A laboratory feasibility study on electrokinetic injection of nutrients on an organic, tropical, clayey soil

Based on the results of an environmental investigation program, carried out on an oil production field at Brazilian Northeast, a contamination diagnosis was made. The field was contaminated by crude oil and saline production water and the use of in situ electrokinetic bioremediation techniques in situ were suggested for the remediation of the contaminated site. The analyzed soil is a very humid clayey silt, with high plasticity, high electrical conductivity, low hydraulic conductivity, low density, large buffering capacity and high cation exchange capacity. The soil is rich in organic matter and poor in nitrogen. The removal of the contaminated soil for ex situ treatment is not advisable in contaminated studied area due to the restrictions imposed by local environmental authority, as well as operational impediments caused by the presence of vegetation and flooded conditions. After the diagnosis a program of laboratory tests was carried out on soil from the location in an electrical cell which was developed for this purpose. The study showed the feasibility of injecting nitrate and ammonium to this kind of soil, though the injection of phosphorous did not prove to be successful. It is recommended to control variations changes in pH, caused by the application of electrokinesis, in order not to harm the biodegradation process.     

Understanding the Renal Fibrotic Process in Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a neglected infectious disease caused by pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira. The acute disease is well-described, and, although it resembles other tropical diseases, it can be diagnosed through the use of serological and molecular methods. While the chronic renal disease, carrier state, and kidney fibrosis due to Leptospira infection in humans have been the subject of discussion by researchers, the mechanisms involved in these processes are still overlooked, and relatively little is known about the establishment and maintenance of the chronic status underlying this infectious disease. In this review, we highlight recent findings regarding the cellular communication pathways involved in the renal fibrotic process, as well as the relationship between renal fibrosis due to leptospirosis and CKD/CKDu.     

Essential Oils from Annonaceae Species from Brazil: A Systematic Review of Their Phytochemistry,and Biological Activities

The present work involves a systematic review of the chemical composition and biological effects of essential oils from the Annonaceae species collected in Brazil from 2011 to 2021. Annonaceae is one of the most important botanical families in Brazil, as some species have economic value in the market as local and international fruit. In addition, the species have useful applications in several areas—for instance, as raw materials for use in cosmetics and perfumery and as medicinal plants. In folk medicine, species such as Annona glabra L. and Xylopia sericea A. St.-Hil. are used to treat diseases such as rheumatism and malaria. The species of Annonaceae are an important source of essential oils and are rich in compounds belonging to the classes of mono and sesquiterpenes; of these compounds, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, (E)-caryophyllene, bicyclogermacrene, caryophyllene oxide, germacrene D, spathulenol, and β-elemene are the most abundant. The antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antileishmania, antioxidant, antiproliferative, cytotoxic, larvicidal, trypanocidal, and antimalarial activities of essential oils from the Annonaceae species in Brazil have been described in previous research, with the most studies on this topic being related to their antiproliferative or cytotoxic activities. In some studies, it was observed that the biological activity reported for these essential oils was superior to that of drugs available on the market, as is the case of the essential oil of the species Guatteria punctata (Aubl.) R. A. Howard., which showed a trypanocidal effect that was 34 times stronger than that of the reference drug benznidazol.     

Distributed Breakpoint Detection in Message-Passing Programs

The ability to set breakpoints stands, along with the possibility of deterministic reexecution, as one of the most important issues in the debugging of message-passing programs. We consider in this paper the design of fully distributed algorithms for the detection of breakpoints in such programs, and provide four algorithms, one for each different type of breakpoint. One of the algorithms detects the occurrence of unconditional breakpoints, while the other three detect the occurrence of breakpoints on disjunctive predicates, stable conjunctive predicates, and generic conjunctive predicates. All the algorithms we present detect breakpoints in the form of earliest global states with respect to the particular property involved. In the case of unconditional breakpoints, such an earliest global state must coincide exactly with the requested local unconditional breakpoints for the processes that do actually participate in the breakpoint. In the case of the other (conditional) breakpoints, what is detected is the earliest global state at which either the disjunctive or the conjunctive predicate under consideration is true. In order to actually halt the computation at the exact global state the algorithms detect, we suggest as a first approach the use of checkpointing and rollback-recovery techniques.     

The Secretome of Human Neonatal Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulates Doxorubicin-Induced Cytotoxicity: Impact in Non-Tumor Cells

Doxorubicin (Dox) is one of the most widely used treatments for breast cancer, although limited by the well-documented cardiotoxicity and other off-target effects. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) secretome has shown immunomodulatory and regenerative properties, further potentiated under 3D conditions. This work aimed to uncover the effect of the MSC-derived secretome from 3D (CM3D) or 2D (CM2D) cultures, in human malignant breast cells (MDA-MB-231), non-tumor breast epithelial cells (MCF10A) and differentiated AC16 cardiomyocytes, co-treated with Dox. A comprehensive proteomic analysis of CM3D/CM2D was also performed to unravel the underlying mechanism. CM3D/CM2D co-incubation with Dox revealed no significant differences in MDA-MB-231 viability when compared to Dox alone, whereas MCF10A and AC16 viability was consistently improved in Dox+CM3D-treated cells. Moreover, neither CM2D nor CM3D affected Dox anti-migratory and anti-invasive effects in MDA-MB-231. Notably, Ge-LC-MS/MS proteomic analysis revealed that CM3D displayed protective features that might be linked to the regulation of cell proliferation (CAPN1, CST1, LAMC2, RANBP3), migration (CCN3, MMP8, PDCD5), invasion (TIMP1/2), oxidative stress (COX6B1, AIFM1, CD9, GSR) and inflammation (CCN3, ANXA5, CDH13, GDF15). Overall, CM3D decreased Dox-induced cytotoxicity in non-tumor cells, without compromising Dox chemotherapeutic profile in malignant cells, suggesting its potential use as a chemotherapy adjuvant to reduce off-target side effects.     

Evaluation of candidate biocides to control the biofouling Asian clam in the drinking water treatment industry: An environmentally friendly approach

The biofouling Asian clam Corbicula fluminea greatly affects freshwater-dependent facilities in Europe and North America, including in the Great Lakes region. As chlorination has become increasingly restricted, finding alternative control agents is a priority. Due to the species' epifaunal nature, the body of knowledge on Dreissena polymorpha is larger than that on the Asian clam, and there is a tendency to assume that mitigation methods should work similarly for both species. However, this generalisation is inaccurate, and the optimisation of Asian clam control relies on species-specific toxicological data. This paper reports information on the potential of three candidate biocides for C. fluminea control: (i) the cationic polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (polyDADMAC), (ii) potassium chloride and (iii) aluminum sulphate. While these chemicals may be employed in a range of contexts, they are particularly suitable for the highly regulated drinking water industry. LT₅₀ values ranging from 284.3 h, for polyDADMAC applied at 10 mg/L, to 855.1 h, for an aluminum sulphate concentration of 11 mg/L, were obtained. Ecotoxicological standard tests with Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Daphnia magna suggested that, amongst the three biocides, potassium chloride is the one representing lower potential environmental hazard (with, for example, 48 h-EC₅₀ higher than 1 g/L for Daphnia immobilisation, which compares to values of 20.2 and 112.5 mg/L for polyDADMAC and aluminum sulphate, respectively). The three chemicals are promising control agents at dosages compatible with waterworks' operational requirements with polyDADMAC having the highest biocidal activity, but also posing more environmental risks.     

A semiotic engineering approach to user interface design

Designing software involves good perception, good reasoning, and a talent to express oneself effectively through programming and interactive languages. Semiotic theories can help HCI designers increase their power to perceive, reason and communicate. By presenting some of the results we have reached with semiotic engineering over the last few years, we suggest that the main contributions of semiotic theory in supporting HCI design are: to provide designers with new perceptions on the process and product of HCI design; to bind together all the stages of software development and use, giving them a unique homogeneous treatment; and to pose innovative questions that extend the frontiers of HCI investigations.     

Mapping inland water carbon content with Landsat 8 data

Landsat 8 is the first Earth observation satellite with sufficient radiometric and spatial resolution to allow global mapping of lake CDOM and DOC (coloured dissolved organic matter and dissolved organic carbon, respectively) content. Landsat 8 is a multispectral sensor however, the number of potentially usable band ratios, or more sophisticated indices, is limited. In order to test the suitability of the ratio most commonly used in lake carbon content mapping, the green–red band ratio, we carried out fieldwork in Estonian and Brazilian lakes. Several atmospheric correction methods were also tested in order to use image data where the image-to-image variability due to illumination conditions would be minimal. None of the four atmospheric correction methods tested, produced reflectance spectra that matched well with in situ measured reflectance. Nevertheless, the green–red band ratio calculated from the reflectance data was in correlation with measured CDOM values. In situ data show that there is a strong correlation between CDOM and DOC concentrations in Estonian and Brazilian lakes. Thus, mapping the global CDOM and DOC content from Landsat 8 is plausible but more data from different parts of the world are needed before decisions can be made about the accuracy of such global estimation.