Experimental study of dielectric barrier discharge in mixtures of carbon dioxide and oxygen

Carbon dioxide decomposition in mixtures of CO2and O2has been experimentally investigatedusing dielectric barrier discharge, with special interest on O3and COproductions. Experiments have been conducted at different frequencies and operating voltages, and the concentration of O3and COhave been measured by means of absorption spectroscopy in the UV and in the IR regions. According to the observations, theproductionof both speciescan be substantially increased by adding molecular oxygento carbon dioxide, even in small proportion

Studies of the Antiproliferative Activity of Ruthenium (II) Cyclopentadienyl-Derived Complexes with Nitrogen Coordinated Ligands

Four cationic ruthenium(II) complexes with the formula [Ru(η5-C5H5)(PPh3)2]+, with L = 5-phenyl-1H-tetrazole (TzH) 1, imidazole (ImH) 2, benzo[1,2-b;4,3-b′] dithio-phen-2-carbonitrile (Bzt) 3, and [5-(2-thiophen-2-yl)-vinyl]-thiophene-2-carbonitrile] (Tvt) 4 were prepared and characterized in view to evaluate their potentialities as antitumor agents. Studies by Circular Dichroism indicated changes in the secondary structure of ct-DNA. Changes in the tertiary structure of pBR322 plasmid DNA were also observed in gel electrophoresis experiment and the images obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) suggest strong interaction with pBR322 plasmid DNA; the observed decreasing of the viscosity with time indicates that the complexes do not intercalate between DNA base pairs. Compounds 1, 2, and 3 showed much higher cytotoxicity than the cisplatin against human leukaemia cancer cells (HL-60 cells)

Effect of fungal colonization on mechanical performance of cork

The industrialization of traditional processes relies on the scientific ability to understand the empirical evidence associated with traditional knowledge. Cork manufacturing includes one operation known as stabilization, where humid cork slabs are extensively colonized by fungi. The implications of fungal growth on the chemical quality of cork through the analysis of putative fungal metabolites have already been investigated. However, the effect of fungal growth on the mechanical properties of cork remains unexplored. This study investigated the effect of cork colonization on the integrity of the cork cell walls and their mechanical performance. Fungal colonization of cork by Chrysonilia sitophila, Mucor plumbeus Penicillium glabrum, P. olsonii, and Trichoderma longibrachiatum was investigated by microscopy. Growth occurred primarily on the surface of the cork pieces, but mycelium extended deeper into the cork layers, mostly via lenticular channels and by hyphal penetration of the cork cell wall. In this first report on cork decay in which specific correlation between fungal colonization and mechanical proprieties of the cork has been investigated, all colonizing fungi except C. sitophila, reduced cork strength, markedly altering its viscoelastic behaviour and reducing its Young’s modulus.IBET, ITQB,EVN-INIA,IGC, IST,CEF-ISA, Amorim and Irmaos (Sta. Maria de Lamas, Portugal

DNA interaction and cytotoxicity studies of new ruthenium(II) cyclopentadienyl derivative complexescontaining heteroaromatic ligands

Four ruthenium(II) complexes with the formula [Ru(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))(PP)L][CF(3)SO(3)], being (PP = two triphenylphosphine molecules), L = 1-benzylimidazole, 1; (PP = two triphenylphosphine molecules), L = 2,2'bipyridine, 2; (PP = two triphenylphosphine molecules), L = 4-Methylpyridine, 3; (PP = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphine) ethane), L = 4-Methylpyridine, 4, were prepared, in view to evaluate their potentialities as antitumor agents. The compounds were completely characterized by NMR spectroscopy and their crystal and molecular structures were determined by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical studies were carried out giving for all the compounds quasi-reversible processes. The images obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) suggest interaction with pBR322 plasmid DNA. Measurements of the viscosity of solutions of free DNA and DNA incubated with different concentrations of the compounds confirmed this interaction. The cytotoxicity of compounds 1234 was much higher than that of cisplatin against human leukemia cancer cells (HL-60 cells). IC(50) values for all the compounds are in the range of submicromolar amounts. Apoptotic death percentage was also studied resulting similar than that of cisplatin. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Estimation of shub height for fuel-type mapping combining airborne LiDAR and simultaneous color infrared ortho imaging

P. 341-348A fuel-type map of a predominantly shub-land area in central Portugal was generated for a fire research experimental site, by combining airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and simultaneous color infrared ortho imaging. Since the vegetation canopy and the ground are too close together to be easily discerned by LiDAR pulses, standard of processing LiDAR data did not provide an accurate estimate of shrub heightS

Stones resting on the top soil cause heterogeneous patterns of fire-induced water repellency

Depending on soil and fire characteristics, soil water repellency (SWR) may be induced, enhanced or destroyed by burning. The spatial pattern of SWR may be extremely heterogeneous as a consequence of the temperature peaks, the variation of fire temperature, the distribution of fuel, or the amount and type of ashes. In this research, we have studied the effect of stone cover and position on the intensity and spatial distribution of fire-induced SWR after low-, moderate- and high-severity fire. Generally, SWR increased with fire severity, but stones did induce some differences and increased the heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of fire-induced SWR. In low-stone-cover areas, SWR from soil surfaces below stones increased respect to non-covered soil surfaces. In areas under high stone cover, SWR increased from non-covered soil surfaces to soil surfaces below stones after low-severity fire. In moderate- and high-severity burnt soils under high stone cover, SWR was more severe than in non-covered soil surface, but no significant differences were observed.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2010-21670-C02-0

ACT-Discover: identifying karyotype heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer evolution using ctDNA

Circulating tumour DNA; Pancreatic cancer; Tumour evolutionADN tumoral circulant; Càncer de pàncrees; Evolució tumoralADN tumoral circulante; Cáncer de páncreas; Evolución tumoralBackground Liquid biopsies and the dynamic tracking of somatic mutations within circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) can provide insight into the dynamics of cancer evolution and the intra-tumour heterogeneity that fuels treatment resistance. However, identifying and tracking dynamic changes in somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs), which have been associated with poor outcome and metastasis, using ctDNA is challenging. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a disease which has been considered to harbour early punctuated events in its evolution, leading to an early fitness peak, with minimal further subclonal evolution. Methods To interrogate the role of SCNAs in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cancer evolution, we applied whole-exome sequencing of 55 longitudinal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples taken from 24 patients (including 8 from whom a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) was derived) with metastatic disease prospectively recruited into a clinical trial. We developed a method, Aneuploidy in Circulating Tumour DNA (ACT-Discover), that leverages haplotype phasing of paired tumour biopsies or PDXs to identify SCNAs in cfDNA with greater sensitivity. Results SCNAs were observed within 28 of 47 evaluable cfDNA samples. Of these events, 30% could only be identified by harnessing the haplotype-aware approach leveraged in ACT-Discover. The exceptional purity of PDX tumours enabled near-complete phasing of genomic regions in allelic imbalance, highlighting an important auxiliary function of PDXs. Finally, although the classical model of pancreatic cancer evolution emphasises the importance of early, homogenous somatic events as a key requirement for cancer development, ACT-Discover identified substantial heterogeneity of SCNAs, including parallel focal and arm-level events, affecting different parental alleles within individual tumours. Indeed, ongoing acquisition of SCNAs was identified within tumours throughout the disease course, including within an untreated metastatic tumour. Conclusions This work demonstrates the power of haplotype phasing to study genomic variation in cfDNA samples and reveals undiscovered intra-tumour heterogeneity with important scientific and clinical implications. Implementation of ACT-Discover could lead to important insights from existing cohorts or underpin future prospective studies seeking to characterise the landscape of tumour evolution through liquid biopsy.This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) no. 670582 (Call: ERC-2014-ADG) to Dr. Hidalgo. R.A.T is supported by the Miguel Servet-II Research Award and the 2021 call for Proyectos de generación de conocimiento by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) of the Ministry of Economy [CP17/00199], the Olga Torres Foundation Award to emerging researchers [2017, to R.A.T, 2601], and received research grants from Novartis, Astrazeneca, and Beigene pharmaceuticals, not related to this study. N.M is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow, jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (Grant Number 211179/Z/18/Z), and also receives funding from Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, Rosetrees, and the NIHR BRC at University College London Hospitals

Desarrollo de herramientas de soporte a la toma de decisiones en el Servicio de Quirófanos del Hospital Municipal “Dr. Leónidas Lucero” de Bahía Blanca

La cirugía es una de las actividades más importantes desarrollada en los hospitales debido principalmente al impacto que brinda sobre la calidad de vida de los pacientes. Adicionalmente, una gran cantidad de recursos humanos, económicos y materiales se encuentran afectados al desarrollo de esta actividad. Por estas razones, la organización eficiente del servicio de quirófanos es una de las prioridades de sus responsables. Esta actividad puede verse beneficiada por la adopción de herramientas computacionales, basadas en modelos matemáticos de optimización, que ayuden en la planificación de las cirugías programadas. En este trabajo se describe una herramienta de estas características, que se encuentra en desarrollo en el marco de un proyecto DETEM (Desarrollo Tecnológico Municipal), para el hospital municipal de la ciudad de Bahía Blanca. El objetivo del proyecto es generar un software basado en un modelo de planificación óptima que proporcione un programa factible de cirugías para los próximos días y permita estudiar sistemáticamente el sistema identificando cuellos de botella y oportunidades de mejora.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Lignin-first biorefining of Nordic poplar to produce cellulose fibers could displace cotton production on agricultural lands

Here, we show that lignin-first biorefining of poplar can enable the production of dissolving cellulose pulp that can produce regenerated cellulose, which could substitute cotton. These results in turn indicate that agricultural land dedicated to cotton could be reclaimed for food production by extending poplar plantations to produce textile fibers. Based on climate-adapted poplar clones capable of growth on marginal lands in the Nordic region, we estimate an environmentally sustainable annual biomass production of similar to 11 tonnes/ha. At scale, lignin-first biorefining of this poplar could annually generate 2.4 tonnes/ha of dissolving pulp for textiles and 1.1 m(3) biofuels. Life cycle assessment indicates that, relative to cotton production, this approach could substantially reduce water consumption and identifies certain areas for further improvement. Overall, this work highlights a new value chain to reduce the environmental footprint of textiles, chemicals, and biofuels while enabling land reclamation and water savings from cotton back to food production