scholarly journals The Use of Heap Bioleaching as a Pre-Treatment for Platinum Group Metal Leaching

2017 ◽  
Vol 262 ◽  
pp. 151-154
Author(s):  
James M. Mwase ◽  
Jochen Petersen

Two samples, a Platreef flotation concentrate and coarse ore (<6 mm), were column bioleached at 65°C using a culture dominated by Metallosphaera hakonensis. Based on solution assays, extractions in excess of 90% Cu and Ni were achieved from the flotation concentrate, while from the coarse ore 96% Cu and 67% Ni extractions were achieved. The difference in extraction levels and leaching patterns despite identical conditions used for both samples is discussed, as is the performance of the samples during a follow-up leach step using cyanide to extract the PGMs in a separate column leach experiment. While the recovery of Pd and Au was excellent during these steps, recovery of Pt was limited to 35% after 45 days for the concentrate and 56% after 60 days for the whole ore material, primarily due to the presence of a refractory Pt mineral. Recovery from a concentrate without pre-treatment was substantially lower.

Cephalalgia ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 503-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Michel ◽  
JF Dartigues ◽  
G Duru ◽  
J Moreau ◽  
R Salamon ◽  
...  

Objective To assess the costs of headache-related absenteeism of community-dwelling migraineurs, and to compare the amount of absenteeism between migraineurs aged 18 and older and age, sex, and occupation-matched nonheadache-prone subjects. Design Follow-up over a 3-month period. Samples 385 migraineurs and 313 nonheadache subjects representative of the setting. Methods Every day, the participants recorded the presence of headache, if any, and the work situation (unemployment, holiday, weekend, medical reason, nonmedical reason). Sickness-related absenteeism was the number of workdays missed or interrupted for medical reasons. Headache-related absenteeism was the sickness-related absenteeism during workdays with headaches. The annual headache-related absenteeism costs in France were extrapolated from these data in accordance with the mean income per occupational category. The incremental absenteeism and related costs were the difference between the two samples. Results Of working migraineurs, 20% had at least one period of absenteeism. During the 3 months, they missed or interrupted on average 1.4 days for medical reasons, 0.25 of which for headaches. Sickness-related absenteeism was statistically higher in migraineurs than in nonheadache-prone subjects. This difference was due to a higher absenteeism for comorbidity reasons, not for headache reasons, representing 20% of all sickness-related absenteeism. Migraineurs avoided sick leave for headache reasons. As an incremental total, 1.68 days or approximately 0.7% of the annual number of working days are lost on average per individual with migraine. The annual incremental headache-related absenteeism cost was 5.22 billions, i.e. 1,551 FF (US$240) per migraineur.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 886-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Luisa Martínez-Martí ◽  
María Dolores Avia ◽  
María José Hernández-Lloreda

This study examined a gratitude intervention repeating Emmons and McCullough study (2003) in a Spanish sample. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (gratitude, hassles and any event) and kept daily records during 2 weeks of gratitude, affect, quality of relationships, physical and subjective well-being. We added design features to assess the intervention long-term impact (follow-up measures), and to improve the design control (pre-treatment measures). Following the cited authors' analysis, i.e., comparing groups only in the post-test, we replicated their results, finding differences in positive affect and gratitude between the gratitude condition and the hassles condition. However, when including both the pre and the follow-up measures in the analysis, results were replicated only partially, as the difference in gratitude disappeared. Moreover, the difference in positive affect between groups in the post-test seemed to be influenced mainly by a decrease in positive affect in the hassles group. Post-test differences between groups in positive affect disappeared in the follow-up. Gratitude interventions may have an effect on well-being, but we consider other methods to promote gratitude besides gratitude journals should be tested.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos ◽  
Vanessa Peynenburg ◽  
Swati Mehta ◽  
Kelly Adlam ◽  
Marcie Nugent ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Anxiety and depression are leading causes of disability, but are often undertreated. Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) improves access to treatment by overcoming barriers to obtaining care, such as location, time, and privacy. ICBT has been found to be efficacious in research trials and routine care, but there has been limited study of ICBT when ICBT is recommended and funded by insurance companies for clients on or recently in receipt of disability benefits or accommodations. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to examine ICBT engagement, acceptability, and effectiveness among individuals involved with two insurance companies. The two samples were benchmarked against previously published outcomes obtained in a publicly-funded ICBT clinic. METHODS Individuals who were on or recently in receipt of disability benefits and were either employees of an insurance company (n = 21) or plan members of an insurance company (n = 19) were referred to ICBT funded by the respective insurance companies. Outcomes from these two samples were benchmarked against outcomes of ICBT obtained in a publicly-funded ICBT clinic, with clients in the clinic divided into those who reported no involvement with insurance companies (n = 414) and those who self-reported being on short-term disability (n = 44). All clients received the same 8-week, therapist-assisted, transdiagnostic ICBT course targeting symptoms of anxiety and depression. Engagement was assessed by examining ICBT completion rates, and number of emails exchanged and log-ins. Acceptability was assessed using post-treatment satisfaction questions. Effectiveness was assessed using measures of depression, anxiety, and disability administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS All samples showed high levels of ICBT engagement and acceptability. Insurance company employees experienced significant effects on outcome measures at post-treatment (depression d = 0.48; anxiety d = 0.81; disability d = 0.72) that were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Insurance company plan members, who notably had greater pre-treatment disability than the other samples, experienced significant moderate effects on outcome measures at post-treatment (depression d = 0.56, anxiety d = 0.53, disability d = 0.48), but gains were not maintained at 3-month follow-up. Effect sizes in both insurance company samples were significantly smaller than in the publicly-funded sample who reported no insurance benefits (depression d = 1.17-1.20; anxiety d = 1.31-1.36; disability d =.93-1.06 at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up) and the publicly-funded sample who reported having short-term disability benefits (depression d = .89-1.06; anxiety d = 1.01-1.18; disability d =.86-1.03 at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up). CONCLUSIONS Many clients referred and funded by insurance companies were engaged with ICBT and found it acceptable and effective. Results, however, were not maintained among those with very high levels of pre-treatment disability. Directions for future research related to ICBT funded by insurance companies are described.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatsugu Orui

Abstract. Background: Monitoring of suicide rates in the recovery phase following a devastating disaster has been limited. Aim: We report on a 7-year follow-up of the suicide rates in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred in March 2011. Method: This descriptive study covered the period from March 2009 to February 2018. Period analysis was used to divide the 108-month study period into nine segments, in which suicide rates were compared with national averages using Poisson distribution. Results: Male suicide rates in the affected area from March 2013 to February 2014 increased to a level higher than the national average. After subsequently dropping, the male rates from March 2016 to February 2018 re-increased and showed a greater difference compared with the national averages. The difference became significant in the period from March 2017 to February 2018 ( p = .047). Limitations: Specific reasons for increasing the rates in the recovery phase were not determined. Conclusion: The termination of the provision of free temporary housing might be influential in this context. Provision of temporary housing was terminated from 2016, which increased economic hardship among needy evacuees. Furthermore, disruption of the social connectedness in the temporary housing may have had an influence. Our findings suggest the necessity of suicide rate monitoring even in the recovery phase.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshimi Sugiura ◽  
Fumiki Okamoto ◽  
Tomoya Murakami ◽  
Shohei Morikawa ◽  
Takahiro Hiraoka ◽  
...  

AbstractTo evaluate the effects of intravitreal ranibizumab injection (IVR) on metamorphopsia in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), and to assess the relationship between metamorphopsia and inner retinal microstructure and other factors. Thirty-three treatment-naïve eyes of 33 patients with macular edema caused by BRVO with at least 12 months of follow-up were included. The degree of metamorphopsia was quantified using the M-CHARTS. Retinal microstructure was assessed with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Disorganization of the retinal inner layers (DRIL) at the first month after resolution of the macular edema (early DRIL) and at 12 months after treatment (after DRIL) was studied. Central retinal thickness (CRT), and status of the external limiting membrane as well as ellipsoid zone were also evaluated. IVR treatment significantly improved best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and CRT, but the mean metamorphopsia score did not improve even after 12 months. Post-treatment metamorphopsia scores showed a significant correlation with pre-treatment metamorphopsia scores (P < 0.005), the extent of early DRIL (P < 0.05) and after DRIL (P < 0.05), and the number of injections (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that the post-treatment mean metamorphopsia score was significantly correlated with the pre-treatment mean metamorphopsia score (P < 0.05). IVR treatment significantly improved BCVA and CRT, but not metamorphopsia. Post-treatment metamorphopsia scores were significantly associated with pre-treatment metamorphopsia scores, the extent of DRIL, and the number of injections. Prognostic factor of metamorphopsia was the degree of pre-treatment metamorphopsia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 320.1-321
Author(s):  
E. Loibner ◽  
V. Ritschl ◽  
B. Leeb ◽  
P. Spellitz ◽  
G. Eichbauer-Sturm ◽  
...  

Background:Gender differences in prevalence and disease course are known in various rheumatic diseases; however, investigations of gender difference concerning therapeutical response have yielded variable results.Objectives:The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate, whether a gender difference in response rate to biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and apremilast in bDMARD-naïve patients could be observed across the three most prevalent inflammatory arthritis diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondylarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Additionally, a response to individual TNF blockers was investigated in this respect.Methods:Data from bDMARD-naïve RA-, SpA- and PsA-patients from Bioreg, the Austrian registry for biological DMARDs in rheumatic diseases, were used. Patients with a baseline (Visit 1=V1) and follow-up visits at 6 months (Visit 2=V2) and 12 months (Visit 3=V3) were included and response to therapy with TNF-inhibitors (TNFi), furthermore to therapy with rituximab, tocilizumab and apremilast was analyzed according to gender. The remaining bDMARDs were not analyzed due to small numbers. Key response-parameter for RA was disease activity score (DAS28), whereas for PsoA the Stockerau Activity Score for Psoriatic Arthritis (SASPA) and for SpA the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) were employed; in addition, the Health assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was used. Data were analyzed in R Statistic stratified by gender using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon tests.Results:354 women and 123 men with RA (n=477), 81 women and 69 men with PsA (n=150), 121 women and 191 men with SpA (n=312) were included. No significant differences in biometrics was seen between female and male patients at baseline in all diseases.In RA patients overall DAS28 decreased from baseline (V1) to V2 and V3 (DAS28: V1: male: 4.38 [3.66, 5.11], female: 4.30 [3.68, 5.03], p(m/f) = 0.905; V2: male: 2.66 [1.73, 3.63], female: 3.10 [2.17, 3.98], p(m/f) = 0.015; V3: male: 2.25 [1.39, 3.36], female: 3.01 [1.87, 3.87], p(m/f) = 0.002). For TNF inhibitors (n=311), there was a significant difference between genders at V2 (Fig.1a). Patients receiving Rituximab (n=41) displayed a significantly higher DAS28 at baseline in females, which diminished in the follow up: V1: (p(m/f) p=0.002; V2: p=0.019; V3: p=0.13); response to tocilizumab (n=63) did not show any gender differences.In PsA patients overall SASPA decreased from baseline (V1) to V2 and V3 (SASPA: V1: male: 4.00 [2.80, 5.20], female: 4.40 [2.80, 5.80], p(m/f) = 0.399; V2: male: 2.20 [1.20, 3.50], female: 3.40 [2.00, 5.00], p(m/f) = 0.071; V3: male: 1.80 [0.80, 2.70], female: 3.01 [2.35, 4.80], p(m/f) = 0.001). For TNF inhibitors (n=79), there was a significant difference between genders at V3 (Fig 1a). For Apremilast (n=39), there was a significant difference between genders at V2 (Fig.1c).In SpA patients overall BASDAI decreased from baseline (V1) to V2 and V3 (BASDAI: V1: male: 4.70 [2.88, 6.18], female: 4.80 [3.30, 6.20], p(m/f) = 0.463; V2: male: 3.05 [2.00, 4.60], female: 3.64 [2.62, 5.41], p(m/f) = 0.039; V3: male: 3.02 [1.67, 4.20], female: 3.65 [2.18, 5.47], p(m/f) = 0.016). In V3 a differential BASDAI in response to TNFi (n=299) was observed (Fig.1a).Possible differences of response to individual TNFi (etanercept, infliximab, other TNFi) measured by HAQ were investigated in all diseases together. The difference between male and females was significant at baseline for all 3 TNFi; whereas with the use of ETA the significant difference was carried through to V2 and V3, it was lost with the use of IFX and was variable with the other TNFi (Fig.1b)Figure 1.Conclusion:Female patients showed a statistically lower response to TNFi in all three disease entities (RA, SpA and PsoA) to a variable degree in our homogenous central european population. Interestingly, the difference was not uniform across individual TNFi when measured by HAQ. Gender differences were also seen in response to Apremilast.Disclosure of Interests:Elisabeth Loibner: None declared, Valentin Ritschl: None declared, Burkhard Leeb Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Roche, MSD, Pfizer, Actiopharm, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Kwizda, Celgene, Sandoz, Grünenthal, Eli-Lilly, Grant/research support from: TRB, Roche, Consultancies: AbbVie, Amgen, Roche, MSD, Pfizer, Celgene, Grünenthal, Kwizda, Eli-Lilly, Novartis, Sandoz;, Peter Spellitz: None declared, Gabriela Eichbauer-Sturm: None declared, Jochen Zwerina: None declared, Manfred Herold: None declared, Miriam Stetter: None declared, Rudolf Puchner Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Janssen, Kwizda, MSD, Pfizer, Celgene, Grünenthal, Eli-Lilly, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Pfizer, Celgene, Grünenthal, Eli-Lilly, Franz Singer: None declared, Ruth Fritsch-Stork: None declared


2021 ◽  
pp. 153857442110232
Author(s):  
Spyridon N. Mylonas ◽  
Konstantinos G. Moulakakis ◽  
Nikolaos Kadoglou ◽  
Constantinos Antonopoulos ◽  
Thomas E. Kotsis ◽  
...  

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate a potential difference on the arterial stiffness among aneurysm patients and non-aneurysm controls, as well as to explore potential changes between patients treated either with endovascular or open repair. Materials and Methods: A 110 patients with an infrarenal AAA were prospectively enrolled in this study. Fifty-six patients received an EVAR, whereas 54 patients received an open surgical repair. Moreover, 103 gender and age-matched subjects without AAA served as controls. The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was applied for measurement of the arterial stiffness. Results: CAVI values were statistically higher in the AAA patients when compared with control subjects. Although at 48 hours postoperatively the CAVI values were increased in both groups when compared to baseline values, the difference in CAVI had a tendency to be higher in the open group compared to the endovascular group. At 6 months of follow up the CAVI values returned to the baseline for the patients of the open repair group. However, in the endovascular group CAVI values remained higher when compared with the baseline values. Conclusion: Patients with AAAs demonstrated a higher value of CAVI compared to healthy controls. A significant increase of arterial stiffness in both groups during the immediate postoperative period was documented. The increase in arterial stiffness remained significant at 6 months in EVAR patients. Further studies are needed to elucidate the impact of a decreased aortic compliance after stentgraft implantation on the cardiac function of patients with AAA.


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