Experimental assessment of an indirect method to measure the post-combustion flue gas flow rate in waste-to-energy plant based on multi-point measurements.

In waste-to-energy plants, the determination of the flue gas flow rate in the post-combustion section is of the utmost importance, e.g., for the verification of the compliance to the minimum residence time requirements (tres>2s) or for the control of flue gas treatment reactant injection, but the harsh conditions (high temperature and content of pollutants) do not allow for a direct measurement. The present work reports an experimental assessment of an indirect approach to estimate the flue gas flow rate in the post-combustion section of a rotary kiln plant with reduced uncertainty. This method consists on the direct measurement of the flow rate at a "colder" section of the plant (the boiler outlet) combined to the simultaneous measurements of flue gas composition measurements upstream and downstream of the boiler. From these measurements it is then possible to determine the mass of false air and to retrieve the actual flue gas flow-rate in the post-combustion chamber. A massive experimental campaign has been conducted at a full-scale medical waste incinerator, in which flue gas flow rate was estimated at different waste loads and ambient conditions. The results show that the percentage of false air can be significant and simply neglecting it can lead to substantial under-performance of the plant. Issues related to the practical implementation of the methods are illustrated in detail and the possibility to extend the methodology towards an online determination of post-combustion flue gas flow rate is discussed.

Lipid-lowering drug use in Italian primary care: effects of reimbursement criteria revision.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the prescribing pattern of lipid-lowering drugs (LLD) changed after reimbursement criteria revision in a general practice in southern Italy. METHODS: From the Caserta-1 Local Health Service database, 93 general practitioners (GPs) who had consistently sent data about their patients during the years 2003-2005 were recruited. Prevalence of use and incidence of new treatments were calculated for each year, stratified by three drug cohorts: statins, omega-3 fatty acids, and fibrates. Subanalyses by gender, age, and indication of use were performed. RESULTS: Overall, 1-year prevalence of LLD use increased from 2003 to 2004. After reimbursement criteria revision (November 2004), a slight decrease was observed for statins, from 41.1 (95% CI: 39.9-42.2) per 1,000 inhabitants in 2004 to 40.3 (39.2-41.5) in 2005, while omega-3 utilization fell markedly: 14.6 (13.9-15.3) vs. 5.4 (5.0-5.8). The use of both statins and omega-3 fatty acids was reduced particularly for primary prevention. On the other hand, utilization of statins increased in diabetic patients and as secondary prevention from 2004 to 2005. Concerning individual molecules, 1-year prevalence of use of any statin declined from 2004 to 2005, except for rosuvastatin. CONCLUSIONS: Revision of reimbursement criteria led to significant changes in the trend in LLD use in general practice in southern Italy: (1) statin utilization was slightly reduced in 2005, although it increased in certain categories, such as diabetic patients, and (2) omega-3 fatty acid use was strongly reduced even though a higher use in postinfarction cases was reported.

Total, technical, economic and social evaluation of a plan for defense of the vineyard according to the methodology of the "GREAT CHAIN".

In another work, proposed in this congress, we have presented the basic methodology of the "GREAT CHAIN" in which a plan of fight to vine diseases is evaluated in the globality using 54 variables, to which a weight (in %) in a scale of priority at technical, economic, social and ethical level has been given. This basic methodology has been favourably accepted at the XIII GESCO Congress (Groupe International Systèmes De Conduite de la Vigne)--February 2003 in Montevideo (Uruguay), and at the congress on "Paysages de Vignes et de Vins" in Fonteyraud (Val de Loire) (Carbonneau, Cargnello, 2003). In this work the results of researches on the total, technical, economic, social and ethical evaluation of a conventional phytopathologic defence plan led in a vineyard of the Latium according to the method of the "GREAT CHAIN" are exposed. These researches have shown that the model of conventional phytopathologic struggle, applied in the Latium, against pests of vine positively answers for how much concerns the plants protection: the answer is good at enterprise level, but negative for all that is defence and safeguard for man and environment, in the widest sense of the term. The researches have gone on the phytopathologic defence of biological and eco-compatible vineyards with very encouraging results.

In vitro assessment of bone marrow endothelial colonies (CFU-En) in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

The distribution and functional characteristics of in vitro bone marrow (BM) endothelial colonies (CFU-En) were studied in 70 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients in different phases of the disease to explore the association between CFU-En growth and angiogenesis, and between the number of CFU-En and the presence of hematopoietic and mesenchymal progenitor cells. The mean number of CFU-En/10(6) BM mononuclear cells seen in remission patients was significantly higher than that seen in newly diagnosed patients (P=0.04), and in normal subjects (P=0.008). Patients with low-grade NHL in remission displayed a higher CFU-En value compared with high-grade NHL (P=0.04). In the autograft group (40 patients), a significant reduction of CFU-En number was detected in the first 4-6 months after transplantation. In remission patients, the CFU-En number positively correlated with the incidence of BM colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) (P=0.013) and CFU-multilineage (CFU-GEMM) hematopoietic colonies (P=0.044). These in vitro data show that CFU-En numbers increase following standard-dose chemotherapy, thus providing a rationale for further investigating the effects of different cytostatic drugs on BM endothelial cells growth and function.

Assessment of distribution of CD34 epitope classes in fresh and cryopreserved peripheral blood progenitor cells and acute myeloid leukemic blasts.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: So far several reports have described changes in the expression of surface antigens in progenitor cells and blasts following cryopreservation. However, there are no data on the effects of cryopreservation on the expression of the three CD34 epitope classes, and on their relationship with the clonogenic capacity of PBPC collected by leukapheresis. DESIGN AND METHODS: In order to analyze the effects of freezing/thawing procedures (Eth 80C storage for 3 months) and use of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) on the immunophenotype profile and colony production of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) in apheresis products derived from 20 patients with stage 0-III non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (nHL), a flow cytometry study was undertaken using different CD34 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) capable of recognizing the 3 epitope classes of CD34 molecule (class III: HPCA-2/FITC, HPCA-2/PE, 581/FITC, 581/PE; class II: Q-Bend 10/PE; class I: ICH3/PE, BI3C5-PE, Immu-133-PE). CD34 epitope expression was also analyzed in thawed CD34+ blasts obtained from 14 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), who were analyzed using a larger number (#17) of CD34 epitope class I, II, and III reactive MoAbs. RESULTS: Under our experimental conditions it was found that class III and class II CD34 epitopes (differentially resistant to enzymatic cleavage with neuraminidase, chymopapain and glycoprotease) are better preserved than class I epitope Eth sensitive to degradation Eth after cell exposure to cryoprotectant DMSO and the freezing- thawing procedures. Results further showed a concomitant decrease in class I CD34+ counts and in BFU-E colony production. A significant increase in CD34 antigen expression levels (i.e. antibody binding capacity, ABC) by cryopreserved cells stained with CD34 epitope class III, and class II reactive MoAbs was also documented, while no changes after cryopreservation were noted using class I-reactive MoAbs. The slight increase in the percentage of CD34+ cells detected after frozen storage was correlated to a concomitant decrease in the number of more mature myeloid cells (CD15+, CD13+, CD33+). Compared to pre-cryopreservation values, a slight reduction in class I CD34 epitope expression was also found in thawed CD34+ AML blasts. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: As far as the reduction of class I CD34 epitope is concerned, it may be hypothesized that the freezing procedure, use of DMSO, and/or lysis methodology may either damage a CD34 subset, or induce distinct alterations of the CD34 glycoprotein, possibly determining a reduction in their immunoreactivity with some CD34 MoAbs. In conclusion, this study has shown that exposure to the cryoprotectant DMSO and the freezing/thawing procedures modifies the distribution of CD34 epitopes as well as the clonogenic capacity of PBPCs from nHL patients, and CD34+ blasts from AML. These findings need to considered when selecting CD34 MoAbs for enumeration and positive selection of stem/progenitor cells for research and clinical purposes.