Balancing porosity and mechanical properties of titanium samples to favor cellular growth against bacteria

Two main problems limit the success of titanium implants: bacterial infection, which restricts their osseointegration capacity; and the stiffness mismatch between the implant and the host cortical bone, which promotes bone resorption and risk of fracture. Porosity incorporation may reduce this difference in stiffness but compromise biomechanical behavior. In this work, the relationship between the microstructure (content, size, and shape of pores) and the antibacterial and cellular behavior of samples fabricated by the space-holder technique (50 vol % NH4HCO3 and three ranges of particle sizes) is established. Results are discussed in terms of the best biomechanical properties and biofunctional activity balance (cell biocompatibility and antibacterial behavior). All substrates achieved suitable cell biocompatibility of premioblast and osteoblast in adhesion and proliferation processes. It is worth to highlighting that samples fabricated with the 100–200 μm space-holder present better mechanical behavior—in terms of stiffness, microhardness, and yield strength—which make them a very suitable material to replace cortical bone tissues. Those results exposed the relationship between the surface properties and the race of bacteria and mammalian cells for the surface with the aim to promote cellular growth over bacteria.University of Seville (Spain) VI Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia—US 2018, I.3A

Conducting Polymers Films Deposited on Carbon Steel and Their Interaction with Crude Oil

The formation of scale/solids deposits inside the pipelines is a frequent problem in the petrochemical industry. These scales can be organic as the asphaltenes and inorganic as the accumulations of salts, which apart from blocking the inside of the pipes can also cause a change in the integrity of the steel. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid the conditions where deposition occurs, together with chemical and mechanical methods of remediation to mitigate the deposition. In this work we intend to use conductive polymers in order to inhibit the deposition of asphaltenes on carbon steel surfaces, by using polypyrrole (PPy) as material capable of conducting electrical current. The electrodeposition of PPy on carbon steel were performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The results showed that under certain experimental conditions it is possible to make a PPy film with adequate characteristics. Important factors were the grip and electrochemical stability of the formed film on steel, which depends on the electrosynthesis technique and in some cases favoured by a pre-treatment with a 10% HNO3 solution applied to the steel prior to electropolymerization. The PPy films deposited with pre-treatment completely covered the steel surface and showed better stability, adherence and generated a hydrophobic material

DLT 4-411. Scale : the development of the typical speech

1 archivo PDF (18 páginas). fhundequinquagintaLas características de una escala cuyo propósito consiste en determinar fidedignamente el nivel del desarrollo del lenguaje típico en niños de edad preescolar se describen en este artículo. La escala referida evalúa el desarrollo del proceso para adquirir la fonología, morfología, sintaxis y pragmática de niños hablantes del español cuyas edades se hallen delimitadas por 4 años y 4 años 11 meses. Abstract The characteristics and the process of developing a scale that aims at determining the level of typical language development in children of pre school age are described in this article. The scale assesses the above mentioned development of phonology, morphology, syntax and pragmatics of children whose ages are between four and four years eleven months. PALABRAS CLAVE: adquisición, evaluación, lenguaje, escala. KEY WORDS: acquisition, assessment, language, leve

Protein Identification and Haplotype Description of Homozygote Mutation Causing Congenital Plasminogen Deficiency

Severe type I Plasminogen (PLG) deficiency was clinically diagnosed after hyaline-positive periodic acid Schiff material was detected in the histologic study of superior tarsal conjunctiva and vulvar pseudomembrane of the patient. Direct immunofluorescence also confirmed multiple deposits of fibrinogen in the dermis. Plasma plasminogen activity was calculated in a <5% value (reference values, 75% to 150%) and sequencing of the PLG gene evidenced the homozygous mutation in c.2377T/A (p.Tyr793Asn), confirming the molecular diagnosis of congenital deficiency of plasminogen type 1. Genotype-Phenotype correlation among family members evidenced the recessive hereditary pattern of clinical manifestations of chronic inflammatory disease of the mucous membranes due to PLG deficiency, but co-dominance effect to present a decreased plasma plasminogen activity (46%) among heterozygous asymptomatic individuals. SNPs/CNVs whole genome array hybridization analysis in the patient, detected long Loss of Heterozygosity regions (LOH) and demonstrated the consanguinity in the family. Proteomic analysis identified impaired secretion of mutant PLG tissue specific proteins, as definitive molecular etiopathogenesis of the type I PLG deficiency in the patient

Zika virus pathogenesis in rhesus macaques is unaffected by pre-existing immunity to dengue virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a re-emerging virus that has recently spread into dengue virus (DENV) endemic regions and cross-reactive antibodies (Abs) could potentially affect ZIKV pathogenesis. Using DENV-immune serum, it has been shown in vitro that antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of ZIKV infection can occur. Here we study the effects of pre-existing DENV immunity on ZIKV infection in vivo. We infect two cohorts of rhesus macaques with ZIKV; one cohort has been exposed to DENV 2.8 years earlier and a second control cohort is naïve to flaviviral infection. Our results, while confirming ADE in vitro, suggest that pre-existing DENV immunity does not result in more severe ZIKV disease. Rather our results show a reduction in the number of days of ZIKV viremia compared to naïve macaques and that the previous exposure to DENV may result in modulation of the immune response without resulting in enhancement of ZIKV pathogenesis

Two-Stage Control Design of a Buck Converter/DC Motor System without Velocity Measurements via a Σ

This paper presents a two-stage control design for the “Buck power converter/DC motor” system, which allows to perform the sensorless angular velocity trajectory tracking task. The differential flatness property of the DC-motor model is exploited in order to propose a first-stage controller, which is designed to achieve the desired angular velocity trajectory. This controller provides the voltage profiles that must be tracked by the Buck converter. Then, a second-stage controller is meant to assure the aforementioned. This controller is based on flatness property of the Buck power converter model, which provides the input voltage to the DC motor. Due to the fact that the two-stage controller proposed uses the average model of the system, as a practical and effective implementation of this controller, a Σ − Δ-modulator is employed. Finally, in order to verify the control performance of this approach, numerical simulations are included

VAMOS: a Pathfinder for the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

VAMOS was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.Comment: Accepted for pubblication in Astroparticle Physics Journal (20 pages, 10 figures). Corresponding authors: A.Marinelli and D.Zaboro

Comparative serology techniques for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a rural population from the state of Querétaro, Mexico

Immunological diagnostic methods for Trypanosoma cruzi depend specifically on the presence of antibodies and parasitological methods lack sensitivity during the chronic and “indeterminate” stages of the disease. This study performed a serological survey of 1,033 subjects from 52 rural communities in 12 of the 18 municipalities in the state of Querétaro, Mexico. We detected anti-T. cruzi antibodies using the following tests: indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA), indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), ELISA and recombinant ELISA (rELISA). We also performed Western blot (WB) analysis using iron superoxide dismutase (FeSOD), a detoxifying enzyme excreted by the parasite, as the antigen. Positive test results were distributed as follows: ELISA 8%, rELISA 6.2%, IFA and IHA 5.4% in both cases and FeSOD 8%. A comparative study of the five tests was undertaken. Sensitivity levels, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, concordance percentage and kappa index were considered. Living with animals, trips to other communities, gender, age, type of housing and symptomatology at the time of the survey were statistically analysed using SPSS software v.11.5. Detection of the FeSOD enzyme that was secreted by the parasite and used as an antigenic fraction in WBs showed a 100% correlation with traditional ELISA tests

Evidence for t\bar{t}\gamma Production and Measurement of \sigma_t\bar{t}\gamma / \sigma_t\bar{t}

Using data corresponding to 6.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector, we present a cross section measurement of top-quark pair production with an additional radiated photon. The events are selected by looking for a lepton, a photon, significant transverse momentum imbalance, large total transverse energy, and three or more jets, with at least one identified as containing a b quark. The ttbar+photon sample requires the photon to have 10 GeV or more of transverse energy, and to be in the central region. Using an event selection optimized for the ttbar+photon candidate sample we measure the production cross section of, and the ratio of cross sections of the two samples. Control samples in the dilepton+photon and lepton+photon+\met, channels are constructed to aid in decay product identification and background measurements. We observe 30 ttbar+photon candidate events compared to the standard model expectation of 26.9 +/- 3.4 events. We measure the ttbar+photon cross section to be 0.18+0.08 pb, and the ratio of the cross section of ttbar+photon to ttbar to be 0.024 +/- 0.009. Assuming no ttbar+photon production, we observe a probability of 0.0015 of the background events alone producing 30 events or more, corresponding to 3.0 standard deviations.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Time elapsed between Zika and dengue virus infections affects antibody and T cell responses

Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) are co-endemic in many parts of the world, but the impact of ZIKV infection on subsequent DENV infection is not well understood. Here we show in rhesus macaques that the time elapsed after ZIKV infection affects the immune response to DENV infection. We show that previous ZIKV exposure increases the magnitude of the antibody and T cell responses against DENV. The time interval between ZIKV and subsequent DENV infection further affects the immune response. A mid-convalescent period of 10 months after ZIKV infection results in higher and more durable antibody and T cell responses to DENV infection than a short period of 2 months. In contrast, previous ZIKV infection does not affect DENV viremia or pro-inflammatory status. Collectively, we find no evidence of a detrimental effect of ZIKV immunity in a subsequent DENV infection. This supports the implementation of ZIKV vaccines that could also boost immunity against future DENV epidemics