Processing renewable and waste-based feedstocks with fluid catalytic cracking: Impact on catalytic performance and considerations for improved catalyst design.

Refiners around the globe are either considering or are actively replacing a portion of their crude oil inputs originating from fossil sources with alternative sources, including recycled materials (plastics, urban waste, mixed solid waste) and renewable materials (bio-mass waste, vegetable oils). In this paper, we explore such replacement, specifically focusing on the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) operation. Five pyrolysis oils, obtained from municipal solid waste (MSW) and biogenic material (olive stones/pits), were fully characterized and tested at 10% loading against a standard fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) vacuum gasoil (VGO) feed in a bench scale reactor using an industrially available fluid catalytic cracking catalyst based on ultrastable Y zeolite to simulate fluid catalytic cracking co-processing. Despite having unique feed properties, including high Conradson carbon (e.g., up to 19.41 wt%), water (e.g., up to 5.7 wt%), and contaminants (e.g., up to 227 ppm Cl) in some cases, the five pyrolysis oils gave similar yield patterns as vacuum gasoil. Gasoline was slightly (ca. 1 wt%) higher in all cases and LPG slightly (ca. 1 wt%) lower. Olefinicity in the LPG streams were unchanged, bottoms and light cycle oil (LCO) showed no significant changes, while dry gas was slightly (up to -0.2 wt%) lower. Coke selectivity was also unchanged (maximum -7.7 wt%, relatively), suggesting minimal to no heat balance concerns when co-processing in an industrial fluid catalytic cracking unit. The results demonstrate the applicability of municipal solid waste and biogenic originating pyrolysis oils into a refinery. A catalyst design concept is explored, based on higher rare Earth oxide exchange and/or utilization of ZSM-5 zeolite, that would further minimize the impacts of replacing fossil oils with pyrolysis oils, namely one that shifts the 1% higher gasoline into LPG.

Galanin N-terminal fragment (1-15) reduces alcohol seeking and alcohol relapse in rats: Involvement of mesocorticolimbic system.

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is among the most prevalent mental illnesses, and due to the low efficacy of the current medication, it is essential to find new biological targets that could modulate alcohol consumption. Since Galanin (1-15) [GAL(1-15)] produces a loss of motivational behaviour by an artificial reinforcer and decreases the preference an alcohol consumption in a voluntary alcohol intake, we have studied the role of GAL(1-15) in alcohol-seeking behaviour and the involvement of the corticomesolimbic system as well as the role of GAL(1-15) in context-induced alcohol relapse. In rats, we have studied GAL(1-15)-effects on alcohol-seeking in self-administration, in fixed-ratio (FR1) and progressive-ratio (PR), and the involvement of GAL receptors using siRNA GALR1 or GALR2 knockdown animals. We have analysed the transcriptional changes of C-Fos, dopamine receptors, GAL receptors and 5HT1A receptors in the corticomesolimbic system. Also, we have examined the effect of GAL(1-15) in context-induced alcohol relapse. GAL(1-15) substantially reduced alcohol-seeking behaviour in the operant self-administration model in an FR1 protocol and at the breaking point in a PR schedule. GALR1and GALR2 were involved in these effects, as indicated by the analysis by GALR2 antagonist and GALR1 and GALR2 knockdown animals. Notably, the mechanism of GAL(1-15)-mediated actions involved changes in C-Fos, Dopamine receptors and 5HT1A expression in the ventral tegmental area, accumbens nucleus and prefrontal cortex. Significantly, GAL(1-15) reduced the context-induced alcohol relapse. These results open up the possibility to use GAL(1-15) as a novel strategy in AUD.

Risk factors for ophthalmologic involvement and ocular findings in patients diagnosed with fungemia in a high-complexity hospital in the city of Medellín, Colombia.

PURPOSE: To describe the demographic clinical characteristics and to identify the risk factors of patients diagnosed with fungemia and secondary intraocular involvement. METHODS: Retrospective cohort of 97 patients diagnosed with fungemia and with or without involvement of the posterior segment. Demographic, clinical and ophthalmological variables were identified to establish the risk of retinal seeding. RESULTS: An incidence of ocular involvement of 22.68% was obtained and no clear risk factor was found for subsequent showings in patients with fungemia. A risk trend was only found in patients with diabetes with an OR: 2.85; CI 95%: (0.80-10.12) and history of HIV with an OR: 2.29 CI95%: (0.85-6.12). CONCLUSIONS: In this first cohort carried out in Colombia according to our search, findings were obtained that agree with those of other authors worldwide, where there is no evidence of a decrease in incidence compared with older studies and the absence of risk factors for the compromise of the posterior pole in patients with fungemia.KEY MESSAGESSystematic fundus evaluation by an ophthalmologist in patients with candidaemia is a recommended practice based on low-quality evidence.The identification of real risk factors for retinal compromise in fungemia would allow us to be more selective with the population to be evaluated.Fungemia generally occurs in critically ill patients, where access and availability of ophthalmology evaluation are a resource that is not always available.

Using Soccer Games as an Instrument to Forecast the Spread of COVID-19 in Europe.

We provide strong empirical support for the contribution of soccer games held in Europe to the spread of the COVID-19 virus in March 2020. We analyze more than 1,000 games across 194 regions from 10 European countries. Daily cases of COVID-19 grow significantly faster in regions where at least one soccer game took place two weeks earlier, consistent with the existence of an incubation period. These results weaken as we include stadiums with smaller capacity. We discuss the relevance of these variables as instruments for the identification of the causal effect of COVID-19 on firms, the economy, and financial markets.