Interdisciplinary Planning for Healthier Communities: Findings from the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative

Health disparities that affect whole communities may involve factors like housing quality that lie at least partly within planners' realm of policy influence. This article demonstrates a link between housing and childhood asthma. The magnitude of the childhood asthma epidemic in Harlem in New York City and the commitment of engaged community partners led to an interdisciplinary, participatory, and multifaceted approach to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative. Here we present the first year's data on environmental triggers in the homes of program participants, showing that intensive, community-based programs can reduce both home environmental triggers and adverse childhood asthma outcomes. This provides an example of a community-wide public health intervention that informs public policy and planning, and may provide a sustainable model for reducing childhood asthma in impoverished communities.     

Biocatalytic Polymer Coatings: On‐Demand Drug Synthesis and Localized Therapeutic Effect under Dynamic Cell Culture Conditions

Biocatalytic surface coatings are prepared herein for localized synthesis of drugs and their on‐demand, site‐specific delivery to adhering cells. This novel approach is based on the incorporation of an enzyme into multilayered polymer coatings to accomplish enzyme‐prodrug therapy (EPT). The build‐up of enzyme‐containing multilayered coatings is characterized and correlations are drawn between the multilayer film assembly conditions and the enzymatic activity of the resulting coatings. Therapeutic effect elicited by the substrate mediated EPT (SMEPT) strategy is investigated using a prodrug for an anticancer agent, SN‐38. The performance of biocatalytic coatings under flow conditions is investigated and it is demonstrated that EPT allows synthesizing the drugs on‐demand, at the time desired and in a controllable amount to suit particular applications. Finally, using cells cultured in sequentially connected flow chambers, it is demonstrated that SMEPT affords a site‐specific drug delivery, that is, exerts a higher therapeutic effect in cells adhering directly to the biocatalytic coatings than in the cells cultured “downstream”. Taken together, these data illustrate biomedical opportunities made possible by engineering tools of EPT into multilayered polymer coatings and present a novel, highly versatile tool for surface mediated drug delivery.     

GH/IGF-1 Abnormalities and Muscle Impairment: From Basic Research to Clinical Practice

The impairment of skeletal muscle function is one of the most debilitating least understood co-morbidity that accompanies acromegaly (ACRO). Despite being one of the major determinants of these patients’ poor quality of life, there is limited evidence related to the underlying mechanisms and treatment options. Although growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels are associated, albeit not indisputable, with the presence and severity of ACRO myopathies the precise effects attributed to increased GH or IGF-1 levels are still unclear. Yet, cell lines and animal models can help us bridge these gaps. This review aims to describe the evidence regarding the role of GH and IGF-1 in muscle anabolism, from the basic to the clinical setting with special emphasis on ACRO. We also pinpoint future perspectives and research lines that should be considered for improving our knowledge in the field.     

Applications of Brazilian pine-fruit shell in natural and carbonized forms as adsorbents to removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions--kinetic and equilibrium study

The Brazilian pine-fruit shell (Araucaria angustifolia) is a food residue, which was used in natural and carbonized forms, as low-cost adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. Chemical treatment of Brazilian pine-fruit shell (PW), with sulfuric acid produced a non-activated carbonaceous material (C-PW). Both PW and C-PW were tested as low-cost adsorbents for the removal of MB from aqueous effluents. It was observed that C-PW leaded to a remarkable increase in the specific surface area, average porous volume, and average porous diameter of the adsorbent when compared to PW. The effects of shaking time, adsorbent dosage and pH on adsorption capacity were studied. In basic pH region (pH 8.5) the adsorption of MB was favorable. The contact time required to obtain the equilibrium was 6 and 4h at 25 degrees C, using PW and C-PW as adsorbents, respectively. Based on error function values (F(error)) the kinetic data were better fitted to fractionary-order kinetic model when compared to pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and chemisorption kinetic models. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models. For MB dye the equilibrium data were better fitted to the Sips isotherm model using PW and C-PW as adsorbents.     

Impact of climate on the vertical water column structure of Lajes Reservoir (Brazil): A tropical reservoir case

Ribeirão das Lajes Reservoir was constructed in 1905 for energy production, and is now used as a domestic water supply for about 1 million people. The reservoir was considered as being general monomictic, exhibiting water column mixing in the winter. Water column mixing, however, did not occur in the deepest parts of the reservoir in the warm year of 2005. Nevertheless, the long stratification period leads to an anoxic, nutrient-rich hypolimnion that exhibits poor water quality in the deepest part. The meteorological events of cold front passages in the reservoir region were not able to disrupt the water column stability, or affect its water quality for domestic supply. Maintenance of thermal stratification over most of the year was likely because of the low influence of wind, long water retention time, and the input of cold water from the tributary and from rain directly draining into the metalimnion.     

Hydrophobic,pellicular, monolithic capillary columns based on cross-linked polynorbornene for biopolymer separations

Monolithic capillary columns were prepared by transition metal-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis copolymerization of norborn-2-ene and 1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo,endo-dimethanonaphthalene inside a silanized 200-microm-i.d. fused-silica capillary using a mixture of toluene and 2-propanol as porogen and Cl2(PCy3)2Ru(=CHPh) as initiator. The synthesized columns allowed the rapid and highly efficient separation of single- and double-stranded nucleic acids by ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and of proteins by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Compared to 3-mm-i.d. analytical columns synthesized from an identical polymerization mixture, a considerable improvement in the peak widths at half-height of oligonucleotides in the order of 60-80% was obtained. Significant differences in morphology between the capillary column, where the surface of the monolith was rather soft and rugulose, and the analytical column, where the surface was very sharp and smooth, were observed, most probably due to differences in polymerization kinetics. The synthesized monoliths were successfully applied to the separation of the diastereomers of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides. To confirm the identity of the eluting compounds on the basis of their intact molecular masses, the chromatographic separation system was on-line hyphenated to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.     

K-doping effect in the kinetics of CO2 capture at high temperature over lithium silicates obtained from rice husks: In situ/operando techniques

K-doped lithium silicates were synthesized as CO₂ sorbents using rice husks as silica source. Two different doping methods were used to prepare the solids, incipient wetness impregnation and co-impregnation. Noticeable differences were observed between the sorbents obtained by each route. Unlike the co-impregnated sample, a KLi₃SiO₄ phase was detected by XRD in the doped-samples prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. This phase was associated with a porous layer deposition over the sorbent particle surface, which was observed by SEM. The effect of CO₂ partial pressure and sorption temperature was evaluated for the solids. A remarkable improvement of the capture efficiency was observed in the doped-samples, especially at low temperature and CO₂ partial pressure. The kinetics of the samples was studied using the double exponential model and operando Raman and DRIFT spectroscopies. Different reactivity properties were found depending on the synthesis method employed. The complete analysis of the results allowed us to propose a transformation mechanism for the solids during the sorption step, highlighting the improvement of surface reaction and volumetric diffusion processes in the CO₂ capture step.     

Gas-Phase Oxidation of Aqueous Ethanol by Nanoparticle Vanadia/Anatase Catalysts

The gas-phase oxidation of aqueous ethanol with dioxygen has been examined with a new nanoparticle V₂O₅/TiO₂ catalyst. Product selectivity could to a large extent be controlled by small alterations of reaction parameters, allowing production of acetaldehyde at a selectivity higher than 90%, near quantitative conversion at 175–200 °C. Furthermore, a selectivity above 80% for acetic acid could be achieved at low gas hourly space velocity at temperatures as low as 165 °C.     

Adsorption of Reactive Red M-2BE dye from water solutions by multi-walled carbon nanotubes and activated carbon

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes and powdered activated carbon were used as adsorbents for the successful removal of Reactive Red M-2BE textile dye from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents were characterised by infrared spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms and scanning electron microscopy. The effects of pH, shaking time and temperature on adsorption capacity were studied. In the acidic pH region (pH 2.0), the adsorption of the dye was favourable using both adsorbents. The contact time to obtain equilibrium at 298 K was fixed at 1 h for both adsorbents. The activation energy of the adsorption process was evaluated from 298 to 323 K for both adsorbents. The Avrami fractional-order kinetic model provided the best fit to the experimental data compared with pseudo-first-order or pseudo-second-order kinetic adsorption models. For Reactive Red M-2BE dye, the equilibrium data were best fitted to the Liu isotherm model. Simulated dyehouse effluents were used to check the applicability of the proposed adsorbents for effluent treatment.