Comparing the views of the Italian general public and scientists on GMOs

The gap between statements from scientific organisations about the safety of genetically modified (or GMO) food and public concerns about the technology is puzzling, raising questions about the extent to which expert opinion and scientific consensus can sway public opinion and whether scientific progress might be hindered by public opposition. This study sought to determine whether beliefs about GMO safety are high among experts in countries where there has been significant public opposition to the technology. Surveys conducted among 1006 members of the Italian general public and 258 members of the Italian Association of the Agricultural Science Societies (AISSA) reveal that whereas 54% of our sample of the Italian general public believes GMOs are generally safe to eat, 81% of sample of the Italian agricultural scientists believe the same. Despite the gap in lay-expert safety beliefs, results reveal greater similarity between scientists and the general public on topics related to beliefs about the impact of GM food on food prices, the developing world and concentration in the agricultural supply chain.     

Hazardous properties and toxicological update of mercury: From fish food to human health safety perspective

The mercury (Hg) poisoning of Minamata Bay of Japan widely activated a global attention to Hg toxicity and its potential consequences to the aquatic ecosystem and human health. This has resulted to an increased need for a dynamic assembly, contextualization, and quantification of both the current state-of-the-art and approaches for understanding the cause-and-effect relationships of Hg exposure. Thus, the objective of this present review is to provide both hazardous toxic properties and toxicological update of Hg, focusing on how it ultimately affects the aquatic biota to potentially produce human health effects. Primarily, we discussed processes that relate to Hg exposure, including immunological aspects and risk assessment, vulnerability, toxicokinetics, and toxicodynamics, using edible fish, swordfish (Xiphias gladius), as a model. In addition, we summarized available information about Hg concentration limits set by different governmental agencies, as recognized by national and international standardization authorities.     

Effect of the Molecular Length of n-Alkylsilanes on the Adhesion at a Rubber/Glass Interface

The effect on the peeling energy, G, of glass/styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) assemblies of the length, N, of the alkyl chain, ranging from 4 to 30 carbon atoms, of silane coupling agents is determined. Experimentally, it is shown that G strongly increases with N. Therefore, considering that the rheological model of adhesion (or model of multiplying factors) is valid, G is assumed equal to the product of three terms: the reversible adhesion energy, W. at the interface, the viscoelastic dissipation factor, φ, of SBR and a “molecular factor” to be determined. Finally, it appears that this latter factor depends linearly on N. Such a result should be consistent with an extraction (“suction”) process of the silane alkyl links from bulk SBR during peeling experiments.     

Vesicular Structures Self‐Assembled from Oligonucleotide‐Polymer Hybrids: Mechanical Prevention of Bacterial Colonization Upon their Surface Tethering Through Hybridization

In order to design soft coatings, surface tethering of vesicular structures self‐assembled from oligonucleotide‐polymer hybrids is achieved through hybridization. Watson‐Crick base‐pairing occurs between the nucleotide sequences involved in the self‐assembly and their surface‐tethered complementary sequences. Combining the quartz crystal microbalance and in situ observations using confocal laser scanning microscopy, it is evidenced that the vesicles retain their morphology even under flow stress. Surprisingly, these soft surfaces prevent bacterial colonization.     

Escherichia coli bound to the primate erythrocyte complement receptor via bispecific monoclonal antibodies are transferred to and phagocytosed by human monocytes in an in vitro model

We have prepared cross-linked, bispecific mAb complexes (heteropolymers) that facilitate rapid and quantitative binding of a prototype pathogen, Escherichia coli, to the complement receptor (CR1) on primate erythrocytes. Incubation of the erythrocyte-heteropolymer-E. coli complexes with freshly isolated human mononuclear cells leads to rapid removal of the E. coli from the erythrocytes, and phagocytosis and killing of the bacteria. The erythrocytes are not lysed or phagocytosed during this transfer reaction, but both heteropolymer and CR1 are removed from the erythrocytes along with the E. coli. These findings parallel observations made in previous in vivo experiments in which heteropolymers were used to facilitate clearance of innocuous prototype pathogens in a monkey model. It should now be possible to extend the heteropolymer paradigm to a live pathogen in a primate model.     

An assessment of plasticity theories for modeling the incrementally nonlinear behavior of granular soils

The objective of this paper is to assess the predictive capability of different classes of extended plasticity theories (bounding surface plasticity, generalized plasticity and generalized tangential plasticity) in the modeling of incremental nonlinearity, which is one of the most striking features of the mechanical behavior of granular soils, occurring as a natural consequence of the particular nature of grain interactions at the microscale. To this end, the predictions of the various constitutive models considered are compared to the results of a series of Distinct Element simulations performedad hoc. In the comparison, extensive use is made of the concept of incremental strain-response envelope in order to assess the directional properties of the material response for a given initial state and stress history.     

Effect of the Molecular Length of n-Alkylsilanes on the Adhesion at a Rubber/Glass Interface

The effect on the peeling energy, G, of glass/styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) assemblies of the length, N, of the alkyl chain, ranging from 4 to 30 carbon atoms, of silane coupling agents is determined. Experimentally, it is shown that G strongly increases with N. Therefore, considering that the rheological model of adhesion (or model of multiplying factors) is valid, G is assumed equal to the product of three terms: the reversible adhesion energy, W. at the interface, the viscoelastic dissipation factor, φ, of SBR and a “molecular factor” to be determined. Finally, it appears that this latter factor depends linearly on N. Such a result should be consistent with an extraction (“suction”) process of the silane alkyl links from bulk SBR during peeling experiments.