Extraction and characterization of hydroxyapatite-based materials from grey triggerfish skin and black scabbardfish bones

The conversion of food industry by-products to compounds with high added value is nowadays a significant topic, for social, environmental, and economic reasons. In this paper, calcium phosphate-based materials were obtained from black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo) bones and grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) skin, which are two of the most abundant fish by-products of Madeira Island. Different calcination temperatures between 400 and 1000°C were employed. Materials obtained from calcination of bones of black scabbard fish were composed by homogeneous mixtures of hydroxyapatite (Ca₁₀(PO4)₆(OH)₂, HAp) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂, β-TCP). Because of the high biocompatibility of HAp and the good resorbability of β-TCP, these natural biphasic materials could be very relevant in the field of biomaterials, as bone grafts. The ratio between HAp and β-TCP in the biphasic compound was dependent on the calcination temperature. Differently, the material obtained from skin of grey triggerfish contained HAp as the main phase, together with small amounts of other mineral phases, such as halite and rhenanite, which are known to enhance osteogenesis when used as bone substitutes. In both cases, the increase of calcination temperature led to an increase in the particles size with a consequent decrease in their specific surface area. These results demonstrate that from the fish by-products of the most consumed fishes in Madeira Island it is possible to obtain bioceramic materials with tunable composition and particle morphology, which could be promising materials for the biomedical field.     

How to Valorize Peanut Shells by a Simple Thermal-Catalytic Method

Topics in Catalysis - In this work, a simple thermal-catalytic system was used to valorize peanut shells (Arachis hypogaea), the residual biomass from the peanut industry. To accomplish this...     

Sofosbuvir Selects for Drug-Resistant Amino Acid Variants in the Zika Virus RNA-Dependent RNA-Polymerase Complex In Vitro

The nucleotide analog sofosbuvir, licensed for the treatment of hepatitis C, recently revealed activity against the Zika virus (ZIKV) in vitro and in animal models. However, the ZIKV genetic barrier to sofosbuvir has not yet been characterized. In this study, in vitro selection experiments were performed in infected human hepatoma cell lines. Increasing drug pressure significantly delayed viral breakthrough (p = 0.029). A double mutant in the NS5 gene (V360L/V607I) emerged in 3 independent experiments at 40–80 µM sofosbuvir resulting in a 3.9 ± 0.9-fold half- maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) shift with respect to the wild type (WT) virus. A triple mutant (C269Y/V360L/V607I), detected in one experiment at 80 µM, conferred a 6.8-fold IC₅₀ shift with respect to the WT. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that the double mutant V360L/V607I impacts the binding mode of sofosbuvir, supporting its role in sofosbuvir resistance. Due to the distance from the catalytic site and to the lack of reliable structural data, the contribution of C269Y was not investigated in silico. By a combination of sequence analysis, phenotypic susceptibility testing, and molecular modeling, we characterized a double ZIKV NS5 mutant with decreased sofosbuvir susceptibility. These data add important information to the profile of sofosbuvir as a possible lead for anti-ZIKV drug development.     

Identification of vivianite,an unusual blue pigment,in a sixteenth century painting and its implications

Vivianite, a blue pigment employed in the past practically only in Northern and Central Europe, but with very limited use, was identified in an early sixteenth century painting, stylistically with Flemish features, from a church in Portugal. The identification of this iron phosphate mineral was made by SEM‐EDS based on the atomic ratio between phosphorus and iron in layers of blue paint (area analysis) and in particles of these same layers (spot analysis). This painting, about which there is no document to prove its authorship, becomes the first case, known in detail, of a sixteenth century painting containing vivianite. Moreover, this find and the presence of a chalk ground, also identified, strongly support the hypothesis of being a Flemish painting.     

Joint scheduling and power control supporting multicasting in wireless ad hoc networks

This paper addresses the problem of power control in a multihop wireless network supporting multicast traffic. We face the problem of forwarding packet traffic to multicast group members while meeting constraints on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the intended receivers. First, we present a distributed algorithm which, given the set of multicast senders and their corresponding receivers, provides an optimal solution when it exists, which minimizes the total transmit power. When no optimal solution can be found for the given set of multicast senders and receivers, we introduce a distributed, joint scheduling and power control algorithm which eliminates the weak connections and tries to maximize the number of successful multicast transmissions. The algorithm allows the other senders to solve the power control problem and minimize the total transmit power. We show that our distributed algorithm converges to the optimal solution when it exists, and performs close to centralized, heuristic algorithms that have been proposed to address the joint scheduling and power control problem.     

TCP Performance in Optical Packet-switched Networks

Optical packet assembly is a key function to support inter-working between TCP/IP networks and optical packet-switched networks. It is characterized by the assembly delay and by the segment aggregation needed to form an optical packet. These counter-balancing aspects depend on several environment variables, such as the TCP parameters, the access link speed, the optical packet size whose effects are studied in this paper. Performance evaluations are obtained by extensive simulations in terms of send rate of TCP flows, fairness, efficiency, and assembly delay. Some guidelines in the design of optical packets that take into account the results presented are given.     

Assessing organo-clay dispersion in polymer layered silicate nanocomposites: A SAXS approach

A SAXS method for the quantitative assessment of the morphology of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites is proposed. Fitting the SAXS patterns, the number of clay layers, the periodicity of the layers in the tactoids, the thickness of the regions interposed between the clay platelets and their distributions can be measured. A good agreement with TEM data was obtained, avoiding the inconsistencies with microscopical observations often reported in the literature.     

Studies of the influence of alloying elements on the growth of ferrite from austenite under decarburization conditions: Fe-C-Nl alloys

We have evaluated controlled decarburization as a method for probing the effect of alloying elements on ferrite growth from austenite. The technique permits the exploration of longer-time ferrite layer growth; it minimizes the effects of interface structure on ferrite growth; and it permits the isolation of the effects of temperature and alloying element concentration on ferrite/austenite interface motion. The study of the decarburization of initially homogeneous Fe-C-Ni alloys was complemented by experiments using specimens with a controlled nickel concentration gradient. Although the decarburization method yields consistent results at longer times, it is found to be less appropriate for the study of initial ferrite growth. Nucleation in the gas/solid interface region, coupled with uncertainties about the precise time of decarburization, leads to large relative errors at the earliest times. For these reasons, the method is considered a valuable complement to studies based on precipitation boundary conditions. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium “The Effects of Alloying Elements on the Gamma to Alpha Transformation in Steels,” October 6, 2002, at the TMS Fall Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, under the auspices of the McMaster Centre for Steel Research and the TMS-ASM Phase Transformations Committee.     

Feminist identity and feminist therapy behaviors of women psychotherapists.

Investigated whether (1) feminist identity development for women therapists was related to their use of feminist therapy behaviors (FTBs) and (2) feminist identity development and use of FTBs for women therapists were related to self-identification as a feminist therapist. 153 women psychologists (aged 30–77 yrs) were administered a women's issues in therapy questionnaire, which included a short version of the Feminist Identity Scale (FIS; K. M. Rickard, 1989, 1990). Ss were categorized into stages of feminine identity development according to their scores on 4 subscales of the FIS: Passive-Acceptance (PA), Revelation (REV), Embeddedness (EMB), and Synthesis (SYN). Ss scoring high on SYN and REV, and low on PA, reported greater use of FTBs; scores on the EMB were not related to the use of FTBs. All 4 subscales were predictive of women therapists who self-identified as feminist therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Geolocation and pointing accuracy analysis for the WindSat sensor

Geolocation and pointing accuracy analyses of the WindSat flight data are presented. The two topics were intertwined in the flight data analysis and will be addressed together. WindSat has no unusual geolocation requirements relative to other sensors, but its beam pointing knowledge accuracy is especially critical to support accurate polarimetric radiometry. Pointing accuracy was improved and verified using geolocation analysis in conjunction with scan bias analysis. Two methods were needed to properly identify and differentiate between data time tagging and pointing knowledge errors. Matchups comparing coastlines indicated in imagery data with their known geographic locations were used to identify geolocation errors. These coastline matchups showed possible pointing errors with ambiguities as to the true source of the errors. Scan bias analysis of U, the third Stokes parameter, and of vertical and horizontal polarizations provided measurement of pointing offsets resolving ambiguities in the coastline matchup analysis. Several geolocation and pointing bias sources were incrementally eliminated resulting in pointing knowledge and geolocation accuracy that met all design requirements.