Total infrared luminosity estimation from local galaxies in AKARI all sky survey

We aim to use the a new and improved version of AKARI all sky survey catalogue of far-infrared sources to recalibrate the formula to derive the total infrared luminosity. We cross-match the faint source catalogue (FSC) of IRAS with the new AKARI-FIS and obtained a sample of 2430 objects. Then we calculate the total infrared (TIR) luminosity $L_{\textrm{TIR}}$ from the Sanders at al. (1996) formula and compare it with total infrared luminosity from AKARI FIS bands to obtain new coefficients for the general relation to convert FIR luminosity from AKARI bands to the TIR luminosity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

VIPERS : in search for the solution of the riddle of dark energy (and many others)

We present the "VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey" (VIPERS). We discuss the present status of the survey, the data which are already open to the public, and review first scientific results of the project

Extraction of colour inkjet printing inks from printouts for forensic purpose

The ability to differentiate between inkjet printing inks is of great interest in document examination. The aim of this work was to develop a procedure for effective ink extraction so that the ink could be reliably analyzed by capillary electrophoresis. Conditions such as type and composition of extracting mixtures, as well as duration of extraction and sonication procedures were taken into consideration. A set of different agents was used to extract inks of inkjet printers produced by Hewlett-Packard, Canon, Brother, Epson and Lexmark. Extraction efficiency was examined visually and then by means of UV/Vis spectrometry. It was ascertained that the most promising extracting agents are mixtures of borate buffer with SDS and with acetonitrile, or alternatively with methanol, which are both suitable background electrolytes for further CE analysis. However, in some exceptional cases, highly efficient extraction was achieved by a mixture of DMF, DMSO, EtOH and MEE with water

The influence of novel, biocompatible, and bioresorbable poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate) dressings on wound healing in mice

The human body's natural protective barrier, the skin, is exposed daily to minor or major mechanical trauma, which can compromise its integrity. Therefore, the search for new dressing materials that can offer new functionalisation is fully justified. In this work, the development of two new types of dressings based on poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate) (P(3HO)) is presented. One of the groups was supplemented with conjugates of an anti-inflammatory substance (diclofenac) that was covalently linked to oligomers of hydroxycarboxylic acids (Oli-dicP(3HO)). The novel dressings were prepared using the solvent casting/particulate leaching technique. To our knowledge, this is the first paper in which P(3HO)-based dressings were used in mice wound treatment. The results of our research confirm that dressings based on P(3HO) are safe, do not induce an inflammatory response, reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, provide adequate wound moisture, support angiogenesis, and, thanks to their hydrophobic characteristics, provide an ideal protective barrier. Newly designed dressings containing Oli-dicP(3HO) can promote tissue regeneration by partially reducing the inflammation at the injury site. To conclude, the presented materials might be potential candidates as excellent dressings for wound treatment

An artificial protein cage made from a 12-membered ring

Artificial protein cages have great potential in diverse fields including as vaccines and drug delivery vehicles. TRAP-cage is an artificial protein cage notable for the way in which the interface between its ring-shaped building blocks can be modified such that the conditions under which cages disassemble can be controlled. To date, TRAP-cages have been constructed from homo-11mer rings, i.e., hendecamers. This is interesting as convex polyhedra with identical regular faces cannot be formed from hendecamers. TRAP-cage overcomes this limitation due to intrinsic flexibility, allowing slight deformation to absorb any error. The resulting TRAP-cage made from 24 TRAP 11mer rings is very close to regular with only very small errors necessary to allow the cage to form. The question arises as to the limits of the error that can be absorbed by a protein structure in this way before the formation of an apparently regular convex polyhedral becomes impossible. Here we use a naturally occurring TRAP variant consisting of twelve identical monomers (i.e., a dodecamer) to probe these limits. We show that it is able to form an apparently regular protein cage consisting of twelve TRAP rings. Comparison of the cryo-EM structure of the new cage with theoretical models and related cages gives insight into the rules of cage formation and allows us to predict other cages that may be formed given TRAP-rings consisting of different numbers of monomers