NIR Organic Dyes as Innovative Tools for Reprocessing/Recycling of Plastics: Benefits of the Photothermal Activation in the Near-Infrared Range

Photoinduced thermal polymerization upon Near-InfraRed (NIR) light has been recently reported in the literature as an efficient tool for polymer synthesis. In this work, a completely different approach is developed since polymeric materials containing a very low amount of a stimuli-responsive compound are prepared by using a benchmark UV photoinitiator. As the stimuli-responsive compound, an organic dye strongly absorbing in the near-infrared region is selected. The heat released by its irradiation with an inexpensive and highly penetrating NIR light source allows the development of an unprecedented approach for reprocessing, reshaping, recycling, and self-healing. Several parameters have been studied in order to determine their influence on the polymer temperature: the wavelength of the NIR irradiation, the irradiance of the NIR light source, the choice of heater (IR-813 p-toluenesulfonate or a squaraine dye), and the heater concentration. The thermoplastics bonding and debonding has also been studied and showed promising results since two pieces of polymers could be pasted together after a short time of NIR irradiation. Finally, self-healing ability of the thermoplastic is investigated and furnished impressive results even for large scratches.     

Can water level stations be used for thermal assessment in aquatic ecosystem?

Many studies focus on stream water temperature (WT) because it is considered a key ecological factor. However, few of them have investigated the use of WT data from water level monitoring networks, which often measure WT as ancillary data. Our study was conducted in southern Belgium at a high temporal resolution with continuous data recorded at intervals of 10 min between 2012 and 2016 and large spatial scale greater than 16,000 km². This study aimed to assess whether a regional water level network (140 stations) is reliable for continuous WT monitoring based on a Bland–Altman analysis with WT collected through a European monitoring network (Water Framework Directive). This study also investigates whether WT data acquired by water level stations can be used to perform both state‐of‐the‐art visualization of thermal regimes and spatio‐temporal queries for specific ecological monitoring. We found that the water level stations were reliable tools in recording continuous WT in the streams of the study area. The temperature difference between the two WT monitoring networks was ?0.57°C on average. Our positive results promote the use of WT from water level stations in order to globally characterize the thermal regime of streams as well as to provide spatial or temporal information on this regime at high frequencies. As an example, our data showed the effectiveness for brown trout (Salmo trutta fario L.) in spatializing thermal risk areas related to the thermal requirement of this fish species; in 2015, 19% of stations located in brown trout fish zone recorded temperatures above 25°C.     

IL-15 Prevents Renal Fibrosis by Inhibiting Collagen Synthesis: A New Pathway in Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), secondary to renal fibrogenesis, is a public health burden. The activation of interstitial myofibroblasts and excessive production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are major events leading to end-stage kidney disease. Recently, interleukin-15 (IL-15) has been implicated in fibrosis protection in several organs, with little evidence in the kidney. Since endogenous IL-15 expression decreased in nephrectomized human allografts evolving toward fibrosis and kidneys in the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model, we explored IL-15’s renoprotective role by pharmologically delivering IL-15 coupled or not with its soluble receptor IL-15Rα. Despite the lack of effects on myofibroblast accumulation, both IL-15 treatments prevented tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) in UUO as characterized by reduced collagen and fibronectin deposition. Moreover, IL-15 treatments inhibited collagen and fibronectin secretion by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-treated primary myofibroblast cultures, demonstrating that the antifibrotic effect of IL-15 in UUO acts, in part, through a direct inhibition of ECM synthesis by myofibroblasts. In addition, IL-15 treatments resulted in decreased expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and subsequent macrophage infiltration in UUO. Taken together, our study highlights a major role of IL-15 on myofibroblasts and macrophages, two main effector cells in renal fibrosis, demonstrating that IL-15 may represent a new therapeutic option for CKD.     

ST6GALNAC5 Expression Decreases the Interactions between Breast Cancer Cells and the Human Blood-Brain Barrier

The ST6GALNAC5 gene that encodes an α2,6-sialyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of α-series gangliosides, was previously identified as one of the genes that mediate breast cancer metastasis to the brain. We have shown that the expression of ST6GALNAC5 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells resulted in the expression of G_D1α ganglioside at the cell surface. By using a human blood-brain barrier in vitro model recently developed, consisting in CD34⁺ derived endothelial cells co-cultivated with pericytes, we show that ST6GALNAC5 expression decreased the interactions between the breast cancer cells and the human blood-brain barrier.     

Influence of food odorant names on the verbal measurement of emotions

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of food odorant names on feelings through the verbal measurement of emotions. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, 88 participants were asked to report their feelings about 17 food odorants, randomly presented in six sensory booth sessions and in three conditions. In two conditions, an actual odorant was presented blind or in association with its name. In a third condition, only the odorant name was presented. Feeling measurements were conducted by using the ScentMove^TM questionnaire (Porcherot et al., 2010). Participants also rated the familiarity, acceptability, and typicality of the odorants. Results indicated that the odorant name information may influence the reported feelings, as already observed by several authors for traditional liking assessments, with differences among feeling dimensions and odorants. The odorants could be gathered into four groups, with either matches between expected feelings from the odorant name and experienced feelings from the smell evaluation for eight odorants (e.g., caramel, citrus, and mint), or discrepancies between expected and experience feelings for nine odorants, and with no effect of the odorant name information (e.g., strawberry, vanilla), few, or high positive effects of the odorant name information (e.g., cola, chicken). Typicality scores did not differ between the different groups, showing that higher odorant typicality would not systematically result in a match between expectation and experience, or in a positive effect of the name information. It was therefore investigated in a second experiment if the group constitution could be explained by the odorant recognition scores that were measured from a free recognition task for the 17 odorants presented in the blind condition. The results of the two experiments are discussed in relation to dissimilarities between smell and food experiences and to lack of context.     

Development of an accurate and sensitive gas chromatographic method for the determination of acrolein content in Calvados and cider

Acrolein can be at the origin of an important organoleptic defect in beverages made from apples. Its content was investigated in freshly distilled Calvados and cider. The specificity of 3-methylbenzothiazolone hydrazine (MBTH) towards carbonyl compounds was used in order to derive acrolein in azines. Azines were separated and detected by gas chromatography coupled with a nitrogen-phosphorus Detector. Results showed that acrolein concentrations could be quickly determined in either Calvados or cider. Accuracy of quantification was better than 6% for concentrations about 1 mg/l in freshly distilled Calvados and 10% for concentrations about 10 μg/l in ciders. Acrolein content was found between 0.7 and 5.2 mg/l in samples of freshly distilled Calvados whereas it was between 7 and 15 μg/l in samples of cider. This method of quantification was applied to study disappearance kinetics of acrolein in cider. Acrolein content was found to decrease rapidly during the first hours and to change very slowly after a few days. Its behaviour during a distillation was also investigated showing that in spite of its high volatility it could also be found in the last fractions of distillation.     

Non-profit housing,a tool for metropolitan cohesion? The case of the Vienna–Bratislava region

Non-profit housing has a long history both in Austria and in Slovakia, even if recent socio-economic and political transformations question this model born in the nineteenth century. This type of housing is considered as affordable housing according to a generalist conception in Austria and a residual one in Slovakia. But in spite of divergences in their national housing policies, both countries are facing common challenges which are epitomised in the Vienna–Bratislava region. This article analyses the role of non-profit housing in bringing more cohesion to a growing but fragmented metropolitan region.