Blockchain for Transparent Data Management Toward 6G

The wealth of user data acts as a fuel for network intelligence toward the sixth generation wireless net-works(6G).Due to data heterogeneity and dynamics,decent...     

The use of whey protein particles in gluten-free bread production,the effect of particle stability

Wheat dough has unique properties for bread making due to its elastic and strain hardening behaviour. A mesoscopically structured whey protein particle system possesses those elastic and strain hardening properties when mixed with starch to a certain extent. However, the extensibility is lower and the particles are more stable than gluten particles upon kneading, probably due to a too high degree of internal crosslinking. This study describes the relation between the number of disulphide bonds of a mesoscopic whey protein particle suspension blocked by NEM treatment and the resulting properties of a dough and bread prepared with that suspension. This study shows that the properties of the particle network are influenced by the ability to form disulphide bonds. Our study shows that a certain amount of disulphide bonds is essential, but too many disulphide bonds can lead to too stiff dough and poorer bread properties.     

Effect of seawater constituents on the performance of thermal spray aluminum in marine environments

Thermally sprayed coatings are often used to mitigate corrosion of offshore structures. They act as a physical barrier to the aggressive marine environment and as a sacrificial distributed anode for low carbon steel. In such environments, the severity of material degradation depends on many factors. The effect of temperature, exposure time or the presence of micro‐organisms are the focus of many studies, for example, however, the effect of the different ions present in seawater remains largely unexplored. The chemical composition of the water changes considerably depending on the location; industrial, glacial, estuarine, and so forth. In addition, when thermal spray aluminum (TSA) protects steel in seawater, calcareous matter precipitates as a result of the cathodic polarization and subsequent localized increase in pH. Therefore, understanding how ions such as magnesium (II), calcium (II), or carbonates alter the coating properties in the marine environment is important. This paper reports the experimental work carried out with TSA‐coated steel samples with defects to simulate mechanical damage or erosion of the coating. The combination of electrochemical tests and surface characterization provided evidence of the efficiency of the calcareous bilayer that forms on top of steel reducing the TSA degradation.     

Identification of Phenylpyrazolone Dimers as a New Class of Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Agents

Chagas disease is becoming a worldwide problem; it is currently estimated that over six million people are infected. The two drugs in current use, benznidazole and nifurtimox, require long treatment regimens, show limited efficacy in the chronic phase of infection, and are known to cause adverse effects. Phenotypic screening of an in-house library led to the identification of 2,2′-methylenebis(5-(4-bromophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one), a phenyldihydropyrazolone dimer, which shows an in vitro pIC₅₀ value of 5.4 against Trypanosoma cruzi. Initial optimization was done by varying substituents of the phenyl ring, after which attempts were made to replace the phenyl ring. Finally, the linker between the dimer units was varied, ultimately leading to 2,2′-methylenebis(5-(3-bromo-4-methoxyphenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one (NPD-0228) as the most potent analogue. NPD-0228 has an in vitro pIC₅₀ value of 6.4 against intracellular amastigotes of T. cruzi and no apparent toxicity against the human MRC-5 cell line and murine cardiac cells.     

Simplified Monopalmitoyl Toll-like Receptor 2 Ligand Mini-UPam for Self-Adjuvanting Neoantigen-Based Synthetic Cancer Vaccines

Synthetic vaccines, based on antigenic peptides that comprise MHC−I and MHC-II T-cell epitopes expressed by tumors, show great promise for the immunotherapy of cancer. For optimal immunogenicity, the synthetic peptides (SPs) should be adjuvanted with suitable immunostimulatory additives. Previously, we have shown that improved immunogenicity in vivo is obtained with vaccine modalities in which an SP is covalently connected to an adjuvanting moiety, typically a ligand to Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). SPs were covalently attached to UPam, which is a derivative of the classic TLR2 ligand Pam₃CysSK₄. A disadvantage of the triply palmitoylated UPam is its high lipophilicity, which precludes universal adoption of this adjuvant for covalent modification of various antigenic peptides as it renders the synthetic vaccine insoluble in several cases. Here, we report a novel conjugatable TLR2 ligand, mini-UPam, which contains only one palmitoyl chain, rather than three, and therefore has less impact on the solubility and other physicochemical properties of a synthetic peptide. In this study, we used SPs that contain the clinically relevant neoepitopes identified in a melanoma patient who completely recovered after T-cell therapy. Homogeneous mini-UPam-SP conjugates have been prepared in good yields by stepwise solid-phase synthesis that employed a mini-UPam building block pre-prepared in solution and the standard set of Fmoc-amino acids. The immunogenicity of the novel mini-UPam-SP conjugates was demonstrated by using the cancer patient's T-cells.     

Natural propane cryogen for frozen-hydrated biological specimens

The properties of natural propane, mixed with 0–4% isopentane, as a cryogen suitable for rapid freezing of this layers of aqueous biological specimen suspensions are discussed. Although natural propane has rather variable properties, its freezing point can be depressed below the temperature of liquid nitrogen by adding a smaller amount of isopentane than is required for depressing the freezing point of pure propane.     

A process for designing algorithm-based personalized gamification

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Personalization is an upcoming trend in gamification research, with several researchers proposing that gamified systems should take personal characteristics into...     

Dynamic Passenger Assignment for Major Railway Disruptions Considering Information Interventions

Passenger assignment models for major disruptions that require trains to be cancelled/short-turned in railway systems are rarely considered in literature, although these models could make a significant contribution to passenger-oriented disruption timetable design/rescheduling. This paper proposes a dynamic passenger assignment model, where the passengers who start travelling before, during and after the disruption are all considered. The model ensures that on-board passengers are given priority over waiting passengers, and waiting passengers are boarding under the first-come-first-serve rule. Moreover, the model allows information interventions by publishing information about service variations and train congestion at different locations with the aim of distributing passengers wisely to achieve less travel time increase due to the disruption. Discrete event simulation is adopted to implement the model, where loading/unloading procedures are realized and passengers re-plan their paths based on the information they receive. The model tracks individual travels, which helps to evaluate a disruption timetable in a passenger-oriented way.