Enhanced Leaching of Zinc from Zinc-Containing Metallurgical Residues via Microwave Calcium Activation Pretreatment

Given the shortage of zinc resource, the low utilisation efficiency of secondary zinc resource, and the crucial problem that the synchronous dissolution of zinc from different mineral phases, an activation pretreatment method merged with calcium activation and microwave heating approach was proposed to enhance the zinc leaching from complex encapsulated zinc-containing metallurgical residues (ZMR). Results indicated that under the optimal pretreatment conditions, including microwave activation temperature of 400 °C, CaO addition of 25% and activation time of 20 min, the zinc leaching rate reached 91.67%, which was 3.9% higher than that by conventional roasting pretreatment. Meanwhile, microwave heating presents excellent treatment effects, manifested by the zinc leaching rates, all exceeding that of conventional roasting under the same conditions, while the process temperature is decreased by 200 °C. In addition, XRD and SEM-EDS analysis denoted that microwave calcification pretreatment can effectively promote the transformation of the refractory zinc minerals like Zn2SiO4 and ZnFe2O4 into the easily leachable zinc oxides. The distinctive selective heating characteristics of microwave heating strengthened the dissociation of mineral inclusion, and the generated cracks increased the interfacial reaction area and further enhancing the leaching reaction of zinc from ZMR.

Evaluating the Safety of Intravenous Delivery of Autologous Activated Platelet-rich Plasma

Introduction: Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been a growing trend in the field of medicine due to its broad range of application and is considered safe from bloodborne diseases. Furthermore, various studies have tried to optimize the use of autologous PRP through various preparation protocols, including PRP activation. However, most of the studies available have not evaluated the safety for intravenous delivery of PRP, especially autologous activated PRP (aaPRP). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the safety of intravenous delivery of aaPRP.Methods: Blood was drawn from each patient and aaPRP was isolated through calcium activation and light irradiation. Each aaPRP was administered intravenously to all patients. Adverse events were documented and analyzed.Results: Six hundred eleven patients participated in this study with a total of 4244 aaPRP therapies. Quality control of autologous aaPRP showed no platelets present after both calcium activation and light irradiation. No adverse events such as allergic reaction, infection, and coagulation problems were observed on all patients over the course of the study.Conclusion: Our results showed that intravenous administration of autologous aaPRP is safe even in patients with various pathological conditions.

Функциональная неднородность возникающая в результате электрического и механического взаимодействия между кардиомиоцитами в математической модели однородного волокна

We developed a mathematical model describing heart muscle strand as a one-dimensional continuous medium of cardiomyocytes, through which electrical excitation propagates and excites the cells for contraction. Intracellular excitation-contraction coupling is presented by means of our earlier published model describing mechanical function of the cardiomyocyte evoked by action potential development and calcium activation of cross-bridge formation. The whole strand model simulates also mechanical interaction between the cardiomyocytes in the tissue and accounts for both intracellular and intercellular electro-mechanical coupling and mechano-electric feedback mechanisms. Numerical experiments with the strand formed of initially identical cardiomyocytes revealed that electrical and mechanical interaction between the cells, as well as intracellular mechano-electric feedbacks caused pronounced nonuniformity of their behavior. Model analysis suggests that cooperative mechanisms of myofilament calcium activation play the key role in dynamic adjustment of electrical and mechanical activity of the interacting cardiomyocytes in the tissue.