The DNA electronic specific heat at low temperature: The role of aperiodicity

AbstractThe electronic specific heat spectra at constant volume (CV) of a long-range correlated extended ladder model, mimicking a DNA molecule, is theoretically analyzed for a stacked array of a double-stranded structure made up from the nucleotides guanine G, adenine A, cytosine C and thymine T. The role of the aperiodicity on CV is discussed, considering two different nucleotide arrangements with increasing disorder, namely the Fibonacci and the Rudin–Shapiro quasiperiodic structures. Comparisons are made for different values of the band fillings, considering also a finite segment of natural DNA, as part of the human chromosome Ch22

Pre-main-sequence Lithium Depletion

In this review I briefly discuss the theory of pre-main-sequence (PMS) Li depletion in low-mass (0.075<M<1.2 Msun) stars and highlight those uncertain parameters which lead to substantial differences in model predictions. I then summarise observations of PMS stars in very young open clusters, clusters that have just reached the ZAMS and briefly highlight recent developments in the observation of Li in very low-mass PMS stars.Comment: 8 pages, invited review at "Chemical abundances and mixing in stars in the Milky Way and its satellites", eds. L. Pasquini, S. Randich. ESO Astrophysics Symposium (Springer-Verlag

Nanomaterials for Advancing the Health Immunosensor

Nanotechnology has exerted a significant impact in the development of biosensors allowing more sensible analytical methods. In health applications, the main challenge of the immunoassay is to reach the suitable limit of detection, recognizing different analytes in complex samples like whole blood, serum, urine, and other biological fluids. Different nanomaterials, including metallic, silica and magnetic nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, have been applied, mainly to improve charge electron transfer, catalytic activity, amount of immobilized biomolecules, low-background current, signal-to-noise ratio that consequently increase the sensitivity of immunosensors. Given the great impact of nanotechnology, this chapter intends to discuss new aspects of nanomaterials relating to immunosensor advancement

Association Of Inflammation, Dyslipidemia, Obesity And Physical Activity Status In Children

The aim of this study was to verify the association between inflammatory biomarkers, dyslipidemia, obesity and physical activity status in 10-years old children. Ninety-four children participated in this study and were classified into eutrophic (n=36), overweight (n=34) or obese (n=24) according to their body mass index (BMI). The genic expression of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and chemokine C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL-2) mRNA; the serum concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and triglycerides; BMI, percentage of body fat (% BF) and waist circumference; and the number of steps per day were determined. The expression of IL-6, TNF-α and CCL-2 were associated (p 0.05) between pro-inflammatory biomarkers and number of steps per day was found.222182

Phytase-mediated enzymatic mineralization of chitosan-enriched hydrogels

Hydrogels mineralized with calcium phosphate (CaP) are increasingly popular bone regeneration biomaterials. Mineralization can be achieved by phosphatase enzyme incorporation and incubation in calcium glycerophosphate (CaGP). Gellan gum (GG) hydrogels containing the enzyme phytase and chitosan oligomer were mineralized in CaGP solution and characterized with human osteoblast-like MG63 cells and adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSC). Phytase induced CaP formation. Chitosan concentration determined mineralization extent and hydrogel mechanical reinforcement. Phytase-induced mineralization promoted MG63 adhesion and proliferation, especially in the presence of chitosan, and was non-toxic to MG63 cells (with and without chitosan). ADSC adhesion and proliferation were poor without mineralization. Chitosan did not affect ADSC osteogenic differentiation

Planck 2015 results. XXVII. The Second Planck Catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich Sources

We present the all-sky Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources detected from the 29 month full-mission data. The catalogue (PSZ2) is the largest SZ-selected sample of galaxy clusters yet produced and the deepest all-sky catalogue of galaxy clusters. It contains 1653 detections, of which 1203 are confirmed clusters with identified counterparts in external data-sets, and is the first SZ-selected cluster survey containing > $10^3$ confirmed clusters. We present a detailed analysis of the survey selection function in terms of its completeness and statistical reliability, placing a lower limit of 83% on the purity. Using simulations, we find that the Y5R500 estimates are robust to pressure-profile variation and beam systematics, but accurate conversion to Y500 requires. the use of prior information on the cluster extent. We describe the multi-wavelength search for counterparts in ancillary data, which makes use of radio, microwave, infra-red, optical and X-ray data-sets, and which places emphasis on the robustness of the counterpart match. We discuss the physical properties of the new sample and identify a population of low-redshift X-ray under- luminous clusters revealed by SZ selection. These objects appear in optical and SZ surveys with consistent properties for their mass, but are almost absent from ROSAT X-ray selected samples