NMR analysis of Nile Blue (C. I. Basic Blue 12) and Thionine (C. I. 52000) in solution

The dyes Nile Blue (C. I. Basic Blue 12, NB) and Thionine (C. I. 52000, TH) were examined in both ionic and neutral forms in different solvents using NMR and UV-visible Spectroscopy to firmly establish the structures of the molecules and to assess the nature and extent of their aggregating characteristics. 1H and 13C NMR assignments and chemical shift data were used along with (for NB) nuclear Overhauser effect information enabling a structure for self-assembly to be proposed. In both cases these data were supplemented with variable temperature, dilution and diffusion-based experimental results using 1H NMR spectroscopy thereby enabling the extended aggregate structures to be assessed in terms of the relative strength of self-association and the extent to which extended aggregates could form. Full and detailed solution phase NMR analysis of such dyes, especially the two studied in this context, have either not been widely reported or have not been studied to the depth presented here. The data and their interpretation form an important addition to the analysis of this class of dye compounds and provide additional insight into the effects of self-assembly on the behaviour of such molecules in various solution-phase environments

Health system response during the european refugee crisis : policy and practice analysis in four Italian regions

The decentralization of the provision of health services at the subnational level produces variations in healthcare offered to asylum seekers (ASs) across the different Italian regions, even if they are entitled to healthcare through the national health service. The present study aims to map the healthcare path and regional policies for ASs upon arrival and identify challenges and best practices. This is a multicentric, qualitative study of migrant health policies and practices at the regional level within four Italian regions. For the analysis, a dedicated tool for the systematic comparison of policies and practices was developed. The collection and analysis of data demonstrated the presence of many items of international recommendations, even if many gaps exist and differences between regions remain. The analysis of practices permitted the identification of three models of care and access. Some aspects identified are as follows: fragmentation and barriers to access; a weakness in or lack of a governance system, with the presence of many actors involved; variability in the response between territories. The inclusion of ASs in healthcare services requires intersectoral actions, involving healthcare sectors and other actors within local social structures, in order to add value to local resources and practices, reinforce networks and contribute to social integration

Investigating Metropolitan Hierarchies through a Spatially Explicit (Local) Approach

Assuming a non-neutral impact of space, an explicit assessment of metropolitan hierarchies based on local regression models produces a refined description of population settlement patterns and processes over time. We used Geographically Weighted Regressions (GWR) to provide an enriched interpretation of the density gradient in Greece, estimating a spatially explicit rank–size relationship inspired by Zipf’s law. The empirical results of the GWR models quantified the adherence of real data (municipal population density as a predictor of metropolitan hierarchy) to the operational assumptions of the rank–size relationship. Local deviations from its prediction were explained considering the peculiarity of the metropolitan cycle (1961–2011) in the country. Although preliminary and exploratory, these findings decomposed representative population dynamics in two stages of the cycle (namely urbanization, 1961–1991, and suburbanization, 1991–2011). Being in line with earlier studies, this timing allowed a geographical interpretation of the evolution of a particularly complex metropolitan system with intense (urban) primacy and a weak level of rural development over a sufficiently long time interval. Introducing a spatially explicit estimation of the rank–size relationship at detailed territorial resolutions provided an original contribution to regional science, covering broad geographical scales

Lipids from Insects in Cosmetics and for Personal Care Products

Insects, the most varied group of known organisms on Earth, are arousing great interest also for the possibility to use them as a feed and food source. The mass rearing of some species, defined as “bioconverters”, is spreading worldwide, thanks to their sustainability. At the end of the bioconversion process, breeders obtain eco-friendly biomolecules of high biological and economic value, including proteins and lipids, from larvae of bioconverter insects, in particular Hermetia illucens. Besides the most classical use of insect lipids as food additives, they are also used in the formulation of several products for personal care. The composition of insect lipids depends on the substrate on which the insects are reared but also on the insect species, so the cosmetic producers should consider these features to choose their insect starting point. The most abundant fatty acids detected in H. illucens are lauric, myristic, palmitic, and oleic acids, regardless of feed substrate; its fatty acids composition is favorable for soap composition, while their derivatives are used for detergent and shampoo. Here, we offer an overview of insect lipids, their extraction methods, and their application in cosmetics and personal care products

Current state of chitin purification and chitosan production from insects

Chitin, and especially its deacetylated variant chitosan, has many applications, e.g. as carrier material for pharmaceutical drugs or as a flocculant in wastewater treatment. Despite its versatility and accessibility, chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide on Earth, has so far been commercially extracted only from crustaceans and to a minor extent from fungi. Insects are a viable alternative source of chitin, but they have not been exploited in the past due to limited availability. Today however, for the sustainable production of animal feed, insect farming is being developed substantially. The availability of large quantities of insect biomass and chitin-rich side products such as exuviae and exoskeletons has been increasing. This review provides an overview of recently published studies of chitin extraction from insects, its subsequent conversion into chitosan and the primary analytical methods used to characterize insect-based chitin and chitosan. We have discovered a large number of research articles published over the past 20 years, confirming the increased attention being received by chitin and chitosan production from insects. Despite numerous publications, we identified several knowledge gaps, such as a lack of data concerning chitin purification degree and chitosan yield. Furthermore, analytical methods used to obtain physicochemical characteristics, structural information and chemical composition meet basic qualitative requirements but do not satisfy the need for a more quantitative evaluation. Despite the current shortcomings that need to be overcome, this review presents encouraging data on the use of insects as an alternative source of chitin and chitosan in the future. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)

Estimating flooded area and mean water level using active and passive microwaves: the example of Paraná River Delta floodplain

This paper describes a procedure to estimate both the fraction of flooded area and the mean water level in vegetated river floodplains by using a synergy of active and passive microwave signatures. In particular, C band Envisat ASAR in Wide Swath mode and AMSR-E at X, Ku and Ka band, are used. The method, which is an extension of previously developed algorithms based on passive data, exploits also model simulations of vegetation emissivity. The procedure is applied to a long flood event which occurred in the Paraná River Delta from December 2009 to April 2010. Obtained results are consistent with in situ measurements of river water level

Exploring low-degree nodes first accelerates network exploration

We consider information diffusion on Web-like networks and how random walks can simulate it. A well-studied problem in this domain is Partial Cover Time, i.e., the calculation of the expected number of steps a random walker needs to visit a given fraction of the nodes of the network. We notice that some of the fastest solutions in fact require that nodes have perfect knowledge of the degree distribution of their neighbors, which in many practical cases is not obtainable, e.g., for privacy reasons. We thus introduce a version of the Cover problem that considers such limitations: Partial Cover Time with Budget. The budget is a limit on the number of neighbors that can be inspected for their degree; we have adapted optimal random walks strategies from the literature to operate under such budget. Our solution is called Min-degree (MD) and, essentially, it biases random walkers towards visiting peripheral areas of the network first. Extensive benchmarking on six real datasets proves that the---perhaps counter-intuitive strategy---MD strategy is in fact highly competitive wrt. state-of-the-art algorithms for cover

Structural and functional characterization of a novel recombinant antimicrobial peptide from hermetia illucens

Antibiotics are commonly used to treat pathogenic bacteria, but their prolonged use con-tributes to the development and spread of drug-resistant microorganisms raising the challenge to find new alternative drugs. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small/medium molecules ranging 10–100 residues synthesized by all living organisms and playing important roles in the defense sys-tems. These features, together with the inability of microorganisms to develop resistance against the majority of AMPs, suggest that these molecules might represent effective alternatives to clas-sical antibiotics. Because of their high biodiversity, with over one million described species, and their ability to live in hostile environments, insects represent the largest source of these molecules. However, production of insect AMPs in native forms is challenging. In this work we investigate a defensin-like antimicrobial peptide identified in the Hermetia illucens insect through a combination of transcriptomics and bioinformatics approaches. The C-15867 AMP was produced by recombi-nant DNA technology as a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion peptide and purified by affinity chromatography. The free peptide was then obtained by thrombin proteolysis and structurally characterized by mass spectrometry and circular dichroism analyses. The antibacterial activity of the C-15867 peptide was evaluated in vivo by determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Finally, crystal violet assays and SEM analyses suggested disruption of the cell membrane architecture and pore formation with leaking of cytosolic material