An overview of functionalized graphene nanomaterials for advanced applications

Interest in the development of graphene-based materials for advanced applications is growing, because of the unique features of such nanomaterials and, above all, of their outstanding versatility, which enables several functionalization pathways that lead to materials with extremely tunable properties and architectures. This review is focused on the careful examination of relationships between synthetic approaches currently used to derivatize graphene, main properties achieved, and target applications proposed. Use of functionalized graphene nanomaterials in six engineering areas (materials with enhanced mechanical and thermal performance, energy, sensors, biomedical, water treatment, and catalysis) was critically reviewed, pointing out the latest advances and potential challenges associated with the application of such materials, with a major focus on the effect that the physicochemical features imparted by functionalization routes exert on the achievement of ultimate properties capable of satisfying or even improving the current demand in each field. Finally, current limitations in terms of basic scientific knowledge and nanotechnology were highlighted, along with the potential future directions towards the full exploitation of such fascinating nanomaterials

Le paysage sonore de la grande chère dans la France du XVIIe siècle

The soundscape of eating and drinking well in 17th-century France In the 17th century, \u27banquet\u27, which was an old-fashioned term in French, tended to be replaced by \u27festin\u27 or \u27grand repas\u27, and by the expression \u27faire grande chère\u27 (to eat and drink well). Whatever the quantity and quality of the dishes, the pleasures of good food and drink could not have been complete without musical accompaniment and verbal exchanges between the guests. This article sets out to reconstruct and understand the soundscape, as defined in the work of Raymond Murray Schafer, of the lavish meals of the French elites of the 17th century. Consequently,  the question of the particular place of the sense of hearing during festive meals must also be considered; all the more so because the guests showed, perhaps first and foremost, that they were eating and drinking well together through the soundscape that was expected as part of a good meal. It could concern the ever-present music (symphonie) which accompanied the meal, but also the sounds which were the signals for healths to be drunk, by which a social hierarchy was reintroduced. It also concerns the guests\u27 conversations, witty remarks, and stories, as well as songs, drinking songs, and topical songs. This soundscape adapted itself to the various stages of the \u27festin\u27, such as the toasts, the dessert, and the pauses taken during the meal in order to ease digestion, and depended on the number and quality of the guests and the purpose of the food and drink being offered and received

Urinary 1H-NMR Metabolic Signature in Subjects Undergoing Colonoscopy for Colon Cancer Diagnosis

Metabolomics represents a promising non-invasive approach that can be applied to identify biochemical changes in colorectal cancer patients (CRC) and is potentially useful for diagnosis and follow-up. Despite the literature regarding metabolomics CRC-specific profiles, discrimination between metabolic changes specifically related to CRC and intra-individual variability is still a problem to be solved. This was a preliminary case-control study, in which 1H-NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analysis was used to profile urine metabolites in subjects undergoing colonoscopy for colon cancer diagnosis. To reduce intra-individual variability, metabolic profiles were evaluated in participants’ urine samples, collected just before the colonoscopy and after a short-term dietary regimen required for the endoscopy procedure. Data obtained highlighted different urinary metabolic profiles between CRC and unaffected subjects (C). The metabolites altered in the CRC urine (acetoacetate, creatine, creatinine, histamine, phenylacetylglycine, and tryptophan) significantly correlated with colon cancer and discriminated with accuracy CRC patients from C patients (receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.875; 95% CI: 0.667–1). These results confirm that urinary metabolomic analysis can be a valid tool to improve CRC diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy, representing a noninvasive approach that could precede more invasive tests

Partnership Encounters in Literature(s), Poetry and Voices from Other Worlds

The academic bulk of this year’s Blue Gum contains texts in both English and Italian. Out of fourteen articles, seven are in Italian and seven in English. They all scrutinise and illuminate a diversity of relevant literary works under the lens of the biocultural partnership-domination theory (Eisler 1987). The literary texts in this issue range from the ancient to the contemporary, from ‘canon’ to post-decolonial literature, in a joyful variety of interrelated recurrences, connections and encounters. William Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Doris Lessing, Ursula Le Guin, Bram Stoker, David Malouf and Jean Rhys are just few of the many writers tackled by our invited authors

Genetic variation in vitamin D-related genes and risk of colorectal cancer in African Americans

PurposeDisparities in both colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and survival impact African Americans (AAs) more than other US ethnic groups. Because vitamin D is thought to protect against CRC and AAs have lower serum vitamin D levels, genetic variants that modulate the levels of active hormone in the tissues could explain some of the cancer health disparity. Consequently, we hypothesized that genetic variants in vitamin D-related genes are associated with CRC risk.MethodsTo test this hypothesis, we studied 39 potentially functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight genes (CYP2R1, CYP3A4, CYP24A1, CYP27A1, CYP27B1, GC, DHCR7, and VDR) in 961 AA CRC cases and 838 healthy AA controls from Chicago and North Carolina. We tested whether SNPs are associated with CRC incidence using logistic regression models to calculate p values, odds ratios, and 95% confidence intervals. In the logistic regression, we used a log-additive genetic model and used age, gender, and percent West African ancestry, which we estimated with the program STRUCTURE, as covariates in the models.ResultsA nominally significant association was detected between CRC and the SNP rs12794714 in the vitamin D 25-hydroxylase gene CYP2R1 (p=0.019), a SNP that has previously been associated with serum vitamin D levels. Two SNPs, rs16847024 in the GC gene and rs6022990 in the CYP24A1 gene, were nominally associated with left-sided CRC (p=0.015 and p=0.018, respectively).ConclusionsOur results strongly suggest that genetic variation in vitamin D-related genes could affect CRC susceptibility in AAs. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10552-014-0361-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users