Noninvasive approaches to detect methylation-based markers to monitor gliomas

In this review, we summarize the current approaches used to detect glioma tissue-derived DNA methylation markers in liquid biopsy specimens with the aim to diagnose, prognosticate and potentially track treatment response and evolution of patients with gliomas

Mapping the Causes of Forest Fires in Portugal by Clustering Analysis

This paper presents a spatial characterization of the distribution at district level of the forest fire events that occurred in mainland Portugal between 1996 and 2015 and whose causes were investigated. We further examine the breakdown of the causes of these forest fires over this period. Results supported by relevant validated statistics show that of the total fire events recorded, 94.4% were identified as an effective occurrence, of which 22.2% had burned an area greater than 1 ha, and of these only 42.1% were investigated. False alarms or fires without a recorded burning area are more significant in the districts of Aveiro, Lisbon and Porto, the biggest municipalities. Of the fires whose causes were investigated, the largest number of recorded events were in NE regions (49.0%), followed by NW regions (41.7%), and finally in the rest of the country (9.3%). Taking into account the ratio between the investigated fires and the total number of fires and the behavior profile produced for cluster analysis, a different panorama is brought to light, with the center and south regions showing greater effort to investigate the fires. A thorough analysis of the causes and motivations of the ignition of these forest fire occurrences showed that human activity, either deliberate (20.4%) or negligent (29.9%), outweigh natural phenomena (0.6%). Reactivations (14.6%) and Unknown (34.5%) causes decreased as time passed, whereas negligent and deliberate causes increased. However, these results could change if the percentage of unknown information in relation to the origin of the forest fires is considerable. The outcome of this research will support an efficient management related to fire mitigation and suppression including establishing preventive actions to reduce the occurrence of forest fires and emphasize the need to improve the procedure for recording forest fire events in Portugal, especially in relation to identifying their causeThis research was partially funded by CERENA (strategic project FCT-UID/ECI/04028/2019) and CEGOT (FCT-UID/GEO/04084/2013) and partially co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Iridium(III)porphyrin arrays with tuneable photophysical properties

The photophysical properties of iridium(III) porphyrins complexes with two different axial ligands (Cl(CO) and bipyridine (bpy)) in solution and in cellulose acetate polymer matrix were investigated. The axial ligands substitution was made aiming to evaluate the photophysical properties and the solubility in different solvents. Therefore, dissimilar from the free porphyrin, non-polar solvents (as toluene) favours the quantum yield of iridium(III)porphyrins and ligands with a more extended π-conjugated compound as bpy results in higher yields. Moreover, despite all the porphyrins reveals a negative solvatochromism, the substitution of Cl(CO) ligand by bpy ligand exhibits similar solubility either on non-polar or polar solvents. The observed photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature appears at NIR region in contrast to the previously reported iridium(III) porphyrins. Comparing with free porphyrin H2TTP, the red/NIR PL spectra of the iridium(III)porphyrins (either in solution and in the polymer matrix) reveals remarkable changes. Particularly, a more significative decrease of the red/NIR intensity ratio was detected for [Ir(ttp)(bpy)2] 2 where the maxima of the NIR emission can be adjusted under suitable excitation wavelength.publishe

Evidence for stellar driven outflows from the Classical T Tauri star RY Tau

RY Tau is a rapidly rotating Classical T Tauri star observed close to edge-on. The combination of new HST/STIS observations obtained in 2001 with HST/GHRS Archive data from 1993 has allowed us to get, for the first time, information on the thermal structure and the velocity law of the wind. The repeated observations of the Si III] and C III] lines show a lack of changes with time in the blue side of the profile(dominated by the wind contribution). Very high temperature plasma (log Te = 4.8) is detected at densities of 9.5<log ne(cm3)< 10.2 associated with the wind. The emitting volumes are about (0.35Ro)^3 suggesting a stellar origin. The wind kinematics derived from the profiles (Si III], C III] and [O II]) does not satisfy the theoretical predictions of MHD centrifugally driven disk winds. The profiles' asymmetry, large velocity dispersions and small variability as well as the small emitting volumes are best explained if the wind is produced by the contribution of several outflows from atmospheric open field structures as those observed in the Sun.Comment: 11pages, 3 figure

The contribution of a whey protein film incorporated with green tea extract to minimize the lipid oxidation of salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Active packaging is becoming progressively more significant as a response to the dynamic changes in current consumer demand and market tendencies. Active packaging is projected to interact directly with the packaged food or with the headspace within the package with the aim of maintaining or extending product quality and shelf-life. Aiming for sustainability, the potential application as biodegradable films of whey protein concentrate (WPC) was evaluated. Aromatic plant's extracts present high antioxidant properties, representing an alternative for synthetic food additives. The main objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of an edible WPC film incorporated with a plant-based extract on retarding the lipid oxidation of fresh salmon. Green tea extract (GTE) was chosen to be incorporated into the active film. Fresh salmon was packaged with the control film (WPC) and with active film (WPC-GTE). The oxidation level of non-packaged samples and packaged samples were tested for different storage times. Four methods were applied to evaluate lipid oxidation state of fresh salmon: peroxide value, p-anisidine value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay, and monitoring of hexanal. The results obtained in this study indicate that the whey protein active film was successfully produced, and it was effective in delaying lipid oxidation of fresh salmon samples until the 14th day of storage.Mariana Andrade is grateful for her research grant (SFRH/BD/138730/2018) funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). M.F.V. acknowledges the support of FCT, through Mechanical Engineering Institute (IDMEC), under Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics (LAETA), project UID/EMS/50022/2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ultraviolet astronomy with small space telescopes

After describing the present situation with astronomy in the ultraviolet (UV), reviewing a few past and proposed future missions, we present options to develop space missions that have been realized for modest costs. In this context, we bring together a few aspects of different missions and projects that, when combined, might result in a low-cost mission for imaging or low resolution spectroscopy in the UV

Hydrocarbon toxicity towards hydrogenotrophic methanogens in oily waste streams

Hydrocarbon-containing wastes and wastewaters are produced worldwide by the activities of the oil and gas industry. Anaerobic digestion has the potential to treat these waste streams, while recovering part of its energy potential as biogas. However, hydrocarbons are toxic compounds that may inhibit the microbial processes, and particularly the methanogens. In this work, the toxicity of hexadecane (030 mM) towards pure cultures of hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanobacterium formicicum and Methanospirillum hungatei) was assessed. Significantly lower (p 30 mM for M. formicicum and M. hungatei, respectively, suggesting that toxic effects from aliphatic hydrocarbons towards hydrogenotrophic methanogens may not occur during anaerobic treatment. Hydrocarbon toxicity towards hydrogenotrophic methanogens was further assessed by incubating an anaerobic sludge with H2/CO2 in the presence of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons (provided by the addition of an oily sludge from a groundwater treatment system). Specific methanogenic activity from H2/CO2 decreased 1.2 times in the presence of the hydrocarbons, but a relatively high methane production (~30 mM) was still obtained in the assays containing the inoculum and the oily sludge (without H2/CO2), reinforcing the potential of anaerobic treatment systems for methane production from oily waste/wastewater.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of project MORE (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016575) and by the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis, Characterization and Electrocatalytic Activity of Bi- and Tri-metallic Pt-Based Anode Catalysts for Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells

Three Pt-based anode catalysts supported on Vulcan XC-72R (VC) were prepared by using a modified polyol process. These materials were characterized and tested by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). XRD and TEM analysis indicated that especially the ternary anode catalysts consisted of uniform nanosized particles with sharp distribution. The Pt lattice parameter was smaller, in the ternary PtSnIr catalyst whereas it increased with the addition of Sn and Rh, in the corresponding binary and ternary catalysts. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements showed that Sn, Ir and Rh may act as promoter of Pt enhancing ethanol electro-oxidation activity. It was found that the direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) performances were significantly improved with these modified anode catalysts. This effect on the DEFC performance is attributed to the so-called bi-tri-functional mechanism and to the electronic interaction between Pt and additives. The performance increased significantly with the temperature. However, it was also possible to observe some decay with time for all catalysts due to the formation of surface poisons, probably consisting in CO-like species. At 60 °C, the PtSnIr catalyst showed the best performance, as a result of a proper morphology and promoting effectFil: D'Urso, C.. Centro Nazionale della Ricerca. ITAE; ItaliaFil: Bonesi, Alejandro Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Triaca, Walter Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Castro Luna Berenguer, Ana Maria del Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Baglio, V.. Centro Nazionale della Ricerca. ITAE; Italia; ItaliaFil: Aricò, A. S.. Centro Nazionale della Ricerca. ITAE; Italia; Itali

Association of Sleep Duration and Quality With Alterations in the Hypothalamic-Pituitary Adrenocortical Axis: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Context: Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality are associated with cardiovascular outcomes. One mechanism proposed to explain this association is altered diurnal cortisol secretion. Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the associations of sleep duration and sleep quality with diurnal salivary cortisol levels. Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis using data from examination 5 (2010–2012) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Actigraphy-based measures of sleep duration and efficiency were collected over 7 days, and salivary cortisol samples were collected over 2 days from participants aged 54–93 years (n = 600 with analyzable data). Results: Shorter average sleep duration (<6 h/night) was associated with less pronounced late decline in cortisol [2.2% difference in slope; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8–3.7; P ≤ .01] and less pronounced wake-to-bed slope (2.2% difference; 95% CI 1.0–3.4; P ≤ .001) compared with longer sleep duration (≥6 h/night). Lower sleep efficiency (<85%) was associated with less pronounced early decline in cortisol (29.0% difference in slope; 95% CI 4.1–59.7; P < .05) compared with higher sleep efficiency (≥85%). Subjects reporting insomnia had a flatter cortisol awakening response (−16.1% difference in slope; 95% CI −34.6 to −0.1; P < .05) compared with those not reporting insomnia. Conclusions: Shorter sleep duration, lower sleep efficiency, and insomnia are associated with alterations in diurnal cortisol levels consistent with changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal regulation