Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis and characterisation of phase change materials for waste heat recovery at high temperature for sustainable energy-intensive industry

A latent heat storage system based on Phase Change Materials (PCMs) is proposed to increase the energy and environmental efficiency by recovering and storing waste heat from combustion gases or other surplus sources at in the energy-intensive industries (EII), currently unused. The final configuration design is specifically adapted to the plant operational requirements, by means of a methodology combining the search of the best conceptual design and a proper selection of core PCMs. To that end, a selection of suitable PCM is carried out by using characterisation techniques and thermal stability testing. Furthermore, relevant key factors are weighted by an in-house Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to define the most promising design options to be implemented in two plants belonging to the EII sector. For the ceramic sector, the design resulted in a shell-and-tube system with 1188 kg of a PCM melting at 885 °C and encapsulated in double concentric tubes, involving a storage capacity of 227 MJ. Similarly, 1606 kg of PCM, whose phase-change temperature is 509 °C, is selected for the steel sector providing a PCM-TES system capable to store 420 MJ

Minimal residual disease (MRD) detection with translocations and T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients: a pilot study

Objective: Monitoring minimal residual disease has become increasingly important in clinical practice of ALL management. Break-point fusion regions of leukaemia related chromosomal aberrations and rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) and T cell-receptor (TCR) genes are used as leukaemia specific markers in genetic studies of MRD.Material and Methods: A total of 31 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed ALL were screened for eligibility criteria. Of those 26 were included in the study. One patient with partial response following induction therapy and four patients who were lost to follow-up after induction were excluded from the study; thus 21 patients were evaluated for MRD by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), heteroduplex analysis, sequencing and quantitative real time PCR techniques. Results: Chromosomal aberrations were detected in 5 (24%) of the patients and were used for MRD monitoring. Three patients had t(9;22) translocation, the other 2 had t(4;11) and t(1;19). MRD-based risk stratification of the16 patients analysed for Ig/TCR rearrangements revealed 3 low-risk, 11 intermediate-risk and 2 high-risk patients.Conclusion: MRD monitoring is progressively getting to be a more important predictive factor in adult ALL patients. As reported by others confirmed by our limited data there is a good correlation between MRD status and clinical outcome in patients receiving chemotherapy. The pilot-study presented here is the first that systematically and consecutively performs a molecular MRD monitoring of ALL patients in Turkey

The Effect of ZAP-70 Expression on Disease Progression in Early-Stage (Binet A) B-CLL Patients

Objectives: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a heterogeneous disease with various clinical findings. Prognostic markers predicting the clinical outcome in early-stage CLL would play a major role in disease management. Various studies have shown that zeta-associated protein 70 (ZAP-70) provides significant prognostic information This retrospective, single-centre study evaluates the effect of ZAP-70 on disease progression in early-stage B-CL

Prognostic significance of NOTCH1 and FBXW7 mutations in pediatric T-ALL

The NOTCH signaling pathway plays important role in the development of multicellular organisms, as it regulates cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. In adults, it is essential for the T- or B-lymphocyte lineage commitment. NOTCH1 and FBXW7 mutations both lead the activation of the NOTCH1 pathway and are found in the majority of T- ALL patients. In this study, the mutation analysis of NOTCH1 and FBXW7 genes was performed in 87 pediatric T-ALLs who were treated on the ALL-BFM protocols. In 19 patients (22%), activating NOTCH1 mutations were observed either in the heterodimerization domain or in the PEST domain and 7 cases (10%) demonstrated FBXW7 mutations (2 cases had both NOTCH1 and FBXW7 mutations). We also analyzed the relationship of the mutation data between the clinical and biological data of the patients. NOTCH1 and FBXW7, NOTCH1 alone were found correlated with lower initial leucocyte counts which was independent from the sex and T- cell immunophenotype. However, NOTCH1 and FBXW7 mutations were not predictive of outcome in the overall cohort of pediatric T-ALLs

Clonal Chromosomal Abnormalities in Philadelphia-Negative Cells and Their Clinical Significance in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Results of a Single Center

Objective: Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a haematological disease characterised by the presence of reciprocal t(9;22) translocation, called Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome. Highly improved haematological and cytogenetic results were reported in patients with chronic phase CML after introduction of imatinib into the market. Recently a number of studies draw attention to the emergence of clonal chromosomal abnormalities (CCAs) in Ph (-) cells during cytogenetic follow-up of CML patients. The clinical significance ofthe CCAs has not yet been clearly defined. The present study aims to demonstrate the occurrence pattern of CCA in Ph (-) cells in our cohort of CML patients and to investigate the impact of CCAs on the course and prognosis of CML. Material and Methods: A total of 45 patients were evaluated. Thirty-five patients with clonal chromosomal abnormalities in Ph(-) cells constituted the first group (GI), which was compared to a second group (GII) of 10 patients with complete cytogenetic response but no CCAs in terms of survival and disease progression. Results: The most frequent CCAs were -21, -18 and -20, followed by -22, -10, -17 and -19. Trisomies of Y and 8 were seen in 2 patients. In 9 cases structural abnormalities, such as del(7)(q11), del(17)(q11q21) and different marker chromosomes were observed. There were no difference between the two groups in terms of survival and progression. Dysplasia to some extent seems to occur in both groups irrespective of presence or absence of CCAs. Conclusion: According to our results, there is no convincing evidence that CCAs can alter the natural course of CIVIL on imatinib. We suggest that, regular cytogenetic monitoring with classical cytogenetic analysis is essential for CML patients on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, however it would be advisable to confirm and follow the most frequently observed numerical abnormalities by FISH technique as well