Synthesis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles by constant pH co-precipitation and their high catalytic activity in CO oxidation

A series of cobalt ferrite samples were synthesized from a metal nitrate solution at constant pH between 9 and 12 by the controlled co-precipitation method without any surfactant. Cobalt and iron nitrates and sodium hydroxide base were simultaneously dosed so that the pH was precisely controlled during co-precipitation. The samples were characterized by PXRD, SEM, TEM, BET, and TPR. Careful analysis of typical PXRD peak profiles suggested the presence of two different variants of cobalt ferrite, a nano-scale material giving rise to broad peak tails and a more crystalline material leading to a sharper central profile. Rietveld refinement could be used to quantify the relative amount of both nano and crystalline fractions in these samples indicating that their relative abundance can be controlled by the co-precipitation pH. TEM analysis further proved the presence of both crystalline and nanocrystalline region in the samples. The average crystallite size of the cobalt ferrite nanocrystallites was 4–5 nm. These samples exhibit high BET surface area, in the order of 200 m2 g-1. The samples were tested for catalytic performance in the CO oxidation reaction. The surface area, reduction behavior, and catalytic performance of ferrites were dependent on the relative amount of both the crystalline and nanocrystalline phases

Visceral adipose tissue but not subcutaneous adipose tissue is associated with urine and serum metabolites

Obesity is a complex multifactorial phenotype that influences several metabolic pathways. Yet, few studies have examined the relations of different body fat compartments to urinary and serum metabolites. Anthropometric phenotypes (visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), the ratio between VAT and SAT (VSR), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC)) and urinary and serum metabolite concentrations measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were measured in a population-based sample of 228 healthy adults. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models, corrected for multiple testing using the false discovery rate, were used to associate anthropometric phenotypes with metabolites. We adjusted for potential confounding variables: age, sex, smoking, physical activity, menopausal status, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary glucose, and fasting status. In a fully adjusted logistic regression model dichotomized for the absence or presence of quantifiable metabolite amounts, VAT, BMI and WC were inversely related to urinary choline (ß = -0.18, p = 2.73*10−3), glycolic acid (ß = -0.20, 0.02), and guanidinoacetic acid (ß = -0.12, p = 0.04), and positively related to ethanolamine (ß = 0.18, p = 0.02) and dimethylamine (ß = 0.32, p = 0.02). BMI and WC were additionally inversely related to urinary glutamine and lactic acid. Moreover, WC was inversely associated with the detection of serine. VAT, but none of the other anthropometric parameters, was related to serum essential amino acids, such as valine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine among men. Compared to other adiposity measures, VAT demonstrated the strongest and most significant relations to urinary and serum metabolites. The distinct relations of VAT, SAT, VSR, BMI, and WC to metabolites emphasize the importance of accurately differentiating between body fat compartments when evaluating the potential role of metabolic regulation in the development of obesity-related diseases, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease

An analysis of the control hierarchy modeling of the CMS detector control system

The supervisory level of the Detector Control System (DCS) of the CMS experiment is implemented using Finite State Machines (FSM), which model the behaviours and control the operations of all the sub-detectors and support services. The FSM tree of the whole CMS experiment consists of more than 30.000 nodes. An analysis of a system of such size is a complex task but is a crucial step towards the improvement of the overall performance of the FSM system. This paper presents the analysis of the CMS FSM system using the micro Common Representation Language 2 (mcrl2) methodology. Individual mCRL2 models are obtained for the FSM systems of the CMS sub-detectors using the ASF+SDF automated translation tool. Different mCRL2 operations are applied to the mCRL2 models. A mCRL2 simulation tool is used to closer examine the system. Visualization of a system based on the exploration of its state space is enabled with a mCRL2 tool. Requirements such as command and state propagation are expressed using modal mu-calculus and checked using a model checking algorithm. For checking local requirements such as endless loop freedom, the Bounded Model Checking technique is applied. This paper discusses these analysis techniques and presents the results of their application on the CMS FSM system

Localized Plasticity in the Streamlined Genomes of Vinyl Chloride Respiring Dehalococcoides

Vinyl chloride (VC) is a human carcinogen and widespread priority pollutant. Here we report the first, to our knowledge, complete genome sequences of microorganisms able to respire VC, Dehalococcoides sp. strains VS and BAV1. Notably, the respective VC reductase encoding genes, vcrAB and bvcAB, were found embedded in distinct genomic islands (GEIs) with different predicted integration sites, suggesting that these genes were acquired horizontally and independently by distinct mechanisms. A comparative analysis that included two previously sequenced Dehalococcoides genomes revealed a contextually conserved core that is interrupted by two high plasticity regions (HPRs) near the Ori. These HPRs contain the majority of GEIs and strain-specific genes identified in the four Dehalococcoides genomes, an elevated number of repeated elements including insertion sequences (IS), as well as 91 of 96 rdhAB, genes that putatively encode terminal reductases in organohalide respiration. Only three core rdhA orthologous groups were identified, and only one of these groups is supported by synteny. The low number of core rdhAB, contrasted with the high rdhAB numbers per genome (up to 36 in strain VS), as well as their colocalization with GEIs and other signatures for horizontal transfer, suggests that niche adaptation via organohalide respiration is a fundamental ecological strategy in Dehalococccoides. This adaptation has been exacted through multiple mechanisms of recombination that are mainly confined within HPRs of an otherwise remarkably stable, syntenic, streamlined genome among the smallest of any free-living microorganism

A time-resolved proteomic and prognostic map of COVID-19

COVID-19 is highly variable in its clinical presentation, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe organ damage and death. We characterized the time-dependent progression of the disease in 139 COVID-19 inpatients by measuring 86 accredited diagnostic parameters, such as blood cell counts and enzyme activities, as well as untargeted plasma proteomes at 687 sampling points. We report an initial spike in a systemic inflammatory response, which is gradually alleviated and followed by a protein signature indicative of tissue repair, metabolic reconstitution, and immunomodulation. We identify prognostic marker signatures for devising risk-adapted treatment strategies and use machine learning to classify therapeutic needs. We show that the machine learning models based on the proteome are transferable to an independent cohort. Our study presents a map linking routinely used clinical diagnostic parameters to plasma proteomes and their dynamics in an infectious disease

Alignment of the CMS tracker with LHC and cosmic ray data

© CERN 2014 for the benefit of the CMS collaboration, published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation and DOI.The central component of the CMS detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. The precise alignment of this complex device is a formidable challenge, and only achievable with a significant extension of the technologies routinely used for tracking detectors in the past. This article describes the full-scale alignment procedure as it is used during LHC operations. Among the specific features of the method are the simultaneous determination of up to 200 000 alignment parameters with tracks, the measurement of individual sensor curvature parameters, the control of systematic misalignment effects, and the implementation of the whole procedure in a multi-processor environment for high execution speed. Overall, the achieved statistical accuracy on the module alignment is found to be significantly better than 10μm

Circulating microRNAs in sera correlate with soluble biomarkers of immune activation but do not predict mortality in ART treated individuals with HIV-1 infection: A case control study

Introduction: The use of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIV-1 associated morbidity and mortality. However, HIV-1 infected individuals have increased rates of morbidity and mortality compared to the non-HIV-1 infected population and this appears to be related to end-organ diseases collectively referred to as Serious Non-AIDS Events (SNAEs). Circulating miRNAs are reported as promising biomarkers for a number of human disease conditions including those that constitute SNAEs. Our study sought to investigate the potential of selected miRNAs in predicting mortality in HIV-1 infected ART treated individuals. Materials and Methods: A set of miRNAs was chosen based on published associations with human disease conditions that constitute SNAEs. This case: control study compared 126 cases (individuals who died whilst on therapy), and 247 matched controls (individuals who remained alive). Cases and controls were ART treated participants of two pivotal HIV-1 trials. The relative abundance of each miRNA in serum was measured, by RTqPCR. Associations with mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and malignancy) were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Correlations between miRNAs and CD4+ T cell count, hs-CRP, IL-6 and D-dimer were also assessed. Results: None of the selected miRNAs was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular or malignancy mortality. The levels of three miRNAs (miRs -21, -122 and -200a) correlated with IL-6 while miR-21 also correlated with D-dimer. Additionally, the abundance of miRs -31, -150 and -223, correlated with baseline CD4+ T cell count while the same three miRNAs plus miR- 145 correlated with nadir CD4+ T cell count. Discussion: No associations with mortality were found with any circulating miRNA studied. These results cast doubt onto the effectiveness of circulating miRNA as early predictors of mortality or the major underlying diseases that contribute to mortality in participants treated for HIV-1 infection