Evaluation of Aglianico grape skin and seed polyphenols astringency by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis of salivary proteins after the binding reaction

SDS–PAGE electrophoresis and densitometry analysis were carried out to evaluate the reactivity of Aglianico red grape skin and seed polyphenols with human salivary proteins in order to find a method able to assess their astringency. Analysis of the supernatant obtained after a tannin/human salivary protein binding assay and sensorial analysis showed that four proteins, lactoferrin, PRPbg1, PRPbg2 and a-amylase, were the proteins best able to distinguish tannin solutions characterised by different levels of astringency. A correlation between densitometric data and tannin concentration was plotted in order to give an indirect measure of astringency. The two sources of Aglianico grape polyphenols differed from each other in astringency power; the seed extract solution was about two-fold more tannic than the skin one. The difference in astringency was also perceived by sensorial analysis. The results from this study show that SDS–PAGE electrophoresis of human salivary proteins after the binding reaction with grape polyphenol extracts, coupled with densitometric analysis and the use of a calibration curve, looks extremely promising as a new approach to evaluate polyphenol astringency

A very simple method to measure the input capacitance and the input current of transistors

Abstract We describe a method to measure the gate capacitance and the gate current of transistors at any temperature and at any operating condition. Discrimination between the total input capacitance and transfer reverse capacitance (gate to drain capacitance) is also possible with high accuracy. With this data the optimization of the signal to noise ratio and power dissipation can be achieved in the design of the front-end electronics for nuclear applications

GEO COLLECTOR BOT: A TELEGRAM-BASED OPEN TOOLKIT TO SUPPORT FIELD DATA COLLECTION

Georeferenced field data collection has become a popular practice allowing everyone to contribute to mapping objects or reporting events. The spread of mobile devices - capable of recording and sharing location coordinates, media and features while on the go - is primarily accountable for such diffusion. Accordingly, a number of mobile apps and software frameworks have been developed and released to perform field data collection. These frameworks allow to customize and dispatch collection forms as well as to manage contributors and records through web interfaces or database management systems. From the contributors’ perspective, specific mobile client apps need to be installed to access selectively the collection forms and contribute to the data collection on the field using their mobile devices. This operation might inhibit the sporadic contribution of occasional users who may not be willing to install additional software. To overcome this limitation, this work presents the Geo Collector Bot, an alternative software toolkit to empower field data collection projects avoiding the development and/or the installation of a specific mobile app on contributors’ devices. The Geo Collector Bot is a configurable Telegram-based chatbot enabling to dispatch of data collection forms that can be activated and filled in through Telegram chats. The ultimate goal of the presented work is to provide an alternative free and open-source software framework suitable for general-purpose field data collection applications. Development patterns and system architecture are described in detail alongside future improvements and outlooks for the Geo Collector Bot project

FAST FRONT-END ELECTRONICS FOR EXPERIMENTS USING SILICON CALORIMETERS AT SSC /LHC COLLIDERS

Abstract A fast VLSI preamplifier using HF2CMOS technology was designed and built. The preamplifier meets the requirements for silicon calorimetry application in experiments at hadron colliders SSC/LHC. The overall power consumption is less than 45 mW for a maximum output voltage swing of 5 V (≈ 7 ns rise time). The slew rate is about 700 V/μs for an input capacitance of 150 pF. The measured value of ENC (equivalent noise charge), for an RC-CR shaping time of 20 ns and an input capacitance of 150 pF, is 17 ke RMS

Lab-on-Chip for Testing Myelotoxic Effect of Drugs and Chemicals

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In the last twenty years, one of the main goals in the drug discovery field has been the development of reliable in vitro models. In particular, in 2006 the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has approved the Colony forming Unit-Granulocytes-Macrophages (CFU-GM) test, which is the first and currently unique test applied to evaluate the myelotoxicity of xenobiotics in vitro. The present work aimed at miniaturizing this in vitro assay by developing and validating a Lab-on-Chip (LoC) platform consisting of a high number of bioreactor chambers with screening capabilities in a high-throughput regime

Characterization of the Hamamatsu R11265-103-M64 multi-anode photomultiplier tube

The aim of this paper is to fully characterize the new multi-anode photomultiplier tube R11265-103-M64, produced by Hamamatsu. Its high effective active area (77%), its pixel size, the low dark signal rate and the capability to detect single photon signals make this tube suitable for an application in high energy physics, such as for RICH detectors. Four tubes and two different bias voltage dividers have been tested. The results of a standard characterization of the gain and the anode uniformity, the dark signal rate, the cross-talk and the device behaviour as a function of temperature have been studied. The behaviour of the tube is studied in a longitudinal magnetic field up to 100 Gauss. Shields made of a high permeability material are also investigated. The deterioration of the device performance due to long time operation at intense light exposure is studied. A quantitative analysis of the variation of the gain and the dark signals rate due to the aging is described.Comment: 22 page

Does p63RhoGEF, a new key mediator of angiotensin II signalling, play a role in blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular remodelling in humans?

Corresponding author: Lorenzo A Calo, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinica Medica 4, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2 35128 Padova, Italy. Email: [email protected] Journal of the Renin-AngiotensinAldosterone System 12(4) 634 –636 © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1470320311407232 jra.sagepub.com Letter to the Edito

Temperature characterization of deep and shallow defect centers of low noise silicon JFETs

Abstract We have selected different low noise JFET processes that have shown outstanding dynamic and noise performance at both room temperature and low temperatures. We have studied JFETs made with a process optimized for cryogenic operation, testing several devices of varying capacitance. For most of them, we have been able to detect the presence of shallow individual traps at low temperature which create low frequency (LF) Generation–Recombination (G–R) noise. For one device type no evidence of traps has been observed at the optimum temperature of operation (around 100 K). It had a very small residual LF noise. This device has been cooled down to 14 K. From below 100 K down to 14 K the noise was observed to increase due to G–R noise originating from donor atoms (dopants) inside the channel. A very simple theoretical interpretation confirms the nature of G–R noise from these very shallow trapping centers. We also studied devices from a process optimized for room temperature operation and found noise corresponding to the presence of a single deep level trap. Even for this circumstance the theory was experimentally confirmed. The measurement approach we used allowed us to achieve a very high accuracy in the modeling of the measured G–R noise. The ratio of the density of the atoms responsible for G–R noise above the doping concentration, NT/Nd, has been verified with a sensitivity around 10−7