Long-term treatment with anakinra and canakinumab resolves patellar subchondral erosion in neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease.

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Compositional and physicochemical changes in waste materials and biogas production across 7 landfill sites in UK

The aim of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of the paper and fines across seven landfill sites (LFS) and assess the relationship between waste physicochemical properties and biogas production. Physicochemical analysis of the waste samples demonstrated that there were no clear trends in the spatial distribution of total solids (TS), moisture content (MC) and waste organic strength (VS) across all LFS. There was however noticeable difference between samples from the same landfill site. The effect of landfill age on waste physicochemical properties showed no clear relationship, thus, providing evidence that waste remains dormant and non-degraded for long periods of time. Landfill age was however directly correlated with the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of waste; with the highest BMP obtained from the most recent LFS. BMP was also correlated with depth as the average methane production decreased linearly with increasing depth. There was also a high degree of correlation between the Enzymatic Hydrolysis Test (EHT) and BMP test results, which motivates its potential use as an alternative to the BMP test method. Further to this, there were also positive correlations between MC and VS, VS and biogas volume and biogas volume and CH4 content. Outcomes of this work can be used to inform waste degradation and methane enhancement strategies for improving recovery of methane from landfills

Propene Polymerization Promoted by C2-Symmetric Metallocene Catalysts: From Atactic to Isotactic Polypropene in Consequence of an Isotope Effect

We studied the polymerization of propene-2-d promoted by the prototypical isotactic-specific catalyst system rac-ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)ZrCl2/MAO. In this communication, we report the results of our investigation, documenting a large isotope effect on the balance between polyinsertion and epimerization and, therefore, on the stereospecificity. The mechanistic implications of such results are also discusse

Incorporating oral bioaccessibility into human health risk assessment due to potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and contaminated soils from an abandoned mine site

The waste rock, tailings and soil around an abandoned mine site in Gorno (northwest Italy) contain elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) exceeding the permissible limits for residential uses. Specifically, the maximum concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn were 107 mg/kg, 340 mg/kg, 1064 mg/kg, and 148 433 mg/kg, respectively. A site-specific human health risk assessment (HHRA) was conducted for residential and recreational exposure scenarios, using an approach based on Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA) method, refined by incorporating oral bioaccessibility data. Oral bioaccessibility analyses were performed by simulating the human digestion process in vitro (Unified BARGE Method). Detailed analysis of oral bioaccessible fraction (BAF i.e. ratio of bioaccessible concentrations to total concentrations on 1) for 50% of the samples, indicating potential human health risks. This study provides information for site-specific risk assessments and planning future research

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events