Synthesis and functionalization of casein nanoparticles with aptamers for triple-negative breast cancer targeting

This work shows the synthesis of a drug delivery system made of casein nanoparticles able to host hydrophobic molecules and be functionalized with aptamers targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor. In vitro cell viability and uptake analyses, performed on triple-negative breast cancer cells, confirmed the safety profile and the target selectivity

Collaboration and Decision Making in Crisis Situations

[EN] Emergencies are critical situations that demand immediate action to avoid adverse consequences to life and property. Recent events around the world highlight the importance of the theme. A key challenge in Emergency Management is decision-making under time pressure, with an overload of unconfirmed, uncertain and conflicting information, including the management of many people, with distinct and possibly fluid roles, in different places. Collaboration in these settings is an interesting element, since emergency response generally involves multiple agencies and the public, which, having different views, protocols and priorities, must act in concert to handle the situation. In addition, an increasing amount of virtual information is necessary to inform and manage volunteers. The goal of this workshop is to identify and map the main challenges of collaboration in crisis situations, review current research methods and approaches to address them and address the lack of formal processes, structures, methodologies and tools.Adriana S Vivacqua is partially supported by CNPq grant 308425/2012-0 and FAPERJ grant E26/103.029/2012. Vaninha Vieira is partially supported by CNPq grant 490084/2013-3Vivacqua, AS.; Garcia, ACB.; Canos Cerda, JH.; Comes, M.; Vieira, V. (2016). Collaboration and Decision Making in Crisis Situations. ACM. 503-508. https://doi.org/10.1145/2818052.2855520S50350

Glitz

The crystal structure of the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases of La(Ba 2-xLax)Cu3-yO 6+x/2-y+ z are determined on twinned crystals. The orthorhombic structure, obtained for low x, is close to the regular Y-Ba-Cu-O type (twin a * b * c-b * a * c), but is highly copper deficient on the Cu(1) site (~ 30 %). The local correlations (ξ ~ 20 Å) between copper atoms and vacancies, as deduced from X-ray diffuse scattering, correspond to a short-range segregation of vacancies in chains. As a consequence of the large amount of defects, these crystals are non-typical semiconductors. The tetragonal structure, x ≃ 0.50, leads to tri-twinned crystals with 90° faulting, a * a * 3 a-a * 3 a * a -3 a * a * a (a, the perovskite lattice constant). In these materials the copper sites are found to be strongly anharmonic. This is due to the disorder introduced by the La-Ba substitution. These crystals are also semiconductors with a T-1/4 activation law for the conductivity which indicates that variable range hopping is expected to set in, a consequence of localization by the disorder

Flood risk management through a resilience lens

To prevent floods from becoming disasters, social vulnerability must be integrated into flood risk management. We advocate complementing conventional risk analysis by adopting a resilience lens in which the welfare of different societal groups is considered by adding recovery capacity, impacts of beyond design events, and distributional impacts

Itaconic-Acid-Based Sustainable Poly(ester amide) Resin for Stereolithography

Material science is recognized as a frontrunner in achieving a sustainable future, owing to its primary reliance upon petroleum-based chemical raw materials. Several efforts are made to implement common renewable feedstocks as an alternative to common fossil resources. For this purpose, additive manufacturing (AM) represents promising and effective know-how for the replacement of high energy- and resource-demanding processes with more environmentally friendly practices. This work presents a novel biobased ink for stereolithography, which has been formulated by mixing a photocurable poly(ester amide) (PEA) obtained from renewable resources with citrate and itaconate cross-linkers and appropriate photopolymerization initiators, terminators, and dyes. The mechanical features and the relative biocompatibility of 3D-printed objects have been carefully studied to evaluate the possible resin implementation in the field of the textile fashion industry

Dynamics of cubic-tetragonal phase transition in KNbO3_3 perovskite

The low-energy part of the vibration spectrum in KNbO$_3$ was studied by cold neutron inelastic scattering in the cubic phase. In addition to acoustic phonons, we observe strong diffuse scattering, which consists of two components. The first one is quasi-static and has a temperature-independent intensity. The second component appears as quasi-elastic scattering in the neutron spectrum indicating a dynamic origin. From analysis of the inelastic data we conclude that the quasi-elastic component and the acoustic phonon are mutually coupled. The susceptibility associated with the quasi-elastic component grows as the temperature approaches T$_C$

Presence of an Established Calcification Marker in Trabecular Meshwork Tissue of Glaucoma Donors

To determine the presence of calcification markers in the trabecular meshwork tissue from glaucoma donors and in trabecular meshwork cells insulted by dexamethasone (DEX) and transforming growth factor β2 (TGFβ2), factors associated with glaucoma. To investigate as well the effect of silencing the inhibitor of calcification matrix Gla (MGP) in the trabecular meshwork cells