Furfural-based resin for modifying birch wood properties

Furfural (F) cannot be easily polymerized like furfuryl alcohol, but it is an aldehyde that can react with urea (U) to make a polymeric network. The possibility of preparing F/U polymer along with an acidic catalyzer (maleic anhydride; M) was evaluated as a means to improve some selected properties of birch (Betula pendula) wood. The F+U/M resin was introduced into the wood with a double treatment technology. The first step involved dilution of F in water and methanol, and the second step was immersion in a U/M aqueous solution. The color of treated wood was darkened after resin curing from brown to a spectrum of black depending on the amount of loaded resin. The 60 to 80% of materials were converted to a non-leachable polymer based on the different formulations. The water absorption and volumetric swelling of the treated samples decreased with an increase in weight percent gain (WPG). The analysis of mechanical strength showed that treatment with F + U/M reduced to some extent the hardness and the impact bending of wood, while modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, and compression parallel to the grain with WPG were increased. The exposure of the samples to the accelerated weathering showed noticeable changes in color and roughness.

Personalised Dosimetry in Radioembolisation for HCC: Impact on Clinical Outcome and on Trial Design

Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been used for many years, usually without any specific dosimetry endpoint. Despite good clinical results in early phase studies or in cohort studies, three randomized trials in locally advanced HCC available failed to demonstrate any improvement of overall overall survival (OS) in comparison with sorafenib. In recent years, many studies have evaluated the dosimetry of SIRT using either a simulation-based dosimetry (macroaggregated albumin (MAA)-based) or a post-therapy-based one (90Y-based). The goal of this review is to present the dosimetry concept, tools available, its limitations, and main clinical results described for HCC patients treated with 90Y-loaded resin or glass microspheres. With MAA-based dosimetry, the threshold tumor doses allowing for a response were between 100 and 210 Gy for resin microspheres and between 205 and 257 Gy for glass microspheres. The significant impact of the tumor dose on OS was reported with both devices. The correlation between 90Y-based dosimetry and response was also reported. Regarding the safety, preliminary results are available for both products but with a larger range of normal liver doses values correlated with liver toxicities due to numerous confounding factors. Based on those results, international expert group recommendations for personalized dosimetry have been provided for both devices. The clinical impact of personalized dosimetry has been recently confirmed in a multicenter randomized study demonstrating a doubling of the response rate and an OS of 150% while using personalized dosimetry. Even if technical dosimetry improvements are still under investigation, the use of personalized dosimetry has to be generalized for both clinical practice and trial design.

Removal of ammonia-nitrogen in wastewater using a novel poly ligand exchanger-Zn(II)-loaded chelating resin

In this study, a novel poly ligand exchanger-Zn(II)-loaded resin was designed to effectively remove ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) from wastewater. The surface morphology and structure of the Zn-loaded resin were characterized using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. SEM shows the surfaces of the Zn(II)-loaded resin were rough and nonporous and EDS demonstrated that Zn2+ was loaded onto the resin successfully. In addition, the combination form of Zn(II) with NH3-N adsorption reagent was revealed by FTIR spectra; the complex could be R-N-R-O-Zn-O-R-N-R and R-N-R-(O-Zn)2. The kinetics and equilibrium of the NH3-N adsorption onto the Zn(II)-loaded resin has been investigated. The effects of pH, reaction time, and temperature on NH3-N removal from wastewater by Zn(II)-loaded resin were investigated, and the results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity reached 38.55 mg/g at pH 9.54 at 298 K in 240 min. The adsorption ability of the modified resin decreased with an increase in temperature. Moreover, the NH3-N adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic process. The kinetic data demonstrated that the adsorption process might be limited by a variety of mechanisms. The study can provide the scientific foundation for the extensive application of a novel poly ligand exchanger-Zn(II)-loaded resin to remove NH3-N from wastewater.

Saponin Bitterness Reduction of Carica papaya Leaf Extracts through Adsorption of Weakly Basic Ion Exchange Resins

Carica papaya that belongs to Caricaceae family has long been known as a traditional medicine for dengue fever, as well as for anticancer and antiinflammatory studies following identification of beneficial phytochemicals such as saponins in the leaves. Unfortunately, the compound has been known to induce a bitter taste in the leaf extract for human consumption, making them unpopular and nonconsumer friendly. Thus, this study aims to observe the potential adsorption of saponin compound from C. papaya leaves using ion exchange resins as an adsorbent for the reduction of bitter-taste-inducing saponins. This study uses three types of weakly basic ion exchanging resins, namely, Amberlite IRA-67, Diaion WA30, and Diaion WA21J, at different adsorbent doses of 5% (w/v) and 10% (w/v). The Peleg model suggests that the extraction of saponins from C. papaya leaves lasted for 12.50 hours yield a maximum amount of saponins, 9.31 mg/g. Further study shows that there is a significant difference (p<0.05) of saponin adsorption percentage between these three types of resins. The Diaion WA30 resin showed the highest percentage of adsorption at 87.83% (w/w) as compared to the other two 5% (w/v) loaded resin. The 10% (w/v) resin-loaded Diaion WA30 demonstrated the highest overall adsorption capacity as much as 97.59% (w/w) with the shortest exhaustive time of 4.99 hours. The overall acceptance of samples in sensory evaluation treated with ion exchange resins gave good response in which the sample treated with 10% (w/v) resin-loaded Diaion WA30 demonstrated the highest overall acceptance in parallel with having the lowest bitterness score as compared to other samples and fresh samples (untreated). The Langmuir constant (RL) was less than one (0.167–0.398), indicating the adsorption of saponins onto Diaion WA30 was favourable.