malignant exudative pleural effusions. METHODS: This is a unicentre observational study including 97 consecutive patients with exudative pleural effusions. Metalloproteinase-9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 15-3 were measured in pleural effusion and serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The activity of metalloproteinase-9 was also evaluated by substrate zymography. The data were correlated with final diagnosis of pleural effusions to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: Of the 97 eligible patients, 6 were excluded. Of the 91 patients included in the study, 70 had malignant pleural effusions and 21 had benign pleural effusions. Both in sera and pleural effusions, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (P < 0.0001), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (P < 0.0001) and carcinoembryonic antigen (P < 0.0001) levels were higher in neoplastic patients than in benign group. Zymography analysis showed a most prominent band at a molecular weight of 92 kDa (metalloproteinase-9) whereas a less intense band was observed at 72 kDa (metalloproteinase-2). A significant correlation was found between metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 levels in pleural effusion (P < 0.0001; r = 0.8) and serum (P < 0.03; r = 0.2). Pleural effusion metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 levels showed higher value of sensitivity (97 and 91%, respectively) and specificity (90 and 95%, respectively) compared with other standard markers. Serum metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 levels showed similar results. Among 70 neoplastic patients, 29 had negative pleural cytology. Of these, 25 presented elevated levels of metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, whereas 4 patients had elevated levels of one of the two markers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 might be valuable markers in differentiating benign from malignant pleural effusions. Their levels are neither influenced by the histology and tumour origin nor by the presence of tumour cells in pleural effusions. Thus, their use in clinical practice could help in the selection of patients needing more invasive procedures, such as thoracoscopic biopsy

STIL, a peculiar molecule from styles, specifically dephosphorylates the pollen receptor kinase LePRK2 and stimulates pollen tube growth in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>LePRK1 and LePRK2 are two pollen receptor kinases localized to the plasma membrane, where they are present in a high molecular weight complex (LePRK complex). LePRK2 is phosphorylated in mature and germinated pollen, but is dephosphorylated when pollen membranes are incubated with tomato or tobacco style extracts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we show that LePRK2 dephosphorylation is mediated by a heat-, acid-, base-, DTT- and protease-resistant component from tobacco styles. Using LePRK2 phosphorylation as a tracking assay for purification, style exudates were subjected to chloroform extraction, anionic exchange, and C18 reverse-phase chromatography columns. We finally obtained a single ~3,550 Da compound (as determined by UV-MALDI-TOF MS) that we named STIL (for <b>St</b>yle <b>I</b>nteractor for <b>L</b>ePRKs). STIL increased pollen tube lengths of <it>in vitro </it>germinated pollen in a dose-dependent manner.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We propose that the LePRK complex perceives STIL, resulting in LePRK2 dephosphorylation and an increase in pollen tube growth.</p

Interleukin 28 polymorphisms and hepatocellular carcinoma development after direct acting antiviral therapy for chronihepatitis c

Background &amp; Aims: Cirrhotic patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remain at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even after the sustained virologic response (SVR). We aimed to evaluate whether the IL28 (rs12979860) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may constitute a predisposing genetic factor and to identify the SVR patients at risk of HCC. Methods: Two hundred patients undergoing DAAs treatment for chronic hepatitis C with advanced fibrosis (F3-F4) were consecutively enrolled. Besides normal routine laboratory testing for HCV, patients’ sera were evaluated also for retinol, retinol-binding protein 4 and the following SNPs: PNPLA3 (rs738409), TM6SF2 (rs58542926), MBOAT7 (rs641738), IL28B (rs12979860), TIMP-1 (rs4898), TIMP-2 (rs8179090), NF-kB promoter (rs28362491). Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata/SE 14.2 statistical software (Stata Corp, College Station, TX). Results: Almost all patients (197/200) obtained SVR24. Seventeen patients had a previous history of treated HCC before DAAs. Six patients developed HCC recurrence and five patients developed de novo HCC after a mean period of 18 months since EOT. All these patients had SVR. A significant association between IL28B – TT genotype and HCC development after DAAs therapy was observed (OR 4.728, CI 95% 1.222 – 18.297, p=0.024). Conclusion: IL28B rs12979860 polymorphism was significantly associated with HCC development after DAAs. Assessment of this SNP may better identify patients at risk of developing HCC after treatment. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these hypotheses

Development of q-PCR approaches to assess water quality: Effects of cadmium on gene expression of the diatom Eolimna minima

This study was undertaken to develop molecular tools to assess water quality using diatoms as the biological model. Molecular approaches were designed following the development of a rapid and easy RNA extraction method suited to diatoms and the sequencing of genes involved in mitochondrial and photosystem metabolism. Secondly the impact of cadmium was evaluated at the genetic level by q-PCR on 9 genes of interest after exposure of Eolimna minima diatom populations cultured in suspension under controlled laboratory conditions. Their growth kinetics and Cd bioaccumulation were followed.Population growth rates revealed the high impact of Cd at 100μg/L with total inhibition of growth. These results are linked to the high bioaccumulation values calculated after 14 days of exposure, 57.0±6.3μg. Cd/g. dw and 734.1±70μg. Cd/g. dw for exposures of 10 and 100μg. Cd/L respectively.Genetic responses revealed the impact of Cd on the mitochondrial metabolism and the chloroplast photosystem of E. minima exposed to 10 and 100μg. Cd/L with induction of cox1, 12S, d1 and psaA after 7 days of exposure for the concentration of 100μg. Cd/L and of nad5, d1 and psaA after 14 days of exposure for both conditions.This is the first reported use of q-PCR for the assessment of toxic pollution on benthic river diatoms. The results obtained presage interesting perspectives, but the techniques developed need to be optimized before the design of new water quality diagnosis tools for use on natural biofilms