A class of surfactants: Via PEG modification of the oleate moiety of lactonic sophorolipids: Synthesis, characterisation and application

There is ever increasing demand to develop surfactants based on sophorolipids because they are produced by non-pathogenic organisms, biodegradable and less toxic to humans and the environment. Herein, commercially available lactonic sophorolipid was modified via epoxidation of the fatty acid units CC and subsequent ring-opening of the oxirane with poly(ethylene glycol) of vary chain lengths to deliver a novel range of non-ionic sophorolipid-based surfactants. The methods employed for ring-opening reaction lead to a final surfactant synthesis involving heterogeneous catalysis (metal-exchanged montmorillonite), use of a benign solvent (ethyl acetate) and short reaction time (60 minutes). The resulting surfactants were structurally characterised and a prediction of their potential applications achieved using the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) concept, foam capacity and stability of the surfactants at 0.25 surfactant solution. This new family of bio-derivable non-ionic surfactants will be useful as wetting and solubilising agents, oil-in-water emulsifiers and detergents

First observation of excited states in 173Hg

The neutron-deficient nucleus 173Hg has been studied following fusion-evaporation reactions. The observation of gamma rays decaying from excited states are reported for the first time and a tentative level scheme is proposed. The proposed level scheme is discussed within the context of the systematics of neighbouring neutron-deficient Hg nuclei. In addition to the gamma-ray spectroscopy, the alpha decay of this nucleus has been measured yielding superior precision to earlier measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Point-of-care testing for bacterial infection in diabetic foot ulcers : a prospective cohort study

Objective: To appraise the performance of a new point-of-care wound infection detection kit in diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), using clinician opinion as the primary comparator. The proprietary swab-based chromatic Glycologic (Glycologic Ltd., UK) detection kit used in this study is designed to detect host response to pathogenic levels of bacteria in wounds. Method: In high-risk podiatry clinics, patients with DFUs were recruited and infection detection kit test results compared with initial clinician opinion. Chi-squared tests, principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple regression analysis were performed to determine which variables were possibly associated with infection. The variables considered were patients' wound parameters, wider vascular comorbidity and demographics. Results: A total of 136 patients, providing 383 wound swabs, were included in the study. Total agreement in terms of DFU wound assessment for infection—between podiatrists' clinical opinion and Glycologic kit test result—was observed in 79% of cases (301/383). For 56 of the 349 negative infection detection kit test results (16%), podiatrists identified a ‘possible’ or ‘definite’ infection. Conversely, in 14 of the 307 cases (4.6%) where podiatrists deemed the wound ‘not infected’, the infection detection kit test showed a colour change. Regression analysis and PCA showed that clinical signs of wound infection, namely erythema, purulence and odour, were all significantly associated with both a positive clinical opinion and infection detection kit test result. However, in the case of the infection detection kit, a patient's number of lesions and vascular comorbidities were also significantly correlated with a positive test result. Conclusion: A host response to critical pathological levels of bioburden in a wound—as detected with the infection detection kit—may partly be determined by an individual patient's (vascular) health and therefore be person-specific. Further research is indicated to determine the relationship between an infection detection kit test result and the microbiological status of the wound

Soil quality assessment based on soil organic matter pools under long‐term tillage systems and following tillage conversion in a semi‐humid region

A field study was conducted to assess the long-term effects of no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), and the short-term effects following tillage conversion -from CT to NT (NTn) and from NT to CT (CTn) on soil quality (SQ) indicators in a semi-humid climate. First, plots of a long-term tillage experiment on a Luvic Phaeozem initiated in 1986, were split into two subplots in 2012, yielding four treatments: NT, CT, NTn and CTn. In 2015, composite soil samples were collected from each treatment and from a natural site (Ref) at depths 0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 0-20 cm. Several indicators were determined: soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (SON); particulate organic C (POM-C) and N (POM-N); potential N mineralization (PMN) and soil respiration (Rs). Moreover, bulk density was determined in long-term tillage systems. Different ratios between indicators were calculated, with emphasis on its function in the agroecosystem, i.e. functional indicators. Significant differences in SOC, SON and PMN were found between CT and NT at most depths. In contrast, three years after tillage conversion, only a part of the SQ indicators studied were modified mainly at the 0-10 cm depth. The functional indicators showed differences between tillage systems in the long-term and after short-term tillage conversion depending on the depth; however, the PMN/SON ratio demonstrated differences at all depths. Under these conditions, this ratio -related to easily mineralizable N fraction- proved to be a promising indicator for assessing SQ under contrasting tillage systems regardless of the sampling depth.Fil: Martinez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Galantini, Juan Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Duval, Matias Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: López, Fernando Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentin

De-excitation of the strongly coupled band in 177Au and implications for core intruder configurations in the light Hg isotopes

Excited states in the proton-unbound nuclide 177Au were populated in the 92Mo(88Sr, p2n) reaction and identified using the Jurogam-II and GREAT spectrometers in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator at the University of Jyväskylä Accelerator Laboratory. A strongly coupled band and its decay path to the 11/2− α-decaying isomer have been identified using recoil-decay tagging. Comparisons with cranked HartreeFock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations based on Skyrme energy functionals suggest that the band has a prolate deformation and is based upon coupling the odd 1h11/2 proton hole to the excited 0+ 2 configuration in the 178Hg core. Although these configurations might be expected to follow the parabolic trend of core Hg(0+2 ) states as a function of neutron number, the electromagnetic decay paths from the strongly coupled band in 177Au are markedly different from those observed in the heavier isotopes above the midshell. This indicates that a significant change in the structure of the underlying A+1Hg core occurs below the neutron midshell

Direct observation of the Ba 114 → Xe 110 → Te 106 → Sn 102 triple α -decay chain using position and time correlations

The triple α-decay chain 114Ba → 110Xe → 106Te → 102Sn has been directly observed for the first time, following the 58Ni(58Ni ,2n) reaction. Implantation of 114Ba nuclei into a double-sided silicon-strip detector has allowed their α decays to be correlated in position and time with the α decays of the daughter (110Xe) and granddaughter (106Te) nuclei. In total, 17 events have been assigned to the 114Ba → 110Xe → 106Te → 102Sn triple α-decay chain. The energy of the 114Ba α decay has been measured to be Eα = 3480(20) keV, which is 70 keV higher than the previously measured value, and the half-life of 114Ba has been measured with improved accuracy, to be 380+190 −110 ms. A revised Q12C value of 19 035(45) keV for 114Ba is presented.peerReviewe

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy