Controlled transdermal release of antioxidant ferulate by a porous Sc(III) MOF

The Sc(III) MOF-type MFM-300(Sc) is demonstrated in this study to be stable under physiological conditions (PBS), biocompatible (to human skin cells), and an efficient drug carrier for the long-term controlled release (through human skin) of antioxidant ferulate. MFM-300(Sc) also preserves the antioxidant pharmacological effects of ferulate while enhancing the bio-preservation of dermal skin fibroblasts, during the delivery process. These discoveries pave the way toward the extended use of Sc(III)-based MOFs as drug delivery systems (DDSs)

Nightside condensation of iron in an ultra-hot giant exoplanet

Ultra-hot giant exoplanets receive thousands of times Earth's insolation. Their high-temperature atmospheres (>2,000 K) are ideal laboratories for studying extreme planetary climates and chemistry. Daysides are predicted to be cloud-free, dominated by atomic species and substantially hotter than nightsides. Atoms are expected to recombine into molecules over the nightside, resulting in different day-night chemistry. While metallic elements and a large temperature contrast have been observed, no chemical gradient has been measured across the surface of such an exoplanet. Different atmospheric chemistry between the day-to-night ("evening") and night-to-day ("morning") terminators could, however, be revealed as an asymmetric absorption signature during transit. Here, we report the detection of an asymmetric atmospheric signature in the ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-76b. We spectrally and temporally resolve this signature thanks to the combination of high-dispersion spectroscopy with a large photon-collecting area. The absorption signal, attributed to neutral iron, is blueshifted by -11+/-0.7 km s-1 on the trailing limb, which can be explained by a combination of planetary rotation and wind blowing from the hot dayside. In contrast, no signal arises from the nightside close to the morning terminator, showing that atomic iron is not absorbing starlight there. Iron must thus condense during its journey across the nightside.Comment: Published in Nature (Accepted on 24 January 2020.) 33 pages, 11 figures, 3 table

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

A Centralized Home Energy Management System to Minimize Consumer's Electricity Bill

This paper investigates a centralized, high-resolution and fast model for home energy management. The model is provided within mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework while it benefits from an open-access optimization model in Python for running the model free of charge. To minimize the electricity bill, the time-of-use (TOU) electricity tariff has been selected by the consumer to manage the daily electricity consumption. This consumer-centric home energy management system (HEMS) enhances the flexibility that can be provided by the dedicated consumers during peak periods while reducing the electricity bill of the end-users benefiting from the TOU tariff. The time resolution of home appliance scheduling is 15 minutes in this study and it is compatible with the smart metering data recording for energy consumed by the end-users. The simulation results show that the electricity bill would be considerably decreased by using the proposed self-scheduling model.</p

Economic analysis of oleoresin production from malagueta peppers (capsicum frutescens) by supercritical fluid extraction

An economical evaluation of the extraction of capsaicinoids-rich oleoresin from malagueta pepper using supercritical carbon dioxide was performed, considering both oleoresin and total capsaicinoids yields. Simulations of SFE process (15 MPa and 40 °C) were performed using the SuperPro Designer 8.5® to estimate the cost of manufacturing (COM) for three different SFE production scales (0.05, 0.3 and 0.5 m3). The calculated COM based on the total capsaicinoids yield had a minimum point in the extraction curve (for the three different scales) at 240 min, which indicates that the SFE process should be conducted up to this time. The COM for oleoresin extraction yield was obtained at 240 min in a 2 × 0.5 m3 unit, corresponding to 125.41 US$/kg extract. The estimated commercialization price of oleoresin obtained under the proposed conditions was 223 US$/kg extract, suggesting that the production of malagueta oleoresin by SFE seems to be economically applicable in large production scale13318693FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2015/18119-

Robust Probabilistic Load Flow in Microgrids considering Wind Generation, Photovoltaics and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The power demand uncertainties and intrinsic intermittent characteristics of wind and photovoltaic (PV) distributed energy resources (DERs) make the conventional load flow methods inefficient in active distribution networks (ADNs) and microgrids. Some statistical tools such as Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) are always a reliable solution. However, statistical tools are time-consuming and rather useless in large power systems. In this paper, a new method is proposed for robust probabilistic load flow (PLF) in microgrids and ADNs, including renewable energy resources (RERs), based on singular value decomposition (SVD) unscented Kalman filtering. The probability density functions (PDFs) and cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for some of the ADN variables are compared with the other reported PLF methods for different test systems and the results validate the robustness, efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method

Dependencia de la respuesta óptica con el decapado químico de películas de ga1-xinxasysb1-y

En este trabajo se estudió la tasa de decapado químico con soluciones ácidas en películas epitaxia-les de Ga1-xInxAsySb1-y, fabricadas por la técnica de Epitaxia en Fase Líquida, mediante la medi-ción de los espesores a diferentes tiempos de ataque químico. Así mismo, se midió la respuesta óp-tica de las películas por fotoluminiscencia y se determinó su variación con el tiempo de decapado, observándose un cambio en la intensidad relativa de los picos y un corrimiento en energía asociado a la remoción de las capas más superficiales debidas a la formación de óxidos. Se realizaron prue-bas en sustratos de GaSb para seleccionar el mejor material para enmascarar su superficie, lográn-dose determinar la razón de ataque en este sustrato