Sulfonated polyether ether ketone-based composite membranes doped with a tungsten-based inorganic proton conductor for fuel cell applications

Sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK)-based composite membranes doped with hydrated tungsten oxide were prepared and studied for proton exchange membrane applications. Hydrated tungsten oxide (W O3 ·2 H2 O) was synthesized via acidic hydrolysis of sodium tungstate and its structure and physicochemical features were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). SPEEK/ W O3 ·2 H2 O composite membranes were prepared by mixing proper amounts of SPEEK and hydrated W O3 in dimethylacetamide as casting solvent. The composite membranes were characterized by XRD, TG-DTA, EIS, and water uptake measurements as a function of the oxide content in the membrane. In particular, XRD patterns as well as TG measurements indicated the existence of a coordinative interaction between the water molecules of tungsten oxide and the SPEEK sulfonic acid groups. This interaction lead to the enhancement of the membrane proton conductivity, as well as of their properties, from the point of view of heat resistance and water solubility. In fact, the addition of tungsten oxide resulted in higher proton conductivity, improved heat resistance, and lower water solubility. © 2006 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved

Is there an unmet medical need for improved hearing restoration?

Hearing impairment, the most prevalent sensory deficit, affects more than 466 million people worldwide (WHO). We presently lack causative treatment for the most common form, sensorineural hearing impairment; hearing aids and cochlear implants (CI) remain the only means of hearing restoration. We engaged with CI users to learn about their expectations and their willingness to collaborate with health care professionals on establishing novel therapies. We summarize upcoming CI innovations, gene therapies, and regenerative approaches and evaluate the chances for clinical translation of these novel strategies. We conclude that there remains an unmet medical need for improving hearing restoration and that we are likely to witness the clinical translation of gene therapy and major CI innovations within this decade

NOVEL MODELS AND TOOLS TO EVALUATE THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF RETROFITTING INTERVENTION

In order to mitigate the seismic risk, politician decision-makers, insurance companies, banks, professional engineers, private owners, (despite operating at different territorial scale and with different aims) need of accurate tools able to highlight the negative economic effects of an earthquake in terms of reduction of building economic value and earning power effective time. In this way, accurate seismic direct economic losses scenarios have a key role. In this paper, a new procedure for probabilistic, analytical seismic direct economic losses scenarios has been discussed and applied. Economic fragility curves for different existing building types (RC-MRF) have been defined. The economic feasibility of different form of retrofit interventions strongly depends by the entity of negative seismic damage economic effects, in terms of reduction of building economic value and earning power effective time. In this paper, a first attempt in estimation of building residual economic life after an earthquake has been performed. An innovative tool based on the integration of seismic direct losses models in building life-cycle cost value models has been presented and applied. This tool plays a fundamental role in promotion of a private seismic risk mitigation strategies, highlighted as accurate retrofitting intervention in peacetime could be able to minimize the negative seismic financial effects that is a primary objectives of owners-investors

Stability of proton exchange membranes in phosphate buffer for enzymatic fuel cell application: hydration, conductivity and mechanical properties

Proton-conducting ionomers are widespread materials for application in electrochemical energy storage devices. However, their properties depend strongly on operating conditions. In bio-fuel cells with a separator membrane, the swelling behavior as well as the conductivity need to be optimized with regard to the use of buffer solutions for the stability of the enzyme catalyst. This work presents a study of the hydrolytic stability, conductivity and mechanical behavior of different proton exchange membranes based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and sulfonated poly(phenyl sulfone) (SPPSU) ionomers in phosphate buffer solution. The results show that the membrane stability can be adapted by changing the casting solvent (DMSO, water or ethanol) and procedures, including a crosslinking heat treatment, or by blending the two ionomers. A comparison with Nafion(TM) shows the different behavior of this ionomer versus SPEEK membranes

Crosslinked SPEEK membranes: Mechanical, thermal, and hydrothermal properties

The thermal and mechanical behavior, the water uptake (WU), and water diffusion coefficient of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)membranes annealed at 180 degrees C for different times were explored by high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis, mechanical tensile tests, dynamic mechanical analysis, and WU measurements. The mechanical and thermal stability increased with the thermal treatment time, i.e., with the degree of crosslinking. The effect of residual casting solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), on the WU within SPEEK was probed. In presence of residual DMSO, crosslinked SPEEK exhibited higher water sorption at low and medium relative humidity (RH), and lower water sorption at high RH. These membranes have properties well adapted to fuel cell applications

Imatinib interferes with survival of multi drug resistant Kaposi’s sarcoma cells.

Multi drug resistance (MDR) is defined as the ability of tumor cells to become resistant to unrelated drugs. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of certain tumors. In particular, imatinib inhibits Bcr-Abl kinase activity, c-kit and the phosphorylation of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptors. In this work, we show that imatinib inhibits PDGF phosphorylation not only in wt Kaposi sarcoma (KS) but also in multi drug resistant KS cells. This was associated with an increased apoptosis in wt cells and an increased autophagy in MDR-KS cells. These data add new insights to the possible use of imatinib in the overcoming of MDR in KS cells

Towards specific T–H relationships: FRIBAS database for better characterization of RC and URM buildings

FRIBAS database is an open access database composed of the characteristics of 312 buildings (71 masonry, 237 reinforced concrete and 4 mixed types). It collects and harmonizes data from different surveys performed on buildings in the Basilicata and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions (Southern and Northeastern Italy, respectively). Each building is defined by 37 parameters related to the building and foundation soil characteristics. The building and soil fundamental periods were experimentally estimated based on ambient noise measurements. FRIBAS gave us the opportunity to study the influence of the main characteristics of buildings and the soil-building interaction effect to their structural response. In this study, we have used the FRIBAS dataset to investigate how the building period varies as a function of construction materials and soil types. Our results motivate the need of going beyond a 'one-fits-all' numerical period-height (T-H) relationship for generic building typologies provided by seismic codes, towards specific T-H relationships that account for both soil and building typologies

Unraveling haplotype errors in the DFNA33 locus

Genetic heterogeneity makes it difficult to identify the causal genes for hearing loss. Studies from previous decades have mapped numerous genetic loci, providing critical supporting evidence for gene discovery studies. Despite widespread sequencing accessibility, many historically mapped loci remain without a causal gene. The DFNA33 locus was mapped in 2009 and coincidentally contains ATP11A, a gene recently associated with autosomal dominant hearing loss and auditory neuropathy type 2. In a rare opportunity, we genome-sequenced a member of the original family to determine whether the DFNA33 locus may also be assigned to ATP11A. We identified a deep intronic variant in ATP11A that showed evidence of functionally normal splicing. Furthermore, we re-assessed haplotypes from the originally published DFNA33 family and identified two double recombination events and one triple recombination event in the pedigree, a highly unlikely occurrence, especially at this scale. This brief research report also serves as a call to the community to revisit families who have previously been involved in gene mapping studies, provide closure, and resolve these historical loci

An RNA Polymerase III General Transcription Factor Engages in Cell Type-Specific Chromatin Looping

Transcription factors (TFs) bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner and are generally cell type-specific factors and/or developmental master regulators. In contrast, general TFs (GTFs) are part of very large protein complexes and serve for RNA polymerases’ recruitment to promoter sequences, generally in a cell type-independent manner. Whereas, several TFs have been proven to serve as anchors for the 3D genome organization, the role of GTFs in genome architecture have not been carefully explored. Here, we used ChIP-seq and Hi-C data to depict the role of TFIIIC, one of the RNA polymerase III GTFs, in 3D genome organization. We find that TFIIIC genome occupancy mainly occurs at specific regions, which largely correspond to Alu elements; other characteristic classes of repetitive elements (REs) such as MIR, FLAM-C and ALR/alpha are also found depending on the cell’s developmental origin. The analysis also shows that TFIIIC-enriched regions are involved in cell type-specific DNA looping, which does not depend on colocalization with the master architectural protein CTCF. This work extends previous knowledge on the role of TFIIIC as a bona fide genome organizer whose action participates in cell type-dependent 3D genome looping via binding to REs