Evaluating The Extent of Bio-Polyester Polymerization in Solid Wood by Thermogravimetric Analysis

In this study, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique has been applied to determine the extent of in situ polymerization achievable in solid wood on treating with bio-polyester oligomers. Low-molecular-weight oligomers of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), and poly(butylene adipate) (PBA) were impregnated and then thermally polymerized within solid wood to enhance the physical properties of wood. TGA revealed a similar degree of oligomer polymerization was achieved either with pure oligomers or within the wood structure. The influence of relatively acidic treatments, such as low-molecular-weight PGA oligomers, was observed to lead to degradation of the hemicellulose wood component. Polymerization of PLA and PGA oligomer treatments which penetrate the wood cell wall gave relatively lower wood thermal stability. Treatment and polymerization of lumen filling PBS and PBA oligomers contributed to increased wood thermal stability.     

CUSUM charts for detecting special causes in integrated process control

This paper investigates control charts for detecting special causes in an ARIMA(0, 1, 1) process that is being adjusted automatically after each observation using a minimum mean‐squared error adjustment policy. It is assumed that the adjustment mechanism is designed to compensate for the inherent variation due to the ARIMA(0, 1, 1) process, but it is desirable to detect and eliminate special causes that occur occasionally and produce additional process variation. It is assumed that these special causes can change the process mean, the process variance, the moving average parameter, or the effect of the adjustment mechanism. Expressions are derived for the process deviation from target for all of these process parameter changes. Numerical results are presented for sustained shifts, transient shifts, and sustained drifts in the process parameters. The objective is to find control charts or combinations of control charts that will be effective for detecting special causes that result in any of these types of parameter changes in any or all of the parameters. CUSUM charts designed for detecting specific parameter changes are considered. It is shown that combinations of CUSUM charts that include a CUSUM chart designed to detect mean shifts and a CUSUM chart of squared deviations from target give good overall performance in detecting a wide range of process changes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calculation of solar radiation using a methodology with worldwide potential

Surface meteorological observations from the DATSAV2 database provide the capability to use the METSTAT (meteorological/statistical) model to calculate hourly values of direct normal, diffuse horizontal, and global horizontal solar radiation for locations throughout the world. Opaque cloud cover, a key input parameter to the METSTAT model, is derived from the DATSAV2 layered cloud cover information. Resulting multiyear data sets include solar radiation and other meteorological data such as dry bulb temperature, dew point temperature, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. Data filling procedures ensure that the multiyear data sets are serially complete. A minor revision to METSTAT improved solar radiation estimates for conditions of high cloud amounts and low ceiling heights. The methodology was applied to regions of Southern Africa and Saudi Arabia.     

Preventing problems with boys' noncompliance: Effects of a parent training intervention for divorcing mothers.

This study provided a randomized, experimental test of the efficacy of a parent training intervention on coercive discipline, positive parenting practices, and child noncompliance in a sample of 238 divorcing mothers and their sons in Grades 1–3. Intervention effects were evaluated 5 times from baseline to 30 months. The intervention produced enduring benefits to coercive discipline, positive parenting, and boys' noncompliance. These benefits followed a classic prevention effect: Mothers and sons in the experimental group maintained stable outcome trajectories, whereas those in the control group deteriorated. The intervention's impact on boys' noncompliance was mediated independently by its impact on coercive discipline and positive parenting. Change in positive parenting was more strongly associated with change in noncompliance than was change in coercive discipline, although each explained unique variance in change in noncompliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EWMA control charts with variable sample sizes and variable sampling intervals

Traditional control charts for process monitoring are based on taking samples of fixed size from the process using a fixed sampling interval. Variable Sample Size (VSS) and Variable Sampling Interval (VSI) control charts vary the sampling rate from the process as a function of the data from the process. VSS and VSI control charts sample at a higher rate when there is evidence of a change in the process, and are thus able to detect process changes faster than traditional control charts. This paper considers general VSS and VSI control charts and develops integral equation and Markov chain methods for finding the statistical properties of these charts. EWMA charts with the VSS and/or the VSI features are studied in detail, and different ways of defining the EWMA control statistic are investigated. It is shown that using either the VSS or VSI feature in an EWMA control chart substantially improves the ability to detect all but very large shifts in the process mean. The VSI feature usually gives more improvement in detection ability than the VSS feature, and using both features together sometimes gives more improvement than using either one separately. Guidelines are given for choosing the possible sample sizes and the possible sampling intervals for these charts. EWMA charts with the VSS and/or VSI feature are compared to CUSUM charts and Shewhart X¯ charts with the VSS and/or VSI features.     

Long COVID: Association of Functional Autoantibodies against G-Protein-Coupled Receptors with an Impaired Retinal Microcirculation

Long COVID (LC) describes the clinical phenotype of symptoms after infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Diagnostic and therapeutic options are limited, as the pathomechanism of LC is elusive. As the number of acute SARS-CoV-2 infections was and is large, LC will be a challenge for the healthcare system. Previous studies revealed an impaired blood flow, the formation of microclots, and autoimmune mechanisms as potential factors in this complex interplay. Since functionally active autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR-AAbs) were observed in patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection, this study aimed to correlate the appearance of GPCR-AAbs with capillary microcirculation. The seropositivity of GPCR-AAbs was measured by an established cardiomyocyte bioassay in 42 patients with LC and 6 controls. Retinal microcirculation was measured by OCT–angiography and quantified as macula and peripapillary vessel density (VD) by the Erlangen-Angio Tool. A statistical analysis yielded impaired VD in patients with LC compared to the controls, which was accentuated in female persons. A significant decrease in macula and peripapillary VD for AAbs targeting adrenergic β2-receptor, MAS-receptor angiotensin-II-type-1 receptor, and adrenergic α1-receptor were observed. The present study might suggest that a seropositivity of GPCR-AAbs can be linked to an impaired retinal capillary microcirculation, potentially mirroring the systemic microcirculation with consecutive clinical symptoms.     

Preclinical Assessment of the Combination of PSMA-Targeting Radionuclide Therapy with PARP Inhibitors for Prostate Cancer Treatment

Prostate specific membrane antigen targeted radionuclide therapy (PSMA-TRT) is a promising novel treatment for prostate cancer (PCa) patients. However, PSMA-TRT cannot be used for curative intent yet, thus additional research on how to improve the therapeutic efficacy is warranted. A potential way of achieving this, is combining TRT with poly ADP-ribosylation inhibitors (PARPi), which has shown promising results for TRT of neuroendocrine tumor cells. Currently, several clinical trials have been initiated for this combination for PCa, however so far, no evidence of synergism is available for PCa. Therefore, we evaluated the combination of PSMA-TRT with three classes of PARPi in preclinical PCa models. In vitro viability and survival assays were performed using PSMA-expressing PCa cell lines PC3-PIP and LNCaP to assess the effect of increasing concentrations of PARPi veliparib, olaparib or talazoparib in combination with PSMA-TRT compared to single PARPi treatment. Next, DNA damage analyses were performed by quantifying the number of DNA breaks by immunofluorescent stainings. Lastly, the potential of the combination treatments was studied in vivo in mice bearing PC3-PIP xenografts. Our results show that combining PSMA-TRT with PARPi did not synergistically affect the in vitro clonogenic survival or cell viability. DNA-damage analysis revealed only a significant increase in DNA breaks when combining PSMA-TRT with veliparib and not in the other combination treatments. Moreover, PSMA-TRT with PARPi treatment did not improve tumor control compared to PSMA-TRT monotherapy. Overall, the data presented do not support the assumption that combining PSMA-TRT with PARPi leads to a synergistic antitumor effect in PCa. These results underline that extensive preclinical research using various PCa models is imperative to validate the applicability of the combination strategy for PCa, as it is for other cancer types.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Hapten-Clicked Analogues of The Antigenic Peptide Melan-A/MART-126(27L)-35

A click-chemistry-based approach was implemented to prepare peptidomimetics designed in silico and made from aromatic azides and a propargylated GIGI-mimicking platform derived from the altered Melan-A/MART-1_26(27L)-35 antigenic peptide ELAGIGILTV. The Cu^I-catalyzed Huisgen cycloaddition was carried out on solid support to generate rapidly a first series of peptidomimetics, which were evaluated for their capacity to dock at the interface between the major histocompatibility complex class-I (MHC-I) human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 and T-cell receptors (TCRs). Despite being a weak HLA-A2 ligand, one of these 11 first synthetic compounds bearing a p-nitrobenzyl-triazole side chain was recognized by the receptor proteins of Melan-A/MART-1-specific T-cells. After modification of the N and C termini of this agonist, which was intended to enhance HLA-A2 binding, one of the resulting seven additional compounds triggered significant T-cell responses. Thus, these results highlight the capacity of naturally circulating human TCRs that are specific for the native Melan-A/MART-1_26-35 peptide to cross-react with peptidomimetics bearing organic motifs structurally different from the native central amino acids.