DLI-CVD of TiO2–Cu antibacterial thin films: Growth and characterization

TiO2–Cu nanocomposite films were grown by pulsed direct liquid injection chemical vapor deposition (DLICVD) on stainless steel, silicon and glass substrates with the goal to produce bactericidal surfaces. Copper bis (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptadionate), Cu(TMHD)2, and titanium tetra-iso-propoxide, TTIP, were used as metalorganic precursors. Liquid solutions of these compounds in xylene were injected in a flash vaporization chamber connected to a cold wall MOCVD reactor. The deposition temperature was typically 683 K and the total pressure was 800 Pa. The copper content of the layers was controlled by the mole fraction of Cu (TMHD)2 which was adjusted by the injection parameters (injection frequency and concentration of the starting solution). The chemical, structural and physical characteristics of the films were investigated by XRD, XPS, FEG-SEM and TEM. Copper is incorporated as metal particles with a relatively large size distribution ranging from 20 to 400 nm (with a large majority in 20–100 nm) depending on the copper content of the films. The influence of the growth conditions on the structural features and the antibacterial properties of the thin films are reported and discussed

Comparative study of antibacterial efficiency of M-TiO2 (M = Ag, Cu) thin films grown by CVD

M-TiO2 (M = Ag, Cu) nanocomposite layers were grown by pulsed direct liquid injection chemical vapor deposition (DLICVD) on various substrates to produce bactericidal surfaces with long term activity. Monodisperse Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with an average size of 5-10 nm are embedded in an anatase matrix. A bactericidal behavior determined by the JIS Z 2801 standard test was found for Ag-TiO2 films for Ag ≤ 1 at. % and above. Higher Ag content is not necessary since efficiency is already at its maximum (relative activity 100%). By contrast, using Cu as antibacterial agent, a larger size distribution of metal particles was found (20 to 400 nm). Cu-TiO2 films exhibit a bactericidal behavior if their thickness is higher than 100 nm and Cu content ≥ 3.5 at. %. These coatings are still antibacterial after 5 months of aging and their efficiency has decreased by only 35%

Mutation of the Traj18 gene segment using TALENs to generate Natural Killer T cell deficient mice.

Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells are a unique subset of T lymphocytes that have been implicated in both promoting and suppressing a multitude of immune responses. In mice, iNKT cells express T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) comprising a unique TCRα rearrangement between the Trav11 and Traj18 gene segments. When paired with certain Trbv TCRβ chains, these TCRs recognize lipid antigens presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-like molecule, CD1d. Until recently, the sole model of iNKT deficiency targeted the Jα18, which is absolutely required to form the TCR with the appropriate antigenic specificity. However, these mice were demonstrated to have a large reduction in TCR repertoire diversity, which could confound results arising from studies using these mice. Here, we have created a new NKT-deficient mouse strain using transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) technology to only disrupt the expression of Jα18, leaving the remaining Jα repertoire unperturbed. We confirm that these mice lack iNKT cells and do not respond to lipid antigen stimulation while the development of conventional T cells, regulatory T cells, and type Ib NKT cells is normal. This new mouse strain will serve as a new model of iNKT cell deficiency to facilitate our understanding of iNKT biology

Theory of Banana Liquid Crystal Phases and Phase Transitions

We study phases and phase transitions that can take place in the newly discovered banana (bow-shaped or bent-core) liquid crystal molecules. We show that to completely characterize phases exhibited by such bent-core molecules a third-rank tensor $T^{ijk}$ order parameter is necessary in addition to the vector and the nematic (second-rank) tensor order parameters. We present an exhaustive list of possible liquid phases, characterizing them by their space-symmetry group and order parameters, and catalog the universality classes of the corresponding phase transitions that we expect to take place in such bent-core molecular liquid crystals. In addition to the conventional liquid-crystal phases such as the nematic phase, we predict the existence of novel liquid phases, including the spontaneously chiral nematic $(N_T + 2)^*$ and chiral polar $(V_T + 2)^*$ phases, the orientationally-ordered but optically isotropic tetrahedratic $T$ phase, and a novel nematic $N_T$ phase with $D_{2d}$ symmetry that is neither uniaxial nor biaxial. Interestingly, the Isotropic-Tetrahedratic transition is {\em continuous} in mean-field theory, but is likely driven first-order by thermal fluctuations. We conclude with a discussion of smectic analogs of these phases and their experimental signatures.Comment: 28 pgs. RevTex, 32 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Motivación al Logro en Procesos de Aprendizaje

El objetivo del artículo es analizar los efectos de la motivación al logro en los procesos de aprendizaje a nivel de educación, para esto se desarrolló una exhaustiva revisión bibliográfica en función de conocer los diversos aportes de autores sobre el tema motivacional y su impacto en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes. Este tema resulta relevante en el entendido de los retos que plantea la educación actual en el contexto de los factores que distraen la atención de las personas y mucho más de los adolescentes. En tal sentido se presentan unas consideraciones sobre la motivación y sus implicaciones emocionales sobre las personas, esta motivación no solo se debe promover en los educandos, sino que debe partir de la propia conducta emocional y la motivación personal del docente, el cual debe desde sus actos pedagógicos irradiar toda una conducta que demuestre mediante el desarrollo de su trabajo de aula sus intereses por la consecución de los propósitos y el logro de las metas de los estudiantes

TCR signal strength controls thymic differentiation of iNKT cell subsets.

During development in the thymus, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells commit to one of three major functionally different subsets, iNKT1, iNKT2, and iNKT17. Here, we show that T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signal strength governs the development of iNKT cell subsets, with strong signaling promoting iNKT2 and iNKT17 development. Altering TCR diversity or signaling diminishes iNKT2 and iNKT17 cell subset development in a cell-intrinsic manner. Decreased TCR signaling affects the persistence of Egr2 expression and the upregulation of PLZF. By genome-wide comparison of chromatin accessibility, we identify a subset of iNKT2-specific regulatory elements containing NFAT and Egr binding motifs that is less accessible in iNKT2 cells that develop from reduced TCR signaling. These data suggest that variable TCR signaling modulates regulatory element activity at NFAT and Egr binding sites exerting a determinative influence on the dynamics of gene enhancer accessibility and the developmental fate of iNKT cells

Antibacterial properties of TiO2–Cu composite thin films grown by a one step DLICVD process

The correlations between microstructural features, chemical compositions and antibacterial properties of coatings containing metallic Cu particles embedded in a titanium dioxide matrix have been determined. A Direct Liquid Injection Chemical Vapor Deposition (DLICVD) processwas used for the one step growth of TiO2–Cu composite coatings on various substrates. Titanium tetra-iso-propoxide (TTIP) and copper bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptationate) (Cu(tmhd)2) were used as titanium and copper molecular sources, respectively. This growth process allows a good control of the quantity of metalorganic precursors injected into the CVD reactor and thus of the coating composition. The deposition occurs at 683 K under low pressure (800 Pa). The influence of the main features of the coatings on their antibacterial properties was investigated in order to produce bactericidal surfaces that are durable, non-toxic and containing aminimumamount of active agent. The antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus without any photon activation was measured according to the JIS Z 2801:2000 standard method. An antibacterial activity was detected for a low metal content of ca. 1 at.% Cu, and was found to increasewith the Cu content. It wasmaximal for 3.5 at.% Cu, i.e. TiO2–Cu composite coatings exhibit bactericidal behavior against S. aureus for this optimal composition (relative activity = 100%). In order to better characterize the microbiological behavior of the coatings more discriminating methods derived from the literature were tested to assess the performances of these CVD coatings in terms of efficiency, release of antibacterial agent and accelerated aging

Multicentric assessment of the efficacy and tolerability of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine compared to artemether-lumefantrine in the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in sub-Saharan Africa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The choice of appropriate artemisinin-based combination therapy depends on several factors (cost, efficacy, safety, reinfection rate and simplicity of administration). To assess whether the combination dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) could be an alternative to artemether-lumefantrine (AL), the efficacy and the tolerability of the two products for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in sub-Saharan Africa have been compared.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A multicentric open randomized controlled clinical trial of three-day treatment of DP against AL for the treatment of two parallel groups of patients aged two years and above and suffering from uncomplicated falciparum malaria was carried out in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. Within each group, patients were randomly assigned supervised treatment. DP was given once a day for three days and AL twice a day for three days. Follow-up visits were performed on day 1 to 4 and on day 7, 14, 21, 28 to evaluate clinical and parasitological results. The primary endpoint was the recovery rate by day 28.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 384 patients enrolled, 197 were assigned DP and 187 AL. The recovery rates adjusted by genotyping, 99.5% in the DP group and 98.9% in the AL group, were not statistically different (p = 0.538). No Early Therapeutic Failure (ETF) was observed. At day 28, two patients in the DP group and five in AL group had recurrent parasitaemia with <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>. In the DP group, after PCR genotyping, one of the two recurrences was classified as a new infection and the other as recrudescence. In AL group, two recurrences were classified after correction by PCR as recrudescence. All cases of recrudescence were classified as Late Parasitological Failure (LPF). In each group, a rapid recovery from fever and parasitaemia was noticed. More than 90% of patients did no longer present fever or parasitaemia 48 hours after treatment. Both drugs were well tolerated. Indeed, no serious adverse events were reported during the follow-up period. Most of the adverse events which developed were moderate and did not result in the treatment being stopped in either treatment group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine was as effective and well-tolerated as artemether-lumefantrine in the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. In addition, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, a single daily dose, could be an advantage over artemether-lumefantrine in Africa because of better treatment observance.</p