Inactivation of bacteria under visible light and in the dark by Cu films. Advantages of Cu-HIPIMS-sputtered films

Introduction: The Cu polyester thin-sputtered layers on textile fabrics show an acceptable bacterial inactivation kinetics using sputtering methods. Materials and methods: Direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) for 40s of Cu on cotton inactivated Escherichia coli within 30min under visible light and within 120min in the dark. For a longer DCMS time of 180s, the Cu content was 0.294% w/w, but the bacterial inactivation kinetics under light was observed within 30min, as was the case for the 40-s sputtered sample. Results and discussion: This observation suggests that Cu ionic species play a key role in the E. coli inactivation and these species were further identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The 40-s sputtered samples present the highest amount of Cu sites held in exposed positions interacting on the cotton with E. coli. Cu DC magnetron sputtering leads to thin metallic semi-transparent gray-brown Cu coating composed by Cu nanoparticulate in the nanometer range as found by electron microscopy (EM). Cu cotton fabrics were also functionalized by bipolar asymmetric DCMSP. Conclusion: Sputtering by DCMS and DCMSP for longer times lead to darker and more compact Cu films as detected by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and EM. Cu is deposited on the polyester in the form of Cu2O and CuO as quantified by XPS. The redox interfacial reactions during bacterial inactivation involve changes in the Cu oxidation states and in the oxidation intermediates and were followed by XPS. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS)-sputtered films show a low rugosity indicating that the texture of the Cu nanoparticulate films were smooth. The values of R q and R a were similar before and after the E. coli inactivation providing evidence for the stability of the HIPIMS-deposited Cu films. The Cu loading percentage required in the Cu films sputtered by HIPIMS to inactivate E. coli was about three times lower compared to DCMS films. This indicates a substantial Cu metal savings within the preparation of antibacterial film

Contribuição para o conhecimento dos hábitos de impressão dos docentes/investigadores do ensino superior

Comunicação apresentada no 12.º Congresso Nacional da BAD.O advento da Internet e a evolução dos suportes documentais levou à alteração de comportamentos de pesquisa e impressão de documentos por parte dos docentes/investigadores das instituições de ensino superior (IES). Este estudo decorreu numa IES e pretende ajudar a compreender os hábitos de leitura e impressão de documentos científicos dos seus docentes/investigadores. A recolha de dados fez-se através da distribuição online de um questionário. Obtiveram-se 117 respostas. 100% dos respondentes referiram utilizar a Internet para pesquisar documentos científicos; a maioria dos docentes/investigadores faz leitura de artigos científicos em suporte digital e de livros de texto em suporte papel; não ocorreram diferenças evidentes quanto ao género e faixas etárias; a frequência de impressão concentra-se nos parâmetros Ocasionalmente e Frequentemente; a área das Ciências Sociais e Humanidades recolhe maior número de respostas no parâmetro Frequentemente; a área das Ciências Exatas e Engenharia recolhe maior número de repostas no parâmetro Ocasionalmente. Os resultados obtidos evidenciam uma percentagem elevada de docentes/investigadores a imprimir documentos que recolhe da Internet. O conhecimento dos hábitos de leitura e impressão de documentos pode ajudar à tomada de decisão sobre recursos e suportes de leitura a disponibilizar pelas bibliotecas aos docentes/investigadores das IES

De Novo assembly of a high-quality reference genome for the horned lark (Eremophila alpestris)

Copyright © 2020 Mason et al. The Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) is a small songbird that exhibits remarkable geographic variation in appearance and habitat across an expansive distribution. While E. alpestris has been the focus of many ecological and evolutionary studies, we still lack a highly contiguous genome assembly for the Horned Lark and related taxa (Alaudidae). Here, we present CLO_EAlp_1.0, a highly contiguous assembly for E. alpestris generated from a blood sample of a wild, male bird captured in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of Colombia. By combining short-insert and mate-pair libraries with the ALLPATHS-LG genome assembly pipeline, we generated a 1.04 Gb assembly comprised of 2713 scaffolds, with a largest scaffold size of 31.81 Mb, a scaffold N50 of 9.42 Mb, and a scaffold L50 of 30. These scaffolds were assembled from 23685 contigs, with a largest contig size of 1.69 Mb, a contig N50 of 193.81 kb, and a contig L50 of 1429. Our assembly pipeline also produced a single mitochondrial DNA contig of 14.00 kb. After polishing the genome, we identified 94.5% of single-copy gene orthologs from an Aves data set and 97.7% of single-copy gene orthologs from a vertebrata data set, which further demonstrates the high quality of our assembly. We anticipate that this genomic resource will be useful to the broader ornithological community and those interested in studying the evolutionary history and ecological interactions of larks, which comprise a widespread, yet understudied lineage of songbirds

Inactivation of bacteria under visible light and in the dark by Cu films. Advantages of Cu-HIPIMS-sputtered films

The Cu polyester thin-sputtered layers on textile fabrics show an acceptable bacterial inactivation kinetics using sputtering methods. Direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) for 40 s of Cu on cotton inactivated Escherichia coli within 30 min under visible light and within 120 min in the dark. For a longer DCMS time of 180 s, the Cu content was 0.294% w/w, but the bacterial inactivation kinetics under light was observed within 30 min, as was the case for the 40-s sputtered sample. This observation suggests that Cu ionic species play a key role in the E. coli inactivation and these species were further identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The 40-s sputtered samples present the highest amount of Cu sites held in exposed positions interacting on the cotton with E. coli. Cu DC magnetron sputtering leads to thin metallic semi-transparent gray-brown Cu coating composed by Cu nanoparticulate in the nanometer range as found by electron microscopy (EM). Cu cotton fabrics were also functionalized by bipolar asymmetric DCMSP. Sputtering by DCMS and DCMSP for longer times lead to darker and more compact Cu films as detected by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and EM. Cu is deposited on the polyester in the form of Cu2O and CuO as quantified by XPS. The redox interfacial reactions during bacterial inactivation involve changes in the Cu oxidation states and in the oxidation intermediates and were followed by XPS. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS)-sputtered films show a low rugosity indicating that the texture of the Cu nanoparticulate films were smooth. The values of R (q) and R (a) were similar before and after the E. coli inactivation providing evidence for the stability of the HIPIMS-deposited Cu films. The Cu loading percentage required in the Cu films sputtered by HIPIMS to inactivate E. coli was about three times lower compared to DCMS films. This indicates a substantial Cu metal savings within the preparation of antibacterial films

Engagement in Behavioral Parent Training: Review of the Literature and Implications for Practice

Engagement in behavioral parent training (BPT), including enrollment, attrition, attendance, within-session engagement, and homework completion, has long been a critical issue in the literature. Several estimates of various aspects of engagement have been suggested in the literature, but a systematic review of the available literature has never been accomplished. This review examines engagement data across 262 studies of BPT. Recruitment attrition, program attrition, attendance, and within-session engagement are examined across studies, with particular emphasis on the impact that SES, study purpose (efficacy vs. effectiveness), treatment format (individual vs. group), and age of child may have on those rates. Results of this review suggest that the significant amount of attrition occurs prior to enrollment in BPT, with at least 25 % of those identified as appropriate for BPT not enrolling in such programs. An additional 26 % begin, but drop out before completing treatment. Still the combined dropout rate of at least 51 % leaves at best half of identified parents completing treatment. While SES status had a small effect on attrition, other variables were not found to meaningfully impact engagement. Information on within-session engagement (homework and ratings of participation) was not often reported in studies. Key issues in this literature (e.g., varying definitions of engagement, limited attention to reporting key aspects of engagement) are discussed, and recommendations are made to further improve this important area of research and clinical practice

Grafted semiconductors on PE-films leading to bacterial inactivation: Synthesis, characterization and mechanism

This study reports the colloidal preparation FeOx, TiO2 and FeOx-TiO2 grafted on polyethylene (PE) films leading to bacterial inactivation. A fast bacterial inactivation was attained by the FeOx-TiO2 compared to the FeOx-PE film due to the interfacial charge transfer (IFCT) FeOx to the lower-lying TiO2 trapped states. A pH-decrease was observed during bacterial inactivation due to the formation of carboxylic acids on the grafted films and the recovery to the initial pH 7 after elimination of the intermediates was followed quantitatively during bacterial inactivation. The potential on the TiO2-PE, FeOx-PE and FeOx-TiO2-PE film surfaces decreased during the bacterial inactivation concomitant with the loss of the cell wall permeability. Different mechanisms for the photo-induced E. coil inactivation for random nanoparticulate FeOx-PE and FeOx-TiO2-PE films are suggested based on the experimental observations reported in this study. During the inactivation of E. coli, the Fe-ions were seen to leach out in amounts <= 0.45 ppm. This is within the EU sanitary allowed limits for industrial/drinking water. The wettability of the films was followed by contact angle measurements (CA) within the time of bacterial inactivation. By diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), the conversion of the Fe(III)-oxide to Fe(II)-oxide is reported during film recycling. The change in the Fe-oxidation states within the bacterial inactivation was further confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Identification of Potential Kinase Inhibitors within the PI3K/AKT Pathway of Leishmania Species

Leishmaniasis is a public health disease that requires the development of more effective treatments and the identification of novel molecular targets. Since blocking the PI3K/AKT pathway has been successfully studied as an effective anticancer strategy for decades, we examined whether the same approach would also be feasible in Leishmania due to their high amount and diverse set of annotated proteins. Here, we used a best reciprocal hits protocol to identify potential protein kinase homologues in an annotated human PI3K/AKT pathway. We calculated their ligandibility based on available bioactivity data of the reported homologues and modelled their 3D structures to estimate the druggability of their binding pockets. The models were used to run a virtual screening method with molecular docking. We found and studied five protein kinases in five different Leishmania species, which are AKT, CDK, AMPK, mTOR and GSK3 homologues from the studied pathways. The compounds found for different enzymes and species were analysed and suggested as starting point scaffolds for the design of inhibitors. We studied the kinases’ participation in protein–protein interaction networks, and the potential deleterious effects, if inhibited, were supported with the literature. In the case of Leishmania GSK3, an inhibitor of its human counterpart, prioritized by our method, was validated in vitro to test its anti-Leishmania activity and indirectly infer the presence of the enzyme in the parasite. The analysis contributes to improving the knowledge about the presence of similar signalling pathways in Leishmania, as well as the discovery of compounds acting against any of these kinases as potential molecular targets in the parasite.Fil: Ochoa, Rodrigo. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Ortega Pajares, Amaya. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: Castello, Florencia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; ArgentinaFil: Serral, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Do Porto, Darío Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Villa Pulgarin, Janny A.. Coorporación Universitaria Remington; ColombiaFil: Varela M., Rubén E.. Universidad Santiago de Cali; ColombiaFil: Muskus, Carlos. Universidad de Antioquia; Colombi

Coupling of narrow and wide band-gap semiconductors on uniform films active in bacterial disinfection under low intensity visible light: Implications of the interfacial charge transfer (IFCT)

This study reports the design, preparation, testing and surface characterization of uniform films deposited by sputtering Ag and Ta on non-heat resistant polyester to evaluate the Escherichia coil inactivation by TaON, TaN/Ag, Ag and TaON/Ag polyester. Co-sputtering for 120 s Ta and Ag in the presence of N-2 and O-2 led to the faster E. coil inactivation by a TaON/Ag sample within similar to 40 min under visible light irradiation. The deconvolution of TaON/Ag peaks obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) allowed the assignment of the Ta2O5 and Ag-species. The shifts observed for the XPS peaks have been assigned to Ago to Ag2O and Ag-0, and are a function of the applied sputtering times. The mechanism of interfacial charge transfer (IFCT) from the Ag2O conduction band (cb) to the lower laying Ta2O5 (cb) is discussed suggesting a reaction mechanism. The optical absorption of the TaON and TaON/Ag samples found by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) correlated well with the kinetics of E. coli inactivation. The TaON/Ag sample microstructure was characterized by contact angle (CA) and by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Self-cleaning of the TaON/Ag polyester after each disinfection cycle enabled repetitive E. coil inactivation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved