A novel PTFE-based proton-conductive membrane

Abstract The demand for a solid polymer electrolyte membrane (SPEM) for fuel-cell systems, capable of withstanding temperatures above 130 • C, decreasing the electrode-catalyst loadings and reducing poisoning by carbon monoxide, has prompted this study. A novel, low-cost, highly conductive, nanoporous proton-conducting membrane (NP-PCM) based on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) backbone has been developed. It comprises non-conductive nano-size ceramic powder, PTFE binder and an aqueous acid. The preparation procedures were studied and the membrane was characterized with the use of: SEM, EDS, pore-size-distribution measurements (PSD), TGA-DTA and electrochemical methods. The ionic conductivity of a membrane doped with 3 M sulfuric acid increases with the ceramic powder content and reaches 0.22 S cm −1 at 50% (v/v) silica. A non-optimized direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with a 250 m thick membrane has been assembled. It demonstrated 50 and 130 mW cm −2 at 80 and 130 • C, respectively. Future study will be directed to improving the membrane-preparation process, getting thinner membranes and using this membrane in a hydrogen-fed fuel cell

Clinical course and outcome of patients with high-level microsatellite instability cancers in a real-life setting: a retrospective analysis

Naama Halpern,1 Yael Goldberg,2 Luna Kadouri,2 Morasha Duvdevani,2 Tamar Hamburger,2 Tamar Peretz,2 Ayala Hubert2 1Institute of Oncology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 2Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah Medical Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Background: The prognostic and predictive significance of the high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) phenotype in various malignancies is unclear. We describe the characteristics, clinical course, and outcomes of patients with MSI-H malignancies treated in a real-life hospital setting.Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of MSI-H cancer patient files was conducted. We analyzed the genetic data, clinical characteristics, and oncological treatments, including chemotherapy and surgical interventions.Results: Clinical data of 73 MSI-H cancer patients were available. Mean age at diagnosis of first malignancy was 52.3 years. Eight patients (11%) had more than four malignancies each. Most patients (76%) had colorectal cancer (CRC). Seventeen patients (23%) had only extracolonic malignancies. Eighteen women (36%) had gynecological malignancy. Nine women (18%) had breast cancer. Mean follow-up was 8.5 years. Five-year overall survival and disease-free survival of all MSI-H cancer patients from first malignancy were 86% and 74.6%, respectively. Five-year overall survival rates of stage 2, 3, and 4 MSI-H CRC patients were 89.5%, 58.4%, and 22.9%, respectively.Conclusion: Although the overall prognosis of MSI-H cancer patients is favorable, this advantage may not be maintained in advanced MSI-H CRC patients. Keywords: microsatellite instability, malignancy, treatment, outcom

How national IVF-registries are built up and should work – using data to improve clinical care

ESHRE will stage its 2021 Annual Meeting as an online congress and not a live event as originally planned. The virtual format, which has rapidly become the norm for all medical congresses, has already proved its potential for delivering content, not merely as a second best but now as the leading interim platform for exchanging information with a wide spread of participants. Online meetings, as our experiences with ESHRE webinars and Campus workshops show, have already set new standards of access and efficiency for sharing emerging data and opinion, and it’s our hope that ESHRE 2021 will meet those same standards in another outstanding congress

Bi-allelic variants in neuronal cell adhesion molecule cause a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by developmental delay, hypotonia, neuropathy/spasticity

Cell adhesion molecules are membrane-bound proteins predominantly expressed in the central nervous system along principal axonal pathways with key roles in nervous system development, neural cell differentiation and migration, axonal growth and guidance, myelination, and synapse formation. Here, we describe ten affected individuals with bi-allelic variants in the neuronal cell adhesion molecule NRCAM that lead to a neurodevelopmental syndrome of varying severity; the individuals are from eight families. This syndrome is characterized by developmental delay/intellectual disability, hypotonia, peripheral neuropathy, and/or spasticity. Computational analyses of NRCAM variants, many of which cluster in the third fibronectin type III (Fn-III) domain, strongly suggest a deleterious effect on NRCAM structure and function, including possible disruption of its interactions with other proteins. These findings are corroborated by previous in vitro studies of murine Nrcam-deficient cells, revealing abnormal neurite outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and formation of nodes of Ranvier on myelinated axons. Our studies on zebrafish nrcamaD mutants lacking the third Fn-III domain revealed that mutant larvae displayed significantly altered swimming behavior compared to wild-type larvae (p < 0.03). Moreover, nrcamaD mutants displayed a trend toward increased amounts of a-tubulin fibers in the dorsal telencephalon, demonstrating an alteration in white matter tracts and projections. Taken together, our study provides evidence that NRCAM disruption causes a variable form of a neurodevelopmental disorder and broadens the knowledge on the growing role of the cell adhesion molecule family in the nervous system.Alina Kurolap ... Jozef Gecz ... Clare L. van Eyk ... et. a