Vibrio proteases for biomedical applications: Modulating the proteolytic secretome of v. alginolyticus and v. parahaemolyticus for improved enzymes production

Proteolytic enzymes are of great interest for biotechnological purposes, and their large-scale production, as well as the discovery of strains producing new molecules, is a relevant issue. Collagenases are employed for biomedical and pharmaceutical purposes. The high specificity of collagenase-based preparations toward the substrate strongly relies on the enzyme purity. However, the overall activity may depend on the cooperation with other proteases, the presence of which may be essential for the overall enzymatic activity, but potentially harmful for cells and tissues. Vibrios produce some of the most promising bacterial proteases (including collagenases), and their exo-proteome includes several enzymes with different substrate specificities, the production and relative abundances of which strongly depend on growth conditions. We evaluated the effects of different media compositions on the proteolytic exo-proteome of Vibrio alginolyticus and its closely relative Vibrio parahaemolyticus, in order to improve the overall proteases production, as well as the yield of the desired enzymes subset. Substantial biological responses were achieved with all media, which allowed defining culture conditions for targeted improvement of selected enzyme classes, besides giving insights in possible regulatory mechanisms. In particular, we focused our efforts on collagenases production, because of the growing biotechnological interest due to their pharmaceutical/biomedical applications

Evaluating the effects of sediment transport on pipe flow resistance

In this paper, the applicability of a theoretical flow resistance law to sediment-laden flow in pipes is tested. At first, the incomplete self-similarity (ISS) theory is applied to deduce the velocity profile and the corresponding flow resistance law. Then the available database of measurements carried out by clear water and sediment-laden flows with sediments having a quasi-uniform sediment size and three different values of the mean particle diameter Dm (0.88 mm, 0.41 mm and 0.30 mm) are used to calibrate the Γparameter of the power-velocity profile). The fitting of the measured local velocity to the power distribution demonstrates that (i) for clear flow the exponent δ) can be estimated by the equation of Castaing et al. and (ii) for the sediment-laden flows δ is related to the diameter Dm. A relationship for estimating the parameter Гv obtained by the power-velocity profile) and that Гf of the flow resistance law) is theoretically deduced. The relationship between the parameter Гv, the head loss per unit length and the pipe flow Froude number is also obtained by the available sediment-laden pipe flow data. Finally, the procedure to estimate the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor is tested by the available measurements

AMOA, Associazione Medici Oculisti per l'Africa, un esempio di solidariet\ue0 istituzionalizzata. La missione Zimbabwe.

AMOA (Associazione Medici Oculisti per l\u2019Africa), \ue8 un\u2019associazione di volontariato legalmente costituita, con sede a Bologna, aconfessionale che non persegue fini di lucro. L\u2019associazione, improntata al volontariato, svolge metodicamente e con continuit\ue0 attivit\ue0 di cooperazione allo sviluppo in favore delle popolazioni del Terzo Mondo ed in particolare di quelle africane. A tale scopo l\u2019associazione stabilisce con le Autorit\ue0 nazionali dei Paesi in cui opera, con le istituzioni nazionali ed internazionali operanti localmente e le organizzazioni sociali, una fattiva collaborazione nel rispetto delle sovranit\ue0 nazionali e secondo i principi della cooperazione internazionale definiti dalla Carta delle Nazioni Unite. Essa opera per mezzo di medici e paramedici volontari che offrono gratuitamente una parte del loro tempo per servire ai bisogni sanitari delle popolazioni di questi Paesi che si trovano in uno stadio di sottosviluppo sanitario in campo oculistico per mancanza di strutture, risorse economiche e umane. Tra le varie missioni effettuate possiamo menzionare quelle in Senegal, Togo, Etiopia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Cameroun, Zimbabwe. L\u2019analisi del presente lavoro verter\ue0 sull\u2019operato della\u2019associazione in Zimbabwe evidenziando: l\u2019epidemiologia delle patologie oculari della zona di intervento; il trattamento delle cause pi\uf9 frequenti di cecit\ue0: cataratta, glaucoma, malposizione palpebrale da tracoma, i traumi del bulbo oculare; lo screening delle deficienze visive nell\u2019et\ue0 scolare: ipermetropia, miopia, astigmatismo, ambliopia; la correzione della presbiopia che riduce la capacit\ue0 lavorativa dopo i 40 anni; la promozione dell\u2019educazione sanitaria nelle scuole e nei dispensari per la prevenzione primaria e secondaria delle carenze visive; l\u2019addestramento del personale scolastico locale a misurare la capacit\ue0 visiva dei bambini a partire dal periodo prescolare; l\u2019aggiornamento del personale medico alla chirurgia mediante soggiorni sia in loco che in Italia ed infine le ricadute sulle condizioni di salute e benessere dei soggetti coinvolti

Pareto optimality in multilayer network growth

We model the formation of multi-layer transportation networks as a multi-objective optimization process, where service providers compete for passengers, and the creation of routes is determined by a multi-objective cost function encoding a trade-off between efficiency and competition. The resulting model reproduces well real-world systems as diverse as airplane, train and bus networks, thus suggesting that such systems are indeed compatible with the proposed local optimization mechanisms. In the specific case of airline transportation systems, we show that the networks of routes operated by each company are placed very close to the theoretical Pareto front in the efficiency-competition plane, and that most of the largest carriers of a continent belong to the corresponding Pareto front. Our results shed light on the fundamental role played by multi-objective optimization principles in shaping the structure of large-scale multilayer transportation systems, and provide novel insights to service providers on the strategies for the smart selection of novel routes

Compressed air systems: Factors affecting the adoption of measures for improved efficiency

© 2018 eceee and the authors, Stockholm. The sustainability and competitiveness of industrial activities may strongly rely on increased energy efficiency. In that, compressed air could be one of the most expensive forms of energy in industry because of its low efficiency. Nonetheless, compressed air is widely used, and is considered as relevant in many facilities, accounting for even more than ten per cent of industrial electricity consumption in the EU, in US and in China. Moreover, it should be noted that the life-cycle cost of a compressed air system is mostly covered by the operating costs, so that most of the measures to lower energy consumption pay for themselves almost immediately, producing relevant monetary savings. Nevertheless, several studies show that the adoption rate of such Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) is still low. For this reason, we have carefully reviewed scientific and industrial literature over EEMs for Compressed Air Systems (CAS), so to get useful insights into the main factors leading to their adoption. Our study lays a good foundation for a novel framework aimed at describing and characterising EEMs in CAS, revealing that, so far scientific and industrial literature has mostly presented energy and economic factors, thus giving little room to other factors that still could be quite relevant for an effective EEM adoption, such as compatibility of the measure within the production system (e.g., adaptability to different conditions, presence of different pressure loads), complexity of the production system (e.g., accessibility for operational activities, expertise required for implementation), observability of the performance (e.g., impact on air quality and/or safety). The framework could result in a valuable tool offering different perspectives in the decision-making of industrial managers and technology suppliers, as well as industrial policy-makers

A New Model for Solving Hydrological Connectivity Inside Soils by Fast Field Cycling NMR Relaxometry

In this paper, a new quantitative approach for estimating the structural and functional connectivity inside soil by Fast Field Cycling (FFC) NMR relaxometry is presented, tested by measurements carried out in three samples with different texture characteristics. Measurements by FFC NMR relaxometry have been carried out using water-suspended samples and Proton Larmor frequencies (νL) ranging in the 0.015–35 MHz interval. Two non-degraded soil samples, with different textural characteristics, and a degraded soil collected in a badland area, were analyzed. For a given soil and any applied Proton Larmor frequency, the distribution of the longitudinal relaxation times, T1, (i.e., relaxogram) measured by FFC NMR has been integrated, and the resulting S-shaped curve (i.e., relaxogram integration curve) was represented, for the first time, by Gumbel’s diagram. This new representation of the relaxogram integration curve, transforming the S-shaped curve into a straight line, allowed for distinguishing three linear components, corresponding to three different relaxation time ranges, characterized by three different slopes. Two points, identified by the abrupt slope changes of the relaxogram integration curve plotted in Gumbel’s diagram, are used to identify two characteristic values of relaxation time, T1A and T1B, which define three well-known pore size classes (T1 < T1A micro-pores, T1A < T1 < T1B meso-pores, and T1 > T1B macro-pores). The relaxogram integration curve allowed for calculating the non-exceeding empirical cumulative frequency, F(T1), corresponding to the characteristic T1A and T1B values. The analysis demonstrated that the relaxogram can be used to determine the pore-size ranges of each investigated sample. Finally, using the slope values of the three components of the relaxogram integration curve, a new definition of the Structural Connectivity Index, SCI, and Functional Connectivity Index, FCI, was proposed

Effects of biochar addition on rill flow resistance

The development of rills on a hillslope whose soil is amended by biochar remains a topic to be developed. A theoretical rill flow resistance equation, obtained by the integration of a power velocity distribution, was assessed using available measurements at plot scale with a biochar added soil. The biochar was incorporated and mixed with the arable soil using a biochar content BC of 6 and 12 kg m 122. The developed analysis demonstrated that an accurate estimate of the velocity profile parameter \u413v can be obtained by the proposed power equation using an exponent e of the Reynolds number which decreases for increasing BC values. This result pointed out that the increase of bio-char content dumps flow turbulence. The agreement between the measured friction factor values and those calculated by the proposed flow resistance equation, with \u413v values estimated by the power equation calibrated on the available measurements, is characterized by errors which are al-ways less than or equal to \ub110% and less than or equal to \ub13% for 75.0% of cases. In conclusion, the available measurements and the developed analysis allowed for (i) the calibration of the relationship between \u413v, the bed slope, the flow Froude number, and the Reynolds number, (ii) the assessment of the influence of biochar content on flow resistance and, (iii) stating that the theoretical flow resistance equation gives an accurate estimate of the Darcy\u2013Weisbach friction factor for rill flows on biochar added soils

Robust job-sequencing with an uncertain flexible maintenance activity

In this study, the problem of scheduling a set of jobs and one uncertain maintenance activity on a single machine, with the objective of minimizing the makespan is addressed. The maintenance activity has a given duration and must be executed within a given time window. Furthermore, duration and time window of the maintenance are uncertain, and can take different values which can be described by different scenarios. The problem is to determine a job sequence which performs well, in terms of makespan, independently on the possible variation of the data concerning the maintenance. A robust scheduling approach is used for the problem, in which four different measures of robustness are considered, namely, maximum absolute regret, maximum relative regret, worst-case scenario, and ordered weighted averaging. Complexity and approximation results are presented. In particular, we show that, for all the four robustness criteria, the problem is strongly NP-hard. A number of special cases are explored, and an exact pseudopolynomial algorithm based on dynamic programming is devised when the number of scenarios is fixed. Two Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) models are also presented for the general problem. Several computational experiments have been conducted to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the MIP models and of the dynamic programming approach

Two is better than one? Order aggregation in a meal delivery scheduling problem

We address a single-machine scheduling problem motivated by a last-mile-delivery setting for a food company. Customers place orders, each characterized by a delivery point (customer location) and an ideal delivery time. An order is considered on time if it is delivered to the customer within a time window given by the ideal delivery time , where is the same for all orders. A single courier (machine) is in charge of delivery to all customers. Orders are either delivered individually, or two orders can be aggregated in a single courier trip. All trips start and end at the restaurant, so no routing decisions are needed. The problem is to schedule courier trips so that the number of late orders is minimum. We show that the problem with order aggregation is -hard and propose a combinatorial branch and bound algorithm for its solution. The algorithm performance is assessed through a computational study on instances derived by a real-life application and on randomly generated instances. The behavior of the combinatorial algorithm is compared with that of the best ILP formulation known for the problem. Through another set of computational experiments, we also show that an appropriate choice of design parameters allows to apply the algorithm to a dynamic context, with orders arriving over time