Multivariate data analysis of some xenobiotic trace metals in mussels from the Gulf of Trieste

Summary The concentration of Cd, Hg and Pb in the soft part of mussels has been studied by means of bi-and multi-variate statistical approaches. In particular, the principal component analysis has been applied to study the association among these toxic metals in mussels sampled from the gulf of Trieste, which is a critical area as far as mercury pollution is concerned.

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Mehrdimensionale Analyse der Daten einiger xenobiotischer Spurenmetalle in Miesmuscheln aus dem Golf von Triest

Zusammenfassung Der Gehalt von Cd, Hg und Pb in Miesmuschelfleisch wurde nach einer statistischen mehrdimensionalen Analyse untersucht. Besonders wurde die Hauptkomponentenanalyse zum Studium der Assoziationen dieser toxischen Metalle in Miesmuscheln angewandt. Die Miesmuschelproben stammten aus dem Golf von Triest, ein kritisches Gebiet für Quecksilberverunreinigungen.

     

Principal component analysis as a tool for studying interdependences among trace metals in edible mussels from the gulf of Trieste

Summary Principal component analysis has been applied to analyze the correlation matrix obtained from a (6 × 44) data matrix. The 6 trace metals are Co, Ni, Cu, Cd, Hg, and Pb, which are contained in the soft part of edible mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck) from a hatchery on the gulf of Trieste. In the space of eigenvectors, the dimensions are reduced to 3 principal axes, which account for about 77% of the total variance.The unrotated factor matrix obtained by the principal components shows that Co, Ni and Cu are bonded to the first principal component, Cd and Pb to the second, Hg to the third. This picture is also assessed by the Varimax-rotated matrix and it is tentatively explained, at least in part, by considering the associations of the trace metals from various geographical sources.

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Hauptkomponentenanalyse für das Studium der Assoziationen unter Spurenmetallen in Miesmuscheln im Golf von Triest

Zusammenfassung Die Hauptkomponentenanalyse wurde auf die Korrelationsmatrix, die aus der (6 × 44) Datenmatrix hervorgeht, angewandt. Die 6 Spurenmetalle sind Co, Ni, Cu, Cd, Hg, Pb, die im Miesmuschelnfleisch (Mytilus galloprovineialis Lamarck) gefunden werden. Die Miesmuschelnproben stammen aus der Zucht des Golfes von Triest. In dem Eigenvektorraum werden die Dimensionen auf drei Hauptachsen reduziert, die ungefähr 77% der totalen Varianz erklären.Die unrotierte Faktorenmatrix, die aus den Hauptkomponenten hervorgeht, zeigt, daß Co, Ni, Cu an die erste Hauptkomponente, Cd und Pb an die zweite, Hg an die dritte gebunden sind. Dieses Bild wird von der Varimax-rotierten Matrix bestätigt und es findet eine Erklärung in der Herkunft der Spurenmetalle.

     

Synthesis,characterization and evaluation of phosphorylated resins in the removal of Pb<Superscript>2+</Superscript> from aqueous solutions

Phosphinic-derivative poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene)-based on PS–DVB copolymers with different porosity degrees have been prepared by aromatic electrophilic substitution reaction using PCl₃/AlCl₃ followed by base-promoted hydrolysis. The phosphorylation reaction was analyzed by infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetry (TG/DTG). In addition, the phosphorous content of the phosphorylated copolymers was determined by spectrophotometry using the method based on sodium molybdate reactant so that the extension of that modification could be assessed. The performance of the phosphorylated resins in the extraction of Pb²⁺ from aqueous solutions in a batch system was also evaluated. The Pb²⁺ content was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). These materials presented excellent extraction capacity under the contact time of 30 min and pH 6.     

Chelating resins for mercury extraction based on grafting of polyacrylamide chains onto styrene–divinylbenzene copolymers by gamma irradiation

Chelating resins for mercury adsorption were prepared by grafting polyacrylamide chains onto styrene–divinylbenzene (Sty–DVB) copolymers by applying gamma radiation. Sty–DVB copolymers were synthesized by aqueous suspension polymerization employing different synthesis conditions. The copolymers were characterized by apparent density, surface area, pore size distribution and swelling capacity. The copolymers were irradiated using a ⁶⁰Co-γ source at room temperature in the presence of acrylamide solution in methanol. The grafting reaction was evaluated with the aid of elemental analysis, FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Hg(II) uptake measurements were carried out in batch experiments. The results showed that these resins can be successfully used for Hg(II) adsorption at ppm levels. The porosity degree of the copolymers influences the grafting yield as well as the Hg(II) complexation capacity of the chelating resins.     

Monogenic Autoinflammatory Diseases: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Systemic autoinflammatory diseases are a heterogeneous family of disorders characterized by a dysregulation of the innate immune system, in which sterile inflammation primarily develops through antigen-independent hyperactivation of immune pathways. In most cases, they have a strong genetic background, with mutations in single genes involved in inflammation. Therefore, they can derive from different pathogenic mechanisms at any level, such as dysregulated inflammasome-mediated production of cytokines, intracellular stress, defective regulatory pathways, altered protein folding, enhanced NF-kappaB signalling, ubiquitination disorders, interferon pathway upregulation and complement activation. Since the discover of pathogenic mutations of the pyrin-encoding gene MEFV in Familial Mediterranean Fever, more than 50 monogenic autoinflammatory diseases have been discovered thanks to the advances in genetic sequencing: the advent of new genetic analysis techniques and the discovery of genes involved in autoinflammatory diseases have allowed a better understanding of the underlying innate immunologic pathways and pathogenetic mechanisms, thus opening new perspectives in targeted therapies. Moreover, this field of research has become of great interest, since more than a hundred clinical trials for autoinflammatory diseases are currently active or recently concluded, allowing us to hope for considerable acquisitions for the next few years. General paediatricians need to be aware of the importance of this group of diseases and they should consider autoinflammatory diseases in patients with clinical hallmarks, in order to guide further examinations and refer the patient to a specialist rheumatologist. Here we resume the pathogenesis, clinical aspects and diagnosis of the most important autoinflammatory diseases in children.     

Olive mill wastewaters decontamination based on organo-nano-clay composites

Green composites for environmental applications were successfully prepared by intercalation of the biosurfactant Quillaja saponin onto montmorillonite mineral clay on varying pH and surfactant/clay ratio. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms were constructed and the system was characterized by performing TGA and XRD analyses.The efficiency of the surfactant-modified clay in the removal of the organic content present in olive mill wastewaters (OMW) was evaluated by means of spectrophotometric measurements. The interest for this cogent issue comes from the consideration that, despite their high pollutant content, OMW can be considered as a potential resource of several organic compounds which can be recovered for a wide array of pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Two different strategies were proposed. In the first one, dried surfactant/clay hybrids were added to the batch samples under continuous stirring, while in the second alternative approach the organoclays were packed in chromatography column filled with multiple alternate layers of sand and organoclay.These studies revealed the efficacy of the methods used and suggested that the modification of the montmorillonite clay substrate significantly improves the performance of the clay.     

Dietetic determinants on food intake and effects in body weight regulation

Obesity is a multifactorial pathology currently considered one of the main public health problems. Its prevalence is increasing dramatically in the last decades, reaching huge rates in Brazil and many other countries. Regardless of the factors associated with genetic predisposition, this pathology is often associated with abnormal food intake, and also with high consumption of caloric foods and sedentary habits. Thus, obesity is the result of an imbalance between food intake and energy expenditure. One of the greatest research interests in nutrition has currently been the dietetic determinants that may exert an influence on the process of food intake, as well as the role of foods on physiological, physical and chemical factors most related to the processes of satiation and satiety. Based on these aspects, this paper analyzes several research works to gain a better insight of the dietetic factors affecting food intake and body weight regulation.     

A biased random‐key genetic algorithm for OSPF and DEFT routing to minimize network congestion

Interior gateway routing protocols like Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Distributed Exponentially Weighted Flow Splitting (DEFT) send flow through forward links toward the destination node. OSPF routes only on shortest‐weight paths, whereas DEFT sends flow on all forward links, but with an exponential penalty on longer paths. Finding suitable weights for these protocols is known as the weight setting problem (WSP). In this paper, we present a biased random‐key genetic algorithm for WSP using both protocols. The algorithm uses dynamic flow and dynamic shortest path computations. We report computational experiments that show that DEFT achieves less network congestion when compared with OSPF, while, however, yielding larger delays.     

Knowledge representation of the software architecture design process based on situation calculus

Software architecture design is an interactive, complex, decision‐making process. Such a design process involves the exploration, evaluation, and composition of design alternatives. Increasingly, new computer‐aided tools are available to help designers in these complex activities. However, these tools do not know how design is actually done, in other words, by means of which design activities the final artefact was obtained. In fact, the architectural design knowledge exclusively rests in the mind of designers, and there is an urgent need to move it, as much as possible, to a computer‐supported environment that enables the capture of this type of knowledge. This contribution addresses this need by introducing a model for capturing how products under development are generated and transformed along the software architecture design process. The proposed model follows an operational perspective, where architectural design decisions are modelled by means of sequences of operations that are applied on the design products. Situation calculus is used to formally express the existence of an object in a given state of a design process. In addition, this formalism allows us expressing without ambiguities when an operation can be performed in a specific state of the design process.