Small Particle DEBIRI TACE as Salvage Therapy in Patients with Liver Dominant Colorectal Cancer Metastasis: Retrospective Analysis of Safety and Outcomes

The aim of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of 40 µm and 75 µm calibrated irinotecan-eluting beads (DEBIRI-TACE) for the treatment of colorectal cancer metastases. We conducted a retrospective review of 36 patients with unresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer who were treated with DEBIRI-TACE between 2017 to 2020. Patients who received at least one session of DEBIRI were included in our analysis. A total of 105 DEBIRI sessions were completed. 86% of patients (n = 31) underwent one round of treatment, 14% of patients (n = 5) underwent two distinct rounds of treatment. The majority of patients were discharged the next day (92%, n = 33 patients) with no 30-day post-DEBIRI mortality. Five high-grade adverse events occurred, including longer stay for pain management (n = 2), postembolization syndrome requiring readmission (n = 2), and liver abscess (n = 1). The average survival from diagnosis of metastatic disease was 33.3 months (range 11–95, median 28). Nine of 36 patients are still alive (December 2020) and have an average follow-up time of 36.8 months from T0 (range 12–63, median 39). Small particle DEBIRI is safe and well-tolerated in the salvage setting, with outcomes comparable to that of larger bead sizes.

Impact of particle size reduction on high gravity enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-exploded wheat straw

Economically feasible bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass requires solid loadings ≥ 15% dry matter (DM, w/w). However, increased solid loadings can lead to process difficulties, which are characterized by high apparent slurry viscosity, insufficient substrate mixing and limited water availability, resulting in reduced final glucose yields. To overcome these limitations, this study focused on enzymatic hydrolysis of 10–35% DM solid loadings with steam-exploded wheat straw in two different particle sizes. At solid loadings of 20 and 25% DM small particle size of ≤ 2.5 mm yielded 16.9 ± 1.1% and 10.2 ± 1.4% increased final glucose concentrations compared to large particle size of 30 ± 20 mm. Small particle size also positively influenced slurry viscosity and, therefore, miscibility. As a key finding of this investigation, high gravity enzymatic hydrolysis with solid loadings of 30–35% DM was indeed successfully employed when wheat straw was applied in small particle size. Here, the highest final glucose yield was achieved with 127.9 ± 4.9 g L−1 at 35% DM solid loading. An increase in the solid loading from 10 to 35% DM in small particle size experiments resulted in a 460% increase in the final glucose concentration.

Anion Adsorption onto Clay Mineral Surfaces using Radioisotope Techniques

<p>Any reaction that occurs between two substances will depend initially on the reaction, or lack of reaction, of the various atoms or molecules that are on the surface of the substances being brought into contact with each other. When reactions involving substances of very small particle size are investigated the actual detailed composition of the surface layer of these particles become of paramount importance.</p>

Anion Adsorption onto Clay Mineral Surfaces using Radioisotope Techniques

<p>Any reaction that occurs between two substances will depend initially on the reaction, or lack of reaction, of the various atoms or molecules that are on the surface of the substances being brought into contact with each other. When reactions involving substances of very small particle size are investigated the actual detailed composition of the surface layer of these particles become of paramount importance.</p>

The effect of increasing indoor ventilation on artificially generated aerosol particle counts

The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused millions of infections and deaths despite mitigation efforts that involve physical distancing, mask-wearing, avoiding indoor gatherings and increasing indoor ventilation. The purpose of this study was to compare ways to improve indoor ventilation and assess its effect on artificially generated aerosol counts. It was hypothesized that inbuilt kitchen vents would be more effective in reducing indoor aerosol counts than opening windows alone. A fixed amount of saline aerosol was dispersed in the experimental area using a nebulizer under constant temperature and a narrow range of humidity. A laser air quality monitor was used to record small particle counts every 30 minutes from baseline to 120 minutes for four different experimental groups for each combination of kitchen vents and windows. The results of the study demonstrate that aerosol counts were lowest with the kitchen exhaust vents on. This study suggests that liberal use of home exhaust systems like the kitchen vents could achieve significantly more air exchange than open windows alone and may present an effective solution to improving indoor ventilation, especially during the colder months when people tend to congregate indoors in closed spaces. There were no safety concerns involved when conducting this experiment.

Development of a Controlled Continuous Low-Dose Feeding Process

This paper proposes a feed rate control strategy for a novel volumetric micro-feeder, which can accomplish low-dose feeding of pharmaceutical raw materials with significantly different powder properties. The developed feed-forward control strategy enables a constant feed rate with a minimum deviation from the set-point, even for materials that are typically difficult to accurately feed (e.g., due to high cohesion or low density) using conventional continuous feeders. Density variations observed during the feeding process were characterized via a displacement feed factor profile for each powder. The characterized effective displacement density profile was applied in the micro-feeder system to proactively control the feed rate by manipulating the powder displacement rate (i.e., computing the feed rate from the powder displacement rate). Based on the displacement feed factor profile, the feed rate can be predicted during the feeding process and at any feed rate set-point. Three pharmaceutically relevant materials were used for the micro-feeder evaluation: di-calcium phosphate (large-particle system, high density), croscarmellose sodium (small-particle system, medium density), and barium sulfate (very small-particle <10 μm, high density). A significant improvement in the feeding performance was achieved for all investigated materials. The feed rate deviation from the set-point and its relative standard deviation were minimal compared to operations without the control strategy.

Recovery of Latent Fingermarks on Metal Part of Motorcycle Submerged in Different Aquatic Environments

Motorcycle theft cases in Malaysia have increased quite significantly with more motorcycles were reported stolen every day. In many cases, criminals had removed the components they only required and disposed the remaining parts into various sources of water. Unfortunately, the evidence recovered underwater was thought not to have forensic value with regards to fingermark recovery. This study aimed to determine the survivability of the latent fingermarks submerged in various water environments. Latent fingermarks were deposited on metal parts of motorcycle and submerged into four aquatic environments; river, lake, mine, and tap water for two weeks with time intervals for collection of 1, 8, 24, 48, 96, 168, and 336 h. Upon recovery, the fingermark samples were developed using Small Particle Reagent (SPR). The developed fingermarks were assessed using Biometric Fingerprint Identification System (BIOFIS). The persistence of fingermarks immersed in tap water was found to last up to more than two weeks. Contrarily, fingermark in other water environments can only survive up to 96 h after being submerged. The fingermarks submerged in the lake appeared to be better preserved as compared to those submerged in the river and mine. The development of underwater fingermarks is still feasible, and identifiable fingermarks can still be recovered at the early submersion period.