Bilocal Dynamics for Self-Avoiding Walks

We introduce several bilocal algorithms for lattice self-avoiding walks that provide reasonable models for the physical kinetics of polymers in the absence of hydrodynamic effects. We discuss their ergodicity in different confined geometries, for instance in strips and in slabs. A short discussion of the dynamical properties in the absence of interactions is given.Comment: 38 LaTeX2e pages with 9 postscript figure

Biofilm contamination in confined space stations: reduction, coexistence or an opportunity?

The prolonged human permanence in confined environments in space, such as in the case of the International Space Station, has inadvertently fostered conditions leading to uncontrolled microbial proliferation on surfaces, known as biofilm. Biofilm presence represents a challenge in critical spacecraft systems, that can lead to contamination issues and systems loss of function due to biofouling phenomena. This scenario is further complicated by microgravity that has a controversial role on biofilm growth and formation. Biocontamination can be a limiting factor in human long-term mission in outer Earth orbit and an economic and health issue on ISS. This study addresses the pressing need for effective antimicrobial strategies against such resilient biofilms in confined environments where the usage of biocidal chemical compounds is strictly controlled due to toxicity dangers. Traditional methods can be complemented by advanced antimicrobial coatings techniques. A promising approach is based on the oxygen plasma as coating platform. The technology can be potentially extended to a wide range of antibiofilm agents (e.g., peptides, bacteriophages, nanoparticles, quorum sensing disrupting agents, etc.) and substrates (e.g., metal, plastic, ceramic) showing an exceptional flexibility. An alternative vision of the biofilm challenge can be inspired by the dual nature of biofilms, addressed as “good” or “bad” depending on the specific application. Indeed, biofilm have a great potential in closed systems as small space habitat (e.g., ISS) that can be inspired by their role in “large space habitat” as planet Earth itself. The replication of such a complex biological equilibrium is an open challenge

Coexistence of three EGFR mutations in an NSCLC patient: A brief report

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) represents a molecular target for tyrosine kinase inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with a mutation in the EGFR gene. Mutations of the EGFR gene that occur at a single position in NSCLC tissue are found as single, whereas two or more mutations on the same allele are poorly detected and investigated

Impact of surfactant polydispersity on the phase and flow behavior in water: the case of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate

This study delves into the impact of molecular polydispersity on the phase behavior of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES) surfactant, aiming to deepen understanding of its implications for fundamental science and industrial applications. SLE3S is utilized as a model compound: a comprehensive characterization of molecular polydispersity is conducted using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, juxtaposing the findings with those for SLE1S. Our comprehensive investigative approach entails: (i) employing Time-Lapse dissolution experiments in microchannel geometries to observe the dissolution and phase transitions; (ii) utilizing polarized light microscopy, confocal microscopy, and Small Angle X-ray Scattering for microstructure identification assessments; (iii) conducting rheological evaluations at various concentrations and temperatures to determine their effects on the surfactant properties. The findings reveal that SLE3S, being more polydisperse, demonstrates complex phase behavior not observed in the less polydisperse SLE1S. Notably, SLE3S exhibits a unique concentration domain, corresponding to a concentration of about 60 %wt, where hexagonal (H), cubic, and lamellar (Lα) phases coexist, resulting in highly viscoelastic heterogeneous mixtures. This behavior is attributed to the local segregation of surfactant components with varying polarity, underscoring the crucial role of molecular polydispersity in the phase behavior of SLES surfactants

Contrastive Learning for Cross-modal Artist Retrieval

Music retrieval and recommendation applications often rely on content features encoded as embeddings, which provide vector representations of items in a music dataset. Numerous complementary embeddings can be derived from processing items originally represented in several modalities, e.g., audio signals, user interaction data, or editorial data. However, data of any given modality might not be available for all items in any music dataset. In this work, we propose a method based on contrastive learning to combine embeddings from multiple modalities and explore the impact of the presence or absence of embeddings from diverse modalities in an artist similarity task. Experiments on two datasets suggest that our contrastive method outperforms single-modality embeddings and baseline algorithms for combining modalities, both in terms of artist retrieval accuracy and coverage. Improvements with respect to other methods are particularly significant for less popular query artists. We demonstrate our method successfully combines complementary information from diverse modalities, and is more robust to missing modality data (i.e., it better handles the retrieval of artists with different modality embeddings than the query artist's)

Diffusion induced anisotropic cancer invasion: A novel experimental method based on tumor spheroids

Tumour invasion is strongly influenced by microenvironment and, among other parameters, chemical stimuli play an important role. An innovative methodology for the quantitative investigation of chemotaxis in vitro by live imaging of morphology of cell spheroids, in 3D collagen gel, is presented here. The assay was performed by using a chemotactic chamber to impose a controlled gradients of nutrients (glucose) on spheroids, mimicking the chemotactic stimuli naturally occurring in the proximity of blood vessels. Different tumoral cell lines (PANC-1 and HT-1080) are compared to non-tumoral ones (NIH/3T3). Morphology response is observed by means a Time-lapse workstation equipped with an incubating system and quantified by image analysis techniques. Description of invasion phenomena was based on an engineering approach, based on transport phenomena concepts. As expected, NIH/3T3 spheroids are characterized by a limited tendency of cells to invade the surrounding tissue, unlike PANC-1 and HT-1080 that show relatively stronger response to gradients.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

PERCEPÇÕES DE LICENCIADOS EM ENFERMAGEM SOBRE REGULAMENTAÇÃO DO EXERCÍCIO DE SUAPROFISSÃO E AUTONOMIA PROFISSIONAL.

Perceptions of a group of nursing graduates in the second level of attention to regulating the exercise of discipline and its relationship to professional autonomyObjective: To determine the perceptions of nursing graduates to perform functions on the second level of attention to regulating the exercise of discipline and its relationship to professional autonomy, public and private institutions of Montevideo. Methodology: The methodology used was qualitative. The study subjects were 11 second-level professional nursing care health provider institutions, which were chosen based on years of practice and the level of care where they played, and in this way achieve the best data. The guiding questionswere: Do you know if existing legislation is a law regulating professional performance? What importance do you give? Regarding the management of patient care: In what ways you consider yourself a freelancer? What over the years youmeet your expectations? Do you feel able to apply their education in practice?Results and Analysis: From the interviews were built 5 categories: Relevance, Significance, Determinants, Independence, Satisfaction, Relationship training - exercise. The analysis of each of these can set starting points for further work to raise, and the importance of the existence of a regulatory framework, elements that influence the graduates’ professional autonomy, independence and sense of job satisfaction, importance of the relationship between training and practice.Este trabajo de investigación aborda la interacción de la autonomía en el trabajo de los Licenciados en Enfermería y el marco legal actual. El Objetivo es conocer la percepción de un grupo de profesionales enfermeros con experiencia laboralen el segundo nivel de atención. Es un estudio cualitativo a nivel descriptivo. Lossujetos de estudio fueron 11 profesionales enfermeros del segundo nivel de atención de instituciones prestadoras de salud, los que se escogieron en función de los años de ejercicio y el nivel de atención donde se desempeñaron. Las preguntas orientadoras fueron las siguientes: ¿Tiene conocimiento si en la legislación existente hay una ley que regule su desempeño como profesional? ¿Qué importancia le da? Referente a la gestión del cuidado de los pacientes: ¿En qué aspectos usted se considera un profesional independiente? ¿A lo largo de estos años usted colmó sus expectativas? ¿Siente que pudo aplicar su formación académica en la práctica? Resultados y análisis: A partir de las entrevistas se construyeron 5 categorías: Relevancia-Trascendencia, Factores determinantes, Independencia, Satisfacción, Relación formación – ejercicio. El análisis de cada una de estas permite establecer puntos de partida para plantear trabajos posteriores, como la importancia de la existencia de un marco regulatorio, elementos que condicionan la autonomía profesional de los licenciados, percepciónde independencia y de satisfacción laboral, importancia de la relación existente entre la formación y el ejercicio profesional.Abordamos a interação, da autonomia no trabalho dos rofissionais em Enfermagem e o legal atual. O Objetivo é conhecer a percepção de um grupode profissionais enfermeiros com experiencia trabalhista no segundo nível de atendimento da cidade de Montevidéu. É uma pesquisa qualitativa a nível descritiva. Os participantes da pesquisa foram 11 profissionais enfermeiros do segundonível de atendimento de instituições prestadoras de saúde, os quais foramescolhidos em função dos anos de exercício e o nível de atendimento on de se desempenharam. As perguntas orientadoras foram as seguintes: Temconhecimentos se nalegislaçãoexistenteháuma lei que regule seu desempenho como profissional? Qué importancia lhedá?Referente à gestão do cuidado dos pacientes: Em que aspectos seconsidera um profissional independente? Ao longodestes ano ssatisfez suas expectativas? Sente que pôde aplicar sua formação acadêmica na prática? Resultados e análises: A partir das entrevistas foramconstruídas 5categorias: Relevância-Trascendência, Fatores determinantes, Independência, Satisfação, Relação formação – exercício. A análise de cada uma destas permite establecer pontos de partida para pôrem questã o trabalhos posteriores, como a importância da existência de um marco regulatório, elementos quecondicionam a autonomía profissional dos licenciados, percepção de independência e de satisfação trabalhista, importância da relação existente entre a formação e o exercício profissional

Neurotensin as Modulator of Basal Ganglia- Thalamocortical Motor Circuit – Emerging Evidence for Neurotensin NTS1 Receptor as a Potential Target in Parkinson\u27s Disease

This chapter is focused on the putative role of neurotensin in the development of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder mainly characterized by a progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons (Schimpff et al., 2001). Although a direct causal role of neurotensin in Parkinson’s disease has not yet clearly demonstrated, some convincing animal and human studies support the potential role of the peptide in the etiopathogenesis of this motor disorder. Special emphasis is placed on the significance that neurotensin plays on basal ganglia neuroplasticity and neurodegeneration. This is mainly supported by recent findings clearly demonstrating that neurotensin enhances glutamate excitotoxicity in mesencephalic dopamine neurons and that neurotensin receptors are involved in the modulation of NMDA-induced excitotoxicity (Antonelli et al., 2002; 2004). Through these mechanisms neurotensin could contribute to the development and/or the progression of neurodegenerative disorders. The possible use of neurotensin receptor antagonists, in combination with conventional therapy, in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, is also discussed

Compressional stress stiffening & softening of soft hydrogels - how to avoid artefacts in their rheological characterisation

Hydrogels have been successfully employed as analogues of the extracellular matrix to study biological processes such as cells' migration, growth, adhesion and differentiation. These are governed by many factors, including the mechanical properties of hydrogels; yet, a one-to-one correlation between the viscoelastic properties of gels and cell fate is still missing from literature. In this work we provide experimental evidence supporting a possible explanation for the persistence of this knowledge gap. In particular, we have employed common tissues' surrogates such as polyacrylamide and agarose gels to elucidate a potential pitfall occurring when performing rheological characterisations of soft-materials. The issue is related to (i) the normal force applied to the samples \textit{prior} to performing the rheological measurements, which may easily drive the outcomes of the investigation outside the materials' linear viscoelastic regime, especially when tests are performed with (ii) geometrical tools having unbefitting dimensions (i.e., too small). We corroborate that biomimetic hydrogels can show either compressional stress softening or stiffening, and we provide a simple solution to quench these undesired phenomena, which would likely lead to potentially misleading conclusions if they were not mitigated by a good practice in performing rheological measurements, as elucidated in this work