Electro-precipitation of magnetite nanoparticles: an electrochemical study

Nanoparticles of magnetites (Fe3O4) are synthesized with a new process based on electro-precipitation in ethanol medium. A mechanism pathway is proposed consisting of a Fe(OH)3 precipitation followed by the reduction of iron hydroxide to magnetite in the presence of hydroxyl ions which are enerated at the cathode

Modelling the functional role of microorganisms in the daily exchanges of carbon between atmosphere, plants and soil

There has been considerable research on organic carbon (OC) stocks in the upper layer of the soil but it has focused on semi-mechanistic predictions of OC stocks in the long term rather than on microbial processes acting on OC transformations. Published data lack of reference concerning the modelling of the short-term exchanges between atmosphere, plants, rhizobia and other microorganisms of soil. We think it is because the mechanistic role of microorganisms is poorly considered in most of the existing models. Compartmental theory is the most used to model the complex system of OC forms, with linear or no-linear propositions. Sometimes, the models did not consider explicitly an active microbial compartment and were often over parameterized. In contrast, the MOMOS proposition defined linearly the functional role of microorganisms with only a no-linear term linked to microbial respiration. It uses only 7 kinetic parameters having a clear ecological definition and being related to climate (all parameters), soil texture or pH (microbial respiration), and biological properties of debris inputs (enzymatic breakdown of plant debris and microbial mortality). The 3 other parameters (rates of humus stabilisation and enzyme assimilation of labile and stable humus) were found linked only to climate, suggesting that quality of humified materials should be more constant than OC forms from living materials. In coupling with soil water and production modules, the model emerges as a new theoretical basis to describe the life cycle and its applications to agro-ecology and global change

Uniting to end the TB epidemic: advances in disease control from prevention to better diagnosis and treatment.

Tuberculosis is a major global cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite recent advances in containing the epidemic, several challenges continue to slow progress towards elimination including the continuing impact of drug resistant disease, and the lack of appropriate tools. Curtailing the transmission of tuberculosis remains a challenge especially in high burden countries. New developments in measuring correlates of protection are urgently needed to support the evaluation of vaccines. Similarly, despite progress in molecular diagnostics, better tools are required to identify resistance to antibiotics in multi and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. Whole Genome Sequencing may lead to the next generation of assays to rapidly detect resistance and evaluate transmission. Advances on shortening treatment are hampered by the lack of a biomarker of cure which obviates the current long wait for relapses in trials. New research is urgently needed to support development of new vaccines and better diagnostics tools and shorter treatment for drug sensitive and resistant tuberculosis

THREE-DIMENSIONAL INVERSE DYNAMICS LINKED SEGMENT MODEL IN SWIMMING

This study aimed to produce a three-dimensional (3-D) inverse dynamics linked segment model capable of utilising kinematic data of a subject simulating front crawl to determine joint rotations and moments. This model is intended to address the current gap in swimming performance literature concerning the measurement of dynamic loads acting on an athlete during swimming. Joint moments derived from this model are to be used to specify actuator requirements for a biomimetic robotic system which will then be used to replicate human swimming techniqu

Review: Pelvic nerves - from anatomy and physiology to clinical applications

A prerequisite for nerve-sparing pelvic surgery is a thorough understanding of the topographic anatomy of the fine and intricate pelvic nerve networks, and their connections to the central nervous system. Insights into the functions of pelvic nerves will help to interpret disease symptoms correctly and improve treatment. In this article, we review the anatomy and physiology of autonomic pelvic nerves, including their topography and putative functions. The aim is to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms of pelvic pain and functional disorders, as well as improve their diagnosis and treatment. The information will also serve as a basis for counseling patients with chronic illnesses. A profound understanding of pelvic neuroanatomy will permit complex surgery in the pelvis without relevant nerve injury

Collection and Evaluation of a Long-Term 4D Agri-Robotic Dataset

Long-term autonomy is one of the most demanded capabilities looked into a robot. The possibility to perform the same task over and over on a long temporal horizon, offering a high standard of reproducibility and robustness, is appealing. Long-term autonomy can play a crucial role in the adoption of robotics systems for precision agriculture, for example in assisting humans in monitoring and harvesting crops in a large orchard. With this scope in mind, we report an ongoing effort in the long-term deployment of an autonomous mobile robot in a vineyard for data collection across multiple months. The main aim is to collect data from the same area at different points in time so to be able to analyse the impact of the environmental changes in the mapping and localisation tasks. In this work, we present a map-based localisation study taking 4 data sessions. We identify expected failures when the pre-built map visually differs from the environment's current appearance and we anticipate LTS-Net, a solution pointed at extracting stable temporal features for improving long-term 4D localisation results.Comment: Presented at the "Perception and Navigation for Autonomous Robotics in Unstructured and Dynamic Environments" (PNARUDE) Workshop at IROS 2

World TB Day 2016: an interview with leading experts in tuberculosis research.

In this interview, we talk to leading tuberculosis (TB) experts from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine about the current challenges in TB research. The video of this interview is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Die7MQBec&feature=youtu.be . The video can also be downloaded via Additional file 1

Comparison between fresh and fixed human biopsies using spectral and lifetime measurements: Fluorescence analysis using one and two photon excitations

International audienceThe purpose of this study is to make a comparison between the fluorescence emissions of fresh extracted human biopsies and fixed human biopsies, in order to evaluate the impact of fixation on autofluoresence signal. Our group is developing an endo-microscope to image brain tissues in-vivo, however to date, in order to validate our technology the easiest type of samples we can access are fixed samples. However, the fixation is still challenging. For that, we aim through this study to determine whether we should pursue to work on fixed samples or we should shift to work on fresh biopsies. Data were collected on spectroscopic, lifetime measurement and fluorescence imaging setups with visible and two-photon excitations wavelengths. Five fresh and five fixed samples are involved in the experiment. Endogenous fluorescence of fixed biopsies were calculated. Experimental results reveal that at 405 nm and 810 nm, the fresh samples have an intensity of fluorescence two times higher than that of fixed samples. However, for each fluorophore and each excitation wavelength, the lifetime for fresh samples is shorter than that for fixed samples. Still, further studies and investigations involving the comparison between different samples are required to strengthen our findings