Coal-packed methane biofilter for mitigation of green house gas emissions from coal mine ventilation air

Methane emitted by coal mine ventilation air (MVA) is a significant greenhouse gas. A mitigation strategy is the oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide, which is approximately twenty-one times less effective at global warming than methane on a mass-basis. The low non-combustible methane concentrations at high MVA flow rates call for a catalytic strategy of oxidation. A laboratory-scale coal-packed biofilter was designed and partially removed methane from humidified air at flow rates between 0.2 and 2.4 L min -1 at 30°C with nutrient solution added every three days. Methane oxidation was catalysed by a complex community of naturally-occurring microorganisms, with the most abundant member being identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence as belonging to the methanotrophic genus Methylocystis. Additional inoculation with a laboratorygrown culture of Methylosinus sporium, as investigated in a parallel run, only enhanced methane consumption during the initial 12 weeks. The greatest level of methane removal of 27.260.66 g methane m23 empty bed h21 was attained for the non-inoculated system, which was equivalent to removing 19.762.9% methane from an inlet concentration of 1% v/v at an inlet gas flow rate of 1.6 L min21 (2.4 min empty bed residence time). These results show that low-cost coal packing holds promising potential as a suitable growth surface and contains methanotrophic microorganisms for the catalytic oxidative removal of methane.©2014 Limbri et al

FAKTOR MATERNAL, PREMATURITAS DAN BERAT BADAN LAHIR RENDAH TERHADAP DEVELOPMENTAL DEFECTS OF ENAMEL (DDE)

Latar Belakang. Developmental Defects of Enamel (DDE) adalah gangguan pada matriks jaringan keras dan mineralisasinya yang terjadi selama odontogenesis. DDE pada gigi sulung berkaitan dengan faktor maternal dan faktor perinatal, postnatal yaitu prematuritas dan berat badan lahir rendah (BBLR). DDE akibat kelahiran prematur dan BBLR dapat meningkatkan resiko terjadinya karies, sensitivitas gigi, dan memiliki implikasi estetik. Tujuan. Untuk mengetahui hubungan faktor maternal, prematuritas dan BBLR terhadap kejadian DDE pada gigi sulung. Metode. Sampel yang digunakan adalah 31 anak (total sampel) berusia 12-60 bulan dengan riwayat prematur dan BBLR di Poli Tumbuh Kembang RSU Haji Surabaya. Pada penelitian ini, dilakukan pemeriksan DDE pada gigi sulung anak yang dibagi menjadi opasitas, hipoplasia dan defek kombinasi berdasarkan kriteria Modified DDE Index FDI, 1992. Selain itu, dilakukan wawancara kuesioner pada orang tua sampel untuk mendapatkan data sekunder berupa faktor maternal dan faktor perinatal serta postnatal. Selanjutnya, dilakukan analisa data dengan uji statistik berupa uji korelasi spearman. Hasil. Ditemukan bahwa prevalensi DDE gigi sulung dengan riwayat prematur dan BBLR adalah 58,06%. Presentase distribusi kejadian opasitas, hipoplasi dan defek kombinasi berturut-turut adalah 16.13%, 3.22% dan 38.71%. Kesimpulan. Tidak terdapat hubungan signifikan antara prematuritas dan berat badan lahir rendah terhadap kejadian DDE pada gigi sulung, namun terdapat hubungan signifikan antara faktor maternal (usia maternal) dan jenis kelamin anak terhadap defek kombinasi gigi sulung

βIII-tubulin: a novel mediator of chemoresistance and metastases in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western societies. This poor prognosis is due to chemotherapeutic drug resistance and metastatic spread. Evidence suggests that microtubule proteins namely, β-tubulins are dysregulated in tumor cells and are involved in regulating chemosensitivity. However, the role of β-tubulins in pancreatic cancer are unknown. We measured the expression of different β-tubulin isotypes in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue and pancreatic cancer cells. Next, we used RNAi to silence βIII-tubulin expression in pancreatic cancer cells, and measured cell growth in the absence and presence of chemotherapeutic drugs. Finally, we assessed the role of βIII-tubulin in regulating tumor growth and metastases using an orthotopic pancreatic cancer mouse model. We found that βIII-tubulin is highly expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue and pancreatic cancer cells. Further, we demonstrated that silencing βIII-tubulin expression reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth and tumorigenic potential in the absence and presence of chemotherapeutic drugs. Finally, we demonstrated that suppression of βIII-tubulin reduced tumor growth and metastases in vivo. Our novel data demonstrate that βIII-tubulin is a key player in promoting pancreatic cancer growth and survival, and silencing its expression may be a potential therapeutic strategy to increase the long-term survival of pancreatic cancer patients

βIII-tubulin: a novel mediator of chemoresistance and metastases in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western societies. This poor prognosis is due to chemotherapeutic drug resistance and metastatic spread. Evidence suggests that microtubule proteins namely, β-tubulins are dysregulated in tumor cells and are involved in regulating chemosensitivity. However, the role of β-tubulins in pancreatic cancer are unknown. We measured the expression of different β-tubulin isotypes in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue and pancreatic cancer cells. Next, we used RNAi to silence βIII-tubulin expression in pancreatic cancer cells, and measured cell growth in the absence and presence of chemotherapeutic drugs. Finally, we assessed the role of βIII-tubulin in regulating tumor growth and metastases using an orthotopic pancreatic cancer mouse model. We found that βIII-tubulin is highly expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue and pancreatic cancer cells. Further, we demonstrated that silencing βIII-tubulin expression reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth and tumorigenic potential in the absence and presence of chemotherapeutic drugs. Finally, we demonstrated that suppression of βIII-tubulin reduced tumor growth and metastases in vivo. Our novel data demonstrate that βIII-tubulin is a key player in promoting pancreatic cancer growth and survival, and silencing its expression may be a potential therapeutic strategy to increase the long-term survival of pancreatic cancer patients

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and functional abdominal pain disorders in children with inflammatory bowel disease in remission.

Despite evidence of an increased prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) compared with the general population, the prevalence of IBS in children with IBD is unclear. In this review, we aimed to identify the reported prevalence of IBS or functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) in children with IBD in remission. A search of three databases (MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed) was performed to identify studies reporting the prevalence of IBS or FAPDs in pediatric patients with IBD in remission. A total of 60 studies were identified, with four eligible studies remaining following abstract screening. In children with IBD in remission, the overall prevalence of IBS ranged between 3.9 and 16.1%, and the overall prevalence of FAPDs ranged between 9.6 and 29.5%. The prevalence of FAPDs in patients in biomarker-based remission was generally higher than those in clinical remission (range 16-22.5% vs 9.6-16.7%, respectively). There is a paucity of literature reporting on the prevalence of IBS or FAPDs in children with IBD in remission. Despite the differences in criteria used to define IBD remission in the included articles, there seems to be an increased overall prevalence of IBS or FAPDs in children with IBD

Removal of methane from coal mine ventilation air by biofiltration

Methane emitted by coal mine ventilation air (MVA) is a significant greenhouse gas. A mitigation strategy is the oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide, which is approximately twenty-one times less effective at global warming than methane on a mass-basis. The low non-combustible methane concentrations at high MVA flow rates call for a catalytic strategy of oxidation. A biofiltration technology was proposed as a promising solution to reduce/eliminate methane emissions from coal MVA. Unlike conventional CH4 removal technology, biofiltration is relatively cheap to build and operate as it works at ambient temperature and pressure. The challenge in developing biofilter system for MVA remains as high gas flow rate (> 50 m3 s-1) coupled with low methane concentrations (⤠1% (v/v) in air) require an improved biofilter performance to be applied for MVA applications. Several steps have been taken in this project including identification and isolation of methanotrophs (methane-oxidising microorganisms) from coal mine site which might be able to adapt better to MVA environments, investigation to seek optimum methane oxidation activity and microbial growth using pure culture of Methylosinus sporium (M. sporium) by batch experiments, and a lab-scale biofiltration study using inoculated (with M. sporium) and non-inoculated coal as packing material in a simulated MVA conditions. A laboratory-scale coal-packed biofilter was designed and partially removed methane from humidified air at flow rates between 0.2 and 2.4 L min-1. From the biofilter operation, the most abundant member of methane-oxidising microorganisms had been identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence as belonging to the methanotrophic genus Methylocystis. The greatest level of methane removal of 27.2 ± 0.66 gmethane m-3 empty bed h-1 was attained for the non-inoculated system, which was equivalent to removing 19.7 ± 2.9 % methane from an inlet concentration of 1% (v/v) at an inlet gas flow rate of 1.6 L min-1(2.4 min empty bed residence time). These results show that low-cost coal packing biofilter holds promising potential as a methane removal technology in MVA

Challenges to developing methane biofiltration for coal mine ventilation air: A review

Coal mine methane is a significant greenhouse gas source as well as a potential lost energy resource if not effectively used. In recent years, mine ventilation air (MVA) capture and use has become a key element of research and development due to comparatively larger methane emissions by MVA than other coal mine sources. Technologies have been evaluated to treat the low methane concentrations in MVA such as thermal-based technologies or processing by biofiltration. This review initially considers the techniques available for treating the low methane concentrations encountered in MVA, after which it focuses on developments in biofiltration systems. Biofiltration represents a simple, energy-efficient, and cheap alternative to oxidize methane from MVA. Major factors influencing biofilter performance along with knowledge gaps in relation to its application to MVA are identified and discussed. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht