Facemasks and ferrous metallurgy: improving gasification reactivity of low-volatile coals using waste COVID-19 facemasks for ironmaking application.

The global pandemic response to COVID-19 has led to the generation of huge volumes of unrecyclable plastic waste from single use disposable face coverings. Rotary hearth furnaces can be used to recover Zn and Fe from non-recyclable steelmaking by-product dusts, and waste plastic material such as facemasks could be utilized as a supplementary reductant for the rotary hearth furnace (RHF), but their fibrous form makes milling and processing to appropriate sizing for RHF application extremely challenging. A scalable method of grinding facemasks to powder by melting and mixing with Welsh coal dust reported herein provides a solution to both environmental challenges. The melt-blended PPE/coal dust shows a dramatically improved CO2 gasification reactivity (Ea = 133-159 kJmol-1) when compared to the untreated coal (Ea = 183-246 kJmol-1), because of improved pore development in the coal during the pyrolysis stage of heating and the catalytic activity of the CaO based ash present in the facemask plastic. The results are promising for the application of waste facemasks in recycling steelmaking by-product dusts in rotary hearth furnaces and may also be suitable for direct injection to the blast furnace subject to further study.

Cligosiban, A Novel Brain-Penetrant, Selective Oxytocin Receptor Antagonist, Inhibits Ejaculatory Physiology in Rodents.

INTRODUCTION: Few treatments are available for men with premature ejaculation (PE); oxytocin (OT) receptor antagonism in the central nervous system (CNS) is a potential new approach. AIM: To determine if cligosiban selectively inhibits human OT receptors, penetrates the CNS, shows pharmacology in the CNS, and effects ejaculatory physiology in pre-clinical systems. METHODS: Experiments complied with United Kingdom legislation and were subject to local ethical review. In vitro potency and selectivity of cligosiban was assessed using recombinant and native OT receptor systems including both neuronal and non-neuronal cell types. Selectivity was determined over neighboring V1A, V1B, and V2 vasopressin receptors using a combination of recombinant and native vasopressin receptor assay systems. To determine an effect on central OT receptors and on ejaculation, cligosiban was evaluated in 2 anesthetized rat models-the electromyography model of ejaculatory physiology and a model of OT-mediated CNS neuronal firing. The CNS penetration of cligosiban was also determined by measuring cerebrospinal fluid and plasma drug concentrations following an intravenous (IV) infusion in rats. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: These were functional measures of pharmacology in vitro, in cell lines and tissues, and in vivo in rats. RESULTS: Cligosiban is a potent OT receptor antagonist, with a base dissociation constant of 5.7 nmol/L against native human uterine smooth muscle cell OT receptors. Cligosiban displays similar antagonistic potency against human recombinant and rat native OT receptors, including neuronal OT receptors. Cligosiban demonstrates >100-fold selectivity over human V1A, V1B, and V2 vasopressin receptors. In the electromyography model, cligosiban (0.9 mg/kg, IV bolus) reduced the bulbospongiosum burst pattern and contraction amplitude associated with ejaculation. In the anesthetized CNS neuronal firing model, the same dosing regimen of cligosiban (0.9 mg/kg IV bolus) modulated the OT-mediated response in the nucleus tractus solitarius. After systemic dosing to rats, cligosiban showed good CNS penetration. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: As the first highly selective and centrally penetrant OT receptor antagonist, cligosiban represents a promising compound to test the clinical hypothesis that antagonism of central OT receptors may be of therapeutic benefit in the treatment of PE. STRENGTH & LIMITATIONS: The pharmacology and selectivity of cligosiban is determined using functional assays in recombinant cell lines, native cell lines, and tissue. Functional outcomes in in vivo systems are linked to CNS measures of pharmacology. The translation of the animal models of ejaculation to PE in man is unproven. CONCLUSION: Cligosiban, a potent, selective OT receptor antagonist, demonstrated CNS penetration and pharmacology and, using the same dosing regimen, inhibited apomorphine-induced ejaculation in rats. Cligosiban is a promising compound to test the clinical hypothesis that antagonism of central OT receptors may be of therapeutic benefit in the treatment of PE. Wayman C, Russell R, Tang K, et al. Cligosiban, A Novel Brain Penetrant Selective Oxytocin Receptor Antagonist, Inhibits Ejaculatory Physiology in Rodents. J Sex Med 2018;15:1698-1706.

Day-to-day care: the interplay of CNAs' views of residents & nursing home environments.

This qualitative study identified certified nursing assistants' (CNAs') perspectives of nursing home residents and how these perspectives translate into care practices. Data included observations of and interviews with 27 CNAs in three dissimilar nursing homes. All participants were people of color, and all but 3 were immigrants. CNAs constructed three views of residents: as fictive kin, as a commodity, and as an autonomous person. Although individual CNAs held one primary view of residents in general, select residents were viewed from an alternative perspective, resulting in variations in care practices. These findings suggest that such distinctions, in tandem with structural, organizational, and cultural differences in nursing homes, present opportunities for nursing leadership to affect the visible, everyday practice of nursing CNAs. To target interventions, further research is needed on how CNAs come to differentially view residents and how these differences influence CNAs' care relationships with residents.

Evaluating diversity in nursing education: a mixed method study.

This article presents the findings of a methodical examination of how well one school of nursing was meeting its goal of addressing diversity through its pedagogy. The underlying assumption was that a school's curriculum both shapes and reflects a climate of valuing diversity. This mixed-method evaluation study was conducted in four steps, including a content analysis of all syllabi in the School of Nursing's (SON) curriculum, comparison of the content analysis to students' evaluation of diversity in their education, a survey of the 2006 graduates, and an analysis of faculty responses to the findings. The findings are being used to guide the SON in the development of training and to bring about forums for formal dialogue. These will assist faculty to effectively integrate diversity in their teaching and interaction with students and to move toward the long-term goal of preparing culturally humble and sensitive clinicians, educators, and researchers.

Lymphoproliferative defects in mice lacking the expression of neurofibromin: functional and biochemical consequences of Nf1 deficiency in T-cell development and function.

Ras plays an essential role in lymphocyte development and function. However, in vivo consequence(s) of regulation of Ras activity by guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase)-activating proteins (GAPs) on lymphocyte development and function are not known. In this study we demonstrate that neurofibromin, the protein encoded by the NF1 tumor suppressor gene functions as a GAP for Ras in T cells. Loss of Nf1 in T cells results in enhanced Ras activation, which is associated with thymic and splenic hyperplasia, and an increase in the absolute number of immature and mature T-cell subsets compared with control mice. Interestingly, in spite of a profound T-cell expansion and higher thymidine incorporation in unstimulated Nf1-deficient T cells, T-cell receptor and interleukin-2 receptor-mediated proliferation of thymocytes and mature T cells was substantially reduced compared with control mice. Collectively, these results identify neurofibromin as a GAP for Ras in T cells for maintaining immune homeostasis in vivo.