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Objective: To report an unusual case of systemic non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with repeated relapse in the lacrimal glands, in spite of complete remission for several years after treatment.Methods: A 78-year-old male with small lymphocytic B cell NHL, stage IV disease (lung invasion), was submitted to surgery and chemotherapy in 2001, with complete remission of the disease. In 2003 he developed a nodular lesion in the right lacrimal fossa. Pathology results revealed a local relapse of NHL. Radiation and chemotherapy were initiated and complete remission was again achieved. In 2012 the patient developed a new nodular lesion located in the left lacrimal fossa, resulting in diplopia, ptosis and proptosis of the left eye. Orbital computerized tomography (CT), ocular ultrasound and incisional biopsy were performed.Results: Orbital CT revealed a lesion infiltrating the left lacrimal gland and encircling the globe. Biopsy results confirmed a local relapse of B cell NHL. The patient was submitted to local radiation therapy with progressive resolution of ptosis, proptosis and diplopia. Response to treatment was monitored with ocular ultrasound. Conclusions: Patients with NHL diagnosis should be immediately investigated if ophthalmic or orbital symptoms develop. NHL extension to the orbit and adnexa is infrequent (5% of NHL cases) but may occur at any stage of the disease, including as a relapse site. In such cases, radiation and chemotherapy achieve good results, inducing long periods of remission.

[english] Introduction: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe demyelinating syndrome characterized by optic neuritis (ON) and acute myelitis. The NMO spectrum is actually recognized to typically evolve as a relapsing disorder that also includes patients with atypical unilateral ON and those with index events of ON and myelitis occurring weeks or even years apart (Jarius/Wildemann 2013). NMO was previously assumed to be a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the discovery of aquaporin-4 antibodies in patients with neuromyelitis optica has led to this view being revised (Mandler 2006, Barnett/Sutton 2012, Wingerchuk et al. 2007). The cause of the condition is still unknown, but it has been shown that the antibodies bind selectively to a water channel expressed mainly on astrocytes at the blood-brain-barrier, which has an important role in the regulation of brain volume and ion homeostasis. However, there are some patients with NMO that are antibodies negative. The diagnosis is made on the basis of case history, clinical examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spinal cord, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), visual evoked potentials and a blood test with analysis of aquaporin-4 antibodies (Barnett/Sutton 2012, Wingerchuk et al. 2007, Thornton et al. 2011). This suggests that periodical revisions of established concepts and diagnostic criteria are necessary.Purpose: The authors describe an extremely rare case of neuromyelitis optica and the aim of this paper is to call attention for the cases of NMO whith NMO-IgG negative.Methods: The selected method is a case report.Results: To date the patient showed partial recovery of left eye acuity and improvement of muscle strength of upper and lower limbs and does not show recurrence of the disease.Conclusion: NMO has a distinct clinical, imaging and immunopathological features sufficient to distinguish it from MS. This distinction is essential, because the treatment and the prognosis is different.

Rare earth elements (REEs), comprising seventeen metallic elements, including lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium, are indispensable for modern technological industries due to their unique properties. However, their supply is critically risky for the European Union, with 95% of global production concentrated in China, Brazil, Vietnam, Russia, India, and Australia. This mini-review examines the adsorption of REEs onto pyrolytic carbon-based materials as a sustainable recovery method from secondary raw materials. The review covers different types of carbon-based adsorbents used in several research works, such as activated carbon, chars, and biochar, and discusses their adsorption mechanisms and influencing factors. Comparative analyses of adsorption capacities highlight the significance of surface area and functionalization in enhancing adsorption efficiency. Despite promising results, the variability in adsorption performance due to experimental conditions and the scarcity of real-world application studies are noticed. This review underscores the need for further research using real e-waste leachates to validate the practical applicability of pyrolytic carbon-based adsorbents for REEs' recovery, aiming for an economically and environmentally sustainable solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, it is urgent to develop new energy production and utilisation routes to achieve sustainable development with low environmental impact. Gasification of biomass wastes followed by biomethane production may contribute to achieve these goals. The objective of this paper is to study hot cleaning and upgrading processes of gasification gas to allow it to be suitable for biomethane production. Gas produced by gasification of eucalyptus wastes at 750 ºC and 850 ºC was used to study the hot gas conditioning process. For this, two sequential fixed bed steps with different catalysts or sorbents and at different temperatures were tested. In Pathway A, a low cost natural mineral, limestone, was used in both steps at temperatures from 500 º to 700 ºC. In Pathway B, limestone was used in the first step and in the second one, a nickel-based catalyst was tested. The effect of temperature was also studied by using temperatures between 500 ºC and 700 ºC. Pathway B showed to be the best option, especially at the highest temperature tested, producing a syngas richer in H2 and CO2, with very low contents of tar and heavier gaseous hydrocarbons. Pathway B was also effective for great NH3 and H2S reductions, around 90 %, leading to final NH3 and H2S concentrations of around 158 and 21 mg/m3, respectively. Further reductions will be studied by testing new multi-functional and more specific catalysts in the next studies, accordingly with new biomethanation catalysts requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is an energy-efficient technology that converts biomass with high moisture content, such as lignocellulosic material and aquatic biomass, into bio-oil which can be used as a precursor in the production of renewable biofuels. The current state of technology is mostly at a laboratory scale with relatively low Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). Most HTL research takes place in batch reaction systems, but there is growing interest in scaling up the technology through the use of continuous units. The process is influenced by several factors and operational parameters, which affect the performance of the process in terms of production and bio-oil quality. HTL is highly dependent on the type of biomass used. The main advantages in relation to other thermochemical processes is the possibility of using wet biomass, avoiding the high cost of the drying process. In this work several types of biomasses were studied, different types of micro algae (i. e. Spirulina, Chlorella Vulgaris, algae grown in industrial effluents), and grass. Growing microalgae has a significant cost in the production process of liquid biofuels. So, it was also tested algae cultivated in industrial effluents which has advantages from an economic and environmental point of view. Also, the grass wastes, have high moisture content and so its adequate to be process in HTL. In all the tests, four different products were obtained: gases, aqueous and organic (biocrude) products and solids. All these fractions were characterized to suggest their most favourable application. The gases were mainly composed of Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide and Hydrocarbons until C4. Bio oil composition was the parameter most affected by biomass type. So, when microalgae were used, it was observed higher content of nitrogenous compounds, like pyrroles, indoles, pyrazines and other nitrogen-containing compounds, probably formed from the protein fraction of the algae. In all the bio-oils it was also detected the presence of oxygenated compounds, such as ketones, esters, phenols, fatty acids, alcohols, that maybe were produced from the lipids and carbohydrates. Hydrocarbons, including alkanes, alkenes, alkynes and aromatics compounds were also present. The composition of the biomass used has a higher effect on the bio-oil composition, so it is important an extensive characterization of the feedstock in order to select the best raw material to be used in HTL process depending on the intended application. This paper analyses the effect of biomass composition in the HTL to assess its viability to be used to produce biofuels or valuable chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of hydrogen (H2) as an energy carrier may have an important role in the near future. Nowadays, H2 is mostly produced from fossil fuels, thus, it is urgent to prove the viability of alternative and sustainable processes to obtain H2. Gasification of renewable sources like biomass that are widely available, inexpensive and carbonneutral is considered a viable technical, economic and environmental alternative for H2 production. The first step of biohydrogen (bio-H2) production through biomass gasification is the production of syngas (gasification gas). Syngas cleaning and upgrading procedures are essential to remove undesirable compounds and to increase bio-H2 content. Steam reforming and water gas shift reactions are also crucial to increase bio-H2 content in syngas. Next, bio-H2 separation from other gaseous compounds is needed to finally obtain bio-H2 at the required purification level. Although some of the mentioned technologies are proven and available on the market for similar applications, some drawbacks and technological challenges for the overall process need to be overcome to improve the overall techno-economic feasibility. This paper aims to analyse and discuss different bio-H2 production routes from biomass gasification to c the most promising ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work was focused on converting plastic mixtures of LDPE (low density polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), and PS (polystyrene) with incorporation of small amounts of organic matter and paper, via catalytic pyrolysis into valuable products. The small incorporation of these materials was due to its low presence in the MPW used in this study. The results were compared with those of thermal pyrolysis. Mixture composition was set to obtain olefins/aromatic ratio of approximately 1 for the success of the next alkylation step. As in thermal pyrolysis, this ratio was difficult to obtain, FCC catalyst was tested. No significant impact in product yields and composition was observed with the incorporation of small amounts of the mentioned materials and with the use of this type of catalysts. The solid seems to contain the incorporated materials in the initial plastic waste mixture. The use of FCC increased the gas and solid content of about 3.7 % and 27.1 %. The liquid-oil decreased 30.8 %. Regarding liquid-oil composition, the use of FCC increased the aromatic compounds. Catalyst increased the quality of the liquid-oils, however it was not observed a significant impact in other products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]