Asthma and COPD proteomics: Current approaches and future directions

Although asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD represent the two most common chronic respiratory diseases worldwide, the mechanisms underlying their pathobiology need to be further elucidated. Presently, differentiation of asthma and COPD are largely based on clinical and lung function parameters. However, the complexity of these multifactorial diseases may lead to misclassification and to inappropriate management strategies. Recently, tremendous progress in MS has extended the sensitivity, accuracy, and speed of analysis, enabling the identification of thousands of proteins per experiment. Beyond identification, MS has also greatly implemented quantitation issues allowing to assess qualitative–quantitative differences in protein profiles of different samples, in particular diseased versus normal. Herein, we provide a summary of recent proteomics-based investigations in the field of asthma/COPD, highlighting major issues related to sampling and processing procedures for proteomic analyses of specific airway and parenchymal specimens (induced sputum, exhaled breath condensate, epithelial lining fluid, bronchoalveolar and nasal lavage fluid), as well as blood-derived specimen (plasma and serum). Within such a context, together with current difficulties and limitations mainly due to lack of general standardization in preanalytical sampling procedure, our discussion will focus on the challenges and possible benefits of proteomic studies in phenotypic stratification of asthma and COPD.     

Evaluation of the surface urban heat island effect in the city of Madrid by thermal remote sensing

The surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect is defined as the increased surface temperatures in urban areas in contrast to cooler surrounding rural areas. In this article, the evaluation of the SUHI effect in the city of Madrid (Spain) from thermal infrared (TIR) remote-sensing data is presented. The data were obtained from the framework of the Dual-use European Security IR Experiment (DESIREX) campaign that was carried out during June and July 2008 in Madrid. The campaign combined the collection of airborne hyperspectral and in situ measurements. Thirty spectral and spatial high-resolution images were acquired with the Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner (AHS) sensor in a 11, 21, and 4 h UTC scheme. The imagery was used to retrieve the SUHI effect by applying the temperature and emissivity separation (TES) algorithm. The results show a nocturnal SUHI effect with a highest value of 5 K. This maximum value agrees within 1 K with the highest value of the urban heat island (UHI) observed using air temperature data (AT). During the daytime, this situation is reversed and the city becomes a negative heat island.     

In situ surface temperature retrieval in a boreal forest under variable cloudiness conditions

Canopy temperature retrieval was one of the purposes during the Solar Induced FLuorescence EXperiment (SIFLEX‐2002) of the European Space Agency, carried out in a Finnish boreal forest. In this work, we describe the strategy used to determine this temperature from ground thermal infrared (TIR) data under skies with variable cloud cover. TIR radiance was measured by a CIMEL Electronique CE 312 radiometer. An analysis of the radiative transfer equation showed which terms were necessary to obtain accurate surface temperatures during the campaign. Atmospheric correction was considered negligible due to the small atmospheric path, but hemispheric downwelling sky radiance determination was needed for the emissivity correction. Since most days during the campaign the sky showed partial cloudiness, a methodology to estimate this last term was proposed, using continuous information of cloudiness amount and cloud height given by a weather station. These thermal data were used to analyse some correlations between canopy and air temperatures and plant‐activity‐related variables in the context of the SIFLEX‐2002 campaign.     

Growth and photoelectrochemical behaviour of electrodeposited ZnO thin films for solar cells

Thin zinc oxide films were deposited potentiostatically from zinc nitrate aqueous solutions on ITO substrates. The influence of experimental parameters (temperature, electrolyte concentration, deposition potential) on structure and morphology of films was investigated. Deposited films were generally polycrystalline in structure, even if growth according to preferential planes occurs in certain conditions. The effect of thermal treatments in air at 150 and 350 °C was also studied. In some cases, Cl species were incorporated into deposit by adding zinc chloride to the electrolyte. A photoelectrochemical investigation, performed in neutral solution before and after thermal treatment, gives more information on film structure and reveals improvement of n-type semiconducting properties after annealing, suggesting diminution of defects and traps originated from the disordered regions of the oxide. In fact, after thermal treatment, the optical gap of the films decreases towards the value reported for the crystalline oxide. No apparent benefits in the semiconducting properties of the films were observed after incorporation of Cl species into the films.     

Dynamics of alternative modes of RNA replication for positive-sense RNA viruses

We propose and study nonlinear mathematical models describing the intracellular time dynamics of viral RNA accumulation for positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Our models consider different replication modes ranging between two extremes represented by the geometric replication (GR) and the linear stamping machine replication (SMR). We first analyse a model that quantitatively reproduced experimental data for the accumulation dynamics of both polarities of turnip mosaic potyvirus RNAs. We identify a non-degenerate transcritical bifurcation governing the extinction of both strands depending on three key parameters: the mode of replication (α), the replication rate (r) and the degradation rate (δ) of viral strands. Our results indicate that the bifurcation associated with α generically takes place when the replication mode is closer to the SMR, thus suggesting that GR may provide viral strands with an increased robustness against degradation. This transcritical bifurcation, which is responsible for the switching from an active to an absorbing regime, suggests a smooth (i.e. second-order), absorbing-state phase transition. Finally, we also analyse a simplified model that only incorporates asymmetry in replication tied to differential replication modes.     

Bio-ethanol production by fermentation of ricotta cheese whey as an effective alternative non-vegetable source

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the feasibility of bio-ethanol production by batch fermentation of ricotta cheese whey (“Scotta”), a dairy industry waste characterized by lactose concentration ranging from 4.5% to 5.0% (w/w) and, with respect to traditional (raw) whey, by much lower protein content. Scotta, therefore, could represent an effective non-vegetable source for renewable energy production. The microrganism used to carry out the fermentation processes was the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus. Preliminary experiments, performed in aerobic conditions on different volumes of scotta, have shown the actual growth of the yeast. The subsequent fermentation experiments were carried out, in anaerobic conditions, on three different substrates: scotta, raw cheese whey and deproteinized whey. The experimental data have demonstrated the process feasibility: scotta is an excellent substrate for fermentation and exhibits better performance with respect to both raw cheese whey and deproteinized whey. Complete lactose consumption, indeed, was observed in the shortest time (13 h) and with the highest ethanol yield (97% of the theoretical value).     

A Typology for Multi-Technology, Multi-Service Broadband Network Synthesis

Current technological possibilities for implementing multi-service networks include both single technology ATM or IP networks and multi-technology networks such as SONET-based or flat networks. However, regardless of the technology employed, the synthesis problem – to optimally route traffic and divide the network's transmission resources between its virtual links – remains of prime importance.In this paper, we review, compare, and classify the extensive recent literature concerning multi-service network synthesis methods. In order to do this, we propose a typology based on switching and control strategies and a general notation that reflects the layered nature of the network. Technology independent mathematical models describe the various, essentially different, approaches presently found in the literature.     

Population Balances of Micron-Sized Aerosols in a Bipolar Ion Environment

The present work re-examines the assumptions that are required for a steady-state charge distribution analysis to be valid. First, the common approximation that there are only 11 charge states available to the distribution is relaxed to allow for 201 charge states to be available to the particle distribution. This is found to have large repercussions on the behavior of the distribution for radii greater than 0.5 μm. The steady-state assumption itself is then re-examined by calculating the time required to reach steady state for many different ion-pair production rates and initial particle charge states as a function of radius. In the steady-state model, the ion populations are often assumed to decouple completely from the aerosol; this is shown to be false throughout the troposphere. Finally, the number of positive and negative charge states needed to accurately model a particle population of a given size is determined.

© 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research