Hollow Microcrystals of Copper Hexafluoroacetylacetonate-Pyridine Derivative Adducts via Supercritical CO2 Recrystallization

An innovative crystallization process, based in the use of the eco-friendly supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) solvent, is presented for the production of coordination compounds macrocrystals of general formula [Cu(hfacac)2(dPy)2], with intriguing prismatic hollow structures and single polymorphic forms. On the contrary, conventional solvents yielded compact microstructures. Studied pyridine derivatives (dPy) were 4-phenylpyridine, PhPy; 4-benzylylpyridine, BzPy; and 4-acetylpyridine, AcPy. In the specific case of the [Cu(hfacac)2(AcPy)2] adduct, the use of scCO2 as a solvent allows obtaining a pure polymorph, while the conventional solvent trials yielded a mixture of two polymorphs. Four new crystalline structures have been resolved from single crystal X-ray diffraction. All the structures consist in mononuclear complexes connected through intermolecular interactions, including H···H, H···O, F···F, C-F···Caromatic and/or C-F··· interactions, generating bidimensional networks that determine their crystallization mode in scCO2.This work was partially financed by the Spanish National Plan of Research CTQ2014-56324 and Severo Ochoa SEV-2015-0496, and by the Generalitat de Catalunya 2014SGR377. A. López-Periago acknowledges the RyC-2012-11588 contract. ALBA synchrotron is acknowledged for the provision of beamtime.Peer Reviewe

Exploring a novel preparation method of 1D metal organic frameworks based on supercritical CO2

The preparation of copper(II) one-dimensional MOFs using an eco-efficient method is reported here. This method is based exclusively on using supercritical CO2 as a solvent, without the addition of any other additive or co-solvent. Neutral acetylacetonate copper complexes and two linear linkers, namely, the bidentate 4,4¿-bipyridine and 4,4¿-trimethylenedipyridine molecules, were reacted under compressed CO2 at 60 °C and 20 MPa for periods of 4 or 24 h. The success achieved in the synthesis of the different studied 1D-MOFs was related to the solubility of the reagents in supercritical CO2. The reaction yield of the synthesized coordination polymers via the supercritical route was close to 100% because both the reactants were almost completely depleted in the performed experiments. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.This work was partially financed by EU COST project MP1202 OC-2011-2-10820 and by the Generalitat de Catalunya 2014SGR377. A. López-Periago acknowledges the RyC-2012- 11588 contract. We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer Reviewe

Design and simulation of an imaging neutral particle analyzer for the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

An Imaging Neutral Particle Analyzer (INPA) diagnostic has been designed for the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak. The AUG INPA diagnostic will measure fast neutrals escaping the plasma after charge exchange reactions. The neutrals will be ionized by a 20 nm carbon foil and deflected toward a scintillator by the local magnetic field. The use of a neutral beam injector (NBI) as an active source of neutrals will provide radially resolved measurements, while the use of a scintillator as an active component will allow us to cover the whole plasma along the NBI line with unprecedented phase-space resolution (<12 keV and 8 cm) and a fast temporal response (up to 1 kHz with the high resolution acquisition system and above 100 kHz with the low resolution one), making it suitable to study localized fast-ion redistributions in phase space.European Union’s Horizon 2020 (Grant Agreement No. 805162)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Grant No. FPU19/02486

Mechanical and electromagnetic design of the vacuum vessel of the SMART tokamak

The SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART) is a new spherical device that is currently being designed at the University of Seville. SMART is a compact machine with a plasma major radius (R) greater than 0.4 m, plasma minor radius (a) greater than 0.2 m, an aspect ratio (A) over than 1.7 and an elongation (k) of more than 2. It will be equipped with 4 poloidal field coils, 4 divertor field coils, 12 toroidal field coils and a central solenoid. The heating system comprises of a Neutral Beam Injector (NBI) of 600 kW and an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) of 6 kW for pre-ionization. SMART has been designed for a plasma current (I) of 500 kA, a toroidal magnetic field (B) of 1 T and a pulse length of 500 ms preserving the compactness of the machine. The free boundary equilibrium solver code FIESTA [1] coupled to the linear time independent, rigid plasma model RZIP [2] has been used to calculate the target equilibria taking into account the physics goals, the required plasma parameters, vacuum vessel structures and power supply requirements. We present here the final design of the SMART vacuum vessel together with the Finite Element Model (FEM) analysis carried out to ensure that the tokamak vessel provides high quality vacuum and plasma performance withstanding the electromagnetic j×B loads caused by the interaction between the eddy currents induced in the vessel itself and the surrounding magnetic fields. A parametric model has been set up for the topological optimization of the vessel where the thickness of the wall has been locally adapted to the expected forces. An overview of the new machine is presented here.This work received funding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarollo Regional (FEDER) by the European Commission under grant agreement numbers IE17-5670 and US-15570. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission

Conclusiones y propuestas de manejo de las poblaciones y especies de anfibios y reptiles alóctonos en España

El criterio fundamental para considerar que una especie es alóctona en el territorio español se basa en la constatación de que la colonización no ha sido natural, sino de origen antrópico.Peer Reviewe

Challenges in confirming eradication success of invasive red-eared sliders

12 páginas, 4 figuras, 3 tablasConfirming eradication success can be notoriously difficult and costly, especially when the species is still present but remains undetected, due to very low population densities and imperfect detection methods. There has been a lack of research on appropriate guidelines and estimation procedures for declaring eradication success for programs aimed at eradicating alien reptiles. Here we develop quantitative rules for confirmation monitoring in eradication campaigns of the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans). We used a database of slider trapping data from control and eradication campaigns conducted in localities across the Iberian Peninsula and southern France to construct models for inferring appropriate trapping efforts for confirming slider turtle eradication. Basking traps were slightly more efficient than net traps in capturing sliders, although trapping was an inefficient monitoring method given the low capture probabilities estimated. The results of our spatially-explicit eradication scenarios revealed the importance of habitat configuration in declaring eradication success. Declaration of eradication success is contingent on the thresholds set to minimise false positives (i.e., falsely declaring eradication successful), but in any scenario large trapping efforts were required to confirm eradication. Given the low estimated capture probabilities, alternative methods such as eDNA and visual surveys should be considered for monitoring sliders. We suggest that if the costs associated with the impact of alien sliders can be adequately estimated, then eradication can be confirmed by rules minimising both false positive and negative error rates. Otherwise., rules minimising false positive errors would be more appropriate.This research was conducted thanks to the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources Invasive Plants and Animals Research Project When to stop: Defining rules for surveillance of red-eared slider turtles (Victoria State Government, Australia).Peer reviewe

Functional genomics of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus, 1758)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The horn fly, <it>Haematobia irritans </it>(Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Muscidae) is one of the most important ectoparasites of pastured cattle. Horn flies infestations reduce cattle weight gain and milk production. Additionally, horn flies are mechanical vectors of different pathogens that cause disease in cattle. The aim of this study was to conduct a functional genomics study in female horn flies using Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) analysis and RNA interference (RNAi).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A cDNA library was made from whole abdominal tissues collected from partially fed adult female horn flies. High quality horn fly ESTs (2,160) were sequenced and assembled into 992 unigenes (178 contigs and 814 singlets) representing molecular functions such as serine proteases, cell metabolism, mitochondrial function, transcription and translation, transport, chromatin structure, vitellogenesis, cytoskeleton, DNA replication, cell response to stress and infection, cell proliferation and cell-cell interactions, intracellular trafficking and secretion, and development. Functional analyses were conducted using RNAi for the first time in horn flies. Gene knockdown by RNAi resulted in higher horn fly mortality (protease inhibitor functional group), reduced oviposition (vitellogenin, ferritin and vATPase groups) or both (immune response and 5'-NUC groups) when compared to controls. Silencing of ubiquitination ESTs did not affect horn fly mortality and ovisposition while gene knockdown in the ferritin and vATPse functional groups reduced mortality when compared to controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results advanced the molecular characterization of this important ectoparasite and suggested candidate protective antigens for the development of vaccines for the control of horn fly infestations.</p

2021 Taxonomic update of phylum Negarnaviricota (Riboviria: Orthornavirae), including the large orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales.

Correction to: 2021 Taxonomic update of phylum Negarnaviricota (Riboviria: Orthornavirae), including the large orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales. Archives of Virology (2021) 166:3567–3579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-021-05266-wIn March 2021, following the annual International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) ratification vote on newly proposed taxa, the phylum Negarnaviricota was amended and emended. The phylum was expanded by four families (Aliusviridae, Crepuscuviridae, Myriaviridae, and Natareviridae), three subfamilies (Alpharhabdovirinae, Betarhabdovirinae, and Gammarhabdovirinae), 42 genera, and 200 species. Thirty-nine species were renamed and/or moved and seven species were abolished. This article presents the updated taxonomy of Negarnaviricota as now accepted by the ICTV.This work was supported in part through Laulima Government Solutions, LLC prime contract with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C. J.H.K. performed this work as an employee of Tunnell Government Services (TGS), a subcontractor of Laulima Government Solutions, LLC under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C. This work was also supported in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), under Contract No. 75N91019D00024, Task Order No. 75N91019F00130 to I.C., who was supported by the Clinical Monitoring Research Program Directorate, Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research. This work was also funded in part by Contract No. HSHQDC-15-C-00064 awarded by DHS S&T for the management and operation of The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, a federally funded research and development center operated by the Battelle National Biodefense Institute (V.W.); and NIH contract HHSN272201000040I/HHSN27200004/D04 and grant R24AI120942 (N.V., R.B.T.). S.S. acknowledges partial support from the Special Research Initiative of Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES), Mississippi State University, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture, Hatch Project 1021494. Part of this work was supported by the Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (FC001030), the UK Medical Research Council (FC001030), and the Wellcome Trust (FC001030).S

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified