Tailored Torsion and Bending-Resistant Avian-Inspired Structures

The escalating demand for torsion- and bending-resistant structures paired with the need for more efficient use of materials and geometries, have led to novel bio-inspired ingenious solutions. However, lessons from Nature could be as inspiring as they are puzzling: plants and animals offer an enormous range of promising but hierarchically complex configurations. Avian bones are prominent candidates for addressing the torsional and bending issue. They present a unique intertwining of simple components: helicoidal ridges and crisscrossing struts, able to bear flexural and twisting actions of winds. Here, it is set how to harmonically move from the natural to the engineering level to formalize and analyze the biological phenomena under controlled design conditions. The effect of ridges and struts is isolated and combined toward tailored torsion and bending-resistant arrangements. Then the biological level is revisited to extrapolate the avian allometric design approach and is translated into multiscale lightweight structures at the engineering level. This study exploits the complexity of Nature and the scalability that characterizes the evolutionary design of bird bones through the design and fabrication versatility allowed by additive manufacturing technologies. This paves the way for exploring the transferability of the proposed solution at multiple engineering scales

Transcriptome of pig muscle assessed by erial analysis of gene expression (SAGE)

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) is a molecular biology technique applied to measure the global gene expression levels, characterise transcriptomes, compare the transcript levels between tissues and uncover new molecules within defined signal transduction pathways (Tutela and Tuteja, 2004)

Inflammatory markers as prognostic factors of survival in patients affected by hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a good choice for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment when surgery and liver transplantation are not feasible. Few studies reported the value of prognostic factors influencing survival after chemoembolization. In this study, we evaluated whether preoperative inflammatory factors such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and platelet to lymphocyte ratio affected our patient survival when affected by hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods. We retrospectively evaluated a total of 72 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma that underwent TACE. We enrolled patients with different etiopathogeneses of hepatitis and histologically proven HCC not suitable for surgery. The overall study population was dichotomized in two groups according to the median NLR value and was analyzed also according to other prognostic factors. Results. The global median overall survival (OS) was 28 months. The OS in patients with high NLR was statistically significantly shorter than that in patients with low NLR. The following pretreatment variables were significantly associated with the OS in univariate analyses: age, Child-Pugh score, BCLC stage, INR, and NLR. Pretreated high NLR was an independently unfavorable factor for OS. Conclusion. NLR could be considered a good prognostic factor of survival useful to stratify patients that could benefit from TACE treatment

VALUTATION OF OFFICIAL MOUSE BIOASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF LIPOPHILIC MARINE TOXINS

The official biotoxicological (MBA) method for the determination of lipophilic marine toxins shows important gaps with regard to reproducibility, specificity and quality of the data provided and serious ethical contraindications. The Commission Regulation (EU) No 15/2011 establishes the date of December 31, 2014 as the deadline for replacement of the mouse test with a LC-MS/MS method by the laboratories of the member states responsible for the monitoring of marine biotoxins. In order to facilitate the interpretation of the MBA during this transition period, we further evaluated the specificity and selectivity of this assay in comparison with a LC-MS/MS method in detecting lipophilic marine toxins on mussels of the middle Adriatic Sea. Data show a high percentage of false-positive results on MBA due to interference by yessotoxins. It was also possible to evaluate the toxic profile of the samples analyzed

Design and 3D printing of a modular phantom of a uterus for medical device validation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe the design and validation of a three-dimensional (3D)-printed phantom of a uterus to support the development of uterine balloon tamponade devices conceived to stop post-partum haemorrhages (PPHs). Design/methodology/approachThe phantom 3D model is generated by analysing the main requirements for validating uterine balloon tamponade devices. A modular approach is implemented to guarantee that the phantom allows testing these devices under multiple working conditions. Once finalised the design, the phantom effectiveness is validated experimentally. FindingsThe modular phantom allows performing the required measurements for testing the performance of devices designed to stop PPH. Social implicationsPPH is the leading obstetric cause of maternal death worldwide, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. The proposed phantom could speed up and optimise the design and validation of devices for PPH treatment, reducing the maternal mortality ratio. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, the 3D-printed phantom represents the first example of a modular, flexible and transparent uterus model. It can be used to validate and perform usability tests of medical devices

Comparison of Faecal versus Rumen Inocula for the Estimation of NDF Digestibility

Cow faeces have been investigated as alternative inoculum to replace rumen fluid to determine neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility (NDFD). Aims of this study were to estimate: (1) the NDFD (48 h) of feed ingredients using a rumen inoculum in comparison with faecal inocula from cows fed diets with different forage basis; (2) the undigestible NDF (uNDF) at 240 and 360 h with ruminal fluid and faecal inocula from lactating cows fed two different diets. At 48 h incubation, the NDFD was affected both by feed and type of inoculum (p < 0.01) and by their interaction (p = 0.03). Overall, the mean NDFD was higher for rumen inoculum than for faecal inocula (585 vs. 389 g/kg NDF, p < 0.05), and faecal inoculum obtained from cows fed hay-based diets gave lower NDFD than those from cows fed maize silage (367 vs. 440 g/kg, p < 0.05). At long incubation times, the average uNDF was affected by substrate, inoculum and incubation time (p < 0.01), but not by their interactions. For each inoculum, significantly lower values were obtained at 360 than at 240 h. Regressions between uNDF with rumen and with the tested faecal inocula resulted in r2 65 0.98. Despite the differences at 48 h, the uNDF showed that faecal inoculum could replace rumen fluid at longer incubation times

Erratum: “Seed layer technique for high quality epitaxial manganite films” [AIP Advances 6, 085109 (2016)]

No abstract available

Surface nanostructures in manganite films

Ultrathin manganite films are widely used as active electrodes in organic spintronic devices. In this study, a scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) investigation with atomic resolution revealed previously unknown surface features consisting of small non-stoichiometric islands. Based upon this evidence, a new mechanism for the growth of these complex materials is proposed. It is suggested that the non-stoichiometric islands result from nucleation centres that are below the critical threshold size required for stoichiometric crystalline growth. These islands represent a kinetic intermediate of single-layer growth regardless of the film thickness, and should be considered and possibly controlled in manganite thin-film applications

GLP-1 Mediates Regulation of Colonic ACE2 Expression by the Bile Acid Receptor GPBAR1 in Inflammation

Background & Aims: ACE2, a carboxypeptidase that generates Ang-(1-7) from Ang II, is highly expressed in the lung, small intestine and colon. GPBAR1, is a G protein bile acid receptor that promotes the release of the insulinotropic factor glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and attenuates intestinal inflammation. Methods: We investigated the expression of ACE2, GLP-1 and GPBAR1 in two cohorts of Crohn’s disease (CD) patients and three mouse models of colitis and Gpbar1−/− mice. Activation of GPBAR1 in these models and in vitro was achieved by BAR501, a selective GPBAR1 agonist. Results: In IBD patients, ACE2 mRNA expression was regulated in a site-specific manner in response to inflammation. While expression of ileal ACE2 mRNA was reduced, the colon expression was induced. Colon expression of ACE2 mRNA in IBD correlated with expression of TNF-α and GPBAR1. A positive correlation occurred between GCG and GPBAR1 in human samples and animal models of colitis. In these models, ACE2 mRNA expression was further upregulated by GPABR1 agonism and reversed by exendin-3, a GLP-1 receptor antagonist. In in vitro studies, liraglutide, a GLP-1 analogue, increased the expression of ACE2 in colon epithelial cells/macrophages co-cultures. Conclusions: ACE2 mRNA expression in the colon of IBD patients and rodent models of colitis is regulated in a TNF-α-and GLP-1-dependent manner. We have identified a GPBAR1/GLP-1 mechanism as a positive modulator of ACE2

Impact of the scattering physics on the power factor of complex thermoelectric materials

We assess the impact of the scattering physics assumptions on the thermoelectric properties of five Co-based p-type half-Heusler alloys by considering full energy-dependent scattering times vs the commonly employed constant scattering time. For this, we employ density functional theory band structures and a full numerical scheme that uses Fermi's golden rule to extract the momentum relaxation times of each state at every energy, momentum, and band. We consider electron-phonon scattering (acoustic and optical), as well as ionized impurity scattering, and evaluate the qualitative and quantitative differences in the power factors of the materials compared to the case where the constant scattering time is employed. We show that the thermoelectric power factors extracted from the two different methods differ in terms of (i) their ranking between materials, (ii) the carrier density where the peak power factor appears, and (iii) their trends with temperature. We further show that the constant relaxation time approximation smoothens out the richness in the band structure features, thus limiting the possibilities of exploring this richness for material design and optimization. These details are more properly captured under full energy/momentum-dependent scattering time considerations. Finally, by mapping the conductivities extracted within the two schemes, we provide appropriate density-dependent constant relaxation times that could be employed as a fast first-order approximation for extracting charge transport properties in the half-Heuslers we consider