Maintaining the consistencies in electropolishing results by characterizing the polishing bath state as a function of its instant key properties

Electropolishing is an advanced industrial metal finishing in practice commercially since the mid-20th century, to treat the metals with electricity and industrial chemicals. The process has grown remarkably in the last 50 years; the medical and pharmaceutical industry's growth is a strong driving force for the electropolishing industry now. The work detailed in this thesis focuses on maintaining the uniformities in electropolishing qualities by specifying the polishing bath state as an approximation of its fundamental properties. In light of the scarcity of precise information regarding the techniques to keep the electropolishing process in control as the polishing bath ages, this research will present the organized data for an ageing bath. A mathematical model constructed from the vital polishing bath properties measured on-the-spot is used to quantify the polishing deliverables concerning surface roughness as a function of its immediate critical bath properties. The work results demonstrate that the model can anticipate the polishing capabilities under selected polishing conditions for a given polishing bath state, fresh, aged or regenerated. This model-based technique reduces the trial and error-based efforts the polishing industry takes to figure out the suitable operating parameters to deliver the polishing results when the aged bath is no longer efficient

Efficacy of facial exercises in facial expression categorization in schizophrenia

Embodied cognition theories suggest that observation of facial expression induces the same pattern of muscle activation, and that this contributes to emotion recognition. Consequently, the inability to form facial expressions would affect emotional understanding. Patients with schizophrenia show a reduced ability to express and perceive facial emotions. We assumed that a physical training specifically developed to mobilize facial muscles could improve the ability to perform facial movements, and, consequently, spontaneous mimicry and facial expression recognition. Twenty-four inpatient participants with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. At the beginning and at the end of the study, both groups were submitted to a facial expression categorization test and their data compared. The experimental group underwent a training period during which the lip muscles, and the muscles around the eyes were mobilized through the execution of transitive actions. Participants were trained three times a week for five weeks. Results showed a positive impact of the physical training in the recognition of others' facial emotions, specifically for the responses of "fear", the emotion for which the recognition deficit in the test is most severe. This evidence suggests that a specific deficit of the sensorimotor system may result in a specific cognitive deficit

Patient Opinions on the Helpfulness of External Rehabilitative Activities in Residential Psychiatric Care: A Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the patient opinions about the helpfulness of the External Rehabilitative Activities (ERA) delivered in two residential facilities for psychiatric rehabilitation. METHODS: We administered a Questionnaire developed to assess general helpfulness, helpfulness of specific therapeutic processes and satisfaction with the ERA to a sample of 46 psychiatric patients participating in at least three external activities. RESULTS: The External Rehabilitative Activities, tested by the ERA-Questionnaire, were considered helpful or very helpful by most of the patients. The therapeutic process with the highest score was "relaxation", followed by "general helpfulness", "socialization", "knowledge of social context", "community integration". The least-valued process was "autonomy". CONCLUSION: This pilot study has shown that psychiatric patients consider ERA helpful and rate more helpful the specific therapeutic processes, such as relaxation and socialization, that assure symptomatic relief and interaction with the outside world

In vitro effects of salicylic acid, calcium and copper ions on growth and sporulation of Ganoderma boninense

The in vitro effects of single and combined application of calcium ion (Ca2+), copper ion (Cu2+) and salicylic acid (SA) were evaluated on growth and sporulation of Ganoderma boninense. In poison medium test, T7-(Ca+Cu+SA) showed effective control of G. boninense in-vitro with EC50 and EC90 values of 1500+150+150 ppm and 2000+200+200 ppm, respectively. However, in dipping test, T3-(SA) showed effective control for G. boninense in-vitro with EC50 and EC90 values of 50 ppm and 200 ppm, respectively. Interestingly, T7 (Ca+Cu+SA) indicate effective control of G. boninense at low concentration, 500+50+50 pmm as shown by EC90 analysis. Pre treatment of Ganoderma -infected rubber wood block with 500 ppm Ca + 50 ppm Cu + 50 ppm SA reduced the number (20.14%), size (1.20 cm2) and weight of basidiocarp (0.80 g) compared to the control. This was followed by a significant reduction in weight loss of the Ganoderma–infected rubber wood block (41.85%) suggesting the inhibition of the degradative enzymatic activity of the fungus. The mixture of Cu, Ca and SA had potential to suppress growth of G. boninense in vitro.Keywords: Ganoderma boninense, calcium chloride, copper- ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), salicylic acid, EC50 and EC9

Morphological and molecular characterization of phytophthora capsici, the causal agent of foot rot disease of black pepper in Sarawak, Malaysia

Sarawak is one of the largest exporters of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) but the production of this crop is in the decline, because of the foot rot disease. The objective of this study was to determine the morphological and molecular characters of the Phytophthora capsici the causal agent of foot rot disease of black pepper in Sarawak. Thirteen major pepper growing areas were surveyed and confirmed for the incidence of foot rot disease. Ulu Sarikei (Sarikei) had the highest disease incidence (75%) followed by Pasai Siong (Sibu) (70%) and the lowest incidence at Tatau (Bintulu) (5%). The highest disease severity was at Ulu Sarikei (70%) followed by Pasai Siong (62%) and the lowest at Tatau (4%). Based on morphological characterization, the foot rot pathogen exhibited globose oogonia with paragynous antheridia, chlamydospore, torulose hyphae and lemon shaped sporangia with long pedicel. Molecular identification by using nested-PCR showed unique DNA fragment of c. 560 bp further confirmed that the causal agent of foot rot disease of black pepper in Sarawak was P. capsici Leonian

Activation of APE1/Ref-1 is dependent on reactive oxygen species generated after purinergic receptor stimulation by ATP

Apurinic apyrimidinic endonuclease redox effector factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1) is involved both in the base excision repair (BER) of DNA lesions and in the eukaryotic transcriptional regulation. APE1/Ref-1 is regulated at both the transcriptional and post-translational levels, through control of subcellular localization and post-translational modification. In response to stress conditions, several cell types release ATP, which exerts stimulatory effects on eukaryotic cells via the purinergic receptors (P2) family. By using western blot and immunofluorescence analysis on a human tumour thyroid cell line (ARO), we demonstrate that purinergic stimulation by extracellular ATP induces quick cytoplasm to nucleus translocation of the protein at early times and its neosynthesis at later times. Continuous purinergic triggering by extracellular ATP released by ARO cells is responsible for the control of APE1/Ref-1 intracellular level. Interference with intracellular pathways activated by P2 triggering demonstrates that Ca(2+) mobilization and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production are responsible for APE1/Ref-1 translocation. The APE1/Ref-1 activities on activator protein-1 (AP-1) DNA binding and DNA repair perfectly match its nuclear enrichment upon ATP stimulation. The biological relevance of our data is reinforced by the observation that APE1/Ref-1 stimulation by ATP protects ARO cells by H(2)O(2)-induced cell death. Our data provide new insights into the complex mechanisms regulating APE1/Ref-1 functions

Nmp4/CIZ suppresses the response of bone to anabolic parathyroid hormone by regulating both osteoblasts and osteoclasts

How parathyroid hormone (PTH) increases bone mass is unclear, but understanding this phenomenon is significant to the improvement of osteoporosis therapy. Nmp4/CIZ is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling transcriptional repressor that suppresses PTH-induced osteoblast gene expression and hormone-stimulated gains in murine femoral trabecular bone. To further characterize Nmp4/CIZ suppression of hormone-mediated bone growth, we treated 10-week-old Nmp4-knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice with intermittent human PTH(1–34) at 30 μg/kg daily or vehicle, 7 days/week, for 2, 3, or 7 weeks. Null mice treated with hormone (7 weeks) gained more vertebral and tibial cancellous bone than WT animals, paralleling the exaggerated response in the femur. Interestingly, Nmp4/CIZ suppression of this hormone-stimulated bone formation was not apparent during the first 2 weeks of treatment. Consistent with the null mice enhanced PTH-stimulated addition of trabecular bone, these animals exhibited an augmented hormone-induced increase in serum osteocalcin 3 weeks into treatment. Unexpectedly, the Nmp4-KO mice displayed an osteoclast phenotype. Serum C-terminal telopeptide, a marker for bone resorption, was elevated in the null mice, irrespective of treatment. Nmp4-KO bone marrow cultures produced more osteoclasts, which exhibited elevated resorbing activity, compared to WT cultures. The expression of several genes critical to the development of both osteoblasts and osteoclasts was elevated in Nmp4-KO mice at 2 weeks, but not 3 weeks, of hormone exposure. We propose that Nmp4/CIZ dampens PTH-induced improvement of trabecular bone throughout the skeleton by transiently suppressing hormone-stimulated increases in the expression of proteins key to the required enhanced activity and number of both osteoblasts and osteoclasts

Effect of carbon sources on bacterial production of metabolites against Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of carbon sources on the production of bacteria metabolites against Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Antagonistic bacteria were identified by using Biolog® Identification System known as Malikia spinosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, while the unidentified was named as UPMKB4. For optimizing antimicrobial substances, M. spinosa, UPMKB4 and S. maltophilia were cultured individually or combination in liquid media with addition of 2 g carbon sources derived from glucose, fructose and glycerol. Results revealed that different types of carbon source amended in liquid media determined the efficacy on the antimicrobial substances. Specific or special types of carbon sources are required to suppress different types of plant pathogenic pathogens effectively. Malformed, shrunken and vacuolar hyphae were observed on the treated plant pathogenic fungi in the presence of antimicrobial substances. In compatibility mixture of antimicrobial substances, combination M. spinosa + UPMKB4 proved to be the best treatment to inhibit the growth of F. oxysporum and C. gloeosporioides with suppression values of 11.00 mm and 12.67 mm, respectively, which were the maximum values recorded in this study. Some modification and improvement are required to find out the most suitable types and quantity of carbon sources in the basal liquid medium under appropriate conditions in order to produce more effective antimicrobial substances against F. oxysporum and C. gloeosporioides

Identification of secondary targets of N-containing bisphosphonates in mammalian cells via parallel competition analysis of the barcoded yeast deletion collection

Growth competition assays using barcoded yeast deletion-mutants reveal the molecular targets of nitrogen containing bisphosphonates used for the treatment of bone cancers and osteoporosis

Raising children on a vegan diet: Parents’ opinion on problems in everyday life

A growing number of Italian families are adopting a vegan diet (VD) for their offspring from infancy for various reasons, with health benefits and ethics being the most common reasons. Barriers to effective communication with primary care pediatricians (PCPs) are perceived by many parents and, depending on the actors involved and the environment, a VD may affect social interactions in everyday life. A national cross‐sectional survey was conducted between July and September 2020. Parents of children following a VD completed an online questionnaire. Data from 176 Italian parents were collected. About 72% (71.8%) of the children included in this study had been on a VD since weaning. Parents did not inform their primary care pediatricians (PCP) about the VD in 36.2% of the cases. In 70.8% of the cases, PCPs were perceived as skeptical or against a VD. About 70% (71.2%) of the parents relied on medical dietitians, and 28.2% on nutritionists/dietitians for dietary counseling. Parents administered an individual B12 supplement in 87.2% of the cases. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the first which explores the relationship between vegan parents and their PCPs, the parental management of their children’s diet and problems regarding the implementation of a VD in everyday life