Soil Phosphorus Responses To Seasonal Drought And Chronic Nutrient Fertilization In A Humid Lowland Forest, Panama

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv……………………………………………………………………………………….Biographical Sketch v………………………………………………………………………………………………….Dedication vi………………………..… ………………………………………………………….Acknowledgements vii………………………………………………………………………………………………….Abstract 3……………….……………………………………………………………………………….Introduction 5……………………………………………………………………………...………Materials & Methods 8……………………………………………………………………………………………………...Results 10………………………………………………………………………………………………..Discussion 18……………………………………………………………………………………………….Reference

Alcuni esempi di catalogazione e restauro nell’ambito della Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell’Università di Palermo

In questo articolo presenteremo e discuteremo della catalogazione e restauro e di alcuni strumenti scientifici di particolare interesse storico-didattico appartenenti alla Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell’Università di Palermo. La catalogazione è stata effettuata secondo le indicazioni fornite dell’Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, per mezzo della scheda per il patrimonio scientifico-tecnologico. Nell’articolo saranno discussi gli aspetti tecnici degli interventi di restauro effettuati e saranno indicate le linee guida generali per il proseguimento dell’attività avviata.The article deals with the cataloguing and restoration of some scientific instruments of particular historical and didactic interest belonging to the Historical Collection of the Physics Instruments of the University of Palermo. The restoration activities have been carried out side by side the cataloguing, which has been done following the instructions supplied by the Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation with the official form for the scientific and technological heritage. In the article, we will discuss the technical aspects of the work carried out and basic guidelines will be given for the continuation of the activity

Recupero di un raro banco ottico del Melloni costruito nella Palermo della “belle époque”

In questo articolo discuteremo del recupero di uno strumento scientifico di particolare interesse storico-didattico appartenente alla Collezione del Liceo Classico Statale “Umberto I” di Palermo: un raro banco ottico del Melloni costruito alla fine del 1800 nella Palermo della “belle époque” dal “macchinista” Filippo Caliri. Nell’articolo discuteremo gli aspetti tecnici degli interventi conservativi effettuati.In the article we will report on the recovery of a Melloni’s optical bench built at the end of 1800 by the “macchinista” Filippo Caliri in the “belle époque” of Palermo. A scientific instrument of particular historical and didactic interest belonging to the collection of Liceo Classico Statale “Umberto I” of Palermo. In the article, we will discuss the technical aspects of the interventions carried out

Due 'paradossi meccanici' della Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell'Universit\`a di Palermo

Many instruments of the Historical Collection of the Physics Instruments of the University of Palermo date back to the early nineteenth century, when experimental Physics begun to be taught in university studies by using instruments and apparatuses in the classroom to illustrate the laws of Physics. Among the various instruments belonging to the Collection, there are also the so-called 'paradoxes', instruments with surprising properties that do not seem to follow the laws of Physics. In this article we analyze two 'mechanical paradoxes' of the Collection and discuss their possible educational use.Comment: 11 Pages, in Italian, 9 Figures. Accepted for publication in Quaderni di Ricerca in Didattica (Science), special Issue in Italian languag

Directed Molecular Stacking for Engineered Fluorescent Three-Dimensional Reduced Graphene Oxide and Coronene Frameworks

[EN] Three‐dimensional fluorescent graphene frameworks with controlled porous morphologies are of significant importance for practical applications reliant on controlled structural and electronic properties, such as organic electronics and photochemistry. Here we report a synthetically accessible approach concerning directed aromatic stacking interactions to give rise to new fluorogenic 3D frameworks with tuneable porosities achieved through molecular variations. The binding interactions between the graphene‐like domains present in the in situ‐formed reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with functional porphyrin molecules lead to new hybrids via an unprecedented solvothermal reaction. Functional free‐base porphyrins featuring perfluorinated aryl groups or hexyl chains at their meso‐ and β‐positions were employed in turn to act as directing entities for the assembly of new graphene‐based and foam‐like frameworks and of their corresponding coronene‐based hybrids. Investigations in the dispersed phase and in thin‐film by XPS, SEM and FLIM shed light onto the nature of the aromatic stacking within functional rGO frameworks (denoted rGOFs) which was then modelled semi‐empirically and by DFT calculations. The pore sizes of the new emerging reduced graphene oxide hybrids are tuneable at the molecular level and mediated by the bonding forces with the functional porphyrins acting as the “molecular glue”. Single crystal X‐ray crystallography described the stacking of a perfluorinated porphyrin with coronene, which can be employed as a molecular model for understanding the local aromatic stacking order and charge transfer interactions within these rGOFs for the first time. This opens up a new route to controllable 3D framework morphologies and pore size from the Ångstrom to the micrometre scale. Theoretical modelling showed that the porosity of these materials is mainly due to the controlled inter‐planar distance between the rGO, coronene or graphene sheets. The host‐guest chemistry involves the porphyrins acting as guests held through π‐π stacking, as demonstrated by XPS. The objective of this study is also to shed light into the fundamental localised electronic and energy transfer properties in these new molecularly engineered porous and fluorogenic architectures, aiming in turn to understand how functional porphyrins may exert stacking control over the notoriously disordered local structure present in porous reduced graphene oxide fragments. By tuning the porosity and the distance between the graphene sheets using aromatic stacking with porphyrins, it is also possible to tune the electronic structure of the final nanohybrid material, as indicated by FLIM experiments on thin films. Such nanohybrids with highly controlled pores dimensions and morphologies open the way to new design and assembly of storage devices and applications incorporating π‐conjugated molecules and materials and their π‐stacks may be relevant towards selective separation membranes, water purification and biosensing applications.S.I.P. and S.W.B. thank The Royal Society and STFC for funding. B.Y.M. thanks the University of Bath for a studentship (ORS). D.G.C. thanks the Fundación General CSIC for funding (ComFuturo Program). Dr. Jose A. Ribeiro Martins, Professors Jeremy K. M. Sanders and Paul Raithby are acknowledged for training, helpful discussions and porphyrin supramolecular chemistry. The S.I.P. group thanks the EPSRC for funding to the Centre of Graphene Science (EP/K017160/1) and to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies (EP/L016354/1). The authors thank EPSRC National Service for Mass Spectrometry at Swansea and EPSRC National Service for Crystallography at Southampton for data collection. The authors also acknowledge the ERC for the Consolidator Grant O2SENSE (617107, 2014–2019)

Evaluation of TypeSeq, a Novel High-Throughput, Low-Cost, Next-Generation Sequencing-Based Assay for Detection of 51 Human Papillomavirus Genotypes.

BackgroundHuman papillomaviruses (HPV) cause over 500 000 cervical cancers each year, most of which occur in low-resource settings. Human papillomavirus genotyping is important to study natural history and vaccine efficacy. We evaluated TypeSeq, a novel, next-generation, sequencing-based assay that detects 51 HPV genotypes, in 2 large international epidemiologic studies.MethodsTypeSeq was evaluated in 2804 cervical specimens from the Study to Understand Cervical Cancer Endpoints and Early Determinants (SUCCEED) and in 2357 specimens from the Costa Rica Vaccine Trial (CVT). Positive agreement and risks of precancer for individual genotypes were calculated for TypeSeq in comparison to Linear Array (SUCCEED). In CVT, positive agreement and vaccine efficacy were calculated for TypeSeq and SPF10-LiPA.ResultsWe observed high overall and positive agreement for most genotypes between TypeSeq and Linear Array in SUCCEED and SPF10-LiPA in CVT. There was no significant difference in risk of precancer between TypeSeq and Linear Array in SUCCEED or in estimates of vaccine efficacy between TypeSeq and SPF10-LiPA in CVT.ConclusionsThe agreement of TypeSeq with Linear Array and SPF10-LiPA, 2 well established standards for HPV genotyping, demonstrates its high accuracy. TypeSeq provides high-throughput, affordable HPV genotyping for world-wide studies of cervical precancer risk and of HPV vaccine efficacy

Longer telomere length in peripheral white blood cells is associated with risk of lung cancer and the rs2736100 (CLPTM1L-TERT) polymorphism in a prospective cohort study among women in China.

A recent genome-wide association study of lung cancer among never-smoking females in Asia demonstrated that the rs2736100 polymorphism in the TERT-CLPTM1L locus on chromosome 5p15.33 was strongly and significantly associated with risk of adenocarcinoma of the lung. The telomerase gene TERT is a reverse transcriptase that is critical for telomere replication and stabilization by controlling telomere length. We previously found that longer telomere length measured in peripheral white blood cell DNA was associated with increased risk of lung cancer in a prospective cohort study of smoking males in Finland. To follow up on this finding, we carried out a nested case-control study of 215 female lung cancer cases and 215 female controls, 94% of whom were never-smokers, in the prospective Shanghai Women's Health Study cohort. There was a dose-response relationship between tertiles of telomere length and risk of lung cancer (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0, 1.4 [0.8-2.5], and 2.2 [1.2-4.0], respectively; P trend = 0.003). Further, the association was unchanged by the length of time from blood collection to case diagnosis. In addition, the rs2736100 G allele, which we previously have shown to be associated with risk of lung cancer in this cohort, was significantly associated with longer telomere length in these same study subjects (P trend = 0.030). Our findings suggest that individuals with longer telomere length in peripheral white blood cells may have an increased risk of lung cancer, but require replication in additional prospective cohorts and populations

Is socioeconomic status associated with biological aging as measured by telomere length?

It has been hypothesized that one way in which lower socioeconomic status (SES) affects health is by increasing the rate of biological aging. A widely used marker of biological aging is telomere length. Telomeres are structures at the ends of chromosomes that erode with increasing cell proliferation and genetic damage. We aimed to identify, through systematic review and meta-analysis, whether lower SES (greater deprivation) is associated with shorter telomeres. Thirty-one articles, including 29 study populations, were identified. We conducted 3 meta-analyses to compare the telomere lengths of persons of high and low SES with regard to contemporaneous SES (12 study populations from 10 individual articles), education (15 study populations from 14 articles), and childhood SES (2 study populations from 2 articles). For education, there was a significant difference in telomere length between persons of high and low SES in a random-effects model (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.060, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.002, 0.118; P = 0.042), although a range of sensitivity analyses weakened this association. There was no evidence for an association between telomere length and contemporaneous SES (SMD = 0.104, 95% CI: −0.027, 0.236; P = 0.119) or childhood SES (SMD = −0.037, 95% CI: −0.143, 0.069; P = 0.491). These results suggest weak evidence for an association between SES (as measured by education) and biological aging (as measured by telomere length), although there was a lack of consistent findings across the SES measures investigated here

Telomere Length and the Risk of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma in Melanoma-Prone Families with and without CDKN2A Mutations

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests a link between constitutional telomere length (TL) and cancer risk. Previous studies have suggested that longer telomeres were associated with an increased risk of melanoma and larger size and number of nevi. The goal of this study was to examine whether TL modified the risk of melanoma in melanoma-prone families with and without CDKN2A germline mutations. Materials and Methods We measured TL in blood DNA in 119 cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) cases and 208 unaffected individuals. We also genotyped 13 tagging SNPs in TERT. Results: We found that longer telomeres were associated with an increased risk of CMM (adjusted OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.02–7.72, P = 0.04). The association of longer TL with CMM risk was seen in CDKN2A- cases but not in CDKN2A+ cases. Among CMM cases, the presence of solar injury was associated with shorter telomeres (P = 0.002). One SNP in TERT, rs2735940, was significantly associated with TL (P = 0.002) after Bonferroni correction. Discussion Our findings suggest that TL regulation could be variable by CDKN2A mutation status, sun exposure, and pigmentation phenotype. Therefore, TL measurement alone may not be a good marker for predicting CMM risk