Spin-lattice coupling in the ferrimagnetic semiconductor FeCr2S4 probed by surface acoustic waves

Using surface acoustic waves, the elastomagnetic coupling could be studied in thin single crystalline plates of the ferrimagnetic semiconductor FeCr2S4 by measuring the attenuation and the frequency tracking in the temperature range 4.2 K to 200 K. The data clearly display the anomalies found in low-field magnetization measurements.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. To appear in J. Appl. Phys., 99 (2006

ELECTRO-OSMOTIC DEWATERING OF SEWAGE SLUDGE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

About half of the organic pollution load treated by the activated sludge process is oxidised and converted into water and carbon dioxide, while the remaining is converted into biomass, called “excess biological sludge” or “waste sludge”. At present, this technique is the cheapest way to remove colloidal and soluble organic pollutants from sewage, but it produces a huge amount of liquid waste sludge, with a dry solid (DS) content of less than 2%, rich in organic substances, mostly biodegradable. Therefore, it needs further processes to reduce its volume, by reducing its water content, and to reduce its polluting potential, due to its high content of biodegradable organic matter. However, sludge produced by Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) usually has a poor dewaterability. Industrially, mechanical dewatering is the method employed to increase the dry solids (DS) of sewage sludge. The aim of dewatering is the decrease of transport and disposal costs, but the efficiency of the mechanical dehydration methods is low. Electro-osmosis could be a suitable technique to reduce water content of the final sludge by the application of an electric field. Studies about electro-dewatering reported that the DS could increase to values around 40-45%, with respect to 25-30% obtained by mechanical methods, such as centrifuge, filter press and belt press. Aim Here, we investigated the parameters affecting pressure-driven electro-dewatering, with a static and a dynamic device, starting from types of sludge mechanically pre-dehydrated. We focused on the optimization of operating conditions to achieve the best results in terms of solids percentage at the minimum energy consumption. Methods Experiments have been performed by means of a lab-scale device able to produce both a mechanical pressure and an electric field. The use of both these systems could be efficient to increase the amount of dry solids in the final sludge. This device, as illustrated in Figure 1, consists of: • Cylindrical glass vessel (h=176 mm, Ø=80 mm) • Cooling water-jacket • Compressed air system (1-4.5 bar) • Double effect cylinder (200 mm stroke) SMC-CP96 (piston) • DC power supply (30 V-5 A) • Anode: DSA Ti (MMO), fixed to the piston • Cathode: stainless steel mesh (AISI 304) • Cloth: PTT (polytrimethyleneterephthalate) Figure 1-Equipment schematic of electro-dewatering device. Main Results The applied voltage has been set at 10 V, 15 V and 20 V and pressures at 3 bar. The results confirmed values of final DS around 40%. Initial DS and sludge conductivity, together with the applied electric field, are the key factors of electro-osmosis tests. The rotating piston highlighted that a mixing of sludge during the potential application could slightly increase the sludge conductivity, but cakes must be kept under 1.5 cm of thickness in order to achieve a good dewatering. In conclusion, in this paper we assess the feasibility of the electro-osmosis dewatering. It is a promising technique to remove water from sewage sludge, since it is able to increase DS of 15% on average with respect industrial mechanical dewatering. Moreover, this work proved that the treatment of a high DS cake is more difficult than a non-dewatered sludge due to a lower conductivity during the process

Spatial control of neuronal adhesion on diamond-like carbon

This study reports a route to spatial control of neuronal adhesion onto Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) by surface functionalisation by poly (oligo-ethyleneglycol methacrylate) (pOEGMA) and consequent laser ablation to produce cell adhesive tracks. DLC can be deposited as a tough and low friction coating on implantable devices and surgical instruments and has favourable properties for use as a biomaterial. The pOEGMA surface coating renders the DLC surface antifouling and the laser ablation creates graphitised tracks on the surface. The surfaces were coated with laminin, which adhered preferentially to the ablation tracks. The patterned surfaces were investigated for neuronal cell growth with NG108-15 cells for short term culture and rat neural stem cells for longer term culture. The cells initially adhered highly selectively to the ablation tracks while longer term cell culture revealed a more uniform cell coverage of the surface

Short-course versus long-course therapy of the same antibiotic for community-acquired pneumonia in adolescent and adult outpatients.

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a lung infection that can be acquired during day-to-day activities in the community (not while receiving care in a hospital). Community-acquired pneumonia poses a significant public health burden in terms of mortality, morbidity, and costs. Shorter antibiotic courses for CAP may limit treatment costs and adverse effects, but the optimal duration of antibiotic treatment is uncertain. Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of short-course versus longer-course treatment with the same antibiotic at the same daily dosage for CAP in non-hospitalised adolescents and adults (outpatients). We planned to investigate non-inferiority of short-course versus longerterm course treatment for efficacy outcomes, and superiority of short-course treatment for safety outcomes. Search methods We searched CENTRAL, which contains the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group Specialised Register,MEDLINE, Embase, five other databases, and three trials registers on 28 September 2017 together with conference proceedings, reference checking, and contact with experts and pharmaceutical companies.SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing short- and long-courses of the same antibiotic for CAP in adolescent and adult outpatients. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We planned to use standard Cochrane methods. MAIN RESULTS: Our searches identified 5260 records. We did not identify any RCTs that compared short- and longer-courses of the same antibiotic for the treatment of adolescents and adult outpatients with CAP.We excluded two RCTs that compared short courses (five compared to seven days) of the same antibiotic at the same daily dose because they evaluated antibiotics (gemifloxacin and telithromycin) not commonly used in practice for the treatment of CAP. In particular, gemifloxacin is no longer approved for the treatment of mild-to-moderate CAP due to its questionable risk-benefit balance, and reported adverse effects. Moreover, the safety profile of telithromycin is also cause for concern.We found one ongoing study that we will assess for inclusion in future updates of the review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found no eligible RCTs that studied a short-course of antibiotic compared to a longer-course (with the same antibiotic at the same daily dosage) for CAP in adolescent and adult outpatients. The effects of antibiotic therapy duration for CAP in adolescent and adult outpatients remains unclear.pre-print547 K

Procesamiento, análisis y modelado de señales biomédicas: un enfoque integrador

Este proyecto se centra en el estudio, desarrollo y aplicación de técnicas de procesamiento, modelado y análisis de señales que permitan abordar los casos de señales biomédicas. Abordaremos métodos adaptativos de análisis de señales, principalmente la descomposición empírica en modos y sus variantes. Se avanzará en el desarrollo de modelos de las señales relacionadas con el aparato fonador. Se continuará el estudio de modelos en espacio de estados que permiten extraer información sobre el estado instantáneo del tracto vocal y de la fuente glótica. Se estudiará la factibilidad de extraer nuevos parámetros acústicos de utilidad clínica. Investigaremos técnicas y herramientas provenientes de la teoría de la información estudiando medidas basadas en la integral de correlación asistida por ruido y la integral de correlación U, propuestas por nuestro grupo, para la estimación de los invariantes dimensión, entropía y ruido, en sistemas simulados y reales de variadas dimensiones. Finalmente, se continuará con la formación de recursos humanos, a través de la realización de becas postdoctorales y doctorales CONICET, y el fortalecimiento de un grupo de investigación en el área de las TICs en el procesamiento de señales biomédicas, en el contexto del Instituto de Bioinformática y Bioingeniería en vías de creación. ARK/CAICYT: http://id.caicyt.gov.ar/ark:/s22504559/rd18ww2h

Food for the soul and food for the body. Studying dietary patterns and funerary meals in the Western Roman Empire : An anthropological and archaeozoological approach

Ancient written sources show that Roman funerary rituals were relevant along the entire Roman Republic and Empire, as they ensured the protection of deities and the memory of the deceased. Part of these rituals consisted of funerary offerings and banquets that were held on the day of the burial, in festivities and other stipulated days. The faunal remains recovered inside the graves and around them are evidence of these rituals. Therefore, their study can allow us to know if the funerary meals and rituals developed in the Roman necropolis were special and implied food that differed from everyday dietary habits, according to the importance of these rituals. To test this, we analysed the archaeozoological and anthropological material from the necropolis of Vila de Madrid (Barcelona, Catalonia), which was in use between the first half of the 2 nd century AD and mid 3 rd century AD. The archaeozoological analysis of the faunal remains recovered in the necropolis and inside the graves, as well as carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios results on bone collagen from 50 faunal specimens and 41 humans, suggest that, overall, funerary meals in Vila de Madrid necropolis did not imply different food than that consumed during life. Regarding age, sex, offerings and diet, some differences are observed, suggesting that inequalities present in life could have been also present in the funerary rituals

Paediatric non-progression following grandmother-to-child HIV transmission

Background In contrast to adult HIV infection, where slow disease progression is strongly linked to immune control of HIV mediated by protective HLA class I molecules such as HLA-B*81:01, the mechanisms by which a minority of HIV-infected children maintain normal-for-age CD4 counts and remain clinically healthy appear to be HLA class I-independent and are largely unknown. To better understand these mechanisms, we here studied a HIV-infected South African female, who remained a non-progressor throughout childhood. Results Phylogenetic analysis of viral sequences in the HIV-infected family members, together with the history of grand-maternal breast-feeding, indicated that, unusually, the non-progressor child had been infected via grandmother-to-child transmission. Although HLA-B*81:01 was expressed by both grandmother and grand-daughter, autologous virus in each subject encoded an escape mutation L188F within the immunodominant HLA-B*81:01-restricted Gag-specific epitope TL9 (TPQDLNTML, Gag 180–188). Since the transmitted virus can influence paediatric and adult HIV disease progression, we investigated the impact of the L188F mutant on replicative capacity. When this variant was introduced into three distinct HIV clones in vitro, viral replicative capacity was abrogated altogether. However, a virus constructed using the gag sequence of the non-progressor child replicated as efficiently as wildtype virus. Conclusion These findings suggest alternative sequences of events: the transmission of the uncompensated low fitness L188F to both children, potentially contributing to slow progression in both, consistent with previous studies indicating that disease progression in children can be influenced by the replicative capacity of the transmitted virus; or the transmission of fully compensated virus, and slow progression here principally the result of HLA-independent host-specific factors, yet to be defined

Structure of a Novel Shoulder-to-Shoulder p24 Dimer in Complex with the Broad-Spectrum Antibody A10F9 and Its Implication in Capsid Assembly

10.1371/journal.pone.0061314PLoS ONE84