Evaluación de la iluminación natural y de las protecciones solares en edificios de oficinas de la ciudad de S. M. de Tucumán

El trabajo muestra los resultados del estudio de la eficiencia de las protecciones solares y del comportamiento lumínico de aventanamientos en edificios de oficinas construidos en San Miguel de Tucumán. Se realizaron simulaciones con programas computacionales en 16 edificios. Así también se llevó a cabo la evaluación de las protecciones solares en 13 edificios, con el objeto de determinar la eficiencia de los mismos y su adecuación climática para localidad en estudio. Los resultados muestran que en la mayor parte de los locales de oficinas no se cumple con los valores mínimos de iluminación natural sobre el plano de trabajo requeridos para la tarea visual y que las protecciones solares no se comportan adecuadamente, produciendo deslumbramiento y un excesivo aporte de calor al ambiente, generando condiciones de inconfort y un incremento en los costos para el acondicionamiento artificial. Es así que el 61% de los edificios relevados no cuentan con protecciones solares en las ventanas y el tratamiento de sus frentes no difiere según sea la orientación de los mismos, con una elevada proporción de superficies vidriadas. Por otra parte, el 75% de los locales no cumplen con los valores de iluminación natural mínimos de normas, en el punto medio del local y el 94% en el punto más desfavorable.The work shows the results of the study of the efficiency of the solar protection and of the light behavior of windows in office buildings of San Miguel of Tucumán. In order to determining the light behavior of the windows, they were carried out simulations with software in 16 buildings. Likewise it was carried out the evaluation of the solar protection in 13 buildings, in order to determining the efficiency of them and their climatic adaptation for the town in study. The results show that in most of the offices it is not fulfilled the minimum values of natural illumination on the working plane, required for the visual tasks, and that the solar protection don't behave appropriately, producing dazzle and an excessive contribution of heat to the interior, generating conditions of lack of comfort and an increment in the energy costs.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES

Common Variants rs3815188 and rs1043994 on Notch3 Gene Confer Susceptibility to Lung Cancer: A Hospital-Based Case-Control Study

The Notch signaling pathway is a mechanism that plays a role in the determination of cell fate during cell development. Signals between neighbor cells are amplified through the Notch receptors. Notch activity is related to general growth stages such as organogenesis and morphogenesis and has effects on cell differentiation, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Lung cancer associated with degradation of proteins which regulate cellular activities such as cell growth, differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis or the loss of function of proteins due to mutations in the genes which that express these proteins. We aimed to determine the frequency of the Notch3 rs3815188 (C381T) and rs1043994 (G684A) polymorphisms and to investigate whether this gene is associated with genetic predisposition of development of lung cancer. In this study, DNA samples were extracted from the venous blood sample of 200 subjects (100 lung cancer patients and 100 controls). Notch3 rs3815188 (C381T) and rs1043994 (G684A) polymorphisms were determined using the restriction fragment length polymorphism method. A statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups for Notch 3 gene rs3815188 and rs1043994 polymorphisms when evaluated in terms of genotype (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively) and allele frequencies (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the rs3815188 variant and rs1043994 variant of the Notch3 gene is associated with lung cancer risk in patients of Turkish origin

Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in ocular surface squamous cell neoplasms

WOS: 000578575700032PubMed: 31232112Purpose: To investigate vitamin D receptor polymorphisms in ocular surface squamous cell neoplasm and to evaluate the relationship between the identified polymorphisms and susceptibility to ocular surface squamous cell neoplasm and the clinical course. Materials and Methods: A totala of 70 patients with ocular surface squamous cell neoplasm (study group) and 75 healthy age and gender-matched individuals (control group) were included in the study. Vitamin D receptor FokI and BsmI polymorphisms were examined. the relationships between histopathological diagnosis, recurrence rates, tumor stage, and identified polymorphisms were investigated. Results: Histopathologically, 43 of the cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 27 of the cases were conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia. the frequency of FokI (FF, Ff, ff) and BsmI (BB, Bb, bb) polymorphism genotype of vitamin D receptor gene were similar in the groups. the frequency of polymorphism (heterozygous or homozygous) for BsmI (Bb and bb) was significantly higher (p = 0.046) in the study group, while no difference was found between the groups in terms of polymorphic carriers (heterozygous or homozygous) for FokI. There was no correlation between tumor stage, recurrence-polymorphism frequency, and patient age-polymorphism frequency. Conclusion: It is known that active vitamin D inhibits the growth of cancer cells by binding to vitamin D receptor with regulation of genes responsible for cell proliferation. the presence of BsmI polymorphism in vitamin D receptor, in particular bb genotype and b allele, appears to be associated with the susceptibility of ocular surface squamous cell neoplasm. BsmI gene polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor might play an effective role in the formation, progression, and in the course of ocular surface squamous cell neoplasm

Mobile Phone Sensing of Cocaine in a Lateral Flow Assay Combined with a Biomimetic Material

WOS: 000411549100005PubMed ID: 28831804Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are an ideal choice for drug abuse testing favored by their practicability, portability, and rapidity. LFA based on site rapid screening devices provide positive/negative judgment in a short response time. The conventionally applied competitive assay format used for small molecule analysis such as abused drugs restricts the quantitation ability of LFA strips. We report herein, for the first time, a new strategy using the noncompetitive assay format via a biomimetic material, namely, poly(p-phenylene) beta-cyclodextrin poly(ethylene glycol) (PPP-CD-g-PEG) combined with gold nanoparticle (AuNP) conjugates as the labeling agent to recognize the target cocaine molecule in the test zone. The intensities of the visualized red color in the test line indicate that the cocaine concentrations were analyzed via a smartphone application. Significantly, a combination of this platform with a smartphone application provides quantitative data on the cocaine amount, making it a very inventive and attractive approach especially for on-site applications at critical points such as traffic stops and the workplace.Industrial Thesis Support Program (SAN-TEZ) of Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology [0620.STZ.2014]; Republic of Turkey, Ministry of DevelopmentTurkiye Cumhuriyeti Kalkinma Bakanligi [2016K121190]; Ege University Research Fund through BAP projects [16-FEN-004, 14-FEN-019]; Istanbul Technical University Research FundThis study was funded by Industrial Thesis Support Program (SAN-TEZ) of Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (Project Grant No: 0620.STZ.2014), and Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Development (Project Grant No: 2016K121190). It was also partially supported by Ege University Research Fund through BAP projects (Project No: 16-FEN-004 and Project No: 14-FEN-019) and Istanbul Technical University Research Fund

Development of tailored SPION-PNIPAM nanoparticles by ATRP for dually responsive doxorubicin delivery and MR imaging

Biocompatible, colloidally stable and ultra-small Fe3O4 nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated with poly(N-isopropyl-acrylamide) (PNIPAM) were synthesized via surface-initiated ATRP (atom transfer radical polymerization) to prevent excessive aggregation of magnetic cores and interparticle crosslinking, and to provide control over polymer content. These SPION-PNIPAM nanoparticles (NPs) have a hydrodynamic size between 8 and 60 nm depending on the PNIPAM content, and hence are ultrasmall in size and have an LCST around 38 degrees C. They had a high drug-loading capacity reaching 9.6 wt% doxorubicin in the final composition. The Dox release studies revealed pH and temperature-dependent release, which was not reported for PNIPAM before. Release of Dox under physiological conditions was below 20%, but around 90% at 42 degrees C and pH 5. This dually responsive nature is very advantageous to increase the drug efficacy and reduce side-effects, simultaneously. The cytocompatability of the SPION-PNIPAM NPs and the influence of Dox delivery to cells were investigated via in vitro cell viability, apoptosis, DNA-damage and confocal microscopy studies. The NPs were shown to be highly cytocompatible and induce significant cell death due to Dox when loaded with the drug. Besides, it was seen that the polymeric content can be used as an additional factor in tuning the release kinetics. Lastly, these nanoparticles reduced the signal intensity significantly in the T2 mode, acting as a potential SPION-based contrast agent. Overall, here, we demonstrate the design of small, smart theranostic nanoparticles with high drug-loading capacity and pH-dependent temperature-sensitive release characteristics with the ability to generate contrast in MRI

Electrochemical deposition of polypeptides: bio-based covering materials for surface design

WOS: 000336804800024A simple and efficient approach for the electrochemical deposition of polypeptides as bio-based covering materials for surface design is described. The method involves N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) ring-opening polymerization from its precursor to form a thiophene-functionalized polypeptide macromonomer (T-Pala), followed by electropolymerization. The obtained conducting polymer, namely polythiophene-g- polyalanine (PT-Pala), was characterized and utilized as a matrix for biomolecule attachment. The biosensing applicability of PT-Pala was also investigated by using glucose oxidase (GOx) as a model enzyme to detect glucose. The designed biosensor showed a very good linearity for 0.01-1.0 mM glucose. Finally, the antimicrobial activities of newly synthesized T-Pala and PT-Pala were also evaluated by using the disc diffusion method

Double fluorescence assay via a beta-cyclodextrin containing conjugated polymer as a biomimetic material for cocaine sensing

WOS: 000402300400012A double fluorescence mu-well assay that exploits a novel conjugated polymer containing cyclodextrin (CD) as the key component is reported. For the construction of the cocaine bioassay, poly(p-phenylene) with CD units in the main-chain and poly(ethylene glycol) side chains (PPP-CD-g-PEG) was first prepared by Suzuki coupling polymerization and coated on each well as a biomimetic material. Although the poly-phenylene backbone is responsible for the fluorescence properties without an additional fluorophore, PEG and CD provide water solubility and selective complexation with cocaine, respectively. A cocaine antibody was used as a secondary recognition compound after labelling with quantum dots (QDs). Most notably, we show that the two-color fluorescence nature of the assay facilitates double measurement from the same sample and the described strategy can be adapted to various sensing systems.Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Science, Industry and TechnologyMinistry of Science, Industry & Technology - Turkey [0620.STZ.2014]; Republic of Turkey, Ministry of DevelopmentTurkiye Cumhuriyeti Kalkinma Bakanligi [2016 K121190]; Ege University Research Fund through the BAP [16-FEN-004]; Istanbul Technical University Research FundThis work was supported by the Industrial Thesis Support Program (SAN-TEZ) of the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (Project Grant No. 0620.STZ.2014) and the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Development (Project Grant No. 2016 K121190). This work was also partially supported by the Ege University Research Fund through the BAP project (Project No. 16-FEN-004) and the Istanbul Technical University Research Fund. Likrom Company was acknowledged for its support to the chromatographic analyses

Comparison of Energy Efficiencies for Advanced Anaerobic Digestion, Incineration, and Gasification Processes in Municipal Sludge Management

Municipal sludge has energy content in the range of (9,000-23,000 kJ/kg) depending upon the organic content. This entrapped energy can be transformed into heat and electrical energies by different technologies combining biological and thermal processes. Recently, the combination of advanced digestion and incineration or gasification was found to be advantageous for energy recovery. The energy balance was based upon a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) using conventional and advanced treatment configurations. In this respect, the unit electricity production from sludge was calculated to be in the range of 675-1,240 kWhE per tones of dry solids