miRNA Expression Is Increased in Serum from Patients with Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) damages the parts of the brain that control speech and language. There are three clinical PPA variants: nonfluent/agrammatic (nfvPPA), logopenic (lvPPA) and semantic (svPPA). The pathophysiology underlying PPA variants is not fully understood, including the role of micro (mi)RNAs which were previously shown to play a role in several neurodegenerative diseases. Using a two-step analysis (array and validation through real-time PCR), we investigated the miRNA expression pattern in serum from 54 PPA patients and 18 controls. In the svPPA cohort, we observed a generalized upregulation of miRNAs with miR-106b-5p and miR-133a-3p reaching statistical significance (miR-106b-5p: 2.69 ± 0.89 mean ± SD vs. 1.18 ± 0.28, p < 0.0001; miR-133a-3p: 2.09 ± 0.10 vs. 0.74 ± 0.11 mean ± SD, p = 0.0002). Conversely, in lvPPA, the majority of miRNAs were downregulated. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analyses revealed that target genes of both miRNAs are involved in pathways potentially relevant for the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. This is the first study that investigates the expression profile of circulating miRNAs in PPA variant patients. We identified a specific miRNA expression profile in svPPA that could differentiate this pathological condition from other PPA variants. Nevertheless, these preliminary results need to be confirmed in a larger independent cohort.     

Combined Siphon and Marking Generation for Deadlock Prevention in Petri Nets

In Petri-net (PN) modeling of flexible manufacturing systems, deadlock prevention is often addressed by means of siphon-control methods. Constraints that avoid the emptying of siphons can be easily implemented using additional places suitably connected to the PN transitions. Efficient siphon-based techniques achieve highly permissive solutions using as few control places as possible. One such technique employs a set-covering approach to optimally match emptiable siphons to critical markings. In this paper, a modified version of the method is proposed that achieves the same results in terms of permissivity and size of the control subnet but avoids full siphon enumeration. This greatly reduces the overall computational time and memory requirements and allows the applicability of the method to large-size models.     

A study of organic substances as inhibitors for chloride-induced corrosion in concrete

Chloride-induced corrosion of carbon steel reinforcement is the most important cause of premature failure on reinforced concrete structures. Among available methods, corrosion inhibitors offer a simple and cost effective prevention technique, primarily to prevent and stop chloride-induced corrosion. Nevertheless, performance of commercial inhibitors is only partially satisfactory. This paper deals with a basic study on the inhibitive action of organic substances toward chloride-induced corrosion on carbon steel rebar in alkaline environment. The effect of aminic and carboxylic groups was investigated through electrochemical potentiodynamic polarisation tests in simulating concrete pore solution in the presence of chlorides, to ascertain inhibitor effectiveness to increase pitting potential. Results are discussed taking into account the most likely mechanism of inhibition, in relation to the functional group of tested organic compounds.     

A Double-Layer Reduced Model for Fault Flow on Slipping Domains with an Hybrid Finite Volume Scheme

In this work we are interested in single-phase flows in fractured porous media for underground processes. We focus our attention on domains where the presence of faults, with thickness several orders of magnitude smaller than other characteristic sizes, can allow one part of the domain to slide past to the other. We propose a mathematical scheme where a reduced model for the fault flows is employed yielding a problem of co-dimension one. The hybrid finite volume method is used to obtain the discretized problem, which uses two different meshes on each side of the fault. These two meshes can move with the corresponding domain, resulting in non-matching grids between the two parts of the fault. In an earlier paper a mathematical scheme was proposed where the numerical discretization considers the hybrid finite volume method. In this paper we focus on the well-posedness of the continuous problem, the convergence of the discretized problem, and we support the theoretical findings with several numerical tests.     

Iron,Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbon Spheres as Low Cost,Scalable Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Atomically dispersed transition metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts are emerging as low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. However, a cost-effective and scalable synthesis strategy for these catalysts is still required, as well as a greater understanding of their mechanisms. Herein, iron, nitrogen co-doped carbon spheres (Fe@NCS) have been prepared via hydrothermal carbonization and high-temperature post carbonization. It is determined that FeN₄ is the main form of iron existing in the obtained Fe@NCS. Two different precursors containing Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ are compared. Both chemical and structural differences have been observed in catalysts starting from Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ precursors. Fe²⁺@NCS-A (starting with Fe²⁺ precursor) shows better catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. This catalyst is studied in an anion exchange membrane fuel cell. The high open-circuit voltage demonstrates the potential approach for developing high-performance, low-cost fuel cell catalysts.     

Analysis of the Drying Kinetics of Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. Stapf) Grass Seeds at Different Drying Modes

Forage grass seeds have a high economical importance in the Brazilian bovine cattle breeding and seed drying is a fundamental stage of processing to guarantee their stability and allow their storage for long periods. In this context, the objective of this work was to develop a pilot-scale belt dryer, which operates also as a fixed and fluidized bed. Brachiaria brizantha seeds dehydration was analyzed under different air velocities and temperatures. Experimental data of moisture content variation along the drying time was successfully fit to a one-term exponential model. The experimental drying rate points were calculated by approximating the derivatives to finite differences. Its behavior was accomplished fitting curves of the drying rate versus water content and time. Finally, fissure, germination, and vigor rates were analyzed as a function of the drying conditions so that the experimental conditions combine the best process efficiency with the best physiological quality maintenance.     

Spectroscopy of the shear force interaction in scanning near-field optical microscopy

Shear force detection is a common method of tip-sample distance control in scanning near-field optical microscopy. Shear force is the force acting on a laterally oscillating probe tip near a surface. Despite its frequent use, the nature of the interaction between tip and sample surface is a matter of debate. In order to investigate the problem, approach curves, i.e. amplitude and phase of the tip oscillation as a function of the tip-sample distance, are studied in terms of a harmonic oscillator model. The extracted force and damping constants are influenced by the substrate material. The character of the interaction ranges from elastic to dissipative. The interaction range is of atomic dimensions with a sharp onset. Between a metal-coated tip and a Cu sample, a power law for the force-distance curve is observed.     

Electrophotocatalytic decolorization of an azo dye on TiO2 self-organized nanotubes in a laboratory scale reactor

It was investigated the feasibility of decolorization of an azo dye (DG 26) using a large scale nanotubular TiO₂ structured electrode in a laboratory photoelectrochemical reactor (0.8 L). Catalyst was grown by anodic oxidation directly on Ti surface and its microstructure and crystalline structure were characterized with SEM and XRD. TiO₂/Ti photoactivity under different anodic polarization values was evaluated via photoelectrochemical tests. The nanostructured TiO₂ was used in a reactor as photo-anode under UV monochromatic irradiation (254 nm) and it was subjected to bias (+ 1.5 V vs. SCE). A comparison with photolysis and photocatalysis processes was carried out under the same operating conditions to evaluate the synergistic action of photocatalysis and TiO₂/Ti electrochemical polarization.Electrophotocatalysis was proven to be more effective than photocatalysis in DG 26 decolorization. Catalyst polarization resulted in synergistic effect on process yields. The complete decolorization of a 40 mg/L solution of DG 26 was achieved in 24 h, without adding chemical reagents, and catalyst durability was demonstrated over 360 h tests. Therefore, the work done is challenging to prove that the process (irradiation + catalyst + polarization) is feasible and effectively up-grading to pilot and demonstrative scale applications after a fluid dynamics optimization of the photoreactor.