Circulating biomarkers predicting longitudinal changes in left ventricular structure and function in a general population

Background Serial imaging studies in the general population remain important to evaluate the usefulness of pathophysiologically relevant biomarkers in predicting progression of left ventricular (LV) remodeling and dysfunction. Here, we assessed in a general population whether these circulating biomarkers at baseline predict longitudinal changes in LV structure and function. Methods and Results In 592 participants (mean age, 50.8 years; 51.4% women; 40.5% hypertensive), we derived echocardiographic indexes reflecting LV structure and function at baseline and after 4.7 years. At baseline, we measured alkaline phosphatase, markers of collagen turnover (procollagen type I, C‐terminal telopeptide, matrix metalloproteinase‐1) and high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin T. We regressed longitudinal changes in LV indexes on baseline biomarker levels and reported standardized effect sizes as a fraction of the standard deviation of LV change. After full adjustment, a decline in LV longitudinal strain (−14.2%) and increase in E/e′ ratio over time (+18.9%; P≤0.019) was associated with higher alkaline phosphatase activity at baseline. Furthermore, longitudinal strain decreased with higher levels of collagen I production and degradation at baseline (procollagen type I, −14.2%; C‐terminal telopeptide, −16.4%; P≤0.029). An increase in E/e′ ratio over time was borderline associated with lower matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (+9.8%) and lower matrix metalloproteinase‐1/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 ratio (+11.9%; P≤0.041). Higher high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels at baseline correlated significantly with an increase in relative wall thickness (+23.1%) and LV mass index (+18.3%) during follow‐up (P≤0.035). Conclusions We identified a set of biomarkers predicting adverse changes in LV structure and function over time. Circulating biomarkers reflecting LV stiffness, injury, and collagen composition might improve the identification of subjects at risk for subclinical cardiac maladaptation

Device Performance of Emerging Photovoltaic Materials (Version 3)

Following the 2nd release of the “Emerging PV reports,” the best achievements in the performance of emerging photovoltaic devices in diverse emerging photovoltaic research subjects are summarized, as reported in peer-reviewed articles in academic journals since August 2021. Updated graphs, tables, and analyses are provided with several performance parameters, e.g., power conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill factor, light utilization efficiency, and stability test energy yield. These parameters are presented as a function of the photovoltaic bandgap energy and the average visible transmittance for each technology and application, and are put into perspective using, e.g., the detailed balance efficiency limit. The 3rd installment of the “Emerging PV reports” extends the scope toward triple junction solar cells

Device Performance of Emerging Photovoltaic Materials (Version 2)

Following the 1st release of the “Emerging photovoltaic (PV) reports”, the best achievements in the performance of emerging photovoltaic devices in diverse emerging photovoltaic research subjects are summarized, as reported in peer-reviewed articles in academic journals since August 2020. Updated graphs, tables, and analyses are provided with several performance parameters, e.g., power conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill factor, light utilization efficiency, and stability test energy yield. These parameters are presented as a function of the photovoltaic bandgap energy and the average visible transmittance for each technology and application and are put into perspective using, e.g., the detailed balance efficiency limit. The 2nd instalment of the “Emerging PV reports” extends the scope toward tandem solar cells and presents the current state-of-the-art in tandem solar cell performance for various material combinations.</p

Liquid Film Characteristics on Surface of Structured Packing

International audienceStructured packing is a good candidate for CO2 capture process because of its higher mass transfer efficiency and lower pressure drop. Now, the challenging problem of CO2 capture and storage demands more and more efficiency equipment. The aim of the present study is to investigate the liquid film characteristics under countercurrent gas phase and throw some insight into the enhancing mechanism of mass transfer performance in structuredpacking. A high speed digital camera, non-intrusive measurement technique, was used. Water and air were working fluids. Experiments were carried out for different gas/liquid flow rates and different inclination angles. Thetime-average and instantaneous film widths for each set of flow parameters were calculated. It is shown that the effects of gas phase could be neglected for lower flow rate, and then, become more pronounced at higher flow rate. According to instantaneous film width, three different stages can be distinguished. One is the constant width of liquid film. The second is the slight decrease of film width and the smooth surface. This kind of character will lead toless interfacial area and deteriorate the packing mass transfer performance. For the third stage, the variation of filmwidth shows clearly chaotic behavior. The prediction model was also developed in present work. The predicted and experimental results are in good agreement

Effect of counter current gas phase on liquid film

International audienceLiquid film flow is very important in many industrial applications. However, there are few reports about its characteristics on structured packings. Therefore, in this paper, liquid film phenomena were investigated experimentally to exploit new approaches for intensifying the performance of the structured packings. All experiments were performed at room temperature. Water and air were the working fluids. The effect of counter current gas phase on the liquid film was taken into consideration. A high speed camera, a non-intrusive measurement technique, was used. It is shown that both liquid and gas phases have strong effects on film characteristics. In the present work, liquid film width increased by 57% because of increasing liquid flow rate, while it decreased by 25% resulting from the counter current gas phase

Effect of channel opening angle on the performance of structured packings

International audienceStructured packings are efficient gas–liquid contacting devices and have been widely used in many industrial applications for decades. Unfortunately the channel opening angle, an important geometrical parameter of structured packing, has received only little attention until now. In this work, the effect of channel opening angle on the performance of the column containing structured packing was investigated both numerically and experimentally. The simulation results show that the pressure drop can decrease substantially and the liquid maldistribution can be effectively reduced when the channel opening angle decreases from 90◦ to 20◦. The simulation is in quite good agreement with the experiments. In addition, a new modified structured packing was validated according to total reflux distillation experiment. It was shown that the pressure drop of the new packing could reduce by 35% and mass transfer efficiency could increase by 13% compared to the Mellapak packing having the same specific surface area

The Use of Commercial Soil Nucleic Acid Extraction Kit and Nested PCR for Detection of Leptospira in Farm Environment after Flooding in Taiwan

Leptospirosis is a rapidly transmitted and flood-related disease. The number of cases usually increase in the countries of Southeast Asia after flood damage during typhoon seasons. This disease also poses a potential threat to Taiwan due to its geographic characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a practical technique for an estimation of the distribution of Leptospira in natural environment, especially after flood damage. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the use of commercial soil nucleic acid extraction kits with nested PCR in the detection of Leptospira spp. in the farm environment. The detection limit for Leptospira DNA was 24.24 pg. A total of 108 soil samples were collected from farms located within flood-damaged areas; the overall positive rate was 30.6%. Based on the sequence analysis, positive samples were identified as Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira biflexa. This developed approach might be applied in a surveillance of leptospirosis in different countries or in the detection of other pathogens from soils