Raman spectroscopic characterization of corrosion products of archaeological iron

Raman spectroscopy is a versatile analytical technique which allows the detection of different molecules analysing the vibrational modes. As a matter of facts, the vibrational frequencies are typical of a specific chemical bond or of a structural symmetry. In this study, the Raman technique is used for the determination of iron corrosion products, mainly oxides and hydroxides. Metallic artefacts buried in soil are affected, in dependence of their electrochemical nobility, by corrosion phenomena of various entities, which partially modify their chemical composition and their structure. The process may occur both during burial time and after the extraction from the archaeological site, implying the potential loss of information about the metallurgical technology and structure of the object. The study of the corrosion phenomena allows to propose tailored strategies for the restoration and conservation of the artefacts, especially in view of the storage of the artefacts in a museum. This study validates the use of the Raman technique for this purpose, showing its efficiency in the identification of the iron corrosion products in favourable conditions for the analysis of Cultural Heritage artefacts, as the possibility of performing in situ analysis without the need of a previous sample preparation

Assessment of HCC response to Yttrium-90 radioembolization with gadoxetate disodium MRI: correlation with histopathology.

Transarterial <sup>90</sup> Y radioembolization (TARE) is increasingly being used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. However, tumor response assessment after TARE may be challenging. We aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of gadoxetate disodium MRI for predicting complete pathologic necrosis (CPN) of HCC treated with TARE, using histopathology as the reference standard. This retrospective study included 48 patients (M/F: 36/12, mean age: 62 years) with HCC treated by TARE followed by surgery with gadoxetate disodium MRI within 90 days of surgery. Two radiologists evaluated tumor response using RECIST1.1, mRECIST, EASL, and LI-RADS-TR criteria and evaluated the percentage of necrosis on subtraction during late arterial, portal venous, and hepatobiliary phases (AP/PVP/HBP). Statistical analysis included inter-reader agreement, correlation between radiologic and pathologic percentage of necrosis, and prediction of CPN using logistic regression and ROC analyses. Histopathology demonstrated 71 HCCs (2.8 ± 1.7 cm, range: 0.5-7.5 cm) including 42 with CPN, 22 with partial necrosis, and 7 without necrosis. EASL and percentage of tumor necrosis on subtraction at the AP/PVP were independent predictors of CPN (p = 0.02-0.03). Percentage of necrosis, mRECIST, EASL, and LI-RADS-TR had fair to good performance for diagnosing CPN (AUCs: 0.78 - 0.83), with a significant difference between subtraction and LI-RADS-TR for reader 2, and in specificity between subtraction and other criteria for both readers (p-range: 0.01-0.04). Radiologic percentage of necrosis was significantly correlated to histopathologic degree of tumor necrosis (r = 0.66 - 0.8, p < 0.001). Percentage of tumor necrosis on subtraction and EASL criteria were significant independent predictors of CPN in HCC treated with TARE. Image subtraction should be considered for assessing HCC response to TARE when using MRI. • Percentage of tumor necrosis on image subtraction and EASL criteria are significant independent predictors of complete pathologic necrosis in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with <sup>90</sup> Y radioembolization. • Subtraction, mRECIST, EASL, and LI-RADS-TR have fair to good performance for diagnosing complete pathologic necrosis in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with <sup>90</sup> Y radioembolization

Maximizing the Products Display for Purchaser Lucidity and Alleviation in Circulation to Augment the Sale of Supermarket: Milieu of Bangladesh

The purpose of this study is to appraise the accessible products display for the purchaser lucidity which may maximizes offers and actions of business with the alleviation in circulation to augment the random sale in the arena of supermarket. The study scrutinizes a fundamental research on the context of Bangladesh and especially for the Dhaka zone. A supermarket, a large form of the traditional grocery store, is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food and household products, organized into aisles. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. The traditional supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level. It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently the convenience of shopping hours that extend far into the evening or even 24 hours a day. Key words: Circulation, Supermarket, Alleviation, Sale, Products, Variation, Lucidit

Collaborative database to track Mass Mortality Events in the Mediterranean Sea

Anthropogenic climate change, and global warming in particular, has strong and increasing impacts on marine ecosystems (Poloczanska et al., 2013; Halpern et al., 2015; Smale et al., 2019). The Mediterranean Sea is considered a marine biodiversity hotspot contributing to more than 7% of world\u2019s marine biodiversity including a high percentage of endemic species (Coll et al., 2010). The Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, where the respective impacts of warming are very pronounced and relatively well documented (Cramer et al., 2018). One of the major impacts of sea surface temperature rise in the marine coastal ecosystems is the occurrence of mass mortality events (MMEs). The first evidences of this phenomenon dated from the first half of \u201980 years affecting the Western Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea (Harmelin, 1984; Bavestrello and Boero, 1986; Gaino and Pronzato, 1989; Voultsiadou et al., 2011). The most impressive phenomenon happened in 1999 when an unprecedented large scale MME impacted populations of more than 30 species from different phyla along the French and Italian coasts (Cerrano et al., 2000; Perez et al., 2000). Following this event, several other large scale MMEs have been reported, along with numerous other minor ones, which are usually more restricted in geographic extend and/or number of affected species (Garrabou et al., 2009; Rivetti et al., 2014; Marb\ue0 et al., 2015; Rubio-Portillo et al., 2016, authors\u2019 personal observations). These events have generally been associated with strong and recurrent marine heat waves (Crisci et al., 2011; Kersting et al., 2013; Turicchia et al., 2018; Bensoussan et al., 2019) which are becoming more frequent globally (Smale et al., 2019). Both field observations and future projections using Regional Coupled Models (Adloff et al., 2015; Darmaraki et al., 2019) show the increase in Mediterranean sea surface temperature, with more frequent occurrence of extreme ocean warming events. As a result, new MMEs are expected during the coming years. To date, despite the efforts, neither updated nor comprehensive information can support scientific analysis of mortality events at a Mediterranean regional scale. Such information is vital to guide management and conservation strategies that can then inform adaptive management schemes that aim to face the impacts of climate change

Sponge spicules as blueprints for the biofabrication of inorganic–organic composites and biomaterials

While most forms of multicellular life have developed a calcium-based skeleton, a few specialized organisms complement their body plan with silica. However, of all recent animals, only sponges (phylum Porifera) are able to polymerize silica enzymatically mediated in order to generate massive siliceous skeletal elements (spicules) during a unique reaction, at ambient temperature and pressure. During this biomineralization process (i.e., biosilicification) hydrated, amorphous silica is deposited within highly specialized sponge cells, ultimately resulting in structures that range in size from micrometers to meters. Spicules lend structural stability to the sponge body, deter predators, and transmit light similar to optic fibers. This peculiar phenomenon has been comprehensively studied in recent years and in several approaches, the molecular background was explored to create tools that might be employed for novel bioinspired biotechnological and biomedical applications. Thus, it was discovered that spiculogenesis is mediated by the enzyme silicatein and starts intracellularly. The resulting silica nanoparticles fuse and subsequently form concentric lamellar layers around a central protein filament, consisting of silicatein and the scaffold protein silintaphin-1. Once the growing spicule is extruded into the extracellular space, it obtains final size and shape. Again, this process is mediated by silicatein and silintaphin-1, in combination with other molecules such as galectin and collagen. The molecular toolbox generated so far allows the fabrication of novel micro- and nanostructured composites, contributing to the economical and sustainable synthesis of biomaterials with unique characteristics. In this context, first bioinspired approaches implement recombinant silicatein and silintaphin-1 for applications in the field of biomedicine (biosilica-mediated regeneration of tooth and bone defects) or micro-optics (in vitro synthesis of light waveguides) with promising results

Estimates of Particulate Organic Carbon Flowing from the Pelagic Environment to the Benthos through Sponge Assemblages

Despite the importance of trophic interactions between organisms, and the relationship between primary production and benthic diversity, there have been few studies that have quantified the carbon flow from pelagic to benthic environments as a result of the assemblage level activity of suspension-feeding organisms. In this study, we examine the feeding activity of seven common sponge species from the Taputeranga marine reserve on the south coast of Wellington in New Zealand. We analysed the diet composition, feeding efficiency, pumping rates, and the number of food particles (specifically picoplanktonic prokaryotic cells) retained by sponges. We used this information, combined with abundance estimates of the sponges and estimations of the total amount of food available to sponges in a known volume of water (89,821 m3), to estimate: (1) particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes through sponges as a result of their suspension-feeding activities on picoplankton; and (2) the proportion of the available POC from picoplankton that sponges consume. The most POC acquired by the sponges was from non-photosynthetic bacterial cells (ranging from 0.09 to 4.69 g C d−1 with varying sponge percentage cover from 0.5 to 5%), followed by Prochlorococcus (0.07 to 3.47 g C d−1) and then Synechococcus (0.05 to 2.34 g C d−1) cells. Depending on sponge abundance, the amount of POC that sponges consumed as a proportion of the total POC available was 0.2–12.1% for Bac, 0.4–21.3% for Prochlo, and 0.3–15.8% for Synecho. The flux of POC for the whole sponge assemblage, based on the consumption of prokaryotic picoplankton, ranged from 0.07–3.50 g C m2 d−1. This study is the first to estimate the contribution of a sponge assemblage (rather than focusing on individual sponge species) to POC flow from three groups of picoplankton in a temperate rocky reef through the feeding activity of sponges and demonstrates the importance of sponges to energy flow in rocky reef environments