Chemical composition of the fingermark residue: Assessment of the intravariability over one year using MALDI-MSI.

These past years, the chemical composition of fingermarks have attracted interest of researchers to meet multiple objectives like the determination of an individual's age, gender or lifestyle or the impact of some fingermark detection processes, to cite a few. These studies have highlighted the need to investigate the consistency of the fingermark composition over time. This research explores the evolution of the secretion residue composition of thirteen donors over one year, focusing on the intravariability. The dual use of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI-MSI) and chemometrics provided valuable data regarding the evolution of composition over time as well as the consistency of presence of hundreds of compounds

Effect of concrete surface treatment on adhesion in repair systems

Existing concrete surfaces need to be roughened to a profile necessary to achieve mechanical interlocking with any repair material. In this study, different surface treatments (e.g. grinding, sandblasting, shotblasting, hand- and mechanical milling) were performed and the quality of the preparation established on the basis of three main parameters: surface geometry, superficial concrete microcracking and adhesion. Surface geometry was characterised on the basis of the measurement of surface profile-profilometry-and the analysis of statistical and amplitude parameters calculated from the waviness (lower frequencies) and the roughness (higher frequencies) profiles of the surface. Investigations were also performed to assess the quality of the superficial zone of concrete and cracks were systematically observed in relation to surface treatment where both scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy were used for analysis. Finally, a repair mortar with or without bond coat, was applied to the concrete substrates in order to measure adhesion. Relationships clearly show the effect of roughness on adhesion in the case where no bond coat was used and also the influence of the power of the surface treatment on the waviness shape of the profile and the presence of microcracks in the near-surface layer related to failure type

Differentiating individuals through the chemical composition of their fingermarks.

Fingermark patterns are one of the oldest means of biometric identification. During this last decade, the molecules that constitute the fingermark residue have gained interest among the forensic research community to gain additional intelligence regarding its donor profile including its gender, age, lifestyle or even its pathological state. In this work, the molecular composition of fingermarks have been studied to monitor the variability between donors and to explore its capacity to differentiate individuals using supervised multi-class classification models. Over one year, fingermarks from thirteen donors have been analysed by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging (n = 716) and mined by different machine learning approaches. We demonstrate the potential of the fingermark chemical composition to help differentiating individuals with an accuracy between 80% and 96% depending on the period of sample collection for each donor and size of the pool of donors. It would be premature at this stage to transpose the results of this research to real cases, however the conclusions of this study can provide a better understanding of the variations of the chemical composition of the fingermark residue in between individuals over long periods and help clarifying the notion of donorship

Examining properties of arc sprayed nanostructured coatings

The article presents the results of examining properties of arc sprayed coating obtained with nano-alloy on the iron matrix with a high amount of fine carbide precipitates sprayed on non-alloyed steel plates intended for high temperature operation. Powder metal cored wire EnDOtec DO*390N 1,6 mm diameter, was used to produce, dense, very high abrasion and erosion resistant coatings approx. 1,0 mm thick. Nano-material coatings characterization was done to determine abrasion resistance, erosion resistance, adhesion strength, hardness as well as metallographic examinations. Results have proved high properties of arc sprayed nano-material coatings and have shown promising industrial applications

Fijación activa y perforación ventricular: ¿una nueva entidad?

First, a new active fixation lead was implanted in the interventricular septum; the old lead was then extracted with a Cook stylet. The patient’s clinical course was satisfactory and there were no procedure-related complications. In conclusion, within the battery of diagnostic tests available to investigate suspected cardiac perforation, computed angiotomography of the chest is a highly useful complementary technique for the management of this complication

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Delivery of Chemotherapeutics: A Review

The efficacy of current standard chemotherapy is suboptimal due to the poor solubility and short half-lives of chemotherapeutic agents, as well as their high toxicity and lack of specificity which may result in severe side effects, noncompliance and patient inconvenience. The application of nanotechnology has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and attracted increasing attention as a significant means for optimizing the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents and enhancing their efficiency and safety profiles. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are lipid-based formulations that have been broadly studied as drug delivery systems. They have a solid matrix at room temperature and are considered superior to many other traditional lipid-based nanocarriers such as nanoemulsions, liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) due to their enhanced physical stability, improved drug loading capacity, and biocompatibility. This review focuses on the latest advances in the use of NLCs as drug delivery systems and their preparation and characterization techniques with special emphasis on their applications as delivery systems for chemotherapeutic agents and different strategies for their use in tumor targeting.This research was funded by Aljalila foundation, grant number AJF201777

Harvest Strategies for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management in Western Mediterranean Demersal Fisheries

The serious overfishing of most Mediterranean stocks demands urgent reforms of the management measures aiming to guarantee the sustainability of resources, notably when compared with the improvement observed in other European areas. The new EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) constitutes an excellent opportunity to introduce the changes needed for such a reform. According to this CFP, all European fish stocks should be brought to a state where they can produce at MSY by 2020 at the latest. The CFP also establishes that the objective of sustainable exploitation should be achieved through multiannual plans (MAPs) adopted in consultation with relevant stakeholders having fisheries management interests such as fishermen, non-governmental organizations, and policy makers. Together with the MSY and MAP approaches, the new CFP contains several other measures, directed to guarantee the ecological and socio-economic sustainability of fisheries by means of the implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM). With this new perspective, the CFP wants to avoid past failures of fisheries management based on monospecific approaches. This study is a first step toward the application of the EAFM in the Balearic Islands by means of the development of a harvest strategy with defined objectives, targets, limits, and clear management control rules aimed at optimizing socioeconomic and ecological objectives in the framework of the new CFP. Different management scenarios designed to achieve that goal were modeled for the main demersal commercial fisheries from the study area, the bottom trawl, and small-scale fisheries. The work begins with a general description of those fisheries, their main fishing grounds, and assessments of the exploitation status of the main target stocks in order to establish the current situation. Secondly, alternative management scenarios to maximize catch and profits while considering societal objectives were evaluated by means of bio-economic models. Thirdly, management measures were provided based on the previous modeling and discussions with stakeholders. Finally, a monitoring scheme was outlined to assess the progresses of the proposed management actions. This work is intended to be a working example of co-management (fishers, policy-makers, and scientists) in the Mediterranean in the framework of the new EU CFPVersión del edito

Calcium inhibits diacylglycerol uptake by serum albumin

AbstractSerum albumin is an abundant protein in blood plasma, that is well-known for its ability to transport hydrophobic biomolecules and drugs. Recent hypotheses propose that serum albumin plays a role in the regulation of lipid metabolism in addition to its lipid transport properties. The present work explores the capacity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to extract diacylglycerols (DAG) from phospholipid bilayers, and the inhibition of such interaction by divalent cations. Quantitative measurements using radioactive DAG and morphological evidence derived from giant unilamellar vesicles examined by confocal microscopy provide concurrent results. BSA extracts DAG from vesicles consisting of phosphatidylinositol/DAG. Long, saturated DAG species are incorporated more readily than the shorter-chain or unsaturated ones. Divalent cations hinder DAG uptake by BSA. For Ca2+, the concentration causing half-maximal inhibition is ≈10 μM; 90% inhibition is caused by 100 μM Ca2+. Sr2+ requires concentrations one order of magnitude higher, while Mg2+ has virtually no effect. As an example on how DAG uptake by BSA, and its inhibition by Ca2+, could play a regulating role in lipid metabolism, a PI-specific phospholipase C has been assayed in the presence of BSA and/or Ca2+. BSA activates the enzyme by removing the end-product DAG, but the activation is reverted by Ca2+ that inhibits DAG uptake