The development of a model to describe the influence of temperature and relative humidity on respiration rate of prickly pear cactus stems in reduced O2 conditions

Respiration rate (RO2) of prickly pear cactus stems (Opuntia spp.) was measured as a function of 4 temperature (T) and 6 relative humidity (RH) combinations for O2 partial pressures between 15 and 0.8 kPa, which were considered to support aerobic respiration. The rate of respiration (RO2) was determined based on O2 depletion of the atmosphere in sealed containers containing 1 kg of stems. The O2 partial pressure declined linearly over time and the slopes of the fitted lines were used to calculate the rate of O2 uptake. The rate of O2 uptake increased with increasing temperature and decreased with increasing RH. The respiratory rate at 25°C was approximately 30 to 40 times higher than at 5°C. The respiratory rate at 65% RH was between 30 and 90% greater than at 90% RH, depending on the temperature. Data for ln(RO2) for each RH level were regressed against the inverse of the T (K-1) to determine Arrhenius constants and calculate the apparent Ea of respiration for the six RH conditions. The Ea was similar for each RH level, varying between a low of 113 to a high of 131 kJ•mol-1. An equation having an R2 of 0.95 was developed describing respiration as a function of RH and T (°C) using only four constant

Lacunarity of Fractal Superlattices: a Remote Estimation using Wavelets

The lacunarity provides a useful parameter for describing the distribution of gap sizes in discrete self-similar (fractal) superlattices and is used in addition to the similarity dimension to describe fractals. We show here that lacunarity, as well as the similarity dimension, can be remotely estimated from the wavelet analysis of superlattices impulse response. As a matter of fact, the skeleton—the set of wavelet-transform modulus-maxima—of the reflected signal overlaps two hierarchical structures in the time-scale domain: such that one allows the direct remote extraction of the similarity dimension, while the other may provide an accurate estimation of the lacunarity of the interrogated superlattice. Criteria for the choice of the mother wavelet are established for impulse response corrupted by additive Gaussian white noise

Biocompatibility and applications of carbon nanotubes in medical nanorobots

The set of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on relative motion of carbon nanotubes walls is proposed for use in medical nanorobots. This set includes electromechanical nanothermometer, jet nanoengine, nanosyringe (the last can be used simultaneously as nanoprobe for individual biological molecules and drug nanodeliver). Principal schemes of these NEMS are considered. Operational characteristics of nanothermometer are analyzed. The possible methods of these NEMS actuation are considered. The present-day progress in nanotechnology techniques which are necessary for assembling of NEMS under consideration is discussed. Biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes is analyzed in connection with perspectives of their application in nanomedicine

Changes in subclass-specific IgG Fc glycosylation associated with the postnatal maturation of the murine immune system

Early postnatal life is characterized by a critical time period in which the developing neonatal immune system transitions from passive immunity, induced by protective maternal antibodies, to the competence of a fully functioning immune system. The inflammatory capability of both maternal and neonatal antibodies is governed by N-linked glycosylation of the Fc region, and though this has been examined extensively in adults, there is currently little information regarding antibody glycosylation patterns during early postnatal life. To characterize the murine IgG Fc glycosylation profile during early life, we used nano-LC-ESI-Qq-TOF mass spectrometry analysis to assess subclass specific Asn-297 glycosylation patterns in the serum of BALB/c mice from 5–60 days of age. From birth to adulthood, we observed a decline in proinflammatory Fc glycosylation in all IgG subclasses. This was shown by significantly reduced agalactosylated and monogalactosylated structures combined with increased sialylation after weaning at 45 and 60 days of age. This information indicates that the transition between neonatal life and adulthood in mice is accompanied by reduction of inflammatory IgG antibodies. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature indicating the importance of IgG Fc glycosylation and its association with inflammation during different life stages

From seaweeds to hydrogels: Recent progress in kappa-2 carrageenans

Hybrid carrageenans, also called kappa-2 (K2) or weak kappa, are a class of sulfated polysaccharides with thermo-reversible gelling properties in water and are extracted from a specific family of red seaweeds. K2 are known in the industry for their texturizing properties which are intermediate between those of kappa-carrageenans (K) and iota-carrageenans (I). As such, K2 are gaining industrial interest, as they can replace blends of K and I (K + I) in some niche applications. Over the last decade or so, some progress has been made in unravelling K2's chemical structure. The understanding of K2 gel's structure-rheological properties' relationships has also improved. Such recent progress is reported here, reviewing the literature on gelling K2 published since the last review on the topic. The focus is on the seaweeds used for extracting K2, their block copolymer chemical structures, and how these impact on the gel's formation and rheological properties. The outcome of this review is that additional rheological and structural studies of K2 hydrogels are needed, in particular to understand their viscoelastic behavior under large deformation and to unravel the differences between the texturizing properties of K2 and K + I.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the E2B2-PHACAR project, grant number: PTDC/BII-BIO/5626/2020. Additional financial support by the FCT under the framework of Strategic Funding grant: UID/CTM/50025/2020 and grant: CEECINST/00156/2018 are also acknowledged

QuantiMus: A Machine Learning-Based Approach for High Precision Analysis of Skeletal Muscle Morphology.

Skeletal muscle injury provokes a regenerative response, characterized by the de novo generation of myofibers that are distinguished by central nucleation and re-expression of developmentally restricted genes. In addition to these characteristics, myofiber cross-sectional area (CSA) is widely used to evaluate muscle hypertrophic and regenerative responses. Here, we introduce QuantiMus, a free software program that uses machine learning algorithms to quantify muscle morphology and molecular features with high precision and quick processing-time. The ability of QuantiMus to define and measure myofibers was compared to manual measurement or other automated software programs. QuantiMus rapidly and accurately defined total myofibers and measured CSA with comparable performance but quantified the CSA of centrally-nucleated fibers (CNFs) with greater precision compared to other software. It additionally quantified the fluorescence intensity of individual myofibers of human and mouse muscle, which was used to assess the distribution of myofiber type, based on the myosin heavy chain isoform that was expressed. Furthermore, analysis of entire quadriceps cross-sections of healthy and mdx mice showed that dystrophic muscle had an increased frequency of Evans blue dye+ injured myofibers. QuantiMus also revealed that the proportion of centrally nucleated, regenerating myofibers that express embryonic myosin heavy chain (eMyHC) or neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) were increased in dystrophic mice. Our findings reveal that QuantiMus has several advantages over existing software. The unique self-learning capacity of the machine learning algorithms provides superior accuracy and the ability to rapidly interrogate the complete muscle section. These qualities increase rigor and reproducibility by avoiding methods that rely on the sampling of representative areas of a section. This is of particular importance for the analysis of dystrophic muscle given the "patchy" distribution of muscle pathology. QuantiMus is an open source tool, allowing customization to meet investigator-specific needs and provides novel analytical approaches for quantifying muscle morphology

Changes in subclass-specific IgG Fc glycosylation associated with the postnatal maturation of the murine immune system

Early postnatal life is characterized by a critical time period in which the developing neonatal immune system transitions from passive immunity, induced by protective maternal antibodies, to the competence of a fully functioning immune system. The inflammatory capability of both maternal and neonatal antibodies is governed by N-linked glycosylation of the Fc region, and though this has been examined extensively in adults, there is currently little information regarding antibody glycosylation patterns during early postnatal life. To characterize the murine IgG Fc glycosylation profile during early life, we used nano-LC-ESI-Qq-TOF mass spectrometry analysis to assess subclass specific Asn-297 glycosylation patterns in the serum of BALB/c mice from 5–60 days of age. From birth to adulthood, we observed a decline in proinflammatory Fc glycosylation in all IgG subclasses. This was shown by significantly reduced agalactosylated and monogalactosylated structures combined with increased sialylation after weaning at 45 and 60 days of age. This information indicates that the transition between neonatal life and adulthood in mice is accompanied by reduction of inflammatory IgG antibodies. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature indicating the importance of IgG Fc glycosylation and its association with inflammation during different life stages.Fil: Barrientos, Gabriela Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Hospital Alemán. Laboratorio de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Habazin, Sinia. Genos Ltd; CroaciaFil: Novokmet, Mislav. Genos Ltd; CroaciaFil: Almousa, Yahia. Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Alemania. Freie Universität Berlin; Alemania. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Berlin Institute of Health; AlemaniaFil: Lauc, Gordan. Genos Ltd; Croacia. University of Zagreb; CroaciaFil: Conrad, Melanie L.. Freie Universität Berlin; Alemania. Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Alemania. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Berlin Institute of Health; Alemani

Secondary stability of a composite biomimetic cementless hip stem

Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye