Emerging microalgae-based biofuels: Technology, life-cycle and scale-up.

Microalgae biomass is a versatile feedstock with a variable composition that can be submitted to several conversion routes. Considering the increasing energy demand and the context of third-generation biofuels, algae can fulfill the increasing global demand for energy with the additional benefit of environmental impact mitigation. While biodiesel and biogas are widely consolidated and reviewed, emerging algal-based biofuels such as biohydrogen, biokerosene, and biomethane are cutting-edge technologies in earlier stages of development. In this context, the present study covers their theoretical and practical conversion technologies, environmental hotspots, and cost-effectiveness. Scaling-up considerations are also addressed, mainly through Life Cycle Assessment results and interpretation. Discussions on the current literature for each biofuel directs researchers towards challenges such as optimized pretreatment methods for biohydrogen and optimized catalyst for biokerosene, besides encouraging pilot and industrial scale studies for all biofuels. While presenting studies for larger scales, biomethane still needs continuous operation results to consolidate the technology further. Additionally, environmental improvements on all three routes are discussed in light of life-cycle models, highlighting the ample research opportunities on wastewater-grown microalgae biomass.

Male Oncology Research and Education program for men at high risk for prostate cancer.

Three groups of men are at high risk of developing prostate cancer: men with a strong family history of prostate cancer, men of West African or Caribbean ancestry, and men with a germline pathogenic variant in a prostate cancer-associated gene. Despite the fact that those men constitute a significant portion of the male population in North America, few recommendations for prostate cancer screening specific to them have been developed. For men at general population risk for prostate cancer, screening based on prostate-specific antigen (psa) has remained controversial despite the abundance of literature on the topic. As a result, recommendations made by major screening authorities are inconsistent (ranging from no psa screening to baseline psa screening at age 45), allowing physicians to pick and choose how to screen their patients. The Male Oncology Research and Education (more) program is an observational research program that serves as an academic platform for multiple research foci. For its participants, serum and dna are biobanked, medical information is collected, and contact for relevant research-related opportunities is maintained. This research program is paired with a specialized clinic called the more clinic, where men at high risk are regularly screened for prostate cancer in a standard approach that includes physical examination and serum psa measurement. In this article, we describe the goals, participant accrual to date, and projects specific to this unique program.

Treatment Outcomes in Male Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis of 161 Patients.

AIMS: Male breast cancer is a rare disease with limited evidence-based guidelines for treatment. This study aimed to identify demographic, pathological and clinical factors associated with its prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 161 male breast cancer patients diagnosed at a single institution from 1987 to June 2017 was conducted. Patient demographics, disease characteristics, treatment and outcome were extracted and included in competing-risk analysis and the univariate Cox proportional hazard model for univariate analysis. Factors with P < 0.10 were included in multivariable analysis. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 67 years (standard deviation = 11.2) and the median follow-up duration was 5.3 years (range 0-25 years). There were 48 deaths, including 23 cancer-specific deaths. The actuarial median survival was 19.9 years. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with overall survival were size of tumours (hazard ratio 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.4-2.7, P < 0.0001) and diagnosis of metastatic disease (hazard ratio 8.7; 95% confidence interval 1.9-40.6; P = 0.006). Of 138 patients without metastases at diagnoses, 11 had local-regional recurrence and 26 had distant metastases. In the multivariable model for local-regional recurrence, a more recent year of diagnosis was associated with reduced risk (hazard ratio 0.9, 95% confidence interval 0.8-1.0, P = 0.008), whereas more positive lymph nodes was associated with higher risk (hazard ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.2-4.0, P = 0.01). A higher risk of metastases was associated with more positive lymph nodes (hazard ratio 1.9; 95% confidence interval 1.1-3.3; P = 0.03) and tumour size (hazard ratio 1.8; 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.9; P = 0.01). A higher risk of any recurrence or metastases was associated with the number of positive nodes (hazard ratio 1.9; 95% confidence interval 1.2-3.0; P = 0.005) and tumour size (hazard ratio 1.6; 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.2; P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: In general, tumour size and more positive lymph nodes were associated with worse prognosis. Larger powered studies are needed to identify prognostic factors with smaller effect sizes.

Occupational needlestick injuries in a metropolitan police force.

OBJECTIVES: Police officers are at risk of bloodborne diseases through needlestick injuries but few studies have addressed this problem. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of needlestick injuries in law enforcement officers and to determine predictors of injuries and reporting rates. DESIGN: An anonymous, voluntary questionnaire was distributed to 1738 active-duty, metropolitan police officers. The survey included the number of needlestick injuries ever experienced, how often these were reported, activities at the time of injury and attitudes toward injuries. RESULTS: Of the 803 respondents (46.2% of survey population), 29.7% had at least one needlestick injury, and 27.7% of this group had two or more. Risk factors included evening shifts, pat-down searches, patrol duties, male gender and less experience. Only 39.2% sought medical attention for these injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Needlestick injuries occur with considerable frequency in this group of law enforcement personnel, suggesting an increased risk of becoming infected with bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Serial transcranial Doppler monitoring after transient ischemic attack.

The natural course of ultrasonically detectable microembolism in patients with a symptomatic extracranial atherosclerotic lesion is not completely understood. Furthermore, the potential impact of therapeutic management on microemboli detection is anecdotal. A 58-year-old man who experienced a left-hemisphere transient ischemic attack presented with an extracranial ipsilateral high-grade carotid stenosis. He was studied 12 times in 12 months during different medical management, during which time he was symptom free, even though transcranial Doppler evidence of microemboli continued for 5 months.

Embolus detection in different degrees of carotid disease.

Carotid atherosclerotic disease is a major source for artery to artery embolism. Stroke incidence highly depends on the degree of carotid stenosis. TCD monitoring for embolic signals may help to identify patients at high risk for an impeding stroke. This study was performed to correlate the degree of carotid stenosis with the occurrence of embolic signals and the clinical outcome. We performed a bilateral simultaneous TCD study on 4 patient groups with unilateral atherosclerotic disease: We studied patients with non-stenotic ICA plaques (n = 21), 50-75% ICA stenosis (n = 20), 75-95% stenosis (n = 22), and occlusion (n = 13). Minimum insonation time was 45 minutes. Embolic signals were not detected in the control group and patients with a non-stenotic ICA lesion, but in 10% of the patients with 50-75% stenosis, 22% of the patients with a high grade stenosis and 39% of the patients with an ICA occlusion. There is a high specificity (92%) and rather low sensitivity (29%) of these microemboli for past clinical events. The occurrence of embolic signals correlated (p < 0.005) with a history of stroke, TIA or RIND. Microemboli detection may be a valuable tool to identify high risk patients.

Effect of pre- and postnatal alcohol consumption on GABA levels of various brain regions in the rat offspring.

The effect of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and lactation on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in different rat brain regions of 3-week-old pups was investigated. There was a significant decrease in the thalamus, pons, cerebellum and hippocampus, no change in posterior colliculus, occipital cortex, temporal cortex, hypothalamus, septum or striatum and a significant increase in frontal cortex, olfactory bulbs, anterior colliculus and amygdala. These modifications could be a consequence of alterations in membrane permeability and may be related to the behavioural disorders associated with the fetal-alcohol syndrome.

Circannual variations of GABA content in cytosolic and crude synaptosomal fractions in some brain areas of the European hamster.

In the European hamster, Cricetus cricetus, a common hibernator, over a year, the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content has been followed, in the cytosolic and crude synaptosomal fractions of the olfactory bulbs, hypothalamus and cerebellum. In these 3 areas, the GABA content shows circannual variations of endogenous origin: in this period, in both fractions two peaks can be observed, at the beginning of spring and in autumn. These circannual variations do not follow the circannual variation of food intake or body weight.