Identification of vivianite,an unusual blue pigment,in a sixteenth century painting and its implications

Vivianite, a blue pigment employed in the past practically only in Northern and Central Europe, but with very limited use, was identified in an early sixteenth century painting, stylistically with Flemish features, from a church in Portugal. The identification of this iron phosphate mineral was made by SEM‐EDS based on the atomic ratio between phosphorus and iron in layers of blue paint (area analysis) and in particles of these same layers (spot analysis). This painting, about which there is no document to prove its authorship, becomes the first case, known in detail, of a sixteenth century painting containing vivianite. Moreover, this find and the presence of a chalk ground, also identified, strongly support the hypothesis of being a Flemish painting.     

Kinetic,thermodynamic parameters and in vitro digestion of tannase from Aspergillus tamarii URM 7115

Tannase is an enzyme used in various industries and produced by a large number of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate tannase production to determine the biochemical, kinetic, and thermodynamic properties and to simulate tannase in vitro digestion. The tannase-producing fungal strain was isolated from “jamun” leaves and identified as Aspergillus tamarii. Temperature at 26°C for 67?h was the best combination for maximum tannase activity (6.35-fold; initial activity in Plackett–Burman design—15.53?U/mL and average final activity in Doehlert design—98.68?U/mL). The crude extract of tannase was optimally active at 40°C, pH 5.5 and 6.5. Moreover, tannase was stimulated by Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Mn²⁺. The half-life at 40°C lasted 247.55?min. The free energy of Gibbs, enthalpy, and entropy, at 40°C, was 81.47, 16.85, and ?0.21?kJ/mol?·?K, respectively. After total digestion, 123.95% of the original activity was retained. Results suggested that tannase from A. tamarii URM 7115 is an enzyme of interest for industrial applications, such as gallic acid production, additive for feed industry, and for beverage manufacturing, due to its catalytic and thermodynamic properties.     

Cavitand-Based Coordination Cages: Achievements and Current Challenges

The research results obtained in the self-assembly of cavitand-based coordination cages are presented. Cavitands are ideal multidentate ligands for the creation of coordination cages due to their structural rigidity, concave structure, and great versatility in terms of synthetic modularity. The introduction of the ligand moieties on the resorcinarene building block proceeds at the upper rim of the cavity, to take full advantage of the structural rigidity of the cavitand scaffold. Two different synthetic strategies are employed for the formation of multidentate cavitand ligands: (a) functionalization at the apical positions and (b) introduction of the ligands as bridging units. The key features to control the cage self-assembly process emerging from this overview are the preorganization, for the cavitands, and kinetic versus thermodynamic stability of the resulting complexes, for the connecting metal. The versatility of this class of coordination cages is demonstrated by the formation of their heterotopic and heteronuclear versions, as well as their self-assembly on gold and silicon surfaces. Desymmetrization of the cages is appealing because of the resulting differentiation of the inner cavities in terms of shape and interactivity, while surface self-assembly represents an important opportunity to expand the application range of these objects.     

Bleaching of Knitted Cotton Fabric Applying Ozone

Several samples of knitted cotton fabric in raw state were impregnated with a solution of industrial wetting detergent and treated directly with ozone gas in a closed chamber. Working conditions for the variables: time, pH of the impregnation solution, residual pickup and feed flow rate of oxygen (for ozone generation) were investigated to identify the effects on whiteness degree and fabric strength. The application of ozone proved to be an efficient and promising technology with low water usage.     

The Association of Il28b Genotype with the Histological Features of Chronic Hepatitis C Is HCV Genotype Dependent

The interleukin 28B (IL28B) rs12979860 polymorphism is associated with treatment outcome in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 and 4 patients. Its association with the histological features of chronic hepatitis C and disease severity needs further clarifications. To assess the correlation between IL28B genotype, HCV genotype and liver biopsy findings in untreated patients.

Materials and Methods

Pre-treatment liver biopsies from 335 HCV Caucasian patients (59% males, age 50 years) enrolled in the MIST study were staged for fibrosis and inflammation according to the METAVIR and the Ishak scoring systems; steatosis was dichotomized as <5% or ≥5%. IL28B was typed by Taqman Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assay. HCV genotype was 1 in 151 (45%), 2 in 99 (30%), 3 in 50 (15%) and 4 in 35 (10%) patients. IL28B genotype was CC in 117 (34%), CT in 166 (49%) and TT in 52 (15%). At univariate analysis, the IL28B CC genotype was associated with severe portal inflammation in HCV-1 patients (CC vs. CT/TT: 86% vs. 63%, p = 0.005), severe lobular inflammation in HCV-2 patients (CC vs. CT/TT: 44% vs. 23%, p = 0.03), and less fatty infiltration in HCV-1 patients (CC vs. CT/TT: 72% vs. 51%, p = 0.02). Despite the lack of any association between IL28B and fibrosis stage, in HCV-3 patients IL28B CC correlated with METAVIR F3–F4 (CC vs. CT/TT: 74% vs. 26%, p = 0.05). At multivariate analysis, the genotype CC remained associated with severe portal inflammation in HCV-1, only (Odds Ratio (OR): 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.24 (1.23–8.51)). IL28B genotype is associated with the histological features of chronic hepatitis C in a HCV genotype dependent manner, with CC genotype being independently associated with severe portal inflammation.     

CFD predictions for hazardous area classification

This study aimed to describe a Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) procedure using the ANSYS CFX software 16.1 and Design of Experiments for the determination of volume and extension of explosive atmospheres due to fugitive emissions of flammable gases.The multidimensional statistical sampling technique Latin Hypercube was used, which defined 100 simulations of random methane gas leak conditions.The CFD model proved to be robust in predicting the extension and volume of the explosive atmosphere for orifice diameters from 0.1 to2.5 mm, pressure from 0.1 MPa to 12 MPa and temperatures from 0 ℃ to 400 ℃.It was found that the calculation domain must be parameterized 8 m in length for each millimeter of the diameter of the source of release to ensure the predictions.In order not to lose precision for very small diameters, the mesh was parameterized with 50 elements along the orifice diameter.It was proved that gravity does not influence the extension and volume of the explosive atmosphere at sonic emissions.The deviation from the ideal gas behavior in the reservoir,achieved by applying the Soave–Redlich–Kwong equation of state, also has not significantly influenced the extension and volume of the explosive atmosphere.The results showed that the size of the explosive atmosphere varies directly with the diameter of the source emission and reservoir pressure, and inversely with the temperature of the reservoir.The diameter of the source is the parameter that has the major effect on the extension of the explosive atmosphere, followed by the pressure and lastly the temperature of the reservoir.     

Crossing Paths in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma (hRCC)

Historically, cell-signaling pathways have been studied as the compilation of isolated elements into a unique cascade that transmits extracellular stimuli to the tumor cell nucleus. Today, growing evidence supports the fact that intracellular drivers of tumor progression do not flow in a single linear pathway, but disseminate into multiple intracellular pathways. An improved understanding of the complexity of cancer depends on the elucidation of the underlying regulatory networks at the cellular and intercellular levels and in their temporal dimension. The high complexity of the intracellular cascades causes the complete inhibition of the growth of one tumor cell to be very unlikely, except in cases in which the so-called “oncogene addiction” is known to be a clear trigger for tumor catastrophe, such as in the case of gastrointestinal stromal tumors or chronic myeloid leukemia. In other words, the separation and isolation of the driver from the passengers is required to improve accuracy in cancer treatment. This review will summarize the signaling pathway crossroads that govern renal cell carcinoma proliferation and the emerging understanding of how these pathways facilitate tumor escape. We outline the available evidence supporting the putative links between different signaling pathways and how they may influence tumor proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, metabolism and invasiveness. The conclusion is that tumor cells may generate their own crossroads/crosstalk among signaling pathways, thereby reducing their dependence on stimulation of their physiologic pathways.     

Synthesis and Biological Studies of Pyrazolyl‐Diamine PtII Complexes Containing Polyaromatic DNA‐Binding Groups

New [PtCl(pz*NN)]ⁿ⁺ complexes anchored by pyrazolyl‐diamine (pz*NN) ligands incorporating anthracenyl or acridine orange DNA‐binding groups have been synthesized so as to obtain compounds that would display synergistic effects between platination and intercalation of DNA. Study of their interaction with supercoiled DNA indicated that the anthracenyl‐containing complex L²Pt displays a covalent type of binding, whereas the acridine orange counterpart L³Pt shows a combination of intercalative and covalent binding modes with a strong contribution from the former. L²Pt showed a very strong cytotoxic effect on ovarian carcinoma cell lines A2780 and A2780cisR, which are, respectively, sensitive to and resistant to cisplatin. In these cell lines, L²Pt is nine to 27 times more cytotoxic than cisplatin. In the sensitive cell line, L³Pt showed a cytotoxic activity similar to that of cisplatin, but like L²Pt was able significantly to overcome cisplatin cross‐resistance. Cell‐uptake studies showed that L²Pt accumulates preferentially in the cytoplasm, whereas L³Pt reaches the cell nucleus more easily, as clearly visualized by time‐lapse confocal imaging of live A2870 cells. Altogether, these findings seem to indicate that interaction with biological targets other than DNA might be involved in the mechanism of action of L²Pt because this compound, despite having a weaker ability to target the cell nucleus than L³Pt , as well as an inferior DNA affinity, is nevertheless more cytotoxic. Furthermore, ultrastructural studies of A2870 cells exposed to L²Pt and L³Pt revealed that these complexes induce different alterations in cell morphology, thus indicating the involvement of different modes of action in cell death.     

Novel copolymer for SiO2 nanoparticles dispersion

High performance polymers exhibiting multifunctional characteristics can be achieved by the introduction of inorganic nanoparticles like SiO₂ into the functional polymers. In the present work a copolymer epoxy poly(dimethylacrylamide) was synthesized to disperse the SiO₂ nanoparticles. The aim of the work is to develop a new method/process/material for the dispersion of nanoparticles and evaluating the performance of these composites. FT‐IR studies of the polymer adsorbed SiO₂ nanoparticles confirmed that the polymer molecules chain was anchored on the surface of the SiO₂ nanoparticles. The improved interfacial interaction between the particles and polymer enhanced the thermal properties of the composites. The results also show the newly synthesized polymer disperse the nanoparticles well as evidenced by SEM analysis, the uniformly dispersed SiO₂ nanoparticles in the polymer matrix and the particles almost remained in their original shape and size even after incorporation in to the polymer matrix. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Imidazolium poly(butylene terephthalate) ionomers with long-term antimicrobial activity

Imidazolium poly(butylene terephthalate) ionomers with ionic groups located randomly along the polymer chain or selectively as end-groups (telechelic) have been prepared in order to determine their antimicrobial (AM) activity. Two different approaches have been followed for the linkage of the imidazolium to the polymer backbone: a covalent bond and an ionic aggregation to sulfonated groups covalently bonded to the polymer. The ionic groups have been linked to the polymer in order to improve the long-term AM activity since the low molecular weight additives commonly used tends to migrate toward the surface during use. We have found that imidazolium ionomers present AM activity comparable with that of commercial antimicrobial agents such as Triclosan. The AM activity depends on the polymer architecture, the telechelic approach being more active compared to the random approach. We have proved that imidazolium ionomers retain their high AM activity even after 6 days in water at 60 °C while Triclosan consistently loses his activity.