A Spatial Kinetic Model of Crowd Evacuation Dynamics with Infectious Disease Contagion

This paper proposes a kinetic theory approach coupling together the modeling of crowd evacuation from a bounded domain with exit doors and infectious disease contagion. The spatial movement of individuals in the crowd is modeled by a proper description of the interactions with people in the crowd and the environment, including walls and exits. At the same time, interactions among healthy and infectious individuals may generate disease spreading if exposure time is long enough. Immunization of the population and individual awareness to contagion is considered as well. Interactions are modeled by tools of game theory, that let us propose the so-called tables of games that are introduced in the general kinetic equations. The proposed model is qualitatively studied and, through a series of case studies, we explore different scenarios related to crowding and gathering formation within indoor venues under the spread of a respiratory infectious disease, obtaining insights on specific policies to reduce contagion that may be implemented

Flexural characterization of a novel recycled-based polymer blend for structural applications

The use of recycled plastic in construction fields, among others, is becoming a turning point for resolving significant related problems such as resource management, sustainability and plastic waste generation. Hence, in the context of sustainability, the "Three R’s": reduce, reuse and recycle, are getting more attention day after day. There has been a huge surge in the recycling and reuse of plastic composites due to their eco-friendliness, lightweight, life cycle superiority and low cost. However, because of a lack of knowledge of their performance and behavior, their application is still limited in the real world. The aim of this research is to understand the behavior of recycled plastic and derive its material properties which can be used in the design of structural and non-structural elements. In the present study, three stiffened plates are manufactured from 80% of recycled plastic (around 50% of recycled Polypropylene rPP, and around 50% of High Density Polyethylene PEHD with a little part of Low Density Polyethylene PELD) and 20% of virgin polypropylene PP Copolymer. Three-point bending test is performed on the three specimens. In the experimental campaign, the behavior of these stiffened plates under pure bending loads has been studied. After that, the material properties are extracted from the data collected during the experiment using Ramberg–Osgood equation. Then, once implemented in finite elementcmodels, it was observed that the simulated material shows similar behavior to the one registered during the experiment. As a conclusion, the derived material properties show reliability and they can be used to study a design of a structural or non-structural component including recycled plastic

Calidad de cubos de papas mínimamente procesados

La deshidratación osmótica permite reducir levemente la actividad acuosa de productos frescos conduciendo a un producto de alta humedad con una buena calidad organoléptica. Además, posibilita la impregnación de agentes antimicrobianos y antipardeamiento para obtener y mejorar la calidad de productos mínimamente procesados. En este trabajo se analizó la evolución de los parámetros de calidad de cubos de papa con procesamiento mínimo almacenados a 4°C. Dados de papa de 1 cm, variedad Spunta, fueron sumergidos en soluciones de Jarabe de Glucosa (JG) o Sorbitol (SO) (40%), en presencia de cloruro de sodio (5 %), ácido cítrico (0,2%) y ácido ascórbico, (0,5%) a 40°C. Durante la inmersión realizada por espacio de 2 horas, con agitación constante y una relación solución/peso de papa igual a 20, las muestras se deshidratan osmóticamente mientras que sus enzimas son inactivadas por disminución del pH y reducción de los compuestos quinónicos. Los cubos tratados (CT) fueron posteriormente envasados en bolsas de polietileno de baja densidad de 70 μm y almacenados durante 15 días. Durante ese lapso, se determinó cada 5 días el contenido de fenoles totales (FT) y de ácido ascórbico (AA), la actividad de la polifenoloxidasa (PPO), el índice de pardeamiento (IP) y concentración de azúcares reductores (AR). También se efectuaron recuentos de Bacterias Aerobias mesófilas totales (BAMT) y de hongos filamentosos y levaduras (HyL) en muestras del producto fresco y del producto tratado al comienzo y final del periodo de almacenamiento en refrigeración. El contenido de FT y AA aumentaron significativamente luego del tratamiento para luego disminuir durante el almacenamiento hasta llegar a valores similares al del producto fresco. La PPO disminuyó luego del tratamiento respecto a la de muestra control. Las muestras tratadas con SO, mostraron una reducción continua durante el almacenamiento mientras que las tratadas con JG, por el contrario, presentaron un aumento paulatino durante el almacenamiento llegando a un valor máximo a los 10 días a partir del cual se observó una disminución del mismo. El IP de los cubos fue significativamente menor luego del tratamiento osmótico y se mantuvo durante del almacenamiento. A su vez, las muestras tratadas con SO tuvieron menor IP que las tratadas con JG. Los AR aumentaron significativamente en los CT, siendo mayores en los cubos de papas tratados con SO. Esto podría deberse a que el SO al tener menor peso molecular que el JG posee mayor capacidad de penetración en la matriz del alimento. No hubo crecimiento de BAMT ni de HyL en los CT durante el periodo de tiempo estudiado. Se puede concluir que los CT en las condiciones establecidas mantuvieron su calidad luego del tratamiento siendo microbiológicamente aceptables luego del almacenamiento en refrigeración.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de AlimentosFacultad de Ingenierí

Expression Pattern and Biological Significance of the lncRNA ST3GAL6-AS1 in Multiple Myeloma

The biological impact of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in multiple myeloma (MM) is becoming an important aspect of investigation, which may contribute to the understanding of the complex pathobiology of the disease whilst also providing novel potential therapeutic targets. Herein, we investigated the expression pattern and the biological significance of the lncRNA ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3 sialyltransferase 6 antisense RNA 1 (ST3GAL6-AS1) in MM. We documented a high ST3GAL6-AS1 expression level in MM compared to normal plasma cells (PCs) or other hematological malignancies. Transcriptome analyses of MM PCs from patients included in the CoMMpass database indicated a potential involvement of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MAPK signaling and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathways. ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing by LNA-gapmeR antisense oligonucleotides inhibits cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis in MM cell line. Notably, ST3GAL6-AS1 silencing in vitro displayed the down-regulation of the MAPK pathway and protein ubiquitination. These data suggest that ST3GAL6-AS1 deregulation may play a pathogenetic role in MM by affecting both proliferation pathways and circuits fundamental for PC survival. However, ST3GAL6-AS1 expression levels seem not to be significantly associated with clinical outcome and its targeting appears to exert antagonistic effects with proteasome inhibitors used in MM. These findings strongly urge the need for further studies investigating the relevance of ST3GAL6-AS1 in MM

Resolution of the type material of the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Proboscidea, Elephantidae)

The understanding of Earth’s biodiversity depends critically on the accurate identification and nomenclature of species. Many species were described centuries ago, and in a surprising number of cases their nomenclature or type material remain unclear or inconsistent. A prime example is provided by Elephas maximus, one of the most iconic and well-known mammalian species, described and named by Linnaeus (1758) and today designating the Asian elephant. We used morphological, ancient DNA (aDNA), and high-throughput ancient proteomic analyses to demonstrate that a widely discussed syntype specimen of E. maximus, a complete foetus preserved in ethanol, is actually an African elephant, genus Loxodonta. We further discovered that an additional E. maximus syntype, mentioned in a description by John Ray (1693) cited by Linnaeus, has been preserved as an almost complete skeleton at the Natural History Museum of the University of Florence. Having confirmed its identity as an Asian elephant through both morphological and ancient DNA analyses, we designate this specimen as the lectotype of E. maximus