A ROBUST SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACE FOR DIGITAL MICROFLUIDICS

ABSTRACT Digital microfluidics depends on efficient movement of individual drops for a variety of tasks, e.g. reagent delivery, mixing, sampling, etc. Superhydrophobic (SH) coatings generally show high repellency and low adhesion for a variety 5 of liquids. Therefore, SH coatings can provide for an efficient drop delivery and hence low energy requirements for a fluidic chip. However, wide application of such coatings is hampered by fragile nature of such coatings to date. A new SH coating is developed that addresses the fragility challenge of such 10 coatings. It is based on application of nanoparticles to fluoropolymers. The mechanical stability, wear resistance and durability under prolonged liquid exposure of this new coating is discussed. It is shown that the new SH coating can maintain high contact angles, low contact angle hysteresis needed for 15 drop mobility under adverse conditions/application of digital microfluidic devices. The developed SH coating can also be sprayed onto various surfaces, including glass used in traditional lab-on-chip (LOC) devices, or even paper for enabling novel Lap-on-paper (LOP) devices. 20

Evaluación de 80 implantes, sometidos a carga inmediata en desdentados inferiores tras un seguimiento de dos años

Objetivo: Analizar el comportamiento tanto clínico como radiológico de ochentas implantes con una nueva superficie tratada mediante una disolución de ácido sulfúrico y fluorhídrico con posterior tratamiento térmico, que han sido sometidos a carga inmediata en pacientes rehabilitados con sobredentaduras inferiores. Diseño del artículo: Estudio observacional, prospectivo en 20 pacientes rehabilitados con sobredentaduras inferiores, soportadas sobre cuatro implantes de 13 milímetros de longitud. Todos los pacientes fueron planificados e incluídos tras el consentimiento, anamnesis, exploración clínica y estudio radiográfico y mediante montaje clínico previo de la prótesis inferior. Resultados: Durante los dos años de seguimiento, se ha obervado que el acúmulo de placa y cálculo no ha sido importante, oscilando los índices (Silness y Löe) entre 0 y 1. El sondaje periodontal, ha sido favorable no encontrando pacientes que superasen 2 milímetros. Los controles radiográficos mostraron a lo largo del seguimiento ausencia de fracaso implantológico. Las pérdidas óseas cervicales, durante el primer año, no existieron en un alto porcentaje (65%), mientras que en un 10% se produjo la reabsorción de la mitad cervical y en el 35% restante sobre las ¾ partes cervicales. El comportamiento durante el segundo año fue compatible a los patrones estándares, observándose pérdidas que oscilaron entre 0,5 y 1,5 milímetros. Conclusiones: La rehabilitación mediante sobredentaduras inferiores, debiera contemplarse como una indicación prioritaria, planteándose la sustitución de los tratamientos implantológicos con períodos de reposo convencionales y/o precoces.Aim: An analysis is made of the clinical and radiological behavior of 80 implants with a new surface subjected to etching with a sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid solution followed by thermal treatment, and subjected to immediate loading in patients with lower overdentures. Study design: A prospective observational study was made of 20 patients with lower overdentures supported by four implants measuring 13 mm in length. All patients were included after the obtainment of informed consent, anamnesis, clinical examination and radiological study, with prior clinical elaboration of the lower dentures. Results: Over two years of follow-up, no important plaque or tartar accumulation was observed (with Silness and Löe indexes of 0-1). Periodontal probing proved favorable, with no pocket depths of over 2 mm in any case. The radiological controls showed no implant failures during follow-up. No cervical bone loss was recorded in the first year in a large proportion of cases (65%), while reabsorption of the cervical half was observed in 10%, and of three-quarters of the cervical portion in the remaining 35%. Performance in the second year was compatible with the standard references ' with losses of between 0.5-1.5 mm. Conclusions: Rehabilitation with lower overdentures should be regarded as a priority indication, and implantological treatment substitution by conventional and/or early resting periods should be considered

Simultaneous Culture and Biomachining of Copper in MAC Medium: A Comparison between Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans

Biomachining will not be considered as a full-scale manufacturing technology until a stable, controlled, and continuous metal removal rate (MRR) is achieved. In this research work, a novel strategy that could promote its industrial implementation, namely simultaneous bacterial growth and machining of copper contained in oxygen-free copper (OFC) workpieces, was investigated. This proposal has the major advantage of being a single-stage process, thereby reducing total operating times and becoming more economical in comparison with conventional biomachining (downtime due to bacterial growth would disappear). The study was carried out using mesophilic (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) and thermophilic (Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans) extremophile bacteria in order to prevent the progressive decrease in the amount of metal removed per unit time. A constant MRR of 43 mg h-1 was achieved with A. ferrooxidans in the simultaneous process. Despite the accomplishment of a constant MRR, this value is lower than the maximum MRR obtained in conventional biomachining (109 mg h-1), probably due to the inability of ferric ions to come into contact with the metallic surface. With regard to the culture period in MAC medium, S. thermosulfidooxidans showed a slower growth rate (0.11 h-1) and lower ferrous ion oxidation level (0.12 g Fe2+ L-1 h-1) than A. ferrooxidans (0.17 h-1 and 0.22 g Fe2+ L-1 h-1, respectively) under optimal pH (1.5) and Fe2+ concentration (6 g L-1) conditions.Fil: Diaz Tena, E.. Universidad del País Vasco; España. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales; ArgentinaFil: Gallastegui, G.. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Hipperdinger, Marcela Liliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales; ArgentinaFil: Donati, Edgardo Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales; ArgentinaFil: Rojo, N.. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Santaolalla, A.. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Ramirez, M.. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Barona, A.. Universidad de Cádiz; EspañaFil: Elías, A.. Universidad del Pais Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Campus Bizkaia

Additional Determinations in a Potential Support Material for Toluene Biofiltration: Adsorption and Partition in the Nutrient Solution

This paper studies the adsorption properties in wet and dry conditions of a potential support material for toluene biofiltration. The material was able to retain 2.5 times less toluene when the contaminated airflow was fed either water-saturated or devoid of moisture, which is an indication of the relative exposed surface area accessible for adsorption. The correlation coefficients between Freundlich-modelled and experimental values (R2 = 0.9 8) suggest that, within the tested range of toluene concentrations, this model is valid to describe adsorption equilibrium and that n exponent is near 1 when natural material is used as adsorption bed. In addition, the air-liquid partitioning constant values of toluene in water and in a nutrient solution used for biomass acclimation were determined. The constant obtained for the nutrient solution ranged from 0.167 to 0.224 for liquid toluene mass concentration (L) values ranging from 10.3 to 36.2 g m–3 at 298 K. By contrast, the constants in water varied from 0.221 to 0.277 for L values ranging from 7.86 to 27.6 g m–3

Intercruzamento em uma população de soja derivada de um retrocruzamento e perspectivas de melhoramento.

Os efeitos de uma geração de intercruzamento em uma população de soja foram avaliados através das médias, variâncias genéticas e respostas à seleção, para o caráter produtividade de grãos. A partir de um cruzamento biparental entre duas linhagens foi realizado um retrocruzamento para a linhagem mais produtiva (RC1). Em seguida esta população foi recombinada, dando origem à população de retrocruzamento intercruzada (RC1#). Na sequência foram obtidas progênies de plantas individuas das duas populações (RC1 e RC1#), via autofecundação natural, num total de 118 progênies por população, que correspondem às progênies RC1F2 e RC1#F2. As progênies das duas populações foram avaliadas no ano agrícola de 2008/09, em experimentos em látice 11x11 com quatro repetições. As parcelas foram colhidas em bulk (gerações RC1F3 e RC1#F3) e avaliadas novamente no ano agrícola 2010/11, utilizando o mesmo delineamento experimental e número de repetições. As médias foram similares entre as populações RC1 e RC1# dentro de cada ano; entretanto, houve um acréscimo nas variâncias genéticas nas populações intercruzadas (RC1#F2 e RC1#F3) e, devido a isso, a resposta esperada com seleção foi 39% superior, em média, para estas. Estes resultados ressaltam a importância do intercruzamento em programas que utilizam populações derivadas de retrocruzamentos

Evolution of substrate specificity in a retained enzyme driven by gene loss.

The connection between gene loss and the functional adaptation of retained proteins is still poorly understood. We apply phylogenomics and metabolic modeling to detect bacterial species that are evolving by gene loss, with the finding that Actinomycetaceae genomes from human cavities are undergoing sizable reductions, including loss of L-histidine and L-tryptophan biosynthesis. We observe that the dual-substrate phosphoribosyl isomerase A or priA gene, at which these pathways converge, appears to coevolve with the occurrence of trp and his genes. Characterization of a dozen PriA homologs shows that these enzymes adapt from bifunctionality in the largest genomes, to a monofunctional, yet not necessarily specialized, inefficient form in genomes undergoing reduction. These functional changes are accomplished via mutations, which result from relaxation of purifying selection, in residues structurally mapped after sequence and X-ray structural analyses. Our results show how gene loss can drive the evolution of substrate specificity from retained enzymes

El dominio afectivo en la construcción del conocimiento didáctico del contenido sobre resolución de problemas de matemáticas

Diferentes trabajos señalan la influencia de la dimensión afectiva en el aprendizaje de la resolución de problemas de matemáticas, describiendo y analizando los afectos. Otras investigaciones, han mostrado la importancia de estos mismos factores en el proceso de aprender a enseñar. Específicamente en la construcción del Conocimiento Didáctico del Contenido de profesores de matemáticas de primaria. Por este motivo, venimos trabajando en un modelo integrado sobre Resolución de problemas de Matemáticas y control emocional, que permita a los profesores trabajar los problemas de matemáticas teniendo en cuenta los factores afectivos y cognitivos que confluyen en la actividad. Y todo ello desde la perspectiva de que aprendan a enseñar a resolver problemas y a controlar sus emociones en el nivel de primaria

ActDES- a Curated Actinobacterial Database for Evolutionary Studies

Actinobacteria is a large and diverse phylum of bacteria that contains medically and ecologically relevant organisms. Many members are valuable sources of bioactive natural products and chemical precursors that are exploited in the clinic and made using the enzyme pathways encoded in their complex genomes. Whilst the number of sequenced genomes has increased rapidly in the last 20 years, the large size, complexity and high G+C content of many actinobacterial genomes means that the sequences remain incomplete and consist of large numbers of contigs with poor annotation, which hinders large-scale comparative genomic and evolutionary studies. To enable greater understanding and exploitation of actinobacterial genomes, specialized genomic databases must be linked to high-quality genome sequences. Here, we provide a curated database of 612 high-quality actinobacterial genomes from 80 genera, chosen to represent a broad phylogenetic group with equivalent genome re-annotation. Utilizing this database will provide researchers with a framework for evolutionary and metabolic studies, to enable a foundation for genome and metabolic engineering, to facilitate discovery of novel bioactive therapeutics and studies on gene family evolution. This article contains data hosted by Microreact