Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel Technology Compared to Chromium Electrodeposition.

Due to the toxicity associated with chromium electrodeposition, alternatives to that process are highly sought after. One of those potential alternatives is High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF). In this work, a HVOF installation is compared with chromium electrodeposition from environmental and economic points of view by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) for the evaluation. Costs and environmental impacts per piece coated are then evaluated. On an economic side, the lower labor requirements of HVOF allow one to noticeably reduce the costs (20.9% reduction) per functional unit (F.U.). Furthermore, on an environmental side, HVOF has a lower impact for the toxicity compared to electrodeposition, even if the results are a bit more mixed in other impact categories.

Magnetron Sputtering vs. Electrodeposition for Hard Chrome Coatings: A Comparison of Environmental and Economic Performances.

The coating of materials with specific films is widely used to improve material properties and many technologies exist to perform it. In the last few years, the replacement of wet electrodeposition processes has been continuously encouraged in the EU due to the problematic waste management linked to those processes. In this paper, magnetron sputtering is studied as an alternative to conventional electrodeposition by comparing the technologies' environmental impacts and costs. From the study, it appears that while magnetron sputtering greatly reduces hexavalent chromium emissions over the production, it has an increased electricity consumption mostly due to its lower production capacity, thus leading to more greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, a short discussion on the quantification of the impact of hexavalent chromium emissions is conducted. Regarding costs, the electrodeposition process has a lower cost of investment and of consumables, but requires more work time for the different steps of the process, making the total price per functional unit roughly equal. However, the cost per functional unit strongly depends on assumptions on the required work time, for which a sensitivity study is performed. Finally, the impacts of these two competing coating processes are discussed to complete the technological comparison for the case of hard chromium deposition.

Oncological and Postoperative Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in Renal Transplant Recipients: A Multicenter and Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP) has been poorly studied in men with renal graft. OBJECTIVE: To determine the predictive factors for oncologic outcomes and complications after RARP in renal transplants recipients (RTRs). DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective multicenter controlled study identified all RTRs who had undergone RARP between 2008 and 2016 in 2 experts departments. All RTRs were matched 1:1 with patients who had also undergone RARP but with no history of renal transplant (control group). INTERVENTION: Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Incontinence, oncologic outcomes, and complications according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Comparisons of the quantitative variables using Student's t tests, and comparisons of the qualitative variables using χ2 tests. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS (version 9.3). Independent risk factors of biochemical recurrence (BCR), postoperative complications, or incontinence were searched by using a multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: Twenty-seven RTRs were included in the transplant group and compared with 27 men in the control group with similar preoperative characteristics. Univariate analysis showed a shorter BCR-free survival in RTRs, with 26.9 months vs 49.3 months in the control group (P = .018). BCR rate was similar in each group (7.4% vs 11.1%, P = .639). No difference between groups was showed for immediate postoperative complications (29.6% vs 22.2%, P = .279). Multivariate analysis showed that a renal graft history was an independent risk factor of shorter BCR-free survival (hazard ratio = 4.291; 95% confidence interval, 2.102-8.761 and P < .001). Even if it is the first comparative study on this topic, the low number of men included is the main limitation of our study. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show the reliability of RARP in RTRs. The rate of BCR does not appear more frequently but BCR-free survival seems shorter in these patients. A prospective comparative study remains necessary with more patients to confirm our results.

Place of surgery in the management of post-operative chronic pain after placement of prosthetic material based on a series of 107 cases.

AIMS: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of surgical removal of prosthetic material, possibly combined with nerve release, on chronic postoperative pain following placement of prosthetic material. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Single-tertiary-centre study on 107 patients managed between November 2004 and April 2016 for removal of prosthetic material responsible for postoperative chronic pain: retropubic suburethral sling (n = 32), transobturator suburethral sling (n = 50), prolapse mesh (n = 16), and hernia mesh (n = 9). The primary endpoint was at least 50% reduction of pain evaluated by a pain numerical rating scale (NRS). RESULTS: The mean interval between the initial operation involving placement of prosthetic material and reoperation for removal of prosthetic material was 41.2 ± 35.4 months. In all cases pain apperaed immediately following prosthetic material placement surgery. Pain presented neuropathic features in almost 30% of cases and was poorly systematized in more than one-half The mean follow-up of the study population was 8.4 ± 10.3 months. The mean pain NRS score for the overall population was seven preoperatively and three at last follow-up. At least 50% reduction of the pain NRS score was observed 67% of cases at last follow-up. During follow-up, 45% of patients experienced relapse of the disorder for which the prosthetic material was initially placed with, in particular, a 62% recurrence rate of urinary incontinence after removal of transobturator suburethral tape. CONCLUSION: Surgical removal of prosthetic material to treat chronic postoperative pain, achieved global improvement of pain in about two-thirds of cases, but with a risk of recurrence of the initial disorders.

Gender-dependent regulation of G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium current in dorsal raphe neurons in knock-out mice devoid of the 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter.

Agonists at G-protein-coupled receptors in neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of knock-out mice devoid of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT(-/-)) exhibit lower efficacy to inhibit cellular discharge than in wild-type counterparts. Using patch-clamp whole-cell recordings, we found that a G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) current is involved in the inhibition of spike discharge induced by 5-HT1A agonists (5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT) and (+/-)-2-dipropylamino-8-hydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT); 50 nM-30 microM) in both wild-type and 5-HTT(-/-) female and male mice. These effects were mimicked by 5'-guanylyl-imido-diphosphate (Gpp(NH)p; 400 microM) dialysis into cells with differences between genders. The 5-HTT(-/-) knock-out mutation reduced the current density induced by Gpp(NH)p in females but not in males. These data suggest that the decreased response of 5-HT1A receptors to agonists in 5-HTT(-/-) mutants reflects notably alteration in the coupling between G-proteins and GIRK channels in females but not in males. Accordingly, gender differences in central 5-HT neurotransmission appear to depend-at least in part-on sex-related variations in corresponding receptor-G protein signaling mechanisms.