Sequestration of Sulphide from Biogas by thermal-treated iron nanoparticles synthesized using tea polyphenols.

Dark tea-iron nanoparticles (DT-Fe NPs) were prepared using extracts of dark tea leaves as a reducing agent, and further underwent thermal treatment in air. The H2S removal performances of thermal-treated DT-Fe NPs for biogas were further evaluated using a custom-designed fixed-bed reactor (reaction temperature of 250°C, H2S content of 1%). Significant morphology and chemical composition differences were observed when DT-Fe NPs were treated at different temperatures (300-800oC). X-ray diffractometer analysis revealed that a phase transition from γ-Fe2O3 to α-Fe2O3 occurred under heat treatment. When the thermal treatment temperature was 300°C, only α-Fe2O3 was detected. Both α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3 were present in the sample treated at 400°C. When the thermal treatment temperature was 500-800°C, γ-Fe2O3 in the sample was completely converted to α-Fe2O3. The H2S removal capacity is 14.72 mg H2S/g for DT-Fe NPs without treatment. However, the value increased significantly to 408.30 mg H2S/g after 400°C thermal treatment, which can be explained by the formation of highly active γ-Fe2O3. The reaction product of thermal-treated DT-Fe NPs at 400°C and H2S were further characterized by X-ray diffractometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that it is composed of FeS2 and FeS, in which 72.6% of the sulphur existed as disulphide and 27.4% as monosulphide.

A set of molecular markers predicts chemosensitivity to Mitomycin-C following cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for colorectal peritoneal metastasis.

Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality. We aim to generate and validate a biomarker set predicting sensitivity to Mitomycin-C to refine selection of patients with colorectal peritoneal metastasis (CPM) for this treatment. A signature predicting Mitomycin-C sensitivity was generated using data from Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer and The Cancer Genome Atlas. Validation was performed on CPM patients who underwent CRS-HIPEC (n = 62) using immunohistochemistry (IHC). We determined predictive significance of our set using overall survival as a surrogate endpoint via a logistic regression model. Three potential biomarkers were identified and optimized for IHC. Patients exhibiting lower expression of PAXIP1 and SSBP2 had poorer survival than those with higher expression (p = 0.045 and 0.140, respectively). No difference was observed in patients with differing DTYMK expression (p = 0.715). Combining PAXIP1 and SSBP2 in a set, patients with two dysregulated protein markers had significantly poorer survival than one or no dysregulated marker (p = 0.016). This set independently predicted survival in a Cox regression model (HR 5.097; 95% CI 1.731-15.007; p = 0.003). We generated and validated an IHC prognostic set which could potentially identify patients who are likely to benefit from HIPEC using Mitomycin-C.