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Sample records for pretreated patient population

  1. Pretreatment organ function in patients with advanced head and neck cancer: clinical outcome measures and patients' views

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    Rasch Coen RN

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Aim of this study is to thoroughly assess pretreatment organ function in advanced head and neck cancer through various clinical outcome measures and patients' views. Methods A comprehensive, multidimensional assessment was used, that included quality of life, swallowing, mouth opening, and weight changes. Fifty-five patients with stage III-IV disease were entered in this study prior to organ preserving (chemoradiation treatment. Results All patients showed pretreatment abnormalities or problems, identified by one or more of the outcome measures. Most frequent problems concerned swallowing, pain, and weight loss. Interestingly, clinical outcome measures and patients' perception did no always concur. E.g. videofluoroscopy identified aspiration and laryngeal penetration in 18% of the patients, whereas only 7 patients (13% perceived this as problematic; only 2 out of 7 patients with objective trismus actually perceived trismus. Conclusion The assessment identified several problems already pre-treatment, in this patient population. A thorough assessment of both clinical measures and patients' views appears to be necessary to gain insight in all (perceived pre-existing functional and quality of life problems.

  2. Does pretreatment hemoglobin level affect outcome in patients with T1 glottic cancer?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Canaday, Daniel J.; Regine, William F.; Mohiuddin, Mohammed; Zollinger, William; Machtay, Mitchell; Lee, Jason; Schultz, Delray; Rosenthal, David I.; Rudoltz, Marc S.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: Recent reports have suggested that pretreatment hemoglobin (Hgb) is significantly associated with local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) in patients with T1 and T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx. This study evaluates the association of pretreatment Hgb level and other factors with outcome in patients limited to T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx treated with external beam radiation. Methods: One hundred fifty-eight patients with T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx were analyzed. Median follow-up was 5 years (range 2-22). Median pretreatment Hgb was 14.4 gm/dl (range 8.2-17.2). The following parameters were analyzed for their impact on LC, OS, and disease specific survival (DSS): age, gender, pretreatment Hgb, tumor grade, anterior commissure involvement, field size, total dose, dose per fraction, and overall treatment time. Results: Five year actuarial LC was 84%. Pretreatment Hgb was not a significant predictor for LC when assessed as a continuous variable (p=0.38). LC was 82% for patients with Hgb >13 vs 92% for Hgb ≤ 13 (p=0.13). No other factor was significant for LC. Five year actuarial OS was 74%. On univariate analysis, pretreatment Hgb ≤ 13 gm/dl was a significant factor for poorer OS (78% vs 68%, p=0.004), as were total dose 61 years (p=0.017). On multivariate analysis, only age >61 (p=0.014) and Hgb ≤ 13 (p=0.001) retained significance for OS. Five year actuarial DSS was 92%. Pretreatment Hgb was not a prognostic factor for DSS, nor were any other analyzed factors. Conclusion: Pretreatment Hgb is not a significant prognostic factor for LC in patients with T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx, but it does predict for a poorer OS without affecting DSS. This suggests that patients with lower pretreatment Hgb may have confounding medical problems which detract from their overall survival

  3. Gemcitabine and capecitabine for heavily pre-treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Spindler, Karen-Lise G; Pallisgaard, Niels; Andersen, Rikke F

    2014-01-01

    AIM: We investigated the efficacy and safety of capecitabine and gemcitabin (GemCap) in heavily pre-treated, therapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients and the clinical importance of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) measurement. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients' inclusion criteria included...

  4. Addition of sunitinib to cetuximab and irinotecan in patients with heavily pre-treated advanced colorectal cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Qvortrup, Camilla; Jensen, Benny Vittrup; Jørgensen, Trine Lembrecht

    2010-01-01

    Results of continuous sunitinib, in combination with cetuximab and irinotecan every other week (SIC) for compassionate use in heavily pre-treated patients with mCRC are presented.......Results of continuous sunitinib, in combination with cetuximab and irinotecan every other week (SIC) for compassionate use in heavily pre-treated patients with mCRC are presented....

  5. Pretreatment prostate-specific antigen values in patients with prostate cancer: 1989 patterns of care study process survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teshima, Teruki; Hanlon, Alexandra M.; Hanks, Gerald E.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: A Patterns of Care Study (PCS) national survey was conducted to show the national averages for processes of radiation therapy care for prostate cancer patients in 1989. In the current study we report an analysis of pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by stage, grade, and ethnic origin. Methods and Materials: Process data were collected from 672 patients treated in 1989 at 71 separate institutions. Four hundred and twenty-seven (64%) of these patients had a pretreatment PSA value recorded. Three hundred and forty-three of the 427 patients were treated with external beam irradiation alone and were selected for the current analysis. The 1992 AJCC staging system was used. Results: There was a significant increase in pretreatment PSA with increasing stage. The median values of PSA were 8.3 ngm/ml in the T1 group (n = 65), 11.2 ngm/ml in the T2 group (n = 178), and 20.9 ngm/ml in the T3 group (n = 90) (p < 0.001). Ten patients were not staged. There was a significant increase in pretreatment PSA with decreasing differentiation. The median pretreatment PSA was 9.7 ngm/ml in well-differentiated tumors (n = 109), 13.0 ngm/ml in moderately differentiated tumors (n = 163), and 22.0 ngm/ml in poorly differentiated tumors. (n = 61) (p < 0.001). Ten patients had no differentiation recorded. African Americans (24) showed a significant increase in pretreatment PSA compared to Caucasians (304). The respective medians were 23.2 ng/ml and 11.9 ng/ml (p = 0.04). They also show more poorly differentiated tumors (33% vs. 17%) and more T3 tumors (46% vs. 25%). Other minorities, although small in number (n = 9) were similar to African Americans. Conclusion: Pretreatment PSA levels were established for patients treated with external beam irradiation in 1989 in the United States. They increase with stage and decreasing differentiation. African Americans and other minorities show a doubling of median values compared to Caucasians' pretreatment PSA with an increase in stage

  6. Pretreatment Diffusion-Weighted MRI Can Predict the Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

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    Guo-Yi Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. To explore the potential of diffusion-weighted (DW magnetic resonance imaging (MRI using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC for predicting the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC. Methods and Materials. Ninety-two consecutive patients with NPC who underwent three cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. DW and anatomical MRI were performed before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radiotherapy. Pretreatment ADCs and percentage increases in ADC after chemotherapy were calculated for the primary lesions and metastatic adenopathies. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to select optimal pretreatment ADCs. Results. Pretreatment mean ADCs were significantly lower for responders than for nonresponders (primary lesions, P=0.012; metastatic adenopathies, P=0.013. Mean percentage increases in ADC were higher for responders than for nonresponders (primary lesions, P=0.008; metastatic adenopathies, P<0.001. The optimal pretreatment primary lesion and metastatic adenopathy ADCs for differentiating responders from nonresponders were 0.897 × 10−3 mm2/sec and 1.031 × 10−3 mm2/sec, respectively. Conclusions. NPC patients with low pretreatment ADCs tend to respond better to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Pretreatment ADCs could be used as a new pretreatment imaging biomarker of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

  7. Pretreatment costs of care and time to initial treatment for patients with cancer of unknown primary.

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    Walker, Mark S; Weinstein, Laura; Luo, Roger; Marino, Ingrid

    2018-06-01

    Time to treatment and pretreatment costs may be affected by unknown primary tumor site. This retrospective study used electronic medical record data from patients in ten US community oncology practices. Eligible patients were ≥18 years, diagnosed with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) or known metastatic solid tumor, and presented between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2014. Patients with CUP (n = 294) had a longer interval than non-CUP patients (n = 92) from presentation to treatment initiation (1.18 vs 0.49 months, p < 0.0001), and had higher pretreatment costs (US$27,882 vs US$20,449, p = 0.0075). When analyzed as monthly cost, the difference between groups in log-cost per month was nonsignificant. Higher pretreatment costs in CUP patients appeared attributable to significantly longer time to initiation of therapy.

  8. The Prognostic Significance of Pretreatment Serum CEA Levels in Gastric Cancer: A Meta-Analysis Including 14651 Patients

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    Deng, Kai; Yang, Li; Hu, Bing; Wu, Hao; Zhu, Hong; Tang, Chengwei

    2015-01-01

    Background Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is commonly used as a serum tumor marker in clinical practice; however, its prognostic value for gastric cancer patients remains uncertain. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of CEA and investigate CEA as a tumor marker. Methods PubMed, EMBASE and other databases were searched for potentially eligible studies. Forty-one studies reporting the prognostic effect of pretreatment serum CEA expression in gastric cancer patients were selected. Data on 14651 eligible patients were retrieved for the meta-analysis. Based on the data extracted from the available literature, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for an adverse prognosis were estimated for gastric cancer patients with elevated pretreatment serum levels of CEA (CEA+) relative to patients with normal pretreatment CEA levels (CEA-). Results The CEA+ patients had a significantly poorer prognosis than the CEA- patients in terms of overall survival (OS: HR 1.716, 95% CI 1.594 - 1.848, P 0.05). In the pooled analyses of multivariate-adjusted HRs, the results suggested that pretreatment serum CEA may be an independent prognostic factor in gastric cancer (OS: HR 1.681, 95% CI 1.425 - 1.982; DSS: HR 1.900, 95% CI 1.441 - 2.505; DFS: HR 2.579, 95% CI 1.935 - 3.436). Conclusion/Significance The meta-analysis based on the available literature supported the association of elevated pretreatment serum CEA levels with a poor prognosis for gastric cancer and a nearly doubled risk of mortality in gastric cancer patients. CEA may be an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients and may aid in determining appropriate treatment which may preferentially benefit the CEA+ patients. PMID:25879931

  9. Quality of life in chronic myeloid leukaemia patients after haematopoietic cell transplantation pretreated with second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors

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    Agnieszka Piekarska

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim of the study : To was to determine the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD and active smoking on the efficacy of chemotherapy and complete blood count (CBC in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC. Material and methods : The retrospective evaluation included 50 patients with stage IIIB–IV NSCLC, who started cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Peripheral blood CBC values were collected for testing before chemotherapy and after the first and third cycles. Results: COPD was diagnosed in 49% of patients, while 42% of those enrolled were current smokers. Current smoking (p = 0.92 and COPD (p = 0.91 status did not affect the response to treatment. The non-COPD population presented a significantly higher pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count (ALC than the COPD population (2.31 vs. 1.81 × 109/l; p = 0.0374. Also, only the non-COPD group demonstrated an elevated absolute monocyte count (AMC following the first and third cycles of chemotherapy (p = 0.004. In current smokers, pretreatment values for white blood cells (WBC, absolute neutrophil count (ANC, and platelets (PLT were higher than in the ex-smoker population (WBC 9.94 vs. 8.7 (× 109/l; p = 0.01; ANC 6.47 vs. 5.61 (× 109/l; p = 0.037; PLT 316 vs. 266 (× 109/l; p = 0.049. Ex-smokers demonstrated AMC level elevation after the first cycle of chemotherapy and PLT level elevation after the third cycle, while current smokers also demonstrated an early decrease in LMR. Conclusions : COPD and smoking induce chronic systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, which influence the results of standard laboratory tests, but do not change the response rate of lung cancer on chemotherapy.

  10. The significance of pretreatment CD4 count on the outcome and treatment tolerance of HIV-positive patients with anal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoffman, Rex; Welton, Mark L.; Klencke, Barbara; Weinberg, Vivian; Krieg, Richard

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the outcome and tolerance of HIV-positive patients with anal cancer to standard therapy based on their pretreatment CD4 count. Methods and Materials: Between 1991 and 1997, 17 HIV-positive patients with anal cancer and documented pretreatment CD4 counts were treated at the University of California, San Francisco or its affiliated hospitals with either concurrent chemotherapy and radiation or radiation alone. The outcome and complications of treatment were correlated with the patients' pretreatment CD4 count. Results: Disease for all 9 patients with pretreatment CD4 counts ≥ 200 was controlled with chemoradiation. Although four required a treatment break of 2 weeks because of toxicity, none required hospitalization. Of the 8 patients with pretreatment CD4 counts < 200, 4 experienced decreased counts, intractable diarrhea, or moist desquamation requiring hospitalization. Additionally, 4 of these 8 ultimately required a colostomy either for a therapy-related complication or for salvage. Nevertheless, 6/7 in this group who received concurrent chemotherapy and radiation had their disease controlled, whereas the patient treated with radiation alone failed and required a colostomy for salvage. Conclusion: Patients with CD4 ≥ 200 had excellent disease control with acceptable morbidity. Patients with CD4 < 200 had markedly increased morbidity; however, disease was ultimately controlled in 7/8 patients

  11. Long-term carbimazole pretreatment reduces the efficacy of radioiodine therapy

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    C Shivaprasad

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Data from several studies suggest that pretreatment with antithyroid drugs (ATD before 131 I increases the risk of treatment failure. This effect has been demonstrated more consistently with propylthiouracil than with carbimazole (CMZ or methimazole (MMI. Men with Graves′ disease (GD have a lower rate of remission with 131 I compared to women and the impact of long-term ATD pretreatment on the success of 131 I is unknown. The objective of our study was to compare the efficacy of fixed doses of radioiodine between patients with and without long-term CMZ pretreatment. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study on 335 male patients with GD treated with 131 I from 1998 to 2008. 148 patients had been pretreated with CMZ, and the remaining 187 patients received 131 I without pretreatment. We compared the success rate of a single dose of 131 I, between patients with and without long-term CMZ pretreatment. Results: The success rate of a single dose of 131 I was significantly higher in patients without pretreatment than in patients who were pretreated with CMZ (91.4% vs. 82.3%, P = 0.01. The rate of hypothyroidism in the first 6 months after 131 I therapy was significantly higher in patients without pretreatment (55.1% vs. 44.6%, P = 0.05. There was also a trend for higher cumulative rate of hypothyroidism at last follow-up in nonpretreated patients (78.1% vs. 69.7%. Conclusion: Male patients with Graves′ hyperthyroidism pretreated with CMZ have lower efficacy with 131I therapy compared to nonpretreated patients. CMZ pretreatment given for a prolonged period reduces the efficacy of 131 I therapy.

  12. Pretreatment depression as a prognostic indicator of survival and nutritional status in patients with head and neck cancer.

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    Kim, Shin-Ae; Roh, Jong-Lyel; Lee, Sang-Ah; Lee, Sang-Wook; Kim, Sung-Bae; Choi, Seung-Ho; Nam, Soon Yuhl; Kim, Sang Yoon

    2016-01-01

    The emotional status of cancer patients is associated with disease course and treatment outcomes. In this study, the authors evaluated associations between the presence of pretreatment depression and pretreatment quality of life (QOL), nutritional status, and survival outcomes in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). For this prospective study, 241 patients with previously untreated HNSCC who underwent curative treatments were enrolled. Patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 30-item Core QOL Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), and the EORTC QLQ Head and Neck Cancer module (QLQ-H&N35). EORTC QLQ scores were compared between depressive and nondepressive patients, as determined according to pretreatment BDI-II scores ≥ 14 and nutritional status and laboratory data. Pretreatment depression was present in 60 patients (24.9%). In depressive and nondepressive patients, the 3-year overall survival rates were 70.8% and 82.7%, respectively (P = .045), and the 3-year DFS rates were 63.5% and 79.1%, respectively (P = .015). After controlling for clinical factors, the presence of depression was predictive of 3-year DFS (P = .032). EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN35 scores on all items except feeding tube, nutritional supplement, and problem with mouth opening differed between depressive and nondepressive patients (P nutritional status, and survival outcomes in patients with HNSCC. © 2015 American Cancer Society.

  13. Virological failure and HIV-1 drug resistance mutations among naive and antiretroviral pre-treated patients entering the ESTHER program of Calmette Hospital in Cambodia.

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    Hubert Barennes

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: In resource limited settings, patients entering an antiretroviral therapy (ART program comprise ART naive and ART pre-treated patients who may show differential virological outcomes. METHODS: This retrospective study, conducted in 2010-2012 in the HIV clinic of Calmette Hospital located in Phnom Penh (Cambodia assessed virological failure (VF rates and patterns of drug resistance of naive and pre-treated patients. Naive and ART pre-treated patients were included when a Viral Load (VL was performed during the first year of ART for naive subjects or at the first consultation for pre-treated individuals. Patients showing Virological failure (VF (>1,000 copies/ml underwent HIV DR genotyping testing. Interpretation of drug resistance mutations was done according to 2013 version 23 ANRS algorithms. RESULTS: On a total of 209 patients, 164 (78.4% were naive and 45 (21.5% were ART pre-treated. Their median initial CD4 counts were 74 cells/mm3 (IQR: 30-194 and 279 cells/mm3 (IQR: 103-455 (p<0.001, respectively. Twenty seven patients (12.9% exhibited VF (95% CI: 8.6-18.2%, including 10 naive (10/164, 6.0% and 17 pre-treated (17/45, 37.8% patients (p<0.001. Among these viremic patients, twenty-two (81.4% were sequenced in reverse transcriptase and protease coding regions. Overall, 19 (86.3% harbored ≥1 drug resistance mutations (DRMs whereas 3 (all belonging to pre-treated patients harbored wild-types viruses. The most frequent DRMs were M184V (86.3%, K103N (45.5% and thymidine analog mutations (TAMs (40.9%. Two (13.3% pre-treated patients harbored viruses that showed a multi-nucleos(tide resistance including Q151M, K65R, E33A/D, E44A/D mutations. CONCLUSION: In Cambodia, VF rates were low for naive patients but the emergence of DRMs to NNRTI and 3TC occurred relatively quickly in this subgroup. In pre-treated patients, VF rates were much higher and TAMs were relatively common. HIV genotypic assays before ART initiation and for ART pre-treated

  14. Observations of pretreatment prostate-specific antigen doubling time in 107 patients referred for definitive radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, W. Robert; Hanks, Gerald E.; Corn, Benjamin W.; Schultheiss, Timothy E.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: To determine pretreatment prostate-specific antigen doubling times (PSADT) in patients referred for definitive radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: One hundred and seven patients with histologically proven nonmetastatic prostate cancer and an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) who were referred for radiation therapy had three serum PSA values obtained prior to the start of definitive therapy. Prostate-specific antigen doubling times were calculated by linear regression. Results: Prostate-specific antigen values increased during the period of observation in 78 patients (73%). Forty-three patients (40%) had calculated PSADT of less than 2 years and of those patients with pretreatment serum PSA values of greater than 10 ng/mL more than 50% has calculated PSADT of less than 2 years. Conclusions: A significant minority of patients referred for radiotherapy have calculated PSADT of less than 2 years. The significance of this relatively fast growth rate is as yet undetermined, but suggests that patients referred for radiotherapy may have aggressive disease prior to treatment

  15. Prognostic impact of the pretreatment aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase ratio in patients treated with first-line systemic tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

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    Kang, Minyong; Yu, Jiwoong; Sung, Hyun Hwan; Jeon, Hwang Gyun; Jeong, Byong Chang; Park, Se Hoon; Jeon, Seong Soo; Lee, Hyun Moo; Choi, Han Yong; Seo, Seong Il

    2018-05-13

    To examine the prognostic role of the pretreatment aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase or De Ritis ratio in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma receiving first-line systemic tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. We retrospectively searched the medical records of 579 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who visited Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, from January 2001 through August 2016. After excluding 210 patients, we analyzed 360 patients who received first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Cancer-specific survival and overall survival were defined as the primary and secondary end-points, respectively. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify independent prognosticators of survival outcomes. The overall population was divided into two groups according to the pretreatment De Ritis ratio as an optimal cut-off value of 1.2, which was determined by a time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Patients with a higher pretreatment De Ritis ratio (≥1.2) had worse cancer-specific survival and overall survival outcomes, compared with those with a lower De Ritis ratio (<1.2). Notably, a higher De Ritis ratio (≥1.2) was found to be an independent predictor of both cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio 1.61, 95% confidence interval 1.13-2.30) and overall survival outcomes (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% confidence interval 1.19-2.39), along with male sex, multiple metastasis (≥2), non-clear cell histology, advanced pT stage (≥3), previous metastasectomy and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center risk classification. Our findings show that the pretreatment De Ritis ratio can provide valuable information about the survival outcomes of metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients receiving first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. © 2018 The Japanese Urological Association.

  16. Predictive value of pretreatment lymphocyte count in stage II colorectal cancer and in high-risk patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

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    Liang, Lei; Zhu, Ji; Jia, Huixun; Huang, Liyong; Li, Dawei; Li, Qingguo; Li, Xinxiang

    2016-01-05

    Pretreatment lymphocyte count (LC) has been associated with prognosis and chemotherapy response in several cancers. The predictive value of LC for stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) and for high-risk patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) has not been determined. A retrospective review of prospectively collected data from 1332 consecutive stage II CRC patients who underwent curative tumor resection was conducted. A pretreatment LC value risk, 459 (62.2%) of whom received AC. Patients with low LCs had significantly worse 5-year OS (74.6% vs. 90.2%, p risk patients with low LCs had the poorest DFS (p value or combined with high-risk status were both independent prognostic factors(p risk, AC-treated patients with high LCs had significantly longer DFS than untreated patients (HR, 0.594; 95% CI, 0.364-0.970; p = 0.035). There was no difference or trend for DFS or OS in patients with low LCs, regardless of the use of AC (DFS, p = 0.692; OS, p = 0.522). Low LC was also independently associated with poorer DFS in high-risk, AC-treated patients (HR, 1.885; 95% CI, 1.112-3.196; p = 0.019). Pretreatment LC is an independent prognostic factor for survival in stage II CRC. Furthermore, pretreatment LC reliably predicts chemotherapeutic efficacy in high-risk patients with stage II CRC.

  17. Pretreatment factors significantly influence quality of life in cancer patients: A Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Movsas, Benjamin; Scott, Charles; Watkins-Bruner, Deborah

    2006-01-01

    Purpose The purpose of this analysis was to assess the impact of pretreatment factors on quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients. Methods and Materials Pretreatment QOL (via Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy [FACT], version 2) was obtained in 1,428 patients in several prospective Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials including nonmetastatic head-and-neck (n = 1139), esophageal (n = 174), lung (n = 51), rectal (n = 47), and prostate (n = 17) cancer patients. Clinically meaningful differences between groups were defined as a difference of 1 standard error of measurement (SEM). Results The mean FACT score for all patients was 86 (20.7-112) with SEM of 5.3. Statistically significant differences in QOL were observed based on age, race, Karnofsky Performance Status, marital status, education level, income level, and employment status, but not by gender or primary site. Using the SEM, there were clinically meaningful differences between patients ≤50 years vs. ≥65 years. Hispanics had worse QOL than whites. FACT increased linearly with higher Karnofsky Performance Status and income levels. Married patients (or live-in relationships) had a better QOL than single, divorced, or widowed patients. College graduates had better QOL than those with less education. Conclusion Most pretreatment factors meaningfully influenced baseline QOL. The potentially devastating impact of a cancer diagnosis, particularly in young and minority patients, must be addressed

  18. Pretreatment Serum Testosterone and Androgen Deprivation: Effect on Disease Recurrence and Overall Survival in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Brachytherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taira, Al V.; Merrick, Gregory S.; Galbreath, Robert W.; Butler, Wayne M.; Wallner, Kent E.; Allen, Zachariah A.; Lief, Jonathan H.; Adamovich, Edward

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: Low testosterone has been implicated as a possible adverse prognostic factor in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. We evaluated the impact of pretreatment serum testosterone on survival after prostate brachytherapy. Methods and Materials: From October 2001 to November 2004, 619 patients underwent brachytherapy and 546 had a pretreatment serum testosterone level measured. Pretreatment serum testosterone levels were assigned by the following criteria: below-normal (n = 105), low normal (n = 246), mid normal (n = 132), high normal (n = 50), and above normal (n = 13). Median follow-up was 5.2 years. Cause of death was determined for each deceased patient. Results: Six-year biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS), cause-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) were 97.7%, 99.8%, and 89.2%. When comparing patients with low or low normal testosterone with those with average or higher testosterone, there was no significant difference in bPFS (97.6% vs. 98.4%; p = 0.72), CSS (99.8% vs. 100%; p = 0.72), or OS (88.9% vs. 90.8%; p = 0.73). Among patients with average and higher pretreatment testosterone, there was no significant difference in outcomes when comparing patients who did and did not receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). For patients with low or low normal testosterone levels, there was no significant difference in bPFS or CSS when comparing patients who did and did not receive ADT. However, there was a trend toward lower OS in patients with baseline lower testosterone levels who also received ADT (83.9% vs. 91.3%, p = 0.075). Conclusions: Low pretreatment testosterone levels alone did not affect disease recurrence or OS. Patients with baseline low testosterone who also were treated with ADT had a trend toward decreased OS.

  19. Infusion-related reactions to infliximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a clinical practice setting: relationship to dose, antihistamine pretreatment, and infusion number.

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    Wasserman, Michael J; Weber, Deborah A; Guthrie, Judith A; Bykerk, Vivian P; Lee, Peter; Keystone, Edward C

    2004-10-01

    We describe infusion-related reactions to infliximab (during infusion or within 1 hour postinfusion) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated in a quaternary care center. We followed 113 patients for a mean of 60.6 +/- 28.9 weeks, obtaining 10.5 +/- 4.9 infusions per patient. We observed 1183 infusions resulting in 104 infusion reactions (8.8%). All reactions resolved within several hours following cessation of the infusion and none was serious enough to warrant hospitalization. Reactions included allergic reactions (pruritus, urticaria) in 4.2% of infusions, cardiopulmonary (hypotension, hypertension, tachycardia) in 3.0%, and miscellaneous reactions (headache, nausea, vomiting) in 2.0%. Reactions occurred in 8.0% of 3 mg/kg infusions and in 10.3% of 5 mg/kg infusions. Reactions occurred in 13.2% of infusions that involved antihistamine pretreatment compared to only 7.5% of infusions that involved no pretreatment. At both infliximab doses, there was a similar frequency of infusion reactions in patients pretreated due to a previous infusion (12.6%) compared to those pretreated strictly based on infusion number (14.7%). A number of the reactions involving antihistamine pretreatment may be explained by known side effects of diphenhydramine, including headache, dizziness, nausea, and palpitations. Infusion-related reactions to infliximab were infrequent, rarely severe, and easily manageable. The frequency of reactions was equivalent in patients treated with 3 mg/kg compared to 5 mg/kg. Reactions were significantly more frequent in infusions where patients were pretreated with the antihistamine diphenhydramine, compared to those not involving pretreatment.

  20. The PACOVAR-trial: A phase I/II study of pazopanib (GW786034) and cyclophosphamide in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent, pre-treated ovarian cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eichbaum, Michael; Fersis, Nikos; Schmidt, Marcus; Wallwiener, Markus; Schneeweiss, Andreas; Sohn, Christof; Mayer, Christine; Eickhoff, Regina; Bischofs, Esther; Gebauer, Gerhard; Fehm, Tanja; Lenz, Florian; Fricke, Hans-Christian; Solomayer, Erich

    2011-01-01

    The prognosis of patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is poor. There is no standard treatment available. Emerging evidence suggests a major role for antiangiogenic treatment modalities in EOC, in particular in combination with the metronomic application of low dose chemotherapy. The novel, investigational oral antiangiogenic agent pazopanib targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and c-kit is currently being studied in different tumour types and is already used as first line therapy in recurrent renal cell carcinoma. A combined therapy consisting of pazopanib and metronomic oral cyclophosphamide may offer a well-tolerable treatment option to patients with recurrent, pretreated EOC. This study is designed as a multicenter phase I/II trial evaluating the optimal dose for pazopanib (phase I) as well as activity and tolerability of a combination regimen consisting of pazopanib and metronomic cyclophosphamide in the palliative treatment of patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant, pre-treated ovarian cancer (phase II). The patient population includes patients with histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of EOC, cancer of the fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer which is platinumresistant or -refractory. Patients must have measurable disease according to RECIST criteria and must have failed available standard chemotherapy. Primary objectives are determination of the optimal doses for pazopanib (phase I) and the overall response rate according to RECIST criteria (phase II). Secondary objectives are time to progression, overall survival, safety and tolerability. The treatment duration is until disease progression or intolerability of study drug regimen (with a maximum of 13 cycles up to 52 weeks per subject). The current phase I/II trial shall clarify the potential of the multitargeting antiangiogenic tyrosinkinaseinhibitor GW 786034 (pazopanib) in

  1. Individualized Nonadaptive and Online-Adaptive Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Treatment Strategies for Cervical Cancer Patients Based on Pretreatment Acquired Variable Bladder Filling Computed Tomography Scans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bondar, M.L.; Hoogeman, M.S.; Mens, J.W.; Quint, S.; Ahmad, R.; Dhawtal, G.; Heijmen, B.J.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To design and evaluate individualized nonadaptive and online-adaptive strategies based on a pretreatment established motion model for the highly deformable target volume in cervical cancer patients. Methods and Materials: For 14 patients, nine to ten variable bladder filling computed tomography (CT) scans were acquired at pretreatment and after 40 Gy. Individualized model-based internal target volumes (mbITVs) accounting for the cervix and uterus motion due to bladder volume changes were generated by using a motion-model constructed from two pretreatment CT scans (full and empty bladder). Two individualized strategies were designed: a nonadaptive strategy, using an mbITV accounting for the full-range of bladder volume changes throughout the treatment; and an online-adaptive strategy, using mbITVs of bladder volume subranges to construct a library of plans. The latter adapts the treatment online by selecting the plan-of-the-day from the library based on the measured bladder volume. The individualized strategies were evaluated by the seven to eight CT scans not used for mbITVs construction, and compared with a population-based approach. Geometric uniform margins around planning cervix–uterus and mbITVs were determined to ensure adequate coverage. For each strategy, the percentage of the cervix–uterus, bladder, and rectum volumes inside the planning target volume (PTV), and the clinical target volume (CTV)-to-PTV volume (volume difference between PTV and CTV) were calculated. Results: The margin for the population-based approach was 38 mm and for the individualized strategies was 7 to 10 mm. Compared with the population-based approach, the individualized nonadaptive strategy decreased the CTV-to-PTV volume by 48% ± 6% and the percentage of bladder and rectum inside the PTV by 5% to 45% and 26% to 74% (p < 0.001), respectively. Replacing the individualized nonadaptive strategy by an online-adaptive, two-plan library further decreased the percentage of

  2. Real-life experience of ceritinib in crizotinib-pretreated ALK+ advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacques Cadranel

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Here we report our experience of ceritinib in crizotinib-pretreated patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK positive (ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC in a French temporary authorisation for use (TAU study. The French TAU study included crizotinib-pretreated patients with advanced ALK+ or ROS proto-oncogene 1 positive (ROS1+ tumours. Patients received oral ceritinib (750 mg·day−1 as a starting dose and best tumour response (as evaluated by the investigator and safety were reported every 3 months. A total of 242 TAUs were granted from March 12, 2013 to August 05, 2015. Of the 242 patients, 228 had ALK+ NSCLC and 13 had ROS1+ NSCLC. The median age of ALK+ patients (n=214 was 58.5 years, 51.9% were female, 70.8% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG performance status (PS of 0–1 and 50.0% had brain metastases. Of the 149 efficacy evaluable ALK+ NSCLC patients, 5.4% had a complete response (CR, 47.0% had a partial response (PR and 22.8% had stable disease (SD. At September 05, 2015, the median duration of ceritinib treatment (n=182 was 3.9 months but 5.5 months for patients (n=71 with a follow-up of ≥12 months. Higher objective response rate (ORR was observed for patients with ECOG PS 0 to 1 (55.0% versus 42.4% and those receiving prior crizotinib for >5 months (51.6% versus 36.1%. Treatment-related adverse events (AEs were reported in 118 of 208 patients (56.7%, the most common being diarrhoea (22.1% and hepatic toxicity (19.7%. Ceritinib (750 mg·day−1 demonstrated efficacy similar efficacy to ASCEND-1, ASCEND-2 and phase 3 ASCEND-5 trials with manageable safety in crizotinib-pretreated patients with ALK+ NSCLC.

  3. Response to pazopanib in two pediatric patients with pretreated relapsing synovial sarcoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casanova, Michela; Basso, Eleonora; Magni, Chiara; Bergamaschi, Luca; Chiaravalli, Stefano; Carta, Roberto; Tirtei, Elisa; Massimino, Maura; Fagioli, Franca; Ferrari, Andrea

    2017-01-21

    Pazopanib is an oral multikinase inhibitor that has proved effective in adults treated for relapsing soft tissue sarcoma and synovial sarcoma in particular. Two cases are reported here of pediatric patients with pretreated relapsing synovial sarcoma whose tumors showed a prolonged response to pazopanib given on compassionate grounds. These results suggest that new agents found effective in adult patients might achieve similar results in adolescents with the same disease. Facilitating the availability of new drugs for children and adolescents is a major challenge for pediatric oncologists.

  4. Improvement in shelf life of minimally processed cilantro leaves through integration of kinetin pretreatment and packaging interventions: Studies on microbial population dynamics, biochemical characteristics and flavour retention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranjitha, K; Shivashankara, K S; Sudhakar Rao, D V; Oberoi, Harinder Singh; Roy, T K; Bharathamma, H

    2017-04-15

    Effect of integrating optimized combination of pretreatment with packaging on shelf life of minimally processed cilantro leaves (MPCL) was appraised through analysis of their sensory attributes, biochemical characteristics, microbial population and flavour profile during storage. Minimally pretreated cilantro leaves pretreated with 50ppm kinetin and packed in 25μ polypropylene bags showed a shelf life of 21days. Optimized combination helped in efficiently maintaining sensory parameters, flavour profile, and retention of antioxidants in MPCL until 21days. Studies conducted on the effect of optimized combination on microbial population and flavour profile revealed that among different microorganisms, pectinolysers had a significant effect on spoilage of MPCL and their population of ⩽3.59logcfu/g was found to be acceptable. Principal component analysis of headspace volatiles revealed that (E)-2-undecenal, (E)-2-hexadecenal, (E)-2-tetradecenal & (E)-2-tetradecen-1-ol in stored samples clustered with fresh samples and therefore, could be considered as freshness indicators for MPCL. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. High-Dose Statin Pretreatment Decreases Periprocedural Myocardial Infarction and Cardiovascular Events in Patients Undergoing Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Meta-Analysis of Twenty-Four Randomized Controlled Trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Le; Peng, Pingan; Zhang, Ou; Xu, Xiaohan; Yang, Shiwei; Zhao, Yingxin; Zhou, Yujie

    2014-01-01

    Background Evidence suggests that high-dose statin pretreatment may reduce the risk of periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) for certain patients; however, previous analyses have not considered patients with a history of statin maintenance treatment. In this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we reevaluated the efficacy of short-term high-dose statin pretreatment to prevent PMI and MACE in an expanded set of patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods We searched the PubMed/Medline database for RCTs that compared high-dose statin pretreatment with no statin or low-dose statin pretreatment as a prevention of PMI and MACE. We evaluated the incidence of PMI and MACE, including death, spontaneous myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization at the longest follow-up for each study for subgroups stratified by disease classification and prior low-dose statin treatment. Results Twenty-four RCTs with a total of 5,526 patients were identified. High-dose statin pretreatment was associated with 59% relative reduction in PMI (odds ratio [OR]: 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.34–0.49; Pstatin pretreatment on MACE was significant for statin-naive patients (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.50–0.95; P = 0.02) and prior low dose statin-treated patients (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.12–0.65; P = 0.003); and for patients with acute coronary syndrome (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34–0.79; P = 0.003), but not for patients with stable angina (OR: 0.71; 95% CI 0.45–1.10; P = 0.12). Long-term effects on survival were less obvious. Conclusions High-dose statin pretreatment can result in a significant reduction in PMI and MACE for patients undergoing elective PCI. The positive effect of high-dose statin pretreatment on PMI and MACE is significant for statin-naïve patients and patients with prior treatment. The positive effect of high-dose statin pretreatment on MACE is significant for

  6. Thiamazole Pretreatment Lowers the (131)I Activity Needed to Cure Hyperthyroidism in Patients With Nodular Goiter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyrilli, Aglaia; Tang, Bich-Ngoc-Thanh; Huyge, Valérie; Blocklet, Didier; Goldman, Serge; Corvilain, Bernard; Moreno-Reyes, Rodrigo

    2015-06-01

    Relatively low radioiodine uptake (RAIU) represents a common obstacle for radioiodine ((131)I) therapy in patients with multinodular goiter complicated by hyperthyroidism. To evaluate whether thiamazole (MTZ) pretreatment can increase (131)I therapeutic efficacy. Twenty-two patients with multinodular goiter, subclinical hyperthyroidism, and RAIU effective option than LID.

  7. Essential pre-treatment imaging examinations in patients with endoscopically-diagnosed early gastric cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tokunaga Mari

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There have been no reports discussing which imaging procedures are truly necessary before treatment of endoscopically-diagnosed early gastric cancer (eEGC. The aim of this pilot study was to show which imaging examinations are essential to select indicated treatment or appropriate strategy in patients with eEGC. Methods In 140 consecutive patients (95 men, 45 women; age, 66.4 +/- 11.3 years [mean +/- standard deviation], range, 33-90 with eEGC which were diagnosed during two years, the pre-treatment results of ultrasonography (US and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT of the abdomen, barium enema (BE and chest radiography (CR were retrospectively reviewed. Useful findings that might affect indication or strategy were evaluated. Results US demonstrated useful findings in 13 of 140 patients (9.3%: biliary tract stones (n = 11 and other malignant tumors (n = 2. Only one useful finding was demonstrated on CT (pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous tumor but not on US (0.7%; 95% confidential interval [CI], 2.1%. BE demonstrated colorectal carcinomas in six patients and polyps in 10 patients, altering treatment strategy (11.4%; 95%CI, 6.1-16.7%. Of these, only two colorectal carcinomas were detected on CT. CR showed three relevant findings (2.1%: pulmonary carcinoma (n = 1 and cardiomegaly (n = 2. Seventy-nine patients (56% were treated surgically and 56 patients were treated by endoscopic intervention. The remaining five patients received no treatment due to various reasons. Conclusions US, BE and CR may be essential as pre-treatment imaging examinations because they occasionally detect findings which affect treatment indication and strategy, although abdominal contrast-enhanced CT rarely provide additional information.

  8. Prognostic Significance of Pre-treatment Serum C-Reactive Protein Level in Patients with Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Cervix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodner-Adler, Barbara; Kimberger, Oliver; Schneidinger, Cora; Kölbl, Heinz; Bodner, Klaus

    2016-09-01

    To evaluate pre-treatment serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level as a prognostic parameter in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. Pre-treatment CRP levels were analyzed to determine potential associations with clinicopathological parameters and to assess prognostic value in 46 patients with sole adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. The mean (±SD) pre-treatment serum CRP level was 5.82 (7.21) mg/l. Serum CRP concentration significantly correlated positively with age at diagnosis (p=0.001), lymphovascular space invasion (p=0.0026), recurrent disease (p=0.0001) and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (p=0.0002). In multivariate Cox regression models with age, FIGO stage, histological grade and lymph node status, elevated CRP and cancer antigen 125 levels were associated with shortened survival (pcervix. Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

  9. Pretreatment quality of life in patients with rectal cancer is associated with intrusive thoughts and sense of coherence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asplund, Dan; Bisgaard, Thue; Bock, David

    2017-01-01

    of coherence with pretreatment quality of life in patients with newly diagnosed rectal cancer. METHODS: Patients were prospectively included in 16 hospitals in Sweden and Denmark. They answered an extensive questionnaire after receiving their treatment plan. Clinical data were retrieved from national quality...... registries for rectal cancer. RESULTS: Of 1248 included patients, a total of 1085 were evaluable. Pretreatment global health-related and overall quality of life was lower in patients planned for palliative compared with curative treatment (median 53 vs. 80 on the EuroQoL visual analogue scale, p ...PURPOSE: Quality of life may predict survival. In addition to clinical variables, it may be influenced by psychological factors, some of which may be accessible for intervention. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association of intrusive thoughts and the patients' sense...

  10. Dual Inhibition of EGFR and VEGF in Heavily Pretreated Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Finn Ole; Markussen, Alice; Nielsen, Dorte

    2017-01-01

    : The combination of irinotecan, bevacizumab, and cetuximab/panitumumab is safe and shows a toxicity profile corresponding to what is expected from the agents alone. The results indicate that the combination in the 4th line may result in a high rate of disease control in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic...

  11. Pretreatment Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor in Bladder Cancer and Metastatic or Unresectable Urothelial Carcinoma Patients: a Pooled Analysis of Comparative Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shuiqing; Zhao, Xiaokun; Wang, Yinhuai; Zhong, Zhaohui; Zhang, Lei; Cao, Jian; Ai, Kai; Xu, Ran

    2018-01-01

    Emerging studies have shown that the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a potential predictor in various tumors. Our study was conducted to assess the prognostic value of the pretreatment NLR in bladder cancer and metastatic or unresectable urothelial carcinoma (mUC or uUC) patients up to July 2017. The correlation between the pretreatment NLR and pathological characteristics was also evaluated in bladder cancer patients. The hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (CI) were extracted or calculated from the included studies for further pooled analysis. A total of 21 studies were included in a pooled analysis. The pooled results indicated that a high pretreatment NLR was associated with reduced overall survival (OS) (HR=1.27, 95% CI=1.12-1.43), relapse-free survival (RFS) (HR=1.41, 95% CI=1.23-1.60), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR=1.75, 95% CI=1.36-2.15), disease-specific survival (DSS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR=1.27, 95% CI=1.19-1.35) in the bladder cancer patients. Additionally, an elevated pretreatment NLR suggested a worse OS rate in the mUC or uUC patients (HR=1.63, 95% CI=1.34-1.91). The pooled ORs and 95% CIs showed that a high pretreatment NLR could be a risk indicator for certain pathological features, such as lymphovascular invasion, a positive margin status and advanced tumor stage. our results showed that a high pretreatment NLR predicted poor prognosis in bladder cancer, mUC and uUC patients. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

  12. SINGLE AGENT DOCETAXEL AS SECOND- LINE CHEMOTHERAPY FOR PRETREATED PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT NON- SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deyan N. Davidov

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Single agent Docetaxel is a standard therapy for patients with non- small cell lung cancer after the failure of platinum- containing regimens. The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy and safety of Docetaxel monotherapy as second- line chemotherapy in pretreated patient with inoperable non- small cell lung cancer. Methods: From January 2005 to May 2008 thirty- six consecutive patients with locally advanced or metastatic morphologically proven stage IIIB/ IV non- small cell lung cancer entered the study after failure of previous platinum- based regimens. Treatment schedule consist of Docetaxel 75 mg/m2 administered every three weeks with repetition after 21 days with Dexamethasone premedication. Results: Overall response rate, median time to progression and median survival was 16,6 %, 4,5 months and 5,6 months respectively. The main hematological toxicity was neutropenia. Conclusions: That data suggest that single agent Docetaxel remain reasonable choices for the chemotherapy in pretreated patients with non- small cell lung cancer.

  13. Early changes of thyroid hormone concentrations after {sup 131}I therapy in Graves' patient pretreated or not with methimazole

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pirnat, E.; Zaletel, K.; Gabercsek, S.; Fidler, V.; Hojker, S. [University Medical Centre, Ljubljana (Slovenia). Dept. of Nuclear Medicine

    2004-08-01

    Aim: Despite extensive use of {sup 131}I therapy for Graves' hyperthyroidism the treatment regimen with {sup 131}I and antithyroid drugs remain under discussion. In our prospective clinical study we followed acute thyroid hormone changes after {sup 131}I in patients not pretreated with methimazole (MMI) and in patients with different MMI pretreatment regimes. Patients, methods: 187 patients were treated with fixed activity of 550 or 740 MBq of {sup 131}I. First group (71 patients) received {sup 131}I alone. In the second group (57 patients) MMI was stopped seven days before {sup 131}I. The third group (59 patients) received MMI until {sup 131}I application. Initial free triodothyronin and free thyroxin were measured in the second group 7 and 2 days before {sup 131}I therapy and in all three groups on the day of {sup 131}I application as well as 2, 5, 12, and 30 days afterwards. Absorbed dose was measured in each patient. Results: In the non-pretreated group {sup 131}I application was followed by a significant decrease of fT{sub 4} in 5 days and of fT{sub 3} in 2 days, higher reduction was detected in patients with higher baseline values. In MMI pretreated patients significant but clinically irrelevant increase of both thyroid hormones was detected with maximum value 7 days after discontinuation in the second group and 5 days after discontinuation in the third group. Additionally, in patients of the third group absorbed dose of {sup 131}I was significantly lower relative to other two groups. We found no correlation between absorbed dose of {sup 131}I and thyroid hormone changes. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that {sup 131}I application alone does not result in exacerbation of hyperthyroidism and therefore it may be considered as safe. Additionally, MMI withdrawal causes significant but clinically irrelevant elevation of thyroid hormones. (orig.)

  14. Conformal technique dose escalation in prostate cancer: improved cancer control with higher doses in patients with pretreatment PSA {>=} 10 ngm/ml

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hanks, G E; Lee, W R; Hanlon, A L; Kaplan, E; Epstein, B; Schultheiss, T

    1995-07-01

    Purpose: Single institutions and an NCI supported group of institutions have been investigating the value of dose escalation in patients with prostate cancer treated by conformal treatment techniques. Improvement in morbidity has been previously established, while this report identifies the pretreatment PSA level subgroups of patients who benefitted in cancer control from higher dose. Materials and Methods: We report actuarial bNED survival rates for 375 consecutive patients with known pretreatment PSA levels treated with conformal technique between 5/89 and 12/93. The whole pelvis was treated to 45 Gy in 25 fractions in all T2C,3, all Gleason 8, 9, 10 and all patients with pretreatment PSA {>=}20. The prostate {+-} seminal vesicles was boosted at 2.1 Gy/day to the center of the prostate to 65-79 Gy (65-69 N=50), 70-72.49 N=94, 72.5-74.9 N=82, 75-77.49 N=129 and {>=}77.5 N=20). The median followup is 21 mos with a range of 3 to 67 mos. The highest dose patients have the least followup, reducing the impact of the highest dose levels at this time. Patients are analyzed for the entire group divided at 71 Gy and at 73 Gy calculated at the center of the prostate. Each dose group is then subdivided by pretreatment PSA levels <10, 10-19.9, and {>=}20 ngm/ml and dose levels are compared within pretreatment PSA level group. bNED failure is defined as PSA {>=}1.5 ngm/ml and rising on two consecutive values. Results: Table 1 shows the bNED survival rates at 24 and 36 mos for all patients and the three pretreatment PSA level groups. For all patients pooled, there is an overall advantage to using doses {>=}71 Gy (64% vs 85% at 36 mo, p=.006) and {>=}73 Gy (71% vs 86% at 36 mo, p=.07). The subgroup of PSA <10 ngm/ml, however, shows no benefit in bNED survival when using doses over 71 Gy (90% vs 93% at 36 mo) or 73 Gy (91 vs 94% at 36 mo). The subgroup PSA 10 ngm/ml to 19.9 ngm/ml shows improved cancer control when using doses over 71 Gy (61% vs 88% at 36 mo, p=.03) and over 73

  15. 131I therapy for 345 patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism: Without antithyroid drug pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xing, Jialiu; Fang, Yi; Wang, Yong; Zhang, Youren; Long, Yahong

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and long-term results of 131I therapy alone for patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism without antithyroid drug pretreatment. From January 2002 to December 2012, 408 patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism were treated with 131I alone. Among them, 345 were followed up for 1 to 10 years for physical examination, thyroid function, and thyroid ultrasound. Complete Blood Count (CBC) liver function, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and Emission Computed Tomography (ECT) thyroid imaging were performed as indicated. The 345 patients had concomitant conditions including thyrotoxic heart disease, severe liver dysfunction, enlarged thyroid weighing 80 to 400 g, severe cytopenia, and vasculitis. One to two weeks prior to 131I therapy, all patients were given low-iodine diet. The dose of 131I therapy was 2.59 to 6.66 MBq (70 to180 µCi) per gram of thyroid with an average of 3.83 ± 0.6 MBq (103.6 ± 16.4 µCi); and the total 131I activity administrated for the individuals was 111 to 3507.6 MBq (3.0 to 94.8 mCi, mean 444 ± 336.7 MBq (12.0 ± 9.1 mCi)). Out of the 408 patients, 283 were cured, 15 with complete remission, and 47 with incomplete remission. No treatment failure or significant clinical worsening was noted in these patients. Our data indicated that 131I therapy alone for patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism without antithyroid drug pretreatment is safe and effective. PMID:26341470

  16. 131I therapy for 345 patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism: Without antithyroid drug pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yong; Xing, Jialiu; Fang, Yi; Wang, Yong; Zhang, Youren; Long, Yahong

    2016-02-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and long-term results of (131)I therapy alone for patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism without antithyroid drug pretreatment. From January 2002 to December 2012, 408 patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism were treated with (131)I alone. Among them, 345 were followed up for 1 to 10 years for physical examination, thyroid function, and thyroid ultrasound. Complete Blood Count (CBC) liver function, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and Emission Computed Tomography (ECT) thyroid imaging were performed as indicated. The 345 patients had concomitant conditions including thyrotoxic heart disease, severe liver dysfunction, enlarged thyroid weighing 80 to 400 g, severe cytopenia, and vasculitis. One to two weeks prior to (131)I therapy, all patients were given low-iodine diet. The dose of (131)I therapy was 2.59 to 6.66 MBq (70 to180 µCi) per gram of thyroid with an average of 3.83 ± 0.6 MBq (103.6 ± 16.4 µCi); and the total (131)I activity administrated for the individuals was 111 to 3507.6 MBq (3.0 to 94.8 mCi, mean 444 ± 336.7 MBq (12.0 ± 9.1 mCi)). Out of the 408 patients, 283 were cured, 15 with complete remission, and 47 with incomplete remission. No treatment failure or significant clinical worsening was noted in these patients. Our data indicated that (131)I therapy alone for patients with refractory severe hyperthyroidism without antithyroid drug pretreatment is safe and effective. © 2015 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

  17. Pretreatment serum xanthophyll concentrations as predictors of head and neck cancer recurrence and survival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arthur, Anna E; Bellile, Emily L; Rozek, Laura S; Peterson, Karen E; Ren, Jianwei; Harris, Ethan; Mueller, Christie; Jolly, Shruti; Peterson, Lisa A; Wolf, Gregory T; Djuric, Zora

    2016-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine associations of pretreatment serum carotenoids, tocopherols, and quercetin with prognosis in 154 patients newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Pretreatment blood and health surveys were collected. Serum micronutrients were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Data on recurrence and death were collected annually. Cox proportional hazards models measured associations of serum nutrient concentrations with recurrence and overall survival. During a median follow-up time of 37 months, there were 32 recurrences and 27 deaths. After controlling for covariates, subjects with high versus low serum xanthophyll and total carotenoid concentrations had significantly longer recurrence-free time (p = .002 and p = .02, respectively). Overall survival time was significantly longer in patients with high versus low serum xanthophyll concentrations (p = .02). Future research should evaluate the possible benefits of interventions to increase intakes of rich food sources of xanthophylls in this patient population. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E1591-E1597, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. The Effect of Ultrasound Pretreatment on Poplar Wood Dimensional Stability

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    Shu Qiu

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Dimensional stability is a key property of wood that significantly affects its applications. The effect of an ultrasound pretreatment on poplar wood (Populous tomentosa dimensional stability was examined. During the pretreatments, wood samples were immersed in distilled water and treated ultrasonically under three different powers and frequencies. The samples were then analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR and X-ray diffraction (XRD. The chemical transformation of the cell-wall material was studied and then associated with the change of water absorption and the swelling coefficient. The results showed that the water absorption decreased after the ultrasonic pretreatment. The axial and radial swelling coefficients of the pretreated samples decreased, while the tangential swelling coefficients increased. The volumetric swelling coefficient of pretreated specimens fluctuated near 4.48% (the volumetric swelling coefficient of untreated wood. Ultrasonic pretreatment increased the number of hydrophilic groups, such as the hydroxyl, acetyl, and uronic ester groups. Meanwhile, the pretreatment also increased the degree of crystallinity and reduced the available polar groups. These two factors together caused the change of the moisture absorption and the swelling coefficient of the pretreated wood. These conclusions suggest that the ultrasonic pretreatment is a promising method for further chemical modification of wood.

  19. Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Patients with Heavily Pretreated Liver Metastases and Liver Tumors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lanciano, Rachelle; Lamond, John; Yang, Jun; Feng, Jing; Arrigo, Steve; Good, Michael; Brady, Luther, E-mail: rlancmd@gmail.com [Philadelphia CyberKnife, Drexel University, Havertown, PA (United States)

    2012-03-09

    We present our initial experience with CyberKnife stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in a heavily pretreated group of patients with liver metastases and primary liver tumors. From October 2007 to June 2009, 48 patients were treated at the Philadelphia CyberKnife Center for liver metastases or primary liver tumors. We report on 30 patients with 41 discrete lesions (1–4 tumors per patient) who received an ablative radiation dose (BED ≥ 79.2 Gy10 = 66 Gy EQD2). The treatment goal was to achieve a high SBRT dose to the liver tumor while sparing at least 700 cc of liver from radiation doses above 15 Gy. Twenty-three patients were treated with SBRT for metastatic cancer to the liver; the remainder (n = 7) were primary liver tumors. Eighty-seven percent of patients had prior systemic chemotherapy with a median 24 months from diagnosis to SBRT; 37% had prior liver directed therapy. Local control was assessed for 28 patients (39 tumors) with 4 months or more follow-up. At a median follow-up of 22 months (range, 10–40 months), 14/39 (36%) tumors had documented local failure. A decrease in local failure was found with higher doses of SBRT (p = 0.0237); 55% of tumors receiving a BED ≤ 100 Gy10 (10/18) had local failure compared with 19% receiving a BED > 100 Gy10 (4/21). The 2-year actuarial rate of local control for tumors treated with BED > 100 Gy10 was 75% compared to 38% for those patients treated with BED ≤ 100 Gy10 (p = 0.04). At last follow-up, 22/30 patients (73%) had distant progression of disease. Overall, seven patients remain alive with a median survival of 20 months from treatment and 57 months from diagnosis. To date, no patient experienced persistent or severe adverse effects. Despite the heavy pretreatment of these patients, SBRT was well tolerated with excellent local control rates when adequate doses (BED > 100 Gy10) were used. Median survival was limited secondary to development of further metastatic disease in the majority of patients.

  20. Improving the quality of pretreatment staging in patients with esophageal carcinoma - a fast track study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Didden, Paul; Spaander, Manon C. W.; Kuipers, Ernst J.; Bruno, Marco J. (Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (Netherlands)), E-mail: v.spaander@erasmusmc.nl; Wijnhoven, Bas P. L. (Department of Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (Netherlands))

    2012-03-15

    Background: Current guidelines for esophageal cancer recommend series of diagnostic investigations to determine pretreatment TNM stage. When investigations are done sequentially, diagnostic work-up time may be prolonged considerably. Aim of the study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a fast track staging strategy within five days after the first consultation. Material and methods: Between 2007 and 2010 all patients presenting with esophageal cancer at the Department of Gastroenterology in a tertiary referral center were prospectively analyzed. At Day 1 all patients underwent computed tomography (CT), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and ultrasonography of the neck (United States). Results and treatment implications were discussed within a multidisciplinary meeting. This fast track strategy was considered completed successfully if pre-treatment TNM classification was achieved and therapy was proposed to the patient at the outpatient clinic at Day five. In those cases where staging period time was prolonged, the number and type of additional tests were documented including the ensuing time delay. Results: In 111 patients CT, EUS and US were performed in 100%, 88.3% and 97.3% respectively. A final TNM stage and treatment proposal was reached at Day 5 in 60% of the patients. Additional tests were diverse and mainly used to prove local irresectability or presence of distant metastasis. Multivariate analysis identified presence of lymphadenopathy (HR 0.25 p 0.03) and metastasis (HR 0.27 p = 0.03) as significant predictors of not completing the staging period within five days. In 18% of patients overuse of at least one test occurred, most commonly because CT already revealed distant metastasis. Conclusion: Employment of a fast track five day staging strategy in patients with esophageal carcinoma is feasible. Definite TNM stage and treatment proposal can be achieved in 60% of cases, but comes at the expense of test overuse in about one fifth of patients

  1. Prognostic Marker before Treatment of Patients with Malignant Glioma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norbert Galldiks

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this positron emission tomography (PET study was to compare the prognostic value of pretreatment volume of [11C] methionine (MET uptake and semiquantitative MET uptake ratio in patients with malignant glioma. The study population comprised 40 patients with malignant glioma. Pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and MET-PET imaging were performed before the initiation of glioma treatment in all patients. The pretreatment MET uptake ratios and volumes were assessed. To create prognostically homogeneous subgroups, patients′ pretreatment prognostic factors were stratified according to the six classes of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group recursive partitioning analysis (RTOG RPA. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine significant prognostic factors. Survival analyses identified the pretreatment volume of MET uptake and a higher RTOG RPA class as significant predictors. In contrast, pretreatment maximum areas of contrast enhancement on MRI and semiquantitative MET uptake ratios could not be identified as significant prognostic factors. The patients′ outcomes and Karnofsky Performance Scale scores were significantly correlated with pretreatment volume of MET uptake but not with semiquantitative MET uptake ratio. The data suggest that pretreatment volumetry of MET uptake but not the semiquantitative MET uptake ratio is a useful biologic prognostic marker in patients with malignant glioma.

  2. Pemetrexed plus carboplatin versus pemetrexed in pretreated patients with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer : treating the right patients based on individualized treatment effect prediction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Kruijsdijk, R. C. M.; Visseren, F. L. J.; Boni, L.; Groen, H. J. M.; Dingemans, A. M. C.; Aerts, J. G. J. V.; van der Graaf, Y.; Ardizzoni, A.; Smit, E. F.

    In this study, it is shown that there is important heterogeneity in the effects of pemetrexed-carboplatin versus pemetrexed on progression-free survival in pretreated patients with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer. Treatment effect can be predicted for individual patients using a

  3. Patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment and staging for patients with cervical cancer (1999-2001). Patterns of care study in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toita, Takafumi; Kodaira, Takeshi; Uno, Takashi; Shinoda, Atsunori; Akino, Yuichi; Teshima, Teruki; Mitsumori, Michihide

    2008-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment in uterine cervical cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy in Japan. The Japanese Patterns of Care Study working group conducted a second extramural audit survey of 68 institutions and collected specific information on 631 patients with cervical cancer. All patients were treated with radiotherapy in 1999-2001. Of these, 324 patients treated without surgery were the subjects of this study. International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics-prescribed diagnostic procedures were performed at moderate rates in our study cohort. The performance rates of chest X-ray, intravenous urography, cystoscopy, and proctoscopy were 74, 54, 53, and 33%, respectively. Cross sectional imaging studies were frequently performed. Pelvic CT, abdominal CT, and pelvic MRI were performed in 88, 80, and 76%, respectively. Lymphangiography (1%) and surgical evaluation (1%) were rarely done. Only one patient underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans in this survey period. This study demonstrated the patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment in cervical cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy in Japan. (author)

  4. Biomass pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennessey, Susan Marie; Friend, Julie; Elander, Richard T; Tucker, III, Melvin P

    2013-05-21

    A method is provided for producing an improved pretreated biomass product for use in saccharification followed by fermentation to produce a target chemical that includes removal of saccharification and or fermentation inhibitors from the pretreated biomass product. Specifically, the pretreated biomass product derived from using the present method has fewer inhibitors of saccharification and/or fermentation without a loss in sugar content.

  5. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for pretreatment prediction and monitoring of treatment response of patients with locally advanced breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nilsen, Line; Olsen, Dag Rune; Seierstad, Therese; Fangberget, Anne; Geier, Oliver

    2010-01-01

    Background. For patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), the European Guidelines for Breast Imaging recommends magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to be performed before start of NACT, when half of the NACT has been administered and prior to surgery. This is the first study addressing the value of flow-insensitive apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) obtained from diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI at the recommended time points for pretreatment prediction and monitoring of treatment response. Materials and methods. Twenty-five LABC patients were included in this prospective study. DW MRI was performed using single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging with b-values of 100, 250 and 800 s/mm 2 prior to NACT, after four cycles of NACT and at the conclusion of therapy using a 1.5 T MR scanner. ADC in the breast tumor was calculated from each assessment. The strength of correlation between pretreatment ADC, ADC changes and tumor volume changes were examined using Spearman's rho correlation test. Results. Mean pretreatment ADC was 1.11 ± 0.21 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s. After 4 cycles of NACT, ADC was significantly increased (1.39 ± 0.36 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s; p=0.018). There was no correlation between individual pretreatment breast tumor ADC and MR response measured after four cycles of NACT (p=0.816) or prior to surgery (p=0.620). Conclusion. Pretreatment tumor ADC does not predict treatment response for patients with LABC undergoing NACT. Furthermore, ADC increase observed mid-way in the course of NACT does not correlate with tumor volume changes.

  6. Tolerability of the capsaicin 8% patch following pretreatment with lidocaine or tramadol in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain: a multicentre, randomized, assessor-blinded study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, T S; Høye, K; Fricová, J; Vanelderen, P; Ernault, E; Siciliano, T; Marques, S

    2014-10-01

    Application of the capsaicin 8% patch is associated with treatment-related discomfort. Consequently, pretreatment for 60 min with anaesthetic cream is recommended; however, this may be uncomfortable and time consuming. We conducted a multicentre, randomized (1:1), assessor-blinded study in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain to assess tolerability of the capsaicin patch following topical lidocaine (4%) or oral tramadol (50 mg) pretreatment. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients tolerating capsaicin patch application (ability to receive ≥90% of a 60-min application). Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) scores were assessed before, during and after treatment. Overall, 122 patients were included (61 per arm). The capsaicin patch was tolerated by 121 patients. Tolerability of the capsaicin patch was similar following pretreatment with lidocaine and tramadol. Following patch application, pain levels increased up to 55 min (change from baseline of 1.3 for lidocaine and 1.4 for tramadol). After patch removal, tramadol-treated patients experienced greater pain relief up to the end of day 1; in the evening, mean changes in NPRS scores from baseline were 0 for lidocaine and -1 for tramadol. Proportions of patients reporting increases of ≥2 NPRS points or >33% from baseline at one or more time point(s) on the day of treatment were similar between arms. Adverse event incidence was comparable between arms. Capsaicin 8% patch tolerability was similar in the two arms, with comparable results for most secondary endpoints. Tramadol given 30 min before patch application should be considered as an alternative pretreatment option in patients receiving capsaicin patch treatment. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

  7. Intrafraction Bladder Motion in Radiation Therapy Estimated From Pretreatment and Posttreatment Volumetric Imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foroudi, Farshad, E-mail: farshad.foroudi@petermac.org [Division of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Pham, Daniel [Radiation Therapy Services, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Bressel, Mathias [Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Gill, Suki [Division of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Kron, Tomas [Physical Sciences, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)

    2013-05-01

    Purpose: The use of image guidance protocols using soft tissue anatomy identification before treatment can reduce interfractional variation. This makes intrafraction clinical target volume (CTV) to planning target volume (PTV) changes more important, including those resulting from intrafraction bladder filling and motion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the required intrafraction margins for soft tissue image guidance from pretreatment and posttreatment volumetric imaging. Methods and Materials: Fifty patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (T2-T4) underwent an adaptive radiation therapy protocol using daily pretreatment cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) with weekly posttreatment CBCT. A total of 235 pairs of pretreatment and posttreatment CBCT images were retrospectively contoured by a single radiation oncologist (CBCT-CTV). The maximum bladder displacement was measured according to the patient's bony pelvis movement during treatment, intrafraction bladder filling, and bladder centroid motion. Results: The mean time between pretreatment and posttreatment CBCT was 13 minutes, 52 seconds (range, 7 min 52 sec to 30 min 56 sec). Taking into account patient motion, bladder centroid motion, and bladder filling, the required margins to cover intrafraction changes from pretreatment to posttreatment in the superior, inferior, right, left, anterior, and posterior were 1.25 cm (range, 1.19-1.50 cm), 0.67 cm (range, 0.58-1.12 cm), 0.74 cm (range, 0.59-0.94 cm), 0.73 cm (range, 0.51-1.00 cm), 1.20 cm (range, 0.85-1.32 cm), and 0.86 cm (range, 0.73-0.99), respectively. Small bladders on pretreatment imaging had relatively the largest increase in pretreatment to posttreatment volume. Conclusion: Intrafraction motion of the bladder based on pretreatment and posttreatment bladder imaging can be significant particularly in the anterior and superior directions. Patient motion, bladder centroid motion, and bladder filling all contribute to changes between

  8. SU-E-T-148: Benchmarks and Pre-Treatment Reviews: A Study of Quality Assurance Effectiveness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lowenstein, J; Nguyen, H; Roll, J; Walsh, A; Tailor, A; Followill, D

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the impact benchmarks and pre-treatment reviews have on improving the quality of submitted clinical trial data. Methods: Benchmarks are used to evaluate a site’s ability to develop a treatment that meets a specific protocol’s treatment guidelines prior to placing their first patient on the protocol. A pre-treatment review is an actual patient placed on the protocol in which the dosimetry and contour volumes are evaluated to be per protocol guidelines prior to allowing the beginning of the treatment. A key component of these QA mechanisms is that sites are provided timely feedback to educate them on how to plan per the protocol and prevent protocol deviations on patients accrued to a protocol. For both benchmarks and pre-treatment reviews a dose volume analysis (DVA) was performed using MIM softwareTM. For pre-treatment reviews a volume contour evaluation was also performed. Results: IROC Houston performed a QA effectiveness analysis of a protocol which required both benchmarks and pre-treatment reviews. In 70 percent of the patient cases submitted, the benchmark played an effective role in assuring that the pre-treatment review of the cases met protocol requirements. The 35 percent of sites failing the benchmark subsequently modified there planning technique to pass the benchmark before being allowed to submit a patient for pre-treatment review. However, in 30 percent of the submitted cases the pre-treatment review failed where the majority (71 percent) failed the DVA. 20 percent of sites submitting patients failed to correct their dose volume discrepancies indicated by the benchmark case. Conclusion: Benchmark cases and pre-treatment reviews can be an effective QA tool to educate sites on protocol guidelines and to minimize deviations. Without the benchmark cases it is possible that 65 percent of the cases undergoing a pre-treatment review would have failed to meet the protocols requirements.Support: U24-CA-180803

  9. Catching errors with patient-specific pretreatment machine log file analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangaraj, Dharanipathy; Zhu, Mingyao; Yang, Deshan; Palaniswaamy, Geethpriya; Yaddanapudi, Sridhar; Wooten, Omar H; Brame, Scott; Mutic, Sasa

    2013-01-01

    A robust, efficient, and reliable quality assurance (QA) process is highly desired for modern external beam radiation therapy treatments. Here, we report the results of a semiautomatic, pretreatment, patient-specific QA process based on dynamic machine log file analysis clinically implemented for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatments delivered by high energy linear accelerators (Varian 2100/2300 EX, Trilogy, iX-D, Varian Medical Systems Inc, Palo Alto, CA). The multileaf collimator machine (MLC) log files are called Dynalog by Varian. Using an in-house developed computer program called "Dynalog QA," we automatically compare the beam delivery parameters in the log files that are generated during pretreatment point dose verification measurements, with the treatment plan to determine any discrepancies in IMRT deliveries. Fluence maps are constructed and compared between the delivered and planned beams. Since clinical introduction in June 2009, 912 machine log file analyses QA were performed by the end of 2010. Among these, 14 errors causing dosimetric deviation were detected and required further investigation and intervention. These errors were the result of human operating mistakes, flawed treatment planning, and data modification during plan file transfer. Minor errors were also reported in 174 other log file analyses, some of which stemmed from false positives and unreliable results; the origins of these are discussed herein. It has been demonstrated that the machine log file analysis is a robust, efficient, and reliable QA process capable of detecting errors originating from human mistakes, flawed planning, and data transfer problems. The possibility of detecting these errors is low using point and planar dosimetric measurements. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Perineural invasion and Gleason 7-10 tumors predict increased failure in prostate cancer patients with pretreatment PSA <10 ng/ml treated with conformal external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Penny R.; Hanlon, Alexandra L.; Patchefsky, Arthur; Al-Saleem, Tahseen; Hanks, Gerald E.

    1998-01-01

    Purpose: It has been well established that prostate cancer patients with pretreatment PSA<10 ng/ml enjoy excellent bNED control when treated with definitive external beam radiation therapy. This report identifies predictors of failure for patients with pretreatment PSA <10 ng/ml. These predictors are then used to define favorable and unfavorable prognostic subgroups of patients for which bNED control is compared. Methods and Materials: Between 3/87 and 11/94, 266 patients with T1-T3NXM0 prostate cancer and pretreatment PSA values <10 ng/ml were treated with definitive external beam radiation therapy. Median central axis dose and median follow-up for the entire group was 72 Gy (63-79 Gy) and 48 months (2-120 months). Predictors of bNED control were evaluated univariately using Kaplan-Meier methodology and the log-rank test and multivariately using Cox proportional hazards modeling. Covariates considered were pretreatment PSA, palpation stage, Gleason score, presence of perineual invasion (PNI) and central axis dose. Independent predictors based on multivariate results were then used to stratify the patients into two prognostic groups for which bNED control was compared. bNED failure is defined as PSA ≥ 1.5 ng/ml and rising on two consecutive determinations. Results: Univariate analysis according to pretreatment and treatment factors for bNED control demonstrates a statistically significant improvement in 5-year bNED control for patients with Gleason score 2-6 vs. 7-10, patients without evidence of perineural invasion (PNI) vs. those with PNI, and patients with palpation stage T1/T2AB vs. T2C/T3. Multivariate analysis demonstrates that Gleason score (p = 0.0496), PNI (p = 0.0008) and palpation stage (p = 0.0153) are significant independent predictors of bNED control. Based on these factors, patients are stratified into a more favorable prognosis group (Gleason 2-6, no PNI, and stage T1/T2AB, n = 172) and a less favorable prognosis group (Gleason 7-10 or PNI or T2C

  11. Post treatment PSA nadirs support continuing dose escalation study in patients with pretreatment PSA levels >10 ng/ml, but not in those with PSA <10 NG/ML

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herold, D.H.; Hanlon, A.L.; Movsas, B.; Hanks, G.E.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: We have recently shown that ICRU reporting point radiation doses above 71 Gy are not associated with improved bNED survival in prostate cancer patients with pretreatment PSA level 20 ng/ml we found a strong correlation between dose and nadir values < 1.0 ng/ml (p=.003) as well as for nadir's < 0.5 ng/ml (p=.04). This dose/nadir effect held at several dose levels, but 74 Gy for nadir values < 1.0 ng/ml and 72 Gy for nadir's < 0.5 ng/ml remained the most significant. 32% of these patients achieved a nadir < 1.0ng/ml and 15% < 0.5ng/ml. Conclusions: This analysis provides strong additional support that patients with pretreatment PSA values of < 10 ng/ml do not benefit from dose escalation beyond an ICRU reporting point dose of 71 Gy. For patients with pretreatment PSA's of 10-19.9 ng/ml there is no dose/nadir response evaluated at a nadir of 1.0 ng/ml; however, there is a borderline effect observed at a nadir of 0.5 ng/ml. Patients with pretreatment PSA's of 20 ng/ml or greater clearly benefit from higher doses as evaluated by PSA nadirs of 1.0 ng/ml, and 0.5 ng/ml. These studies support the continued investigation of dose escalation in treating patients with PSA levels over 10 ng/ml, they do not support continued investigation of dose escalation beyond 71 Gy in patients with pretreatment PSA levels < 10 ng/ml. The failure to demonstrate any dose response for the low PSA group and the finding of only a borderline effect for the intermediate PSA group may be influenced by the relatively small number of patients in our series treated to doses < 70 Gy and the fact that none of our patients were treated to doses below 65.98 Gy. The lower limit of acceptible dose has yet to be defined

  12. Tolerability of NGX-4010, a capsaicin 8% dermal patch, following pretreatment with lidocaine 2.5%/prilocaine 2.5% cream in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Webster Lynn R

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN is a common type of neuropathic pain that can severely affect quality of life. NGX-4010, a capsaicin 8% dermal patch, is a localized treatment that can provide patients with significant pain relief for up to 3 months following a single 60-minute application. The NGX-4010 application can be associated with application-site pain and in previous clinical trials pretreatment with a topical 4% lidocaine anesthetic was used to enhance tolerability. The aim of the current investigation was to evaluate tolerability of NGX-4010 after pretreatment with lidocaine 2.5%/prilocaine 2.5% anesthetic cream. Methods Twenty-four patients with PHN were pretreated with lidocaine 2.5%/prilocaine 2.5% cream for 60 minutes before receiving a single 60-minute application of NGX-4010. Tolerability was assessed by measuring patch application duration, the proportion of patients completing over 90% of the intended treatment duration, application site-related pain using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS, and analgesic medication use to relieve such pain. Safety was assessed by monitoring adverse events (AEs and dermal irritation using dermal assessment scores. Results The mean treatment duration of NGX-4010 was 60.2 minutes and all patients completed over 90% of the intended patch application duration. Pain during application was transient. A maximum mean change in NPRS score of +3.0 was observed at 55 minutes post-patch application; pain scores gradually declined to near pre-anesthetic levels (+0.71 within 85 minutes of patch removal. Half of the patients received analgesic medication on the day of treatment; by Day 7, no patients required medication. The most common AEs were application site-related pain, erythema, edema, and pruritus. All patients experienced mild dermal irritation 5 minutes after patch removal, which subsequently decreased; at Day 7, no irritation was evident. The maximum recorded dermal assessment

  13. Oral contraceptive pretreatment does not improve outcome in microdose gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist protocol among poor responder intracytoplasmic sperm injection patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duvan, Candan Iltemir; Berker, Bulent; Turhan, Nilgun Ozturk; Satiroglu, Hakan

    2008-01-01

    To compare oral contraceptive (OC) pretreatment plus microdose GnRH-a in flare-up protocol and non-OC microdose GnRH-a in flare-up protocol among poor responder ICSI patients. A retrospective analysis of poor responder ICSI patients. Patients were divided into two groups according to used microdose protocol. Precycle treatment with OC followed by follicular phase administration of 40 microg s.c. leuprolide acetate (LA) every 12 h beginning on after 2 day pill-free period and rFSH administration was begun on the third day of LA administration (OC-Group, n=26). Alternatively on day 2 after menses, patients were administered similar stimulation regime (non-OC Group, n=27). There were no significant differences between groups in the number of oocytes, peak estradiol levels, endometrial thickness, fertilization rates and embryo quality. Implantations and pregnancy rates per embryo transfer were similar. OC pretreatment plus microdose GnRHa in flare-up protocol does not offer advantages over non-OC microdose GnRHa in flare-up protocol among poor responder ICSI patients.

  14. Negative impact of pretreatment anemia on local control after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery for rectal cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Hye Bin; Park, Hee Chul; Park, Won [Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); and others

    2012-09-15

    Although anemia is considered to be a contributor to intra-tumoral hypoxia and tumor resistance to ionizing radiation in cancer patients, the impact of pretreatment anemia on local control after neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) and surgery for rectal cancer remains unclear. We reviewed the records of 247 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who were treated with NACRT followed by curative-intent surgery. The patients with anemia before NACRT (36.0%, 89/247) achieved less pathologic complete response (pCR) than those without anemia (p = 0.012). The patients with pretreatment anemia had worse 3-year local control than those without pretreatment anemia (86.0% vs. 95.7%, p = 0.005). Multivariate analysis showed that pretreatment anemia (p = 0.035), pathologic tumor and nodal stage (p = 0.020 and 0.032, respectively) were independently significant factors for local control. Pretreatment anemia had negative impacts on pCR and local control among patients who underwent NACRT and surgery for rectal cancer. Strategies maintaining hemoglobin level within normal range could potentially be used to improve local control in rectal cancer patients.

  15. Negative impact of pretreatment anemia on local control after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery for rectal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hye Bin; Park, Hee Chul; Park, Won

    2012-01-01

    Although anemia is considered to be a contributor to intra-tumoral hypoxia and tumor resistance to ionizing radiation in cancer patients, the impact of pretreatment anemia on local control after neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) and surgery for rectal cancer remains unclear. We reviewed the records of 247 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who were treated with NACRT followed by curative-intent surgery. The patients with anemia before NACRT (36.0%, 89/247) achieved less pathologic complete response (pCR) than those without anemia (p = 0.012). The patients with pretreatment anemia had worse 3-year local control than those without pretreatment anemia (86.0% vs. 95.7%, p = 0.005). Multivariate analysis showed that pretreatment anemia (p = 0.035), pathologic tumor and nodal stage (p = 0.020 and 0.032, respectively) were independently significant factors for local control. Pretreatment anemia had negative impacts on pCR and local control among patients who underwent NACRT and surgery for rectal cancer. Strategies maintaining hemoglobin level within normal range could potentially be used to improve local control in rectal cancer patients.

  16. Effect of Prior Aspirin Treatment on Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights From the PROSPECT Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brener, Sorin J; Maehara, Akiko; Mintz, Gary S; Weisz, Giora; de Bruyne, Bernard; Serruys, Patrick W; Stone, Gregg W

    2015-12-01

    Prior aspirin treatment is considered a risk factor for adverse outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. The relationships between aspirin pretreatment and findings on quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), as well as clinical outcomes, are not well understood. In the PROSPECT trial, QCA and triple-vessel IVUS imaging were performed after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the culprit lesion(s) in ACS patients. We compared patients receiving aspirin within 7 days of enrollment to those naive to aspirin. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics. Aspirin-pretreated patients (n = 236; 35%) were older and more likely to have known coronary disease than those without pretreatment (P≤.01 for all). Pretreated patients had more untreated non-culprit lesions with angiographic and IVUS characteristics predictive of future events (53.1% vs 38.6%; PPROSPECT trial, aspirin pretreatment identifies an older population with more advanced coronary disease. Aspirin pretreatment was not an independent predictor of MACE in ACS patients treated with an early invasive strategy. The extent to which aspirin pretreatment is a risk factor for adverse events after PCI in ACS should be revisited.

  17. Prediction of lung density changes after radiotherapy by cone beam computed tomography response markers and pre-treatment factors for non-small cell lung cancer patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bernchou, Uffe; Hansen, Olfred; Schytte, Tine

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigates the ability of pre-treatment factors and response markers extracted from standard cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to predict the lung density changes induced by radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. METHODS...... AND MATERIALS: Density changes in follow-up computed tomography scans were evaluated for 135 NSCLC patients treated with radiotherapy. Early response markers were obtained by analysing changes in lung density in CBCT images acquired during the treatment course. The ability of pre-treatment factors and CBCT...

  18. Pretreatment Staging Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Patients With Inflammatory Breast Cancer Influences Radiation Treatment Field Designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, Gary V.; Niikura, Naoki; Yang Wei; Rohren, Eric; Valero, Vicente; Woodward, Wendy A.; Alvarez, Ricardo H.; Lucci, Anthony; Ueno, Naoto T.; Buchholz, Thomas A.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is increasingly being utilized for staging of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). The purpose of this study was to define how pretreatment PET/CT studies affected postmastectomy radiation treatment (PMRT) planning decisions for IBC. Methods and Materials: We performed a retrospective analysis of 62 patients diagnosed with IBC between 2004 and 2009, who were treated with PMRT in our institution and who had a staging PET/CT within 3 months of diagnosis. Patients received a baseline physical examination, staging mammography, ultrasonographic examination of breast and draining lymphatics, and chest radiography; most patients also had a bone scan (55 patients), liver imaging (52 patients), breast MRI (46 patients), and chest CT (25 patients). We compared how PET/CT findings affected PMRT, assuming that standard PMRT would target the chest wall, level III axilla, supraclavicular fossa, and internal mammary chain (IMC). Any modification of target volumes, field borders, or dose prescriptions was considered a change. Results: PET/CT detected new areas of disease in 27 of the 62 patients (44%). The areas of additional disease included the breast (1 patient), ipsilateral axilla (1 patient), ipsilateral supraclavicular (4 patients), ipsilateral infraclavicular (1 patient), ipsilateral IMC (5 patients), ipsilateral subpectoral (3 patients), mediastinal (8 patients), other distant/contralateral lymph nodes (15 patients), or bone (6 patients). One patient was found to have a non-breast second primary tumor. The findings of the PET/CT led to changes in PMRT in 11 of 62 patients (17.7%). These changes included additional fields in 5 patients, adjustment of fields in 2 patients, and higher doses to the supraclavicular fossa (2 patients) and IMC (5 patients). Conclusions: For patients with newly diagnosed IBC, pretreatment PET/CT provides important information concerning involvement of locoregional lymph nodes

  19. Impact of Pretreatment Hydronephrosis on the Success Rate of Shock Wave Lithotripsy in Patients with Ureteral Stone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Ki Don; Lee, Joo Yong; Park, Sung Yoon; Kang, Dong Hyuk; Lee, Hyung Ho; Cho, Kang Su

    2017-09-01

    To evaluate predictors of the success rate for one session of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), focusing on the relationships between pretreatment hydronephrosis grade and one-session SWL success rates. The medical records of 1824 consecutive patients who underwent an initial session of SWL for treatment of urinary stones between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. After exclusion, 700 patients with a single, 4-20 mm diameter radiopaque calculus were included in the study. The mean maximal stone length (MSL) and skin-to-stone distance were 9.2±3.9 and 110.8±18.9 mm, respectively. The average values for mean stone density (MSD) and stone heterogeneity index (SHI) were 707.0±272.1 and 244.9±110.1, respectively. One-session success rates were 68.4, 75.0, 75.1, 54.0, and 10.5% in patients with hydronephrosis grade 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Patients were classified into success or failure groups based on SWL outcome. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that MSL [odds ratio (OR) 0.888, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.841-0.934, phydronephrosis grade (OR 0.601, 95% CI: 0.368-0.988, p=0.043) were significantly associated with one-session success. Pretreatment grades 3 or 4 hydronephrosis were associated with failure of SWL in patients with a single ureteral stone. In the presence of severe hydronephrosis, especially hydronephrosis grade 4; physicians should proceed cautiously in choosing and offering SWL as the primary treatment for ureteral stone. © Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2017

  20. The impacts of pretreatment on the fermentability of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: a comparative evaluation between ammonia fiber expansion and dilute acid pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dale Bruce E

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment chemistry is of central importance due to its impacts on cellulosic biomass processing and biofuels conversion. Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX and dilute acid are two promising pretreatments using alkaline and acidic pH that have distinctive differences in pretreatment chemistries. Results Comparative evaluation on these two pretreatments reveal that (i AFEX-pretreated corn stover is significantly more fermentable with respect to cell growth and sugar consumption, (ii both pretreatments can achieve more than 80% of total sugar yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis of washed pretreated solids, and (iii while AFEX completely preserves plant carbohydrates, dilute acid pretreatment at 5% solids loading degrades 13% of xylose to byproducts. Conclusion The selection of pretreatment will determine the biomass-processing configuration, requirements for hydrolysate conditioning (if any and fermentation strategy. Through dilute acid pretreatment, the need for hemicellulase in biomass processing is negligible. AFEX-centered cellulosic technology can alleviate fermentation costs through reducing inoculum size and practically eliminating nutrient costs during bioconversion. However, AFEX requires supplemental xylanases as well as cellulase activity. As for long-term sustainability, AFEX has greater potential to diversify products from a cellulosic biorefinery due to lower levels of inhibitor generation and lignin loss.

  1. [Effect of intensive pretreatment with atorvastatin calcium on outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in elderly patients with coronary heart disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Xiaoyan; Huang, Xuecheng; Wang, Qiwu

    2015-02-01

    To observe the effects of different loading doses of atorvastatin calcium on the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in elderly patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). A total of 120 CHD patients aged over 80 years were randomly assigned into 3 equal groups to receive intensive pretreatment with statin at the doses of 20, 40, or 60 mg prior to PCI performed within 48 to 72 h after admission. The changes of postoperative cardiac biochemical markers including creatine kinase isoenzyme (CKMB), troponin I (cTNI) and high-sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were observed and the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization) were recorded within 30 days after PCI. Thirty-four patients in 20 mg statin group, 40 in 40 mg statin group, and 38 in 60 mg statin group completed this study. In all the 3 groups, hs-CRP level significantly increased at 12 and 24 h after PCI compared with the preoperative levels (P0.05). Intensive pretreatment with 60 mg/day atorvastatin calcium can significantly reduce myocardial infarction related to PCI with good safety in elderly patients with CHD.

  2. Equivalent biochemical failure-free survival after external beam radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy in patients with a pretreatment prostate specific antigen of > 4-20 ng/ml

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Amico, Anthony V.; Whittington, Richard; Kaplan, Irving; Beard, Clair; Jiroutek, Michael; Malkowicz, S. Bruce; Wein, Alan; Coleman, C. Norman

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: Biochemical failure-free survival stratified by the pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and biopsy Gleason score (bGl) is determined for prostate cancer patients managed definitively with external beam radiation therapy or radical retropubic prostatectomy. Methods and Materials: A Cox regression multivariable analysis evaluating the variables of PSA, bGl, and clinical stage was used to evaluate the end point of time to PSA failure in 867 and 757 consecutive prostate cancer patients managed definitively with external beam radiation therapy or radical retropubic prostatectomy, respectively. PSA failure-free survival was determined using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Comparisons were made using the log rank test. Results: The pretreatment PSA, bGl, and clinical stage (T3,4 vs. T1,T2) were found to be independent predictors of time to post-treatment PSA failure for both surgically and radiation managed patients using Cox regression multivariable analysis. Patients with a pretreatment PSA of > 4 ng/ml and ≤ 20 ng/ml could be classified into risk groups for time to post-therapy PSA failure: low = PSA > 4-10 ng/ml and bGl ≤ 4; intermediate = PSA > 4-10 and bGl 5-7; or PSA > 10-20 ng/ml and bGl ≤ 7; high = PSA > 4-20 ng/ml and bGl ≥ 8. Two-year PSA failure-free survival for surgically managed and radiation-managed patients, respectively, were 98% vs. 92% (p = 0.45), 77% vs. 81% (p = 0.86), and 51% vs. 53% (p = 0.48) for patients at low, intermediate, and high risk for post-therapy PSA failure. Conclusions: There was no statistical difference in the 2-year PSA failure-free survival for potentially curable patients managed definitively with surgery or radiation therapy when a retrospective comparison stratifying for the pretreatment PSA and bGl was performed

  3. The source of pretreatment serum prostate-specific antigen in clinically localized prostate cancer--T, N, or M?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zagars, Gunar K.; Kavadi, Vivek S.; Pollack, Alan; Eschenbach, Andrew C. von; Sands, M. Elizabeth

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an important marker for prostate cancer and has been shown to be secreted from the primary tumor and from metastases. However, the relative contribution of the primary and micrometastatic disease to the serum level of PSA in patients with clinically localized disease has not been delineated. This study addresses the source of pretreatment serum PSA in patients with clinically localized disease. Methods and Materials: The fall in serum PSA level following radical prostatectomy (280 patients; 105 T1, 165 T2, 10 T3) or definitive radiotherapy (427 patients; 122 T1, 147 T2, 158 T3/T4) was analyzed with the assumption that any fall in PSA following local treatment reflects the fraction of PSA produced in the prostate and its primary tumor. Results: Serum PSA level became undetectable in 277 of the 280 (99%) patients within 6 months of radical prostatectomy. The three patients who did not achieve undetectable levels had postsurgical values ≤ 0.9 ng/ml. Following definitive radiotherapy, nadir serum PSA values were between ≤ 0.3 and 20.3 ng/ml, with mean and median values of 1.9 and 1.2 ng/ml, respectively. Nadir PSA was undetectable in 52 patients (12%). Four patients' PSA did not fall, but rose from the start, and each developed metastatic disease within 9 months, and in each metastases appeared to contribute to pretreatment serum PSA. In the remaining patients, the maximal factor by which PSA fell to its nadir was higher the higher the pretreatment PSA level. We present arguments that this is most consistent with the hypothesis that virtually all detectable pretreatment serum PSA derives from the primary tumor. Confirmatory evidence that little of the pretreatment serum PSA came from metastases was obtained by extrapolating the rising PSA profile in 97 patients back to pretreatment time. Back-extrapolated PSA contributed a mean of 7% and a median of 5% to the pretreatment serum value. Because such back-extrapolated values

  4. Predictive value of pretreatment positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with newly diagnosed extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Bing; Huang, Hui-Qiang; Cai, Qi-Chun; Fan, Wei; Wang, Xiao-Xiao; Zhang, Xu; Lin, Ze-Xiao; Gao, Yan; Xia, Yun-Fei; Guo, Ying; Cai, Qing-Qing; Jiang, Wen-Qi; Lin, Tong-Yu

    2013-03-01

    The role of (18)Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKL) is not well established. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of the pretreatment maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) on PET/CT in patients with newly diagnosed ENKL. Among 364 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed ENKL, 81 patients were included and reviewed. The impact of SUV(max) on survival and the relationship between SUV(max) and other clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. The median SUV(max) was 14.6 (range 2.0-45.4). The optimal cutoff value of SUV(max) to predict overall survival (OS) was 15. Patients with high SUV(max) (SUVmax >15) were associated with bulky disease (P KPI, P = 0.046), resistance to primary treatment (P = 0.014), poor OS (P 60 years (P = 0.001), stage III-IV (P = 0.023), SUV(max) >15 (P = 0.020), and bulky disease (>5 cm) (P = 0.002). By using the SUV(max), patients in most subgroups stratified by the KPI or the International Prognostic Index (IPI) were further discriminated in OS with significant statistical difference. Our results suggest the pretreatment SUV(max) is predictive of prognosis in patients with newly diagnosed ENKL. The SUV(max) may provide additional prognostic information for IPI and KPI.

  5. Prognostic value of pretreatment volume-based quantitative 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitajima, Kazuhiro; Doi, Hiroshi; Kuribayashi, Kozo; Hashimoto, Masaki; Tsuchitani, Tatsuya; Tanooka, Masao; Fukushima, Kazuhito; Nakano, Takashi; Hasegawa, Seiki; Hirota, Shozo

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the relationships between pretreatment volume-based quantitative 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) parameters and overall survival (OS) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 201 MPM patients, of whom 38 underwent surgical resection, and calculated the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG), including primary tumors and nodal or distant metastatic lesions, on pretreatment 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Relationships between clinicopathological factors (age, sex, performance status, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] score, histological subtype, TNM stage, and treatment strategy), volume-based quantitative PET/CT parameters, and OS were evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank test. Results: The median follow-up was 15 months (range, 1–96 months; median, 17 months). In a univariate analysis of all patients, older age (p < 0.05), high EORTC score (p < 0.001), non-epithelioid histological subtype (p < 0.001), high T stage (p < 0.001), positive N/M status (p < 0.05, p < 0.001), advanced TNM stage (p < 0.001), non-surgical treatment (p < 0.001), and high SUVmax (p < 0.001), MTV (p < 0.001), or TLG (p < 0.001) were associated with significantly shorter OS. A multivariate analysis confirmed non-epithelioid subtype (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–2.48; p < 0.05), non-surgical treatment (HR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34–0.95; p < 0.05), and high TLG (HR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.14–3.44; p < 0.05) as independent negative predictors. Conclusions: Pretreatment volume-based quantitative 18 F-FDG PET/CT parameters, especially TLG, could serve as potential surrogate markers for MPM prognosis.

  6. Pretreatment advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) for predicting early progression in nivolumab-treated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiroyama, Takayuki; Suzuki, Hidekazu; Tamiya, Motohiro; Tamiya, Akihiro; Tanaka, Ayako; Okamoto, Norio; Nakahama, Kenji; Taniguchi, Yoshihiko; Isa, Shun-Ichi; Inoue, Takako; Imamura, Fumio; Atagi, Shinji; Hirashima, Tomonori

    2018-01-01

    Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression status is inadequate for indicating nivolumab in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because the baseline advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) is reportedly associated with patient outcomes, we investigated whether the pretreatment ALI is prognostic in NSCLC patients treated with nivolumab. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients treated with nivolumab for advanced NSCLC between December 2015 and May 2016 at three Japanese institutes. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the impact of the pretreatment ALI (and other inflammation-related parameters) on progression-free survival (PFS) and early progression (i.e., within 8 weeks after starting nivolumab). A total of 201 patients were analyzed; their median age was 68 years (range, 27-87 years), 67% were men, and 24% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or higher. An ECOG performance status ≥2, serum albumin ALI ALI ALI was found to be a significant independent predictor of early progression in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving nivolumab, and may help identify patients likely to benefit from continued nivolumab treatment in routine clinical practice. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Pretreatment tumor SUV{sub max} predicts disease-specific and overall survival in patients with head and neck soft tissue sarcoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ha, Seung Cheol; Roh, Jong-Lyel; Choi, Seung-Ho; Nam, Soon Yuhl; Kim, Sang Yoon [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Jungsu S.; Moon, Hyojeong; Kim, Jae Seung [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Nuclear Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Kyung-Ja [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-01-15

    Head and neck soft tissue sarcoma (HNSTS) is a rare type of tumor with various histological presentations and clinical behaviors. {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT is being increasingly used for staging, grading, and predicting treatment outcomes in various types of human cancers, although this modality has been rarely studied in the survival prediction of HNSTS. Here we examined the prognostic value of tumor metabolic parameters measured using {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT in patients with HNSTS. This study included 36 consecutive patients with HNSTS who underwent {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scanning prior to treatment at our institution. Tumor gross total volume (GTV) was measured from pretreatment contrast-enhanced CT scans, and maximum standardized uptake value (SUV{sub max}), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured using pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scans. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to identify associations between imaging parameters and disease-specific survival (DSS) or overall survival (OS). Univariate analyses showed that SUV{sub max}, MTV, and TLG, but not GTV, were significantly associated with DSS and OS (all P < 0.05). After controlling for clinicopathological factors, SUV{sub max}, MTV, and TLG were significantly associated with DSS and OS (all P < 0.05). Patients with a tumor SUV{sub max} value of >7.0 experienced an approximately fivefold increase in mortality in terms of DSS and OS relative to those with a tumor SUV{sub max} <7.0. Quantitative metabolic measurements on pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT can yield values that are significantly predictive of survival after treatment for HNSTS. (orig.)

  8. Phase II DeCOG-study of ipilimumab in pretreated and treatment-naïve patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa Zimmer

    Full Text Available Up to 50% of patients with uveal melanoma (UM develop metastatic disease with limited treatment options. The immunomodulating agent ipilimumab has shown an overall survival (OS benefit in patients with cutaneous metastatic melanoma in two phase III trials. As patients with UM were excluded in these studies, the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG conducted a phase II to assess the efficacy and safety of ipilimumab in patients with metastatic UM.We undertook a multicenter phase II study in patients with different subtypes of metastatic melanoma. Here we present data on patients with metastatic UM (pretreated and treatment-naïve who received up to four cycles of ipilimumab administered at a dose of 3 mg/kg in 3 week intervals. Tumor assessments were conducted at baseline, weeks 12, 24, 36 and 48 according to RECIST 1.1 criteria. Adverse events (AEs, including immune-related AEs were graded according to National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC v.4.0. Primary endpoint was the OS rate at 12 months.Forty five pretreated (85% and eight treatment-naïve (15% patients received at least one dose of ipilimumab. 1-year and 2-year OS rates were 22% and 7%, respectively. Median OS was 6.8 months (95% CI 3.7-8.1, median progression-free survival 2.8 months (95% CI 2.5-2.9. The disease control rate at weeks 12 and 24 was 47% and 21%, respectively. Sixteen patients had stable disease (47%, none experienced partial or complete response. Treatment-related AEs were observed in 35 patients (66%, including 19 grade 3-4 events (36%. One drug-related death due to pancytopenia was observed.Ipilimumab has very limited clinical activity in patients with metastatic UM. Toxicity was manageable when treated as per protocol-specific guidelines.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01355120.

  9. Therapeutic effect of flurbiprofen pretreatment on the intravenous injection pain induced by propofol in patients of different ages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Song SHI

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of flurbiprofen pretreatment on the pain induced by propofol in patients of different ages.Methods One hundred and twenty patients with different age and undergoing general anesthesia were assigned to three groups(40 each according to their ages: 6-18 years(adolescent group,18-60 years(adult group,and over 60 years(aged group.Each group was randomly divided into two subgroups(20 each: flurbiprofen group and placebo group,and they respectively received intravenous injection of 5ml of 1mg/kg flurbiprofen(group FB or normal saline(group NS.The induction was produced by 1.5-2mg/kg Ⅳ propofol,and 1.5-2.0mg/kg Ⅳ succinylcholine was administered 20 seconds after propofol injection.Patients’ withdrawal movements,pain scores and any other discomfort complaints were assessed.Results The incidences of intravenous pain in group NS and group FB were respectively 47.9% and 11.2% in adult group,82.0% and 8.8% in adolescent group,and 28.0% and 4.7% in aged group.The incidence of withdrawal movements and pain scores were significantly lower in flurbiprofen group than in saline group regardless of ages(P < 0.05.Conclusion The pretreatment with 1.0mg/kg flurbiprofen may reduce the withdrawal movements and pain caused by propofol injection in patients of different age.

  10. Activity and toxicity of oxaliplatin and bolus fluorouracil plus leucovorin in pretreated colorectal cancer patients: a phase 2. study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferraresi, V.; Buccilli, A.; Giannarelli, D.; Ciccarese, M. [Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome (Italy). Dept. of Medical Oncology; Giampaolo, M.A.; Gabriele, A.; Buccilli, A.; Gamucci, T. [Azienda Sanitaria Locale, Frosinone (Italy). Complex Operative Unit of Medical Oncology

    2005-06-15

    The aim of the current study was to evaluate the activity and toxicity of a combination of oxaliplatin with bolus fluorouracil and leucovorin in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients pretreated for advanced disease with various schedules including continuous fluorouracil infusion. Thirty consecutive patients with pretreated advanced CRC received oxaliplatin 130 mg/m{sup 2} by 2-h infusion dl, leucovorin 100 mg/m{sup 2} by 1-h infusion followed by fluorouracil 425 mg/m{sup 2} i.v. bolus from day 1 to 3 every 3 weeks for a maximum of 6 cycles. The best overall response rate in an intent-to-treat analysis was 13% (2 complete responses and 2 partial responses) (95% CI, 1.2-25.5%) and 37% of patients obtained stable disease with a tumor growth control rate of 50% (95% CI, 32.1-67.9%). The median progression-free survival was 4.0 months (95% CI, 1.4-6.5 months) and median overall survival was 12.0 months (95% CI, 9.9-14.1 months). The independent prognostic factors for improved overall survival were a good performance status and a response/stabilization of disease to chemotherapy. Severe neutropenia was quite common (43.3% of patients and 14.4% of cycles), although complicated by fever only in one case (3.3% of patients). There was one toxic death. In conclusion, the study combination showed an interesting rate of tumor growth control in a cohort of patients previously treated for advanced disease with various schedules including continuous fluorouracil infusion.

  11. Pre-treatment social anxiety severity moderates the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction and aerobic exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jazaieri, Hooria; Lee, Ihno A; Goldin, Philippe R; Gross, James J

    2016-06-01

    We examined whether social anxiety severity at pre-treatment would moderate the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or aerobic exercise (AE) for generalized social anxiety disorder. MBSR and AE produced equivalent reductions in weekly social anxiety symptoms. Improvements were moderated by pre-treatment social anxiety severity. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and aerobic exercise (AE) are effective in reducing symptoms of social anxiety. Pre-treatment social anxiety severity can be used to inform treatment recommendations. Both MBSR and AE produced equivalent reductions in weekly levels of social anxiety symptoms. MBSR appears to be most effective for patients with lower pre-treatment social anxiety symptom severity. AE appears to be most effective for patients with higher pre-treatment social anxiety symptom severity. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  12. Allergic contact dermatitis from ophthalmic products: can pre-treatment with sodium lauryl sulfate increase patch test sensitivity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corazza, Monica; Virgili, Annarosa

    2005-05-01

    In patients suspected of allergic contact dermatitis because of topical ophthalmic medicaments, patch tests performed with patients' own products are often negative. The irritant anionic surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) may alter the stratum corneum and increase antigen penetration. Pre-treatment of the skin with SLS 0.5% for 24 h was performed in the sites of patch tests with patients' own products in 15 selected patients. In patients previously negative to their own products tested with conventional patch tests, SLS pre-treatment showed 6 new relevant positive reactions and induced a stronger positive reaction in 1 patient. SLS pre-treatment could be proposed as an alternative promising method, which may increase sensitivity of patch tests with patients' own products.

  13. Pretreatment tables predicting pathologic stage of locally advanced prostate cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joniau, Steven; Spahn, Martin; Briganti, Alberto; Gandaglia, Giorgio; Tombal, Bertrand; Tosco, Lorenzo; Marchioro, Giansilvio; Hsu, Chao-Yu; Walz, Jochen; Kneitz, Burkhard; Bader, Pia; Frohneberg, Detlef; Tizzani, Alessandro; Graefen, Markus; van Cangh, Paul; Karnes, R Jeffrey; Montorsi, Francesco; van Poppel, Hein; Gontero, Paolo

    2015-02-01

    Pretreatment tables for the prediction of pathologic stage have been published and validated for localized prostate cancer (PCa). No such tables are available for locally advanced (cT3a) PCa. To construct tables predicting pathologic outcome after radical prostatectomy (RP) for patients with cT3a PCa with the aim to help guide treatment decisions in clinical practice. This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study including 759 consecutive patients with cT3a PCa treated with RP between 1987 and 2010. Retropubic RP and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Patients were divided into pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and biopsy Gleason score (GS) subgroups. These parameters were used to construct tables predicting pathologic outcome and the presence of positive lymph nodes (LNs) after RP for cT3a PCa using ordinal logistic regression. In the model predicting pathologic outcome, the main effects of biopsy GS and pretreatment PSA were significant. A higher GS and/or higher PSA level was associated with a more unfavorable pathologic outcome. The validation procedure, using a repeated split-sample method, showed good predictive ability. Regression analysis also showed an increasing probability of positive LNs with increasing PSA levels and/or higher GS. Limitations of the study are the retrospective design and the long study period. These novel tables predict pathologic stage after RP for patients with cT3a PCa based on pretreatment PSA level and biopsy GS. They can be used to guide decision making in men with locally advanced PCa. Our study might provide physicians with a useful tool to predict pathologic stage in locally advanced prostate cancer that might help select patients who may need multimodal treatment. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. The association of pre-treatment HPV subtypes with recurrence of VIN.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogani, Giorgio; Martinelli, Fabio; Ditto, Antonino; Signorelli, Mauro; Taverna, Francesca; Lombardo, Claudia; Chiappa, Valentina; Leone Roberti Maggiore, Umberto; Recalcati, Dario; Scaffa, Cono; Perotto, Stefania; Sabatucci, Ilaria; Indini, Alice; Lorusso, Domenica; Raspagliesi, Francesco

    2017-04-01

    To assess whether pre-treatment HPV types are associated with recurrence of high-grade vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN2+). Data of consecutive patients with pretreatment HPV DNA test undergoing treatment for VIN2+ were retrospectively collected. Risk factors promoting the risk of VIN2+ persistence and recurrence were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazard proportional models. 64 patients had pretreatment vulvar-vaginal HPV DNA test. Two were excluded due to the presence of synchronous vulvar cancer, thus leaving 62 patients for the final analysis. HPV16, HPV18, HPV31 and HPV33 were the most common HPV genotype detected, occurring in 15 (24.2%), 4 (6.5%), 8 (12.9%) and 5 (8.0%) patients, respectively. HPV was not detected in 19 (30.6%) patients. During a mean (SD) follow up of 56.7 (±26.7) months, 10 (16.1%) patients had VIN2+ persistence/recurrence. Mean (SD) lesion-free interval was 51.7 (±31.4) months. Via multivariate analysis, pretreatment infection from HPV31 (HR:46.7(95%CI:4.21,518.4); p=0.02) and HPV33 (HR:77.0(95%CI:6.73,881.9); p<0.001) correlated with an increased risk of VIN2+ persistence/recurrence. Additionally, we observed that patients undergoing surgical excision followed by LASER ablation experienced a trend towards lower recurrence rate than patients undergoing other surgical or medical treatments (HR:0.20(95%CI:0.03,1.09); p=0.05). Two (3.2%) patients developed progression to vulvar cancer. Owing to the inherent biases of the retrospective study design and the small sample size, our data have to be corroborated by larger and prospective studies. HPV31 and HPV33 have a potential role in predicting VIN2+ persistence/recurrence. These findings will be paramount, owing to the implementation of new immunization programs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Methods for pretreating biomass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balan, Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce E; Chundawat, Shishir; Sousa, Leonardo

    2017-05-09

    A method for pretreating biomass is provided, which includes, in a reactor, allowing gaseous ammonia to condense on the biomass and react with water present in the biomass to produce pretreated biomass, wherein reactivity of polysaccharides in the biomass is increased during subsequent biological conversion as compared to the reactivity of polysaccharides in biomass which has not been pretreated. A method for pretreating biomass with a liquid ammonia and recovering the liquid ammonia is also provided. Related systems which include a biochemical or biofuel production facility are also disclosed.

  16. An analysis of pretreatment characteristics and the risk of PSA failure by race and ethnicity in prostate cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coleman, Cardella W.; Lewis, Pamalar P.; Kroll, Stewart M.; Roach, Mack

    1997-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: This study was performed to: (1) determine the pretreatment characteristics of racially and ethnically diverse men who were treated with definitive radiotherapy for prostate cancer and; (2) to assess whether race or ethnicity is an independent prognostic factor for biochemical failure using the serum PSA (prostate specific antigen) as a marker of disease free status. Materials and Methods: Between 1987 and 1995, 505 men, (including 487 with pretreatment PSA determined), were treated with radiotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UCSF or its affiliated hospitals and form the basis of this analysis. These patients were referred from local VA, County, HMO and private facilities in the Northern California Bay Area and represent a diverse group by race, ethnicity and social economic status. PSA failure was defined as a PSA >1.0 ng/ml or rises of ≥ 0.5 ng/ml in 1 year. Results: The median PSA for all patients was 11.5 ng/ml and the mean was 20.8 ng/ml. The mean Gleason score was 5.95, and was similar among treatment groups. Twenty percent of the patients were T1, 56% were T2 and 24% were T3/4. The maximum dose at depth (Dmax) was 71.5 in 42% of the patients. Seventy two men (14%) received neoadjuvant +/- adjuvant hormonal therapy combined with radiotherapy. With a median follow-up exceeding 2 years, 47% of the patients are disease free at 4 years. Major pretreatment characteristics by race or ethnicity are summarized below: On univariate analysis, the relative risk of PSA failure in Blacks compared to Whites was 1.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.72- 1.52, p = 0.82) and in others compared to Whites was 1.12 (95% confidence interval, 0.55 - 2.28, p = 0.77). On multivariate analysis, neither race nor ethnicity were independently significant predictors of outcome. For example, the relative risk of PSA failure in Blacks was 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.59 - 1.32, p = 0.53). Factors that influenced

  17. Transdermal testosterone pretreatment in poor responders undergoing ICSI: a randomized clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosdou, J K; Venetis, C A; Dafopoulos, K; Zepiridis, L; Chatzimeletiou, K; Anifandis, G; Mitsoli, A; Makedos, A; Messinis, I E; Tarlatzis, B C; Kolibianakis, E M

    2016-05-01

    Does pretreatment with transdermal testosterone increase the number of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) retrieved by more than 1.5 in poor responders undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), using recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and gonadotrophin releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa)? Testosterone pretreatment failed to increase the number of COCs by more than 1.5 as compared with no pretreatment in poor responders undergoing ICSI (difference between medians: 0.0, 95% CI: -1.0 to +1.0). Androgens are thought to play an important role in early follicular development by enhancing ovarian sensitivity to FSH. In a recent meta-analysis, testosterone pretreatment resulted in an increase of 1.5 COCs as compared with no pretreatment. However, this effect was based on the analysis of only two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including 163 patients. Evidently, there is a need for additional RCTs that will allow firmer conclusions to be drawn. The present RCT was designed to detect a difference of 1.5 COCs (sample size required = 48 patients). From 02/2014 until 04/2015, 50 poor responders fulfilling the Bologna criteria have been randomized (using a randomization list) to either testosterone pretreatment for 21 days ( ITALIC! n = 26) or no pretreatment ( ITALIC! n = 24). All patients underwent a long follicular GnRHa protocol. Recombinant FSH stimulation was started on Day 22 following GnRHa initiation. In the testosterone pretreatment group, a daily dose of 10 mg of testosterone gel was applied transdermally for 21 days starting from GnRHa initiation. Results are expressed as median (interquartile range). No differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the two groups compared. Testosterone levels [median (interquartile range)] were significantly higher in the testosterone pretreatment on the day of initiation of FSH stimulation [114 (99.5) ng/dl versus 20 (20) ng/dl, respectively, ITALIC! P interquartile range)] was similar between

  18. Phase II Study of Autologous Monocyte-Derived mRNA Electroporated Dendritic Cells (TriMixDC-MEL) Plus Ipilimumab in Patients With Pretreated Advanced Melanoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilgenhof, Sofie; Corthals, Jurgen; Heirman, Carlo; van Baren, Nicolas; Lucas, Sophie; Kvistborg, Pia; Thielemans, Kris; Neyns, Bart

    2016-04-20

    Autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) electroporated with synthetic mRNA (TriMixDC-MEL) are immunogenic and have antitumor activity as a monotherapy in patients with pretreated advanced melanoma. Ipilimumab, an immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody directed against the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 receptor that counteracts physiologic suppression of T-cell function, improves the overall survival of patients with advanced melanoma. This phase II study investigated the combination of TriMixDC-MEL and ipilimumab in patients with pretreated advanced melanoma. Thirty-nine patients were treated with TriMixDC-MEL (4 × 10(6) cells administered intradermally and 20 × 10(6) cells administered intravenously) plus ipilimumab (10 mg/kg every 3 weeks for a total of four administrations, followed by maintenance therapy every 12 weeks in patients who remained progression free). Six-month disease control rate according to the immune-related response criteria served as the primary end point. The 6-month disease control rate was 51% (95% CI, 36% to 67%), and the overall tumor response rate was 38% (including eight complete and seven partial responses). Seven complete responses and one partial tumor response are ongoing after a median follow-up time of 36 months (range, 22 to 43 months). The most common treatment-related adverse events (all grades) consisted of local DC injection site skin reactions (100%), transient post-DC infusion chills (38%) and flu-like symptoms (84%), dermatitis (64%), hepatitis (13%), hypophysitis (15%), and diarrhea/colitis (15%). Grade 3 or 4 immune-related adverse events occurred in 36% of patients. There was no grade 5 adverse event. The combination of TriMixDC-MEL and ipilimumab is tolerable and results in an encouraging rate of highly durable tumor responses in patients with pretreated advanced melanoma. © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  19. Prognostic value of pretreatment volume-based quantitative {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT parameters in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kitajima, Kazuhiro, E-mail: kitajima@med.kobe-u.ac.jp [Division of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Department of Radiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Doi, Hiroshi, E-mail: h-doi@hyo-med.ac.jp [Department of Radiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Kuribayashi, Kozo, E-mail: kuririn@hyo-med.ac.jp [Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Hashimoto, Masaki, E-mail: kogekogemasaki@gmail.com [Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Tsuchitani, Tatsuya, E-mail: tty-823@hyo-med.ac.jp [Department of Radiological Technology, Hyogo College of Medicine College Hospital, Hyogo (Japan); Tanooka, Masao, E-mail: masao1108@gmail.com [Department of Radiological Technology, Hyogo College of Medicine College Hospital, Hyogo (Japan); Fukushima, Kazuhito, E-mail: fukuchan00106@gmail.com [Division of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Department of Radiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Nakano, Takashi, E-mail: t-nakano@hyo-med.ac.jp [Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Hasegawa, Seiki, E-mail: hasegawa@hyo-med.ac.jp [Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan); Hirota, Shozo, E-mail: hirota-s@hyo-med.ac.jp [Department of Radiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo (Japan)

    2017-01-15

    Purpose: To investigate the relationships between pretreatment volume-based quantitative {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) parameters and overall survival (OS) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 201 MPM patients, of whom 38 underwent surgical resection, and calculated the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG), including primary tumors and nodal or distant metastatic lesions, on pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT. Relationships between clinicopathological factors (age, sex, performance status, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] score, histological subtype, TNM stage, and treatment strategy), volume-based quantitative PET/CT parameters, and OS were evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank test. Results: The median follow-up was 15 months (range, 1–96 months; median, 17 months). In a univariate analysis of all patients, older age (p < 0.05), high EORTC score (p < 0.001), non-epithelioid histological subtype (p < 0.001), high T stage (p < 0.001), positive N/M status (p < 0.05, p < 0.001), advanced TNM stage (p < 0.001), non-surgical treatment (p < 0.001), and high SUVmax (p < 0.001), MTV (p < 0.001), or TLG (p < 0.001) were associated with significantly shorter OS. A multivariate analysis confirmed non-epithelioid subtype (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–2.48; p < 0.05), non-surgical treatment (HR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34–0.95; p < 0.05), and high TLG (HR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.14–3.44; p < 0.05) as independent negative predictors. Conclusions: Pretreatment volume-based quantitative {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT parameters, especially TLG, could serve as potential surrogate markers for MPM prognosis.

  20. Textural features of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT images: prognostic significance in patients with advanced T-stage oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Nai-Ming; Fang, Yu-Hua Dean; Chang, Joseph Tung-Chieh; Huang, Chung-Guei; Tsan, Din-Li; Ng, Shu-Hang; Wang, Hung-Ming; Lin, Chien-Yu; Liao, Chun-Ta; Yen, Tzu-Chen

    2013-10-01

    Previous studies have shown that total lesion glycolysis (TLG) may serve as a prognostic indicator in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). We sought to investigate whether the textural features of pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT images can provide any additional prognostic information over TLG and clinical staging in patients with advanced T-stage OPSCC. We retrospectively analyzed the pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT images of 70 patients with advanced T-stage OPSCC who had completed concurrent chemoradiotherapy, bioradiotherapy, or radiotherapy with curative intent. All of the patients had data on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and were followed up for at least 24 mo or until death. A standardized uptake value (SUV) of 2.5 was taken as a cutoff for tumor boundary. The textural features of pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT images were extracted from histogram analysis (SUV variance and SUV entropy), normalized gray-level cooccurrence matrix (uniformity, entropy, dissimilarity, contrast, homogeneity, inverse different moment, and correlation), and neighborhood gray-tone difference matrix (coarseness, contrast, busyness, complexity, and strength). Receiver-operating-characteristic curves were used to identify the optimal cutoff values for the textural features and TLG. Thirteen patients were HPV-positive. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age, tumor TLG, and uniformity were independently associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). TLG, uniformity, and HPV positivity were significantly associated with overall survival (OS). A prognostic scoring system based on TLG and uniformity was derived. Patients who presented with TLG > 121.9 g and uniformity ≤ 0.138 experienced significantly worse PFS, DSS, and OS rates than those without (P 121.9 g or uniformity ≤ 0.138 were further divided according to age, and different PFS and DSS were observed. Uniformity extracted from the normalized gray

  1. Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Using AFEX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balan, Venkatesh; Bals, Bryan; Chundawat, Shishir P. S.; Marshall, Derek; Dale, Bruce E.

    Although cellulose is the most abundant organic molecule, its susceptibility to hydrolysis is restricted due to the rigid lignin and hemicellulose protection surrounding the cellulose micro fibrils. Therefore, an effective pretreatment is necessary to liberate the cellulose from the lignin-hemicellulose seal and also reduce cellulosic crystallinity. Some of the available pretreatment techniques include acid hydrolysis, steam explosion, ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), alkaline wet oxidation, and hot water pretreatment. Besides reducing lignocellulosic recalcitrance, an ideal pretreatment must also minimize formation of degradation products that inhibit subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. AFEX is an important pretreatment technology that utilizes both physical (high temperature and pressure) and chemical (ammonia) processes to achieve effective pretreatment. Besides increasing the surface accessibility for hydrolysis, AFEX promotes cellulose decrystallization and partial hemicellulose depolymerization and reduces the lignin recalcitrance in the treated biomass. Theoretical glucose yield upon optimal enzymatic hydrolysis on AFEX-treated corn stover is approximately 98%. Furthermore, AFEX offers several unique advantages over other pretreatments, which include near complete recovery of the pretreatment chemical (ammonia), nutrient addition for microbial growth through the remaining ammonia on pretreated biomass, and not requiring a washing step during the process which facilitates high solid loading hydrolysis. This chapter provides a detailed practical procedure to perform AFEX, design the reactor, determine the mass balances, and conduct the process safely.

  2. Phase II DeCOG-Study of Ipilimumab in Pretreated and Treatment-Naïve Patients with Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmer, Lisa; Vaubel, Julia; Mohr, Peter; Hauschild, Axel; Utikal, Jochen; Simon, Jan; Garbe, Claus; Herbst, Rudolf; Enk, Alexander; Kämpgen, Eckhart; Livingstone, Elisabeth; Bluhm, Leonie; Rompel, Rainer; Griewank, Klaus G.; Fluck, Michael; Schilling, Bastian; Schadendorf, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    Purpose Up to 50% of patients with uveal melanoma (UM) develop metastatic disease with limited treatment options. The immunomodulating agent ipilimumab has shown an overall survival (OS) benefit in patients with cutaneous metastatic melanoma in two phase III trials. As patients with UM were excluded in these studies, the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG) conducted a phase II to assess the efficacy and safety of ipilimumab in patients with metastatic UM. Patients and Methods We undertook a multicenter phase II study in patients with different subtypes of metastatic melanoma. Here we present data on patients with metastatic UM (pretreated and treatment-naïve) who received up to four cycles of ipilimumab administered at a dose of 3 mg/kg in 3 week intervals. Tumor assessments were conducted at baseline, weeks 12, 24, 36 and 48 according to RECIST 1.1 criteria. Adverse events (AEs), including immune-related AEs were graded according to National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) v.4.0. Primary endpoint was the OS rate at 12 months. Results Forty five pretreated (85%) and eight treatment-naïve (15%) patients received at least one dose of ipilimumab. 1-year and 2-year OS rates were 22% and 7%, respectively. Median OS was 6.8 months (95% CI 3.7–8.1), median progression-free survival 2.8 months (95% CI 2.5–2.9). The disease control rate at weeks 12 and 24 was 47% and 21%, respectively. Sixteen patients had stable disease (47%), none experienced partial or complete response. Treatment-related AEs were observed in 35 patients (66%), including 19 grade 3–4 events (36%). One drug-related death due to pancytopenia was observed. Conclusions Ipilimumab has very limited clinical activity in patients with metastatic UM. Toxicity was manageable when treated as per protocol-specific guidelines. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01355120 PMID:25761109

  3. Beam-centric algorithm for pretreatment patient position correction in external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bose, Supratik; Shukla, Himanshu; Maltz, Jonathan

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: In current image guided pretreatment patient position adjustment methods, image registration is used to determine alignment parameters. Since most positioning hardware lacks the full six degrees of freedom (DOF), accuracy is compromised. The authors show that such compromises are often unnecessary when one models the planned treatment beams as part of the adjustment calculation process. The authors present a flexible algorithm for determining optimal realizable adjustments for both step-and-shoot and arc delivery methods. Methods: The beam shape model is based on the polygonal intersection of each beam segment with the plane in pretreatment image volume that passes through machine isocenter perpendicular to the central axis of the beam. Under a virtual six-DOF correction, ideal positions of these polygon vertices are computed. The proposed method determines the couch, gantry, and collimator adjustments that minimize the total mismatch of all vertices over all segments with respect to their ideal positions. Using this geometric error metric as a function of the number of available DOF, the user may select the most desirable correction regime. Results: For a simulated treatment plan consisting of three equally weighted coplanar fixed beams, the authors achieve a 7% residual geometric error (with respect to the ideal correction, considered 0% error) by applying gantry rotation as well as translation and isocentric rotation of the couch. For a clinical head-and-neck intensity modulated radiotherapy plan with seven beams and five segments per beam, the corresponding error is 6%. Correction involving only couch translation (typical clinical practice) leads to a much larger 18% mismatch. Clinically significant consequences of more accurate adjustment are apparent in the dose volume histograms of target and critical structures. Conclusions: The algorithm achieves improvements in delivery accuracy using standard delivery hardware without significantly increasing

  4. Changes from 1992 to 2002 in the pretreatment delay for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of larynx or pharynx: a Danish nationwide survey from DAHANCA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Primdahl, Hanne; Nielsen, Anni Linnet; Larsen, Susanne

    2006-01-01

    In Denmark, a general impression of prolonged pretreatment delay for patients with head and neck cancer led to a nationwide study of time spans from symptom debut over first health care contact to start of treatment. Charts of consecutive new patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the pharynx a...

  5. Pretreatment of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum for the production of bioethanol - Comparison of five pretreatment technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz-Jensen, Nadja; Thygesen, Anders; Thomsen, Sune Tjalfe

    2013-01-01

    -assisted pretreatment (PAP) and ball milling (BM), to determine effects of the pretreatment methods on the conversion of C. linum into ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). WO and BM showed the highest ethanol yield of 44. g ethanol/100. g glucan, which was close to the theoretical ethanol......A qualified estimate for pretreatment of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum for ethanol production was given, based on the experience of pretreatment of land-based biomass. C. linum was subjected to hydrothermal pretreatment (HTT), wet oxidation (WO), steam explosion (STEX), plasma...... yield of 57. g ethanol/100. g glucan. A 64% higher ethanol yield, based on raw material, was reached after pretreatment with WO and BM compared with unpretreated C. linum, however 50% of the biomass was lost during WO. Results indicated that the right combination of pretreatment and marine macroalgae...

  6. Does imiquimod pretreatment optimize 308-nm excimer laser (UVB) therapy in psoriasis patients?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tacastacas, Joselin D; Oyetakin-White, Patricia; Soler, David C; Young, Andrew; Groft, Sarah; Honda, Kord; Cooper, Kevin D; McCormick, Thomas S

    2017-07-01

    Psoriasis continues to be a debilitating skin disease affecting 1-3% of the United States population. Although the effectiveness of several current biologic therapies have described this pathology as a IL-23, TNF-a and Th17-mediated disease, less invasive approaches are still in use and in need of refinement. One of these is the usage of narrow band-UVB (NB-UVB) therapy to deplete specifically intra-epidermal CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells to clear psoriatic plaques. In order to improve NB-UVB therapy, we sought to determine whether skin pre-treatment with the TLR7 agonist imiquimod (IMQ) would help increase the efficiency of the former at resolving psoriatic plaques. Eucerin ® Original Moisturizing Lotion (topical vehicle) or Aldara ® (imiquimod 5% topical cream) were applied for 5 days once daily to a maximum contiguous area of 25 cm 2 (5 cm × 5 cm area). Patients were provided with sachets containing 12.5 mg of imiquimod each and were instructed to apply imiquimod (I) to two psoriasis plaques (5 sachets of imiquimod allotted to each plaque). A PHAROS excimer Laser EX-308 (Ra Medical Systems, Inc. Carlsbad, CA, USA) with an output of monochromatic 308-nm light and pulse width of 20-50 ns was used for all patients. Punch biopsies of psoriatic lesions (6 mm) were taken at 4 and 48 h after final application of topical treatment with or without excimer laser treatment. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was performed according to manufacturer's instructions and Inmunohistochemistry was used as described before. Our results suggests that although IMQ seemed to activate the type I interferon pathway as previously described, its concomitant usage with NB-UVB for clearing psoriatic skin was ineffective. Although upregulation of genes MxA, GRAMD1A and DMXL2 suggested that IMQ treatment did induce skin changes in psoriasis patients, more optimal dosing of IMQ and NB-UVB might be necessary to achieve desired treatment responses. The observation that psoriasis involvement was not

  7. Enzymatic hydrolsis of pretreated rice straw

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vlasenko, E.Y.; Shoemaker, S.P. [California Inst. of Food and Agricultural Research, Davis, CA (United States); Ding, H. [California Univ., Davis (Canada). Dept. of Food Science and Technology; Labavitch, J.M. [California Univ., Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Pomology

    1997-02-01

    California rice straw is being evaluated as a feedstock for production of power and fuel. This paper examines the initial steps in the process: pretreatment of rice straw and enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides in the pretreated material to soluble sugars. Rice straw was subjected to three distinct pretreatment procedures: acid-catalyzed steam explosion (Swan Biomass Company), acid hydrolysis (U.S. DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and ammonia fiber explosion or AFEX (Texas A and M University). Standard conditions for each pretreatment were used, but none was optimized for rice straw specifically. Six commercial cellulases, products of Genencor International (USA), Novo (Denmark), Iogen (Canada) and Fermtech (Russia) were used for hydrolysis. The Swan- and the acid-pretreatments effectively removed hemicellulose from rice straw, providing high yields of fermentable sugars. The AFEX-pretreatment was distinctly different from other pretreatments in that it did not significantly solubilize hemicellulose. All three pretreatment procedures substantially increased enzymatic digestibility of rice straw. Three commercial Trichoderma-reesei-derived enzyme preparations: Cellulase 100L (Iogen), Spezyme CP (Genencor), and Al (Fermtech), were more active on pretreated rice straw compared than others tested. Conditions for hydrolysis of rice straw using Cellulase 100L were evaluated. The supplementation of this enzyme preparation with cellobiase (Novozyme 188) significantly improved the parameters of hydrolysis for the Swan- and the acid-pretreated materials, but did not affect the hydrolysis of the AFEX-pretreated rice straw. (Author)

  8. Pre-treatment predictors and in-treatment factors associated with change in avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits among patients with social phobia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borge, Finn-Magnus; Hoffart, Asle; Sexton, Harold; Martinsen, Egil; Gude, Tore; Hedley, Liv Margaret; Abrahamsen, Gun

    2010-01-01

    We examined changes in avoidant and dependent personality disorder dimensions, and pre-treatment and in-treatment factors associated with such changes in 77 patients, randomized to medication-free residential cognitive (CT) or residential interpersonal therapy for social phobia. Personality disorders and personality dimensions according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) were assessed at pre-treatment and at one-year post-treatment. Both treatments were associated with a decrease in avoidant and dependent personality dimensions; dependent dimension decreased more in CT. Changes in cognitive factors predicted changes in both personality dimensions, whereas changes in symptoms or interpersonal factors did not. Change in the cognitive factor estimated cost was the most powerful predictor in the avoidant dimension, as it was the only predictor that remained significant in the forward regression analyses. Change in the cognitive factor estimated cost, and treatment were the most powerful predictors of change in the dependent dimension. Pre-treatment use of anxiolytics predicted larger changes in both PD dimensions.

  9. Pre-treatment hemodynamic features involved with long-term survival of cirrhotic patients after embolization of gastric fundal varices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruyama, Hitoshi; Okugawa, Hidehiro; Kobayashi, Satoshi; Yoshizumi, Hiroaki; Yokosuka, Osamu

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To clarify the pre-treatment hemodynamic features involved in the long-term survival of cirrhotic patients with gastric fundal varices (FV) after balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO). Materials and methods: Eighty-one cirrhotic patients with medium- or large-grade FV treated by B-RTO were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pre-treatment flow volume ratio between gastric vein and portal trunk (GP-R) was obtained by Doppler ultrasound. Results: The cumulative survival rate was 90% at 1 year, 74.8% at 3 years, 57.2% at 5 years, and 45.8% at 7 years without recurrence in a median period of 1148.5 days The survival was poorer in patients with HCC (47% at 3 years, 9.4% at 5 years, p < 0.0001) than without (89.2% at 3 years, 81.9% at 5 years, 67.5% at 7 years), in patients with Child B/C (57.7% at 3 years, 42.1% at 5 years, 28.1% at 7 years, p = 0.0016) than with Child A (91.8% at 3 years, 71.5% at 5 years, 62.1% at 7 years), and in patients with GP-R ≥ 1.0 (58.9% at 3 years, p = 0.0485) than with GP-R < 1.0 (76.3% at 3 years, 62% at 5 years, 49.6% at 7 years). Multivariate analysis identified the presence of HCC (hazard ratio, 12.486; 95% CI, 4.08-38.216; p < 0.0001), Child B/C (hazard ratio, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.594-7.15; p = 0.0051) and GP-R ≥ 1.0 (hazard ratio, 2.701; 95% CI, 1.07-6.15; p = 0.0221) as independent factors for poor prognosis. Conclusion: GP-R ≥ 1.0 on Doppler ultrasound before B-RTO may be a predictive indicator for poor prognosis in cirrhotic patients with FV after B-RTO, in addition to the presence of HCC and severe liver damage.

  10. Pre-treatment hemodynamic features involved with long-term survival of cirrhotic patients after embolization of gastric fundal varices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maruyama, Hitoshi, E-mail: maru-cib@umin.ac.j [Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba, 260-8670 (Japan); Okugawa, Hidehiro, E-mail: hideun@yahoo.co.j [Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba, 260-8670 (Japan); Kobayashi, Satoshi, E-mail: kobakobakopa@yahoo.co.j [Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba, 260-8670 (Japan); Yoshizumi, Hiroaki, E-mail: yossih04@yahoo.co.j [Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba, 260-8670 (Japan); Yokosuka, Osamu, E-mail: yokosukao@faculty.chiba-u.j [Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba, 260-8670 (Japan)

    2010-08-15

    Purpose: To clarify the pre-treatment hemodynamic features involved in the long-term survival of cirrhotic patients with gastric fundal varices (FV) after balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO). Materials and methods: Eighty-one cirrhotic patients with medium- or large-grade FV treated by B-RTO were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pre-treatment flow volume ratio between gastric vein and portal trunk (GP-R) was obtained by Doppler ultrasound. Results: The cumulative survival rate was 90% at 1 year, 74.8% at 3 years, 57.2% at 5 years, and 45.8% at 7 years without recurrence in a median period of 1148.5 days The survival was poorer in patients with HCC (47% at 3 years, 9.4% at 5 years, p < 0.0001) than without (89.2% at 3 years, 81.9% at 5 years, 67.5% at 7 years), in patients with Child B/C (57.7% at 3 years, 42.1% at 5 years, 28.1% at 7 years, p = 0.0016) than with Child A (91.8% at 3 years, 71.5% at 5 years, 62.1% at 7 years), and in patients with GP-R {>=} 1.0 (58.9% at 3 years, p = 0.0485) than with GP-R < 1.0 (76.3% at 3 years, 62% at 5 years, 49.6% at 7 years). Multivariate analysis identified the presence of HCC (hazard ratio, 12.486; 95% CI, 4.08-38.216; p < 0.0001), Child B/C (hazard ratio, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.594-7.15; p = 0.0051) and GP-R {>=} 1.0 (hazard ratio, 2.701; 95% CI, 1.07-6.15; p = 0.0221) as independent factors for poor prognosis. Conclusion: GP-R {>=} 1.0 on Doppler ultrasound before B-RTO may be a predictive indicator for poor prognosis in cirrhotic patients with FV after B-RTO, in addition to the presence of HCC and severe liver damage.

  11. Pretreatment prostate-specific antigen doubling times: clinical utility of this predictor of prostate cancer behavior

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanks, Gerald E.; Hanlon, Alexandra L.; Lee, W. Robert; Slivjak, Anne; Schultheiss, Timothy E.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: The distribution of pretreatment and posttreatment prostate specific antigen (PSA) doubling times (PSADT) varies widely. This report examines the pretreatment PSADT as an independent predictor of biochemical freedom from disease (bNED) and describes the clinical utility of PSADT. Methods and Materials: Ninety-nine patients with T1-3 NX, M-0 prostate cancer treated between February 1989 and November 1993 have pretreatment PSADTs calculated from three or more PSA levels. Biochemical disease-free (bNED) survival (failure is PSA ≥ 1.5 ngm/ml and rising) is evaluated by multivariate analysis of common prognostic indicators and PSADT. Results: Prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSADT) is a significant predictor of survival along with radiation dose. Patients with a pretreatment PSADT of < 12 months show 50% failure by 18 months, while those with a PSADT that is not increasing show only 3% failure at 3 years. Conclusions: Prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSADT) is a predictor of bNED outcome in prostate cancer. Patients with PSADT < 12 months have aggressive disease and should be considered for multimodal therapy. Slow PSADT (≥ 5 years) is observed in 57% of patients, and this end point may be considered in the decision to observe rather than to treat. After treatment failure, the PSADT may be used to determine which patients do not need immediate androgen deprivation

  12. Pretreatment Hematologic Findings as Novel Predictive Markers for Facial Palsy Prognosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasano, Koichiro; Kawasaki, Taiji; Yamamoto, Sayuri; Tomisato, Shuta; Shinden, Seiichi; Ishikawa, Toru; Minami, Shujiro; Wakabayashi, Takeshi; Ogawa, Kaoru

    2016-10-01

    To examine the relationship between prognosis of 2 different facial palsies and pretreatment hematologic laboratory values. Multicenter case series with chart review. Three tertiary care hospitals. We examined the clinical records of 468 facial palsy patients who were treated with an antiviral drug in combination with either oral or intravenous corticosteroids in participating hospitals between 2010 and 2014. Patients were divided into a Bell's palsy group or a Hunt's palsy group. We used the Yanagihara facial nerve grading system to grade the severity of facial palsy. "Recovery" from facial palsy was defined as achieving a Yanagihara score ≥36 points within 6 months of onset and having no accompanying facial contracture or synkinesis. We collected information about pretreatment hematologic findings, demographic data, and electrophysiologic test results of the Bell and Hunt group patients who recovered and those who did not. We then compared these data across the 2 palsy groups. In the Bell's palsy group, recovered and unrecovered patients differed significantly in age, sex, electroneuronography score, stapedial muscle reflex, neutrophil rate, lymphocyte rate, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and initial Yanagihara score. In the Hunt's palsy group, recovered and unrecovered patients differed in age, electroneuronography score, stapedial muscle reflex, monocyte rate, platelet count, mean corpuscular volume, and initial Yanagihara score. Pretreatment hematologic findings, which reflect the severity of inflammation and bone marrow dysfunction caused by a virus infection, are useful for predicting the prognosis of facial palsy. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

  13. Effect of thermal pretreatment on the biogas production and microbial communities balance during anaerobic digestion of urban and industrial waste activated sludge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ennouri, Hajer; Miladi, Baligh; Diaz, Soraya Zahedi; Güelfo, Luis Alberto Fernández; Solera, Rosario; Hamdi, Moktar; Bouallagui, Hassib

    2016-08-01

    The effect of thermal pre-treatment on the microbial populations balance and biogas production was studied during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) coming from urban (US: urban sludge) and industrial (IS: industrial sludge) wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The highest biogas yields of 0.42l/gvolatile solid (VS) removed and 0.37l/gVS removed were obtained with urban and industrial sludge pre-treated at 120°C, respectively. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to quantify the major Bacteria and Archaea groups. Compared to control trails without pretreatment, Archaea content increased from 34% to 86% and from 46% to 83% for pretreated IS and US, respectively. In fact, the thermal pre-treatment of WAS enhanced the growth of hydrogen-using methanogens (HUMs), which consume rapidly the H2 generated to allow the acetogenesis. Therefore, the stable and better performance of digesters was observed involving the balance and syntrophic associations between the different microbial populations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Pretreatment Solution for Water Recovery Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muirhead, Dean (Inventor)

    2018-01-01

    Chemical pretreatments are used to produce usable water by treating a water source with a chemical pretreatment that contains a hexavalent chromium and an acid to generate a treated water source, wherein the concentration of sulfate compounds in the acid is negligible, and wherein the treated water source remains substantially free of precipitates after the addition of the chemical pretreatment. Other methods include reducing the pH in urine to be distilled for potable water extraction by pretreating the urine before distillation with a pretreatment solution comprising one or more acid sources selected from a group consisting of phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitric acid, wherein the urine remains substantially precipitate free after the addition of the pretreatment solution. Another method described comprises a process for reducing precipitation in urine to be processed for water extraction by mixing the urine with a pretreatment solution comprising hexavalent chromium compound and phosphoric acid.

  15. Thermal pretreatment of the solid fraction of manure: Impact on the biogas reactor performance and microbial community

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mladenovska, Z; Hartmann, H.; Kvist, T.

    2006-01-01

    Application of thermal treatment at 100-140 degrees C as a pretreatment method prior to anaerobic digestion of a mixture of cattle and swine manure was investigated. In a batch test, biogasification of manure with thermally pretreated solid fraction proceeded faster and resulted in the increase...... of methane yield. The performances of two thermophilic continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR) treating manure with solid fraction pretreated for 40 minutes at 140 degrees C and non-treated manure were compared. The digester fed with the thermally pretreated manure had a higher methane productivity...... and butyrate - was low. The kinetic parameters of the VFA conversion revealed a reduced affinity of the microbial community from the CSTR fed with thermally pre-treated manure for acetate, propionate and butyrate. The bacterial and archaeal populations identified by t-RLFP analysis of 16S rRNA genes were found...

  16. Combination chemotherapy with intermittent erlotinib and pemetrexed for pretreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a phase I dose-finding study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minami, Seigo; Tachibana, Isao; Komuta, Kiyoshi; Kawase, Ichiro; Kijima, Takashi; Takahashi, Ryo; Kida, Hiroshi; Nakatani, Takeshi; Hamaguchi, Masanari; Takeuchi, Yoshiko; Nagatomo, Izumi; Yamamoto, Suguru

    2012-01-01

    Erlotinib and pemetrexed have been approved for the second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These two agents have different mechanisms of action. Combined treatment with erlotinib and pemetrexed could potentially augment the antitumor activity of either agent alone. In the present study, we investigated the safety profile of combined administration of the two agents in pretreated NSCLC patients. A phase I dose-finding study (Trial registration: UMIN000002900) was performed in patients with stage III/IV nonsquamous NSCLC whose disease had progressed on or after receiving first-line chemotherapy. Patients received 500 mg/m 2 of pemetrexed intravenously every 21 days and erlotinib (100 mg at Level 1 and 150 mg at Level 2) orally on days 2–16. Twelve patients, nine males and three females, were recruited. Patient characteristics included a median age of 66 years (range, 48–78 years), stage IV disease (nine cases), adenocarcinoma (seven cases) and activating mutation-positives in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (two cases). Treatment was well-tolerated, and the recommended dose of erlotinib was fixed at 150 mg. Dose-limiting toxicities were experienced in three patients and included: grade 3 elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase, repetitive grade 4 neutropenia that required reduction of the second dose of pemetrexed and grade 3 diarrhea. No patient experienced drug-induced interstitial lung disease. Three patients achieved a partial response and stable disease was maintained in five patients. Combination chemotherapy of intermittent erlotinib with pemetrexed was well-tolerated, with promising efficacy against pretreated advanced nonsquamous NSCLC

  17. Prostate-specific antigen for pretreatment prediction and posttreatment evaluation of outcome after definitive irradiation for prostate cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuban, Deborah A; El-Mahdi, Anas M; Schellhammer, Paul F

    1995-05-15

    Purpose: This study was undertaken to assess the predictive value of pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and the difference between clinical and PSA disease-free status in patients with long-term follow-up after irradiation for prostatic carcinoma. Comparison of the distribution of prognostic factors between surgical and radiation series was also made. Methods and Materials: From 1975-1989, 652 patients with clinical Stage A2-C prostatic adenocarcinoma were definitively irradiated using external beam therapy. One hundred and fifty patients with banked serum and up to 14 years follow-up have pretreatment PSA levels and 355 patients with up to 17 years follow-up have posttreatment values. Treatment failure was analyzed by tumor stage, grade, and four pretreatment PSA categories. Disease-progression was evaluated by clinical and biochemical (PSA) endpoints. Prognostic factors were compared to two surgical series. Results: A significant difference was seen in clinical and PSA disease-free (PSA {<=} 4.0 ng/ml) status based on tumor grade, stage, and pretreatment PSA category. Although the expected clinical outcome has been well-documented previously, results based on posttreatment PSA levels show 5-year disease-free survivals reduced by 10-16% and 10-year survivals lessened by 15-39% depending upon the particular tumor grade and stage. The earlier stage, lower grade tumors showed the largest difference between clinical and biochemical recurrence rates at the longest interval from treatment. Even more notable were the differences in the clinical and PSA disease-free rates based on the pretreatment PSA level. Comparing the irradiated patients to two surgical series showed that the former had a larger percentage of more advanced stage tumors with more unfavorable PSA levels as compared to prostatectomy patients. Conclusion: With long-term follow-up, the pretreatment PSA level continues to be a powerful predictor of clinical and biochemical outcome in patients

  18. Significance of pretreatment cardiovascular morbidity as a risk factor during treatment with parenteral oestrogen or combined androgen deprivation of 915 patients with metastasized prostate cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansson, Robert; Damber, Jan Erik; Hagerman, Inger

    2011-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate prognostic risk factors for cardiovascular events during treatment of metastatic prostate cancer patients with high-dose parenteral polyoestradiol phosphate (PEP, Estradurin®) or combined androgen deprivation (CAD) with special emphasis on pretreatment cardiovascular...

  19. ON THE NECESSITY OF MINOR ORAL SURGERY PRETREATMENT ORTHODONTICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgeta Zegan

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to establish the frequency of some minor oral surgery performed on both teeth and on the soft tissues, before any orthodontic treatment. The sample group included 587 patients (240 boys and 347 girls, divided into 3 categories. The data base was created wtih patient records, the statistical analyses being performed with the SPSS 17.0 software for Windows. The frequency of malocclusions with minor oral surgery pretreatment orthodontics was of 24%, out of which the surgical interventions on teeth represented 85.41% (serial extractions – 21.87%, orthodontic extractions – 41.66%, enucleation of third molars – 18.75%, discovery of impacted teeth – 2.08% and teeth enucleation – 1.04% and the surgical interventions on the soft tissues represented 14.59% (labial frenectomy: 12.60%, lingual frenectomy: 1.04% and discovery of pericoronal tissues: 1.04% The minor oral surgery pretreatment orthodontics upon both teeth and soft tissues are not quite frequent, yet they are necessary for a partial preparation of the patient for orthodontic therapy.

  20. Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) as second-line chemotherapy in HER2-negative, taxane-pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients: prospective evaluation of activity, safety, and quality of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palumbo, Raffaella; Sottotetti, Federico; Trifirò, Giuseppe; Piazza, Elena; Ferzi, Antonella; Gambaro, Anna; Spinapolice, Elena Giulia; Pozzi, Emma; Tagliaferri, Barbara; Teragni, Cristina; Bernardo, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    A prospective, multicenter trial was undertaken to assess the activity, safety, and quality of life of nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) as second-line chemotherapy in HER2-negative, taxane-pretreated metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Fifty-two women with HER2-negative MBC who were candidates for second-line chemotherapy for the metastatic disease were enrolled and treated at three centers in Northern Italy. All patients had previously received taxane-based chemotherapy in the adjuvant or first-line metastatic setting. Single-agent nab-paclitaxel was given at the dose of 260 mg/m(2) as a 30-minute intravenous infusion on day 1 each treatment cycle, which lasted 3 weeks, in the outpatient setting. No steroid or antihistamine premedication was provided. Treatment was stopped for documented disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or patient refusal. All of the enrolled patients were evaluable for the study endpoints. The objective response rate was 48% (95% CI, 31.5%-61.3%) and included complete responses from 13.5%. Disease stabilization was obtained in 19 patients and lasted >6 months in 15 of them; the overall clinical benefit rate was 77%. The median time to response was 70 days (range 52-86 days). The median progression-free survival time was 8.9 months (95% CI, 8.0-11.6 months, range 5-21+ months). The median overall survival point has not yet been reached. Toxicities were expected and manageable with good patient compliance and preserved quality of life in patients given long-term treatment. Our results showed that single-agent nab-paclitaxel 260 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks is an effective and well tolerated regimen as second-line chemotherapy in HER2-negative, taxane-pretreated MBC patients, and that it produced interesting values of objective response rate and progression-free survival without the concern of significant toxicity. Specifically, the present study shows that such a regimen is a valid therapeutic option for that 'difficult to

  1. Low temperature lignocellulose pretreatment: effects and interactions of pretreatment pH are critical for maximizing enzymatic monosaccharide yields from wheat straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads; Johansen, Katja S.; Meyer, Anne S.

    2011-01-01

    Background: The recent development of improved enzymes and pentose-using yeast for cellulosic ethanol processes calls for new attention to the lignocellulose pretreatment step. This study assessed the influence of pretreatment pH, temperature, and time, and their interactions on the enzymatic...... alkaline pretreatments. Alkaline pretreatments also solubilized most of the lignin. Conclusions: Pretreatment pH exerted significant effects and factor interactions on the enzymatic glucose and xylose releases. Quite extreme pH values were necessary with mild thermal pretreatment strategies (T...... glucose and xylose yields from mildly pretreated wheat straw in multivariate experimental designs of acid and alkaline pretreatments. Results: The pretreatment pH was the most significant factor affecting both the enzymatic glucose and xylose yields after mild thermal pretreatments at maximum 140 degrees...

  2. Combination of Pre-Treatment DWI-Signal Intensity and S-1 Treatment: A Predictor of Survival in Patients with Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Sequential S-1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Zhang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To identify whether the combination of pre-treatment radiological and clinical factors can predict the overall survival (OS in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC treated with stereotactic body radiation and sequential S-1 (a prodrug of 5-FU combined with two modulators therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models. METHODS: Patients admitted with LAPC underwent diffusion weighted imaging (DWI scan at 3.0-T (b = 600 s/mm2. The mean signal intensity (SIb = 600 of region-of-interest (ROI was measured. The Log-rank test was done for tumor location, biliary stent, S-1, and other treatments and the Cox regression analysis was done to identify independent prognostic factors for OS. Prediction error curves (PEC were used to assess potential errors in prediction of survival. The accuracy of prediction was evaluated by Integrated Brier Score (IBS and C index. RESULTS: 41 patients were included in this study. The median OS was 11.7 months (2.8-23.23 months. The 1-year OS was 46%. Multivariate analysis showed that pre-treatment SIb = 600 value and administration of S-1 were independent predictors for OS. The performance of pre-treatment SIb = 600 and S-1 treatment in combination was better than that of SIb = 600 or S-1 treatment alone. CONCLUSION: The combination of pre-treatment SIb = 600 and S-1 treatment could predict the OS in patients with LAPC undergoing SBRT and sequential S-1 therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models.

  3. Prevalence of esophageal cancer during the pretreatment of hypopharyngeal cancer patients: Routinely performed esophagogastroduodenoscopy and FDG-PET/CT findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakaminato, Shuichiro; Toriihara, Akira; Makino, Tomoko; Shibuya, Hitoshi [Dept. of Radiology, Tokyo Medical and Dental Univ., Tokyo (Japan)], Email: S.Nakaminato@gmail.com; Kawano, Tatsuyuki [Dept. of Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental Univ., Tokyo (Japan); Kishimoto, Seiji [Dept. of Head and Neck Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental Univ., Tokyo (Japan)

    2012-05-15

    Background. The prevalence of esophageal cancer accompanied by hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC) is high and increasing rapidly in Asia. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the prevalence of esophageal cancer during the pretreatment of HPC patients who were routinely examined using esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) and to discuss the utility of these examinations. Material and methods. Between September 2005 and September 2010, 33 patients with newly diagnosed HPC (all with squamous cell carcinoma) underwent EGD (after a conventional endoscopy, iodine staining was performed) and FDG-PET/CT examinations. We evaluated the prevalence of esophageal cancer among HPC patients according to the EGD findings and determined the sensitivity of FDG-PET/CT for the detection of esophageal primary tumors for each clinical T classification. Results. In 17 of the 33 patients (51.5%), 29 biopsy-proven esophageal squamous cell carcinomas were diagnosed using EGD. In eight of the 17 (47.1%) patients, two or more esophageal cancer lesions were diagnosed. Twenty-four of the 29 (82.8%) lesions were superficial esophageal cancers, and the remaining five (17.2%) lesions were advanced esophageal cancers. In six of the 29 (20.7%) esophageal cancer lesions that were detected using FDG-PET/CT, only one of the 29 (3.4%) lesions was evaluated as being equivocal; the remaining 22 (75.9%) lesions were not detected. The distribution of the clinical T classifications detected using FDG-PET/CT was as follows: T1a, 0/21 (0%); T1b, 1/3 (33%); and T3, 5/5 (100%). Conclusions. The prevalence of esophageal cancer during the pretreatment of HPC patients was 51.5%; this prevalence was higher than that in previous reports. We believe that the increasing proportion of superficial lesions (82.8%) detected using iodine staining and EGD may have led to the relatively high prevalence. FDG-PET/CT detected only 20.7% of the esophageal cancers

  4. Impact of Pretreatment Body Mass Index on Patients With Head-and-Neck Cancer Treated With Radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pai, Ping-Ching; Chuang, Chi-Cheng; Tseng, Chen-Kan; Tsang, Ngan-Ming; Chang, Kai-Ping; Yen, Tzu-Chen; Liao, Chun-Ta; Hong, Ji-Hong; Chang, Joseph Tung-Chieh

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the association of pretreatment body mass index (preT BMI) with outcomes of head-and-neck cancer in patients treated with radiotherapy (RT). Methods and Materials: All 1,562 patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer and treated with curative-intent RT to a dose of 60 Gy or higher were retrospectively studied. Body weight was measured both at entry and at the end of RT. Cancer-specific survival (CSS), overall survival (OS), locoregional control (LRC), and distant metastasis (DM) were analyzed by preT BMI ( 2 vs. ≥25 kg/m 2 ). The median follow-up was 8.6 years. Results: Patients with lower preT BMI were statistically significantly associated with poorer CSS and OS than those with higher preT BMI. There was no significant difference between preT BMI groups in terms of LRC and DM. Body weight loss (BWL) during radiation did not influence survival outcomes. However, in the group with higher preT BMI, CSS, OS, and DM-free survival of patients with less BWL during radiation were statistically longer when compared with greater BWL. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that higher preT BMI positively influenced survival outcomes for patients with head-and-neck cancer. Patients with higher preT BMI who were able to maintain their weight during radiation had significantly better survival than patients with greater BWL.

  5. Drivers of microbial community composition in mesophilic and thermophilic temperature-phased anaerobic digestion pre-treatment reactors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pervin, Hasina M; Dennis, Paul G; Lim, Hui J; Tyson, Gene W; Batstone, Damien J; Bond, Philip L

    2013-12-01

    Temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) is an emerging technology that facilitates improved performance and pathogen destruction in anaerobic sewage sludge digestion by optimising conditions for 1) hydrolytic and acidogenic organisms in a first-stage/pre-treatment reactor and then 2) methogenic populations in a second stage reactor. Pre-treatment reactors are typically operated at 55-65 °C and as such select for thermophilic bacterial communities. However, details of key microbial populations in hydrolytic communities and links to functionality are very limited. In this study, experimental thermophilic pre-treatment (TP) and control mesophilic pre-treatment (MP) reactors were operated as first-stages of TPAD systems treating activated sludge for 340 days. The TP system was operated sequentially at 50, 60 and 65 °C, while the MP rector was held at 35 °C for the entire period. The composition of microbial communities associated with the MP and TP pre-treatment reactors was characterised weekly using terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) supported by clone library sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The outcomes of this approach were confirmed using 454 pyrosequencing of gene amplicons and fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH). TP associated bacterial communities were dominated by populations affiliated to the Firmicutes, Thermotogae, Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi. In particular there was a progression from Thermotogae to Lutispora and Coprothermobacter and diversity decreased as temperature and hydrolysis performance increased. While change in the composition of TP associated bacterial communities was attributable to temperature, that of MP associated bacterial communities was related to the composition of the incoming feed. This study determined processes driving the dynamics of key microbial populations that are correlated with an enhanced hydrolytic functionality of the TPAD system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  6. Second-line chemotherapy with dacarbazine and fotemustine in nitrosourea-pretreated patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fazeny-Dörner, Barbara; Veitl, Mario; Wenzel, Catharina; Piribauer, Maria; Rössler, Karl; Dieckmann, Karin; Ungersböck, Karl; Marosi, Christine

    2003-07-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and toxicity of a combination of dacarbazine (D) and fotemustine (F) administered to a homogenous group of patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Thirty-one patients with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scan evidence of recurrent or progressive GBM after first-line chemotherapy with nitrosoureas as well as radiation therapy were given a combination of D (200 mg/m2) and F (100 mg/m2). At 30 min after termination of D administration, F was given over 60 min. Treatment was performed in an outpatient setting every 21 days. A total of 140 cycles (range 1-12 cycles; median 4 cycles) was administered. One partial response (3%) lasting for 11 weeks was observed. Sixteen (52%) patients reached stable disease lasting between 7 and 94 weeks. Median survival from start of the D/F combination was 45 (range 10-150) weeks. Median time to progression was 17 (3-101) weeks for all patients. Major toxicity was myelosuppression resulting in exclusion from study in seven (23%) patients [due to thrombocytopenia common toxicity criteria (CTC) grade 2 persisting longer than 3 weeks in three patients, due to thrombocytopenia CTC grade >/=3 in three and due to leukopenia CTC grade 3 in one patient]. No other toxicity than alopecia occurred. We conclude that the D/F combination is a well-tolerated second-line regimen and can be administered in a complete outpatient setting. D/F shows efficacy even in nitrosourea-pretreated patients and justifies further investigation.

  7. GREET Pretreatment Module

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adom, Felix K. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Dunn, Jennifer B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division

    2014-09-01

    A wide range of biofuels and biochemicals can be produced from cellulosic biomass via different pretreatment technologies that yield sugars. Process simulations of dilute acid and ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment processes and subsequent hydrolysis were developed in Aspen Plus for four lignocellulosic feedstocks (corn stover, miscanthus, switchgrass, and poplar). This processing yields sugars that can be subsequently converted to biofuels or biochemical. Material and energy consumption data from Aspen Plus were then compiled in a new Greenhouses Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREETTM) pretreatment module. The module estimates the cradle-to-gate fossil energy consumption (FEC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with producing fermentable sugars. This report documents the data and methodology used to develop this module and the cradle-to-gate FEC and GHG emissions that result from producing fermentable sugars.

  8. Processes for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass: A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McMillan, J.D.

    1992-11-01

    This paper reviews existing and proposed pretreatment processes for biomass. The focus is on the mechanisms by which the various pretreatments act and the influence of biomass structure and composition on the efficacy of particular pretreatment techniques. This analysis is used to identify pretreatment technologies and issues that warrant further research.

  9. Prognostic value of the pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in cervical cancer: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jiayuan; Chen, Manyu; Liang, Caixia; Su, Wenmei

    2017-02-21

    The prognostic value of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in cervical cancer remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis based on the data from 13 studies with 3729 patients to evaluate the association between the pretreatment NLR and the clinical outcomes of overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with cervical cancer. The relationship between NLR and clinicopathological parameters was also assessed. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as the effect size estimate. Our analysis indicated that elevated pretreatment NLR was a poor prognostic marker for patients with cervical cancer because it predicted unfavorable overall survival (HR = 1.375, 95% CI: 1.200-1.576) and progression-free survival (HR = 1.646, 95% CI: 1.313-2.065). Increased NLR is also significantly associated with the larger tumor size (OR = 1.780, 95% CI: 1.090-2.908), advanced clinical stage (OR = 2.443, 95% CI: 1.730-3.451), and positive lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.380, 95% CI: 1.775-3.190). By these results, high pretreatment NLR predicted a shorter survival period for patients with cervical cancer, and it could be served as a novel index of prognostic evaluation in patients with cervical cancer.

  10. Influence of surgical or propylthiouracil pretreatment on the efficacy of iodine-131 therapy in hyperthyroidism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Genming; Xu Qin; Yang Yili; Ye Anfang; Zhu Chengyi

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the influence of surgical or propylthiouracil(PTU) pretreatment on the efficacy of radioactive iodine therapy in hyperthyroidism. Methods: A group (group 1) of 41 hyperthyroidism patients relapsed after surgery were treated with 131 I in our department from 2003 through 2004. During that period, another group (group 2) of 41 cases were selected randomly from patients untreated either surgically or chemically before oral administration of 131 I, and a third group (group 3) of 41 cases were selected randomly from those pretreated only with PTU. We analysed the results of these three groups of patients after followed-up for 3 and 6 months separately after 131 I therapy. Results: Approximately 90.24% (37/41 cases) and 92.68% (38/ 41 cases) of patients in group 2 without any pretreatment were cured 3 months and 6 months after 131 I treatment, respectively, and 9.76% (4/41 cases) and 7.32% (3/41 cases) of them did not respond to 131 I treatment. About 43.90% (18/41 cases) and 53.66 % (22/41 cases) of patients pretreated with PTU (group 3) were cured at 3 and 6 months, respectively, and approximately 56.10% (23/41 cases) and 46.34% (19/41 cases) of this group patients did not respond to 131 I treatment at 3 and 6 months, respectively (P 131 I treatment, respectively, and 31.71% (13/41) and 29.27% (12/ 41) of them did not respond to 131 I treatment (P 131 I treatment can affect the efficacy of 131 I therapy, resulting in reduction of the cure rate. (authors)

  11. Changes from 1992 to 2002 in the pretreatment delay for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of larynx or pharynx: a Danish nationwide survey from DAHANCA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Primdahl, Hanne; Nielsen, Anni Linnet; Larsen, Susanne

    2006-01-01

    In Denmark, a general impression of prolonged pretreatment delay for patients with head and neck cancer led to a nationwide study of time spans from symptom debut over first health care contact to start of treatment. Charts of consecutive new patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the pharynx...... and larynx, seen at the five Danish oncology centers in January-April 1992 and 2002, respectively, were reviewed. Of the 288 patients identified, definitive treatment was radiotherapy in 264 cases, surgery in one case. Twenty-three patients had neither surgery nor radiotherapy. Total time from first health...

  12. Pretreatment Serum Cystatin C Levels Predict Renal Function, but Not Tumor Characteristics, in Patients with Prostate Neoplasia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feilong Yang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available To evaluate the role of Cystatin C (Cys-C in tumorigenesis and progression of prostate cancer (PCa, we retrospectively collected the clinical information from the records of 492 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, 48 prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN, and 173 PCa patients, whose disease was newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed. Pretreatment serum Cys-C levels were compared across the various groups and then analyzed to identify relationships, if any, with clinical and pathological characteristics of the PCa patient group. There were no significant differences in serum Cys-C levels among the three groups (P > 0.05. In PCa patients with normal SCr levels, patient age was correlated with serum Cys-C level (P ≤ 0.001 but did not correlate with alkaline phosphatase (AKP, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, prostate specific antigen (PSA, Gleason score, or bone metastasis status (P > 0.05. Age and SCr contributed in part to the variations in serum Cys-C levels of PCa patients (r = 0.356, P ≤ 0.001; r = 0.520, P ≤ 0.001. In conclusion, serum Cys-C levels predict renal function in patients with prostate neoplasia, but were not a biomarker for the development of prostate neoplasia, and were not correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics of PCa.

  13. Pretreatment techniques for biofuels and biorefineries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fang, Zhen (ed.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, YN (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botonical Garden

    2013-02-01

    The first book focused on pretreatment techniques for biofuels contributed by the world's leading experts. Extensively covers the different types of biomass, various pretreatment approaches and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals. In addition to traditional pretreatment methods, novel techniques are also introduced and discussed. An accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries. This book includes 19 chapters contributed by the world's leading experts on pretreatment methods for biomass. It extensively covers the different types of biomass (e.g. molasses, sugar beet pulp, cheese whey, sugarcane residues, palm waste, vegetable oil, straws, stalks and wood), various pretreatment approaches (e.g. physical, thermal, chemical, physicochemical and biological) and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals such as sugars, ethanol, extracellular polysaccharides, biodiesel, gas and oil. In addition to traditional methods such as steam, hot-water, hydrothermal, diluted-acid, organosolv, ozonolysis, sulfite, milling, fungal and bacterial, microwave, ultrasonic, plasma, torrefaction, pelletization, gasification (including biogas) and liquefaction pretreatments, it also introduces and discusses novel techniques such as nano and solid catalysts, organic electrolyte solutions and ionic liquids. This book offers a review of state-of-the-art research and provides guidance for the future paths of developing pretreatment techniques of biomass for biofuels, especially in the fields of biotechnology, microbiology, chemistry, materials science and engineering. It intends to provide a systematic introduction of pretreatment techniques. It is an accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries.

  14. Spatially resolved regression analysis of pre-treatment FDG, FLT and Cu-ATSM PET from post-treatment FDG PET: an exploratory study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowen, Stephen R; Chappell, Richard J; Bentzen, Søren M; Deveau, Michael A; Forrest, Lisa J; Jeraj, Robert

    2012-01-01

    Purpose To quantify associations between pre-radiotherapy and post-radiotherapy PET parameters via spatially resolved regression. Materials and methods Ten canine sinonasal cancer patients underwent PET/CT scans of [18F]FDG (FDGpre), [18F]FLT (FLTpre), and [61Cu]Cu-ATSM (Cu-ATSMpre). Following radiotherapy regimens of 50 Gy in 10 fractions, veterinary patients underwent FDG PET/CT scans at three months (FDGpost). Regression of standardized uptake values in baseline FDGpre, FLTpre and Cu-ATSMpre tumour voxels to those in FDGpost images was performed for linear, log-linear, generalized-linear and mixed-fit linear models. Goodness-of-fit in regression coefficients was assessed by R2. Hypothesis testing of coefficients over the patient population was performed. Results Multivariate linear model fits of FDGpre to FDGpost were significantly positive over the population (FDGpost~0.17 FDGpre, p=0.03), and classified slopes of RECIST non-responders and responders to be different (0.37 vs. 0.07, p=0.01). Generalized-linear model fits related FDGpre to FDGpost by a linear power law (FDGpost~FDGpre0.93, pregression analysis indicates that pre-treatment FDG PET uptake is most strongly associated with three-month post-treatment FDG PET uptake in this patient population, though associations are histopathology-dependent. PMID:22682748

  15. Association between pretreatment Glasgow prognostic score and gastric cancer survival and clinicopathological features: a meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang CX

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Chun-Xiao Zhang,* Shu-Yi Wang,* Shuang-Qian Chen, Shuai-Long Yang, Lu Wan, Bin Xiong Department of Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Biological Behaviors and Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Glasgow prognostic score (GPS is widely known as a systemic inflammatory-based marker. The relationship between pretreatment GPS and gastric cancer (GC survival and clinicopathological features remains controversial. The aim of the study was to conduct a meta-analysis of published studies to evaluate the association between pretreatment GPS and survival and clinicopathological features in GC patients. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, and BioMed databases for relevant studies. Combined analyses were used to assess the association between pretreatment GPS and overall survival, disease-free survival, and clinicopathological parameters by Stata Version 12.0. Results: A total of 14 studies were included in this meta-analysis, including 5,579 GC patients. The results indicated that pretreatment high GPS (HGPS predicted poor overall survival (hazard ratio =1.51, 95% CI: 1.37–1.66, P<0.01 and disease-free survival (hazard ratio =1.45, 95% CI: 1.26–1.68, P<0.01 in GC patients. Pretreatment HGPS was also significantly associated with advanced tumor–node–metastasis stage (odds ratio [OR] =3.09, 95% CI: 2.11–4.53, P<0.01, lymph node metastasis (OR =4.60, 95% CI: 3.23–6.56, P<0.01, lymphatic invasion (OR =3.04, 95% CI: 2.00–4.62, P<0.01, and venous invasion (OR =3.56, 95% CI: 1.81–6.99, P<0.01. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis indicated that pretreatment HGPS could be a predicative factor of poor survival outcome and clinicopathological features for GC patients. Keywords: Glasgow prognostic score, gastric cancer, survival, clinicopathological feature

  16. The effect of levocabastine and furosemide pretreatment on hyperreactive response after nasal provocation with hypotonic aerosol in subjects with allergic rhinitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anzic, Srdjan Ante; Dzepina, Davor; Kalogjera, Livije

    2007-11-01

    Patients with allergic rhinitis demonstrate hyperreactive response in distilled water nasal provocation, shown by significant increase in nasal airway resistance (NAR). Antihistamines, including topical antihistamine, levocabastine, reduce response in non-specific nasal provocation tests. Furosemide is a diuretic which reduces hyperreactivity in lower airways, but the mode of its action is not yet fully understood. In this study, we hypothesized that either levocabastine or furosemide pre-treatment in allergic rhinitis patients reduced response to nasal challenge with non-isotonic aerosol. To test the hypothesis, we measured the effect of pre-treatment with levocabastine and furosemide in topical application on suppression of hyperreactive response to distilled water nasal inhalation. Nasal resistance was measured, prior to and after the provocation, by active anterior rhinomanometry in two randomized groups of patients, according to pre-treatment, either by levocabastine or furosemide, 20 patients in each group, respectively. Nasal airflow resistance and level of hyperreactive response considering nasal eosinophilia were tested. Significant increase in nasal resistance following provocation was found at baseline conditions (without pre-medication); pre-treatment with levocabastine and furosemide has suppressed such response. Patients with positive nasal eosinophilia showed a significantly higher increase in nasal resistance compared to those with negative smears. Furosemide has shown significantly better protective effect on nasal resistance increase in patients with positive eosinophils nasal smears. Levocabastine and furosemide pre-treatment suppress hyperreactive response to distilled water nasal provocation. Comparison of resistances (pre-treatment vs. without) showed more protective effect of furosemide, measured on both better and worse patent side of nose, in contrast to levocabastine group for which it was shown only on better patent side prior to

  17. Prediction of lung density changes after radiotherapy by cone beam computed tomography response markers and pre-treatment factors for non-small cell lung cancer patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernchou, Uffe; Hansen, Olfred; Schytte, Tine; Bertelsen, Anders; Hope, Andrew; Moseley, Douglas; Brink, Carsten

    2015-10-01

    This study investigates the ability of pre-treatment factors and response markers extracted from standard cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to predict the lung density changes induced by radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Density changes in follow-up computed tomography scans were evaluated for 135 NSCLC patients treated with radiotherapy. Early response markers were obtained by analysing changes in lung density in CBCT images acquired during the treatment course. The ability of pre-treatment factors and CBCT markers to predict lung density changes induced by radiotherapy was investigated. Age and CBCT markers extracted at 10th, 20th, and 30th treatment fraction significantly predicted lung density changes in a multivariable analysis, and a set of response models based on these parameters were established. The correlation coefficient for the models was 0.35, 0.35, and 0.39, when based on the markers obtained at the 10th, 20th, and 30th fraction, respectively. The study indicates that younger patients without lung tissue reactions early into their treatment course may have minimal radiation induced lung density increase at follow-up. Further investigations are needed to examine the ability of the models to identify patients with low risk of symptomatic toxicity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Antisense pre-treatment increases gene therapy efficacy in dystrophic muscles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peccate, Cécile; Mollard, Amédée; Le Hir, Maëva; Julien, Laura; McClorey, Graham; Jarmin, Susan; Le Heron, Anita; Dickson, George; Benkhelifa-Ziyyat, Sofia; Piétri-Rouxel, France; Wood, Matthew J; Voit, Thomas; Lorain, Stéphanie

    2016-08-15

    In preclinical models for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, dystrophin restoration during adeno-associated virus (AAV)-U7-mediated exon-skipping therapy was shown to decrease drastically after six months in treated muscles. This decline in efficacy is strongly correlated with the loss of the therapeutic AAV genomes, probably due to alterations of the dystrophic myofiber membranes. To improve the membrane integrity of the dystrophic myofibers at the time of AAV-U7 injection, mdx muscles were pre-treated with a single dose of the peptide-phosphorodiamidate morpholino (PPMO) antisense oligonucleotides that induced temporary dystrophin expression at the sarcolemma. The PPMO pre-treatment allowed efficient maintenance of AAV genomes in mdx muscles and enhanced the AAV-U7 therapy effect with a ten-fold increase of the protein level after 6 months. PPMO pre-treatment was also beneficial to AAV-mediated gene therapy with transfer of micro-dystrophin cDNA into muscles. Therefore, avoiding vector genome loss after AAV injection by PPMO pre-treatment would allow efficient long-term restoration of dystrophin and the use of lower and thus safer vector doses for Duchenne patients. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of biologically pretreated abattoir wastewaters in an upflow anaerobic filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gannoun, H.; Bouallagui, H.; Okbi, A.; Sayadi, S.; Hamdi, M.

    2009-01-01

    The hydrolysis pretreatment of abattoir wastewaters (AW), rich in organic suspended solids (fats and protein) was studied in static and stirred batch reactors without aeration in the presence of natural microbial population acclimated in a storage tank of AW. Microbial analysis showed that the major populations which contribute to the pretreatment of AW belong to the genera Bacillus. Contrary to the static pretreatment, the stirred conditions favoured the hydrolysis and solubilization of 80% of suspended matter into soluble pollution. The pretreated AW, in continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 days, was fed to an upflow anaerobic filter (UAF) at an HRT of 2 days. The performance of anaerobic digestion of biologically pretreated AW was examined under mesophilic (37 deg. C) and thermophilic (55 deg. C) conditions. The shifting from a mesophilic to a thermophilic environment in the UAF was carried out with a short start-up of thermophilic condition. The UAF ran at organic loading rates (OLRs) ranging from 0.9 to 6 g COD/L d in mesophilic conditions and at OLRs from 0.9 to 9 g COD/L d in thermophilic conditions. COD removal efficiencies of 80-90% were achieved for OLRs up to 4.5 g COD/L d in mesophilic conditions, while the highest OLRs i.e. 9 g COD/L d led to efficiencies of 70-72% in thermophilic conditions. The biogas yield in thermophilic conditions was about 0.32-0.45 L biogas/g of COD removed for OLRs up to 4.5 g COD/L d. For similar OLR, the UAF in mesophilic conditions showed lower percentage of methanization. Mesophilic anaerobic digestion has been shown to destroy pathogens partially, whereas the thermophilic process was more efficient in the removal of indicator microorganisms and pathogenic bacteria at different organic loading rates.

  20. Diffusion-weighted imaging for pretreatment evaluation and prediction of treatment effect in patients undergoing CT-guided injection for lumbar disc herniation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niu, Xiang Ke [Dept. of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu (China); Bhetuwal, Anup; Yang, Han Feng [Schuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging and Dept. of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong (China)

    2015-08-15

    To determine whether a change in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value could predict early response to CT-guided Oxygen-Ozone (O{sub 2}-O{sub 3}) injection therapy in patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy due to lumbar disc herniation. A total of 52 patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy received a single intradiscal (3 mL) and periganglionic (5 mL) injection of an O{sub 2}-O{sub 3} mixture. An ADC index of the involved side to the intact side was calculated using the following formula: pre-treatment ADC index = ([ADC involved side - ADC intact side] / ADC intact side) x 100. We analyzed the relationship between the pre-treatment Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the ADC index. In addition, the correlation between ODI recovery ratio and ADC index was investigated. The sensitivity and specificity of the ADC index for predicting response in O{sub 2}-O{sub 3} therapy was determined. Oswestry Disability Index and the ADC index was not significantly correlated (r = -0.125, p = 0.093). The ADC index and ODI recovery ratio was significantly correlated (r = 0.819, p < 0.001). When using 7.10 as the cut-off value, the ADC index obtained a sensitivity of 86.3% and a specificity of 82.9% for predicting successful response to therapy around the first month of follow-up. This preliminary study demonstrates that the patients with decreased ADC index tend to show poor improvement of clinical symptoms. The ADC index may be a useful indicator to predict early response to CT-guided O{sub 2}-O{sub 3} injection therapy in patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy due to lumbar disc herniation.

  1. Diffusion-weighted imaging for pretreatment evaluation and prediction of treatment effect in patients undergoing CT-guided injection for lumbar disc herniation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niu, Xiang Ke; Bhetuwal, Anup; Yang, Han Feng

    2015-01-01

    To determine whether a change in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value could predict early response to CT-guided Oxygen-Ozone (O 2 -O 3 ) injection therapy in patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy due to lumbar disc herniation. A total of 52 patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy received a single intradiscal (3 mL) and periganglionic (5 mL) injection of an O 2 -O 3 mixture. An ADC index of the involved side to the intact side was calculated using the following formula: pre-treatment ADC index = ([ADC involved side - ADC intact side] / ADC intact side) x 100. We analyzed the relationship between the pre-treatment Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the ADC index. In addition, the correlation between ODI recovery ratio and ADC index was investigated. The sensitivity and specificity of the ADC index for predicting response in O 2 -O 3 therapy was determined. Oswestry Disability Index and the ADC index was not significantly correlated (r = -0.125, p = 0.093). The ADC index and ODI recovery ratio was significantly correlated (r = 0.819, p < 0.001). When using 7.10 as the cut-off value, the ADC index obtained a sensitivity of 86.3% and a specificity of 82.9% for predicting successful response to therapy around the first month of follow-up. This preliminary study demonstrates that the patients with decreased ADC index tend to show poor improvement of clinical symptoms. The ADC index may be a useful indicator to predict early response to CT-guided O 2 -O 3 injection therapy in patients with unilateral mono-radiculopathy due to lumbar disc herniation

  2. Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment-severity equation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne R; Knudsen, Niels Ole; Schjoerring, Jan K; Meyer, Anne S

    2014-01-01

    Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature, and treatment time), and to assess whether it is possible to model mineral levels in the pretreated fiber fraction. Principal component analysis of the wheat straw biomass constituents, including mineral elements, showed that the recovered levels of wheat straw constituents after different hydrothermal pretreatments could be divided into two groups: 1) Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium correlated with xylose and arabinose (that is, hemicellulose), and levels of these constituents present in the fiber fraction after pretreatment varied depending on the pretreatment-severity; and 2) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due to pretreatment pH, was developed. Using this equation, the mineral levels could be predicted with R(2) > 0.75; for some with R(2) up to 0.96. Pretreatment conditions, especially pH, significantly influenced the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium in the resulting fiber fractions. A new expanded pretreatment-severity equation is proposed to model and predict mineral composition in pretreated wheat straw biomass.

  3. Innovative pretreatment strategies for biogas production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patinvoh, Regina J; Osadolor, Osagie A; Chandolias, Konstantinos; Sárvári Horváth, Ilona; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J

    2017-01-01

    Biogas or biomethane is traditionally produced via anaerobic digestion, or recently by thermochemical or a combination of thermochemical and biological processes via syngas (CO and H 2 ) fermentation. However, many of the feedstocks have recalcitrant structure and are difficult to digest (e.g., lignocelluloses or keratins), or they have toxic compounds (such as fruit flavors or high ammonia content), or not digestible at all (e.g., plastics). To overcome these challenges, innovative strategies for enhanced and economically favorable biogas production were proposed in this review. The strategies considered are commonly known physical pretreatment, rapid decompression, autohydrolysis, acid- or alkali pretreatments, solvents (e.g. for lignin or cellulose) pretreatments or leaching, supercritical, oxidative or biological pretreatments, as well as combined gasification and fermentation, integrated biogas production and pretreatment, innovative biogas digester design, co-digestion, and bio-augmentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Sensitizing Effects of Pretreatment Measures on Cancer Chemotherapy Nausea and Vomiting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gard, Diane; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Explored sensitizing effects of pretreatment assessment on posttreatment chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and interactive effects of personal dispositions for information seeking. Oncology patients rated side effects experienced previously (experimental condition), or parking conditions (control). Posttreatment, nausea of experimentals was…

  5. Investigation of the impacts of thermal pretreatment on waste activated sludge and development of a pretreatment model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, Gillian; Parker, Wayne

    2013-09-15

    This study investigated the impacts of high pressure thermal hydrolysis (HPTH) pretreatment on the distribution of chemical oxygen demand (COD) species in waste activated sludge (WAS). In the first phase of the project, WAS from a synthetically-fed biological reactor (BR) was fed to an aerobic digester (AD). In the second phase, WAS from the BR was pretreated by HPTH at 150 °C and 3 bars for 30 min prior to being fed to the AD. A range of physical, biochemical and biological properties were regularly measured in each process stream in both phases. The COD of the BR WAS consisted of storage products (XSTO), active heterotrophs (XH) and endogenous decay products (XE). Pretreatment did not increase the extent to which the BR WAS was aerobically digested and hence it was concluded that the unbiodegradable COD fraction, i.e. XE, was unchanged by pretreatment. However, pretreatment did increase the rate of degradation as it converted 36% of XH to readily biodegradable COD (SB) and the remaining XH to slowly biodegradable COD (XB). Furthermore, XSTO was fully converted to SB by pretreatment. Although pretreatment did not change the VSS concentration in the downstream aerobic digester, it did decrease the ISS concentration by 46 ± 11%. This reduced the total mass of solids produced by the digester by 21 ± 8%. A COD-based HPTH pretreatment model was developed and calibrated. When this model was integrated into BioWin 3.1(®), it was able to accurately simulate both the steady state performance of the overall system employed in this study as well as dynamic respirometry results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Chemoradiation of unresectable pancreatic carcinoma: impact of pretreatment hemoglobin level on patterns of failure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morganti, A.G.; Macchia, G. [Dept. of Radiation Therapy, Univ. Cattolica del S. Cuore, Campobasso (Italy); Forni, F. [Dept. of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Policlinico A. Gemelli, Univ. Cattolica del S. Cuore, Rome (Italy); Valentini, V.; Smaniotto, D.; Trodella, L.; Balducci, M.; Cellini, N. [Dept. of Radiation Therapy, Policlinico A. Gemelli, Univ. Cattolica del S. Cuore, Rome (Italy)

    2003-02-01

    Aim: To evaluate, in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma undergoing concomitant chemoradiation, the impact of pretreatment hemoglobin (Hb) concentration on the outcome in terms of clinical response, local control, metastasis-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival. Patients and Methods: 30 patients undergoing concomitant chemoradiation (5-fluorouracil [5-FU], 1,000 mg/m{sup 2}/day, continuous i.v. infusion days 1-4 of radiotherapy) and external beam radiotherapy (50.4-59.4 Gy) were divided into two groups based on pretreatment median Hb value (11.5 g/dl). The potential prognostic factors examined besides Hb concentration were: tumor site (head vs body-tail), sex (female vs male), cN (cN0 vs cN1), dose of external beam radiotherapy (50.4 Gy vs 59.4 Gy), presence of jaundice at diagnosis (yes vs no), weight loss at diagnosis ({>=} 5 kg vs < 5 kg), epigastric-lumbar pain at diagnosis (yes vs no), maximum tumor diameter (< 40 mm vs {>=} 40 mm). Results: Pretreatment Hb ranged between 9.6 and 15.0 g/dl. No statistically significant differences were observed as for clinical response and local control between patients with an Hb {<=} 11.5 g/dl and those with an Hb > 11.5 g/dl. Metastasis-free survival was 5.1 months in patients with an Hb {<=} 11.5 g/dl and 10.7 months in patients with an Hb > 11.5 g/dl (p = 0.010). Median actuarial disease-free survival was 5.1 and 10.2 months in patients with an Hb {<=} 11.5 and > 11.5 g/dl, respectively (p = 0.026). Median actuarial overall survival was 7.5 and 10.3 months in patients with an Hb {<=} 11.5 and > 11.5 g/dl, respectively (p = 0.039). On multivariate analysis, Hb concentration at diagnosis was the only factor prognostically correlated with metastasis-free survival (p = 0.026), disease-free survival (p = 0.032), and overall survival (p = 0.048). Conclusion: In a group of patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma treated with chemoradiation, a significant correlation was observed

  7. In-hospital mortality after pre-treatment with antiplatelet agents or oral anticoagulants and hematoma evacuation of intracerebral hematomas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Marco; Misselwitz, Björn; Hamann, Gerhard F; Kolodziej, Malgorzata; Reinges, Marcus H T; Uhl, Eberhard

    2016-04-01

    Pre-treatment with antiplatelet agents is described to be a risk factor for mortality after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). However, the impact of antithrombotic agents on mortality in patients who undergo hematoma evacuation compared to conservatively treated patients with ICH remains controversial. This analysis is based on a prospective registry for quality assurance in stroke care in the State of Hesse, Germany. Patients' data were collected between January 2008 and December 2012. Only patients with the diagnosis of spontaneous ICH were included (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision codes I61.0-I61.9). Predictors of in-hospital mortality were determined by univariate analysis. Predictors with Phematoma evacuation (odds ratio [OR]: 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24-4.97; P=0.010) compared to patients without antiplatelet pre-treatment treatment (OR: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.79-1.09; P=0.376). In conclusion a higher rate of in-hospital mortality after pre-treatment with antiplatelet agents in combination with hematoma evacuation after spontaneous ICH was observed in the presented cohort. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Reducing biomass recalcitrance via mild sodium carbonate pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirmohamadsadeghi, Safoora; Chen, Zhu; Wan, Caixia

    2016-06-01

    This study examined the effects of mild sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of different feedstocks (i.e., corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass). The results showed that sodium carbonate pretreatment markedly enhanced the sugar yields of the tested biomass feedstocks. The pretreated corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass gave the glucose yields of 95.1%, 62.3%, and 81.3%, respectively, after enzymatic hydrolysis. The above glucose yields of pretreated feedstocks were 2-4 times that of untreated ones. The pretreatment also enhanced the xylose yields, 4 times for corn stover and 20 times for both Miscanthus and switchgrass. Sodium carbonate pretreatment removed 40-59% lignin from the tested feedstocks while preserving most of cellulose (sodium carbonate pretreatment was effective for reducing biomass recalcitrance and subsequently improving the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. LH Pretreatment as a Novel Strategy for Poor Responders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Pia Ferraretti

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Poor response to ovarian stimulation is still a major problem in IVF. The study presents a new stimulation protocol evaluated in a suppopulation of very difficult young poor ovarian responders. Material and Methods. The study consists in two sections. The first includes data from a randomized controlled study involving forty-three young patients with a poor ovarian response in at least two previous cycles (intended as cycle cancellation or with ≤3 collected oocytes. Patients were randomized in two groups: group A (control received FSH (400 IU/day, while group B received the new stimulation protocol consisting in a sequential association of 150 IU r-LH for 4 days followed by 400 IU r-FSH/after downregulation with daily GnRh agonist. The second includes data from the overall results in 65 patients treated with the new protocol compared to their previous performance with conventional cycles (historical control. Results. Both in the RCT and in the historical control study, LH pretreatment was able to decrease the cancellation rate, to improve the in vitro performance, and to significantly increase the live birth rates. Conclusions. LH pretreatment improved oocyte quantity and quality in young repeated poor responders selected in accordance with the Bologna criteria.

  10. The characteristic changes of betung bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper pretreated by fungal pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Widya Fatriasari

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The fungal pretreatment effect on chemical structural and morphological changes of Betung Bamboo was evaluated based on its biomass components after being cultivated by white rot fungi, Trametes versicolor. Betung bamboo powder (15 g was exposed to liquid inoculum of white rot fungi and incubated at 270C for 15, 30 and 45 days. The treated samples were then characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction and SEM-EDS analyses. Cultivation for 30 days with 5 and 10% loadings retained greater selectivity compared to that of the other treatments. FTIR spectra demonstrated that the fungus affected the decreasing of functional group quantities without changing the functional groups. The decrease in intensity at wave number of 1246 cm-1 (guaiacyl of lignin was greater than that at wave number of 1328 cm-1 (deformation combination of syringyl and xylan after fungal treatment. X-ray analysis showed the pretreated samples had a higher crystallinity than the untreated ones which might be due to the cleavage of amorphous fractions of cellulose. The pretreated samples have more fragile than the untreated ones confirmed by SEM. Crystalline allomorph calculated by XRD analysis showed that fungus pretreatment for 30 days has transformed triclinic structure of cellulose to monoclinic structure.

  11. Factors associated with pretreatment and treatment dropouts: comparisons between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal clients admitted to medical withdrawal management

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Addiction treatment faces high pretreatment and treatment dropout rates, especially among Aboriginals. In this study we examined characteristic differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal clients accessing an inpatient medical withdrawal management program, and identified risk factors associated with the probabilities of pretreatment and treatment dropouts, respectively. Methods 2231 unique clients (Aboriginal = 451; 20%) referred to Vancouver Detox over a two-year period were assessed. For both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups, multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted with pretreatment dropout and treatment dropout as dependent variables, respectively. Results Aboriginal clients had higher pretreatment and treatment dropout rates compared to non-Aboriginal clients (41.0% vs. 32.7% and 25.9% vs. 20.0%, respectively). For Aboriginal people, no fixed address (NFA) was the only predictor of pretreatment dropout. For treatment dropout, significant predictors were: being female, having HCV infection, and being discharged on welfare check issue days or weekends. For non-Aboriginal clients, being male, NFA, alcohol as a preferred substance, and being on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) at referral were associated with pretreatment dropout. Significant risk factors for treatment dropout were: being younger, having a preferred substance other than alcohol, having opiates as a preferred substance, and being discharged on weekends. Conclusions Our results highlight the importance of social factors for the Aboriginal population compared to substance-specific factors for the non-Aboriginal population. These findings should help clinicians and decision-makers to recognize the importance of social supports especially housing and initiate appropriate services to improve treatment intake and subsequent retention, physical and mental health outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of treatment. PMID:24325629

  12. Pretreatment hemoglobin in early stage glottic cancer: red flag or red herring?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tucker, J. Curtis; Hixson, William C.; Kim, Robert Y.; Smith, Judy W.; Mayo, Matthew S.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the impact of pretreatment hemoglobin levels on the recurrence rate of patients with early stage glottic carcinoma treated with definitive radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Between May 1972 and December 1992, one hundred three patients with stage I or II glottic carcinoma were treated with definitive radiotherapy. The records were reviewed and analyzed for the effects of pretreatment hemoglobin and hematocrit, stage, dose per fraction (180 vs 200 cGy), treatment interruptions, and differentiation of the tumor. The majority of stage I patients were treated to a total dose of 64 to 66 Gy, and stage II patients were treated to 68 to 70 Gy. Mean and median follow up were 85 and 75 months, respectively. Results: With mean follow up of 85 months, the recurrence rate for patients with hemoglobin ≤13 g/dL was 33.3%, and patients with hemoglobin >13 g/dL was 20% (p 0.19). For stage I (n = 84), the recurrence rate with hemoglobin ≤13 g/dL and >13 g/dL was 26% and 17%, respectively (p = 0.51). For stage II patients (n = 19) with hemoglobin ≤13 g/dL and >13 g/dL, the recurrence rate was 50% and 36%, respectively (p = 0.66). Using a Fisher's exact test, the only variables showing a statistically significant prognosis for recurrence were treatment interruption and stage. The recurrence rate with a treatment interruption was 40% compared with 15% if there was no interruption (p 0.0039). The recurrence rate for stage I was 19%, and for stage II was 42% (p = 0.067). Other factors showed no significant increase in recurrence; dose per fraction (p = 0.421), grade of differentiation (p = 0.740). Conclusion: While pretreatment hemoglobin levels below 13 g/dL do not significantly affect the recurrence rates for T1N0 and T2N0 glottic carcinomas, treatment interruptions are a significant factor in the failure of these patients

  13. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated soybean straw

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Zhong; Wang Qunhui; Jiang Zhaohua; Yang Xuexin; Ji Yongzhen

    2007-01-01

    In order to produce lactic acid, from agricultural residues such as soybean straw, which is a raw material for biodegradable plastic production, it is necessary to decompose the soybean straw into soluble sugars. Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the methods in common use, while pretreatment is the effective way to increase the hydrolysis rate. The optimal conditions of pretreatment using ammonia and enzymatic hydrolysis of soybean straw were determined. Compared with the untreated straw, cellulose in straw pretreated by ammonia liquor (10%) soaking for 24 h at room temperature increased 70.27%, whereas hemicellulose and lignin in pretreated straw decreased to 41.45% and 30.16%, respectively. The results of infrared spectra (IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis also showed that the structure and the surface of the straw were changed through pretreatment that is in favor of the following enzymatic hydrolysis. maximum enzymatic hydrolysis rate of 51.22% was achieved at a substrate concentration of 5% (w/v) at 50 deg. C and pH 4.8 using cellulase (50 fpu/g of substrate) for 36 h

  14. Replicative phenotyping adds value to genotypic resistance testing in heavily pre-treated HIV-infected individuals - the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martinetti Gladys

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Replicative phenotypic HIV resistance testing (rPRT uses recombinant infectious virus to measure viral replication in the presence of antiretroviral drugs. Due to its high sensitivity of detection of viral minorities and its dissecting power for complex viral resistance patterns and mixed virus populations rPRT might help to improve HIV resistance diagnostics, particularly for patients with multiple drug failures. The aim was to investigate whether the addition of rPRT to genotypic resistance testing (GRT compared to GRT alone is beneficial for obtaining a virological response in heavily pre-treated HIV-infected patients. Methods Patients with resistance tests between 2002 and 2006 were followed within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS. We assessed patients' virological success after their antiretroviral therapy was switched following resistance testing. Multilevel logistic regression models with SHCS centre as a random effect were used to investigate the association between the type of resistance test and virological response (HIV-1 RNA Results Of 1158 individuals with resistance tests 221 with GRT+rPRT and 937 with GRT were eligible for analysis. Overall virological response rates were 85.1% for GRT+rPRT and 81.4% for GRT. In the subgroup of patients with >2 previous failures, the odds ratio (OR for virological response of GRT+rPRT compared to GRT was 1.45 (95% CI 1.00-2.09. Multivariate analyses indicate a significant improvement with GRT+rPRT compared to GRT alone (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.31-2.15. Conclusions In heavily pre-treated patients rPRT-based resistance information adds benefit, contributing to a higher rate of treatment success.

  15. Dosimetric pre-treatment verification of IMRT using an EPID; clinical experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zijtveld, Mathilda van; Dirkx, Maarten L.P.; Boer, Hans C.J. de; Heijmen, Ben J.M.

    2006-01-01

    Background and purpose: In our clinic a QA program for IMRT verification, fully based on dosimetric measurements with electronic portal imaging devices (EPID), has been running for over 3 years. The program includes a pre-treatment dosimetric check of all IMRT fields. During a complete treatment simulation at the linac, a portal dose image (PDI) is acquired with the EPID for each patient field and compared with a predicted PDI. In this paper, the results of this pre-treatment procedure are analysed, and intercepted errors are reported. An automated image analysis procedure is proposed to limit the number of fields that need human intervention in PDI comparison. Materials and methods: Most of our analyses are performed using the γ index with 3% local dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement as reference values. Scalar parameters are derived from the γ values to summarize the agreement between measured and predicted 2D PDIs. Areas with all pixels having γ values larger than one are evaluated, making decisions based on clinically relevant criteria more straightforward. Results: In 270 patients, the pre-treatment checks revealed four clinically relevant errors. Calculation of statistics for a group of 75 patients showed that the patient-averaged mean γ value inside the field was 0.43 ± 0.13 (1 SD) and only 6.1 ± 6.8% of pixels had a γ value larger than one. With the proposed automated image analysis scheme, visual inspection of images can be avoided in 2/3 of the cases. Conclusion: EPIDs may be used for high accuracy and high resolution routine verification of IMRT fields to intercept clinically relevant dosimetric errors prior to the start of treatment. For the majority of fields, PDI comparison can fully rely on an automated procedure, avoiding excessive workload

  16. The effect of wastewater pretreatment on nanofiltration membrane performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Hashlamon

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Membrane fouling is considered a serious obstacle for operation and cost efficiency in wastewater treatment using nanofiltration (NF. However, pretreatment is the most practical way to reduce this prior to NF. In this research, two types of wastewaters were pretreated with different methods prior to NF to examine the effect of pretreatment on membrane fouling in terms of turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD and permeate flux. Turbidity and COD were measured to assess solid foulants and organic species in the wastewater, respectively. The first sample was secondary treated sewage, which was pretreated using coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation (CFS only. Steady flux was increased from 24 L/m2h for wastewater without pretreatment to 32.1 L/m2h with pretreatment. COD was also eliminated after CFS/NF, and turbidity was reduced to 0.6 NTU. The second sample was diluted biodiesel wastewater, which was pretreated using a combination of powdered-activated carbon (PAC adsorption and CFS (PAC/CFS. Steady flux was increased from 22.3 L/m2h for wastewater without pretreatment to 28.7 L/m2h with pretreatment; biodiesel wastewater quality also improved. Turbidity was reduced from 12 to 0.6 NTU, and COD was reduced from 526 to 4 mg/L after NF with PAC/CFS pretreatment, while COD was reduced from 526 to 95 mg/L using NF without pretreatment.

  17. Microbial Lipid Production from Enzymatic Hydrolysate of Pecan Nutshell Pretreated by Combined Pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Lizhen; Qian, Hanyu; He, Yucai

    2017-12-01

    Biodiesel is a fuel composed of monoalkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids derived from renewable biomass sources. In this study, biomass waste pecan nutshell (PS) was attempted to be converted into microbial oil. For effective utilization of PS, sequential pretreatment with ethylene glycol-H 2 SO 4 -water (78:2:20, wt:wt:wt) at 130 °C for 30 min and aqueous ammonia (25 wt%) at 50 °C for 24 h was used to enhance its enzymatic saccharification. Significant linear correlation was obtained about delignification-saccharification (R 2  = 0.9507). SEM and FTIR results indicated that combination pretreatment could effectively remove lignin and xylan in PS for promoting its enzymatic saccharification. After 72 h, the reducing sugars from the hydrolysis of 50 g/L pretreated PS by combination pretreatment could be obtained at 73.6% yield. Using the recovered PS hydrolysates containing 20 g/L glucose as carbon source, microbial lipids produced from the PS hydrolysates by Rhodococcus opacus ACCC41043. Four fatty acids including palmitic acid (C16:0; 23.1%), palmitoleic acid (C16:1; 22.4%), stearic acid (C18:0; 15.3%), and oleic acid (C18:1; 23.9%) were distributed in total fatty acids. In conclusion, this strategy has potential application in the future.

  18. Biomass Deconstruction and Pretreatment | Bioenergy | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deconstruction and Pretreatment Biomass Deconstruction and Pretreatment Our mission is to transform -cyclohexane hydrocarbons were produced by noble metal and acid zeoloite catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived by mechanical refining process. The left side shows biomass feedstock (represented by brown spheres

  19. The population genetics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from different patient populations exhibits high-level host specificity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa van Mansfeld

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine whether highly prevalent P. aeruginosa sequence types (ST in Dutch cystic fibrosis (CF patients are specifically linked to CF patients we investigated the population structure of P. aeruginosa from different clinical backgrounds. We first selected the optimal genotyping method by comparing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE, multilocus sequence typing (MLST and multilocus variable number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA. METHODS: Selected P. aeruginosa isolates (n = 60 were genotyped with PFGE, MLST and MLVA to determine the diversity index (DI and congruence (adjusted Rand and Wallace coefficients. Subsequently, isolates from patients admitted to two different ICUs (n = 205, from CF patients (n = 100 and from non-ICU, non-CF patients (n = 58, of which 19 were community acquired were genotyped with MLVA to determine distribution of genotypes and genetic diversity. RESULTS: Congruence between the typing methods was >79% and DIs were similar and all >0.963. Based on costs, ease, speed and possibilities to compare results between labs an adapted MLVA scheme called MLVA9-Utrecht was selected as the preferred typing method. In 363 clinical isolates 252 different MLVA types (MTs were identified, indicating a highly diverse population (DI  = 0.995; CI  = 0.993-0.997. DI levels were similarly high in the diverse clinical sources (all >0.981 and only eight genotypes were shared. MTs were highly specific (>80% for the different patient populations, even for similar patient groups (ICU patients in two distinct geographic regions, with only three of 142 ICU genotypes detected in both ICUs. The two major CF clones were unique to CF patients. CONCLUSION: The population structure of P. aeruginosa isolates is highly diverse and population specific without evidence for a core lineage in which major CF, hospital or community clones co-cluster. The two genotypes highly prevalent among Dutch CF patients appeared unique to CF patients

  20. Tank Focus Area pretreatment activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGinnis, C.P.; Welch, T.D.; Manke, K.L.

    1997-01-01

    Plans call for the high-level wastes to be retrieved from the tanks and immobilized in a stable waste form suitable for long-term isolation. Chemistry and chemical engineering operations are required to retrieve the wastes, to condition the wastes for subsequent steps, and to reduce the costs of the waste management enterprise. Pretreatment includes those processes between retrieval and immobilization, and includes preparation of suitable feed material for immobilization and separations to partition the waste into streams that yield lower life-cycle costs. Some of the technologies being developed by the Tank Focus Area (TFA) to process these wastes are described. These technologies fall roughly into three areas: (1) solid/liquid separation (SLS), (2) sludge pretreatment, and (3) supernate pretreatment

  1. PRETREATING THORIUM FOR ELECTROPLATING

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, J.G.; Schaer, G.R.

    1959-07-28

    A method is presented for pretreating a thorium surface prior to electroplating the surface. The pretreatment steps of the invention comprise cleaning by vapor blasting the surface, anodically pickling in a 5 to 15% by volume aqueous hydrochloric acid bath with a current of 125 to 250 amp/sq ft for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, chemically pickling the surface in a 5 to 15% by volume of aqueous sulfuric acid for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, and rinsing the surface with water.

  2. Influence of ultrasound pretreatment on wood physiochemical structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zhengbin; Wang, Zhenyu; Zhao, Zijian; Yi, Songlin; Mu, Jun; Wang, Xiaoxu

    2017-01-01

    As an initial step to increase the use of renewable biomass resources, this study was aimed at investigating the effects of ultrasound pretreatment on structural changes of wood. Samples were pretreated by ultrasound with the power of 300W and frequency of 28kHz in aqueous soda solution, aqueous acetic acid, or distilled water, then pretreated and control samples were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results shown that ultrasound pretreatment is indeed effective in modifying the physiochemical structure of eucalyptus wood; the pretreatment decreased the quantity of alkali metals (e.g., potassium, calcium and magnesium) in the resulting material. Compared to the control group, the residual char content of samples pretreated in aqueous soda solution increased by 10.08%-20.12% and the reaction temperature decreased from 361°C to 341°C, however, in samples pretreated by ultrasound in acetic solution or distilled water, the residual char content decreased by 12.40%-21.45% and there were no significant differences in reactivity apart from a slightly higher maximum reaction rate. Ultrasound pretreatment increased the samples' crystallinity up to 35.5% and successfully removed cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin from the samples; the pretreatment also increased the exposure of the sample to the treatment solutions, broke down sample pits, and generated collapses and microchannels on sample pits, and removed attachments in the samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Hydrolysis of alkaline pretreated banana peel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatmawati, A.; Gunawan, K. Y.; Hadiwijaya, F. A.

    2017-11-01

    Banana peel is one of food wastes that are rich in carbohydrate. This shows its potential as fermentation substrate including bio-ethanol. This paper presented banana peel alkaline pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreatment was intended to prepare banana peel in order to increase hydrolysis performance. The alkaline pretreatment used 10, 20, and 30% w/v NaOH solution and was done at 60, 70 and 80°C for 1 hour. The hydrolysis reaction was conducted using two commercial cellulose enzymes. The reaction time was varied for 3, 5, and 7 days. The best condition for pretreatment process was one conducted using 30% NaOH solution and at 80°C. This condition resulted in cellulose content of 90.27% and acid insoluble lignin content of 2.88%. Seven-day hydrolysis time had exhibited the highest reducing sugar concentration, which was7.2869 g/L.

  4. Pretreatment HIF-1α and GLUT-1 expressions do not correlate with outcome after preoperative chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Havelund, Birgitte Mayland; Sørensen, Flemming Brandt; Lindebjerg, Jan

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) expressions as predictors of response and survival after chemoradiotherapy in pretreatment biopsy specimens from patients with rectal cancer.......The aim of the present study was to investigate hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) expressions as predictors of response and survival after chemoradiotherapy in pretreatment biopsy specimens from patients with rectal cancer....

  5. Patterns of Mortality in Patients Treated with Dental Implants: A Comparison of Patient Age Groups and Corresponding Reference Populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jemt, Torsten; Kowar, Jan; Nilsson, Mats; Stenport, Victoria

    2015-01-01

    Little is known about the relationship between implant patient mortality compared to reference populations. The aim of this study was to report the mortality pattern in patients treated with dental implants up to a 15-year period, and to compare this to mortality in reference populations with regard to age at surgery, sex, and degree of tooth loss. Patient cumulative survival rate (CSR) was calculated for a total of 4,231 treated implant patients from a single clinic. Information was based on surgical registers in the clinic and the National Population Register in Sweden. Patients were arranged into age groups of 10 years, and CSR was compared to that of the reference population of comparable age and reported in relation to age at surgery, sex, and type of jaw/dentition. A similar, consistent, general relationship between CSR of different age groups of implant patients and reference populations could be observed for all parameters studied. Completely edentulous patients presented higher mortality than partially edentulous patients (P age groups showed mortality similar to or higher than reference populations, while older patient age groups showed increasingly lower mortality than comparable reference populations for edentulous and partially edentulous patients (P age groups of patients compared to reference populations was observed, indicating higher patient mortality in younger age groups and lower in older groups. The reported pattern is not assumed to be related to implant treatment per se, but is assumed to reflect the variation in general health of a selected subgroup of treated implant patients compared to the reference population in different age groups.

  6. Pretreatment of wheat straw for fermentation to methane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hashimoto, A.G.

    1986-01-01

    The effects of pretreating wheat straw with gamma-ray irradiation, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide on methane yield, fermentation rate constant, and loss of feedstock constituents were evaluated using laboratory-scale batch fermentors. Results showed that methane yield increased as pretreatment alkali concentration increased, with the highest yield being 37% over untreated straw for the pretreatment consisting of sodium hydroxide dosage of 34 g OH - /kg volatile solids, at 90 0 C for 1 h. Gamma-ray irradiation had no significant effect on methane yield. Alkaline pretreatment temperatures above 100 0 C caused a decrease in methane yield. After more than 100 days of fermentation, all of the hemicellulose and more than 80% of the cellulose were degraded. The loss in cellulose and hemicellulose accounted for 100% of the volatile solids lost. No consistent effect of pretreatments on batch fermentation rates was noted. Semicontinuous fermentations of straw-manure mixtures confirmed the relative effectiveness of sodium- and ammonium-hydroxide pretreatments

  7. Pretreatment axillary ultrasonography and core biopsy in patients with suspected breast cancer: Diagnostic accuracy and impact on management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia-Ortega, Maria Jose, E-mail: rserranogan@telefonica.net [Breast Imaging Center, Radiology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain); Alvarez Benito, Marina, E-mail: marinaalvarezbenito@telefonica.net [Breast Imaging Center, Radiology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain); Fuentes Vahamonde, Elena, E-mail: elena.fuentes.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es [Pathology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain); Rioja Torres, Pilar, E-mail: priojat@yahoo.es [Clinical Management Unit, Department of General and Digestive Surgery, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain); Benitez Velasco, Ana, E-mail: abvelazco@yahoo.es [Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain); Martinez Paredes, Maria, E-mail: mariaparedes@uco.es [Radiology and Physical Medicine Area, University of Cordoba Medical School, Avda. Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba (Spain)

    2011-07-15

    Preoperative diagnosis of axillary metastases in breast cancer patients enables treatment planning. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of axillary ultrasonography and percutaneous biopsy, both alone and in combination, in detecting axillary metastases in patients with breast cancer and to assess the impact of these techniques on the patients' management. Materials and methods: Retrospective study of consecutive patients with suspected breast cancer examined between October 2006 and December 2008. The diagnosis of a primary tumor was histologically confirmed in all patients. All patients underwent axillary ultrasonography and percutaneous core biopsy (14G) of suspicious lymph nodes. We evaluated the morphological characteristics of the lymph nodes by ultrasonography. We calculated the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and of core biopsy, and assessed the impact of these techniques on patients' treatment. Results: We evaluated 675 axillary regions and performed 291 core biopsies of axillary lymph nodes in 662 patients. In 650 patients, breast cancer was histologically confirmed and in 12 patients malignant tumors in other locations were confirmed. The sensitivity and specificity of axillary ultrasonography were 63.2% and 88.7%, respectively. The absence of a fatty hilum within the lymph node was the ultrasonographic finding with the highest positive predictive value for malignancy (93.1%). The sensitivity and specificity of axillary core biopsy were 69.1% and 100%, respectively. Sentinel lymph node biopsy was avoided in 33% of initial candidates and immediate breast reconstruction was undertaken in 35.1% of the patients with mastectomy and negative axillary core biopsy. Conclusions: Ultrasonography and axillary core biopsy enable adequate pretreatment staging in patients with breast cancer and has a positive impact on their management.

  8. Techno-economic analysis of organosolv pretreatment process from lignocellulosic biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodrigues Gurgel da Silva, Andrè; Errico, Massimiliano; Rong, Ben-Guang

    2018-01-01

    data, we propose a feasible process flowsheet for organosolv pretreatment. Simulation of the pretreatment process provided mass and energy balances for a techno-economic analysis, and the values were compared with the most prevalent and mature pretreatment method: diluted acid. Organosolv pretreatment...... required more energy, 578.1 versus 213.8 MW for diluted acid pretreatment, but resulted in a higher ethanol concentration after the biomass fermentation, 11.1% compared to 5.4%. Total annual costs (TACs) calculations showed advantages for diluted acid pretreatment, but future improvements explored...

  9. Prognostic value of pretreatment serum carcinoembryonic antigen and squamous cell carcinoma antigen levels for patients with stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer treated with radiation therapy alone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Yoshihiro; Mitsuhashi, Norio; Hayakawa, Kazushige

    1998-01-01

    Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag) levels have been reported to be useful as prognostic factors, indicators of clinical response, and predictors for recurrence in patients with lung cancer treated by surgery or chemotherapy. We investigated whether pretreatment serum CEA and SCC Ag levels were useful as independent prognostic factors in patients with stage I to III non-small cell lung cancer who were treated with radiation therapy alone. The serum CEA and SCC Ag levels were measured in 158 and 47 patients, respectively, before radiation therapy. Serum CEA and SCC Ag levels were measured by sandwich radioimmunoassay using the CEA-RIA (radioimmunoassay) kit and the SCC-RIA kit. Serum CEA and SCC Ag levels were above reference values in 19% and 30% of the patients, respectively. The 5-year survival rates were significantly better for patients with a negative SCC Ag result than for those with positive SCC Ag levels (p=0.0001), though no significant difference in survival rates was seen by CEA positivity (p=0.25). SCC Ag positivity (p=0.0006) and stage (p=0.04) were the important prognostic factors, as determined by multivariate analyses. Pretreatment serum SCC Ag level may be useful as an independent prognostic factor in patients with stage I to III non-small cell lung cancer who are treated with radiation therapy alone. (author)

  10. Pretreatment combination of platelet counts and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio predicts survival of nasopharyngeal cancer patients receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin YH

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Yu-Hsuan Lin,1 Kuo-Ping Chang,2 Yaoh-Shiang Lin,2,3 Ting-Shou Chang2–4 1Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 2Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, 3Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, 4Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China Background: Increased cancer-related inflammation has been associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes. The combination of platelet count and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (COP-NLR has related outcomes in several cancers, except for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC. This study evaluated the prognostic value of COP-NLR in predicting outcome in NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT.Materials and methods: We analyzed the data collected from 232 NPC patients. Pretreatment total platelet counts, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR, and COP-NLR score were evaluated as potential predictors. Optimal cutoff values for NLR and platelets were determined using receiver operating curve. Patients with both elevated NLR (>3 and platelet counts (>300×109/L were assigned a COP-NLR score of 2; those with one elevated or no elevated value were assigned a COP-NLR a score of 1 or 0. Cox proportional hazards model was used to test the association of these factors and relevant 3-year survivals.Results: Patients (COP-NLR scores 1 and 2=85; score 0=147 were followed up for 55.19 months. Univariate analysis showed no association between pretreatment NLR >2.23 and platelet counts >290.5×109/L and worse outcomes. Multivariate analysis revealed that those with COP-NLR scores of 0 had better 3-year disease-specific survival (P=0.02, overall survival (P=0.024, locoregional relapse-free survival (P=0.004, and distant

  11. Real-Time Pretreatment Review Limits Unacceptable Deviations on a Cooperative Group Radiation Therapy Technique Trial: Quality Assurance Results of RTOG 0933

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gondi, Vinai; Cui, Yunfeng; Mehta, Minesh P.; Manfredi, Denise; Xiao, Ying; Galvin, James M.; Rowley, Howard; Tome, Wolfgang A.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: RTOG 0933 was a phase II trial of hippocampal avoidance during whole brain radiation therapy for patients with brain metastases. The results demonstrated improvement in short-term memory decline, as compared with historical control individuals, and preservation of quality of life. Integral to the conduct of this trial were quality assurance processes inclusive of pre-enrollment credentialing and pretreatment centralized review of enrolled patients. Methods and Materials: Before enrolling patients, all treating physicians and sites were required to successfully complete a “dry-run” credentialing test. The treating physicians were credentialed based on accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging–computed tomography image fusion and hippocampal and normal tissue contouring, and the sites were credentialed based on protocol-specified dosimetric criteria. Using the same criteria, pretreatment centralized review of enrolled patients was conducted. Physicians enrolling 3 consecutive patients without unacceptable deviations were permitted to enroll further patients without pretreatment review, although their cases were reviewed after treatment. Results: In all, 113 physicians and 84 sites were credentialed. Eight physicians (6.8%) failed hippocampal contouring on the first attempt; 3 were approved on the second attempt. Eight sites (9.5%) failed intensity modulated radiation therapy planning on the first attempt; all were approved on the second attempt. One hundred thirteen patients were enrolled in RTOG 0933; 100 were analyzable. Eighty-seven cases were reviewed before treatment; 5 (5.7%) violated the eligibility criteria, and 21 (24%) had unacceptable deviations. With feedback, 18 cases were approved on the second attempt and 2 cases on the third attempt. One patient was treated off protocol. Twenty-two cases were reviewed after treatment; 1 (4.5%) violated the eligibility criteria, and 5 (23%) had unacceptable deviations. Conclusions: Although >95% of the

  12. Real-Time Pretreatment Review Limits Unacceptable Deviations on a Cooperative Group Radiation Therapy Technique Trial: Quality Assurance Results of RTOG 0933

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gondi, Vinai, E-mail: vgondi@chicagocancer.org [Cadence Brain Tumor Center and CDH Proton Center, Warrenville, Illinois (United States); University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin (United States); Cui, Yunfeng [Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Mehta, Minesh P. [University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Manfredi, Denise [Radiation Therapy Oncology Group—RTQA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Xiao, Ying; Galvin, James M. [Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Rowley, Howard [University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin (United States); Tome, Wolfgang A. [Montefiore Medical Center and Institute for Onco-Physics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York (United States)

    2015-03-01

    Purpose: RTOG 0933 was a phase II trial of hippocampal avoidance during whole brain radiation therapy for patients with brain metastases. The results demonstrated improvement in short-term memory decline, as compared with historical control individuals, and preservation of quality of life. Integral to the conduct of this trial were quality assurance processes inclusive of pre-enrollment credentialing and pretreatment centralized review of enrolled patients. Methods and Materials: Before enrolling patients, all treating physicians and sites were required to successfully complete a “dry-run” credentialing test. The treating physicians were credentialed based on accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging–computed tomography image fusion and hippocampal and normal tissue contouring, and the sites were credentialed based on protocol-specified dosimetric criteria. Using the same criteria, pretreatment centralized review of enrolled patients was conducted. Physicians enrolling 3 consecutive patients without unacceptable deviations were permitted to enroll further patients without pretreatment review, although their cases were reviewed after treatment. Results: In all, 113 physicians and 84 sites were credentialed. Eight physicians (6.8%) failed hippocampal contouring on the first attempt; 3 were approved on the second attempt. Eight sites (9.5%) failed intensity modulated radiation therapy planning on the first attempt; all were approved on the second attempt. One hundred thirteen patients were enrolled in RTOG 0933; 100 were analyzable. Eighty-seven cases were reviewed before treatment; 5 (5.7%) violated the eligibility criteria, and 21 (24%) had unacceptable deviations. With feedback, 18 cases were approved on the second attempt and 2 cases on the third attempt. One patient was treated off protocol. Twenty-two cases were reviewed after treatment; 1 (4.5%) violated the eligibility criteria, and 5 (23%) had unacceptable deviations. Conclusions: Although >95% of the

  13. Biologically Pre-Treated Habitation Waste Water as a Sustainable Green Urine Pre-Treat Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, W. Andrew; Thompson, Bret; Sevanthi, Ritesh; Morse, Audra; Meyer, Caitlin; Callahan, Michael

    2017-01-01

    The ability to recover water from urine and flush water is a critical process to allow long term sustainable human habitation in space or bases on the moon or mars. Organic N present as urea or similar compounds can hydrolyze producing free ammonia. This reaction results in an increase in the pH converting ammonium to ammonia which is volatile and not removed by distillation. The increase in pH will also cause precipitation reactions to occur. In order to prevent this, urine on ISS is combined with a pretreat solution. While use of a pretreatment solution has been successful, there are numerous draw backs including: storage and use of highly hazardous solutions, limitations on water recovery (less than 85%), and production of brine with pore dewatering characteristics. We evaluated the use of biologically treated habitation wastewaters (ISS and early planetary base) to replace the current pretreat solution. We evaluated both amended and un-amended bioreactor effluent. For the amended effluent, we evaluated "green" pretreat chemicals including citric acid and citric acid amended with benzoic acid. We used a mock urine/air separator modeled after the urine collection assembly on ISS. The urine/air separator was challenged continually for >6 months. Depending on the test point, the separator was challenged daily with donated urine and flushed with amended or un-amended reactor effluent. We monitored the pH of the urine, flush solution and residual pH in the urine/air separator after each urine event. We also evaluated solids production and biological growth. Our results support the use of both un-amended and amended bioreactor effluent to maintain the operability of the urine /air separator. The ability to use bioreactor effluent could decrease consumable cost, reduce hazards associated with current pre-treat chemicals, allow other membrane based desalination processes to be utilized, and improve brine characteristics.

  14. Pretreatment of Oil Palm Frond (OPF) with Ionic Liquid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azmi, I. S.; Azizan, A.; Salleh, R. Mohd

    2018-05-01

    Pretreatment is the key to unlock the recalcitrance of lignocellulose for cellulosic biofuel production. Increasing attention has been drawn to ionic liquids (ILs) for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass because this approach was considered as a green engineering method over other conventional methods. In this work, Oil palm frond (OPF) was pretreated by using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [EMIM] Ac at the temperature of 99˚C for 3 hours. The characterization of the untreated and pretreated OPF was conducted by using different techniques which are Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The pretreatment of OPF with [EMIM] Ac was demonstrated to be effective evidenced by the significant reduction of Lateral Order Index (LOI) from FTIR, reduction of Crystallinity Index (CI) based on XRD and the significant morphology changes indicated by SEM. The CI value for the pretreated OPF decreased from 0.47 (untreated sample) to 0.28 while the LOI value decreased from 1.10 to 0.24 after pretreatment with [EMIM]Ac and the SEM morphology showed that the pretreated OPF becomes distorted and disordered.

  15. Factors affecting seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic date palm residues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fang, Chuanji; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Frankaer, Christian Grundahl

    2017-01-01

    Seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is an innovative process at research stage. With respect to process optimization, factors affecting seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic date palm residues were studied for the first time in this paper. Pretreatment temperature (180...... °C–210 °C), salinity of seawater (0 ppt–50 ppt), and catalysts (H2SO4, Na2CO3, and NaOH) were investigated. The results showed that pretreatment temperature exerted the largest influence on seawater-based pretreatment in terms of the enzymatic digestibility and fermentability of pretreated solids...

  16. Methods of pretreating comminuted cellulosic material with carbonate-containing solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Francis, Raymond

    2012-11-06

    Methods of pretreating comminuted cellulosic material with an acidic solution and then a carbonate-containing solution to produce a pretreated cellulosic material are provided. The pretreated material may then be further treated in a pulping process, for example, a soda-anthraquinone pulping process, to produce a cellulose pulp. The pretreatment solutions may be extracted from the pretreated cellulose material and selectively re-used, for example, with acid or alkali addition, for the pretreatment solutions. The resulting cellulose pulp is characterized by having reduced lignin content and increased yield compared to prior art treatment processes.

  17. Pre-treatment preferences and characteristics among patients seeking in vitro fertilisation.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Walsh, Anthony Ph

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: This study sought to describe patient features before beginning fertility treatment, and to ascertain their perceptions relative to risk of twin pregnancy outcomes associated with such therapy. METHODS: Data on readiness for twin pregnancy outcome from in vitro fertilisation (IVF) was gathered from men and women before initiating fertility treatment by anonymous questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 206 women and 204 men were sampled. Mean (+\\/- SD) age for women and men being 35.5 +\\/- 5 and 37.3 +\\/- 7 yrs, respectively. At least one IVF cycle had been attempted by 27.2% of patients and 33.9% of this subgroup had initiated >\\/=3 cycles, reflecting an increase in previous failed cycles over five years. Good agreement was noted between husbands and wives with respect to readiness for twins from IVF (77% agreement; Cohen\\'s K = 0.61; 95% CI 0.53 to 0.70). CONCLUSION: Most patients contemplating IVF already have ideas about particular outcomes even before treatment begins, and suggests that husbands & wives are in general agreement on their readiness for twin pregnancy from IVF. However, fertility patients now may represent a more refractory population and therefore carry a more guarded prognosis. Patient preferences identified before IVF remain important, but further studies comparing pre- and post-treatment perceptions are needed.

  18. Pretreatment serum albumin: a prognostic indicator of survival in oral cancer

    OpenAIRE

    Saurabh Bobdey; Aanchal Jain; Jignasa Sathwara; Ganesh B

    2016-01-01

    Background: Malnutrition has been recognized as a poor prognostic indicator for cancer. In recent years, the role of serum albumin as a predictor of survival in cancer has received considerable attention. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate whether the pretreatment serum albumin can predict the prognosis of patients with oral cancer. Methods: Medical records of 433 pathologically proven oral cancer patients diagnosed and treated from 01st January 2006 to 31st Decemb...

  19. Prognostic value of {sup 18}F-FDG uptake by regional lymph nodes on pretreatment PET/CT in patients with resectable colorectal cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Byun, Byung Hyun; Lim, Ilhan; Kim, Byung Il; Choi, Chang Woon; Lim, Sang Moo [Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Moon, Sun Mi; Shin, Ui Sup [Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-12-15

    We evaluated the ability of pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG uptake by regional lymph nodes to predict the survival of patients with resectable colorectal cancer. The records of 78 patients with AJCC stage III colorectal cancer (pathologically confirmed node-positive disease without evidence of distant metastasis) treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. The maximum standardized uptake values of the primary tumor (SUVp) and regional lymph nodes (SUVn) were measured by pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT. The ROC curve analyses and the Cox proportional hazard model were used to analyze whether SUVp, SUVn, and clinicopathologic parameters could predict disease-free survival. Although there were no significant differences between the median SUVp in the event group and that in the non-event group, the median SUVn was significantly higher in the event group (1.7) than in the non-event group (0.8, p = 0.023). Based on the ROC curve analysis, SUVn predicted the event for disease-free survival (AUC = 0.668, p = 0.02) with the optimal criterion, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of > 1.2, 71 %, 63 %, and 65 %, respectively. However, SUVp did not predict disease-free survival (AUC = 0.570, p = 0.349). Univariate analysis revealed that SUVn (p = 0.011) and venous invasion (p = 0.016) were associated with disease-free survival, but pathologic N stage was not (p = 0.09). By multivariate analysis, only SUVn > 1.2 independently shortened the disease-free survival (relative risk, 2.97; 95 % CI, 1.14-7.74, p = 0.026). SUVn before surgery may be a useful prognostic marker in patients with AJCC stage III colorectal cancer. (orig.)

  20. T1/T2 glottic cancer managed by external beam radiotherapy - the influence of pretreatment hemoglobin on local control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Warde, P.R.; O'Sullivan, B.; Panzarella, T.; Keane, T.J.; Gullane, P.; Payne, D.; Liu, F.-F.; McLean, M.; Waldron, J.; Cummings, B.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: Pretreatment hemoglobin (Hb) level has been reported to be an important prognostic factor for local control and survival in various malignancies. However in many settings, the adverse effect of a low Hb may be related to more advanced disease and the purpose of this analysis was to assess the influence of pretreatment Hb on local control in a large series of patients with a localised cancer (T1/T2 glottic cancer, AJCC 1992) treated in a standard fashion. Materials and Methods: Between Jan 1981 and Dec 1989, 735 patients (median age 63, 657 males 78 females) with T1/T2 glottic cancer were treated with RT. The standard RT prescription was 50Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks (97% patients). Factors studied for prognostic importance for local failure included pretreatment Hb (assessed as a continuous variable) age, sex, T category, anterior commissure involvement, subglottic extension, tumour bulk (presence of visible tumour vs subclinical disease), treatment time and RT technique (Cobalt vs 6 MV). Results: With a median follow-up of 6.8 years (range 0.2 - 14.3), 131 patients have relapsed for an actuarial 5-year relapse free rate of 81.7%. The 5-year actuarial survival was 75.8%, cause specific survival - 92.4%. The median pretreatment hemoglobin level was 14.8 g/dl and was the same in all T categories. On multivariate analysis, using the Cox proportional hazards model, pretreatment Hb (p=0.001) predicted for local failure after RT. The relative risk (RR) for relapse was calculated for various Hb levels eg the RR for a Hb of 12 g/dl vs a Hb of 15 g/dl was 1.8, (95% C.I. 1.3 - 2.7). Previously noted factors including gender (p=0.0038), T category (p=0.007)) as well as tumour bulk (p=0.02) were also prognostically important for local control. Conclusions: This analysis, in a large number of similarly treated patients, indicates that pretreatment Hb is an independent prognostic factor for local control in patients with T1/T2 carcinoma of the glottis treated with

  1. Assessing the Effect of Pretreatments on the Structure and Functionality of Microbial Communities for the Bioconversion of Microalgae to Biogas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivia Córdova

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Microalgae biomethanization is driven by anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms and is generally limited by the incomplete hydrolysis of the microalgae cell wall, which results in a low availability of microalgal biomass for the methanogenic community. The application of enzymatic pretreatments, e.g., with hydrolytic enzymes, is among the strategies used to work around the incomplete hydrolysis of the microalgae cell wall. Despite the proven efficacy of these pretreatments in increasing biomethanization, the changes that a given pretreatment may cause to the anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms during biomethanization are still unknown. This study evaluated the changes in the expression of the metatranscriptome of anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms during Chlorella sorokiniana biomethanization without pretreatment (WP (control and pretreated with commercial cellulase in order to increase the solubilization of the microalgal organic matter. Pretreated microalgal biomass experienced significant increases in biogas the production. The metatranscriptomic analysis of control samples showed functionally active microalgae cells, a bacterial community dominated by γ- and δ-proteobacteria, and a methanogenic community dominated by Methanospirillum hungatei. In contrast, pretreated samples were characterized by the absence of active microalgae cells and a bacteria population dominated by species of the Clostridia class. These differences are also related to the differential activation of metabolic pathways e.g., those associated with the degradation of organic matter during its biomethanization.

  2. Pretreatment of enteral nutrition with sodium polystyrene sulfonate: effective, but beware the high prevalence of electrolyte derangements in clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Palma, Krisha; Pavlick, Elisha Rampolla; Copelovitch, Lawrence

    2018-04-01

    Current treatment options for chronic hyperkalemia in children with chronic kidney disease include dietary restrictions or enteral sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS); however, dietary restrictions may compromise adequate nutrition and enteral SPS may be limited by palatability, adverse effects and feeding tube obstruction. A potentially safer alternative is to pretreat enteral nutrition (EN) with SPS prior to consumption. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pretreating EN with SPS in pediatric patients with hyperkalemia. We performed a retrospective cohort study between September 2012 and May 2016 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In all, 14 patients (age range 0.5-53.2 months) who received 19 courses of SPS pretreatment of EN were evaluated. Serum electrolytes were evaluated at baseline and within 1 week of initiating therapy. The primary endpoint was mean change in potassium at 7 days. Secondary endpoints included the mean change in serum sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphorous and magnesium, as well as the percentage of patients who developed electrolyte abnormalities within the first week of treatment. Serum potassium levels decreased from 6.0 to 4.4 mmol/L (P < 0.001) and serum sodium levels increased from 135.8 to 141.3 mmol/L (P = 0.008) 1 week after initiating SPS pretreatment. No significant differences in mean serum calcium or magnesium levels were noted. Nevertheless, more than half of the courses resulted in at least one electrolyte abnormality, with hypokalemia (31.6%), hypernatremia (26.3%) and hypocalcemia (21.1%) occurring most frequently. Pretreatment of EN with SPS is an effective method for treating chronic hyperkalemia in pediatric patients; however, close monitoring of electrolytes is warranted.

  3. Microwave pretreatment of switchgrass for bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keshwani, Deepak Radhakrishin

    Lignocellulosic materials are promising alternative feedstocks for bioethanol production. These materials include agricultural residues, cellulosic waste such as newsprint and office paper, logging residues, and herbaceous and woody crops. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass necessitates a pretreatment step to improve the yield of fermentable sugars. The overall goal of this dissertation is to expand the current state of knowledge on microwave-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Existing research on bioenergy and value-added applications of switchgrass is reviewed in Chapter 2. Switchgrass is an herbaceous energy crop native to North America and has high biomass productivity, potentially low requirements for agricultural inputs and positive environmental impacts. Based on results from test plots, yields in excess of 20 Mg/ha have been reported. Environmental benefits associated with switchgrass include the potential for carbon sequestration, nutrient recovery from run-off, soil remediation and provision of habitats for grassland birds. Published research on pretreatment of switchgrass reported glucose yields ranging from 70-90% and xylose yields ranging from 70-100% after hydrolysis and ethanol yields ranging from 72-92% after fermentation. Other potential value-added uses of switchgrass include gasification, bio-oil production, newsprint production and fiber reinforcement in thermoplastic composites. Research on microwave-based pretreatment of switchgrass and coastal bermudagrass is presented in Chapter 3. Pretreatments were carried out by immersing the biomass in dilute chemical reagents and exposing the slurry to microwave radiation at 250 watts for residence times ranging from 5 to 20 minutes. Preliminary experiments identified alkalis as suitable chemical reagents for microwave-based pretreatment. An evaluation of different alkalis identified sodium hydroxide as the most effective alkali reagent. Under optimum pretreatment

  4. Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass by the concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP) for enzymatic hydrolysis: evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks and particle sizes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qing; Wang, Zhanghong; Shen, Fei; Hu, Jinguang; Sun, Fubao; Lin, Lili; Yang, Gang; Zhang, Yanzong; Deng, Shihuai

    2014-08-01

    In order to seek a high-efficient pretreatment path for converting lignocellulosic feedstocks to fermentable sugars by enzymatic hydrolysis, the concentrated H₃PO₄ plus H₂O₂ (PHP) was attempted to pretreat different lignocellulosic biomass for evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks. Meanwhile, the responses of pretreatment to particle sizes were also evaluated. When the PHP-pretreatment was employed (final H₂O₂ and H₃PO₄ concentration of 1.77% and 80.0%), 71-96% lignin and more than 95% hemicellulose in various feedstocks (agricultural residues, hardwood, softwood, bamboo, and their mixture, and garden wastes mixture) can be removed. Consequently, more than 90% glucose conversion was uniformly achieved indicating PHP greatly improved the pretreatment flexibility to different feedstocks. Moreover, when wheat straw and oak chips were PHP-pretreated with different sizes, the average glucose conversion reached 94.9% and 100% with lower coefficient of variation (7.9% and 0.0%), which implied PHP-pretreatment can significantly weaken the negative effects of feedstock sizes on subsequent conversion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. NON-POLLUTING METAL SURFACE FINISHING PRETREATMENT AND PRETREATMENT/CONVERSION COATING

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picklex, a proprietary formulation, is an alterantive to conventional metal surface pretreatments and is claimed not to produce waste or lower production or lower performance. A laboratory program was designed to evaluate Picklex in common, large scale, polluting surface finishin...

  6. Dilute alkali pretreatment of softwood pine: A biorefinery approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safari, Ali; Karimi, Keikhosro; Shafiei, Marzieh

    2017-06-01

    Dilute alkali pretreatment was performed on softwood pine to maximize ethanol and biogas production via a biorefinery approach. Alkali pretreatments were performed with 0-2% w/v NaOH at 100-180°C for 1-5h. The liquid fraction of the pretreated substrates was subjected to anaerobic digestion. The solid fraction of the pretreatment was used for separate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. High ethanol yields of 76.9‒78.0% were achieved by pretreatment with 2% (w/v) NaOH at 180°C. The highest biogas yield of 244mL/g volatile solid (at 25°C, 1bar) was achieved by the pretreatment with 1% (w/v) NaOH at 180°C. The highest gasoline equivalent (sum of ethanol and methane) of 197L per ton of pinewood and the lowest ethanol manufacturing cost of 0.75€/L was obtained after pretreatment with 1% NaOH at 180°C for 5h. The manufacturing cost of ethanol from untreated wood was 4.12€/L. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Importance of pretreatment for the intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Examination of nursing care for reproducible bladder filling status

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, T.; Nemoto, M.; Hoshino, E.; Shimokura, F.; Murakami, E.; Takahashi, S.; Nakazawa, Masanori

    2013-01-01

    Bladder filling with reproducible volume is important for the radiotherapy in the title (IMRT) with less adverse events. The optimal bladder filling volume, 150 mL, has been reported recently for IMRT, with which as a standard, the pretreatment was retrospectively examined aiming at less patient's pain in this study. Subjects were 10 typical patients among total 98 in total 1,476 irradiations of IMRT during the period Feb. 2008-June 2011, who had been needed for controlling the volume of drinking water and time of bladder filling. Five cases difficult to conduct IMRT with their initial protocol alone were selected from the 10 patients, on whom following 3 items were examined. Here, in authors' hospital, IMRT (46-50 Gy) had been conducted as a booster therapy following the usual irradiation (20-24 Gy). First, the relationship was examined between bladder filling and pretreatment by the ratio, CBCT (cone-beam CT)-volume/plan-volume as an attainment, where the bladder volume was measured just before every therapy with CBCT image together with pretreatment for the drinking water volume and waiting time. Second, measured were volumes of the bladder filling just before the therapy and urinated after. Third, status of urination was heard. The protocol was then improved on results and remaining 5 patients underwent the pretreatment with the improved protocol. It was found that pretreatment for the control of the volume of drinking water and subsequent bladder filling was necessary not only after patient's hospital visit but also before, based on their living cycles. Nursing care chart made here by authors based on the finding above was thought important for IMRT with reproducible bladder filling and less adverse events. (T.T.)

  8. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire: psychometric properties in a Dutch addict population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Wilde, Eveline F; Hendriks, Vincent M

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate psychometric properties of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) in a Dutch substance abuse population. The CSQ-8 and the Mental Health Thermometer (the standard Dutch satisfaction instrument) were sent to 927 patients of a Dutch substance abuse treatment centre. (response rate 28.3%; n = 262). Data were compared on several variables (i.e., age, gender, ethnicity, treatment type). For a subgroup of responders (n = 84), data were compared with pre-treatment problem severity and treatment need (the European Addiction Severity Index). Both internal consistency and concurrent validity were found to be high. Only treatment type had significant effects on CSQ-8 satisfaction scores. Scores were negatively skewed. The CSQ-8 is as suitable an instrument to be used in addict populations, as it is in other populations. (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

  9. A pilot study of short-duration sputum pretreatment procedures for optimizing smear microscopy for tuberculosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Daley

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Direct sputum smear microscopy for tuberculosis (TB lacks sensitivity for the detection of acid fast bacilli. Sputum pretreatment procedures may enhance sensitivity. We did a pilot study to compare the diagnostic accuracy and incremental yield of two short-duration (<1 hour sputum pretreatment procedures to optimize direct smears among patients with suspected TB at a referral hospital in India.Blinded laboratory comparison of bleach and universal sediment processing (USP pretreated centrifuged auramine smears to direct Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN and direct auramine smears and to solid (Loweinstein-Jensen (LJ and liquid (BACTEC 460 culture. 178 pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB suspects were prospectively recruited during a one year period. Thirty six (20.2% were positive by either solid or liquid culture. Direct ZN smear detected 22 of 36 cases and direct auramine smears detected 26 of 36 cases. Bleach and USP centrifugation detected 24 cases each, providing no incremental yield beyond direct smears. When compared to combined culture, pretreated smears were not more sensitive than direct smears (66.6% vs 61.1 (ZN or 72.2 (auramine, and were not more specific (92.3% vs 93.0 (ZN or 97.2 (auramine.Short duration sputum pretreatment with bleach and USP centrifugation did not increase yield as compared to direct sputum smears. Further work is needed to confirm this in a larger study and also determine if longer duration pre-treatment might be effective in optimizing smear microscopy for TB.

  10. Pretreatment data is highly predictive of liver chemistry signals in clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Zhaohui; Bresell, Anders; Steinberg, Mark H; Silberg, Debra G; Furlong, Stephen T

    2012-01-01

    The goal of this retrospective analysis was to assess how well predictive models could determine which patients would develop liver chemistry signals during clinical trials based on their pretreatment (baseline) information. Based on data from 24 late-stage clinical trials, classification models were developed to predict liver chemistry outcomes using baseline information, which included demographics, medical history, concomitant medications, and baseline laboratory results. Predictive models using baseline data predicted which patients would develop liver signals during the trials with average validation accuracy around 80%. Baseline levels of individual liver chemistry tests were most important for predicting their own elevations during the trials. High bilirubin levels at baseline were not uncommon and were associated with a high risk of developing biochemical Hy's law cases. Baseline γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) level appeared to have some predictive value, but did not increase predictability beyond using established liver chemistry tests. It is possible to predict which patients are at a higher risk of developing liver chemistry signals using pretreatment (baseline) data. Derived knowledge from such predictions may allow proactive and targeted risk management, and the type of analysis described here could help determine whether new biomarkers offer improved performance over established ones.

  11. Silane pre-treatments on copper and aluminium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deflorian, F.; Rossi, S.; Fedrizzi, L.

    2006-01-01

    A large part of aluminium products are coated with an organic layer in order to improve the corrosion resistance. Copper surfaces are also sometimes protected with an organic coating to improve the durability or the aesthetic properties. Examples of industrial applications are household appliances and heat exchanger components. For these applications it is not rare to have the industrial need to treat at the same time components made of aluminium and copper. In order to extend the service life of the organic coated copper a specific surface pre-treatment is often required. Nevertheless, probably because of the limited market of this application, no specific pre-treatments for copper are industrially developed, with the exception of cleaning procedures, but simply extensions of existing pre-treatments optimised for other metals (aluminium, zinc) are used. The application of silane pre-treatments as adhesion promoters for organic coated metals is remarkably increasing in the last decade, because silanes offer very good performance together with high environmental compatibility. The idea is therefore to try to develop a specific silane based pre-treatment for copper. The starting point is the existing silane products for aluminium, optimising the composition and the application conditions (concentration, temperature, pH of the bath, etc.) in order to develop a high performance copper alloy pre-treatment increasing the protective properties and the adhesion of a successively applied organic coating. Moreover these pre-treatments could be used for aluminium alloys too and therefore could be suggested for multi-metals components. The deposits were analysed using FTIR spectroscopy and optical and electron microscopic observations. A careful electrochemical characterisation, mainly by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements (EIS) was carried out to highlight the presence of silane and to evaluate the performance of the different deposits. In order to study an

  12. Pretreatment data is highly predictive of liver chemistry signals in clinical trials

    OpenAIRE

    Cai, John; Bresell,; Steinberg,; Silberg,; Furlong,Stephen

    2012-01-01

    Zhaohui Cai,1,* Anders Bresell,2,* Mark H Steinberg,1 Debra G Silberg,1 Stephen T Furlong11AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE, USA; 2AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Södertälje, Sweden*These authors contributed equally to this workPurpose: The goal of this retrospective analysis was to assess how well predictive models could determine which patients would develop liver chemistry signals during clinical trials based on their pretreatment (baseline) information.Patients a...

  13. Pretreatment of Cellulose By Electron Beam Irradiation Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jusri, N. A. A.; Azizan, A.; Ibrahim, N.; Salleh, R. Mohd; Rahman, M. F. Abd

    2018-05-01

    Pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to produce biofuel has been conducted by using various methods including physical, chemical, physicochemical as well as biological. The conversion of bioethanol process typically involves several steps which consist of pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation and separation. In this project, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was used in replacement of LCB since cellulose has the highest content of LCB for the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of new pretreatment method using radiation technology. Irradiation with different doses (100 kGy to 1000 kGy) was conducted by using electron beam accelerator equipment at Agensi Nuklear Malaysia. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses were studied to further understand the effect of the suggested pretreatment step to the content of MCC. Through this method namely IRR-LCB, an ideal and optimal condition for pretreatment prior to the production of biofuel by using LCB may be introduced.

  14. Prediction of distant metastasis in head neck cancer patients: implications for induction chemotherapy and pre-treatment staging?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Studer, G.; Glanzmann, C.; Seifert, B.

    2008-01-01

    Background and purpose: intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) combined treatment approaches, surgical and radiodiagnostic advances, respectively, lead to improved local-regional control in head neck cancer (HNC). With increasing local-regional control, distant metastases (DM) become more meaningful. In some trials without concomitant chemotherapy, induction chemotherapy (IC) resulted in an absolute reduction of DM by ∝10-15%. In order to define a more efficient selection of patients at risk for DM with respect to IC and M-staging, we analysed our patients treated by contemporary standards. Patients and methods: between 1/2002 to 12/2007, 409 HNC patients were treated with IMRT; 303/409 (74%) underwent definitive, 106 (26%) postoperative IMRT. The mean/median follow-up was 23/20 months (3-72). 70% tolerated 4-7, 9% 1-3 cycles of simultaneous cisplatin. Treatment followed a prospectively designed protocol. In a previous study with 172 HNC IMRT patients, gross tumor volume (GTV) was found the strongest predictor for local-regional control. In the current study, this criterion has been prospectively tested for DM. Numbers needed to treat were calculated for IC. Results: DM developed in 28/399 (7%) patients; 10 presented initially with DM (total 38/409). In 13/28 (46%), DM remained the only manifestation of disease. GTV was the strongest predictor for DM (p 70 cc; only 6 of them (6/73, 8%) developed isolated DM. Conclusion: GTV was the most significant predictor for DM, that could guide selective pre-treatment M-staging. The subgroup with isolated DM in the high risk group, that could benefit from IC, is small. (orig.)

  15. Structural changes of corn stover lignin during acid pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moxley, Geoffrey; Gaspar, Armindo Ribeiro; Higgins, Don; Xu, Hui

    2012-09-01

    In this study, raw corn stover was subjected to dilute acid pretreatments over a range of severities under conditions similar to those identified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in their techno-economic analysis of biochemical conversion of corn stover to ethanol. The pretreated corn stover then underwent enzymatic hydrolysis with yields above 70 % at moderate enzyme loading conditions. The enzyme exhausted lignin residues were characterized by ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and functional moieties quantified and correlated to enzymatic hydrolysis yields. Results from this study indicated that both xylan solubilization and lignin degradation are important for improving the enzyme accessibility and digestibility of dilute acid pretreated corn stover. At lower pretreatment temperatures, there is a good correlation between xylan solubilization and cellulose accessibility. At higher pretreatment temperatures, lignin degradation correlated better with cellulose accessibility, represented by the increase in phenolic groups. During acid pretreatment, the ratio of syringyl/guaiacyl functional groups also gradually changed from less than 1 to greater than 1 with the increase in pretreatment temperature. This implies that more syringyl units are released from lignin depolymerization of aryl ether linkages than guaiacyl units. The condensed phenolic units are also correlated with the increase in pretreatment temperature up to 180 °C, beyond which point condensation reactions may overtake the hydrolysis of aryl ether linkages as the dominant reactions of lignin, thus leading to decreased cellulose accessibility.

  16. Incidence of call stone in liver cirrhosis patients: comparison with genera population

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Chul Jjoong; Park, Cheol Min; Park, Seung Chul; Chung, Kyoo Byung; Suh, Won Hyuck

    1994-01-01

    We investigated the incidence of gallstone detected by ultrasound in cirrhotic patients, and it was compared with that of the general population. One hundred and seventy seven patients with proven or suspected liver cirrhosis were evaluated sonographic ally to determine the presence of gallstone. We classified 177 cirrhotic patients into A,B, and C by Child classification and investigated the incidence of gallstone for each class. The control group was 363 general population with age distribution and sex-ratio similar to cirrhotic patients.Gallstone was visualized by ultrasound in 32(18.1%) of 177 cirrhotic patients. The incidence of gallstone was 13.1% in Child A, 21.0% in child B, and 20.0% in Child C cirrhotic patients. Overall incidence of gallstone was 3.9% in 363 general population. In summary, the incidence of gallstone was significantly higher in cirrhosis patients than in general population(p<0.01). The patients with moderate and severe cirrhosis showed higher incidence of gallstone than the patients with mild cirrhosis(20.5% vs 13.1%)

  17. Pretreatment of macroalgae for volatile fatty acid production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Thi Nhan; Um, Youngsoon; Yoon, Hyon Hee

    2013-10-01

    In this study, a novel method was proposed for the biological pretreatment of macroalgae (Laminaria japonica, Pachymeniopsis elliptica, and Enteromorpha crinita) for production of volatile fatty acid (VFA) by anaerobic fermentation. The amount of VFA produced from 40 g/L of L. japonica increased from 8.3 g/L (control) to 15.6 g/L when it was biologically pretreated with Vibrio harveyi. The biological treatment of L. japonica with Vibrio spp. was most effective likely due to the alginate lyase activity of Vibrio spp. However, a considerable effect was also observed after biological pretreatment of P. elliptica and E. crinita, which are red and green algae, respectively. Alkaline pretreatment of 40 g/L of L. japonica with 0.5 N NaOH resulted in an increase of VFA production to 12.2 g/L. These results indicate that VFA production from macroalgae can be significantly enhanced using the proposed biological pretreatments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. The effectiveness of pretreatment physics plan review for detecting errors in radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gopan, Olga; Zeng, Jing; Novak, Avrey; Nyflot, Matthew; Ford, Eric

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The pretreatment physics plan review is a standard tool for ensuring treatment quality. Studies have shown that the majority of errors in radiation oncology originate in treatment planning, which underscores the importance of the pretreatment physics plan review. This quality assurance measure is fundamentally important and central to the safety of patients and the quality of care that they receive. However, little is known about its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to analyze reported incidents to quantify the effectiveness of the pretreatment physics plan review with the goal of improving it. Methods: This study analyzed 522 potentially severe or critical near-miss events within an institutional incident learning system collected over a three-year period. Of these 522 events, 356 originated at a workflow point that was prior to the pretreatment physics plan review. The remaining 166 events originated after the pretreatment physics plan review and were not considered in the study. The applicable 356 events were classified into one of the three categories: (1) events detected by the pretreatment physics plan review, (2) events not detected but “potentially detectable” by the physics review, and (3) events “not detectable” by the physics review. Potentially detectable events were further classified by which specific checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review detected or could have detected the event. For these events, the associated specific check was also evaluated as to the possibility of automating that check given current data structures. For comparison, a similar analysis was carried out on 81 events from the international SAFRON radiation oncology incident learning system. Results: Of the 356 applicable events from the institutional database, 180/356 (51%) were detected or could have been detected by the pretreatment physics plan review. Of these events, 125 actually passed through the physics review; however

  19. The effectiveness of pretreatment physics plan review for detecting errors in radiation therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gopan, Olga; Zeng, Jing; Novak, Avrey; Nyflot, Matthew; Ford, Eric, E-mail: eford@uw.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington Medical Center, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356043, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)

    2016-09-15

    Purpose: The pretreatment physics plan review is a standard tool for ensuring treatment quality. Studies have shown that the majority of errors in radiation oncology originate in treatment planning, which underscores the importance of the pretreatment physics plan review. This quality assurance measure is fundamentally important and central to the safety of patients and the quality of care that they receive. However, little is known about its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to analyze reported incidents to quantify the effectiveness of the pretreatment physics plan review with the goal of improving it. Methods: This study analyzed 522 potentially severe or critical near-miss events within an institutional incident learning system collected over a three-year period. Of these 522 events, 356 originated at a workflow point that was prior to the pretreatment physics plan review. The remaining 166 events originated after the pretreatment physics plan review and were not considered in the study. The applicable 356 events were classified into one of the three categories: (1) events detected by the pretreatment physics plan review, (2) events not detected but “potentially detectable” by the physics review, and (3) events “not detectable” by the physics review. Potentially detectable events were further classified by which specific checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review detected or could have detected the event. For these events, the associated specific check was also evaluated as to the possibility of automating that check given current data structures. For comparison, a similar analysis was carried out on 81 events from the international SAFRON radiation oncology incident learning system. Results: Of the 356 applicable events from the institutional database, 180/356 (51%) were detected or could have been detected by the pretreatment physics plan review. Of these events, 125 actually passed through the physics review; however

  20. Pretreatment on Corn Stover with Low Concentration of Formic Acid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2009-01-01

    the cellulose easily degraded into sugars and further fermented to ethanol. In this work, hydrothermal pretreatment on corn stover at 195 degrees for 15 min with and without lower concentration of formic acid was compared in terms of sugar recoveries and ethanol fermentation. For pretreatment with formic acid...... pretreatment without formic acid. Toxicity tests of liquor parts showed that there were no inhibitions found for both pretreatment conditions. After simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the pretreated corn stover with Baker's yeast, the highest ethanol yield of 76.5% of the theoretical...

  1. Extrusion Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Zheng

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol has shown environmental, economic and energetic advantages in comparison to bioethanol produced from sugar or starch. However, the pretreatment process for increasing the enzymatic accessibility and improving the digestibility of cellulose is hindered by many physical-chemical, structural and compositional factors, which make these materials difficult to be used as feedstocks for ethanol production. A wide range of pretreatment methods has been developed to alter or remove structural and compositional impediments to (enzymatic hydrolysis over the last few decades; however, only a few of them can be used at commercial scale due to economic feasibility. This paper will give an overview of extrusion pretreatment for bioethanol production with a special focus on twin-screw extruders. An economic assessment of this pretreatment is also discussed to determine its feasibility for future industrial cellulosic ethanol plant designs.

  2. Prognostic value of pretreatment factors in patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated by radiotherapy alone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedersen, D.; Soegaard, H.; Overgaard, J.; Bentzen, S.M.

    1995-01-01

    The prognostic effect of pretreatment patient- and tumor characteristics, and the influence of radiotherapy schedule on local control, distant metastases, and crude survival were analyzed in 424 consecutive patients with FIGO stage IIB (n = 137), IIIA (n = 10), IIIB (n = 211) and IVA (n = 66) cancer of the uterine cervix. All patients were given radiotherapy alone. From 1974 and through 1977, the external and intracavitary combined radiotherapy was given continuously in 4 to 6 weeks. From 1978 and through 1983, the treatment policy was changed to split-course radiotherapy by introducing planned pauses, resulting in an overall treatment time of 10 to 12 weeks. The results were estimated by univariate actuarial- and Cox multivariate regression analyses. Multivariate analysis showed that significant adverse variables for local control were large lateral tumor diameter, young age, low hemoglobin at time of admission, many prognancies, split-course strategy, and high FIGO stage. Risk of metastases increased with decreasing hemoglobin, increasing malignancy grade and split-course treatment. Poor survival probability were related to large lateral tumor diameter, high malignancy grade and FIGO stage, low hemoglobin, split-course therapy, and adeno/adenosquamous tumor type. (orig.)

  3. Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol production. ... Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass, alkaline pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentable sugars, fermentation. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(31), pp.

  4. Moving from gamma passing rates to patient DVH-based QA metrics in pretreatment dose QA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhen, Heming; Nelms, Benjamin E.; Tome, Wolfgang A. [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States); Department of Human Oncology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792 and Canis Lupus LLC, Merrimac, Wisconsin 53561 (United States); Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 and Department of Human Oncology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792 (United States)

    2011-10-15

    Purpose: The purpose of this work is to explore the usefulness of the gamma passing rate metric for per-patient, pretreatment dose QA and to validate a novel patient-dose/DVH-based method and its accuracy and correlation. Specifically, correlations between: (1) gamma passing rates for three 3D dosimeter detector geometries vs clinically relevant patient DVH-based metrics; (2) Gamma passing rates of whole patient dose grids vs DVH-based metrics, (3) gamma passing rates filtered by region of interest (ROI) vs DVH-based metrics, and (4) the capability of a novel software algorithm that estimates corrected patient Dose-DVH based on conventional phan-tom QA data are analyzed. Methods: Ninety six unique ''imperfect'' step-and-shoot IMRT plans were generated by applying four different types of errors on 24 clinical Head/Neck patients. The 3D patient doses as well as the dose to a cylindrical QA phantom were then recalculated using an error-free beam model to serve as a simulated measurement for comparison. Resulting deviations to the planned vs simulated measured DVH-based metrics were generated, as were gamma passing rates for a variety of difference/distance criteria covering: dose-in-phantom comparisons and dose-in-patient comparisons, with the in-patient results calculated both over the whole grid and per-ROI volume. Finally, patient dose and DVH were predicted using the conventional per-beam planar data as input into a commercial ''planned dose perturbation'' (PDP) algorithm, and the results of these predicted DVH-based metrics were compared to the known values. Results: A range of weak to moderate correlations were found between clinically relevant patient DVH metrics (CTV-D95, parotid D{sub mean}, spinal cord D1cc, and larynx D{sub mean}) and both 3D detector and 3D patient gamma passing rate (3%/3 mm, 2%/2 mm) for dose-in-phantom along with dose-in-patient for both whole patient volume and filtered per-ROI. There was

  5. Combined (alkaline+ultrasonic) pretreatment effect on sewage sludge disintegration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dong-Hoon; Jeong, Emma; Oh, Sae-Eun; Shin, Hang-Sik

    2010-05-01

    The individual effects of alkaline (pH 8-13) and ultrasonic (3750-45,000kJ/kg TS) pretreatments on the disintegration of sewage sludge were separately tested, and then the effect of combining these two methods at different intensity levels was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). In the combined pretreatment, ultrasonic treatment was applied to the alkali-pretreated sludge. While the solubilization (SCOD/TCOD) increase was limited to 50% in individual pretreatments, it reached 70% in combined pretreatment, and the results clearly showed that preconditioning of sludge at high pH levels played a crucial role in enhancing the disintegration efficiency of the subsequent ultrasonic pretreatment. By applying regression analysis, the disintegration degree (DD) was fitted based on the actual value to a second order polynomial equation: Y=-172.44+29.82X(1)+5.30x10(-3)X(2)-7.53x10(-5)X(1)X(2)-1.10X(1)(2)-1.043x10(-7)X(2)(2), where X(1), X(2), and Y are pH, specific energy input (kJ/kg TS), and DD, respectively. In a 2D contour plot describing the tendency of DD with respect to pH and specific energy input, it was clear that DD increased as pH increased, but it seemed that DD decreased when the specific energy input exceeded about 20,000kJ/kg TS. This phenomenon tells us that there exists a certain point where additional energy input is ineffective in achieving further disintegration. A synergetic disintegration effect was also found in the combined pretreatment, with lower specific energy input in ultrasonic pretreatment yielding higher synergetic effect. Finally, in order to see the combined pretreatment effect in continuous operation, the sludge pretreated with low intensity alkaline (pH 9)/ultrasonic (7500kJ/kg TS) treatment was fed to a 3 L of anaerobic sequencing batch reactor after 70 days of control operation. CH(4) production yield significantly increased from 81.9+/-4.5mL CH(4)/g COD(added) to 127.3+/-5.0mL CH(4)/g COD(added) by pretreatment, and

  6. Circulating LH/hCG receptor (LHCGR may identify pre-treatment IVF patients at risk of OHSS and poor implantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chambers Anne E

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Successful pregnancy via in vitro fertilization (IVF depends on the recovery of an adequate number of healthy oocytes and on blastocyst implantation following uterine transfer. Two hormones, LH and hCG, utilize a common LH/hCG receptor (LHCGR, variations in which have profound implications in human reproduction. Soluble LHCGR (sLHCGR is released from experimental cell lines and placental explants and it can be detected in the follicular fluid and serum. Methods To evaluate the impact of circulating soluble LHCGR (sLHCGR in fertility treatment, we measured sLHCGR and LH-sLHCGR complex in serum from women seeking IVF using specifically developed quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA. Following an IVF cycle of treatment, patients were grouped according to oocyte yield into low (lower than or equal to 7 oocytes, intermediate (8-14 oocytes and high (greater than or equal to 15 oocytes responders and pregnancy outcome noted. Results Pre-treatment sLHCGR identified many women at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation. Low levels of sLHCGR were associated with pregnancy in both high and low responders but sLHCGR did not significantly affect the treatment outcome of intermediate responders. Low responders who failed to become pregnant had high levels of circulating sLHCGR bound to LH (LH-sLHCGR. Conclusions Pre-treatment measurement of sLHCGR could be used to tailor individual fertility treatment programs and improve outcomes by avoiding ovarian hyperstimulation and poor embryo implantation.

  7. FRACTIONAL CRYSTALLIZATION TESTING WITH INTERIM PRETREATMENT SYSTEM FEEDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    HERTING DL

    2008-01-01

    The fractional crystallization process was developed as a pretreatment method for saltcake waste retrieved from Hanford single-shell tanks (SST). The process separates the retrieved SST waste into a high-level waste stream containing the bulk of the radionuclides and a low-activity waste stream containing the bulk of the nonradioactive sodium salts. The Interim Pretreatment System project shifted the focus on pretreatment planning from SST waste to double-shell tank waste

  8. Depression in Cardiovascular Patients in Middle Eastern Populations: A Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donnelly, Tam Truong; Al Suwaidi, Jassim Mohd; Al-Qahtani, Awad; Asaad, Nidal; Qader, Najlaa Abdul; Singh, Rajvir; Fung, Tak Shing; Mueed, Irem; Sharara, Shima; El Banna, Noha; Omar, Sarah

    2015-08-01

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increasing in Middle Eastern countries. Depression is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates among cardiovascular (CV) patients. Early detection of and intervention for depression among CV patients can reduce morbidity and mortality and save health care costs. Public information on mental health care needs of Arab CV patients living in Middle East regions is scattered and limited. This literature review surveyed and summarized research studies to learn what is known about the relationship between depression and CVD in Middle Eastern populations. The information will raise awareness among health care professionals and policy makers regarding the clinical significance of depression in Arab CV patients. It might contribute to development of culturally appropriate and effective mental health care services. Multiple databases were searched and 60 articles were assessed, including studies that investigated depression in Arab CV patient populations, physiological mechanisms of depression-CVD comorbidity, and intervention strategies that affect CV risk in depressed Arab patients. We discuss the extent to which this issue has been explored in Arab populations living in Middle East regions and Arab populations living abroad. We recommend that more comprehensive and in-depth research studies be conducted with Arab cardiac patients to enable implementation of culturally appropriate and effective mental health care interventions.

  9. Complementary effects of thienopyridine pretreatment and platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa integrin blockade with eptifibatide in coronary stent intervention; results from the ESPRIT trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dery, Jean-Pierre; Campbell, Mark E; Mathias, Jasmine; Pieper, Karen S; Harrington, Robert A; Madan, Mina; Gibson, C Michael; Tolleson, Thaddeus R; O'Shea, J Conor; Tcheng, James E

    2007-07-01

    This analysis sought to investigate the complementary effect of thienopyridine pretreatment and platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa integrin blockade in coronary stent intervention. Definitive evidence supporting combined antiplatelet therapy consisting of thienopyridine pretreatment and GP IIb/IIIa receptor blockade in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation is limited. We retrospectively analyzed clinical outcomes by thienopyridine use in the 2,040 patients randomized to eptifibatide or placebo who underwent PCI in the ESPRIT trial. A total of 901 patients received a loading dose of thienopyridine before PCI (group 1), 123 received thienopyridine pretreatment without a loading dose (group 2), and 1,016 were not treated with thienopyridine before PCI (group 3). The composite incidence of death or myocardial infarction at 30 days was significantly lower in group 1 than in groups 2 and 3 combined (OR, 0.71 [95%CI, 0.52-0.99]; P = 0.0417). A similar trend was seen for the composite of death, myocardial infarction, or urgent target vessel revascularization (unadjusted OR, 0.77 [0.57-1.05]; P = 0.1025). After adjusting for baseline characteristics, these differences were no longer significant. No interactions were identified with eptifibatide assignment for any of the group comparisons. Pretreatment with a loading dose of thienopyridine lowers the rate of ischemic complications regardless of treatment with a GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor. Conversely, the efficacy of eptifibatide is maintained whether or not a loading dose of a thienopyridine is administered. Optimal outcomes are achieved in patients receiving thienopyridine pretreatment along with platelet GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor therapy. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  10. Pretreatment drug use characteristics and experiences among patients in a voluntary substance abuse treatment center in Malaysia: A mixed-methods approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnan, Archana; Brown, Shan-Estelle; Ghani, Mansur A; Khan, Farrah; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Altice, Frederick L

    2016-01-01

    Drug use in Malaysia remains a significant public health and social problem despite implementation of harsh punitive drug policies such as forcibly placing suspected drug users into compulsory drug detention centers (CDDCs). Following criticism over human right violations in CDDCs, Malaysia has begun to transition towards voluntary drug treatment centers known as Cure & Care (C&C) centers. To best serve the needs of regional C&C centers, data on drug use are essential among patients accessing treatment. Using a mixed-methods approach, the authors examined pretreatment drug use characteristics and experiences with addiction treatment among C&C patients in Kelantan-a religiously conservative state in northeast Malaysia with high prevalence of drug use but where limited data are available on drug use patterns. A mixed-methods study utilizing surveys (n = 96) and semistructured interviews (n = 20) was conducted among a convenience sample of inpatients and outpatients at the Pengkalan Chepa C&C Center in Kelantan. Survey results showed that 89.6% of participants met screening criteria for moderate to severe addiction severity. Nearly 90% reported lifetime illicit amphetamine (syabu, meth, ice, and pil kuda) use, followed by alcohol (60.4%) and opioids (52.1%). Qualitative results pointed to the powerful influence of peer networks in drug initiation and relapse, and the positive effect of the C&C center on drug rehabilitation. The drug use profile of the Kelantan C&C center enrollees shows extensive pretreatment amphetamine use, polysubstance use, and injection drug use, including high-risk behaviors such as sharing needles, syringes, and containers. Evidence points to the need for integration of social support-oriented practices and behavioral interventions into the rehabilitation of drug users in this region.

  11. Pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in determining the prognosis of head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yalian; Wang, Hongbo; Yan, Aihui; Wang, Hailong; Li, Xinyao; Liu, Jiangtao; Li, Wei

    2018-04-04

    Recent studies have reported a relationship between prognosis and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). As the results are still controversial, we conducted a meta-analysis of pretreatment NLR in peripheral blood and prognosis in HNC patients. We retrieved articles from PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science. A comparative analysis was conducted for the effect of pretreatment NLR in peripheral blood on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival, disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival, metastasis-free survival, and recurrence-free survival of HNC patients. The analysis applied the criteria for systematic reviews described in the Cochrane Handbook and was conducted using hazard ratios (HRs) to estimate effect size, and calculated by Stata/SE version 13.0. The meta-analysis included eligible cohort studies (5475 cases). The OS data indicated increased mortality risk in HNC patients with a high NLR (HR = 1.84, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.53-2.23; P Analysis of subgroups stratified by NLR cutoff values revealed increased mortality risk and significantly shorter DFS in patients with high NLR compared to those with low NLR (HR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.46-3.24; P analysis results were stable, as shown by sensitivity analysis. No publication bias was detected by the Egger test (P = 0.135). HNC patients with elevated pretreatment NLR in peripheral blood have poor prognosis and are prone to local invasion and distant metastasis. NLR values are easily obtained from routinely collected blood samples and could assist clinicians to determine prognosis of HNC patients.

  12. EFFECT OF AQUEOUS PRETREATMENT ON PYROLYSIS CHARACTERISTICS OF NAPIER GRASS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ISAH YAKUB MOHAMMED

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Effect of non-catalytic aqueous pretretment on pyrolysis characteristics of Napier grass was investigated using thermogravimetric analyser. Increasing pretreatment severity (0.0-2.0 improved pyrolysis process. The residual mass at the end of pyrolysis for the pretreated sample was about 50% less compared to the untreated sample. Kinetics of the process was evaluated using order based model and both pretreated and untreated samples followed first order reaction. The activation energy of the pretreated samples was similar and higher than that of the raw sample which was attributed to faster rate of decomposition due removal of hetromaterials (ash, extractives and some hemicellulose in the pretreatment stage. Finally, this pretreatment method has demonstrated effectiveness for the removal of pyrolysis retardants and will improve the quantity and quality of bio-oil yield.

  13. Improving biogas production from microalgae by enzymatic pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passos, Fabiana; Hom-Diaz, Andrea; Blanquez, Paqui; Vicent, Teresa; Ferrer, Ivet

    2016-01-01

    In this study, enzymatic pretreatment of microalgal biomass was investigated under different conditions and evaluated using biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. Cellulase, glucohydrolase and an enzyme mix composed of cellulase, glucohydrolase and xylanase were selected based on the microalgae cell wall composition (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and glycoprotein). All of them increased organic matter solubilisation, obtaining high values already after 6h of pretreatment with an enzyme dose of 1% for cellulase and the enzyme mix. BMP tests with pretreated microalgae showed a methane yield increase of 8 and 15% for cellulase and the enzyme mix, respectively. Prospective research should evaluate enzymatic pretreatments in continuous anaerobic reactors so as to estimate the energy balance and economic cost of the process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Activation of glassy carbon electrodes by photocatalytic pretreatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dumanli, Onur [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Art, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit, 55139 Samsun (Turkey); Onar, A. Nur [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Art, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit, 55139 Samsun (Turkey)], E-mail: nonar@omu.edu.tr

    2009-11-01

    This paper describes a simple and rapid photocatalytic pretreatment procedure that removes contaminants from glassy carbon (GC) surfaces. The effectiveness of TiO{sub 2} mediated photocatalytic pretreatment procedure was compared to commonly used alumina polishing procedure. Cyclic voltammetric and chronocoulometric measurements were carried out to assess the changes in electrode reactivity by using four redox systems. Electrochemical measurements obtained on photocatalytically treated GC electrodes showed a more active surface relative to polished GC. In cyclic voltammograms of epinephrine, Fe(CN){sub 6}{sup 3-/4-} and ferrocene redox systems, higher oxidation and reduction currents were observed. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants (k{sup o}) were calculated for Fe(CN){sub 6}{sup 3-/4-} and ferrocene which were greater for photocatalytic pretreatment. Chronocoulometry was performed in order to find the amount of adsorbed methylene blue onto the electrode and was calculated as 0.34 pmol cm{sup -2} for photocatalytically pretreated GC. The proposed photocatalytic GC electrode cleansing and activating pretreatment procedure was more effective than classical alumina polishing.

  15. Survey of Lignin-Structure Changes and Depolymerization during Ionic Liquid Pretreatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, Tanmoy; Isern, Nancy G.; Sun, Jian; Wang, Eileen; Hull, Sarah; Cort, John R.; Simmons, Blake A.; Singh, Seema

    2017-09-26

    A detailed study of chemical changes in lignin structure during the ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment process is not only pivotal for understanding and overcoming biomass recalcitrance during IL pretreatment, but also is necessary for designing new routes for lignin valorization. Chemical changes in lignin were systematically studied as a function of pretreatment temperature, time and type of IL used. Kraft lignin was used as the lignin source and common pretreatment conditions were employed using three different ILs of varying chemical structure in terms of acidic or basic character. The chemical changes in the lignin structure due to IL pretreatment processes were monitored using 1H-13C HSQC NMR, 31P NMR, elemental analysis, GPC, FT-IR, and the depolymerized products were analyzed using GC-MS. Although pretreatment in acidic IL, triethylammonium hydrogensulfate ([TEA][HSO4]) results in maximum decrease in β-aryl ether bond, maximum dehydration and recondensation pathways were also evident, with the net process showing a minimum decrease in the molecular weight of regenerated lignin. However, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2C1Im][OAc]) pretreatment yields a smaller decrease in the β-aryl ether content along with minimum evidence of recondensation, resulting in the maximum decrease in the molecular weight. Cholinium lysinate ([Ch][Lys]) pretreatment shows an intermediate result, with moderate depolymerization, dehydration and recondensation observed. The depolymerization products after IL pretreatment are found to be a function of the pretreatment temperature and the specific chemical nature of the IL used. At higher pretreatment temperature, [Ch][Lys] pretreatment yields guaiacol, [TEA][HSO4] yields guaiacylacetone, and [C2C1Im][OAc] yields both guaiacol and guaiacylacetone as major products. These results clearly indicate that the changes in lignin structure as well as the depolymerized product profile depend on the pretreatment conditions and the nature

  16. Combination of paclitaxel and bevacizumab in heavily pre-treated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients: a case series study on 15 patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Moulec, Sylvestre; Hadoux, Julien; Gontier, Eric; Chargari, Cyrus; Helissey, Carole; Lamand, Virginie; Tanz, Rachid; Farace, Françoise; Vedrine, Lionel; Bonardel, Gérald; Soria, Jean-Charles; Besse, Benjamin

    2013-12-01

    The combination of paclitaxel and bevacizumab was EMA-approved as first-line therapy in metastatic breast cancer. Moreover, in vitro studies showed a potential antiangiogenic synergistic effect of paclitaxel and bevacizumab. Between November 2008 and March 2010, this case series study included 15 patients with metastatic non squamous-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Those were bevacizumab eligible and received the same regimen used in metastatic breast cancer with weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m(2), days 1, 8 and 15) and bevacizumab (10 mg/kg at days 1 and 15) after at least one prior line of chemotherapy. Efficacy was evaluated by CT-scan and PET-FDG every two months. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (CEP) and circulating endothelial cells (CEC) levels were explored in a subset of patients. Median age 56 (36-75), female: 47%, never smokers: 27%, adenocarcinoma: 100%, PS 0-1: 87% and PS 3: 13%. All patients were treated with a first-line platinum-based doublet with or without bevacizumab and 70% of them with erlotinib in the second-line. No major toxicity was observed. Partial response (PR) rate was 44% (31-63%) using RECIST criteria on CT-scan, and 65% (29-88%) with PET FDG. PS improved in 33% of the cases. Median progression free survival was 4.6 months. An increase of CEC and CEP was observed in patients with NSCLC treated with paclitaxel and bevacizumab. In this retrospective series, our results suggest efficacy signal in pre-treated metastatic NSCLC and warrant further assessment in a randomized clinical trial.

  17. Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment – severity equation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne Risbjerg; Knudsen, Niels Ole

    2014-01-01

    Background: Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment...... factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature......) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due...

  18. Pretreatment of Reed by Wet Oxidation and Subsequent Utilization of the Pretreated Fibers for Ethanol Production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Szijarto, Nora; Kádár, Zsófia; Varga, Eniko

    2009-01-01

    lignocelluloses usually do. In the present study, wet oxidation was investigated as the pretreatment method to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of reed cellulose to soluble sugars and thus improve the convertibility of reed to ethanol. The most effective treatment increased the digestibility of reed cellulose...... of cellulose to glucose was 82.4%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated solids resulted in a final ethanol concentration as high as 8.7 g/L, yielding 73% of the theoretical....

  19. Making lignin accessible for anaerobic digestion by wet-explosion pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahring, Birgitte Kiær; Biswas, Rajib; Ahamed, Aftab

    2015-01-01

    of lignin during anaerobic digestion processes. The pretreatment of feedlot manure was performed in a 10 L reactor at 170 C for 25 min using 4 bars oxygen and the material was fed to a continuous stirred tank reactor operated at 55 C for anaerobic digestion. Methane yield of untreated and pretreated...... material was 70 ± 27 and 320 ± 36 L/kg-VS/day, respectively, or 4.5 times higher yield as a result of the pretreatment. Aliphatic acids formed during the pretreatment were utilized by microbes. 44.4% lignin in pretreated material was actually converted in the anaerobic digestion process compared to 12...

  20. Effects of Pretreatment Methods on Electrodes and SOFC Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo-Bin Jung

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Commercially available tapes (anode, electrolyte and paste (cathode were choosen to prepare anode-supported cells for solid oxide fuel cell applications. For both anode-supported cells or electrolyte-supported cells, the anode needs pretreatment to reduce NiO/YSZ to Ni/YSZ to increase its conductivity as well as its catalytic characteristics. In this study, the effects of different pretreatments (open-circuit, closed-circuit on cathode and anodes as well as SOFC performance are investigated. To investigate the influence of closed-circuit pretreatment on the NiO/YSZ anode alone, a Pt cathode is utilized as reference for comparison with the LSM cathode. The characterization of the electrical resistance, AC impedance, and SOFC performance of the resulting electrodes and/or anode-supported cell were carried out. It’s found that the influence of open-circuit pretreatment on the LSM cathode is limited. However, the influence of closed-circuit pretreatment on both the LSM cathode and NiO/YSZ anode and the resulting SOFC performance is profound. The effect of closed-circuit pretreatment on the NiO/YSZ anode is attributed to its change of electronic/pore structure as well as catalytic characteristics. With closed-circuit pretreatment, the SOFC performance improved greatly from the change of LSM cathode (and Pt reference compared to the Ni/YSZ anode.

  1. Polycystic kidney disease among 4,436 intracranial aneurysm patients from a defined population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nurmonen, Heidi J; Huttunen, Terhi; Huttunen, Jukka; Kurki, Mitja I; Helin, Katariina; Koivisto, Timo; von Und Zu Fraunberg, Mikael; Jääskeläinen, Juha E; Lindgren, Antti E

    2017-10-31

    To define the association of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) with the characteristics of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and unruptured intracranial aneurysm (IA) disease. We fused data from the Kuopio Intracranial Aneurysm database (n = 4,436 IA patients) and Finnish nationwide registries into a population-based series of 53 IA patients with ADPKD to compare the aneurysm- and patient-specific characteristics of IA disease in ADPKD and in the general IA population, and to identify risks for de novo IA formation. In total, there were 33 patients with ADPKD with aSAH and 20 patients with ADPKD with unruptured IAs. The median size of ruptured IAs in ADPKD was significantly smaller than in the general population (6.00 vs 8.00 mm) and the proportion of small ruptured IAs was significantly higher (31% vs 18%). Median age at aSAH was 42.8 years, 10 years younger than in the general IA population. Multiple IAs were present in 45% of patients with ADPKD compared to 28% in the general IA population. Cumulative risk of de novo IA formation was 1.3% per patient-year (vs 0.2% in the general IA population). Hazard for de novo aneurysm formation was significantly elevated in patients with ADPKD (Cox regression hazard ratio 7.7, 95% confidence interval 2.8-20; p IAs in patients with ADPKD and risk for de novo IAs is higher than in the general Eastern Finnish population. ADPKD should be considered as an indicator for long-term angiographic follow-up in patients with diagnosed IAs. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

  2. Dose-Dependent Effect of Statin Pretreatment on Preventing the Periprocedural Complications of Carotid Artery Stenting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jeong-Ho; Sohn, Sung-Il; Kwak, Jaehyuk; Yoo, Joonsang; Chang, Hyuk Won; Kwon, O-Ki; Jung, Cheolkyu; Chung, Inyoung; Bae, Hee-Joon; Lee, Ji Sung; Han, Moon-Ku

    2017-07-01

    We investigated whether statin pretreatment can dose dependently reduce periprocedural complications in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting because of symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. We enrolled a consecutive series of 397 symptomatic carotid artery stenosis (≥50% stenosis on conventional angiography) treated with carotid artery stenting at 2 tertiary university hospitals over a decade. Definition of periprocedural complications included any stroke, myocardial infarction, and death within 1 month after or during the procedure. Statin pretreatment was divided into 3 categories according to the atorvastatin equivalent dose: none (n=158; 39.8%), standard dose (statin use were 12.0%, 4.5%, and 1.2%. After adjustment, a change in the atorvastatin dose category was associated with reduction in the odds of periprocedural complications for each change in dose category (standard-dose statin: odds ratio, 0.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.81; high-dose statin: odds ratio, 0.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.96; P for trend=0.01). Administration of antiplatelet drugs was also an independent factor in periprocedural complications (OR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.05-0.69). This study shows that statin pretreatment may reduce the incidence of periprocedural complications dose dependently in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenting. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  3. Prevalence of dental anomalies in Saudi orthodontic patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Jabaa, Aljazi H; Aldrees, Abdullah M

    2013-07-01

    This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of dental anomalies and study the association of these anomalies with different types of malocclusion in a random sample of Saudi orthodontic patients. Six hundred and two randomly selected pretreatment records including orthopantomographs (OPG), and study models were evaluated. The molar relationship was determined using pretreatment study models, and OPG were examined to investigate the prevalence of dental anomalies among the sample. The most common types of the investigated anomalies were: impaction followed by hypodontia, microdontia, macrodontia, ectopic eruption and supernumerary. No statistical significant correlations were observed between sex and dental anomalies. Dental anomalies were more commonly found in class I followed by asymmetric molar relation, then class II and finally class III molar relation. No malocclusion group had a statistically significant relation with any individual dental anomaly. The prevalence of dental anomalies among Saudi orthodontic patients was higher than the general population. Although, orthodontic patients have been reported to have high rates of dental anomalies, orthodontists often fail to consider this. If not detected, dental anomalies can complicate dental and orthodontic treatment; therefore, their presence should be carefully investigated during orthodontic diagnosis and considered during treatment planning.

  4. Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li; Zhou, Qi

    2013-01-01

    Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon production from cassava stillage. Acid pretreatment thereby has higher capacity to promote hydrogen production compared with alkaline pretreatment. Effects of pretreatment temperature, time and acid concentration on hydrogen production were also revealed by response surface methodology. The results showed that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen production of 434 mL, 67% higher than raw cassava stillage.

  5. Understanding of alkaline pretreatment parameters for corn stover enzymatic saccharification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Ye

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous research on alkaline pretreatment has mainly focused on optimization of the process parameters to improve substrate digestibility. To achieve satisfactory sugar yield, extremely high chemical loading and enzyme dosages were typically used. Relatively little attention has been paid to reduction of chemical consumption and process waste management, which has proven to be an indispensable component of the bio-refineries. To indicate alkali strength, both alkali concentration in pretreatment solution (g alkali/g pretreatment liquor or g alkali/L pretreatment liquor and alkali loading based on biomass solids (g alkali/g dry biomass have been widely used. The dual approaches make it difficult to compare the chemical consumption in different process scenarios while evaluating the cost effectiveness of this pretreatment technology. The current work addresses these issues through pretreatment of corn stover at various combinations of pretreatment conditions. Enzymatic hydrolysis with different enzyme blends was subsequently performed to identify the effects of pretreatment parameters on substrate digestibility as well as process operational and capital costs. Results The results showed that sodium hydroxide loading is the most dominant variable for enzymatic digestibility. To reach 70% glucan conversion while avoiding extensive degradation of hemicellulose, approximately 0.08 g NaOH/g corn stover was required. It was also concluded that alkali loading based on total solids (g NaOH/g dry biomass governs the pretreatment efficiency. Supplementing cellulase with accessory enzymes such as α-arabinofuranosidase and β-xylosidase significantly improved the conversion of the hemicellulose by 6–17%. Conclusions The current work presents the impact of alkaline pretreatment parameters on the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover as well as the process operational and capital investment costs. The high chemical consumption for alkaline

  6. Impact of pretreatment on colour and texture of watermelon rind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athmaselvi, K.; Alagusundaram, K.; Kavitha, C.; Arumuganathan, T.

    2012-07-01

    The effect of osmotic dehydration pretreatment on water loss, solid gain, colour and textural change was investigated. Watermelon rind 1 x 1 cm size was immersed in sucrose solution of 40, 50 and 60° Brix after pretreatment with microwave and conventional boiling in water for 1, 3, and 5 min, respectively. Water loss and solid gain increased with the time of cooking and sugar concentration. Microwave pretreated samples showed higher water loss and solid gain. Increase in the time of cooking decreased the brightness of all the samples. Microwave pretreated samples showed higher `b' values than conventionally pretreated ones. There was no significant difference (P≤0.05) in texture profile analysis parameters except for hardness. Hardness decreased with increase in time of cooking and sugar concentration. Second order regression model was developed for water loss and solid gain of microwave and conventional pretreated watermelon rind.

  7. Biomass pretreatment affects Ustilago maydis in producing itaconic acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klement Tobias

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the last years, the biotechnological production of platform chemicals for fuel components has become a major focus of interest. Although ligno-cellulosic material is considered as suitable feedstock, the almost inevitable pretreatment of this recalcitrant material may interfere with the subsequent fermentation steps. In this study, the fungus Ustilago maydis was used to produce itaconic acid as platform chemical for the synthesis of potential biofuels such as 3-methyltetrahydrofuran. No studies, however, have investigated how pretreatment of ligno-cellulosic biomass precisely influences the subsequent fermentation by U. maydis. Thus, this current study aims to first characterize U. maydis in shake flasks and then to evaluate the influence of three exemplary pretreatment methods on the cultivation and itaconic acid production of this fungus. Cellulose enzymatically hydrolysed in seawater and salt-assisted organic-acid catalysed cellulose were investigated as substrates. Lastly, hydrolysed hemicellulose from fractionated beech wood was applied as substrate. Results U. maydis was characterized on shake flask level regarding its itaconic acid production on glucose. Nitrogen limitation was shown to be a crucial condition for the production of itaconic acid. For itaconic acid concentrations above 25 g/L, a significant product inhibition was observed. Performing experiments that simulated influences of possible pretreatment methods, U. maydis was only slightly affected by high osmolarities up to 3.5 osmol/L as well as of 0.1 M oxalic acid. The production of itaconic acid was achieved on pretreated cellulose in seawater and on the hydrolysed hemicellulosic fraction of pretreated beech wood. Conclusion The fungus U. maydis is a promising producer of itaconic acid, since it grows as single cells (yeast-like in submerged cultivations and it is extremely robust in high osmotic media and real seawater. Moreover, U. maydis can grow on

  8. Optimising radiation outcomes, scheduling patient waiting lists for maximum population tumour control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebert, M.A.; Jennings, L.; Kearvell, R.; Bydder, S.

    2011-01-01

    Full text: Delays in the commencement of radiotherapy, possibly due to resource constraints, are known to impact on control-related outcomes. We sought an objective solution for patient prioritisation based on tumour control probability (TCP). With a utilitarian objective for maximising TCP in a population of M patients, with patient i waiting a time between diagnosis and treatment of Ti and a mean wait time of TMean, the optimisation problem is as shown. A linear-quadratic/Poissonian model for cell survival/TCP was considered including cell doubling during the wait time. Solutions to several distributions of patient population characteristics were examined together with the expected change in TCP for the population and individuals. An analytical solution to the optimisation problem was found which gives the optimal wait time for each patient as a function of the distribution of radiobiological characteristics in the population. This solution does not allow a negativity constraint on an individual's optimised waiting time so a waiting list simulation was developed to enforce that. Optimal wait time distributions were calculated for situations where patients are allocated distinct diagnostic groups (sharing radiobiological parameters) and for a (log-normal) distribution of doubling times in the population. In order to meet the utilitarian objective, the optimal solutions require patients with rapid cell doubling times to be accelerated up the waiting list at the expense of those with slowly proliferating tumours. The net population benefit however is comparable to or greater then the expected benefit from beam intensity modulation or dose escalation.

  9. Removal mechanism of tritium by variously pretreated silica gel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakashima, M.; Tachikawa, E.; Saeki, M.; Aratono, Y.

    1981-01-01

    Removal mechanisms of HTO from variously pretreated and non-pretreated silica gel columns were investigated with pulse-loading with tritiated water vapor. With non-pretreated silica gel, the HTO physisorbed on the upper part of the column comes into contact with surface hydroxyl groups while passing downward the column, so that in each equilibration a part of the tritium is incorporated into hydroxyl groups by H/T isotopic exchange reactions. With the silica gel pretreated at a temperature below 400 0 C, most of tritium in the applied HTO is easily incorporated into surface hydroxyl groups in the upper part of the column either by H/T isotopic exchange reactions or by rehydration of the dehydrated surface (siloxyl linkage). In the pretreatment above 400 0 C, essentially all the tritium is trapped by siloxyl groups of various stabilities. The ease of rehydration of siloxyl groups by applied HTO depends on their stabilities, which, in turn, depend on the pretreatment temperature. As a general trend, treatment at higher temperature promotes annealing of the constrained siloxyl groups and thus the rate of rehydration becomes slower. (author)

  10. Dielectric barrier discharge plasma pretreatment on hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Fangmin; Long, Zhouyang; Liu, Sa; Qin, Zhenglong

    2017-04-01

    Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was used as a pretreatment method for downstream hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). The degree of polymerization (DP) of MCC decreased after it was pretreated by DBD plasma under a carrier gas of air/argon. The effectiveness of depolymerization was found to be influenced by the crystallinity of MCC when under the pretreatment of DBD plasma. With the addition of tert-butyl alcohol in the treated MCC water suspension solution, depolymerization effectiveness of MCC was inhibited. When MCC was pretreated by DBD plasma for 30 min, the total reducing sugar concentration (TRSC) and liquefaction yield (LY) of pretreated-MCC (PMCC) increased by 82.98% and 34.18% respectively compared with those for raw MCC.

  11. Oral etoposide in heavily pre-treated metastatic breast cancer: A retrospective series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giannone, G; Milani, A; Ghisoni, E; Genta, S; Mittica, G; Montemurro, F; Valabrega, G

    2018-04-01

    Patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) can derive clinical benefit from several subsequent lines of chemotherapy. However, in heavily pre-treated patients, agents with clinical activity, a favourable side effects profile and a convenient administration modality are preferred. We retrospectively analyzed 110 patients with previously treated MBC, who received oral etoposide at the dose of 50 mg/day for 20 days in 28 days cycles, between 2003 and 2017. Because this was not a prospectively planned study, to describe the clinical performance of oral etoposide we adopted the approach suggested by Dzimitrowicz and colleagues (J Clin Oncol. 2016; 34:3511-17); Tumour Response (TR) was defined as the proportion of physician-reported clinical or imaging response; Prolonged Duration on Therapy (PDT) as the proportion of non-progressing patients whose treatment lasted more than 6 months. Furthermore, we evaluated median duration on therapy (TD) and median Overall Survival (OS) by the Kaplan Meier method. The median number of previous chemotherapy lines was 5 (range 2-8). TR, PDT, median TD and median OS were 6.4%, 18.2% 4 (range 3.5-4.5) and 10.6 (range 8.4-12.8) months respectively. Interestingly, etoposide activity was unrelated to the number of previous lines and type of metastatic involvement. Oral etoposide was well tolerated with only two patients discontinuing therapy due to toxicity. In this large, single Institution, real practice analysis oral etoposide is a valuable and safe option for pre-treated metastatic breast cancer patients and might be considered in patients failing other approaches, but still suitable for chemotherapy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Moyamoya vasculopathy - Patient demographics and characteristics in the Finnish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saarela, Marika; Mustanoja, Satu; Pekkola, Johanna; Tyni, Tiina; Hernesniemi, Juha; Kivipelto, Leena; Tatlisumak, Turgut

    2017-01-01

    Background and purpose Moyamoya vasculopathy, a rare steno-occlusive progressive cerebrovascular disorder, has not been thoroughly studied in Caucasian populations. We established a registry of Finnish patients treated at the Helsinki University Hospital, to collect and report demographic and clinical data. Methods We collected data both retrospectively and prospectively from all the patients with a moyamoya vasculopathy referred to our hospital between January 1987 and December 2014. All patients underwent a neurological outpatient clinic visit. Results We diagnosed 61 patients (50 females, 10 children) with moyamoya vasculopathy. The mean age at the disease-onset was 31.5 ± 17.9 years. The two most common presenting symptoms were ischemic stroke (n = 31) and hemorrhage (n = 8). Forty-four percent underwent revascularization surgery, and 70% were prescribed antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The results support in part the Western phenotype of the disease considering the later presentation and larger female predominance compared to the Asian moyamoya vasculopathy reports. However, the proportion of ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes is closer to Japanese population than German population. The absence of familial cases points to a different genetic profile in the Finnish patients.

  13. Potential of potassium hydroxide pretreatment of switchgrass for fermentable sugar production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Rajat; Palled, Vijaykumar; Sharma-Shivappa, Ratna R; Osborne, Jason

    2013-02-01

    Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been extensively investigated for sugar generation and subsequent fuel production. Alkaline pretreatment has emerged as one of the popular chemical pretreatment methods, but most attempts thus far have utilized NaOH for the pretreatment process. This study aimed at investigating the potential of potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a viable alternative alkaline reagent for lignocellulosic pretreatment based on its different reactivity patterns compared to NaOH. Performer switchgrass was pretreated at KOH concentrations of 0.5-2% for varying treatment times of 6-48 h, 6-24 h, and 0.25-1 h at 21, 50, and 121 °C, respectively. The pretreatments resulted in the highest percent sugar retention of 99.26% at 0.5%, 21 °C, 12 h while delignification up to 55.4% was observed with 2% KOH, 121 °C, 1 h. Six pretreatment conditions were selected for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with Cellic CTec2® for sugar generation. The pretreatment condition of 0.5% KOH, 24 h, 21 °C was determined to be the most effective as it utilized the least amount of KOH while generating 582.4 mg sugar/g raw biomass for a corresponding percent carbohydrate conversion of 91.8%.

  14. Pre-treatment factor structures of the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating scale as predictors of response to escitalopram in Indian patients with non-psychotic major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, Aniruddha; Chadda, Rakesh; Sood, Mamta; Rizwan, S A

    2017-08-01

    Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a broad heterogeneous construct resolving into several symptom-clusters by factor analysis. The aim was to find the factor structures of MDD as per Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and whether they predict escitalopram response. In a longitudinal study at a tertiary institute in north India, 116 adult out-patients with non-psychotic unipolar MDD were assessed with MADRS before and after treatment with escitalopram (10-20mg) over 6-8 weeks for drug response. For total 116 patients pre-treatment four factor structures of MADRS extracted by principal component analysis with varimax rotation altogether explained a variance of 57%: first factor 'detachment' (concentration difficulty, lassitude, inability to feel); second factor 'psychic anxiety' (suicidal thoughts and inner tension); third 'mood-pessimism' (apparent sadness, reported sadness, pessimistic thoughts) and fourth 'vegetative' (decreased sleep, appetite). Eighty patients (68.9%) who completed the study had mean age 35.37±10.9 yrs, majority were male (57.5%), with mean pre-treatment MADRS score 28.77±5.18 and majority (65%) having moderate severity (MADRS escitalopram. At the end of the treatment there were significant changes in all the 4 factor structures (pescitalopram treatment. Understanding the factor structure is important as they can be important predictor of escitalopram response. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Effects of different pretreatment methods on fermentation types and dominant bacteria for hydrogen production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Nan-Qi; Guo, Wan-Qian; Liu, Bing-Feng; Wang, Xing-Zu; Ding, Jie; Chen, Zhao-Bo [State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, Heilongjiang (China); Wang, Xiang-Jing; Xiang, Wen-Sheng [Research Center of Life Science and Biotechnology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030 (China)

    2008-08-15

    In order to enrich hydrogen producing bacteria and to establish high-efficient communities of the mixed microbial cultures, inoculum needs to be pretreated before the cultivation. Four pretreatment methods including heat-shock pretreatment, acid pretreatment, alkaline pretreatment and repeated-aeration pretreatment were performed on the seed sludge which was collected from a secondary settling tank of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. In contrast to the control test without any pretreatment, the heat-shock pretreatment, acid pretreatment and repeated-aeration pretreatment completely suppressed the methanogenic activity of the seed sludge, but the alkaline pretreatment did not. Employing different pretreatment methods resulted in the change in fermentation types as butyric-acid type fermentation was achieved by the heat-shock and alkaline pretreatments, mixed-acid type fermentation was achieved by acid pretreatment and the control, and ethanol-type fermentation was observed by repeated-aeration pretreatment. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles revealed that pretreatment method substantially affected the species composition of microbial communities. The highest hydrogen yield of 1.96 mol/mol-glucose was observed with the repeated-aeration pretreatment method, while the lowest was obtained as the seed sludge was acidified. It is concluded that the pretreatment methods led to the difference in the initial microbial communities which might be directly responsible for different fermentation types and hydrogen yields. (author)

  16. Optimization and evaluation of alkaline potassium permanganate pretreatment of corncob.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Lijuan; Cui, Youzhi; Cai, Rui; Liu, Xueqiang; Zhang, Cuiying; Xiao, Dongguang

    2015-03-01

    Alkaline potassium permanganate solution (APP) was applied to the pretreatment of corncob with a simple and effective optimization of APP concentration, reaction time, temperature and solid to liquid ratio (SLR). The optimized pretreatment conditions were at 2% (w/v) potassium permanganate with SLR of 1:10 treating for 6h at 50°C. This simple one-step treatment resulted in significant 94.56% of the cellulose and 81.47% of the hemicellulose recoveries and 46.79% of the lignin removal of corncob. The reducing sugar in the hydrolysate from APP-pretreated corncob was 8.39g/L after 12h enzymatic hydrolysis, which was 1.44 and 1.29 folds higher than those from raw and acid pretreated corncobs. Physical characteristics, crystallinity and structure of the pretreated corncob were analyzed and assessed by SEM, XRD and FTIR. The APP pretreatment process was novel and enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose by affecting composition and structural features. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Improved pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using enzymatically-generated peracetic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, DeLu Tyler; Jing, Qing; AlDajani, Waleed Wafa; Duncan, Shona; Tschirner, Ulrike; Schilling, Jonathan; Kazlauskas, Romas J

    2011-04-01

    Release of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass is inefficient because lignin, an aromatic polymer, blocks access of enzymes to the sugar polymers. Pretreatments remove lignin and disrupt its structure, thereby enhancing sugar release. In previous work, enzymatically generated peracetic acid was used to pretreat aspen wood. This pretreatment removed 45% of the lignin and the subsequent saccharification released 97% of the sugars remaining after pretreatment. In this paper, the amount of enzyme needed is reduced tenfold using first, an improved enzyme variant that makes twice as much peracetic acid and second, a two-phase reaction to generate the peracetic acid, which allows enzyme reuse. In addition, the eight pretreatment cycles are reduced to only one by increasing the volume of peracetic acid solution and increasing the temperature to 60 °C and the reaction time to 6h. For the pretreatment step, the weight ratio of peracetic acid to wood determines the amount of lignin removed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Size effects on acid bisulfite pretreatment efficiency: multiple product yields in spent liquor and enzymatic digestibility of pretreated solids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yalan Liu; Jinwu Wang; Michael P. Wolcott

    2017-01-01

    Currently, feedstock size effects on chemical pretreatment performance were not clear due to the complexity of the pretreatment process and multiple evaluation standards such as the sugar recovery in spent liquor or enzymatic digestibility. In this study, we evaluated the size effects by various ways: the sugar recovery and coproduct yields in spent liquor, the...

  19. Pretreatment of Biomass by Aqueous Ammonia for Bioethanol Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Tae Hyun; Gupta, Rajesh; Lee, Y. Y.

    The methods of pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using aqueous ammonia are described. The main effect of ammonia treatment of biomass is delignification without significantly affecting the carbohydrate contents. It is a very effective pretreatment method especially for substrates that have low lignin contents such as agricultural residues and herbaceous feedstock. The ammonia-based pretreatment is well suited for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) because the treated biomass retains cellulose as well as hemicellulose. It has been demonstrated that overall ethanol yield above 75% of the theoretical maximum on the basis of total carbohydrate is achievable from corn stover pretreated with aqueous ammonia by way of SSCF. There are two different types of pretreatment methods based on aqueous ammonia: (1) high severity, low contact time process (ammonia recycle percolation; ARP), (2) low severity, high treatment time process (soaking in aqueous ammonia; SAA). Both of these methods are described and discussed for their features and effectiveness.

  20. Flow-through pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with inorganic nanoporous membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhave, Ramesh R.; Lynd, Lee; Shao, Xiongjun

    2018-04-03

    A process for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is provided. The process generally includes flowing water through a pretreatment reactor containing a bed of particulate ligno-cellulosic biomass to produce a pressurized, high-temperature hydrolyzate exit stream, separating solubilized compounds from the hydrolyzate exit stream using an inorganic nanoporous membrane element, fractionating the retentate enriched in solubilized organic components and recycling the permeate to the pretreatment reactor. The pretreatment process provides solubilized organics in concentrated form for the subsequent conversion into biofuels and other chemicals.

  1. Defining the appropriate radiation dose for pretreatment PSA no. <=no. 10 ng/mL prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinover, Wayne H.; Hanlon, Alexandra L.; Horwitz, Eric M.; Hanks, Gerald E.

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate whether a dose response exists for biochemical no evidence of disease (bNED) control in prostate cancer patients with pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) no. =no. 7600 cGy. Median dose in these three groups was 7067 cGy, 7278 cGy, and 7734 cGy, respectively. Univariate analysis was performed to determine differences in bNED control (American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology [ASTRO] Consensus Guidelines definition of failure) by dose group for the entire cohort, for 310 good prognosis patients (T1-T2A, Gleason score 2-6, absence of PNI), and for 178 poor prognosis patients (T2B-T3 or Gleason score 7-10 or presence of PNI) . Multivariate analysis (MVA) was performed to determine if dose was an independent predictor of bNED control. Median follow-up was 36 months. Results: A dose response was not demonstrated for the entire group of patients with pretreatment PSA no. =no. 7600 cGy were associated with 5-year bNED control rates of 73%, 86%, and 89%, respectively (p = 0.12). MVA demonstrated prognosis group (p = 0.038) to be the only independent predictor of bNED control. Good prognosis patients had a 5-year bNED of 85% and no dose response was seen. The subgroup of poor prognosis patients demonstrated a 5-year bNED control rate of 81% and a dose response was seen for those receiving no. >=no. 7600 cGy, compared to the two lower dose groups (94% vs. 75% vs. 70%; p = 0.0062). MVA for the poor prognosis subset demonstrated dose (p = 0.01) to be the only independent predictor for improved bNED control. Conclusions: The poor prognosis subset of PSA no. <=no. 10 ng/mL prostate cancer patients benefit from dose escalation. A dose response is not demonstrated for prostate cancer patients with pretreatment PSA no. <=no. 10 ng/mL and other favorable features

  2. Eldecalcitol normalizes bone turnover markers regardless of their pre-treatment levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiraki, Masataka; Saito, Hitoshi; Matsumoto, Toshio

    2012-09-01

    Three-year treatment with eldecalcitol has been shown to improve lumbar and total hip bone mineral density (BMD), decrease bone turnover markers, and lower the incidences of vertebral and wrist fractures in patients with osteoporosis more than with treatment with alfacalcidol under vitamin D repletion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a risk of eldecalcitol causing severely suppressed bone turnover in osteoporosis patients with low pre-treatment levels of bone turnover markers. Post-hoc analysis was conducted on the data from a 3-year, randomized, double-blind, active-comparator, clinical trial of eldecalcitol versus alfacalcidol under vitamin D repletion conducted in Japan. Enrolled patients with baseline measurements of bone turnover markers were stratified into tertiles according to their pre-treatment levels of serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, serum procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide, or urinary collagen-N-telopeptide. Eldecalcitol treatment rapidly reduced bone turnover markers, and kept them within the normal range. However, in the patients whose baseline values for bone turnover were low, eldecalcitol treatment did not further reduce bone turnover markers during the 3-year treatment period. Further long-term observation may be required to reach the conclusion. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV NUMBER: NCT00144456. Eldecalcitol normalizes, but does not overly suppress, bone turnover regardless of baseline levels of bone turnover markers. Thus, it is unlikely that eldecalcitol treatment will increase the risk of severely suppressed bone turnover and therefore deterioration of bone quality, at least for a treatment duration of 3 years.

  3. Enzymatic protein hydrolysates from high pressure-pretreated isolated pea proteins have better antioxidant properties than similar hydrolysates produced from heat pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girgih, Abraham T; Chao, Dongfang; Lin, Lin; He, Rong; Jung, Stephanie; Aluko, Rotimi E

    2015-12-01

    Isolated pea protein (IPP) dispersions (1%, w/v) were pretreated with high pressure (HP) of 200, 400, or 600 MPa for 5 min at 24 °C or high temperature (HT) for 30 min at 100 °C prior to hydrolysis with 1% (w/w) Alcalase. HP pretreatment of IPP at 400 and 600 MPa levels led to significantly (P40%) oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) of hydrolysates. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of pea protein hydrolysates were also significantly (PProtein hydrolysates from HT IPP showed no ORAC, superoxide or hydroxyl scavenging activity but had significantly (Pprotein hydrolysates had weaker antioxidant properties than glutathione but overall, the HP pretreatment was superior to HT pretreatment in facilitating enzymatic release of antioxidant peptides from IPP. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Wet oxidation pretreatment of rape straw for ethanol production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvaniti, Efthalia; Bjerre, Anne Belinda; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

    2012-01-01

    Rape straw can be used for production of second generation bioethanol. In this paper we optimized the pretreatment of rape straw for this purpose using Wet oxidation (WO). The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time, and oxygen gas pressure was investigated for maximum ethanol yield via Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). To reduce the water use and increase the energy efficiency in WO pretreatment features like recycling liquid (filtrate), presoaking of rape straw in water or recycled filtrate before WO, skip washing pretreated solids (filter cake) after WO, or use of whole slurry (Filter cake + filtrate) in SSF were also tested. Except ethanol yields, pretreatment methods were evaluated based on achieved glucose yields, amount of water used, recovery of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The highest ethanol yield obtained was 67% after fermenting the whole slurry produced by WO at 205 °C for 3 min with 12 bar of oxygen gas pressure and featured with presoaking in water. At these conditions after pre-treatment, cellulose and hemicellulose was recovered quantitatively (100%) together with 86% of the lignin. WO treatments of 2–3 min at 205–210 °C with 12 bar of oxygen gas produced higher ethanol yields and cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin recoveries, than 15 min WO treatment at 195 °C. Also, recycling filtrate and use of higher oxygen gas pressure reduced recovery of materials. The use of filtrate could be inhibitory for the yeast, but also reduced lactic acid formation in SSF. -- Highlights: ► Wet Oxidation pretreatment on rape straw for sugar and ethanol production. ► Variables were reaction time, temperature, and oxygen gas pressure. ► Also, other configurations for increase of water and energy efficiency. ► Short Wet oxidation pretreatment (2–3 min) produced highest ethanol yield. ► After these pretreatment conditions recovery of lignin in solids was 86%.

  5. Pre-treatment MRI minimum apparent diffusion coefficient value is a potential prognostic imaging biomarker in cervical cancer patients treated with definitive chemoradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marconi, Daniel Grossi; Fregnani, Jose Humberto Tavares Guerreiro; Rossini, Rodrigo Ribeiro; Netto, Ana Karina Borges Junqueira; Lucchesi, Fabiano Rubião; Tsunoda, Audrey Tieko; Kamrava, Mitchell

    2016-01-01

    Diffusion Weighted (DW) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been studed in several cancers including cervical cancer. This study was designed to investigate the association of DW-MRI parameters with baseline clinical features and clinical outcomes (local regional control (LRC), disease free survival (DFS) and disease specific survival (DSS)) in cervical cancer patients treated with definitive chemoradiation. This was a retrospective study approved by an institutional review board that included 66 women with cervical cancer treated with definitive chemoradiation who underwent pre-treatment MRI at our institution between 2012 and 2013. A region of interest (ROI) was manually drawn by one of three radiologists with experience in pelvic imaging on a single axial CT slice encompassing the widest diameter of the cervical tumor while excluding areas of necrosis. The following apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values (×10 −3 mm 2 /s) were extracted for each ROI: Minimum - ADC min , Maximum - ADC max , Mean - ADC mean , and Standard Deviation of the ADC - ADC dev . Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were built to choose the most accurate cut off value for each ADC value. Correlation between imaging metrics and baseline clinical features were evaluated using the Mann Whitney test. Confirmatory multi-variate Cox modeling was used to test associations with LRC (adjusted by gross tumor volume – GTV), DFS and DSS (both adjusted by FIGO stage). Kaplan Meyer curves were built for DFS and DSS. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Women median age was 52 years (range 23–90). 67 % had FIGO stage I-II disease while 33 % had FIGO stage III-IV disease. Eighty-two percent had squamous cell cancer. Eighty-eight percent received concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy with radiation. Median EQD2 of external beam and brachytherapy was 82.2 Gy (range 74–84). Women with disease staged III-IV (FIGO) had significantly higher mean ADC max values compared with those

  6. Investigation of Pleurotus ostreatus pretreatment on switchgrass for ethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavens, Shelyn Gehle

    Fungal pretreatment using the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus on switchgrass for ethanol production was studied. In a small-scale storage study, small switchgrass bales were inoculated with fungal spawn and automatically watered to maintain moisture. Sampled at 25, 53, and 81 d, the switchgrass composition was determined and liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment was conducted. Fungal pretreatment significantly decreased the xylan and lignin content; glucan was not significantly affected by fungal loading. The glucan, xylan, and lignin contents significantly decreased with increased fungal pretreatment time. The effects of the fungal pretreatment were not highly evident after the LHW pretreatment, showing only changes based on sampling time. Although other biological activity within the bales increased cellulose degradation, the fungal pretreatment successfully reduced the switchgrass lignin and hemicellulose contents. In a laboratory-scale nutrient supplementation study, copper, manganese, glucose, or water was added to switchgrass to induce production of ligninolytic enzymes by P. ostreatus. After 40 d, ligninolytic enzyme activities and biomass composition were determined and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was conducted to determine ethanol yield. Laccase activity was similar for all supplements and manganese peroxidase (MnP) activity was significantly less in copper-treated samples than in the other fungal-inoculated samples. The fungal pretreatment reduced glucan, xylan, and lignin content, while increasing extractable sugars content. The lowest lignin contents occurred in the water-fungal treated samples and produced the greatest ethanol yields. The greatest lignin contents occurred in the copper-fungal treated samples and produced the lowest ethanol yields. Manganese-fungal and glucose-fungal treated samples had similar, intermediate lignin contents and produced similar, intermediate ethanol yields. Ethanol yields from switchgrass

  7. Literature Review of Physical and Chemical Pretreatment Processes for Lignocellulosic Biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harmsen, P.; Bakker, R. [Wageningen University and Research centre WUR, Food and Biobased Research WUR-FBR, Wageningen (Netherlands); Huijgen, W.J.J. [ECN Biomass, Coal and Environment, Petten (Netherlands); Bermudez Lopez, L. [Abengoa Bioenergia Nuevas Tecnologias ABNT (Spain)

    2010-09-15

    This literature review was performed within the BioSynergy project (2007-2010). BioSynergy is a European Integrated Project supported through the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (038994-SES6). BioSynergy stands for 'BIOmass for the market competitive and environmentally friendly SYNthesis of bio-products together with the production of secondary enERGY carriers through the biorefinery approach'. Within the BioSynergy project the overall goal of the pretreatment routes being developed is to convert raw lignocellulosic biomass into its composing sugars and lignin in a market competitive and environmentally sustainable way. This report reviews lignocellulose pretreatment in general as well as specific pretreatment technologies that are developed within the BioSynergy project including steam explosion (ABNT), mechanical/alkaline fractionation (WUR) and organosolv fractionation (ECN). In addition to these pretreatment technologies, other pretreatment technologies are studied within the BioSynergy project such as acetic/formic acid pretreatment and mild- and strong acid pretreatment.

  8. Mechanism of waste biomass pyrolysis: Effect of physical and chemical pre-treatments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, Oisik; Sarmah, Ajit K.

    2015-01-01

    To impart usability in waste based biomass through thermo-chemical reactions, several physical and chemical pre-treatments were conducted to gain an insight on their mode of action, effect on the chemistry and the change in thermal degradation profiles. Two different waste biomasses (Douglas fir, a softwood and hybrid poplar, a hardwood) were subjected to four different pre-treatments, namely, hot water pre-treatment, torrefaction, acid (sulphuric acid) and salt (ammonium phosphate) doping. Post pre-treatments, the changes in the biomass structure, chemistry, and thermal makeup were studied through electron microscopy, atomic absorption/ultra violet spectroscopy, ion exchange chromatography, and thermogravimetry. The pre-treatments significantly reduced the amounts of inorganic ash, extractives, metals, and hemicellulose from both the biomass samples. Furthermore, hot water and torrefaction pre-treatment caused mechanical disruption in biomass fibres leading to smaller particle sizes. Torrefaction of Douglas fir wood yielded more solid product than hybrid poplar. Finally, the salt pre-treatment increased the activation energies of the biomass samples (especially Douglas fir) to a great extent. Thus, salt pre-treatment was found to bestow thermal stability in the biomass. - Highlights: • Pre-treatments reduce ash, extractives, alkalines and hemicellulose from biomass. • Torrefaction of Douglas fir yields more solid product than hybrid poplar. • Salt pretreatment significantly increases the activation energy of biomass. • Acid and salt pretreatment bestows thermal stability in biomass.

  9. Mechanism of waste biomass pyrolysis: Effect of physical and chemical pre-treatments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, Oisik [Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-6120, WA (United States); Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand); Sarmah, Ajit K., E-mail: a.sarmah@auckland.ac.nz [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand)

    2015-12-15

    To impart usability in waste based biomass through thermo-chemical reactions, several physical and chemical pre-treatments were conducted to gain an insight on their mode of action, effect on the chemistry and the change in thermal degradation profiles. Two different waste biomasses (Douglas fir, a softwood and hybrid poplar, a hardwood) were subjected to four different pre-treatments, namely, hot water pre-treatment, torrefaction, acid (sulphuric acid) and salt (ammonium phosphate) doping. Post pre-treatments, the changes in the biomass structure, chemistry, and thermal makeup were studied through electron microscopy, atomic absorption/ultra violet spectroscopy, ion exchange chromatography, and thermogravimetry. The pre-treatments significantly reduced the amounts of inorganic ash, extractives, metals, and hemicellulose from both the biomass samples. Furthermore, hot water and torrefaction pre-treatment caused mechanical disruption in biomass fibres leading to smaller particle sizes. Torrefaction of Douglas fir wood yielded more solid product than hybrid poplar. Finally, the salt pre-treatment increased the activation energies of the biomass samples (especially Douglas fir) to a great extent. Thus, salt pre-treatment was found to bestow thermal stability in the biomass. - Highlights: • Pre-treatments reduce ash, extractives, alkalines and hemicellulose from biomass. • Torrefaction of Douglas fir yields more solid product than hybrid poplar. • Salt pretreatment significantly increases the activation energy of biomass. • Acid and salt pretreatment bestows thermal stability in biomass.

  10. Pre-treatment with intravenous granisetron to alleviate pain on propofol injection: A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahsan Ahmed

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Propofol is one of the widely used intravenous (i.v. anaesthetics, although pain on injection still remains a considerable concern for the anaesthesiologists. A number of techniques has been tried to minimize propofol-induced pain with variable results. Recently, a 5-HT 3 antagonist, ondansetron pre-treatment, has been shown to reduce propofol-induced pain. The aim of our randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study was to determine whether pre-treatment with intravenous granisetron, which is routinely used in our practice for prophylaxis of post-operative nausea and vomiting, would reduce propofol-induced pain. Methods: Eighty-two women, aged 18-50 years, American society of Anaesthesiologist grading (ASA I-II, scheduled for various surgeries under general anaesthesia were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. One group received 2 mL 0.9% sodium chloride while the other group received 2 mL granisetron (1 mg/mL, and were accompanied by manual venous occlusion for 1 min. Then, 2 mL propofol was injected through the same cannula. Patients were asked by a blinded investigator to score the pain on injection of propofol with a four-point scale: 0=no pain, 1=mild pain, 2=moderate pain, 3=severe pain. Results: Twenty-four patients (60% complained of pain in the group pre-treated with normal saline as compared with six (15% in the group pre-treated with granisetron. Pain was reduced significantly in the granisetron group (P<0.05. Severity of pain was also lesser in the granisetron group compared with the placebo group (2.5% vs. 37.5%. Conclusion: We conclude that pre-treatment with granisetron along with venous occlusion for 1 min for prevention of propofol-induced pain was highly successful.

  11. Pretreatment Characteristics of Waste Oak Wood by Ammonia Percolation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jun-Seok; Kim, Hyunjoon; Lee, Jin-Suk; Lee, Joon-Pyo; Park, Soon-Chul

    A log of waste oak wood collected from a Korean mushroom farm has been tested for ammonia percolation pretreatment. The waste log has different physical characteristics from that of virgin oak wood. The density of the waste wood was 30% lower than that of virgin oak wood. However, there is little difference in the chemical compositions between the woods. Due to the difference in physical characteristics, the optimal pretreatment conditions were also quite different. While for waste oak the optimum temperature was determined to be 130°C, for virgin oak wood the optimum pretreatment was only achieved at 170°C. Presoaking for 12 h with ammonia solution before pretreatment was helpful to increase the delignification efficiency.

  12. 40 CFR 455.46 - Pretreatment standards for existing sources (PSES).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... pretreated at the facility. The Control Authority may waive pretreatment for these two wastewaters only if... Authority at the time of renewing or modifying its individual control mechanism or pretreatment agreement of... Authority an initial certification statement as described in § 455.41(a); (3) The discharger will submit to...

  13. Bevacizumab Demonstrates Prolonged Disease Stabilization in Patients with Heavily Pretreated Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Series and Review of the Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole M. Agostino

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available There are now a variety of therapies approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC. These include the immunotherapeutics, alfa-interferon, and interleukin-2, and agents that target the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR via its tyrosine kinase, such as sorafenib, sunitinib, and pazopanib, or the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR, such as temsirolimus and everolimus. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the ligand, VEGF, has shown activity against RCC as a single agent in patients who had failed prior cytokine therapy and as first line therapy in combination with interferon. The activity of bevacizumab in patients who had received and failed prior therapy has not been described. We report our experience in 4 patients with metastatic RCC who had failed prior cytokine, TKI, and mTOR inhibitors who were treated with bevacizumab as single agent therapy. These heavily pretreated patients sustained very prolonged periods of stable disease (median of 12 months with very little toxicity and excellent quality of life. The activity of this agent in patients who had failed prior therapies directed against the VEGFR and mTOR suggests that therapy targeting the ligand, VEGF, is still a viable approach in these patients and deserves further study.

  14. Peptichemio in pretreated patients with plasmacell neoplasms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paccagnella, A; Salvagno, L; Chiarion-Sileni, V; Bolzonella, S; De Besi, P; Frizzarin, M; Pappagallo, G L; Fosser, V P; Fornasiero, A; Segati, R

    1986-09-01

    Twenty-one patients with alkylator-resistant plasmacell neoplasms were treated with Peptichemio (PTC) at a dose of 40 mg/m2 for 3 days every 3 weeks or, in the case of persistent leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia, at the single dose of 70 mg/m2 every 2-3 weeks according to haematological recovery. Seventeen patients, 10 with multiple myeloma and seven with extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP), were fully evaluable. Six of 17 patients (35%) responded: three of seven EMP patients had a complete remission and 3 of 10 multiple myeloma patients had an objective response greater than 50%. The median duration of response was 8.5 months. An EMP patient obtained a complete response lasting for 16 months. The most frequent toxic effect were phlebosclerosis, occurring in all the patients, and myelosuppression, which was severe in only one case. PTC appears to be an active drug in patients with plasmacell neoplasms even if resistant to alkylating agents.

  15. Can pretreatment ADC values predict recurrence of bladder cancer after transurethral resection?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Funatsu, Hiroyuki, E-mail: hirofunatsu999@hotmail.com [Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Chiba Cancer Center, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8717 (Japan); Imamura, Akihiro; Takano, Hideyuki [Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Chiba Cancer Center, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8717 (Japan); Ueda, Takeshi [Division of Urology, Chiba Cancer Center, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8717 (Japan); Uno, Takashi [Department of Radiology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuou-ku, Chiba 260-8670 (Japan)

    2012-11-15

    Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the association between the pretreatment apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and recurrence of bladder cancer after transurethral resection. Methods: Patients with superficial bladder cancer were identified. Mean ADC values of the tumors were compared between patients with and without recurrence following trans-urethral resection. A receiver-operator characteristic curve was used for determining the optimal cutoff ADC value. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the effect of ADC values and other factors. Results: With a mean follow-up period of 25 months, bladder cancer recurred in 14 of 44 patients (32%). The mean ADC value of tumors in patients with recurrence was lower than in those without recurrence (1.08 mm{sup 2}/s vs. 1.28 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s; p = 0.003). The optimal cutoff ADC value for predicting recurrence was determined to be 1.12 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s. A modest and significant negative correlation was observed between the ADC values and tumor size (r = -0.436, p = 0.008). After adjustment for size and risk groups, an ADC value equal to or less than the optimal cutoff remained a significant predictor of recurrence (odds ratio 6.3, 95% CI 1.23-32.2, p = 0.027). Conclusion: Pretreatment ADC values may be an independent predictor of bladder cancer recurrence.

  16. Can pretreatment ADC values predict recurrence of bladder cancer after transurethral resection?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Funatsu, Hiroyuki; Imamura, Akihiro; Takano, Hideyuki; Ueda, Takeshi; Uno, Takashi

    2012-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the association between the pretreatment apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and recurrence of bladder cancer after transurethral resection. Methods: Patients with superficial bladder cancer were identified. Mean ADC values of the tumors were compared between patients with and without recurrence following trans-urethral resection. A receiver–operator characteristic curve was used for determining the optimal cutoff ADC value. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the effect of ADC values and other factors. Results: With a mean follow-up period of 25 months, bladder cancer recurred in 14 of 44 patients (32%). The mean ADC value of tumors in patients with recurrence was lower than in those without recurrence (1.08 mm 2 /s vs. 1.28 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s; p = 0.003). The optimal cutoff ADC value for predicting recurrence was determined to be 1.12 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s. A modest and significant negative correlation was observed between the ADC values and tumor size (r = −0.436, p = 0.008). After adjustment for size and risk groups, an ADC value equal to or less than the optimal cutoff remained a significant predictor of recurrence (odds ratio 6.3, 95% CI 1.23–32.2, p = 0.027). Conclusion: Pretreatment ADC values may be an independent predictor of bladder cancer recurrence.

  17. Comparison of microwave and conduction-convection heating autohydrolysis pretreatment for bioethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar-Reynosa, Alejandra; Romaní, Aloia; Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa M; Aguilar, Cristóbal N; Garrote, Gil; Ruiz, Héctor A

    2017-11-01

    This work describes the application of two forms of heating for autohydrolysis pretreatment on isothermal regimen: conduction-convection heating and microwave heating processing using corn stover as raw material for bioethanol production. Pretreatments were performed using different operational conditions: residence time (10-50 min) and temperature (160-200°C) for both pretreatments. Subsequently, the susceptibility of pretreated solids was studied using low enzyme loads, and high substrate loads. The highest conversion was 95.1% for microwave pretreated solids. Also solids pretreated by microwave heating processing showed better ethanol conversion in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (92% corresponding to 33.8g/L). Therefore, microwave heating processing is a promising technology in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. [Enhancement of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge by acid-alkali pretreatment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Guang-Huan; Zhou, Xing-Qiu; Wu, Jian-Dong

    2012-06-01

    In order to enhance the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge, acid-alkali pretreatment method was studied. Three different pretreatment methods (alkali alone,acid-alkali, alkali-acid) were compared to investigate their impacts on hydrolysis and acidification of activated sludge. In addition, their influences on methane-producing in subsequent anaerobic digestion process were also studied. The results showed that the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of alkaline treatment alone was about 16% higher than the combining of acid and alkali treatment, SCOD concentration increased to 5406.1 mg x L(-1) after 8 d pretreatment. After treated by acid (pH 4.0, 4 d) and alkali (pH 10.0, 4 d), the acetic acid production and its content in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were higher than other pretreatment methods. And the acetic acid production (as COD/VSS) could reach 74.4 mg x g(-1), accounting for 60.5% of SCFAs. After acid-alkali pretreatment, the C: N ratio of the sludge mixed liquor was about 25, and the C: P ratio was between 35-40, which was more favorable than C: N and C: P ratio of alkali alone and alkali-acid to subsequent anaerobic digestion. The control experiments showed that, after acid-alkali pretreatment, anaerobic digestion cumulative methane yield (CH4/VSS(in)) reached to 136.1 mL x g(-1) at 15 d, which was about 2.5-, 1.6-, and 1.7-fold of the blank (unpretreated), alkali alone pretreatment and alkali-acid pretreatment, respectively. After acid-alkali pretreatment for 8 d and anaerobic digestion for 15 d, the removal efficiency of VSS was about 60.9%, and the sludge reduction effect was better than other pretreatments. It is obvious that the acid-alkali pretreatment method was more favorable to anaerobic digestion and sludge reduction.

  19. Cost comparison for REDC pretreatment project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, S.M.; Homan, F.J.

    1997-06-01

    This analysis has been prepared to support the planned expenditure to provide the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) with the capability to pretreat their liquid low-level waste (LLLW) before discharging it to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) LLLW system. Pretreatment will remove most of the radioactivity, particularly the transuranic isotopes and Cs-137 from the waste to be discharged. This will render the supernates that accumulate in the storage tanks low-activity Class B low-level wastes rather than high-activity Class B or Class C wastes. The sludges will be Class C rather than remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) wastes. When REDC wastes are commingled with other ORNL LLLW, the present-worth treatment and transport costs are higher by a factor of 1.3 for the no-pretreatment cases. This result is consistent with data from similar studies conducted at other sites. Based on the information presented in this analysis, the recommendation is to proceed with REDC treatment projects

  20. ALA Pretreatment Improves Waterlogging Tolerance of Fig Plants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuyan An

    Full Text Available 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA, a natural and environmentally friendly plant growth regulator, can improve plant tolerance to various environmental stresses. However, whether ALA can improve plant waterlogging tolerance is unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of ALA pretreatment on the waterlogging-induced damage of fig (Ficus carica Linn. plants, which often suffer from waterlogging stress. ALA pretreatment significantly alleviated stress-induced morphological damage, increased leaf relative water content (RWC, and reduced leaf superoxide anion ([Formula: see text] production rate and malonaldehyde (MDA content in fig leaves, indicating ALA mitigates waterlogging stress of fig plants. We further demonstrated that ALA pretreatment largely promoted leaf chlorophyll content, photosynthetic electron transfer ability, and photosynthetic performance index, indicating ALA significantly improves plant photosynthetic efficiency under waterlogging stress. Moreover, ALA pretreatment significantly increased activities of leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD and peroxidase (POD, root vigor, and activities of root alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, indicating ALA also significantly improves antioxidant ability and root function of fig plants under waterlogging stress. Taken together, ALA pretreatment improves waterlogging tolerance of fig plants significantly, and the promoted root respiration, leaf photosynthesis, and antioxidant ability may contribute greatly to this improvement. Our data firstly shows that ALA can improve plant waterlogging tolerance.

  1. Are Indian patients with juvenile-onset ankylosing spondylitis taller than reference population ?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pulukool Sandhya

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background & objectives: Paucity of growth retardation has been observed by us in patients with juvenile-onset ankylosing spondylitis (JAS in a tertiary care health centre in south India. We, therefore, undertook this pilot study to assess and compare anthropometry of patients with JAS who were 15 yr and older with that of adult onset ankylosing spondylitis (AAS and matching Indian reference population. Methods: Consecutive male patients (December 2009- October 2012 with JAS and AAS fulfilling Modified New York Criteria were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Demography and anthropometry were noted. Height of both patient groups as well as their parents and siblings were compared with that of the reference population. Mid-parental height and delta height were derived. Those with delta height of >8.5 cm were compared with the remaining. Multivariate logistic regression was done for variables that were found to be significant by chi-square in bivariate analysis. Similar analysis was done for BMI also. Results: There was no significant difference in anthropometric variables between JAS and AAS groups. Twenty eight of the 30 (93.33% JAS patients were taller as compared to the reference population. Twenty six (86.67% AAS patients were taller than the reference population. The mean heights of JAS (170.67 ± 6.94 cm and AAS (168.2 ± 5.94 cm patients were significantly higher than the reference value of 163.11 cm; both p0 <0.001. Logistic regression revealed that tallness in JAS was associated positively with hypermobility (OR=23.46,95%CI 1.2-447.2, p0 =0.036. No significant association was detected for height in AAS and for BMI in both JAS and AAS groups. Interpretation & conclusions: No growth retardation was seen in patients with JAS in our study. Majority of patients with JAS and AAS were taller than reference population. The difference between mean height of JAS and AAS was not significant. Larger studies involving different

  2. New pentose dimers with bicyclic moieties from pretreated biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, H.; Sørensen, Henrik Rokkjær; Tanner, David Ackland

    2017-01-01

    In lignocellulosic biorefinery processes involving enzyme catalysed reactions it is a challenge that enzyme inhibiting compounds are generated and liberated during pretreatment of the biomass. In this study the contribution to cellulase inhibition from xylooligosaccharides and newly discovered...... oligophenolic compounds from pilot scale pretreated wheat straw was assessed at two different pretreatment severities. An increase in severity of the pretreatment led to more oligophenol compounds and in turn the total overall cellulase inhibition increased. When the xylooligosaccharides were enzymatically...... degraded prior to cellulose hydrolysis, a relief in cellulase inhibition was observed, but some inhibition remained, suggesting that other components also played a role in inhibition. We propose that these components include dipentoses with bicyclic moieties and feruloylated tripentoses, because LC...

  3. Environmentally Friendly Pretreatment for Department of Defense Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    Develop an environmentally friendly pretreatment system for multi-material Department of Defense applications ― Free of hexavalent chromium (Cr6...Zn phosphate and chrome wash primer •Two Zirconium pretreatment variations passed the 336 hr and 1000 hr B-117 outlined per MIL-DTL-53022 or MIL

  4. Utilitarian prioritization of radiation oncology patients based on maximization of population tumour control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebert, M A; Li, W; Kearvell, R; Bydder, S; Jennings, L

    2013-01-01

    An objective method for establishing patient prioritization in the context of a radiotherapy waiting list is investigated. This is based on a utilitarian objective, being the greatest probability of local tumour control in the population of patients. A numerical simulation is developed and a clinical patient case-mix is used to determine the influence of the characteristics of the patient population on resulting optimal patient scheduling. With the utilitarian objective, large gains in tumour control probability (TCP) can be achieved for individuals or cohorts by prioritizing patients for that fraction of the patient population with relatively small sacrifices in TCP for a smaller fraction of the population. For a waiting list in steady state with five patients per day commencing treatment and leaving the list (and so with five patients per day entering the list), and a mean wait time of 35 days and a maximum of 90 days, optimized wait times ranged from a mean of one day for patients with tumour types with short effective doubling times to a mean of 66.9 days for prostate cancer patients. It is found that, when seeking the optimal daily order of patients on the waiting list in a constrained simulation, the relative rather than absolute value of TCP is the determinant of the resulting optimal waiting times. An increase in the mean waiting time mostly influences (increases) the optimal waiting times of patients with fast-growing tumours. The proportional representation of groups (separated by tumour type) in the patient population has an influence on the resulting distribution of optimal waiting times for patients in those groups, though has only a minor influence on the optimal mean waiting time for each group. (paper)

  5. Utilitarian prioritization of radiation oncology patients based on maximization of population tumour control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebert, M. A.; Li, W.; Jennings, L.; Kearvell, R.; Bydder, S.

    2013-06-01

    An objective method for establishing patient prioritization in the context of a radiotherapy waiting list is investigated. This is based on a utilitarian objective, being the greatest probability of local tumour control in the population of patients. A numerical simulation is developed and a clinical patient case-mix is used to determine the influence of the characteristics of the patient population on resulting optimal patient scheduling. With the utilitarian objective, large gains in tumour control probability (TCP) can be achieved for individuals or cohorts by prioritizing patients for that fraction of the patient population with relatively small sacrifices in TCP for a smaller fraction of the population. For a waiting list in steady state with five patients per day commencing treatment and leaving the list (and so with five patients per day entering the list), and a mean wait time of 35 days and a maximum of 90 days, optimized wait times ranged from a mean of one day for patients with tumour types with short effective doubling times to a mean of 66.9 days for prostate cancer patients. It is found that, when seeking the optimal daily order of patients on the waiting list in a constrained simulation, the relative rather than absolute value of TCP is the determinant of the resulting optimal waiting times. An increase in the mean waiting time mostly influences (increases) the optimal waiting times of patients with fast-growing tumours. The proportional representation of groups (separated by tumour type) in the patient population has an influence on the resulting distribution of optimal waiting times for patients in those groups, though has only a minor influence on the optimal mean waiting time for each group.

  6. Prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen level in patients with digestive system tumors: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Rui; Ren, Qian; Bai, Suyang; Wang, Yuping; Zhou, Yongning

    2018-06-01

    High pretreatment levels of plasma fibrinogen have been widely reported to be a potential predictor of prognosis in digestive system tumors; however, the conclusions are not consistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the prognostic roles of high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen levels in digestive system tumors. We searched for eligible studies in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science electronic databases for publications from the database inception to 1 September 2017. The endpoints of interest included overall survival, disease-free survival, and recurrence-free survival. We investigated the relationship between fibrinogenemia and overall survival in colorectal cancer (10 studies), gastric cancer (6), pancreatic cancer (6), hepatocellular carcinoma (7), and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (10); the pooled results indicated that fibrinogenemia was significantly related to a worse overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) 1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52, 1.97; P digestive system tumors, indicating that it could be a useful prognostic marker in these types of tumors.

  7. Enhanced biogas production from penicillin bacterial residue by thermal-alkaline pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong, Weizhang; Li, Guixia; Gao, Yan; Li, Zaixing; Geng, Xiaoling; Li, Yubing; Yang, Jingliang; Zhou, Chonghui

    2015-01-01

    In this study, the orthogonal experimental design was used to determine the optimum conditions for the effect of thermal alkaline; pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of penicillin bacterial residue. The biodegradability of the penicillin; bacterial residue was evaluated by biochemical methane potential tests in laboratory. The optimum values of temperature,; alkali concentration, pretreatment time and moisture content for the thermal-alkaline pretreatment were determined as; 70 °C, 6% (w/v), 30 min, and 85%, respectively. Thermal-alkaline pretreatment could significantly enhance the soluble; chemical oxygen demand solubilization, the suspended solid solubilization and the biodegradability. Biogas production; was enhanced by the thermal-alkaline pretreatment, probably as a result of the breakdown of cell walls and membranes of; micro-organisms, which may facilitate the contact between organic molecules and anaerobic microorganisms.; Keywords: penicillin bacterial residue; anaerobic digestion; biochemical methane potential tests; pretreatment

  8. Pre-treatment double- or triple-positive tumor markers are predictive of a poor outcome for patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nitta, Hidetoshi; Nakagawa, Shigeki; Kaida, Takayoshi; Arima, Kota; Higashi, Takaaki; Taki, Katsunobu; Okabe, Hirohisa; Hayashi, Hiromitsu; Hashimoto, Daisuke; Chikamoto, Akira; Ishiko, Takatoshi; Beppu, Toru; Baba, Hideo

    2017-03-01

    We evaluated the therapeutic effect of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) according to the number of positive tumor markers. The subjects of this study were 160 patients who underwent percutaneous and surgical RFA for HCC. Patients were divided into negative (n = 51), single- (n = 69), double- (n = 31), and triple-positive (n = 9) tumor marker groups according to the pre-treatment expression of these markers. We looked for any relationships among clinical parameters, outcomes, and tumor markers. The 3-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates of the negative, single-, double-, and triple-positive groups were 30, 19, 16, and 11 % (P = 0.02), and 94, 88, 67, and 37 % (P tumor marker profile was independently associated with local recurrence [hazard ratio (HR) 5.48, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.44-12.33, P tumor markers.

  9. Autohydrolysis pretreatment assessment in ethanol production from agave bagasse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rios-González, Leopoldo J; Morales-Martínez, Thelma K; Rodríguez-Flores, María F; Rodríguez-De la Garza, José A; Castillo-Quiroz, David; Castro-Montoya, Agustín J; Martinez, Alfredo

    2017-10-01

    The aim of the present work was to assess the autohydrolysis pretreatment of Agave tequilana bagasse for ethanol production. The pretreatment was conducted using a one-liter high pressure Parr reactor under different severity factors (SF) at a 1:6w/v ratio (solid:liquid) and 200rpm. The solids obtained under the selected autohydrolysis conditions were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis with a commercial cellulase cocktail, and the enzymatic hydrolysate was fermented using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results obtained from the pretreatment process showed that the glucan content in the pretreated solid was mostly preserved, and an increase in the digestibility was observed for the case with a SF of 4.13 (190°C, 30min). Enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated solids showed a yield of 74.3%, with a glucose concentration of 126g/L, resulting in 65.26g/L of ethanol after 10h of fermentation, which represent a 98.4% conversion according to the theoretical ethanol yield value. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Pretreating wheat straw by the concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP): Investigations on pretreatment conditions and structure changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qing; Hu, Jinguang; Shen, Fei; Mei, Zili; Yang, Gang; Zhang, Yanzong; Hu, Yaodong; Zhang, Jing; Deng, Shihuai

    2016-01-01

    Wheat straw was pretreated by PHP (the concentrated H3PO4 plus H2O2) to clarify effects of temperature, time and H3PO4 proportion on hemicellulose removal, delignification, cellulose recovery and enzymatic digestibility. Overall, hemicellulose removal was intensified by PHP comparing to the concentrated H3PO4. Moreover, efficient delignification specially happened in PHP pretreatment. Hemicellulose removal and delignification by PHP positively responded to temperature and time. Increasing H3PO4 proportion in PHP can promote hemicellulose removal, however, decrease the delignification. Maximum hemicellulose removal and delignification were achieved at 100% and 83.7% by PHP. Enzymatic digestibility of PHP-pretreated wheat straw was greatly improved by increasing temperature, time and H3PO4 proportion, and complete hydrolysis can be achieved consequently. As temperature of 30-40°C, time of 2.0 h and H3PO4 proportion of 60% were employed, more than 92% cellulose was retained in the pretreated wheat straw, and 29.1-32.6g glucose can be harvested from 100g wheat straw. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Predicting Early Viral Control under Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Using Pretreatment Immunological Markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James A. Hutchinson

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Recent introduction of all-oral direct-acting antiviral (DAA treatment has revolutionized care of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV infection. Regrettably, the high cost of DAA treatment is burdensome for healthcare systems and may be prohibitive for some patients who would otherwise benefit. Understanding how patient-related factors influence individual responses to DAA treatment may lead to more efficient prescribing. In this observational study, patients with chronic HCV infection were comprehensively monitored by flow cytometry to identify pretreatment immunological variables that predicted HCV RNA negativity within 4 weeks of commencing DAA treatment. Twenty-three patients [genotype 1a (n = 10, 1b (n = 9, and 3 (n = 4] were treated with daclatasvir plus sofosbuvir (SOF (n = 15, ledipasvir plus SOF (n = 4, or ritonavir-boosted paritaprevir, ombitasvir, and dasabuvir (n = 4. DAA treatment most prominently altered the distribution of CD8+ memory T cell subsets. Knowing only pretreatment frequencies of CD3+ and naive CD8+ T cells allowed correct classification of 83% of patients as “fast” (HCV RNA-negative by 4 weeks or “slow” responders. In a prospective cohort, these parameters correctly classified 90% of patients. Slow responders exhibited higher frequencies of CD3+ T cells, CD8+ TEM cells, and CD5high CD27− CD57+ CD8+ chronically activated T cells, which is attributed to bystander hyperactivation of virus-non-specific CD8+ T cells. Taken together, non-specific, systemic CD8+ T cell activation predicted a longer time to viral clearance. This discovery allows pretreatment identification of individuals who may not require a full 12-week course of DAA therapy; in turn, this could lead to individualized prescribing and more efficient resource allocation.

  12. ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF SWITCHGRASS AND COASTAL BERMUDA GRASS PRETREATED USING DIFFERENT CHEMICAL METHODS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiele Xu

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the effects of biomass feedstock and pretreatment method on the enzyme requirement during hydrolysis, swichgrass and coastal Bermuda grass pretreated using H2SO4, NaOH, and Ca(OH2 at the optimal conditions were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using two enzyme combinations: NS 50013 + NS 50010 and Cellic CTec + Cellic HTec. The enzyme loadings were optimized, and correlations between feedstock property, pretreatment strategy, and enzyme usage were evaluated. The results show that pretreatment methods resulting in greater lignin contents in the pretreated biomass were generally associated with higher enzyme requirements. More sugars could be recovered from alkaline-pretreated biomass during enzymatic hydrolysis due to the better carbohydrate preservation achieved at mild pretreatment temperatures. The cellulase enzyme, Cellic CTec, was more efficient in catalyzing the hydrolysis of coastal Bermuda grass, a feedstock more digestible than the pretreated swichgrass, following pretreatment with NaOH or Ca(OH2.

  13. Lignocellulose pretreatment severity – relating pH to biomatrix opening

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads; Meyer, Anne S.

    2010-01-01

    the hydrolysis yields (glucose, xylose) and the pretreatment pH, but no correlation with the pretreatment temperature (90–200 °C). A better recognition and understanding of the factors affecting biomatrix opening, and use of more standardized evaluation protocols, will allow for the identification of new...... pretreatment strategies that improve biomass utilization and permit rational enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose....

  14. Improving enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem using peroxide and microwave assisted pre-treatment techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudha A.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The effectiveness of microwave assisted alkali (MAA and alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP pre-treatment methods in improving the enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem was investigated. Ground cassava stems were by MAA method by varying microwave power, NaOH concentration and pre-treatment time. AHP method was performed at various H2O2 concentrations, pre-treatment temperatures and times. The results showed that reducing sugar yield was higher from MAA pretreated stem when compared with AHP pre-treatment, which demonstrated that MAA pre-treatment was effective in releasing sugars. SEM studies on the pre-treated samples revealed extensive distortion of fibres in MAA pre-treated than AHP pre-treated samples, which showed pores and cracks in the fibrous structure. Spectral studies showed the change in the chemical structure of pre-treated samples. The work revealed that the studied pre-treatment methods were effective in improving the enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem.

  15. Prognostic significance of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibutani, Masatsune; Maeda, Kiyoshi; Nagahara, Hisashi; Ohtani, Hiroshi; Sakurai, Katsunobu; Yamazoe, Sadaaki; Kimura, Kenjiro; Toyokawa, Takahiro; Amano, Ryosuke; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Muguruma, Kazuya; Hirakawa, Kosei

    2015-09-14

    To evaluate the prognostic significance of the lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who received palliative chemotherapy. A total of 104 patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who underwent palliative chemotherapy were enrolled. The LMR was calculated from blood samples by dividing the absolute lymphocyte count by the absolute monocyte count. Pre-treatment LMR values were measured within one week before the initiation of chemotherapy, while post-treatment LMR values were measured eight weeks after the initiation of chemotherapy. The median pre-treatment LMR was 4.16 (range: 0.58-14.06). We set 3.38 as the cut-off level based on the receiver operating characteristic curve. Based on the cut-off level of 3.38, 66 patients were classified into the high pre-treatment LMR group and 38 patients were classified into the low pre-treatment LMR group. The low pre-treatment LMR group had a significantly worse overall survival rate (P = 0.0011). Moreover, patients who demonstrated low pre-treatment LMR and normalization after treatment exhibited a better overall survival rate than the patients with low pre-treatment and post-treatment LMR values. The lymphocyte to monocyte ratio is a useful prognostic marker in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who receive palliative chemotherapy.

  16. Prediction of Febrile Neutropenia after Chemotherapy Based on Pretreatment Risk Factors among Cancer Patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aagaard, Theis; Roen, Ashley; Daugaard, Gedske; Brown, Peter; Sengeløv, Henrik; Mocroft, Amanda; Lundgren, Jens; Helleberg, Marie

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common complication to chemotherapy associated with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Reliable prediction of individual risk based on pretreatment risk factors allows for stratification of preventive interventions. We aimed to develop such a risk stratification model to predict FN in the 30 days after initiation of chemotherapy. Methods We included consecutive treatment-naïve patients with solid cancers and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas at Copenhagen University Hospital, 2010–2015. Data were obtained from the PERSIMUNE repository of electronic health records. FN was defined as neutrophils ≤0.5 × 10E9/L ​at the time of either a blood culture sample or death. Time from initiation of chemotherapy to FN was analyzed using Fine-Gray models with death as a competing event. Risk factors investigated were: age, sex, body surface area, haemoglobin, albumin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and chemotherapy drugs. Parameter estimates were scaled and summed to create the risk score. The scores were grouped into four: low, intermediate, high and very high risk. Results Among 8,585 patients, 467 experienced FN, incidence rate/30 person-days 0.05 (95% CI, 0.05–0.06). Age (1 point if > 65 years), albumin (1 point if 2) and chemotherapy (range -5 to 6 points/drug) predicted FN. Median score at inclusion was 2 points (range –5 to 9). The cumulative incidence and the incidence rates and hazard ratios of FN are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1, respectively. Conclusion We developed a risk score to predict FN the first month after initiation of chemotherapy. The score is easy to use and provides good differentiation of risk groups; the score needs independent validation before routine use. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

  17. Pretreatment of agricultural biomass for anaerobic digestion: Current state and challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paudel, Shukra Raj; Banjara, Sushant Prasad; Choi, Oh Kyung; Park, Ki Young; Kim, Young Mo; Lee, Jae Woo

    2017-12-01

    The anaerobic digestion (AD) of agricultural biomass is an attractive second generation biofuel with potential environmental and economic benefits. Most agricultural biomass contains lignocellulose which requires pretreatment prior to AD. For optimization, the pretreatment methods need to be specific to the characteristics of the biomass feedstock. In this review, cereal residue, fruit and vegetable wastes, grasses and animal manure were selected as the agricultural biomass candidates, and the fundamentals and current state of various pretreatment methods used for AD of these feedstocks were investigated. Several nonconventional methods (electrical, ionic liquid-based chemicals, ruminant biological pretreatment) offer potential as targeted pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass, but each comes with its own challenges. Pursuing an energy-intensive route, a combined bioethanol-biogas production could be a promising a second biofuel refinery option, further emphasizing the importance of pretreatment when lignocellulosic feedstock is used. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Advances in paper-based sample pretreatment for point-of-care testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Rui Hua; Yang, Hui; Choi, Jane Ru; Gong, Yan; Feng, Shang Sheng; Pingguan-Murphy, Belinda; Huang, Qing Sheng; Shi, Jun Ling; Mei, Qi Bing; Xu, Feng

    2017-06-01

    In recent years, paper-based point-of-care testing (POCT) has been widely used in medical diagnostics, food safety and environmental monitoring. However, a high-cost, time-consuming and equipment-dependent sample pretreatment technique is generally required for raw sample processing, which are impractical for low-resource and disease-endemic areas. Therefore, there is an escalating demand for a cost-effective, simple and portable pretreatment technique, to be coupled with the commonly used paper-based assay (e.g. lateral flow assay) in POCT. In this review, we focus on the importance of using paper as a platform for sample pretreatment. We firstly discuss the beneficial use of paper for sample pretreatment, including sample collection and storage, separation, extraction, and concentration. We highlight the working principle and fabrication of each sample pretreatment device, the existing challenges and the future perspectives for developing paper-based sample pretreatment technique.

  19. Microwave assisted acid and alkali pretreatment of Miscanthus biomass for biorefineries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zongyuan Zhu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Miscanthus is a major bioenergy crop in Europe and a potential feedstock for second generation biofuels. Thermochemical pretreatment is a significant step in the process of converting lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. In this work, microwave energy was applied to facilitate NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments of Miscanthus. This was carried out at 180 ℃ in a monomode microwave cavity at 300 W. Our results show that H2SO4 pretreatment contributes to the breakdown of hemicelluloses and cellulose, leading to a high glucose yield. The maximum sugar yield from available carbohydrates during pretreatment is 75.3% (0.2 M H2SO4 20 Min, and glucose yield is 46.7% under these conditions. NaOH and water pretreatments tend to break down only hemicellulose in preference to cellulose, contributing to high xylose yield. Compared to conventional heating NaOH/H2SO4 pretreatment, 12 times higher sugar yield was obtained by using microwave assisted pretreatment within half the time. NaOH pretreatments lead to a significantly enhanced digestibility of the residue, because the effective removal of lignin and hemicellulose makes cellulose fibres more accessible to cellulases. Morphological study of biomass shows that the tightly packed fibres in the Miscanthus were dismantled and exposed under NaOH condition. We studied sugar degradation under microwave assisted H2SO4 conditions. The results shows that 6-8% biomass was converted into levulinic acid (LA during pretreatment, showing the possibility of using microwave technology to produce LA from biomass. The outcome of this work shows great potential for using microwave in the thermo-chemical pretreatment for biomass and also selective production of LA from biomass.

  20. Effect of ultrasound, low-temperature thermal and alkali pre-treatments on waste activated sludge rheology, hygienization and methane potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Hernando, M; Martín-Díaz, J; Labanda, J; Mata-Alvarez, J; Llorens, J; Lucena, F; Astals, S

    2014-09-15

    Waste activated sludge is slower to biodegrade under anaerobic conditions than is primary sludge due to the glycan strands present in microbial cell walls. The use of pre-treatments may help to disrupt cell membranes and improve waste activated sludge biodegradability. In the present study, the effect of ultrasound, low-temperature thermal and alkali pre-treatments on the rheology, hygienization and biodegradability of waste activated sludge was evaluated. The optimum condition of each pre-treatment was selected based on rheological criteria (reduction of steady state viscosity) and hygienization levels (reduction of Escherichia coli, somatic coliphages and spores of sulfite-reducing clostridia). The three pre-treatments were able to reduce the viscosity of the sludge, and this reduction was greater with increasing treatment intensity. However, only the alkali and thermal conditioning allowed the hygienization of the sludge, whereas the ultrasonication did not exhibit any notorious effect on microbial indicators populations. The selected optimum conditions were as follows: 27,000 kJ/kg TS for the ultrasound, 80 °C during 15 min for the thermal and 157 g NaOH/kg TS for the alkali. Afterward, the specific methane production was evaluated through biomethane potential tests at the specified optimum conditions. The alkali pre-treatment exhibited the greatest methane production increase (34%) followed by the ultrasonication (13%), whereas the thermal pre-treatment presented a methane potential similar to the untreated sludge. Finally, an assessment of the different treatment scenarios was conducted considering the results together with an energy balance, which revealed that the ultrasound and alkali treatments entailed higher costs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Evaluation of Alkali-Pretreated Soybean Straw for Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seonghun Kim

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Soybean straw is a renewable resource in agricultural residues that can be used for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. To enhance enzymatic digestibility and fermentability, the biomass was prepared with an alkali-thermal pretreatment (sodium hydroxide, 121°C, 60 min. The delignification yield was 34.1~53%, in proportion to the amount of sodium hydroxide, from 0.5 to 3.0 M. The lignin and hemicellulose contents of the pretreated biomass were reduced by the pretreatment process, whereas the proportion of cellulose was increased. Under optimal condition, the pretreated biomass consisted of 74.0±0.1% cellulose, 10.3±0.1% hemicellulose, and 10.1±0.6% lignin. During enzymatic saccharification using Cellic® CTec2 cellulase, 10% (w/v of pretreated soybean straw was hydrolyzed completely and converted to 67.3±2.1 g/L glucose and 9.4±0.5 g/L xylose with a 90.9% yield efficiency. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of the pretreated biomass by Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303-1A produced 30.5±1.2 g/L ethanol in 0.5 L fermented medium containing 10% (w/v pretreated biomass after 72 h. The ethanol productivity was 0.305 g ethanol/g dry biomass and 0.45 g ethanol/g glucose after fermentation, with a low concentration of organic acid metabolites. Also, 82% of fermentable sugar was used by the yeast for ethanol fermentation. These results show that the combination of alkaline pretreatment and biomass hydrolysate is useful for enhancing bioethanol productivity using delignified soybean straw.

  2. Views on life and death of physicians, nurses, cancer patients and general population in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekiya, Noriyasu; Kuroda, Yujiro; Nakajima, Kasumi; Iwamitsu, Yumi; Kanai, Yoshiaki; Miyashita, Mitsunori; Kotani, Midori; Kitazawa, Yutaka; Yamashita, Hideomi; Nakagawa, Keiichi

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate views on life and death among physicians, nurses, cancer patients, and the general population in Japan and examine factors affecting these views. We targeted 3,140 physicians, 470 nurses, 450 cancer patients, and 3,000 individuals from the general population. We used the Death Attitudes Inventory (DAI) to measure attitudes toward life and death. The collection rates were 35% (1,093/3,140), 78% (366/470), 69% (310/450), and 39% (1,180/3,000) for physicians, nurses, patients, and the general population, respectively. We found that age, sex, social role (i.e., physician, nurse, cancer patient, and general population) were significantly correlated with DAI subscales. Compared with general population, attitudes toward death of physicians, nurses and cancer patients differed significantly even after adjusted their age and sex. Our study is the first to analyze differences in views on life and death among physicians, nurses, cancer patients, and the general population in Japan.

  3. Fabrication of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film with pre-treated sol coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Sung-Jei; Han, Jeong-In

    2004-01-01

    A new pre-treated sol-coating method to fabricate an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film is introduced in this paper. The pre-treatment sol-coating method is to form a seed layer on the substrate before spin coating of ITO sol. The pre-treatment was carried out at room temperature in order not to damage the substrate during the pre-treatment. It is effective to enhance the formation of the ITO sol film on the substrate, owing to the seed layer. The seed layer consists of ultrafine grains, which are observed at the pre-treated substrate. For the optimal pre-treatment condition, we used pre-treatment times of 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours to observe the effect on the characteristics of ITO sol film. As a result, the lowest resistance could be achieved with a pre-treatment time of 72 hours. The optical transmittance of the ITO sol film with the pre-treatment time of 72 hours exceeded 80 % at a wavelength of 400 nm. So, an ITO sol film with good electrical and optical properties could be fabricated by using the pretreatment sol coating.

  4. Feasibility of Hydrothermal Pretreatment on Maize Silage for Bioethanol Production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2010-01-01

    The potential of maize silage as a feedstock to produce bioethanol was evaluated in the present study. The hydrothermal pretreatment with five different pretreatment severity factors (PSF) was employed to pretreat the maize silage and compared in terms of sugar recovery, toxic test, and ethanol...... the liquors from the five conditions were not toxic to the Baker’s yeast. Pretreatment under 195°C for 7 min had the similar PSF with that of 185°C for 15 min, and both gave the higher ethanol concentration of 19.92 and 19.98 g/L, respectively. The ethanol concentration from untreated maize silage was only 7...

  5. Conversion of alkaline pretreated empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB) to phenols

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nor Aishah Saidina Amin; Roslindawati Haron

    2010-01-01

    Various efforts on green chemistry are being directed at producing renewable chemicals. Chemicals derived from biomass can be the basis for building blocks in the chemicals industry. Phenols, traditionally produced from petroleum, can be derived from biomass for naturally-sourced solvents. Lignocellulose biomass consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Lignocellulose components can be altered by various chemical pretreatment methods. EFB contains about 60% cellulose and almost equal portions of lignin and hemicelluloses. Pretreatment of EFB fragmentized and degraded the lignocellulose structure in order to produce chemicals under thermochemical process. In this work, EFB was chemically pretreated with different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations to concentrated lignocellulose before being pyrolyzed to produce solid, gas and liquid products. Pyrolysis was conducted after the pretreatment step to evaluate the effects of pretreatment process on production and compositions of the bio-oil. The conversions of EFB were reported to be 61wt%, 47wt% and 42 wt%, after pretreatment with 5 wt%, 15 wt% and 25 wt%,NaOH concentrations, respectively. GCMS analysis results revealed the crude bio-oil contained dominantly phenol. Pyrolysis of the alkaline pretreated EFB seemed potential to produce biomass-based phenols. (author)

  6. Cell-wall structural changes in wheat straw pretreated for bioethanol production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jørgensen Henning

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass and subsequent production of bioethanol. Recent results indicate that only a mild pretreatment is necessary in an industrial, economically feasible system. The Integrated Biomass Utilisation System hydrothermal pretreatment process has previously been shown to be effective in preparing wheat straw for these processes without the application of additional chemicals. In the current work, the effect of the pretreatment on the straw cell-wall matrix and its components are characterised microscopically (atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopically (attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in order to understand this increase in digestibility. Results The hydrothermal pretreatment does not degrade the fibrillar structure of cellulose but causes profound lignin re-localisation. Results from the current work indicate that wax has been removed and hemicellulose has been partially removed. Similar changes were found in wheat straw pretreated by steam explosion. Conclusion Results indicate that hydrothermal pretreatment increases the digestibility by increasing the accessibility of the cellulose through a re-localisation of lignin and a partial removal of hemicellulose, rather than by disruption of the cell wall.

  7. [The management of asymptomatic bacteriuria in different patient population].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanov, M-L; Malinverni, R

    2008-11-12

    Who should be screened for asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) and who should be treated? This review updates some aspects of the management of AB in different patient populations. A systematic screening for AB is recommended for pregnant women because of a significant risk of complications. In these cases as well as before any uro-gynecologic surgical procedure treatment of AB is strongly recommended. The management of AB in immunosuppressed or transplanted patients is more controversial. In other populations treating AB is not recommended and the outcome seems to be worse in case of treatment due to possible side effects and selection of resistant organisms. Recent studies have shown a considerable gap between clinical practice and recommendations.

  8. Safety and tolerability of iobitridol in general and in patients with risk factors: Results in more than 160 000 patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maurer, Martin, E-mail: martin.maurer@charite.de [Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Heine, Oliver [Guerbet GmbH, Otto-Vogler-Str. 11, 65843 Sulzbach (Germany); Wolf, Michael [Michael Wolf Information Systems, Viktoriastr. 26, 66346 Puettlingen (Germany); Freyhardt, Patrick; Schnapauff, Dirk; Hamm, Bernd [Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany)

    2011-11-15

    Objective: To review the safety, the tolerability and the diagnostic effectiveness of iobitridol under daily practice conditions in the general population and at-risk patients in a post-marketing surveillance study. Materials and methods: A total of 160 639 patients (55.1% male, 43.6% female, mean age 58.6 years) were analysed in 555 centers. Patients underwent X-ray examinations using iobitridol (Xenetix, Guerbet, Sulzbach, Germany) as IV contrast medium (mean volume 85.6 ml). 21.8% of all patients had at least one risk factor (e.g., renal impairment), 7.3% were at-risk patients with allergies or who had previously reacted to contrast medium. Antiallergic pretreatment before contrast medium administration was given in 1144 patients (0.7%). Adverse events were documented and the image quality was assessed. Results: A diagnosis was possible in 99.5% of all cases. The image quality was rated good or excellent in 92.2%. The adverse event rate (e.g., nausea, urticaria) observed was 0.6% in all patients, 1.6% in patients with allergies and 6.0% in patients with a previous reaction to contrast medium. Adverse events occurred more often in women than in men (p < 0.001). Pretreatment did not decrease the rate of adverse events. The rate of adverse events was not increased in higher doses of iobitridol, even if administered to high-risk patients. Conclusions: Iobitridol was shown to be a safe and well-tolerated contrast medium with a low incidence of adverse events in patients with and without risk factors resulting in a good or excellent image quality in most patients.

  9. Effect of Different Sugar Beet Pulp Pretreatments on Biogas Production Efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziemiński, Krzysztof; Kowalska-Wentel, Monika

    2017-03-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different sugar beet pulp (SBP) pretreatments on biogas yield from anaerobic digestion. SBP was subjected to grinding, thermal-pressure processing, enzymatic hydrolysis, or combination of these pretreatments. It was observed that grinding of SBP to 2.5-mm particles resulted in the cumulative biogas productivity of 617.2 mL/g volatile solids (VS), which was 20.2 % higher compared to the biogas yield from the not pretreated SBP, and comparable to that from not ground, enzymatically hydrolyzed SBP. The highest cumulative biogas productivity, 898.7 mL/g VS, was obtained from the ground, thermal-pressure pretreated and enzymatically hydrolyzed SBP. The latter pretreatment variant enabled to achieve the highest glucose concentration (24.765 mg/mL) in the enzymatic hydrolysates. The analysis of energy balance showed that the increase in the number of SBP pretreatment operations significantly reduced the gain of electric energy.

  10. Cetuximab and irinotecan as third line therapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer after failure of irinotecan, oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pfeiffer, Per; Nielsen, Dorte; Yilmaz, Mette

    2007-01-01

    Cetuximab (Erbitux) in combination with irinotecan is the most promising combination in heavily pretreated patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Efficacy of this combination was confirmed in the pivotal BOND I study. The aim of the present study was to evaluate efficacy and toxicity of a comb......Cetuximab (Erbitux) in combination with irinotecan is the most promising combination in heavily pretreated patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Efficacy of this combination was confirmed in the pivotal BOND I study. The aim of the present study was to evaluate efficacy and toxicity......) and irinotecan (each 2 or 3 weeks) at three university hospitals. Median age was 57 years (23-78), and median performance status was 1 (0-3). Response rate was 20%, median TTP was 5.5 months and median OS was 10.4 months. Response and survival was significantly correlated with severity of skin toxicity. Toxicity...... grade 3 was rare (skin toxicity 8%, diarrhoea 10%, nausea 3%, vomiting 3%, fatigue 8%). Salvage therapy with cetuximab and irinotecan is effective in patients pretreated with irinotecan, and oxaliplatin and in a general population the results from the BOND I study was confirmed...

  11. Pretreatment data is highly predictive of liver chemistry signals in clinical trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cai Z

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Zhaohui Cai,1,* Anders Bresell,2,* Mark H Steinberg,1 Debra G Silberg,1 Stephen T Furlong11AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE, USA; 2AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Södertälje, Sweden*These authors contributed equally to this workPurpose: The goal of this retrospective analysis was to assess how well predictive models could determine which patients would develop liver chemistry signals during clinical trials based on their pretreatment (baseline information.Patients and methods: Based on data from 24 late-stage clinical trials, classification models were developed to predict liver chemistry outcomes using baseline information, which included demographics, medical history, concomitant medications, and baseline laboratory results.Results: Predictive models using baseline data predicted which patients would develop liver signals during the trials with average validation accuracy around 80%. Baseline levels of individual liver chemistry tests were most important for predicting their own elevations during the trials. High bilirubin levels at baseline were not uncommon and were associated with a high risk of developing biochemical Hy’s law cases. Baseline γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT level appeared to have some predictive value, but did not increase predictability beyond using established liver chemistry tests.Conclusion: It is possible to predict which patients are at a higher risk of developing liver chemistry signals using pretreatment (baseline data. Derived knowledge from such predictions may allow proactive and targeted risk management, and the type of analysis described here could help determine whether new biomarkers offer improved performance over established ones.Keywords: bilirubin, Hy’s Law, ALT, GGT, baseline, prediction

  12. Pretreatment fasting plasma glucose modifies dietary weight loss maintenance success

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjorth, Mads Fiil; Due, Anette; Larsen, Thomas Meinert

    2017-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting insulin (FI) were studied as diet-specific prognostic markers for successful weight loss maintenance in participants with overweight. METHODS: After losing ≥ 8% of body weight, participants received one of three ad libitum diets for 6.......12 to -0.43]; P = 0.020). The addition of FI strengthened these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Slightly elevated pretreatment FPG determined success in dietary weight loss maintenance among overweight patients on ad libitum diets differing in macronutrient and fiber content....

  13. Hydrogen storage in graphite nanofibers: effect of synthesis catalyst and pretreatment conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lueking, Angela D; Yang, Ralph T; Rodriguez, Nelly M; Baker, R Terry K

    2004-02-03

    A series of graphite nanofibers (GNFs) that were subjected to various pretreatments were used to determine how modifications in the carbon structure formed during either synthesis or pretreatment steps results in active or inactive materials for hydrogen storage. The nanofibers possessing a herringbone structure and a high degree of defects were found to exhibit the best performance for hydrogen storage. These materials were exposed to several pretreatment procedures, including oxidative, reductive, and inert environments. Significant hydrogen storage levels were found for several in situ pretreatments. Examination of the nanofibers by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after pretreatment and subsequent hydrogen storage revealed the existence of edge attack and an enhancement in the generation of structural defects. These findings suggest that pretreatment in certain environments results in the creation of catalytic sites that are favorable toward hydrogen storage. The best pretreatment resulted in a 3.8% hydrogen release after exposure at 69 bar and room temperature.

  14. Fungal pretreatment of straw for enhanced biogas yield

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, Xinmei; Pilar Castillo, Maria del; Schnuerer, Anna

    2013-07-01

    Among lignocellulosic materials from the agricultural sector, straw is considered to have the biggest potential as a biofuel and therefore also represents a big potential for biogas production. However, the degradation of lignocellulosic materials is somewhat restricted due to the high content of lignin that binds cellulose and hemicellulose and makes them unavailable for microbial degradation. Consequently, low methane yields are achieved. The biodegradability of the lignocellulosic material can be increased by a pretreatment. Optimally the pre-treatment should give an increase in the formation of sugars while avoiding the degradation or loss of carbohydrates and the formation of inhibitory by-products. The treatment should also be cost-effective. Different methods for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic material have been explored, for example thermal, acid, alkaline and oxidative pretreatments. However, they often have a high energy demand. Biological treatment with fungi represents an alternative method for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials that could be comparably more environmentally friendly, easier to operate and with low energy input. The fungal groups of interest for lignocellulose degradation are the wood decaying fungi, such as the white-, brown-rot and cellulose degraders. The purpose with this work was to increase the biogas potential of straw by using a pretreatment with fungi. Straw was incubated with fungi at aerobic conditions under certain periods of time. The growth and colonization of the straw by the fungi was expected to increase the availability of the lignocellulosic structure of the straw and thus positively affect the biogas potential. In addition also, the spent lignocellulosic material from the cultivation of edible fungi was investigated. We hypothesized that also growth of edible fungi could give a more accessible material and thus give higher biogas potential compared to the substrate before fungal growth.

  15. Bioethanol production: Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tengborg, Charlotte

    2000-05-01

    The enzymatic hydrolysis process can be used to produce bioethanol from softwood, which are the dominating raw material in the Northern hemisphere. This thesis deals with the development of the process focusing on the pretreatment and the enzymatic hydrolysis stages. The influence of pretreatment conditions on sugar yield, and the effect of inhibitors on the ethanol yield, were investigated for spruce and pine. The maximum yields of hemicellulose sugars and glucose were obtained under different pretreatment conditions. This indicates that two-stage pretreatment may be preferable. The added catalysts, H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} and SO{sub 2}, resulted in similar total sugar yields about 40 g/100 g dry raw material. However, the fermentability of SO{sub 2}-impregnated material was better. This pretreatment resulted in the formation of inhibitors to the subsequent process steps, e.g. sugar and lignin degradation products. The glucose yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis stage was affected by various parameters such as enzyme loading, temperature, pH, residence time, substrate concentration, and agitation. To decrease the amount of fresh water used and thereby waste water produced, the sugar-rich prehydrolysate from the pretreatment step was included in the enzymatic hydrolysis of the solid fraction, resulting in a reduction in the cellulose conversion of up to 36%. Different prehydrolysate detoxification methods, such as treatment with Ca(OH){sub 2}, laccase, and fermentation using yeast, were investigated. The latter was shown to be very efficient. The amount of fresh water used can be further reduced by recycling various process streams. This was simulated experimentally in a bench-scale process. A reduction in fresh water demand of 50% was obtained without any further negative effects on either hydrolysis or fermentation.

  16. Glioblastoma: does the pre-treatment geometry matter? A postcontrast T1 MRI-based study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez-Beteta, Julian; Martinez-Gonzalez, Alicia; Molina, David; Amo-Salas, Mariano; Luque, Belen; Perez-Garcia, Victor M.; Arregui, Elena; Calvo, Manuel; Borras, Jose M.; Lopez, Carlos; Claramonte, Marta; Barcia, Juan A.; Iglesias, Lidia; Avecillas, Josue; Albillo, David; Navarro, Miguel; Villanueva, Jose M.; Paniagua, Juan C.; Perez-Romasanta, Luis; Martino, Juan; Velasquez, Carlos; Asenjo, Beatriz; Benavides, Manuel; Herruzo, Ismael; Delgado, Maria del Carmen; Valle, Ana del; Falkov, Anthony; Schucht, Philippe; Arana, Estanislao

    2017-01-01

    The potential of a tumour's volumetric measures obtained from pretreatment MRI sequences of glioblastoma (GBM) patients as predictors of clinical outcome has been controversial. Mathematical models of GBM growth have suggested a relation between a tumour's geometry and its aggressiveness. A multicenter retrospective clinical study was designed to study volumetric and geometrical measures on pretreatment postcontrast T1 MRIs of 117 GBM patients. Clinical variables were collected, tumours segmented, and measures computed including: contrast enhancing (CE), necrotic, and total volumes; maximal tumour diameter; equivalent spherical CE width and several geometric measures of the CE ''rim''. The significance of the measures was studied using proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier curves. Kaplan-Meier and univariate Cox survival analysis showed that total volume [p = 0.034, Hazard ratio (HR) = 1.574], CE volume (p = 0.017, HR = 1.659), spherical rim width (p = 0.007, HR = 1.749), and geometric heterogeneity (p = 0.015, HR = 1.646) were significant parameters in terms of overall survival (OS). Multivariable Cox analysis for OS provided the later two parameters as age-adjusted predictors of OS (p = 0.043, HR = 1.536 and p = 0.032, HR = 1.570, respectively). Patients with tumours having small geometric heterogeneity and/or spherical rim widths had significantly better prognosis. These novel imaging biomarkers have a strong individual and combined prognostic value for GBM patients. (orig.)

  17. Bioethanol from lignocellulose - pretreatment, enzyme immobilization and hydrolysis kinetics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tsai, Chien Tai

    , the cost of enzyme is still the bottle neck, re-using the enzyme is apossible way to reduce the input of enzyme in the process. In the point view of engineering, the prediction of enzymatic hydrolysis kinetics under different substrate loading, enzyme combination is usful for process design. Therefore...... lignocellulose is the required high cellulase enzyme dosages that increase the processing costs. One method to decrease the enzyme dosage is to re-use BG, which hydrolyze the soluble substrate cellobiose. Based on the hypothesis that immobilized BG can be re-used, how many times the enzyme could be recycled...... liquid and pretreatment time can be reduced, the influence of substrate concentration, pretreatment time and temperature were investigated and optimized. Pretreatment of barley straw by [EMIM]Ac, correlative models were constructed using 3 different pretreatment parameters (temperature, time...

  18. Ensiling as pretreatment of grass for lignocellulosic biomass conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ambye-Jensen, Morten

    for subsequent enzymatic saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose, by using the temperate grass Festulolium Hykor. The method was additionally combined with hydrothermal treatment, in order to decrease the required severity of an industrial applied pretreatment method. The first part of the project...... conditions providing the best possible pretreatment effect. The parameters were biomass composition, varied by ensiling of four seasonal cuts of grass, different dry matter (DM) content at ensiling, and an addition of different lactic acid bacteria species. First of all, the study confirmed that ensiling can...... act as a method of pretreatment and improve the enzymatic cellulose convertibility of grass. Furthermore, low DM ensiling was found to improve the effects of pretreatment due to a higher production of organic acids in the silage. The effect of applied lactic acid bacteria species was, however...

  19. Tank waste pretreatment issues, alternatives and strategies for resolution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, W.C.; Appel, J.; Barton, W.B.; Orme, R.M.; Holton, L.K. Jr.

    1993-02-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) has established the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) to safely manage and dispose of the Hanford Site tank waste. The overall strategy for disposing of tank waste is evolving and initial recommendations on a course of action are expected in March, 1993. Pretreatment of these wastes may be required for one or both of the following reasons: (1) resolution of tank safety issues, and (2) preparation of low level and high level waste fractions for disposal. Pretreatment is faced with several issues that must be addressed by the deployment strategies that are being formulated. These issues are identified. There is also a discussion of several pretreatment deployment strategies and how these strategies address the issues. Finally, the technology alternatives that are being considered for the pretreatment function are briefly discussed

  20. Potable water recovery for spacecraft application by electrolytic pretreatment/air evaporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, G. W.

    1975-01-01

    A process for the recovery of potable water from urine using electrolytic pretreatment followed by distillation in a closed-cycle air evaporator has been developed and tested. Both the electrolytic pretreatment unit and the air evaporation unit are six-person, flight-concept prototype, automated units. Significantly extended wick lifetimes have been achieved in the air evaporation unit using electrolytically pretreated, as opposed to chemically pretreated, urine feed. Parametric test data are presented on product water quality, wick life, process power, maintenance requirements, and expendable requirements.

  1. Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li

    2013-01-01

    Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon...... that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen...

  2. An improved technology for decontaminating ruthenium in uranium purification cycle by hydroxylamine pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi Zhanshun; Zhu Zhixuan; Zhang Pilu

    1996-01-01

    The Influences of hydroxylamine concentration, pretreatment time, acidity and the concentration of stabilizer have been studied, and the best pretreatment condition for the improvement of Ru decontamination in uranium purification cycle by hydroxylamine pretreatment has been obtained. The results show that no satisfactory result can be obtained by solely using hydroxylamine as pretreatment agent unless a small amount of hydrazine is added into the pretreatment system as stabilizer

  3. The pretreatment of corn stover with Gloeophyllum trabeum KU-41 for enzymatic hydrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gao Ziqing

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass for bio-ethanol production. The dominant concern in this step is how to decrease the high cost of pretreatment while achieving a high sugar yield. Fungal pretreatment of biomass was previously reported to be effective, with the advantage of having a low energy requirement and requiring no application of additional chemicals. In this work, Gloeophyllum trabeum KU-41 was chosen for corn stover pretreatment through screening with 40 strains of wood-rot fungi. The objective of the current work is to find out which characteristics of corn stover pretreated with G. trabeum KU-41 determine the pretreatment method to be successful and worthwhile to apply. This will be done by determining the lignin content, structural carbohydrate, cellulose crystallinity, initial adsorption capacity of cellulase and specific surface area of pretreated corn stover. Results The content of xylan in pretreated corn stover was decreased by 43% in comparison to the untreated corn stover. The initial cellulase adsorption capacity and the specific surface area of corn stover pretreated with G. trabeum were increased by 7.0- and 2.5-fold, respectively. Also there was little increase in the cellulose crystallinity of pretreated corn stover. Conclusion G. trabeum has an efficient degradation system, and the results indicated that the conversion of cellulose to glucose increases as the accessibility of cellulose increases due to the partial removal of xylan and the structure breakage of the cell wall. This pretreatment method can be further explored as an alternative to the thermochemical pretreatment method.

  4. Biosorption of heavy metals by pretreated biomass of aspergillus niger

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Javaid, A.; Bajwa, R.; Manzoor, T.

    2011-01-01

    The present study reports the bio sorption potential of chemically pretreated mycelial biomass of fungus Aspergillus niger van. Tieghem for Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions from aqueous phase. Fungal biomass was pretreated with different types of alkaline/salts (NaOH, NaHCO/sub 3/, Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/, NaCl and CaCl/sub 2/), acids (HCl and H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/) and detergent. Pretreatment of biomass with Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ and NaOH were proved to increase or maintain adsorption efficiency and capacity in comparison to untreated biomass. Pretreatment with NaHCO/sub 3/, detergent, NaCl and CaCl/sub 2/ significantly reduce (10-40%) metal sequestering efficiency of the adsorbent. Whereas, acid treatments resulted in drastic loss (80%) in metal uptake efficiency of the biomass. Amongst various pretreatments, Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ could be use efficiently for the removal of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions from aqueous solution using A. niger. (author)

  5. Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chundawat, Shishir; Sousa, Leonardo Da Costa; Cheh, Albert M.; Balan; , Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce

    2017-05-16

    Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass are provided. The methods include converting native cellulose I.sub..beta. to cellulose III.sub.I by pretreating the lignocellulosic biomass with liquid ammonia under certain conditions, and performing extracting or digesting steps on the pretreated/converted lignocellulosic biomass.

  6. Cell-wall structural changes in wheat straw pretreated for bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jan B. Kristensen; G. Thygesen Lisbeth; Claus Felby; Henning Jorgensen; Thomas Elder

    2008-01-01

    Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass and subsequent production of bioethanol. Recent results indicate that only a mild pretreatment is necessary in an industrial, economically feasible system. The Integrated Biomass Utilisation System hydrothermal pretreatment process has previously been shown to be effective in preparing wheat straw...

  7. Short-term chemical pretreatment cannot replace curettage in photodynamic therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nissen, Christoffer V; Wiegell, Stine Regin; Philipsen, Peter Alshede

    2016-01-01

    pretreatment with curettage and two combination ointments containing calcipotriol/betamethasone and salicylic acid/betamethasone affect PpIX fluorescence after the application of methyl aminolevulinate MAL and 5-aminolevulinic acid (BF-200 ALA). METHODS: Four fields on the forearms of 30 healthy volunteers...... were pretreated with curettage or short-term application of calcipotriol/betamethasone or salicylic acid/betamethasone for 20 min. Two fields were not pretreated, thus serving as reference. After pretreatment, MAL or BF-200 ALA was applied for 24 h, and PpIX fluorescence was measured hourly from 1 to 5...... h and after 18, 21 and 24 h. RESULTS: Curettage significantly enhanced PpIX fluorescence for MAL from 1 to 21 h (P salicylic acid...

  8. Thermo-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis for enhancing saccharification of catalpa sawdust.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Shuguang; Zhang, Guangming; Zhang, Panyue; Li, Fan; Fan, Shiyang; Li, Juan

    2016-04-01

    To improve the reducing sugar production from catalpa sawdust, thermo-chemical pretreatments were examined and the chemicals used including NaOH, Ca(OH)2, H2SO4, and HCl. The hemicellulose solubilization and cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) were significantly increased after thermo-alkaline pretreatments, and the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment showed the best improvement for reducing sugar production comparing to other three pretreatments. The conditions of thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were systematically optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the reducing sugar yield increased by 1185.7% comparing to the control. This study indicates that the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment is ideal for the saccharification of catalpa sawdust and that catalpa sawdust is a promising raw material for biofuel. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. 40 CFR 439.37 - Pretreatment standards for new sources (PSNS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Chemical Synthesis... achieve the pretreatment standard for ammonia (as N). (b) The pretreatment standards for cyanide are as...

  10. Effect of pretreating of host oil on coprocessing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hajdu, P.E.; Tierney, J.W.; Wender, I. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1995-12-31

    The principal objective of this research was to determine if coprocessing performance (i.e., coal conversion and oil yield) could be significantly improved by pretreating the heavy resid prior to reacting it with coal. For this purpose, two petroleum vacuum resids (1000{degrees}F+), one from the Amoco Co. and another from the Citgo Co., were used as such and after they had been pretreated by catalytic hydrogenation and hydrocracking reactions. The pretreatments were aimed at improving the host oil by; (1) converting any aromatic structures in the petroleum to hydroaromatic compounds capable of donating hydrogen, (2) cracking the heavy oil to lower molecular weight material that might serve as a better solvent, (3) reducing the coking propensity of the heavy oil through the hydrogenation of polynuclear aromatic compounds, and (4) removing metals and heteroatoms that might poison a coprocessing catalyst. Highly dispersed catalysts, including fine particle Fe- and Mo-based, and dicobalt octacarbonyl, Co{sub 2}(CO){sub 8}, were used in this study. The untreated and pretreated resids were extensively characterized in order to determine chemical changes brought about by the pretreatments. The modified heavy oils were then coprocessed with an Illinois No. 6 coal as well as with a Wyodak coal, and compared to coprocessing with untreated resids under the same hydroliquefaction conditions. The amount of oil derived from coal was estimated by measuring the level of phenolic oxygen (derived mainly from coal) present in the oil products. Results are presented and discussed.

  11. Biomass shock pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtzapple, Mark T.; Madison, Maxine Jones; Ramirez, Rocio Sierra; Deimund, Mark A.; Falls, Matthew; Dunkelman, John J.

    2014-07-01

    Methods and apparatus for treating biomass that may include introducing a biomass to a chamber; exposing the biomass in the chamber to a shock event to produce a shocked biomass; and transferring the shocked biomass from the chamber. In some aspects, the method may include pretreating the biomass with a chemical before introducing the biomass to the chamber and/or after transferring shocked biomass from the chamber.

  12. Measuring prostate-specific quality of life in prostate cancer patients scheduled for radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy and reference men in Germany and Canada using the Patient Oriented Prostate Utility Scale-Psychometric (PORPUS-P

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuechler Thomas

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The PORPUS-P is a short questionnaire for measuring prostate-specific quality of life (QoL, which was designed in Canada for use in prostate cancer (PC patients. We aimed to generate a German version and compare PORPUS-P scores of German reference men from the general population, and German and Canadian patients with newly diagnosed PC who were scheduled to receive radical prostatectomy (RP or radiotherapy (RT. Methods The study sample consisted of 988 reference men, 121 German and 66 Canadian PC patients scheduled for RT, and 371 German and 68 Canadian PC patients scheduled for RP. All men completed the PORPUS-P (German postal questionnaire, Canada personal interview. Data were gathered from PC patients before the start of therapy. Results Canadian patients were better educated than the German patients, and fewer were retired. Patients scheduled to receive RT were older and more were retired. German RT patients had lower D'Amico risk scores and pre-treatment Gleason scores than RP patients, and Canadian RT patients had higher pre-treatment PSA than RP patients. Urinary and sexual dysfunction were seen in PC patients (especially RT patients, but were also common in the German reference men. Crude mean PORPUS-P scores differed statistically significant between German RT and RP and Canadian RP and RT patients, with RT patients having higher QoL scores. The differences in age-adjusted mean PORPUS-P scores between reference men and RP patients were not clinically significant, while RT patients had (clinically significantly lower scores than the reference men. Conclusion The German translation of the PORPUS-P appears to be a short and feasible tool for assessing prostate-specific QoL. Although we found a similar response pattern, Canadian and German PC patients scheduled to receive RT or RP rated their pre-treatment quality of life on different levels, which reveals the need for national reference data. Problems in several Qo

  13. Production of fuel ethanol from steam-explosion pretreated olive tree pruning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cristobal Cara; Encarnacion Ruiz; Mercedes Ballesteros; Paloma Manzanares; Ma Jose Negro; Eulogio Castro [University of Jaen, Jaen (Spain). Department of Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering

    2008-05-15

    This work deals with the production of fuel ethanol from olive tree pruning. This raw material is a renewable, low cost, largely available, and lacking of economic alternatives agricultural residue. Olive tree pruning was submitted to steam explosion pre-treatment in the temperature range 190-240{sup o}C, with or without previous impregnation by water or sulphuric acid solutions. The influence of both pre-treatment temperature and impregnation conditions on sugar and ethanol yields was investigated by enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation on the pretreated solids. Results show that the maximum ethanol yield (7.2 g ethanol/100 g raw material) is obtained from water impregnated, steam pretreated residue at 240{sup o}C. Nevertheless if all sugars solubilized during pre-treatment are taken into account, up to 15.9 g ethanol/100 g raw material may be obtained (pre-treatment conditions: 230{sup o}C and impregnation with 1% w/w sulphuric acid concentration), assuming theoretical conversion of these sugars to ethanol. 29 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs.

  14. Pretreatment of eucalyptus with recycled ionic liquids for low-cost biorefinery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jikun; Liu, Bingchuan; Hou, Huijie; Hu, Jingping

    2017-06-01

    It is urgent to develop recycled ionic liquids (ILs) as green solvents for sustainable biomass pretreatment. The goal of this study is to explore the availability and performance of reusing 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([amim]Cl) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([bmim]OAc) for pretreatment, structural evolution, and enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus. Cellulose enzymatic digestibility slightly decreased with the increased number of pretreatment recycles. The hydrolysis efficiencies of eucalyptus pretreated via 4th recycled ILs were 54.3% for [amim]Cl and 72.8% for [bmim]OAc, which were 5.0 and 6.7-folds higher than that of untreated eucalyptus. Deteriorations of ILs were observed by the relatively lower sugar conversion and lignin removal from eucalyptus after 4th reuse. No appreciable changes in fundamental framework and thermal stability of [amim]Cl were observed even after successive pretreatments, whereas the anionic structure of [bmim]OAc was destroyed or replaced. This study suggested that the biomass pretreatment with recycled ILs was a potential alternative for low-cost biorefinery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Pre-treating Seed to Enhance Germination of Desert Shrubs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    W. K. Ostler; D. C. Anderson; D. J. Hansen

    2002-06-01

    Creosotebush [Larrea tridentata (D.C.) Cav.] and white bursage [Ambrosia dumosa (A. Gray) W.W. Payne] seeds were subjected to pre-treatments of rinsing and soaking in water and thiourea to enhance germination in laboratory experiments. The effects of darkness, temperature, seed source, and soil moisture were also evaluated in the laboratory. The best pre-treatment from the laboratory experiments, rinsing with water for 36 hours followed by drying, was field-tested at Fort Irwin, California. Two sites and two seeding dates (early March and mid April) were determined for each site. Five mulch treatments (no mulch, straw, gravel, chemical stabilizer, and plastic) were evaluated in combination with the seed pre-treatments. Field emergence was greatly enhanced with the seed pre-treatment for white bursage during the March (18-42% increase in germination) and April seedings (16-23% increase in germination). Creosotebush showed poor germination during March (2-5%) when soil temperatures averaged 15 C, but germination increased during the April trials (6-43%) when soil temperatures averaged 23 C. The seed pre-treatment during the April trials increased germination from 16-23%. The plastic mulch treatment increased germination dramatically during both the March and April trials. The plastic mulch increased soil temperatures (8-10 C)and maintained high humidity during germination. Both the chemical stabilizer and the gravel mulches improved germination over the control while the straw mulch decreased germination. These results suggest that seed pre-treatments combined with irrigation and mulch are effective techniques to establish these two dominant Mojave Desert species from seed.

  16. Effects of low dose radiation pretreatment on radiation injuried brain's free radicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Fuqi; Wang Cheng; Xie Hong; Tian Ye

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the effect of low dose radiation pretreatment on radiation in- juried brain's free radicle to provide some useful data of brain radiation injury protection. Methods: One hundred mGy was selected as the pretreatment does, 25 Gy was selected as the challenge does. Experiment rats were divided into three groups randomly, group one as simple group:the group irradiated without exposing to pre-irradiation; group two as 6 h-group: the group irradiated with LDR pretreatment 6 h before exposing to 25 Gy irradiation; group three as 24 h-group:the group irradiated with LDR pretreatment 24 h before 25 Gy irradiation. The observation was done 6 hour's after irradiation, the effect of LDR pretreatment on increasing activity of the superoxide dismutase(SOD) and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA) after the brain tissue homogenate were detected. Results: Com- pared with the simple group, the group with LDR pretreatment showed increasing of SOD and decreasing of MDA at the 6th hour after 25Gy irradiation. In addition, there was no difference between the 6 h-group and the 24 h-group. Conclusion: LDR pretreatment can increase SOD and decrease MDA in some period. It could infer that the suitable LDR pretreatment could play a protective role in the brain radiation injury. (authors)

  17. Comparison of gamma irradiation and steam explosion pretreatment for ethanol production from agricultural residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Ke-qin; Xiong, Xing-yao; Chen, Jing-ping; Chen, Liang; Su, Xiaojun; Liu, Yun

    2012-01-01

    It was evaluated the influence of gamma irradiation and steam explosion pretreatment on the components and the water-soluble sugars of rice straw. Compared with the steam explosion pretreated rice straw, cellucose, hemicellucose and lignin for irradiation pretreated rice sample were much more greatly degraded and the relative content of glucose was significantly enhanced from 6.58% to 47.44%. Interestingly, no glucuronide acid was detected in irradiation pretreated rice straw, while glucuronide acid with the content from 8.5 mg/g to 9.2 mg/g was obtained in steam explosion pretreated sample. Followed by enzymatic hydrolysis, higher concentration of reducing sugars (including glucose and xylose) of irradiation pretreated rice sample (90.3 mg/g) was obtained, which was approximately 2.4- and 1.1- fold higher of the unpretreated (37.2 mg/g) and of steam explosion pretreated sample (85.4 mg/g). To further verify the effectiveness of irradiation pretreatment, characterizations of rice straw, corn stalk and bagasse by an integrated process of dilute acid/enzymatic hydrolysis and irradiation pretreatment were also investigated. -- Highlights: ► We compare irradiation and steam explosion pretreatments for bioethanol production. ► We examine changes in compositions of the components and the water-soluble sugars. ► No glucuronide acid was detected in gamma irradiation pretreated rice straw. ► We evaluate an integrated method of acid/enzyme-hydrolyzed irradiation pretreatment.

  18. Effect of plasma pretreatment on the structure and emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uh, Hyung Soo; Lee, Soo Myun; Choi, Seok Rim; Park, Sang Sik; Cho, Euo Sik; Lee, Jong Duk; Kwon, Sang Jik

    2003-01-01

    Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown on Ni-coated TiN/Si substrates by using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition with a gas mixture of H 2 /CH 4 at a low temperature of 500 .deg. C. The effect of H 2 plasma pretreatment on the diameter of grown CNTs was investigated. We found that the average diameter of CNTs could be easily controlled by using the H 2 -plasma pretreatment time before CNTs growth and varied from 36 nm to 26 nm as the pretreatment time changed from 5 min to 15 min. However, any further increase in the pretreatment time gave rise to a rapid decrease in CNTs growth. After 25 min of the plasma pretreatment, scanning electron microscopy observation exhibited the destruction of the CNTs. The impact of the plasma pretreatment time on the emission behavior of CNTs was also investigated in a diode-type electron-emission configuration. The variation of the CNT diameter due to the plasma pretreatment caused a drastic change in emission properties. The turn-on voltages of CNT emitters varied from 3.5 V/μm to 9 V/μm, depending on the hydrogen-plasma pretreatment conditions. The close relationship between the electron-emission characteristics and the pretreatment time indicates that the pretreatment condition may be a key process parameter in CNTs growth for field-emission displays and should be optimized.

  19. 40 CFR 406.34 - Pretreatment standards for existing sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Pretreatment standards for existing sources. 406.34 Section 406.34 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... § 406.34 Pretreatment standards for existing sources. Any existing source subject to this subpart that...

  20. 40 CFR 406.44 - Pretreatment standards for existing sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Pretreatment standards for existing sources. 406.44 Section 406.44 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... § 406.44 Pretreatment standards for existing sources. Any existing source subject to this subpart that...

  1. Benefits of hyperbaric oxygen pretreatment for decompression sickness in Bama pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qing, Long; Yi, Hong-Jie; Wang, Ye-Wei; Zhou, Quan; Ariyadewa, Dinesh K; Xu, Wei-Gang

    2018-03-07

    Decompression sickness (DCS) occurs when ambient pressure is severely reduced during diving and aviation. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) pretreatment has been shown to exert beneficial effects on DCS in rats via heat-shock proteins (HSPs). We hypothesized that HBO pretreatment will also reduce DCS via HSPs in swine models. In the first part of our investigation, six swine were subjected to a session of HBO treatment. HSP32, 60, 70 and 90 were detected, before and at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 h following exposure in lymphocytes. In the second part of our investigation, another 10 swine were randomly assigned into two groups (five per group). All swine were subjected to two simulated air dives in a hyperbaric chamber with an interval of 7 days. Eighteen hours before each dive, the swine were pretreated with HBO or air: the first group received air pretreatment prior to the first dive and HBO pretreatment prior to the second; the second group were pretreated with HBO first and then air. Bubble loads, skin lesions, inflammation and endothelial markers were detected after each dive. In lymphocytes, all HSPs increased significantly ( P <0.05), with the greatest expression appearing at 18 h for HSP32 and 70. HBO pretreatment significantly reduced all the determined changes compared with air pretreatment. The results demonstrate that a single exposure to HBO 18 h prior to diving effectively protects against DCS in the swine model, possibly via induction of HSPs. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  2. Carbohydrate degradation mechanisms and compounds from pretreated biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Helena

    The formation of inhibitors during pretreatment of lignocellulosic feedstocks is a persistent problem, and notably the compounds that retard enzymatic cellulose conversion represent an obstacle for achieving optimal enzymatic productivity and high glucose yields. Compounds with many chemical...... pretreated wheat straw after enzymatic treatment. It was found that formation of the oligophenolic degradation compounds were common across biomass sources as sugar cane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunches. These findings were in line with that the oligophenolic compounds arise from reactions involving...... functionalities are formed during biomass pretreatment, which gives possibilities for various chemical reactions to take place and hence formation of many new potential inhibitor compounds. This somehow overlooked contemplation formed the basis for the main hypothesis investigated in this work: Hypothesis 1...

  3. Hazard Analysis for the Pretreatment Engineering Platform (PEP)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sullivan, Robin S.; Geeting, John GH; Lawrence, Wesley E.; Young, Jonathan

    2008-07-10

    The Pretreatment Engineering Platform (PEP) is designed to perform a demonstration on an engineering scale to confirm the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Pretreatment Facility (PTF) leaching and filtration process equipment design and sludge treatment process. The system will use scaled prototypic equipment to demonstrate sludge water wash, caustic leaching, oxidative leaching, and filtration. Unit operations to be tested include pumping, solids washing, chemical reagent addition and blending, heating, cooling, leaching, filtration, and filter cleaning. In addition, the PEP will evaluate potential design changes to the ultrafiltration process system equipment to potentially enhance leaching and filtration performance as well as overall pretreatment throughput. The skid-mounted system will be installed and operated in the Processing Development Laboratory-West at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington.

  4. Plasma-Assisted Pretreatment of Wheat Straw for Ethanol Production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz-Jensen, Nadja; Kádár, Zsófia; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2011-01-01

    (0–7 h), e.g., oxalic acid and acetovanillon. Interestingly, washing had no effect on the ethanol production with pretreatment times up to 1 h. Washing improved the glucose availability with pretreatment times of more than 2 h. One hour of ozonisation was found to be optimal for the use of washed...... carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were found, e.g., vanillic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid. Some components had the highest concentration at the beginning of the ozonisation process (0.5, 1 h), e.g., 4-hydroxybenzladehyde, while the concentration of others increased during the entire pretreatment...

  5. Localized prostate cancer in elderly patients. Outcome after radiation therapy compared to matched younger patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huguenin, P.U.; Bitterli, M.; Luetolf, U.M.; Glanzmann, C.; Bernhard, J.

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: To detect a difference in outcome (disease-specific survival, local tumor progression, late toxicity, quality of life) after curative radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer in elderly as compared to younger patients. Patients and methods: In a retrospective analysis 59 elderly patients (>74 years old) were matched 1:2 with younger patients from the data base according to tumor stage, grading, pre-treatment PSA values and year of radiotherapy. Surviving patients were contacted to fill in a validated questionnaire for quality of life measurement (EORTC QLQ-C30). Median follow-up for elderly and younger patients was 5.2 and 4.5 years, respectively. Results: Overall survival at 5 years was 66% for the elderly and 80% for younger patients. Intercurrent deaths were observed more frequently in the elderly population. There was no age-specific difference in disease-specific survival (78% vs 82%), late toxicity or quality of life. Clinically meaningful local tumor progression was observed in 15% and 14%, respectively, corresponding to data from the literature following hormonal ablation. Conclusions: There is no obvious difference in outcome including disease-specific survival, late toxicity and quality of life in elderly patients, compared to a matched younger population. A clinically meaningful local tumor progression following radiotherapy or hormonal ablation only is rare. Local radiotherapy or, alternatively, hormonal ablation is recommended to preserve local progression-free survival in elderly patients except for very early stage of disease (i.e. T1 G1-2 M0). (orig.) [de

  6. Influence of bio-solution pretreatment on the structure, reactivity and torrefaction of bamboo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Wei-Hsin; Chu, Yen-Shih; Lee, Wen-Jhy

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A bio-solution of natural organic enzyme-7F (NOE-7F) is used to pretreat bamboo. • The bio-solution removes hemicellulose in powdered bamboo significantly. • Bamboo powder pretreated by bio-solution may be feasible for producing bioethanol. • Penetration of bio-solution into block bamboo controls the pretreatment mechanism. • The homogeneity of bamboo is improved by the bio-solution pretreatment. - Abstract: A bio-solution of natural organic enzyme-7F (NOE-7F) is used to pretreat bamboo, with emphasis on the influence the pretreatment upon the structure, reactivity, and torrefaction of the biomass. Two different operating modes accompanied by five different soaking durations are considered. In Mode 1 the bamboo is ground followed by pretreated by the bio-solution, and an inverse procedure is used in Mode 2. The results indicate that, with the operation of Mode 1, NOE-7F removes hemicellulose in the bamboo significantly, thereby improving the homogeneity of the biomass. This pretreated bamboo may be feasible for enzymatic hydrolysis to produce bioethanol. The penetration of the bio-solution into block bamboo becomes the controlling mechanism under Mode 2 operation, and therefore relatively less hemicellulose is consumed from Mode 2. The ignition and burnout temperatures of the pretreated bamboo are higher than those of the raw bamboo, revealing the lower reactivity and higher storage safety of the former. The atomic H/C and O/C ratios as well as the calorific value of the bamboo are insensitive to the pretreatments, whereas the crystalline structure of cellulose is affected by the bio-solution to a certain extent, regardless of Mode 1 or Mode 2 operation. This suggests that torrefaction is required if the pretreated bamboo is employed as a fuel. The pretreated bamboo with Mode 2 is more suitable for torrefaction because of higher torrefaction severity.

  7. Combined Mechanical Destruction and Alkaline Pretreatment of Wheat Straw for Enhanced Enzymatic Saccharification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qianqian Wang

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Wheat straw was pretreated by combined mechanical destruction and alkaline pretreatments to enhance enzymatic saccharification. Four strategies were employed to evaluate the potential of wheat straw as a feedstock for fermentable sugar production. The effects of the pretreatments on the substrate morphology, size distribution, chemical composition, and cellulose crystallinity, along with the subsequent enzymatic digestibility, were investigated. Optical microscope images showed that mechanical pretreatment alone resulted in poor fiber defibrillation, wherein samples mostly consisted of rigid fiber bundles, while integrated mechanical destruction and alkaline pretreatment led to relatively good fiber defibrillation. Low temperature NaOH/urea pretreatment can fibrillate the rigid fiber bundles into a relatively loose network and alter the structure of the treated substrate to make cellulose more accessible. The glucan conversion rates were 77% and 95% for integrated mechanical destruction and alkaline pretreatments and mechanical destruction followed by low temperature NaOH/urea and ammonium/urea pretreatments, respectively, after 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis with enzyme loadings of 10 FPU cellulase per g of oven-dry substrate.

  8. Enhancing biogas production of corn stover by fast pyrolysis pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fang; Zhang, Deli; Wu, Houkai; Yi, Weiming; Fu, Peng; Li, Yongjun; Li, Zhihe

    2016-10-01

    A new thermo-chemical pretreatment by a lower temperature fast pyrolysis (LTFP) was applied to promote anaerobic digestion (AD) efficiency of corn stover (CS). The pretreatment experiment was performed by a fluidized bed pyrolysis reactor at 180, 200 and 220°C with a carrier gas flow rate of 4 and 3m(3)/h. The components characteristics, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images and Crystal Intensity (CrI) of the pretreated CS were tested to explore effectiveness of the pretreatment. The results showed that the cumulative methane production at 180°C for 4 and 3m(3)/h were 199.8 and 200.3mL/g TS, respectively. As compared to the untreated CS, the LTFP pretreatment significantly (a<0.05) increased the methane production by 18.07% and 18.33%, respectively. Methane production was well fitted by the Gompertz models, and the maximum methane potential and AD efficiency was obtained at 180°C for 3m(3)/h. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Intensification of biogas production using pretreatment based on hydrodynamic cavitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patil, Pankaj N; Gogate, Parag R; Csoka, Levente; Dregelyi-Kiss, Agota; Horvath, Miklos

    2016-05-01

    The present work investigates the application of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) for the pretreatment of wheat straw with an objective of enhancing the biogas production. The hydrodynamic cavitation reactor is based on a stator and rotor assembly. The effect of three different speeds of rotor (2300, 2500, 2700 rpm), wheat straw to water ratios (0.5%, 1% and 1.5% wt/wt) and also treatment times as 2, 4 and 6 min have been investigated in the work using the design of experiments (DOE) approach. It was observed that the methane yield of 31.8 ml was obtained with untreated wheat straw whereas 77.9 ml was obtained with HC pre-treated wheat straw confirming the favourable changes during the pre-treatment. The combined pre-treatment using KOH and HC gave maximum yield of biogas as 172.3 ml. Overall, it has been established that significant enhancement in the biogas production can be obtained due to the pretreatment using HC which can also be further intensified by combination with chemical treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. 40 CFR 406.26 - Pretreatment standards for new sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Pretreatment standards for new sources. 406.26 Section 406.26 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS GRAIN MILLS POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Corn Dry Milling Subcategory § 406.26 Pretreatment...

  11. 40 CFR 406.16 - Pretreatment standards for new sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Pretreatment standards for new sources. 406.16 Section 406.16 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS GRAIN MILLS POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Corn Wet Milling Subcategory § 406.16 Pretreatment...

  12. Microalgal biomass pretreatment for bioethanol production: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús Velazquez-Lucio

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Biofuels derived from microalgae biomass have received a great deal of attention owing to their high potentials as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Microalgae have a high capacity of CO2 fixation and depending on their growth conditions, they can accumulate different quantities of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Microalgal biomass can, therefore, represent a rich source of fermentable sugars for third generation bioethanol production. The utilization of microalgal carbohydrates for bioethanol production follows three main stages: i pretreatment, ii saccharification, and iii fermentation. One of the most important stages is the pretreatment, which is carried out to increase the accessibility to intracellular sugars, and thus plays an important role in improving the overall efficiency of the bioethanol production process. Diverse types of pretreatments are currently used including chemical, thermal, mechanical, biological, and their combinations, which can promote cell disruption, facilitate extraction, and result in the modification the structure of carbohydrates as well as the production of fermentable sugars. In this review, the different pretreatments used on microalgae biomass for bioethanol production are presented and discussed. Moreover, the methods used for starch and total carbohydrates quantification in microalgae biomass are also briefly presented and compared.

  13. Population pharmacokinetics of ticagrelor in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jianguo; Tang, Weifeng; Storey, Robert F; Husted, Steen; Teng, Renli

    2016-09-01

    Ticagrelor is an orally administered antiplatelet agent used to reduce thrombotic events in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Data from two studies in patients with acute coronary syndromes with large amounts of pharmacokinetic (PK) data (phase IIb DISPERSE-2 study (n = 609)); phase III PLATO PK substudy (n = 6,381)), along with non-linear mixed effects modeling software, were used to develop population PK models for ticagrelor and its metabolite, AR-C124910XX, and to evaluate the impact of demographic and clinical factors on the PK of ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX. 32 covariates relating to disease history, biomarkers, clinical chemistry, and concomitant medications were assessed. A one-compartment model with population mean PK parameters of firstorder absorption rate constant (0.67/h), apparent systemic clearance (14 L/h), and apparent volume of distribution (221 L) was shown to best describe the PK profile of ticagrelor. Patients co-administered moderate CYP3A inducers or inhibitors increased (by 110%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 52 - 192%) or decreased (by 64%, 95% CI, 39 - 73%) apparent ticagrelor clearance, respectively, while habitual smoking decreased apparent ticagrelor clearance by 22% (95% CI, 19 - 25%). Ticagrelor bioavailability was 21% (95% CI, 19 - 22%) lower at treatment initiation (visit 1) versus subsequent visits. Compared with Caucasian patients, ticagrelor bioavailability was 39% (95% CI, 33 - 46%) higher in Asian patients and 18% (95% CI, 6 - 28%) lower in Black patients. In the current analyses, the population PK models developed for ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX described the data obtained in the DISPERSE-2 and PLATO studies well, and were consistent with previous phase I PK studies.

  14. Statistical process control applied to intensity modulated radiotherapy pretreatment controls with portal dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villani, N.; Noel, A.; Villani, N.; Gerard, K.; Marchesi, V.; Huger, S.; Noel, A.; Francois, P.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose The first purpose of this study was to illustrate the contribution of statistical process control for a better security in intensity modulated radiotherapy (I.M.R.T.) treatments. This improvement is possible by controlling the dose delivery process, characterized by pretreatment quality control results. So, it is necessary to put under control portal dosimetry measurements (currently, the ionisation chamber measurements were already monitored by statistical process control thanks to statistical process control tools). The second objective was to state whether it is possible to substitute ionisation chamber with portal dosimetry in order to optimize time devoted to pretreatment quality control. Patients and methods At Alexis-Vautrin center, pretreatment quality controls in I.M.R.T. for prostate and head and neck treatments were performed for each beam of each patient. These controls were made with an ionisation chamber, which is the reference detector for the absolute dose measurement, and with portal dosimetry for the verification of dose distribution. Statistical process control is a statistical analysis method, coming from industry, used to control and improve the studied process quality. It uses graphic tools as control maps to follow-up process, warning the operator in case of failure, and quantitative tools to evaluate the process toward its ability to respect guidelines: this is the capability study. The study was performed on 450 head and neck beams and on 100 prostate beams. Results Control charts, showing drifts, both slow and weak, and also both strong and fast, of mean and standard deviation have been established and have shown special cause introduced (manual shift of the leaf gap of the multi-leaf collimator). Correlation between dose measured at one point, given with the E.P.I.D. and the ionisation chamber has been evaluated at more than 97% and disagreement cases between the two measurements were identified. Conclusion The study allowed to

  15. SU-F-R-45: The Prognostic Value of Radiotherapy Based On the Changes of Texture Features Between Pre-Treatment and Post-Treatment FDG PET Image for NSCLC Patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, C; Yin, Y

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this research is investigating which texture features extracted from FDG-PET images by gray-level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM) have a higher prognostic value than the other texture features. Methods: 21 non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) patients were approved in the study. Patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scans with both pre-treatment and post-treatment. Firstly, the tumors were extracted by our house developed software. Secondly, the clinical features including the maximum SUV and tumor volume were extracted by MIM vista software, and texture features including angular second moment, contrast, inverse different moment, entropy and correlation were extracted using MATLAB.The differences can be calculated by using post-treatment features to subtract pre-treatment features. Finally, the SPSS software was used to get the Pearson correlation coefficients and Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the change ratios of texture features and change ratios of clinical features. Results: The Pearson and Spearman rank correlation coefficient between contrast and SUV maximum is 0.785 and 0.709. The P and S value between inverse difference moment and tumor volume is 0.953 and 0.942. Conclusion: This preliminary study showed that the relationships between different texture features and the same clinical feature are different. Finding the prognostic value of contrast and inverse difference moment were higher than the other three textures extracted by GLCM.

  16. SU-F-R-45: The Prognostic Value of Radiotherapy Based On the Changes of Texture Features Between Pre-Treatment and Post-Treatment FDG PET Image for NSCLC Patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ma, C; Yin, Y [Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, China, Jinan, Shandong (China)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: The purpose of this research is investigating which texture features extracted from FDG-PET images by gray-level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM) have a higher prognostic value than the other texture features. Methods: 21 non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) patients were approved in the study. Patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scans with both pre-treatment and post-treatment. Firstly, the tumors were extracted by our house developed software. Secondly, the clinical features including the maximum SUV and tumor volume were extracted by MIM vista software, and texture features including angular second moment, contrast, inverse different moment, entropy and correlation were extracted using MATLAB.The differences can be calculated by using post-treatment features to subtract pre-treatment features. Finally, the SPSS software was used to get the Pearson correlation coefficients and Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the change ratios of texture features and change ratios of clinical features. Results: The Pearson and Spearman rank correlation coefficient between contrast and SUV maximum is 0.785 and 0.709. The P and S value between inverse difference moment and tumor volume is 0.953 and 0.942. Conclusion: This preliminary study showed that the relationships between different texture features and the same clinical feature are different. Finding the prognostic value of contrast and inverse difference moment were higher than the other three textures extracted by GLCM.

  17. Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism in Hospitalized Patients in the Chinese Population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Chunling

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Venous thromboembolism (VTE refers to the formation of a blood clot inside veins and has a high risk of inducing medical accidents. An effective risk assessment model will help screen high risk populations and prevent the occurrence of VTE. In this study, 287 VTE cases were collected and analyzed for risk factors in a Chinese population. The risks of VTE were evaluated using the Caprini and Padua models. Our results indicated that the Caprini model was more effective in evaluating VTE risk among hospitalized patients than the Padua model. As well, the Caprini model was more relevant in VTE risk assessment among surgery patients compared with internal medicine patients, while the Padua model showed no significant differences. In our studies, the most frequent risk factors included obesity, medical patients currently at bed rest, and severe lung disease. Our studies provide clinical support on selecting the suitable risk assessment model of VTE in the Chinese population.

  18. Predictors of pretreatment CA125 at ovarian cancer diagnosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babic, Ana; Cramer, Daniel W; Kelemen, Linda E

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: Cancer antigen 125 (CA125) is a glycoprotein expressed by epithelial cells of several normal tissue types and overexpressed by several epithelial cancers. Serum CA125 levels are mostly used as an aid in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer patients, to monitor response to treatment and detect...... in CA125 between studies and linear regression to estimate the association between epidemiologic factors and tumor characteristics and pretreatment CA125 levels. RESULTS: In age-adjusted models, older age, history of pregnancy, history of tubal ligation, family history of breast cancer, and family...... cancer recurrence. Besides tumor characteristics, CA125 levels are also influenced by several epidemiologic factors, such as age, parity, and oral contraceptive use. Identifying factors that influence CA125 levels in ovarian cancer patients could aid in the interpretation of CA125 values for individuals...

  19. Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    CLAUDIA

    2013-07-31

    Jul 31, 2013 ... 120°C. The pretreated blending was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis for 130 h at 80 rpm and 50°C with an enzymatic load of ... pretreatment of 2.5% NaOH for 90 min, 120°C, and a hydrolysis residence time of 130 h. The removal of ...... Programa Estratégico Forestal para el estado de Durango,. México.

  20. Evaluation of wet oxidation pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Palonen, H.; Thomsen, A.B.; Tenkanen, M.

    2004-01-01

    The wet oxidation pretreatment (water, oxygen, elevated temperature, and pressure) of softwood (Picea abies) was investigated for enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreatment was preliminarily optimized. Six different combinations of reaction time, temperature, and pH were applied......, and the compositions of solid and liquid fractions were analyzed. The solid fraction after wet oxidation contained 58-64% cellulose, 2-16% hemicellulose, and 24-30% lignin. The pretreatment series gave information about the roles of lignin and hemicellulose in the enzymatic hydrolysis. The temperature...

  1. Evaluation of lime and hydrothermal pretreatments for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of raw sugarcane bagasse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grimaldi, Maira Prearo; Marques, Marina Paganini; Laluce, Cecília; Cilli, Eduardo Maffud; Sponchiado, Sandra Regina Pombeiro

    2015-01-01

    Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse requires a pretreatment step to disrupt the cellulose-hemicellulose-lignin complex and to increase biomass digestibility, thus allowing the obtaining of high yields of fermentable sugars for the subsequent fermentation. Hydrothermal and lime pretreatments have emerged as effective methods in preparing the lignocellulosic biomass for bioconversion. These pretreatments are advantageous because they can be performed under mild temperature and pressure conditions, resulting in less sugar degradation compared with other pretreatments, and also are cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. In this study, we evaluated the effect of these pretreatments on the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of raw sugarcane bagasse obtained directly from mill without prior screening. In addition, we evaluated the structure and composition modifications of this bagasse after lime and hydrothermal pretreatments. The highest cellulose hydrolysis rate (70 % digestion) was obtained for raw sugarcane bagasse pretreated with lime [0.1 g Ca(OH)2/g raw] for 60 min at 120 °C compared with hydrothermally pretreated bagasse (21 % digestion) under the same time and temperature conditions. Chemical composition analyses showed that the lime pretreatment of bagasse promoted high solubilization of lignin (30 %) and hemicellulose (5 %) accompanied by a cellulose accumulation (11 %). Analysis of pretreated bagasse structure revealed that lime pretreatment caused considerable damage to the bagasse fibers, including rupture of the cell wall, exposing the cellulose-rich areas to enzymatic action. We showed that lime pretreatment is effective in improving enzymatic digestibility of raw sugarcane bagasse, even at low lime loading and over a short pretreatment period. It was also demonstrated that this pretreatment caused alterations in the structure and composition of raw bagasse, which had a pronounced effect on the enzymes accessibility to the

  2. Impacts of operating parameters on oxidation-reduction potential and pretreatment efficacy in the pretreatment of printing and dyeing wastewater by Fenton process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Huifang, E-mail: whfkhl@sina.com [College of Environment, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Water-Conservation and Emission Reduction, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009 (China); Wang, Shihe [Department of Municipal Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096 (China)

    2012-12-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A real printing and dyeing wastewater was pretreated by Fenton process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We investigated impacts of operating parameters on ORP and pretreatment efficacy. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Relationship among ORP, operating parameters and treatment efficacy was established. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Pretreatment efficacy was in proportion to the exponent of temperature reciprocal. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We investigated kinetics of color and COD removal and BOD{sub 5}/COD ratio in solution. - Abstract: An experiment was conducted in a batch reactor for a real printing and dyeing wastewater pretreatment using Fenton process in this study. The results showed that original pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration and ferrous sulfate concentration affected ORP value and pretreatment efficacy greatly. Under experimental conditions, the optimal original pH was 6.61, and the optimal hydrogen peroxide and ferrous sulfate concentrations were 1.50 and 0.75 g L{sup -1}, respectively. The relationship among ORP, original pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration, ferrous sulfate concentration, and color (COD or BOD{sub 5}/COD) was established, which would be instructive in on-line monitoring and control of Fenton process using ORP. In addition, the effects of wastewater temperature and oxidation time on pretreatment efficacy were also investigated. With an increase of temperature, color and COD removal efficiencies and BOD{sub 5}/COD ratio increased, and they were in proportion to the exponent of temperature reciprocal. Similarly, color and COD removal efficiencies increased with increasing oxidation time, and both color and COD removal obeyed the first-order kinetics. The BOD{sub 5}/COD ratio could be expressed by a second-degree polynomial with respect to oxidation time, and the best biodegradability of wastewater was present at the oxidation time of 6.10 h.

  3. Impacts of operating parameters on oxidation–reduction potential and pretreatment efficacy in the pretreatment of printing and dyeing wastewater by Fenton process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Huifang; Wang, Shihe

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A real printing and dyeing wastewater was pretreated by Fenton process. ► We investigated impacts of operating parameters on ORP and pretreatment efficacy. ► Relationship among ORP, operating parameters and treatment efficacy was established. ► Pretreatment efficacy was in proportion to the exponent of temperature reciprocal. ► We investigated kinetics of color and COD removal and BOD 5 /COD ratio in solution. - Abstract: An experiment was conducted in a batch reactor for a real printing and dyeing wastewater pretreatment using Fenton process in this study. The results showed that original pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration and ferrous sulfate concentration affected ORP value and pretreatment efficacy greatly. Under experimental conditions, the optimal original pH was 6.61, and the optimal hydrogen peroxide and ferrous sulfate concentrations were 1.50 and 0.75 g L −1 , respectively. The relationship among ORP, original pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration, ferrous sulfate concentration, and color (COD or BOD 5 /COD) was established, which would be instructive in on-line monitoring and control of Fenton process using ORP. In addition, the effects of wastewater temperature and oxidation time on pretreatment efficacy were also investigated. With an increase of temperature, color and COD removal efficiencies and BOD 5 /COD ratio increased, and they were in proportion to the exponent of temperature reciprocal. Similarly, color and COD removal efficiencies increased with increasing oxidation time, and both color and COD removal obeyed the first-order kinetics. The BOD 5 /COD ratio could be expressed by a second-degree polynomial with respect to oxidation time, and the best biodegradability of wastewater was present at the oxidation time of 6.10 h.

  4. Normalization of reverse redistribution of thallium-201 with procainamide pretreatment in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nii, T.; Nakashima, Y.; Nomoto, J.; Hiroki, T.; Ohshima, F.; Arakawa, K.

    1991-01-01

    Stress thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging was performed in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Reverse redistribution phenomenon was observed in the absence of coronary artery disease. This seems to be the first report of normalization of this phenomenon in association with reversion of accessory pathway to normal atrioventricular conduction after pretreatment with procainamide

  5. Normalization of reverse redistribution of thallium-201 with procainamide pretreatment in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nii, T.; Nakashima, Y.; Nomoto, J.; Hiroki, T.; Ohshima, F.; Arakawa, K. (Fukuoka Univ. School of Medicine (Japan))

    1991-03-01

    Stress thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging was performed in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Reverse redistribution phenomenon was observed in the absence of coronary artery disease. This seems to be the first report of normalization of this phenomenon in association with reversion of accessory pathway to normal atrioventricular conduction after pretreatment with procainamide.

  6. Deep Eutectic Solvents pretreatment of agro-industrial food waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Procentese, Alessandra; Raganati, Francesca; Olivieri, Giuseppe; Russo, Maria Elena; Rehmann, Lars; Marzocchella, Antonio

    2018-01-01

    Waste biomass from agro-food industries are a reliable and readily exploitable resource. From the circular economy point of view, direct residues from these industries exploited for production of fuel/chemicals is a winning issue, because it reduces the environmental/cost impact and improves the eco-sustainability of productions. The present paper reports recent results of deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment on a selected group of the agro-industrial food wastes (AFWs) produced in Europe. In particular, apple residues, potato peels, coffee silverskin, and brewer's spent grains were pretreated with two DESs, (choline chloride-glycerol and choline chloride-ethylene glycol) for fermentable sugar production. Pretreated biomass was enzymatic digested by commercial enzymes to produce fermentable sugars. Operating conditions of the DES pretreatment were changed in wide intervals. The solid to solvent ratio ranged between 1:8 and 1:32, and the temperature between 60 and 150 °C. The DES reaction time was set at 3 h. Optimal operating conditions were: 3 h pretreatment with choline chloride-glycerol at 1:16 biomass to solvent ratio and 115 °C. Moreover, to assess the expected European amount of fermentable sugars from the investigated AFWs, a market analysis was carried out. The overall sugar production was about 217 kt yr -1 , whose main fraction was from the hydrolysis of BSGs pretreated with choline chloride-glycerol DES at the optimal conditions. The reported results boost deep investigation on lignocellulosic biomass using DES. This investigated new class of solvents is easy to prepare, biodegradable and cheaper than ionic liquid. Moreover, they reported good results in terms of sugars' release at mild operating conditions (time, temperature and pressure).

  7. Optimization of twin gear-based pretreatment of rice straw for bioethanol production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, Muhammad Ajaz; Rehman, Muhammd Saif Ur; Terán-Hilares, Ruly; Khalid, Saira; Han, Jong-In

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Twin gear reactor is a continuous high solids pretreatment reactor. • RSM was applied to optimize twin gear pretreatment for enzymatic digestibility. • 89% enzymatic digestibility was achieved under optimum conditions. • Thermomechanical pretreatment altered the structural features of rice straw. - Abstract: A laboratory twin-gear reactor (TGR) was investigated as a new means for the pretreatment of high solid lignocelluloses. Response surface methodology based on Box Behnken Design was used to optimize the enzymatic digestibility with respect to the pretreatment process variables: temperature of 50–90 °C, NaOH concentration of 2–6% and no. of cycles of 30–60. The results revealed that the TGR-based pretreatment led to the significant structural alterations through increases in pore size, pore volume, cellulose crystallinity and surface area. SEM images also confirmed the surface modifications in the pretreated rice straw. A response surface quadratic model predicted 90% of the enzymatic digestibility, and it was confirmed experimentally and through the analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well. The TGR extrusion proved to be an effective means for exceedingly high solids lignocellulose.

  8. Selection of the best chemical pretreatment for lignocellulosic substrate Prosopis juliflora.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naseeruddin, Shaik; Srilekha Yadav, K; Sateesh, L; Manikyam, Ananth; Desai, Suseelendra; Venkateswar Rao, L

    2013-05-01

    Pretreatment is a pre-requisite step in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass required to remove lignin and increase the porosity of the substrate for saccharification. In the present study, chemical pretreatment of Prosopis juliflora was performed using alkali (NaOH, KOH, and NH3), reducing agents (Na2S2O4, Na2SO3) and NaClO2 in different concentration ranges at room temperature (30±2 °C) to remove maximum lignin with minimum sugar loss. Further, biphasic acid hydrolysis of the various pretreated substrates was performed at mild temperatures. Considering the amount of holocellulose hydrolyzed and inhibitors released during hydrolysis, best chemical pretreatment was selected. Among all the chemicals investigated, pretreatment with sodium dithionite at concentration of 2% (w/v) removed maximum lignin (80.46±1.35%) with a minimum sugar loss (2.56±0.021%). Subsequent biphasic acid hydrolysis of the sodium dithionite pretreated substrate hydrolyzed 40.09±1.22% of holocellulose and released minimum amount of phenolics (1.04±0.022 g/L) and furans (0.41±0.012 g/L) in the hydrolysate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Steam explosion pretreatment for enhancing biogas production of late harvested hay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Alexander; Lizasoain, Javier; Theuretzbacher, Franz; Agger, Jane W; Rincón, María; Menardo, Simona; Saylor, Molly K; Enguídanos, Ramón; Nielsen, Paal J; Potthast, Antje; Zweckmair, Thomas; Gronauer, Andreas; Horn, Svein J

    2014-08-01

    Grasslands are often abandoned due to lack of profitability. Extensively cultivating grassland for utilization in a biogas-based biorefinery concept could mend this problem. Efficient bioconversion of this lignocellulosic biomass requires a pretreatment step. In this study the effect of different steam explosion conditions on hay digestibility have been investigated. Increasing severity in the pretreatment induced degradation of the hemicellulose, which at the same time led to the production of inhibitors and formation of pseudo-lignin. Enzymatic hydrolysis showed that the maximum glucose yields were obtained under pretreatment at 220 °C for 15 min, while higher xylose yields were obtained at 175 °C for 10 min. Pretreatment of hay by steam explosion enhanced 15.9% the methane yield in comparison to the untreated hay. Results indicate that hay can be effectively converted to methane after steam explosion pretreatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Pre-treatment inflammatory indexes as predictors of survival and cetuximab efficacy in metastatic colorectal cancer patients with wild-type RAS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jing; Guo, Xinli; Wang, Manni; Ma, Xuelei; Ye, Xiaoyang; Lin, Panpan

    2017-12-07

    This study aims at evaluating the prognostic significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and systemic immune-inflammation indexes (SII) in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with cetuximab. Ninety-five patients receiving cetuximab for mCRC were categorized into the high or low NLR, PLR, LMR, and SII groups based on their median index values. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis were performed to identify the indexes' correlation with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In the univariate analysis, ECOG performance status, neutrphil counts, lymphocyte counts, monocyte counts, NLR, PLR, and LDH were associated with survival. Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG performance status of 0 (hazard ratio [HR] 3.608, p < 0.001; HR 5.030, p < 0.001, respectively), high absolute neutrophil counts (HR 2.837, p < 0.001; HR 1.922, p = 0.026, respectively), low lymphocyte counts (HR 0.352, p < 0.001; HR 0.440, p = 0.001, respectively), elevated NLR (HR 3.837, p < 0.001; HR 2.467, p = 0.006) were independent predictors of shorter PFS and OS. In conclusion, pre-treatment inflammatory indexes, especially NLR were potential biomarkers to predict the survival of mCRC patients with cetuximab therapy.

  11. Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Wastes to Improve Ethanol and Biogas Production: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keikhosro Karimi

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Lignocelluloses are often a major or sometimes the sole components of different waste streams from various industries, forestry, agriculture and municipalities. Hydrolysis of these materials is the first step for either digestion to biogas (methane or fermentation to ethanol. However, enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses with no pretreatment is usually not so effective because of high stability of the materials to enzymatic or bacterial attacks. The present work is dedicated to reviewing the methods that have been studied for pretreatment of lignocellulosic wastes for conversion to ethanol or biogas. Effective parameters in pretreatment of lignocelluloses, such as crystallinity, accessible surface area, and protection by lignin and hemicellulose are described first. Then, several pretreatment methods are discussed and their effects on improvement in ethanol and/or biogas production are described. They include milling, irradiation, microwave, steam explosion, ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX, supercritical CO2 and its explosion, alkaline hydrolysis, liquid hot-water pretreatment, organosolv processes, wet oxidation, ozonolysis, dilute- and concentrated-acid hydrolyses, and biological pretreatments.

  12. Glioblastoma: does the pre-treatment geometry matter? A postcontrast T1 MRI-based study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perez-Beteta, Julian; Martinez-Gonzalez, Alicia; Molina, David; Amo-Salas, Mariano; Luque, Belen; Perez-Garcia, Victor M. [Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Laboratory of Mathematical Oncology, Edificio Politecnico, Instituto de Matematica Aplicada a la Ciencia y la Ingenieria, Ciudad Real (Spain); Arregui, Elena; Calvo, Manuel; Borras, Jose M.; Lopez, Carlos; Claramonte, Marta [Hospital General de Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real (Spain); Barcia, Juan A.; Iglesias, Lidia; Avecillas, Josue [Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid (Spain); Albillo, David; Navarro, Miguel; Villanueva, Jose M.; Paniagua, Juan C.; Perez-Romasanta, Luis [Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca (Spain); Martino, Juan; Velasquez, Carlos [Hospital Marques de Valdecilla, Santander (Spain); Asenjo, Beatriz; Benavides, Manuel; Herruzo, Ismael [Hospital Carlos Haya, Malaga (Spain); Delgado, Maria del Carmen; Valle, Ana del [Universidad de Sevilla, Facultad de Matematicas, Sevilla (Spain); Falkov, Anthony [Auckland Radiation Oncology, Auckland (New Zealand); Schucht, Philippe [Bern Inselspital, Neurosurgery Department, Bern (Switzerland); Arana, Estanislao [Instituto Valenciano de Oncologia, Valencia (Spain)

    2017-03-15

    The potential of a tumour's volumetric measures obtained from pretreatment MRI sequences of glioblastoma (GBM) patients as predictors of clinical outcome has been controversial. Mathematical models of GBM growth have suggested a relation between a tumour's geometry and its aggressiveness. A multicenter retrospective clinical study was designed to study volumetric and geometrical measures on pretreatment postcontrast T1 MRIs of 117 GBM patients. Clinical variables were collected, tumours segmented, and measures computed including: contrast enhancing (CE), necrotic, and total volumes; maximal tumour diameter; equivalent spherical CE width and several geometric measures of the CE ''rim''. The significance of the measures was studied using proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier curves. Kaplan-Meier and univariate Cox survival analysis showed that total volume [p = 0.034, Hazard ratio (HR) = 1.574], CE volume (p = 0.017, HR = 1.659), spherical rim width (p = 0.007, HR = 1.749), and geometric heterogeneity (p = 0.015, HR = 1.646) were significant parameters in terms of overall survival (OS). Multivariable Cox analysis for OS provided the later two parameters as age-adjusted predictors of OS (p = 0.043, HR = 1.536 and p = 0.032, HR = 1.570, respectively). Patients with tumours having small geometric heterogeneity and/or spherical rim widths had significantly better prognosis. These novel imaging biomarkers have a strong individual and combined prognostic value for GBM patients. (orig.)

  13. Real world heart failure epidemiology and outcome: A population-based analysis of 88,195 patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farré, Núria; Vela, Emili; Clèries, Montse; Bustins, Montse; Cainzos-Achirica, Miguel; Enjuanes, Cristina; Moliner, Pedro; Ruiz, Sonia; Verdú-Rotellar, José María; Comín-Colet, Josep

    2017-01-01

    Heart failure (HF) is frequent and its prevalence is increasing. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiologic features of HF patients, the 1-year follow-up outcomes and the independent predictors of those outcomes at a population level. Population-based longitudinal study including all prevalent HF cases in Catalonia (Spain) on December 31st, 2012. Patients were divided in 3 groups: patients without a previous HF hospitalization, patients with a remote (>1 year) HF hospitalization and patients with a recent (population studied. Some comorbidity, an all-cause hospitalization or emergency department visit the previous year were associated with a worse outcome.

  14. Two-step sequential pretreatment for the enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of coffee spent waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravindran, Rajeev; Jaiswal, Swarna; Abu-Ghannam, Nissreen; Jaiswal, Amit K

    2017-09-01

    In the present study, eight different pretreatments of varying nature (physical, chemical and physico-chemical) followed by a sequential, combinatorial pretreatment strategy was applied to spent coffee waste to attain maximum sugar yield. Pretreated samples were analysed for total reducing sugar, individual sugars and generation of inhibitory compounds such as furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) which can hinder microbial growth and enzyme activity. Native spent coffee waste was high in hemicellulose content. Galactose was found to be the predominant sugar in spent coffee waste. Results showed that sequential pretreatment yielded 350.12mg of reducing sugar/g of substrate, which was 1.7-fold higher than in native spent coffee waste (203.4mg/g of substrate). Furthermore, extensive delignification was achieved using sequential pretreatment strategy. XRD, FTIR, and DSC profiles of the pretreated substrates were studied to analyse the various changes incurred in sequentially pretreated spent coffee waste as opposed to native spent coffee waste. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Biological pretreatment of corn stover with ligninolytic enzyme for high efficient enzymatic hydrolysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Feng-Qin; Xie, Hui; Chen, Wei; Wang, En-Tao; Du, Feng-Guang; Song, An-Dong

    2013-09-01

    Aiming at increasing the efficiency of transferring corn stover into sugars, a biological pretreatment was developed and investigated in this study. The protocol was characterized by the pretreatment with crude ligninolytic enzymes from Phanerochete chrysosporium and Coridus versicolor to break the lignin structure in corn stover, followed by a washing procedure to eliminate the inhibition of ligninolytic enzyme on cellulase. By a 2 d-pretreatment, sugar yield from corn stover hydrolysis could be increased by 50.2% (up to 323 mg/g) compared with that of the control. X-ray diffractometry and FT-IR analysis revealed that biological pretreatment could partially remove the lignin of corn stover, and consequently enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of cellulose and hemeicellulose. In addition, the amount of microbial inhibitors, such as acetic acid and furfural, were much lower in biological pretreatment than that in acid pretreatment. This study provided a promising pretreatment method for biotransformation of corn stovers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Effect of Various Pretreatments on Quality Attributes of Vacuum-Fried Shiitake Mushroom Chips

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aiqing Ren

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of pretreatments on the quality of vacuum-fried shiitake mushroom slices. Four different pretreatments addressed in this study were (1 blanching as control, (2 blanching and osmotic dehydration with maltodextrin (MD solution, (3 blanching, osmotic dehydration, and coating with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC, (4 blanching and osmotic dehydration, followed by freezing. All samples were pretreated and then fried in palm oil at 90°C with vacuum degree of −0.095 MPa for 30 min. The results showed that pretreatments significantly (p0.05 differences of fried chip in the texture among the four different pretreatments. The aw values of all the fried chips were less than 0.38, indicating that the products had a long shelf life. Therefore, the blanching, osmotic dehydration, and coating pretreatment before vacuum frying was the most suitable pretreatment for vacuum-fried shiitake mushroom chips.

  17. Municipal Solid Waste: Pre-Treatment Options and Benefits on Landfill Emissions

    OpenAIRE

    Bakare Babatunde Femi

    2011-01-01

    Municipal solid waste (MSW) comprises of a wide range of heterogeneous materials generated by individual, household or organization and may include food waste, garden wastes, papers, textiles, rubbers, plastics, glass, ceramics, metals, wood wastes, construction wastes but it is not limited to the above mentioned fractions. The most common Municipal Solid Waste pretreatment method in use is thermal pretreatment (incineration) and Mechanical Biological pretreatment. This p...

  18. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium for bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Jian

    Lignocellulosic biomass has been recognized as a widespread, potentially low cost renewable source of mixed sugars for fermentation to fuel ethanol. Pretreatment, as the first step towards conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol, remains one of the main barriers to technical and commercial success of the processing technology. Existing pretreatment methods have largely been developed on the basis of physiochemical technologies which are considered relatively expensive and usually involve adverse environmental impacts. In this study, an environmentally benign alternative, microbial pretreatment using Phanerochaete chrysosporium, was explored to degrade lignin in cotton stalks and facilitate their conversion into ethanol. Two submerged liquid pretreatment techniques (SmC), shallow stationary and agitated cultivation, at three inorganic salt concentrations (no salts, modified salts without Mn2+, modified salts with Mn2+) were compared by evaluating their pretreatment efficiencies. Shallow stationary cultivation with no salt was superior to other pretreatment conditions and gave 20.7% lignin degradation along with 76.3% solids recovery and 29.0% carbohydrate availability over a 14 day period. The influence of substrate moisture content (65%, 75% and 80% M.C. wet-basis), inorganic salt concentration (no salts, modified salts without Mn2+ , modified salts with Mn2+) and culture time (0-14 days) on pretreatment effectiveness in solid state (SSC) systems was also examined. It was shown that solid state cultivation at 75% M.C. without salts was the most preferable pretreatment resulting in 27.6% lignin degradation, 71.1% solids recovery and 41.6% carbohydrate availability over a period of 14 days. A study on hydrolysis and fermentation of cotton stalks treated microbially using the most promising SmC (shallow stationary, no salts) and SSC (75% moisture content, no salts) methods resulted in no increase in cellulose conversion with direct enzyme application (10.98% and 3

  19. Utilization of microwave and ultrasound pretreatments in the production of bioethanol from corn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nikolic, Svetlana; Mojovic, Ljiljana; Rakin, Marica [University of Belgrade, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Belgrade (Serbia); Pejin, Dusanka; Pejin, Jelena [University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia)

    2011-08-15

    Bioethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of corn meal by Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus yeast in a batch system with prior ultrasound or microwave treatment was studied. The optimal duration of the pretreatments and the SSF process kinetics were assessed and determined. Also, the effect of ultrasound and microwave pretreatments on ethanol yield and productivity was investigated. An optimal duration of 5 min was determined for both pretreatments. Ultrasonic and microwave pretreatments effectively increased the glucose concentration obtained after liquefaction by 6.82 and 8.48%, respectively, compared to untreated control sample. Also, both pretreatments improved ethanol yield and productivity during the SSF process. Ultrasound and microwave pretreatments increased the maximum ethanol concentration produced in the SSF process by 11.15 and 13.40% (compared to the control sample), respectively. The application of microwave pretreatment resulted in higher glucose release during liquefaction and consequently in higher ethanol concentration, compared to ultrasound pretreatment. A maximum ethanol concentration of 9.91% (w/w) and percentage of theoretical ethanol yield of 92.27% were achieved after 44 h of the SSF process of corn meal with prior microwave treatment. (orig.)

  20. Optimization of Saccharification Conditions of Lignocellulosic Biomass under Alkaline Pre-Treatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafał Łukajtis

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Pre-treatment is a significant step in the production of second-generation biofuels from waste lignocellulosic materials. Obtaining biofuels as a result of fermentation processes requires appropriate pre-treatment conditions ensuring the highest possible degree of saccharification of the feed material. An influence of the following process parameters were investigated for alkaline pre-treatment of Salix viminalis L.: catalyst concentration (NaOH, temperature, pre-treatment time and granulation. For this purpose, experiments were carried out in accordance to the Box-Behnken design for four factors. In the saccharification process of the pre-treated biomass, cellulolytic enzymes immobilized on diatomaceous earth were used. Based on the obtained results, a mathematical model for the optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment prediction is proposed. The optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment are established as follows: granulation 0.75 mm, catalyst concentration 7%, pre-treatment time 6 h and temperature 65 °C if the saccharification efficiency and cost analysis are considered. An influence of the optimized pre-treatment on both the chemical composition and structural changes for six various lignocellulosic materials (energetic willow, energetic poplar, beech, triticale, meadow grass, corncobs was investigated. SEM images of raw and pre-treated biomass samples are included in order to follow the changes in the biomass structure during hydrolysis.

  1. Optimizing on-farm pretreatment of perennial grasses for fuel ethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Digman, Matthew F; Shinners, Kevin J; Casler, Michael D; Dien, Bruce S; Hatfield, Ronald D; Jung, Hans-Joachim G; Muck, Richard E; Weimer, Paul J

    2010-07-01

    Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) were pretreated under ambient temperature and pressure with sulfuric acid and calcium hydroxide in separate experiments. Chemical loadings from 0 to 100g (kg DM)(-1) and durations of anaerobic storage from 0 to 180days were investigated by way of a central composite design at two moisture contents (40% or 60% w.b.). Pretreated and untreated samples were fermented to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae D5A in the presence of a commercially available cellulase (Celluclast 1.5L) and beta-glucosidase (Novozyme 188). Xylose levels were also measured following fermentation because xylose is not metabolized by S. cerevisiae. After sulfuric acid pretreatment and anaerobic storage, conversion of cell wall glucose to ethanol for reed canarygrass ranged from 22% to 83% whereas switchgrass conversions ranged from 16% to 46%. Pretreatment duration had a positive effect on conversion but was mitigated with increased chemical loadings. Conversions after calcium hydroxide pretreatment and anaerobic storage ranged from 21% to 55% and 18% to 54% for reed canarygrass and switchgrass, respectively. The efficacy of lime pretreatment was found to be highly dependent on moisture content. Moreover, pretreatment duration was only found to be significant for reed canarygrass. Although significant levels of acetate and lactate were observed in the biomass after storage, S. cerevisiae was not found to be inhibited at a 10% solids loading. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Prediction of local failures with a combination of pretreatment tumor volume and apparent diffusion coefficient in patients treated with definitive radiotherapy for hypopharyngeal or oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohnishi, Kayoko; Shioyama, Yoshiyuki; Hatakenaka, Masamitsu

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical factors for predicting local failure after definitive radiotherapy in oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Between July 2006 and December 2008, 64 consecutive patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx or the oropharynx treated with definitive radiotherapy were included in this study. Clinical factors, such as pretreatment hemoglobin (Hb) level, T-stage, gross tumor volume of primary tumors (pGTV), and maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) on 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), were evaluated for the correlation with local failure. A subset analysis of 32 patients with MR images including diffusion-weighted images (DWI) as a pretreatment evaluation was also performed. The Kaplan-Meier curves, the log-rank test, and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate these clinical factors. Eleven of 64 patients experienced local recurrence, with a median follow-up time of 15 months. In the univariate analysis, Hb level (p=0.0261), T-stage (p=0.012), pGTV (p=0.0025), and SUV max (p=0.024) were significantly associated with local failure. In the multivariate analysis, pGTV (p=0.0070) remained an adverse factor for local control. In the subset analysis of 32 patients with DWI, the median apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of primary tumors on DWI was 0.79 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s (range, 0.40-1.60 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s). Patients with a high ADC value (>0.79 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s) had a significantly lower local control rate than patients with a low ADC value (100% vs. 44%, p=0.0019). The rate of local failure among patients with a large pGTV and a high ADC value was 55% (6/11), whereas no local failures occurred (0%, 0/21) among patients with a small pGTV or a low ADC. These results suggest that a combination of a large tumor volume and a high ADC value could be predictive of local recurrence after definitive radiotherapy in hypopharyngeal or

  3. Suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with stroke: a population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Jae Ho; Kim, Jung Bin; Kim, Ji Hyun

    2016-10-01

    Stroke is known to be associated with an increase in the risk for suicide. However, there are very few population-based studies investigating the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with stroke. The purpose of this study was to compare the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts between patients with stroke and population without stroke using nationwide survey data. Individual-level data were obtained from 228,735 participants (4560 with stroke and 224,175 without stroke) of the 2013 Korean Community Health Survey. Demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, physical health status, and mental health status were compared between patients with stroke and population without stroke. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to investigate the independent effects of the stroke on suicidal ideation and attempts. Stroke patients had more depressive mood (12.6 %) than population without stroke (5.7 %, p suicidal ideation (24.4 %) and attempts (1.3 %) than population without stroke (9.8 and 0.4 %, respectively; both p suicidal ideation (OR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.52-1.79) and suicidal attempts (OR 1.64, 95 % CI 1.21-2.22), adjusting for demographics, socioeconomic factors, and physical health and mental health factors. We found that stroke increased the risk for suicidal ideation and attempts, independent of other factors that are known to be associated with suicidality, suggesting that stroke per se may be an independent risk factor for suicidality.

  4. Radiopaque marker motion during pre-treatment CBCT as a predictor of intra-fractional prostate movement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernchou, Uffe; Brink, Carsten; Agergaard, Soeren N.

    2013-01-01

    The intra-fractional movement of the prostate constitutes a hindrance for the reduction of the planning target volume margin for prostate cancer patients. Monitoring the movement of the prostate during treatment is a promising but in most centres not feasible solution. However, the projection images of the pre-treatment cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) provide information about the motion of the target immediately preceding the treatment. This motion information can be extracted from any standard CBCT scan which is available in many institutions. In this study we measure the motion of the prostate during the pre-treatment CBCT and investigate whether this motion is correlated with the intra-fractional movement of the prostate. Material and methods: Pre- and post-treatment CBCT scans were made during a number of the fractions (average 11 range 8-12) for 13 prostate cancer patients during the radiation treatment course. The displacement of the post-treatment CBCT scans relative to the pre-treatment position was used to assess the intra-fractional motion. Automated image analysis was used to track the 2D position of radiopaque markers in the projection images of the scans. The most probable 3D trajectory of the markers during the CBCT scan was estimated based on a probability density function which was established for each individual scan. Results: The accuracy of the tracking algorithm was found satisfactory and the motion of the markers during the CBCT scans was successfully extracted from the projection images. This motion was generally small and uncorrelated with the subsequent intra-fractional movement of the prostate. The correlation coefficients were - 0.05, 0.07, and - 0.05 in the LR, AP, and CC direction, respectively. Conclusion: It is tempting to exploit the pre-treatment CBCT to predict the intra-fractional movement of the prostate but, unfortunately, we have found no correlation between the intra-fractional movement and the motion of the prostate

  5. A Population-Based Cohort Study on Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients with Schizophrenia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Yu Hsu

    Full Text Available Peripheral arterial disease (PAD is considered the leading cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular morbidity. Several risk factors of PAD have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, we hypothesize that the incidence of PAD is higher in the schizophrenia population than in the general population.The patients in this population-based cohort study were selected from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database on the basis of the claims data from 2000 to 2011. We compared the incidence of PAD between schizophrenia and nonschizophrenia cohorts. Cox proportional hazard regression models were employed for analyzing the risk of PAD after adjustment for sex, age, and comorbidities.The adjusted hazard ratio (HR for PAD in the schizophrenia cohort was 1.26-fold higher than that in the nonschizophrenia cohort. Furthermore, patients with schizophrenia using atypical antipsychotics exhibited a high adjusted HR for PAD.Compared with the general population, the risk of PAD is higher among patients with schizophrenia. Early diagnosis and intervention can mitigate complications resulting from cardiovascular diseases and lower mortality.

  6. Enhanced fermentable sugar production from kitchen waste using various pretreatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hafid, Halimatun Saadiah; Rahman, Nor'Aini Abdul; Md Shah, Umi Kalsom; Baharudin, Azhari Samsu

    2015-06-01

    The kitchen waste fraction in municipal solid waste contains high organic matter particularly carbohydrate that can contribute to fermentable sugar production for subsequent conversion to bioethanol. This study was carried out to evaluate the influence of single and combination pretreatments of kitchen waste by liquid hot water, mild acid pretreatment of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and enzymatic hydrolysis (glucoamylase). The maximum total fermentable sugar produced after combination pretreatment by 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase consisted of 93.25 g/L glucose, 0.542 g/L sucrose, 0.348 g/L maltose, and 0.321 g/L fructose. The glucose released by the combination pretreatment method was 0.79 g glucose/g KW equivalent to 79% of glucose conversion. The effects of the pre-treatment on kitchen waste indicated that the highest solubilization was 40% by the combination method of 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase. The best combination pre-treatment gave concentrations of lactic acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid of 11.74 g/L, 6.77 g/L, and 1.02 g/L, respectively. The decrease of aliphatic absorbance bands of polysaccharides at 2851 and 2923 cm(-1) and the increase on structures of carbonyl absorbance bands at 1600 cm(-1) reflects the progress of the kitchen waste hydrolysis to fermentable sugars. Overall, 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase treatment was the most profitable process as the minimum selling price of glucose was USD 0.101/g kitchen waste. Therefore, the combination pretreatment method was proposed to enhance the production of fermentable sugar, particularly glucose from kitchen waste as the feedstock for bioethanol production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Dilute Acid Pretreated Coconut Husk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rudy Agustriyanto

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Coconut husk is classified as complex lignocellulosic material that contains cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and some other extractive compounds. Cellulose from coconut husk can be used as fermentation substrate after enzymatic hydrolysis. In contrary, lignin content from the coconut husk will act as an inhibitor in this hydrolysis process. Therefore, a pretreatment process is needed to enhance the hydrolysis of cellulose. The objective of this research is to investigate the production of the glucose through dilute acid pretreatment and to obtain its optimum operating conditions. In this study, the pretreatment was done using dilute sulfuric acid in an autoclave reactor. The pretreatment condition were varied at 80°C, 100°C, 120°C and 0.9%, 1.2%, 1.5% for temperature and acid concentration respectively. The acid pretreated coconut husk was then hydrolyzed using commercial cellulase (celluclast and β-glucosidase (Novozyme 188. The hydrolysis time was 72 hours and the operating conditions were varied at several temperature and pH. From the experimental results it can be concluded that the delignification temperature variation has greater influence than the acid concentration. The optimum operating condition was obtained at pH 4 and 50°C which was pretreated at 100°C using 1.5% acid concentration. Copyright © 2012 by BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved. (Selected Paper from International Conference on Chemical and Material Engineering (ICCME 2012Received: 28th September 2012, Revised: 2nd October 2012, Accepted: 4th October 2012[How to Cite: R. Agustriyanto, A. Fatmawati, Y. Liasari. (2012. Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Dilute Acid Pretreated Coconut Husk. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 7(2: 137-141. doi:10.9767/bcrec.7.2.4046.137-141] [How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.7.2.4046.137-141 ] | View in 

  8. The effect of microwave pretreatment on chemical looping gasification of microalgae for syngas production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Zhifeng; Ma, Xiaoqian; Jiang, Enchen

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Microwave pretreatment is beneficial to chemical-looping gasification reaction. • Gasification efficiency and gas yield increased greatly under microwave pretreatment. • 60 s is the optimal microwave pretreatment time in CLG to produce syngas. • Suitable microwave pretreatment can make the structure of solid residue become loose. • 750 W is the optimal microwave pretreatment power in CLG to produce syngas. - Abstract: Chemical-looping gasification (CLG) of Chlorella vulgaris was carried out in a quartz tube reactor under different microwave pretreatment. The product fractional yields, conversion efficiency and analysis of performance parameters were analyzed in order to obtain the characterization and optimal conditions of microwave pretreatment for syngas production. The results indicate that microwave pretreatment is conducive to CLG reaction. Furthermore, the higher power or the longer time in the process of microwave pretreatment could not exhibit a better effect on CLG. In addition, 750 W and 60 s is the optimal microwave pretreatment power and time respectively to obtain a great reducibility of oxygen carrier, high conversion efficiency, high products yield and good LHV. The H_2 yield, LHV, gasification efficiency and gas yield increased obviously from 18.12%, 12.14 MJ/Nm"3, 59.76% and 1.04 Nm"3/kg of untreated Chlorella vulgaris to 24.55%, 13.13 MJ/Nm"3, 72.16% and 1.16 Nm"3/kg of the optimal microwave pretreatment condition, respectively.

  9. Temperature Modelling of the Biomass Pretreatment Process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Blanke, Mogens; Jensen, Jakob M.

    2012-01-01

    In a second generation biorefinery, the biomass pretreatment stage has an important contribution to the efficiency of the downstream processing units involved in biofuel production. Most of the pretreatment process occurs in a large pressurized thermal reactor that presents an irregular temperature...... that captures the environmental temperature differences inside the reactor using distributed parameters. A Kalman filter is then added to account for any missing dynamics and the overall model is embedded into a temperature soft sensor. The operator of the plant will be able to observe the temperature in any...

  10. Effect of alkaline pretreatment on anaerobic digestion of solid wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez Torres, M.; Espinosa Llorens, Ma. del C.

    2008-01-01

    The introduction of the anaerobic digestion for the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is currently of special interest. The main difficulty in the treatment of this waste fraction is its biotransformation, due to the complexity of organic material. Therefore, the first step must be its physical, chemical and biological pretreatment for breaking complex molecules into simple monomers, to increase solubilization of organic material and improve the efficiency of the anaerobic treatment in the second step. This paper describes chemical pretreatment based on lime addition (Ca(OH) 2 ), in order to enhance chemical oxygen demand (COD) solubilization, followed by anaerobic digestion of the OFMSW. Laboratory-scale experiments were carried out in completely mixed reactors, 1 L capacity. Optimal conditions for COD solubilization in the first step of pretreatment were 62.0 mEq Ca(OH) 2 /L for 6.0 h. Under these conditions, 11.5% of the COD was solubilized. The anaerobic digestion efficiency of the OFMSW, with and without pretreatment, was evaluated. The highest methane yield under anaerobic digestion of the pretreated waste was 0.15 m 3 CH 4 /kg volatile solids (VS), 172.0% of the control. Under that condition the soluble COD and VS removal were 93.0% and 94.0%, respectively. The results have shown that chemical pretreatment with lime, followed by anaerobic digestion, provides the best results for stabilizing the OFMSW

  11. Increased risk of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder: A population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Jer-Hwa; Chien, I-Chia; Lin, Ching-Heng

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder. We used a random sample of 766,427 subjects aged ≥18 years from the National Health Research Institute database in the year 2005. Subjects with at least one primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2005 were identified. Patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of chronic liver disease were also defined. We compared the prevalence and associated factors of chronic liver disease between patients with bipolar disorder and the general population in 2005. We also compared the incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder and the general population from 2006 to 2010. The prevalence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder (13.9%) was 2.68 times higher than that of the general population (5.8%) in 2005. The average annual incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder from 2006 to 2010 was also higher than that of the general population (2.95% vs. 1.73%; risk ratio: 1.71; 95% confidence interval: 1.46-2.01). Patients with bipolar disorder had a significantly higher prevalence and incidence of chronic liver disease than those in the general population, and younger patients with bipolar disorder have a much higher prevalence and incidence than those in the general population. Male sex, second-generation antipsychotic or antidepressant use, and hyperlipidemia were associated factors for chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Comparison of aqueous ammonia and dilute acid pretreatment of bamboo fractions: Structure properties and enzymatic hydrolysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xin, Donglin; Yang, Zhong; Liu, Feng; Xu, Xueru; Zhang, Junhua

    2015-01-01

    The effect of two pretreatments methods, aqueous ammonia (SAA) and dilute acid (DA), on the chemical compositions, cellulose crystallinity, morphologic change, and enzymatic hydrolysis of bamboo fractions (bamboo yellow, timber, green, and knot) was compared. Bamboo fractions with SAA pretreatment had better hydrolysability than those with DA pretreatment. High crystallinity index resulted in low hydrolysis yield in the conversion of SAA pretreated bamboo fractions, not DA pretreated fractions. The increase of cellulase loading had modestly positive effect in the hydrolysis of both SAA and DA pretreated bamboo fractions, while supplement of xylanase significantly increased the hydrolysis of the pretreated bamboo fractions, especially after SAA pretreatment. The results indicated that SAA pretreatment was more effective than DA pretreatment in conversion of bamboo fractions, and supplementation of xylanase was necessary in effective conversion of the SAA pretreated fractions into fermentable sugars. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Chloride Pretreatment on Malaysia Lignocellulose Wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, L.P.; Nur Hasyareeda Hassan; Muhammad Rahimi Yusop

    2015-01-01

    Ionic liquids (ILs) are of great interest as potential solvents for the production of fuels from lignocellulose biomass which is a potential source of bio fuels. To study the effects of pretreatment, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([B mim]Cl) was used to pretreat woody plants, kempas (Koompassia malaccensis) and jelutong (Dyera costulata), and non-woody plants, kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) and rice husk (Oryza sativa) at 120 degree Celsius for 24 h. Cellulose was regenerated by the addition of water. The cell wall composition and structure of the lignocellulose bio masses before and after the ILs pretreatment were observed and characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). After the pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out to identify the total reducing sugars (TRS) yields using dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method. Regenerated lignocellulose bio masses resulted in high TRS yields compared to their counter-parts which are in agreement with the findings of FESEM, ATR FT-IR and XRD that exhibited regenerated cellulose were less crystalline and more amorphous upon IL pretreatment. Therefore, kempas and jelutong can be alternate sources for the bio fuels production. (author)

  14. Low-heat, mild alkaline pretreatment of switchgrass for anaerobic digestion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Guang; Bierma, Tom; Walker, Paul M

    2014-01-01

    This study examines the effectiveness of alkaline pretreatment under mild heat conditions (100°C or 212°F) on the anaerobic co-digestion of switchgrass. The effects of alkaline concentration, types of alkaline, heating time and rinsing were evaluated. In addition to batch studies, continuous-feed studies were performed in triplicate to identify potential digester operational problems caused by switchgrass co-digestion while accounting for uncertainty due to digester variability. Few studies have examined anaerobic digestion of switchgrass or the effects of mild heating to enhance alkaline pretreatment prior to biomass digestion. Results indicate that pretreatment can significantly enhance digestion of coarse-ground (≤ 0.78 cm particle size) switchgrass. Energy conversion efficiency as high as 63% was observed, and was comparable or superior to fine-grinding as a pretreatment method. The optimal NaOH concentration was found to be 5.5% (wt/wt alkaline/biomass) with a 91.7% moisture level. No evidence of operational problems such as solids build-up, poor mixing, or floating materials were observed. These results suggest the use of waste heat from a generator could reduce the concentration of alkaline required to adequately pretreat lignocellulosic feedstock prior to anaerobic digestion.

  15. Cellulase digestibility of pretreated biomass is limited by cellulose accessibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeoh, Tina; Ishizawa, Claudia I; Davis, Mark F; Himmel, Michael E; Adney, William S; Johnson, David K

    2007-09-01

    Attempts to correlate the physical and chemical properties of biomass to its susceptibility to enzyme digestion are often inconclusive or contradictory depending on variables such as the type of substrate, the pretreatment conditions and measurement techniques. In this study, we present a direct method for measuring the key factors governing cellulose digestibility in a biomass sample by directly probing cellulase binding and activity using a purified cellobiohydrolase (Cel7A) from Trichoderma reesei. Fluorescence-labeled T. reesei Cel7A was used to assay pretreated corn stover samples and pure cellulosic substrates to identify barriers to accessibility by this important component of cellulase preparations. The results showed cellulose conversion improved when T. reesei Cel7A bound in higher concentrations, indicating that the enzyme had greater access to the substrate. Factors such as the pretreatment severity, drying after pretreatment, and cellulose crystallinity were found to directly impact enzyme accessibility. This study provides direct evidence to support the notion that the best pretreatment schemes for rendering biomass more digestible to cellobiohydrolase enzymes are those that improve access to the cellulose in biomass cell walls, as well as those able to reduce the crystallinity of cell wall cellulose.

  16. Department of Energy pretreatment of high-level and low-level wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGinnis, C.P.; Hunt, R.D.

    1995-01-01

    The remediation of the 1 x 10 8 gal of highly radioactive waste in the underground storage tanks (USTs) at five US Department of Energy (DOE) sites is one of DOE's greatest challenges. Therefore, the DOE Office of Environmental Management has created the Tank Focus Area (TFA) to manage an integrated technology development program that results in the safe and efficient remediation of UST waste. The TFA has divided its efforts into five areas, which are safety, characterization, retrieval/closure, pretreatment, and immobilization. All DOE pretreatment activities are integrated by the Pretreatment Technical Integration Manager of the TFA. For FY 1996, the 14 pretreatment tasks are divided into 3 systems: supernate separations, sludge treatment, and solid/liquid separation. The plans and recent results of these TFA tasks, which include two 25,000-gal demonstrations and two former TFA tasks on Cs removal, are presented. The pretreatment goals are to minimize the volume of high-level waste and the radioactivity in low-level waste

  17. Promise of combined hydrothermal/chemical and mechanical refining for pretreatment of woody and herbaceous biomass.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sun Min; Dien, Bruce S; Singh, Vijay

    2016-01-01

    Production of advanced biofuels from woody and herbaceous feedstocks is moving into commercialization. Biomass needs to be pretreated to overcome the physicochemical properties of biomass that hinder enzyme accessibility, impeding the conversion of the plant cell walls to fermentable sugars. Pretreatment also remains one of the most costly unit operations in the process and among the most critical because it is the source of chemicals that inhibit enzymes and microorganisms and largely determines enzyme loading and sugar yields. Pretreatments are categorized into hydrothermal (aqueous)/chemical, physical, and biological pretreatments, and the mechanistic details of which are briefly outlined in this review. To leverage the synergistic effects of different pretreatment methods, conducting two or more pretreatments consecutively has gained attention. Especially, combining hydrothermal/chemical pretreatment and mechanical refining, a type of physical pretreatment, has the potential to be applied to an industrial plant. Here, the effects of the combined pretreatment (combined hydrothermal/chemical pretreatment and mechanical refining) on energy consumption, physical structure, sugar yields, and enzyme dosage are summarized.

  18. Pretreatment F-18 FDG PET/CT Parameters to Evaluate Progression-Free Survival in Gastric Cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jeonghun; Lim, Seok Tae; Na, Chang Ju; Han, Yeonhee; Kim, Chanyoung; Jeong, Hwanjeong; Sohn, Myunghee [Chonbuk National Univ., Jeonju (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-03-15

    We performed this study to evaluate the predictive value of pretreatment F-18 FDG PET/CT for progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with gastric cancer. Of 321 patients with a diagnosis of gastric cancer, we retrospectively enrolled 97 patients (men:women = 61:36, age 59.8±13.2 years), who underwent pretreatment F-18 fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-18 FDG PET/CT) from January 2009 to December 2009. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was measured for each case with detectable primary lesions. In the remaining non-detectable cases, SUVmax was measured from the corresponding site seen on gastroduodenoscopy for analysis. In subgroup analysis, metabolic tumor volume (MTV) was measured in 50 patients with clearly distinguishable primary lesions. SUVmax, stage, depth of tumor invasion and presence of lymph node metastasis were analyzed in terms of PFS. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to find optimal cutoff values of SUVmax and MTV for disease progression. The relationship between SUVmax, MTV and PFS was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier with log-rank test and Cox's proportional hazard regression methods. Of 97 patients, 15 (15.5 %) had disease progression. The mean follow-up duration was 29.6±10.2 months. The mean PFS of low SUVmax group (≤5.74) was significantly longer than that of the high SUVmax group (>5.74) (30.9±8.0 vs 24.3±13.6 months, p =0.008). In univariate analysis, stage (I vs II, III, IV), depth of tumor invasion (T1 vs T2, T3, T4), presence of lymph node metastasis and SUVmax (>5.74 vs ≤5.74) were significantly associated with recurrence. In multivariate analysis, high SUVmax (>5.74) was the only poor prognostic factor for PFS (p =0.002, HR 11.03, 95% CI 2.48.49.05). Subgroup multivariate analysis revealed that high MTV (>16.42) was the only poor prognostic factor for PFS (p =0.034, HR 3.59, 95 % CI 1.10.11.71). In gastric cancer, SUVmax measured by pretreatment F-18

  19. Thermogravimetric kinetics of corn stalk pretreated by oleaginous fungi Cunninghamella echinulata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jianguo; Gao, Shi; Wan, Jilin; Zeng, Yelin; Ma, Fuying; Zhang, Xiaoyu

    2011-04-01

    The thermogravimetric and composition of corn stalk pretreated by oleaginous fungi Cunninghamella echinulata had been studied in this paper. Results indicated that pretreatment by oleaginous fungi C. echinulata could decrease the activation energy and make the pyrolysis more efficient and energy-saving. By bio-pretreatment, the contents of elements agreed with the weight loss, sugar content, and oil contents, especially the sulfur content was greatly decreased, greatly eliminating the inventory of gas contamination such as the emission of SOx and making the pyrolysis more environmentally friendly. Therefore, corn stalk with sugar pretreated by oleaginous fungi C. echinulata should be a good pyrolysis material to obtain high quality bio-oil. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Mechanism study of multimode ultrasound pretreatment on the enzymolysis of wheat gluten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yanyan; Li, Jing; Li, Suyun; Ma, Haile; Zhang, Hua

    2018-03-01

    Ultrasound pretreatment could improve the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of hydrolysates of wheat gluten (WG). The working mode of ultrasound has an important effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis of protein. The results showed that the optimum working mode of ultrasound was alternate dual-frequency mode (20/35 kHz), substrate concentration was 30 g L -1 , initial temperature of the suspension was 30 °C, ultrasound pretreatment time was 10 min and power density was 150 W L -1 . Under optimised conditions, ACE inhibitory activity of WG hydrolysates reached to its maximum value in advance. The surface hydrophobicity (H 0 ) of WG and the content of small peptides at the beginning of the enzymolysis were improved by the ultrasound pretreatment. The structure of WG was destroyed by the ultrasound pretreatment. The enzymatic residue of ultrasound pretreated WG were damaged greater than control. It was concluded that alternate dual-frequency ultrasound pretreatment improved the ACE inhibitory activity. Ultrasonic pretreatment may loosen the tissue of WG aggregate, and help the enzyme alcalase to attack the interior of WG aggregate easily, which resulted in the release of low molecular weight peptides from WG aggregate. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  1. Combinatorial pretreatment and fermentation optimization enabled a record yield on lignin bioconversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhi-Hua; Xie, Shangxian; Lin, Furong; Jin, Mingjie; Yuan, Joshua S

    2018-01-01

    Lignin valorization has recently been considered to be an essential process for sustainable and cost-effective biorefineries. Lignin represents a potential new feedstock for value-added products. Oleaginous bacteria such as Rhodococcus opacus can produce intracellular lipids from biodegradation of aromatic substrates. These lipids can be used for biofuel production, which can potentially replace petroleum-derived chemicals. However, the low reactivity of lignin produced from pretreatment and the underdeveloped fermentation technology hindered lignin bioconversion to lipids. In this study, combinatorial pretreatment with an optimized fermentation strategy was evaluated to improve lignin valorization into lipids using R. opacus PD630. As opposed to single pretreatment, combinatorial pretreatment produced a 12.8-75.6% higher lipid concentration in fermentation using lignin as the carbon source. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that combinatorial pretreatment released more aromatic monomers, which could be more readily utilized by lignin-degrading strains. Three detoxification strategies were used to remove potential inhibitors produced from pretreatment. After heating detoxification of the lignin stream, the lipid concentration further increased by 2.9-9.7%. Different fermentation strategies were evaluated in scale-up lipid fermentation using a 2.0-l fermenter. With laccase treatment of the lignin stream produced from combinatorial pretreatment, the highest cell dry weight and lipid concentration were 10.1 and 1.83 g/l, respectively, in fed-batch fermentation, with a total soluble substrate concentration of 40 g/l. The improvement of the lipid fermentation performance may have resulted from lignin depolymerization by the combinatorial pretreatment and laccase treatment, reduced inhibition effects by fed-batch fermentation, adequate oxygen supply, and an accurate pH control in the fermenter. Overall, these results demonstrate that combinatorial

  2. [DNA quantification of blood samples pre-treated with pyramidon].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Chuan-Hong; Zheng, Dao-Li; Ni, Rao-Zhi; Wang, Hai-Sheng; Ning, Ping; Fang, Hui; Liu, Yan

    2014-06-01

    To study DNA quantification and STR typing of samples pre-treated with pyramidon. The blood samples of ten unrelated individuals were anticoagulated in EDTA. The blood stains were made on the filter paper. The experimental groups were divided into six groups in accordance with the storage time, 30 min, 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24h after pre-treated with pyramidon. DNA was extracted by three methods: magnetic bead-based extraction, QIAcube DNA purification method and Chelex-100 method. The quantification of DNA was made by fluorescent quantitative PCR. STR typing was detected by PCR-STR fluorescent technology. In the same DNA extraction method, the sample DNA decreased gradually with times after pre-treatment with pyramidon. In the same storage time, the DNA quantification in different extraction methods had significant differences. Sixteen loci DNA typing were detected in 90.56% of samples. Pyramidon pre-treatment could cause DNA degradation, but effective STR typing can be achieved within 24 h. The magnetic bead-based extraction is the best method for STR profiling and DNA extraction.

  3. Comparison of Different Pretreatment Strategies for Ethanol Production of West African Biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Sune Tjalfe; Gonzalez Londono, Jorge Enrique; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

    2015-01-01

    husks, cocoa pods, maize cobs, maize stalks, rice straw, groundnut straw and oil palm empty fruit bunches. It was found that four biomass’ (plantain peelings, plantain trunks, maize cobs and maize stalks) were most promising for production of cellulosic ethanol with profitable enzymatic conversion......Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass for cellulosic ethanol production in a West African setting requires smaller scale and less capital expenditure compared to current state of the art. In the present study, three low-tech methods applicable for West African conditions, namely Boiling Pretreatment...... (BP), Soaking in Aqueous Ammonia (SAA) and White Rot Fungi pretreatment (WRF), were compared to the high-tech solution of hydrothermal pretreatment (HTT). The pretreatment methods were tested on 11 West African biomasses, i.e. cassava stalks, plantain peelings, plantain trunks, plantain leaves, cocoa...

  4. Radioprotection of mice following garlic pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, S.P.; Abraham, S.K.; Kesavan, P.C.

    1996-01-01

    Freshly prepared aqueous extract of garlic was tested in mice for its possible in vivo protective effect against gamma-radiation-induced chromosomal damage. In the same animals, the changes in the sulphydryl content and glutathione S-transferase activity were evaluated. Three doses of garlic extract [125, 250 and 500 mg kg-1 body weight (bw)] were administered orally for five consecutive days and the animals were exposed to 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 Gy gamma-radiation 2 h after the final feeding. The results of the bone marrow micronucleus test revealed that pretreatment with garlic extract was effective in reducing gamma-radiation-induced chromosomal damage. Against 0.25 Gy gamma-radiation, a high dose of 500 mg kg-1 bw garlic extract was required to significantly reduce the chromosomal damage. All the three doses of garlic extract were effective in exerting a protective effect against 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 Gy gamma-radiation. However a dose-related effect was observed only against 2.0 Gy. The sulphydryl content and glutathione S-transferase activity registered a significant increase after either pretreatment with garlic with extract or irradiation. In the garlic extract pretreated irradiated animals, a significant reduction was observed in the sulphydryl content and glutathione S-transferase activity

  5. Biological Pretreatment of Rubberwood with Ceriporiopsis subvermispora for Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Bioethanol Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Forough Nazarpour

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis, a potential raw material for bioethanol production due to its high cellulose content, was used as a novel feedstock for enzymatic hydrolysis and bioethanol production using biological pretreatment. To improve ethanol production, rubberwood was pretreated with white rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora to increase fermentation efficiency. The effects of particle size of rubberwood (1 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.25 mm and pretreatment time on the biological pretreatment were first determined by chemical analysis and X-ray diffraction and their best condition obtained with 1 mm particle size and 90 days pretreatment. Further morphological study on rubberwood with 1 mm particle size pretreated by fungus was performed by FT-IR spectra analysis and SEM observation and the result indicated the ability of this fungus for pretreatment. A study on enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in an increased sugar yield of 27.67% as compared with untreated rubberwood (2.88%. The maximum ethanol concentration and yield were 17.9 g/L and 53% yield, respectively, after 120 hours. The results obtained demonstrate that rubberwood pretreated by C. subvermispora can be used as an alternative material for the enzymatic hydrolysis and bioethanol production.

  6. Physicochemical pretreatments and hydrolysis of furfural residues via carbon-based sulfonated solid acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Bao Jun; Sun, Yuan; Lin, Ke Ying; Li, Bing; Liu, Wan Yi

    2014-03-01

    Potential commercial physicochemical pretreatment methods, NaOH/microwave and NaOH/ultrasound were developed, and the carbon-based sulfonated solid acid catalysts were prepared for furfural residues conversion into reducing sugars. After the two optimum pretreatments, both the content of cellulose increased (74.03%, 72.28%, respectively) and the content of hemicellulose (94.11%, 94.17% of removal rate, respectively) and lignin (91.75%, 92.09% of removal rate, respectively) decreased in furfural residues. The reducing sugar yields of furfural residues with the two physicochemical pretreatments on coal tar-based solid acid reached 33.94% and 33.13%, respectively, higher than that pretreated via NaOH alone (27%) and comparable to that pretreated via NaOH/H2O2 (35.67%). The XRD patterns, IR spectra and SEM images show microwave and ultrasound improve the pretreatment effect. The results demonstrate the carbon-based sulfonated solid acids and the physicochemical pretreatments are green, effective, low-cost for furfural residues conversion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Integrating pretreatment and retrieval: Results from the July 1997 Tanks Focus Area workshop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-07-01

    If scientists and researchers working to solve the tank waste challenges, technical program office managers at the tank sites, and others understand the connection between retrieval and pretreatment activities, more efficient processes and reduced costs can be achieved. To make this possible, researchers involved in retrieval and pretreatment activities met at the Conference Center in Richland, Washington, on July 16 and 17, 1997, to discuss the connections between these activities. The purpose of the workshop was to help participants (1) gain a better understanding of retrieval and pretreatment process needs and experiences; (2) gain practical knowledge of the applications, capabilities, and requirements of retrieval and pretreatment technologies being developed and deployed; and (3) focus on identifying and troubleshooting interface issues and problems. The end product of this meeting was to create a checklist of retrieval and pretreatment parameters to consider when developing new technologies or managing work at the sites in these areas. For convenience, the information is also organized by pretreatment parameter and retrieval-pretreatment parameter in Section 5.0

  8. Structural Changes of Lignin from Wheat Straw by Steam Explosion and Ethanol Pretreatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Pan

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Effects of the pretreatment of wheat straw by steam explosion and ethanol were evaluated relative to the structural changes of lignin from the pretreated pulp. The lignin from steam explosion pulp (LS, lignin from steam blasting residual liquid (LL, lignin from ethanol pretreatment pulp (LE, lignin from black liquor (LB, and lignin from wheat straw (LW were separated, and the structural characteristics of the lignin fractions were compared based on analyses of Fourier transform-infrared, ultraviolet, thermogravimetric, and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The proportions of the three structural units in all lignin fractions clearly changed during the pretreatment process because of inter-conversion reactions. The conjugated structure of lignin was destroyed in the pretreatment process and was also affected by the alkali extraction process. The alcoholic hydroxyl links on the aliphatic side chain were partly transformed into carbonyl groups during ethanol pretreatment. Demethoxylation occurred in all lignin fractions during the ethanol pretreatment and steam explosion process. The thermal stability of the LB fraction was relatively high because of the condensation reaction.

  9. Patient and population doses of x-ray diagnostics in Finland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rannikko, S; Karila, K T.K.; Toivonen, M

    1997-09-01

    Periodic surveys of patient and population doses are important because of the large contribution of x-ray diagnostics to the artificial population dose. Measured entrance surface doses and dose-area products are the main quantities used for monitoring patient doses in hospitals, and most population dose studies have been derived from these quantities and from the frequences of x-ray examinations. This study is based on the radiation, exposure geometry, and patient parameters recorded by experienced radiographers and postgraduated students. The software used in the work (ODS-60 of Rados Technology) suits the determination of effective and organ doses from such detailed data using a human-like patient phantom which can be adapted for sex and size. The program, together with the very detailed input data, made it possible to determine organ equivalent and effective doses for complicated dynamic x-ray examinations and interventions in more detail than in previous studies. Collective organ and effective doses were derived for 50 examination types. The annual collective dose from diagnostic x-ray examinations in 1994 was 0.5 mSv per capita in Finland. The five groups of examinations or examinations that had greatest contributions to the collective dose were CT, barium enema: double contrast, lumbar spine, carotid angiography, and intestinal transit. Together they represented for about 60 % of the total dose. The highest dose-area products (about 2000 Gy cm{sup 2}) were obtained from certain angiographic and interventional examinations. A literature survey showed that Finland patient doses are at the same average level as in other countries of a high standard of health care. (orig.). 125 refs.

  10. Patient and population doses of x-ray diagnostics in Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rannikko, S.; Karila, K.T.K.; Toivonen, M.

    1997-09-01

    Periodic surveys of patient and population doses are important because of the large contribution of x-ray diagnostics to the artificial population dose. Measured entrance surface doses and dose-area products are the main quantities used for monitoring patient doses in hospitals, and most population dose studies have been derived from these quantities and from the frequences of x-ray examinations. This study is based on the radiation, exposure geometry, and patient parameters recorded by experienced radiographers and postgraduated students. The software used in the work (ODS-60 of Rados Technology) suits the determination of effective and organ doses from such detailed data using a human-like patient phantom which can be adapted for sex and size. The program, together with the very detailed input data, made it possible to determine organ equivalent and effective doses for complicated dynamic x-ray examinations and interventions in more detail than in previous studies. Collective organ and effective doses were derived for 50 examination types. The annual collective dose from diagnostic x-ray examinations in 1994 was 0.5 mSv per capita in Finland. The five groups of examinations or examinations that had greatest contributions to the collective dose were CT, barium enema: double contrast, lumbar spine, carotid angiography, and intestinal transit. Together they represented for about 60 % of the total dose. The highest dose-area products (about 2000 Gy cm 2 ) were obtained from certain angiographic and interventional examinations. A literature survey showed that Finland patient doses are at the same average level as in other countries of a high standard of health care. (orig.)

  11. An evaluation of dilute acid and ammonia fiber explosion pretreatment for cellulosic ethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathew, Anil Kuruvilla; Parameshwaran, Binod; Sukumaran, Rajeev Kumar; Pandey, Ashok

    2016-01-01

    The challenge associated with cellulosic ethanol production is maximizing sugar yield at low cost. Current research is being focused to develop a pretreatment method to overcome biomass recalcitrance in an efficient way. This review is focused on two major pretreatments: dilute acid (DA) and ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) pretreatment of corn stover and how these pretreatment cause morphological and chemical changes to corn stover in order to overcome the biomass recalcitrance. This review highlights the key differences of these two pretreatments based on compositional analysis, cellulose and its crystallinity, morphological changes, structural changes to lignin, enzymatic reactivity and enzyme adsorption onto pretreated solids and finally cellulosic ethanol production from the hydrolysate of DA and AFEX treated corn stover. Each stage of the process, AFEX pretreated corn stover was superior to DA treated corn stover. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Comparative study on microwave and conventional hydrothermal pretreatment of bamboo sawdust: Hydrochar properties and its pyrolysis behaviors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai, Leilei; He, Chao; Wang, Yunpu; Liu, Yuhuan; Yu, Zhenting; Zhou, Yue; Fan, Liangliang; Duan, Dengle

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Two pretreatments affect differently the hydrochar properties and its pyrolysis behaviors. • Hydrochar by conventional hydrothermal pretreatment shows higher thermal stability. • Microwave hydrothermal pretreatment removes more acetyl. • Hydrochar by microwave hydrothermal pretreatment produces more glucopyranose and less acids. - Abstract: Comparative study on microwave and conventional hydrothermal pretreatment of bamboo sawdust was carried out in this study. Microwave and conventional hydrothermal pretreatment both improved the hydrochar properties and its pyrolysis behaviors. Proximate and elemental analyses show that the properties of hydrochar from microwave hydrothermal pretreatment are better than conventional hydrothermal pretreatment in terms of calorific value and oxygen content except for 150 °C. Microwave hydrothermal pretreatment removes more acetyl groups in hemicellulose compared to conventional hydrothermal pretreatment, which may be attributed to the hot spot effect of microwave irradiation. The peaks of thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric curves of pretreated samples always shifted to higher temperature region. Also, the conventional hydrothermal pretreated samples are more thermally stable than those by microwave heating. In addition, the glucopyranose content in pyrolysis vapors of microwave hydrothermal pretreated bamboo sawdust (190 °C) was 9.82% higher than that from conventional hydrothermal pretreated bamboo sawdust. However, the acids content from microwave hydrothermal pretreated bamboo sawdust (150 °C) was 4.12% lower. In this regard, microwave hydrothermal pretreatment is more suitable for upgrading the pyrolysis oil quality than conventional hydrothermal pretreatment.

  13. Ethanol production from hydrothermal pretreated corn stover with a loop reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda [National Lab for Sustainable Energy, Biosystems Department, Risoe-DTU, P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)

    2010-03-15

    Hydrothermal pretreatment on raw corn stover (RCS) with a loop reactor was investigated at 195 C for different times varying between 10 min and 30 min. After pretreatment, the slurry was separated into water-insoluble solid (WIS) and liquid phase. Glucan and xylan were found in the both phases. The pretreatment condition showed a significant impact on xylan recovery. As the pretreatment time prolonged from 10 min to 30 min, the xylan recovery from liquid phase changed between 39.5% and 45.6% and the total xylan recoveries decreased from 84.7% to 61.6%. While the glucan recovery seemed not sensitive to the different pretreatment times. The glucan recovered from liquid was from 4.9% to 5.6% and the total glucan recoveries from all the pretreatments were higher than 98%. Besides HMF and furfural, acetic, lactic, formic and glycolic acids were also found in the liquid phase. All the concentrations of these potential inhibitors were lower enough not to affect the activity of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). Compared with the ethanol production of 32.4% from the RCS with S. cerevisiae, all the WISs gave higher ethanol productions ranging between 61.2% and 71.2%. When the xylan was taken into consideration, the best pretreatment condition would be 195 C, 15 min and the estimated total ethanol production was 201 g kg{sup -1} RCS by assuming the fermentation of both C-6 and C-5 with the ethanol yield of 0.51 g g{sup -1} and 0.47 g g{sup -1}, respectively. (author)

  14. Ethanol production from hydrothermal pretreated corn stover with a loop reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2010-01-01

    Hydrothermal pretreatment on raw corn stover (RCS) with a loop reactor was investigated at 195 o C for different times varying between 10 min and 30 min. After pretreatment, the slurry was separated into water-insoluble solid (WIS) and liquid phase. Glucan and xylan were found in the both phases. The pretreatment condition showed a significant impact on xylan recovery. As the pretreatment time prolonged from 10 min to 30 min, the xylan recovery from liquid phase changed between 39.5% and 45.6% and the total xylan recoveries decreased from 84.7% to 61.6%. While the glucan recovery seemed not sensitive to the different pretreatment times. The glucan recovered from liquid was from 4.9% to 5.6% and the total glucan recoveries from all the pretreatments were higher than 98%. Besides HMF and furfural, acetic, lactic, formic and glycolic acids were also found in the liquid phase. All the concentrations of these potential inhibitors were lower enough not to affect the activity of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). Compared with the ethanol production of 32.4% from the RCS with S. cerevisiae, all the WISs gave higher ethanol productions ranging between 61.2% and 71.2%. When the xylan was taken into consideration, the best pretreatment condition would be 195 o C, 15 min and the estimated total ethanol production was 201 g kg -1 RCS by assuming the fermentation of both C-6 and C-5 with the ethanol yield of 0.51 g g -1 and 0.47 g g -1 , respectively.

  15. The Impact of Pretreatment Prostate Volume on Severe Acute Genitourinary Toxicity in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aizer, Ayal A.; Anderson, Nicole S.; Oh, Steven C.; Yu, James B.; McKeon, Anne M.; Decker, Roy H.; Peschel, Richard E.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the impact of pretreatment prostate volume on the development of severe acute genitourinary toxicity in patients undergoing intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Between 2004 and 2007, a consecutive sample of 214 patients who underwent IMRT (75.6 Gy) for prostate cancer at two referral centers was analyzed. Prostate volumes were obtained from computed tomography scans taken during treatment simulation. Genitourinary toxicity was defined using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Version 3.0 guidelines. Acute toxicity was defined as any toxicity originating within 90 days of the completion of radiation therapy. Patients were characterized as having a small or large prostate depending on whether their prostate volume was less than or greater than 50 cm 3 , respectively. Genitourinary toxicity was compared in these groups using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to further assess the impact of prostate volume on severe (Grade 3) acute genitourinary toxicity. Results: Patients with large prostates (>50 cm 3 ) had a higher rate of acute Grade 3 genitourinary toxicity (p = .02). Prostate volume was predictive of the likelihood of developing acute Grade 3 genitourinary toxicity on bivariate (p = .004) and multivariate (p = .006) logistic regression. Every 27.0 cm 3 increase in prostate volume doubled the likelihood of acute Grade 3 genitourinary toxicity. Conclusions: Patients with larger prostates are at higher risk for the development of severe acute genitourinary toxicity when treated with IMRT for prostate cancer.

  16. Improving methane production from digested manure biofibers by mechanical and thermal alkaline pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tsapekos, Panagiotis; Kougias, Panagiotis; Frison, A.

    2016-01-01

    the effluent stream of biogas reactors. Batch and continuous experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of these pretreatments. In batch experiments, the mechanical pretreatment improved the degradability up to 45%. Even higher efficiency was shown by applying thermal alkaline pretreatments...

  17. Influence of wheat type and pretreatment on fungal growth in solid-state fermentation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoogschagen, M.; Zhu, Y.; As, H. van; Tramper, J.; Rinzema, A.

    2001-01-01

    The respiration kinetics of Aspergillus oryzae on different varieties of whole wheat kernels were studied. Six wheat varieties were pretreated in two different ways. Five of the six substrates fermented similarly and independently of the pretreatment method. However, pretreatment affected

  18. Comparative assessment of efficacy of two different pretreatment single oral doses of betamethasone on inter-appointment and postoperative discomfort: An in vivo clinical evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyanani, Hitesh; Chhabra, Naveen; Parmar, Ghanshyam R

    2016-01-01

    Study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of two different pretreatment single oral doses of betamethasone on the incidence of inter-appointment flare up and postoperative discomfort. Fifty-four patients aged 18-59 years requiring endodontic treatment were selected and randomly assigned to three groups; single pretreatment oral dose of placebo or betamethasone in two different oral doses of 0.5 mg and 1 mg, respectively. Endodontic therapy was completed in two visits using triple antibiotic paste as intracanal medicament. Patients were given a questionnaire to record their pain at 1, 2, 3, and 7 days after treatment. In the second visit, obturation was done, and the patients were again instructed to record their pain scores after treatment and discharged. The verbal rating scale was used for recording the pain scores. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA and the Friedman test. 0.5 mg betamethasone group showed least mean pain scores among all experimental groups; however, there was no statistically significant difference between any of the groups ( P > 0.05). Pretreatment single oral dose of betamethasone is an effective in managing endodontic flare-ups; however, the results were statistically insignificant.

  19. Preventive effect of pretreatment with intravenous nicorandil on contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with renal dysfunction undergoing coronary angiography (PRINCIPLE Study).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, Young-Guk; Lee, Byoung-Kwon; Kang, Woong Chol; Moon, Jae-Youn; Cho, Yun Hyeong; Choi, Seong Hun; Hong, Myeong-Ki; Jang, Yangsoo; Kim, Jong-Youn; Min, Pil-Ki; Kwon, Hyuck-Moon

    2013-07-01

    To investigate the effect of pretreatment with intravenous nicorandil on the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with renal dysfunction undergoing coronary angiography. This randomized controlled multicenter study enrolled a total of 166 patients (nicorandil n=81; control n=85) with an estimated glomerular filtration rate 0.5 mg/dL increase or >25% rise in serum creatinine (SCr) concentration within 48 hours of contrast exposure compared to baseline. The final analysis included 149 patients (nicorandil n=73; control n=76). The baseline characteristics and the total volume of the used contrast (Iodixanol, 125.6±69.1 mL vs. 126.9±74.6 mL, p=0.916) were similar between the two groups. The incidence of CIN also did not differ between the nicorandil and control groups (6.8% vs. 6.6%, p=0.794). There was no difference between the two groups in the relative change in SCr from baseline to peak level within 48 hours after coronary angiography (-1.58±24.07% vs. 0.96±17.49%, p=0.464), although the nicorandil group showed less absolute change in SCr than the control group (-0.01±0.43 mg/mL vs. 0.02±0.31 mg/mL, p=0.005). Prophylactic intravenous infusion of nicorandil did not decrease the incidence of CIN in patients with renal dysfunction undergoing coronary angiography.

  20. Optimization of microwave pretreatment on wheat straw for ethanol production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Chen, Hongzhang; Kádár, Zsófia

    2011-01-01

    An orthogonal design (L9(34)) was used to optimize the microwave pretreatment on wheat straw for ethanol production. The orthogonal analysis was done based on the results obtained from the nine pretreatments. The effect of four factors including the ratio of biomass to NaOH solution, pretreatment...... time, microwave power, and the concentration of NaOH solution with three different levels on the chemical composition, cellulose/hemicellulose recoveries and ethanol concentration was investigated. According to the orthogonal analysis, pretreatment with the ratio of biomass to liquid at 80 g kg−1......, the NaOH concentration of 10 kg m−3, the microwave power of 1000 W for 15 min was confirmed to be the optimal condition. The ethanol yield was 148.93 g kg−1 wheat straw at this condition, much higher than that from the untreated material which was only 26.78 g kg−1....

  1. Autohydrolysis Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Bioethanol Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Qiang

    Autohydrolysis, a simple and environmental friendly process, has long been studied but often abandoned as a financially viable pretreatment for bioethanol production due to the low yields of fermentable sugars at economic enzyme dosages. The introduction of mechanical refining can generate substantial improvements for autohydrolysis process, making it an attractive pretreatment technology for bioethanol commercialization. In this study, several lignocellulosic biomass including wheat straw, switchgrass, corn stover, waste wheat straw have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment followed by mechanical refining to evaluate the total sugar recovery at affordable enzyme dosages. Encouraging results have been found that using autohydrolysis plus refining strategy, the total sugar recovery of most feedstock can be as high as 76% at 4 FPU/g enzymes dosages. The mechanical refining contributed to the improvement of enzymatic sugar yield by as much as 30%. Three non-woody biomass (sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and switchgrass) and three woody biomass (maple, sweet gum, and nitens) have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment to acquire a fundamental understanding of biomass characteristics that affect the autohydrolysis and the following enzymatic hydrolysis. It is of interest to note that the nonwoody biomass went through substantial delignification during autohydrolysis compared to woody biomass due to a significant amount of p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. It has been found that hardwood which has a higher S/V ratio in the lignin structure tends to have a higher total sugar recovery from autohydrolysis pretreatment. The economics of bioethanol production from autohydrolysis of different feedstocks have been investigated. Regardless of different feedstocks, in the conventional design, producing bioethanol and co-producing steam and power, the minimum ethanol revenues (MER) required to generate a 12% internal rate of return (IRR) are high enough to

  2. Pharmacokinetics of Antibiotics in Sub-Saharan African Patient Populations: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bos, Jeannet C; van Hest, Reinier M; Prins, Jan M

    2017-08-01

    In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), severe febrile illness accounts for a large majority of medical admissions. SSA patients may also suffer from cachexia and organ dysfunction resulting from tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and hypertension. It is hard to tell how these conditions influence the pharmacokinetics (PK) of antibiotics in this population. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize antibiotic PK data of SSA adult patient populations to clarify whether inappropriate drug concentrations that may also lead to antimicrobial resistance are likely to occur. An electronic search was conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and the African Index Medicus collecting studies from 1946 to May 2016. Reviewers independently selected studies reporting outcome data on volume of distribution (V), clearance, and half-life. Relevant information was abstracted and quality assessed. Twelve studies were selected, addressing 6 antibiotic classes. There were 6 studies on fluoroquinolones and 1 on β-lactam antibiotics. Nine out of 12 originated from South Africa and 6 of those dealt with intensive care unit (ICU) populations. The quality of most studies was low. Studies on amikacin, teicoplanin, and ertapenem (n = 4) displayed a pattern of a large V with low drug concentrations. Fluoroquinolone PK changes were less prominent and more diverse whereas the probability of pharmacodynamic target attainment was low for the treatment of tuberculosis in South Africa. Interindividual variability of V was high for 10/12 studies. Antibiotic PK data of SSA adult patient populations are scarce, but disease-induced inappropriate drug concentrations do occur. Data from non-ICU, severely ill patients, and β-lactam data are particularly lacking, whereas β-lactam antibiotics are commonly used, and typically vulnerable to disease-induced PK changes. Studies investigating the PK and pharmacodynamics of β-lactam antibiotics in severely ill, adult SSA patient populations are needed to improve local

  3. Medical resource use and expenditure in patients with chronic heart failure: a population-based analysis of 88 195 patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farré, Nuria; Vela, Emili; Clèries, Montse; Bustins, Montse; Cainzos-Achirica, Miguel; Enjuanes, Cristina; Moliner, Pedro; Ruiz, Sonia; Verdú-Rotellar, Jose Maria; Comín-Colet, Josep

    2016-09-01

    Heart failure (HF) is one of the diseases with greater healthcare expenditure. However, little is known about the cost of HF at a population level. Hence, our aim was to study the population-level distribution and predictors of healthcare expenditure in patients with HF. This was a population-based longitudinal study including all prevalent HF cases in Catalonia (Spain) on 31 December 2012 (n = 88 195). We evaluated 1-year healthcare resource use and expenditure using the Health Department (CatSalut) surveillance system that collects detailed information on healthcare usage for the entire population. Mean age was 77.4 (12) years; 55% were women. One-year mortality rate was 14%. All-cause emergency department visits and unplanned hospitalizations were required at least once in 53.4% and 30.8% of patients, respectively. During 2013, a total of €536.2 million were spent in the care of HF patients (7.1% of the total healthcare budget). The main source of expenditure was hospitalization (39% of the total) whereas outpatient care represented 20% of the total expenditure. In the general population, outpatient care and hospitalization were the main expenses. In multivariate analysis, younger age, higher presence of co-morbidities, and a recent HF or all-cause hospitalization were independently associated with higher healthcare expenditure. In Catalonia, a large portion of the annual healthcare budget is devoted to HF patients. Unplanned hospitalization represents the main source of healthcare-related expenditure. The knowledge of how expenditure is distributed in a non-selected HF population might allow health providers to plan the distribution of resources in patients with HF. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2016 European Society of Cardiology.

  4. Transformation of Starchy Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol using Ragi Tapai Synergized with Microwave Irradiation Pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kok Cheang Diong

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Ethanol production strategy was studied using multiple strain microbes from microwave irradiation (MI pretreated sago waste. Sago waste (SW was MI-pretreated for reducing sugars production using 2 heating media (water and sulfuric acid under pretreatment conditions including MI power, pretreatment duration, and solid loading. When water was used, the pretreatment parameters were optimized using Box-Behnken Design (BBD. However, gelatinized starch and charring of SW led to an insignificant quadratic model. To mitigate the gelatinization problem while determining the best MI pretreatment conditions, water was substituted by sulfuric acid using single factor method. The highest reducing sugar yield of 261.5 mg/g SW was achieved at 7.5% solid loading, 6 min pretreatment duration, and 300 W MI power. The effectiveness of the pretreatment was ascertained by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM and chemical-composition analysis. When fermenting MI-pretreated SW using ragi tapai, simultaneous saccharification of starch and ethanol production was evidenced from the sugar/ethanol profile. A resulted yield of 7.24 g ethanol/100 g SW confirmed the fermentability of MI-pretreated SW. The ethanol production was well fitted into the modified Gompertz model.

  5. Screening and optimization of pretreatments for Parthenium hysterophorus as feedstock for alcoholic biofuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Shuchi; Khanna, Swati; Moholkar, Vijayanand S.; Goyal, Arun

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Optimization of pretreatment methods for Parthenium hysterophorus for bioalcohol production. • Physical, chemical and physicochemical pretreatments methods employed. • Most efficient treatment: autoclaving 121 °C, 15 psi for 30 min in 1% H 2 SO 4 solution. • TFS (total fermentable sugar) yield after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis = 397.7 mg/g raw biomass. • Parthenium hysterophorus is at par with agro- and forest residues as biofuels feedstock. - Abstract: Parthenium hysterophorus world’s seven most devastating and hazardous weeds, and is abundantly available in several parts of the world. This study treats the subject of effective utilization of this waste biomass (which has cellulose content of 45.2 ± 1.81% w/w) for biofuels production. We have presented a comprehensive and comparative assessment of numerous pretreatment strategies for P. hysterophorus, comprising of all major physical, chemical and physicochemical methods. The yardstick of assessment has been amount of fermentable sugars released during the pretreatment and the post-treatment enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass. Carboxymethylcellulase (1.0 U/mg, 1.7 mg/mL) produced by an isolate Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SS35 and β-glucosidase (Novozyme 188), have been used for enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass. Among the different methods employed for pretreatment, the most efficient treatment has been revealed to be autoclaving of biomass at 121 °C and 15 psi pressure for 30 min in acidic (1% v/v, H 2 SO 4 ) environment. Total reducing sugar (TRS) yield during this pretreatment, mainly due to hydrolysis of hemicellulosic fraction of biomass, has been 285.3 mg/g of raw biomass. Further enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in reducing sugar yield of 187.4 mg/g of pretreated biomass (9.37 g/L). The total fermentable sugar (TFS) yield from the optimized pretreatment was 397.7 mg/g raw biomass (39.77 g/100 g raw biomass). The effects of different pretreatment methods

  6. Enhancement of biogas production in anaerobic co-digestion by ultrasonic pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zou, Shuzhen; Wang, Xiaojiao; Chen, Yuanlin; Wan, Haiwen; Feng, Yongzhong

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Ultrasonic pretreatment changed physical structure of samples. • Ultrasonic pretreatment improved biogas production via changing environment before and during anaerobic digestion process. • The main factors affecting biogas production differ in different pretreated samples. - Abstract: This paper optimized the anaerobic digestion (AD) pretreatment process and identified the influence of pretreatment on the co-digestion of maize straw (MS) and dairy manure (DM). In the study, ultrasonic was used to pretreat MS and DM prior to digestion, with power intensities of 0, 189.39, 284.09, and 378.79 kJ at 0, 20, 30, and 40 min, respectively. Changes in the surface structures of MS and DM were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and factor analysis was used to analyze the main factors affecting biogas production in the AD process. The result showed that the structure of DM was distributed and that the structure of MS became more roughness following the ultrasonic pretreatment (UP). The highest total biogas production of co-digestion (240.32 mL/g VS_f_e_d) was obtained when MS was pretreated for 30 min without DM pretreatment (MS_3_0DM_0). This was significantly higher than that of the untreated sample (CK) (141.65 mL/g VS_f_e_d). The cellulose activity (CA), reducing sugar (RS) content, volatile fatty acid (VFA) content and pH in the digester feed, and their maximum and minimum values in the AD process was affected by UP. Factor 1 of MS_3_0DM_0 was determined by RS content, pH and VFA content that they had the most influence on biogas production on days 6, 18, 24 and 30. Factor 2 of it was determined by CA, and it had most influence on days 0, 12, 36 and 42 in the AD process, The result of the factor analysis indicated that the main factors affecting biogas production were affected by UP and they differ according to the different digestion stages. This research concluded that UP improved total biogas production via changing the initial

  7. Effect of Pretreatment with Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Streptococcus thermophillus on Tailored Triple Therapy for Helicobacter pylori Eradication: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tongtawee, Taweesak; Dechsukhum, Chavaboon; Leeanansaksiri, Wilairat; Kaewpitoon, Soraya; Kaewpitoon, Natthawut; Loyd, Ryan A; Matrakool, Likit; Panpimanmas, Sukij

    2015-01-01

    Helicobacter pylori plays an important role in gastric cancer and typical eradication regimens are no longer effective in many countries, including Thailand. The aim of our study was to compare the effect of Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Streptococcus thermophillus on tailored triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication. This prospective single-center study was conducted in Thailand. Helicobacter pylori associated gastritis patients were randomized to 2 groups: group 1 (n=100) was tailored triple therapy with placebo (esomeprazole 20 mg bid, clarithromycin 500 mg bid or metronidazole 400 mg tid if clarithromycin resistance and amoxicillin 1000 mg bid), and group 2 was tailored triple therapy plus pretreatment with probiotic containing yogurt. Successful eradication was defined as both negative histology and negative rapid urease test at four weeks after treatment. A total of 200 infected patients were enrolled. PP analysis involved 194 patients: 96 in the tailored triple therapy with placebo group (group 1) and 98 the in tailored triple therapy plus pretreatment with probiotic containing yogurt group (group 2). Successful eradication was observed in 170 (87.6%) patients; by PP analysis, the eradication rate was significantly higher in group 2 (P=0.04, 95%CI; 0.02-0.13) than in group 1. ITT analysis also showed that the value was significantly higher in the tailored triple threapy plus pretreatment with probiotic containing yogurt group (group 2) (89/100; 89%) than in the tailored triple therapy with placebo group (group 1) (P=0.01, 95%CI; 0.04-0.15). In terms of adverse events, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Pretreatment with probiotic containing yogurt can improve Helicobacter pylori eradication rates with tailored triple therapy. Adding probiotics does not reduce adverse effects of the medication.

  8. Comparison of Microwave and Ozonolysis Effect as Pretreatment on Sugarcane Bagasse Enzymatic Hydrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N Eqra

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Bioethanol production from agricultural residues is one of the promising methods. Pretreatment is the most important step in this type of bioethanol production. In this study, the saccharification percentage of sugarcane bagasse was investigated after two types of pretreatments including ozone steaming and microwave. Microwave pretreatment was studied with two factors of microwave radiation (170, 450, and 850 w and microwave duration (2, 6, and 10 min. The ozonolysis (ozone steaming pretreatment was surveyed with two factors of moisture content of bagasse (30, 40, and 50% and ozonolysis time (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 hr. After hydrolysis, the Saccharification percentage of sugarcane bagasse increased to 57.2% and 67.06% with microwave and ozonolysis pretreatments, respectively; compare to 20.85% in non-ozonated bagasse. It can be concluded that the ozonolysis is the most effective pretreatment regarding to saccharification percentage of sugarcane bagasse.

  9. A xylanase-aided enzymatic pretreatment facilitates cellulose nanofibrillation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, Lingfeng; Tian, Dong; Hu, Jinguang; Wang, Fei; Saddler, Jack

    2017-11-01

    Although biological pretreatment of cellulosic fiber based on endoglucanases has shown some promise to facilitate cellulose nanofibrillation, its efficacy is still limited. In this study, a xylanase-aided endoglucanase pretreatment was assessed on the bleached hardwood and softwood Kraft pulps to facilitate the downstream cellulose nanofibrillation. Four commercial xylanase preparations were compared and the changes of major fiber physicochemical characteristics such as cellulose/hemicellulose content, gross fiber properties, fiber morphologies, cellulose accessibility/degree of polymerization (DP)/crystallinity were systematically evaluated before and after enzymatic pretreatment. It showed that the synergistic cooperation between endoglucanase and certain xylanase (Biobrite) could efficiently "open up" the hardwood Kraft pulp with limited carbohydrates degradation (cellulose nanofibrillation during mild sonication process (90Wh) with more uniform disintegrated nanofibril products (50-150nm, as assessed by scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Enzymatic Saccharification and Ethanol Fermentation of Reed Pretreated with Liquid Hot Water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Lu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Reed is a widespread-growing, inexpensive, and readily available lignocellulosic material source in northeast China. The objective of this study is to evaluate the liquid hot water (LHW pretreatment efficiency of reed based on the enzymatic digestibility and ethanol fermentability of water-insoluble solids (WISs from reed after the LHW pretreatment. Several variables in the LHW pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process were optimized. The conversion of glucan to glucose and glucose concentrations are considered as response variables in different conditions. The optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed area temperature of 180°C for 20min and a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1 : 10. These optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed resulted in a cellulose conversion rate of 82.59% in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis at 50°C for 72 h with a cellulase loading of 30 filter paper unit per gram of oven-dried WIS. Increasing the pretreatment temperature resulted in a higher enzymatic digestibility of the WIS from reed. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation of WIS showed that the conversion of glucan to ethanol reached 99.5% of the theoretical yield. The LHW pretreatment of reed is a suitable method to acquire a high recovery of fermentable sugars and high ethanol conversion yield.

  11. Combination of alkaline and microwave pretreatment for disintegration of meat processing wastewater sludge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erden, G

    2013-01-01

    Meat processing wastewater sludge has high organic content but it is very slow to degrade in biological processes. Anaerobic digestion may be a good alternative for this type of sludge when the hydrolysis, known to be the rate-limiting step of biological sludge anaerobic degradation, could be eliminated by disintegration. This investigation deals with disintegration of meat processing wastewater sludge. Microwave (MW) irradiation and combined alkaline pretreatment and MW irradiation were applied to sludge for disintegration purposes. Disintegration performance of the methods was evaluated with disintegration degree based on total and dissolved organic carbon calculations (DD(TOC)), and the solubilization of volatile solids (S(VS)) in the pretreated sludge. Optimum conditions were found to be 140 degrees C and 30 min for MW irradiation using response surface methodology (RSM) and pH = 13 for combined pretreatment. While DD(TOC) was observed as 24.6% and 54.9, S(VS) was determined as 8.54% and 42.5% for MW pretreated and combined pretreated sludge, respectively. The results clearly show that pre-conditioning of sludge with alkaline pretreatment played an important role in enhancing the disintegration efficiency of subsequent MW irradiation. Disintegration methods also affected the anaerobic biodegradability and dewaterability of sludge. An increase of 23.6% in biogas production in MW irradiated sludge was obtained, comparing to the raw sludge at the end of the 35 days of incubation. This increase was observed as 44.5% combined pretreatment application. While MW pretreatment led to a little improvement of the dewatering performance of sludge, in combined pretreatment NaOH deteriorates the sludge dewaterability.

  12. Efficacy and tolerability of high dose "ethinylestradiol" in post-menopausal advanced breast cancer patients heavily pre-treated with endocrine agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robertson John FR

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background High dose estrogens (HDEs were frequently used as endocrine agents prior to the introduction of tamoxifen which carries fewer side effects. Due to the development of resistance to available endocrine agents in almost all women with metastatic breast cancer, interest has renewed in the use of HDEs as yet another endocrine option that may have activity. We report our experience with one of the HDEs ("ethinylestradiol" 1 mg daily in advanced breast cancer (locally advanced and metastatic in post-menopausal women who had progressed on multiple endocrine agents. Patients and methods According to a database of advanced breast cancer patients seen in our Unit since 1998, those who had complete set of information and fulfilled the following criteria were studied: (1 patients in whom further endocrine therapy was deemed appropriate i.e., patients who have had clinical benefit with previous endocrine agents or were not fit or unwilling to receive chemotherapy in the presence of potentially life-threatening visceral metastases; (2 disease was assessable by UICC criteria; (3 were treated with "ethinylestradiol" until they were withdrawn from treatment due to adverse events or disease progression. Results Twelve patients with a median age of 75.1 years (49.1 – 85 years were identified. Majority (N = 8 had bony disease. They had ethinylestradiol as 3rd to 7th line endocrine therapy. One patient (8% came off treatment early due to hepato-renal syndrome. Clinical benefit (objective response or durable stable disease for ≥ 6 months was seen in 4 patients (33.3% with a median duration of response of 10+ (7–36 months. The time to treatment failure was 4 (0.5–36 months. Conclusion Yet unreported, high dose "ethinylestradiol" is another viable therapeutic strategy in heavily pre-treated patients when further endocrine therapy is deemed appropriate. Although it tends to carry more side effects, they may not be comparable to those of other

  13. Prognostic Value of the Pretreatment Advanced Lung Cancer Inflammation Index (ALI) in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Patients Treated with R-CHOP Chemotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Young Hoon; Yi, Hyeon Gyu; Lee, Moon Hee; Kim, Chul Soo; Lim, Joo Han

    2017-01-01

    The Advanced Lung Cancer Inflammation Index (ALI, body mass index × albumin/neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio) has been demonstrated to be a prognostic factor of survival in some solid cancers. We retrospectively investigated the usefulness of the ALI to predict chemotherapy response and survival in 212 patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone) chemotherapy. Patients were allocated to a low ALI group (n = 82, 38.7%) or a high ALI group (n = 130, 61.3%) according to an optimal pretreatment ALI cut-off value of 15.5 as determined by receiver operating curve analysis. The low ALI group displayed more adverse clinical characteristics, lower rates of complete remission (54.9 vs. 75.4%, p = 0.008), and poorer 5-year progression-free (PFS, 58.1 vs. 77.3%, p = 0.006) and overall (OS, 64.2 vs. 80.2%, p = 0.008) survival. Multivariate analysis showed that low ALI was found to independently predict shorter PFS and OS. Interestingly, a low ALI reverted to a high ALI during treatment in 58 patients (27.4%), and the 5-year OS of these patients was better than that of patients whose ALI remained low (n = 24, 72.5 vs. 24%, p ALI might be an easily available marker for predicting clinical outcomes in DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  14. Pretreatment of grass waste using combined ionizing radiation-acid treatment for enhancing fermentative hydrogen production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Guang; Wang, Jianlong

    2018-05-01

    In this study, the combined ionizing radiation-acid pretreatment process was firstly applied to enhance hydrogen fermentation of grass waste. Results showed that the combined pretreatment synergistically enhanced hydrogen fermentation of grass waste. The SCOD and soluble polysaccharide contents of grass waste increased by 1.6 and 2.91 times after the combined pretreatment, respectively. SEM observation and crystallinity test showed the combined pretreatment effectively disrupted the grass structure. Owing to the more favorable substrate conditions, the hydrogen yield achieved 68 mL/g-dry grass added after the combined pretreatment, which was 161.5%, 112.5% and 28.3% higher than those from raw, ionizing radiation pretreated and acid pretreated grass waste, respectively. The VS removal also increased from 13.9% to 25.6% by the combined pretreatment. Microbial community analysis showed that the abundance of dominant hydrogen producing genus Clostridium sensu stricto 1 increased from 37.9% to 69.4% after the combined pretreatment, which contributed to more efficient hydrogen fermentation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Apple's dehydration by the irradiation pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Junjie; Chao Yan; Shen Weiqiao; Wang Jun

    2001-01-01

    "6"0 Co γ-ray irradiation was used as a pre-treatment method to dry the apple. The aim of this study was to discover the effect factor concerning the change of the apple cell structure which would affect the speed of drhydration and the relation between the speed of hot air dehydration and the irradiation dose. The results demonstrated that with the increasing of irradiation dose. The damage of apple's vacuole membrane increased. The positive correlation was shown in slice thickness and dehydration rate, the relation of the irradiation dose and the temperature of hot air was negatively correlated. The optimum of pre-treatment was gained for slice thickness, the irradiation dose and dry temperature of hot air. (authors)

  16. Optimisation of dilute acid pre-treatment of artisan rice hulls for ethanol production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez, Yoney; Martin, Carlos; Gullon, Beatriz; Parajo, Juan Carlos

    2011-01-01

    Rice hulls are potential low-cost feedstocks for fuel ethanol production in many countries. In this work, the dilute-acid pre-treatment of artisan rice hulls was investigated using a central composite rotatable experimental design. The experimental variables were temperature (140-210 C), biomass load (5-20%) and sulphuric acid concentration (0.5-1.5 g per 100 g of reaction mixture). A total of 16 experimental runs, including a 23-plan, two replicates at the central point and six star points, were carried out. Low temperatures were found to be favourable for the hydrolysis of xylan and of the easily hydrolyzable glucan fraction. High glucose formation (up to 15.3 g/100 g), attributable to starch hydrolysis, was detected in the hydrolysates obtained under the least severe pre-treatment conditions. Using the experimental results, several models for predicting the effect of the operational conditions on the yield of pretreated solids, xylan and glucan conversion upon pre-treatment, and on enzymatic convertibility of cellulose were developed. Optimum results were predicted for the conversion of easily-hydrolyzable glucan in the material pretreated at 140.7 C, and for the enzymatic saccharification of cellulose in the material pretreated at 169 C. These results suggested the use of two-step acid hydrolysis as future pre-treatment strategy for artisan rice hulls. Key words: Dilute acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, pre-treatment, rice hulls. (author)

  17. Optimization of Pre-Treatment Process Parameters to Generate Biodiesel from Microalga

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chukwuma Onumaegbu

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Cell disruption is an integral part of microalga production process, which improves the release of intracellular products that are essential for biofuel production. In this work, pre-treatment parameters that will enhance the efficiency of lipid production using high-pressure homogenizer on microalgae biomass will be investigated. The high-pressure homogenizer that is considered is a GYB40-10S/GY60-6S; with a pre-treatment pressure of 1000 psi, 2000 psi, and 3000 psi, the number of passes; 1, 2, and 3, a reaction time of 3, 3.5, and 4 h. Pressure and cavitation increase the efficiency of the pre-treatment process of the homogenizer. In addition, homogenization shear force and pressure are the basic significant factors that enhance the efficiency of microalgae cell rupture. Also, the use of modelling to simulate pre-treatment processes (Response Surface Methodology (RSM, Box-Behnken Designs (BBD, and design of experiment (DOE for process optimization will be adopted in this study. The results clearly demonstrate that high-pressure homogenization pre-treatment can effectively disrupt microalga cell walls to enhance lipid recovery efficiency, with a relatively short extraction time, both that are essential for maintaining a good quality of lipids for biofuel production. A maximum of 18% lipid yields were obtained after 3 h of HPH pre-treatment at 3000 psi.

  18. Effects of Pretreatments in Convective Dehydration of Rosehip (Rosa eglanteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandra Mabellini

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work was to experimentally determine drying curves for thin layer and bed drying of rosehip fruits, with and without pretreatments, to reduce processing times as a function of drying air operating variables, to propose dehydration kinetics of fruits and to determine its kinetic parameters for further use within drying simulation software. Fruits were pre-treated both chemically and mechanically, which included dipping the fruits in NaOH and ethyl oleate solutions; and cutting or perforating the fruit cuticle, respectively. Simulation models were then adopted to fit the kinetics drying data considering fruit volume shrinkage. These simple models minimized the calculation time during the simulation of deep-bed driers. Results show that pre-treatments reduced processing times up to 57%, and evaluated models satisfactorily predicted the drying of rosehip fruit. Effective mass diffusion coefficients were up to 4-fold greater when fruit was submitted to mechanical pretreatments.

  19. Pretreatment with polyamines alleviate the deleterious effects of diuron in maize leaves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durmuş, Nuran; Bekircan, Tuba

    2015-03-01

    The effects of diuron, a photosystem II inhibiting herbicide, on lipid peroxidation, photosynthetic pigments, soluble protein, proline contents and some antioxidant enzymes in maize leaves were studied and protective effects of polyamines against diuron toxicity were investigated. Diuron significantly increased lipid peroxidation, suggesting oxidative damage in the plants and proline content, while it decreased total chlorophyll, carotenoid and soluble protein levels in the leaves during the experiments. Pretreatment with polyamines statistically decreased lipid peroxidation induced by diuron and spermine (SPM) proved to be the most effective polyamine. Also, pretreatment with polyamines significantly prevented the losses of total chlorophyll, carotenoid and soluble protein induced by diuron. On the other hand, pretreatment with polyamines significantly increased proline contents of the leaves in comparison with the leaves treated with diuron. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities increased in the leaves treated with diuron while catalase (CAT ) activity decreased. Pretreatment with spermidine (SPD) did not change significantly SOD activity at 24 and 72 hrs of diuron treatment but prevented the increase in SOD activity induced by diuron at 48 h. However, pretreatment with SPD increased GPX activity at 24 h and GR activity at 48 and 72 hrs. CAT activity in the leaves pretreated with SPD was similar to that of the leaves treated with diuron. Pretreatment with SPM prevented the increase in SOD activity induced by diuron at 48 h but significantly increased it at 72 h of diuron treatment. However, pretreatment with SPM did not significantly change GPX and GR activities during the experiments but reversed the decrease in CAT activity induced by diuron at 72 h. Pretreatment with putrescine (PUT) prevented the increase in SOD activity induced by diuron at 48 and 72 hrs while it increased GPX and GR activities at 48

  20. Low melting point pyridinium ionic liquid pretreatment for enhancing enzymatic saccharification of cellulosic biomass.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uju; Nakamoto, Aya; Shoda, Yasuhiro; Goto, Masahiro; Tokuhara, Wataru; Noritake, Yoshiyuki; Katahira, Satoshi; Ishida, Nobuhiro; Ogino, Chiaki; Kamiya, Noriho

    2013-05-01

    The potential of 1-hexylpyridinium chloride ([Hpy][Cl]), to pretreat cellulosic feedstocks was investigated using microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) and Bagasse at 80 °C or 100 °C. Short [Hpy][Cl] pretreatments, conversion of pretreated Avicel to glucose was attained after 24h enzymatic saccharification under optimal conditions, whereas regenerated Bagasse showed 1-3-fold higher conversion than untreated biomass. FT-IR analysis of both Avicel and Bagasse samples pretreated with [Hpy][Cl] or 1-ethyl-3-methyimidazolium acetate ([Emim][OAc]) revealed that these ionic liquids behaved differently during pretreatment. [Hpy][Cl] pretreatment for an extended duration (180 min) released mono- and disaccharides without using cellulase enzymes, suggesting [Hpy][Cl] has capability for direct saccharification of cellulosic feedstocks. On the basis of the results obtained, [Hpy][Cl] pretreatment enhanced initial reaction rates in enzymatic saccharification by either crystalline polymorphic alteration of cellulose or partial degradation of the crystalline cellulosic fraction in biomass. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Effect of alkaline microwaving pretreatment on anaerobic digestion and biogas production of swine manure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Tao; Deng, Yihuan; Liu, Hongyu; Yang, Chunping; Wu, Bingwen; Zeng, Guangming; Lu, Li; Nishimura, Fumitake

    2017-05-10

    Microwave assisted with alkaline (MW-A) condition was applied in the pretreatment of swine manure, and the effect of the pretreatment on anaerobic treatment and biogas production was evaluated in this study. The two main microwaving (MW) parameters, microwaving power and reaction time, were optimized for the pretreatment. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of alkaline microwaving process for manure pretreatment at various values of pH and energy input. Results showed that the manure disintegration degree was maximized of 63.91% at energy input of 54 J/g and pH of 12.0, and variance analysis indicated that pH value played a more important role in the pretreatment than in energy input. Anaerobic digestion results demonstrated that MW-A pretreatment not only significantly increased cumulative biogas production, but also shortened the duration for a stable biogas production rate. Therefore, the alkaline microwaving pretreatment could become an alternative process for effective treatment of swine manure.

  2. Role of prostate dose escalation in patients with greater than 15% risk of pelvic lymph node involvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacob, Rojymon; Hanlon, Alexandra L.; Horwitz, Eric M.; Movsas, Benjamin; Uzzo, Robert G.; Pollack, Alan

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: To determine whether the radiation dose is a determinant of clinical outcome in patients with a lymph node risk of >15% treated using whole pelvic (WP), partial pelvic (PP), or prostate only (PO) fields. Methods and materials: A total of 420 patients with prostate cancer treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy with or without short-term androgen deprivation (STAD) between June 1989 and July 2000 were included in this study. Patients had an initial pretreatment prostate-specific antigen level of 15% in the patient population studied. These data suggest that the primary tumor takes precedence over lymph node coverage or the use of STAD. Doses >70 Gy are of paramount importance in such intermediate- and high-risk patients

  3. Effect of Glycerol Pretreatment on Levoglucosan Production from Corncobs by Fast Pyrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liqun Jiang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this manuscript, glycerol was used in corncobs’ pretreatment to promote levoglucosan production by fast pyrolysis first and then was further utilized as raw material for chemicals production by microbial fermentation. The effects of glycerol pretreatment temperatures (220–240 °C, time (0.5–3 h and solid-to-liquid ratios (5–20% were investigated. Due to the accumulation of crystalline cellulose and the removal of minerals, the levoglucosan yield was as high as 35.8% from corncobs pretreated by glycerol at 240 for 3 h with a 5% solid-to-liquid ratio, which was obviously higher than that of the control (2.2%. After glycerol pretreatment, the fermentability of the recovered glycerol remaining in the liquid stream from glycerol pretreatment was evaluated by Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results showed that the recovered glycerol had no inhibitory effect on the growth and metabolism of the microbe, which was a promising substrate for fermentation. The value-added applications of glycerol could reduce the cost of biomass pretreatment. Correspondingly, this manuscript offers a green, sustainable, efficient and economic strategy for an integrated biorefinery process.

  4. Changes in the Material Characteristics of Maize Straw during the Pretreatment Process of Methanation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongzhong Feng

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Pretreatment technology is important to the direct methanation of straw. This study used fresh water, four bacterium agents (stem rot agent, “result” microbe decomposition agent, straw pretreatment composite bacterium agent, and complex microorganism agent, biogas slurry, and two chemical reagents (sodium hydroxide and urea as pretreatment promoters. Different treatments were performed, and the changes in the straw pH value, temperature, total solid (TS, volatile solid (VS, and carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio under different pretreatment conditions were analyzed. The results showed that chemical promoters were more efficient than biological promoters in straw maturity. Pretreatment using sodium hydroxide induced the highest degree of straw maturity. However, its C/N ratio had to be reduced during fermentation. In contrast, the C/N ratio of the urea-pretreated straw was low and was easy to regulate when used as anaerobic digestion material. The biogas slurry pretreatment was followed by pretreatments using four different bacterium agents, among which the effect of the complex microorganism agent (BA4 was more efficient than the others. The current study is significant to the direct and efficient methanation of straw.

  5. Patients undergoing radical prostatectomy have a better survival than the background population

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andreas Røder, Martin; Brasso, Klaus; Drimer Berg, Kasper

    2013-01-01

    underwent radical prostatectomy. Patients were followed prospectively per protocol. No patients were lost to follow-up. Overall and cause-specific survival were described using Kaplan-Meier plots. Standardized relative survival and mortality ratio were calculated based on expected survival in the age......INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate standardised relative survival and mortality ratio for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer at our institution. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1995 and 2010, a total of 1,350 consecutive patients......-matched Danish population using the methods and macros described by Dickmann. The country-specific population mortality rates used for calculation of the expected survival were based on data from The Human Mortality Database. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 3.4 years (range: 0-14.3 years). A total of 59 (4...

  6. Pretreatment with ascorbic acid prevents lethal gastrointestinal syndrome in mice receiving a massive amount of radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Tetsuo; Kinoshita, Manabu; Shinomiya, Nariyoshi; Hiroi, Sadayuki; Sugasawa, Hidekazu; Majima, Takashi; Seki, Shuhji; Matsushita, Yoshitaro; Saitoh, Daizoh

    2010-01-01

    While bone marrow or stem cell transplantation can rescue bone marrow aplasia in patients accidentally exposed to a lethal radiation dose, radiation-induced irreversible gastrointestinal damage (GI syndrome) is fatal. We investigated the effects of ascorbic acid on radiation-induced GI syndrome in mice. Ascorbic acid (150 mg/kg/day) was orally administered to mice for 3 days, and then the mice underwent whole body irradiation (WBI). Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) 24 h after irradiation rescued mice receiving a WBI dose of less than 12 Gy. No mice receiving 14 Gy-WBI survived, because of radiation-induced GI syndrome, even if they received BMT. However, pretreatment with ascorbic acid significantly suppressed radiation-induced DNA damage in the crypt cells and prevented denudation of intestinal mucosa; therefore, ascorbic acid in combination with BMT rescued mice after 14 Gy-WBI. DNA microarray analysis demonstrated that irradiation up-regulated expressions of apoptosis-related genes in the small intestine, including those related to the caspase-9-mediated intrinsic pathway as well as the caspase-8-mediated extrinsic pathway, and down-regulated expressions of these genes in ascorbic acid-pretreated mice. Thus, pretreatment with ascorbic acid may effectively prevent radiation-induced GI syndrome. (author)

  7. Investigation of acetic acid-catalyzed hydrothermal pretreatment on corn stover

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2010-01-01

    Acetic acid (AA)-catalyzed liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatments on raw corn stover (RCS) were carried out at 195 °C at 15 min with the acetic acid concentrations between 0 and 400 g/kg RCS. After pretreatment, the liquor fractions and water-insoluble solids (WIS) were collected separately...

  8. Surface pre-treatment for barrier coatings on polyethylene terephthalate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahre, H.; Bahroun, K.; Behm, H.; Steves, S.; Awakowicz, P.; Böke, M.; Hopmann, Ch; Winter, J.

    2013-02-01

    Polymers have favourable properties such as light weight, flexibility and transparency. Consequently, this makes them suitable for food packaging, organic light-emitting diodes and flexible solar cells. Nonetheless, raw plastics do not possess sufficient barrier functionality against oxygen and water vapour, which is of paramount importance for most applications. A widespread solution is to deposit thin silicon oxide layers using plasma processes. However, silicon oxide layers do not always fulfil the requirements concerning adhesion and barrier performance when deposited on films. Thus, plasma pre-treatment is often necessary. To analyse the influence of a plasma-based pre-treatment on barrier performance, different plasma pre-treatments on three reactor setups were applied to a very smooth polyethylene terephthalate film before depositing a silicon oxide barrier layer. In this paper, the influence of oxygen and argon plasma pre-treatments towards the barrier performance is discussed examining the chemical and topological change of the film. It was observed that a short one-to-ten-second plasma treatment can reduce the oxygen transmission rate by a factor of five. The surface chemistry and the surface topography change significantly for these short treatment times, leading to an increased surface energy. The surface roughness rises slowly due to the development of small spots in the nanometre range. For very long treatment times, surface roughness of the order of the barrier layer's thickness results in a complete loss of barrier properties. During plasma pre-treatment, the trade-off between surface activation and roughening of the surface has to be carefully considered.

  9. Surface pre-treatment for barrier coatings on polyethylene terephthalate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahre, H; Böke, M; Winter, J; Bahroun, K; Behm, H; Hopmann, Ch; Steves, S; Awakowicz, P

    2013-01-01

    Polymers have favourable properties such as light weight, flexibility and transparency. Consequently, this makes them suitable for food packaging, organic light-emitting diodes and flexible solar cells. Nonetheless, raw plastics do not possess sufficient barrier functionality against oxygen and water vapour, which is of paramount importance for most applications. A widespread solution is to deposit thin silicon oxide layers using plasma processes. However, silicon oxide layers do not always fulfil the requirements concerning adhesion and barrier performance when deposited on films. Thus, plasma pre-treatment is often necessary. To analyse the influence of a plasma-based pre-treatment on barrier performance, different plasma pre-treatments on three reactor setups were applied to a very smooth polyethylene terephthalate film before depositing a silicon oxide barrier layer. In this paper, the influence of oxygen and argon plasma pre-treatments towards the barrier performance is discussed examining the chemical and topological change of the film. It was observed that a short one-to-ten-second plasma treatment can reduce the oxygen transmission rate by a factor of five. The surface chemistry and the surface topography change significantly for these short treatment times, leading to an increased surface energy. The surface roughness rises slowly due to the development of small spots in the nanometre range. For very long treatment times, surface roughness of the order of the barrier layer's thickness results in a complete loss of barrier properties. During plasma pre-treatment, the trade-off between surface activation and roughening of the surface has to be carefully considered. (paper)

  10. Effective enzymatic in situ saccharification of bamboo shoot shell pretreated by dilute alkalic salts sodium hypochlorite/sodium sulfide pretreatment under the autoclave system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chong, Gang-Gang; He, Yu-Cai; Liu, Qiu-Xiang; Kou, Xiao-Qin; Huang, Xiao-Jun; Di, Jun-Hua; Ma, Cui-Luan

    2017-10-01

    In this study, dilute alkali salts (0.6% NaClO, 0.067% Na 2 S) pretreatment at 10% sulfidity under the autoclave system at 120°C for 40min was used for pretreating bamboo shoot shell (BSS). Furthermore, FT-IR, XRD and SEM were employed to characterize the changes in the cellulose structural characteristics (porosity, morphology, and crystallinity) of the pretreated BSS solid residue. After 72h, the reducing sugars and glucose from the enzymatic in situ hydrolysis of 50g/L pretreated BSS in dilute NaClO/Na 2 S media could be obtained at 31.11 and 20.32g/L, respectively. Finally, the obtained BSS-hydrolysates containing alkalic salt NaClO/Na 2 S resulted in slightly negative effects on the ethanol production. Glucose in BSS-hydrolysates was fermented from 20.0 to 0.17g/L within 48h, and an ethanol yield of 0.41g/g glucose, which represents 80.1% of the theoretical yield, was obtained. This study provided an effective strategy for potential utilization of BSS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Different physical and chemical pretreatments of wheat straw for enhanced biobutanol production in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thirmal, Chumangalah; Dahman, Yaser [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 (Canada)

    2011-07-01

    The objective of this study is to increase butanol product yields using wheat straw as the biomass. First this study examined different pretreatment and saccharification processes to obtain the maximum sugar concentration. Three different physical and chemical pretreatment methods for the wheat straws were examined in the present work in comparison with physical pretreatment alone as a reference. This included water, acidic, and alkaline pretreatment. For all cases, physical pretreatment represented by 1 mm size reduction of the straws was applied prior to each pretreatment. Results showed that 13.91 g/L glucose concentration was produced from saccharification with just the physical pretreatment (i.e., no chemical pretreatment). This represented {approx}5-20 % lower sugar release in saccharification compared to the other three pretreatment processes. Saccharification with acid pretreatment obtained the highest sugar concentrations, which were 18.77 g/L glucose and 12.19 g/L xylose. Second this study produced butanol from simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) using wheat straw hydrolysate and Clostridium beijerinckii BA101. Water pretreatment was applied to separate lignin and polysaccharides from the wheat straw. Physical pretreatment was applied prior to water pretreatment where, wheat straw was grounded into fine particles less than 1 mm size. Another experiment was conducted where physical pretreatment was applied alone prior to SSF (i.e. no chemical pretreatment was applied). Both processes converted more than 10% of wheat straw into butanol product. This was 2% higher than previous studies. The results illustrated that SSF with physical pretreatment alone obtained 2.61 g/L butanol.

  12. PROJECT W-551 INTERIM PRETREATMENT SYSTEM PRECONCEPTUAL CANDIDATE TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MAY TH

    2008-08-12

    The Office of River Protection (ORP) has authorized a study to recommend and select options for interim pretreatment of tank waste and support Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) low activity waste (LAW) operations prior to startup of all the WTP facilities. The Interim Pretreatment System (IPS) is to be a moderately sized system which separates entrained solids and 137Cs from tank waste for an interim time period while WTP high level waste vitrification and pretreatment facilities are completed. This study's objective is to prepare pre-conceptual technology descriptions that expand the technical detail for selected solid and cesium separation technologies. This revision includes information on additional feed tanks.

  13. Efficacy and tolerability of high dose "ethinylestradiol" in post-menopausal advanced breast cancer patients heavily pre-treated with endocrine agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agrawal, Amit; Robertson, John F R; Cheung, K L

    2006-07-11

    High dose estrogens (HDEs) were frequently used as endocrine agents prior to the introduction of tamoxifen which carries fewer side effects. Due to the development of resistance to available endocrine agents in almost all women with metastatic breast cancer, interest has renewed in the use of HDEs as yet another endocrine option that may have activity. We report our experience with one of the HDEs ("ethinylestradiol" 1 mg daily) in advanced breast cancer (locally advanced and metastatic) in post-menopausal women who had progressed on multiple endocrine agents. According to a database of advanced breast cancer patients seen in our Unit since 1998, those who had complete set of information and fulfilled the following criteria were studied: (1) patients in whom further endocrine therapy was deemed appropriate i.e., patients who have had clinical benefit with previous endocrine agents or were not fit or unwilling to receive chemotherapy in the presence of potentially life-threatening visceral metastases; (2) disease was assessable by UICC criteria; (3) were treated with "ethinylestradiol" until they were withdrawn from treatment due to adverse events or disease progression. Twelve patients with a median age of 75.1 years (49.1-85 years) were identified. Majority (N = 8) had bony disease. They had ethinylestradiol as 3rd to 7th line endocrine therapy. One patient (8%) came off treatment early due to hepato-renal syndrome. Clinical benefit (objective response or durable stable disease for > or = 6 months) was seen in 4 patients (33.3%) with a median duration of response of 10+ (7-36) months. The time to treatment failure was 4 (0.5-36) months. Yet unreported, high dose "ethinylestradiol" is another viable therapeutic strategy in heavily pre-treated patients when further endocrine therapy is deemed appropriate. Although it tends to carry more side effects, they may not be comparable to those of other HDEs (such as diethylstilbestrol) or chemotherapy.

  14. pH catalyzed pretreatment of corn bran for enhanced enzymatic arabinoxylan degradation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agger, Jane; Johansen, Katja Salomon; Meyer, Anne S.

    2011-01-01

    Corn bran is mainly made up of the pericarp of corn kernels and is a byproduct stream resulting from the wet milling step in corn starch processing. Through statistic modeling this study examined the optimization of pretreatment of corn bran for enzymatic hydrolysis. A low pH pretreatment (pH 2......, 150°C, 65min) boosted the enzymatic release of xylose and glucose and maximized biomass solubilization. With more acidic pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis the total xylose release was maximized (at pH 1.3) reaching ∼50% by weight of the original amount present in destarched corn bran......, but the enzyme catalyzed xylose release was maximal after pretreatment at approx. pH 2. The total glucose release peaked after pretreatment of approx. pH 1.5 with an enzymatic release of approx. 68% by weight of the original amounts present in destarched corn bran. For arabinose the enzymatic release...

  15. Efficacy of pretreating oil palm fronds with an acid-base mixture catalyst.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Young Hoon; Park, Hyun Min; Park, Yong-Cheol; Park, Kyungmoon; Kim, Kyoung Heon

    2017-07-01

    Oil palm fronds are abundant but recalcitrant to chemical pretreatment. Herein, an acid-base mixture was applied as a catalyst to efficiently pretreat oil palm fronds. Optimized conditions for the pretreatment were a 0.1M acidic acid-base mixture and 3min ramping to 190°C and 12min holding. The oil palm fronds pretreated and washed with the acid-base mixture exhibited an enzymatic digestibility of 85% by 15 FPU Accellerase 1000/g glucan after 72h hydrolysis, which was significantly higher than the enzymatic digestibilities obtained by acid or alkali pretreatment alone. This could be attributed to the synergistic actions of the acid and base, producing an 87% glucose recovery with 100% and 40.3% removal of xylan and lignin, respectively, from the solids. Therefore, an acid-base mixture can be a feasible catalyst to deconstruct oil palm fronds for sugar production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Effect of pretreatment on purple-fleshed sweet potato flour for cake making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutasoit, M. S.; Julianti, E.; Lubis, Z.

    2018-02-01

    The purple-fleshed sweet-potato (PFSP) flour was produced by varying pretreatment of washed chips: dipping in 0.5 and 1.0% (w/v) citric acid solution for 30 min, dipping in 0.5 and 1.0% (w/v) citric acid solution for 30 min and followed by steam blanching for 5 min. The pretreatment effect on cake quality was investigated. The results showed that PFSP flour produced from pretreatment with dipping in 0.5% citric acid for 30 min followed by steam blanching for 5 min had higher lightness (L*) value and lower browning index, higher hedonic value of color and aroma and baking expansion. The specific volume of cake from pretreated flour, untreated flour and wheat flour were 44.87, 43.83, and 50.43cm3/g, respectively. The sensory evaluation of cake indicated that cake from pretreated PFSP flour was acceptable compare to those of cake from wheat flour.

  17. Pretreatment Hematocrit Is Superior to Hemoglobin as a Prognostic Factor for Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Bo; Dai, Danian; Tang, Hailin; Ai, Xiaohong; Chen, Xi; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Li, Zhiyan; Xie, Xiaoming

    2016-01-01

    Anemia usually refers to low hemoglobin (Hb) levels. Previous studies indicated that anemia negatively influence the survival in various cancers. Hematocrit (HCT) is the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood, which could indicate anemia in both individuals and populations. This study compared the value of HCT with that of Hb for predicting outcomes of patients who underwent treatment for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). A retrospective study of 293 triple negative breast cancer patients, accepting treatment from January 2004 to December 2009 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, was conducted. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional models were used to calculate disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The cut-off value of HCT was 35.9% determined by X-tile software analysis. The cut-off value of Hb was 12.0 g/dl based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. In univariate analysis, low HCT and low Hb were both significantly associated with decreased DFS and OS. In multivariate analysis, HCT (HR: 0.570; 95% CI: 0.331-0.981, P = 0.042 for DFS; HR: 0.456; 95% CI: 0.256-0.813, P = 0.008 for OS) was still identified as independent predictor of outcome, but not Hb. Pretreatment low HCT is independently associated with poor prognosis in TNBC patients. However, HCT was found to be superior to Hb in terms of predicting breast cancer mortality. In the future, large-scale prospective studies or validation studies are needed to verify our findings.

  18. Diabetic vitrectomy in a large type 1 diabetes patient population

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ostri, Christoffer; la Cour, Morten; Lund-Andersen, Henrik

    2014-01-01

    1996 and 2010. Surgical history was obtained from The Danish National Patient Register. RESULTS: The population consisted of 3980 patients with type 1 diabetes. Median follow-up was 10.0 years. In total, 106 patients underwent diabetic vitrectomy in the observation period. Surgery indications were...... nonclearing vitreous haemorrhage (43%) or tractional retinal detachment (57%). The cumulative incidence rates of diabetic vitrectomy were 1.6% after 5 years and 2.9% after 10 years. When excluding patients with no or mild diabetic retinopathy, the corresponding rates were higher; 3.7% and 6.4%, respectively...... (p diabetic vitrectomy increased in patients experiencing glycosylated haemoglobin A1c > 75 mmol/mol in the observation period (p

  19. Comparative study of sulfite pretreatments for robust enzymatic saccharification of corn cob residue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bu Lingxi

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Corn cob residue (CCR is a kind of waste lignocellulosic material with enormous potential for bioethanol production. The moderated sulphite processes were used to enhance the hydrophily of the material by sulfonation and hydrolysis. The composition, FT-IR spectra, and conductometric titrations of the pretreated materials were measured to characterize variations of the CCR in different sulfite pretreated environments. And the objective of this study is to compare the saccharification rate and yield of the samples caused by these variations. Results It was found that the lignin in the CCR (43.2% had reduced to 37.8%, 38.0%, 35.9%, and 35.5% after the sulfite pretreatment in neutral, acidic, alkaline, and ethanol environments, respectively. The sulfite pretreatments enhanced the glucose yield of the CCR. Moreover, the ethanol sulfite sample had the highest glucose yield (81.2%, based on the cellulose in the treated sample among the saccharification samples, which was over 10% higher than that of the raw material (70.6%. More sulfonic groups and weak acid groups were produced during the sulfite pretreatments. Meanwhile, the ethanol sulfite treated sample had the highest sulfonic group (0.103 mmol/g and weak acid groups (1.85 mmol/g in all sulfite treated samples. In FT-IR spectra, the variation of bands at 1168 and 1190 cm-1 confirmed lignin sulfonation during sulfite pretreatment. The disappearance of the band at 1458 cm-1 implied the methoxyl on lignin had been removed during the sulfite pretreatments. Conclusions It can be concluded that the lignin in the CCR can be degraded and sulfonated during the sulfite pretreatments. The pretreatments improve the hydrophility of the samples because of the increase in sulfonic group and weak acid groups, which enhances the glucose yield of the material. The ethanol sulfite pretreatment is the best method for lignin removal and with the highest glucose yield.

  20. Effect of Pre-treatment method on the Hydrolysis of Corn cob and Sawdust

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olawole Ogirima Olanipekun

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Efficient pre-treatment has been found to be crucial step before enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose into fuels or chemicals. As a result various pretreatment methods have been developed to facilitate these bio-conversion processes, and this research focuses on the effect of two pretreatment methods such as liquid hot water and sulphuric acid pre-treatment to remove some of the components like lignin and hemicellulose which form structural barrier to enzymatic accessibility of cellulose in corn cobs and sawdust. The cellulosic materials were first dried in oven at 65 oC for 24 hours,  and using   solid to liquid ratio of 1:10, the two methods were carried out at resident times ranging from 10 - 40 minutes. The liquid hot water method involved heating the cellulosic materials in water at 120 oC and 1atmosphere in a pressure vessel, and for the second method, the dried cellulosic materials were refluxed in 5 % sulphuric acid at a temperature of 120 oC. Pretreated samples were filtered and liquid fractions were analyzed for the presence of reducing sugars, while solid residues were dried in the oven and weighed to measure the mass lost during pretreatment as a pointer to lignin breakdown. It was observed that the mass lost increased with time for both pretreatment methods, but the liquid hot water pretreatment gave higher lignin and hemicellulose removal when compared to the sulphuric acid pre-treatment. The pretreated materials were hydrolyzed with two combinations of commercial enzymes namely cellulase/ hemicellulase and cellulase/β glucosidase. The reducing sugar was measured using Dinitrosalycilic acid (DNSA method and the sugar yields from corn cobs were higher than that of sawdust when subjected to similar process conditions, and the enzyme combination of cellulase/glucosidase gave higher yields of reducing sugars.  A model equation which describes the hydrolysis process was developed from first principles and the experimental data

  1. Enhanced micropropagation and tiller formation in sugarcane through pretreatment of explants with thidiazuron (TDZ).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumari, Kavita; Lal, Madan; Saxena, Sangeeta

    2017-10-01

    An efficient, simple and commercially applicable protocol for rapid micropropagation of sugarcane has been designed using variety Co 05011. Pretreatment of shoot tip explants with thidiazuron (TDZ) induced high frequency regeneration of shoot cultures with improved multiplication ratio. The highest frequency (80%) of shoot initiation in explants pretreated with 10 mg/l of TDZ was obtained during the study. Maximum 65% shoot cultures could be established from the explants pretreated with TDZ as compared to minimum 40% establishment in explants without pretreatment. The explants pretreated with 10 mg/l of TDZ required minimum 40 days for the establishment of shoot cultures as compared to untreated explants which required 60 days. The highest average number of shoots per culture (19.1) could be obtained from the explants pretreated with 10 mg/l of TDZ, indicating the highest multiplication ratio (1:6). Highest rooting (over 94%) was obtained in shoots regenerated from pretreated explants on ½ strength MS medium containing 5.0 mg/l of NAA and 50 g/l of sucrose within 15 days. Higher number of tillers/clump (15.3) could be counted in plants regenerated from pretreated explants than untreated ones (10.9 tillers/clump) in field condition, three months after transplantation. Molecular analysis using RAPD and DAMD markers suggested that the pretreatment of explants with TDZ did not adversely affect the genetic stability of regenerated plants and maintained high clonal purity.

  2. Combination of ensiling and fungal delignification as effective wheat straw pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Sune T.; Londono, Jorge E. G.; Ambye-Jensen, Morten

    2016-01-01

    straw (WS). This study was undertaken to assess whether a combination of forced ensiling with Lactobacillus buchneri and WRF treatment using a low cellulase fungus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, could produce a relevant pretreatment effect on WS for bioethanol and biogas production. Results......: A combination of the ensiling and WRF treatment induced efficient pretreatment of WS by reducing lignin content and increasing enzymatic sugar release, thereby enabling an ethanol yield of 66 % of the theoretical max on the WS glucan, i.e. a yield comparable to yields obtained with high-tech, large......-scale pretreatment methods. The pretreatment effect was reached with only a minor total solids loss of 5 % by weight mainly caused by the fungal metabolism. The combination of the biopretreatments did not improve the methane potential of the WS, but improved the initial biogas production rate significantly...

  3. Simultaneous waste activated sludge disintegration and biological hydrogen production using an ozone/ultrasound pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Shan-Shan; Guo, Wan-Qian; Cao, Guang-Li; Zheng, He-Shan; Ren, Nan-Qi

    2012-11-01

    This paper offers an effective pretreatment method that can simultaneously achieve excess sludge reduction and bio-hydrogen production from sludge self-fermentation. Batch tests demonstrated that the combinative use of ozone/ultrasound pretreatment had an advantage over the individual ozone and ultrasound pretreatments. The optimal condition (ozone dose of 0.158 g O(3)/g DS and ultrasound energy density of 1.423 W/mL) was recommended by response surface methodology. The maximum hydrogen yield was achieved at 9.28 mL H(2)/g DS under the optimal condition. According to the kinetic analysis, the highest hydrogen production rate (1.84 mL/h) was also obtained using combined pretreatment, which well fitted the predicted equation (the squared regression statistic was 0.9969). The disintegration degrees (DD) were limited to 19.57% and 46.10% in individual ozone and ultrasound pretreatments, while it reached up to 60.88% in combined pretreatment. The combined ozone/ultrasound pretreatment provides an ideal and environmental friendly solution to the problem of sludge disposal. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Mild-temperature dilute acid pretreatment for integration of first and second generation ethanol processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nair, Ramkumar B; Kalif, Mahdi; Ferreira, Jorge A; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J; Lennartsson, Patrik R

    2017-12-01

    The use of hot-water (100°C) from the 1st generation ethanol plants for mild-temperature lignocellulose pretreatment can possibly cut down the operational (energy) cost of 2nd generation ethanol process, in an integrated model. Dilute-sulfuric and -phosphoric acid pretreatment at 100°C was carried out for wheat bran and whole-stillage fibers. Pretreatment time and acid type influenced the release of sugars from wheat bran, while acid-concentration was found significant for whole-stillage fibers. Pretreatment led up-to 300% improvement in the glucose yield compared to only-enzymatically treated substrates. The pretreated substrates were 191-344% and 115-300% richer in lignin and glucan, respectively. Fermentation using Neurospora intermedia, showed 81% and 91% ethanol yields from wheat bran and stillage-fibers, respectively. Sawdust proved to be a highly recalcitrant substrate for mild-temperature pretreatment with only 22% glucose yield. Both wheat bran and whole-stillage are potential substrates for pretreatment using waste heat from the 1st generation process for 2nd generation ethanol. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Improving the conversion of biomass in catalytic fast pyrolysis via white-rot fungal pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yanqing; Zeng, Yelin; Zuo, Jiane; Ma, Fuying; Yang, Xuewei; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Wang, Yujue

    2013-04-01

    This study investigated the effect of white-rot fungal pretreatment on corn stover conversion in catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP). Corn stover pretreated by white-rot fungus Irpex lacteus CD2 was fast pyrolyzed alone (non-CFP) and with ZSM-5 zeolite (CFP) in a semi-batch pyroprobe reactor. The fungal pretreatment considerably increased the volatile product yields (predominantly oxygenated compounds) in non-CFP, indicating that fungal pretreatment enhances the corn stover conversion in fast pyrolysis. In the presence of ZSM-5 zeolite, these oxygenated volatiles were further catalytically converted to aromatic hydrocarbons, whose yield increased from 10.03 wt.% for the untreated corn stover to 11.49 wt.% for the pretreated sample. In contrast, the coke yield decreased from 14.29 to 11.93 wt.% in CFP following the fungal pretreatment. These results indicate that fungal pretreatment can enhance the production of valuable aromatics and decrease the amount of undesired coke, and thus has a beneficial effect on biomass conversion in CFP. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Who are medical marijuana patients? Population characteristics from nine California assessment clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinarman, Craig; Nunberg, Helen; Lanthier, Fran; Heddleston, Tom

    2011-01-01

    Marijuana is a currently illegal psychoactive drug that many physicians believe has substantial therapeutic uses. The medical literature contains a growing number of studies on cannabinoids as well as case studies and anecdotal reports suggesting therapeutic potential. Fifteen states have passed medical marijuana laws, but little is known about the growing population of patients who use marijuana medicinally. This article reports on a sample of 1,746 patients from a network of nine medical marijuana evaluation clinics in California. Patients completed a standardized medical history form; evaluating physicians completed standardized evaluation forms. From this data we describe patient characteristics, self-reported presenting symptoms, physician evaluations, other treatments tried, other drug use, and medical marijuana use practices. Pain, insomnia, and anxiety were the most common conditions for which evaluating physicians recommended medical marijuana. Shifts in the medical marijuana patient population over time, the need for further research, and the issue of diversion are discussed.

  7. Changes in various physical/chemical parameters of Pinus pinaster wood after steam explosion pretreatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Negro, M.J.; Manzanares, P.; Oliva, J.M.; Ballesteros, I.; Ballesteros, M. [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, Madrid (Spain). Departamento de Energias Renovables

    2003-09-01

    Steam-explosion process can be satisfactorily used as a pretreatment in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Traditionally, pretreatment effectiveness is evaluated in terms of hemicellulose solubilization, enzymatic convertibility of cellulosic fraction, and recovery of both polysaccharides. In this study some parameters different from composition (main components) have been evaluated as an alternative tool to characterise the effect of steaming pretreatment on lignocellulosic materials. The effect of the most important variables in steam explosion pretreatment (temperature, residence time and chip size) on various physical/chemical parameters of pine biomass were investigated. Changes in O/C and H/C atomic ratios, colour analysis, elementary composition, water drop penetration time, organic soluble content, cellulose crystallinity index, and thermogravimetric analysis after the pretreatment were evaluated. Furthermore the influence of operational pretreatment variables on all such parameters and their interactions were examined with the Yates' algorithm. (author)

  8. Changes in various physical/chemical parameters of Pinus pinaster wood after steam explosion pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negro, M.J.; Manzanares, P.; Oliva, J.M.; Ballesteros, I.; Ballesteros, M.

    2003-01-01

    Steam-explosion process can be satisfactorily used as a pretreatment in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Traditionally, pretreatment effectiveness is evaluated in terms of hemicellulose solubilization, enzymatic convertibility of cellulose fraction, and recovery of both polysaccharides. In this study some parameters different from composition (main components) have been evaluated as an alternative tool to characterise the effect of steaming pretreatment on lignocellulosic materials. The effect of the most important variables in steam explosion pretreatment (temperature, residence time and chip size) on various physical/chemical parameters of pine biomass were investigated. Changes in O/C and H/C atomic ratios, colour analysis, elementary composition, water drop penetration time, organic soluble content, cellulose cristallinity index, and thermogravimetric analysis after the pretreatment were evaluated. Furthermore the influence of operational pretreatment variables on all such parameters and their interactions were examined with the Yates' algorithm

  9. Comparison of ultrasonic and CO₂laser pretreatment methods on enzyme digestibility of corn stover.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Shuang-Qi; Wang, Zhen-Yu; Fan, Zi-Luan; Zuo, Li-Li

    2012-01-01

    To decrease the cost of bioethanol production, biomass recalcitrance needs to be overcome so that the conversion of biomass to bioethanol becomes more efficient. CO(2) laser irradiation can disrupt the lignocellulosic physical structure and reduce the average size of fiber. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area, and the microstructure of corn stover were used to elucidate the enhancement mechanism of the pretreatment process by CO(2) laser irradiation. The present work demonstrated that the CO(2) laser had potential to enhance the bioconversion efficiency of lignocellulosic waste to renewable bioethanol. The saccharification rate of the CO(2) laser pretreatment was significantly higher than ultrasonic pretreatment, and reached 27.75% which was 1.34-fold of that of ultrasonic pretreatment. The results showed the impact of CO(2) laser pretreatment on corn stover to be more effective than ultrasonic pretreatment.

  10. [Protective effect of Uncaria rhynchophylla total alkaloids pretreatment on hippocampal neurons after acute hypoxia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei; Zhang, Zhao-qin; Zhao, Xiao-min; Gao, Yun-sheng

    2006-05-01

    To investigate the effect of Uncaria rhynchophylla total alkaloids (RTA) pretreatment on the voltage-gated sodium currents of the rat hippocampal neurons after acute hypoxia. Primary cultured hippocampal neurons were divided into RTA pre-treated and non-pretreated groups. Patch clamp whole-cell recording was used to compare the voltage-gated sodium current amplitude and threshold with those before hypoxia. After acute hypoxia, sodium current amplitude was significantly decreased and its threshold was upside. RTA pretreatment could inhibit the reduction of sodium current amplitude. RTA pretreatment alleviates the acute hypoxia-induced change of sodium currents, which may be one of the mechanisms for protective effect of RTA on cells.

  11. UVB pretreatment of rat bone marrow allografts. Prevention of GVHD and induction of allochimerism and donor-specific unresponsiveness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chabot, J.A.; Pepino, P.; Wasfie, T.; Stegall, M.D.; Marboe, C.; Hardy, M.A.

    1990-01-01

    Ultraviolet B irradiation has been used to pretreat blood and islets to prevent subsequent graft rejection. In this study the optimal dose of UVB irradiation of bone marrow was determined in syngeneic recipients and was subsequently applied to in-vitro treatment of bone marrow allografts. UVB pretreatment of donor bone marrow inoculum led to complete prevention of GVHD in allogeneic rat recipients without major marrow or other toxicity. Long-standing recipients of allogeneic UVB-BM became stable adult chimeras. The recipients of allogeneic BM were populated by donor-type peripheral blood lymphocytes and did not reject host or donor-type heart grafts. The BM allograft recipients were immunocompetent as measured by their ability to normally reject third-party cardiac allografts. We suggest that the prevention of GVHD and induction of stable chimerism in adult recipients of allogeneic UVB-BM may be mediated by suppressor mechanisms

  12. UVB pretreatment of rat bone marrow allografts. Prevention of GVHD and induction of allochimerism and donor-specific unresponsiveness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chabot, J.A.; Pepino, P.; Wasfie, T.; Stegall, M.D.; Marboe, C.; Hardy, M.A. (Columbia Univ. College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY (USA))

    1990-05-01

    Ultraviolet B irradiation has been used to pretreat blood and islets to prevent subsequent graft rejection. In this study the optimal dose of UVB irradiation of bone marrow was determined in syngeneic recipients and was subsequently applied to in-vitro treatment of bone marrow allografts. UVB pretreatment of donor bone marrow inoculum led to complete prevention of GVHD in allogeneic rat recipients without major marrow or other toxicity. Long-standing recipients of allogeneic UVB-BM became stable adult chimeras. The recipients of allogeneic BM were populated by donor-type peripheral blood lymphocytes and did not reject host or donor-type heart grafts. The BM allograft recipients were immunocompetent as measured by their ability to normally reject third-party cardiac allografts. We suggest that the prevention of GVHD and induction of stable chimerism in adult recipients of allogeneic UVB-BM may be mediated by suppressor mechanisms.

  13. Effect of alkaline microwaving pretreatment on anaerobic digestion and biogas production of swine manure

    OpenAIRE

    Tao Yu; Yihuan Deng; Hongyu Liu; Chunping Yang; Bingwen Wu; Guangming Zeng; Li Lu; Fumitake Nishimura

    2017-01-01

    Microwave assisted with alkaline (MW-A) condition was applied in the pretreatment of swine manure, and the effect of the pretreatment on anaerobic treatment and biogas production was evaluated in this study. The two main microwaving (MW) parameters, microwaving power and reaction time, were optimized for the pretreatment. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of alkaline microwaving process for manure pretreatment at various values of pH and energy input. Resul...

  14. Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of peracetic acid pretreated sugar cane bagasse

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teixeira, L.C. [Fundacao Centro Tecnologico de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Linden, J.C.; Schroeder, H.A. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)

    1999-07-01

    Previous work in our laboratory has demonstrated that peracetic acid improves the enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic materials. From the same studies, use of dilute alkali solutions as a pre-pretreatment prior to peracetic acid lignin oxidation increases sugar conversion yields in a synergistic, not additive, manner. Deacetylation of xylan is conducted easily by use of dilute alkali solutions at mild conditions. In this paper, the effectiveness of peracetic acid pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse combined with an alkaline pre-pretreatment, is evaluated through simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) procedures. A practical 92% of theoretical ethanol yield using recombinant Zymomonas mobilis CP4/pZB5 is achieved using 6% NaOH/I5% peracetic acid pretreated substrate. No sugar accumulation is observed during SSCF; the recombinant microorganism exhibits greater glucose utilization rates than those of xylose. Acetate levels at the end of the co-fermentations are less than 0.2% (w/v). Based on demonstrated reduction of acetyl groups of the biomass, alkaline pre-pretreatments help to reduce peracetic acid requirements. The influence of deacetylation is more pronounced in combined pretreatments using lower peracetic acid loadings. Stereochemical impediments of the acetyl groups in hemicellulase on the activity of specific enzymes may be involved. (author)

  15. Properties of Enzyme Pretreated Wikstroemia sikokiana and Broussonetia papyrifera Bast Fiber Pulps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lang-Dong Lin

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Xylanase, pectinase complex, and BL11 pectinase were employed for the pretreatment of gampi and paper mulberry bast fiber pulps prior to chlorine dioxide bleaching. The bleaching efficiencies of the pulps with different enzymatic pretreatments were investigated. Accelerated aging by heat-humidity treatment was also conducted to evaluate yellowing phenomena and to estimate the prevention of brightness reversion (brightness retention by enzymatic pretreatment. The order of active chlorine required with respect to pretreatment was pectinase complex > xylanase > BL11 pectinase for soda and soda/oxalate gampi pulps and pectinase complex > BL11 pectinase > xylanase for soda and soda/oxalate paper mulberry pulps. Higher brightness retention values were observed for soda/oxalate pulps compared to soda pulps. The brightness retention levels for gampi pulps and mulberry pulps after ClO2 bleaching with enzymatic pretreatment were higher than the levels of ClO2 and NaClO bleaching pulps. Enzymatic treatments were thus able to reduce the usage of ClO2 and to assist in producing photo-stable paper materials for art and artifact-repairing applications. Thus, enzymatic pretreatment of the pulp has the potential to meet world trends and environmental sustainability for pulp and paper industries.

  16. Lignocellulose fractionation into furfural and glucose by AlCl3-catalyzed DES/MIBK biphasic pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhi-Kun; Shen, Xiao-Jun; Chen, Jun-Jie; Jiang, Ying-Qiu; Hu, Zhi-Yan; Wang, Xing; Liu, Li

    2018-06-01

    Herein, an efficient DES/MIBK biphasic pretreatment system for preparation of furfural and fermentable glucose from lignocellulose was developed with AlCl 3 as catalysis. The low-cost and renewable DES (Choline chloride-Oxalic acid) served not only as a Brønsted acid catalyst, but also as a pretreatment solvent in present work, and MIBK as an extracting reagent which can increase the yield of furfural in DES phase. The effects of this biphasic pretreatment on the furfural yield and saccharification of the lignocellulose before and after pretreatment were explored using HPLC, HAPEC, FT-IR, XRD and SEM. Under the best pretreatment condition (at 140 °C for 90 min), furfural could be obtained in 70.3% yield and 80.8% of the pretreated lignocellulose was saccharified, which was 8.4 times higher than that of the raw lignocellulose without pretreatment. In a word, this pretreatment system can be considered as a potential technique for efficient valorization of lignocellulose for production of furfural and fermentable glucose. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Experience Using DosimetryCheck software for IMRT and RapidArc Patient Pre-treatment QA and a New Feature for QA during Treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinkerton, Arthur; Hannon, Michael; Kwag, Jae; Renner, Wendel Dean

    2010-01-01

    We have used the DosimetryCheck program with the EPID's on our Varian 2100EX's to perform pre-treatment QA on more than 350 patients, between the last quarter of 2006 and the present. The software uses the EPID measured fluences of the treatment fields to reconstruct the dose distribution in the CT planning model of the patient. Since the dose calculation algorithm, is different from that used by our Eclipse planning system, this provides an independent check of planning accuracy as well as treatment delivery. 2D and 3D dose distributions, point doses, Gamma distributions, DVH statistics and MU calculations can be compared. Absolute differences of Reference Point doses between Dosimetry Check and Eclipse average 1.20%, which is similar to the ionization chamber dose differences of 1.29% for the same patient verification plans. Examples of cases for various treatment sites and delivery modes will be presented. A Special Report in Medical Physics Vol. 37 Number 6 Pg. 2638-2644 from Mans et al at The Netherlands Cancer Institute demonstrated the ability of in vivo EPID dosimetry to detect treatment errors, that escaped other QA checks. A new version of DosimetryCheck awaiting FDA approval, is capable of successfully reconstructing the dose distribution in the patient from the EPID measured exit fluences. This can also be applied to CBCT images providing actual patient dose verification for a treatment session. This should be particularly useful for monitoring hypo-fractionated treatment regimens. Examples of this method will also be presented.

  18. Insurance problems among inflammatory bowel disease patients: results of a Dutch population based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russel, M G V M; Ryan, B M; Dagnelie, P C; de Rooij, M; Sijbrandij, J; Feleus, A; Hesselink, M; Muris, J W; Stockbrugger, R

    2003-03-01

    The majority of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a normal life expectancy and therefore should not be weighted when applying for life assurance. There is scant literature on this topic. In this study our aim was to document and compare the incidence of difficulties in application for life and medical insurance in a population based cohort of IBD patients and matched population controls. A population based case control study of 1126 IBD patients and 1723 controls. Based on a detailed questionnaire, the frequency and type of difficulties encountered when applying for life and medical insurance in matched IBD and control populations were appraised. In comparison with controls, IBD patients had an 87-fold increased risk of encountering difficulties when applying for life assurance (odds ratio (OR) 87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 31-246)), with a heavily weighted premium being the most common problem. Patients of high educational status, with continuous disease activity, and who smoked had the highest odds of encountering such problems. Medical insurance difficulties were fivefold more common in IBD patients compared with controls (OR 5.4 (95% CI 2.3-13)) although no specific disease or patient characteristics were identified as associated with such difficulties. This is the first detailed case control study that has investigated insurance difficulties among IBD patients. Acquiring life and medical insurance constituted a major problem for IBD patients in this study. These results are likely to be more widely representative given that most insurance companies use international guidelines for risk assessment. In view of the recent advances in therapy and promising survival data on IBD patients, evidence based guidelines for risk assessment of IBD patients by insurance companies should be drawn up to prevent possible discriminatory practices.

  19. Biochemical changes following succinylcholine administration after pretreatment with rocuronium at different intervals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farhat, K.; Jaffery, N.; Pasha, A.K.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the biochemical changes associated with succinylcholine administration after pretreatment with rocuronium at different time intervals. Method: The prospective, randomised, single-blinded study was conducted at the Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from January to May 2010. Ninety male, aged 18-60 years, American Society of Anaesthesiology I or II patients undergoing elective inguinal herniotomy or external haemorrhoidectomy were included. The patients were randomly divided into three equal groups. Group A received a normal saline 5ml as placebo 1 minute before succinylcholine; Group B received rocuronium 0.06 mg/kg 1 intravenously minute before succinylcholine, while Group C received intravenous injection of rocuronium 0.06 mg/kg 5 minute before succinylcholine. Venous blood samples for creatinine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase and myoglobin plasma concentrations were obtained at 0, 30 minutes, 6 hours and 24 hours after succinylcholine administration. Results: Mean serum creatinine phosphokinase and myoglobin concentrations were significantly decreased in Groups B and C compared to Group A at 30 minutes and 24 hours (p<0.05). However, no significant difference in the enzyme levels at any time interval was observed among the rocuronium groups. There was a significant rise in lactate dehydrogenase concentrations at 6 hours and 24 hours in Group A compared to Groups B and C (p<0.05). Conclusion: Pretreatment with rocuronium effectively reduces the biochemical changes associated with succinylcholine-induced muscle fasciculations. However, whether it is given 1 minute or 5 minutes before succinylcholine does not make much difference. (author)

  20. Application of ceramic membranes for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) pre-treatment

    KAUST Repository

    Hamad, Juma; Ha, Changwon; Kennedy, Maria Dolores; Amy, Gary L.

    2013-01-01

    and particulate fouling materials (algae, suspended and colloidal particles). Also, a pre-treatment barrier reduces organics and provides better feed water quality for RO membranes. MF and UF pre-treatment prior to SWRO provides Low Silt Density Index (SDI) values

  1. The early changes of thyroid hormone concentrations after 131I therapy for graves' hyperthyroidism - the role of pretreatment with methimazole

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pirnat, E.; Fidler, V.; Zaletel, K.; Gaberscek, S.; Hojker, S.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: 131 I therapy may cause exacerbation of hyperthyroidism due to leakage of previously formed thyroid hormones from damaged thyroid cells in Graves' patients. To avoid this complication pretreatment with antithyroid drugs is recommended. Otherwise, the use of antithyroid drugs prior to 131 I therapy may diminish the success of 131 I therapy and should therefore be discontinued. The aim of our prospective clinical study was to compare early changes of thyroid hormone concentrations after 131 I therapy in Graves' patients, pretreated or not pretreated with methimazole. 92 consecutive Graves' patients, 84 females and 8 males, aged 17 to 80 were treated with 555 MBq of 131 I. Absorbed dose of 131 I was calculated. In the first group of 22 patients treatment with methimazole (20 mg/day) was discontinued 7 days before 131 I therapy, the second group of 33 patients received methimazole until the day of 131 I therapy and the third group of 37 patients was not pretreated with methimazole before 131 I therapy. 7 and 2 days before 131 I therapy and 2, 5, 12 and 30 days after serum free T 4 (fT 4 ) and free T 3 (fT 3 ) concentrations were measured. In the first group a significant increase of fT 4 and fT 3 was observed 7 days after discontinuation of methimazole (fT 4 14.60 ± 4.10 vs. 18.25 ± 7.16; fT 3 5.45 ± 1.44 vs. 7.79 ± 5.27 pmol/l), while gradual decrease of fT 4 and fT 3 was observed after 131 I therapy. In the second group a significant increase of fT 4 and fT 3 after 131 I therapy peaking on day 5 was observed (fT 4 20.91 ± 13.70 vs. 27.85 ± 18.17; fT 3 7.81 ± 5.21 vs. 9.42 ± 6.21 pmol/l). In the third group significant decrease of fT 4 and fT 3 concentrations was observed after 131 I therapy (fT 4 36.12 ± 18.55 vs. on day 12th 27.49 ± 15.20; fT 3 12.66 ± 7.04 vs. on day 12th 8.31 ± 4.92 pmol/l). No correlation between absorbed dose of 131 I and changes of fT 4 and fT 3 concentrations was observed. Therefore, our results indicate that not 131 I

  2. Effective of Microwave-KOH Pretreatment on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Bamboo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhiqiang Li; Zehui Jiang; Yan Yu; Zhiyong Cai

    2012-01-01

    Bamboo, with its advantages of fast growth, short renovation, easy propagation and rich in cellulose and hemicellulose, is a potential feedstock for bioethanol or other biofuels production. The objective of this study was to examine the fea- sibility of microwave assistant KOH pretreatments to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis of bamboo. Pretreatment was car- ried out by...

  3. Dendritic cell populations in patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lied GA

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Gülen A Lied1,3,4,*, Petra Vogelsang2,*, Arnold Berstad1,4, Silke Appel2 1Institute of Medicine, 2Broegelmann Research Laboratory, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen, Norway; 3Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine; 4Section of Clinical Allergology, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway *These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Self-reported hypersensitivity to food is a common condition and many of these patients have indications of intestinal immune activation. Dendritic cells (DCs are recognized as the most potent antigen-presenting cells involved in both initiating immune responses and maintaining tolerance. The aims of this study were to evaluate the DC populations with their phenotype and T cell stimulatory capacity in patients with food hypersensitivity and to study its relationship with atopic disease. Blood samples from 10 patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity, divided into atopic and nonatopic subgroups, and 10 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry using the Miltenyi Blood Dendritic cells kit. Monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs were evaluated concerning their phenotype and T cell stimulatory capacity. DC populations and cell surface markers were not significantly different between patients and healthy controls, but moDCs from atopic patients expressed significantly more CD38 compared to moDCs from nonatopic patients. Moreover, lipopolysaccharide stimulated moDCs from atopic patients produced significantly more interleukin-10 compared to nonatopic patients. CD38 expression was correlated to total serum immunoglobulin E levels. These findings support the notion of immune activation in some patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity. They need to be confirmed in a larger cohort.Keywords: food hypersensitivity, atopy, dendritic cells, CD38

  4. Techniques and practices for pretreatment of low and intermediate level solid and liquid radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    An overall waste management strategy generally includes several components: pretreatment, treatment, conditioning, transport and disposal. Benefits of pretreatment are improved safety, lower radiation exposures and significantly lower costs in subsequent waste management operations. This publication reviews current practices in the pretreatment of wastes in different countries and may assist the specialist in selection of appropriate pretreatment techniques

  5. Pretreatment of radiata pine using two white rot fungal strains Stereum hirsutum and Trametes versicolor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shirkavand, Ehsan; Baroutian, Saeid; Gapes, Daniel J.; Young, Brent R.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Fungal pretreatment by two New Zealand native white rot fungi was proposed. • Trametes versicolor was more efficient in selective degradation of pine wood chips. • Both fungal strains significantly decreased crystallinity index of biomass only after week 7 of degradation. • Structural analysis showed that Trametes versicolor and Stereum hirsutum increased porous surface area of woody biomass. - Abstract: Stereum hirsutum and Trametes versicolor, were studied over a period of 3–7 weeks for pretreatment of radiata pine wood chips. Chemical analysis of pretreated biomass showed that the two studied strains were able to selectively degrade lignin. Selective lignin degradation was greater in week 3 of the pretreatment by Trametes versicolor compared to the other strain. Lengthening pretreatment time increased both lignin and cellulose losses which caused a reduction in selective lignin degradation for both strains. X-ray diffractometry showed that after seven weeks of pretreatment, the crystallinity of the woody biomass was decreased significantly. It decreased from 46% for untreated wood chips to 37% and 44% for Stereum hirsutum and Trametes versicolor treated biomass, respectively. The pretreatment with these two white rot fungi showed that 3-week pretreatment provided a cellulose rich biomass with the minimum cellulose loss compared to the other time of pretreatment.

  6. Methods for producing and using densified biomass products containing pretreated biomass fibers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dale, Bruce E.; Ritchie, Bryan; Marshall, Derek

    2015-05-26

    A process is provided comprising subjecting a quantity of plant biomass fibers to a pretreatment to cause at least a portion of lignin contained within each fiber to move to an outer surface of said fiber, wherein a quantity of pretreated tacky plant biomass fibers is produced; and densifying the quantity of pretreated tacky plant biomass fibers to produce one or more densified biomass particulates, wherein said biomass fibers are densified without using added binder.

  7. Impact of Pretreatment Technologies on Saccharification and Isopentenol Fermentation of Mixed Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shi, Jian; George, Kevin W.; Sun, Ning; He, Wei; Li, Chenlin; Stavila, Vitalie; Keasling, Jay D.; Simmons, Blake A.; Lee, Taek Soon; Singh, Seema

    2015-02-28

    In order to enable the large-scale production of biofuels or chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass, a consistent and affordable year-round supply of lignocellulosic feedstocks is essential. Feedstock blending and/or densification offers one promising solution to overcome current challenges on biomass supply, i.e., low energy and bulk densities and significant compositional variations. Therefore, it is imperative to develop conversion technologies that can process mixed pelleted biomass feedstocks with minimal negative impact in terms of overall performance of the relevant biorefinery unit operations: pretreatment, fermentable sugar production, and fuel titers. We processed the mixture of four feedstocks—corn stover, switchgrass, lodgepole pine, and eucalyptus (1:1:1:1 on dry weight basis)—in flour and pellet form using ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, dilute sulfuric acid (DA), and soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatments. Commercial enzyme mixtures, including cellulases and hemicellulases, were then applied to these pretreated feedstocks at low to moderate enzyme loadings to determine hydrolysis efficiency. Results show significant variations on the chemical composition, crystallinity, and enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated feedstocks across the different pretreatment technologies studied. The advanced biofuel isopentenol was produced during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of pretreated feedstocks using an engineered Escherichia coli strain. Results show that IL pretreatment liberates the most sugar during enzymatic saccharification, and in turn led to the highest isopentenol titer as compared to DA and SAA pretreatments. This study provides insights on developing biorefinery technologies that produce advanced biofuels based on mixed feedstock streams.

  8. The Use of Clay-Polymer Nanocomposites in Wastewater Pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rytwo, Giora

    2012-01-01

    Some agricultural effluents are unsuitable for discharge into standard sewage-treatment plants: their pretreatment is necessary to avoid clogging of the filtering devices by colloidal matter. The colloidal stability of the effluents is mainly due to mutual repulsive forces that keep charged particles in suspension. Pretreatment processes are based on two separate stages: (a) neutralization of the charges (“coagulation”) and (b) bridging between several small particles to form larger aggregates that sink, leaving clarified effluent (“flocculation”). The consequent destabilization of the colloidal suspension lowers total suspended solids (TSSs), turbidity, and other environmental quality parameters, making the treatments that follow more efficient. Clay-based materials have been widely used for effluent pretreatment and pollutant removal. This study presents the use of nanocomposites, comprised of an anchoring particle and a polymer, as “coagoflocculants” for the efficient and rapid reduction of TSS and turbidity in wastewater with a high organic load. The use of such particles combines the advantages of coagulant and flocculant by neutralizing the charge of the suspended particles while bridging between them and anchoring them to a denser particle (the clay mineral), enhancing their precipitation. Very rapid and efficient pretreatment is achieved in one single treatment step. PMID:22454607

  9. Urine pretreatment for waste water processing systems. [for space station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winkler, H. E.; Verostko, C. E.; Dehner, G. F.

    1983-01-01

    Recovery of high quality water from urine is an essential part of life support on a Space Station to avoid costly launch and resupply penalties. Water can be effectively recovered from urine by distillation following pretreatment by a chemical agent to inhibit microorganism contamination and fix volatile ammonia constituents. This paper presents the results of laboratory investigations of several pretreatment chemicals which were tested at several concentration levels in combination with sulfuric acid in urine. The optimum pretreatment formulation was then evaluated with urine in the Hamilton Standard Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation Subsystem (TIMES). Over 2600 hours of test time was accumulated. Results of these laboratory and system tests are presented in this paper.

  10. Prostate cancer patient subsets showing improved bNED control with adjuvant androgen deprivation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Penny R.; Hanlon, Alexandra L.; Movsas, Benjamin; Hanks, Gerald E.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: Cooperative groups have investigated the outcome of androgen deprivation therapy combined with radiation therapy in prostate cancer patients with variable pretreatment prognostic indicators. This report describes an objective means of selecting patients for adjuvant hormonal therapy by a retrospective matched case/control comparison of outcome between patients with specific pretreatment characteristics who receive adjuvant hormones (RT + H) vs. patients with identical pretreatment characteristics treated with radiation therapy alone (RT). In addition, this report shows the 5-year bNED control for patients selected by this method for RT + H vs. RT alone. Methods and Materials: From (10(88)) to (12(93)), 517 T1-T3 NXM0 patients with known pretreatment PSA level were treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Four hundred fifty-nine of those patients were treated with RT alone while 58 were treated with RT + H. The patients were categorized according to putative prognostic factors indicative of bNED control, which include the palpation stage, Gleason score, and pretreatment PSA. We compared actuarial bNED control rates according to treatment group within each of the prognostic groups. In addition, we devised a retrospective matched case/control selection of RT patients for comparison with the RT + H group. Five-year bNED control was compared for the two treatment groups, excluding the best prognosis group, using 56 RT + H patients and 56 matched (by stage, grade, and pretreatment PSA level) controls randomly selected from the RT alone group. bNED control for the entire group of 517 patients was then analyzed multivariately using step-wise Cox regression to determine independent predictors of outcome. Covariates considered for entry into the model included stage (T1/T2AB vs. T2C/T3), grade (2-6 vs. 7-10), pretreatment PSA (0-15 vs. > 15), treatment (RT vs. RT + H), and center of prostate dose. bNED failure is defined as PSA ≥1.5 ngm/ml and rising on two consecutive

  11. Patient satisfaction with community pharmacy: comparing urban and suburban chain-pharmacy populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malewski, David F; Ream, Aimrie; Gaither, Caroline A

    2015-01-01

    Patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care can be a strong predictor of medication and other health-related outcomes. Less understood is the role that location of pharmacies in urban or suburban environments plays in patient satisfaction with pharmacy and pharmacist services. The purpose of this study was to serve as a pilot examining urban and suburban community pharmacy populations for similarities and differences in patient satisfaction. Community pharmacy patients were asked to self-administer a 30-question patient satisfaction survey. Fifteen questions addressed their relationship with the pharmacist, 10 questions addressed satisfaction and accessibility of the pharmacy, and five questions addressed financial concerns. Five urban and five suburban pharmacies agreed to participate. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis. Most patients reported high levels of satisfaction. Satisfaction with pharmacist relationship and service was 70% or higher with no significant differences between locations. There were significant differences between the urban and suburban patients regarding accessibility of pharmacy services, customer service and some patient/pharmacist trust issues. The significant differences between patient satisfaction in the suburban and urban populations warrant a larger study with more community pharmacies in other urban, suburban and rural locations to better understand and validate study findings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Wet oxidation pretreatment of rape straw for ethanol production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arvaniti, Efthalia; Bjerre, Anne Belinda; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

    2012-01-01

    Rape straw can be used for production of second generation bioethanol. In this paper we optimized the pretreatment of rape straw for this purpose using Wet oxidation (WO). The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time, and oxygen gas pressure was investigated for maximum ethanol yield via...... Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). To reduce the water use and increase the energy efficiency in WO pretreatment features like recycling liquid (filtrate), presoaking of rape straw in water or recycled filtrate before WO, skip washing pretreated solids (filter cake) after WO, or use of whole...... gas produced higher ethanol yields and cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin recoveries, than 15 min WO treatment at 195 °C. Also, recycling filtrate and use of higher oxygen gas pressure reduced recovery of materials. The use of filtrate could be inhibitory for the yeast, but also reduced lactic acid...

  13. Increased migraine risk in osteoporosis patients: a nationwide population-based study

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, Chieh-Hsin; Zhang, Zi-Hao; Wu, Ming-Kung; Wang, Chiu-Huan; Lu, Ying-Yi; Lin, Chih-Lung

    2016-01-01

    Background Osteoporosis and migraine are both important public health problems and may have overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of this study was to use a Taiwanese population-based dataset to assess migraine risk in osteoporosis patients. Methods The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to analyse data for 40,672 patients aged ?20?years who had been diagnosed with osteoporosis during 1996?2010. An additional 40,672 age-matched patients without osteoporos...

  14. Comparisons of five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for ethanol production from SPORL pretreated lodgepole pine

    Science.gov (United States)

    The performances of 5 yeast strains under three levels of toxicity were evaluated using hydrolysates from lodgepole pine pretreated by Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome the Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL). The highest level of toxicity was represented by the whole pretreated biomass slurry, ...

  15. Chemical pretreatment of Arundo donax L. for second-generation ethanol production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Silva Lemões

    2018-01-01

    Conclusion: Alkaline pretreatment was essential for obtaining high concentrations of glucose and xylose. The application of an alkaline pretreatment alone resulted in high glucose and xylose concentrations. This result is very significant as it allows a cost reduction by eliminating one step.

  16. 40 CFR 403.10 - Development and submission of NPDES State pretreatment programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS GENERAL PRE-TREAT-MENT REGULATIONS FOR EXIST-ING AND... Industrial User is in compliance with Pretreatment Standards; (iv) Seek civil and criminal penalties, and...

  17. Efficient saccharification by pretreatment of bagasse pith with ionic liquid and acid solutions simultaneously

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Gang; Zhang, Suping; Xu, Wenjuan; Qi, Wei; Yan, Yongjie; Xu, Qingli

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Bagasse pith was pretreated by BMIMCl solution containing HCl and water. • Hemicellulose was hydrolyzed to reducing sugars by HCl to maximize total sugar yield. • Cellulose was dissolved by BMIMCl and 95% of cellulose recovery was obtained. • The recovered cellulose was disrupted which is conducive to cellulase hydrolysis. • The total sugars yield is 89.9% obtained from pretreatment and cellulase hydrolysis. - Abstract: Hydrolysis of hemicellulose and disruption of cellulose during pretreatment process are conducive to the following cellulase hydrolysis performance. In this work, bagasse pith was first pretreated by 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) solution containing 0–1.2% hydrochloric acid (HCl) and 30% water. The water (30%) added into the acidic ionic liquid (IL) solutions led to an increase in the biomass loading up to a biomass/IL solutions ratio of 1:10 (wt.%). Hemicellulose was hydrolyzed to reducing sugars by HCl and cellulose was dissolved by [BMIM]Cl. In this process, 76.9% of hemicellulose conversion and 95% of cellulose recovery were obtained. The pretreated bagasse pith was then followed by hydrolysis with commercially available enzymes. The effects of pretreatment temperature, reaction time and acid concentration on cellulase hydrolysis of pretreated bagasse pith were investigated. Pretreatment of bagasse pith with [BMIM]Cl solutions containing 1.0% HCl at 120 °C for 30 min resulted in the glucose concentration of 92.3 g/l and yield of 94.5% after 72 h of cellulase hydrolysis. The maximum total reducing sugars yield reached to 89.9% after pretreatment and cellulase hydrolysis

  18. A randomised phase II study of sialyl-Tn and DETOX-B adjuvant with or without cyclophosphamide pretreatment for the active specific immunotherapy of breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, D W; Towlson, K E; Graham, R; Reddish, M; Longenecker, B M; Taylor-Papadimitriou, J; Rubens, R D

    1996-10-01

    Studies in animal models of mouse mammary carcinoma have shown that ovine submaxillary mucin, which carries multiple sialyl-Tn (STn) epitopes, is effective in stimulating an immune response and inhibiting tumour growth. In similar studies using carbohydrate antigens, pretreatment with low-dose cyclophosphamide has been shown to be important in modulating the immune response to antigen possibly by inhibiting suppresser T-cell activity. In a clinical trial assessing the efficacy and toxicity of synthetic STn, patients with metastatic breast cancer were randomised to receive 100 micrograms STn linked to keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) with DETOX-B adjuvant given by subcutaneous injection at weeks 0, 2, 5 and 9 with or without low-dose cyclophosphamide (CTX, 300 mg m-2) pretreatment, 3 days before the start of immunotherapy. Patients with responding or stable disease after the first four injections were eligible to receive STn-KLH at 4 week intervals. The main toxicity noted was the development of subcutaneous granulomata at injection sites. Of 23 patients randomised, 18 received four injections, 5 patients having developed progressive disease during the initial 12 week period. Two minor responses were noted in the 18 patients who received four active specific immunotherapy (ASI) injections and a further five patients had stable disease. Six patients continued ASI at 4 week intervals and a partial response was noted in a patient who had previously had stable disease. All patients developed IgG and IgM responses to sialyl-Tn and levels of IgM antibodies were significantly higher in those patients who were pretreated with CTX. Measurable tumour responses have been recorded following ASI with STn-KLH plus DETOX and the immunomodulatory properties of low-dose CTX have been confirmed.

  19. Comparison of different pretreatment methods for separation hemicellulose from straw during the lignocellulosic bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenhuber, Katharina; Krennhuber, Klaus; Steinmüller, Viktoria; Kahr, Heike; Jäger, Alexander

    2013-04-01

    The combustion of fossil fuels is responsible for 73% of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and consequently contributes to global warming. This fact has enormously increased the interest in the development of methods to reduce greenhouse gases. Therefore, the focus is on the production of biofuels from lignocellulosic agricultural residues. The feedstocks used for 2nd generation bioethanol production are lignocellulosic raw materials like different straw types or energy crops like miscanthus sinensis or arundo donax. Lignocellulose consists of hemicellulose (xylose and arabinose), which is bonded to cellulose (glucose) and lignin. Prior to an enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides and fermentation of the resulting sugars, the lignocelluloses must be pretreated to make the sugar polymers accessible to enzymes. A variety of pretreatment methods are described in the literature: thermophysical, acid-based and alkaline methods.In this study, we examined and compared the most important pretreatment methods: Steam explosion versus acid and alkaline pretreatment. Specific attention was paid to the mass balance, the recovery of C 5 sugars and consumption of chemicals needed for pretreatment. In lab scale experiments, wheat straw was either directly pretreated by steam explosion or by two different protocols. The straw was either soaked in sulfuric acid or in sodium hydroxide solution at different concentrations. For both methods, wheat straw was pretreated at 100°C for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the remaining straw was separated by vacuum filtration from the liquid fraction.The pretreated straw was neutralized, dried and enzymatically hydrolyzed. Finally, the sugar concentrations (glucose, xylose and arabinose) from filtrate and from hydrolysate were determined by HPLC. The recovery of xylose from hemicellulose was about 50% using the sulfuric acid pretreatment and less than 2% using the sodium hydroxide pretreatment. Increasing concentrations of sulfuric acid

  20. Mass loss controlled thermal pretreatment system to assess the effects of pretreatment temperature on organic matter solubilization and methane yield from food waste.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martha Minale Yeshanew

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The effects of thermal pretreatment (TP on the main characteristics of food waste (FW and its biochemical methane potential (BMP and distribution of volatile fatty acids (VFAs under mesophilic condition (35 ⁰C were investigated. The TP experiments were carried out at 80 °C, 100 °C, 120 °C for 2 hour and 140 °C for 1 hour. The designed TP set-up was able to minimize the organic matter loss during the course of the pretreatments. Soluble organic fractions evaluated in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD and soluble protein increased linearly with pretreatment temperature. In contrast, the carbohydrate solubilization was more enhanced (30 % higher solubilization by the TP at lower temperature (80 °C. A slight increment of soluble phenols was found, particularly for temperatures exceeding 100 °C. Thermally pretreated FW under all conditions exhibited an improved methane yield than the untreated FW, due to the increased organic matter solubilization. The highest cumulative methane yield of 442 (± 8.6 mL/gVSadded, corresponding to a 28.1 % enhancement compared to the untreated FW, was obtained with a TP at 80 °C. No significant variation in the VFAs trends were observed during the BMP tests under all investigated conditions.

  1. Ethanol production from industrial hemp: effect of combined dilute acid/steam pretreatment and economic aspects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gunnarsson, Ingólfur Bragi; Svensson, Sven-Erik; Prade, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    In the present study, combined steam (140-180 °C) and dilute-acid pre-hydrolysis (0.0-2.0%) were applied to industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), as pretreatment for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. The influence of the pretreatment conditions and cultivation type on the hydrolysis and etha......In the present study, combined steam (140-180 °C) and dilute-acid pre-hydrolysis (0.0-2.0%) were applied to industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), as pretreatment for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. The influence of the pretreatment conditions and cultivation type on the hydrolysis...... pretreated at the optimal conditions showed positive economic results. The type of hemp cultivation (organic or conventional) did not influence significantly the effectiveness of the pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation....

  2. Kinetic study of enzymatic hydrolysis of acid-pretreated coconut coir

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatmawati, Akbarningrum; Agustriyanto, Rudy

    2015-12-01

    Biomass waste utilization for biofuel production such as bioethanol, has become more prominent currently. Coconut coir is one of lignocellulosic food wastes, which is abundant in Indonesia. Bioethanol production from such materials consists of more than one step. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis is crucial steps to produce sugar which can then be fermented into bioethanol. In this research, ground coconut coir was pretreated using dilute sulfuric acid at 121°C. This pretreatment had increased the cellulose content and decreased the lignin content of coconut coir. The pretreated coconut coir was hydrolyzed using a mix of two commercial cellulase enzymes at pH of 4.8 and temperature of 50°C. The enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted at several initial coconut coir slurry concentrations (0.1-2 g/100 mL) and reaction times (2-72 hours). The reducing sugar concentration profiles had been produced and can be used to obtain reaction rates. The highest reducing sugar concentration obtained was 1,152.567 mg/L, which was produced at initial slurry concentration of 2 g/100 mL and 72 hours reaction time. In this paper, the reducing sugar concentrations were empirically modeled as a function of reaction time using power equations. Michaelis-Menten kinetic model for enzymatic hydrolysis reaction is adopted. The kinetic parameters of that model for sulfuric acid-pretreated coconut coir enzymatic hydrolysis had been obtained which are Vm of 3.587×104 mg/L.h, and KM of 130.6 mg/L.

  3. Radiation pretreatment of cellulose for energy production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dela Rosa, A. M.; Dela Mines, A. S.; Banzon, R. B.; Simbul-Nuguid, Z. F.

    The effect of radiation pretreatment of agricultural cellulosic wastes was investigated through hydrolytic reactions of cellulose. Gamma irradiation significantly increased the acid hydrolysis of rice straw, rice hull and corn husk. The yields of reducing sugar were higher with increasing radiation dose in these materials. The observed radiation effect varied with the cellulosic material but it correlated with neither the cellulose content nor the lignin content. Likewise, the radiation pretreatment accelerated the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw and rice hull by cellulase. The irradiated rice straw appeared to be a better growth medium for the cellulolytic microorganism, Myrothecium verrucaria, than the non-irradiated material. This was attributed to increased digestibility of the cellulose by the microorganism.

  4. Radiation pretreatment of cellulose for energy production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dela Rosa, A.M.; Dela Mines, A.S.; Banzon, R.B.; Simbul-Nuguid, Z.F.

    1983-01-01

    The effect of radiation pretreatment of agricultural cellulosic wastes was investigated through hydrolytic reactions of cellulose. Gamma irradiation significantly increased the acid hydrolysis of rice straw, rice hull and corn husk. The yields of reducing sugar were higher with increasing radiation dose in these materials. The observed radiation effect varied with the cellulose material but it correlated with neither the cellulose content nor the lignin content. Likewise, the radiation pretreatment accelerated the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw and rice hull by cellulase. The irradiated rice straw appeared to be a better growth medium for the cellulolytic microorganism, Myrothecium verrucaria, than the non-irradiated material. This was attributed to increased digestibility of the cellulose by the microorganism. (author)

  5. Enhancing the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover by an integrated wet-milling and alkali pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Xun; Miao, Yelian; Jiang, Xuejian; Xu, Zidong; Ouyang, Pingkai

    2010-04-01

    An integrated wet-milling and alkali pretreatment was applied to corn stover prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. The effects of NaOH concentration in the pretreatment on crystalline structure, chemical composition, and reducing-sugar yield of corn stover were investigated, and the mechanism of increasing reducing-sugar yield by the pretreatment was discussed. The experimental results showed that the crystalline structure of corn stover was disrupted, and lignin was removed, while cellulose and hemicellulose were retained in corn stover by the pretreatment with 1% NaOH in 1 h. The reducing-sugar yield from the pretreated corn stovers increased from 20.2% to 46.7% when the NaOH concentration increased from 0% to 1%. The 1% NaOH pretreated corn stover had a holocellulose conversion of 55.1%. The increase in reducing-sugar yield was related to the crystalline structure disruption and delignification of corn stover. It was clarified that the pretreatment significantly enhanced the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose in the corn stover to sugars.

  6. Evaluation of sample pretreatment methods for analysis of polonium isotopes in herbal medicines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sreejith, Sathyapriya R.; Nair, Madhu G.; Rao, D.D.

    2014-01-01

    Herbal infusions like ayurvedic aristas are widely consumed by Indian population for good health. With increasing awareness about radiological assessment, an effort was made to assess the radioactivity concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides in herbal medicines. 210 Po is an important alpha particle emitter contributing to internal dose to man from ingestion. Though 210 Po can be spontaneously deposited on silver disk for alpha spectrometric measurements with less radiochemical step, great care has to be taken during the sample pretreatment step owing to the high volatility of polonium even at low temperatures. Aim of the study was to evaluate an appropriate sample pretreatment method for estimation of polonium in herbal medicines. 209 Po was used for radiochemical yield calculation. Conventional open vessel wet ashing, physical evaporation, freeze-drying and microwave digestion in a Teflon vessel were examined. The recovery ranged between 9 and 79%. The lowest recovery was obtained for the samples that were processed by open vessel digestion without any volume reduction. The recoveries were comparable for those samples that were freeze dried and subjected to HNO 3 + HClO 4 + H 2 O 2 + HF acid digestion and microwave digested samples. 210 Po concentration in the samples ranged from 11.3 to 39.6 mBq/L

  7. Modelling and L1 Adaptive Control of Temperature in Biomass Pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Blanke, Mogens; Sin, Gürkan

    2013-01-01

    Biomass steam pretreatment is a key process in converting agricultural wastes to bioethanol. The pretreatment occurs in a large pressurized tank called a thermal reactor. Two key parameters influence the successfulness of the process: the reactor temperature, and the retention time. A particle pu...

  8. Dry ice blasting as a substitution for the conventional electroplating pre-treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uhlmann Eckart

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available For high quality electroplated products, surfaces must be thoroughly pre-treated. For this purpose electroplating currently needs a variety of chemical baths. The used chemicals are injurious to health and harmful to the environment. In addition, the conventional pre-treatment has a long process time which results in high costs. Dry ice blasting alone or in combination with other processes has the potential to completely substitute these conventional pre-treatment processes. Three process sequences as pre-treatment methods prior to electroplating were investigated on the aluminium alloys AlSi12 and AlMg3. The used processes are dry ice blasting, tempering during dry ice blasting and glass bead blasting followed by dry ice blasting. The influence of the parameters on the surface roughness, surface topography and surface tension of the workpieces was examined. A model to describe the correlation between the dry ice blasting parameters and surface parameters was developed. Finally, an adhesion test of electroplated specimen was conducted in order to determine the suitability of these alternative pre-treatment processes.

  9. Prognostic value of pretreatment serum alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST) ratio and gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Hao; Wang, Xue-Ping; Li, Xiao-Hui; Chen, Hao; Zheng, Xin; Lin, Jian-Hua; Kang, Ting; Zhang, Lin; Chen, Pei-Song

    2017-08-14

    The levels of liver function tests (LFTs) are often used to assess liver injury and non-liver disease-related mortality. In our study, the relationship between pretreatment serum LFTs and overall survival (OS) was evaluated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Our purpose was to investigate the prognostic value of the preoperative alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST) ratio and gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT) in ESCC patients. A retrospective study was performed in 447 patients with ESCC, and follow-up period was at least 60 months until death. The prognostic significance of serum LFTs were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox hazard models. LFTs including ALT, AST, LSR, GGT, TBA and LDH were analyzed. Serum LSR (HR: 0.592, 95% CI = 0.457-0.768, p < 0.001 and GGT (HR: 1.507, 95% CI = 1.163-1.953, p = 0.002) levels were indicated as significant predictors of OS. The 5-year OS among patients with higher LSR levels was longer compared with those patients with decreased LSR levels, not only in the whole cohort but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (T1-T2 subgroup, T3-T4 subgroup, N0 subgroup and M0 subgroup). We also found that patients with a higher GGT might predict worse OS than patients with a normal GGT, not only in the whole cohort but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (T3-T4 subgroup and N1-N2 subgroup). Both increased levels of LSR and decreased levels of GGT might predict shorter overall survival in ESCC patients. Our findings suggest that serum LSR and GGT levels could be used as a key predictor of survival in patients with ESCC.

  10. Uncertainty and approximate reasoning in waste pretreatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agnew, S.F.; Eisenhawer, S.W.; Bott, T.F.

    1998-01-01

    Waste pretreatment process planning within the DOE complex must consider many different outcomes in order to perform the tradeoffs necessary to accomplish this important national mission. One of the difficulties encountered by many who assess these tradeoffs is that the complexity of this problem taxes the abilities of any single person or small group of individuals. For example, uncertainties in waste composition as well as process efficiency are well known yet incompletely considered in the search for optimum solutions. This paper describes a tool, the pre-treatment Process Analysis Tool (PAT), for evaluating tank waste pretreatment options at Hanford, Oak Ridge, Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory, and Savannah River Sites. The PAT propagates uncertainty in both tank waste composition and process partitioning into a set of ten outcomes. These outcomes are, for example, total cost, Cs-137 in iLAW, iHLW MT, and so on. Tradeoffs among outcomes are evaluated or scored by means of an approximate reasoning module that uses linguistic bases to evaluate tradeoffs for each process based on user valuations of outcomes

  11. Characterization of lignin during oxidative and hydrothermal pre-treatment processes of wheat straw and corn stover.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaparaju, Prasad; Felby, Claus

    2010-05-01

    The objective of the study was to characterize and map changes in lignin during hydrothermal and wet explosion pre-treatments of wheat straw and corn stover. Chemical composition, microscopic (atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) and spectroscopic (attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR) analyses were performed. Results showed that both pre-treatments improved the cellulose and lignin content with substantial removal of hemicellulose in the pre-treated biomasses. These values were slightly higher for hydrothermal compared to wet explosion pre-treatment. ATR-FTIR analyses also confirmed these results. Microscopic analysis showed that pre-treatments affected the biomass by partial difibration. Lignin deposition on the surface of the hydrothermally pre-treated fibre was very distinct while severe loss of fibril integrity was noticed with wet exploded fibre. The present study thus revealed that the lignin cannot be removed by the studied pre-treatments. However, both pre-treatments improved the accessibility of the biomass towards enzymatic hydrolysis. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Steam explosion and its combinatorial pretreatment refining technology of plant biomass to bio-based products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hong-Zhang; Liu, Zhi-Hua

    2015-06-01

    Pretreatment is a key unit operation affecting the refinery efficiency of plant biomass. However, the poor efficiency of pretreatment and the lack of basic theory are the main challenges to the industrial implementation of the plant biomass refinery. The purpose of this work is to review steam explosion and its combinatorial pretreatment as a means of overcoming the intrinsic characteristics of plant biomass, including recalcitrance, heterogeneity, multi-composition, and diversity. The main advantages of the selective use of steam explosion and other combinatorial pretreatments across the diversity of raw materials are introduced. Combinatorial pretreatment integrated with other unit operations is proposed as a means to exploit the high-efficiency production of bio-based products from plant biomass. Finally, several pilot- and demonstration-scale operations of the plant biomass refinery are described. Based on the principle of selective function and structure fractionation, and multi-level and directional composition conversion, an integrated process with the combinatorial pretreatments of steam explosion and other pretreatments as the core should be feasible and conform to the plant biomass refinery concept. Combinatorial pretreatments of steam explosion and other pretreatments should be further exploited based on the type and intrinsic characteristics of the plant biomass used, the bio-based products to be made, and the complementarity of the processes. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Comparative data on effects of leading pretreatments and enzyme loadings and formulations on sugar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wyman, Charles [Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States); Balan, Venkatech [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Dale, Bruce E. [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Elander, Richard [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Falls, Matthew [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Hames, Bonnie [Ceres Corporation, Thousand Oaks, CA (United States); Holtzapple, Mark [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Ladisch, Michael R. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Lee, Y. Y. [Auburn Univ., AL (United States); Mosier, Nathan [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Pallapolu, Venkata R. [Auburn Univ., AL (United States); Shi, Jian [Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States); Warner, Ryan E. [Genencor, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2011-06-16

    Dilute sulfuric acid (DA), sulfur dioxide (SO2), liquid hot water (LHW), soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA), ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), and lime pretreatments were applied to Alamo, Dacotah, and Shawnee switchgrass. Application of the same analytical methods and material balance approaches facil-itated meaningful comparisons of glucose and xylose yields from combined pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Use of a common supply of cellulase, beta-glucosidase, and xylanase also eased comparisons. All pretreatments enhanced sugar recovery from pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis substantially compared to untreated switchgrass. Adding beta-glucosidase was effective early in enzy-matic hydrolysis while cellobiose levels were high but had limited effect on longer term yields at the enzyme loadings applied. Adding xylanase improved yields most for higher pH pretreatments where more xylan was left in the solids. Harvest time had more impact on performance than switchgrass variety, and microscopy showed changes in different features could impact performance by different pretreatments.

  14. Lower pressure heating steam is practical for the distributed dry dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Shuai; Zhang, Jian; Hou, Weiliang; Qureshi, Abdul Sattar; Bao, Jie

    2017-08-01

    Most studies paid more attention to the pretreatment temperature and the resulted pretreatment efficiency, while ignored the heating media and their scalability to an industry scale. This study aimed to use a relative low pressure heating steam easily provided by steam boiler to meet the requirement of distributed dry dilute acid pretreatment. The results showed that the physical properties of the pretreated corn stover were maintained stable using the steam pressure varying from 1.5, 1.7, 1.9 to 2.1MPa. Enzymatic hydrolysis and high solids loading simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) results were also satisfying. CFD simulation indicated that the high injection velocity of the low pressure steam resulted in a high steam holdup and made the mixing time of steam and solid corn stover during pretreatment much shorter in comparison with the higher pressure steam. This study provides a design basis for the boiler requirement in distributed pretreatment concept. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of laromustine, an emerging alkylating agent, in cancer patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nassar, Ala F; Wisnewski, Adam V; King, Ivan

    2017-05-01

    1. Alkylating agents are capable of introducing an alkyl group into nucleophilic sites on DNA or RNA through covalent bond. Laromustine is an active member of a relatively new class of sulfonylhydrazine prodrugs under development as antineoplastic alkylating agents, and displays significant single-agent activity. 2. This is the first report of the population pharmacokinetic analysis of laromustine, 106 patients, 66 with hematologic malignancies and 40 with solid tumors, participated in five clinical trials worldwide. Of these, 104 patients were included in the final NONMEM analysis. 3. The population estimates for total clearance (CL) and volume of distribution of the central compartment (V 1 ) were 96.3 L/h and 45.9 L, associated with high inter-patient variability of 52.9% and 79.8% and inter-occasion variability of 26.7% and 49.3%, respectively. The population estimates for Q and V 2 were 73.2 L/h and 29.9 L, and inter-patient variability in V 2 was 63.1%, respectively. 4. The estimate of V ss (75.8 L) exceeds total body water, indicating that laromustine is distributed to tissues. The half-life is short, less than 1 h, reflecting rapid clearance. Population PK analysis showed laromustine pharmacokinetics to be independent of dose and organ function with no effect on subsequent dosing cycles.

  16. Predictive value of pretreatment metabolic activity measured by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with metastatic advanced gastric cancer: the maximal SUV of the stomach is a prognostic factor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jun Chul; Cheoi, Kungseok; Chung, Hyunsoo; Lee, Hyuk; Shin, Sung Kwan; Lee, Sang Kil; Lee, Yong Chan [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jae-Hoon; Yun, Mi Jin [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-07-15

    Few studies have evaluated metabolic activity by {sup 18}F-FDG PET as a prognostic factor in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). We investigated its prognostic role in metastatic AGC. We enrolled 82 patients with metastatic AGC, who were treatment-naive and underwent pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scanning. In each patient, the maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was measured in each target lesion. Stomach{sub SUVmax} was defined as SUVmax in the stomach, while Total{sub SUVmax} was defined as the highest SUVmax among all the target lesions. The stomach was the organ most frequently displaying the highest SUVmax among all the target lesions (in 67.1 % of patients). A Total{sub SUVmax} value of 11.5 was the value with the maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity from receiver-operating characteristic curves for progression-free survival (PFS). PFS was significantly longer in patients with a Total{sub SUVmax} value <11.5 than in those with a Total{sub SUVmax} value {>=}11.5 (P = 0.023); however, overall survival (OS) was not (P = 0.055). A Stomach{sub SUVmax} value of 6.0 was derived by similar methods. PFS and OS were significantly longer in those with a Stomach{sub SUVmax} value <6.0 than in those with a Stomach{sub SUVmax} value {>=}6.0 (P = 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). Furthermore, those with a low Total{sub SUVmax} and those with a low Stomach{sub SUVmax} showed better chemotherapeutic responses (P = 0.016 and P = 0.034, respectively). Among patients with histologically undifferentiated carcinomas, those with lower Total{sub SUVmax} and those with lower Stomach{sub SUVmax} showed longer median PFS (P = 0.027 and P = 0.005, respectively) and OS (P = 0.009 and P <0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated Stomach{sub SUVmax} as an independent predictor of PFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.038). Pretreatment metabolic activity may be a useful prognostic marker in patients with metastatic AGC undergoing palliative chemotherapy. Notably

  17. Energy efficacy used to score organic refuse pretreatment processes for hydrogen anaerobic production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggeri, Bernardo; Luongo Malave, Andrea C; Bernardi, Milena; Fino, Debora

    2013-11-01

    The production of hydrogen through Anaerobic Digestion (AD) has been investigated to verify the efficacy of several pretreatment processes. Three types of waste with different carbon structures have been tested to obtain an extensive representation of the behavior of the materials present in Organic Waste (OW). The following types of waste were selected: Sweet Product Residue (SPR), i.e., confectionary residue removed from the market after the expiration date, Organic Waste Market (OWM) refuse from a local fruit and vegetable market, and Coffee Seed Skin (CSS) waste from a coffee production plant. Several pretreatment processes have been applied, including physical, chemical, thermal, and ultrasonic processes and a combination of these processes. Two methods have been used for the SPR to remove the packaging, manual (SPR) and mechanical (SPRex). A pilot plant that is able to extrude the refuse to 200atm was utilized. Two parameters have been used to score the different pretreatment processes: efficiency (ξ), which takes into account the amount of energy produced in the form of hydrogen compared with the available energy embedded in the refuse, and efficacy (η), which compares the efficiency obtained using the pretreated refuse with that obtained using the untreated refuse. The best result obtained for the SPR was the basic pretreatment, with η=6.4, whereas the thermal basic pretreatment gave the highest value, η=17.0 for SPRex. The best result for the OWM was obtained through a combination of basic/thermal pretreatments with η=9.9; lastly, the CSS residue with ultrasonic pretreatment produced the highest quantity of hydrogen, η=5.2. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Delayed brain ischemia tolerance induced by electroacupuncture pretreatment is mediated via MCP-induced protein 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Emerging studies have demonstrated that pretreatment with electroacupuncture (EA) induces significant tolerance to focal cerebral ischemia. The present study seeks to determine the involvement of monocyte chemotactic protein-induced protein 1 (MCPIP1), a recently identified novel modulator of inflammatory reactions, in the cerebral neuroprotection conferred by EA pretreatment in the animal model of focal cerebral ischemia and to elucidate the mechanisms of EA pretreatment-induced ischemic brain tolerance. Methods Twenty-four hours after the end of the last EA pretreatment, focal cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 minutes in male C57BL/6 mice and MCPIP1 knockout mice. Transcription and expression of MCPIP1 gene was monitored by qRT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The neurobehavioral scores, infarction volumes, proinflammatory cytokines and leukocyte infiltration in brain and NF-κB signaling were evaluated after ischemia/reperfusion. Results MCPIP1 protein and mRNA levels significantly increased specifically in mouse brain undergoing EA pretreatment. EA pretreatment significantly attenuated the infarct volume, neurological deficits, upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and leukocyte infiltration in the brain of wild-type mice after MCAO compared with that of the non-EA group. MCPIP1-deficient mice failed to evoke EA pretreatment-induced tolerance compared with that of the control MCPIP1 knockout group without EA treatment. Furthermore, the activation of NF-κB signaling was significantly reduced in EA-pretreated wild-type mice after MCAO compared to that of the non-EA control group and MCPIP1-deficient mice failed to confer the EA pretreatment-induced inhibition of NF-κB signaling after MCAO. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that MCPIP1 deficiency caused significant lack of EA pretreatment-induced cerebral protective effects after MCAO compared with the control group and that MCPIP1 is

  19. Efficient sugar release by acetic acid ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hongdan; Wu, Shubin

    2014-12-03

    Acetic acid ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse was performed to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis. The effect of different parameters (including temperature, reaction time, solvent concentration, and acid catalyst dose) on pretreatment prehydrolyzate and subsequent enzymatic digestibility was determined. During the pretreatment process, 11.83 g of xylose based on 100 g of raw material could be obtained. After the ethanol-based pretreatment, the enzymatic hydrolysis was enhanced and the highest glucose yield of 40.99 g based on 100 g of raw material could be obtained, representing 93.8% of glucose in sugar cane bagasse. The maximum total sugar yields occurred at 190 °C, 45 min, 60:40 ethanol/water, and 5% dosage of acetic acid, reaching 58.36 g (including 17.69 g of xylose and 40.67 g of glucose) based on 100 g of raw material, representing 85.4% of total sugars in raw material. Furthermore, characterization of the pretreated sugar cane bagasse using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses were also developed. The results suggested that ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment could enhance enzymatic digestibilities because of the delignification and removal of xylan.

  20. Microwave heating processing as alternative of pretreatment in second-generation biorefinery: An overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguilar-Reynosa, Alejandra; Romaní, Aloia; Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa Ma.; Aguilar, Cristóbal N.; Garrote, Gil; Ruiz, Héctor A.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Microwave heating pretreatment for lignocellulosic material. • Fundament of lignocellulosic material fractionation using microwave irradiation. • Energy consumption in microwave pretreatments and microwave reactors description. • Microwave heating as pretreatment in a biorefinery concept. - Abstract: The development of a feasible biorefinery is in need of alternative technologies to improve lignocellulosic biomass conversion by the suitable use of energy. Microwave heating processing (MHP) is emerging as promising unconventional pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials (LCMs). MHP applied as pretreatment induces LCMs breakdown through the molecular collision caused by the dielectric polarization. Polar particles movement generates a quick heating consequently the temperatures and times of process are lower. In this way, MHP has positioned as green technology in comparison with other types of heating. Microwave technology represents an excellent option to obtain susceptible substrates to enzymatic saccharification and subsequently in the production of bioethanol and high-added compounds. However, it is still necessary to study the dielectric properties of materials, and conduct economic studies to achieve development in pilot and industrial scale. This work aims to provide an overview of recent progress and alternative configurations for combining the application of microwave technology on the pretreatment of LCMs in terms of biorefinery.

  1. COMPARISON OF PRETREATMENT STRATEGIES FOR CONVERSION OF COCONUT HUSK FIBER TO FERMENTABLE SUGARS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teck Y. Ding,

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available In the present study, coconut husk was employed as biomass feedstock for production of bioethanol, due to its abundance in Malaysia. Due to the complex structures of coconut husk, a pretreatment process is crucial in extracting fermentable sugars from the embedded cellulose matrix for subsequent ethanol fermentation process. The ground coconut husk was subjected to three different pretreatment processes inclusive of thermal, chemical, and microwave-assisted-alkaline techniques, prior to enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process. The composition profile of coconut husk was significantly altered upon the microwave-assisted-alkaline treatment as compared to the untreated sample, with the cellulose content increasing from 18-21% to 38-39% while lignin content decreased from 46-53% to 31-33%. Among the pretreatment methods applied, enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk pretreated by microwave-assisted-alkaline method recorded the highest yield of fermentable sugars, 0.279 g sugar/g substrate. SEM imaging showed the obvious and significant disruption of coconut husks’ structure after microwave-assisted-alkaline pretreatment. In conclusion, by employing suitable pretreatment technique in treating the lignocellulosic materials of coconut husk, the extracted fermentable sugar is a potential substrate for bioethanol production.

  2. Quality of life among prostate cancer patients: A prospective longitudinal population-based study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaake, Wouter; Groot, Martijn de; Krijnen, Wim P.; Langendijk, Johannes A.; Bergh, Alfons C.M. van den

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the course of quality of life (QoL) among prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy and to compare the results with QoL of a normal age-matched reference population. Patients and methods: The study population was composed of 227 prostate cancer patients, treated with radiotherapy. The EORTC QLQ-C30 was used to assess QoL before radiotherapy and six months, one year, two years and three years after completion of radiotherapy. Mixed model analyses were used to investigate longitudinal changes in QoL. QoL of prostate cancer patients was compared to that of a normative cohort using a multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: A significant decline in QoL was observed after radiotherapy (p < 0.001). The addition of hormonal therapy to radiotherapy was associated with a lower level of role functioning. Patients with coronary heart disease and or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma had a significantly worse course in QoL. Although statistically significant, all differences were classified as small or trivial. Conclusion: Prostate cancer patients experience a small worsening of QoL as compared with baseline and as compared with a normal reference population. As co-morbidity modulates patients’ post-treatment QoL, a proper assessment of co-morbidity should be included in future longitudinal analyses on QoL

  3. The design of a novel, environmentally improved cotton pre-treatment proces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouwhuis, G.H. (Gerrit)

    2011-01-01

    The scope of this thesis of Gerrit Bouwhuis, lecturer at Saxion Research Centre for Design and Technology in Enschede is the development of a new industrial applicable pre-treatment process for cotton based on catalysis. The pre-treatment generally consists of desizing, scouring and bleaching. These

  4. Pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse for hydrogen production by Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Panagiotopoulos, I.A.; Bakker, R.R.; Vrije, de G.J.; Koukios, E.G.; Claassen, P.A.M.

    2010-01-01

    Pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse, an energy crop residue, with NaOH for the production of fermentable substrates, was investigated. Optimal conditions for the alkaline pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse were realized at 10% NaOH (w/w dry matter). A delignification of 46% was then observed,

  5. A laboratory-scale pretreatment and hydrolysis assay for determination of reactivity in cellulosic biomass feedstocks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfrum, Edward J; Ness, Ryan M; Nagle, Nicholas J; Peterson, Darren J; Scarlata, Christopher J

    2013-11-14

    The rapid determination of the release of structural sugars from biomass feedstocks is an important enabling technology for the development of cellulosic biofuels. An assay that is used to determine sugar release for large numbers of samples must be robust, rapid, and easy to perform, and must use modest amounts of the samples to be tested.In this work we present a laboratory-scale combined pretreatment and saccharification assay that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. The assay uses a commercially available automated solvent extraction system for pretreatment followed by a small-scale enzymatic hydrolysis step. The assay allows multiple samples to be screened simultaneously, and uses only ~3 g of biomass per sample. If the composition of the biomass sample is known, the results of the assay can be expressed as reactivity (fraction of structural carbohydrate present in the biomass sample released as monomeric sugars). We first present pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis experiments on a set of representative biomass feedstock samples (corn stover, poplar, sorghum, switchgrass) in order to put the assay in context, and then show the results of the assay applied to approximately 150 different feedstock samples covering 5 different materials. From the compositional analysis data we identify a positive correlation between lignin and structural carbohydrates, and from the reactivity data we identify a negative correlation between both carbohydrate and lignin content and total reactivity. The negative correlation between lignin content and total reactivity suggests that lignin may interfere with sugar release, or that more mature samples (with higher structural sugars) may have more recalcitrant lignin. The assay presented in this work provides a robust and straightforward method to measure the sugar release after pretreatment and saccharification that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. We demonstrated the utility of the assay by

  6. Comparisons of five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for ethanol production from SPORL pretreated lodgepole pine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haifeng Zhou; Tianqing Lan; Bruce S. Dien; Ronald E. Hector; J.Y. Zhu

    2014-01-01

    The performances of five yeast strains under three levels of toxicity were evaluated using hydrolysates from lodgepole pine pretreated by Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome the Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL). The highest level of toxicity was represented by the whole pretreated biomass slurry, while intermediate toxicity was represented by the...

  7. Chemical and physicochemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodeur, Gary; Yau, Elizabeth; Badal, Kimberly; Collier, John; Ramachandran, K B; Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

    2011-01-01

    Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction) of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have shown that pretreatment can improve sugar yields to higher than 90% theoretical yield for biomass such as wood, grasses, and corn. This paper reviews different leading pretreatment technologies along with their latest developments and highlights their advantages and disadvantages with respect to subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. The effects of different technologies on the components of biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) are also reviewed with a focus on how the treatment greatly enhances enzymatic cellulose digestibility.

  8. Steam pretreatment of dry and ensiled industrial hemp for ethanol production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sipos, Balint; Reczey, Kati [Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Applied Biotechnology and Food Science, Szt. Gellert ter 4., H-1111 Budapest (Hungary); Kreuger, Emma; Bjoernsson, Lovisa [Lund University, Department of Biotechnology, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Svensson, Sven-Erik [Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Agriculture - Farming Systems, Technology and Product Quality, P.O. Box 104, SE-230 53 Alnarp (Sweden); Zacchi, Guido [Lund University, Department of Chemical Engineering, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden)

    2010-12-15

    Biomass can be converted into liquid and gaseous biofuels with good efficiency. In this study, the conversion of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), a biomass source that can be cultivated with a high biomass yield per hectare, was used. Steam pretreatment of dry and ensiled hemp was investigated prior to ethanol production. The pretreatment efficiency was evaluated in terms of sugar recovery and polysaccharide conversion in the enzymatic hydrolysis step. For both materials, impregnation with 2% SO{sub 2} followed by steam pretreatment at 210 C for 5 min were found to be the optimal conditions leading to the highest overall yield of glucose. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation experiments carried out with optimised pretreatment conditions resulted in ethanol yields of 163 g kg{sup -1} ensiled hemp (dry matter) (71% of the theoretical maximum) and 171 g kg{sup -1} dry hemp (74%), which corresponds to 206-216 l Mg{sup -1} ethanol based on initial dry material. (author)

  9. Bonding effectiveness to different chemically pre-treated dental zirconia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inokoshi, Masanao; Poitevin, André; De Munck, Jan; Minakuchi, Shunsuke; Van Meerbeek, Bart

    2014-09-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different chemical pre-treatments on the bond durability to dental zirconia. Fully sintered IPS e.max ZirCAD (Ivoclar Vivadent) blocks were subjected to tribochemical silica sandblasting (CoJet, 3M ESPE). The zirconia samples were additionally pre-treated using one of four zirconia primers/adhesives (Clearfil Ceramic Primer, Kuraray Noritake; Monobond Plus, Ivoclar Vivadent; Scotchbond Universal, 3M ESPE; Z-PRIME Plus, Bisco). Finally, two identically pre-treated zirconia blocks were bonded together using composite cement (RelyX Ultimate, 3M ESPE). The specimens were trimmed at the interface to a cylindrical hourglass and stored in distilled water (7 days, 37 °C), after which they were randomly tested as is or subjected to mechanical ageing involving cyclic tensile stress (10 N, 10 Hz, 10,000 cycles). Subsequently, the micro-tensile bond strength was determined, and SEM fractographic analysis performed. Weibull analysis revealed the highest Weibull scale and shape parameters for the 'Clearfil Ceramic Primer/mechanical ageing' combination. Chemical pre-treatment of CoJet (3M ESPE) sandblasted zirconia using Clearfil Ceramic Primer (Kuraray Noritake) and Monobond Plus (Ivoclar Vivadent) revealed a significantly higher bond strength than when Scotchbond Universal (3M ESPE) and Z-PRIME Plus (Bisco) were used. After ageing, Clearfil Ceramic Primer (Kuraray Noritake) revealed the most stable bond durability. Combined mechanical/chemical pre-treatment, the latter with either Clearfil Ceramic Primer (Kuraray Noritake) or Monobond Plus (Ivoclar Vivadent), resulted in the most durable bond to zirconia. As a standard procedure to durably bond zirconia to tooth tissue, the application of a combined 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate/silane ceramic primer to zirconia is clinically highly recommended.

  10. Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic agroindustrial waste for methane production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellera, Frantseska-Maria; Gidarakos, Evangelos

    2018-01-01

    This study investigates the effect of different chemical pretreatments on the solubilization and the degradability of different solid agroindustrial waste, namely winery waste, cotton gin waste, olive pomace and juice industry waste. Eight different reagents were investigated, i.e. sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ), sodium chloride (NaCl), citric acid (H 3 Cit), acetic acid (AcOH), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), acetone (Me 2 CO) and ethanol (EtOH), under three condition sets resulting in treatments of varying intensity, depending on process duration, reagent dosage and temperature. Results indicated that chemical pretreatment under more severe conditions is more effective on the solubilization of lignocellulosic substrates, such as those of the present study and among the investigated reagents, H 3 Cit, H 2 O 2 and EtOH appeared to be the most effective to this regard. At the same time, although chemical pretreatment in general did not improve the methane potential of the substrates, moderate to high severity conditions were found to generally be the most satisfactory in terms of methane production from pretreated materials. In fact, moderate severity treatments using EtOH for winery waste, H 3 Cit for olive pomace and H 2 O 2 for juice industry waste and a high severity treatment with EtOH for cotton gin waste, resulted in maximum specific methane yield values. Ultimately, the impact of pretreatment parameters on the different substrates seems to be dependent on their characteristics, in combination with the specific mode of action of each reagent. The overall energy balance of such a system could probably be improved by using lower operating powers and higher solid to liquid ratios. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Efficacy of tramadol and butorphanol pretreatment in reducing pain on propofol injection: A placebo-controlled randomized study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Arvinderpal; Sharma, Geeta; Gupta, Ruchi; Kumari, Anita; Tikko, Deepika

    2016-01-01

    Pain of propofol injection has been recalled by many patients as the most painful part of the induction of anesthesia. Tramadol and butorphanol are commonly used analgesics for perioperative analgesia in anesthesia practice. However, their potential to relieve propofol injection pain still needs to be explored. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 90 American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II adult patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with propofol as an induction agent. Consecutive sampling technique with random assignment was used to allocate three groups of 30 patients each. Group I patients received an injection of normal saline 3 ml intravenously (placebo) while Group II and Group III patients received injection of tramadol 50 mg and butorphanol 1 mg intravenously, respectively. Before induction of anesthesia patients were asked about the intensity of pain on propofol injection by using visual analog scale (VAS) before the loss of consciousness. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance with Chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The value of P pain in Group I was observed in 80% of the patients, while it was observed in 23.33% and 20% of patients in Group II and III, respectively. Mean VAS scores were 2.27 ± 1.51, 1.14 ± 1.74, and 1.03 ± 1.72 in Group I, II, and Group III patients, respectively. The incidence of pruritus was 10% and 6.7% and erythema in 13.2% and 6.7% in Group II and III, respectively. Pretreatment with both butorphanol and tramadol significantly reduced pain on propofol injection; however, they exhibited comparable efficacy among each other. Thus, either of these two drugs can be considered for pretreatment to reduce propofol injection pain.

  12. Alkaline peroxide pretreatment of rapeseed straw for enhancing bioethanol production by Same Vessel Saccharification and Co-Fermentation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karagöz, Pinar; Vaitkeviciute-Rocha, Indre; Özkan, Melek

    2012-01-01

    Alkaline peroxide pretreatment of rapeseed straw was evaluated for conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose to fermentable sugars. After pretreatment, a liquid phase called pretreatment liquid and a solid phase were separated by filtration. The neutralized pretreatment liquids were used in a co...... pretreatment combination with respect to overall ethanol production. At this condition, 5.73g ethanol was obtained from pretreatment liquid and 14.07g ethanol was produced by co-fermentation of solid fraction with P. stipitis. Optimum delignification was observed when 0.5M MgSO4 was included...... in the pretreatment mixture, and it resulted in 0.92% increase in ethanol production efficiency....

  13. Review of pretreatment processes for lignocellulosic ethanol production, and development of an innovative method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiaramonti, David; Prussi, Matteo; Ferrero, Simone; Oriani, Luis; Ottonello, Piero; Torre, Paolo; Cherchi, Francesco

    2012-01-01

    Biomass pretreatment aims at separating and providing easier access to the main biomass components (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin), eventually removing lignin, preserving the hemicellulose, reducing the cellulose crystallinity and increasing the porosity of the material. Pretreatment is an essential step towards the development and industrialization of efficient 2nd generation lignocellulosic ethanol processes. The present work reviewed the main options available in pretreatment. Autohydrolysis and steam explosion were then selected for further investigation. Experimental work was carried out on batch scale reactors, using Miscanthus as biomass feedstock: the effects on sugar solubilization and degradation products generation have been examined for each of these two pretreatment systems. A new process using only water and steam as reacting media was then developed, experimentally tested, and results compared to those achieved by the autohydrolysis and steam explosion processes. Products obtained with the new pretreatment contained a lower amount of usual fermentation inhibitor compounds compared to that typically obtained in steam explosion. This result was achieved under operating conditions that at the same time allowed a good xylan yield, preventing degradation of hemicelluloses. The new pretreatment process was also able to act as an equalization step, as the solid material from the pretreatment phase had a similar composition even under different operating conditions. As regards the effect of pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis, the new process achieved yields similar to steam explosion on glucans: however, this was obtained reducing the formation of degradation products from sugars, mainly from C5 sugars. These results made the proposed pretreatment system suitable for further development and industrialization on pilot and industrial scale.

  14. Fast Pyrolysis of Tropical Biomass Species and Influence of Water Pretreatment on Product Distributions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Trevor James; Turn, Scott Q; Sun, Ning; George, Anthe

    2016-01-01

    The fast pyrolysis behaviour of pretreated banagrass was examined at four temperatures (between 400 and 600 C) and four residence times (between ~1.2 and 12 s). The pretreatment used water washing/leaching to reduce the inorganic content of the banagrass. Yields of bio-oil, permanent gases and char were determined at each reaction condition and compared to previously published results from untreated banagrass. Comparing the bio-oil yields from the untreated and pretreated banagrass shows that the yields were greater from the pretreated banagrass by 4 to 11 wt% (absolute) at all reaction conditions. The effect of pretreatment (i.e. reducing the amount of ash, and alkali and alkali earth metals) on pyrolysis products is: 1) to increase the dry bio-oil yield, 2) to decrease the amount of undetected material, 3) to produce a slight increase in CO yield or no change, 4) to slightly decrease CO2 yield or no change, and 5) to produce a more stable bio-oil (less aging). Char yield and total gas yield were unaffected by feedstock pretreatment. Four other tropical biomass species were also pyrolyzed under one condition (450°C and 1.4 s residence time) for comparison to the banagrass results. The samples include two hardwoods: leucaena and eucalyptus, and two grasses: sugarcane bagasse and energy-cane. A sample of pretreated energy-cane was also pyrolyzed. Of the materials tested, the best feedstocks for fast pyrolysis were sugarcane bagasse, pretreated energy cane and eucalyptus based on the yields of 'dry bio-oil', CO and CO2. On the same basis, the least productive feedstocks are untreated banagrass followed by pretreated banagrass and leucaena.

  15. Fast Pyrolysis of Tropical Biomass Species and Influence of Water Pretreatment on Product Distributions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevor James Morgan

    Full Text Available The fast pyrolysis behaviour of pretreated banagrass was examined at four temperatures (between 400 and 600 C and four residence times (between ~1.2 and 12 s. The pretreatment used water washing/leaching to reduce the inorganic content of the banagrass. Yields of bio-oil, permanent gases and char were determined at each reaction condition and compared to previously published results from untreated banagrass. Comparing the bio-oil yields from the untreated and pretreated banagrass shows that the yields were greater from the pretreated banagrass by 4 to 11 wt% (absolute at all reaction conditions. The effect of pretreatment (i.e. reducing the amount of ash, and alkali and alkali earth metals on pyrolysis products is: 1 to increase the dry bio-oil yield, 2 to decrease the amount of undetected material, 3 to produce a slight increase in CO yield or no change, 4 to slightly decrease CO2 yield or no change, and 5 to produce a more stable bio-oil (less aging. Char yield and total gas yield were unaffected by feedstock pretreatment. Four other tropical biomass species were also pyrolyzed under one condition (450°C and 1.4 s residence time for comparison to the banagrass results. The samples include two hardwoods: leucaena and eucalyptus, and two grasses: sugarcane bagasse and energy-cane. A sample of pretreated energy-cane was also pyrolyzed. Of the materials tested, the best feedstocks for fast pyrolysis were sugarcane bagasse, pretreated energy cane and eucalyptus based on the yields of 'dry bio-oil', CO and CO2. On the same basis, the least productive feedstocks are untreated banagrass followed by pretreated banagrass and leucaena.

  16. Optimization of Alkaline and Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Agave Bagasse by Response Surface Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ávila-Lara, Abimael I.; Camberos-Flores, Jesus N.; Mendoza-Pérez, Jorge A.; Messina-Fernández, Sarah R.; Saldaña-Duran, Claudia E.; Jimenez-Ruiz, Edgar I.; Sánchez-Herrera, Leticia M.; Pérez-Pimienta, Jose A.

    2015-01-01

    Utilization of lignocellulosic materials for the production of value-added chemicals or biofuels generally requires a pretreatment process to overcome the recalcitrance of the plant biomass for further enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation stages. Two of the most employed pretreatment processes are the ones that used dilute acid (DA) and alkaline (AL) catalyst providing specific effects on the physicochemical structure of the biomass, such as high xylan and lignin removal for DA and AL, respectively. Another important effect that need to be studied is the use of a high solids pretreatment (≥15%) since offers many advantaged over lower solids loadings, including increased sugar and ethanol concentrations (in combination with a high solids saccharification), which will be reflected in lower capital costs; however, this data is currently limited. In this study, several variables, such as catalyst loading, retention time, and solids loading, were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a factorial central composite design of DA and AL pretreatment on agave bagasse using a range of solids from 3 to 30% (w/w) to obtain optimal process conditions for each pretreatment. Subsequently enzymatic hydrolysis was performed using Novozymes Cellic CTec2 and HTec2 presented as total reducing sugar (TRS) yield. Pretreated biomass was characterized by wet-chemistry techniques and selected samples were analyzed by calorimetric techniques, and scanning electron/confocal fluorescent microscopy. RSM was also used to optimize the pretreatment conditions for maximum TRS yield. The optimum conditions were determined for AL pretreatment: 1.87% NaOH concentration, 50.3 min and 13.1% solids loading, whereas DA pretreatment: 2.1% acid concentration, 33.8 min and 8.5% solids loading. PMID:26442260

  17. Stage T1-2 prostate cancer with pretreatment PSA 10 ng/ml or less: radiotherapy or surgery?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keyser, Douglas; Kupelian, Patrick; Zippe, Craig; Klein, Eric

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: Presently, patients with pretreatment PSA levels ≤10 ng/ml constitute the majority of cases presenting for definitive treatment. Our aim was to determine whether the type of treatment (radiotherapy versus surgery) affected biochemical failure rates in this group of patients. This study is based on 389 patients treated at a single institution. Material and Methods: The charts of all patients treated with either radiotherapy or prostatectomy alone between 1987 and 1993 were reviewed (n=811). Patients with clinical stage T1 or T2 disease, and a pretreatment PSA level (iPSA) of 10.0 or less were analyzed (n=389). Two hundred forty nine (64%) received radical prostatectomy and 140 (36%) received radiotherapy (median dose 66.6 Gy). Pretreatment patient characteristics including clinical stage, biopsy Gleason score (GS) and iPSA level were not significantly different between the radiation and surgery groups (Table 1). The patients treated with radiation were significantly older (median age 70 years vs. 64 years, p<0.05). A total of 37% of the prostatectomy patients had a positive margin. The median follow-up time was 33 months; 1458 follow-up PSA levels were available for analysis. Biochemical failure was defined as a rise in PSA level of 1.0 ng/ml above the nadir PSA level in radiotherapy cases, or any value above 0.2 ng/ml in the prostatectomy cases. Results: The overall 5 year actuarial biochemical relapse free survival (bRFS) rate was 70%. The 5-year bRFS rates for prostatectomy and radiotherapy were identical (70%) (Fig.1). The significant factors affecting bRFS rates were iPSA level (≤4 vs. 4-10 ng/ml) and Gleason score (≤6 vs. ≥7) (Table 2). The 5-year bRFS rates of patients with iPSA ≤4 vs. iPSA 4-10 ng/ml were 92% vs. 61% respectively, p<0.01. The 5-year clinical relapse free survival was 93%. All clinical failures were preceded by biochemical failure. Patients with positive surgical margins did significantly worse than those with negative

  18. The utilisation of virtual images in patient information giving sessions for prostate cancer patients prior to radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stewart-Lord, A.; Brown, M.; Noor, S.; Cook, J.; Jallow, O.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the study was to explore the prostate patients' perceptions of a Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training (VERT) as an information giving resource prior to radiotherapy delivery. A survey design was used to determine the level of knowledge of those patients who attended VERT for a pre-treatment talk and identify the benefits and limitations of using VERT as pre-treatment information giving resource. Participants were invited to attend a VERT patient information session four weeks prior to their planning CT scan, and then complete a questionnaire two weeks after start of radiotherapy treatment. A sample of n = 38 patients were recruited over a five month data collection period. Results showed that patient perceptions on the use of VERT as information giving tool prior to radiotherapy treatment were very positive. The sessions enable patients to understand the potential impact of treatment volumes if the internal organ shape and location differed from that originally planned, enabling them to comply with radiotherapy treatment instructions. Additional key findings have demonstrated excellent levels of communication associated with the use of VERT emphasising the need for future patient preparation strategies to consider the use of virtual technology. - Highlights: • VERT pre-treatment information sessions were very helpful to patients. • Patients had a better understanding of what to expect during treatment. • The importance of following bowel and bladder treatment preparation was made clear. • The session helped to reduced patient anxiety and stress associated with treatment.

  19. Development and application of free pretreatment container steel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Y.; Liu, Y.; Han, B.; Wei, B.; Wang, S. Z.

    2017-12-01

    Due to economic and environmental advantages pre-treatment containers have good big development prospects, which can avoid shot blasting processes, and decrease the noise and dust pollution. By analyzing requirements of the container steel surface quality, target oxide scale structure of free pretreatment container steel has been determined. Trial process was carried out, and test results showed that the oxide scale achieved the desired objects, oxide scale with outer thin Fe3O4 layer and inner eutectoid α-Fe+Fe3O4. Salt spray test, second adhesion test, and modeling performance basically corroborated the container feasibility.

  20. Effect of tamoxifen pre-treatment on the retention of tritiated oestradiol and 5. cap alpha. -dihydrotestosterone and on glucose metabolism in human breast carcinomas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deshpande, N; Mitchell, I [Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London (UK). Labs.; Hughes, D

    1978-05-01

    The effect of pre-treatment with tamoxifen on glucose metabolism and retention of injected oestradiol-17B and 5..cap alpha..-dihydrotestosterone by human breast carcinomas were studied in patients undergoing mastectomy. The following effects were observed: the pretreatment reduced retention of oestradiol-17B whereas a small but statistically significant rise in 5..cap alpha..-dihydrotestosterone accumulation was observed. There was an increase in both phosphofructokinase (PFK) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activities in tumours from treated patients whereas ..cap alpha..-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase (..cap alpha..-GPDH) activity was significantly reduced in the same tumours. The significance of these findings is discussed and it is argued that these changes in carbohydrate metabolism may not be due to the blocking of hormone receptors.