Implications of iron nanoparticles in spontaneous coal combustion and the effects on climatic variables

Atmosphere, water, and soil contamination with toxic compounds is a recurrent issue due to environmental disasters, coal burning, urbanization, and industrialization, allf of which have contributed to soil contamination over the decades. Consequently, understanding of the nanomineralogy and potential hazardous elements (PHEs) in coal area soil are always a vital topic since contaminated soil can affect the environment, agricultural safety, and human health. Colombian coal mining in the La Guajira zone has been usually been related with important health and ecological effects. Coalmine rejects from active and/or abandoned operations are causes of high intensities of potential hazardous elements (PHEs) and nanoparticles (NPs, minerals and/or amorphous compounds). Although these pollutants can be reduced by sorption to NPs, in this study was recognized an analytical procedure for understand distribution of PHEs and their relationship to iron NPs(Fe-NPs) was recognized. Non and poorrly crystalline Fe-NPs performances as the major PHEs association. This complex interaction is constant and efficient in resolving PHEs in proportions above monitoring quantities. The indefinite basis of PHEs in Colombian (La Guajira area) coalmine rejects sources results in years-long leaching of PHEs into rivers and drainages. The iron-clays and their great geomobility interfere the mitigating character that Fe hydr/oxides alone show through adsorption of PHEs and their control in spontaneous coal combustion (SCC) zones. This can have significant consequences to the probable availability of several pollutants (e.g. drinking water). The new results presented in this study add novel viewpoints into the description of Fe-NPs and its incidence in SCC areas. The methodology utilized in this work can be applied as a supplementary technique to evaluate the influence of coalmining actions on ecological and human health

Uav Photogrammetry: Block Triangulation Comparisons

UAVs systems represent a flexible technology able to collect a big amount of high resolution information, both for metric and interpretation uses. In the frame of experimental tests carried out at Dept. ICA of Politecnico di Milano to validate vector-sensor systems and to assess metric accuracies of images acquired by UAVs, a block of photos taken by a fixed wing system is triangulated with several software. The test field is a rural area included in an Italian Park ("Parco Adda Nord"), useful to study flight and imagery performances on buildings, roads, cultivated and uncultivated vegetation. The UAV SenseFly, equipped with a camera Canon Ixus 220HS, flew autonomously over the area at a height of 130 m yielding a block of 49 images divided in 5 strips. Sixteen pre-signalized Ground Control Points, surveyed in the area through GPS (NRTK survey), allowed the referencing of the block and accuracy analyses. Approximate values for exterior orientation parameters (positions and attitudes) were recorded by the flight control system. The block was processed with several software: Erdas-LPS, EyeDEA (Univ. of Parma), Agisoft Photoscan, Pix4UAV, in assisted or automatic way. Results comparisons are given in terms of differences among digital surface models, differences in orientation parameters and accuracies, when available. Moreover, image and ground point coordinates obtained by the various software were independently used as initial values in a comparative adjustment made by scientific in-house software, which can apply constraints to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of point extraction and accuracies on ground check points

Multiple hazardous elements in nanoparticulate matter from a Caribbean industrialized atmosphere

Modern microscopy studies are capable of revealing ultra-fine particles (UFPs) and nanoparticles (NPs) that are produced in the processes related to traffic vehicular, industrial, metropolitan, and marine aerosol dry deposition in the coastal zones. Especially, secondary aerosol passages complexes categories of NPs and UFPs, which can be accumulated on construction compounds and by dry deposition, encourages multiples monuments deterioration routes. The advanced electron microscopies method is one of the most utilized in environmental studies. Between the different industrial areas in the world, the Caribbean area is the most relevant symbols of air quality due to climatic conditions with strong winds, but this study shows that regionally the most industrialized region does not have an adequate air quality. In the present work, electron microscopy analyses are used to describe of the extent of ultra-fine particle and nanoparticles in walls in contact to weathering. Numerous phases were recognized by advanced mineralogy methods. Thanks to the new analytical procedure it was feasible to understand NPs and UFPs; the occurrence of potential hazardous elements (PHEs), most of them as minerals but also combined in multiple accumulations with Al–Cr–Fe–K–Mg–Pb–Si–Ti–Zn amorphous; and carbonaceous phases

Modelo de apoyo para la Toma de Decisiones en QoS

El proceso de Toma de Decisiones es fundamental en todos los niveles de una organización y consiste en seleccionar la mejor alternativa entre todas las disponibles para resolver una situación problemática. Si bien las decisiones son tomadas por personas especializadas, existen herramientas (los Sistemas de Soporte de Decisiones) que pueden ser utilizadas para dar apoyo durante el proceso de decisión. En este artículo se presenta un modelo de soporte de decisiones para administradores de redes de computadoras que determina la configuración adecuada de los parámetros de la red con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad del servicio. El modelo utiliza el Proceso Jerárquico Analítico basado en los criterios y alternativas de tráfico definidos por el administrador. Se ejemplifica la utilización en un entorno académico y finalmente se presenta una extensión del modelo para añadir opiniones de múltiples expertos (administradores).Presentado en el XII Workshop Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Discovery of thiazolo [5,4-c] isoquinoline based compounds as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors through computational target prediction, molecular docking and bioassay

We thank Nathalie Reichmann and Leendert Hamoen (University of Amsterdam) for critical reading of the manuscript, Ana Velic (Proteome Center Tübingen) for help with proteome analysis and Mike VanNieuwenhze (Indiana University) for the generous gift of HADA. This study was funded by the European Research Council through grant ERC‐2017‐CoG‐771709 (to MGP), by national funds through FCT– Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, PTDC/BIA‐MIC/6982/2020 (to HV); PTDC/BIA‐PLA/3432/2012 (to SRF); FCT through MOSTMICRO‐ITQB R&D Unit (UIDB/04612/2020, UIDP/04612/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020) and FCT fellowship SFRH/BD/147052/2019 (to BMS); by the Swiss National National Foundation through P300P3_155346 (to AJ); by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement No 839596 (to SS) and by the European Molecular Biology Organization through award ALTF 673‐2018 (to SS). Figure 6D and Appendix Fig S7 were created with Biorender.com .A computer-aided drug design (CADD) approach was developed for a focused chemical library comprising a series of sixteen thiazolo[5,4-c]isoquinoline derivatives. Little is known about this group of heteroaromatic compounds, both from the point of view of their synthesis and their biological properties. First, our CADD approach included target prediction by Mondrian conformal prediction with the ChEMBL database. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was identified as having a high probability of thiazolo[5,4-c]isoquinolines being active against it. Secondly, the molecular docking predictions revealed four promising thiazoloisoquinolines (2, 7, 13 and 14) according to their prominent ligand-protein energy scores and relevant binding affinities with the AChE pocket residues. The subsequent in vitro evaluation of promising hits and related ones revealed a set of novel AChE inhibitors. Therefore, the findings reported herein may provide a new strategy for discovering novel AChE inhibitors.publishersversionpublishe

Beliefs in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines in the Andean Community of Nations

Los estudios sobre aceptación y rechazo hacia las vacunas, así como la creencia en teorías conspirativas, y la falta de confianza en los gobiernos y la ciencia, han sido importantes para analizar el proceso de vacunación contra el COVID-19 a nivel mundial, pero han sido bastante limitados, hasta el momento, para el caso de América Latina. En este sentido, el objetivo de este trabajo consiste en describir el grado de aceptación o no a ciertas creencias de conspiración sobre las vacunas contra la COVID-19 en una muestra de países miembros de la Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN): Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. Se diseñó un estudio transversal descriptivo en el que participaron 1835 personas de Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. Para la evaluación de estas creencias se utilizó la Escala de Creencias de Conspiración de Vacunas COVID-19 (ECCV-COVID, Caycho-Rodríguez et al., 2022a). Los resultados indican que, el Perú presenta el mayor puntaje promedio de creencias de conspiración sobre las vacunas contra la COVID19. Además, en los 4 países el menor grado de aceptación es con la creencia sobre “Vacunar a los niños contra la COVID-19 es perjudicial y este hecho está ocultado”. En Colombia, Ecuador y Perú el mayor grado de aceptación está referida a la creencia conspirativa referida a que “La información sobre la seguridad de las vacunas contra la COVID-19 a menudo se inventan”. Finalmente, en Bolivia, el mayor grado de aceptación es con la creencia de que “Las empresas farmacéuticas ocultan los peligros de las vacunas contra la COVID-19”. Los resultados presentados en este estudio son los primeros que se conoce de forma genérica en población latinoamericana, y particularmente, en la población Andina.Studies on the acceptance and rejection of vaccines, as well as the belief in conspiracy theories, and the lack of trust in governments and science, have been important to analyze the vaccination process against COVID-19 worldwide, but they have been quite limited, so far, in the case of Latin America. In this sense, the objective of this work is to describe the degree of acceptance or not of certain conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19 in a sample of countries members in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN): Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed in which 1835 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru participated. To evaluate these beliefs, the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (ECCV-COVID, Caycho-Rodríguez et al., 2022a) was used. The results indicate that Peru has the highest average score of conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19. In addition, in the 4 countries, the lowest degree of acceptance is with the belief that "Vaccinating children against COVID-19 is harmful and this fact is hidden". In Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the highest degree of acceptance is related to the conspiratorial belief that "Information on the safety of vaccines against COVID-19 is often invented." Finally, in Bolivia, the highest degree of acceptance is with the belief that "Pharmaceutical companies hide the dangers of vaccines against COVID-19". The results presented in this study are the first known generically in the Latin American population, and particularly in the Andean population.Fil: Caycho Rodríguez, Tomás. Universidad Privada del Norte; PerúFil: Gallegos de San Vicente, Miguel Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Valencia, Pablo D.. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala; MéxicoFil: Vilca, Lindsey W.. Universidad Norbert Wiener; PerúFil: Moreta Herrera, Rodrigo. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; EcuadorFil: Puerta Cortés, Diana Ximena. Universidad de Ibagué; ColombiaFil: Tapia, Bismarck Pinto. Universidad Catolica Boliviana; Bolivi

Disclosing the complexity involved in phage-biofilm interaction: the case study of a Sep1virus phage infecting S. epidermidis

Book of Abstracts of CEB Annual Meeting 2017[Excerpt] Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages have been suggested as novel anti-biofilm therapeutic agents. In this study, we used the S. epidermidis-specific phage phiIBB-SEP1 (SEP1) [1] and evaluated its activity against biofilms. Despite its broad host spectrum and high activity against exponential phase cells, the same was not observed for cells encased in a biofilm structure. To understand the underlying factors impairing SEP1 inefficacy against biofilms, we tested this phage against distinct bacterial populations. Interestingly, SEP1 was able to infect late stationary-phase (dormant), persister and biofilm-released cells, suggesting that the inefficacy for biofilm control resulted from the biofilm structure. To demonstrate this hypothesis, SEP1 activity was tested against clusters of cells from scraped biofilms resulting in a 2 orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of viable cells, after six hours of infection. Additionally, LIVE/DEAD staining allowed the observation that stationaryphase cells responded to phage addition, as determined by the increase in SYBR medium fluorescence intensity, which can be related with an increase on the cell metabolic activity. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Overview of phlorotannins’ constituents in Fucales

Fucales are an order within the Phaeophyceae that include most of the common littoral seaweeds in temperate and subtropical coastal regions. Many species of this order have long been a part of human culture with applications as food, feedand remedies in folk medicine. Apart from their high nutritional value, these seaweeds are also a well-known reservoir of multiple bioactive compounds with great industrial interest. Among them, phlorotannins, a unique and diverse class of brown algae-exclusive phenolics, have gathered much attention during the last few years due to their numerous potential health benefits. However, due to their complex structural features, combined with the scarcity of standards, it poses a great challenge to the identification and characterization of these compounds, at least with the technology currently available. Nevertheless, much effort has been taken towards the elucidation of the structural features of phlorotannins, which have resulted in relevant insights into the chemistry of these compounds. In this context, this review addresses the major contributions and technological advances in the field of phlorotannins extraction and characterization, with a particular focus on Fucales.This work received financial support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through the projects UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020. Thanks to PTDC/BAA-AGR/31015/2017, “Algaphlor—Brown algae phlorotannins: From bioavailability to the development of new functional foods”, co-financed by the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization— POCI, within the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT), through national funds. Silva S. thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016–Norma transitória (Ref. SFRH/BPD/74299/2010)

Diseño de técnicas para el tratamiento de situaciones de incertidumbre en sistemas de soporte de decisiones con múltiples expertos

En la vida real, los seres humanos se enfrentan continuamente a situaciones complejas donde es necesario tomar decisiones para resolver un determinado problema. Para ello existen diferentes alternativas disponibles que conducen a la solución del problema. El proceso de Toma de Decisión (TD) se realiza cotidianamente, tanto a nivel individual como organizacional. Dicho proceso implica la evaluación de las mencionadas alternativas según ciertos criterios que deben ser definidos por el decisor y el contexto del problema. Esto permite que se pueda seleccionar la mejor opción que será utilizada entre las alternativas posibles. Un inconveniente adicional surge cuando la decisión debe ser tomada por varios expertos ya que se requiere resumir las distintas opiniones de los expertos en una opinión colectiva (esto se conoce como agregación de la información). Actualmente existen aplicaciones llamadas Sistemas de Soporte de Decisiones (SSD) que ayudan en el proceso de decisión utilizando modelos matemáticos de análisis de las alternativas. En este proyecto se describen, analizan y comparan dos modelos para dar soporte a las decisiones en entornos multiexperto multi-criterio (el Proceso Analítico Jerárquico (AHP) y un Modelo de Toma de Decisiones con Información Lingüística (TDIL)) para determinar las características relevantes de cada uno. Los resultados del análisis y la comparación de los métodos se hacen tomando como base la problemática derivada de la asignación de Calidad de Servicio (QoS) en redes de computadorasEje: Agentes y Sistemas InteligentesRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Novel peptides derived from dengue virus capsid protein translocate reversibly the blood−brain barrier through a receptor-free mechanism

© 2017 American Chemical SocietyThe delivery of therapeutic molecules to the central nervous system is hampered by poor delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Several strategies have been proposed to enhance transport into the brain, including invasive techniques and receptor-mediated transport (RMT). Both approaches have several drawbacks, such as BBB disruption, receptor saturation, and off-target effects, raising safety issues. Herein, we show that specific domains of Dengue virus type 2 capsid protein (DEN2C) can be used as trans-BBB peptide vectors. Their mechanism of translocation is receptor-independent and consistent with adsorptive-mediated transport (AMT). One peptide in particular, named PepH3, reaches equilibrium distribution concentrations across the BBB in less than 24 h in a cellular in vitro assay. Importantly, in vivo biodistribution data with radiolabeled peptide derivatives show high brain penetration. In addition, there is fast clearance from the brain and high levels of excretion, showing that PepH3 is a very good candidate to be used as a peptide shuttle taking cargo in and out of the brain.The authors thank the Portuguese Funding Agency, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT IP, for financial support (grants SFRH/BPD/94466/2013; SFRH/BPD/109010/2015; IF/01010/2013; PTDC/BBBNAN/1578/2014; HIVERA/ 0002/2013) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCA-RISE), call 20-MSCARISE-2014 (grant agreement H20 644167 − INPACT). M.M., L.G., C.F., and J.D.G.C. gratefully acknowledge FCT support through the UID/Multi/04349/2013 project.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio