Frustrated Total Internal Reflection Measurement System for Pilot Inceptor Grip Pressure

Sensing the interaction between the pilot and the control inceptors can provide important information about the pilot’s activity during flight, potentially enabling the objective measurement of the pilot workload, the application of preventive actions against loss of situational awareness, and the identification of the insurgence of adverse couplings with the vehicle dynamics. This work presents an innovative pressure-sensing device developed to be seamlessly integrated into the grips of conventional aircraft control inceptors. The sensor, based on frustrated total internal reflection of light, is composed of low-cost elements and can be easily manufactured to be applicable to different hand pressure ranges. The characteristics of the sensor are first demonstrated in laboratory calibration tests. Subsequently, applications in flight simulator testing are presented, focusing on the objective representation of the pilot’s instantaneous workload

Immunobiology of Carbohydrates: Implications for Novel Vaccine and Adjuvant Design Against Infectious Diseases

open5sìCarbohydrates are ubiquitous molecules expressed on the surface of nearly all living cells, and their interaction with carbohydrate-binding proteins is critical to many immunobiological processes. Carbohydrates are utilized as antigens in many licensed vaccines against bacterial pathogens. More recently, they have also been considered as adjuvants. Interestingly, unlike other types of vaccines, adjuvants have improved immune response to carbohydrate-based vaccine in humans only in a few cases. Furthermore, despite the discovery of many new adjuvants in the last years, aluminum salts, when needed, remain the only authorized adjuvant for carbohydrate-based vaccines. In this review, we highlight historical and recent advances on the use of glycans either as vaccine antigens or adjuvants, and we review the use of currently available adjuvants to improve the efficacy of carbohydrate-based vaccines. A better understanding of the mechanism of carbohydrate interaction with innate and adaptive immune cells will benefit the design of a new generation of glycan-based vaccines and of immunomodulators to fight both longstanding and emerging diseases.openStefanetti, Giuseppe; Borriello, Francesco; Richichi, Barbara; Zanoni, Ivan; Lay, LuigiStefanetti, Giuseppe; Borriello, Francesco; Richichi, Barbara; Zanoni, Ivan; Lay, Luig

Seizure induced ventricular fibrillation: A case of near-SUDEP

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Antioxidant and Free Radical-Scavenging Activity of Tulipa Systola Roots, Leaves and Flowers Collected in the Kurdistan Region of Iraqz

We report the first investigation on the antioxidant and antiradical properties of extracts of roots, leaves, and flowers of Tulipa systola Stapf, which is used as a pain-relief in the traditional medicine of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The study has revealed that all parts of the plant contain significant amounts of phenolics and other antioxidant metabolites; In the Folin-Ciocalteu assay the total antioxidant capacity of the ethanol extract of flowers was even higher than that of ascorbic acid. The DPPH radical scavenging activity, the hydrogen peroxide and Fe (III) reducing powers have also been measured. The values were different for the different extracts, clearly reflecting the great variety of contents of secondary metabolites. These compounds possibly have different redox properties and radical quenching properties in vitro, and exert their effects through different mechanisms. Results are in great subtend to become a starting point for in vivo investigation in the next steps, isolation and characterization of the responsible antiradical and antioxidant secondary metabolites. Keywords: Tulipa systola, Polyphenols, Flavonoids, Antioxidant and antiradical scavenging activities

Identification of the Major Urinary Metabolite of the Highly Reactive Cyclopentenone Isoprostane 15-A2t-Isoprostane in Vivo

The cyclopentenone isoprostanes (A(2)/J(2)-IsoPs) are formed in significant amounts in humans and rodents esterified in tissue phospholipids. Nonetheless, they have not been detected unesterified in the free form, presumably because of their marked reactivity. A(2)/J(2)-IsoPs, similar to other electrophilic lipids such as 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J(2) and 4-hydroxynonenal, contain a highly reactive alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl, which allows these compounds to react with thiol-containing biomolecules to produce a range of biological effects. We sought to identify and characterize in rats the major urinary metabolite of 15-A(2t)-IsoP, one of the most abundant A(2)-IsoPs produced in vivo, in order to develop a specific biomarker that can be used to quantify the in vivo production of these molecules. Following intravenous administration of 15-A(2t)-IsoP containing small amounts of [(3)H(4)]15-A(2t)-IsoP, 80% of the radioactivity excreted in the urine remained in aqueous solution after extraction with organic solvents, indicating the formation of a polar conjugate(s). Using high pressure liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, the major urinary metabolite of 15-A(2t)-IsoP was determined to be the mercapturic acid sulfoxide conjugate in which the carbonyl at C9 was reduced to an alcohol. The structure was confirmed by direct comparison to a synthesized standard and via various chemical derivatizations. In addition, this metabolite was found to be formed in significant quantities in urine from rats exposed to an oxidant stress. The identification of this metabolite combined with the finding that these metabolites are produced in in vivo settings of oxidant stress makes it possible to use this method to quantify, for the first time, the in vivo production of cyclopentenone prostanoids

Viable Newcastle Disease Vaccine Strains in a Pharmaceutical Dump

To assess the viability of discarded and buried vaccine strains, we examined vaccines that had been buried for >20 years in an industrial waste dump in the city of Milan, Italy. Viability results showed potential biological risk associated with uncontrolled burial of pharmaceutical industry waste, including some live vaccines

Fatty Acid Characterization from Flowers of Tulipa Systola Stapf. Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

The structural analysis of fatty acid mixtures by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been characterized from Tulipa systola Stapf. Flowers, wild plant growing in Kurdistan region-Iraq. The fatty acids of the lipid fraction were mainly saturated fatty acids, the highest value recorded for isopropyl palmitic acid methyl ester (47.02%), glycerol α-palmitic acid methyl ester (19.66%) and stearic acid methyl ester (8.64%). In addition, two unsaturated fatty acids that characterized were oleic acid methyl ester (6.95%) and undecylenic acid methyl ester (2.22%)

Study and development of a fluorescence based sensor system for monitoring oxygen in wine production: The WOW project

The importance of oxygen in the winemaking process is widely known, as it affects the chemical aspects and therefore the organoleptic characteristics of the final product. Hence, it is evident the usefulness of a continuous and real-time measurements of the levels of oxygen in the various stages of the winemaking process, both for monitoring and for control. The WOW project (Deployment of WSAN technology for monitoring Oxygen in Wine products) has focused on the design and the development of an innovative device for monitoring the oxygen levels in wine. This system is based on the use of an optical fiber to measure the luminescent lifetime variation of a reference metal/porphyrin complex, which decays in presence of oxygen. The developed technology results in a high sensitivity and low cost sensor head that can be employed for measuring the dissolved oxygen levels at several points inside a wine fermentation or aging tank. This system can be complemented with dynamic modeling techniques to provide predictive behavior of the nutrient evolution in space and time given few sampled measuring points, for both process monitoring and control purposes. The experimental validation of the technology has been first performed in a controlled laboratory setup to attain calibration and study sensitivity with respect to different photo-luminescent compounds and alcoholic or non-alcoholic solutions, and then in an actual case study during a measurement campaign at a renown Italian winery

Comano's (Trentino) thermal water interferes with interleukin-6 production and secretion and with cytokeratin-16 expression by cultured human psoriatic keratinocytes: Further potential mechanisms of its anti-psoriatic action

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