Effective molarities in supramolecular catalysis of two-substrate reactions

Reactivity data related to processes in which molecular receptors promote the reaction of two simultaneously complexed reactants have been surveyed and analyzed in terms of effective molarity (EM). Methods and criteria for the calculation of reliable EM's have been highlighted. Extension of a previous extrathermodynamic treatment of intramolecular reactions of bifunctional chains to the intracomplex reactions of the ternary complexes involved in two-substrate catalyzed reactions has provided a sound framework for a comparative analysis of reactivity and catalytic efficiency in structurally diverse and apparently unrelated systems.     

Invasive species detection in Hawaiian rainforests using airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR

Remote sensing of invasive species is a critical component of conservation and management efforts, but reliable methods for the detection of invaders have not been widely established. In Hawaiian forests, we recently found that invasive trees often have hyperspectral signatures unique from that of native trees, but mapping based on spectral reflectance properties alone is confounded by issues of canopy senescence and mortality, intra- and inter-canopy gaps and shadowing, and terrain variability. We deployed a new hybrid airborne system combining the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) small-footprint light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system with the Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) to map the three-dimensional spectral and structural properties of Hawaiian forests. The CAO-AVIRIS systems and data were fully integrated using in-flight and post-flight fusion techniques, facilitating an analysis of forest canopy properties to determine the presence and abundance of three highly invasive tree species in Hawaiian rainforests.

The LiDAR sub-system was used to model forest canopy height and top-of-canopy surfaces; these structural data allowed for automated masking of forest gaps, intra- and inter-canopy shadows, and minimum vegetation height in the AVIRIS images. The remaining sunlit canopy spectra were analyzed using spatially-constrained spectral mixture analysis. The results of the combined LiDAR-spectroscopic analysis highlighted the location and fractional abundance of each invasive tree species throughout the rainforest sites. Field validation studies demonstrated < 6.8% and < 18.6% error rates in the detection of invasive tree species at  7 m² and  2 m² minimum canopy cover thresholds. Our results show that full integration of imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR measurements provides enormous flexibility and analytical potential for studies of terrestrial ecosystems and the species contained within them.     

Fibroblast protein profile analysis highlights the role of oxidative stress and vitamin K recycling in the pathogenesis of pseudoxanthoma elasticum

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a genetic disorder associated to mutations in the ABCC6 gene; however, the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to elastic fibre calcifications and to clinical manifestations are still unknown. Dermal fibroblasts, directly involved in the production of the extracellular milieu, have been isolated from healthy subjects and from patients affected by PXE, cultured in vitro and characterized for their ability to produce reactive oxygen species, for structural and functional properties of their cell membranes, for changes in their protein profile. Data demonstrate that oxidative stress has profound and endurable consequences on PXE fibroblast phenotype being responsible for: reduced levels of global DNA methylation, increased amount of carbonylated proteins and of lipid peroxidation products, altered structural properties of cell membranes, modified protein expression. Data shed new light on the pathogenetic pathways in PXE, by identifying a network of proteins affecting elastic fibre calcification through inefficient vitamin K recycling, and highlight the role of differentially expressed proteins as targets for validating the efficacy of future therapeutic strategies aiming to delay and/or revert the pathologic phenotype of PXE fibroblasts. Moreover, data open new perspectives for investigating PXE-like phenotypes in the absence of ABCC6 mutations.     

Cell-protection mechanism through autophagy in HGFs/<Emphasis Type="Italic">S. mitis</Emphasis> co-culture treated with Chitlac-nAg

Silver-based products have been proven to be effective in retarding and preventing bacterial growth since ancient times. In the field of restorative dentistry, the use of silver ions/nanoparticles has been explored to counteract bacterial infections, as silver can destroy bacterial cell walls by reacting with membrane proteins. However, it is also cytotoxic towards eukaryotic cells, which are capable of internalizing nanoparticles. In this work, we investigated the biological effects of Chitlac-nAg, a colloidal system based on a modified chitosan (Chitlac), administered for 24–48?h to a co-culture of primary human gingival fibroblasts and Streptococcus mitis in the presence of saliva, developed to mimic the microenvironment of the oral cavity. We sought to determine its efficiency to combat oral hygiene-related diseases without affecting eukaryotic cells. Cytotoxicity, reactive oxygen species production, apoptosis induction, nanoparticles uptake, and lysosome and autophagosome metabolism were evaluated. In vitro results show that Chitlac-nAg does not exert cytotoxic effects on human gingival fibroblasts, which seem to survive through a homoeostasis mechanism involving autophagy. That suggests that the novel biomaterial Chitlac-nAg could be a promising tool in the field of dentistry.     

Light on! Real world evaluation of a P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) for environment control in a smart home

Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems aim to enable interaction with other people and the environment without muscular activation by the exploitation of changes in brain signals due to the execution of cognitive tasks. In this context, the visual P300 potential appears suited to control smart homes through BCI spellers. The aim of this work is to evaluate whether the widely used character-speller is more sustainable than an icon-based one, designed to operate smart home environment or to communicate moods and needs. Nine subjects with neurodegenerative diseases and no BCI experience used both speller types in a real smart home environment. User experience during BCI tasks was evaluated recording concurrent physiological signals. Usability was assessed for each speller type immediately after use. Classification accuracy was lower for the icon-speller, which was also more attention demanding. However, in subjective evaluations, the effect of a real feedback partially counterbalanced the difficulty in BCI use. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: Since inclusive BCIs require to consider interface sustainability, we evaluated different ergonomic aspects of the interaction of disabled users with a character-speller (goal: word spelling) and an icon-speller (goal: operating a real smart home). We found the first one as more sustainable in terms of accuracy and cognitive effort.     

Finite-tree analysis for constraint logic-based languages

Logic languages based on the theory of rational, possibly infinite, trees have much appeal in that rational trees allow for faster unification (due to the safe omission of the occurs-check) and increased expressivity (cyclic terms can provide very efficient representations of grammars and other useful objects). Unfortunately, the use of infinite rational trees has problems. For instance, many of the built-in and library predicates are ill-defined for such trees and need to be supplemented by run-time checks whose cost may be significant. Moreover, some widely used program analysis and manipulation techniques are correct only for those parts of programs working over finite trees. It is thus important to obtain, automatically, a knowledge of the program variables (the finite variables) that, at the program points of interest, will always be bound to finite terms. For these reasons, we propose here a new data-flow analysis, based on abstract interpretation, that captures such information. We present a parametric domain where a simple component for recording finite variables is coupled, in the style of the open product construction of Cortesi et al., with a generic domain (the parameter of the construction) providing sharing information. The sharing domain is abstractly specified so as to guarantee the correctness of the combined domain and the generality of the approach. This finite-tree analysis domain is further enhanced by coupling it with a domain of Boolean functions, called finite-tree dependencies, that precisely captures how the finiteness of some variables influences the finiteness of other variables. We also summarize our experimental results showing how finite-tree analysis, enhanced with finite-tree dependencies, is a practical means of obtaining precise finiteness information.     

Comparing the impact of bentonite addition for both must clarification and wine fining on the chemical profile of wine from Chambave Muscat grapes

The impact of bentonite fining is generally studied on final wines, and few studies have evaluated it throughout the winemaking process. This work studied the fate of proteins and terpenols, the main targets of bentonite addition, during the processing of Chambave Muscat aromatic grapes. The experimental trials were performed in two vintages (2006 and 2007) and included the following processes: bentonite addition to must only (100 g hL^?1 in both vintages), fining of wine only (100 g hL^?1 in both vintages), double bentonite treatment on must and wine (200 and 150 g hL^?1 in 2006 and in 2007, respectively) and no treatment (control). The results demonstrated that the treatment allowing the best removal of protein was the addition of bentonite to must only. Moreover, a lower removal of free terpenols was observed in samples from double treatment compared with wines fined with bentonite only after alcoholic fermentation.