No evidence of citation bias as a determinant of STEM gender disparities in US biochemistry,genetics and molecular biology research

Scientometrics - The lack of females in many Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the USA is an ongoing concern, with many initiatives attempting to redress this...     

Dendritic Nanotheranostic for the Delivery of Infliximab: A Potential Carrier in Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy

Antibodies are macromolecules that specifically recognize their target, making them good candidates to be employed in various therapies. The possibility of attaching a drug to an immunoglobulin makes it possible to release it specifically into the affected tissue as long as it overexpresses the target. However, chemical coupling could affect the functionality (specificity and affinity) of the antibody. It has been observed that the use of intermediaries, such as dendrimers, could resolve this issue. Because carbosilane dendrimers have aroused great interest in the field of biomedicine, this report describes the synthesis of an anionic carbosilane dendrimer with a fluorochrome on its surface that then forms a conjugate with an antibody. It has been used as immunoglobulin and infliximab, whose target is TNF-α, which is a cytokine that is overexpressed in the inflamed area or even in the blood of patients with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, the integrity and functionality of the antibody has been studied to see if they have been affected after the chemical coupling process.     

Synthesis and Properties of Fumaric Copolymers as Potential Bitumen Modifiers

New copolymers of dioctyl fumarate (DOF) and styrene (S) were synthetized by radical polymerization and used to modify bitumen. The poly(dioctyl fumarate-co-styrene) copolymers, PFS, were characterized by ¹H-NMR and FTIR spectroscopies and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) in order to determine their monomer composition and weight average molecular weights, respectively. The polymer-bitumen blending conditions were optimized and the samples analyzed by different methodologies. Fluorescence microscopy, rotational viscosity and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to study the morphological changes of blends during their manufacturing and the rheological and thermal behavior, respectively. All modified bitumen (MB) exhibited higher viscosity than the based bitumen (BB) under studied conditions and this effect was more evident for the MB containing the higher molecular weight polymer. The addition of polymers to BB enhances the bitumen viscosity and thus increased the energy required for the flowing (activation energy calculated by Arrhenius equation). Thermal and morphological analysis showed that all MB exhibited good polymer- bitumen compatibility, which could be consider as a good starting point for a potential applications of this new material in road engineering.     

Possibility of efficient utilization of wood waste as a renewable energy resource in Serbia

Wood biomass in Serbia is traditionally used for energy. However, the manner of its use is outdated, and efficiency is very low. Annually over 3.5 million m³ of wood is cut down for energy needs in Serbia. In order to better exploit all forms of woody biomass, especially the one that is now treated as waste, and in order to fulfil the obligations from the outlined Convention on Climate Change it is necessary to switch to a modern way of production and utilization of woody biomass. Serbia is now at the very beginning of this process. This paper gives an overview and an analysis of the possibilities of utilization of wood waste as a renewable source of energy and the problems that producers in Serbia are facing due to undeveloped markets and excessive funds that are needed to start the production of briquettes and pellets. The ecological and economical advantages of using woody biomass, as well the possible support measures for the use of woody biomass in Serbia are also the topic of this paper. The present situation in this area, the manner of waste management in sawmills and the reasons for the necessity of future development of this industrial production are also briefly described.     

Information Systems in Transition Economies: Does Ownership Matter?

This research investigates the moderating roles of firm ownership in managerial perceptions of information systems (IS) in transition economies. Analysis of representative survey data from 304 companies in Hungary showed that perceptions of IS are driven by organizational variables in foreign firms, and by environmental variables in domestic firms. The findings embrace a more fine-grained notion of variables affecting IS usefulness in the transition economy context by showing that those are contingent on firm ownership.     

Medical knowledge management for specific hospital departments

Medical knowledge representation and management is concerned with how to organise the often vague clinical experience of medical staff required for computable models. However, few knowledge management and acquisition tools have entered routine use, since such tools are not perceived by physicians as part of the clinical information process. An attempt to partially solve this problem, we identify two key aspects of knowledge representation and management tasks. The first is to adopt a medical knowledge standardisation to provide a consistent terminology control and to simplify the integration between knowledge management tools and the health information system. The second is to establish an effective knowledge acquisition process in specific medical fields by adapting knowledge acquisition tools. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to define computational models and to design mechanisms for the effective acquisition and management of medical knowledge in real-life hospital departments. To this end, we analyse the representation of medical knowledge (based on deep-causal models) and the development of knowledge management tools (based on ontologies), integrated within the information processing activities of the clinical user. Finally, we illustrate its applicability in the Intensive Care Unit and Pediatry scenarios.     

Determination of Solvent Systems for Blade Coating Thin Film Photovoltaics

With lab‐scale solution‐processed thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) devices attaining market relevant efficiencies, the demand for environmentally friendly and scalable deposition techniques is increasing. Replacing toxic halogenated solvents is a priority for the industrialization of solution‐processed TFPV. In this work, a generalized five‐step process is presented for fabricating high‐performance devices from nonhalogenated inks. Resulting from this process, several new solvent systems are introduced based on thiophene, tetralin, 1,2,4‐trimethylbenzene, o‐xylene, and anisole for blade coating of three different diketopyrrolopyrrole‐based (pDPP5T‐2, pPDPP5T‐2S, and P390) bulk heterojunctions applied in organic photovoltaic devices. Devices based on pDPP5T‐2S and P390 attain 5.6% and 6.1% efficiency, respectively, greater than the efficiency either material reached when processed from the halogenated solvent system commonly used. These processes are implemented without post‐deposition annealing treatments or additives. The Hansen solubility parameters of the pDPP5T‐2 material are obtained, and are used, along with wettability data on a variety of substrates, to determine optimum solvent combinations and ratios for deposition. This generalized five‐step process results in new nonhalogenated solvent pathways for the scalable deposition of thin film photovoltaic materials.     

Tailoring the properties of deposited thin coating and print features in flexography by application of UV-ozone treatment

Printed functional materials are a rapidly growing area of interest for low-cost high-speed device manufacture with flexographic printing seen as a route to achieving this. The relationship between surface tension of the ink and surface free energy (SFE) of the photopolymer plate is a key for optimum performance. However, traditional methods of surface tension modification of the ink/coating often cannot be employed for functional inks. In this research, rapid, permanent modification of flexographic printing plate’s SFE is achieved through controlled UV-ozone treatment, and the effects of the treatment on the polar and dispersive component of SFE are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, swelling experiments, and roughness measurements. Printing trials using the modified printing plates reveal improved print uniformity and control of deposited ink layer thickness, as well as improved print features—particularly track and pad junctions which can be problematic for printed electronic applications. The ability to rapidly tailor printing plate SFE is of benefit to all volume printing applications. Furthermore, it is of critical importance for functional printing and printed electronics where surface tension of the ink is determined by the functional material and chemical modification is not possible or desirable.     

The FKBP5 Gene Affects Alcohol Drinking in Knockout Mice and Is Implicated in Alcohol Drinking in Humans

FKBP5 encodes FK506-binding protein 5, a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-binding protein implicated in various psychiatric disorders and alcohol withdrawal severity. The purpose of this study is to characterize alcohol preference and related phenotypes in Fkbp5 knockout (KO) mice and to examine the role of FKBP5 in human alcohol consumption. The following experiments were performed to characterize Fkpb5 KO mice. (1) Fkbp5 KO and wild-type (WT) EtOH consumption was tested using a two-bottle choice paradigm; (2) The EtOH elimination rate was measured after intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 2.0 g/kg EtOH; (3) Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was measured after 3 h limited access of alcohol; (4) Brain region expression of Fkbp5 was identified using LacZ staining; (5) Baseline corticosterone (CORT) was assessed. Additionally, two SNPs, rs1360780 (C/T) and rs3800373 (T/G), were selected to study the association of FKBP5 with alcohol consumption in humans. Participants were college students (n = 1162) from 21–26 years of age with Chinese, Korean or Caucasian ethnicity. The results, compared to WT mice, for KO mice exhibited an increase in alcohol consumption that was not due to differences in taste sensitivity or alcohol metabolism. Higher BAC was found in KO mice after 3 h of EtOH access. Fkbp5 was highly expressed in brain regions involved in the regulation of the stress response, such as the hippocampus, amygdala, dorsal raphe and locus coeruleus. Both genotypes exhibited similar basal levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT). Finally, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FKBP5 were found to be associated with alcohol drinking in humans. These results suggest that the association between FKBP5 and alcohol consumption is conserved in both mice and humans.