Interactive effects between carbon allotrope fillers on the mechanical reinforcement of polyisoprene based nanocomposites

Interactive effects of carbon allotropes on the mechanical reinforcement of polymer nanocomposites were investigated. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and nano-graphite with high shape anisotropy (nanoG) were melt blended with poly(1,4- cis-isoprene), as the only fillers or in combination with carbon black (CB), measuring the shear modulus at low strain amplitudes for peroxide crosslinked composites. The nanofiller was found to increase the low amplitude storage modulus of the matrix, with or without CB, by a factor depending on nanofiller type and content. This factor, fingerprint of the nanofiller, was higher for CNT than for nanoG. The filler-polymer interfacial area was able to correlate modulus data of composites with CNT, CB and with the hybrid filler system, leading to the construction of a common master curve. © BME-PT

The sustainability of biodynamic horticultural production : The case of Po valley

More and more attention is paid to environmental, economic and social sustainability of the agricultural activity as it is proved at European level by the new setting of CAP toward 2020. It is therefore interesting to understand which production practices better react to these characteristics. Biodynamic appears to respond well in terms of environmental sustainability: can the same be affirmed in terms of economic sustainability? In this paper Italian biodynamic sector has been analyzed focusing on horticultural production: its economic sustainability has been verified especially for small farms that are facing increasing problems in terms of profitability. The Italian Demeter database was used to identify biodynamic farms that have been georeferenced at a national level and then only the ones specialized in vegetable production have been selected for Italy. In order to assess its economic sustainability the production costs for three farms located in the area of the High Po valley that are converting from organic to biodynamic have been examined, focusing on five items: lettuce (Lactuca sativa), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo), eggplant (Solanum melongena), cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Then these costs have been compared to the ones associated with organic and traditional methods. Their prices have been also compared in order to achieve an economic assessment of the different production methods. Finally a SWOT analysis regarding the adoption of the biodynamic method has been performed. This paper proves that the biodynamic method is economically sustainable in the horticultural production based on higher retail prices that-for some products-compensate higher costs, in comparison to the organic and traditional methods. Another factor that strengthens the use of the biodynamic method is a favorable European legislation

Cost-of-Illness Analysis of Long-Term Health Care Resource Use and Disease Burden in Patients With Pulmonary Embolism: Insights From the PREFER in VTE Registry

Background As mortality from pulmonary embolism (PE) decreases, the personal and societal costs among survivors are receiving increasing attention. Detailing this burden would support an efficient public health resource allocation. We aimed to provide estimates for the economic and disease burden of PE also accounting for long-term health care use and both direct and indirect costs beyond the acute phase. Methods and Results This is a cost-of-illness analysis with a bottom-up approach based on data from the PREFER in VTE registry (Prevention of Thromboembolic Events-European Registry in Venous Thromboembolism). We calculated direct (clinical events and anticoagulation) and indirect costs (loss of productivity) of an acute PE event and its 12-month follow-up in 2020 Euros. We estimated a disability weight for the 12-month post-PE status and corresponding disability adjusted life years presumably owing to PE. Disease-specific costs in the first year of follow-up after an incident PE case ranged between 9135 Euros and 10 620 Euros. The proportion of indirect costs was 42% to 49% of total costs. Costs were lowest in patients with ongoing cancer, mainly because productivity loss was less evident in this already burdened population. The calculated disability weight for survivors who were cancer free 12 months post-PE was 0.017, and the estimated disability adjusted life years per incident case were 1.17. Conclusions The economic burden imposed by PE to society and affected patients is considerable, and productivity loss is its main driver. The disease burden from PE is remarkable and translates to the loss of roughly 1.2 years of healthy life per incident PE case

sp2 carbon allotropes in elastomer matrix: from master curves for the mechanical reinforcement to lightweight materials

This work presents high surface area sp2 carbon allotropes as important tools to design and prepare lightweight materials. Composites were prepared based on either carbon black (CB) or carbon nanotubes (CNT) or hybrid CB/CNT filler systems, with either poly(1,4-cis-isoprene) or poly(styrene-co-butadiene) as the polymer matrix. A correlation was established between the specific interfacial area (i.a.), i.e. the surface made available by the filler per unit volume of composite, and the initial modulus of the composite (G′γmin), determined through dynamic mechanical shear tests. Experimental points could be fitted with a common line, a sort of master curve, up to about 30.2 and 9.8 mass% as CB and CNT content, respectively. The equation of such master curve allowed to correlate modulus and density of the composite. Thanks to the mastercurve, composites with the same modulus and lower density could be designed by substituting part of CB with lower amount of the carbon allotrope with larger surface area, CNT. This work establishes a quantitative correlation as a tool to design lightweight materials and paves the way for large scale application in polymer matrices of innovative sp2 carbon allotropes

Expression Pattern and Biological Significance of the lncRNA ST3GAL6-AS1 in Multiple Myeloma

The biological impact of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in multiple myeloma (MM) is becoming an important aspect of investigation, which may contribute to the understanding of the complex pathobiology of the disease whilst also providing novel potential therapeutic targets. Herein, we investigated the expression pattern and the biological significance of the lncRNA ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3 sialyltransferase 6 antisense RNA 1 (ST3GAL6-AS1) in MM. We documented a high ST3GAL6-AS1 expression level in MM compared to normal plasma cells (PCs) or other hematological malignancies. Transcriptome analyses of MM PCs from patients included in the CoMMpass database indicated a potential involvement of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MAPK signaling and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathways. ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing by LNA-gapmeR antisense oligonucleotides inhibits cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis in MM cell line. Notably, ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing in vitro displayed the down-regulation of the MAPK pathway and protein ubiquitination. These data suggest that ST3GAL6-AS1 deregulation may play a pathogenetic role in MM by affecting both proliferation pathways and circuits fundamental for PC survival. However, ST3GAL6-AS1 expression levels seem not to be significantly associated with clinical outcome and its targeting appears to exert antagonistic effects with proteasome inhibitors used in MM. These findings strongly urge the need for further studies investigating the relevance of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MM

Expression pattern and biological significance of the lncRNA ST3GAL6-AS1 in multiple myeloma

The biological impact of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in multiple myeloma (MM) is becoming an important aspect of investigation, which may contribute to the understanding of the complex pathobiology of the disease whilst also providing novel potential therapeutic targets. Herein, we investigated the expression pattern and the biological significance of the lncRNA ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3 sialyltransferase 6 antisense RNA 1 (ST3GAL6-AS1) in MM. We documented a high ST3GAL6-AS1 expression level in MM compared to normal plasma cells (PCs) or other hematological malignancies. Transcriptome analyses of MM PCs from patients included in the CoMMpass database indicated a potential involvement of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MAPK signaling and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathways. ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing by LNA-gapmeR antisense oligonucleotides inhibits cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis in MM cell line. Notably, ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing in vitro displayed the down-regulation of the MAPK pathway and protein ubiquitination. These data suggest that ST3GAL6-AS1 deregulation may play a pathogenetic role in MM by affecting both proliferation pathways and circuits fundamental for PC survival. However, ST3GAL6-AS1 expression levels seem not to be significantly associated with clinical outcome and its targeting appears to exert antagonistic effects with proteasome inhibitors used in MM. These findings strongly urge the need for further studies investigating the relevance of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MM

Anisotropic properties of elastomeric nanocomposites based on natural rubber and sp2carbon allotropes

This work provides a comprehensive investigation of the anisotropic mechanical and electrical properties of elastomeric nanocomposites based on natural rubber and sp2carbon allotropes. They can be either nanometric and with high shape anisotropy like Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) and lamellar nanographite, or nanostructured and nearly isometric like carbon black. Studies were performed on calendered and compression molded plates. A complete mechanical characterization along all main directions could be performed by a non-standard testing approach. Composites with nanometric, high aspect ratio fillers gave rise to remarkable mechanical anisotropy, revealing an orthotropic and transversally isotropic response: modulus values were very similar in the sheet plane and much larger (almost twice as much) in the orthogonal direction. The electrical anisotropy achieved its maximum at lower CNT content. Composites with carbon black did not reveal mechanical anisotropy, while, quite strikingly, a very large electrical anisotropy was observed for carbon black content close to the percolation threshold. These results provide insights into the anisotropic behavior of nanofilled elastomers, and could pave the way to their exploitation in advanced engineering design and biomimicking biomedical applications